Editions of Me

We ended up deciding to rip out the carpet in our condo and put in wood flooring, because the pet stains were too bad to shampoo out. After a grueling day of packing up our entire living room (no small feat, considering how it contains Jimmy's hundreds of dvds and my entire yarn collection and my computer and desk and work station, not to mention all the mess and clutter), ripping up the carpet and padding, and laying the foam and wood planks down, I left a large inscription on the concrete before it got covered up by the flooring: Here we will live on, long after we have decided to live elsewhere :)

So, I tried to sign up for Weight Watchers again, but just for the eTools this time, and it wouldn't let me. The website kept doing something weird. My only option is to sign up for a monthly pass to meetings again, and I don't really want to do that, because it's $40 a month, and I KNOW I won't go to the meetings. (I know they work for a lot of people, but sometimes I just feel patronized. I'm not stupid when it comes to weight loss, I'm just really lazy!) But I was cruising iPhone apps, and there are a bunch of cool ones that pretty much do the same thing as Weight Watchers - it recommends a daily calorie limit in order to lose weight at a specific rate (no more than 2 pounds per week, so it's controlled), and you just log everything you eat and all your workouts, and it keeps track for you. And there's a huge database of foods, so not only do they track calories, but they can tell you how much protein, carbs, sodium, etc, you're eating, ju...

(Love of roller derby, that is) SBDM set up a booth at the Morgan Hill Youth Sports Expo today, and we did two skating demos in the blazing hot sun in 100-degree weather. And I was stupid enough not to wear sunscreen. Yeaaahhhh...

Today my derby team (South Bay Derby Mizfitz) set up shop at Morgan Hill's Youth Sports Expo, so it was time to go all out and rep our team through our colors, purple and zebra print. I don't actually know how to do zebra print makeup, so I went all out with purple: - UD Deluxe E/S in Fishnet all over lid - UD Loose Pigment in Rockstar applied as eyeliner with a smudge brush (I just bought this for five bucks!!!) - E/S in Psychedelic Sister (can you tell, it's my new favorite color?) blended into the crease for definition - 24/7 eye pencil in Ransom smudged into lower lashline - Eyelash primer potion and MAC Zoom Lash mascara - UD Wicked lipstick - UD Tinted moisturizer, MAC MSN - UD blush in Hookup (from the Face Case... this is my new favorite blush)

Okay, so this is the third one, using Dashiki and Psychedelic Sister Mine came out not as perfectly smoky, but it still looks pretty cool: - Psychedelic Sister all over the lid, up to my natural crease - Dashiki on the inner third of the lid - Sellout (in lieu of UDPP Sin) to blend the line - Ink for Eyes in Zero along upper lashline - MAC Zoom Lash Mascara On my face: - UD Urban Defense Tinted Moisturizer in Bulletproof - Primer (haha, see below) - MAC Skinfinish Natural - Hookup, the blush from UD's latest Face Case (I love this color!!!) Also... maybe you can't tell by the photos, but my skin looks super awesome, and I owe it to a very odd product: Monistat Anti-Chafing Gel!!! No, not the actual yeast infection medication, but just the soothing gel. This isn't a new discovery, but it's one I've been meaning to try for a while. Apparently Monistat Gel contains similar ingredients to Smashbox's Photo Finish primer, but it's only, like, ...

So, I've been skating with the Mizfitz in Morgan Hill for about a month now, and I'm really enjoying it. I love that this league is right at the beginning of everything, and if I stick around, I'll be able to be a part of this journey. But SVRG's next bootcamp is looming, and I'm afraid I'll be faced with a major decision - WHICH LEAGUE? On the one hand, all I've ever wanted was to join SVRG. I adore the women in the league, they're officially WFTDA now, they've got everything in place. If I make it through this next bootcamp and tryouts, my dream could come true. On the other hand, SVRG is HUGE and I will be bottom of the totem pole, ability-wise. I will be a small fish in a big pond, and it could be years, potentially, before I actually get to skate in a bout. Realistically, I could be a benchwarmer for quite some time. Or, I wouldn't even get to warm the bench - I'll be a bout volunteer. With the Mizfitz, it will also be a long tim...

