Target: E.L.F. Appears

As I said in my nail polish post, I went to Target this weekend.  I had been cooped up in the house for so long I just needed to get out.  And what is my favorite thing to do on the weekend besides sleep?  Why, shop of course!  I figured I would go to Target and be a little more carefree than usual since I'm now full time and got a small raise, but as it turns out, my obsession with makeup opposed to shoes brought down my tab significantly.  I managed to escape those big red doors with only a small dent of $56 from my wallet and I'm planning on returning the most expensive item.  That is unheard of for Target shopping.  Everyone knows that Target is like a black hole for your hard earned dollars.  I even managed to stay semi-uninterested in the shoe section.  I browsed, but didn't see anything that I liked enough to pull off the shelf.

I spent a long time in the cosmetics section, which I normally do anyway, but this time I was really checking things out.  I don't know if all Targets are like this, but ours has a Boots cosmetics line representative who is there to help you with the Boots line of products. I believe that Botanicals and No.7 is also part of their line.  The representative was talking to another person while I was checking out CoverGirl products when I heard her say that if the lady was looking for quality inexpensive stuff that she should look at the E.L.F products.

Let me take a step back for a moment.  I have been searching for Targets in the area that sell E.L.F. for months now.  Their stuff is so inexpensive.  I'm talking $1 for a four-piece eye shadow palette inexpensive.  Until now, the only Target store that carried the line in our area was in Richmond.  There was no way I was going to Richmond to look for this makeup, so I placed a giant order off their website.  I'm expecting that to come in on Wednesday and then I will take pictures and review the products that I like.

Anyway, back to the Target story.  I was squatting down looking at CoverGirl eye shadows on the bottom shelf when I heard the representative mention E.L.F.  I literally stood up and ran around the aisle to see what she was talking about.  RAN. And there it was.  One little section on the wall where the Physician's Formula stand used to be full of E.L.F. products.  I practically swooned and then immediately texted Briana because I had told her about my giant shipment of stuff I had ordered the week before.  If only I knew that there was a new E.L.F. section at my Target I would have saved myself shipping.  That's okay, I got a really good discount online, which I will talk about when I post my loot.

So now, ladies and gentlemen, check your local Targets for E.L.F. cosmetics if you want some really pigmented and inexpensive products.


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Here are the things I picked up at the store minus the nail polish:

CoverGirl Eye Shadow: Brown Smolder
$3.14

E.L.F. Tinted Moisturizer: Nude
$3.00

Sonia Kashuk Mascara/Brow Spoolie
$1.99

Baby Wash for cleaning makeup brushes
$1.99

I will be returning this because I didn't notice that the voices were dubbed over with American actors until Nick said something.  I will be looking online for the Japanese voices like our old VHS version.
$19.99

Basic Tee: Iris
$6.00

Bouillabaisse

When we were in Monterey I had gotten the bouillabaisse (fish stew) at dinner.  I thought it was really good and wanted to try it at home. Not knowing that I was going to get sick, I did all my grocery shopping on Monday and purchased all of my seafood for the dish.  My mom and brother ended up having to make the soup together because I wasn't feeling well.  I thought that the soup turned out really well, but it would have been better if I could taste properly.  My taste buds were all out of whack from being ill.  I thought it was nice because Christopher helped my mom cook, which he rarely does.  I taught him how to filet the fish and he did it really well.  He even got excited about one that he filleted really nicely.

I thought the shrimp were cooked perfectly, but the clams could have used a little more time.  My mom followed Emeril's recipe exactly and even set a timer for how long he specified all the seafood to be in for, but I think they were a little bit under, which is why I got so sick the next day.  It's a good thing everyone else was feeling okay.

Our family still enjoys the tomato based of cioppino over the fish based bouillabaisse, but I thought it would be nice to try something new.  I also had three frozen bags of homemade fish stock to use up, so we needed to make something with it.

Essie: Mochacino

I wasn't planning on doing my nails until I was at work like usual, but it was raining yesterday and I wanted to test out one of my new colors.  When wandering Target on Saturday I saw that they started carrying Essie polishes and for $0.71 cheaper than my local CVS.  Score!  They had a lot more colors and at $7.79 a bottle, I was able to get two.  For some reason once nail polish hits $8.00 I think it's really expensive.  Anything up to that price point is fair game though.  I was only going to get Mochacino, but then saw Trophy Wife and knew I had to have it.  In the photo they have on their site it looks more like a forest green, but it is really more of a turquoise that reminds me of The Little Mermaid.  Because the weather was so gloomy, I wanted to try out Mochacino.  It started with me just wanted to test it on my pinkie nail and then I ended up painting my whole left hand.  I figured since I was half way done I would just keep going.

