It's the freakin' weekend, going to have me some fun

I realized about 5 minutes ago that it's Friday which means it's one of the days I usually blog.  Since I forgot I don't really have any thing to blog about at the time, except how awesome my weekend is going to be! 

I am getting ready to head out of Knoxville until Monday evening/Tuesday morning to go home to see my friends and family.  I am originally from North of Cincinnati, about 5.5 hours away from Knoxville.  As usual, almost every second of my weekend is planned so it's going to definitely be busy!  I promise I will have a super awesome blog for you when I get back.  I am planning on stopping in Cincinnati this afternoon to hit up Lush and Ulta.  Be excited for me :) I've been excited about it all weekend!!! Anyway have a safe and happy weekend everyone and don't forget to remember and thank those who serve our country! 

Brightens my day :)

Here is proof that all you need is love...

(Click the picture, it will direct you to the story :) )

This is such a wonderful story.  I was directed to this story by my friend, Allyn.  She's a smart girl :)

All you need is love...

"All you need is love.
All you need is love.
All you need is love, love.

Love is all you need."

This past week one of my friends, Allyn posted an interesting article on Facebook.  It was a recent Gallup study showing that for the first time a majority of Americans are actually deciding that they are okay with legalizing gay marriage.  For me this was amazing.  for those of you who don't know me I am a crazy, raging liberal.  I believe strongly in human rights and the freedom to make our own choices without others making our decisions for us.  I believe that we all were put here (not sure by who) to live our lives according to how we see fit.  At some point everyone says (regardless of political affiliation) in their life, it's time to go grow up and make decisions separate from our parents. My question to you is, why do we say that we should be able to make decisions for ourselves when the vast majority of people see it fit to make decisions for the majority of us?  Why is it that someone else is always trying to tell us how to live our lives?  Doctors tell us how to live, when to lose weight, when to sleep more (blah blah blah), people tell us who to love, who to marry, what to do with our bodies.   So where exactly do we all fit in to the let's make our own decisions?  Where is this line drawn?  What decisions are we allowed to make and what decisions is someone else supposed to make for us.  Why the hell is always someone else telling me what to do? Do you know?  I sure as hell do not!

Most of you know I live in Tennessee currently.  When I first moved down here on my red chevy cavalier was a Human Rights sticker.  It looked like the pic above.  After living here maybe two weeks I left work one day to notice my sticker was gone.  WTF?  Why would anyone ever rip off an equality sticker?  Then it dawned on me... equality and the human rights campaign to some stands for what people like to call gay rights.  They consider it a campaign to give "Gay" people special rights, when in fact it's just asking to give this group EQUAL rights. In every facet of our lives people discriminate against this group, all the organization and the group wants is the opportunity to love and choose freely like any heterosexual person gets to.  I say, as a nation we butt the hell out and let people live their lives as they see fit.  Who are we to judge?  It's no body damn business what I do in my bedroom or my home and it's no bodies damn business what a homosexual person does in their bedroom or their home.  Maybe these people should realize that the HRC really isn't about "gay rights" it's about human rights, gay or not we are still part of the same human race, and should all have the same rights.  It's about the ability for all of us to make our own damn decisions in life without everyone else trying to do it for us.

After I posted the above article, my cousin Merideth commented, "Majority of the people in the world will support Gay Marriage long before they will support them raising children! :)"

After she made this comment I decided to do some research on her comment.  Most people know adoption is not an easy process by any means, it takes patience, a good deal of money and a lot of love.  To be gay and try to have a family is even more difficult!

 According to Love and Pride, "current reliable gay adoption statistics for America, there are statistics on children in gay homes. In 1976, there were between 300,000 to 500,000 gay and lesbian biological parents. In 1990, 6 to 14 million children had at least one gay or lesbian parent. Between 8 and 10 million children were being raised in gay and lesbian households.In 1999, approximately 547,000 children in foster care in the US, 117,000 legally free for adoption. There were only qualified adoptive families available for only twenty percent of them. Ten percent of the US population is homosexual, meaning a lot of couples whose biological resources for children are reduced are currently prevented from filling in the adoption gap."

