Obsession.

Now, I'm the first to admit that it doesn't take much for me to obsess over something. I get attached to things easily. 

For the past couple of days, while channel surfing, I find myself on E! network and a show called "Total Divas" is on. I'd never heard of it prior to seeing a scene where Nattie and Nikki are trying on lingerie. 

Surprising fact: I enjoy WWE. 

Shocking. I know. Additionally, I also enjoy boxing, but that'll be a whole other post. 

So imagine my surprise when I found out that WWE teamed up with E! network to make a reality show of the Divas. Granted, while not all the veterans and greats are there, I do like the girls on the show. 

Reality shows, man. I'm addicted. They're totally bad for you. I know. But they are soooooo addicting. 

But back to wrestling. The Bella Twins are on there. I will be the first to admit I love "twin magic." 

There are some people out there that hate it, but let's be real people. WWE is a show, these girls (guys also) are essentially entertainers. They do what they do to provide a show for us. When I watch matches on YouTube of The Bella Twins, there are a lot of comments about how they cheat. 

It's a show, people. They provide entertainment and they play their characters. 

I enjoy it. Who doesn't enjoy some pre-determined wins? 

But back to the show. Total Divas. 

I'm obsessed. I love the drama. But at the same time, it reminds me how boring my life is in comparison. 

I like how we get to see their personalities a bit better. Because from watching matches, you essentially get to know their characters, the person they're paid to put forth. And the tv show gives us a way to gauge who they are outside of the ring. 

I will tel you though, there is one person I'm glad is not on the show. 

AJ. 

For some reason, she just pisses me the fuck off. She's annoying, she's a bit slutty, she's kinda bratty... 

And that thing she did on stage? With Dolph? 

YYYYYYUUUUUCCCCKKKKKKK!!

Like, honestly? Dolph Ziggler?

I'm not bashing him as a wrestler, he's good at what he does. 

But... I just don't like him. Don't ask me why or ask to me defend myself. Because I won't. i don't have a reasonable or logical answer to that other than: "I just don't." 

Wrestling is so fabulous. I forget who said it, might be one of the Bellas, but in one of the promos, someone said that WWE is "Broadway with body slams." And I think that's a great way to describe it. 

I also like watching the relationships. Because apart from watching the matches, I try not to get involved in all the relationships and stuff. 

But clearly that can no longer be the case as I watch more and more of "Total Divas." 

And without a doubt, I will get attached to couples and then slowly become obsessed, to the point of probably stopping my watching of the show should something happen that I don't like. 

Story of my life (regarding television and fanfiction). It's irrational, I know. 

But yes. There's only been 4 episodes and I'm beginning to develop attachments to almost all the couples. 

Not so much Vincent, though. The eyebrows? Sorry, no. 

I do adore John and Nikki. I know a lot of people think both Nikki and Brie are gold-diggers and that's the only reason they're with John and Daniel (respectively). 

I beg to differ. I mean, this is a reality show. We see what the producers want us to see and what they think will produce higher ratings. And from that limited perspective into people's lives, everyone seems comfortable in making judgements and statements about people and their relationships that they have no business making. 

It's like gossip in high school. 

Something, by the way, I hated. I stayed out of that dirty business as much as I could. 

... That got way deeper than I intended. 

But I do love John and Nikki. They're so cute together. They're both incredibly gorgeous and I think they complement/fit each other well. 

They're such a glamorous couple. I love Nikki's style. It's classy with a pinch of slutty. And I love that. 

I'm about to get real serious here and discuss the issue of "slutty." It has such a negative connotation these days and I don't like that. We can all agree on the fact that a "slut" is someone (female or male, I've found out) that sleeps around a lot. I mean, yes, it's disgusting if that person knowingly sleeps with attached people. I agree with that whole-heartedly. But if they're both single and consenting? Then what's the issue? Sexuality is a great thing. I think that knowing your body and being happy with your body and with yourself is the key to happiness.

Deep moment: over. 

There was an episode where John wore a button down and a tie. I'll be honest, that threw me. But there was also an episode where he was shirtless and chopping wood.

Can i just say... Lady wood, party of one.  

But that's enough of my lusting. 

 

As for Brie and Daniel. I do love them. But that beard? 

I'm not into that. Nope. I like Daniel a lot better clean-shaven. I've heard/read that some people think he looks like a teenager without the beard, but I like my men clean-shaven. I'm with Nikki on that regard. 

It reminds me of the epidemic currently affecting Hollywood celebrities. 

The hobo look? 

Long hair and that long full scruffy beard? 

Men like John Mayer, Antonio Banderas, Brad Pitt. 

Brad Pitt! Such a gorgeous man, ruining it with a beard. 

These poor celebrities. Afflicted with something terrible and they don't even know it. 

I know some ladies are into the hair. I don't mind a bit of scruff, a bit of 5 o'clock shadow. But that's it. That's where I draw the line. 

Similar to how I don't like long hair on men. Not my cup of tea. I think this hatred started back during Gilmore Girls. 

