Taking care of your face!

I know there are ladies out there who feel drugstore brands' skin care and cosmetics items are just as good as nicer brands and cost less.  I disagree.  I USED to think that, but then I discovered Sephora and got a new job at the same time, so I decided to try some pricier products to see if they're worth it.

For me, they really are.  As far as skincare goes, I use a slightly cheaper exfoliator, yes.  But everything else - moisturizer, spot correcter, etc., needs to be better.  I have genetic dark circles (under my eyes) and have never found a drugstore eye cream that really helps.  A GOOD eye cream costs around $60, but lasts for 6 months, so that's a perfectly reasonable price, if not a good price.  I recently received a whole bag of free skincare samples from Sephora - and the sample sizes last me a few weeks, so that's a great deal!  

And for makeup, my skin tone and overall quality has been so much better since I switched to better cosmetic brands.  I am not all that loyal to any one brand - for foundations and powders, I love Prescriptives (but they're not in business now), Bare Minerals, Lancome, and MakeUp Forever.  For colors, I love just about every brand, but Nars has some beautiful eye and cheek shades.  Mascara and eyeliners, I am still investigating to decide on my favorite.  

Some good finds lately:

Lancome Fresh Wear - this foundation goes on sheer, but lasts all day, and isn't shiny.  Love it.
http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P262000

Dr. Brandt Collagen Booster - I'm not really wrinkly, but I received this free sample (that I've used morning and evening for 2 and a half weeks, at least!) and it's improving my skin tone and texture overall - I need less makeup with it, and that's a good product.
http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P251922

I hope all the ladies out there are also keen on taking care of your pretty faces. :)

Adjusting.

I am currently trying to adjust to school and doing pretty well, I think.  There are moments I feel proud of myself for getting ahead and completing assignments early to reduce my stress levels.  There are other moments I look at my calendar and feel overwhelmed, asking myself "when will I have time to complete these assignments?"

But, in general, I find that most assignments take me less time to complete than I thought they would, I just have to sit down and concentrate.  

The biggest time-sucker so far is all of the reading - several chapters of books per week, plus a list (usually 5 to 6) of scholarly articles.  Many of these articles reinforce or repeat each other, and some people are very good at just scanning them, but I like to read them all and be really, fully prepared and "in the know" if at all possible.  Thus, the trying to get ahead.  I love reading, and some of the articles and textbook chapters are interesting, but others are really dry, totally mumbley-jumbley mixes of technical words that I struggle to absorb.  Those parts I scan. :)

I see now why people claim getting a Master's degree requires much more self-discipline than an undergraduate degree.  My classes are relatively long (two classes per week, 3 hours each), but MOST of the work and reading happens outside that time.  And you really have to make yourself do it.  My lunch hour has typically been my wonderful read-a-book break time.  Now, it's evolving into school-reading time.  

Honestly, my biggest complaint with school so far is my physical discomfort - I love working at my dining room table, because it's big with lots of space for laptop, books, and paper.  But the chairs are not comfortable for a full three hours.  So I am considering moving to my reading chair, or the couch - but both of these locations may be TOO comfy.  Decisions, decisions.

I am off for my lunch hour now - to read about retrieval tools.  I know you're jealous.

I love that he was born!

This weekend, we celebrated the day of birth of my wonderful partner in life!  He's quite handsome. 

As completely different as we are, I always feel so lucky to be sharing my life with him.  He is more compassionate than me.  He makes friends more easily, and keeps them longer.  He can have the same routine every day for months and not get bored.  (I struggle to eat the same things for breakfast twice in the same week!) 

This weekend (Friday the 27th) was his 26th birthday.  We celebrated with a nice dinner with friends - around 22 of them!  Dinner was at Joey D.'s Oak Room, which I really enjoyed.  Good service, very nice managers, and simple but good quality food.  I had blue crab claws - they literally brought me a huge bowl of crab claws already shelled, so I could just eat the meat right off the claw.  I thought there would be around 10 - there were probably 40.  It was delish.  We had a cookie cake (for Zac, as we were also celebrating this birthday) and a lemon cake for Wes - yum.

It was an odd year as far as gifts go - I've never had a problem making a long list of things he'd like.  But this year, we recently purchased his new car and the new TV, and there wasn't much else he had mentioned wanting.  He has loads of clothes, shoes, video games, and sports things now.  I considered a bike and even narrowed it down to two, but I discussed it with him, and he wasn't sure he'd have time to ride until next year.  So I took the bike money and told him we'd go shopping and get whatever he wanted.

We spent a Saturday doing Wes things.  We had breakfast at his favorite spot - he calls is "Saint Christopher's" - but it's definitely J. Christopher's, and is a very popular breakfast spot, not a Catholic church. :)  He loves their Eggs Christopher - like Eggs Benedict, but with some turkey and sliced tomatoes thrown in.

Then we visited the Mall of Georgia - first time we've ever been - that's a massive place, and we love shopping!  Wes picked out various clothing items.  He's getting bigger (muscular) because of firefighter training, and we keep finding shirts in his closet that no longer fit him.  We looked at cologne, shoes, video games, golf clubs, and other things - and he'll be getting a few of those things shortly.  We had a nice lunch and saw a movie - "The Switch."

