Being Grown Up Isn't Half As Fun As Growing Up

My little brother Will is now officially a kindergartener! I wish I were still in school sometimes. You know that great feeling at the end of the school year, when the weather's just starting to get hot, and you can feel the summer approaching? That feeling you get when you clean out your locker, say goodbye to old teachers, and sign yearbooks? I miss it. I may miss going back to school even more. Getting your class schedule, buying new supplies, taking notes... wow, I am such a nerd. Honestly, I would probably go to school for the rest of my life if I could. I just love learning. Maybe I should become a teacher. But I don't think I have the patience to be a teacher.

Currently Reading: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (I'm on page 297)

Days Till Disney World: 9!

The Triumphant Return of the Nanny!

This week has been so long... I feel like it should be Friday. I don't think I'm going to have kids till I'm, like, thirty. I feel like I've had my fill in these past three days. One kid is exhausting enough, but two (and sometimes three) at the same time is crazy. Not to bring up Kate Gosselin again, but I don't know how she did it with sextuplets. Luckily, our nanny, Daria, came back today, so I was able to take a nap and do some wedding invitation work.

Potbelly's for dinner... oh my goodness it was so amazing. I guess I haven't had it in awhile, and therefore forgot how delicious their turkey sandwiches are. I must've sighed with satisfaction about five times throughout the meal. Is it sad that this is probably my biggest news of the day? In all honesty, I don't really care. I just haven't really been up to much lately - besides getting pumped for my trip to Disney World! I have been to Disneyland several times, but have never visited the Florida resort. I am even more excited to be going with three terrific ladies, and to disregard any common sense I may have while I'm there. Let's do this.

Currently Reading: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (I'm on page 266)

Days Till Disney World: 10!

No Gold For The Golden Boy :(

Alas, Evan did not go home with the mirror ball trophy last night. But if he was going to lose to anyone, I'm glad it was Nicole. She was really incredible to watch, but even so, I thought it was almost too obvious that she was the one who would come out on top. Evan seemed to be more of the underdog, which only made me root for him that much more (in retrospect, I suppose what I really should've done was vote... shame on me!). And I thought he had a really good chance of winning. Personally, I thought he was going to win, and not just because he's been my pick from the beginning. Nicole is a great dancer, but she's also a Pussycat Doll, and I'm not sure what kind of following they have. Whereas Evan is an Olympic gold medalist from Naperville, making him a local hero, and building quite a following. Plus, he's hot. Nicole's hot, too, but I think more ladies watch Dancing With the Stars than men, and are therefore more likely to vote for the hot male figure skater.

But, whatever. I thought Erin, Nicole, and Evan were all really good, and deserved to be the remaining three finalists. I would've really liked it if Evan won, but Nicole was definitely a deserving champion, as much as I hate to admit it. :) The question that remains now is: What am I going to write about on Wednesdays now that it's over?


In other news, for Harry Potter fans like me, Team Starkid has been releasing some teaser photos for the upcoming A Very Potter Sequel! For those of you not yet enlightened, this is a sequel to the play A Very Potter Musical, which is a fan-made production put together by a small theater troupe at the University of Michigan. It is hilarious, even more so for fans of the series. It has some great music, and a lot of heart. About two weekends ago, Starkid performed A Very Potter Sequel at the University of Michigan, and will be showing the video recording at Infinitus, a Harry Potter convention in Orlando on July 15-18. After that, it will make its YouTube debut! July can't come fast enough!

Currently Reading: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (I'm on page 252)
Days Till Disney World: 11!

Let's Go Evan!!

I had no idea the Dancing With the Stars Finale was on tonight!! I will of course be rooting for Evan, but will probably not watch until they announce the winner (or I may even wait till tomorrow morning to check the internet, haha!). I just can't sit still long enough. The show is 2 hours long, first of all, and then you have all the commercials and stuff... I just don't have the patience. I can't handle the suspense. That is all for now.

Currently Reading: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (I forget what page I'm on and don't feel like looking right now)
Days Till Disney World: 12!

Can't Take The Heat.

I feel like I got very little accomplished this weekend, when I wanted to do a whole lot more. I wanted to read a lot - and possibly finish P.A.P.A.Z., but alas, did not. I wanted to work on some of my friends' wedding invitations, but again, this did not come to fruition.

