25 Days of Christmas: Failure Part 2...

I forgot to post again. But I had 2 finals today so that's my excuse. I don't have too much to say today but I'm going to combine day 4 & day 5 into one post because it's just easier. Today I'm going to do a post tag called "How much is my face worth?". I'm doing this because yesterday my mother tried to tell me that I have hundreds of dollars worth of shower products and that since I claim to be a poor college student this is illogical. In my defense, you shower every day (hopefully) so you may as well use products that you like and that work well. Also, I got most of it on sale at TJ Maxx or Bath & Body Works. But my face makeup is another story. I've been collecting makeup for probably about 3-4 years so during that time I've managed to accumulate quite a few products. I didn't just go out and purchase everything I use on my face at one time. So here it is:

Before Makeup

After Makeup

Products I used

MAC Face & Body Foundation: $27

MAC Mineralize skinfinish natural: $29

MAC Studiofinish concealer: $18

MAC Superb Extra Dimension skinfinish: $29

NYX blush in Dusty Rose: $5.99

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil: $4.49

Urban Decay NAKED palette: $48 

Maybelline babylips lip balm: $3.99

MAC Sheen Supreme lipstick in Bare Again: $16

Benefit Bad Gal Lash mascara: $19 (although I used a sample)

Grand Total: $200. 47

Wow. I really didn't think it would be that much. To be fair, the NAKED palette was a big chunk of that money and it was a Christmas gift. But still. I used a lot of MAC products on my face for this look, but I change up my look a lot and it is usually not that MAC heavy. That being said, my MAC foundation is actually one of my less expensive ones so the cost of my face could have been even more if I had used a Chanel or Shiseido one. I rarely wear this much makeup on an everyday basis but when I do these are the type of things I gravitate towards.

25 Days of Christmas: Failure

I forgot to post yesterday for the 2nd day of the 25 days of Christmas, so I'll just have to post twice today to make up for it. Today I'm doing a questionnaire, it's winter themed! (sort of)

1.) Mood:
Unproductive. I really need to start doing by laundry and cleaning my room

2.) You call into the radio station to request a holiday song-- which one is it?
All I Want for Christmas is You 

3.) What is your ideal handbag size?
i like small tote-sized bags

4.) Current nail polish:
OPI The World Is Not Enough for the James Bond collection

5.) What is the last fragrance you wore?
DKNY Be Delicious 

6.) Current outfit:
Dark wash skinny jeans and grey gator t-shirt I won before a football game last year

7.) Which snow activity do you prefer: building snowmen, making snow angels, or snowball fights?
snowball fights

8.) What is your favorite restaurant cuisine?
Italian. But right now I feel like Mexican

9.) Can you whistle with your fingers?
No

10.) Weekly goals:
pass my finals and clean my room

25 Days of Christmas: Day 1

For day 1 of my 25 days of Christmas I'm going to write about my family's Christmas traditions. My mom isn't terribly sentimental about anything so we don't actually have too many. One thing that we've done every year (except once when we were in Vail, CO for Christmas) is get a real Christmas tree from Pam's trees. We always go to the same place in the evening and pick out a tree. I usually find the best ones. Then we take it home and my dad and I will decorate it while my mom watches and critiques us. She isn't very helpful. We used to use a bunch of random old ornaments that my parents had collected over the years but a few years ago my mom decided she wanted all of our tree decorations to coordinate so we bought all new stuff. We use white lights and we have silver bead things we string around the tree. All of the ornaments are blue and silver and shiny or sparkly. It looks really pretty all lit up. We also have a stuffed gator in a Santa costume, and a ceramic manger scene that we set up every year along with a snow globe that a family friend gave me for Christmas when I was younger. Every year my mom and I bake Chocolate chip cookies and ginger snaps, and we always argue about making them. My dad and I like to watch Home Alone 1 & 2 every year, and I like to watch Love Actually. On  Christmas eve we will usually watch something as a family and then in the morning I'll wake up and put cinnamon rolls in the oven. We have them every year on Christmas morning. Then at a reasonable hour I go wake up my parents and we each open our stockings. We go one at a time, and I usually start followed by my mom and then my dad. I organize everyone's presents into piles and then I open my presents first and we open presents in the same order that we opened stockings. Then we usually watch Gilmore Girls all day. That's our Christmas! I'll be back tomorrow for Day 2!

