Category Archives: You oughta know

Birchbox

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As far as the blogging world goes, I’m a little late to this party. But I just signed up and received my first Birchbox, and I was not disappointed!

If you haven’t heard of Birchbox, let me enlighten you. Basically, you pay $10 a month to receive a cute little box filled with samples of high-end beauty products. You can cancel anytime, but why would you? Don’t you like giving yourself presents? On a monthly basis? I know I do. A lot.

My first box included several packets of Befine night cream and moisturizer, Color Club nail polish, Viva La Juicy perfume, June Jacobs Perfect Pumpkin Enzyme Polish and Show Stoppers Designer Fashion Tape.

So far, I’ve only tried the June Jacobs pumpkin polish. You know how much I love pumpkin. It made me want to eat my face. Also, now my skin is super soft. Win.

Grahamwich

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In the contest for Cutest Little Sandwich Shop in Chicago (which exists only in my head as far as I know), my vote goes to Grahamwich.

I mean, the people who work there wear newsboy caps. Some even have suspenders. If they were to, say, break into a rendition of Seize the Day, I would fill that tip jar with enough cash to pay for their artsy grad school tuitions. No joke.

Plus, their grilled cheese is made with cheese curds, and you know it rocks.

Go there. You may run into me. I’ll be the sleepy-looking girl who may or may not have stayed up past her bedtime to watch Peeta on Leno last night.

Versatile blogger shout-outs

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A couple days ago, lyndawithaycrawford was kind enough to name me in this post as one of the “versatile bloggers” she enjoys following.

It’s a major award! Thanks Lynda! :)

I’m not exactly clear on the rules of this thing, but basically, if you get nominated by someone you’re supposed to also name some blogs that you enjoy following.

Now I follow a lot of blogs, including the ones pretty much everyone else follows. (Cupcakes and Cashmere? Cup of Jo, anyone? Love them.) But I think here I am going to highlight the ones that maybe a lot of you don’t know about. I’m spreading your blog-reading horizons. And you’re welcome.

So here they are, in no particular order…

1. afternoons & coffeespoons: Gorgeous photos and poignant thoughts from an NYC girl who really knows how to appreciate life.

2. Another blog from Danielle: Social media pro and all-around fun girl Danielle shares her adventures in STL, daily outfits and random thoughts to make you smile.

3. iHateGreenBeans: Seriously fantastic recaps of The Bachelor and Bachelorette. This blog is pretty much the only reason why I’m still watching (and loving) those shows.

4. A day in the thoughts of LHM: My fabulous former co-worker Lauren posts about her life as a newlywed in the Lou (aka, St. Louis).

5. One Fine Day: Ashley lives in Hawaii, has an amazing Kate Spade/J.Crew-inspired wardrobe, impeccable taste and a super bubbly personality. Yeah, I want to be her too.

6. Peppermint Bliss: Bailey used to live in an amazing house in Chicago. Then she and her husband had a baby and moved to another amazing house in Texas. Plus, she’s an amazing interior designer. The key word here is “amazing.”

7. Running from the Law: Awesome photos on this blog. Plus, Sara is funny, intelligent, thoughtful, and sincere – pretty much the kind of girl we all want as our best friend.

Do yourself a favor and add these ladies to your Google Reader. Go on…

Fun with white balance

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If you read my blog with any frequency, you know that I’m a pro at taking really crappy photos with my Android phone. I do have a nice digital camera, but it’s too bulky to lug around with me all the time. Sorry ’bout it!

Last week, I read this post with information from Justine on how to take good photos. And I think it might help drastically reduce the degree of crappiness when it comes to photos on this blog!

One thing that really seems to make a big difference is adjusting the white balance and not using flash unless absolutely necessary. I experimented with it a little this weekend, as you can see below. But please keep the phrase “work in progress” in mind… hopefully my photos will only get better from here!

Spring is here!

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Happy first day of spring!! Winter is finally over!!

I mean, MY GOD. With the plethora of sunny days, miniscule amount of snow and consistently way above average temperatures we’ve had, it’s been rough, friends.

For one thing, drug stores have a pretty limited amount of sunscreen for sale in February. And the bird-chirping and flower-blooming is getting way out of hand. Is anyone else worried that we might be trapped in a Disney movie??

And here’s the worst part about this winter: the 80-degree days cruelly forced my sickly porcelain-hued legs to make an appearance in public – THE WORLD WAS NOT READY FOR THAT.

So good riddance, winter! And welcome spring, where this warm weather is a bit more seasonally appropriate. Sheesh.

P.S. I hope you can detect the sarcasm here – because I’m laying it on pretty thick. :)

Trader Joe’s pumpkin butter

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May I introduce you to my new favorite breakfast: Trader Joe’s pumpkin butter on toast! (Toast not pictured.)

As of two weeks ago, I had never even heard of pumpkin butter. But as soon as my eyes locked on this jar as it beckoned to me from the shelf at Trader Joe’s, I knew I must have it. My lust for pumpkin was once again too powerful to overcome. And thank God because this stuff is delicious! I’m pretty sure I can no longer eat breakfast live without it.

P.S. This post is in no way sponsored by Trader Joe’s. I’m not that big of a deal… yet.

Date a girl who reads

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Read this.

It’s lovely, and when I first read it, I imagined myself to be that girl.

But then I realized that I’m not that emotional, well-read or romantic. And I like to spend money on clothes.

Eh, I’ll just consider myself more well-rounded than this “girl who reads.”

(Link posted by my friend Sarah (probably a true “girl who reads!”) on Facebook.)

Two more things

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I didn’t get a chance to post yesterday, so today you get three fantastic posts because I pretty much always have something to say.

Right now I have two things, actually:

1. For those of you who love eye candy and a good online magazine, the December issue of Matchbook is out! Thanks to Ashley for introducing me to its sheer fabulousness.

2. Subway’s 6-inch veggie, meatball and cold cut combo subs are only $2 for all of December! This is great news for those of us who get the veggie sub for lunch at least twice a week and happen to be on a budget this month.

Smiley faces all around!

Announcement

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Guys, I have to tell you something.

For the past couple months, I have regularly been taking prenatal vitamins. And you know what that means…

(source)

I NOW HAVE FULLER, MORE MANAGEABLE HAIR!!

Seriously. That’s why I’m taking them. For my hair. And that’s the only reason.

I was reading Mindy Kaling’s blog a couple months ago, and she does a series of posts called “Things I Bought That I Love.” One of the things she bought and loved was Trader Joe’s Prenatal Multivitamins.

Mindy plays the hilariously shallow Kelly Kapoor on The Office, and her blog is quite informative and entertaining. Apparently Mindy’s hair stylist bought these vitamins for her, and they actually succeeded in making her hair more awesome. I decided to try them, and I’m pretty sure they work! I’m not ruling out the power of suggestion, but I think my hair has had a bit more life to it lately, so I’m going with it!

I just felt the need to share because if you have stringy, flat, fine hair (you know, like I used to), you must take these prenatal vitamins. (Also, I didn’t want visitors to see them on my kitchen counter and jump to any conclusions.)

And if you like to laugh and be informed of useful, fun products, I highly recommend Mindy’s blog.

Who knows, I might just start my own series of posts called Things Mindy Kaling Bought That She Loves That I Bought That I Love. (TMKBTSLTIBTIL for short.)