Basically, I'm blaming the heat. Not only was it in the frickin' 90s this weekend, but I was also in Dekalb, at my boyfriend's apartment - which is unfortunately air conditioning-less. Now, I spent a month in Italy in an un-air conditioned apartment, but I guess I either forgot how brutal it is, or I got used to it over the course of the month that I didn't think it was that bad. But, while I was in Italy, I got up and went to class at 8 in the morning, and the school was air conditioned, so perhaps that broke up my day a bit.

This weekend, we tried our best to break up the days - we did grocery shopping Saturday afternoon and then went to see Iron Man 2 in the evening. But yesterday it was pretty much unbearable. It makes you so sleepy, and you just want to lie there, doing as little as possible. So it was much easier to just take a nap rather than do some work. We did manage to get out of the house long enough to go over to Target and buy a second fan - which did end up helping tremendously, as did spending a few minutes in an air conditioned store.

Today it was just as bad - maybe even 10 degrees worse (the car thermometer said 100 degrees!), plus I had 17-month old twins to look after (my siblings, Jenna and Joe). At 1 o'clock, when he was done with preschool, my other little brother, Will, joined us. Our nanny is on vacation, so it's me and Mom. The solution: Run lots of errands. Unfortunately it was in the sweltering heat, but at least it made the day go by a bit faster. Needless to say, I'm very tired and need to shower.

And now my left eye is constantly watering. What's up with that? At least I'm really digging this new blog layout. :)

Currently Reading: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (I'm on page 235)

Days Till Disney World: 13!

Nuts For Neon!

Why, oh why has it taken me this long to discover the awesomeness of neons? I am hooked. I was at Walgreens with Nicole last week and they had a big Sinful Colors display called "Neon Night." Oh my goodness, it was fantastic. They had about 7 or 8 neon colors that looked especially striking against the black display stand they were sitting on. I wanted to buy them all, but settled on two - an orange and a purple. (I may have to go back and get the rest.) The think I like about Sinful Colors is, first of all, the range of colors they have, and the fact that it's an inexpensive line. Each polish is only about $1.99, which is pretty fantastic. I remember reading a tip in a magazine about neon polishes, and they recommended putting down a layer of white polish first, so then the color would really pop. So the above picture is #113, "Dream On," on top of #1, "Snow Me White." Unfortunately the photo makes "Dream On" look kind of pink, but it's actually a purple polish. I really can't believe how different it looks in the photo. I'll have to try taking a new one. Oh, well. I still recommend it.

My new neon nails inspired me to dig out a lime green eye shadow I had purchased actually quite awhile ago, I just have never tried it out for some reason. I had even more incentive to try it when I found out that Leesha had used it in a Seventeen blurb last August (how cool is it that the magazine featured her?! She was also in the March 2010 issue!). So, this is CoverGirl Eye Enhancers in Lime Alive:

FYI, this photo is a much better representation of the color. I ended up loving this shadow so much, I wore it two days in a row (it even matches perfectly with one of the greens in my NYX glitter palette!). I found that the same principle I used for my nails worked equally as well on my eyes; the color popped a lot more when applied on top of a white eye shadow primer.

I love the neons for summer - they give off a nice, fresh vibe (although I'm sure I'd personally wear them any time of the year!).

Currently Reading: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (I'm on page 214 - I'm really behind on my reading!)
Days Till Disney World: 16!

Harajuku Lovers Sunshine Cuties - Super Kawaii!*

Ah! I am obsessed with these amazingly adorable fragrances from Gwen Stefani's Harajuku Lovers. I am a sucker for great packaging, and these five little "dolls" are gravy on top of an already great product. These are the limited edition "Sunshine Cuties," released for summer. These are the latest in a series of three sets that HL has released. All are bafflingly cute, and I definitely cannot pick a favorite set. They come in two sizes; you can get one ounce or a third of an ounce. Of the original set, which I believe premiered in 2008, I have only two, because I want to get the one ounce bottles, which retail for about $45 a pop. I have bills to pay, so my collection hasn't always taken the highest priority. :( You can see the different sizes (and the original designs for Love and Lil' Angel) here.

This past winter, HL released the special edition Snow Bunnies, which I also snatched up. Because the snow bunnies and the Sunshine Cuties are limited editions, I wanted to get all of them. Luckily, they've released adorable gift sets, where you can get all five of the girls (third-ounce bottles), complete with cute carrying case (see the inside here!) These retail for 100 bucks, which is really a good deal considering you would pay $30 each for the third-ounce bottles. So I got the Snow Bunnies for myself for Christmas, which are adorable. They are all dressed in their winter parkas and such, and have rosy cheeks. Super-cute.

