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What’s It Like to Be a Mom?

September 29th, 2016 by Karen 31 Comments



connor-and-karen-golden-gate-bridge-2

It’s harder in some ways than I thought it would be, but it’s easier in others, and before I had Connor, to be honest, for many years, I put off having children because I was deathly afraid that I would be a terrible mother.

Not like I’m the “no wire hangers” lady, but I thought, “Oh, I’m gonna traumatize this child in so many ways. This child is gonna be a complete nut.”

And then I would think, Ted Bundy has a mother… What if I give birth to Ted Bundy?

Ya know, all the crazy stuff that runs through your head, or runs through my head…

But then people would tell me, “You’ll do great. You’ll be fine. You’re gonna be a great mom.”

I could give you a list a mile long of the things that I feel I do wrong in life. So many things. But even though it’s only been seven months, I think I’ve been a pretty darned good mom.

It’s just so different putting anyone else’s needs so completely before your own. I always thought I was too selfish for it, but now I just want to give her everything. Whatever I have. I don’t even know where I’m going with this…

[Continue reading…]

There are 31 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Connor Claire, Daily Photo

Things I Get Weirdly Excited About: The Trader Joe’s Fearless Flyer

September 28th, 2016 by Karen 25 Comments

trader-joes-fearless-flyer-1

Girl, I’m about to go to Trader Joe’s.

No, seriously. I got the Fearless Flyer in the mail yesterday, and instead of reading my book in bed last night, I read the Fearless Flyer.

It’s all pumpkin everything! There are pumpkin pies, pumpkin baking mixes, pumpkin juice, pumpkin macarons… Even pumpkin dog treats.

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I don’t know what to do with myself. I hope I actually leave the store with some of the things I need, because I need to get some organic fruit and vegetables. I better not just get pumpkin things and stuff in boxes.

That’s the plan, and I’m sticking to it. 🙂

trader-joes-fearless-flyer-2

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 25 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun

LORAC Mega Pro Palette 3: An Emoji Review ?

September 28th, 2016 by Karen 25 Comments

lorac-mega pro 3 palette swatches
Wearing the new LORAC Mega Pro 3 Palette on my lids

Who was the genius who decided that this needed to be white?

I mean, I had it open for about two seconds before there was eyeshadow all over the packaging, all over the inside of it, the outside of it, all over me. I don’t even know. It was a mess!

lorac-mega pro 3 palette swatches
Believe it or not, this was taken after I tried to clean the palette, OMG!

I really like it, though. There are so many colors, and it has this rose gold theme, which feels kinda 2013, but eh — I’ll go with it. I think the best things, by far, are the first two rows. They’re all mattes! (All matte errrthing.) And these mattes are just so freaking juicy, soft and super easy to blend.

This whole grunge thing happening on my lids? (Well, I’m also wearing a couple shimmers. Let me just throw that out there.) I did it in like 10 minutes.

Maybe instead of writing the rest of this review, I’ll just use emojis, since that’s where we’re headed anyway. Why even bother with the English language? Just use emojis. That’s how Connor will probably communicate with me in the future anyway. Might as well get a jump on it. 🙂

lorac-mega pro 3 palette swatches
Pristine for like two seconds!

Eyeshadow texture: ?
Pigment: ?
Fallout: ?
Shade selection: ?
Blending: ?
Mattes: ?
Shimmers:?
Packaging: ?

PRICE: $59
AVAILABILITY: Limited edition and available now at LORAC counters and Ulta
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: ?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 25 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Eyes, LORAC, Makeup, Palettes, Product Reviews

When a Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words, or How I Really Feel About Hourglass Incandescent Electra Blush

September 28th, 2016 by Karen 31 Comments

hourglass incandescent electra
Living for the Hourglass Ambient Blush in Incandescent Electra (I’m wearing it on my cheeks!)

It’s expensive, but it’s so good. Even though Hourglass has really expensive products, especially the blushes, the powder products? — oh, my gosh. Basically, my nightmare scenario with blush is that I go outside and I’m wearing two little circles on my cheeks, but with this blush, that never happens. I can put it on with one foot out the door, and it looks great. You could be falling out of a plane while putting on blush, and you’d land, and your cheeks would look legit.

