A Few of My Favorite Things...

I haven't really had anything lately to blog about... since life has been mostly work and then just trying to "recup" from the day itself... I haven't had much to write. I know it seems like I'm neglecting my blog... and...I probably am, but outside of work life has been uneventful... I'm still even reading the same book, for goodness sake!! (Given, it is a massive one).
So I thought I'd steal an idea from my friend Brittany... and tell you about some of my favorite things!

She explained that she got this idea from Glamour magazine, which I also enjoy reading. I enjoy the favorite things section as well, especially when it is stuff that I can obtain and actually afford! Because seriously... I can't afford the "La Mer" cream that every celebrity I've heard of raves about... I like the stuff that I can find at the mall or drug store.
I thought this would be fun because I am a serious product junkie!!



Peppermint Tea... okay, so this isn't really a "product" but right now I'm loving Peet's Purely Peppermint Tea, it just makes me feel so good & refreshed! Since I don't drink coffee, I usually have some of this in the mornings to wake me up!

Shue Uemura Eyelash Curler - My favorite eyelash curler EVER. I just received a new one this Christmas as a stocking stuffer. My mom usually gets me one every year, it's a tradition :)

St. Ives Oatmeal & Shea Butter Body Wash. I love St.Ives products because I think they give you amazing bang for your buck. I honestly prefer this body was over Bath and Body Works, The Body Shop, and Victoria's Secret. It has a great warm smell and is so hydrating!

Before I discovered Urban Decay's Eyshadow Primer Potion I was using a similar product by Clinique. After trying this just once, I instantly switched! Basically, this product goes on before eyeshadow and keeps it put all day. And I mean ALL DAY. It also prevents creasing, which I tend to get a lot if I don't use it.

Elnett Satin Touch Hairspray - Well, to be honest, I'm not crazy about hairsprays. To me, they are just like mousse, a generally necessary evil for me. I have to say though, this one (just now available in the U.S, which apparently was a big deal, I dunno...) goes on very light and still leaves hair touchable. This also has a very fine mist that goes on evenly. Plus, it's at drugstore price, how can you go wrong?

Maybelline Define-A-Lash Waterproof Mascara - I really like this mascara right now, it is great for definition and can be layered without much clumping, which is a big thing to me because I hate clumping lashes. I always use waterproof because I think it holds curl better and stays put better. Yes, it's harder to remove, but so worth it in my opinion. I also like to stock up on this mascara because Maybelline frequently does a 2 for 1 pack at stores like Walmart or Longs around here. I will usually grab quite a few at one time and be set for awhile!

Curls Rock Curl Amplifier by Tigi - I really like this product that I've been using for about five years now. It smells nice, is a cream for curls, which makes soft springy curls rather than crunchy like my detested mousse does. Which by the way, if someone knows of a good mousse (if there is such thing) will you please let me know your suggestions?
Clinique's Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion - One of my FAVORITE products ever. I have combination skin (dry in some places, tends to be oily in others), and it's hard to find a moisturizer that doesn't over-moisturize some places while not being enough in others. This lotion is absolutely perfect, and keeps my skin soft and glowy, even in winter.

Burt's Bees Honey Lip Balm - I love this product mostly for it's light flavor. Not that I eat it, but you know how you taste a little bit of a lip product as you breathe it in? This is like the comfort food of lip balms to me, if that makes any sense. I put this on every night before I go to bed.

Last but certainly not least, St. Ives Apricot Scrub - Another St. Ives product that I love! I think this can definitely compare to comparable products that I have used (like the Clinique exfoliating scrub) at a fraction of the cost. This makes my skin glowy and smooth, and gets all the dry winter skin (where I live isn't very cold, but it is quite dry), sloughed off. I use this every other day.

I hope you enjoyed some of my favorite things! I would love to see some of yours!

And by the way, I finally wrapped up the massive Wally Lamb book, and will be writing up the review soon!

-K

San Francisco- Again!

Hello!

So finally I have something to post about! Geez, this past week was just a bunch of nothingness. Well, to be honest, not nothingness, but just not anything that I want to blog about... craziness at work basically. I make it a point to try and keep this blog on the "light" side, and like to blog about uplifting things... after all, the title is Sunny Side Up. So if I say I don't have anything going on, it may just be that it's not something I want to blog about... for an example though I care about both very much, you will probably never find me blogging about things such as politics and never about work!