I am on my way to collecting all 6 Sephora-exclusive colors! I've got one more coming in the mail, and then I'll blog them all properly. Here's look 2 of the series. Again, Sephora doesn't yet have these look guides posted online, so I had to do some stealthy camera-phone photography (which ended up not being necessary, because the Sephora staff was SO nice about just making a copy of the actual guidesheet for me! But it was in black & white.) Here's the cat-eye look: Sorry, I was trying so hard to be stealthy that I didn't get it quite right. But you can see all the pertinent information - UDPP in Sin on top, Freelove eyeshadow on the lid, and Haight eyeshadow on the lower lid. So here's my version: I've got: - Freelove all over the lid - Virgin (from the Naked palette) to soften the line and to highlight - Haight as a thick eyeliner (used a flat eyeliner brush), winged out at the ends - 24/7 eyeliner in Underground smudged into my low...

 I happened to stop by the Urban Decay counter today (okay, it's never happenstance when I visit a UD counter!), and the associate who started talking to me (and doing my eyebrows, haha) was the Regional Director of Sales!!! So we were totally chatting it up about the new fall products and the Sephora exclusive eyeshadows and everything she mentioned, I was like, "Yeah, I've tried that!" or "I have that!" or "I ordered that the minute I got the email!" and she was so impressed, she said, "Omigod" (yes, she said "omigod" - not "oh my god," but "omigod") "you should totally work for us!!!!" And I was squeeing like, "I KNOW, RIGHT?" And I asked her about the Lip Junkie glosses that have yet to be released anywhere (though Sephora has been majorly teasing me!!!!! ) and she said, "I think we have the testers here in a drawer somewhere, would you like to see them?" OH WOULD I! Th...

Photo by Uncle Khoa :) My parents babysit Jolie while I'm at derby, and usually Jolie plays on the bed next to them while they watch tv. Tonight was the same as normal... well, sort of. While my mom intently had her eyes on the screen, Jolie was sitting right next to her, when all of a sudden OUT OF NOWHERE she emits a burst of loud SHRIEKING while flailing her arms around in the air! Well, my mom was so startled, she practically fell off the bed. Upon seeing this, Jolie BURSTS OUT LAUGHING. Apparently she was trying to scare her grandma half to death, and it worked. She was so pleased with her accomplishment that she proceeded to keep shrieking at random intervals for the next couple of hours, to try to scare both her grandparents. And while they definitely weren't fooled, they did practically split their sides laughing at her antics. Yup, this is my daughter, alright!

This look was inspired by my outfit today, which is a pale pink tank top with a long flowy gray skirt. - Virgin all over the lid and into the crease - Gunmetal blended onto the outer half - Creep smudged into the upper lashline with a flat eyeliner brush - Sin in the inner corners/tear duct area with a smudge brush - Eyelash primer potion - Skyscraper mascara

Face: Stila's One-Step; UD's Afterglow blush in Quickie (looks like NARS Orgasm) Eyes (all shadows are Urban Decay): - Crash up to crease - Blended with Naked in the crease - Patted Psychedelic Sister (sephora exclusive) on outer 2/3 of lid - Patted Maui Wowie on inner 1/3 of lid - Eye pencil in Zero along lashline - Skyscraper Multi-Benefit Mascara Thanks for looking! :)

My status has been renewed through the end of 2011! You know what THAT means? ... Yeah. I spend too much money on makeup =P

Yeah, I caved and ordered the DVDs. That infomercial has been haunting me since I first saw it months ago, and I finally decided that I wanted to try it. So Day 1 is the Fit Test, to see how fit you are. And I'm not. The moves are all plyometric, explosive power moves like jumping (LOTS of jumping), pushups, leg lifts, etc. There are 8 moves total, and you have to see how many you can do in one minute, maximum effort. I'm sweating like a pig just over halfway through, and even now as I'm typing this, there is sweat just DRIPPING down my neck and onto my chest. For what is in essence EIGHT MINUTES worth of working out! Anyway, here are my Day 1 results. You can tell that I was fading towards the end: Switch Kicks: 53 Power Jacks: 48 Power Knees: 61 Power Jumps: 20 Globe Jumps: 6 Suicide Jumps: 8 Push-up Jacks: 10 Low Plank Obliques: 18 It is definitely insane. And it is definitely hard. And this wasn't even a full workout. I'm scared of the REAL workou...

Decided to come up with a look using the Naked palette. I managed to keep it to two colors :) I was definitely tempted to use half of them in one look. I used: - Toasted, over the entire lid - Hustle, blended into the crease - Whiskey eyeliner on the upper lashline - Crash eyeliner (not in the palette), smudged along the lower lashline - Maybelline the Colossal mascara The result is a striking, shimmery-metallic eye look that totally made my eyes pop, but didn't overpower my face. It brought attention to my eyes rather than to my eye makeup. The shades themselves are tame enough for every day, but because they're shimmery, you don't look boring. Hustle (a palette exclusive) is plummy-brown. Whiskey (also exclusive) is a matte brown eyeliner, and is perfect next to the brighter shimmer of Toasted on my eyelid. I usually don't do darker shadows in the crease, but I actually really liked this look. What do you think? More pics:

There is a great review (and better photos) at Temptalia , but I just wanted to add my own... I'm just so totally excited to have this. This might end up being my favorite UD palette, even more than BOS II. I can't wait to try this Whiskey eyeliner. It is precisely the brown I have been wanting from UD since I discovered their eyeliners!

