Just For Fun

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 450

November 21st, 2016 by Karen 24 Comments

“The producer of the Harry Potter film series and its latest spinoff is moving from Fantastic Beasts to feline ones. David Heyman announced that he’s teaming up with China’s Alibaba Pictures Group to adapt fantasy series Warriors for the big screen. And yes, it’s about fighting cats.”

— io9

So..what is the Monday Poll?

Well, it isn’t exactly a poll. It’s more of a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random list of questions I’ve been putting out to readers every Monday morning for the past NINE (!) years. (It’s like a kickstart for your brain.) I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine. 🙂

1. How long are your nails right now?

Not long at all. They don’t even go to the tips of my fingertips! — and you know what, though? I like ’em that way.

I had long nails for years and years and years, but short nails are so much easier for me. They’re easier to type with, and I don’t have to worry so much about them breaking or, like, worry about accidentally scratching the baby or me poking my eye out while I’m doing my liner.

2. How old were you when you started cooking?

Oh, my goodness… I’m a little ashamed to admit this, but I didn’t start cooking until I left for college at 18 (!). And, when I started, I could not do sh*t. I couldn’t even warm up food in a pot!

No, seriously. I remember going to the dorm kitchen and trying to warm up some leftovers one day that my mom had given me. I threw them in a pot, but then I forgot about them and almost set the dorm on fire.

Yup… But I’ve gotten better since then. I can usually follow a recipe now and have it not turn out terribly.

3. Describe your hair in three words.

Long, unruly, chocolaty

4. What would/could you do if you only had 60 seconds to do your eye makeup?

See, this is where being chronically late really comes in handy. I could get quite a bit done in 60 seconds. Like, I could fill in my brows with a black pencil, curl my lashes, whack some mascara on my upper lashes (I wouldn’t even bother with my lower lashes; they’re a different beast entirely) and tightline my upper lash line with a black pencil.

And I know I can do these things in 60 seconds because I just timed it.

5. If you live in the U.S., what are you doing for Thanksgiving?

Yay! We’re having it at our house this year, so both sets of Connor’s grandparents and my brother are coming over.

I had all of these elaborate, grand plans in my head to make every single dish from scratch…but I just couldn’t deal with the turkey, so I ended up ordering a few things from a local market that makes the best turkey and sides. So we’re gonna have that, hang out, play with the baby, and that’s it. I’m really looking forward to it.

A new week…

While doing some cleaning around the house last weekend, I found a bunch of random things I thought I’d lost, like a pan of MAC Sunbasque Blush (yay!) and a crazy cat lady action figure that my brother had given me for Christmas a few years ago.

It’s going on my shelf of cat lady things. 🙂

Don’t you love finding buried treasure around the house?

I hope you get some drama-free time off this week to relax and eat some of your favorite things. What are you up to today?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy and paste…

1. How long are your nails right now?
2. How old were you when you started cooking?
3. Describe your hair in three words.
4. What would/could you do if you only had 60 seconds to do your eye makeup?
5. What are you doing for Thanksgiving?

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 424

November 20th, 2016 by Karen 5 Comments

10 MORE things you may or may not know about Tabs

Whenever a new person visits the house, Tabs just automatically assumes that this hooman is his new BFF. He’ll walk straight up to them, flash his tum and meow for pets.
For all his diva tendencies (see #5 below), Tabs is shockingly well behaved. I almost never have to yell at him to get down off the kitchen counters or to stop clawing at the drapes or to stop pouncing at my ankles from under the stairs. He never tears into his food bags, and he doesn’t claw the furniture.
The stairs, though? Completely different story…
One morning when El Hub and I still lived at our old apartment in Mill Valley, Tabs tried to join us for brunch. The restaurant was right across a busy street from our apartment, so we set out walking.
This was when Tabs was still a 24/7 outside cat.

We’d already crossed the street when we looked back toward the apartment and saw a familiar husky tabby scooting in our direction.

“No!” I shouted, seeing cars approaching. “No, Tabs! Stop!”

Thankfully, he did. He stopped when he heard our voices and just sat there watching as if to say, “Why can’t I come?”
He loves having his fur brushed, but he’s very picky about the technique. If you brush him incorrectly for even a split second, he peaces out.
He has a knack for hanging out in forbidden places. Like, what was once the forbidden chair (a chair that El Hub got me for my birthday a few years ago) is no longer forbidden (he claimed it), and he’s been doing it again with the guest bed in baby’s bedroom.
Sometimes I sit on the bed in there while I feed Connor or just hang out, and Tabs knows that he’s not supposed hang out on that bed, but I caught him on there multiple times. I’ll walk in to find him sleeping on it all luxuriously or cleaning.

