2015: A ReSet

Yes, folks, it's that time: time for a New Year, New Me post. A post full of resolutions and goals. A post full of reflection and positivity.

I am really into making things real by writing them down - I know how that sounds, but I'm a to-do list maker, a grocery list writer, a post-it note inspirer. I think that maybe this is why I haven't written down resolutions for quite a few years now: if I don't write them down, they aren't real so I don't have to hold myself accountable.

Well, part of the fun of having a blog is having an outlet for these types of things, am I right? Not only am I putting thought to word as a means of holding myself accountable, I'm inviting you to hold myself accountable as well. 

I'm viewing 2015 as a reset year for myself. I know what should be happening across the board and have opted to ignore all of that. In 2013, my focus was on my wedding - even after it was long over, I felt like we were still piecing together a collage of Life After Marriage (which included some large setbacks, like a disease/surgery). 2014 brought a year of a mess and although it has ended well, it was tough more often than not. So in 2015, I'm focusing on all of the stuff I can change and should change and am going to change it. I'm going to use it as an opportunity to press the reset button, so that we can begin to prepare for the future and whatever it may bring. 

personal collage | Photo credits, clockwise from top left: Reading Challenge, Financial Goals, Fitness Goals, Makeup/Skincare Goals, Closet/Clothing Goals

Book Review: The Jessica Darling Series

Once upon a time, there was a really angsty, miserable teenager. She was convinced that she was better than her hometown (Spoiler Alert: she totally was) and that she was full of untapped potential. She was a giant bitch all throughout high school, a chip on her shoulder and a grimace on her face all four years. 

This girl found solace, as many a teenager before and after her, in books. She would walk to the local library after school and check out as many books as her extra bag would allow - sometimes up to ten. She would often stop at the Dunkin Donuts next to the library, order a coffee, and start reading one of her books before she'd catch the bus home. 

Surprise: that girl was me.

I wrote a post when I was still blogging for Weddingbee about who I was in high school, so I'll let that speak for itself. The books, though, that got me through, have such a special place in my heart - specifically The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (this book affected me so much that I kept a list of quotes and their page numbers in my purse until college. . .when I put them on my wall), Violet & Claire by Francesca Lia Block, How to Deal (which is actually two separate novels, That Summer and Someone Like You) by Sarah Dessen and the Jessica Darling series by Megan McCafferty. 

I am sure that there are many deep and involved reasons why I decided to re-load the well loved series onto my new tablet after it had sat on a previous reading device, untouched and un-thought of for quite some time; why I had been thinking about Jessica Darling so much as of late that I decided to re-read the books right before Jon and I were heading on a five-day-stay in our hometown for the holidays; why I devoured the books and couldn't wait to write about them. I'm sure that there's a lot to be said about the power of my subconscious regarding this decision - but I'm not the one to say any of it. I'm just happy to have reunited with those who feel like my old friends. I'm happy to have re-connected to them and to the story and I'm happy to have an outlet that allows me to express all of this.

images via Wikipedia, copyrighted to Three Rivers Press and Crown publishers

It's hard for me to review the books adequately as individuals as each time I've read them, I've read them in rapid succession, so that it's essentially one long, great story, so I'm reviewing them in their entirety as The Jessica Darling Series.

'Twas the night before Christmas. . .

It's finally here, folks: Christmas 2014. 

Even though I was fairly late in sending out our cards, most should have received them by now so I'm happy to share the design and, more importantly, the sentiment, with you all: 

picture courtesy of my cell phone, design & print courtesy of Vistaprint

Jon and I are off to our hometown for Christmas, where we'll hop from house to house both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, visiting and eating and drinking. 

I, personally, am most looking forward to the day after Christmas, when my cousins from Atlanta and I will partake in our annual tradition of drinking, rehashing the inevitable ridiculousness of the holidays and general silliness and debauchery. 

Happy Holidays to you and yours! 

Ipsy Review: December Glam Bag

I don't know exactly how the whole containers-of-goodies-arriving-via-mail-once-a-month-for-a-low-price phenomenon originated, but I am far from complaining. I love mail, I love goodies, I love things for cheap: sign me up.

A combination of frustrating skin, general aging (yup, I went there) and a need to look like a human most days has led me to delve further into the world of makeup. A drugstore makeup girl since my early days (I think I was in seventh grade when I first started wearing eyeliner), I've relied on my friends Cover Girl and Maybelline pretty heavily. When my skin first started acting up, I went to Almay for foundation purposes, hoping the more expensive and seemingly fancier formula would help. And it did, for a bit, but alas, here I sit at 25 with combination skin, a fairly persistent 2 p.m. shine and an increasingly circle-y, wrinkle-y under eye situation. YIKES. 