I am so in love with derby right now. I'm so happy to be on a team, even though we're a long way from bouting. I'm happy to be a part of the Mizfitz and help the team grow. I got my first taste of jamming tonight (not a real scrimmage, just a drill, so they weren't going all-out on the blocking), and I think I liked it! I've never aspired to be a jammer, because I'm slow and hulky and am much better at being in someone's way. I'm not fast and agile. I don't know if I will ever be a jammer for real, but it was fun at practice :)

UD released 6 Sephora-exclusive eyeshadow colors, and they are gooooo-geous. I decided to buy four of them, and try out the looks they put together. Here's the first, Candy-Colored Eye: I bought Psychedelic Sister and Aquarius, and substituted the Deluxe shadow in Fishnet (in place of Woodstock, which I could not justify buying because I know I will almost never wear it), and the actual Sin eyeshadow instead of the Primer Potion in Sin. I'm also wearing the 24/7 pencil in Zero, and Maybelline's The Falsies mascara (it's new!) So here's my attempt: Very cute and candy pop. I'm not a good enough photographer to really get the colors to show you - it's much more colorful and less washed-out than in the photos. Aquarius is a GORGEOUS silvery green, unlike any UD shadow I've seen so far, and Psychedelic Sister is the purple that dreams are made of. I love them! You can see why I chose to buy these.

Okay, okay. For all my snarking about Twilight, you probably wonder how it is that I am even a fan in the first place. If all I'm going to do is make fun and criticize, why do I even bother? The truth is, I am definitely a fan. I was obsessed with the books at the beginning too. I had a major crush on Edward in book 1, until he broke my heart in book 2 and then I had a major crush on Jacob for being such a sweet and caring guy. I definitely had an opinion on which Team, and I collected merchandise and photos from magazine spreads from the movie. I've stepped back of course, and I've gone back to being a grown-up now. But I still enjoy the stories, as much as I am critical of them, and I thought I would outline here why I still read the books and watch the movies. Basically, here's why I love Twilight: - Deep down inside, I am still an awkward, insecure teenage girl. I thought my pretentious indie-music-loving, liberal-arts-college-attending years had cured me of t...

Dear ______: I don't know how you feel about me, but I'm not mad at you, and I don't hate you. I never was, and never did. I stopped talking to you a while ago just because I didn't want to embarrass you in front of your friends. And now I'm not talking to you just because I'm afraid you won't want to talk to me. But I want you to know that if you ever want to talk to me, I wouldn't turn my back on you. Sometimes I see how unhappy you are, and I wish I could be there for you, but again, I'm afraid you won't want me anywhere near you, so I say nothing. But I want you to know that I still care about you, and I hope that this silence isn't forever. I know we'll never be best friends, but... it would be nice to be on speaking terms again. Dear _____: You, on the other hand, I AM mad at. Because apparently you won't talk to me unless you absolutely have to, and it really hurts me. You once called me one of your best friends, and now yo...

Done in Mirasol Sulka (oh so soft!) on size 10 and 11 needles. A very quick knit (waaay less than 24 hours), and totally a stash buster. I think I may make this one again, because I love the way the FO looks, and I have TONS of yarn that will work for this project (either bulky, or worsted that I can double), and I don't have to knit for ages and I love mild cabling. Yeah, this is my new favorite hat.

The third installment of the series, and the one that I personally acknowledge as "the end" because Breaking Dawn is so freakin' ridiculous that I can only make peace with it by treating like some super entertaining fan fiction. (Oh god, I can't WAIT to see what they do for THAT adaptation!) That said... Eclipse felt fast to me, and I realized it was because we were totally being spared the extra two hundred pages of Bella's self-pity, whining, and constant exultations of Edward's beauty and perfection. THANK YOU GOD. No wonder the book felt so long! The movie has Bella's voiceover from time to time, but it's far from a total narration, and therefore, we don't have to get to hear every single thing she's thinking. What this also does is shine a harsh light on this whole love triangle business. People who love the book get caught up in the whole "Whom should she choose? Whom should she choose?" aspect (again, because we're he...