On My Make Up Bag

In the last year or so, I've gotten Serious about make up. I like how I look with make up on, so I wear it almost every day. Because of that, I've started carrying a more serious 'make up bag' in my purse with me wherever I go with the make up that I use most often (except blush because I don't have a blush brush that can fit).

The Essentials: some safety pins (for safety), some bobby pins, a pair of earrings, and a hair tie (because WIND IN WELLINGTON IS CRAY)

Skin:  a sample size pot of NARS' Sheer Glow foundation, Rimmel's Stay Matte powder (stays on really well) and my Lush atomizer Lust (smells kind of like flowers, but also like a lush store)

Eyes: Lollipops Paris Eyeshadow in Lilly's Delight, Australis Stay Put eyeliner ... in brown, and a Miki Palette in Smokey Neutrals (all 3 of these were quite cheap by New Zealand make up standards, so they're not the best, but they get the job done)

Lips: Australis' Samba (the top one), Mac's Angel (the middle one)(Mac is so great but it is seriously cheaper to buy and ship from the states than it is to buy it IN NEW ZEALAND), Estee Lauder's Cranberry (the bottom one)

A lot of the make up in this bag is stuff I can wear to work, so I end up putting it on in the morning and then being able to refresh at lunch. Hah, never really thought I'd be the type of person that 'refreshes' their make up at lunch but I guess I am. I don't know when it happened, but I don't really mind.

On Naming Books

In my pre-blog days, I spent a lot of time coming up with names for my memoirs. Not that I ever intend to actually write one - I'm not even sure I'm a good enough writer for this blog let alone an entire book - but I've always enjoyed coming up with names for them.

Here's a few of the "best" of them:

I'm Tired and I Want to go Back to Bed: A Memoir
synopsis: dealing with trying to be an adult when you still don't feel like one

I Want to be You When I Grow Up
synopsis: pretending i'm not an adult yet, also hero/celebrity/parent worship and how it's not great to put people on pedestals.

Your Children are Horrible
synopsis: stories of children being funny/weird/horrible and a behind the scenes look at working in childcare

Imaginative or Stupid: Childhood Misconceptions
synopsis: misconceptions I had about the world as a child

Narrative Imperative (could also be a band name)
synopsis: I don't know what this one would be about but it's cool to say. narrative imperative.

Laughing and Crying: or Why I Hate Talking to Adults
synopsis: this one would just be full of one-liners to answer the ridiculous questions adults are constantly asking you:
So, are you dating anyone?
And what exactly are you going to do with your degree?
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
And
Why are you crying?

for a travel series:
How Many Shoes is Too Many? 
A Misadventures in Packing Book

Packing on Codeine was a Bad Idea
A Misadventures in Packing Book
synopsis: travel/life tips for young people. because I'm really the person to be giving advice on those things.

On Selfies

a quick explanation as to what 'selfies' are: any picture taken of yourself that is planned to be uploaded to any sort of social networking website.
Ok, now that that's out of the way, here's a rant about selfies.
Well, not about the selfies themselves, but about the stigma that seems to surround them. I realize that most people in my generation have a inordinate obsession with sharing everything they're doing with the rest of the world and that's mostly silly because no one really cares that much about what you're doing excluding your parents, probably. That need to share often leads to the taking of multitudes of selfies.

I have entire folder for them on my computer. I have no shame.

And what baffles me is that I've seen people getting angry about other people posting pictures of themselves online. Which is just ridiculous. If you feel good enough about yourself to post a picture of your damn beautiful face for the whole internet to see, THEN YOU GO. YOU POST THAT PICTURE. It took me a long time to be ok with how I look and I refuse to make anyone else feel bad about what they're doing with their bodies. My new-ish mantra is "be nice to everyone, because you never know how crappy their day has been." Don't rain on their parade just because you can. No one likes rainy parades. Especially Barbra Streisand.

And I know a lot of people will roll their eyes at me because my generation doesn't need to be any more self involved than it already is, but do we want to raise another generation of super self conscious and self deprecating people? What generation before this has had the ability to share so much and see so much before leaving high school? We're just trying to deal, y'all. We're not the best at it, but give us a few years and we'll figure it out, I promise. we'll be running things some day soon, so you might as well accept it.

The simplest way to avoid the frustration with my generation and our love of everything Us? Oh man, it's gonna make you so mad you didn't think of it first, you ready?
Just don't look at the picture. Skim right over it. Put your phone/computer/fax machine away and go think about something else. Don't make the person who is putting themselves out there feel bad about themselves because you hate the internet/young people.

quick, angry person, look away! here comes a selfie to finish off the post.
Super proud of this one.

*note* I wrote this post a few weeks ago, but it has aptly come out at the same time as one of the most ridiculous and idiotic articles written about the Millennials that's ever been. Look at it if you'd like, but I wouldn't suggest going further than the cover of the magazine itself:

On Reading (#1)

Because I challenged myself to read 40 books this year, I've decided to do some short Book Reviews of the books I've read so far this year.

Across The Universe by Beth Revis

Would Recommend If You Like: Divergent series, Matched Series, teenagers in spaaaace!

I've read a lot of YA distopian fiction in the last few years and am getting a little tired of the genre. That being said, this is a quick and easy read and the plot is interesting enough to keep you reading. The biggest problems I had with the book were the made up future slang Revis used - it kept on taking me out of the book and wondering what it meant/why she chose to use sooo much. Overall, I quite enjoyed the book and but I'm still on the fence as to whether or not I'll read the other 2 books in the series. 

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Would Recommend If You Like: Geraldine Brooks' books, magical creatures exist in secret type books 

I normally try to stay away from fantasy books set in modern day, but this series will be an exception. I love the voice and the characters and the world that the book is set in. I was fully expecting the book to turn into a bodice-ripping type romance novel, but was pleasantly surprised when it stayed away from the sexy sexy aspects of the genre, and kept with the danger magic danger aspects of the genre.

Magician King by Lev Grossman

Would Recommend If You Like: I wouldn't recommend it, to be honest.

After the semi-disappointment of the first book, I was wary to even start this book - and with good reason. Magician King has just as much whiney, mopey, why-can't-I-have-everything-I-wa-a-a-ant as the first book, but without an exciting climax at the end. I was so excited for this series, and I love the world it's set in, but it's hard to enjoy a book with such an annoying narrator. 

Sleepwalk With Me by Mike Birbiglia

Would Recommend If You Like: Chelsea Handler's books, This American Life

I started this book a little biased - I love Birbiglia's stand-up and all of the segments of This American Life he's participated in. If you know his stand-up, some of the stories might be familiar, but you can clearly hear his voice in his writing. It's really funny, even at times touching, and I hope he writes more books.

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion 

Would Recommend If You Like: World War Z, YA distopia novels, zombies

I hate to sound like everyone else I know that's read this book, but it's an excellent new take on zombie books. I thought it would be weird to side with the zombies in a book, but the main character is so charming and it's so well written it felt natural to root for the zombies. To be honest, I mostly only read this to take a break from the crappy YA series I was forcing myself to finish - but I'm glad I did. It's an interesting take on a tired genre and it's well worth a read.