Also this website states, "even in areas that have gay adoption laws, gay couples adopting may find they face prejudices within the system. Mainstream assumptions on gay parenting have led to an attitude that gay parents are a child's last resort.Often in gay adoption, parents will get harder children because social workers leave them last on the list. It is ironic that bureaucracies that believe that lesbians and gay men are not suitable parents will place children who require the most highly skilled parenting with them.Gay families have unique strengths that help troubled children. Gay couples adopting usually accept differences, understand what it is like to be in the minority, assign different gender roles, and have the skills to be open about sexuality with children who have been sexually abused."

So now I pose a question, why does it matter the sexual orientation of the parents.  Isn't it more important that they can provide a loving home and properly take care of the children?  I thought we lived in a nation with more children to be adopted than homes for them to go to? Seems senseless to discriminate based on sexual orientation.  Last I checked gay, wasn't a virus or bacteria that we could catch, so I'm not quite sure. What harm does it cause? I'm pretty sure the only thing is it steers from what we as a society consider as the social norm to raise a family in. Take a look around everyone, there are very few families that still fit the social norm that we lived in even 10 years ago.  Being a single mother or father is much more common that it used to be. Single parent adoption or IVF is more common. 

For those of you who do not know, Merideth that I spoke of earlier is currently a gestational carrier.  Her and her family (her husband and 3 children) made the decision to do a very selfless act for a very loving couple.  Here is the shock and awe factor for some of you, it is for a Homosexual couple.  Yes, you read it... H-O-M-O-S-E-X-U-A-L!!!! That's right I am the very proud damn cousin of a wonderful woman and her family who is so selflessly blessing a couple with a child, correction children (she's pregnant with twins) :)  Congratulations to the soon to be parents!  You and your family Merideth, are fulfilling two people's dreams to be parents and providing a loving home to two very special children! 

  

The last thought I will leave with you is perhaps one of the most inspirational speeches I have heard in a long time! 

 

In a world so full of hate why is it so hard to realize that, all you need is love?

 

Accessory Whore!!

Randomly I go on accessory buying binges.  Sometimes, it's to fill the void of not buying makeup haha.  Anyway, I needed a nice little setup to hang my dangly earrings on.  They usually sit in my jewelry box and then they get all tangled up and it takes forever to find the match and then on top of that they are all tangled so I decided to make something to fix that.
Here is my solution...

In reality I need another one of these to hang up all my earrings. Haven't gotten around to making it quite yet.  Anyways this was a super cheap and easy solution to my problem.  I went to Michaels and purchased one of these mesh plastic dojobs (not sure what actual name is) for 59 cents...

Then I went to Walmart and purchased a black 8x10 picture frame for $5.  I had to cut down the plastic dojob in order to make it fit in the picture slot.  I then removed the glass and back to the picture frame and replaced it with the plastic dojob.  Put a nail in the wall, hung it up and then loaded it up with my earrings.  Super cute right?

Now on to my accessories... LOVE THEM

All of these cuties came for Forever 21 and I only paid $1.50 for each pair!  3 pairs of earrings for $4.50!!! Awesome right?

I am so in love with this ring!!! I got it a store called Meijer (it's like a Walmart/Target).  It was originally $14.99 and I paid $2 for it!!!

I am absolutely in love with this rhinestone bow ring!  This picture doesn't do nearly enough justice for it's cuteness, but it was the best of the 42 pictures I took of the ring haha!!! It was originally $18.99 at Belk and with sales I got it for $7.19!  I love it!

These have quickly become my favorite accessory!  I only paid $3 for them at Walmart!!! I love them!!! Adorable!

On a side note, I am currently in the market for some new makeup brushes.  Do you ladies have any recommendations for brushes? Don't hold out on me!! Share your knowledge!!!!

My favorite blushes!!!!

So I haven't been staying at home the past few days so again I wasn't able to take pictures, good thing for internet pictures, right???

