1. I made Dean's List for the second semester in a row, and this time I had been taking six classes. Having made the List again means I can once again take a sixth class for free. My reflexive response to this is to say "I am NEVER taking six classes again, that was like death," but I think a more accurate response would be "I am NEVER taking six classes, writing, working a day job, sitting as a Board Member on the Booster Club, planning a wedding, working out and taking voice lessons again." Luckily, I don't need to decide until the semester starts, so I'll at least get clear of the wedding and then figure out what I'm doing. Oh, did I mention I also need to take the GREs this summer?
2. Poor Cindy is going to be all "Oh my freaking God Josie please stop" because she is in that part of my life where there are a LOT of friend intersections, so she's heard me refer people to this thing about nine million times, BUT the thing is, she just doesn't understand the epic magic of the one, the only, the Neti Pot.
I had the sinus infection from hell a while back, and sometime in the middle of my pathetic suffering, The Lucy emailed me and was like "dude. Get a neti pot." I checked it out with Google Magic and immediately made fun of it, because it's basically a little teapot you use to run salt water through your sinuses while looking like an idiot. However, it is the absolute shit. As Luce explained, you get lots of junk out of your sinuses, which is not always gross, but it's there. I started using it on the heels of my sinus infection and it did a world of good in clearing out my breathing and getting me on track to singing again. I have been using it ever since, and I am never going back.My allergies showed up this week, and the amount of junk I've been able to clean out with the neti pot in the morning has made such a huge difference. That's huge for me because I find I get used to allergy medication really quickly, so being able to take less of it is a huge benefit. I described the grossness level as being on par with a Biore strip...it's gross in kind of an amazing way. "That came out of WHERE?" I found my neti pot for about $15 at RiteAid.
3. A while back, I got an invite to this site called Ideeli and I have really been loving it. It's a members-only designer sale site, so every so often there's a selection of items from a designer on amazing markdown for a set period of time (a couple days). It's got a very cool choice of items and designers, and they have everything from home decor to jewelry to dresses to handbags to watches. I'm not really in a position right now to be spending a ton of money on designer gear and what have you, but I was able to buy these Marc Jacobs flats for $45, marked down from $160. Some of the deals are even more insane, but I thought the springy yellow color was just too fab to pass up. You need an invitation to sign up, so just shoot me an email if you'd like to give it a whirl...membership is free!
4. Lucy is a wonderful woman and I love her but seriously the wench needs to stop pointing me to glorious, glorious makeup. Her latest recommendation not related to nasal irrigation is The She Space, a shop full of fantastic mineral makeup. Lucy has been a long time Bare Escentuals advocate, but she says once she happened upon The She Space, she was hooked. The color is AMAZING...all of the colors are complex and somehow manage to be about nineteen colors at once. Still, they can be completely subtle or wild and dramatic. I ordered the following four colors and I love them:
I actually got a little out of control on a recent dinner date because I'd received the package the day before and couldn't resist doing some serious high art style eyeshadow. I can't really be trusted with makeup, let's have it said. Anyway, the site is a little ghetto but the makeup is phenomenal and you will not be sorry. It's a HUGE value for the price - how many people haven't made the Bare Escentuals leap because of the money factor? - and there are colors you won't find anywhere in a skin friendly mineral formula.5. I love Lush's products. They're earth friendly but don't all smell like hemp and other unidentifiable but worrying organic things, and they do what they say they'll do. I really recommend their face and hair products. I use their Ocean Salt facial scrub and Porridge soap, and my face is so happy and glowy all the time. It prepares my skin perfectly for makeup and keeps it moisturized and fabulous. So here's what I got this time around (clockwise from top left): Sandstone soap, which advises me to "follow the Brazilians and exfoliate with sand," a Sicilian bath bomb, the Sweet Japanese Girl facial cleansing bar which is actually quite creepy looking (seriously, it looks like a face) but works wonderfully, Whoosh shower jelly which is really refreshing and adds an element of fun to the shower because it's basically soap in Jello Jiggler form, The Blonde solid shampoo (more on that in a moment) and two Stardust bath bombs which not only smell fabulous but are based on the fabulous Neil Gaiman book.
Lush's bath bombs are the shit. I know not everyone takes time to take a bath, but if you had these, you would. You toss one in the shower and is goes absolutely nuts with fizzing and wonderful smells. Find one you think smells good and give it a shot. I promise you'll thank me later. Now, the shampoo. I have to admit that I have avoided Lush's solid shampoos because they seemed gimmicky, but they sent me a sample of this The Blonde one and I have to say that I am very impressed. It lathers up really well and gets your hair squeaky clean. I don't know that I'd get The Blonde again, because, you know, I'm a brunette, but I have certainly accepted that I should have trusted the geniuses at Lush and tried their solid shampoos sooner.
6. Sephora's did a big push for Givenchy's new Phenomen'Eyes mascara a little while ago, and I had resisted trying it...I mean, it looks like you're applying mascara with a teeny hedgehog, right?
Well, hedgehog or not, this stuff rocks. I have stubbornly un-curlable eyelashes...they'll curl for the 15 seconds following their release from an eyelash curler, and then promptly go stick-straight again. My hair does the same thing, incidentally. But with this stuff, it doesn't matter, because the mascara makes my eyelashes ten feet long and just curled enough. I don't know how. I assume magic is in play. But whatever the reason, it gets EVERY little tiny mini-lash and it rocks. The brush takes a little bit of getting used to, but once you figure out how to use it in a way that works for you, the payoff is huge. I personally look up and sort of pull my eyelid up from the orbital bone area, which gives me the most access to the lashes from underneath. 7. I was looking for a cute present for Mom for her birthday and came across Cynthia Vardhan Ceramics on Etsy. I bought Mom a seriously cute vase, but I also got this for myself:
Need I say more? Her worksmanship is phenomenal and she clearly has a wonderful feel for delicate pottery. I love the delicate striping and dots, and the funky ruffly saucer. Check her out, you're sure to find something you love! PS...Etsy is awesome, and if you want to be the Gift Master and always be that person with the perfect gift, make sure you go right over there and take advantage of the stunning artistic work these people do.
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I recently got my Mom addicted to The She Space and she pretty much hates me now, but seriously, you can't find a better deal anywhere.
ReplyDeleteI haven't tried Lush products but I think I might. That Porridge soap sounds interesting. That masacara also sounds cool.
I spend waaaaaay too much money on beauty products. Le sigh.