Sunday was a quiet day - housework, schoolwork, golf on TV (for him), and grocery shopping.  We love our weekends.  We also watched the Emmy awards and were disappointed that LOST got ignored a bit - not so nice.  But we love Glee and Modern Family, and those both did better.

At birthday time, I always like to think back over the past year and really appreciate what it has given us.  Since Wes's last birthday, we:

1.  received his green card (good news) allowing him to be a permanent resident of the United States, but we'll probably move out of the country at some point anyway

2.  had a lovely wedding here in Atlanta, complete with some party time with friends

3.  had another wedding and honeymoon in New Zealand, which was an amazing trip all over the country, with stops in Fiji as well

4. moved into our first place together (with no roommates) and love it

5. bought a car, new furniture and electronics, but did NOT rack up much debt!

6. withstood major changes at my job that consumed me for a while, but that turned out great

7. (wes) accepted a new job with Cobb County Fire and started a rigorous training program that's still going on through December or January

8. (I) took my GRE, did well, got accepted to the Master's Program at UA that I applied to

9.  got me started in that same Master's Program, which is not the easiest thing I've ever done

10. had lots of living and loving moments with family, friends, and between ourselves (trying new restaurants, pool time, holidays, movies, and more)

I know I am leaving off MANY things that were very special in the past year, but these were the first that came to mind, and of course, they all make me realize how very happy I am that Wes was born. :)

Happy Birthday, love!

Obstacles.

Two weeks ago, I felt like my life was in the quietest lull - I posted as much here on my blog.  A metaphoric valley in life, when things are quiet and calm, and I desperately want to see out across the distance, but simply am not high enough to do so.

In the short span of two weeks, I've begun my ascent - and right now I'm in that spot where the climbing has started to get steep - and boulders are rolling down toward me.  I am doing my best to dodge them.  Getting bumps and bruises here and there, but I'll make it, and I'll be tougher, and I won't turn around and get complacent where I was because of it.  I am determined.

I guess life just throws you obstacles, right?  And all you can do is get around them, or go over them, or if you're really creative, dig your way under them and come out on the other side.  I think those three options totally depend on your attitude about the situation, but they all work, if you're committed.

I will always be amazed what we can do if we set our minds to it.  The power of the mind is quite startling - I often don't even realize I set my mind to something until I finish it, and I realize I never even considered not doing so.


"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestioned ability of a man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor." - Henry David Thoreau

Reunion: Too Bad, So Sad

As many of my classmates (high school) know, our upcoming 10 year reunion has REALLY mattered to me.  I don't know why, but I wanted it to be festive, to appeal to all the classmates, to have a great turn out.  I have stayed friends with classmates of every type, and I really enjoy catching up with them.  I've tried hard to keep a solid list of contact information for classmates (and have a smashing list, if I do say so myself), make sure we're connected via Facebook, etc.  Two years out from reunion time, I even made a poll about reunion options to really get a feel for what classmates wanted.  The results of the poll were surprising, and no one wanted a classic reunion.  That was fun news!

But ALAS, we made very bad officer choices.  The person I suspect (due to her e-mails telling me to take my professional event planning experience and shove it, she's planning it herself, because she's an OFFICER like it's actually something that carries weight with adults) is taking over the planning was not President, but is running the show.  When I informed her that I receive an e-mail from a classmate almost every day asking about reunion updates (because so many are out of state and have to make long-term plans, etc.), she was nice enough to tell me that her husband's reunion is this year and they still haven't received info, so for me to be aware that "it could be a lot worse."  Really?  No, I don't think it could.  A reunion planner whose excuse for doing nothing is "it could be worse" is pretty bad.

Also, we have the issue of the "planner" being totally disconnected from everything the class has expressed wanting in a reunion.  So she may just realize she has no attendees, other than her friends, and that's not a class reunion, that's a party you threw yourself.  And no one wants to pay to come see you hang out with your personal friends.

So, Northwest High School Class of 2001, raise a glass to the class in your own home, because that's the most fun you're gonna have. :)

I'll do my best to get together with small groups here and there to catch up with everyone around our 10 year mark anyway...and that will be wonderful.


Many apologies things aren't happening as planned!

N'Awlins, ya'll.

Yesterday, I booked flights and hotel for our 1st anniversary (October) trip to New Orleans - neither of us have been there, and I am pretty excited!

I had a companion certificate for Delta, so our flights were only $150 each - good deal.  And I originally booked a room at the Saint Louis hotel in the French Quarter - I booked because they had a fantastic government rate online.  I added in the comments that Wes would bring along his Cobb Fire ID.  I got a phone call telling me they only give the government rate to those with a government credit card....please explain to me how that makes sense?  Police, firefighters, teachers, and all of those in the armed services - those are our public servants, but NONE of them get government credit cards.  The only people with those are politicians!  I was highly annoyed and canceled with them.  The Saint Louis is a 2.5-Star hotel.  Just to be crafty, I went on Priceline and did name-your-own-price, 4-Star hotels, French Quarter, for a few dollars LESS (total) than the Saint Louis would have cost us - and got a room at the Marriott.  HA!  Talk about a trade up!  So we're staying here:

Things we'll do...