Obviously, this spring HL released the special edition Sunshine Cuties, which I ordered from Sephora and got in the mail on Tuesday! They are unbelievingly charming. Each girl wears her own swimsuit (Love even has special sunglasses!), with summery flowers in their hair and a healthy tan. I personally love that their belly buttons are shaped like hearts - that is too funny. They arrive in a bright blue "beach cooler" that could potentially be used as a makeup case. Even the box that the whole thing arrives in is pretty! The other great thing about the Sunshine Cuties is that the scents are different, too! The original set and the Snow Bunnies have the same scents:

LOVE (Original)
Romantic, Sensuous Floral
Top: Pink Pomelo, Sparkling Bergamot, Bamboo Leaf Mist
Mid: Rose, Watery Peony, Egyptian Jasmine
Base: Creamy Vanilla

LOVE (Sunshine Cuites)

Fruity Floral
Top: Nectarine, Passion Fruit, Lemon Blossom
Mid: Plumeria, Osmanthus, Rose Petals
Dry: Vanilla Orchid, Coconut Water, Sensual Musks, Sandalwood

LIL' ANGEL (Original)
Tasty, Sweet, Fruity FloralTop: Pineapple, Raspberry, Cranberry, Blackberry
Mid: Candied Violet, Pear Blossom, Sugared Rose
Base: Lollipop Accord, Hinoki Wood, Crystal Amber

LIL' ANGEL (Sunshine Cuties)

Citrus Vanilla
Top: Meyer Lemon, Mandarin, Touch of Blackberry
Mid: Pink Rose, Vanilla Orchid, Tropical Sampaquita Blossom
Dry: Sugared Patchouli, Vanilla Bean, Skin Musk, Golden Amber

MUSIC (Original)
Sparkling and Juicy, Delicate Floral
Top: Sparkling Pear and Clementine
Mid: Sweetpea, Jasmine Sambac, Honeysuckle
Base: Sleek Woods, Vanilla, Skin Musk

MUSIC (Sunshine Cuites)
Sensuous Floral
Top: Juicy Pear, Granny Smith Apple, Dewy Freesia
Mid: Tiger Orchid, Jasmine Petals, Honeysuckle
Dry: Cashmere Woods, Creamy Musk, Precious Woods

BABY (Original)
Fresh, Clean, Powdery Musk
Top: White Rose, Bergamot, Freesia
Mid: Orange Flower, Tiare Flower, Jasmine Petals
Base: White Musk, Soft Woods, Vanilla, Violet

BABY (Sunshine Cuites)
Dewy Floral
Top: Crisp Mandarin, Wet Neroli, Bright Sunflower
Mid: White Poppy, Living Valencia Orangeflower, Jasmine Absolute
Dry: Soft Musk, Rich Vetiver, Creamy Birch Woods

G (Original)
Tropical, Sunny, Delicious, A Modern Gourmand
Top: Fresh Coconut, Crisp Mandarin, Apple Skin
Mid: Jasmine Sambac, Soft Freesia, Magnolia Vapor
Base: Cotton Woods, Coconut Cream, White Sandalwood

G (Sunshine Cuites)

Creamy Musk
Top: Coconut Water, Mandarin, Bergamot
Mid: White Peach, Heliotrope, Exotic Tiare Flower, Orange Flower
Dry: Vanilla Bean, Tonka, Skin Musk, Creamy Sandalwood

Of course, they all smell wonderful, and I actually wear the original scents quite a lot. The Sunshine Cuties' new summer scents are equally as delicious, though I've only tried Love and Lil' Angel so far. I am highly satisfied with both! I cannot wait to try out the rest of the scents. (I got the above descriptions from the Harajuku Lovers website.)

Overall, these are highly recommended (last year the little third-ounce bottles were my go-to birthday gift for my friends). Harajuku Lovers is totally original and sure to please!

Currently Reading: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (I'm on page 206)
Days Till Disney World: 17!
*"Super Kawaii" is "Super Cute" in Japanese!

