Eye Love It

I remember back when I was a junior or senior in college (I was around 21) and I went to walmart with one of my best girls (Courtney).  We were perusing the beauty products isle when Courtney decided that she needed to sit on the floor in front of the wrinkle cream section.  I laughed at her because she was absolutely intent that since she was turning 22 she needed to have wrinkle cream.  And she was pretty serious about it,   as evidenced by her SITTING on the floor to explore her options.  I will never forget this moment.  Because it was hilarious, but more because it was the first time I ever really thought about wrinkles. 

I admit that through the years it has crossed my mind multiple times.  Do I need wrinkle cream?  I mean, REALLY, do I?  I stare at myself in the mirror each day trying to determine the answer to this.  I take care of my skin and use plenty of moisturizer. 

Last month, my friend gave me a bunch of samples from Sephora.  I pulled out the anti wrinkle cream and kind of chuckled at it.  I actually thought, I should send this to Courtney as a joke.  But instead, I decided that maybe I should try it.  So I've been using it around my eyes for about a month now. 

This morning after I applied it and moisturized my face, I decided that I NEEDED to look up the reviews about this at Sephora.  Was this a fluke or was I really noticing a difference in my eye area?  Well, it turns out this little jar is pretty pricey but the reviews are overwhelmingly positive.  hmmm...

I really feel like it's a great product and I am starting to notice that my eye area seems a little softer and less puffy than before.  I swear I thought this before I read reviews.   I think that I will invest in the full sized product.  I mean I'm only half way through the sample and it's been a month.  A full sized jar might last me a year.  All I know is that I absolutely love when I find a good product that is worth the money.   After all, I'm over 22 I definitely need anti-wrinkle cream right?  :)

OH, and just in case you were wondering, my sparkly shoes came in the mail today and they are as fantastic as I remember!  You were totally waiting on pins and needles about that right?

Right.

Happy Monday!

Sunday Funday

It's been a busy weekend.  After I posted yesterday, I got into a cranky mood because Syracuse lost the game.  I immediately turned on my electric blanket and went to sleep for a bit.  I woke up and regrouped and  headed out with some friends.  Went to bed late and woke up early to get some grocery shopping done for the week.  Then after another little nap, I headed to "work" this afternoon.  And by "work"  I mean I went snow tubing with a bus full of college students.  We had the whole place to ourselves.  It was FUN! 

I'm lucky that some of my closest friends work with me so I can work AND play.  Here we are after we bundled up and ready to tube it up.

 This is a picture of the lodge as I was being pulled up the hill.

 This is the view looking down.

 Looking up...

 I thought this was funny.  Although I think I disagree...humans most definitely should be able to hibernate sometimes.  It's cold, man.

I had never been snow tubing before today.  It was definitely fun!   I don't enjoy snow but today I put aside my dislike for it and embraced the fun that can be had with a rubber tube and a whole lot of snow.  

I am happy tonight to cuddle up in bed to spend some quality time with my Kindle and then get some sleep.    It's been a nice weekend!

What did you do?

Weekend Whatevers

I posted quickly before I left for roller skating last night.  Yes, you read correctly.  Roller skating.  We had a late night skating event for the college students.  I was pleased that about 75 people attended.  The students seemed to love it and it was worth staying up late to go to.  Even though college students pretend they don't, they still like this stuff. 

 Here are some of my friends and coworkers after we took off our skates.  We had a lot of fun!  And it was a good workout too.

 This morning I went to my WW meeting.  They had a quote up on the board that got me fired up today because I'm pretty frustrated at my lack of progress.

"There are only two options: make progress or make excuses."

So that's going to be my motto from now on.  I will not make excuses.  I'm just going to DO IT!  Which means getting my booty back to the gym, running myself silly and signing up for 5K runs when I can.  No  excuses! I'm not a quitter--I'll do it. For myself.  Because I deserve it.

 That concludes the motivational portion of this post.  Ha.  After my moment at WW, I stopped at the consignment shop (conveniently located right next to WW).  I didn't really want to purchase anything but I found this little pink bag.  It's so much better in person.  It's got such a vintage feel.  I couldn't leave without it.  And only $9.

 The inside is very clean and the bag is very roomy.  I see myself wearing a great dress whilst carrying this beauty.  Can't wait to try it out!

