As much as I love makeup, I really hate spending a ton of time on my own. Allergies keep me constantly rubbing my eyes and smearing my mascara. So, 90% of the time my makeup stays very natural.
So, I today I come bringing you a tutorial on how I do my "every day eyes"!
My skin is having a bit of a meltdown, so I convinced my cousin to model for me.
Step One: Apply a light, neutral shadow all over lids. I used "Virgin", but any light shade with a bit of shimmer will do!
Step Two: Using a fluffy dome brush, blend a medium brown shade into crease. I used "Buck".
Step Three: Blend a dark brown into your "outer V". I also brought this shade down onto her lower lash line as well. Remember: Blending is your friend with this look! You don't want to look done up, you just want to enhance what you already have! I used "Darkhorse".
Step Four: To finish off this look, apply a tiny bit of eyeliner to the lash line and use a coat of mascara... as you can tell here, my eyeliner pen was drying out. Oops!
Now you're done! Just pair these eyes with a bit of pink blush on the apples of your cheeks and some sheer pink gloss and you're good to go!
But wait! Let's say the look is a bit too "naked" for ya.
Optional Step: Use a bright colored eye pencil on lower lash line! This will really make your eyes "pop".
I hope everyone had a good day! Mine could have been better. Murnau started passing blood through certain areas on Saturday night and I have been a wreck worrying about him. Today we finally got him in at the vet and they informed me that he has a 103 degree fever, a UTI, and a respiratory infection. They kept him overnight... I am not going to be able to sleep!
Time to go watch tv and worry myself sick over my fur baby.
One of our first pictures together. We had only been together a few months!
In Florida summer before last. We were so burnt.
At the ren fest last May!
A month or two ago in the truck... he was singing. As always.
Two years ago today I was sitting in my room when Zach called me. We talked for thirty minutes or so and then got off the phone. A few minutes later I get a text from him saying, "will you please be my girlfriend?"
I may have danced a little. Don't judge me.
Rewind a month before... no, wait... rewind a few years before. If I am going to tell you our story I might as well include the awkward bits. I am 15. I go into Walmart and see this gorgeous guy working in electronics. From then on I sneak around the electronics section and more or less stalk this poor dude. I remember even joking to my mom calling him "my future husband." That is horrible to admit. I sound like the biggest weirdo ever, but I was a kid with a crush. I mean, I couldn't talk to him. He was, like, a college guy! (An art college guy, to be exact.)
Fast forward to my senior year. My older brother gets a roommate and tells me about him. His name is Zach. He wants me to meet him, but I never do because I had some rough situations going on in my life at the time. It does not stop me from trying to get under my brother's skin by telling him I was going to date his roommate.
Fast forward again! I have just started college. I am newly single and very anti-male at this point. I am lying on my friend's bed when she takes it upon herself to add several guys she deems attractive onto my facebook to get me to stop being so negative. I am like, whatever, go ahead... fully intending to delete them all later. A few seconds later a message pops up. She excitedly informs me that she has added "this hot guy that used to work at Walmart" and he is messaging me. Of course I immediately remember my creeper days and am relieved that I wasn't the only weirdo. After that, we start IMing back and forth. I find him absolutely charming... he is hilarious and intelligent. A little while later I look at his page and notice my brother is a mutual friend. I put two and two together and realized that "the hot walmart guy" was also my brother's old roommate.
A few nights later I am at work and I get a call from my brother informing me that he is taking me to the movies and that he is bringing some friends. When he showed up at my house with Zach I nearly puked I was so nervous. We ended up having a blast that night... other than me getting extremely embarrassed when Zach smoothly tried to sit with me end my brother made him move down the row even though there were TWO empty seats on either side of me.
From that night on we started IMing every night... pretty soon that turned into texting. Next thing I know I am meeting him to go antique shopping (what an exciting first date!). After our little date we took a walk to a nearby park and ended up cuddling under this big tree and talking under the stars. Our romantic evening was only slightly dampened when he hit a possum on the way back to his place and I may have cried a little...
A month later we were an "official" couple and I have never been happier. I am so thankful to have him in my life... he is my best friend!
Welp, sorry for the long post... but I have a lot of love for this guy! Hope your weekend was marvelous! xoxoxo
Today we welcomed a new baby into our family. Aubrey Ann was born this morning and from what I can tell looks just like my cousin Jamie. I am so excited to have a new baby cousin to squee over and cuddle. I am still a bit cruddy, so I haven't gotten to go see her yet... I am dying from excitement! She will not be the youngest for long, though. My brother (who is holding the little bundle of cuteness in the above picture) and his wife are expecting a little one. I can only hope the baby is half as weird as Derrick and I were as kids. I think we turned out pretty awesome.
This is a picture of most of the ladies (and Jamie) at the baby shower a few weeks ago. In the back are me, my cousin Jamie, and my cousin Melissa. In the front are my aunt Reneee, my cousin Anna, my Mammie, my cousin-in-law Courtney, my cousin Molly, and my lovely mama. I can't believe she is here.
Also, Monday is mine and Zach's anniversary. I think I am going to do a super mushy post about how we met. I am currently waiting for him to get back from his dad's, so we can head to a campground to hang out with my parents and enjoy our weekend. See you Monday!
PS- Actual blog schedule next week... what?... is this real life?
I am slowly but surely recovering! I know, I know... stop posting about how sick I am, but I have been a hermit due to all this crud and there is not much else to report on... not that I wasn't a hermit anyways...
In other news, I LOVE FALL. I have said that already, I know. I can't help it. I feel like this time of year is when I look my best. Summers in Tennessee are too humid and sticky for much more than shorts and a tank top. My hair and skin tend to be better behaved this time of year as well. I have been really considering doing some weekly outfit posts and I wanted some inspiration, so I headed over to polyvore and found a ton of really cute ideas!
