october beauty faves.

1. Buxom Full and Fabulous Mascara // 2. NARS Creamy Concealer // 3. Peter Thomas Roth Laser-Free Resurfacing Eye Serum // 4. Urban Decay Perversion Mascara // 5. BITE Beauty VIB Rouge Luminous Créme LipstickBumble & Bumble Hairdresser's Invisible Oil Primer // First Aid Beauty Skin Rescue Deep Cleanser with Red Clay // Tend Skin Liquid Skin

My usual makeup look - concealer, bronzer, and mascara - definitely upped its game this month. I got two sample mascaras from Sephora that are both awesome. The Buxom mascara has a plastic wand and really separates and elongates the lashes. The Urban Decay wand is thick and helps to really volumize the lashes. Both are awesome alone, but together they make a bomb combination.The NARS concealer is something I've been meaning to try for a really long time, and I wish I had jumped on the bandwagon sooner. It's just an all around amazing formula and does exactly what you need your concealer to do: hide the fact that you haven't slept in days and not crease so you look cakey and disgusting. The lipstick is a sample I got for becoming a VIB Rouge member at Sephora (aka I spend way too much money in there and now there's a label for it), and it's so nice. It's definitely a lip liner red because it doesn't stay put the way you need it to when a color is that bold, but it is so beautiful. I got the Peter Thomas Roth eye serum at an event (where I met him and he touched my face!), and it's the coolest stuff ever. It comes out as a red gel (see below), and it soaks into your skin like a dream. I had never used a product specifically for my eyes before, but I feel like the area is softer and a little bit brighter since I started slathering this stuff all over my eyes every night.I'm obsessed with the B&B primer oil, and it's the first thing since this stuff that has really detangled my hair, made it feel soft and smell good, and even though it's kind of impossible to tell if UV protection is working when your hair is already in bad shape, I like to think it's working. The face wash was another "should I hop on the bandwagon" purchase, but again, past me, what were you thinking?! It's such a nice gel wash that makes your face feel clean and also removes makeup. I usually like to remove my makeup with an oil first, and then use a cleanser, but I'm sure that this stuff would do the job in one step if necessary. The tend skin helps in preventing and treating ingrown hairs and razor burn, which I feel like most girls I know have issues with, so I'll just keep it brief here and say that it works wonders.

october playlist.

This month in terms of music was simultaneously overwhelming and repetitive. I found a ton of new music and was recommended a bunch as well, so while there were about five albums I went back and forth listening to, these songs were what I had on repeat all month. Obviously Steal My Girl made the cut, because One Direction, but everything else has a kind of similar sound and mood, I think. It's a good'un. Listen to it on Spotify here.

currently: october.

settiling into my new job at BuzzFeed.
loving every. single. second of it.
liking commuting more than I thought I would.
missing my chicken nugget and little wing so, so much every day.
reading The Bell Jar and Crazy Rich Asians.
enjoying wearing more than sweats and sneakers to work.
giving Breaking Bad a second try on netflix because I'm tired of people telling me, "I swear, it gets better!".
watching Step Brothers once a week and quoting it several times a day, to everyone's dismay I'd imagine.
listening to so much new music.
trying to do something exciting every weekend now that it's only two days like the rest of the working world. I was so spoiled with three day weekends for two years.
drinking more coffee than any human ever should.
trying to keep up with the blog, but obviously my first priority right now is kicking ass at work.
taking in fall and all its glory.

project life 2014 // week thirty.