I swiped my picture from Once Bitten, who does a splendid job of reviewing this color.  In the pictures I took of my own nails I only used two coats, but have decided that three looks the best with Essie polish as I experienced with Sand Tropez.  Once Bitten also used three coats on her nails.

Image from Once Bitten

Flash

No Flash

Trophy Wife

Monterey

Now that I've recovered from shellfish poisoning from our Monterey trip, I will talk about the trip.  We had so much fun!  Well, I know I did anyway.  We all headed down in the Pilot even though it was supposed to be rainy.  My dad said that he didn't mind since the aquarium is mostly indoors anyway.  Our plan was to drop off my family at the aquarium and then Nick and I would take Emmy to play on the beach, have lunch, and then walk around.  Since the aquarium cafetaria is always packed and the food is expensive, we found a local Chipotle and had burritos there first with those BOGO coupons.  Nick and I were holding out for oysters, but they sure smelled good.  After my family's lunch we dropped of my family and then headed to Carmel to have our own lunch.  It was so good and I don't know which oyster was bad because they all tasted great.  I read that it's the algae that they eat that makes people sick so maybe you can't even tell if you're having a bad one or not.  Whatever the case, I enjoyed it while I was having it and would still go back to this place for their delicious cooked food.  I've sworn off oysters for now... well at least until I forget how painful shellfish poisoning is.  This could have happened to me anywhere, especially with the amount of oysters Nick and I generally consume on one oyster outing.  But I seriously just wanted my mom to take a blunt object and whack me in the head with it because I was in so much pain. Dramatic, I know, but even Emmy kept checking on me and decided to lay next to me while I was huddled on the floor in my pjs.

Once we were done with lunch, Nick and I went down to our "private" beach.  There is a scenic drive off the coast of Carmel.  A lot of people gather near the beginning of the route, but never travel down the road.  If you drive further down the coast you can see some spectacular views and some really awesome looking homes.  Our favorite is one that has a very asymmetrical shape and the roof is covered with shingles.  I call it the Snow White house.  I will have to take a picture next time.

At the end of the road there is a little state-owned section that you can park and go onto the beach.  There are even bathrooms there, but there fewer people who drive down that far to see the beach so they don't know about it.  This is where Nick and I like to come to look out.  We took Emmy for a hefty play time in the sand and the headed back to the car for a nap.  Nick had a cold so I came prepared with pillows and blankets so that we could take a nap.  We brought books to read, but I think I read about two sentences before I fell asleep.  This is what we did for a while until my parents called to be picked up.

We then went to dinner as a family a the Monterey Fish House.  Nick and I love this place.  It's a good thing I made reservations because the place was packed.  The food was so good and since we were early for our seating we were able to get out of there early and got home at a reasonable time.  It was a great day and I had a lot of fun.  I think Emmy enjoyed it too.

Fish tacos at A.W. Shucks for lunch

When we travel we like to bring Emmy's bed with us so that she can be comfortable while waiting for us in the car.  We put down the seats and attached her seatbelt to one of the locks on the back of the seat.  She was having a good time roaming around the back and then got into her bed while we were driving. 

While we were driving down the scenic route Emmy had her head all the way out the window and her fur was blowing all over the place.  She looked so happy!

I'm Alive...Literally

I've been suffering from a terrible stomach virus.  I WebMD'ed myself and I think it's shellfish poisoning.  My doctor agrees. This weekend while my family was in Monterey, Nick and I went to one of our normal haunts in Carmel and had oysters.  I must have gotten a bad one or something because by Tuesday I was not feeling well at all.  Besides a nasty head cold, Nick is fine.  I've been off work until today, but am still feeling mighty shabby.  Yesterday was the worst day of all.  On Wednesday I was feeling much better so I decided to have dinner with my family.  We had a bouillabaisse, which is basically fish soup.  My mom and brother had to prepare it since I was still feeling worn.  (I had bought all the ingredients on Monday when I was still feeling normal and we didn't want all that expensive fish to go to waste.) My mom followed the directions to a T and was even setting the timer for how long all the seafood should have been in the pot for before serving, but some of the clams didn't open up.  We didn't eat the ones that weren't open, but I think because my stomach was sensitive from the oysters I had on Sunday that I ended up paying the price the next day because once again, no one else got sick except for me.  I was vomiting and on the toilet starting at 5am and it didn't stop until 11am.  My mom wanted to take me to the ER since it wouldn't stop and the abdominal cramping was so severe, but I was able to pull through and it finally subsided after I managed to keep some Tylenol down.  The Pepto-Bismol I had taken around 5:30 came right back up.  My doctor prescribed some anti-nausea medication and I've been taking Tylenol at any signs of stomach pain.   Thank goodness he could prescribe that over the phone because I wouldn't have been able to make it to his office.  I'm still feeling tired and weak even though I got 12 hours of sleep last night, but today is the first day that I've been able to really stomach any fluids, though with each sip of water my stomach still cramps up.  I had some noodles last night, which went over well, so hopefully I'm on the road to recovery.

