Just For Fun

Chances are, as you read this, I’m running up or down the stadium stairs in San Francisco at Oracle Park. Or, I’m passed out on the ground from doing one too many burpees.

?

The Spartan race I signed up for a while back is happening today, so I’ll be getting my sweat on with my HIIT buddies from the gym.

But before I go do that, let’s do this. It’s Saturday Surfing time. ?

• The dos and don’ts of mixing skincare ingredients
• If you live near San Diego, the Oceanside Museum of Art currently has an exhibit called “Tiny Canvases: The Art of Nails,” which explores the history of nail adornment dating back to 3200 B.C. (!)
• Who else is watching the new season of The Crown on Netflix? If you’re just as fascinated by the British Royal family as I am, then you may be interested to hear that, according to the queen’s royal dressmaker, Angela Kelly, the queen does her own makeup every day of the year except for one — the day she records her annual Christmas speech.
• There’s a new trailer for the Cats movie, and yes…it’s still totally weird. ?
• Will you be in/around NYC from next May to October? If so, you might want to check out the Makeup Museum. The first exhibit is called “Pink Jungle: 1950s Makeup in America” and will explore the history of makeup, as seen through the beauty cabinets of glam stars, including Monroe, Garbo and Audrey Hepburn.
• According to Cosmo, this is how to cut your hair without totally effing it up, and all I have to say that is…where the heck was this article when I was 15 and cut my hair in the middle of the night?!
• Speaking of hair, scientists have developed a new method of DNA identification that only requires a single strand.

This is what I’m doing today!

Here’s to hoping I make it back home in one piece, aghhhh!

So nervous…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Thanksgiving is almost here, and with it, our traditions. One such tradition that absolutely MUST happen in my family on Thanksgiving is the eating of the pecan pie…

I freakin’ love pecan pie. It’s what we had at Thanksgiving when I was growing up… I mean, sometimes we’d also have a pumpkin pie up in the mix, but really nobody would touch it. My mom would always get pecan, and you would know if my dad had been tasked with buying the pie because he would inevitably mistakingly ONLY buy pumpkin and forget the pecan… But my mom always knew what was up.

It’s funny, though, because as much as I love pecan pie, it seems weird to have it any other time of year. The only time I actually consume copious amounts of it is on Thanksgiving, and I look forward to it every single year.

I also look forward to spending time with my family here in the Bay Area, and whenever possible, with my family in Hawaii. It’s always nice to have a block of time to reconnect with the people who mean a lot to us, and that we don’t get to see too often anymore as grownups, and to unwind over food and fun.

We also always watch some football, and ya know…while it’s not super high up on my list, I still look forward to sitting around and talking while a game plays in the background.

Oh! — I also look forward to having seconds, a.k.a. “round two of the Thanksgiving feast.”

Like, you know, everybody eats, then pauses to take a break (and maybe take a quick cat nap on the couch), and then a few hours later you come back for the second round.

I gotta admit…I do love going back for that second (and perhaps third!) plate on Thanksgiving.

How about you? What Thanksgiving traditions are you looking forward to this year?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. It’s just a list of five more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007). I love reading your answers, and it helps me get my week off to a good start.

1. Today I’m grateful for _____ (fill in the blank).

So many things, including…

• Coffee (always coffee)
• Having gotten a good night’s sleep
• My sweet and supportive husband
• Clear, crisp fall days
• The roof over my head and the food in my tummy
• Mechanical pencils (random, but they’re kind of fabulous!)

2. An article of clothing you wear all the time?

Well, a friend of my recently gave me a pair of Athleta workout tights that no longer fit her, and let me tell you — my world has been ROCKED. If I could live in those pants 24/7, I totally would.

3. Burrito or taco?

Tacos, baby!

4. What are you wearing on your lips today?

MAC Smoked Almond lipstick, which has been my neutral jam for the past couple weeks.

5. How are your brows these days?

They were my nemesis throughout October, because I sorta forgot about them, to which they responded by growing wild and unchecked, but I trimmed the unruly bits last week, so balance has been restored to the land once again… So they’re doing fine and cooperating with me for once. LOL!

You. Are. Magical.

There’s been a lot of talk of warm white light lately at our house.

So much talk about it that I’ve started walking around the house bathed in it.

