Guess who I saw on my walk today? Charlize, the dainty tabby girl who lives down the hill. I haven’t seen her in a few months, so it was nice to spend some time with her.
Walking Buddy
Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 247
You might be wondering, “So what the heck is this Monday Poll thing anyway?”
Well, it isn’t much of a poll. It’s more just a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random list of questions I’ve been putting out to readers every Monday morning for the past four years. I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.
- Mood:
Excellent! 🙂 I love the holidays, even though it’s technically not even December yet. - Do you wear workout clothing when you’re aren’t working out?
I didn’t used to, but then I found Zella, which is like Nordstrom’s in-house, less expensive version of Lululemon.They make some pretty fashionable stretchy pants and shirts. I mean, they still look like workout clothes, sure, but their little design details and colors make it look like you’re at least trying and haven’t completely given up, LOL!
- If you were a pilot, what would be your call sign (like Starbuck, Boomer and Apollo from Battlestar Galactica)?
I’d be 9 Lives, and Tabs would be Big Boy. 🙂Can you imagine Tabs in the cockpit of a fighter jet with his little helmet on?? It would need cutouts for his ears.
Gawd, I’m such a cat lady…
- Are you doing any shopping for Cyber Monday?
I haven’t yet, but if a tube of NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer accidentally falls into my cart during the NARS Friends and Family sale (through Tuesday, get 20% off all orders at narscosmetics.com with code NARSFF2012 at checkout), I wouldn’t take it out. - What are three things you’re loving in your makeup bag now?
Chanel Le Volume Mascara (life changing, babe!), Laura Mercier Creme
Metallic Eye Colour in Gold and Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Moonstone.I’ve been into that wide-eyed, glowing, dewy skin look lately, and these three have been helping me get there.
- Have you done any decorating around the house for the holidays yet?
Not yet, but I can’t wait! I want to get the tree and window lights up by next weekend. - Do you like it when it snows?
It doesn’t snow here in the Bay Area, but I live within driving distance of places that get a lot of snow every winter and don’t feel the urge to visit those places because of the white stuff…I’m not really big on being cold and wet.
- Did you Skype anyone over Thanksgiving?
Nope, not this time. I’ve had to in the past because we’d spend the day with either El Hub’s family in Hawaii or my family here. This time, though, both sets of parents came to our house to celebrate. It was nice having everyone under one roof. - Any plans to go ice skating over the holidays?
Heck, yeah! I may not be into snow, but get me on a pair of skates, and I’m happy as a clam (on skates).I think I’m that one one annoying person who likes to zip around everyone else at top speed! — because I still haven’t figured out how to stop without running into people or walls.
- Weekly goals:
Be mindful of the time I spend on different tasks (seriously, this is one of my biggest challenges week after week), keep the living room from falling into disarray again after it was all straightened out for Thanksgiving, start my Christmas shopping, and try to not be so fearful of change (I’m going to try getting up earlier in the morning to help with my schedule).
Hello, my friend. Happy Monday! 🙂
Okay, kinda random, but you know how I’m a fan of Battlestar Galactica, right? Well, they’ve got this new series of 10-minute webisodes on Youtube right now called Blood & Chrome, which follows a young William Adama, fresh out of flight school, on his first mission in the Cylon War.
I think you’ll like it if you enjoyed the Sci-Fi Channel version of the series that was on a few years ago.
Sorry! Sidetrack over. Let’s get back to the Monday Poll, shall we? 🙂
To complete the Monday Poll, just copy the following list, and paste it with your answers in the comments.
Le List
1. Mood:
2. Do you wear workout clothing when you’re aren’t working out?
3. If you were a pilot, what would be your call sign (like Starbuck, Boomer and Apollo from Battlestar Galactica)?
4. Are you doing any shopping for Cyber Monday?
5. What are three things you’re loving in your makeup bag now?
6. Have you done any decorating around the house for the holidays yet?
7. Do you like it when it snows?
8. Did you Skype anyone over Thanksgiving?
9. Any plans to go ice skating over the holidays?
10. Weekly goals:
It’s the last week of November, so let’s wrap up the month with a bang! 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
It Takes Courage
It takes courage to embrace change.