Anyway, today I thought I would share my favorite blushes with everyone today.  I used to not wear blush and then all of a sudden I started dabbling in the blush world and have discovered that OMG I love blush!!!! So here are my favorites :)

This is Living Doll by Hard Candy.  I found it at Walmart for like 9 bucks for a HUGE container.  It's a bright barbie shimmery pink. I love it!!! It's a must have!

This is my blush for my "pinched cheek" look.  This is Peche Tendre 4 from Sephora.  It retails for $12 and is worth every penny in my opinion.  You get a lot of product and it is actually pretty long wear for a blush.  This is more of my go to blush, because let's face it bright barbie pink isn't necessarily complementary for every eye look!

My other go to blush is from Mary Kay. It's called Shy blush and is a very beautiful color.  It is a coral color with strong pink and gold undertones.  I love it's finish as it is slightly shimmery and definitely picks up color based on the light you are in.  I love this blush.  This one retails for $10.   

 

The last blush I want to talk about is actually an ELF blush.  It's called Pink Passion.  It's a bright barbie pink color.  I know you are probably thinking, what's the difference between that and the living doll blush.  Um, the shimmer duh!  This blush is just matte so it makes it a little easier to wear with all eye looks.  You can do a super shimmery eye and this won't look awkward with where sometimes the living doll can. 

There are a few other blushes I work in to the rotation that are parts of palettes so I don't actually have names for you for those.  

What are your favorite blushes????

What am I doing with my life?

Is it sad that I'm 26 years old and am in my 8th year of higher education and I'm still not 100% sure what I want to be when I grow up? I know that sounds awful, but it's really not as bad as I make it sound. 
I have a bachelor's in Chemistry and am currently working on my Ph.D. but now the big questions are starting... the main one being "What do I want to use my Ph.D. for?" I have absolutely no freaking idea.  I know that if I have to do exactly what I'm doing for the rest of my life I'll probably go nuts.  Granted, I think a lot of why I say that is due to the monotony of graduate school and some of it is because I do recognize the fact that this is not my biggest strength in the chemistry realm of life. 
I chose chemistry for several reasons: I love chemistry, I find it incredibly interesting, I'm relatively decent at it, and there are so many job opportunities that can come from having a degree in this field. I do not regret  one bit choosing this as a career, some days I do ask myself, "Would I be better at something else?" I think that's normal?  I'm not sure.  Maybe it's because I'm coming incredibly close to that juncture in life where it's time to make some very adult decisions and I am freaked out I'll make the wrong one.  Thankfully, I have so many supportive and awesome people in my life that will help me along the way. 

Anyway, that was the boring part of the post.  I just had to vent, and I think that's allowed sometimes.  I have a lot of super exciting things coming up that I can't wait for.  In like 9 days I'm going to go home for a few days to see my friends and family.  Then in June I'm going to the beach with my friends from high school!  I can't freaking wait!!!! Then.... in September I am going to Niagara Falls, Canada for a national conference, ya know what that means??? FREEEEEE TRIP!!!!

While I was out this weekend I picked up some new stuff, that I'm pretty excited about!!!
I suck at life and forgot to take pictures of the stuff so you are going to see some internet pictures for these items...My main stop was Target.  I needed some new eye makeup remover and was on the hunt for the perfect mauvy pink lipstick. What better place to start than target right???

This stuff is awesome!! It removes makeup so well!  A lot of times you take off your eye makeup and then the next morning you wake up and you see a little collection of color under your eye from your eyeliner or mascara... so frustrating, but let me tell you the few days I have worn this I have no woken up with that gunk under my eye.  My only complaint with this stuff is it is super oily, thank god you wash your face after you take off your eye makeup.  Well, at least I do!

I also picked up this nail polish.  It's Revlon, clearly and the color is Royal.  It's a gorgeous bright blue!  I haven't had the chance to use it yet, I'm currently rocking out with bright red.  Anyway, this stuff retails at $4.99 and I found it at Target for $1.98.  SCORE!!!

My last awesome health and beauty item I picked up was this mauvy pink lipstick that has turned out to be exactly what I was looking for.  How often does that happen!!! Anyway it was $1 because it's an ELF lipstick.  It's called classy and here is the swatch. 