July 21 - July 27. The project is still finding new life and it's still thriving.What went on this week: This was my first full week back at work, but with max at camp full time, I took a part time job with his grandpa at his accountant firm to make up all of my hours. I got back to blogging and hanging out with my friends even though the only place I wanted to be was Europe. I made do. I went to the yankee game on saturday, and it's the last time I will have seen Derek Jeter play baseball as a yankee, and on Sunday I celebrated one of my best friend's birthdays with all of our friends at boozy brunch in the city.About this spread: This was one of those spreads for me that the colors in my photos and the cards I wanted to use all just happen to work pretty harmoniously, which is always awesome. I had a photo from almost every day, which is also awesome. Details + interesting tidbits: The Lindsay Letters "start fresh" card is something I have been dying to use since I got it in one of my studio calico kits, because I actually have the actual print from her website up in my room. I love the crap out of it, so having it to put in one of my spreads, especially at a time where the print is so applicable, is sweet.Photo breakdown: phone photos: 11 // canon t3 photos: 0 // polaroid photos: 0. Taken by me, the self-timer, and shutter remotes. (Photo of max and his friend taken by a counselor at camp).
Materials, supplies, and tools I used: seafoam core kit, design A pocket pages, design F pocket page, studio calico monthly kit: penny arcade (start fresh card); sandlot (beautiful day card); camelot (wake up & be awesome card), elise joy stamp, fiskars corner rounder, fiskars paper trimmer, staz-on jet black ink, hp everyday photo paper, smash date stamp, zig writer for vellum marker in black (on photos), zig writer marker in black (on journal cards).

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Project Life is a simplified solution to scrapbooking created by Becky Higgins that helps you to record the memories of everyday life. Document your story either physically or digitally along with me and so many others. Find out more here, how to start here, & see all of my PL 2014 posts here.

the end of an era.

Today is my last day as a nanny. I'm sitting with max as this goes live, probably eating breakfast and keeping an eye on skylar in her swing. If I feel anything like I think I do, I'm an absolute mess. I've been a mess for two weeks. But we can rewind.

Back in May I started to write for BuzzFeed Community, and all at once, all of the career woes and worries I had been feeling since graduating two years prior were gone. This is what I want to do with my life. I want to make people laugh, I want to write about things I want to read about, and more than that, I want to work with a creative group of people who are like me and have the same passions and dreams. In July I started applying for jobs at online publications, but BuzzFeed was my target. When I finally got an interview for their editorial fellowship program in August, I was thrilled. Needless to say, after a month of waiting to hear back, I didn't get the position. Then that same day I got another interview with the DIY/Lifestyle section, and as soon as I sat down in that second interview, it felt like coming home. These were my people. They get me, they're like me, they're funny and nice and exactly who I want to be surrounded by. I got the job.

So fast forward to today, and all of the feelings. I start working for BuzzFeed tomorrow, and while I could not be more excited that I accomplished exactly what I set out to do back in July, bittersweet is such an understatement. The bitter part of this will far outweigh the sweet all day, and that's okay. I'm saying goodbye to the last two years of my life, a two years that I didn't know could be so full of change and growth and love. My best friend is a three year old boy. I spend more time with him than any other person in my life and now that's changing for both of us, and what hurts me the most is that he can't possibly understand what hopes and dreams and passions are yet. Not to the extent of leaving behind a three year old boy to pursue them, at least.

I spent yesterday going through photos of max from the day I started working for his family all the way up to this last week. He has changed so much over the last two years, and it made me so emotional that this little baby that was brought into my life at exactly the right time has become such a grown up little boy right before my eyes. And it's devastating to know that without me around he'll continue to grow and change and I won't be there for any of it. No more of his firsts will be spent with me, no more of his discoveries will be because of something I taught him, and he won't watch a classic Disney movie because I force him to, only to realize that damn, Disney movies were kind of effed up when I was a kid.

The knowledge of that and more is what makes this day one of the hardest of my life. I have become so comfortable letting myself into that house every morning to start another day with my chicken nugget. And not to mention my new little chicken wing, skylar, who only knows me as the lady that changes her diaper and feeds her and gives her a million kisses all day long. Even saying that she knows that is a stretch. We'll never make memories together like max and I have, we'll never have inside jokes, and we'll never be the kind of best friends that max and I are. Such a bummer.