He has zero respect for personal property.
He is so not graceful. Poor buddy’s actually fallen from his cat tower a few times, and he didn’t even land on his feet. I think he fell on his side.
He loves watching television, especially nature shows. Whenever he hears an avian actor, he perks up, and his tail poofs up when he hears a dog barking.
I’ve given up on trying to find him a perfect cat bed because all he really wants to do is sleep on clean laundry.
Even as a mature tabby, he still likes climbing trees. Whenever we go out for a walk on the hill, he hops up onto at least one of the oak trees and climbs up as far as he can on his 10-foot leash.
Having watched him fall from his cat tower a few times…I’m glad he can only go up 10 feet.
His favorite foods at the moment are Nutrisca Grain-Free Chicken (his vet recommended that he stick to a low glycemic diet to maintain his energy for kitty supermodeling) dry cat food and Sheba Chicken Entrée Canned Paté.
And he gets imported New Zealand ZiwiPeak Venison & Fish Cat Cuisine on special occasions…which he loves almost as much as kitty modeling.

[Continue reading…]

5 Things I’ve Been Loving Lately | November Edition

November 18th, 2016 by Karen 24 Comments

I’ve never in my life had a Band-Aid actually match my skin tone, which goes to why I like things like My Little Pony Band-Aids. 🙂

Whew! I just finished recording a bunch of videos, and that’s the good news. The not-so-good news is that I had some technical difficulties. It’s been a while since I’ve done a lot of video, and it’s like I had to relearn everything.

Such is life!

How’s your day been?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Belated TGIF!

On a Scale of 1-10, With 10 Being Forever and a Day, How Long Are You in the Shower?

November 17th, 2016 by Karen 19 Comments

I can do many things quickly, but showering isn’t one of them. I’m probably at about a 12, to be honest.

There’s all the regular things I like to do — exfoliating and shaving all the hairy bits — and I have long hair, so that takes a long time too, yadda, yadda, yadda.

But I also kind of like to just spend time in there daydreaming. I think it’s very therapeutic. I stand there under the warm water and let my mind wander, or sometimes I sing or think back to old memories or carry on a complete conversation with myself…

In terms of vices, I don’t think it’s a really bad one.

So, yeah. I spend about 30 minutes when I’m on my regular dilly-dallying schedule, but if I’m trying to hustle, I can get that down to 15.

How about you? On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being forever and a day, how long are you in the shower?

And do you have a shower radio or a fancy shower head or any other shower accouterments? Inquiring minds want to know.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Do You Wear More Makeup During the Week or on the Weekend?

November 15th, 2016 by Karen 24 Comments

Dior Visionary Matte — Oh, ya know…just headed out to run errands on a Tuesday morning. The lip is Dior Rouge Dior Lipstick in 602 Visionary Matte, by the way.

Nowadays I hardly wear any makeup on the weekends. Like, sometimes none.

I mean, I put on a little last Saturday to go to the salon, mostly because I didn’t want to stare at myself in the mirror for two hours without having at least a little something on, but yeah, I don’t usually wear a lot of makeup on the weekends. I’ll let my skin breathe…

But that’s not the real reason. 🙂 It’s also pure laziness, because I wear a lot of makeup to blog during the week, and that’s fun and I enjoy it, but I don’t really go big right now on the weekends.

Maybe someday, you know, if Connor wants to go clubbing with her ancient mom, I’ll put some glitter on my lids and something sparkly on my lips, and we’ll go to Club X together in the city.

Oh, gosh…

How about you? Do you wear more makeup during the week, or do you wear more on the weekend?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 449

November 14th, 2016 by Karen 26 Comments

Monday essentials: a cup of coffee, my favorite watch, a new notebook, a handmade calming fragrance from my friend and one of my favorite necklaces — Monday essentials: a cup of coffee, my favorite watch, a new notebook, a handmade calming fragrance from my friend, and one of my favorite necklaces

Well, it isn’t exactly a poll. It’s more of a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random list of questions I’ve been putting out to readers every Monday morning for the past NINE (!) years. (It’s like a kickstart for your brain.) I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine. 🙂

1. Have you ever done a choreographed dance in public?

I wouldn’t be me if I said no, right?

