My house looks like the scene of a collision between a LEGO truck, a dinosaur themed party supply warehouse, and a JoAnn Fabric. LEGO bricks and crafting supplies and dinosaur-themed things are strewn through pretty much every room. And our beloved housecleaner comes TOMORROW, along with the long-awaited plumber, so I need to de-toy-ify the floors at the very least. I am DREADING the act of finding a home for all these new things. WHERE will it all go? I’m sure it will lead to one of those things where you open the craft cupboard to put in new supplies and you decide the only way the new things will fit is if you reorganize the whole cupboard and I am not up for that.
Instead, I think I shall type up a blog post.
New Nail Polish: I have been admiring some of Essie’s summer nail colors, but I have two problems with Essie nail polish. First, it is expensive. Second, it takes too long to dry and I am impatient, which means that any time I DO spend the $9 it costs to acquire an Essie nail varnish, I end up wasting a bunch of it because I smear my nails every time. Every. Time. I’m really a Sally Hansen Insta-Dri nail polish kind of girl, you know? Despite the absolute ridiculousness of spelling “dry” with an I, the Insta-Dri line has a wide variety of colors, dries in seconds, and costs under $5 per bottle. Done and done. But when I saw that Essie now has a quick-dry line of polish, I was very intrigued. The name of said polish – Essie Expressie – made me heave a deep, exasperated sigh, but what can we expect from those poor beleaguered nail polish marketing folk who have to continually pump out name after name for slightly different shades of pink? (In the Time Zone? Mall Crawler? Mic Drop-It-Low? How are these names? At least Get a Mauve On has an indication of the actual color.) This is all to say that I was intrigued enough to shell out $8.99 for a bottle of Crave the Chaos and I am very pleased indeed. The exact right shade of pink and it went on smoothly and with nary a smudge. Now all I need is a nail polish that sticks only to fingernail and repels instantly off skin.
It is very hard to capture the polish bottle AND the polish on my nails in a single photograph so you get two.
Mask-Friendly Mascara: While I don’t really wear makeup, I do have one true love and that is mascara. I almost ALWAYS wear mascara, because my eyelashes are pale and stubby and I feel like I look very odd when I go au naturel. The problem, though, is that mask wearing, especially mask wearing plus heat and humidity, make my mascara melt down my eyelashes and onto my cheeks. (And I am still wearing a mask indoors, in public, so this is a Real Issue.) I recall with horror one incident this past winter where I wore mascara skiing, and when I removed my goggles – but not my mask – to greet some friends I hadn’t seen in many months, I registered the Disturbed Looks on their faces but brushed them off. Only once I’d ambled into the restroom, much later that day, did I discover the Severe Raccoon Eye Situation I’d been sporting. Ever since that day, I have been doing something I SWORE I would never do: I wear waterproof mascara. If you know of a good waterproof mascara, please let me know because I do NOT. And every waterproof mascara I have ever tried is IMPOSSIBLE to remove. I have to practically rip each individual eyelash out of my lids to get that infernal substance off me. But I have found a solution! I got a sample size tube of Chanel mascara when I bought someone fancy face cream from Nordstrom, and it came with a sample size tube of Chanel La Base mascara base. (A rather redundant name, but at least it isn’t “Taxi Hopping” or “Lose the Snooze” or “All Things Ooo” which a real, live person or persons came up with and slapped on the side of a nail polish bottle.) So what I have been doing is applying the base – which is white – and then putting the waterproof mascara on top of it. Voila! The waterproof mascara stays put, but comes off much more easily with the base than without. I am assuming you can use any base-coat mascara, to avoid paying THIRTY-TWO AMERICAN DOLLARS for the Chanel.
Good Clean Dino Fun: My mother-in-law brought Carla this soap-making kit, and, best of all, the soaps are shaped like dinosaurs. They did the project together and made little soaps for the favor bags we handed out at Carla’s dinosaur themed party. It was an excellent craft, very easy to clean up, and made very satisfying little soaps. If you have a child in your life who like both dinosaurs and crafting, this should be on your radar.
