World According to Shia

So it's that time of year again ... to focus on all the "bad" and wage war against it.   About 45% of adults make a new year's resolution and only about 75% of those adults make it past the first week.  The six month mark drops to 46%. At this time of the year, I try to stay away from the obvious cliche resolutions...blah blah blah.   (UNLESS YOURS IS TO QUIT SMOKING!!!  DO THAT PUH-LEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)  I do try to think of something that I need to work on ...I mean it is a resolution.   For example, one year I made a resolution to wear my seat belt.  In my early 20s I never did (plus it was BEFORE cars beeped until you put it on) and I was actually proud when the seat belt man light burned out on my car.  I know I know...Shia is much too wise to not wear one now.  This is my point, I was doing something reckless and dangerous to myself EVERY time I drove so I resolved to fix it and I did.  So this year, I think my ...

The NY Times states that the 7 to 10 pound weight gain over the holidays is an exaggeration.  Some surveys even state that on average people gain about 5 pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  However, new studies show that most people only gain one pound over the holiday season but the kicker is that they never lose that one pound. I'm not a big fan of holiday food.  I don't care that much about turkey or ham...I don't eat mashed potatoes, casseroles, etc.  I can pretty much do without any holiday food.   HOWEVER , give me some holiday desserts and I surrender to the temptation.  I think I ate about 4 cookies last night alone...sigh.  I did turn down pie...lol.  So I do have SOME self control. So how much food did you eat over the holidays? What's your holiday weakness?

So we all seem to get things that are less than desirable. What should we do with it? 1) Return it ~ if you can return it for something useful...go for it! Stores are less likely to ask for a receipt right after the holidays,  so you'll probably get store credit to swap for something else sometimes you can get a gift card but it's still store credit. 2) Re-gift it?  This is a slippery slope...if it's truly a "bad" gift why do that to someone else?  But if it is just something that you don't personally like but someone else might...go for it! Just be careful of who you re-gift it to...you wouldn't want the  original gift giver to find out and their feelings get hurt. 3) Give to Charity!  Don't throw it away!  Give it to charity. Sometimes I think this is also a slippery slope ~ what just because you have nothing you should get something  crappy?  Something better than nothing?  Sigh!  I ...

and to All a Good Night! I hope you all are having a very Merry Christmas!

Here's my December Birchbox... Do any of you want the Benefit Porefessionl and/or the ShowStoppers Designer Fashion Tape?? I'm not going to use it...let me know and I'll mail it to you! I really like the perfume in this sample...it's very light and refreshing!  I agree that it has a youthful scent without smelling like teenager perfume! Why does it cost $98!!! For info on Birchbox...click HERE ! Let me know if you want to sign up so I can refer you ;)

I painted my own nails and...they look good okay decent!! Plus matches they my ring...LOL This is my attempt at holiday wear... some how it always manages to be blue white & silver.... hmmm....wonder why?

So Paul had us on this new kick awhile back…making chocolate chip cookies…sounds yummy right….well….here’s the snag…like every ingredient is switched with something “healthier”. The first batch was seriously disappointing…I mean it looked like a cookie yet didn’t really taste like a cookie. Well I’ve been doing some tweaking each time to this “healthy” recipe and I finally think I have gotten it to a point that these cookies are good. Well maybe I am just getting used to them but since it's the holidays I thought I would make some more and share ~ here’s the recipe for you to try them out. 1 cup of whole wheat flour 3/4 cup of oats 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda 1/2 teaspoon of salt (mix dry together) 1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce 1/4 cup of canola oil 1/3 cup of Splenda (I add just a tad more) 1/3 cup of Splenda Brown Sugar  1 egg 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (mix together and slowly add dry ingredients) 1 cup of dark chocolate chips (we like G...

So this morning when I left my townhouse,  I noticed that my neighbor had a box in  front of their door.  The box said LUSH on it.... I thought, "how unfair...it's like a 45 yr old man  and his 18 yr old son...how do they get LUSH stuff?!? So I thought...hmmm...I wonder where they got it from... I snooped and looked at the box and.... IT WAS ADDRESSED TO ME!!??!! Thank you Blog Secret Santa!!! I love how it comes wrapped in newspaper like gifts from your Grandma! Here's what was underneath the newspaper.. 2 soaps, a card AND a surprise.... Two bath bombs!!  I can't wait to soak in the tub with this stuff!! BTW...I opened this at work and my office smells HEAVENLY from this stuff!!!  I love it!!! Lovely note from my Blog Secret Santa! Thank you soooo much Samantha you totally made my day with the Lush stuff!!  I'm super excited to use it! Check out her blog ...

