Passing on Some Love - The Triple Award

JennBee over at Bare Budget Beauty (which just celebrated its first birthday!) made my day brighter by awarding me with this Triple Award. Naturally I want to pass the love on to some other fellow beauty bloggers! Even though I haven't met you guys, I appreciate that we share a common bond in this blogging thing. Not to mention the great and varied content you provide, and how you steer me in the right direction as far as what products to try...so thanks for your continual insight. :)

The "rules":
1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

There are so many blogs I adore, so picking ten (I have to get back to doing work for my job now) wasn't easy, but here goes:

Alheessa 4 Realz
Beautiful With Brains
A Digital Angel
Ichigo Bunnie
Kimbabot
Life as ICEY it
Mayaari
Makeup Masala
Peace.Love.Makeup
Vanity Treasure

Comin' Up

I'm feeling kinda sluggish lately - a week ago I started coming down with a cold/virus, a few days ago it hit its peak, and today I'm finally starting to feel better. (No more cold sweats and fever. But then I got my period today, joy.)

I have a lot on my tentative post list though. I'll share with you my first department-store cosmetics splurge, a peak at some goodies sent to me by sweet Maayari, a review of J.Lynne Cosmetics' new blushes, a look at a scarf I'm crocheting for a friend, quick appetizer recipes (in case you still have parties coming up), and....my new haircut.

I haven't gotten my hair cut yet. It's currently about three inches below my shoulders and aching for a cut. I last had it done in August. It was highlighted last December but I've been growing it out since then. I'm trying to decide how much to cut off now and whether I want to color it again, or perhaps wait till summer to make it lighter.

Decisions, decisions! Hehe...

Off to the Panera for some food with high school friends!

Silly Internet

So, this has been the busiest week I've had in a looong time, and the busiest week I've had since moving to Maryland. It was a lot of good, bad and ugly crammed into just a few days...now, I'm trying to unwind and get back to some normal routine. But what exactly will that 'normal' routine be like? I just moved here and started the job full time about eight weeks ago, damned if I know.

Anyway, I have a lot of stuff I'm working on posting -- cute clothes, make-up, maybe some recipes, and being tagged again for more random info about myself. (I won't lie, I enjoy those things sometimes.)

The problem now is that my home Internet crashed! Phooey.

At least it gives me time to pull things together offline. I should be back very soon, in the next day or two.

Hope you all had a fun Halloween. It's so weird that stores have already cleared out of all the spooky festivities and are on to Christmas. What about Thanksgiving? Probably my favorite holiday of the year. I'm stoked to be going home to New York to see my high school friends and family in just a few short weeks.

Last random thing -- I like election night too. I'm definitely going to be watching TV all night (if that works and my computer is still down) to find out the results. Hard to believe that in 48 hours we will (hopefully) know who the next American president is.

Time moves forward, whether we like it or not. Right now, I'm feeling pretty pumped for some change myself. Figuring out what that change should be feels so difficult sometimes, but as I said, time moves forward either way.

Okay, I'm done being deep lol. Time to leave work!

Happy Weeeeekend

I just awoke from the sleep of the dead. Not literally, of course, but I was exceptionally tired when I finally got into bed last night and instead of waking up at 8 or 9 as my body usually does on Saturdays, I got up at 11:30. It felt so good though! I'm so happy it's the weekend, I just want to laze around and relax.

Quick update, since I'm working on another entry, with just some little things...

--Are you plugged into Pandora.com? It's a free Internet radio site that creates play lists based on your personal recommendations. "Users enter a song or artist that they enjoy, and the service responds by playing selections that are musically similar," says Wikipedia. "Users provide feedback on the individual song choices — approval or disapproval — which Pandora takes into account for future selections." It's not something new but I just signed up for my account yesterday.

--If you're a little panicked about the economy - or worse, just trying to ignore it because it seems so bad, - Crystal at "Brunette on a Budget" put together an informative post with expert tips for how we individuals can get our own financial states in order.

--Fantastic Contraption: a fun online physics game. I haven't played but I'm told it sucks you in. I'll say no more.

Blogging My First EOTD: Gold and Green

This is my first EOTD on this blog. Technically my first attempt appeared in A Digital Angel's butterfly-inspired contest a few weeks ago. (Check it out, there were so many beautiful entries.) But unlike that look, this one WAS NOT done at 2 a.m. on insufficient sleep, hehe.

This was done on a whim, however. I was feeling a bit lonely after work so I decided to indulge myself in some cosmetics play-time before taking a shower. Thank goodness I have my own bathroom! I holed up in there with my eyeshadow case and I was in business. I didn't do my whole face, just the one eye you see below. I'm still getting the hang of taking an EOTD pic, which is why I just have this one angle of me tipping my eyelid down, taken from above. I figured it'd be easiest for you to see the colors.

Products used:
-L'Oreal HiP Cream Shadow Paint in Secretive as base (I just got this and wanted to try it out)
-MAC eyeshadow in Goldmine across lid and part of the under eye (One of my two MAC shadows - a present a while back from my artistic little sis)
-An unknown-brand eyeshadow labeled "The Flats" Mediterranean Blue from the middle of the eye outward (Gifted from my mom a long time ago)
-Palladio eyeshadow in Navy Blue on the outer V (I don't think it showed up well over the other shadow, though normally it's very pigmented)
-Beautique eyeliner in Jade (from Sally Beauty Supply)
- CoverGirl eyeshadow in Champagne as a highlighter on the brow bone (A fav of mine for everyday)
-Maybelline Full 'n Soft mascara in black, plus some vivid blue mascara I picked up at a local beauty supply place in Maryland

I initially set-out to do a blue look, since I was feeling a bit blue. :( But I only had that one navy shadow readily at my disposal - since I have blue eyes I don't tend to seek out a lot of blue shadows - and the closest other color I immediately saw was the turquoise green seen above. I love that color but never thought it would look good on my eye...however, I had time on my hands and thought 'What the heck? If this eye looks bad I'll just do the other one different!'