Breakfast at Cafe Du Monde...

A stroll through the Garden District (amazing homes)...

The Cathedral...

Possibly some jazz...

 And definitely just enjoying the French Quarter.

Getting my bad day out so I have room for a good one.

Blogs are good for ranting.  You can get it all out.  The beginning of this week has just been annoying, in multiple small ways.  If I get out the reasons, I will consider them NOT inside me anymore, and that should help.

#1. I do not like it when people take advantage of me.  Poor, poor, pitiful me, right?  It's mostly my own fault.  In my efforts to plan events and help others (for free, when I should be getting paid for some of them), I have offered to do a great deal for others, and they seem to think it's OK to walk all over me.  Well, I'm going to stand up for myself and gracefully bow out of the situation.  When I offer to do someone a gigantic favor that requires a great deal of time, and they are selfish enough to make me miserable, there's really something wrong.

#2. I need to have A and B list friends right now.  I have some friends I really want to be A list people - you know what I mean.  Friends who care about me and Wes, ask off work to be with us for a special event instead of just bowing out, get a sitter instead of just bowing out, get in the car and drive 45 minutes for a birthday if needed (and don't complain about it!), spend some bucks to go to a great event with us, etc.  Because we'd do all of these things and more for the people we care about. Here's another situation where we are getting a little walked on.  We are willing to go to pretty great lengths for the people in our lives - celebrating birthdays, housewarmings, etc.  We'll take time off work.  We'll travel.  We'll spend money.  But when we could really use some love, regardless of what we've tried to give, we get a bunch of cancellations, people saying they're coming and then somehow forgetting to get a sitter or ask off work, or people who don't bother to RSVP at all.  All of these things are, to me, being a bad friend.  They're rude, and selfish.  If you're just not an A friend, don't pretend to be.  Be a B friend - the type of friend who comes around occasionally when it's convenient for you.  But - and be clear on this - do NOT expect us to come around for your celebrations and happenings, regardless of how important they are to you, because you had more important things to do when ours were happening.  I can sense it now - you don't show up to support us, but when we simply say "no" to your birthday event, you'll be hurt.  Why?  Is your birthday or other celebration that much more meaningful and important than ours was?  

If you're going to be a B friend to us, we're going to be the same right back.  But those few who are willing to be A friends to us will get that love back in large measures, and I think it's worth it.

Point being - I keep getting disappointed in those B friends when I really want them to be A's.  I need to just realize they are what they are, and that's just social acquaintances, not friends.

#3. Speaking of RSVP's, that's a rant in itself - if someone takes the time to invite you to something, it's OK to say No if you can't attend (or are a B friend and are honest), but to send NO reply at all or simply to leave yourself a Maybe is just rude.  Or to not take the 90 seconds it takes to log into Evite or Facebook and change a response - is your time really that much more valuable than mine?  For the 2 minutes you might save by not logging in to politely provide an accurate RSVP, it takes me 10 minutes of e-mails, messages, or texts to ask you if you're still coming, etc.  Rude.

#4. There will be people who read this and get mad at me, because they know they're part of these problems.  They will either send me a mean e-mail, or remove me from their Facebook friends, or decide to not speak to me at all.  Because they know they're guilty of something, and they're defensive about it.  (That may be a C list of friends - those who know they do something that hurts someone, but either (A) defend themselves and try to explain why their actions are OK or (B) don't care - that may be even worse than those just content to be acquaintances and nothing more.)  I am not unreasonable, and I don't consider someone to be hurtful until they've shown a pattern of hurtful behaviors (i.e. done it lots of times).  If that's you and you're feeling offended, check yourself instead of being angry with me for being honest about it.


I feel a little cleansed, now that all of that is out.  I want to get it out of my heart for now, and hope that the little mini-wounds they all cause will heal, and we all move on better.


To end on a happy note, I'm thinking of things that make me feel better.

Dessert

Shopping (might do this at lunch)

Reading (currently buried in "The Egyptian" and learning quite a lot about ancient Egypt)

The Hot Air Balloon Festival at Callaway Gardens next weekend - going with my parents and Wes.

Looking forward to our anniversary trip to New Orleans, which I booked yesterday!

New friends who could possibly become A friends?

Good karma, or luck, or blessings, or whatever you like to call it - despite the small wounds created by the issues ranted about above, we seem to have such good luck finding things we need, budgeting money so that we prosper, and being able to let small upsets roll off our backs and become something better in the end (i.e. broken computer, plans getting canceled, etc.) - I'm not sure why, but as a couple, me and Wes have great luck in most areas of life.

Going to UUCA when they have a good talk (the talk about friendships two weeks ago was very good, and we got to sing the song from Golden Girls!)

Christmas - I am already thinking ahead, is that bad?