Birthday Day

I had a great birthday yesterday. Went to Frankenmuth with Dad, my Nan and Grandparents. We had a wonderful chicken dinner. The only thing I remember from my previous visit there was their famed buttered noodles. The buttered noodles where as good as I remembered. Then I went home to get ready for my dinner. I wet to Sushi.come it was yummy. The Full Moon for a drink. After I came home I ended up going back out with Lucas for another drink. Yummy food, relatives and friend. Oh and I also got a new phone. Finally a full keyboard.

Estee Lauder Face Care Kit

Fall and Winter are coming and that means incredibly dry skin in certain for me. Last year I got a Dior skin kit sample it was great but way too expensive. So this year I decided to try something different. I went to Estee Lauder and talked to the sales woman there and she suggested the Prevention Trial Kit. It comes with a mini Idealist Pore Minimizer Serum, Mini Advanced Night Repair eye cream, mini Perfectly Clean face wash and a full sized DayWear Plus moisturizer. There was a Night Repair serum you're supposed to use with the kit but it only comes in full sized which I couldn't afford at that time. This kit is designed for normal to combination skin. After a few uses I defiantly saw an improvement in my skins appearance. The biggest change was with the Idealist Serum. It got rid of my stubborn white heads on my forehead. They are completely gone. However don't use the serum on your chin/ mouth area because it's not supposed to go there. I learned that the hard way. It irritated my skin when I put it there. The evening out of my skin makes it possible to use less foundation. Also it helps my skin look at lot less cakey with foundation on. I've also thrown in my Olay cleanser/toner and use it at night to keep my blemishes at bay. Then I use the Estee Lauder cleaner in the morning. I also still use my Dior eye cream I have left over during the day. I think using the different products with the kit help my skin. I have the problem where if I use the same stuff over time my skin gets used to it and it doesn't work as well. So with the extra non-Estee Lauder products I'm tricking my skin. The kit is $55 with tax. Once I run out of the trial size I will be buying the full-size versions. I also plan on getting the Night Repair serum as well.

Mascara Review/ New Blow-dryer

Ok I know this is my second make-up related entry but I wanted to talk about these things anyway. I've had a hard time finding mascara that's good and not crazy expensive. I recently got my second tube of Cargo Texas Lash. Before I bought it the first time I read reviews on it. People were saying that it only works well if you have long lashes to begin with. The brush is big but the mascara still goes on without being clumpy. The mascara actually smells good. It doesn't hold a curl as well as I'd hoped. But that's what eyelash curlers are for. I've tried to other mascara's but I either didn't like them or I did like them but they were too expensive.

I also bought a new hair dryer which was long over due. It has two attachments. One is straightener so I can blow dry my hair straight and not have to use my straightener as much. The other one is a diffuser. The lady at the hair salon used it on me. I liked it. It made me be able to have my natural curly hair and it not be a big mess. I've only used the diffuser on my hair once I want to keep on using it before I do a full review on it. I'd also want to get a curling iron to use as well.

Stepping Back in Journalism Job Searches

So yesterday I decided to take a look at journalismjobs.com to see what's going on with Journalism job market. I found some internships to apply to (paid of course) and a couple jobs around the country. I decided to take a break from applying to journalism jobs for a bit to keep from getting frustrated. I'm gonna look at my cover letter and change it up at bit but keep the basic format. Make sure everything is in order and whatnot. I think I'll head off to a coffee shop today and work on that before I start applying. I want to have applied to everything in my list I made in the next two weeks especially since a two of the three internships deadlines are November 1. Plus the earlier you submit applications the better chance you have of getting in. I also need to read my articles to actually pick good ones. I have print articles in my print portfolio that I might just type up so I can send those ones in as well. I also might send my review of Jolly Pumpkin I did on here the other day.

Make-up Brushes and Foundation Review

I purchased these make-up brushes by Essence of Beauty and a M.A.C foundation a few months ago. Now that I've been using them for awhile I thought I'd review them. First off let me start with the brushes.

I had a cheap set before from Sephora that were crappy, these ones are much better. I got them at CVS they have all sorts of different make-up brushes. I got the dual brushes or something I don't remember what it was called exactly. It comes with three dual brushes a foundation/concelar brush, a blush/powder brush, and a blending/large shadow brush. I also got a separate little eye-shadow brush. The work really well especially the foundation and concelar brush. They blend the make-up without it looking caky or heavy. And they don't shed. But you need to wash these brushes because after a while they get gross and don't work well. The eye-shadow brushes I'm not so sure about I think it's because the shadows I've been using are old and not very pigmented. The blush brush is probably my least favorite because it seems that the blush gets absorbed into the brush so it doesn't go on your face as well. But over all I like these a lot.

Now next is the M.A.C foundation. I purchased the Studio Fix Fluid in NW20. It was $23 I think. Yes it's pricey but it actually matches my skin tone. I've been looking for a liquid foundation that matches my skin pretty much since I started wearing make-up. It goes on smoothly, it's light weight and blends and covers up zits and red patches extremely well. The sales person said one bottle should last a year since you don't need that much for it to cover your face. So $23 per year isn't that bad at all. So if your have an awful time trying to find a shade that truly matches your skin go to M.A.C they know what they're talking about. I will continue to go there for my foundation needs.