Yes, I totally have, and I wish I could say that it was in some cool-@ss flash mob in the middle of Union Square, but no. It was a two-minute dance routine to a New Kids on the Block song in high school (I can’t remember which song; I think I blocked it out).

Oh, it gets worse…

We did it to promote this one band girl’s party.

I don’t even know what we were thinking, but we were like, “Let’s do a dance!” and then at the end of it we all yelled, “Party at Rochelle’s house!!!”

Haha!

2. Do you like to go antiquing?

I like to go with people who enjoy…

Wait –what am I saying?

Um…no. I don’t really like to go antiquing. It’s just not my thing, and I’m always afraid that I’m going to buy something haunted, to be honest.

3. Do you listen to music while you work? If so what kind of music gets you going?

If I’m reading or writing, I need to have silence or some kind of white noise, but for tasks that don’t require any verbal or written skills, I like all kinds of music.

It depends on my mood that day, but I listen to a lot of music on YouTube, or I like to stream directly from radio station websites.

4. I wish there was a _____ emoji.

Persimmon

5. Have you ever been in a food fight?

Sadly, no.

A new week…

Most of the time on the blog I don’t like to get too deep when it comes to politics, just because I’ve always viewed this as my little island away from all the…I guess, hard stuff in the world, but I want to say that no matter what side of the fence you’re on, I hope you can remember that there are still good people out there.

You’re a good person, the people around you are good people, and we’re all just doing the best we can.

It’s a new week, my friend. I hope you have a good one.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy and paste…

1. Have you ever done a choreographed dance in public?
2. Do you like to go antiquing?
3. Do you listen to music while you work? If so what kind of music gets you going?
4. I wish there was a _____ emoji.
5. Have you ever been in a food fight?

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 423

November 13th, 2016 by Karen 9 Comments

10 things you may or may not know about Tabs

He’s a ho for egg yolk, a.k.a. an “egg yolk connoisseur.”
He’s a decent babysitter. He’ll hang out with me and Connor as long as he gets pet by someone’s hand, whether it be mine or the baby’s.
He’ll politely harass you to get his wet food at 9:30 every night, on the dot. He’ll sit in the kitchen doorway staring and staring and staring until you feed him…
He likes to supervise me when I use the loo first thing in the morning, and he’s very insistent about it. He’ll scratch at the door, and even if it’s only open a sliver, he’ll use his girth to push his way in.
In his old age, he just doesn’t give a sh*t anymore. All the things that used to bother him as a younger cat, like me running on the treadmill when he’s napping on the bed. He used to leave the room because of the noise, but now he’s like, “Whatev…” and just keeps napping.
He still gets fired up after eating wet food. He’ll save up all of his energy to go completely buck wild for 15 solid minutes after finishing his gravy.
If I’m in the kitchen and open a can of anything, he’ll be down there in less than 10 seconds, no matter what. I actually time it. I count out loud. Last night I opened a can of black beans, and it took him 7 seconds to show up.
He’s getting worse about hanging out around my feet, especially when I’m turned around. I’ve almost tripped over him a few times. This usually happens in the kitchen.
Honestly, sometimes I think he teases Connor. When he’s outside her Pack ‘n’ Play and she’s inside it, he stares at her as if to say, “Neener, neener. I’m outside and you’re not.”
He’s WAY bolder than he used to be about stealing food. When he was younger, he was quite polite about leaving human food to the humans, but now I have to watch him like a hawk. I can’t leave any food unattended, because he’ll grab it in his mouth and run away or start drinking your milky tea when you’re not looking.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addicts,

Karen and Tabs

Bold Lips or Nude Lips?

November 11th, 2016 by Karen 27 Comments

red lips or nude lips — Bold lips? Nude lips? Decisions, decisions!

Which one do you like to wear more: nude lips or bold lips? Girl, you know me. I feel like a one-trick pony because all I do is wear nude lips, but I am trying to do Karen 2.0 and wear more bold lip colors.

So, I’m gonna say “bold lips 4 life” right now. This shade, by the way, that I’m wearing, that bold lip on the right, ’cause I know you’re gonna ask me — 🙂 — is The Body Shop Sydney Amaryllis Matte Lip Liquid.

That’s what I’m wearing. It’s a warm red, and it’s awesome. And the nude is from the Too Faced Funfetti set. It’s a lipgloss — a very warm nude, and super sheer. It’s nice if you just want a little sum’n sum’n.

How about you? Nude lips or bold?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIFFFFFFFFFF!!! What a week for the ages.

P.P.S. Happy Veterans Day!!!!