Tag Archives: my work

Small Changes Can Be Good

23 Saturday Aug 2014

Posted by in Cosmo-Girl, Human Interest

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My sister, her husband, and their two little boys have been staying at my parents house. In case you didn’t know, I live in that house as well, so it’s been quite a full week thus far considering the amount of people in the house has doubled, and I’ve been working some long shifts. It’s been very cool though, and I have enjoyed getting to spend time with the boys as well as Cait.
This past Wednesday was my day off and my sister’s wedding anniversary. I had already asked her if I could do her makeup sometime while she was home, so when she found out that my parents had arranged a date night for her and her husband she said I could do her makeup for it. The date would be taking place on a sailboat going around the portland harbor, so I immediately thought of a classic cat eye with black gel liner. Little did I know, this girl with the perfect eyes for liquid liner had never actually done a classic winged line!cait2cait1As a side note, you can see there is different lighting in the pictures, so that’s why the skin looks dramatically different.
The first thing I did was apply a small amount of Garnier BB Cream to her face. I didn’t bother with foundation, since her skin is doing really well and with her tan the BB Cream just evens everything out. I decided to try this BB Cream myself because of an article I read, but it’s too dark for my pasty skin. I then applied a concealer under her eyes and blended it into the BB Cream. I didn’t touch her eye brows because they are pretty much perfect right now. I applied some eye shadow primer to her lids and swept a light bone color all over the lid. I then put some gel liner from my Benefit They’re Real! Push Up Liner on my Paw Palette (excellent investment for makeup artist type people) and used an eye liner brush to apply the liner. I kept the liner close to her lash line as possible, taking it into a little wing at the outer edges. I then used a fluffy brush to put a little bit of brown shadow into the socket. I let her apply a few coats of mascara herself, then used Makeup Forever HD Microfinish Powder to take down any shine and to set the BB Cream. I used a bit of Too Faced bronzer to brighten up her tan around the edges of her face and her cheekbones and swiped on L’Oreal Colour Riche Extraordinaire Lip Color in a very pretty light pink on her full lips. She actually liked it so much that I let her borrow it for the night, and didn’t expect to get it back! And since this was her first time with that kind of makeup I was happy to know that her husband Kyle liked it, which he informed me of by pointing at her face and nodding. We have very unique communication styles. cait3When my sister was 16 she saw a boy at youth group and felt God telling her that he was the man she was going to marry. Three years later in a tiny service on a beach in Hawaii I was the family representative at their elopement. My sister and her husband had a wedding that very much suited them: it was how they wanted it, when they wanted it, and without distractions from what they were doing. They are suited well for each other in that way.
From what I can tell it takes a lot of sacrifice to make a marriage work. My sister has been sacrificing parts of her life since she decided to marry Kyle, mostly when it comes to where she lives, since they live so far away from their families. She has also given up some of her passions over the years, waiting for the right time to see them fulfilled. She has sacrificed her time with her husband, as he is a marine and has spent a few long deployments over seas. She has given her parents and in-laws two wonderful grand-boys, and has been a part time worker and full time mom to help ends meet. She has done many things that I could not imagine doing at the moment, because I am simply not in the position to do so. And I respect her for it. Nine years later my sister and her husband still make a handsome couple, a team that depends on each other, a force to be reckoned with.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