Mix-Up With Insurance Company

So my health insurance company accidentally withdrew my payment twice. This resulted in an overdraft from my checking account. I'm getting my money back but it's gonna take a couple weeks. Now I have to get a cash advance from my bank. Super lame. I still love you Blue Cross & Blue Shield but I want my money given back to me quickly please.

Chicago Trip

Last week I went to Chicago to see if I could transfer to an Express in Chicago. I went with my sorority sister. It took us a while to get to the store on Michigan Ave. First of all once we go to MI ave we were going the wrong way. But a nice doorman at the Hilton hotel helped us out. We had to get on a bus, but we didn't have the proper bus fare so we went to several places asking for change finally got some at Jimmy Johns. Got on the bus and we learned that the fare had gone up .25cents than the previous summer. We took to long getting off the bus and it almost started to move while we tried to get off. Finally after walking a few more blocks we made it.

I talked to a manager there and told him who I was. At first he wanted me to come back next week for a group interview but I told him I couldn't because I lived 4 hours away. So instead he told me to come back at 2 to meet with the scheduling manager. I met with her and told her how long I'd been with the company why I liked working there and why I wanted to transfer to that specific store. I was very happy to learn that I only had to go to one store and not all three. While I was waiting for the interview it was hard to me not to straighten and size stuff in the store. The other associates there probably thought I was trying to steal something because I was just walking around not trying anything on or asking for help.

So as of now I'm waiting to hear if they've contacted my manager yet. I hope I can get a start date soon. I'll have to get another part time job too. I was thinking about working at Coach. I still want to freelance for the Chicago Reader. but I'm going wait until I get to Chicago to figure that out.

Baseball Game

For mom's birthday my parents and I went to a Tigers game. Usually we go on my Dad's birthday. But we decided to change it up a bit. We got to go to the Tiger Den, Mom and I have never been but Dad had. It was buffet style. The food was good, they had sushi that night which is one of my favorite foods. We had our same seats with the guard rail. I like it because people don't get in your way. For the first time ever the Tigers won a game I went to. There were fireworks after word. They were very loud, but not as loud as the fireworks at Aunts in Chicago last July. It was great game.

Thoughts on "Post Grad" Movie

So there's this movie coming out at the end of August called "Post Grad". Basically it's about this girl who's just graduated from college in this shitty economy. And she's trying to find a job along with a zillion other post graduates and people who've been laid off. Oh and she's also living back at home with the parents. It looks cute and Alexis Bledel from Gilmore Girls is in it. But the question is: Do I really want to see a movie about my life right now? Even though it looks cute I have a feeling it will just make me (and other post graduates) depressed.

A trip to TJ Maxx and Ace Hardware

Today I went to TJ Maxx and Ace Hardware store. I went to TJ Maxx to check out what hair straighteners they have. I need a new one because the one I've had for almost three years is starting to break-down. Since I don't want to shell out a couple hundred dollars for a good one I thought I'd see what TJ Maxx. They had a few Babliss hair straighteners. I was looking for a Chi or if I was lucky a GHD. I'll keep going back to see if I can find a high end one for on the cheap.

I went to Ace Hardware to look at paint swatches because I'm re-painting my room at the parents house. I've had the same paint job in my room since the 4th grade. I think it's time for a change. Currently my room is half purple and the top half is sponged in purple, pink, teal and yellow. I wanted to paint it blue but the room next to mine is blue and so is my parents. My bedspread is purple, my carpet is a rose-maroon and my furniture is light shade of wood. So I've chosen to paint it a light yellow. I'm debating between two colors. Top One: Saffron which is a light butter color. Bottom One: Yellow Brick Road which is brighter yellow.

Gossip Girl Season 3

Whoo hoo Gossip Girl Season 3 promo's are out. I watched it on CW's website last night like five times. I know that's a lot but I love this show it's my guilty pleasure. I'm also looking forward to New York Magazine's weekly recaps of each episode. And this season I will be commenting. I won't have to read the recaps during class and risk laughing out loud during lecture. One thing though I wonder why they changed the time slot for it. It's going from 8pm to 9pm like it was when it originally started two years ago. I'm not sure if the new time slot is better or worse. Either way I can't wait for September 14th, I'll be marking it in my planner!

Taking Emma to Get a Haircut

Today I had to take my Nana's dog Emma to the groomers. Mom was worried Emma would be jumping all over me in the car, but she was fine. The dude said it would take between 3-4 hours to groom her. So I decided to look around the pet store for a bit. I looked at some hamsters running away like crazy. Then I found the cats. They had adults and kittens. Reasonably priced but I still think I'm gonna get a cat from a shelter anyway. After that I found a magazine about Toy Dogs. While reading I was being bitten my a rogue mosquito, so I left. At 3:30 they called and said she was ready. So I went to get her. While in line Emma decided to go poo in the store. I was so embarrassed. After paying Emma went bathroom again. I got her home safely to Nana's.