Plus, I do like makeup. I think I'm a fairly simple girl as far as most things go, but I enjoy me a good eyeshadow color. I'm also fortunate to have become close with a handful of makeup gurus in the past year or so and they're good at keeping me updated on trends and how-to's. As a result of all of the above I've been exploring things like lipsticks and a whole routine of primer, foundation, bronzer and blush. . .even if it intimidates the shit out of me. I went to Sephora recently with one of my best friends and my hands were clammy.

So, something like Ipsy is pretty perfect for me. I'm able to try out a handful of things each month in the privacy of my own home for $10. I wavered between this and Birchbox for a little (the BFF  I mentioned above is a longtime Birchbox subscriber and loves it), but a co-worker convinced me to go the Ipsy route for a few reasons: you get more full-size products, they're typically more attainable products (not necessarily found at a specialty store) and they're more economically priced items. Basically, a gift for makeup babies like me, trying to spread their wings and fly freely and confidently with no fear of cake or crease. 

Thus, I present to you my first Ipsy adventure: December's Thinking of You Glam Bag: 

From left: Crown Infinity Shadow/Crease Duet Brush, Nourish Organic Renewing Eye Cream, tarte deluxe lights, camera, lashes 4-in-1 mascara, NYX Butter Lip Balm in Red Velvet and Bumble and bumble. All-Style Blow Dry. 

Here, There and Everywhere: Friday Edition

What good is the internet if we can't share the hilarious, wonderful and insane things we encounter with one another, am I right? 

• HuffPo's Book Gift Guide of 2014 has compiled a list of 32 books, each in their own handy sections. The author notes that books are a risky gift, which I semi-agree with, so my recommendation is to get an Amazon gift card and write up a recommendation list. Boom.

via New York Times

• NYTimes produced an interesting article linking your spending to your residence. How Your City Influences Your Spending isn't a complete list and I'll overlook the fact that Pittsburgh wasn't included but Philly (barf) and Baltimore (double barf) and Cleveland (BARF BARF BARF) were, but only because two of the three are shown to spend less than the nation's average on men's undies (yup, you guessed it: barf). 

• What Happened When I Lived According To The Popular Pinterest Page got me through a chunk of my Monday. This is the shit that gives me faith in today's society, for real.

• Ben Affleck's peep from his role as Nick Dunne in Gone Girl has finally made it to us in GIF form. If that Buzzfeed article planted the seed of hope, this was the MiracleGro.

• Barbara Walters named George Clooney's wife the Most Fascinating Person of 2014. Amal Alamuddin is apparently a big wig in the legal world but who cares because, as Barbara herself said, "or maybe because it is heartening to think that no matter how long it may take, the perfect someone is out there for everyone. And that, for us, makes her the most fascinating person of 2014." Sigh.

• This blogger asked Photoshop peeps all over the place to make her "beautiful" - and apparently it's also been done before?

• Last Friday, I achieved Inbox Zero and was super pumped about it. Like, was singing "In-box heeeero" to the tune of Jukebox Hero in my head. My girlfriend Maria (you can check her out at Stieve Says) sent me this Oatmeal comic after I shared my achievement with her. 

via this article | photo credit to Scholastic | This book upset me to no end that I remember throwing it away and feeling like such a champion of the people. Eight year old advocacy/aggression is serious, you guys.

• We started with Buzzfeed, let's end with Buzzfeed. Did you grow up with The Baby-Sitter's Club? Because I sure as hell did. I'd say at least once a week, I am able to answer a question or recite some fact because of knowledge obtained from that series. Honest! It's pretty well-known that The BSC was my childhood (for real: I remember being in second grade reading them and thinking, 'ohmyGod, I can't wait to be thirteen.' And then I remember being thirteen and thinking, 'this is it: I'm now BSC age.' It was an odd mix of success and depression) and a friend shared an article entitled "21 Perfect New Year's Resolutions for Twentysomethings from 'The Baby-Sitter's Club'." GENIUS. 

Your turn: what kept your interest this week? Sharing is Caring! 

DIY Facial

Let's talk skin. 

When I was younger, I had pretty great skin - even, little to no breakouts, almost completely devoid of whiteheads and blackheads and clogged pores. Cut to now, though, and suddenly I'm facing deep, painful cystic acne and scars - as an adult.