dirty

How To: Fake A Blow Out

14 Wednesday May 2014

Posted by in Cosmo-Girl, Style

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Sometimes I think I should have been born in the South, because the only thing I love more than New England is big hair. Sadly I was not blessed with thick hair, and have spent years developing my own ways to boost the volume. This is the tutorial I use when I don’t want to blow dry my hair, in fact this hair starts out as having been slept on. In fact, when my hair was shorter it would turn out even bigger!
306387_578326557383_167373688_nBut that was a few years ago, so let’s start with today’s slept on hair.flatWould you look at that? Pathetic! It’s got a little bit of texture, since I put some mousse in it before bed, but there’s not much going on there.  I was way too tired to bother blow drying my hair!toolsThe tools: a nice hot flat-iron, got2be Powder’ful volumizing styling powder, Garnier Fructis hairspray, and a boar bristle brush.  Using too many products will weigh fine hair down, so I try never to use more than 3 products including hairspray.part11.  First things first, giving your hair a liberal douse of hair spray.  It’s OK to use the hairspray before using heat tools because it helps the hair hold the heat style.  You also want to use a heat protection spray, but sadly I don’t have one handy.
2.  You want to brush out the hair after you hair spray, so that the hair will lie smoothly for the iron and so the product will be distributed evenly through your hair.
3.  Section the hair.  I usually start with a section straight across below my ears, afterwards making a section across from the top of my ears, then another across at my temples, leaving a horseshoe at the top of my head.  That’s a pretty essential part of the process.
4.  I prefer to flat-iron my hair a few inches from the roots on the bottom layers, and curling the ends under.  I try to angle the sliding of the iron away from my head, at a 45 or 90 degree angle.part25.  When you get to the horse shoe start sectioning the hair straight across, using fairly thin sections.  It’s OK to use the boar bristle brush to smooth the flat ironed pieces out before and or after flat ironing them.
6&7.  The key to getting some volume here is to keep your hair at a 90 degree angle and to start close to the roots, pulling the iron up straight and backwards, curving the ends back.  If you tend to find your hair creasing you can try running the iron over the hair a few times quickly before taking your time with the final flick.
8.  Well look at that!  Shiny and ironed, but still lacking what I yearn for… volume.part39.  Give your freshly ironed hair a light spray, just for kicks and giggles.
10&11.  Ah, the love of my hair’s life: got2be Powder’ful!  This stuff does magic.  I swear.  It’s a fine powder that you rub between your fingers and palms, and…
12.  Massage it into your crown and anywhere else you want some volume! (If you don’t have this stuff, spray your roots with some dry shampoo and massage it in, then brush it through. Even if your hair is clean it gives some great volume and texture, plus there are a lot of great drugstore options out there.)shake itPowder’ful is available at drugstores, which is basically awesome. It’s inexpensive, under 10$, and I’ve had this particular container of it for… a few years. That’s pretty sweet! I highly recommend it for my girls who have thin, flat hair. It’s seriously my miracle worker. It doesn’t just add volume at the roots, it gives a thickening effect through the mid length as well, which is essential to that illusion of thick hair.done Maybe it’s the Southern Belle in my trying to get out, but since I figured out how to do this to my hair I’ve been loving the results. It’s a little bit Kelly from Saved by the Bell, a little bit news anchor blow out, and all me.
Do you have a go-to way to style your hair? I’d love to hear any tips and tricks my readers might have… or any questions they might have!dirty

Painted Cups!

25 Tuesday Mar 2014

Posted by in Crafty Little..., I Made This

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cupt
Last week I took a break from crocheting a baby blanket for my friend’s upcoming bundle of joy and decided that I wanted to make something for myself. I had been seeing a lot of tutorials online for painted glasses and decided that I would paint myself some glasses! All it took was a quick trip to Big Lots to get the cups and rummaging through my craft supplies to find my glass paint and I was ready!
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What I couldn’t find were any of my good paint brushes, so I used Q-Tips. Hence the cups look a little like they were made by children. But I like that aesthetic.
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I put on two coats of each color to ensure that there would be optimal opacity, then let the cups dry for a couple days. According to the directions on the paint they are supposed to dry for 21 days or you can bake them after drying for 48 hours.
cupt3After a few days I followed the directions and put them in the cool oven, heated it to 325 and baked for 30 minutes. Then you have to let them cool in the oven, so that the glass doesn’t break from extreme heat changes.
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And behold! I now will never lack for super fancy cups to drink out of! I do recommend hand washing, so that there is no risk of the paint coming off. I also recommend playing around with different patterns and stencils and what have you, though I played it safe and did something imperfectly perfect for my taste.
It’s a surprisingly easy project that you can do for yourself, or as a gift. I’m considering who I’m going to want to make some pretty personalized cups for in the future…
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dirty