If you know the show, you probably know who I'm talking about. 

I mean when he was introduced to the show, he was fairly innocuous. I found him a little boring, to be frank. 

But then it happened. He slept with Rory. Took away her innocence. And made sweet naive Rory the other woman. 

WHAT A BASTARD!!! 

The hatred I have for Mr. Dean Forrester is unreal and unparalleled.  

It's one of the reasons I can't watch Supernatural. During the one episode i managed to make it through, i found myself wanting to curse him out. And that interrupted my viewing pleasure, so I quickly put the kibosh on watching that show. 

Oh, in case you were wondering, I'm 5000% a Rogan fan. I cried for days after the series finale. I'm holding out on the Gilmore Girls movie, where the lovely producers can get their head out of their asses and get their shit together. I need Rory and Logan to reunite and eventually rekindle their relationship and be on their way to a happy and fulfilled life together. 

(BTW, this is the reason I am so obsessed with fanfiction. It's a way to get myself the happy ending and/or the closure I was never granted) 

I was sooo incredibly mad with how those Palladinos ended the show. I mean Lorelai gets her happy ending with Luke (I prefer myself some BalconyBuddy, but Luke's cool) and Rory gets what? Her education? Her future career opportunities? 

What? In what universe it that ok?! 

That just pissed me off and when I experience extreme levels, high or low, of any emotion, I cry. 

And cry I did. 

It was an emotional time for me. Couldn't keep it together for days after that. 

--- 

I feel like I covered so many topics in this post. I'll admit my thumbs are starting to feel the burn. And not in a good way. 

BTWs, blogging is a lot more convenient now that I have the app. I was a little hesitant about getting it. It had such a low review and there were a lot of negative reviews on the ability to upload pictures within a post.  

But these posts seems to be rather rant-y and I don't need to add pictures. I think if I want to add pics to a post I'll do it on my computer. Problem solved! 

Signed, 

  Girl with the Cramping Thumbs 

😐

Guess where I am? 

That's right. The doctor's office. 

For my sister's follow-up appointment. And it's humid as hell today. Why couldn't she have this appointment on a day when it's a nice breezy? Am I just not one of the lucky ones? 

The answer to that rhetorical question, ladies and gentlemen, is no. Definitely not. 

Don't get me wrong, I have my good days when everything seems to be going my way, but today just isn't one of those days. 

Not only that, but I am hella hungry. I should've eaten before coming here but now I'm stuck here until my sister finishes her check-up. 

Boredom and starvation, party of one. 

And I feel cramps coming on. 

Do you think people would notice if I curled up in fetal position and cried a little? 

I mean, I can be discrete. 

And now it's raining and thundering. 

When it rains, it really fucking pours. Pun intended. 

Kick a girl while she's down, why don't you? 

Why? Why me? 

Until next time, ladies and germs. 

-- JoAnne 

New Post Time

Hi.

I did buy something this weekend, I bought the most perfect pair of black leather boots.

Now for a little backstory, I'm a little bit bigger than average, so my calves are pretty large as well and coincidentally don't fit into the regular boot shafts. So then I have to shop either at Payless or at shops tailored to plus size women because the shoes they retail there also cater to women of bigger calves.

So I've been looking for a pair of black mid-calf leather boots for the longest time. Last year I found a pair of black boots but they were suede and while I absolutely loved that pair, I couldn't wear them in the rain, which was the whole reason I wanted to buy boots in the first place.

Lower East Side - Rory Slouch Boot (?)
Retail: $39.99

Then soon after the black suede I found another pair of boots in JCPenney's. Surprise, surprise.

Now I'm not usually a snob, but JCPenney's isn't on my hit list every time I go shopping. But at this particular time I was waiting for my parents to finish because they were in a shopping mood and were trying on several pairs of shoes. I'm not one to just sit and wait, so naturally I go up and started browsing. I found a cute pair of brown leather boots that ended just below where my calf started.

JCPenney's - K9 by Rocket Dog Shane Buckle-Strap Boots
Retail: $19.99 (Sale)

The color is a little lighter in person than it is in the image above, but that's essentially it. There was a black version of this boot that I tried, but it came a half-size too small so sadly I had to nix that color and get the brown, but that didn't matter too much, the brown is a nice boot. I'm happy to own this and it looks gorgeous with blue skinny jeans.

However, I do have one hang-up about this pair. The first time I wore it in the rain (the whole reason for my boot search) the parts of the shoe that got hit with the rain got darker. So basically after walking in the shallow puddles the toe of the boot was dark and as well as the crease of the boot (kind of between the toe and the arch of the boot. Also, you can't really see this in the image above, but there's a button-snap that connects the front section of leather to the back. The tips of the front section kind of curl forward a bit, but that doesn't bother me as much as what happens when the boot gets wet.

So, since the brown boots, I've been looking for a pair black leather boots, because in my mind, even if it does get wet it won't be seen. And after several months of looking and leaving it alone, I decided, randomly, to go onto the Payless website just to browse and see what they have in stock. And lo and behold, black leather boots!