Cuatro Minus Ochocinco

You know it's been a long day when you come home from Buffalo Wild Wings (and a triumphant Blackhawks win!) at midnight and think that the blog entry you wrote earlier that day was written the day before, instead. I was kind of panicking because I've obviously been a bit lax lately on my blog updates (not that I'm sure anybody cares whether or not I write every day), and I was afraid I'd done it again. But luckily, it was only my memory that was lax, and not my blogging.

Anyway, my weekly Dancing With the Stars update. Admittedly I did not watch this Monday's show because I like to watch them online the day after rather than on TV the night of. Well, I've been having Internet issues again, and rather than call Wide Open West and find out what the actual problem is, I've just been hanging out in Mom's office whenever I want to go online, and hardwire my laptop into the Internet by using her Ethernet cable. Frivolous, yes, and definitely not as comfortable a place to my enjoy my TV than my room. So I'm behind on DWTS and Glee. (Which sucks, because the Joss Whedon-directed, Neil Patrick Harris-starring episode was last night, and I haven't seen the episode from last week yet!)

Anyway, back to DWTS. I usually make a point to watch Monday night's episode before the elimination on Tuesday night, but I just couldn't make it happen this week. And, of course, I had to know who got eliminated. Turns out my predictions were correct, and Chad left the competition last night. I wish I could say more about it, but having not watched Monday's episode, I can't, really. But honestly, all the points I made last week still apply. He was the logical choice to be eliminated because it's obviously going to come down to Nicole and Evan, and Erin is better than Chad, and has definitely shown more improvement over the course of the show. So it's really not surprising, and not upsetting, either. Kind of ho-hum. It's really all just about waiting for the finale, now. (Which I'm sure is going to be a ridiculous 2 hours. Boo.)

Despite my memory lapse yesterday and inability to get caught up on my TV, overall I had a pretty good day. I tried out my new neon nail polish and eyeshadow, and my new Harajuku Lovers fragrances arrived in the mail! (Both of these I will write about in future entries.) I also went to Louis Sachar's book signing at Anderson's, which was great fun. Will ended up going with me, so I got him Sideways Stories From Wayside School, which hopefully he will be able to fully enjoy in about three years. I had Louis sign it for him too, which is awesome. I bought a 10th anniversary edition of Holes (I already have a hardcover copy), because it's my absolute favorite, and had him sign it, of course. I told him my seventh grade English teacher read it aloud to us, and it's been one of my very favorite books ever since... and I'm almost 24 now. He seems very humble - he just thanked me and said it meant a lot to him. I also bought his new book, The Cardturner, which he read a couple of excerpts from and I decided sounded good enough to check out. :) I also wanted to get a picture, but I think you kind of have to have someone else there to take it, because the employees are busy helping everyone in line. But it's okay. I'll remember it forever. :) And, of course, I ended my day with an amazing Blackhawks win!

Currently Reading: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (I'm on page 194)
Days Till Disney World: 18!

Blech, The Sequel

I am a slacker! No entry yesterday or Friday. But let me explain. First of all, I was not feeling well, as mentioned in my previous entry. I was feeling better on Friday (amazing, considering how crappily I slept Thursday night), but still not awesome. I'd had a headache for about two days in a row, making my sinuses about 10 times worse, but I was finally able to get rid of it Friday morning, thanks to my good friend Excedrin Migraine. So I ended up being surprisingly semi-productive on Friday, getting the majority of Mom's bday invites printed and mailed.

Unfortunately, we've also had some not-so-great news in our family. My Uncle Norm (who is technically my "second uncle" - he's my grandpa's brother - on my mom's side) went into the hospital last week because he was going to have a pacemaker put in his heart. Apparently he has an irregular heartbeat and has been passing out. But it also turns out he's been having seizures, so they gave him an MRI before putting the pacemaker in. Unfortunately they discovered a brain tumor, which, needless to say, sucks. It makes me feel worse when I think about all he's been through recently, which is a lot. His wife, my Aunt Madelin, passed away from cancer in the fall of 2008, and before that, he had gone through treatment for testicular cancer (the doctors are thinking this tumor is cancerous). He has one daughter, my cousin, Micki. I cannot imagine what she's going through. I was talking to Mom about it - we went through something similar with my Grandma, who had brain surgery for a tumor about 10+ years ago. Mom told me how stressful it was on her, but at least she had Grandpa there. Micki has her dad, and that's it. She recently went through this whole awful ordeal losing her mom, and now she has to go through it again with her dad. Ugh.