Dinosaurs and LEGO Unite: While on the subject of the dino-loving child, she received this 3-in-1 dinosaur LEGO set from a friend. I think it will be PERFECT for when we visit my parents later this summer, because it’s small and yet you can make three separate creatures out of the LEGO bricks included. In fact, I have had this in my Amazon cart, waiting until we got a little closer to our trip to order it. (I find it’s nice to have a couple little surprises on hand, to help with the stress and potential boredom of traveling.)
Maxi Skirt: I have continued my search for a maxi skirt I like. And I think I found it in this Tie-Dye Striped Midi Skirt from Loft. The fabric is lightweight but sturdier than jersey, so it floats over my lumpy hips rather than rippling magnifyingly along every bump and bulge. I am pleased that it is also white and blue, which means I can wear it for the Fourth of July.
More Jean Shorts?!?!?!: Also from Loft, I am really enjoying these Fresh Cut High Waist Boyfriend Shorts. They fit my criteria: high rise, roomy leg openings, not too short, and free shipping.
I find the name perplexing – fresh cut? like flowers? or a bundle of garden-grown herbs? And I really doubt anyone’s boyfriend would wear these, ever – but they are comfy and long enough that I can roll up the hems if I want to. Somehow I have transformed, in a single year, from a person who owned zero pairs of jean shorts to a person who now owns SIX PAIRS. (The shorts I ordered most recently have a button fly, which I dislike… but they are also very cute so I may keep them. And I also got a pair of these striped denim shorts from Loft that I am pretty sure I will keep as well.) Now that I have these bad boys and two more Madewell tanks, I am thinking my summer uniform is now complete.
Fun Raisins: Well, this is a post of eating my words, I think. I never thought I would be a shorts-sporter, or a waterproof-mascara wearer, or a person who buys $9 nail polish, but I NEVER EVER thought I would be someone who eats raisins for non-life-and-death reasons. And yet here we are. My sister-in-law had a box of strawberry flavored raisins with her when she came to visit, and I tried some to be polite, and they were SUPER YUMMY. They tasted more like slightly-sour candy than a raisin, which, I cannot stress enough, was always right up there with eating someone’s surgically-removed mole in terms of appetizing. But I liked them so much I bought a box MYSELF, and a box of watermelon flavored raisins to have as a cupcake backup at Carla’s birthday party. They are very tasty and I highly recommend them. Even if you are a raisin hater. NEVER SAY NEVER.
images from target.com 
What are you loving lately?
I LOVE those raisins! I bought them thinking, “Oh, healthier (ha) than the fruit snacks my TEENAGERS still love…” and then the kids didn’t like them. But I do! They’re fruit snacks for grown-ups! In my house anyway.
And thanks for the Essie Expressie (you’re right, sigh) tip! Will have to look for that. I’m still trying to support my cousin who sells Color Street nails.
I have fallen in love with these shorts from Eddie Bauer: https://www.eddiebauer.com/p/23107055/linen-shorts-for-women/?sp=1&color=Dusted%20Indigo Linen/cotton blend! Pockets! Elastic waistband! I am just bummed because I guessed wrong on sizing and only one of the 4 pairs I ordered fit and do I want to pay $10 for shipping a second pair as they are not available in store?
Ooooh those are great!!! I think they are worth the cost of shipping
How was the birthday party?! A roaring success, I’m sure.
I love Sally Hansen’s Insta-Dri and will mainly use it on my toes. However, I would get irritated with how quickly it seemed to chip on my nails. Eventually, I discovered Sally Hansen’s “gel-like” (cannot remember the name of the product for the life of me.) product. I like that the coats dry fairly quickly and, particularly if it is a lighter shade, it doesn’t chip as quickly. I can’t remember the price point either (obviously, I can remember nothing today) but I think it’s a bit higher than the Insta-Dri product – but not by much.
Essie also has a gel-like product – I haven’t used it as much but I seem to recall that it also dries fairly quickly and resists chips (when using lighter colors) pretty well.
Okay but like- let’s not overlook your hand-model quality hands and nails, lady! Like I’m looking at my stubby peasant hands well, suited for threshing wheat, and finding them markedly lacking in comparison!
