For Tomboys Who Sometimes Go Glam

I’ve always thought of myself as kind of a tomboy—not the rough & tumble athletic type, but the Vans and t-shirt kind of girl who can’t be bothered with manicures or purses (what would I even put inside?!) or keeping up with the latest makeup trends. I’m too busy and too laid back for that. In the cooler months, a cardigan or a flannel is my go-to, and in the summer months I like a flowy top or a sundress (which, I recognize, is infinitely more girly than the winter attire but also about as effortless as it gets—dresses are one piece, eliminating any need for matching). And let’s not start with me trying to curl my own hair. Why can I do things to other people I can’t finagle on myself? Mysteries.

            

I feel like every time I log on to any form of social media, there are either women who look completely flawless (read: unrealistic), or women doing makeup tutorials. Look, I’ve watched “Ru Paul’s Drag Race,” and after seeing average dudes become gorgeous women, I get the benefits of contouring and enhancing brows. My sister is a makeup aficionado herself and always has that doll-faced look that astounds me.

However, these makeup tutorials are always on super speed with some EDM music in the background and still end up being ten minutes long. I do NOT have time for that routine when I’m tumbling out of bed at 6am. Furthermore, all the contouring and layering results in a different looking person than the one running to the store in sweats and a messy bun on Sunday morning. As I said, my sister is into makeup and said she enjoys wearing it, and that’s wonderful—as long as it’s something women want to do for themselves and no one else, have at it! I enjoy eyeliner in that it makes me look awake and thus a little more human on the days where I’m dragging through in a sleep-deprived state. 

           

Bridesmaid :)

That being said, I do like the occasional smokey eye. Ever since I tried it out for my best friend Liz’s wedding a couple years ago, I love using it as a go-to feminine touch for my standard finger-raked locks and Chapstick. I don’t wear a lot of makeup—I typically keep the routine to a basic neutral eye shadow, signature winged eyeliner, and some mascara. Boom. I like the minimalistic look and sometimes even opt for just a couple coats of mascara (especially when it’s humid outside, because why bother?). However, I’m wont to expand for special occasions, such as the aforementioned weddings, holidays, or date nights where we actually feel like going out. 

I pulled my inspiration from Kristen Stewart. Say what you want about her shrinking violet personality and the Twilight saga, but the girl rocks the smokey eye look better than anyone I’ve seen, and she does it with variety as well as finesse: bold black rocker-chic, turquoise highlights, or neutral browns and greys. I went with the latter for my wedding look, and it’s soft enough for me to recreate every day (though Mary only knows I don’t want to).

         

I don’t use any kind of anything on my face—except for the minor sweep of Cover Girl blush on each cheek to give my Casper skin a glow in the winter. I swear by Proactiv’s three step system—sensitive skin, of course, because I’m allergic to everything—and I finish with their green tea moisturizer for a nice dewy effect that’s also great for my skin. That’s it.

           

I actually made a tutorial for my femme fatale eye shadow routine because sometimes even the chillest chicks like to look a little daintier. J

Try-Pod Month

So, March is try-pod month. I acknowledge that March is almost over, but I would be loathe if I didn't get my recommendations and reviews out there in the next 1.5 days. Try-pod = try a podcast. I despise talk radio-- I turn on the radio to listen to music, not commercials and people making lame jokes. Podcasts, however, are nothing like that (except perhaps for the occasional lame jokes).

I first started listening to podcasts (by choice) about four years ago. Prior to that, I had them forced on me over various roads trips to various places with some old friends, volume blaring as people recounted little stories here and there in the nasal tones of Ira Glass.

Then I was introduced to Serial, and I was hooked. I'll start with that one. Serial, season one, is Sarah Koenig telling a murder mystery serially, over twelve episodes. It's the story of then-teen Adnan Syed, who was either framed for the murder of his girlfriend, or a vengeful ex-boyfriend. Koenig hooks you in Dickensian style, along with a plunk-a-plunk piano tune, and draws you in. I listened to this CONSTANTLY-- while I was driving, while I was folding laundry, while I was blow-drying my hair. And then it was over. Season two impressed me less, and I am still waiting for a third.

