a new blog

Okay, so I've been posting a lot of pictures of my eyeshadow lately, as I've done in the past. I promise, I am not in love with myself. :-P I am not really an artistic person, per se -- meaning I don't paint, sculpt, draw, etc etc -- but I'm finding the "canvas" of my eyes more and more appealing. I enjoy sharing my work and believe me when I say I have a LOT of photos that I haven't posted on my blog because I didn't want to clog it up with pictures of my eyes. After all, this blog is supposed to be about my struggles with infertility and bipolar disorder. Coupled with other ramblings as they strike. Seeing as how Blogger doesn't offer a 'cut' feature like LiveJournal, I have decided to start a blog dedicated to my adventures in makeup. If you're interested you can follow the new blog at Eye ♥ Color.

P.S. While I don't post the pics of my eyes as a way to "fish" for comments, I do rather enjoy when people comment. It is a major ego boost and who doesn't love that?? ;-P

and now the "war" begins

I got my letter from the SSA today. As expected, my disability claim has been denied. Today I will spend the rest of my afternoon searching for the perfect disability attorney. I'm going to fight the decision, obviously, though I can't say that I'm looking forward to it.

The appeals process is, apparently, very lengthy. Everywhere I've searched online says an average of 6 - 12 months before a hearing date is even set. I love how our government puts people in need out and gives handouts to people that, say, can't figure out how to use a condom and need welfare to support their seven children.

There is but one thing I can do to potentially speed up the appeals process and that is write (or have my attorney write) a letter of dire need. According to disabilitysecrets.com dire need involves financial difficulty (unable to pay rent/mortgage, utilities, and the like) -- things of that nature. I am not sure how "dire" they will see our situation. Does living in a garage (and potentially becoming homeless if the folks who own said garage PCS in six months) sound dire enough to you??

Did I mention our government SUCKS big, fat, hairy donkey balls?!?

more fun with color

I almost forgot how much I enjoy matching my eyeshadow to my clothes. Sometimes it's a challenge; sometimes not. Regardless -- it's always fun!

Today I did a soft pink and purple look inspired by this video.

Colors Used:

• Urban Decay Cherry (soft shell pink with silver glitter): all over lid, slightly dampened for a richer color


• Urban Decay Matte Trio in Haze; lightest shade (matte purple trio): brow bone highlighter


• Urban Decay Flash (bright iridescent purple): outer corner of lid, blended into crease about halfway


• Urban Decay Mayhem (dark blue-purple): liner for lower lashline, used wet with homemade mixing medium.


• Urban Decay Perversion (matte black): liner for upper lashline, only outer half of lid

The Results:











Don't mind the hair in the last photo. I didn't do anything with it today and it is still wet in the photo. :-P Tomorrow I think I am going to try this bold and daring look! We'll see how that goes.

smokey green eyes

After spending the last month wearing nothing but neutral colors, I decided to bust into my new palette with a nice green look today. I watched this tutorial first and then basically did my own interpretation of Smokey Green Eyes.

Colors used:

• Urban Decay Absinthe (bright green with gold shift): inner corner of upper lid, blended into crease


• Urban Decay Perversion (matte black): outer corner, blended into the Absinthe


• Urban Decay Polyester Bride (shimmery white with subtle gold glitter): brow bone highlighter


• Urban Decay Vert (vibrant jade green): wet on inner corner of lower lashline


• Urban Decay Protest (dark forest green): over top of M·A·C Shadestick in Sharkskin on outer corner of lower lashline

wooooo to the hooooo!

My palette arrived today! I am really excited and SO eager to try it out! Honestly the picture doesn't do it justice. It's a very big palette; much bigger than all the others I already have. And the colors are just...wow. I'm even more eager to try out Absinthe and Mayhem now. Bring on St. Patty's Day eyes! Scandal is also very gorgeous and even Roach is pretty despite of the name. Later I think I'll do color swatches on my arm. Now I am going to surf YouTube in search of some looks to try out. Yay!

really starting to like 2009

At lunch today, The Monkey told me that after his training class with Verizon, he is going to give up smoking. We have been married almost five years and he's only quit smoking once for about two months. But this time it is his decision, not mine. I could hardly believe my ears when he told me! Verizon offers really kick-ass medical insurance and if they hire him on from Manpower in 90 days he will have a chance to pick up said insurance. Our friend B informed me on Monday that non-smokers get a discount worth $620 a year on their premium. When I told Tony, I guess he started thinking and decided that $620 extra dollars a year is worth kicking the habit. He just has to be smoke free for two months prior to signing up to get the discount.

I'm so excited about this that I am actually crying. Now I'm going to have to scour the Internet for tips and tricks to help him stick with it. But I think he's over the first hurdle which was the desire to quit. Now that we've passed that, I'm hopeful that it'll be all downhill from there.

successes and failures

Failures:

• I woke up with a slight headache and feeling generally unmotivated; blah; exhausted.


• I left a box of Reese's Puffs cereal by the couch last night and woke up around 1:00 and was entirely too sleepy to make full use of my willpower.


• I ate more than was necessary at lunch; especially since I ate a good breakfast. (Surely the chicken salad sandwich was enough; no need for the three barbecue chicken tenders afterwards.)


• I ate dinner (albeit a 'measley' 300 calorie Healthy Choice frozen meal) at quarter to 8:00.


• I had a few pieces of candy (damn my mom for having a bowl of conversation hearts!) and one peanut butter sandwich cookie.


• I drank less than a liter of water today (but managed to drink two Pepsi Max).


• My shins are positively killing me because I have not been walking in a proper pair of shoes.


• I have ANOTHER earache!!! (That's one a month for the past four months; but who's counting?)

Successes:

• Though I didn't get up as early as I did yesterday I still got up despite wanting to stay curled up in bed. Badly.


• I walked [roughly] three miles in about 50 minutes!


• I came home from walking and realized that the headache I woke up with was no more!


• I have felt remarkably energized most of the day.


• I turned down the Hershey's White Chocolate Chips (which are positively divine) when my sister flashed them at me.


• My mom gave me a pair of walking shoes that are designed specifically for flat feet. I'm looking forward to trying them out tomorrow!


• The pain in my ear isn't severe (yet) and I have some leftover Lortab to deal with it tonight. And the heating pad seems to help, too.

I will do better tomorrow.