25 Days of Christmas!

It's finally December! I can now celebrate Christmas without looking like a crazy person who put a tree up in their bedroom in mid-November... To celebrate I'm going to be doing at least one blog post a day until Christmas and they're going to be titled "25 Days of Christmas". I don't think that each day's post will be Christmas-related but I'll try to keep them interesting and I'll definitely include a few Christmas things. Keep checking back to find out what today's post will be, it'll probably go up in a few hours. Happy December! 

My Tattoo

So yesterday I did something a bit spontaneous. I got a tattoo. I've been thinking about getting a tattoo for years, and I've known what I wanted to get for several months. Every time I've thought about going to get it I've been too scared. Today though I just went for it. I got the word "live" tattooed on the outside of my left wrist. I knew that I wanted this word for probably about a year but I couldn't decide where to get it. I had thought about my shoulder but I wouldn't be able to see it there, and I also liked the idea of it being on the inside of my wrist. However, I heard that that spot hurts and then other people wouldn't be able to see it as well so I decided not to get it there. It sounds a little dumb, but when I saw picture of Liam Payne's tattoo on his left forearm I really liked that placement and other people can see it there. So that's how I chose where to get it.

The tattoo does have a lot of meaning to it. First off, is the date that I got it. I got it on November 29. Originally I wanted to get it on November 30 but I was feeling brave today and just went for it. Tomorrow, November 30 will be the 2 year anniversary of my friend Lisa's death in a car accident. She was like an older sister I never had, and the way I try to live my life is by following her example. The tattoo is in honor of her and the lessons she taught me.

She always cared about other people and she always tried to make people happy. She also tried to live her life to the fullest every day. My love of holidays comes from her. Ever since I was in elementary school I would go visit her and we would look up what holiday it was every day on this holiday of the day website, and we would write it on the board at the gym where she worked. On halloween and Christmas we would decorate her house from top to bottom. She made every holiday magical and wonderful for me. Thanksgiving is the hardest, because the last time I ever saw Lisa was Thanksgiving of 2010. I went to her house and helped her prepare her Thanksgiving meal and hung out with her and her husband watching funny things on Netflix.

Lisa also loved tattoos, she had quite a few. I like to think she would appreciate that I honored her with a tattoo. I wouldn't be the person I am today without her guidance. It might be ironic to get a tattoo telling yourself to live in honor of a person that died, but I think Lisa would like it. She would want me to be happy, and she would want me to live my life to the fullest every day. I try to never take a day for granted because I'm lucky enough to get up in the morning. My tattoo is also to remind me to live without fear, and to not let things get to me. I know that not everyone likes tattoos, but mine is small and it's a way to keep someone with me even if they are not physically here anymore. The meaning is something that is very hard for me to talk about, even 2 years later which is why I've written it out.

My tattoo is small, but it's a simple reminder that I'll see every day to treat life as the gift it is, and to not take things for granted. Life sucks sometimes and I think we all need to remember that while times may get hard, you can push through it and it will make you stronger. Tomorrow will be a hard day for me, but I'll be able to look at my tattoo and be reminded to live the life I'm lucky enough to have, just like Lisa would have wanted me to.

A to Z about Me!

A to Z About Me 

A. Age: 18

B. Bed size: Double

C. Chore that you hate: Emptying the dishwasher

D. Dogs: are adorable. I have one named Casey

E. Essential start to your day: A diet coke

F. Favourite color: blue and purple

G. Gold or Silver: silver or white gold

H. Height: 5'7"

I. Instruments you play: none

J. Job title: College student

K. Kids: maybe in the distant future

L. Live: my motto for live. but really.

M. Mother’s name: Lauren

N. Nicknames: Vampire, Katie, ones too embarrassing to include

O. Overnight hospital stays: None thankfully

P. Pet peeves: Flaky people, people who are rude to others for no reason

Q. Quote from a movie: "Happiness can be found in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light" Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