Uncle Norm was going to have surgery today to remove the tumor, but it was canceled last night because they "don't like the way his sodium levels are looking." Mom says they should take it as a sign and find a second opinion. I agree. More information definitely can't hurt. That's all we know for now.

Currently Reading: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (I'm on page 178)
Days Till Disney World: 19!

Blech.

Who would've known that, even with the lack of a job, I would still have so much to do? Well, I shouldn't say that I don't have a job. Technically, I am doing work for the family business. (The packing slips were designed by meee!) But still. I'm designing some wedding invites for friends who are getting married, and I'm planning my mom's surprise 50th birthday party (which won't be till July, but I'm thinking ahead - I've had the idea since January and am very anxious to get it underway!).

I am sick today. I started feeling sniffly on Tuesday night, and it hasn't improved. Boo. Yesterday my sinuses hurt so bad they were driving me up a wall. Thank God for Sudafed, otherwise I might not have gotten any sleep last night. But even with a decent night's sleep, and nearly a two-hour nap this morning, I still feel like I could go back to bed. BUT, I've had a headache today, probably due in part to my sinuses and in part to the less-than-lovely weather we've been having, so I took two Excedrin Migraine... and the caffeine is making me a bit loopy, and unable to take another nap. So here I am blogging/complaining. Sorry I have nothing better to write about today. :(

ALSO: I did manage to get out of the house long enough today to go to Anderson's and buy my copy of the 10th anniversary edition of Holes. I get to meet Louis Sachar next Tuesday, and tell him how the book changed my life. :)

Currently Reading: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (I'm on page 129)
Days Till Disney World: 24!!

No More Niecy :(

I can't say I'm really surprised that Niecy went home last night... but I am sad. :( I was really impressed with her performances and thought she brought something really fun to the show. But it is a dance competition, and she was constantly being criticized by the judges for her technique. But I think it does say something that she made it to the final five, and I think her technique had been improving steadily since she began the show. And, I mean, I'm looking at some of the stuff she's done, and I'm very impressed. I thought her waltz last night was absolutely gorgeous. Being a curvier chick myself, I like seeing someone like Niecy representin', and showing she can do it well. :)

There was a perfect score for Nicole and Derek this week, and they definitely deserved it. I have no idea how to spell "paso doble," but their 50s-style version was amazing, as was their foxtrot. Of course, still being an avid Evan Lysacek fan, his and Anna's futuristic cha-cha-cha. I can't remember what Erin danced first, but I liked that dance better than her 80s-style rhumba (I think it was the rhumba). What is with the show being 2-hours long this week??? I'm sorry, but I feel this is totally unnecessary. It's bad enough it's spread over two nights. There were only five contestants left - the episodes should be getting shorter, not longer.

My prediction for next week: Chad will be going home. He was in the bottom two this week and hasn't been showing as much improvement as Erin has. But ultimately it's gotta come down to Evan and Nicole.

Currently Reading: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (I'm on page 103)
Days Till Disney World: 25!

Is 88 Colors Enough?

This comes kind of late, but I got my 88-color matte eyeshadow palette in the mail last week! It's from BH cosmetics, which I found just because of an ad on Leesha's blog. I decided to get it because you get a lot of bright, matte colors for only 20 bucks. Pretty good deal for someone like me who wants to try out a bunch of different looks, but doesn't have the cash to buy tons of different products. (MAC shadow is supposed to be great, but each individual pot costs around $14.50, and I want to try lots of different colors.) I bought mine on Amazon, but it's the same price as if you buy it from the BH cosmetics website. Here are the colors:

It has a matte red, which I guess is a rarity in the makeup world. Apparently MAC had one (Basic Red), but it was not "eye-safe," so it was shunned or something. Face Front also had one called Rally Red, but it has since been discontinued. Looking at their site, though, I see there are a few other reds, but they're either metallic or steel finish, not matte. :( I used my matte red to create my Iron Man look for the movie opening (or re-create Leesha's look, whichever you prefer), and I really liked it. In conjunction with the NYX shadow primer I used (ESB01 - White), I was really happy with the results. I could probably use some better brushes, but that's going to have to wait. I used some of the golds for the Iron Man look, as well. Some of the colors (like the golds) on this palette have a little bit of shimmer to them, which is kind of nice, too.