Lower East Side - Rory Slouch Boot (?)
Retail: $39.99 

Oh joyous days. It was a great surprise to find that online. Just goes to show that when you let go and forget about it, it'll come to you. And so I was incredibly anxious to go to Payless and find these boots. It was Saturday when I found these boots online. But the Payless near my house has a pretty fast turnover and unlike DSW, Payless doesn't tell you how many they have in stock, so I knew I needed to find a pair and buy it. I remembered that we go out Sundays after church, so I decided to bite my tongue and wait until the next day.

And wait I did.

That was, quite possibly the longest wait I've felt yet.

So Sunday. We had gone to church early because my mom had some sort of meeting to attend at the hospital (where she works), so after we dropped her off, I asked my dad if we could stop at the mall. Thankfully he said yes, but honestly I would have driven there myself if need be, but that wasn't a problem so it's all good.

As reference, the suede boots I bought were a size 10 with the extended calf, but to be honest the 10 was a bit roomy. I bought the 10 because that was the only size available at the time, but I didn't mind because I could wear my thicker socks with them.

I was planning on buying the leather boots in a 10 as well, because that's what I knew fit, but when I got to the store, I did go to the 10 section first, but the boot wasn't available in that particular size. I'm regularly a 9/9.5 in any type of shoe, so I checked the 9.5 section and there they were. My beautiful boots.

Naturally I bought them after trying them on. I was actually planning on buying a pair of red flats and I did see a pair I liked/was looking for, but my sister was feeling it and was trying on shoes while I was looking for my boots. And she did find a pair.

Brash - Tanner Lace-Up Boots
Retail: $39.99

I couldn't find an image of the black, but just trust me, my sister got her pair in black. They are cute, but totally not my style. My sister however is IN LOVE with them. She wore them around the house yesterday. With socks, no less.

So because my sister found a pair that she LOVED, I decided that I could just get the flats next time. Because let's be honest, you can find red flats anywhere, and because my boots were priority I pushed the flats back and bought my sister's boots.

Because that's just the type of person I am. Well, sometimes. I pick and choose my nice days.

That actually concludes my purchase history for this weekend. We did actually go to Kohl's afterwards, because my dad had $50 worth of Kohl's cash from our last big purchase. Because we had a limit and it seemed like my mom, dad and sister were planning on buying things, I decided to just wait until next time to look for clothes for me. I was clearly on a nice kick on Sunday.

I did, however, help my sister look for clothes. Since she's starting high school, and going to a public school (for the first time) no less, she needs to buy new clothes more than I do. I always want to buy new clothes, but that's because I have a shopping problem, it has nothing to do with a lack of clothing options.

That concludes my weekend.

----

As a completely unrelated side note, there's construction going on in my house.

It's really cool because it's my sister and my bathroom is being redone, but it's also a bit annoying, because I have to wake up early. Both my parents work during the day, so my sister and I are home by ourselves. Since I'm the "adult" (notice I put adult in quotation marks because I can really only be classified as an adult by my age, because clearly my maturity levels are below that of my 14-year old sister), I have to wake up early to let the construction guys into the house. But on the bright side the bathroom looks so much better, well from what I can notice right now, because the bathroom is about 60-70% done now, from what my dad tells me. My dad tells be they're doing a really good job, I could figure that out myself because they literally took apart our bathroom. The walls and flooring and everything. When my parents' bathroom was redone, even when the downstairs bathroom was redone it was never this elaborate. They probably took down the appliances and then just resurfaced and repainted and then added the new appliances.

This time they took everything down. They removed the walls, floors, ceiling and insulation. Everything. It's been weird looking at it because I'm used to there being a big mirror in the bathroom which is the last chance I take to evaluate my look before going downstairs. But I've worked through that and now look in the downstairs bathroom mirror.

Yeah, they're building our bathroom from the ground up essentially, it's pretty cool how much work they're putting into this process. And it's really cool seeing pretty much step by step how our bathroom is coming along. My dad likes the work they're doing so far and I know that my parents are using this bathroom renovation as an indicator of whether or not this guy and his crew can do a good job. Because my parents plan on having our kitchen redone and have been looking for someone to do the labour. And as of right now, my parents are liking the work he's doing. Apparently, "Kevin" (the constructor guy) is really detail-oriented, knows what he's doing, and has a plan of action everyday. Apparently he's changed the waterline in the bathroom and I guess that a good thing because my dad could not stop talking/pointing out how good that was and how nice that is. Also Kevin changed the light switches. Before there were only two switches. One for the light and a second for the exhaust. Now there are three switches.

Any guesses to what they each mean?

No?

Well, I'll tell you anyway. The largest vertical switch, closest to the door, turns on the light above the vanity. Then there are two switches next to the light switch, two smaller switches that are laid out horizontally. I think the one of top turns on the shower light and the one on the bottom turns on the exhaust. Or vice versa. I've yet to play around with the switches, so I'm not 100% sure which switch does what. But they look cool.

