Facecare

How’s your Christmas shopping coming along? I hope you aren’t having to brave the crowds in these last couple days. Have I ever told you that one of my least favorite things on Earth — ON EARTH — is parking lots at Christmas?

Not. A. Fan.

Man, the Costco parking lot by my house? Or, rather, any Costco parking lot in any town in America at Christmas? How can it take 20 minutes for my car to move 20 feet?

Ladybugs on the ground are passing my car.

A snail that hitched a ride on my car overnight literally climbed back down to the road because it knew it could go faster. 😂

But I digress…

Tabs loved Christmases, but it was easy for him because he was the boss, whereas I’m the one who had to do all the jobs. I had to decorate the office, make all the ornaments, get all the gifts, schedule all the cat spa services. It was a lot!

Thankfully, Rosie is more chill about Christmas. She pretty much sticks to her own agenda.

Like, by studying meteorology…

And astronomy! In fact, she’s pretty sure she found something new in the night sky…

Earlier this month, she interned with the largest toy manufacturer north of the Arctic Circle. She said it was very interesting and rewarding.

Marnie just loves everything that isn’t scary, so she’s having a great holiday season.

That’s one of the great things about Marnie. She’s very easy to please.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addicts,

Karen, Marnie and Rosie

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. It’s just a list of more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007).

1. Who would you rather go dancing with: your significant other, your best friend or your kid (if you have one)?

Honestly, I’d love to go with Connor, LOL!

2. Spa weekend or a music festival weekend?

Spa weekend, 100%.

3. Have you had any eggnog this holiday season?

Nope, none! I don’t really crave it, but if it’s there, I’ll have a small cup.

4. Who would you rather have lunch with: your favorite musician, your favorite actor, your favorite author or your favorite teacher?

Honestly, if she was still alive, lunch with my favorite teacher from elementary would be lovely. The last time I saw her, I was 18.

5. Do you pop the zit or leave it alone?

I dunno, how ripe is it? If it’s gonna slide right outta that pore, not gonna lie, I’d pop it. LOL! But otherwise leave it alone.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon.

1. Who would you rather go dancing with: your significant other, your best friend or your kid (if you have one)?
2. Spa weekend or a music festival weekend?
3. Have you had any eggnog this holiday season?
4. Who would you rather have lunch with: your favorite musician, your favorite actor, your favorite author or your favorite teacher?
5. Do you pop the zit or leave it alone?

P.P.S.
Hello from beautiful Hawaii! We’re here on Oahu visiting family this week. I’m going to try my best to relax and be in the moment. (Good luck to me, ha.)

Have a wonderful and joyful week, my friend!

This was an exciting time of year for Tabs. Company coming over, trees INSIDE the house, blinking lights, the biggest turkeys of the year — for a cat like Tabs, the holidays were a cat cornucopia of comfy couches, fragrant foliage, tinsel, tasty treats and plump plumage.

As the head of the decorating committee for Tabs the Cat Industries, LLC, Tabs was responsible for the Christmas tree decorations, and I just sort of did what he said.

Normally, it would go down something like this: first week of December, and he hadn’t decided on the overall theme yet, but he’d have it narrowed down to something like baked red, green and silver catnip crispy ornament treats or strings of classic white lights and red Christmas balls.

Probably. But he wouldn’t be sure yet.

Whichever way it went, he always got a lot of help. The decorating committee was always on standby and awaiting orders.

And Tabs? Well, he was always late because of this or that. A lot of the time it was just because his morning patrol ran long. They were usually uneventful, except for one or two cats who’d try to steal one of the decorative catnip plants by the company main entrance.

But nine times out of 10, Tabs would stare them down, and they’d skulk away.

This is and always has been a great time of year for cats. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Connor danced her little heart out at a performance recently! They did a tap routine wearing the cutest green and gold costumes.

Her dance team requires the girls to wear red lipstick for performances, and the rest of the makeup is up to the individual dancer. Usually Connor only likes to wear MAC Fashion Legacy lipstick, and maybe if I’m lucky, she’ll let me swipe a little pink blush on her cheeks (NARS Gaiety is her go-to shade). She usually skips eye makeup. I KNOW!

