Just for kicks

One day I was watching the episode of Sex and the City where Carrie goes to a baby shower, has to take off her fancy shoes at the entrance and when she leaves someone has taken them. The host has no sympathy for her and thinks that she's shallow for only thinking about herself and her expensive shoes. In the end, she gets her shoes replaced. The closing line of the episode is something to the effect of 'Sometimes it's hard to walk in a single girls' shoes. That's why sometimes we need really special ones to make the journey more fun.'

I'm not sure why that, of all things, has stuck with me. But, as an older single gal and a lover of shoes, I just really identified with it. 

Then, the other day I was chatting with Robin and she suggested that I do a blog series highlighting all of my shoes because they are fabulous. So, here is the start of what will probably be a completely shallow, yet fun little series. (Please excuse the poor quality of all pictures. I get very little natural light in my apartment and I'm too lazy to move all my shoes very far away from my closet.)

I give you...My shoes.

I bought these lovely red shoes a couple of weeks ago. I had seen these in black at a Nine West store in Lake Geneva but didn't really need another pair of black shoes. The sales lady informed me that they were supposed to be getting them in a couple of other colors soon. There's a Nine West store not that far from me so I walked down there one Saturday just to check things out. Aren't they pretty?

The thing about Nine West is that they almost always have their shoes by one, get one half off. Right next to the red shoes were these great nude and black ones that I almost love more than the red.

Don't worry, there's more. I just don't want to overwhelm you with all of them. I might crash the internets.

October Birchbox

I know that this is very delayed but in my defense, so was my Birchbox. I got a notice one day that there was a delay and they felt so bad that they were giving me 100 points on my account just because. That's equal to $10. I forgive them for being late.
This month's box was about average. Here's what I got:

A Luna Fiber bar. I think I've gotten a Luna bar of some kind before and I generally like them. I liked that this one has more fiber but I wasn't in love with the flavor. It was still a nice, quick breakfast on the run so if I find these on sale somewhere, I'd likely pick up a few to have around the house.

Supergoop City Sunscreen Serum. I haven't tried this one yet. I honestly forgot I had it for the last two weeks. It is described as an award-winning silky SPF 30 serum to wear under your makeup for a weightless UV shield. Sounds good to me. I'll be sure to test it out shortly.

La Fresh Eco-Beauty Acetone-Free Nail Polish Remover. I got two of these packets that each contain one pad. The package claims that one pad will clean and condition all 10 nails. I was skeptical that it would actually work well on the dark nail polish I prefer in the fall and winter. But, it really worked! It smelled nice and didn't dry out my nails the way regular polish remover does. Each packet ends up being about $0.50 so it's not as cheap as the bottles of stuff. But they would be really handy for traveling and might be worth it to take better care of my nails. I think this was my favorite find of the box.

Sprout Lip Balm. This is an organic lip balm made with coconut butter and I got the Cocoa 'flavor'. While I do love the feeling of this I'm not crazy about the cocoa flavor. I'll use it up because it's almost winter and I go through lip stuff like it's my job this time of year.

theBalm cosmetics Mary-Lou Manizer. This is a three-in-one highlighter, shadow and all-over shimmer. This is one of those products that I don't use all that often but it's nice to have a sample or two for when I do want a little extra shimmer in my day.

So, there you have it. Stay tuned for a very exciting blog series that I will be working on for the rest of November!

Where did the time go?

This weekend is my 10 year college reunion.

Huh?

When did that happen?

Unfortunately, it just didn't work out for me to take a trip back to Cali this weekend. I kind of wanted to go. But, I kind of didn't want to go. It would have been a fun trip to visit some great friends. But, most of them graduated the year before me so they wouldn't be at the reunion. There will always be a place in my heart for APU but I haven't stayed overly connected. 

Anyway, the whole 10 year reunion thing got me thinking. 10 years ago, I never would have dreamed my life would be what it is now. I've never been one who knows what they want to do long term and works towards that goal and reaches that goal no matter what. I barely make plans two weeks ahead of time. When I was in College I had no idea what in the world I wanted to do with my life. I'm just thankful that I figured out my original Communications major was a joke and switched to Business. At least that gave me some useful skills. I've landed in a career that I like but 10 years ago I barely knew that fundraising was a career. I just wanted a job with benefits and I went from there. 

I've always loved Chicago but I don't think I would have guessed I'd be living here and thinking I would be here for a long time still. I figured I would be in So Cal for the rest of my life. I never in a million years would have told you that I'd be leading a major capital campaign at my church. 

I didn't have a lot of dreams for my life but I'll admit it's not everything that I thought it would be. I never would have thought I'd still be single at this point. I was sure that God would change that situation long before now. 

God is good though. He's lead me on these journeys and while they haven't been easy all the time, they have lead to a life that I like. I have a wonderful family. I have fabulous friends all over the world. I have a job that allows me to live in a lovely little apartment in a city that I love.

It's good to have dreams for your life but sometimes it's great just seeing what God has in store.