Then I saw the gold and figured it would go well too. Since my skin is pinkish I tend to shy away from yellow colors but I think this came together nicely. It reminds me of a gold and yellow parakeet or something tropical.

It makes me happy too look at, and it felt happy to have on. Sometimes after applying eyeshadow I look in the mirror and think 'who is that?' Like I've totally overdone it and made a mess of myself. This turned out pretty clean for me, and I feel like it enhanced my natural features. You can't see there how blue it made my eyes look! Maybe I'll even be brave enough to wear it out of the house sometime. :) And btw, my night cheered up! So all's well that end's well...for now.

Thanks to all the lovely bloggers whose EOTDs I adore and who inspired me to make my own attempt! I hope this is only the first of good things to come...

A Girl Can't Live Off Cheetos Alone

Though sometimes I'd like to.

Yesterday my boyfriend and I seized the rare opportunity to drive to the supermarket by hitting up a Safeway about a mile away from his northwest DC apartment. (Normally neither of us has a car but I drove down from my family's house in NY to go on job interviews this week.) I'm not a big soda fan and shouldn't indulge his habits, but I did...for the sake of an awesome sale. Buy two 12-packs of soda, get three free. Yes, buy two, get three free. I've never seen a promotion like that. So as long as he's going to drink soda we might as well get it for a bargain price. And without a car there's no way we could carry five 12-packs plus groceries back to his place!

We got four Coca-colas...and one diet root beer for me. :) I also had a coupon for a free Frito-Lay product, but alas, there were only crunchy Cheetos and not puffy ones. Puffy Cheetos are probably my favorite junk-food indulgence. (Cheez Doodles are probably my all-time favorite bright orange cheese puffs though. I mean, in case you were curious.) So I resigned myself to a salad, seltzer, champagne grapes and part of a rice crispy treat for dessert. Tasty and healthier than cheese puffs!

What I really wanted to discuss though is living healthy. The past few months - largely since I took an interest in reading beauty blogs - I've become more conscious about caring for my body. And far from just superficially, especially since I don't think cosmetics and products can be well showcased if you're not taking care of the canvas on which you put them.

Less stress has probably helped my body too. During college I didn't sleep much and was always busy working or studying. I never took 'me' time to nurture my mind and body. However, I probably exercised more then than I have been in the past few weeks by virtue of being car-less and walking two miles to-and-from work five days a week. So maybe it balances out. And then last month I started taking some medication that made my face break-out -- yuck! (It's thankfully subsiding.) Even still, in the past two weeks or so I've woken up and been surprised by the way my skin glows.

As you saw with my recent facewash post, I've been trying to be vigilant in cleaning and moisturizing my skin. Combine that with sleeping enough and trying to stay hydrated/eat healthy, and I think I've found a decent formula for pretty skin. And more energy. It feels good to take care of myself.

Hopefully I'm not jinxing myself! And who knows what will happen when work starts full time in early September?

Anyway, I am going to try hard to complete my care-transformation by trying to eat healthy and exercise more. (Hopefully I'll live close enough to my job to walk most of the time.) So I figured I'd share with you this *brief*, interesting New York Time's guide to "The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating." Beets, cinnamon and canned pumpkin make the cut...Oh, and I'd love to hear any suggestions you have for tasty, healthy foods. I'll be back with more soon.

A little bit about the blog and me...

About the blog: It's dedicated to luxurious living on an affordable budget. Remember, inexpensive doesn't have to be cheap.

About me: Twenty-two-year-old New Yorker who moved to Washington D.C. where I received a B.A. in journalism in May 2008. First and foremost, I love to tell stories. Anyone who knows me well knows it is part of my being. I love a good turn of phrase and hope to write books one day.

What else? I just got my first full-time job as a reporter for a newspaper. (Click on the My Day Job link to see my other blog, links to awards I've won, my resume and journalism samples...please!) And I'm often torn between my desire to do big things -- ie: put my five years of Russian language study to use by becoming an international correspondent unearthing global injustice -- and indulging in the pastimes I enjoy, like cooking, crafting and creative writing. I'm passionate about living life to the fullest...even while remaining a bit on the cautious side. I think a lot with my head but also try to listen to my heart, as well as my gut instincts. I like to get my thrills from exploring new places, trying new recipes and doing almost anything hands on.

I have no background in cosmetics, I just know what I like. (Oh, and you'll see that I tend to be pretty frugal, love my drugstore finds!) I have no training as a chef, other than being an apprentice to one of the best cooks I know - my mom. (Really, she is great.) I do, however, have training as a journalist, administrative assistant, screenwriter, copy editor, researcher and tap dancer. So if you need someone to catch Oxford commas while doing double time steps, I'm your gal. With the rest...well, I guess we'll both wait and see how this blog experiment turns out.

Hello world!

This is my foray into the world of beauty blogging. We're gonna have fun.