 This afternoon I am gearing up for the 'Cuse game.  We have lost 3 in a row so I needed to get my spirit on.  I got out the orange nail polish.  And I just got my orange bberry cover so my phone has spirit too.  The orange cover looks ridiculous with the purple phone but I don't care.

 Tonight is hopefully going to involve friends, cocktails and laughing.  For now, I'm settling in to watch my game (with my orange scarf on).  Until tomorrow...

LET'S GO ORANGE!

Don't Mess

I'm getting ready to go late night roller skating for work (yes, I work with college students) and I just discovered the new OPI collection coming out this coming week (Feb 2)  and by that, I mean I follow OPI on facebook and they posted a video demo of it.  So I googled it and I think I'm going to really enjoy the colors in this collection. 

I hope my JCP ladies are going to get these colors in.  And I wonder when OPI will realize I should be working for them...

Have a great weekend!  I have a big weekend of roller skating, Syracuse basketball and snow tubing ahead.  Yay!

Ship This.

Remember how I did a post a few weeks ago about my shoe wish list here?  Well, I kept thinking about these shoes and trying to think of the reasons I needed them.  Then it hit me....they would be great with my bridesmaid dress for my friend Jill's wedding.  This is the picture that I took the day that I tried them on and DIDN'T purchase them. 

So about two weeks ago I decided that I needed to get them. I went to macys.com found out the name of the shoe and then searched every place that offered these shoes to find the best price possible.  blah, blah, blah...the only place I could get them from was macys.  So I put them in my cart, went to check out.  ONLY to find out that the shipping charges were way too high.  I realize that sometimes shipping happens.  But 12.95 seems excessive.  I checked on line for free shipping codes. No luck.  There is no macys in my town so I checked to see if the shoes were available in my size at 4 different malls within 2 hours from here.  Nope.  So then I checked to see if they do site to store.  Of course not.  By this point, I was really irritated because they had gone back up to the original price so the shipping went up to 14.95.  CRAZY TALK! 

Maybe I'm too stubborn but I absolutely refuse to pay that kind of shipping for shoes.  It's the principle.  I just can't do it.  Shipping charges really irritate me. 

Earlier this week, Jill was going to be at macys so she said she would check for the shoes.  I called the store after she left to see if they had them in my size (even though I had checked the day before).  While I was checking, I noticed a new review was featured on the page.  (yes, I had been on there that much that I knew a new review).  The review said that her store didn't have them in her size so they shipped the correct size to her for free.   Before I could tell Jill, she called to tell me that they would ship them to me...for free.

AND, they are $20 cheaper than on line. 

I win!

 So as I type, my new lovely shoes are on their way. 

And to make things even better, I scored the boots from my wish list for $17 with free shipping from JCP.  Not quite as exciting but I like them and can't wait to wear them too. 

I think I'm done buying shoes for a while.  Well, unless I find grey boots...

Happy Thursday!

XOXO

It's Monday.  It's freeeezing outside.  I've had a pretty good day but I'm really tired tonight.  I had big plans of coming home and doing some work but it turns out that I feel more like sitting on the couch under the electric blanket watching TV.  But before I become so comfortable that I fall asleep, I wanted to share some of my latest "get organized" projects 2011.  

I have finally figured out how to organize my bathroom shelf.  I found these cute little square glass containers at the dollar store.  Perfect for cotton pads and Q-tips.  And one for tweezers, nail clippers and bobby pins. 

Okay, this isn't organization projects but I did put out some valentine's decorations recently too.  This one is in my office on my desk.  I love this quote.

I got these X and O letters at Walmart.  I wanted two of each but they only had one of each.  Apparently, I wasn't the only one that wanted to make XOXO for valentine's.  :)

This is how they look painted.  Hopefully I can get the other set so I can display them.

I got these frame a few years ago and decided to put pictures of my furry friends in there. They sure are cute (the cats and the frames)

 Some red hots displayed in a jar in the kitchen.  The good news is that I don't feel tempted to eat red hots so they will stay there until after Feb 14th. 

Okay, back to organizing.  I have always been a list keeper.  I generally have a notebook that holds all of my lists and notes to myself.  This goes back to the day that I kept a paper planner. Now my whole life is electronic so I just have a notebook of to-do.  I found this little Vera Bradley binder on sale. 

 I bought dividers and decided I would actually keep all of my lists organized. 

 One section will be for work, one for home projects, one for random things I need to jot down throughout the day, etc.   

For those of you that know me, you know how I like notebooks, journals, and anything school supply.  It's just a new package for the old lists.  I think it makes it feel fresh and new.  Is that weird?