* blush!!!! *
I am a terrible mascara smudger (I don’t know how I do it) so I wear water proof everyday and my favorites are honestly the waterproof versions of L’Oréal Voluminous and L’Oréal Voluminous Million Lashes. I started using Micellar Cleansing Water to remove my eye makeup recently and I really recommend it for getting the mascara off pretty easily.
And seriously, such pretty hands and nails! If mine looked like that after I might actually consider painting them!
* more blushing * Alas, I tried micellar water a while back and it caused a horrific skin reaction, which… what is WITH my skin??? But I will have to look into the L’Oreal versions – I typically use Maybelline and it tears my lashes apart.
“… a raisin, which, I cannot stress enough, was always right up there with eating someone’s surgically-removed mole in terms of appetizing.” HA!! Oh my gosh, I was sipping my coffee when I read this and I had to set the cup down and truly laugh out loud. 🙂
I, too, was not a raisin fan at all (except if they are paired with a crunchy cereal) until I tried the crimson raisins from Nuts (dot) com. But flavored raisins?! Yes, please – I can’t wait to try these. Thank you!
Ditto on how lovely your hands and nails look. If it weren’t for the dino party decor in the background, I would’ve thought these were stock photos. I really need to get some new nail polish. My bottles are on the older side and they don’t apply well. I’m chuckling at the ‘creative’ names.
Love the skirt. I don’t wear jean shorts and I struggle in recent years to find any shorts that I like. I have a skort by Royal Robbins that I love. I’m stalking similar skorts this season waiting for them to go on sale. My go-to is sundresses. Mine are starting to look tired and I’m having a hard time finding replacements.
Love the dino soap and the fact that your MIL did the craft with Carla.
Our high school gave kids bag lunches when they were in person. For free. My kids opened the lunches at home (school let out after half day) and it was like Christmas morning to them. I swear we feed them but *free* is something they get excited about. There were often little ocean spray bags of cranberries infused with flavors like watermellon. No one would touch them.
I like that skirt. I will have to remember to come to you for eye makeup advice When we let North start wearing it– 11th grade is what we decided and they’re going into 10th. I know nothing about it, having never tried it.
My daughter is obsessed with makeup and occasionally we play dress up or makeover and I let her wear it. I am trying to instill in her that the goal is to a) enhance your natural beauty, not cover it up and b) make it look like you aren’t wearing any makeup at all. She prefers the “the more, the better” method and has a heavy hand with the bright blue sparkly eye shadow. 🙂 I have told her she can wear makeup for “real” when she is sixteen. When North stars wearing makeup, I hope they just have fun with it! It’s such a simple, fun way to experiment and to show off various aspects of their personality!
They are allowed to wear other kinds of makeup already, starting with colored lip gloss when they were eleven, but they don’t use it very often. Eye makeup is the last phase.
Oh and they’ve been wearing nail polish (rarely) since kindergarten.
OOOOOHHHHHHH I AM HERE FOR THIS. I did not even know about base mascara, I have always hated waterproof mascara for exactly that reason – it is impossible to remove! And I also like quick-drying nail polish because who has time for that? I didn’t even know about those raisins – not sure if they are available here – but yum.
I always have issues with my mascara smudging! Even waterproof mascara smudges on me. I need to try using a base like that!
That skirt is super cute! I hope it was a hit for any Fourth of July festivities you did!
I have the same raccoon eye situation anytime I use regular mascara. I always used waterproof until I tried a tubing mascara. It was life or at least raccoon eye changing. Now I can even ride my horses outside in the summer (so so much sweating) and nothing ever moves. Its pretty easy to remove, but its a little weird the first time, it sort of looks like little spider legs on your cloth. I use water and a makeup eraser or micellar water.
I use Thrive liquid lash extensions ($24 at Ulta) but the L’Oréal Voluminous Million Lashes was was pretty good too. They both work equally well in the raccoon department, I just like how the Thrive looks on my particular lashes a little better.
One more piece of unsolicited lash advice, get a heated lash curler, it makes my stubby straight lashes look so much nicer.
I have never heard of tubing mascara! But now I will look into it!