Just For Fun

Rise and shine, morning glory. Good morning. If there’s one huge lesson I’ve learned from 2020 so far, it’s to not take the little things for granted, because those little things — like stepping outside your door and taking a few deep breaths of clean, fresh air — those are the big things, which is why you’re going to have to put up with me posting pictures of the sky for a bit…

It’s been three weeks since I’ve been able to enjoy simply going outside, taking a walk and breathing. Finally, the smoke has cleared over the Bay Area. The sky is no longer Martian orange, and we’ve had healthy air quality for three days in a row (!).

A couple days ago we even woke up to fog.

FOG! Wonderful, wet, glorious fog!

I’m loving the gray tones in this pic, by the way. I feel like somewhere in there is a nail polish shade we all need in our lives ASAP.

Overall, this has been that kind of year, hasn’t it? Challenging, and we have to take the good things wherever we can find them.

On that note, more gardening in the front yard today. We’re planting our Muskogee Crape Myrtle tree, and to quote Ri-Ri, I need to “work, work, work, work, work, work.”

While I go put some weed mesh down, here’s your Saturday reading…

• RIP, RBG. ❤️ Thank you for everything you did for us. 👩‍⚖️
• This is what it’s like to take a theater makeup class for college drama students right now.
• Vera Steimberg, a makeup artist in Hollywood who’s been working in the industry for two decades, talks about diversity, representation, and the things she’s been doing to encourage women who want to get into the business.
• This makeup artist transforms herself into celebs, and the transformation is shockingly accurate.
• Fragrances are everywhere, including remote places like mountaintop glaciers!
• In case you’ve got an extra $$$$ sitting around for perfume, Avon is releasing a new scent that costs $1,200.
• And in this week’s edition of “nothing really shocks me anymore,” TikTokers are now using nail files to shave their teeth.
• What happens when dudes add cats to their dating profile pic?

I’ve been craving boba for months.

Who’s going to make this for me?!

I’m down for easy glam.

Love this look

Talk to you soon, my friend.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

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. Last show you binged and loved?

Ted Lasso on Apple TV. It stars Jason Sudeikis, who — fun fact — is a solid basketball player in his own right. The show is about an acclaimed collegiate American football coach who moves to England when he’s given the chance to coach a professional football (as in soccer!) team there. It’s got a lot of what we like to call in our house “potty talk,” a.k.a. “lazy language,” a.k.a. “four-letter words,” but I really like the characters, and I love the overall optimistic feel of the show. The main characters, shockingly (for a show in this day and age), continuously choose to be kind. It’s very refreshing.

2. Last thing you drank?

I just took a sip of Nestle Pure Life Protect in Blackberry, which I got as a sample with my usual monthly water bottle delivery. It has zinc and is supposed to maintain a normal functioning immune system? I dunno… It tastes alright. Actually, it tastes terrible. Like water with a semi-rotten blackberry in it. LOL! I’m not loving it, but it’s here, it’s open, it’s cold, and I’m drinking it.

3. A snapshot of an ordinary moment in your life that brings you real joy?

One was when Connor Claire was about two or three. I had just put her down for the night, and she was there in her crib underneath the covers, looking up at me very sweetly. She has lullabies that play in her room every night, and she started singing one of the lullabies while it was playing… She just lay there, looking up at me, singing. 😊

4. A concert you’ll never forget?

Oh! — easily, Janet Jackson at the Shoreline Amphitheater in 1994 with my friend Jen. It was outdoors, and we had decent seats. We danced and screamed the whole time. SO. FUN.

5. Something that people often get wrong about you?

LOL… My age? I don’t know if it still happens as much as it used to, but back in the day people would always assume I was younger than I really am. When I worked as a legal secretary in my 20s, I would often be asked if I was one of the college interns, hahaha. If I’d only known how fleeting *that* season in my life would be, hahaha!

6. A favorite movie?

There are so many, but I really do love Clueless.

7. What are you deeply grateful for right now?

My education, because I was just telling Connor that there are countries where many girls aren’t even allowed to attend school, and I’m deeply grateful to have had the chance to finish high school and go on to college.

8. Something happens, and you’re called upon to be brave, but all you feel is fear. What’s the first thing you do?

Put my hand on my belly, and take a few big, deep breaths. Then I repeat to myself, either out loud or in my head, “I know I can do this.” And I say it over and over again.

9. What shoes are you wearing today?

My white Nikes, baby! El Hub calls them my “nursing shoes,” but whatever. I wear them all the time because they go with everything!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon.

1. Last show you binged and loved?
2. Last thing you drank?
3. A snapshot of an ordinary moment in your life that brings you real joy?
4. A concert you’ll never forget?
5. Something that people often get wrong about you?
6. A favorite movie?
7. What are you deeply grateful for right now?
8. You’re called upon to be brave, but all you feel is fear. What’s the first thing you do?
9. What shoes are you wearing today?

P.P.S. Have a great Monday, my friend. I hope your heart and soul feel light today! 🤗

Hi, friend, happy Caturday. Short and sweet “hello” this morning because I promised this tiny dancer we would paint our nails ASAP! 💅

I’m thinking of wearing fall colors to coax some rainy vibes to my neck of the woods to aid the firefighting efforts.

It’s been a couple months since I painted my nails… I know, who am I? 2020 has certainly thrown my usual beauty habits for a loop.

On that note, your reading for the week…

• Every single reference in this new Friends-inspired makeup collection is going completely over my head because I actually never watched the series (I know!). One of these days I will.
• Sally Hansen’s got a sweet tooth! Their newest nail polish collection is inspired by Sour Patch Kids, YUM!
• Life hacks learned during quarantine! (Is it weird that I’m kinda excited to try the trick with the clean towel in the dryer?)
• Just in case you were searching for a $1000 luxury face shield by Louis Vuitton…
• Do you see of your favorite scents on this list of the Fragrance Foundation 2020 Award Winners?
• Not gonna lie, I want ALL THE SCRUNCHIES.
• Supernatural cats have been corpse-eating demons and shape shifters in Japanese folklore for centuries, MEOW!
• The 28 best skincare products of 2020, according to health editors
• How to figure out your skin type
• From the History of Beauty in Politics: “For so long, the default image of a politician has been a man, and women were told that to succeed in politics they should conform to that standard. But today, women are starting to make their own rules.”
• These pictures taken by award-winning space photographers are breathtaking!

Vintage beauty advice

Why do I want to try this now?

Just added to my bucket list: learn this dance

I kind of love this.

Girl, I had to.

Note to self…

Iconic

What do you have lined up today? If the air quality isn’t too bad, I also want to plant our new Sweet Bay tree in the front yard. 😊

Whatever you’re up to, have a great day.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Obvs, most people aren’t going to department stores to swatch things on their arms or the backs of their hands anymore!

Do you find that you’re spending more or less on makeup now than you were before March?

I’m still buying and wearing makeup, but I’m purchasing and wearing more drugstore products for sure — hair, body and makeup. I still have the itch to try new things, but it’s less of an itch to drop $$$ on high-end stuff by mail order, you know? So I’m spending less.

As stressful as it can be to go to Thunderdome Target sometimes, depending on how aggressive and dismissive some shoppers have been with masks and social distancing when I’ve been there, at least I know I can pop into Target to get something or process a quick return if need be (they even have a separate, usually shorter, line for returns).

I’ve also tried perfumes without smelling them…which I never would’ve thought to do before (I’m looking at you, Demeter Kitten Fur!).

How about you? How has the pandemic changed your beauty shopping habits?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF! 😊