I also have small pores, so when they do get clogged it's like they all join together to support one another. It's awful.

So I'm trying to deal with finding the proper face wash and moisturizer as well as the proper makeup, because as an added bonus I've recently developed a 2pm shine situation. It's frustrating and I've spent so much time Googling the entire shebang, trying to find treatments and pre-treatments and ways to hide the breakouts and it's just exhausting. After toothpasting and apple cider vinegaring, I've yet to find a life changing cure all, so if you have any tried and true regimens, please share. 

Anyway, one day I was completely innocently Facebooking and came across one of those listicles from Elite Daily: 11 Gross Signs You've Reached Peak Comfort.

Snipping Tool FTW.

Holiday Traditions: To Do or Not to Do?

True Confessions: I'm not really a holiday season type of girl. Don't get me wrong, Winter Candy Apple is a great scent and I love pretty lights as much as the next person, but overall it gets a meh from me. 

Maybe this will change if we have children but for now, Jon and I are on the same page: yes, we'll use it as an excuse to throw a party and sure, we'll buy gifts and exchange happily, but at the end of the day, we'd also be just fine cheersing you from afar. 

That having been said, we do still participate in a few established traditions.

Christmas Tree: Do

As you guys may know, we usually do a Christmas tree - a small one, a fake one, a white one, but it's still a tree. We improvised this year but typically this gets a Yes from us.

Christmas Cards: Do

This is a first for us! We are sending Christmas cards this year and I'm pretty excited about it. We were fortunate enough to receive so many that this year I can't imagine not. Plus, we took a really cute picture in, like, July and I've had the idea for our card since then. I took care of the ordering and addressing, Jon took care of the licking and stamping. Team effort, you guys. This one was mostly me, but he's a good sport. 

via a HILARIOUS Buzzfeed article, My Sister-in-Law's Lonely Christmas Cards

Book Review: We Were Liars

For as long as I can remember, I've been an avid reader. I embody almost every stereotype about a bookworm: begging to stay awake for "just one more chapter", laying by the window with the streetlamp to keep reading when my previous request was denied, burning through The Baby Sitter's Club books and moving on to my mom's Danielle Steel collection in elementary school, garnering the most Accelerated Reader points in middle school, being a regular at the library and having to have a dedicated library tote big enough for all of my books in high school. . .the works. One of my friends calls me Gretchen Grundler, from Recess; Jon calls me Twilight Sparkle.

image via Disney Wikia

When we moved into our new place, I had a vision for a small space near the front of our apartment and conveyed it to Jon, who agreed it was perfect - thus, my reading nook was born. 

#ApartmentLife : My Reading Nook. On the opposite wall is a bookcase (although, admittedly, I'm a Kindle girl these days).

All of this to say: I like to read.

#ApartmentLife: Happy Holidays Edition

Growing up, I used to insist that living in an apartment would be way better than living in a house. You can say that television is to blame for this, and I might even agree with you, but apartments symbolized cool to me. They were everything city, everything bright lights and busy streets, everything that my rinky dink depressed hometown was absolutely not.

Flash forward: I am a grown up (I think? I'm supposed to be anyway, right?) and I am living in an apartment and it is damn cool, so there. 

Jon's and my homestead trajectory has been pretty simple, fortunately. Our furthest move has been 3.4 miles.

image via Pittsburgh Neighborhoods Wikipedia | The gold stars are us. . .approximately. ;)

It'sa me, Stephanie!

If you didn't read that in the Mario voice, please educate yourself and try again. ;)

Maybe you're here from Weddingbee, maybe you're here because I forced you to sweetly suggested that you check out my newest blogging adventure, maybe it's neither: regardless, YAY.

I haven't actively blogged since finishing up my recaps as Mrs. Palm Tree on Weddingbee but lately I've found myself missing it. I'll have a need to share an opinion or something super clever only to realize I have no audience (except for Jon and the cats. . .all of which are debatedly willing and/or interested). 

Typical. . .

I also know that the holidays are coming and family members who still think of me as a slightly pretentious eight-year-old will ask, "are you still writing?" And, really, who am I to disappoint them?

So, here I am: a twenty-something fairly newlywed city slicker with a fierce love of books, coffee, Disney, booze, friends, brunch and television - not necessarily in that order. Hang out with me a bit, or at least do some pokin'. . .I can't promise I won't bite, but I can promise it'll be a great story.