You are here: Home / Archives for Sephora

Thursday Ten: Unintentional Holiday Break Edition

December 30, 2010 by 3 Comments

1. Well, hello there. Guess I took a break. I didn’t mean to. I sure have a lot to talk about – like Christmas, and how I made a cheesecake so good that it could bring a tear to your eye. I’ll do that. Soon. Just as soon as the holiday chaos settles – JUST A LITTLE.
Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake

2. I told y’all last week how I was test driving the amazing Dell Inspiron One 23? Yeah. Dell provided the computer to me for review and we are basically smitten with the thing (Hello? HD screen? Amazing for photos) – and now I’m giving one away over on BD. If you’re a US resident over the age of 18, get thee on over and enter to win it.

3. I’m finding it hard to believe that 2010 is nearly over – whether that’s good or bad, I’m not really sure. I’m excited to see what the new year will bring.

4. It’s currently 38° and rainy. After the brutally cold temps of the past few weeks (brutal is my word – really, I suppose it could have been worse out there), anything over freezing feels like a heatwave.

5. I try to keep the begging to a minimum here, but since it IS the end of the year – tis the season to make last minute charitable contributions to great causes! And in case you needed one to support… I am walking in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer again this coming summer. 39.3 miles over two days. It’s an amazing experience, and if you would like to support me, and support the cause of kicking breast cancer’s ass, click and donate. (Love y’all. You look pretty today)

6. I need to go and get my hair trimmed but finding the time is so freaking hard. I am really going to be fighting the urge I always get midwinter to chop all my hair off – which is why I have to go SOON so that “hey! Cutting off four inches of hair seems like a good idea” thought doesn’t wander into my brain.

7. I am incapable of typing the word “brain” without typing the word “brian” first. Stupid fingers. And I just typed “weord” instead of “word” and oh my goodness, I think maybe I need a little more sleep.

8. I have been going through an intense perfume smell testing process that evolved from a friend sending me massive quantities of perfume samples from Sephora (I love internet people). After everything I smelled (and there were TONS), I have narrowed it down to Bliss or Philosophy’s Amazing Grace. I loved Versace’s Bright Crystal but think it might be a little TOO MUCH for me. I have such a sensitive sense of smell, I am so easily overwhelmed by fragrance. The lighter the better.

9. I finally bought a Speedlite (well, I got a gift card for Christmas, so I bought nothing). I picked it up the other day and LOVE that I can have some light in my inside pictures without the subject being totally flooded in fake flash. Why did I wait so long?

10. I finally saw Black Swan. Have you seen it? WHOA. I knew it was being billed as a “psychological thriller” but I had expected more ‘psychological’ and less ‘thriller’. I jumped so many times – frankly, it creeped me out a lot. It was one of those movies – I can’t say I enjoyed it – because that would just seem weird. Extremely well done. Extremely thought provoking. Extremely scare the bejeezus out of me.

Filed Under: Do Good Feel Good, Eats, Mom Shtuff, Photography, Thursday Ten Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Thursday Ten: Just Give Me All Your Snickers And No One Gets Hurt Edition

October 28, 2010 by 7 Comments

1. So, yeah it’s nearly Halloween and the school Halloween parties are beginning this afternoon and I’m somewhat underwhelmed because I don’t dig Halloween. If I had to choose whether or not I’d celebrate Halloween or Flag Day – I’d choose Flag Day. I’m not sure what it is about Halloween that makes me so scroogey, but I don’t love it. I do love Snickers, though. And Peanut Butter cups. And Twix. Also: Skittles, Starburst, Peanut M&Ms. You can keep your Smarties, Whoppers, and assorted suckers.

2. Speaking of Halloween… What’s up with Trick-Or-Treating on Saturday? Not only is that NOT Halloween, but… The Michigan game comes on at 8. T-or-T should be over at 8, but those straggler kids interrupting the game? Not a good thing. (Who am I kidding? I’ll have turned our porch light off by 7 after dumping the last half of the candy bowl in some kid’s bag just for the sole purpose of being “done” with it all!)

3. I still love my green purse. It’s pretty. Lots of hugs and virtual love after that last post and I appreciate it so much. Thank you.

4. Trying to decide what song to learn next in guitar – looking for things in the Key of E to correspond with the chords I’ve been trying to learn. I think the winner may be Eve 6’s “Inside Out” (aka “the heart in a blender” song).

