Birthday Wrap Up

I took it nice and easy and even took a day off for my birthday. Which meant that I've been buried in work to catch up since I got back (it's that time of year--but honestly, it's always that time of year in PR). So instead of blogging, I've been working off cake and a week of decadence.

But here is the long overdue recap of the wonderful, awesome, super relaxing birthday that I got to share with Chef.

Nothing says party like some bubbly on the actual birthday. 

It sparkles so nicely. Champagne went well with the dinner he cooked me.
Apparently I ate that too fast to take a picture. 

The beautiful flowers he also surprised me with. 

This was not about cat CPR, but a book on screenwriting I've wanted forever. Good call by Chef. 

I managed to work in a much needed root touch up. Gotta keep red on the head.

I used my Sephora gift cards to do my annual "on my birthday" Sephora trip.

But the birthday just kept on going! I took off Friday to have some fun and we celebrated on Saturday too. That's how we roll in our household.  Below are more spoils from being spoiled (that included a two hour massage--somehow I've managed to tighten up again). I'm a lucky gal! Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone!

Cutting my Cotton Ball Budget to Nearly Nothing!

Fingernails-mid removal

Do you find yourself spending oodles of your beauty budget on cotton balls?

Yeah, me neither. But for some reason there was a pin on Pinterest that promised to cut your cotton ball budget and it caught my attention. Less because I am fearful of using more than my fair share of cotton, and more because I would love any easier way to take off nail polish.

Because that was what the pin actually helps do. It shows a way to take off nail polish that uses less cotton AND less time. I was up for anything that could potentially peel off my dark nail polish without have to scrape and chip away.

The idea is simple: peel apart a cotton ball (I used a cotton pad and it worked fine), soak a little in nail polish remover, stick it to your nail for a few minutes, then peel the polish off.

These little piggies weren't quite as lucky.

I tried this on my toes AND my finger nails. I can absolutely say it works brilliantly on my fingers. I can get all my polish off using two cotton pads (used to use about 5 before) and only a few minutes. It did not work as well on my toes. I might just stick to my old method on that.

All in all, two polish-free thumb nails up!

From the Outside In

As I was looking in the mirror this morning at the splotches on my face, the good inch of roots and dead ends on my hair and my chipped nail polish on my hands and feet,  it made sense to me. How can I expect to get myself out of this funk if I am relishing it too much. I've decided to fight this from the outside in.

I've made my hair cut and color appointment (sadly I think I spotted a few gray hairs in my roots, but I'm hoping it's just powder from dry shampoo that hadn't absorbed), and am going to get a mani-pedi while I'm at it. I'm going to find a skin solution to try, as no solution is perfect, and I'm going to refill any prescriptions that I have run out of for my psoriasis.

If I look better on the outside, then I feel like it will help me feel a little better on the inside. At least that's my theory now.

Lincoln Park After Dark? You Don't Know Jacque!

Lincoln Park After Dark (left)
You Don't Know Jacque (right)

One thing about Fall that I love (aside from Pumpkins, football, people freely giving away candy, chili, and a holiday devoted to gorging yourself) is the shift to darker colors and boots. It's not actually that cold in Cali (clearly) but at first dip into the 60s during the day, I'm ready to put my boots on. And I do. Because while some chicks are okay wearing boots when it's 80 degrees out, that tends to buck my common sense and novelty of great weather all year.

One of the things about darker colors that is an advantage is darker nail polish. And there are two very popular ones from OPI that I finally bought for my home collection. I've had many manicures from pros that used these colors, but had not taken the plunge for myself. Mostly because I'm sloppy in the DIY manicure/ pedicure area. I have no qualms about coloring outside the line, so to speak, and then peeling the excess off in a hot shower. It's how I roll. And the reason that I have photos of the nail polish bottles and not my hands and feet. I just did my mani/ pedi yesterday and haven't peeled yet. It looks bad. And who wants to see someone's feet on a blog post anyway. At least unless there's a bad toe or something.

So, the darker color, for those not familiar, is "Lincoln Park After Dark" and the lighter taupe is "You Don't Know Jacque".  They're replacing the "Russian Navy" that was on my hands and feet. The nice thing about the dark colors on my hand is that I don't see any crud under my nails and therefore don't bite them. So, really it's not only fashionable but strategic to get my nails back in shape.

Any fall weather fashion or beauty things that you look forward to?  What other OPI shades should I try?

The Things that Are Different

There are inevidently things that are different when you move across state lines. Those things you notice right off as being completely odd. The last time I moved to Tennessee, it was odd that you couldn't get your car registration and your driver's license in the same place.

In California, it was the license branch. We got there when it opened, waited maybe 20 minutes, and then had to submit my passport and Tennessee license, pay $31 and go get my picture taken (which for the record is not as nice a picture as the odd license, but I digress). After the picture, I had to take a written test. Yes, that's right. I had to take a 36 question test about traffic laws. Traffic laws in general, I aced. It was the California specific laws that I had trouble with. For example, I didn't know that they had passed a law making it illegal to smoke in a car with someone under 18 inside. Why would I know that?

I passed the test, but just barely. It probably would've helped if I had had the test booklet to study before we went in, but I didn't know we would have to take a test. I mean, in Tennessee I just had to fill out some paperwork. No test. Take your new picture and leave with your license.