So here's what I sent my Blog Secret Santa ... I found this cute box with a magnetic closure. Then I filled it with goodies...kinda like a Birchbox. ~Calendar - super cute!! ~Baby Lips by Maybelline - love this stuff!! ~ ELF eyeshadow ~ glittery set ~Bedazzled bobby pins ~Bedazzled Mirror ~JR Watkins - lotion - this stuff works soooo good!! ~Zum Body - a friend turned me on to this stuff...it's soooo good! ~My Blog Card - well I hope she likes it... I haven't heard from her yet! Here's Kitty "helping me" ~ she is totally me reincarnated as a cat! She loves paper, pens, anything that looks crafty... she always hangs out and watches or steals ribbon. I haven't received my Secret Santa gift yet...hopefully soon!! Can't wait!

So as you all know from my previous post , I bought this CD player for Marissa (my 5 year old niece) for Christmas!  Well today on my lunch break I went and bought batteries for it!  I just remember when I was little and I had a little boom box I carried everywhere...I'm pretty sure the neighbors called the cops once but the cop just sat there watching me and my stepsister do our "dance routine" to Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now" (kinda pedo now that I think about it...lol).   So instead of going out and buying a 5 year old a bunch of CDs that will inevitable get lost or scratched,  I downloaded her some tunes and burned her a CD...which I can make over and over again. So here's her mix.... "Calling All the Monsters" ~ China Anne McClain "Love You Like a Love Song" ~ Selena Gomez "Lovesick" ~ Emily Osment "Your Love is My Drug" ~ Ke$ha "Raise Your Glass" ~ Pink "If I Die Young" ~ The...

I made it!  This has felt like the longest week of my life!  Work was EXTREMELY busy, traffic was horrible everyday, then Wednesday we had our Christmas party and then it was only Thursday so I am seriously feeling TGIF this week! Here's my weekend To Do List: Tomorrow I am meeting up with my sister, Debra, and my niece, Kaelyn, to pick up Kaelyn's Christmas pictures!  Then a little last minute shopping. Then Sunday ~ I'm blogging my entire week!  So stay tuned for...Guest Post from one of my fab followers, Christmas cards I made, my Blog Secret Santa's gift (and maybe mine if I get it this weekend) and my December Birchbox!  So exciting stuff to come! How excited are you that it is finally Friday?  What are your plans?  

Emma Watson! December 8 ~ Look of the Day ~ InStyle   WHAT SHE WORE In Hong Kong, Emma Watson enchanted the crowd in a tulle Elie Saab confection and silver Jimmy Choo sandals. WHY WE LOVE IT The face of Lancome did the label proud by amping up her airy design with high wattage lips. I love love LOVE this dress!!  Emma looks fabulous!  Don't you just love her!  

We can all do math to know today is the 14th and Christmas is on the 25th and figure out the days we have left...but when I looked on the calendar I thought...OMG...it's next weekend!!  No wonder this week has been super crazy!   Last night I was up until 4 am making Christmas cards...pics to come!  I'm proud to announce that my Secret Santa gift has been sent...pics to come!  I hope she likes it!! So what holiday craziness are you up to this week?  Did you have a craft malfunction you need to get off your chest...post to come...lol.

So my Monday was off to a pretty bad start... it raining so the drive to work was EXTRA long. So by the time I got here...I was in a "I'm so over this" mood! However, instead of making the day miserable I tried and succeeded to get rid of this horribleness I was feeling! Here are the ways I got over my case of the Mondays... 1) I checked my email....and realized I have new followers =)  I just love when new people find my blog and appreciate the randomness...it's like getting a gold star =) 2) I remembered I have one more thing to pick up and then I can mail my Secret Santa stuff...I'll take pics and I'm requesting that she take pics to send me of her opening it or post about it and I can link it. 3) I remembered how much I got done over the weekend!  Seriously my blog stuff, closet, makeup, under the sink ... ALL ORGANIZED...this is huge!  I am notorious for letting my personal stuff just pile up while I focus more on work. 4) On the drive to work, r...

