Editions of Me

Today was the first day of the new school year, and I have to say, I feel pretty energized. Is it possible to feel energized and exhausted at the same time? I feel physically exhausted just because it's been a long day, and I was mostly on my feet. But I feel energized because I think today went pretty well, and I'm excited to start anew. Everyone's doing resolutions for the new school year, so here are mine: - Stay on top of the grading. I'm notorious for waiting weeks and weeks to grade essays, and that does no one any good. So this year, I'm going to give myself a couple of days after they come in, but then they will be graded. - Revamp reading in class. Reading has always been problematic for me - if I ask them to read alone, they won't; if I ask them to read aloud, it's kind of, um, excruciating; and if I read aloud to them, I get really, really tired and start to lose my voice. I need a new way to do this. - Minimize my messing around on the ...

Another look using the UD15 palette - UDPP Original - Deep End all over the lid - Evidence in the crease - Vanilla  in the inner corners and on the browbone - UD eye pencil in Binge along upper lash line - UD Supercurl mascara And a touch of NARS lipstick in Love Devotion :)

aka, My First "Job" as a Makeup Artist My baby brother (who's actually not a baby, at the age of 24) got married this weekend, and I had the lovely honor of being asked to do my sister-in-law's makeup for the wedding. Jen is the sort of person who pretty much never wears makeup ever. She doesn't feel the need to wear it, and she's perfectly gorgeous without it, in my opinion. But of course, it's nice to be a little extra special for an extra special occasion like your wedding day, and Jen asked me to do a purple eye look for her - something light and natural-looking, nothing dramatic that would render her unrecognizable. Herself-but-more-purple :) I was a little nervous but super excited and super flattered - I haven't done other people's makeup in a long time. My brother decided to take pictures of us while I was working. Eyes: - UDPP Original - UD Virgin on the inner half of the lid - NARS Jolie Poupee matte shade (left side of t...

Well, sort of. I don't know if you can call it a yarn crawl if you only go to two stores. However, the yarn I got was special to Portland, so that makes it pretty exciting :) My brother, my VERY-soon-to-be-SIL Jen, and I journeyed east on our voyage. Photo taken by my brother Khoa, who always has his camera handy First up was Yarnia on SE Division. Yarnia was a must on my LYS list because you get to MAKE YOUR OWN YARN. Seriously! The store is full of cones of different colored threads of different fibers, and you pick your own combination of colors and material to create custom-made yarn. They spin it for you onto a cone. Pictured above is my yarn - I chose a strand of teal alpaca, teal wool, dark espresso-brown merino, and brown metallic lurex for a little sparkle and named it Magical Forest in my Ravelry stash, because it looks like a dark, sparkly pine tree. It came out to about $8 for 3oz (not bad!), and I plan to use it for wristwarmers :) Photo from brooklyntweed.n...

First beauty post in a while! I admit, I've had a rather lazy summer break :) - UDPP Original - UD e/s in Half-Truth on the outer half of the lid - UD e/s in Mushroom on the inner half of the lid - UD e/s in Ace in the crease (Wow, this shade was pigmented like WHOA) - UD e/s in Midnight 15 as a highlight, to blend the crease - UD eye pencil in Zero along upper lash line - Bare Escentuals Buxom Lash mascara *All the e/s except Mushroom were from the new UD15 palette

Share Your Love Of Eye Shadow – Host A Makeup Party!

I made the ill-advised decision to read comments on something on the internet, and I came across one person who said, "I laugh every time I hear teachers complaining about their salary. They get winter break, spring break, holidays, and summer break!!!" CAN WE CLEAR SOMETHING UP HERE: Teachers don't get paid for any of those breaks. It's not a nice little paid vacation. Let me PLEASE explain how it works, in my district at least: we are paid based on our 186 WORKING DAYS in a school year. As in, days where either class is in session, or there is an inservice day. WHICH DOES NOT INCLUDE HOLIDAYS AND BREAKS. For all intents and purposes, think of those days as furlough days, because those are days where you DON'T work and DON'T get paid. In fact, they encourage us not to show up, though lots of people do anyway. Honestly? If I could still show up to work during breaks and work all day alone in my classroom (because, good luck trying to convince KIDS to show ...

Two years ago today, August 2nd, Jolie Estelle Fuqua surprised us all by rearing her head 7 weeks early. She continues to surprise me, with her intelligence, her quirky sense of humor, and her CRAZY curly hair. Jolie is strong and sturdy. She is remarkably independent and rarely wants to me to hold her hand. In fact, she'll push me away! And then give me a sneaky little grin that tells me that she's up to no good. She'll try to figure things out herself FIRST... and if she can't, then I usually hear a shriek of "Mommyyyyyyyyyyy!" She gets really excited by dogs, birds, and babies. She's shy when you first meet her, but if she decides to warm up to you, then she's a total sweetheart. She's an easy eater - she'll try anything, but she definitely will let you know that she wants THAT particular piece of carrot from her bowl of soup, or THAT particular sprinkle from her ice cream. She loves to dance and spin. Her favorite movies so far have ...