So that's that for this sleepy Monday night.   How do you organize your life?

And Happy Birthday to Beth!  I don't know if you still read this but if you do...I hope you have a great day!

Shattered

My name is AG and I'm a nail polish addict. 

It's true.

And I'm okay with it. 

So when there is a new OPI collection, I need to see it as soon as it comes out.  After I kept seeing the you tube demonstration of the new "Shatter" polish, I needed to try it.  On Friday I called the JCP Salon to see if they had gotten it in yet.  They had.  They set aside a few bottles for me and friends. I went to pick it up after lunch.  (JCP is just about the only place in town to purchase OPI). 

So here goes my own little demonstration in pictures.

I used "I'm India Mood for Love" as the color.  I think bright colors are the way to begin.  Today I felt like it should be pink.

  .  After the two coats of color are completely dry, apply the shatter polish over it.  It's pretty neat, it just shatters within seconds to make some interesting designs on the nails. (Don't worry, I did clean up the edges after  I was done)

 After that, apply the normal top coat and boom, done.

My review so far is that I don't think this will be a regular look for me, but I do think it's fun for the right occasion.  It's fun and a little retro.  Actually, I'd like to do it on my toes sometime too.  I bet that would be interesting.

What do you think? 

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Orange Crushin'

After my two day hiatus from work this week, I returned a feeling a little better about life in general.  I feel a little more organized at home (I am always seeking to be more organized--I wonder if I'll ever feel like I am completely there? hmmm)  I even decorated for Valentine's Day and finished a baby blanket that I have been making for months.  Next up is getting my work list made so I can get a lot done in the next two weeks.  With all of this organizing and stalking a pair of shoes at Macy's.com I haven't been up to much else. 

Today I was supposed to go to Albany to visit my friend, Beth to watch the Syracuse v. Villanova game.  Unfortunately, I didn't get my Saturday morning routine completed early enough so I didn't make it out there.  It was about half time of the game today that I realized that I haven't written anything about my Orange crushes this year.    We've just had two losses this week so that has been a bit of a downer,  BUT it happens.  The good with the bad, right?  Syracuse basketball is probably one of the brightest spots of winter for me.  Gives me something to get fired up about (besides hating snow).

Anyway, I was scrolling through facebook last night and I had about a 25 posts from Syracuse in preparation for the game today and  a picture caught my eye...

That's right, SU rain boots.  I. Need. These. 

I wish the Otto ones came in Navy but I still like either.  A lot.

So if you were wondering what to get me in honor of National Orange Day (March 24), this would be the perfect gift.  :) 

Let's Go Orange!

The Deep Clean

This past week I've put myself in a time out.  Meaning, I've not been very social.  It's been lonely but I am feeling a little better.  That probably sounds like a weird thing to do I needed to stop being so...blah.  I was bumming myself out.  Part of this hiatus has been trying to get my home and life organized again.  I'm pretty organized in general but if my home could be the metaphor for my mind recently, it's a little bit cluttered.  I don't enjoy clutter.  So this weekend began the deep clean of the winter.  It's purge city around here. 
But before the purging commenced I did bring in some new things but all are useful (and seasonal).  I got some really good deals on Christmas clearance.  I paid about $12 for everything in this picture--including a 4 ft. pre-lit tree, 15 rolls of wrapping paper, 24 ornaments, 700 white lights, a stocking and some random decorations.  Not bad at all.  The tree was $1.99 and the wrapping paper came out to .19 cents a roll.   I won't have to but wrapping paper for a long time.  Now everything is packed neatly away for next year. 

 Then the real action happened.  I cleaned out a lot of stuff.  I organized the random things that live in my home.  Like games.  I never know where to put them, but they are stored away now and not taking up space in the guest bedroom any longer. 

 Then it was on to another completely random project.  Why do I still have video tapes?  I don't have a VCR and I don't think I've watched any of these videos in years.  (except Sex and the City--but I have those on DVD, of course)  So I boxed these up and took them to the consignment shop.  I highly doubt people will buy them but at least they don't live here anymore.  And the entertainment center is a lot less cluttered. 

I didn't really take pictures of the amount of stuff I took from the hall closet to the consignment shop.  I thinned out my bags, coats, scarves, etc.  It felt great to get those things out of my house.  I don't really care about making money on any of it, but any little bit helps (to buy new stuff--ha). 