I mentioned the shower light. How cool? That's a first, but I like that idea because then inside the shower is never dark. With our old tub we had that problem. Before we had a tub and a curtain and rod, and sometimes my mom would put in a dark cranberry colored curtain which when closed made the inside of the tub incredibly dark, and I hated it. As did my sister.

But now, we've exchanged the curtain and rod for frosted shower doors. I don't mind shower doors, but I know my sister has some serious hang-ups about them because she doesn't want to be seen through them. Privacy and all. But we've compromised by getting the frosted doors, so they provide a modicum of privacy. It's enough for her, so it's enough for me.

I'm excited to see the finished product, the construction is supposed to be finished by the end of this week and is it going to be a sweet reunion. Not only will my sister and my bathroom be beautiful and new, but I'll have my bathroom back. Because for the past week, we've only had one shower to share. Which thankfully hasn't been that big a problem because we all shower at different times, but it is a hassle to have to go through my parents room or even downstairs (because that's the only place that houses my feminine products) just to go to the bathroom. Because usually I only have to take about ten steps straight out of my room and I'm in my bathroom but because of this construction, I've been taking a detour for the past several days and it's been a long week.

I miss my bathroom. Desperately. [insert frowny face here].

Also, several other things in our house have been "breaking down." Nothing has actually broken down, but they aren't working currently. Our oven has been on the fritz for a while. The last time I had to bake something (Brazos de Mercedes, a diabetic's nightmare, but oh so delicious, look it up), my dad had to bring the meringue to a neighbor's house because our oven just didn't want to work. And since then, I have been having the biggest hankering for cookies. But our oven isn't the only one not working, because appliances never breakdown by themselves, no, he had a buddy. Our lovely television. The TV in our family room just doesn't want to turn on. Normally when someone goes to turn the TV on, it makes a few bell/chime sounds and then its on. But recently, and I don't know what triggered it, it no longer turns on, it just stays and repeats those bell/chime noises until I either want to throw the remote at the TV (insurance expired so that clearly wasn't an option) or I clawed my eyes and ears out. Unfortunately neither happened because I value both my vision and hearing.

So now here I am, on my laptop in the kitchen listening to movies on my laptop and typing on my blog while power tools make noises in the upstairs bathroom, killing time before a lovely gentleman from the Geek Squad comes and attempts to fix our television.

Oh happy happy days.

--- JoAnne

Guess Who Bought Stuff??

THIS GIRL!!!

Since I no longer have the hour of solitude during my sister's volunteering hour, I am now improvising.

My family and I just got back from Delaware, a day of tech shopping.

We're a little weird when we go shopping for anything tech-related.

If it's a tv, computer, or anything techie, my family chooses to go to Delaware to buy them.

Because Delaware's got it right when it comes to no taxes.

So today we went to New Castle, I think, in search of a PC for my dad. He's been pretty frustrated with the one he currently has and has been wanting a new one. So while he was looking for a PC, my sister and I raided the DVD section.

My dad has a Best Buy membership rewards card, and because we only ever buy big things (i.e. TVs, computers, laptops, etc.) at Best Buy, he had quite a bit of certificates avaliable. It totaled to $90.

Can you say hell yes.

I have a lot of TV shows that I currently obsess over. So I had a list of things that were a must-have and anything else I get would be bonuses.

I knew for sure I wanted to get "Cover Affairs: Season Three" because I LOVE Simon Fischer. Love, love, love. Like I rewatched the episodes he was in for days in a row. Obsessed.

So that was the first thing I went for.

Next of the list was "Downton Abbey: Season Two" because that show is unbelievable addicting. But imagine my shock when this particular Best Buy had both season 2 and 3 in blu-ray. BLU-RAY!

Did I mention my family doesn't have a blu-ray player.

I'm sure you now realize my completely and utter frustration. Oh, they for sure had season 1 in both blu-ray and standard. But did seasons 2 or 3? Nope. Nada. Zip. Zero. How completely and utterly frustrating. Do after about 10 minutes for walking around in desperation, I decided to walk around and see what else I could buy to fill up the budget. So after some wandering, I saw True Blood. Another show I absolutely lust over (cough*sooric*cough). I already have the first two seasons, so I knew I needed season 3, I've seen everything, but the DVDs are hella expensive, so I wait around until price goes down to at least, at least $30, because then I can buy two sets instead of one. But because I planned on buying other things, I decided to buy only season 3 (despite the fact that season 4 is my absolute favorite season so far...).

After True Blood, my sister and I decided to buy some movies because we are in desperate need of new DVDs because we've watched all our movies a billion times over (slight over-exaggeration, i know).

So first DVD we picked up was The Avengers. My sister and I are HUGE Marvel fans. But I have no funny/interesting anecdote about this topic, so I think I'll just end that there.

I had about $10 left, so we walked around looking for the sale items.

Another 10 minutes of walking around the DVD section, I knew what I wanted to buy.

Sex and the City: The Movie. The 1st one! The 2nd one, while it is good, just isn't as good as the first.