That's the other thing that is completely bizarre about California. Chef and I didn't leave the DMV with new licenses. We'll get in the mail. . .7 weeks from now. WHAT?!?! And the lady punched a hole in my old license. So, I have my old ID with a hole RIGHT THROUGH THE BIRTHDATE (which is the only thing people need to see on the license) and a temporary paper license for the next 7 weeks.

After the DMV experience, Chef was done for the day. I had the pleasure of opening our new checking account (we went with Wells Fargo), taking back a defective purchase from Best Buy, buying my niece and nephew their Christmas presents and the nephew's birthday present, getting a manicure and going to Trader Joe's. The last two were just for my enjoyment. The manicure was okay. Cost less than Nashville, but I didn't get a drink offered when I came through the door, the towels were kind of shabby, the nail polish was NOT OPI or Essie, but some off brand that didn't provide any kind of coverage. So, I will continue the search for my nail salon.

The thing that sucked was that I love pedicures, but couldn't even attempt it. Today was the first day that I could put shoes on with my busted toe, but that was pushing the limit. I know the nail is coming off. It's not really attached to my toe. I would love for it to come off, but I'm too chicken to pull it off.

So, that was my day today. The gifts are wrapped and I'll head to get them shipped tomorrow. Still have about 13 more gifts to buy, but I've got a little time. :)

Putting the "Um" in Hump Day

As in "um, why did I wait so long to send out that email?" Or "um, why is my list of things to do suddenly twice as long as it was yesterday?". I know the reason. One part procrastination, two parts internal meetings to get things rolling and a healthy pinch of summer. Is it just me or does it seem like it takes longer for things to happen on a business front in the summer? People are randomly on vacation, out for Fridays, taking an afternoon off to go watch their children's baseball/softball/soccer games. Except for the last one, that would describe me, as well.

But today is Wednesday which means that tomorrow is Thursday and then we're in the home stretch for two days of player's choice. I'm choosing sometime soon to get a mani/pedi and do some organizing. Plus my friends up north were all excited about going organic, shopping at the farmer's market and eating in season. It inspired me to do a few things--or rather resume some things I'd been doing: 1) making a log of the next week's meals and deriving the list from that and 2) eating more vegetables. I forget how much I love things until I start talking about them to others. The passion with which I described roasted brussel sprouts made me realize that they aren't in my life enough.

So here's where I need your help. I'm stuck in a cooking rut. Send me your best recipes or favorite web sites for recipes, please!!

Phew!

Last night was the Rutherford Heart Ball. I am relieved and excited it's over. Chef probably is too. Also my friends and family are ready for me to return to the land of the living, so to speak. It was a beautiful event that made our volunteers feel great. Things went smoothly (there's always room for improvement, clearly) and our guests had a good time. I don't think there's a whole lot more I can ask for.

I'm also grateful. I give Erin, our social events director, credit for pulling it off as she did so much, including keeping me from losing my sanity over the last four months. Plus tons of AHA staff and come of our awesome volunteers came out in full force last night to help make the night beautiful.

My favorite part of post-even clean up was that one of my co-workers (Alyssa, I'm talking about you) put a mannequin torso in my front passenger seat and buckled her in. She told me she had done it, but that did not stop me from scaring myself silly as I went to my car at 1 a.m. and thought someone had broken. It also did not stop me from scaring myself a few more times as I would catch the mannequin in my peripheral vision and jump a little. In my defense, it was late and I had been working for 16 hours yesterday with about 3 hours of nervous sleep the night before.

And if being scared also entirely by my own shadow (or that of a plastic armless torso) was not enough of a challenge on the ride home, I almost hit a deer carcass about 3 blocks from the event site. Two cars were stopped in the left hand lane with their emergency flashers on and I slowed down, which ended up saving Liam Nissan his front bumper. I was able to see the dead deer laying in the right lane that I was in and manuveur around it.

So what next? Well, today is a taking it easy kind of day. Friday is all about the mani/pedi that my hands and feet are screaming for. And next week is already scheduled for a vacation. I literally cannot wait. Focusing on work this week is going to be a challenge.

This is What It's Like to Have a Life

This week has been hectic. Every week is hectic. And I've had about the same amount of work to do. And I still feel like I could work 24 hours a day and still not get caught up.

But this week I had a life. I didn't spend every night at the office until 7 or crank up the computer at home at night . . .at least not every night. Instead, I did a lot of things with Chef, and for the most part it was time better invested.

On Wednesday, he and I went to a Scotch tasting. The thing I learned most is that I'm not a big fan of scotch. It was pretty good Scotch, according to other people there, but mostly it was nice to get out in public with Chef on a weeknight and have fun. We were with others, but also mostly a couple because the majority of people there were several decades older than we are. We both left knowing that we'll be going to more tastings in the future (hopefully in the wine and bourbon arenas).

Then last night not only did I go to boot camp and writers group, but when I got home because I didn't have to work on Friday, I got to hang out with Chef until well after midnight, catching up on the Must See TV comedies that I'd missed while at writers group, having some beer and being together.

Today, I continued the self-pampering by sleeping in WAY longer than I normally would, getting a manicure, going to lunch and seeing the BODIES exhibit with Chef. It has been nice to have some time to feel normal. It makes me want more. So I know that I have to carve out more time for myself in the future (more manicures are now a given) and push back on things that can eat up my time for now real reason.

I've got to get a backbone and know that I'm not being selfish, but acting in self-preservation.