On Brain Blockage

03 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by in Human Interest

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thingsThe worst part about being stuck is that usually there’s a way out and no drive to put it into motion.
Right now the thing closest to getting me out of a rut is the anger that I develop when certain persons ask me pointed questions about my life. I always want to turn it back on them, and to make them feel as badly as I do. But that’s not kind, and I don’t. I just tell them to back off, shut up, stop asking me the same questions as yesterday when they know damn well what I did with my day today.
There is nothing so exhausting as having nothing to do, or having things to do but no reason to do them. Winter feels like the perfect time for hibernation, although so does summer because I burn so badly in the sun. It makes me want to go back to school somehow just to have some sort of structure or deadline. I make the worst accountability partner for myself, and have no desire to get someone else to be one.
So I sit around, watching Netflix and crocheting a baby blanket, sleeping in too much and going to bed too late, getting angry at unstructured days and trying to figure out what projects I can actually get myself to take part in. I get overwhelmed just talking to someone who does things with their days. I sit down to write and draw a blank, or start typing and realize I just wrote absolutely nothing of importance. I ignore the bible on my bedside table and pretend it’s ok that I don’t talk to God very often. I make plans in my head about changing the way I do things and then sleep in again, stay in my pajamas till noon, don’t bother showering because I’m not going anywhere. It’s the ultimate staycation that really needs to end.
What fail to help are the articles about inspiration and getting rid of writer’s block. Especially when you’ve read every single one you have come across and now are over loaded with information instead of inspired. There are so many useful blogs out there and yet with each blog post about something that should be helping you there’s no real reason to follow someone else’s formula for success, because success will look different on each person.
So buckle down. Quit messing around. Start playing to win. Risk. Be tired if it means being up early. Go to bed late if you feel like writing instead of sleeping. Start projects and finish them. Enjoy your almost clean room and use it to create something worth sharing.
dirty

How To Not Write A Book Or Blog Post

05 Wednesday Feb 2014

Posted by in Dirty's Reports

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clue

  • Become unemployed.  All the free time will make you start projects that you never finish and take up hobbies that you won’t enjoy.
  • This one’s a classic for a reason: Binge watch TV either on Netflix or iTunes.  There’s no better way to not write something original than to get sucked into your favorite season of Doctor Who, or to finally start watching the episodes you missed of Glee because maybe you can finally handle seeing Finn onscreen again (RIP).  It’s really helpful to spend the money on iTunes because you not only don’t write anything for days but you have the reassurance that if you were to travel somewhere on a plane or something you could put a whole season of something on your phone and not be bored the entire flight or ride to your destination.
  • Drop your phone, shatter the screen, get a new one with more memory, and download Candy Crush.  You’ll discover hours of your life can slip past you.
  • If you go out on the town, find yourself in Target, or impulse buy online make sure to use a credit card.  It’ll give you that anxiety that leads to looping thoughts of debt and prison and selling virginity on eBay that will make it impossible to write.
  • Make sure you’ve told everyone you talk to ever in your whole life that you want to write a book and you’re gonna do it, by golly!  Also, make sure there are plenty of people who want to read what you write, so that you become a bit more shut in and worse at keeping in touch.  It also leads to your only creative moments in your day, when you are explaining to someone why you actually haven’t been writing.
  • Create a new space for your creativity.  Either decide to make an office out of a room in your home or to re-do your own room, to such an extent as you can.  I chose to “re-do” my room, because a cluttered living space means a cluttered mind!  Now I have completed cleaning out 50% of it, stolen metal shelves from the basement, and bought a new desk, all while watching the first season of The Mindy Project.  Everything I can’t find a place for is still on my floor.
  • This one is so “useful” because it’s something that you really need to do and also a great excuse to do whatever you want aside from writing: Research.  I’ve been researching my book, and right now I have a folder of magazine cutouts of clothes I want one of the characters to wear and cannot decide what to name the protagonist.  I have also found many online articles that will be helping me with the process but I bookmarked them all because I didn’t have the time to read them.    dirty