I'm also trying to get through all the magazines that have been piling up for the last 6 months.  And I still have to tackle my closet and drawers and the bookshelves.  But it's it sure feels good to begin cleaning out all of the clutter.  And I'm working on the mental clutter too....

Happy Monday!

Golden

This past week was really blah.  January better start doing me right.  SOON.  I can't even talk about any of my feelings because I'm annoyed with myself this week.  blah.

So tonight, I'm going to focus on pop culture.  In honor of the Golden Globes tonight I wanted to shout out two movies that I loved recently (and that happen to be up for some awards tonight).

Black Swan.  I was haunted from the beginning of the movie to end.  It was crazy and after I watched it, I've thought about it just about everyday.  I've read some harsh reviews of it, but I was fascinated by the story.  I still have so many questions and I love to find excuses to discuss it with people that have seen it.  I thought Natalie was great and I hope that she wins awards for her role. 

And my new favorite movie (since yesterday) is the King's Speech.  I needed something to pick me up out of my blah state so I took myself on a date to the movies.  And I was so glad I did.  I loved it.  It was beautifully done and so well acted.  I just adore anything about the royal family and this story was so nice and uplifting.  And I had little knowledge of King George VI before.  I need to mention that I was in an afternoon showing and the majority of the audience were people over 50.  As the credits rolled, everyone applauded the movie.  I loved that!  Because I felt like that was exactly what it deserved.  Colin Firth has won my vote.  He was incredible! 

If January has you feeling anything like how it's been making me feel, take yourself on a date to the movies to see one of these. It will help.  Well, the King's Speech will.  Black Swan may require some friend support.  :)  And now I'm going to spend the next several hours watching the Golden Globes to see if Natalie and Colin win.  And judge all the dresses, of course.

Snow Kitty

January really annoys me.  There never seems to be a lot going on and there's usually snow on the ground.  I spent the weekend in my house, watching the entire season of Weeds on Showtime and trying to catch up on some projects.  

After we got some snow last week, I decided to take my little Gracie outside to play in the snow.  She is an indoor cat but has a big curiosity about the outside.  Sometimes that makes me sad.  I'd love to live in a place that wasn't near a road so she could go outside and play and hunt and all the things that cats do outdoors.  But I'm selfish and I like her too much for that.  I want her safe and warm and cozy in my house.  Besides, she's too cute for the other neighborhood cats anyway.  They'd be jealous of her good looks and her high end cat food.  Clearly.

She really liked walking around the deck in the snow.  She kept shaking her legs because she wasn't sure exactly what it was.

What the heck is this stuff?

She wanted me to pick her up and snuggle her. She was purring REALLY loud. 

No, her eye isn't glazed over.  I guess the flash caught it in a weird way.  But how cute is this cat?

Happy January!

Twirl Girl

The first week of January is weird. It's back to work for me but there are no students and it's kind of slow socially because we are all getting our lives back on track after the holidays.  So that makes for a kind of boring blog post, right?   Well, since I featured my shoe wish list, today will be about perfume.  I haven't ever done that before.  But I discovered a new one recently and that deserves a nod here on the Lipgloss Lounge.  Besides, if anyone ever wants to send me a random gift in the mail, you'll have plenty of ideas.  hee hee.

Romance by Ralph Lauren.  So pretty and feminine.  Love it.  Plus, the packaging is pretty. 

I normally don't enjoy celebrity fragrances, but I really love this one.  My friend Tara had it with her on a trip once and I "borrowed" some from her while I was getting ready one day.  Um, it really is...lovely.  And Sara Jessica is classy so I feel okay about it.

My all time favorite perfume is Estee Lauder Pleasures.  I absolutely adore this scent.  It's delicious.  It never makes my head hurt and always smells fresh and pretty.  It's almost difficult to like others because I love this one so much.  Love. Love. Love. 

My friend, Jill gave me a sample of a new scent recently (Twirl by Kate Spade) and I wasn't sure how I'd feel so I didn't use it immediately.  I decided to give it a try and I opened the little sample packet to find this quote on the package.  I was immediately intrigued.  How cute is that?  I want to be the girl with a cocktail in my hand and confetti in my hair.  Fun!

So I tried it and am happy to report that I don't just love the packaging, but I adore the scent.  It's wonderful and pretty.  I enjoyed catching a whiff of my myself after I put it on.  And I didn't want to wash my scarf after i wore it because it smelled so delightful.  I am definitely going to buy a big bottle soon. 