S-Town just started and downloaded itself to my phone a few days ago-- same people who produce This American Life and Serial, and I am an episode and a half in and already hooked.

The Minimalists is a podcast I've recently gotten into in an attempt to de-clutter my life and get back to basics-- use things, love people, and all that. It's interesting to hear their insights and the ways they suggest going through things. What is stuff, anyway? (P.S. It's harder than it sounds-- I vacillate between hating clutter and being sentimental-- not a good in-between).

Then there's The Moth. I discovered this one accidentally, whimsically. I love its hazy, dreamy green cover, and everything about the concept. The Moth is an hour long, usually 4 stories, and themed each episode. There are story slams in various areas of the U.S., including my own little artsy Pittsburgh. It's done under the guise of the type of stories people used to tell one another just because, on sleepy porches during humid summer nights with slow breezes rolling in and moths fluttering around the glow of lamplight. My responses to these stories are as animated as the storytellers themselves-- laughter, shock, emotion, raw and exposed onstage, over a microphone, over the radio.

In a similar vein is This American Life. Ira Glass hosts this show every Sunday, and it too is themed. The stories are poignant and real-- vague enough that they are relatable but real enough that they still connect to everyone at the same time. That's the power of good journalism. It is inspirational, as a writer, to see people doing the thing you love to do yourself: to tell these stories of ordinary people doing ordinary things in a somewhat extraordinary way. People leave an impact on us, and Glass's narration opens listeners up to one more way of truly connecting with people, in a way that moves beyond news feeds and tweets.

Finally, Stuff You Should Know, whose hosts, Josh and Chuck, are like long-lost friends. They cover every topic imaginable and even some I've never thought of, and they do it in typical How Stuff Works style, making it all relevant, humorous, and informative concurrently.

There you have it. Check out some of my suggestions, and if you do, tell me about it in the comments section below. I'd love to hear from you! :)

Truffles, The Variety Pack, and a Perfectly Poached Egg

It's been a crazy two weeks. So much has happened and I am left emotionally drained at the end of it-- like "sitting at home in a hoodie and shorts on Saturday night" drained. There is a breeze, so that's nice. This past week was also Valentine's Day-- or in my case, Valentine's Week.

Some remnants of The Dessert Disaster

In spite of the tumultuousness that was the month of February thus far, Shelley succeeded in taking the term "sweetheart" to a new level. Monday, our bunny Zorro got neutered, we had our nephew Trent for a couple days, and by the time the surgeries and child drops were over it was 9:30 at night, and I had to make a treat for school the next day (I'm a teacher (one of many hats)). Shells suggested this cream cheese and Oreo mixture dipped in chocolate. The plan was to shape them like hearts, dip them in white chocolate dyed pink, and call it a day. The dessert missed the memo. My white chocolate covered Oreo truffles were a major fail-- although my girlfriend tried not to laugh at them, a chuckle escaped as she pulled me into the living room to finish watching Nick be a skeeze ("The Bachelor" is our guilty pleasure).

Broken Hearts 

When I woke up in the morning, she got up with me, went downstairs, and had the idea to cut the sad hearts into squares, cleverly call them Broken Hearts, and serve them that way. They still tasted delicious, for the record, as was evidenced by the fact that they were gone nearly instantly. My co-workers also loved the name.

As I had night class Tuesday, we passed our celebration to Wednesday. She came home from work with groceries and a bouquet of flowers-- beautiful flowers-- chrysanthemums, daisies, carnations, roses, morning glories...  Not just a bouquet of roses or carnations or something. I felt like a child as I exclaimed, "You got me the variety pack!" Wow, nice reaction Rebecca.

The Variety Pack

Then, she prepared dinner. She is a chef in every sense of the word: creative, random, anal, and arrogant (about her food)-- but she has every reason in the world to be, as anyone who has eaten a meal she's made knows. The meal is one that, when it was initially described to me, had me raising an eyebrow-- smoked salmon with sweet potato hash and orange rind, hollandaise sauce, and, quote "a perfectly poached egg". This has since become my favorite meal, paired with a nice Reisling. I received this meal on plates I had said I liked once when we were out-- surprise #2 for me.

