The IceBlock [20]: What's the opposite of up?!

Once upon a time, I was in high school, optimistic about the future, and naive. I thought about my birthday, I thought about my where-I-want-to-be's for after college, and I thought about all the time I had, for I was ahead. Yes, I started school a year early, and I would jump-start the rest of my life that much sooner. I decided on a number, and that number was 23. Twenty-three.

Once upon a time, I was a college student with a full scholarship, wondering how many credits I could balance at once, figuring out all the different degree paths I could take, having a taste of companionship, yet still naive, for I still felt optimistic without real thought of what was coming. I felt like the next step would make itself known when the time came. I had patiently calculated a number, and dutifully knocked it down one by one at each arrival of night. ~1470 days 'til I do...

Once upon a time, there was no more once upon a time, for the time was now. I was a year ahead. Now I've spent two years making little to no progress [so it seems]. I'm mostly a pessimist. And that stupid number sat on my priority list for so long, that it developed this kind of importance that makes this year carry a weight capable of shattering a spinal disc or two [I'm pessimistically weak, remember?]. 1470 days? Uh, how about 52?

Oh how time flies!

Lisa Unger: Heartbroken (2012)

PURCHASED

Hi everyone. I have to say, today was fairly disappointing - the weather was shit and that ultimately meant I couldn't take any new pictures for reviews (not that I, honestly, wanted to, and it isn't like I don't have pictures for products on the ever-growing waiting list), nor could I go walking (which is what I wholeheartedly wanted to do). The rain, one could argue, was the appropriate soundtrack to get through the last bit of the star of today's post - Lisa Unger's thriller, Heartbroken (2012) - but, honestly (again), I didn't even feel like reading. I didn't feel like doing anything.

Reminds me of my pajama shirt that reads "It's one of those days." Oh yes, yes it is.

Surprise, surprise - I don't want to write a review right now! But I'm pushing myself to do it because I did indeed finish Heartbroken and the best time to write a book review is, literally, as soon as possible after the book is done. 'Sides, it's not like I didn't like the story!

FOTD: April 26, 2014

Hi! When I went to IMATS two weeks ago, one of the products I was waiting for months to buy at the show's discounted price was Stila's In the Light palette. I was so excited to finally use it today, and I'm really happy with how everything turned out so I thought I'd share it with you here!

This isn't really a review post, though my opinions on the products I used will be peeking through here and there. I mainly wanted to show a look my mediocre makeup skills could come up with using this palette, and how it pairs with other products (both new and old). =)

Sarah Addison Allen: The Sugar Queen

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Yay! Another book review! I'm finally getting into the routine of reading again, and it's great. The book today's post is about - The Sugar Queen (2008) by Sarah Addison Allen - is a book I've been meaning to read for a couple of months now, and I'm both sad and happy that I finally got around to it.

Sarah Addison Allen is an author that is fairly new to me, in a way, as I discovered her at the end of 2012. This is the third book of hers that I read out of the five that she has published, and it's this book that made me realize something. The anticipation of her next novel - whenever that is, since she just published one this past January - pretty much mimics that anticipation I have for all of Sakamoto Maaya's releases.

What I'm trying to say is, in the short time that I've known this author, and from the three books I've read of hers, I feel confident in saying that Sarah Addison Allen is my new favorite (living) author. The sadness that exists in this is the fact that, as I mentioned before, she only has five novels, and I'm now done with three of them. I almost feel forced to take my time getting to the last two because the thought of having none left to read is awful.

In any case, the reason I love Sarah Addison Allen's work enough to declare her my favorite author has much to do with The Sugar Queen, and the themes it shares with her other two books that I've read - The Girl Who Chased the Moon and Lost Lake. Which brings us to this post.

Lips: MAC's Lipstick in "Toying Around" (LE) [Playland 2014]

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I was going to just call it a night and save my review of "Toying Around" for tomorrow, but no. I'm going to plow through to the end, while I still know what I'm doing (lol!).

Some colors are winners. It's as simple as that. From the moment you put them on, you know that they're winners. You know you'll get a lot of use out of them, that they're what you've been looking for - that they make you feel totally confident whenever you wear them.

"Toying Around" is one such color.

I knew I wanted it from the start, and as much as my list changed between January and April, it was the only color from my initial list that stood put. I did take a risk in buying it - I love a lipstick that's a perfect balance between pink and orange, but most inevitably fall too pink, or too orange. You can see examples of such lipsticks in my comparison post here, where I compare "Toying Around" to an example of each.

That's not to say that "Toying Around" is perfect, because it's not. If you view it next to the other pinker colors in the collection - as I have swatched in my master post here - you'll see that it's more orange than pink. But still - there's just something, something about it...