Wait — let me take a step back…

First things first, good morning! Happy Monday, my friend. 🙂

OK, so the warm white light thing. Basically, Connor recently moved from her crib to a big girl bed, and she’s at that stage where the newness has just worn off, so at bedtime lately she pulls out all the stops to get us to let her sleep with us in our bed, or just to delay us turning off her bedroom light.

One thing we do whenever she feels scared about something, after we try to talk through it logically (which doesn’t always work), is what we call “mommy magic” and she calls “Coco magic.”

The magic involves surrounding yourself with an imaginary beam of warm white light. This warm white light surrounds you with protection, with love and with anything and everything you need at that moment to feel secure and safe.

So, whenever anyone in our house needs a little TLC, we tell them to take out your magic, and surround yourself with your warm white light. As silly as it sounds, it kinda works! It works for Connor, and I’ve been doing it for myself, too (I know, I know!), and for some reason, it just feels good.

Anyway, if you feel a little scared or anxious at some point today, remember that you are magical. Anytime you need it, you can surround yourself with the special warm white light. You are loved, you are protected, and you are safe. 🙂

On that note, I’m off. I have a coffee date in a few (today’s my day off from the bakery…so of course I’m gonna hang out in another bakery, HA HA HA!), which leads me to today’s bonus question: croissant or scone??

Have a wonderful day. ❤️

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon.

1. Today I’m grateful for _____ (fill in the blank).
2. An article of clothing you wear all the time?
3. Burrito or taco?
4. What are you wearing on your lips today?
5. How are your brows these days?

Happy Caturday, my friend!

One of the perks of adulting 24/7 is that you can actively pursue unapproved, unsanctioned frivolous endeavors, like buying yourself an advent calendar from Trader Joe’s and opening everything at once WEEKS before the actual holiday officially starts!

Having the freedom to do things like this almost — almost — makes up for having to deal with people stealing your parking spot. Or, for having to pay the bills. Forever.

(Kinda sorta. Not really.)

Quick TJ’s advent calendar update

I’ve been using a few of the things from my new 12 Days of Beauty Calendar this week, and all I have to say is, “HELLO, YUM-YUMS,” because everything I’ve tried so far smells like food!

Delicious-smelling delights are to be found in the…

• Blueberry & Acai Facial Scrub: This smells exactly like a fresh blueberry smoothie, and the grains are the perfect level of “scrubiness,” in that they aren’t too aggressively gritty or too unhelpfully gentle.
• Warm Vanilla Body Butter: The scent of hella bougie vanilla extract will follow you around for hours when you slather this thick, moisturizing butter on your bod.

  I need an XXL size tub of this ASAP.

• Brown Sugar Scrub: How many people are singing D’angelo to themselves when they use this in the shower I wonder? Hmm… It’s super moisturizing (watch out, though, because it makes the bottom of the bathtub slippery after you rinse off), and the sugar grains are substantial. It smells like freshly baked sugar cookies.
• Rose Facial Oil: This scent of this light, yet hydrating, face oil takes me back to my childhood, when my friends and I would roll up to the Asian store and buy French rose pastille hard candies!

If you live near a TJ’s, I recommend grabbing one for yourself (and the ladies in your life) ASAP. It’s sooooo good, you guys.

Anywho…since it’s Caturday and all, Rosie Posie wanted to say a quick “meow” from her own personal fainting couch, which is also known as “Connor’s big girl bed.”

These girls have the cutest bedtime ritual. Every night, right before bed, Rosie hangs around and listens while I sing Connor her goodnight lullabies and read her a book. Then, when I turn off the light and leave the room, Rosie hops on the bed and stays with Connor till she falls asleep.

Every day I learn a little more about Rosie and fall more in love. 🙂

On that note, here’s this week’s reading…

• This reusable $7 beauty spatula is designed to scrape out every last morsel of goodness from your beauty products. WANT!
• The best drugstore primers, according to makeup artists
• 16 under-the-radar skincare products beloved by dermatologists
• *The* must-have beauty item that active members of the military always pack when they’re deployed might surprise you.
• What to do when you try a new product and your skin freaks-the-eff out
• Red lipstick superstars under $10
• Allegedly, these half-sized Christmas trees prevent curious kitties from attacking ornaments, but I’m pretty sure Tabs would’ve still found a way to destroy one…
• How to use beauty products that you probably have sitting around your house to remover stickers from books!
• Who, exactly, is Estée Laundry?

