Karen

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. It’s just a list of five more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007). I love reading your answers, and it helps me get my week off to a good start.

1. Are you better at remembering names or remembering faces?

Oh, it’s a tossup because I’m equally bad at both! 🤣

I guess I’m a little better at faces if, and only if, I’m wearing my glasses or contacts (I’m nearsighted)… That said, I’m getting pretty lazy when it comes to wearing either. What I really need to do is invest in some good reading glasses, but I’m still in complete denial about that.

2. What’s your favorite TV show?

The Great British Bake Off! But this one-new-episode-per-week thing on Netflix kind of pains me. I got used to marathoning the earlier seasons.

“Give me all the gluten!” is all I have to say.

3. Something on your bucket list?

I desperately want to learn how to play the accordion… I really need to make that happen, because when there’s an accordion playing, everyone is happy. 😊

4. If you had more time for hobbies, what are some hobbies you would have?

Baking would be one, for sure. Brownies and bread are my love language. ❤️ I’d also like to take hip-hop dance classes again, although I don’t think I’d be much good at it anymore, since it’s been years.

Oh, and if there were an American Ninja Warrior-type gym nearby, I’d start doing obstacle training in a heartbeat.

Oh, and one other thing: does sleep count as a hobby?!

5. Apple or Android?

Apple! — mostly because I’m already stuck on the Mac hamster wheel, and once you’re on there, it’s hard to get off.

Because I’m a “list lady”

Speaking of remembering names…I really don’t like that awkward feeling when you keep running into someone whose name you can’t remember, but after a certain amount of time has passed you can’t ask what their name is again. At that point, it’s clear that neither of you remembers the other person’s name, but you both keep pretending that you do, and it’s so uncomfortable (at least it is for me, LOL!).

So here’s what I do now: I keep a list oh-so-creatively called “People I’ve Met” on my phone, and right after I meet someone, I jot down a few details about them, like, “Long red hair, Molly’s mom, met her at the dance studio in the fall, super friendly.”

It’s actually REALLY handy, especially 1) if you’re bad at remembering names, and 2) you usually have your phone on ya. When I see that person again, BAM! — I just pop open my list, and there are the details.

Super nerdy, and yet super effective. 😉

Have a wonderful week, OK? Talk to you soon.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Question time! Here they are to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon!

1. Are you better at remembering names or remembering faces?
2. What’s your favorite TV show?
3. Something on your bucket list?
4. If you had more time for hobbies, what are some hobbies you’d have?
5. Apple or Android?

P.P.S. Please be extra kind and loving to yourself this week. If you do that, I’ll do the same. 😄

Good morning from the Bay Area! It’s that time of year around here when the microclimates go cray. You can leave the house in shorts and a sleeveless shirt and be desperate for a warm sweatshirt a few hours later. People are NOT playing when they say to bring layers for Bay Area adventures. The pic up top was from the beach a couple weeks ago in the heat of summer. It was warm enough to play at the edge of the water (granted, just our feet because it was cold!), but that pretty much sums it up.

What are you up to today? I hope it involves a little rest and reading.

Speaking of that…your beauty links for the week:

• You can now buy a makeup mirror with Alexa built into it, and all I have to say to that is SNOOZE. Call me when she can actually do winged liner for me.
• The New York Times asks, “Are you being kind to your butt?” (P.S. Apparently, butt skin care masks are a thing now.)
• Favorite quote of the week: “Eventually…I was caught. My mom got home early from work one day and found me in her room wearing her favorite red lipstick. I learned one thing that day that forever stuck with me after the fact: you can’t trick your mom for as long as you think you can.”
• These two clever penguins keep sneaking into a sushi shop.
• According to NYFW, basic beauty is dead.
• I’ve been spending a lot of time on the Marin Humane Society website lately, and I just found out they have a lot of in-depth and useful resources on cat and dog behavior in their Training Handouts section. (And they come in both English and Español!)
• Sasha Plavsic, the founder of clean beauty brand Ilia Beauty, is obsessed with typography.
• Got a pimple? Cover AND heal it with these cute yellow star stickers.
• NYFW also told us that hair scarves are going to be everywhere come spring/summer 2020 (yikes, did I just really type “2020?”).

Now, this is usually the point when I go get another cup of coffee, but I’m going to make a green juice instead because my body is craving spinach… Does that ever happen to you? And sometimes I don’t want to expend the effort to actually sit down and eat a big bowl of it, so I just blitz it in my Ninja Blender with some fruit. That’s where I am in life right now, LOL! 😂

Anyway, have a great rest of your weekend.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen