Free-For-All Friday!!

TGIFF! AKA Thank God is freakin' Friday! Or f**king. Depending on your mood and how the week has been. HA!

Oh man there are some WICKED storms brewing right now!!! It's dark as hell, greenish (oooo tornado potential!), windy and rainy!! I. Love. STORMS! It's scary exciting! I would document with pictures, but alas, I'm at work and CANNOT leave my desk. These storms are much needed, though. I feel like I'm living back in Las Vegas... only with humidity!

ANYWAYS! This weekend is packed with awesomeness!!! It's Ribfeeeeeeeest!!! Tomorrow we're going to see Joe Walsh (The Eagles anyone?) and on Sunday it's ZZ Top!!! Yeah I know. I'm an old soul. I like classic rock. Get over it. :-Þ I'm really not looking forward to being out in the heat. YUCK! The heat and I do NOT get along well. Especially with the humidity. It makes it difficult to breath and feels like your in someone's mouth. BLAH! It's my first time going to Ribfest. I've heard it can be chaotic. I hope not since we'll be bringing the kids with us. I ALMOST don't want to go because of the heat and the crowd. Just let D go by himself or with his brother or something.

It's a girls night tonight with a friend of mine and her friend. We're going to go see Magic Mike. Hmmm... Don't really know how I feel about that just yet. It's not really a movie I'd go see. I'm not really an oogler. I mean yeah, if a good looking man (Daniel Craig) comes across my path, I'll look. But I don't make it a point to go to a male strip club and pet and drool over them.



Yeah--You'd oogle that too.

 My friend on the other hand is ALL about that. And sex. She likes sex. A lot. I've told her I think she's got an issue with that. She just laughs. I love her to death, but she is, by far, the MOST inappropriate person I've ever met. So needless to say, tonight will be filled with awkwardness to the max.

Speaking of inappropriate, I REALLY need to get the last book to the 50 Shades series. Shut up, you know you love it too. If you haven't read it, go buy it or borrow it and read it already! My boss, who doesn't read--EVER, borrowed it from me and is hooked. Guys, get these books for your gals! Your sex life will thank you for it. I went through the first book in 2 days, the second took me some time only because I didn't really have time to just SIT and read a book. Now I just don't have the third one.

I don't think we have any real plans for the 4th of July. We usually do our 4th of July thing during Glendale Heights Fest. They have a great fireworks display the last day of the fest as well as a carnival for the kids. One of these days, my oldest will be brave enough to go on Gravitron with me. I haven't been on that in YEARS! But that was my favorite carnival ride when I was younger.

So my husband has been re-freshing my web code so I can do some design changes to the blog. I also plan on getting a domain. I've also been sketching some design ideas for the site as well. Needless to say I'm pretty excited. Time to put my pen tablet to good use! Along with my jewelry making, and sewing, and cleaning, and working... *sigh* I have a LOT of projects! But I'm excited to do all of them!!

What's on your mind? What are you up to this weekend? For the 4th? Seeing any movies? Going to any festivals?

Adios! See you Make-up Monday!!

Weigh-In Wednesday

Here we are! The first Weigh-In Wednesday! The beginning of my weight loss journey, so to speak.

I've tried a few times to lose the weight. The issue that I've had in the past is that when I've started an exercise regimen, I've gone all out and ended up hurting myself and falling off the wagon. I've never really routinely worked out before, so I'm trying to ease my way into it. I'm still trying to find the right time of day for me. I'm not really a morning person, and evenings always seem to be swamped with cooking and cleaning. So I'm working on picking a time and sticking to it. It will probably be in the mornings. I bought an exercise ball that came with two 3 lb dumbbells, and have been looking for ball exercises via the web. I found quite a few on fitnessbliss.com. Next week I'll post all about the exercises I'll be doing and have done.

Now, on to the embarrassing stuff. I stepped on the scale this morning and this is what I saw:

Disregard the un-painted toes!!! : P

So after I had my second child I was 198. When my mom passed away I emotionally ate like crazy and got up to 204. After I saw that number I got rid of the zebra cakes and Cheetos. I got back down to 195. I stayed around there until recently when I decided I needed to eat better and develop better habits all together. So this is where I am at this point. I'm definitely making better eating choices, but sometimes I struggle. But it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle change so it won't be easy or something that happens overnight.

My real reason for doing this is to be an example for my kids, and also to live long enough to see my grand babies grow up. My mother never ate well or exercised and when she died they said her heart was as bad as a 70 year old. More motivation to do this. Not just because I want to, but because I NEED to!

Here's a couple of body pictures as well (ick--hahaha):

See the pouch? Side view = X_X

I had C sections with both girls and that...pouch just won't go away. I even had it when I was pregnant the second time! Full term preggo belly with a pouch of flappy skin. Cute, no? I don't know if it will ever go away, but I'm hoping with hard work I'll have it MOSTLY gone.

Anyone else struggle with "the pouch"? Anyone get rid of it? What are some things/ways you stay motivated in your weight loss journey?

**Side Note** Today was my daughter's birthday. We went and saw Brave. It was pretty good. It should have come out on Mother's Day though... Just sayin!

This is SO freakin' gnarly!!!

Attention fellow nerds!!! Or anyone else who just digs cool art!!!

Check out these silhouette pictures!!! They're BEYOND awesome!!!

http://ollymosspapercuts.blogspot.com/ <----- go there and be amaaaaaaazed!!!

