Mind-numbing

     I don't know about the rest of you, but for me today has just been one of those days that I wish could have turned out different. After waking up a bit early to do some grocery shopping with the hubs I had to go take a final exam for Personal Financial Planning. Which wasn't too bad, but now that it's out of the way, the next exam up is the one that's going to be the hardest- thank goodness it's Monday and I have the whole weekend to try to prepare! But of course, I'm still stressing out about it, because hey, that's just what I do. But now, on top of all of the static already in my head, my heart is sunk from the news about the school shooting in Connecticut. I know people who have lost children, and I know that it is a horrible, horrible pain to have to bear. I can't fathom how hard it is for that community to try to pick up the pieces of what happened this morning.
     My heart also can't help but ache for the shooter himself. He had no excuse for his actions, but if anyone can rationalize killing their own mother, other school workers, and young children so that it is not only acceptable, but necessary, then they have some serious issues. If only he had had some one to talk to or perhaps even therapy, this may have never happened. Maybe he could have lived a normal life and been a functioning member of society. I've read so many posts on social media calling the shooter names and saying that he deserves to rot in Hell,  but I can't do that myself. Yes, his actions made him a monster, and if he had survived, I would have been all for capitol punishment for his actions. However, monsters are made. This young man was once his mother's son, a brother. In today's society it is so easy to feel distanced from people that when some one starts having mental instabilities and lapses in judgement, either no one notices or the person retreats farther into themselves. The shooter was 20, the same age that I am for another week, which gives me shivers; I just can't picture anyone being able to do what he did, regardless of whatever he was trying to deal with. I am curious about how his brother is doing, and I feel so horrible for him- I can only imagine what he is having to deal with himself. I am interested to know what provoked the shooter's  attack- but the world may never know. 
    My heart goes out to the people of Sandy Hook and I hope that God covers their hearts like a balm in this confusing, despairing time. There are no words that can bring back any of those who were lost, but hopefully some of the confusion about what happened can be cleared and those who were lost can be honored.  

Brains....

     Hello, all! It's been a long time since I've posted anything on this blog- I'd been so busy that I felt a bit like a zombie sometimes. That's what happens when there's a lot of work and not enough play! But, here in the last couple of months I've been gaining a bit of free time, so I started messing around with the idea of blogging again and actually sticking with it instead of going MIA every so often (I've wimped out on this resolution a few times, but maybe this time will be different.) 
     I've had a ton of major life stuff happen since I last blogged. I finally got my Associate's Degree and transferred to Virginia Tech. Since I don't work anymore I have a little more time to do what I want to (like play Pokemon and collect Catwoman comics.) I've taken up crochet and I play Darksiders on my husband's Xbox like a madwoman. Yes, my husband's, I'm now married :) If you didn't see that coming, don't worry, I didn't either. We got married in August after deciding that we wanted our relationship to keep growing and didn't want to try to do long- distance. We had originally been planning on getting married next Spring, but having the wedding sooner didn't feel rushed. Matthew is really a fabulous husband, and I feel so blessed that he entered my life when he did. 
     I think I'll probably still do makeup posts, but I'm pretty sure that in order to keep myself on the blogging track I'm going to branch out and write about other things, too, just like a general blog.  These things will probably include crochet, cooking, ferrets (we adopted another one!), and geekery at large.  So, hopefully I'll be posting again soon, and I hope everyone has a great day! 

Everyone say "Hi!" to the newest member of the family- Odin! 

I haven't forgot about the blog, I swear!

     Hi, I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend! I haven't been able to post much lately because I've been super busy with school stuff (classes end May 3, hooray!), and then with work on top of that... I feel like I've barely had time to breathe! I still don't have time to put up anything too long, but I do have a couple of posts I'm hoping to get up soon (one on my adventures with cat-eye style liner and another is a tag.) And today I just thought I'd share a picture of Loki playing in a box :) 

 

sheer spring mani

     Hello everyone! I don't usually post my manicures simply because I kinda suck at painting my own nails :/ But, this last time I did a pretty darned good job! I actually got all of the polish on my nails and NOT on my fingers! The colors didn't work out quite the way I was hoping, but it is still a cute, light, spring-time type of look. To be honest, I was wanting the grey-taupe shade to be alot less sheer and alot more edgy. Can't always have everything, though, I guess! 