R. Right or left handed: Right

S. Siblings: I have none

T. Time you wake up: 8ish if I have class, 10ish if I don't

U. Underwear: is a necessity 

V. Vegetable you hate: most of them. Asparagus is especially gross though

W. What makes you run late: getting distracted by YouTube videos when I'm trying to get ready

X. X-Rays you’ve had: my wrist/arm

Y. Yummy food that you love: Fresh Market herb rolls

Z. Zoo animal: Giraffes and any sort of baby animal

Makeup Review: NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss

For my first makeup review I decided to review the NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in the shade 'Beige'. I recently purchased this after an Ulta opened in my town and I was finally able to try out some NYX products. I heard about this lip gloss from missglamorazzi (Ingrid) on YouTube and decided to get it as well as a Jumbo Eye Pencil and Blush. 

The lip gloss is my favorite NYX product that I've tried so far. The Mega Shines are $5.49 and can be purchased at Ulta. The good thing about Ulta is that they have Buy 1 Get 1 50% off sales a lot, and these lip glosses are currently included in that sale.

The color 'Beige' is clearly not beige. It's more of a creamy mauve pink. When swatched, it looks very pigmented on the skin. When applied to the lips it still has good pigmentation the color looks very pretty and natural on, at least for my skin tone. I do think that it's the type of color that could suit any skin tone though. There is no shimmer in this lip gloss, but it does still have a glossy shine to it. It isn't sticky which is nice. The only thing I don't really like about this lip glass is the smell. It isn't strong, but there is a slight cherry smell. It doesn't have much of a taste. Overall I think it is a really good value for a lip gloss. The packaging is cute, with a bow on the lid, and it is a good product. 

I think that it's comparable to the MAC lip glosses I own which can easily be three times the price of the NYX glosses. It's an nice, wearable everyday color that would be great on almost anyone. Hopefully this was helpful to someone, keep checking back for more posts and reviews!

Christmas Decor Crazy

So for my first real post I wasn't sure what to write about. Then I looked at my nightstand and I had it figured out. Ever since I've moved into an apartment I've been into decorating. I've tried very hard to make my new space feel home-y and welcome. I also love Christmas, so it was obvious that I needed to  put up some Christmas decorations.

My bedside Christmas display

The first thing I did was put up a Christmas tree on my bedside table. I got the tree and ornaments for under $15 at Target. I also bought some silver garland to match my tree and hung it up on my furniture. Later on I added a few extras that I bought from Pier 1.

At the time, there was a 2 for $20 sale on Bath & Body Works candles so I bought 2 of the winter themed ones and a Holiday room spray so that I could even make it smell like Christmas. That was all I had for a while until I saw that Target had a 6 ft. fake tree on sale for only $20. My roommate and I had been discussing getting a tree to spruce up our apartment so I had to go get it.

This spawned my insane Christmas decor spree at Target and Pier 1. I ended up spending over $100 on Christmas decorations. I now cannot go anywhere with home decor unsupervised because I would spend all my money on that sort of thing if given the chance. Below are picture of the miscellaneous things I bought. 

So after that I am not buying anymore Christmas stuff for quite a while. I hope you enjoyed seeing the decorations I bought!

First post!

I've tried blogging several times and it never really worked out, but I've decided that I will once again make an attempt. I'm going to be blogging about things I like, and hopefully that'll encourage me to post often. I'll try to write about things I like (makeup, fashion, etc), projects I'm doing for my internship, and general stuff about my life like the challenges that come with being a college student and trying to be an adult.

That's me in the middle. I guess I'll introduce myself. If you haven't figured it out by the title of my blog, my name is Caitlin. I'm an 18 (almost 19) year old college freshman. My major is telecommunication with a focus in production. I would love to be an executive producer/showrunner one day. I recently got an internship with ESPN radio and I will probably be posting excerpts of the work I do there to this blog. I'm not sure that anyone will actually read any of this, but right now this blog is more of a project for myself to chronicle my life as a college student so that I can remember it for years to come. I've been told that college is the best time of your life so I'm excited to see what happens.