February 9, 2010

RELAX!!! (If only it were so easy!)

So – sorry to leave you with my “I am” post the other day – I was feeling very contemplative that day. Nothing was wrong, I was just sitting there with my thoughts and decided to post them!

I commented on a post the other day (actually, I think it more like a week or two ago – the days are melting together) on Kyla’s blog about “normal being boring” – I think I have a slightly misguided view on what is “normal”. Kyla responded to my comment about “normal” (for her) is having the chance to relax with a cup of tea and to channel her creativity (sorry, I am not quoting it exactly, I am going based on memory because I can’t access the email from work!).

So anyway, that got me thinking…I don’t “relax” well…those who know me, know that I am pretty high strung, VERY hyper and I like to worry about things…sometimes I make a big deal out of nothing just to have a chance to worry about it…that’s weird right??

I feel like normal, for me, means boring. It means doing absolutely nothing, because I don’t think I have ever felt “normal”. There is ALWAYS some crisis or drama in my family (WAY too much) and there is just always something that needs to be discussed or planned…or maybe there isn’t, maybe I just feel there is!

Just this morning I was emailing my BF complaining that I felt spread thin already this week…um, it’s TUESDAY ANNNND I have a long weekend coming up…

And REALLY – as far as my “To Do” list goes I have to: work on some homework, get an assignment or 2 done, work out at least 4 times within the next week, and clean my house.

Considering I have a WEEK to do this…I am FAIRLY certain that I can make it all work out…actually…I know this FOR SURE.

So this week (is it counterproductive to make goals to relax??? whatever) I plan on taking some “me” time…I am not sure if this will be to read a book, take more baths, make a card for someone special or work on my knitting…either way, it’s going to be something that I want to do and something that makes ME feel good doing it!

Oh yeah, I learned how to knit this weekend and am working on making a scarf/neck warmer because I loved Kyla’s neck warmers so much and figured, why buy one would you could win one *fingers crossed* or make one yourself! Yeah…the only problem is that knitting stresses me out a little too…I am still BRAND new at it and I have dropped a couple of stitches by accident and just had a couple of flaws and whatnot…those make me really sad and stress me out because it isn’t perfect…then my husband laughs at me because I have been knitting for what, 3 days now and I am complaining?? I think he is right…

So what do you do to relax??? Give me some suggestions of what work for you and maybe I will try them myself!!

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February 4, 2010

I am…

- a strong woman

- sensitive and empathetic

- a part-time student

- flawed, yet perfectly accepting

- happily in love

- confused about where I want my life to go

- happy about where my life is

- upset about current situations

- willing to fix them and make them work

- a loving wife, daughter, sister, aunt and friend (and fur mommy)

- a good role model to my adorable niece

- proud of my accomplishments so far

- reaching for the stars

- uncertain of what’s going to happen next

- excited about the uncertainties

- stubborn to no end

- unable to decide

- a walking contradiction

- me…whoever that is, that’s who I am

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January 27, 2010

Staying Accountable

Wow – okay, so I have faltered a LITTLE bit on a few of my blog resolutions. But worry not, I am still working on them!

I had quite a few things to integrate, so that takes a little getting used to!

The two things that I HAVE improved on have been: posting more (I haven’t been posting DAILY, but I have been posting a LOT more than I have this past year) and keeping up with my nails (honestly, I have been, just haven’t posted them all because of that blasted pink nail polish – even when I TOOK the picture it was starting to chip, but not so bad I had to remove it!).

Anyway, so those aren’t really the BEST resolutions…I still need to work on Vlogs, more interesting stuff :/, and giveaways!! OH YEAH, and being accountable!!!

Man!

So anyway, I joined the X Weighted National Challenge - and honestly. I am not loving it…I joined the first week after I lost 8.2 lbs (yeah, that’s pretty awesome). The week after that I worked out 4 times and I lost 1 lb, kind of sucked at first but I accepted it. When I got around to logging my weight loss on the site it said “OOPS – Looks like you have strayed off track!” – okay…whatever, still, I accept my losses even if it happens one pound at a time!

So this past week, I was only able to work out 3 times due to a course I was in (time consuming/mental energy drain) and went out for dinner the night before weigh in – I ate good, but you know, sodium and my body do NOT get along.