It's not to say that these kids won't still be in my life, because they totally will, but it will never be the same. Someone else is going to come into their lives and love them and care for them. But I like to think that they couldn't possibly be loved by anyone else more than they are by me #denial.

So a new chapter of my life is starting, and it's surely the end of an era. A diaper, drool, macaroni & cheese, playground, bubble filled era that has made me so happy. I am extremely fortunate to have had these last two years be a reality, and I know that the fact that I'm even able to move on from it and leave my babes behind means that I'm truly setting out to do a job that is going to make me happy. So here's to that, my chickens, and pursuing a career in a field that relates in absolutely no way to the degree you are thousands of dollars in debt because of.

project life 2014 // week twenty nine.

July 14 - July 20. The project is still finding new life and it's still thriving.What went on this week: This week I spent my last day in Barcelona before making the long trip home with a stopover in London, then was finally reunited with my chicken nugget after what felt like forever. I came home to find that there was a deer living in a storm basin in my neighborhood, and there was a lot going on in my personal life that is explained a bit more in detail here.About this spread: I still have so much studio calico stuff from the kits that have been building up over the last few months, so I've been really trying to sort through those and make sure that I'm using up all of the great stuff in weeks that it makes sense, and this was definitely one of those weeks that it worked out for because of the lack of photos.Details + interesting tidbits: I used another 12x6 photo of Lucas to fill two slots, and I also used two slots for transparent elements. I used the not my day transparency from the bluegrass farm kit because most of the days this week were a bit blah coming off of a vacation high and going back to reality. The penny arcade kit had all of this little deer stuff in it, so it worked out perfectly that Jeffrey the deer was one of my subjects for the week. Also, in this month's kit, the underground, came the stamp in the date card below, which has little interchangeable stamps to fill the four slots between the X. I thought it was so perfect that there was a deer in the set, I used the plane and the house for obvious reasons, and of course the camera is always applicable.Photo breakdown: phone photos: 8 // canon t3 photos: 0 // polaroid photos: 0. Taken by me, the self-timer, and shutter remotes.
Materials, supplies, and tools I used: design A pocket pages, design F pocket page, studio calico monthly kit: penny arcade (wood veneer deer, no place like home and everything will be alright cards, home speech bubble sticker); bluegrass farm (not my day transparency); poet society (letter stickers); sandlot (take a deep breath card, date card); the underground (circle and x stamp set), less is more * stamp, elise joy calendar card, fiskars corner rounder, fiskars paper trimmer, staz-on jet black ink, hp everyday photo paper, smash date stamp, zig writer for vellum marker in black (on photos), zig writer marker in black (on journal cards).

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Project Life is a simplified solution to scrapbooking created by Becky Higgins that helps you to record the memories of everyday life. Document your story either physically or digitally along with me and so many others. Find out more here, how to start here, & see all of my PL 2014 posts here.

september book report.

The Giver. I was not expecting to read this book this month, but on an unusually beautiful september weekend I was in maryland visiting a couple of college friends and we decided to read all day in the pool. I finished this book in two sittings, it was so quick, but so good. Jonas lives some time in the future in a kind of Pleasantville ish town where everyone is a bit blah. Everyone joins a family with two parents who didn't birth them, all families have two children, each age group up to twelve years old wears the same clothes, gets particular privileges at particular times, and then after twelve, everyone gets assigned a job to do for the rest of their life. It's a very routine type of society where the members even apologize for things in the exact same way. Jonas is given the most important job in the community and begins to understand what it is to feel, and what it is to love, but he cannot share any of it with anyone else except for his predecessor, The Giver. Jonas beings to realize that he is different and wants more from the life that was chosen for him. It's such a great book, I think I could read it a hundred times and have a different experience with it every time because there are so many components to it. It's definitely a must read.
"The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It's the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared."

