Gingham prints and new hair

Posted on 17 June, 2013 by The Owl

I’m back to dark hair again after two long weeks of hating my roots. I’m too cheap to get my hair touched up every month for $40, so it’s back to my normal $3.99 box dye and presto!

But honestly, although I had fun with blonde hair, it made me realize how much more I LOVE being a brunette. Dark hair is my thing.

In other news, we are FINALLY getting Internet at our house on Wednesday! No more blogging from my phone! Yay!

And one of these days I’ll actually take real outfit pictures in this dress and these heels. I love them.

I hope you are all having a happy Monday! It’s 80 degrees here. So nice!

Life update

Posted on 13 June, 2013 by The Owl

Hi there.

Just a little update; I’ve been sick as a dog for the past five or so days, and I haven’t taken outfit pictures in approximately two weeks. I have, however, been writing. For those of you that have been around forever, I finally moved back to posting on FictionPress, after a long stint of being wary. So if you’re a fan of reading and want to check it out, here’s the prologue for the story I’m currently working on.

Enjoy!

He was a typical bad boy. Leather jacket, roughed-up jeans, scuffed boots, and a head of dark hair that fell over his forehead just enough to make her fingers itch to push it back. As she watched him pace the far end of the dim bar, his icy blue eyes met hers and made her heart race with a tense jolt of mixed feelings. Fear, excitement, intrigue, nerves, confusion; her thoughts were one jumbled mess, and she couldn’t make sense of anything.

His gaze dropped back to the floor, and then to the drink in his hand. A few women entered, and gave him an up-and-down pass of admiration, and she felt something else jump into the mix of emotions: jealousy. Which was odd. She didn’t know him. He didn’t know her. The sense of possession that filtered through everything else was growing from far-off attraction, surely, because they had barely spoken two words in this place.

Yet, as she let my attention fade from him to the little diamond sitting on the ring-finger of her left hand, it was clear that they had definitely spoken at length sometime within the past 72 hours. Yes, he was a complete stranger, whose last name she didn’t even know. Yes, she had absolutely no idea where he was from, what he was like, or why they should even know each other. The fog of memory from the past three days was distorted by the alcohol she hadn’t stopped consuming. Every time she had started to feel sober, she’d grabbed another drink. Anything could have happened, and she would remember nothing.

That had been the point. Drink, and forget.

When she had finally woken up sober, scrunched under the covers of a dirty little hotel she didn’t recognize, there had been bottles and cans everywhere. It looked like someone had hosted a twenty-person party. But there was just her in the bed. Just her and a lethal amount of bottles that she hoped she hadn’t emptied all by herself.

And then he came out of the bathroom in nothing but his boxers, looking bleary-eyed and confused, and the amount of relief that she hadn’t consumed all of that alcohol was completely overcome by the blow that there was a man in her room that she didn’t know, who she had probably slept with, who was wearing a wedding ring. Which made her a marriage wrecker, a slut, a hypocrite to her beliefs.

But then she noticed the unfamiliar ring on her own finger, and the slightly crumpled marriage license on the side-table with an unrecognizable scrawl right above her own signature. Judging by his alarmed look as he stared at his hand and then at her, he was experiencing the same amount of shock and bemusement as she was.

And then things got a whole lot more interesting.

You can read the next few chapters here.

Updated skincare regimen

Posted on 8 June, 2013 by The Owl

After a long stint of using BeautyMint – which I still would highly recommend if you want an easy, efficient skincare set that you don’t have to think about – I’ve decided to branch out and try some different products. As much as I like BeautyMint products, I did have a problem with how unevenly the products ran out. Without fail, the cleanser always ran out long before anything else. I can be a somewhat sporadic skincare user, but I did use everything (except the SPF) pretty equally.

And at the moment, I have in my stock of unopened BeautyMint products: 1 cleanser, 2 moisturizers, 4 replenishing serums, 4 eye creams, and 8 SPF moisturizers. No joke. And this is having skipped every other month for about 2 years. (Okay, I admit: I rarely used the SPF. I forgot about it a lot. I work indoors and it’s cloudy a lot here.)

As well, I would prefer a system that is easier to customize. Since I’m bad and forget my SPF all the time, but would like to use a night cream, it would have been great to be able to switch one out for the other.

I have also been reading and watching a few skincare blogs and videos which convinced me to mix up my routine. So I decided it was time to cancel the BeautyMint and add in some new stuff. I plan to use the rest of my BeautyMint products until they run out, but I’ll most likely alternate them with other products so me and my skin don’t get too bored.

In one particular video, the Pixiwoo girls interview a skincare guru who mentions cleansing balm instead of a gel or water based cleanser. I had never heard of cleansing balms, but being a dry skinned girl, I was immediately interested. Pretty much any regular cleanser leaves my skin feeling parched (BeautyMint included). But a balm? Sounds so much more nourishing!

Lucky for me, Target carries a line called Boots Botanics, and they have the only balm cleanser I could find that was affordable (aka, not over $20. It’s under $10, actually.) I have heard great things about the Boots line, so I snatched it right up. And then, under the influence of the salesperson working that aisle, I ended up grabbing their Rosewater Toner and Clay Mask as well.