On the positive side, I've acquired a fair amount of pudge from all the cooking and eating out we do.  It's disappearing with a quickness now!

Lipgloss Storage

Originally I had fit all of my lipglosses into my five-drawer storage unit, but it was difficult to see everything I had because I had glosses layered on top of each other.  I went and searched Google for a good lipgloss storage solution and found this clever idea.  The girl said that she got her box at a Walmart in the fishing section.  I had no idea what kind of box this was since it didn't look like a standard tackle box and she didn't mention what it was called.  It's a good thing Rob fishes a lot because when I asked Linda what she thought it was she knew right away.  It's a bait box!  Instead of going to Walmart, I ordered this one on Amazon for $9.87.  Now that I've been using Nick's Amazon Prime I don't even have to leave my house to get the small things that I would generally get at the store and waste gas on.  No tax and free shipping!  Plus, if I did go to Walmart of Kmart to their fishing sections I know I would wander over to their makeup section too so this really does save me money.

I didn't like the dividers that the box came with because they were too tall for me to reach in and grab what I wanted easily so I cut up the cardboard box that the bait box was shipped in and made the dividers the way I wanted them.  I even cut the divider in front row to be half the size of the others so that I could put my lip balms and shorter glosses in front and still see them.  My mom suggested that I tape the tops of the dividers so that I don't give myself a paper cut.  This actually works out better because it makes it more durable.  I'm quite pleased with my handy work and now I can see all the colors I have.  There is even room for more glosses!

Boots Makeup Remover

With all this talk about makeup, I thought I should do a review on makeup remover.  For a very long time I've been using baby wipes to remove all of my makeup, but I find that it doesn't quite get everything off.  I wake up with a little ring of black under my eyes from mascara that wasn't completely removed the night before.  Though it's an inexpensive alternative to those expensive makeup remover cloths that you see in drugstores, the baby wipes don't do as good of a job as I would expect makeup wipes to do.  (I've never tried actual makeup wipes.)

I had heard about the Target brand Boots remover pads from a Youtube makeup guru and decided to check it out.  Instead of getting the little pads that the guru had purchased, I decided to get the bottle remover.  My initial reaction was generally negative.   While Boots brand did get all of my mascara off, the remover felt greasy.  Really greasy.  Even if I wipe off the excess remover from my skin with a clean cotton ball it still felt very greasy.  I tried rinsing my face with water and it felt like the greasiness spread all over the rest of my face.  I had to resort to using a face wash to get the remover off.  This was a major negative for me because I don't like to use face wash twice a day.  I use it in the morning since my face is oily from my night cream, but at night I usually just wipe my face down with a baby wipe and then rinse with water so that my skin doesn't dry out.

After the first couple of uses, I didn't want to use it anymore.  The oiliness really was a bummer and it sometimes felt like it would get into my eyes and make my vision blurred.  I always take out my contacts before I remove my makeup, whether it's with a baby wipe or a traditional remover, but when the formula would get in my eyes it was blurry like I was wearing dirty contacts.  So not only was I practically blind from not having my contacts in, but my poor vision was further blurred by the remover.  After a few minutes this would go away, but I found it disconcerting.  I figured I could return it, but since Target isn't that close to us I didn't want to drive all the way back out there.  I decided just to use it up and not to buy it again.

I have continued using this remover for about a month now and have gotten used to the greasiness.  I found that if I use it and then wipe down my face with a baby wipe, it doesn't feel greasy anymore which is great because the remover itself works really well.  I still don't like that after I rub the swab over my eyes to get all the makeup off that some will get in and make my vision blurred, but at least it doesn't sting. I had tried the CVS brand of makeup remover and cold cream and both severely stung my eyes to the point that I didn't want to even try to give them a second chance and returned both right away.  They didn't even get all of my makeup off!  So though the Boots brand does feel greasy and blurs my vision for a little while, it gets the job done will without burning my eyes.  I don't think I will buy this brand again in the near future, but will keep it in mind if I can't find another sensitive eyes makeup remover.