Big or small, whatever changes you want to make in your life, remember that you can do it.
Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 219
SUNDAY, NOV. 25, 2012 — Today outside
My taller assistant accompanied me on my tour of the grounds this afternoon. I believe the girl refers to him as “El Hub.”
Nice enough fellow, I suppose. Not very talkative though. Our whole time outside, I think he only said two words to me: “Come here,” which he barked repeatedly (how rude!).
I’ve heard the phrase before, but I’m not sure what it means. I assume it’s some sort of compliment…
The tour was uneventful. No cat intruders or dog sightings, and I didn’t see any of those gigantic flightless birds that always yell, “gobble, gobble!” Odd, because I saw quite a few of them before Thursday of last week…
I got hungry while we were patrolling the periphery of the estate, but I didn’t want to break for lunch, so I just had a salad of grass saplings along the way.
This year’s crop has been exquisite; I can’t remember the last year they were this crisp and sweet.
I looked for that tiny tabby who lives on one of the neighboring estates but didn’t see her. I wanted to ask her if she has a kitty modeling agent, because she has great bone structure.
Oh, well. Next time… That reminds me, I should bring some business cards on my walks.
When I got back to the office, I made a few calls and updated my portfolio with pictures from my latest modeling jobs.
Would you care to take a look?
Silly me. Of course you would.
-Tabs
Urban Decay Naked Basics Swatches and Pics
Super new from Urban Decay: the new Urban Decay Naked Basics palette ($27). It’s a matte palette with neutral shades designed to complement both the Naked and Naked2 palettes.
Naked Basics includes six full-size shadows with four new shades:
- Venus: a demi- matte soft off-white
- Foxy: a matte light yellowish beige
- Walk of Shame: a matte light pinkish nude
- Naked2: a matte rosy taupe
- Faint: a matte warm brown
- Crave: a matte dark brownish black
Find it soon at Sephora, Ulta and select Macy’s stores, and online November 29 on urbandecay.com.
Something to Remember
Albeit Lipstick From Anthropologie
Spotted these cute Albeit Lipsticks at Anthropologie today. They’re $18 each, blended with argan oil and vitamin E, and available in six shades:
- Bisque: a slightly rosy, warm beige
- Peony: a clean, fresh, medium pink
- Mauvette: a dusty mauve, muted pink
- Claret: a rosy berry shade
- Vermilion: a dramatic creamy red with blue undertones
- Mulberry: a red-tinged, deep aubergine
Find ’em now exclusively at Anthropologie stores and anthropologie.com.
Two Ways to Win a $50 eGift Card From Sephora!
WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winner is Carol! Congratulations, Carol! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂
World’s Best Programmer: Tabs the Cat.
Programmer, gamer, hacker, creator of famous 8-bit graphical works of art — not to mention world-renowned plus-size kitty supermodel.
Tabs sent a very important email last night…an email that could change the course of history and alter the fabric of space and time, at least as it pertains to plus-size kitty supermodeling and professional gaming.
It was an email sent to Satoru Iwata, the current president of Nintendo corporation, the world’s largest video game company by revenue, and it starts with the line, “Let me resurrect Donkey Kong.”
Unbeknownst to me before last night, Tabs actually has an honorary degree in computer programming from NIT (the Novato Institute of Technology).
You see, back before he got into modeling, even before his stint as a construction worker, Tabs was a famous script kitty… Actually, he was the scr1ptki77y, otherwise known as the cat who hacked the PetCo corporate network, which was believed to be impregnable at the time.
Anyway, Tabs gave up hacking and transitioned to kitty modeling shortly after the PetCo incident, when it started looking like the authorities were closing in on him.