This post seems a bit text heavy, but honestly, I'm a too lazy to search and upload pictures. And I think since I might just post whenever I buy something, however frequent that may be, these posts may be a little shorter than the past few posts, but I hope that'll be ok.

Maybe that way this blog will get a little more action...

Until next time!

-- JoAnne

Yes. Yes. And Yes.

I'm on a roll. 

I think this is my third consecutive post in a maybe ever. I did want to post something, anything really earlier this week but I opted otherwise. But now I'm a little concerned because this is my sister's last week volunteering at the library, so I don't know what I'm going to do without my weekly hour in solitude. 

I'll just have to think of something. 

In other news, I have made some new purchases. One not so new and the other completely new. 

Both things are makeup related. 

I bought makeup remover wipes and a makeup setting spray. 

The wipes were Neutrogena: 

Neutrogena Makeup Remover Cleaning Towelettes
Retail: $8.99 (Ulta)

That took up quite a bit of space.... (on this post, not on my counter...)

Backstory: Originally I had been using the night calming version, because I had thought that would be more sensitive skin friendly, and yes I do still love them. But I was getting a bit frustrated with the flimsy wrapping/casing, so I wanted to get the wipes with the container, but as you can see from the image above, the wipes only came in the original cleansing wipes. Therein lied my problem. So about a month ago, during one of my Ulta trips I there was a particularly long line. And you know how Ulta/Sephora is set up? Throughout the checkout line there are stands what have basically travel/trial sized everything at a lower price compared to the regular size. Smart people, they are. They always get me. Always. So as I was saying. I was waiting in line, there were a several people waiting but only one or two registers open, so it was a slow going process. I prefer shorter lines because I know my limits and I know what I'm like and I just know I'm going to get sucked into buying something. But during this particular time I couldn't do that because it was crunch-time and my parents were waiting in the car outside because Ulta was just a pit stop before going somewhere. So I got in line. There were so many things I wanted. Setting sprays, primers, hair conditioners, eyeliners, mascaras... I could feel my resolve slipping. And then I saw them. The travel-size pack of Neutrogena cleansing towelettes. As a firm believer in signs, I couldn't ignore this one. I was meant to buy them, there was no denying it. So without hesitation and a twinge of guilt, I put it in my pile of items I needed to purchase. 

I do like them. They get everything off my face, it doesn't irritate my skin, it removes my eyeliner and shadow. But I do go over my eyes with an eye-makeup remover on a cotton round, only because I want as much of my makeup off because I wash my face. 

Tidbit: In case you were wondering, I've recently switched to Philosophy's Purity facial cleanser from the Murad clarifying cleanser. Suffice it to say, it's been a godsend to my face. Let's hope it stays that way. (knock-on-wood). 

My next purchase was a makeup setting spray. 

Urban Decay de-slick Makeup Setting Spray
Retail: $14.00 (Ulta)

Yes. I finally got the balls to buy it. I've been lusting after this since my interest in foundation began. 

Backstory: I have oily skin and I wear glasses. In the winter I suspect it won't be that much of a problem, but throughout the summer, I can't wear makeup on my nose without my makeup rubbing off and glasses sliding down my nose. Though admittedly, I'm Filipino, so I don't have much of a nose to begin with, but I digress. 

I honestly have yet to try it because my skin is a tiny bit sensitive so I'm always a little hesitant to try new things on my face. And usually if I do I try to pick days when I'm not going anywhere because my reactions are immediate and I prefer not to go out in public with my face anything less than adequate. 

Anecdote: I remember when I was a little younger than I currently am now, I think I was about 12/13. And I remember my mom wanted me to try a new facial cleanser, she recommended the one she was using at the time. It was this one: 

Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleaner
Retail: $7.79 (Walgreens)

So, innocent me, washed my face using this cleanser then dried and moisturized my face as usual. I swear to you, it happened in at least ten minutes. I remember having a hard time sleeping, my face felt extremely hot and I remember putting my hand on my face and it felt ice cold. I kid you not. Then came the itchiness. I kept scratching my cheeks, rubbing my face on the pillow, rubbing my palms all over my face, trying to find any sense of relief, it was terrible. I felt terrible. So then by that point I got up and looked at my face in the mirror and noticed my face was completely red and had bumps all over my face. At that point admittedly I started crying. Not my finest moment. Then my mom came in. My blessed mother. She saw my reaction (my skin and my tears) and if I remember correctly she gave my a washcloth soaked in cold water, to bring down the inflammation and then after that told me to wash my face with my original cleanser. It brought down the redness a lot and the itchiness was practically gone, if I remember correctly. That, bar none, was the worst experience of my life. 

Now, I don't know what hives are, but I feel like my Cetaphil experience was damn close to it because that was terrifying. 

Clearly, you can understand the hesitation I have every time I buy a new facial product. That's why I love places like Ulta and Sephora because they give me samples to take home, so I don't have to commit $20+ to a product that could possibly break my out and cause a bad reaction.  

As a completely unrelated side-note, I feel like the majority of this post is in italics... 

Oh and additionally I had also purchased a tiny travel-size hair conditioner. 