I’m so ready.

Pecan or pumpkin pie?

YES!

Note to self

Don’t believe me, just watch.

Step by step

What’s on your plate for today? I hope you’re doing at least a little something for yourself, and I hope it feeds your soul.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. It’s just a list of five more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007). I love reading your answers, and it helps me get my week off to a good start.

1. Black liquid liner or brown pencil liner?

I’m equally passionate about both (hello, Clinique Easy Liner and MAC Coffee), so this is a very difficult choice for me…but I’m going to have to go with brown pencil, and here’s why: if I want to, I figure I can make the brown pencil look darker by layering a black or dark brown eyeshadow on top, whereas with the black liquid eyeliner, you can’t really make it lighter.

You know what I’m saying? It’s easier to go from lighter to darker than from darker to lighter.

2. Skincare products you put on your face this morning?

Here we go!

• Fresh Soy Cleanser
• Paula’s Choice BHA
• Lilfox Kalahari Serum, Aloha Youth Serum and Laurel Skin Sun Serum (got these all from a recent Beauty Heroes box)
• Kate Somerville Anti Bac (always and forever)
• Elta MD Clear Sunscreen, which I’m testing this week

3. For tonight, cooking at home or eating out?

I actually don’t mind cooking at all, but I REALLY don’t love the washing dishes part, so tonight, I’d rather go out to eat… We probably won’t, because it’s a school night, but I gotta admit that it’s nice when someone else does all the work!

4. What foundation do you wear when you need your makeup to last?

Estée Lauder Double Wear! — because you can’t go wrong with the O.G.

5. Velvet or lace?

Velvet, because it’s soft, it keeps me warm, and it doesn’t itch!

600 Mondays

G’morning, sweet girl! ?

As this is the six-hundredth installment of the Monday Poll, that means that we’ve started approximately 11 years (!) of our Monday mornings together. ??

That’s over a decade of silly ramblings and, of course, pictures of cats.

Can you believe it’s been that long?? Sometimes it feels like I blinked, and BAM! — here we are. So many changes, big and small, both about lipstick and life…

It’s been fun, hasn’t it?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon.

1. Black liquid liner or brown pencil liner?
2. Skincare products you put on your face this morning?
3. For tonight, cooking at home or eating out?
4. What foundation do you wear when you need your makeup to last?
5. Velvet or lace?

P.P.S. To quote the The Golden Girls again on this lovely morning, as I hope I’ve told you often over the years, thank you for being a friend. ❤️

In case you need to reach me, I’ll be at the Michaels in San Rafael, California, because apparently I live there now! ?

What is it about craft items I technically don’t need but desperately want? — like this Golden Girls cross stitch kit?! Never you mind that I’ve never stitched a cross in my life (?), but I want it anyway.

I’m going again later today to get some frosting tips and bags so I can practice piping cupcakes this weekend. Maybe some more cookie cutters, too, if I find some cute ones.

How about you? What are you up to?

Do you have a few minutes? Because here are some stories that caught my eye this week…

• Everything you ever needed to know about eyebrow extensions (yup, you read that correctly)
• Aaaaaand in this week’s edition of “Celebs Releasing Beauty Brands,” pop singer Kesha has a colorful new vegan makeup line.
• The ultimate starter kit for men ? who are interested in wearing makeup but don’t know where to start
• Can you tell if your eye makeup is actually eye-safe?
• The mysterious black cat who stole the show during a Monday Night Football game is still on the loose!
• Super important question —> Is Quilty the cat ? an escape artist or a criminal mastermind?
• This famous photographer reveals why David Bowie wore red lipstick. (Side note: I wonder if he wore a matching lip liner, too?)

You’re too cool, Cher!

How pretty are these cupcakes?

Love these updo ideas

I hope you have a good rest of your weekend! Please tell me you’re doing something relaxing and fun. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S.

Oh, and this is kinda random, but you might remember that I tested some long-wearing, sweat-proof makeup to wear to the gym a few months ago, partly because my HIIT teacher asked me to be the gym’s member of the month, which involved us taking pics together during class, hence the makeup?

Well, I totally forgot about it until this week, when I noticed that the “Member of the Month” poster was up, and I’m in the pic! LOL.