Thursday, November 29, 2012

What did you do to your eyes?

Black cashmere vneck,
Black pencil skirt,
Awesome tights, penguin shoes
I work in an office within a building where I’m stuffed into a cubicle facing the corner with my back to everyone and everything. I like it because I can shut the world out and do my work and no one bothers me. The people I normally talk to are all over the country, so no one sees me except for the other two cubicle dwellers I share an office with and a few others in the building.

Dooce taught me that I should never blog about work, so that’s enough about that.

The reason I mention this at all is because I rarely wear makeup to work. No one ever sees me and it’s a hassle in the morning, and I hardly see my husband during the week, so I have taken to not wearing makeup during the week.

I love beauty products, I love wearing makeup, and playing with different looks. I just don’t like to do it for the day to day crap where no one ever looks at me or cares what I look like.

I always dress nicely for work: skirts, heels, pantyhose, blouses… blah blah. I find it interesting that no one asks me why I’m so dressed up unless I’m wearing makeup.

I wore makeup today: foundation, blush, eyeliner, mascara, lip gloss. Nothing fancy at all. My nails are even naked today!

I had the following conversation with a co-worker:

Him: “What did you do to your eyes?”

Me: “What?”

“Your eyes look different.”

“Different?”

“Yeah, something is different with your eyes.”

“Like how? (pauses) Oh. I’m wearing makeup. I don’t normally wear makeup.”

“Oh, I guess that’s what it is. Well, you always look beautiful”

End scene.

Someone else asked me why I was so dressed up. I’m not wearing anything different than I would wear on a normal day.

Huey has been showering at night because he has this long, shaggy hair and he gets cold when his hair is wet and he has to walk to the bus stop in the morning. This causes me to have extra time in the morning because I don’t have to hound him to get in the shower. I was really happy because I had new tights and put together a fun outfit today, so I took the time to put on minimal makeup.

I find it interesting that it made such a difference that people noticed enough to comment.

Also, wearing makeup equals “dressed up” to some people.

Monday, November 26, 2012

Blue Sparkle Butterflies

Essie Limoscene, Julep Blue Glitter, Butterfly stickers
Dewey once again picked out my colours. I used a base of Essie Limoscene - a sheer ivory. Then I did a gradient with Julep's blue glitter. I topped off with blue, white, and silver butterfly stickers. There are blue hearts on my thumb.

For me, this is fun, but it's a little much. There's a lot going on with this nail art. The manicure has lasted a long time, but I just can't stare at it for more than a couple of days.

I'm more of a simple girl.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

New Shoe Review - Shoe dazzle

I had seen ads on television and on the internet about Shoe Dazzle. The buy one get one free is what did it in for me. I can never escape a good deal, so I thought "what the heck?" and signed up.

I found the shoes to be reasonably priced, mostly at forty dollars. Seemed like a good deal to me. I have recently thrown out some shoes that were trashed, and that's how I justified the new purchase.

I signed up, but wished I hadn't. I had a hard time even finding two pair of shoes that I liked. Most of the shoes are the huge, platform, Kim Kardashian, Herman Munster type shoes that look great in a size five, but not so much in a size nine.

That being said, I LOVE the black Giselles! They are so comfortable! The straps dig nowhere, nor do they rub. I feel like my feet are being hugged. The shoes are well made. They don't seem like they will fall apart anywhere or any time soon. They go with pants, skirts, and jeans. I've worn them to work, on a date, and to church. They go with everything. I am totally in love with these. They are my new new NEW favorites!

I'm not sure about the other ones. I thought that they were denim blue stripes, but they're black. I was hoping they would go with jeans and casual skirts, but the platform is so huge. I look like I belong on Drag Race, what with my super short hair and all over tallness.

Seeing that I could hardly find anything I like, I'm pretty sure I will not be going back to this website, but the shoes are quality and worth the price. It's a good place to go if you like those kind of shoes. Not being a fan of the style, and the fact that they have no variety will keep me away.


Thursday, November 22, 2012

Meet me at Sunset - Essie

Essie Meet Me At Sunset
This is hands down my favourite nail colour.

I was looking for a true orange, but came across this and thought I'd try it.

The formula is awesome. It goes on smooth and thin and not goopy or gloppy. One coat looks perfect, but of course two looks better.

It's the reddest orange you can get without being red. It's such a bright, happy colour! Every time I wear it, it makes me happy.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Plumeria Pendant Necklace

Plumeria Necklace
I bought this in Maui in January 2007.

DH and I had wanted to go to Hawaii for our honeymoon, but we were poor newlyweds and couldn’t afford it. DH went to school in Hawaii, and I had never been, so he wanted to show it to me. I had thought that we could save up and go for our tenth anniversary.