Welp, it was strep throat. Apparently it was bad enough to for the doctor to go, "EWWW!" I am still not better. Strep throat has cleared up, but it has been replaced with a sinus infection. I missed school all last week and I don't think I have worn anything but sweatpants in a few days. Luckily, my sweet sweet boyfriend came down Friday night and by 10:30 he was out in the rain at Walgreens getting me Vick's nose spray and Nyquil.
Our weekend was spent mainly on the couch. We attempted to go to the movies last night, but decided against it because Zach believed my coughing would get us thrown out of the movie... didn't I just say how sweet he was? I take it back. We ended up going out to eat and to Hastings and by the time we got home I was knocked out in ten minutes.
How sick are you of hearing me complain about being sick? Too bad! Mwahahaha.
In other news, Tennessee is beautiful this time of year. The leaves are finally changing and I am so very excited about it. I can't wait to get all this junk cleared up so that Zach and I can go for walks and enjoy this weather. Another thing I love to do is to drive during this time of year. I love cracking my window and taking some back country roads. One thing that is a must for these autumn drives is good music, so I have composed a playlist.
1. Iron and Wine "Naked As We Came"
I love Iron and Wine... every time I listen to Mr. Beam I think of Zach. When we first started dating he introduced me to them and gave me two CDs to listen to... I wore those things out. This song was not on them, but later on it became one of my favorite songs.
2. Elton John "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"
Another favorite thanks to the mister. I love Elton John. I love this song. I love this album. On a somewhat unrelated note, I had no idea he wore a hair piece until recently. I always thought he had great hair for his age... Oops!
3. Regina Spektor "Raindrops"
I have been listening to Regina Spektor since I was probably 14. She is beautiful and so very talented!
4. Bon Iver "Skinny Love"
I looooooove this song. There was a time when I listened to it every morning on my way to work at the old folk's home. I love pretty much all Bon Iver songs, though! Definitely my type of music.
5. Sucre "When We Were Young"
I am a HUGE Eisley fan, so when I found out one of the sisters (the band is composed of siblings and a cousin, I believe) was branching out with another band I was really excited. This is the first song I heard and I probably listened to it five times that day. Such a great song!
6. Ryan Adams "Oh My Sweet Carolina"
Suuuuuch a pretty song on such a wonderful album. I love Ryan Adams. He reminds me of my older brother for some strange reason.
7. Eisley "The Valley"
The band I mentioned before! This is a talented family. I love the video for this song, too!
8. Bright Eyes "Coat Check Dream Song"
Though I am more of a fan of his older stuff, the Cassadaga album was great and this song was one of my favorites.
9. Angus and Julia Stone "Big Jet Plane"
I loooooove this song. Such a dreamy melody. I love Julia Stone's unique voice (though she can be a bit Lisa Simpson-y sometimes. Hahaha.)
10. The White Stripes "Hotel Yorba"
I am still not over them not being a band anymore! Gah! I love their music, and I love this song especially. I hope they reunite someday! P.S.- Are they brother and sister or what? I have been wondering that for years.
I am still sick... I think at this point it is probably strep throat. I am dragging myself to the doctor tomorrow. I am hoping and praying that Zach does not get sick... although, if he does it is probably karma. The last time I heard "I think I have a fever... rub my head?" I ended up with a stomach virus that knocked me on my ass for two days. Pretty sure when Zach tried to come to my rescue at 3 a.m. with ginger tea I knew we were meant to be together.
So, yes, my throat is on fire. I haven't even touched my makeup in days (I actually brushed my hair today, though!). By last night I was wanting something warm and comforting. I decided to whip up a favorite of mine....
Chicken and wild rice soup with bacon! This stuff makes me hungry just thinking about it. Now, a few things you need to know about cooking in the South...
We do not cook so that our meals look pretty. Have you ever seen egg gravy? It looks like something your cat threw up, but it is delicious.
We enjoy our sodium.
We enjoy butter.
We do not measure anything.
To back up my first point there, I am going to go ahead and say I am not a food photographer. I tried standing on a kitchen chair and getting an "artsy" view of my bowl... it just wasn't happening. I don't have any fancy bowls to present my food in that compliment the colors in my culinary creations. I can just say this... This soup is darn good. So, I am going to try to break this down into a recipe. I got the original recipe a long, long time ago on Pinterest... but I have changed it to suit me.
Ingredients: 3 cans of chicken broth 2 cups water 1 cup uncooked wild rice (I was sick and forgot to measure/care how much rice I put in and put in an entire small bag of it.It was still great, but much too thick as you can see in the picture.) 1/2 cup chopped green onions 1/2 small can of mushrooms, drained (clearly fresh would work too...) 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 2 cups half and half 1/2 cup butter 2 cups shredded or cubed cooked chicken 9 or so slices of cooked bacon, crumbled
In a large saucepan combine rice, water, and chicken broth. Add your onions and mushrooms to the mixtures. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and keep covered for 30 or so minutes, or until rice is tender. It will absorb a lot of the water and broth, but some will be left over. Do not drain. Begin to preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with tin foil and carefully place bacon onto the foil. Put in oven while still cold. Bake for 20 or so minutes, or until the outsides turn a crispy gold color. Baked bacon looks almost the same as fried bacon, so you'll know when it is done. You can also fry it if you desire. While bacon is in the oven melt butter in a medium saucepan. Stir in flour and then slowly add half and half. Cook until slightly thickened, stirring constantly. Add this mixture to the rice along with bacon and chicken. Add salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning as desired. Heat on low for 15 to 20 minutes. If soup seems to thick add water until you get the desired consistency.
This soup is one of those "day two" soups... meaning it tastes better the next day. That is just my opinion, anyways. I serve this soup with toasted french bread.