Isn't it so pretty??? and for a buck it's amazing!  It smells all nice and fruity too.  Love it!


I also thought I'd include a look I created with some Pretty Addictions shadows with today's post. 

Isn't that pretty??? It's one of my favorites.  I used Darkness on the lid and then used Locked & Loaded in the crease and blended like crazy! I love it!

Anyway, That's my absolutely random post of the day.  Let me know what you think :)

Why my skin and hair love me!

It wasn't until about a year and a half ago that I started to really get in the habit of properly taking care of my skin.  One of my good friends started selling Mary Kay and was ranting and raving about the Time Wise skin care line.  Finally I got suckered in and decided to try it.  I've never had any problems with my skin, occasionally I will get that dreaded zit, but I've always had good luck.  However, because I wasn't taking proper care of my skin now I realized that it would effect me later in life.  When you don't properly wash your face and moisturize it aging effects advance.  I have to admit that ever since I have tried the Time Wise line I don't think I will go back.  I love the way my skin feels all day and I actually look forward to washing my face at night!  Now that I've started this regimen I try to wash my face twice per day, most times though I only remember to wash it at night, which I guess is the most important part so I can get all of this makeup off.

I highly recommend using this stuff! I love it!
I also recently have discovered Lush.  While I was there I picked up some of their facial cleanser called Angels on Bareskin.  OMG this stuff is amazing! My friend told me to get it and said, "your face will love you for it!" and she is 100% right.  I try to uses this stuff every other day or every two days.  I've also noticed a difference in the texture of my skin since I have started using it!  I took a picture of it but the picture looks like crap so I just linked it above. 

These two products have made a huge difference in my skin!  I can't wait to go back to Lush to pick up more goodies!

Now for my hair, I have some crazy ass weird textured hair.  Also a few months ago I decided to put some vivid purple panels of color in my hair, which required actually bleaching my hair.  Because I did this I decided I was going to need to use some deep moisture conditioner to make sure my hair didn't suffer from the bleaching. 

Have you ever used this stuff?  I love it! I noticed an immediate difference especially in the areas that I had bleached and I LOVE the smell!!! Plus it's price tag is pretty awesome at under $4.

also, just to help my hair out a little and get all the build up from shampoos, conditioners, and products out I used an anti- residue shampoo once a week.  My hair loves me for it!  I love the way my hair feels that day.  I try to make sure I use it on a day it isn't going to rain so I can straighten my hair and be able to touch it and feel how soft it is haha!

I love this stuff! I happened to pick it up at Big Lots for $4.50 but I believe it retails under $8 at Walgreens or wherever you chose to shop for your goodies.

In order to keep my hair tame when I straighten it or curl it with a curling iron I always try to use a curling creme.  It keeps my hair from acting like a wild mess.  My favorite thus far was another cheap find that I just happened to love!

I LOVE Nexxus products, especially their shampoo.  Their products also smell amazing.  The Calming Smoothing creme is definitely a must have for those of you that have frizzy hair, but make sure you use this stuff sparingly. 

For the days I'm not feeling so hot about straightening my hair I utilize this mop of a naturally curly head of hair I have been blessed with.  I mentioned in one of my previous posts about a sale going on at Sally's Beauty Supply on Beyond the Zone products.  I mentioned how I didn't like one of htep roducts I chose but LOVED the other one.  Recently I have been loving this spray.  Usually for my curly hair I stick with creams because often sprays can make your hair hard and crispy.  I must say though I have not had that experience with this product at all.  I really like it!

I also think the name they came up with for this product is cute. I know there is a glare right down the middle of the bottle, that's because apparently I am a horrible photographer.  I promise, one day I will get better at this!  Anyway, it's called Noodle Head.  I thought it was very clever and fitting!

Have you ladies tried any of these products?  What did you think of them?  What did you ladies get in to this weekend?

On Friday I went with some of my crew to see the movie, "Bridesmaids".  All I have to say is it was epically funny!!! I insist that all of you go and see it ASAP!  The rest of the weekend I enjoyed by relaxing!  It was wonderful!