A Long Way Down. This book was kind of a disappointment for me. My friends and I decided to start a monthly book club so that we can each read a book together to talk about and this was the first pick. It seemed like an interesting premise, but to be honest, it was just so slow that I really struggled through it. Had we not chosen it to talk about together, I may have actually stopped reading it in the middle, which is something I almost never do. I found the characters really difficult to relate to, and no matter how different characters are from you, the author's job is to make you feel for them anyway, but Nick Hornby didn't do this at all. So I felt very disconnected during the whole thing. I thought all of these grand, life changing events were going to go down, but it turns out the plot was actually a bit awkward and nonsensical. Not my favorite book at all, though there were a few funny quips here and there.
"We spend all those years talking about the stuff that we had in common, and the last few months noticing all the ways we were different, and it broke both of our hearts."

17/25 of my 2014 reading goal complete. Though these books were not on it, check out my paperback lust list for this year.

project life 2014 // week twenty eight.

July 7 - July 13. The project is finding new life and it's thriving.What went on this week: This was a full week of Europe bliss from Paris to Barcelona with Lucerne, Nice, Monaco, and Italy in between. I had a stomach bug for two days and it was still the best week of my life. I took so many pictures, made amazing friends, and saw some of the coolest sights in the world. See/hear more about my trip here.About this spread: This was the week I had the most photos for, so I went nuts and decided to put tons of them in. I used a normal design A page and then a design F in between to make two full spreads mostly going in chronological order. Because the design F page is one 6x4 and 10 3x4 slots I had to cut a couple of leftover 6x4 photos in half to fit that page, but I don't hate the way it turned out at all.Details + interesting tidbits: I used another envelope from penny arcade to put some of my tickets and things from this week of the trip, and I used a tag from another kit to journal a bit about every day of this week more in depth. Photo breakdown: phone photos: 20 // canon t3 photos: 5 // polaroid photos: 0. Taken by me, the self-timer, and shutter remotes. (A bunch of photos were taken by other people for this one. There were 51of us!)
Materials, supplies, and tools I used: design A pocket pages, design F pocket page, studio calico monthly kit: penny arcade (I go to seek a great perhaps card, pink map card, pink envelope), less is more geotag stamp, fiskars corner rounder, fiskars paper trimmer, staz-on jet black ink, hp everyday photo paper, smash date stamp, zig writer for vellum marker in black (on photos), zig writer marker in black (on journal cards).

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Project Life is a simplified solution to scrapbooking created by Becky Higgins that helps you to record the memories of everyday life. Document your story either physically or digitally along with me and so many others. Find out more here, how to start here, & see all of my PL 2014 posts here.

ipsy glam bag review | september.

pacifica eye liner pencil 'gun metal' // cailyn art touch tinted lip gloss 'basic instinct' // nyx hot singles eye shadow 'addiction' // crown brush infinity shadow/crease duo brush // alterna hair care caviar cc cream 10-in-1 complete correctionThis month's bag was kind of a rocker chick theme, which worked out in most ways for me though I wear simple makeup. The eye liner pencil is a really nice gun metal grey color (hence the name), which I think will look really great smudged out as a top liner, and it's super creamy so that should be easy to achieve. The lip gloss isn't exactly my color but it's a nice formula so I'll probably find some way to wear it, possibly over top of something else. The CC cream smells delish and seems like it will be a good hair mask/leave in based on what it claims it does (locks in moisture, heat protects, softening, anti-breakage, etc.), which are all things that my poor, thin hair needs. The brush is a welcome addition to my collection because it's dual sided, soft, and you can really never have too many shadow brushes, especially when you're too lazy to clean them often (watch this video to see how I clean mine). And finally, the NYX shadow is the only thing that I'm a bit disappointed in. I don't love the shade at all, which annoys me because I've done the ipsy profiling thing a million times and there's no reason why they should be under the impression that I'd ever put a coppery purple eyeshadow on myself, but in general, the NYX shadows aren't even that great. They're buildable, but kind of chalky and not very pigmented. An okay bag all things considered, but I'm starting to feel like my ipsy love may be coming to a close after almost a year of monthly bags.