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength: Nude Shimmer

This is the second time I've done my nails this week.  The original light pink I put on was peeled off during a long work day.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to put on another color since I so easily demolished the other look during one phone call, but my cousin is visiting for the weekend and wanted to see how the nail stamper worked.  It's much easier to use on top of nail polish rather than a bare nail so I put on this light nude color.  It dries quickly and is easy to clean up around my cuticules.  I plan to put a little white butterfly on each ring finger.  When I wear light colors I prefer to use the white Konad polish because it's not so bold.  If I want to have bold nails then I use bright pinks and purples.  I wasn't very fond of the stars from the beginning of the week.  I thought that the nail polish looked a lot nicer with out the boldness of the black.

No Flash

Flash

Whole Roasted Chickens

One of the few times that my dad said he really liked dinner was when Nick and I made whole roasted chickens with tons of garlic butter and herbs.  I wanted to try recreate the meal with EVOO instead of butter since we probably all clogged about ten arteries during that meal.  I modified the recipe from my October 2010 post by stuffing smashed garlic, whole sage leaves, and slices of lemon under the skin.  I made one lemon chicken and one sage chicken because I don't think my dad cares for the flavor of sage much but I love it.  Ah, the power of being the cook.  You get to do what you want.  I spread salt and pepper as usual and made sure to spread EVOO all over as well.  I also drizzled the EVOO inside the cavity too.  I'm not sure if that helped keep the moisture in, but I like to think it did.  The chicken did turn out really moist because I covered it in foil and wrapped it really tightly around the edges so that heat wouldn't escape.

I couldn't remember which way to lay the chickens, so even though they look pretty, they are actually upside down.  You should put the breasts up so that they can cook, not down like I have them. 

After an hour and a half I took off the foil to let it brown.  Some of the meaty parts near the joints were a little bit under done so we had to microwave them.  I guess that's what happens when they are upside down. The breasts were nicely cooked though so I don't really know.  At least next time I will remember which way to lay my chickens. 

I couldn't stand the fact that we didn't have any green in our dinner so I pulled out some frozen green beans at the last minute to make.

After everything was said and done, this meal turned out pretty well.  I started at 4:20pm and we didn't finish and eat until 8:30pm.  I had told Linda when I started that we better not eat very late since I was starting so early.  We still ate super late.  I was less than pleased about that, but I guess two whole chickens do take a lot of time to cook.  At the end I asked my dad what he thought of the chickens.  He said, "I don't think I like the taste of sage very much.  I liked the lemon chicken if the lemon wasn't so real."  So real?!  Lemon chicken without real lemon.  Aiya.  I should just put salt and pepper on a chicken and roast it for him that way next time.   He might like it more!

Completed Scarves and then some

I wanted to put up a picture of my completed scarves.  Unfortunately, I was just about done with the post and then somehow Blogger deleted everything except the title.  I even saved a bunch of times too and it was still gone.  So this one will be less wordy.

I'm pretty pleased with how well these scarves turned out.  I think the ones that I made for myself look pretty good if you don't look at the seams, but the ones for my gal pals look even nicer.  I still had some problems with the fabric for Abby's scarf, but the hem looks worlds better than mine.

Ta Da!

I decided to take the plunge and buy more fabric to make scarves to sell on Etsy.  I don't know if I will be able to sell anything since there are so many infinity scarves on the site already, but I'm going to try.  If it doesn't work out, I got colors and patterns that I would be happy to wear myself.  This time I made sure to stay away from anything stretchy or silky.  My mom advised me not to get any silky fabrics, though they are pretty, because you can see all the holes if you mess up and have to start over.  I had to destitch one of my scarves and do it a couple of times because I wasn't getting the hem tucked in correctly.  Let me tell you, that was frustrating.  I think I have a good technique down now though so hopefully it won't be so frustrating this time around.  As long as I don't rush or get flustered my seams come out really nicely.  All of the fabrics I got were on sale for 30-40% off except for the last two so even if I don't sell a single thing on Etsy, I didn't spend that much and will have plenty of scarves for next winter.   

This fabric is actually a deep eggplant purple purple, but the flash washed it out.

I have decided since I like this fabric so much and I paid full price for it I am going to keep this for myself and make one for Briana too. 

This is just a plain gray knit.  I want to make my grandma a scarf since my mom says that she is always cold nowadays.  It is a pretty heavy material so hopefully it will keep her warm.  She was a seamstress for most of her life so I really need to work hard and get the seams straight!

Jane Cosemetics

Originally I was going to post this entry with the Palladio lip products entry, but I decided that it was just too long all together as one.  I joined another one of those free boutique sites called Hautlook.com (HL) because of a beauty blog I follow.  These types of sites bring you big-name-brand and boutique fashions at a discounted price.  I belong to three already.  The only problem with them is that they are very slow in shipping you your products.  I like to look at these sites when I'm bored because they change everyday, but tend not to buy much from them.  This time, however, I did purchase some beauty products.  It was a nice surprise when my package showed up at our doorstep so soon.  I wasn't expecting it for a while.  