Terrible 2 Tuesday: Throwing fits

K & J

I have 2 girls. K and J. K is 7 and J is 2. Oh boy are they DIFFERENT! Granted they both have different fathers (sue me--I was married to K's dad and am now married to J's dad) but holy crap! Kailey is a GREAT child. She makes mistakes from time to time, but what kid doesn't. She rarely has to have a time out, or corner time, or whatever. She was a pretty good baby too. The only problem I ever had was getting her to sleep alone. She always needed someone in the room with her to fall asleep. She broke that habit long ago though. :)

K and I

J on the other hand. Cripes. Forget it! She's a holy terror. Like a "typical" terrible 2's type child. If she doesn't get her way for whatever it may be, she throws a fit. Whether it's going limp and dropping to the floor kicking, or stomping and screaming, or throwing toys. Saying "No" to a question when she means yes is a favorite of hers, which leads into yet another fit. The only thing that's easy with her is going to bed!

J and I

Not trying to toot my horn here, because everyone thinks their kids are genius', but J is really smart. She could say her ABC's and count to 20 BEFORE she turned 2. We're trying to wean her off the binky and when she DOES have it, she'll go hide it so when she doesn't have one she can go find the one she hid. She also loves to sing songs and talk up a storm. She's also a problem solver and very analytical. I try to block her from getting into her bookshelf and pulling everything down and she manages to take apart the blockade of baskets and stuffed animals and tear it apart anyways. I'll put a binky in my pocket before we go to the store and an hour later as we're strolling through Target, she sticks her hand in my pocket and grabs her binky. I don't think she's a GENIUS per say, but she's smart, and probably too smart for her own good. Which I think could attribute to her temper flares and fits.

I really don't know what to do about the fits. I've tried ignoring them due to the "you're giving the negative behavior attention is bad" view. I've tried scolding her, but that just makes it worse. I guess at this point I'm just hoping she'll grow out of it.

I just can't believe how different K and J are. K seems to have the fear of God in her, and J is just like "Whatever! I'm going to do what I want, WHEN I want."AHHH!!

What are some problems you face as a parent of a child who has massive temper flares and fits? Any suggestions?

Tomorrow is Weigh-in Wednesday! >.<

Make-Up Monday- Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Lounge

I. Love. This. Eyeshadow.

Urbandecay.com- Lounge *discontinued*

I came across this color one day during UD's Vault giveaway that the did on FB a few months back. I was so distraught that they were discontinuing it!!! AH! $18 be damned! I went a bought it hahaha.

I actually like to use this color alone and do a smokey look with it. I just put some on my lid and crease, blend that out a bit so it's faded. I then put some on my lower lash line. Simple sexy look. I'll post pictures of that look at another time as I'm not wearing that color today.

What I love about this product is that it's a multi-color eyeshadow in one. It's a burgundy, green/teal, color. It's predominately the burgundy color, and when the light hits it just right you can see the green/teal. Urban Decay's description of the color is: "redish-brown w/ green pearl sheen." I've definitely been into the multi-color/duo/tri-tone colors. Whether it's eyeshadows or nail polish. Oooo! That reminds me. I need a mani/pedi. *derp*

Now I've heard of a few dupes for this color as well for those who don't really want to spend $17 on this (since it's still available some places and on the website AT THIS POINT IN TIME!) I have YET to try these dupes, but from the swatches I've seen, they're REALLY close!!

The first one is from Lime Crime and it's called Dragon Scales. Their description of the eyeshadow is: "Color straight out of a fairy tale! Terracotta brown with turquoise shimmer." Which is right on the money  as far the description goes. Check out the color:

www.limecrimemakeup.com- Dragon Scales

Seems pretty close to me. The price is a LITTLE cheaper at $13.99, but still steep for some of us.

Another dupe I came across is in a palette from Wet N Wild. It's the 738 Comfort Zone Palette and it's the definer on the right side of the palette.

Again, it looks pretty close. Burgundy with a green sheen. From what I've seen, you can pick up the palette for about $5 at your local drug store. Which is what I'll be doing next paycheck. Hahaha! I'll post an update with a swatch comparison for you next week. I've seen other swatches of this color in comparison to UD Lounge and it looks exactly the same. but those aren't MY swatches so I won't post them here. :)

Join me tomorrow for Terrible 2 Tuesday--throwing fits!!!

Updates and changes

Ok so I'm back after a long hiatus. It's difficult with two kids, a husband, and my own scatter brain to keep up sometimes.

So I've also decided to add some things besides make-up tips, reviews etc. While I la-la-loooove my make-up, I want to do more. So I'm thinking about making this all about not just make-up, but fitness and eating habits as well. Basically it's all about making yourself look and feel great!

I'm also on a personal weight-loss journey myself. It's difficult, let me tell you. I've never been one to really get a work out in. I'd rather be on the couch watching some Stargate SG-1, or Futurama. Yup. I'm kind of nerd. :-Þ

So in inspriation of a favorite blogger of mine, mamalaughlin, I'll be doing a weekly update on my progress. I won't do MILF Monday since that's hers, but I'll come up with something. I'm hoping that this will help keep me modivated and help keep me accountable. So I think I'll do something like this:

Make-up Monday (Beauty related)
Terrible 2 Tuesday (Child related)
Weigh-In Wednesday (Weight-loss/health related)
Free-for-all Friday (MISC BS)

4 days is a good start. If things progress I'll do more posts. I also need to bust out my HTML book and make some gnarly (yes I said gnarly--big woop wanna fight about it?) design changes.

Coming up next on Make-up Monday: Urban Decay eyeshadow in Lounge!!