Redken Curvaceous Conditioner
Retail: $5.00 (Ulta) 

I didn't go into Ulta consciously wanting to buy this, but I had a coupon I received my last trip to Ulta that was "$5 off a single purchase of $15 or more" or something to that effect. And because I had purchased the UD setting spray (a brand that is excluded from all Ulta coupons) my coupon wasn't accepted, thankfully the lady gave me a chance to use the coupon and told me to pick something else up so it can be utilized. So I picked something from one of the stands next to the checkout line and chose this conditioner. While I didn't really need this, it wasn't something that was completely unnecessary. I do currently use this conditioner and I have both the 8.5 oz and the 33.8 oz. I keep the 8 oz bottle in my shower and I keep the 33 oz bottle under my sink for refills. The scent I feel is a bit masculine, but I don't mind it. I know my mother hates it, but I kind of like it. Plus I use this conditioner in combination with two other conditioners so it all turns out okay. 

I think that just about concludes my purchase history of this week. 

As I said earlier, I'm a little stumped as to how I'm going to keep this regular posting system going without my sister's volunteering. But I'm hoping I'll come up with something. 

Until next time! 

JoAnne

Hello Again...

This is a nice little tradition I've got going here. My sister volunteers at the local public library and it's about a twenty minute drive from the house and it's only an hour, so I opt to stay at the library, pack my laptop and all my wires so that I can blog with ease.

So, this blog post. I'm to mention my latest purchases. Surprisingly though, I've made some purchases this week as well. Two weeks in a row, I'm a happy happy girl.

But really, all my purchases were made yesterday. On Sunday.

Now because you don't know me, that probably doesn't mean anything. Now to someone who is familiar with my family and our habits/schedules/daily habits, knows that on Sunday we go to church in the morning. After church, we eat out (at the restaurant of our craving) and then usually we go shopping.

Yesterday after lunch we went to the Moorestown mall, in search of my sister's backpack.

Anecdote: My sister and I have been looking for a new backpack for high school but she's been inordinately difficult in searching for the perfect bag. She said several times that she doesn't want anything expensive (cough*kipling*cough) and she doesn't like any of the backpacks at Staples, Walmart or Target. So we had to venture into the commercial malls. 

Luckily we had found exactly what my sister was looking for in the second department store. Macy's.

Macy's has everything.

Anyway, After my sister had found her "dream bag," we sat down next to the entrance of one of the fitting rooms.

My legs were on fire and were bothering me so I sat down in hopes of returning their temperature back to normal. 

So while my mother was wandering in and out of the fitting room, my sister and I were sitting just outside reading fanfiction on our phones.

YES. I'm obsessed. Other people may call it obsession. I prefer to call it a lifestyle.

So in the midst of our reading. My mother was looking as some of the clothes on the racks in front of my sister and I. There was one in particular that I loved. Now I've been looking for a top similar to this for ages, I've seen other girls wear it and I desperately wanted one for myself. And because I'm on the more plus size side of things, it was a smidgen more difficult finding a similar looking top in a reasonable price range. Now it had occurred to me that I found this top in the women's section so it's a little bit above my age range, but nonetheless I thought the top was cute and I could see myself wearing it.

Now... keep in mind that I'm a little new to this whole blogger thing. So my posting abilities and wittiness are a little rough around the edges. But I'm trying. And hopefully after a while, I'll be a pro at this.

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Ok. So I'm terrible at this. Can you blame me?

I'll just explain it to you.

It's a sleeveless button-down blouse. Chambray material on the shoulders, collar and all along the buttons. And from about above the bust down to where it ends just above my but it's made up of sheer, what looks to be chiffon, or a fabric similar to chiffon. On the chiffon the majority of it is an off-white, almost creamy white color, and down the center, following the buttons down the front and down the center on the back is a medley of greens, purples, browns, oranges, blues and yellows in the form of leaves (similar to ferns) and flowers. It's really cute and I got it in a XL.

EDIT: I've figured it out. I can now upload pictures. Now I've yet to become comfortable in front of the camera, let alone post pictures on the interweb, so Google pictures will just have to suffice. 

Cute, yes? I can rock it. Don't you worry. Now, back to the original post...



Now I know that plus size girls aren't supposed to wear things that billow over them and are too big, and yes the L fit me well. But with the XL, there's a bit more room around the arm hole and and it's long enough to cover my butt, should I decide to wear it with leggings. Also, I've also decided that I might also wear a belt around the waist, if I one day decide to emphasize my waist. Which I hear is a nifty trick that plus size girls should indulge in.

About the tips of plus size women fashion. I say if you feel sexy in it and you can rock it with confidence, then go for it.

Because let's be honest, the most attractive thing a girl can wear is confidence and a smile.

That's incredible cheesy and sounds like it originates from some sort of self-help book. So we'll just stop right there.

Now after Macy's, we left the mall and went decided to go to Kohl's.

If there was every a place that I could always go and spend money, it would be Kohl's.