After we had been married for a year, my in-laws took us and DH’s sister and her husband to Hawaii and Oahu for a vacation. I fell in LOVE with Hawaii. To the point that I don’t know whether I would prefer my beloved home of Vancouver, or Hawaii for my ideal place to live forever.

The plumeria is my favourite Hawaiian flower. I love the simplicity of the shape of the flower. They come in many colours, but my favourite is the white ones that are edged in yellow.

We went to Maui for our tenth anniversary, and the place we were staying had a plumeria tree by the sidewalk on the way to the beach. Every day, I picked up a flower off the grass and tucked it behind my ear.

We were shopping on the actual day of our anniversary, and I found this necklace and some earrings. I bought them for myself for my annivearsary. It cost ten dollars.

I love the simplicity of the necklace. I love the black-and-white. It goes with everything. I dress it up, I dress it down. I love the leather thong - it gives it a little edge.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Things that must go – Mustaches

I’m done with mustaches.

Not the ones on men’s faces, and DEFINITELY not Movember, I love Movember and support it wholeheartedly.

I’m done with the ironic hipster mustaches on everything. T-shirts, mugs, necklaces, sunglasses, rings, cell phone covers…. Stop it!

I have decided that all the hipster twentysomethings are just getting to the point where they can actually grow a real looking mustache and so it’s a novelty. Remember the goatees and sideburns of the early nineties? I get it; you can finally grow real looking facial hair! And there are so many hilariously ironic awesome things you can do with a mustache! Like save things for later, but have you ever tried to kiss a guy with a mustache? Not ironic or funny or cool – it’s itchy and it tickles. Sometimes it makes you sneeze.

I know that Tom Selleck is the poster man for mustaches. I am SO on board with Tom Selleck, do not misunderstand me, but remember that episode of Friends where Chandler and Joey tried to grow mustaches? Yeah, not everyone can be Tom Selleck.

Thank. Goodness.

Growing a mustache is one thing, but decorating yourself with a mustache is another. It’s boring me. Quit it. You’re bugging me!

Except for the mustache finger tattoos where you can put your finger up to your lip to pretend you have a mustache. Those are funny

Friday, November 16, 2012

Weight update - 170

I started this blog so that I could document my descent into my old fabulous more skinny but not too skinny body.

FAIL.

I was reviewing my blog posts and at the beginning of the year I was hovering between 162 and 165. Now I’m lucky to be 168!! This is not good, people. The year I was going to focus on losing weight and being more healthy has had the opposite effect.

I thought when you weighed yourself everyday you were supposed to be more conscious of what you ate and you automatically lost weight! Guess not.

The saddest thing is that I haven’t changed anything. It’s not like I have less activity or I’m eating more or even eating less healthy. I’m eating the same and exercising the same and I’m gaining weight! I know this is partly a hormonal thing, but it’s also a Dr. Pepper/cheeseburger/not-walking-Orso thing.

For the first time in my life, I am actually considered overweight for my height (5’7”). This is not acceptable. I never ever thought this would happen to me. I have never had to worry about my weight. Like, EVER.

I don’t care about the number as much as I care about how my clothes are fitting. My wardrobe choices are diminishing as my “fat clothes” are all I can wear right now. It is unacceptable to literally have nothing to wear and I refuse to buy new clothes because that is accepting defeat.

I’m due for a check-up and I know I need my thyroid re-checked. That might help.

Nails and The Chamber of Secrets

Julep Halloween box
I ordered a Halloween Mystery box from Julep for $19.99. I LOOOVE me a Mystery Box!

Inside were three nail colours; two glitter pots – one blue, one purple, and some nail tattoos. I didn’t know there was such a thing as nail tattoos.

I didn’t have time with the preparation for Halloween and the carving of pumpkins and the in-laws visiting and Dewey’s eighth birthday for any Halloween themed nail art. It made me sad. “O well, next year”, I thought.

Last weekend we had our second snowfall. We’re having an early winter to make up for last year’s late one, I guess. Huey and DH were at Scout Camp, I had a training, and so Dewey spent the day at a friend’s house while it snowed all day long. I got home first, so after picking up Dewey we decided we were going to have some Mummy and Son time. I asked him what he wanted to do, and he suggested I paint my nails while he plays on the computer and we watch Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets. We are currently reading the book – this is Dewey’s first time with the books and he loves them – and he wanted to refresh his memory on what happens in the movie.

Dewey’s so sweet – he thought of something we both would enjoy. He knows how much I enjoy painting my nails, so that’s why he chose that for me. I suggested he pick out my nail colours while I got the movie started. I had also let him pick my colours for his birthday, but didn’t have time to do the exact nail art I had planned and just went with one plain colour. Dewey likes to pick more than one nail colour and designs, etc. He likes me to be fabulous.