PRICE: $38
AVAILABILITY: Available now in the Hourglass permanent line
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A+

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Well, basically my whole life has been a lie. I found out yesterday that NASA says that the sky has essentially shifted, and so all of the zodiac signs are a little different. Plus, there’s a thirteenth zodiac sign now, and apparently I’m no longer a Gemini, at least according to NASA. I’m a Taurus.

I can’t even deal… I just can’t.

There are 31 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Face, Hourglass, Makeup, Product Reviews

A Close Call

September 27th, 2016 by Karen 22 Comments



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So…something scary happened last night. There was a big fire on the ridge across the street from our house!

Right after I took this pic, big flames shot up the hill. Needless to say, I freaked out a little.

El Hub started hosing down the roof and the trees and the hill outside, while I…well, I ate an apple.

Yeah, that goes to show how useful I am in stressful situations, LOL!

Maybe I was subconsciously carbo-loading for what I thought would be a long night ahead…

We started preparing to be evacuated, which has happened to some of the neighborhoods in the Bay Area lately because of wildfires. I pulled the cat carrier out of the closet, called my parents to let them know what was up, and made an odd mental list of things I’d need to grab before running out the door, like the baby (of course), Tabs, the backup drives, my personal documents and a box of keepsakes and mementos I’ve had since I was a kid.

I also came to the humbling realization that I really have no control over anything. In my mind, I like to think that I’m in control of my life and the things that happen in it, but if those flames had turned our way, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it.

It was very scary.

We found out later that it was a two-alarm vegetation fire. Dozens of homes were evacuated, but luckily there were no injuries, and no homes were destroyed.

That was a close one!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 22 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Daily Photo

15-Minute Makeup: MAC Lilacked/MAC Woodwinked/MAC Wedge/MAC Post Modern/Hourglass Incandescent Electra

September 27th, 2016 by Karen 7 Comments

mac lilacked woodwinked

Honestly, because most days, 15 minutes is about all the time I get to put on makeup.

Oh, and I may or may not be wearing a sports bra as my top in this pic. ?

mac lilacked woodwinked

[Continue reading…]

There are 7 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Face of the Day (FOTD), Hourglass, MAC Makeup

Smell This ASAP: New McQueen Eau De Parfum

September 27th, 2016 by Karen 24 Comments

mcqueen eau de parfum

The whole idea of fragrance commercials on TV is totally weird.

Isn’t it?

Companies desperately trying to get us interested in a scent through a medium where we can’t actually smell the perfume. There we are just eating our morning oatmeal while a supermodel rolls around on a beach for 30 seconds whispering about “Seduction happens on the sand…”

I guess it’s supposed to be metaphorical, you know, to capture the essence of what it feels like to wear the scent, and maybe then we’ll stop by the fragrance counter on our next trip to a department store, but I dunno…

It’s kind of like what’s happening with this blog post right now. 🙂

I suppose that I could just list the fragrance notes in this $115 bottle of McQueen Eau de Parfum, the pricey new fragrance by fancy fashion house Alexander McQueen (night-blooming flowers, sambac jasmine, tuberose and ylang ylang).

That would probably be more useful than these pictures…

mcqueen eau de parfum

mcqueen eau de parfum

mcqueen eau de parfum

[Continue reading…]

There are 24 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Fragrance, Product Reviews

A Day at the Beach

September 26th, 2016 by Karen 21 Comments












karen-connor-beach

You know you’re from Northern California when you go to the beach and you’re shocked — SHOCKED! — to find that you don’t need to wear a sweater or jacket.

We took Connor to the beach for the first time yesterday. We went to Fort Cronkhite, which is on the northern tip of the Golden Gate on the Pacific side, because it was in the 90s and probably the last hurrah for hot weather here in this part of the Bay Area.

It’s usually windy and cold at the beaches here, but it was warm enough yesterday for a tee. And there were actual regular people swimming, too. Not just surfers clad in wetsuits.

It was probably still a little surprising for Connor because she started crying when her toes touched the water for the first time.

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[Continue reading…]

There are 21 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Daily Photo

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