So there you have it.  My favorite scents that come in a bottle.  What list will I compile next?  Stay tuned.

What are your favorite fragrances?

A Look Back at Twenty Ten

I'm sitting here watching the People's Choice Awards (awful by the way) and thought I'd recap 2010 in pictures.  I've been without my picture library for awhile and just happened to look through the last year.  I've thought a lot about 2010 and how up and down I thought it was but wanted to show the high points because I don't want the bad stuff to overshadow all the good times I had last year.  Plus, I saw a few blogs do it and thought it looked like fun.  So what did I do in 2010?  Let's have a look...

January 2010

I kicked off the new year with some good friends.  It was right after the worst Christmas of my life and the boy that I've been in love with broke my heart for the first time (which got broken several more times throughout the year...blah)  But I did have a nice NYE with friends.  Here is Cristina and I after midnight in a seedy bar that we used to frequent in college. 

 February 2010
The best part of winter is the college basketball season.  I love Syracuse and was so excited to get to the Villanova game with Beth.  We went to grad school there and I always love going back to the Dome for a game.  SO FUN!

 March 2010
Spring semester at a college is REALLY busy, especially if you work with fraternities/sororities.  But I was able to get away for a conference in Boston with some of my favorite co-workers and close friends.  It was a great trip.  We shopped, we socialized, we learned stuff. 

 April 2010
My sorority celebrated Founder's Day.  I was excited to attend the Founder's Day luncheon and meet new girls and see some alumnae that I hadn't seen in awhile. Love my Sigmas!

 May 2010
It was busy at the end of the semester but I was excited as things wound down.  I had looked forward to the Sex and the City 2 for awhile (it's my favorite show of all time) so a few of my friends and I made a date out of it.  Dinner and the movie, followed by drinks.  Fun night!

 June 2010
 I was off a lot during June.  I spent a lot of time hanging out, going to the pool, working out, etc.  But one of the highlights of the month was the farewell dinner for one of my favorite girls.  She moved a few hours away.  Sad for us but it was great for her! 

 July 2010
This was a very busy month! I think I worked a total of 4 days and was off for the rest of the month.  It was good because I packed a lot of fun in there. 

Saw Dave Matthews Band at Bethel Woods on a rainy day.  Alisha met up with us so we had a little reunion.

Went to Ohio to celebrate the marriage of Jared and Lizz.  They live here but had a reception in OH.  It was a FUN road trip and a great celebration of a great couple.

At the end of the month, I headed to Memphis to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.  I love that place and had such an amazing time.  Here I am with Courtney (my St. Jude Rep) and Emily (the student leader that works with me on campus for St. Jude)

St. Jude on a steaming hot day in July. 

 August 2010
Family came up from NC.  My Grandma, Aunt Karen and cousin Hillary visited.  Love to see them!  Here they are with my Aunt Marian. 

Back to work for me. Getting ready for students returning to campus.  But at the end of the month, I was excited to go to see Lady Antebellum at a local county fair.  Amazing.  Of course, I had to get in the spirit of the county fair and pose with a cow. 

Gillian and I waiting for Lady A to come on stage.  Nice hats, huh?

 September 2010
September didn't start well (boy drama) but I did celebrate one year of living in my apartment. Otherwise known as Club Chestnut.  I love this place!  And after living on a college campus for most of my adult life, I still get excited to know that I can leave campus after work each day. 

 October 2010
This is probably one of my best moments of 2010.  I ran my first ever 5K.  It felt great and I'm so proud of myself for seeing this goal through. 

 November 2010
After more emotional drama at work and home, I was thrilled to escape it for a few days and go see Dave Matthews again with Gillian and Jill (and Vinny) in Albany.   Great show! 

The Albany show was so amazing that we decided to drive down to Philadelphia to see the show the next night.  Probably another of my favorite moments of the year.  At one point of the show, I turned to Jill and said, "I wish I could bottle this moment and open it when I'm having a really bad day."  That's how great it was!

 December 2010
I turned another fabulous year older. Threw a party for myself and decided that I'm going to let go of the unhealthy things in my life and embrace the things that matter.  The people. 



Looking back at the last year, I realize that I am a lucky girl.  I have great people in my life and have the luxury to do things that I want to do.  So as much as my heart was broken this year, I can feel good about that.  And I hope that next year at this time, I can fill another recap post with all of the wonderful times that are to be in 2011!