Goals for the New Year

It's that time of year when most people set goals for themselves that are more often than not fairly unobtainable. Our hearts in the right place, but come February, when we are no where near this golden idol of an achievement we created for ourselves, most of us discover that our resolve is held together with duck tape and good intentions. And slowly the adhesive fails and we give up. The only thing a New Year's resolution has done for me is make me feel like a failure. However,  having goals in life is a good thing. They motivate and inspire us; push us to go farther and do more than we ever thought we could. So this year, I'm relaxing my expectations a bit, not because I don't think I could achieve something grand, but because baby steps can sometimes get us to our destinations faster than a gigantic leap. Many of these have grander ends and larger hopes. But instead of looking at the whole, vast panoramic as my goal, I'll take a small section of the image and improve upon that. And perhaps, but working on things a little at a time, the picture will come into focus even better than I imagined.

My Top 5 Christmas Songs

Pretty much since the day after Thanksgiving, I have been driving my poor fiancé crazy by keeping the car radio locked on the Christmas channel. I can't help it. I love Christmas music and there is only a precious few weeks out of the whole year that it is considered socially acceptable to blast "Jingle Bells". Plus, it helps put me in a festive moods when it's 5 degrees outside and the roads are so slippery it takes two hours to get home from work.

I though I might spread some holiday joy and share my top five favorite Christmas songs! Enjoy!

For the love of Twisted Peppermint...

Let me just take a few moments and declare my love for a little product that only comes around once a year: Twisted Peppermint

I'll get better at taking these pictures, I promise.

First Impressions: L'Oréal Lash Out Butterfly mascara

Most of us strive to make a good first impression when meeting people, but do our products? I thought it might be interesting to try a "first impressions" review theme; simply sharing my intial thoughts upon trying a product for the first time.

Meet L'Oréal's Lash Out Butterfly mascara

Ooh! Shiny!

In Memorandum: Products that have left us too soon.

Companies discontinue products for a number of reasons. Perhaps something is not selling as well as they hoped it would. Perhaps a style or a scent is no longer "en vogue". Perhaps they are doing a complete re-boot of their line and something just doesn't make the cut.

Problem is, I feel like my favorite things are constantly getting the ax. The surest way for a product to meet certain death is for me to fall in love with it. My love is a death sentence. 

Gee... That sounds kinda like a county song.

Now, is this an exaggeration? A bit. But I do have a handful of products that I did dances of joy when I when they came into my life and sobbed big tears of sadness when I found out they were no longer with us. I present a list of a few of my lost gems... and here's hoping that this blog topic is not a continuing theme.

Gluten-Free Sumbitches

... Say what?

Yes. "Sumbitches".

In case you don't get the reference, allow me to explain.

I love the TV show How I Met Your Mother. I started watching it about two years ago, right after I moved and before I had found a full time job. At that point in my life, I had the freedom to watch episode after episode of a show in between job applications. With How I Met Your Mother, I did a total TV binge and watched seasons 1-6 within a few weeks. When Mike and I started dating, it was the first TV show I made him watch from the beginning with me. We are both now obsessed.

Anyways, in the season premiere of the ninth and final season, Lily meets the yet unnamed "Mother" on a train to Barney and Robin's wedding. (Should I have said "Spoiler Alert"? Oops...) Lily is upset and the "Mother" offers her a cookie. The "Mother" states that she likes how trusting Lily is, since she ate a cookie from a complete stranger that could have been poisoned or drugged. Lily replies with something to the extent of "I don't care. There's chocolate and peanut butter and caramel in these sumbitches." The "Mother" then responds, "I call them 'Sumbitches'!"

Hence the name of the cookie.

Products to Save Your Pocketbook: Suave Professionals Moroccan Infusion Styling Oil

My hair is apparently my most covetous feature. I'm not saying this to be vain. Complete strangers will stop me on the street about it. I am both incredibly flattered and staggeringly intrigued. Many people state that they are jealous of my locks, that they wish they had hair like mine. 

HA!

I know, I know. The grass is always greener... Curly girls want straight hair. Straight-haired girl want curls. 

Meet the Boy

So, now might be a good time to introduce my fiancé, Mike.

Mike's best Thor impression on his 30th.

Prepare your insulin. This post is about to get disgustingly sweet.

The Beginning

(Originally posted Sept 1st)

When I was in college and was writing a paper, the title was usually one of the last things that I did. Rarely did I start knowing exactly what I would write. Oh, I had an outline and my sources all together,  but I was never quite sure what would manifest out of my crazy brain. So, for a bit of amusement, I would title all of my papers {Insert Witty Title Here}, until something fitting came to mind.

Hence the title of my blog.

I've been wanting to start a blog for a long time. I have friends who have brilliant blogs. I follow bloggers and vlogers who are entertaining, informative, silly or all of these and more rolled up together in one. I laugh with them. I cry with them. I guess it's a bit like theatre that way...

However, I have no clear idea of what to blog about. So, until the time comes when I discover a clear avenue for my own home in the blogisphere, this will probably be a smorgasbord of posts. And, knowing myself, it will probably remain a little random even after I've settled in. But who's to say that if I become a beauty blogger I can't throw in a recipe here and there? Or, if this turns into a travel blog when Mike and I go to Paris, I can't also talk about impending wedding plans?

No one. My blog. My rules.

Here's hoping some of you will come along for the journey.