I used the balm as soon as I got home today (yes, I just got it today), and I have to say, I was impressed. BeautyMint tended to not get my mascara off, but the balm took off every last bit, and left no oily residue (which I was concerned about). My pores were left looking tighter and my skin feeling smooth and not at all dry. I’m already in love. Plus, it has a lovely citrusy smell. I’m all for scented products.

I used the clay mask next, which was fun. And weird. I tend to hate the tight feeling while a mask is drying in my face, but once it washed off I didn’t feel parched or tight, and my skin had a nice glow to it.

Lastly, I spritzed on the toner. I’m not convinced that this particular toner is anything but a pretty smelling water, but hey! Now my face smells like roses!

I will definitely be writing an updated review after a month or so of using these products in addition to my usual skincare. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they work for me. Especially the balm, because initially I’m in love with it.

What skincare products do you swear by? Has anyone else ever tried anything from the US Boots line? What did you think?

Happy Saturday!

Addicted, much?

Posted on 6 June, 2013 by The Owl

I finally feel like I wear enough red to evidence that it’s my favorite color. Adding that red skirt to my wardrobe seemed to open it up to wearing SO much more red, even though I already own a few red items. Have you ever bought a piece of clothing that kind of opened up your eyes to wearing other clothing items in way more different ways?

I have this theory running lately that how I want to be perceived has largely to do with what my head looks like. I’ve been doing this curl thing for a few days now, and I think it makes my style lean vastly more towards vintage/retro than any other hairstyle. I love it! But I have noticed that a big part of looking a certain way has to do with what hairstyle and makeup a girl has, really! Clothes are important, sure, but you can make anything look more modern or more vintage with a simple change of makeup or hair.

Has anyone else noticed that, or is it just me?

Forever 21: top
Target: Jeans, shoes
Thrifted: Scarf

I’m sorry today’s post is so short, and this week’s posts have been sparse! I’m going to be working on getting internet at my house here in the next week or so, and then I hope to be back up with regular posting! For a while I stopped by my mom’s house or borrowed my in-laws’ computer and internet to schedule posts, but that gets to be a hassle. When I’m with my parents (either set) or husband, I don’t want to be spending 2-3 hours editing pictures and writing up posts! I want to be visiting and playing games!

In other news, the weather is improving again, and I’ve been inspired to actually keep up the house and garden! I had two nights of complete sleeplessness, so on the second day I forced myself to stay awake from 6am on, and I got SO much done! I haven’t really cleaned my house in about a month. Seriously. It was getting really bad. But now my house is clean, and then I decided to go out and weed the flower garden, which… is a very sad flower garden; it has one huge foxglove plant, and that’s it. Happily, two people have offered me a plethora of flowers to plant there, so soon I’ll have a nice full garden of colorful flowers. I’m so excited!

I love flowers!

I hope you are all having a lovely Thursday! It’s almost Friday, yay!

How to wear a red skirt forever.

Posted on 3 June, 2013 by The Owl

Well, that was an accidental week-long break from the blog! Last week was really busy, though, after spending the entire (very rainy) weekend up at Kalaloch camping. I didn’t get to clean our house (which severely needs it!) at all, and going back to work after a weekend camping meant I didn’t get much rest. Plus, it rained all week.

I really, really need to get us some internet at our house. And a new charger cord for my computer, so I can actually use it again. Y’know. Little things. We’ve been married for almost six months (six months on Saturday!) and we don’t have internet yet.

And really, that’s okay!

I promise, I have worn clothes other than this skirt. But it’s just so irresistible, and I want to wear it with pretty much everything I have! It’s probably the most versatile and flattering skirt I own and I love everything about it.

Next wishlist item: a pleated yellow skirt like this one.

I have been thinking lately that it would be really great to find a way to work from home. I don’t know how; selling vintage/retro clothing would be a GREAT one if it ever picked up, but I haven’t marketed my shop that well. Becoming a published author would be a dream come true, if I ever finished writing/editing a novel (I’ve got a few that need just a few more chapters. I should practice persistence and patience with that).

Really, I would just love to be a full-time housewife. I know that’s kind of a weird aspiration in this day and age, but I’m not cut out for work outside the home. When I have the day off, I love taking care of the house, cooking, running errands, and just… fully being a wife. I feel like my day-job really cuts away from the blessing that it is to be a wife who gets to take care of her house and husband.

I think I’ve always been a homebody like that.

I also think it would be super fun to be a personal stylist, but with that I’d stick to finding items online. I think I could be pretty good at finding a full outfit (or dress, or whatever) for an occasion for an affordable price. And, y’know, it’d be a blast! Shopping for other people is always really enjoyable to me.

So, you know, if anyone needs help finding an outfit for something, I’d be willing to practice on you.

Shirt: Kohl’s (similar)
Skirt, belt, brooch, heels: Thrifted

I hope you all have a fantastic Monday!