  

My hand looks kinda awkward trying to hold both of these :/ 

     For my base and top coats I use Sally Hansen Double Duty Base & Top Coat. On most of my nails is two coats of Gray's Anatomy from Wet'n'Wild. I was very dissapointed with the color payoff- I guess it being a "fastdry" polish is responsible for the sheerness, because this polish is sooo thin. I only used two coats because when I do more, no matter what the polish, the result is usually a thick goopy pile on my nail that takes forever to dry an I did not feel like dealing with that. The color is so lovely in the bottle, and sheerness aside, it is still pretty on- just not what you might expect. On the plus side, this polish did dry quickly! On the last day I wore this polish, I decided to see how many coats it would take to make it completely opaque; on my thumb it took two more coats, but on my index finger it took three more until you couldn't see the white tip of my nail underneath, bringing the total number of coats to opaqueness to 5. On my ring finger is two coats of Sally Hanson's Diamond Strength Brilliant Blush. Now, this one I expected to be alittle on the sheerer side (I've used it before on a full mani and it's such a cute color!) It is a pinky- pearlescent white that literally glows. I hate to say it, but even in its two coats it was more opaque than the Wet'n'Wild. I will just have not not buy any more of the fastdry colors, because the regular line of Wet'n'Wild polishes are great, IMO.

 

Loki says "Hi, hope you enjoyed the post!" 

an easy, cat-eye inspired look

     I've been meaning to post this look for about a week now, but I keep winding up either busy or spending time outside because the weather this way is so beautiful! I love the weather in spring time, simply because it is warm but the humidity hasn't reached the crazy level like it tends to do around here in the summer. Anywho! This look is somewhat inspired by pin-up girls and the cat-eyed or winged liner that they often sport. I love that look! It conveys so many different things- sexiness, mysterious, elegance, fun loving, just depending on the gal wearing it. For years I have not been able to master the cat-eye or winged liner, but an idea struck me the other day; I remember some one doing a tutorial and using tape to achieve the outline they were looking for. I mulled the idea over and thought, what the heck, I might as well try it. And here's the result!

     I took tape and put it from the end of my lashline to the end of my eyebrow; I found this to be the most flattering angle. I used Stila's Kitten on my lid and MAC's Handwritten in the crease and out V. I chose Handwritten specifically because it was matte, and I figured that it would be easier to work with than something with sparkles or a sheen. I then sprayed an angled liner brush with water and collected some more of Handwritten on that brush. Then, I ran a line going against the edge of the tape and connected that to my lashline, about in the middle of the lashline. Instead of making a triangle shape like I've seen some people do, I let the line be thinker towards the outside and thinner on the inner. I've been trying out this technique with actual cream liner, and it's working pretty well, so I think I'm going to get some liquid liner and try it out with that, too. Hopefully, I'll be able to post some pictures of how that turns out soon! 

     And now it's time for a cute kitty picture: 

     Hope y'all have a nice weekend!

this is how I get 'Naked'

     I know... another post on what you can do with Urban Decay's Naked palette... *YAWN.* But, I figured I would go ahead and post this one, since it's a look that I wear quite frequently. And since everyone and their second cousins have raved about the palette, I'll keep my piece on it short and sweet; even though it seems like alot of dough to shell out for one palette, I think that it is of excellent quality, very versatile, and well worth it. I use mine at least three times a week ;) 

     
     Okey dokey, so here's the scoop- in the crease & outer V is Darkhorse, with Smog on the lid and Half Baked on the inner part of the lid. To highlight my inner corners, I use Hard Candy's Tiki bronzer, something I've been reaching for quite a bit, lately; I've been gravitating towards subtlety more and more. In these pictures I'm wearing The Balm's Hot Mama blush and Clinique's Tenderheart gloss.
     And to all of y'all who have Naked 2- is it worth it? I've been eyeballing it, and since I get so much use out of Naked it seems like a good idea, and the idea of having more cool neutrals to work with is appealing. The thing that keeps holding me back, and it is a silly little thing, is that Half Baked is in it, too. I can't help but feel UD cheated and should have included some other color! 

quick & casual

     Hi, I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Mine was good  but fairly uneventful. This week should be interesting, though- Matt is out of town for his job and the baby ferret is staying at my house until he gets back! My sisters are somewhat fascinated with him, so he has had plenty of playtime, which has tickled him absolutely pink. I've been able to stay with him most of the day, which has been nice. The only running I had to do today was to a study session for a microbiology test that I have tomorrow, so I just kept my makeup fairly minimum.

     A while back I purchased a small Stila palette from Sephora, and that's what I mainly used; on my lid is the infamous Kitten, with Eve in the crease. On my brow bone I used Hard Candy's Tiki bronzer/ highlighter. As I usually do, I just swept Too Faced's Pinch my Petals on my cheeks, and today I used The Balm's Coco my Coconuts lip gloss (I loves it!)