Anywho, I was absolutely shocked when at the last minute she asked me to put on some eyeshadow. We had about five minutes left to get ready when she made this request, but of course I responded with an enthusiastic yes!

I dug through a drawer and found a palette of brights from Nomad Cosmetics.

First I swiped on the green shade with a finger, then buffed out the edges with a fluffy eyeshadow brush. I layered the gold shade on top and blended the two together!

Sure, I wish I had a little more time to clean up some edges, but for five minutes, I think we did ok.

How’s your Saturday going so far? It’s crazy windy and rainy here in Northern California!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. It’s just a list of more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007).

1. Where would you rather go on vacation: New Zealand, Alaska, Costa Rica or Switzerland?

I’d love to go to all of these places, but right now Switzerland sounds pretty cool.

2. Ponytail or curls?

Hmm. I like ponytails because they’re functional, but sometimes they give me a headache, so let’s go with curls. They’d have to be super loose ones, though. And kinda messy!

3. Did you ever have a job where you had to wear a uniform?

Kinda. We had very specific guidelines for safety when I worked at the bakery, like close-toed shoes, no nail polish, hair tied back.

4. If you were in school, whom would you likely hang out with: the athletes, the drama crew, the band kids or the honors society?

You’d likely find me with my people, aka the band kids. If I wasn’t with them, I’d be with the honors society. I was a big old nerd back then!

5. Something on your self-care list for this week?

I would love to treat myself to a bottle of Skinceuticals CE Ferulic! Oh, and a nap would be great. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon.

1. Where would you rather go on vacation: New Zealand, Alaska, Costa Rica or Switzerland?
2. Ponytail or curls?
3. Did you ever have a job where you had to wear a uniform?
4. If you were in school, whom would you likely hang out with: the athletes, the drama crew, the band kids or the honors society?
5. Something on your self-care list for this week?

P.P.S. If you’re reading this, thank you. I know I haven’t been around much lately, which is super unusual for MBB. I’m doing my best to balance everything, and I’m afraid I’m not doing a great job at it, LOL! I’m really trying, though. One thing I’ve been dealing with is this perpetual feeling of being tired ALL THE TIME. I don’t know if it’s a mom thing, a 40-something thing, a holiday thing (why is there so much to do?) or a combination of all the things. Please know that you stopping by here is very much appreciated. Love ya lots, friend.

Seasons greetings! Hard to believe we’re in full-on Christmas season time now, isn’t it? Folks getting their tree (we did today!), putting up the Christmas lights (workin’ on it!), other decorations. I was looking back at December posts over the years, and when I came upon this one it made me smile. 🙂 Mt. Saint Tabby? That was SO Tabs.

It was a quiet morning on our hill today. Nothing really exciting happened, except for some joggers running by, which made a certain someone’s tail poof up…

While Tabs checked out the usual blades of grass, plants and trees, I spent some time thinking about how possessive and jealous Tabs gets now in his older age.

And not just with his humans. He’s also like that with his domain outside. I may or may not have received a Post-It last week asking me to write the city about renaming our hill, “Mt. Saint Tabby,” because Tabs doesn’t like the thought of anybody, and by “anybody,” I mean any other cats, chilling on his hill.

These morning patrols are his definition of “meow time,” because he doesn’t have to compete with anybody else for my attention — not El Hub, the baby, or whatever TJ’s snack would otherwise be making its way to my mouth. When we’re outside, it’s just me and my tabby, the two of us against the world. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

I’m hesitant to say that I’ve got my makeup mojo back because I feel like the moment that I say that I’ll revert to just wearing brow pencil and tinted sunscreen for three years, as one does, but I’m gonna go ahead and risk it and say that it all started with a little bit of Club.

You know, MAC Club eyeshadow? Of course you do. It’s a classic.

Last week, out of nowhere, I thought to myself, “I really need to wear Club.” It’s been years since I’ve wanted to deal with complicated eye makeup, but I got the urge, so I went with it.