An aside – the other day, Dewey and DH were hanging out and DH asked Dewey “What’s your mother doing?” Dewey responded, “Painting her nails, what else?” as if I spend all my time painting my nails. I took massive offense to this as at that time I hadn’t sat down to paint my nails in over two weeks!! I had finally taken a minute to myself on a Sunday to do what I love best while everyone else was doing things they enjoyed, and I got mocked for it! Sheesh!!

The left hand is what he picked for his birthday, and the right is what he picked for our “time” together. He also picked out which glitter and which tattoos I used.

Left Hand
Left hand:
Pinky; Julep Morgan and purple Glitter
Ring finger; Julep Morgan, Julep Maggie polka dots, Essie Shine of the Times glitter top coat
Middle finger; Julep Taylor gradient to Julep Morgan, Essie Shine of the Times glitter top coat
Pointer finger; Julep Morgan gradient to Julep Taylor, Essie Shine of the Times glitter top coat (reverse of middle finger)
Thumb; Julep Maggie and purple glitter.





Right Hand
Right hand:
Thumb; Julep January with Essie Shine of the Times glitter top coat
Pointer; Julep January, skull and cross bones tattoo
Middle; Julep January, RIP tattoo
Ring; Julep January, Candelabra tattoo
Pinky; Julep January, purple glitter.

Dewey wanted me to do my whole hand with the red January underneath the purple glitter with the tattoos on top. I have issues with purple and red together, so I placated him with the pinky.

I have never tried a gradient look before and I love how it turned out! There will be many gradient looks coming in the future! I think it turned out really awesome. I also think the glitter turned out really cool. The glitter is really fine and easy to apply. There was no mess and glitter sticking to everything like I had envisioned.

Another thing is this manicure has lasted me all week. I did the manicure last Saturday night, and here it is Thursday and I’m just getting around to taking photos. I don’t know if it’s the new top coat that I bought, or if it’s the layers of polish. Last week, I used three thin coats instead of my usual two (sometimes I can even get away with one coat) and the manicure lasted for a week instead of the usual two days. I also let the manicure ‘cure’ for an hour while we watched the rest of Harry Potter. I suspect it’s a combination of the new top coat, letting the manicure harden, and more coats that have caused this manicure to last so long.

Weird. I thought that the more coats you put on the more easily it chips!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Things That Must Go – Leggings at church

A few things:
I’m forty years old; meaning that I have lived through multiple leggings trends. I think leggings are fun, but they have their place.
Leggings are not pants, but are worn like pants and are considered pants in certain circumstances.
I am an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We believe in dressing modestly. No short skirts, nothing sleeveless or strapless, no obvious cleavage, etc.

Leggings are not an excuse to wear a short skirt or dress to church because they cover your knees and your skirt doesn't. If you are wearing leggings in this manner, you are wearing pants and a tunic. You do not wear pants to church.

If you couldn’t wear the skirt to church without the leggings, then you shouldn’t be wearing the skirt to church. (in regular life, fine - I'm not judging. There is separate standard for what you wear to church)

Leggings are casual wear. You are supposed to dress up for church. Leggings are a popular trend, but they are not appropriate for church. There is a time and place for leggings, church is not one of those places.

You are not allowed to wear leggings with short skirts/dresses at BYU. Most of the girls I see wearing leggings to church are Cougar fans.

Please stop dressing your girls in leggings and short skirts for church. I know that they are wonderful because they can wear a skirt and run around and not show their panties. I have two problems with this. One, little girls are supposed to be reverent at church, not climbing all over the pew and running and jumping around. Two, we should be teaching our little girls how to behave like a lady in a skirt. There is a way we behave when we’re in play clothes, and there is a way to behave when wearing our Sunday Best.

I know how hard it is to find modest length skirts. I was tall and thin my whole life. Do you know how hard it was for me when I was a size two to find a skirt that would go to my knees that still fit my waist? One of the main reasons why I sewed my own clothes was because I could never find anything in the stores that fit me around the middle that was long enough. However, we live in Utah where there are many stores that cater to the LDS modesty demographic.

Wearing leggings does not make up for the fact that you are wearing a short skirt. You are still wearing a short skirt. Wearing leggings is casual, not Sunday appropriate. Stop it, it is driving me crazy.

Look of the Day 11-15-12 Grey V Neck Sweater

Orso is a great accessory
I know that I’ve written in the past how I have a perfect thing and something happens to it (like it wears out) and I can never find a replacement.

WAIT - That's a lie. I’ve written in the past how I find the perfect thing and I don’t buy it and then have buyer’s remorse for years because I didn’t buy it and it haunts me because it was so perfect and would go with everything but the time has passed and I can’t find it anywhere!