5. I bought some dry shampoo at Sephora the other day – the point is to somewhat extend the life of your blown out hair without being dirty and greasy. Well, the stuff I bought smells like old ladies. It works. But it reeks. DO. NOT. RECOMMEND. I’ll have to keep trying to find something else.

6. I started Christmas shopping over the weekend. Oh yes. I started with some clothes for the girls from Old Navy – they had some decent sales — particularly on pajama pants. So, I guess I’ve started shopping. With Christmas less than two months away, I figured it was time to get started. I hate feeling rushed.

7. Right now, my iPod has shuffled me to Bon Jovi. I haven’t skipped forward to the next song. Don’t judge.

8. Some new (to me) music I’m listening to this week: “Just a Dream” by Nelly and “Killing Me” by Graham Colton Band. And since I said last week that I was not a fan of Eminem and Lil Wayne and “No Love”… it’s grown on me. I woke up at 3:45 with it stuck in my head.

9. Yes. I’ve basically been up since 3:45. With Eminem in my head. No, I’m not tired… YET. Boy, I can’t wait for the exhaustion to kick in. THAT IS GOING TO BE SUPER FUN!

10. I arrived at the restaurant for book club fifteen minutes early last night. I sat in my car for awhile, and then went into the restaurant for awhile to wait for the rest of the ladies. And waited. I sat in the bar watching ESPN in Spanish and waited some more. Finally, when everyone was ten minutes late, I checked the location in my email. And realized I was at the wrong restaurant. Awesome. I finally met up with everyone – and didn’t even miss any of the book chat. (Next month’s book: “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” – I’ve already read it, but I’m game for hanging out and talking about Lisbeth while eating breadsticks).

Filed Under: Books and Stuff, Mom Shtuff, music, Thursday Ten Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Scents and Sensibility

October 5, 2010 by 6 Comments

Sometimes when my sister has been around, if we’ve gone shopping and she’s ridden in my car, days afterwards, I catch the scent of her perfume lingering lightly on the upholstery or on my daughters’ clothes after she’s hugged them. It’s a beautiful fragrance and it’s distinctly my sister. I’ve never smelled Chanel Chance on anyone else, and so it’s a scent I associate with my sister and only my sister.

It’s beautiful.

Meanwhile, I wear fragrance sporadically. I mean, I work from home, no sense gussying up for myself. I feel wasteful wearing perfume when I’m not leaving the house and suddenly I have a bottle three quarters full and three years old and the fragrance doesn’t even seem to feel like ME anymore.

My most recent fragrance (three years recent) is a splash by Marc Jacobs and it felt lovely in spring and summer months – for autumn and winter? It’s not…quite…right.

So, I’ve been ON A MISSION.

I went to Sephora, seemed a good place to start. While there, I did their in-store fragrance finder (which differs somewhat from their online fragrance finder), and after telling it I liked to wear blue jeans and liked long walks on sunny days, it recommended Burberry Brit. Its notes are

Italian Lime, Icy Pear, Green Almond, White Peony, Sugared Almonds, Amber, Mahogany, Vanilla, Tonka Bean.

Now, I don’t even KNOW what a TONKA BEAN is, but it’s actually a lovely fragrance. Is it for me? I don’t know – I think that White Peony may be too strong – I’m not a fan of florals.

Another Sephora Junkie I know recommended the Fresh series of perfumes. These actually sound more “me” – but I have yet to check them out.

I want something classic – something I can fall in love with and live with for a long time. Something I can wear in ripped blue jeans and something I can wear when I’m dressed to the nines. Something I can wear while I’m sitting at home in front of my laptop and something I can wear when I’m on a class field trip. I need something versatile. I need something fresh. I can’t stand cloying, overwhelming fragrances. It must be light, and wearable.

And most importantly, it can’t make me pukey.

So, tell me – do YOU wear a fragrance (and men who might be reading: YOU ARE NOT EXEMPT FROM THIS QUESTION!)? What is your fragrance style (sporty, fresh, romantic, floral, spicy, etc)? What are your favorite scents? And MOST IMPORTANTLY, do you have any recommendations for me?

Filed Under: Mom Shtuff Tagged With: , , , ,