So recently I posted about my first Shellac manicure  (which was French) and have now tried color THREE times...I thought I would give an update. When I had the first manicure removed...I had to soak my fingers in acetone for like 15 mins.  After that my nails looked HORRIBLE.  To me this was a huge problem, for the sake of my blog I decided to try a color once and then I was done.  I don't like acrylic nails because they destroy your nail bed...I'm not destroying them over nail polish.  So between the soaking and the UV light I was already on the fence. Then within 3 days the color shellac nail polish started to just peel off.  I had to go back in and have them redone....more soaking...more UV light. Also, the color I picked was light and neutral and the main thing I didn't like about it is that you could see my nail through the nail polish. Then last weekend, I thought why not try a darker color one last time...I mean my nail bed is already destr...

I saw this list over on one of my favorite blogs... .Belle-ista. What I love about this is that ... you can see how much you already have accomplished to stay creative and then you can see a few more new ways of getting creative.  Like me, I am sure you can put a check mark next to quite a few of these.  Which ones stands out as completed?  For me it is #1  #2 and #30, I recently bought a journal which I carry EVERYWHERE now...there are blog ideas, to do lists (blog related & personal) and it's just so much easier now that everything is in one place and not scattered through out 100,000 notebooks.  I call my creative side my madness because it's constantly swirling around in my head and sometimes there's just too much of it so brilliance gets hidden in the whirlpool.  So now I have it all organized here.... Were you expecting something non-damask...lol Now anytime I am inspired about anything...I can write it down right then. ...

Link up with Amber !! It's okay.... 1) To hate Adobe....I am trying to load a free trial  of Photoshop and it is taking FOREVER!! 2) To put so much time and effort into making  Christmas cards when it's faster and probably cheaper just to buy them premade! 3) To keep saying "Is it Friday YET?!?"  I mean hello three day week totally through off the balance of making it a full 5 days at work without complaining. 4) To look at your bank account and yell HOLLA! when  you realize you got your Christmas bonus today!! 5) To have not participated in Black Friday or Cyber Monday. 6) To not be able to think of another entry..... so help me out....what's okay today with you?? Don't forget to link up with Amber!!

So I've received Birchbox  and I've tried all the samples so I thought I would share my thoughts. Before I start, for those of you who have never heard of Birchbox , it's a monthly subscription, for $10 you receive 4 to 5 deluxe designer products.  You can sign up monthly (which is how I signed up) or pay for the year in advance for $110 (one month free) {I might go the year route at some point if I continue to like the samples.}  Also you gain Birchbox points {10 for every box and more when buying items ~ to be cashed it for money off} So here's my November Birchbox.... 1) Anastasia Beverly Hills HydraFull Gloss in Sugar Pink TOO STICKY!!  Great color though but it's TOO STICKY!! 2) Borghese Fango Brillante Brightening Mud  Works well ~ I don't really need it but if you are looking for a brightener definitely try this one! 3) Guerlian Shalimar Parfum Initial If you love Christian Dior Miss Cherie like me TRY THIS! ...

I hate this mascara!  I've been wearing it for about a week and today I stopped and my eyes feel sooooo much better.   The mascara gets crumbly throughout the day so if you rub your eye for any reason it feels like you have dirt in your eye all day. I totally hate the new plastic applicators...in my opinion they just don't work as well as the old school ones.  Also, the cone shaped applicator is pointless it just causes more work...you have to angle it this way then that way, etc.   So in my opinion stick with.... The original!   Great Lash has own tons of awards and I've seen it as a best pick in many magazines.  I've also used... Great Lash BIG and.... Great Lash with the Curved Brush All of these worked great! So it was really disappointing when I tried Lots of Lashes ~ it just doesn't live up to the Great Lash standards. What do you think?  Have you tried Lots of Lashes?

This massive ship went by! Lil Lighthouse Okay my fall vacation...duh obsessed with fall!! Leaves and Light Stone lock? Even though it was fall...still some pretty flowers. More fall foliage! Weird fountain ah so pretty more pretty I just want to let you know I sat on this porch for like an hour...imagining how it would have been back then...how peaceful and how inspiring. I could have written a million blog posts on this porch...well you know the equivalent to a blog post in 1904. Now for the hilarious.... They had a continuous video playing about the history of the house. Since Paul and his mom watched it while I was out on the porch I went in after and was the only one in the room.  While I was waiting for the movie to restart I thought I would do some Ghost Hunter photo tests. I mean all this love and heart break it just HAS to be haunted. Right? These pics we...