September 28, 2012

Want to Get goop-ed?

That was the subject of an email I received this morning. SO excited that Birchbox and goop have teamed up for an "exclusive goop Birchbox filled with some of their much-loved beauty and lifestyle products". Yeah! When I responded 'yes', I received this in the follow-up email - Selecting yes indicates preference for a goop box but does not guarantee receipt, as supplies are limited. Oh! Pick me, pick me!

September 24, 2012

Second Guessing

I'm in a bit of a funk today so decided to hang out at home. Maybe I'll log in to work later, maybe I won't. Attended second of eight grad classes this past weekend. Critical analysis papers are due each class (every other week) based on the chapters read and I was so nervous about the two due first day of class. I worried that maybe I had taken on too much, that I'm in over my head on so many levels. It felt so validating to see As on both of those papers. Of course there were two papers due this past weekend as well ... in true fashion I cram a couple of days before, get up early the morning of and write two papers in 4-5 hours. Haven't decided if this is just the way I am ... perform under pressure ... or am in need of a major overhaul. We'll see soon enough as two more papers are due in 12 days. I watched maybe a total of 30 minutes of the Emmys last night ... enough to see that 'Homeland' and 'Modern Family' were the big winners. 'Modern Family' has been on for a couple of years and others have told me how great it is. It may be our TV obsession via Netflix this winter. My mom recently told me how good 'Homeland' is and since I'm home today and have Showtime On Demand I decided to try it out and make it my escape for the day if I like it. I'm only halfway through episode 2 and am hooked.

September 15, 2012

September Birchbox

My favorite delivery arrived this week!
This time I copied the photograph from the website ... smart, huh?!
LiQWd | Volumizing Catalyst - I was anxious to try this as I have fine, thin hair. I used the other morning after towel drying then went about my morning rituals before blow-drying about an hour later ... definitely noticed a little more oomph, but ended up putting my hair up so am anxious to try again with hair styled down.

LiQWd | Volumizing Shampoo & Conditioner - saving to use for future travel (who knows when or where)

BVLGARI | Mon Jasmin Noir perfume - this was pretty spicy/heavy for me

Color Club | Birchbox custom nail color - "Insta-This", a deep cobalt blue ... the color is not for me so passed on to a friend who is much younger and hipper than I

Dr. Jart+ | Water Fuse Beauty Balm SPF 25+ - Love!!! It's a lightweight multi-tasker with just the right amount of coverage that left my skin looking dewy and flawless. SOLD!

twistband hair tie | Lace up for Fall - cobalt blue matches the nail color; I was super happy to get another one as I've used the pink one from the May box to death. These don't leave a kink in your hair and never pull or lose their stretch.

Madewell | $25 gift card - Young, hip clothing line. I think I'll use this to buy a Christmas gift for Sassy.

I also received an email offer for 20% off to celebrate my 6 month anniversary with Birchbox - awesome! I am ordering the hair ties in neutral - I'll actually wear them out vs. the pink and cobalt ones and will share with Sassy, the Dr. Jart beauty balm and a Christmas gift for Sassy since she commented on it in July. I really want to order the Shu Uemura Hair Essence from my first box back in April but can't justify the cost even at 20% off. Combined with the $10 rewards I earned from previous small purchases and a gift subscription for my mom, this was a great deal. I am trying really hard to economize ... thinking about need vs. want and price relative to things like groceries, Hubby's personal care aide, etc. Trust me, the hair ties and beauty balm have become needs!



September 4, 2012

Not so fast

September is here, a new school year is beginning and I wish I could hit the pause (or sleep) button.

This is Sassy on her first day at St. Kate's. Technically it was the first day of orientation - one of three - but when you're a college freshman I suppose this is good enough for your mother taking a first-day-of-school photo. She looks smart, doesn't she?! For many of you, this is the first look at the new "red" hair (it looks violet or fuschia to me). She met a girl from Sacramento in her The Reflective Woman class (sounds so "worldly") and they bonded over having tattoos in honor of beloved grandfathers who passed away.

This is Chunky's first day of 7th grade. As an "upper" classman, they have different uniforms than K-6. Instead of yellow shirts and navy pants, they have blue shirts with logo and khaki pants.
With logo emphasis is intentional. We have two options for purchasing approved uniform apparel - the store that's been in business since the '50s (both hubby and my mothers got their uniforms there as did we) or the national retailer. The "traditional" store is our preference ... it's local and has a sense of history/tradition ... even though it's further away than the national one. When we arrived on Friday at the traditional store to purchase uniforms for today (remember, the blog name is better late than never), we were told they didn't have shirts with logos. I figured it must not be a requirement and others would likely be without the logo shirts. So I bought 6 to get through at least the first half of the school year. Chunky and I talked about it this morning and I sent an email to the principal. This was her reply -

Traditional store does not carry our logo. The banded polo shirt with the logo is sold at National store. I am sorry Traditional store did not tell you this.

How is it the Traditional store's responsibility to tell me to go to another business? I was not a happy camper thinking I had to run around returning 5 shirts and buying new ones before tomorrow. I was afraid of this, but cautiously only washed one shirt for today and saved all the others in the bag just in case. I checked the laundry room ... no bag. I checked Chunky's room (which I try to avoid at all costs) ... no bag. I waited for him to come home to hear how his day was and demand the bag before running errands ... shirt rigmarole, meds and groceries. He began with a story about the bus driver "taunting" him (his word!) by picking someone up a block south of him, turning down the street across from where he was and then coming back to pick him up, only to drive down our street after he'd walked a block and a half to the official stop. Needless to say I'm faxing in a "request for bus stop change" tomorrow so he can get picked up at the end of the driveway. I then asked him for the bag. Uh, I threw it away. With the shirts?! No, I took out the shirts. I forgot you might have to return them. I was livid ... they're $20 a shirt! I told him it was coming out of his allowance. Hello?! We talked about it this morning! I am considering being passive aggressive and not getting new shirts. I paid for that negative energy ... ran errands only to find the pharmacy lost the prescription refill Chunky needed for tomorrow (called in 5 days ago) and the grocery store filled with crazy people ... me included I guess. I should have gone back to bed after sending them off to school.