Usually I end up buying clothes, but shockingly enough, I bought shoes. And to be completely honest, what I ended up buying was a little bit surprising.

Backstory: if there's one trend that I cannot stand, it's the hidden wedge sneaker. Wedges, love. Sneakers, yes. But hidden wedge sneakers, I cannot stand. I know from everything I've heard and read and seen, that's it's one of the trends that people either love or hate. I'm on the hate side. I cannot stand the way they look and it's just... NO. For one they look like chunky sneakers. I hate chunky sneakers. Like Osiris, DC, Vans or any of those ridiculous sneakers I hate. On guys and girls alike. I just don't like the way they look. It looks messy and unkepmt. And... just NO. I prefer more streamline shoes. Sleek shoes that can follow the natural contours of your foot. Sneakers like Converse, Puma, Nike I love. I have a pair of each. Now, going back to my original topic, hidden sneaker heels. STOP IT. 

So. I bought a pair of ankle boots, cute black ankle boots. That have a hidden wedge.

Does that make me a hypocrite?

Survey says....... you can tell me the answer to that in the comments below.

I think they're adorable. But I've got massive calves and my ankles are pretty slim.

THANK GOD I don't have cankles. 

So I'm at a bit of a loss about how to wear them. But honestly when I saw them, and especially when I put them on, I knew I had to buy them. There was no way I was going to leave that store without a pair of these booties in my possession.

Figured it out b*tches!!!! Thank you wikihow, you are a blessed godsend.

Isn't it cute? It looks like my other flat boots, but no! It gives me like two inches of height, and my sister and I are now the same height.

I've just got to figure out how to wear them and look good wearing them.

Now, other than my beautiful, beautiful boots, I also bought underwear, but those are personal, you don't want to see that, I don't want to show anyone that (well, at least not on the internet) so we'll just say I bought a few sets and leave it at that.

That actually concludes my purchase history of the last week...

Oh, wait... I lied. I forgot. Last Thursday, my mother had a hair appointment and recently she's been loving a stylist from Ulta, so she gets her hair done there. Now this is a mutually beneficial thing we've got going on here. My mom can get her hair cut while I can browse the aisles seeing what strikes my fancy and anything in particularly I want.

I had been lusting after the Real Techniques brushes for the longest time. I hear and read that they're amazing quality and they're extremely inexpensive. I own one. The expert face brush.

Insert photo you brilliant novice.

I'm getting better at this thing.

Anyway, yes. This brush is awesome. For the moment, because I'm just now getting into face makeup (I've been wearing eyeliner since I was twelve), I've been using this for foundation, because that and concealer are the only face makeup I've been using until that point. Now I'm trying to branch out into different makeup products, because I've noticed that when i use foundation and I've perfected my skin, it looks flat. My face is all one shade, there's no dimension to my face whatsoever and I don't like that it looks flat. So I want a good quality inexpensive bronzer. I went to the Mac counter and bought a MSF Natural but I feel like the color is my exact skin tone. I mean I'm not too pissed off, I got another face powder out of the deal, so it benefits me.

But back to my purchases. While my mom was getting her hair did, I looked at the Real Technique brushes and I decided to buy powder brushes.

I actually wanted to buy the set that included the buffing brush, but it cost $17.99 and most times Ulta has a "Buy One Get One 50% Off" offer, so I'll wait until then. 

Because right now, during the summer, I'm only using concealer and powder, I wanted to get a large fluffy brush that I can use to dust powder all over to set my makeup but also keep my from adding too much and start looking cakey (admittedly I have a heavy hand when applying makeup).

So I saw two brushes that fit the bill.

The Real Techniques Powder Brush. 

And the Real Techniques Blush Brush. 

Now I know that the second brush was a blush brush is geared towards blush, but i like the shape for powder. They're both incredibly soft and I've only used the blush brush thus far and it's incredibly soft. I just want to run the brush all over my face all the time. It's that soft. 

I had also bought the Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel because I'm an oily monster and I needed to buy a new bottle. 

Now that concludes my purchases of this week. 

That's what I call a productive week. 

Ok. That's the end of this post. 

For real. 

Til next time guys! 

- JoAnne 

Well...

Isn't this awkward? The last post I wrote went on and on about forgetting to write for about... well anything really, for about 6 months and here I am. The end of July. And haven't written anything since January.

How many months is that Joanne? 7 months? Well, I'd say you just beat your record.

Anywho. Let's get on to business.

I've decided that this blog/forum/call-it-what-you-wish will be dedicated to my hauling. Anything and everything I buy will be recorded and reviewed on here. I'm not really much of a beauty person, I'm just recently getting into it myself. And I'm not that fashion-savvy (though I wish to God I was, and am currently working towards getting better). So it's not really my place to preach about that. Also, I'm not much of a cooker, though I can hold my own when it comes to baking (if supplied with a detailed recipe equipped with play-by-play pictures.

But I for damn sure buy a lot of things (bit of a problem really). Whether it's new products/items or something I've repurchased time and time again, it will be written here.