So I stepped on the scale on Saturday morning and saw a loss of 2.2 lbs!! YAY!! So happy to see that seeing as I had eaten some salty food the night before!! So once again I plugged it into the X-Weighted site and it tells me “OOPS – Looks like you have strayed off track”

WTF????!!!!!!

Apparently my goal for this challenge (ACCORDING to the challenge) is to lose 76 lbs in 26 weeks (which is 2.9 lbs per week for those without a calculator handy)…that’s high, and I knew it was when I started but I went in saying “I will lose as much as I can and keep going” – but do they really think they are helping me by telling me I strayed off the track??? I am eating well, exercising and choosing fitness over laziness…I don’t think I need to be told that I am straying when really I am doing my damnest!!

AND, if I had put my “start weight” (before my big loss) – instead I would have an 11.4 lb loss total over 3 weeks and that, my friends, is 3.8 lbs lost per week (averaged out).

So…I am kind of ignoring that part of the XWeighted page and just inputting my weight and quickly minimizing the screen…

I don’t need a glaring red “OOPS” in my face when it should REALLY be saying “Jen, you effing RULED this week”

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January 26, 2010

Beauty Haul

I have been meaning to write this post for a couple of weeks now, but I was still waiting on a couple of things – however, I realized I could do a post on “the other things” another time.

Instead, I am posting about my birthday loot!!

I found it hard to decide what I wanted for my birthday this year…my mom is pretty big on spoiling me, but I am a girl who spoils herself…so really, what should I have asked for??

I need to take a picture of the necklace my husband bought me and the little jewels I bought for myself (I always buy myself a birthday present). Anyway, so last year I had to purge my makeup drawer or some old/cracked/dried up products and I left myself with…honestly, very little…I am a girl who LOVES to play with makeup, so I figured that I would look at something along those lines.

I REALLY noticed when I met with the girls in Toronto – all the eyeshadows I had were SUPER neutral! In fact, I bought a colourful palette while we were there, and I bought 2 lipglosses that were (at that time) the only lipglosses I had anymore!!

So my mom gave me some money and I used some of the money from selling my coach purses and bought this:

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Which ended up looking like this:

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I would like to note here that I didn’t buy all those eyeshadows this time!! AT LEAST half of them were ones that I already own and de-potted! I just bought the pallets and a few more singles (MOSTLY the coloured ones, I had the majority of the neutral ones to start with!)

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Here are shadesticks (creamy eyeshadow sticks) and paint pots (cream eyeshadow bases)

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Here are the lipsticks and lipglasses I got. I made sure to step outside the box a little bit on these. I am TERRIBLE for just buying the same baby pink and beige lipglosses over and over again. My two favourites which I wouldn’t have ordinarily chosen are the 3rd lipstick from the left (I think it’s called captive?)It’s a plummy berry colour and then the second lipglass from the right (called Utterly Discrete) which is a mauvey color – ABSOLUTELY gorgeous!

Oh and there is a tube of lip conditioner in there as well!

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And finally, plush lash mascara (LOVE IT!!) and nightsky eye pencil (it’s a creamy pencil with bits of silver – just for fun!)

I am thinking of doing a couple of “looks” with these…maybe not so much a tutorial of what I did but more so just a picture of it and what items I used?? Does that interest anyone? Or should I attempt a tutorial?? I don’t want to impose on Cat’s beauty posts, so keep in mind, I am a COMPLETE amateur in comparison!!!

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And this is my manicure of the week that lasted FAR too long…I ordered this color online and the picture looked like a pale lilac color…um, not so much…so these were my birthday party nails…why is it that when you love a polish it chips like a mofo…and when you hate it, it lasts for at least 10 days!! Bah!!

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January 21, 2010

Things I am loving right now

Not a cop out post, but I figured I would post a few items I am LOVIN UP at the moment!

I am hoping to post about all my new MAC loot tomorrow (and since the husband has a dinner meeting tonight, that means that I have LOTS of interruption free time to blog tonight!)

Okay, so since I live in COLD Northern Alberta, this time of year is TERRIBLE for my skin. I have to work really hard not to flake and peel (on my body AND scalp…gross) and it’s hard to look pretty when your nose is red and your eyelashes are frozen.

