Blog swapping!!

I have been asked by my bloggy friend Jennifer over at quirky pickings to do a little blog swap, and to make it even more fun she asked me to pose the question for her to answer!

Stay tuned to read what she had to say and come and visit me HERE to get find out how I would finish this phrase “If you really knew me you would know……” (P.S. it does include a picture of me and you know how very rare that is lol)

Enjoy my friend Jennifer…..

Are you inspired by anyone that you would be embarrassed to admit?

i didn't have an immediate answer to this question because i don't believe a person should be afraid to confess to inspiration, however it is achieved. so it took me a long time to answer this. the question’d been sitting in my inbox, then my read folder for months. literally. i'd asked for it in august. and been mulling over the answer ever since.

i decided this morning to tackle it. and so, my thinking cap took the form of a google search: embarrassing inspirations. i checked the image results. i saw pictures of women with their eyes covered with black rectangles, as though their vision had been censored. of monkeys with their teeth bared and their hands across their faces. of french mastiffs (best dogs ever, by the way) with their upper lips caught on their bottom teeth and their eyes fierce. of rats and rings and seth rogen.

and for some reason, i thought of bette midler.

and remembered all those times when, as a child or adolescent, i would go off by myself and sing her version of the rose.

or be sitting in class (or detention) writing down the lyrics and drawing a cheesy picture of a rose to go with it. because i knew how to do the homework already, knew i'd ace the test regardless of whether i completed the assignment, and my teachers’ busy work bored me. because the lyrics:

when the night has been too lonely

and the road has been too long

and you think that love is only

for the lucky and the strong

just remember ...

these gave me solace when my day had been unbearable. and more often than not, it had been.

we had two versions of this song in my house. one by her. and one by harry belafonte. hers is infinitely better.

i love this song.

singing it is one of the few things i do well.

not that i can sing as well as i did twenty years ago. i smoked too many cigarettes between now and then, and my range is significantly less because of it. but even still, i can sing it sufficiently.

i used to sing it on the bus on the way to and from school.

quietly. or so i thought.

someone heard me once. and, of course, his reaction wasn't kind. neither were those of others who clued in on his mockery of me.

i rarely sing in front of people. probably because of that. i hadn't realized until just now, though, that that's why this is. i'd been in choir for one year in high school. i do the occasional karaoke with friends. that's it.

anyway. i love this woman's voice. i love her spunk. i used to dream that i could be a little bit like her.

but ultimately, it wasn't her so much as the song that inspired. the lyrics. the hope in them. it kept me believing in the future when i couldn't see much of one at all.

Repost: If you really knew me you would know…..

This is a post I had written for a blog swap but I wanted to post it in full here before I moved on because it was so important to me.

So I have been wanting to blog about this for a really long time but I think it’s the hardest to write about something personal that you love because you expose a part of yourself, but here it goes…..

Let me preface this by saying loud and clear that I have never done anything like this and I am quite possibly one of the most uncoordinated people on the planet. That being said if you really knew me you would know that I have become absolutely obsessed with something called Oula. If you haven’t heard about this I have no doubt that you will one day soon. It is a cardio dance class that is literally one of the most fun things (especially exercise related) that I have ever done. It is filled with top 40’s music and I feel like it is somewhere that I can let everything else go and rock out and let the music move me. I leave the classes feeling energized, happy, and excited (how many times can you say that after you have been sweating like crazy at the gym for an hour).

Yes this is me ugh I am so not photogenic but I had was part of a project where we were photographed doing some of the Oula movements and it was actually a blast.

 

In my head when I am dancing I look like this……(PS this is not me although it is the founder and creative director of the program and she is AMAZING)

But I am pretty sure I look more like Elaine form Seinfeld (if you saw that episode you will know what I mean)….

The fact of the matter is that you don’t have to be a great dancer to go to this class and have it change something inside of you. It is amazing stress relief and great cardio obviously, but more than that I feel like it’s just plain good for my energy. How cheesy I know and I sound like an infomercial but there it is friends I couldn’t imagine my week without this as part of my routine.

Birchbox Breakdown: October 2011

Better late than never right? I really liked my box last month but some of my other project kept me from telling you about it sooner, sorry for the delay. And if you have not heard about Birchbox check it out HERE where you can sign up for the monthly beauty sample box for $10 a month.

The theme for October was Prep and Finish and this is what I got….

 

1. Befine lip exfoliator you rub this over your lips in small circles and then remove it with a warm wash cloth to leave lips feeling velvety.

My opinion: I am addicted to lip products so I was excited about this. It does work really well as an exfoliator although it is very drying so I do not use it often. I am thinking in the middle of winter though this will work miracles on my lips.

2. blinc mascara is a tubing mascara that is not supposed to flake or smudge all day.

My Opinion: I have read so many mixed reviews of this that I was very skeptical. I actually ended up buying the full size of this product because I like it so much. I do feel like mascara is about as individual as shampoo but for me this works great. It doesn’t do much for the volume of my lashes but it is fantastic with length and it really does stay put ALL DAY!

3. Pangea Organics Facial Scrub (self explanatory lol)

My Opinion: I received the Pangea facial cream in my last box and liked the product but was not in love with it enough to buy the full product and I feel much the same with this little guy. The scent is nice and it is a nice exfoliator but I am not in love.

4. Redken Shine Flash is a finishing spray that is supposed to leave your hair super shiny.

My Opinion: I think there is a fine line between shiny hair and greasy hair and for me this seemed to leave me more on the greasy side so this one was a no for me but maybe on a different hair type this would work who knows.

Treat/Extra – Tea Forte Minteas that are infused with energizing yerba mate and rick cocoa.

My Opinion: This was another one of those things that I didn’t love or hate. I tend to only like mints that leave my mouth really fresh smelling and tasting and for me these didn’t do the trick. And energy wise I didn’t notice a thing so I will be sticking to my Diet Dr. Pepper lol.

 

All in all I am still really loving Birchbox I have purchased something in the full sized product from both of my boxes so far because I was so excited about the sample. I already can’t wait for my November box it should come in about a week so I will keep you posted.