Then I can rave about all the things I've bought in the proper places, rather than by talking and raving about them to my mirror. Not that I actually do that. That'd be weird.

But my most recent purchase was clothes. We had gone to AC, spur of the moment trip, two days ago. My mom was interested in seeing the new casino--Revel--that was recently open to the public and let me tell you. It was fabulous. I watched a few videos about the casino and there were a lot of people in the comments section talking about how the modern decor made it feel cold and uninviting.

Well I call hogwash.

It looked FABULOUS. I loved the clean lines and floor to ceiling windows, the white floors and high ceilings. When I walked into the casino/lobby/hotel floor, it looked white. It looked CLEAN. And to a OCD germaphobe, it was heaven. I loved it.

It looked expensive and fabulous. My mom and dad agreed to staying there overnight and I'm excited about that. But I worry about if there are any kids at all there. It is in AC and I know it's a casino hotel, but we've stayed at Harrahs, Borgata, Taj, no problem. But this one. I don't know. Plus when I checked  for rooms to make a reservation, the only options for occupancy were up to 3 adults. There was no option for children. Then again my sister and I get mistaken for identical twins, when we're sisters, six years apart and I'm 20. So I guess she can pass for an adult.

Interesting anecdote: It's become a joke in the family about my sister and I really being twins. If-you-can't beat-them and all that. So now we just accept it. But when we first started getting asked if we were twins, my sister would get frustrated and say that we were sisters, not twins. And when those people were prompted into guessing which one was the oldest, they would always assume I'm the youngest. At the time my sister was 12 (so by deduction I was 18) and you can imagine the frustration my sister felt. Frankly I don't see where the twin thing comes from or how they figure that I'm the youngest, but everyone thinks differently. To this day, my sister get so upset, thinking that there are people out there that think my sister is older than she really is. 

But I'm digressing. Anyway, after we checked out the hotel/casino, my dad asked if I wanted to walk the boardwalk and go to the beach. To which I swiftly denied him. I'm not much of a beach goer. I've got flabby thighs, arm fat, and a belly that just won't lay flat. So no. I do not enjoy the beach season.

Since the boardwalk/beach idea was nixed. We chose to do my favorite thing. Visit the outlet. In AC there's an outlet called Tanger Outlet and it has a nice selection of stores to shop from. And since my mother was in that shopping mood, we made some nice purchases.

First off, after dinner, we went to Old Navy. My sister is off to high school this coming fall, and because she graduated from a catholic middle school, the majority of her closet consisted of uniforms and church-appropriate clothes. She then bought several shirts, and since she needed new clothes more than me (however much it pains me to say that), I only bought a white tee.

I don't know about you, but Old Navy has the best v-neck tees. They're soft, they don't shrink and they fit my chest tautly while skimming over my belly nicely. That was my only Old Navy purchase. While I used to love their graphic tees, they just aren't my thing anymore. I much prefer I solid color tee than anything that has writing on it.

After that we happened to split up because my parents got left behind at the crosswalk and so my sister and I went to Starbucks to get our dessert and my parents went off to do something. Afterwards, when we went to find them they were in a watch store.

Now to give you a bit of a back story... My mom's recently been into finding a family watch. My parents almost every 2 years or so they get a set of matching watches. And now that my sister and I have recently started wearing watches on a daily basis, my mom is convinced that we should get four of the same watches. A family watch. So for the past few months, we're been looking at watches. And we had actually found a watch that we all agreed on. It's a watch by Skagen, a danish company, and it's a titanium wrist band and a steel and something face. It's incredibly light and sleek. I love it. But the places we've gone previously, the watch had been $100+, so we've passed on the watch those days. And since then I've been lusting after that watch. Hoping against hope that my parents wouldn't nix that particular watch and choose something else. 

So imagine my gratitude and surprise that they found the watch in AC for a significant bargain. Both for less than $50. So naturally my parents bought them, where else could we find watches for less than 50% off, there was no way we were passing those up. Hell, we were buying four watches, so it had to be discounted some. I'm really excited to own it. It's incredibly light, and when I wore it yesterday, there were honestly times when I forgot I was wearing it.

Now I'm not at home, otherwise I'd take a picture and insert it here. So no picture. Maybe in the next post. If I remember to write again before 7 months pass.

After the watches, we went walking, seeing if there were any other stores we wanted to pass through. We ended up in Banana Republic, a store that I was surprised that we walked into. It's slightly outside of our normal price range, so you can imagine my surprise. Anyway, we walked in and walking through, I didn't see anything so I was following my mother, and while she was looking at something, I saw cardigans for sale. It was nothing special, it was just a black cardigan with 3/4 sleeves but I can never find cardigans that fit me right. Usually, the arms are tight and the body fits fine or the arms are baggy while the body is tight. But this fit perfectly. I was so incredibly happy to find it.

That just about concludes my most recent set of purchases. It's a little boring, a little basic. But I needed all those things. And since classes are starting up again soon I'd like to buy new clothes for school.

Well, now that just about concludes this post.

Until next time friends,
      Joanne