This was a few years ago, and since then the statute of limitations on kitty hacking expired, and so Tabs is now comfortable publicly discussing this part of his past…
In the email to Iwata, Tabs included the first 500 lines of code for his new game engine, which he claims is so sophisticated that it makes Halo and Call of Duty look like Pong.
Time will tell, I guess. If Iwata responds and offers a coding job to Tabs, Makeup and Beauty Blog may be going on temporary hiatus…
If that happens, this could be one of the last Sephora eGift card giveaways for a while. You better enter this one right now, just in case. 🙂
What folks are saying…
“What a lovely surprise it was to see your announcement (after completing one of many exams/papers/projects I have this crazy week)! The eCard will definitely ease expenses for this broke, beauty-obsessed college student. Thank you, Karen and Tabs!!”
-Katie“Thanks so much, Karen. Just in case you were wondering what I got with it, I decided to go with the Clarisonic Mia–I’ve been wanting it for years now, but have never purchased it because of the price. Your eCard helped me finally buy it! I look forward to using it. Thanks again!”
-Jane“Shut the front door! OMG Karen, you have made my day. 🙂 I’m sick in bed with the flu and this has just cheered me up immensely!!!!!!!! BTW, I’m the one that sent you that pic of my pug in a wig a few weeks back LOL! Thanks again, honestly, I’m beyond giddy right now.”
-Angel“Thank you SO much Karen! OMG! Wishes really do come true! I can’t believe I won! You have no idea how much this will help me through the holidays. I’ve been an avid fan of your blog for the past two years. Your witty and creative entries, informative makeup information, and beautiful photos have kept me hooked. I look forward to more of it. Goodness, you’ve
seriously just made my week and it’s only Tuesday night!”
-Zharlynne“Oh my goodness! Thank you so much Karen (and Tabs, of course)! I really appreciate this! I’d been eyeing the Anastasia brow pencil in Strawburn to match my red hair!”
-Chelsea (and Jiji the kitten and Quincy the bunny)“Hi Karen. Thank you so much, I’m so excited, I’ve never won anything before. My name is Hana … I just turned 25 (today is my birthday!) Yay! Thank you.”
-Hana
- One (1) Sephora eGift card containing $50 sent to the winner by email (international readers, you may opt to receive $50 sent by PayPal instead).
- There are two ways to enter, and you can do both of them for two chances to win. First, you can enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post, a comment about anything at all, like, what’s your all-time favorite video game (and favorite game of the moment)? Have you ever written a computer program? Do you do more of your makeup and beauty shopping in stores or online? What’s your favorite beauty brand website? Do you use any electronic devices in your beauty regimen (iPhones, Clarisonics, vibrating mascara wands, etc.)? How many bits are in a byte? Just for fun, how do you see technology changing the beauty industry 20 years from now? — you get the idea.
- Second, you can enter by following me on
Twitter @karenmbb and retweeting (RT) the following message:
- Follow @karenmbb and RT to Win a $50 eGift Card from Sephora! http://bit.ly/UyhKP2
- The deadline to enter is Sunday, November 25, 2012 at 11:59PM (PT).
- Entrants must enter using a valid email address and/or Twitter account to win.
- A maximum of two (2) entries per person — one within the comments at the bottom of this post, and a second entry via Twitter addressed to me @karenmbb.
- Contest is open to individuals of any country who have reached the age of majority according to their local laws (18 in the United States with these exceptions: Alabama and Nebraska, 19; Mississippi, 21).
- Sephora eGift Certificates can only be redeemed online and are not valid in stores or available for purchase or redemption in Canada. International winners may opt to substitute the Sephora eGift card prize for $50 sent directly to their email address by PayPal instead.
- Tabs and I (heretofore referred to as “T-Money and K-Dawg”) will select one (1) winner at random from the entries either left in the comments at the bottom of this blog post or addressed to @karenmbb on Twitter.
- The winner will be announced here within 48 hours of the deadline.
- Void where prohibited by law.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winner is Carol! Congratulations, Carol! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