I have yet to fully explore the potentials of this palette, but upon my first impression, I'm liking it a lot. Again, particularly for someone like me, who is not a makeup guru by any means but would like to try out some new looks and get creative. Since there are 88 colors, each color comes in about a dime-sized portion, so there's not a whole lot, but again, you're exchanging quantity of one color for a greater range of colors. I will keep you updated as I try different looks!

Currently Reading: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (I'm on page 87)
Days Till Disney World: 26!

Plastic Is Fantastic

I have this kind of morbid fascination with Heidi Montag. Not that I idolize her or anything like that, but I am trying to "figure her out." Looking at the above picture, it simply boggles my mind at how different she looks, thanks to her new best friend, the scalpel. I mean, really, how were they able to stuff those huge boobs into such a tiny girl? (And she wanted to go bigger? What a psycho.) She is arguably more attractive now, but at what cost? Looking plastic-y, first of all. In the previews I've seen for the new season of The Hills, it looks like she's trying to cry but can't really convey any emotion on her face... or seemingly produce tears, either. That's just freakish. She says that in order for her to "make it" as a pop star, she needs to look like this, which I think is a bunch of crap. What example is she setting for all the teenage girls who actually watch The Hills? (I've never watched it, except for when they make fun of it on The Soup.) It makes me sad, really.

Honestly, I feel sorry for her. She was so unhappy with the way she looked she convinced herself that plastic surgery was her ultimate solution. And major plastic surgery, at that. I can understand some of the people who get nose jobs, or if you get horribly disfigured in an accident or something like that. But what Heidi's done is just... odd. It's kind of like a train wreck - you don't want to stare, but you can't look away.

Anyway, just wanted to rant.

Currently Reading: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (I'm on page 71)
Days Till Disney World: 27!

I Heart Tony Stark!

I got up early this morning to see Iron Man 2 at 9:30. I never sleep very well when I know I'm getting up the next morning to do something, and last night was definitely no exception. I woke up from a less-than-lovely dream at around 2:45 this morning and couldn't fall back asleep. About an hour later, when I was starting to feel sleepy again, the lovely thunderstorm started and kept me up for awhile longer. I don't think I every fully felt like I fell back into a very deep sleep, so I'm feeling pretty exhausted today. And I usually don't see movies the day they come out, but my little brother Will and I have been counting down the days till this movie came out, and he especially was anxious to see it. We even wore our Iron Man t-shirts to the theater, and I even donned some Iron Man-inspired makeup!

I'm not going to write a review of Iron Man 2 because I've learned that, generally, I like movies better the second time I see them. Or I like them less the more I see them. Like, I was really excited to see The Dark Knight when it came out, and the first time I saw it I didn't really want to admit that it wasn't all I'd hoped it would be. But upon repeat viewings, I noticed that I felt Heath Ledger was really the best part of it, and while he wasn't on screen I was kind of bored. Unfortunate, but true.

All I'm going to say is that, upon the initial viewing, I really enjoyed Iron Man 2. I felt it was a lot more plot than action, but Robert Downey, Jr. definitely kept it interesting and funny. (In one review I just read online, Sean O'Connell from Filmcritic.com "compliments the Marvel Comics character for spending more time out of costume than in it. He explains that it's 'Downey's captivatingly honest examinations of his character's inherent flaws...that permit the actor, and not the effects, to carry the drama.'" Well-said.) Scarlett Johansson was fantastic, as was Samuel L. Jackson (and The Avengers tie-in!). I'm looking forward to seeing it again. :)

Currently Reading: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (I'm on page 30)
Days Till Disney World: 30! (That's one month!)

Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang

Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang by Chelsea Handler
I like Chelsea – more for her pranks on Girls Behaving Badly than anything else, but she can get a chuckle out of me every now and then. I’ve always been intrigued by her books – My Horizontal Life and Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea – but have never picked them up. After hearing good things about Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang, I figured I’d give it a whirl. And it definitely started off with a bang (no pun intended). I absolutely loved the first and second chapters, which were centered around her discovering the art of masturbation at age eight, and her quest to obtain a Cabbage Patch Kid, respectively. I particularly love stories about childhood, and Chelsea’s are exquisite. I would buy an entire book of her childhood stories if it were ever published. The naivety of children viewed through the eyes of an adult… there is little I find funnier. And Chelsea’s childhood-self talks exactly like her adult-self, which made it even more hysterical.