My makeup collection is pretty barren compared to the thick of MBB’s beauty blogging days, but I’ve held on to this ancient Monster’s Bride palette from —I don’t even wanna say the year. LOL! I’ve always loved the shadows, especially Club.

I took a little bit of Club, popped it on my lids and smoothed out the edges with a fluffy brush dipped in face powder.

Oh, and this is when I figured out that you can leave behind the urge to blend eight different eyeshadows on your lids, but you cannot leave behind the urge to smooth out your eyeshadow edges into a nice gradient, ha ha ha!

Anyway, like I said, Club. It will forever be etched into my heart as the eyeshadow that helped me get at least a little bit of my makeup mojo back. Since that day last week, I’ve felt like putting at least one shade on my lids. I figure that it’s not too hard, right? I can do that. Plus, I want to do it.

So yeah, lately I’ve been wearing one shade of eyeshadow from my lash line up until my mid crease area, and you know what? It makes me so, so happy.

And that’s all I really want for makeup, you know? I just want it to make me feel happy when I wear it.

I want to feel good when I have it on, and for right now a little bit of MAC eyeshadow feels really good.

Wish me lots of makeup luck, and I’ll send lots your way, too because why not? ‘Tis the season to wear a little eyeshadow!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. It’s just a list of more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007).

1. A habit that changed your life?

Getting up early. For most of my life I was a night owl, and when I had Connor that all changed. When she was an infant, I started waking up at the crack of dawn to sneak in work before she woke up in the morning. The habit ended up sticking, and now I’m an early bird.

2. Fruit or cupcakes?

As much as I love a small cake smothered in frosting, I’m gonna have to go with fruit.

3. Are you doing any advent calendars this year?

At Trader Joe’s a couple weeks ago, I picked up a few for the “kids” – Connor, Rosie and Marnie. Ha ha ha!

4. Something on your Christmas list?

Honestly, I have no idea where I’d put it (when and why did our house become inundated with STUFF?), and I totally don’t need it, but I would love a three-tiered serving plate for little sandwiches and cakes for afternoon tea.

5. Something on your to-do list this week?

Gotta start Christmas shopping right meow! I really left it up to the last minute this year.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon.

1. A habit that changed your life?
2. Fruit or cupcakes?
3. Are you doing any advent calendars this year?
4. Something on your Christmas list?
5. Something on your to-do list this week?

Jeez! It’s December already? Oh, my goodness! Oh, my goodness! Oh, my goodness! Rosie is NOT ready.

Tabs handled the holidays differently. He was a total pro about it, planned everything out months in advance. His Christmas plans were always well underway by August.

But Rosie didn’t even begin to take Christmas seriously until this weekend, and now she’s frantic!

Wait — did I say frantic? 😂

I meant “totally uninterested and really fantastic.”

Seriously, she isn’t bothered about it at all. She has three PhDs and a feline Nobel Prize. Rosie spends her days researching climate change and nuclear fusion. She isn’t worried about planning for Christmas.

I’m sure she’ll pull something amazing together in the last few days. #bosskitty

Marnie, on the other hand, has no idea what’s going on. 😂

Deputy Derp, reporting for duty!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. It’s just a list of more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007).

1. Stuffing or mashed potatoes?

Both speak volumes to my carb-loving heart, but I love mashed potatoes just a little bit more.

2. Apple pie or apple cider?

Um, both?

3. Do you have any Thanksgiving day traditions?

Not really, although I do short circuit if I don’t get at least one slice of pecan pie. I gotta have it!

4. Have you ever hosted Thanksgiving?

Yes, a handful of times, and yes, there was pecan pie. HAHAHA!

5. Something you’re thankful for?

So thankful to spend time with my little family of El Hub, Connor, Rosie and Marnie. Our house is full and so is my heart!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon.

1. Stuffing or mashed potatoes?
2. Apple pie or apple cider?
3. Do you have any Thanksgiving day traditions?
4. Have you ever hosted Thanksgiving?
5. Something you’re thankful for?