Back in the day my local Longs Drugs used to sell Jane Cosmetics products.  As a teen I remember getting this brand because it was inexpensive and I thought the colors were pretty.  I still think the colors are pretty, but their prices have gone up since my teenage days.  Their prices are a dollar or two less than brands like Revlon, Covergirl and Maybelline but still pricier than Wet n' Wild and NYC. Unfortunately, Jane Cosmetics isn't readily available in stores anymore.  I looked on their site and there is one Walmart around here that sells it, but I'm not willing to go to that part of town just for some makeup.  I'd rather incur shipping charges than waste gas.  Gas prices are getting so ridiculous! 

Sheer Tinted Moisturizer in Medium Warm

Org: $9.49

HL: $4.75

Quilted Mineral Blush in Rose Silk

Org: $5.49

HL: $2.75

Blushing Cheeks in Blushing Orchid Shimmer

Org: $5.49

HL: $2.75

Oil-Free Bronzing Powder in Terracotta

Org: $6.99

HL: $5.00

I am particularly fond of this bronzer.  I have been searching for a drugstore brand bronzer that isn't packed with shimmer.  Jane's is almost completely matte.  There is a hint of shimmer in it, but it doesn't transfer onto the skin like some of the others I've tried.  The product is also very pigmented so you only need one tap of your brush to get a nice contour with.  I also enjoy the casing.  It's flat and compact, unlike those giant Physician's Formula compacts I got a while back.  This case is just about as thin as my phone.  

After factoring in shipping, which was $5.95, buying these four things from HL was worth it.  So far I really enjoy everything I've purchased.  The moisturizer does have a suntan lotion scent to it, but it makes my skin feel nice and has pretty even coverage.  It also is papa free so I won't break out in hives.  I think over the years I've outgrown my sunscreen allergy, but I always like to play it safe.  Even though I've been experimenting with powder and liquid foundations lately, I'm lazy and don't want to deal with it.  This eliminates the whole step for me since I don't need a whole lot of product on my face and it has SPF 30.  

Now my mission is to find more storage.  I've been accumulating so many products that I don't have any more space for it all!  I like to have all the cosmetics sitting out in the open so that I have easy access, but I hate clutter so this will be a challenge.  Even having my five-drawer organizer sitting in the open bothers me a bit.  It justs adds more stuff to my already tiny room.  For now the organizer will work, but if I have to add more there may be a problem.  

As if I need more makeup...

I had said before that I really enjoyed the Palladio lip stains and lip balms.  This weekend I went back to Sally's to get more before their buy two get one free sale was over. (It is over now.)  It is a good thing that these are affordable otherwise I would be broke as a joke.  For $5.79 a pop, I think these lipstains are a bargin since the Covergirl Outlast Lipstains can run between $7-$9 depending on your store.

Front to back: Orchid, Nude, and Berry

From Left: Orchid, Nude, and Berry

I have to say, the staying power of these are amazing.  I used my normal baby wipew to try to get the colors off right after I took pictures of these swatches.  The Orchid and Nude came of relatively easily, but I can still see a faint hint of the Berry from two days ago.

From top left: Berry, Rosey, and Brownie

I do enjoy these tinted lip balms quite a bit and now own six different colors.  My only complaint is that they aren't as moisturizing as chapstick, but I guess that is the nature of lip balm.  Since I'm chapstick addict, this will take some getting used to, but it's been going well for me for now.

Brow Zing in Brunette; $4.99

Recently, I have discovered the benefits of defining my brows.  I'm talking really recently, like in the last month or so recently.  I have very light and thin eyebrows which makes my face look odd if I do a darker eye makeup look.  Oh what a difference making my brows darker makes!  I have been slightly darkening my brows for years since one of my guy friends in Riverside noted that I have almost nonexistent brows.  I say "slightly" because I would us an angled brush to soften my black eyeliner and then use the residue on my eyebrows.  This did the trick for a while.  Then, just about a month ago, I upgraded to Maybelline's Define-A-Brow pencil to fill in the blank spots, but I think the medium brown color that I have might be too light to match my complexion and hair.  I picked up this Brow Zing and enjoy it so far.  It looks more natural to me than the pencil since I can control the amount of coverage I want and need with the powder.

Finger Paints in Yellow Bikini; $1.99

After trying this color on, I'm not a huge fan, but since it was only $2 in the clearance bin I went for it.  I will probably wear this during the Spring and Summer.