So here are a few of my favorite products (you might not even care!!) some are old faves and some are new finds! ENJOY! ( I will TRY to keep this short!)

Moisturizers – this is something I NEED in my town!! When you reach -40 (PLUS a windchill) on a regular basis, you tend to get a little “chapped” – we are going through a little warm spell right now, so I am basking in it!!

Benefit Bathina “Touch me then try to leave” Cream – I coat my arms and legs in this before I go to bed at night. It’s really thick and makes me feel like a diva. (Can be found at sephora.com or benefitcosmetics.com)

St. Ives Whipped Silk moisturizer – this is my DAYTIME moisturizer. It’s nice and thick and creamy but it’s also light and airy. I LOVE the way this smells and makes my skin feel! (can be found at drugstores or drugstore.com)

BEST HAND CREAM EVER!! REALLY thick, and a SMIDGE greasy, but I have never had a big problem with it. I keep a pump bottle at my sink at home, one at work, a tube in my purse and a travel size for, well, traveling!! (Can be found at any Bath and Body Works store or www.bathandbodyworks.com)

Clinique Superdefense moisturizer with SPF. Yes, I am one of those girls that wears sunscreen all year round. And yes, I might be whiter than Casper, but I am approaching 30 and I have virtually no lines or wrinkles on my face…I hope to keep it that way! I switch to a lighter lotion with SPF in the summer. Found at any Clinique counter or clinique.ca.

Exfoliators – there isn’t a point to moisturizing if you are just going to load it up over dead skin just sitting on your face/body. Be sure to exfoliate regularly and ESPECIALLY in the winter time to get rid of dull/dead skin!

Clinique 7 Day Scrub – this is what I use on my face. It’s gentle enough that you COULD use it every day, but you don’t need to. I use it about 2-3 times a week (depending on how dull my skin is). Available at any Clinique counter or www.clinique.ca

Fresh Brown Sugar Scrub – so this one is kind of pricey…but it’s one of the best ones I have used! It is a GREAT body scrub and it leaves behind a lot of moisture. I use this probably once a week all over my body (sometimes twice a week on my arms and legs). Available at Sephora stores or sephora.com.

Face – just because it’s cold out doesn’t mean you HAVE to look that way! Granted I keep makeup a little more simple in the winter time, I still have a few staples I love!

Nars Blush in Orgasm – so if you have ever met me or seen a picture of me, you would see that I have SUPER rosy cheeks…it is SO weird, but in the winter time instead of flushing MORE they tend to turn pale…so instead I have to amp up the color a little bit…I LOVE this blush! It’s nice peachy pink with some shimmer…and it gives you that post *ahem* glow! Available at Nars counters, Sephora stores and sephora.com

Mac Fluidline – I have this in 3 colors – blacktrack (straight black), dipdown (brown) and blitz and glitz (black with gold pearl). I wear this ALL the time in the winter (I don’t wear a lot of liner in the summer). It goes on PERFECTLY with a small angled brush and looks great with just a neutral shadow. Available at MAC stores and maccosmetics.ca

Rosebud Minted lip balm – Cat introduced me to the Strawberry version (WHICH I LOVE!) last year or the year before, but I had been wearing the original for a few years. I find the original scent makes me want to puke (smells like roses!) but I love the color it gives me. My lips are quite red to start with, but this gives me that “bitten” look with LOTS of moisture – I LOVE IT! (And then I wear the strawberry all summer!)

Okay…so this is getting SUPER long, so I will skip the hair section! Instead I will show you the two nail polishes I have become obsessed with lately!!

They are both by China Glaze. The first is called “For Audrey” and (obviously)  it’s the gorgeous Tiffany blue…I LOVE the color even though I wouldn’t ordinarily wear blue polish! The second is called “Ruby Pumps” – I would be lying if I said I didn’t buy it first of all because of my obsession with the “Wizard of Oz” but I ended up LOVING the color!! It’s a gorgeous red sparkle with a jelly base. just gorgeous!!

Okay, so yeah, that is ALL the stuff I have been loving lately…hope you enjoyed it!

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