Unfortunately, I steadily lost interest after that. Sorry, Chelsea, but when you start talking about how your boyfriend is the CEO of E! and how he arranged to have a helicopter pick you up from a friends wedding, it becomes less relatable and, in this reader’s eyes, not as funny.

Sorry there isn’t much more for me to say about this one. Overall, I was kind of disappointed, but not so disappointed that I won’t give her other books a try.

Currently Reading: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (I'm on page 18)
Days Till Disney World: 31!

See Ya, Pamela

Sorry, I couldn't manage a witty title for this week's Dancing With the Stars castoff. After finding out Erin, Chad, and Pamela were the bottom three, I didn't really care who went home. I mean, I honestly think everyone has been doing a really great job, and for me it's just a popularity contest now. I've never been the biggest fan of Pamela Anderson, and I feel Erin Andrews is only famous because of a peeping tom (yes, I know she's an ESPN chick, but how many people had actually heard of her before that whole fiasco? Yeah, that's what I thought). Chad seems kinda like an a-hole, but I really like Cheryl Burke, his dance partner.

I am really happy that Niecy is still around (unfortunately I got the feeling after last week that she would be the next one to leave), and of course there's Evan's PERFECT SCORE! The FIRST perfect score of the SEASON!!! Suck on that, Nicole!!!!!!!!!! Ahem. Monday night Carrie Ann said that she thought Nicole was hands-down the best contestant they've had on DWTS, and it makes me angry to say that she's probably right. I feel like I'd like Nicole a lot more if she wasn't going against Evan. I will admit she's pretty frickin' amazing to watch.

Ugh, I am trying to get things together for Mother's Day. Plus I'm starting to plan my mom's surprise birthday party this summer (she's turning 50), and I'm designing wedding invitations. Luckily I love doing all these things, it's just making it harder for me to sit down and blog.

Currently Reading: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (I'm on page 7)
Days Till Disney World: 32!

Razzle Dazzle

Shame on me for not updating yesterday. But in my defense, I was recuperating from a very busy weekend. First of all, I was pretty busy Friday because I was getting ready for Lara's birthday party Saturday night. I was in charge of the cake, and I picked it up Friday night instead of Saturday before the party because Jewel has a tendency of screwing up my cake orders and NOT having them ready on time. Luckily, they redeemed themselves this time and did a beautiful job. I was also running a lot of errands Friday and just happened to stop by Ulta. I wanted to get Lara this glitter cream eyeshadow palette I had bought back in February and she had admired:
Green is her favorite color, so I thought this was pretty much perfect. Unfortunately, they didn't have this particular palette there when I went to go check it out (it's #08, Fresh Greens), but they did have an absolutely gorgeous one with some beautiful blues (#11, Ocean Breeze):

AND all the NYX products were buy two, get one free, so I got one for myself, too. :) I also got some eyeshadow primer which makes the colors more vibrant (which is also great), and a white eyeliner pencil (which I can't believe it took me this long to discover the wonders of white eyeliner. It really does make your eyes pop and look bigger). And I just heard the doorbell ring, so I think UPS just dropped off the 88-color matte eyeshadow palette I ordered! More on that later.

As I learned, glitter can be a real bitch to get off, but I found that if you use makeup remover towelettes, it makes your life a whole lot easier. I suppose you could just avoid the potential mess and get shimmery eyeshadow instead of full-blown glitter, but I like a lot of shimmer. It really does have a striking effect. And on me personally, it looked great with my new haircut. :) I tried the deep deep blue, which is the second from the right in the Ocean Breeze palette. Very pretty!

So on Friday, after I ran all my errands, we had a boy-girl May-Pril (that's the beginning of May, end of April) party as Sarah's, which was crazy fun. Three boys, three girls, lots of shots, and lots of games. It was a great time, especially playing Balderdash. What a fun game. We all stayed up until probably 3:15 or so, which is quite late for me. And then I didn't end up actually going to sleep until 4am, so you can imagine how tired I was the next day. And then we got together for another party (fiesta!). Totally worth it, though. It was fun times. I can't wait till Disney World!

Oh, and EVAN WON THE SEASON'S FIRST PERFECT SCORE LAST NIGHT ON DANCING WITH THE STARS!!!!! WOO!!!

Currently Reading: Chelsea Chelsea, Bang Bang by Chelsea Handler (I'm on page 218)
Days Till Disney World: 33!