Anyways... we decided to get out of town this weekend and were determined to just DO something! One of my best friends, Ariadna (who is also a new blogger), had the weekend off as well, which is a rare occurrence for her (she usually has weekends during the week). She offered to drive, and we just went to SF for the day to just... hang out!

We have had unseasonably warm weather this past week and a half, and this weekend it was in the seventies, even in the city, which is generally quite cooler.

We spent most of the day in China-Town, which is one of my favorite places to go in San Francisco. I love looking at all the random things, as well as picking up goodies & eating different things. Things are generally very cheap in China Town and Kaileigh loves cheap!
After spending quite awhile in China Town & having dinner there, we walked back down to the pier to just spend a little time down by the water & see what was going on down there. We didn't really enjoy the time there that much, it's a very touristy area that is most busy during the day, so there really wasn't much to see by the time we walked down there. Surprisingly, even most of the cafes were closed.

After a long walk along the pier, we decided to go into the Rainforest Cafe. I had walked by the Cafe many times before, but never ventured in. I am SO glad that we did. It was such a lovely end to the day. Being there just felt very nostalgic... Ariadna felt the same way about it, it is very reminiscent of Disneyland to us, which we both love.

Ariadna and I both had a "Rainbow Colada" which was very yummy, and of course Russ just stuck to beer. LOL.

If you have a Rainforest Cafe near you, I would definitely recommend stopping in. I know it looks like it's aimed towards kids, but we all had such a fun time there. It was nice and warm inside and a bit balmy, it was like another little world! Such a surprising little escape!

And finally, here are our awesome glasses frames that we found on the trek back to the car. LOL

I really had a fun time, it was nice to go to the city and just do nothing but what we felt like that very minute. The city really isn't far away from us, but we generally only go if we have set plans, like our Alcatraz trip & trip to the museum with family.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend too!!

-K

Check In...

Just wanted to say I haven't forgotten or neglected my blog... there's just a whole lot of nothing going on right now!

I will write soon :)

-K

Sunny Sundays...and Saturdays!

I hope all my fellow Californians enjoyed the AMAZING weather we had this weekend! It was about 63 degrees and VERY sunny today! Actually it was just as beautiful yesterday!

We didn't do much really this weekend, but I did go see Bride Wars on Saturday night... it was good for what it was... it was cute. It had it's moments I guess you could say, nothing of substance though. Which really, was what I was in the mood for, just something mindless....

After the bad reviews, I didn't really want to see it, but my friend really wanted to, so we ended up going. I always enjoy Anne Hathaway anyways...
We also went to the doggy park both days. It's something I really enjoy doing, and the weather was so nice it would have been a shame not to get out and do some stuff!

So yeah! Not really much to say, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend... back to the daily grind tomorrow... ugh, how I despise Sunday nights!

OH! And I love PostSecret.com, and just thought this one was cute...I might share some of my favorites from time to time. If you've never checked post secret, its a site where you can anonymously send in your "secrets" and select secrets will be posted every Sunday. Some are funny, some are sad, some are gross, and some are inspiring. I think it's very fascinating and also have some of their coffee table books of secrets that they have published! I think my good friend Brittany told me about this site a few years ago!

-K

Book Review: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

This book review is actually on a book that I read a few months ago. I am currently reading The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb. Let me just say, it’s pretty massive, and my book club meeting is coming up fast. It’s around 800 pages, and is by no means a “light” read (regarding subject matter). Light reads of that length, I can tear through, but this one so far has some pretty serious subject matter. For example… if it were a book about a certain dashing, handsome, and literally glittering vampire (cough, Twilight series) then 800 pages really wouldn’t be that much of a biggie.

Anyyyways…

This review is on The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Amazon.com Review

Like the one-time bestseller Jonathan Livingston Seagull, The Alchemist presents a simple fable, based on simple truths and places it in a highly unique situation. And though we may sniff a bestselling formula, it is certainly not a new one: even the ancient tribal storytellers knew that this is the most successful method of entertaining an audience while slipping in a lesson or two. Brazilian storyteller Paulo Coelho introduces Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who one night dreams of a distant treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. And so he's off: leaving Spain to literally follow his dream.