The meal was followed by the most sinfully decadent dessert I've ever had. I requested a chocolate cheesecake, something rich, and of course it exceeded any dream: chocolate crust (keeping with the Oreo trend), vanilla and chocolate swirled cheesecake, topped with chocolate ganache (which, as my co-worker Julie said, could make a napkin taste good).

My decadent dessert  on pretty plates 

The dessert's leftovers got taken to work, where my colleagues proceeded to call this cooking and cleaning love of mine "a unicorn" because someone who prefers to do those things is such a rarity. We got a good laugh out of that later.  

The next day, I had a doctor's appointment and I was nervous about it. When I came home (all is well), she had bought me a bigger bookshelf, white like I wanted, and assembled it in my studio alongside a lamp in my favorite color. Finally, a place to house my books. I mentioned offhand that I needed to get one next time we were out, and then it was here. Cut to her detailing my car, Arlandria, this afternoon in the beautiful sunshine, as I sit on the driveway and do my homework and smile because it's adorable. 

The thing of it is, I don't think any of these actions had anything to do with the fact that there was a holiday indicating these things should happen. Instead, this is just how you behave when you love someone. I felt I should mention this because I am not a chef, nor am I particularly good at gifts that aren't memory-type gestures (most notably a trip to the Panthers stadium), but I use my words well and make every attempt to utilize that gift to show people when I appreciate them too.

I went through an angsty phase when I was younger where I tried (key word there) to hate Valentine's Day as a ripoff, money-making, generic pile of garbage. While the "Galentine" phenomenon this year (insert eye roll here) almost brought the angst back, it didn't, because I just love love, in all of its many forms. I love my mum, who was my first valentine. I love my sister. I love all the friends I have made over the course of my life, my other family members, my bunny, and--duh-- my girlfriend. I think the holiday has become overrun with excessive gift giving like it's Christmas, or the pressure to do it perfectly with an expensive meal and lingerie and all of that. I keep it nostalgic-- homemade valentines, some flowers, and the words to represent all the love in my heart. The holiday is all about LOVE, and that is truly something to be celebrated in a world where it seems to so often be forgotten. 

My Green Eyes Can See Clearly

I can finally see! I have not been this excited about a purchase in a really long time. As anyone who knows me is well aware, I have abysmal vision. As in, "1 or 2...2 or 3...7 or 8..." as the eye doctor flips through various levels of prescription intensity. I also haven't had glasses since I was on my mum's insurance plan, so it's been a little while of squinting down the road on dark, rainy nights through expired-prescription glasses. 

First glimpse.

Recently, I saw an ad for a company called Warby Parker. I checked out their website and I nerded out a bit-- this place was awesome. First of all, it was started by a group of guys who, in their college days, decided eyewear was WAY too expensive and should be more affordable. So they decided to start a company where they made the glasses in house and dealt with customers instead of adding in the always-loathed middle man. As if that wasn't enough to hook me, they are like the TOMS of glasses-- each pair you buy donates a pair to a nonprofit organization/developing nation.

Once I browsed the frames, I learned that you can pick five pairs and have them sent to your house to try on and decide which you like best. So I don't have to leave my house, the frames are cute, they are affordable, and I can buy a pair and then donate another pair to someone who can't afford their own glasses. Solid plan. 

The winner!

As soon as they arrived, I tried on all five and sent pictures to every female friend I have (something my girlfriend made fun of me for mercilessly) and it was a unanimous decision for the same pair. I sent the options back, took a picture of myself so they could judge the distance between my pupils, and uploaded my prescription. Furthermore, the lenses automatically come with scratch-resistant coating, anti-glare, and are thinner than the Coke bottles I would be stuck with otherwise. Did I mention they were affordable? 

I know this all sounds like a shameless plug, but honestly, I am so happy to have glasses that are cute, inexpensive, and support a good cause. I can see out of my glasses for the first time in almost four years and it cost me 1/5 of what it would cost anywhere else. Highly recommend.