This week

I have been grateful for...

• The wonderful, Godly women that God has put in my life - to walk life with me, to be examples for me, to encourage me, to laugh with me. 
• The loving family that God brought me into. The opportunity to live close to them and to spend time with them. 
• Fall (again) - the colors of the leaves on the trees, the chance to see the vibrant colors in the wide open spaces and to be reminded that God pays attention to the details. 
• Fall nights in Chicago - sitting outside with a great friend enjoying good conversation, food and drinks in the cool clean air of the evening. 
• A job - I may not love it most days, but it is in a field where I want to be, it pays the bills, and it has given me great opportunities.
• Family Dinner Night (FDN) - for my family here in Chicago and the chance to see them almost every week. For the great friends that I have made there and the chance to show off some baking skillz.

Gratefulness Project

Random note: gratefulness is an odd looking word.

Ok, here's the deal. I've been in a tiny funk lately and have been focusing on all the things that go wrong in my life (huge blisters, broken sunglasses, bad traffic, blah, blah, blah). I've also been far too jealous of good things happening in other people's lives. The thing is, there are a lot of good things going on in my life. It may not be exactly what I had dreamed about but it's in no way, shape or form a bad life. To help myself refocus things, I have set a new goal. Everyday between now and Oct 31 I'm going to write down at least one thing that I am grateful for. I probably won't post here everyday but I will be sure to share the things that come up.

Anyone want to join me?

Here it goes.

I'm grateful for...
Fall. The cool, crisp air; the cozy sweaters; the tall boots; the chance to bake yummy things without sweating like crazy; the changing colors of the trees. (9/26/12)

September Birchbox

Sometime soon I'll think about writing a blog post that has nothing to do with Birchbox. For today, this is what you get.

Here's September's box.

Not the most exciting box ever but a couple of goodies such as this Boscia oil-free nightly hydration. It goes on really light and my skin looked lovely in the morning. I'm not entirely ready to give up my Origins Night-amins but this is giving it a run for it's money.

Then there is this Color Club custom polish. I love nail polish and am a huge fan of the dark nails that come along with fall and winter. This dark gray is quite nice. I have a couple of gray polishes already but this is the darkest that I've tried (other than black). Please ignore the small chip already...

I'm not a huge perfume wearer but I do love getting samples of good ones to have around for when the mood strikes me. This is Twirl by Kate Spade. To me this is a little more evening than day time. Much for perfume-y but still nice. I'll keep it around for a nice night out on the town or something.

And then we have a hot pink hair tie. I haven't tried this yet but it will go into my collection of hair ties and will help keep my hair back when I'm washing my face or cleaning or something. I have no need of a hot pink hair tie outside of the house.

Sorry, I haven't tried this next one either but I will soon. WEI to go sleep over kit. It has two samples of cleanser and a moisturizing face tint. I think that this is good in theory but probably falls a bit short in reality. If I know that I'm going somewhere overnight, I might as well just bring my regular face items instead of this.

A Tili plastic bag. It's a plastic bag with a design on it. I don't know if it's clear enough to use in my carry on at the airport but I guess it could be useful for travel. They are supposed to be for storing all my beauty essentials but a plastic bag isn't really preferred. I'm sure I'll find a use for this though.

So, there you go. That's September.

August Birchbox

I got an email the other day that my September Birchbox is on it's way to me. So, I figured it was probably about time to review my August Birchbox.

The August box had some good things in it but wasn't overly exciting.

There was 'Viva la Juicy La Fleur' by Juicy Couture. Um, not so good. I can't really describe the smell but it wasn't something I would want to be wearing. It's already gone in the trash.

Then there was this skin cream by Yu-Be. It's the best selling Japanese cream that can hydrate chapped lips, rough heels and cracked hands. I used it on my horrible summer heels. I put it on at night and then wore socks to bed. It made a difference but this little sample wasn't enough to combat walking around the city in flip flops all summer. I liked the way it smelled and felt. I wouldn't got out of my way to get it, but if I found it in a store, I would certainly pick some up.

I found the next item to be a bit odd. Two little packets of Caldrea hand soap. They were odd but I did like this soap. This particular scent was a little strong for my taste but it left my hands clean and soft. This would make a great housewarming gift.

I got really excited about the Stila waterproof eye-liner that I got. It was perfect timing because I was almost out of my other one. This one is black and I usually wear brown but that's not the end of the world. I like the way that this goes on and that it stays on. Here's the catch. It's a shimmery eye-liner. It's not too extreme but it's enough that I won't wear it on a daily basis. It's perfect for a night out or the weekend, but not exactly right for work.

And, hey, who doesn't need a brand new razor? For whatever reason, I have a hard time spending too much money on a razor so I usually just have the disposible ones around. Those are fine and good for vacation, but probably not the best for day to day. I like this one. It's smooth and shaves close. I'll probably keep it around and invest in some refills.

There you have it. That was August. September review to come pretty soon!