Along the way he meets many spiritual messengers, who come in unassuming forms such as a camel driver and a well-read Englishman. In one of the Englishman's books, Santiago first learns about the alchemists--men who believed that if a metal were heated for many years, it would free itself of all its individual properties, and what was left would be the "Soul of the World." Of course he does eventually meet an alchemist, and the ensuing student-teacher relationship clarifies much of the boy's misguided agenda, while also emboldening him to stay true to his dreams.

"My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy confides to the alchemist one night as they look up at a moonless night. "Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself," the alchemist replies. "And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity."

My review:
Let me just say, this was such a wonderful book. In one word, I would describe it as inspiring. This was another one that my book club read, and that I had nominated for us to read. I believe that all of us enjoyed this short and simple read.

What drew me to this book was the title, to begin with. As defined above, alchemy is obviously a fictional (or is it?) talent, of turning base metal into gold. I have also heard of an alchemist described as someone taking something plain or ordinary, and turning it into something beautiful and extraordinary. I can see both definitions in this book.

A particular part of this fable really struck home with me. In part of his journey, Santiago ends up in a crystal merchants store, helping him sell crystal. Without giving away too much, I will say that the crystal merchant has big dreams of travelling somewhere, and has dreamt of going to this special place his entire life. After what I believe is a year of extreme growth in sales due to Santiago’s natural abilities to improve the business, the crystal merchant had a good deal of money saved up and business was still improving. Santiago mentioned that he now had enough money to go where he has always wanted to go, but the crystal merchant declined. His explanation was this: he had dreamt of this place and imagined such wonderful things about it for so long, that he was afraid that once he got there, it could never compare to what he imagined in his dreams. So he preferred to keep it just a dream.

Right after I read that, I set the book down, and realized that the crystal merchant’s dream was the same as my dream of writing. For so long I’ve wanted to write and publish something, and have been told by friends and family that I should, because they loved everything else I had written. Well, maybe I’m scared to write something because I’m scared that it will never live up to my (and other’s especially) expectations.

But to read the story in that context… I just thought the crystal merchant was being ridiculous. So really, maybe I am too.

Well, to be honest, this is a book that is hard to write a summary of, but I will say that I highly enjoyed it and found many parts of it to be quite inspiring and other parts romantic as well. I really liked the love story in this book, and what girl doesn’t like a good love story?
So if you are looking for a short and great read, I would highly recommend The Alchemist, and I know many, many others would too!

If you read it, as always, let me know what you think!

-K

Quick Question...

Does anyone know how to remove the little "reactions" bubbles by the comments on here? I have looked and looked but for the life of me cannot remember where that was to change them or take them off...
Thank you!!
-K

Affairs of the hair...

What to do?


It's time for me to get my hair done again, and I was thinking about going back to my "natural" color...which is a golden blonde with a hint of red... but I have gotten quite a few compliments on how I have my hair right now...

So here is the closest I have to a picture of me with my hair that color (me on the left, age 17) ... it is still a little too blonde in this picture (I had kept getting highlights until it was blonder), and of course its much too crunchy-looking, but it gives you a general idea. My natural color has just a hint more red in it, especially in the sun.

So what do you think... just update what I have now (mucho more $$) :( or go back to natural and not worry about it for a bit until I have more grey coming in?

Russ likes my hair as is now, so sadly, that's usually my deciding factor, though he only has this picture to go by to see my natural, which isn't quite accurate. So please, tell me what you think!

-K

Happy 2009!

Just wanted to do a short blog to say Happy New Year!! Hope everyone had a wonderful night! Ours was low key, we went to The Cheesecake Factory and then came home, watched the ball drop, and had a champagne toast. We fell asleep shortly thereafter.

There's just something about trying to stay awake that just exhausts me more than normal! We're usually night owls, but we were so tired yesterday!

It is crazy how fast this last year went by... I remember when I was little, a month felt like an eternity... and my parents used to say, just wait until you're older, time will go by faster. I guess they were right! Well, I also thought that we'd have flying cars Jetson-style by now. LOL

I have high hopes for 2009, and am VERY excited about some new changes that will be taking place in our country VERY SOON!!

Happy 2009 everyone!