So this is similar in that I can’t find the thing that I’m looking for anywhere.

A long, long time ago when I was nineteen I had a very fashion conscious boyfriend. He was, like, SO fabulous. He had a grey v-neck sweater that I adopted. I wore it with everything; jeans, my black and white houndstooth pants, a black skirt and tights, etc. It hung right and was warm enough and not itchy and held its shape and was well made and I could go on, but let’s just leave it there and say it was perfect.

I returned it along with some other things he gave/loaned to me after we broke up. (He let me keep the ring, though!)

Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why o why did I return that sweater? I guess I was moving on to a new phase of my life and didn’t want it to remind me of my old phase. That, or it was because I was completely over him and I knew that he really liked the sweater too and I was just borrowing it and technically it belonged to him, so out of a sense of right and wrong or something I returned it. I didn’t need a souvenir from our relationship.

This was the longest relationship I had been in so far: a whopping 18 months. Even though he broke up with me I think the break-up bothered him more than it bothered me, and it was the first time that I had ever been dumped where I didn’t want the guy back. The minute he left, I was so glad we were over. I knew he was right that we should break up, and I was over him. He was the first ex-boyfriend that I was able to honestly be just friends with afterwards. No part of me yearned to get back together with him ever and that has remained true still to this day. There has never been any hard feelings between us. 

So I guess that’s why I returned the sweater.

Any way…..

I was getting some things in Costco the other day and I walked past this grey v-neck cable knit Tommy Hilfiger sweater for $19.99 and I had to buy it. Not because of all the memories of the ex, but because of all the memories of the outfits! It’s perfect and I hope that it never wears out!!

I should have bought two.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

White Crochet Cable-knit Cardigan

DH and I, Not the best photo of the sweater, but it'll do
A long time ago I had a white cardigan that I had bought from Fred Meyer. It was really soft and cozy and I wore it all the time. When buttoned up, it had a v-neck so I used to wear it on its’ own.

For Mother’s day that year, my husband bought me a white cable-knit cardigan that he got from Costco. I was a little disappointed. Why did he buy me a white cardigan? I already had a white cardigan that I wore all the time!

Well, this new cardigan became my new favourite. It was a lot more classy than my old white cardigan. It was also more sturdy, so it went with more things and covered more seasons. I ended up getting rid of the old white cardigan because the new one was so much better.

Six years later, we were travelling a lot between central Utah and home because DH’s dad had passed away and we were taking care of the house that he left behind. During this time, we discovered that Huey got carsick. One time he was complaining that he was cold and DH wouldn’t turn on the heat in the car, so I gave him my beloved cardigan. Next thing we heard was an announcement that he was going to throw up, followed by the sounds of throwing up. All. Over. My. BELOVED. Cardigan.

The cardigan was put in a plastic bag to be cleaned after we got home. The bag had somehow ended up in the garage. It ended up covered in mold and was subsequently thrown directly into the garbage.

Interestingly enough, Huey quit getting carsick after this blessed event. He must have grown out of it.

Aye me! My sweater! I loved that sweater! IT. WENT. WITH. EVERYTHING!

I bought a cotton cardigan for work, but it was totally not right.

Five years later, I decided I was going to try to replace it and went to Land’s End and bought what I thought was its’ twin. Problem was that it was wool, so much too warm to go through all four seasons, and it was ivory and not white.

Six years later, earlier this spring in fact, I was walking to the checkout in Costco, and there were a pile of off-white cardigans and I scooped one up because it was perfect!

See, at the time of the original white cardigan, I was looking for a crocheted cardigan similar to one that Andie wore in “Pretty in Pink”. This new cardigan was the perfect combination of the original favourite and the one I was seeking.

Huey will is not allowed anywhere near this new cardigan!

Look of the day 11-8-12

Grey, grey Grey

The Photographer and I are experimenting with light and poses. I really should have looked at the photos before wearing this outfit in public. In my defense, I checked the greys under the light in my closet and they seemed to go just fine!!

Guess Not.

I've had this grey boatneck sweater since before I had children. I love the look of it, but the fit is not the best. I toyed with the idea of getting rid of it recently, but after wearing it today, decided that I would keep it, but now that I've seen it in a photo....

Also, I'm growing out my hair. Not because I'm tired of my short hair - far from it - but I figure that I will eventually, and if I start growing it out now, then by the time I want to grow it out, I'll already be half way there!

The Photographer hard at work

















I have some new ideas and things to do with this blog. I hope you will enjoy them!

In the meantime, please enjoy my shoes walking up the stairs:
Still my favourite shoes.

But I should really not drive while wearing them.


I love my legs. They are my best feature. I always look my best when I am walking away.