Men's Health... More Gram-isms

My grandma loves gossip magazines.  Every time I go to her house, I can guarantee myself at least an hour of "quality reading."  She always has a plethora of new material, or "books" as she so fondly calls them.  With as many magazines as she buys, she has always noticed Men's Health Magazine in the checkout isle, and can't understand why the stores keep it in plain view.

One time, my uncle came to visit, and after being picked up from the airport, put his copy of Men's Health magazine down on the coffee table.  Concerned, my Grandma asked why he was purchasing homosexual pornography.

"No, Mom.  It's a fitness magazine."

"Oh I always assumed it was pornography because the men on the cover always have their shirts off..."

Sexiest Man Alive

Last weekend, People Magazine released it's 2010 list for their Sexiest Men Alive.  I oogled the pages, hoping to savor each piece of eye candy.  I was slightly disappointed to find that I disagreed with most of "the People's" picks.  After a little thought, I discovered, I'm not really "attracted" to most celebrities.  They are nice looking, don't get me wrong, but there are very few that I would actually make-out with.  After creating this little list, it seems that I definitely have a type - tall, dark, and handsome- just like every other woman on this planet!  Well, without further ado, here is my list of the Top 3 Sexiest men in Hollywood: 

One word: Wolverine.  Hello!  Did anyone see this little movie, or any of the X-Men movies for that matter?  If so then there should be no question as to why Mr. Jackman made my list.  Not only is he chock full of rippling pectorals, he sings, and dances, and he's good!  He once gave Mrs. Barbra Walters a little preview of a Broadway show he was starring in... a full on lap dance!!! (Click here to see it)  Not only is this guy totally handsome,  he's from Australia!  All he has to do is say "G'day mate, let's throw another shrimp on the barbie," and I would probably flush and giggle like an idiot.

It's not surprise here that Other BF would be on my Sexiest Men Alive list, I ♥ him.  He has been in the Hollywood spotlight for a while, but until recently, he was never really super-famous. Therefore, to me, that made him "attainable," [oh yeah, I could totally land a date with JG!]  Then there was that cowboy movie, and he dated that super famous actress, and now he seems to be everywhere.  I've only ever seen one movie he's been in, but it was awesome!  Jake earned his spot on my list for being oh-so-gorgeous, and having the best set of abs I've seen in awhile.  Plus, this guy is hilarious.  When recently asked what his favorite romantic song was, he replied, "I whip my hair back and fourth, I whip my hair back and fourth."  It's silly-sort-of-lame things like that that make us ladies go crazy.

My number 1 pick is most definitely Henry Cavill.  I often forget about him because he isn't huge over here in the States (yet), and lives across the pond.  Let's just stare at the above picture for a minute, and drool.  I first saw Henry in The Count of Monte Cristo when he was just a wee lad, and then he had a small, but totally-diabolical-stab-his-friend-in-the-back-but-it's-ok-cause-he's-a-total-hottie roll in Tristan & Isolde (both of those movies are AWESOME by the way.)  However, I didn't completely fall in ♥ with him until I saw him on the Tudors, a series on Showtime about Henry the VIII.  He plays ol' Hank's best friend forever, and he is the reason I never missed an episode... and purchased all 4 seasons on DVD.  He is known in Tinseltown as "Hollywood's Most Unlucky Actor,"  why?  He is often a runner up for HUGE roles, but looses out to other actors. 

For example, it was between Henry and Brandon Roth to play the new Superman in Superman Returns, Brandon got the part. It was between Daniel Craig and Henry to play the "young" James Bond in Casino Royale (producers felt Henry was too young of a James Bond)  AND, and this is a true fact, when Stephanie Mayer was writing the Twilight series, Henry is who she pictured as Edward!  However, by the time the movie rights were purchased, and filming began, at 24, he looked too old to play an immortal 17 year old (despite Stephanie's pushes to cast Henry anyway).  At 6'1" he has a physique resembling a bronzed statue, hypnotizing baby-blues, and a British accent. [These guys are killing me with the accents!] I wish we could start to see more of him.  He is absolutely delicious!

So that's it, my picks for the sexiest men alive!  Who are yours?

Technical Difficulties

Remember how I asked about Ombré highlights the other day?  Well, I decided that I love them.  My roots were getting a little out of hand, and so I decided I wanted to enhance them! I am not kidding, I've been researching this highlighting process since May, and debating on if I want to do it or not.  I finally decided, "Yes, I need a change, and if I hate it, I'll just get highlights."  Easy peezy!

My normal hair stylist is out on maternity leave... and I love her.  She has been referring all of her clients to her sister, Tammy.  I was really hesitant about letting anyone else touch my hair, but Tammy is the only person Sarah lets do her hair, and Sarah is a freak-of-nature-perfectionist, so I decided to ♪ have a little faith in her  ♫. 

I took in a bunch of photos of Hillary Duff's ombré hair, and even drew "hair chart" diagrams saying what colors I wanted and where to place them...  Like I said, I may not be a beautician, but I'm no amature!  I've been researching technique, and watching videos since May.

When I went into the Salon after work last night I asked Tammy how she wanted to go about doing this, while presenting my ideas.

1.  We can color my hair all over, and then go back through and do the ombré highlights after.

PRO: This would have been the simplest process, with only 2 shampoos and 2 blow drys, and would have gone relatively quickly.  Overall my hair would be darker, but it's cooler outside, so I guess that's OK.

CON:  It might be difficult to pull good looking blond highlights so soon from freshly deposited color, and they might look brassy or orange.

2.  We could go through and lengthen the roots with color (mine were actually only about 1" and I wanted a good 3" of roots), and with the same color add in a bunch of low lights.  Rinse that, blow dry, and then go through and do the ombré highlights. 

PRO:  More natural looking result, not as stark of a contrast between low lights/roots and blond highlights.

CON: Time consuming!  It would be like sitting through getting a full highlight... twice.

Well, my "new" stylist didn't like either of these options because, "that's not how they taught us to do them in the class we took."  "OK," I thought, I'm trusting you.  She told me that because I was already REALLY blond, she wasn't going to add anymore highlights, but instead color the roots and then add the ombré technique with the dark color. 

Long story short, instead of using my requested, natural looking 6N (level 6 Neutral- because my natural color is ashy blond) for my roots and low lights, she used an 8W (level 8 Warm).  Because an 8 is lighter than a 6, the color ended up bleaching out my roots, and because it was warm, the bleached roots turned orange.  Clearly not what we were going for...

Anyway we then decided to try to go with my suggestion #1.  I still wanted a level 6 but there was much argument over the fact that it would be way too dark, so after Tammy called Sarah for the 3rd time, it was decided between them to die my roots, and ombré ends a level 7N, and to just leave my already blond highlights alone.  It looked great!  I would have left the salon, but because my roots didnt' take the color Tammy told me I wasn't allowed in public.  I had gorgeous rich, brown and blond ombré hair and ORANGE roots.  We had to go over it again with color, only this time, she used a 6N, over my whole head. (See, I know what I'm talking about)  For whatever reason, my hair was tired of all the fuss, and didn't fully take the darker color at the ends, but sucked it up at the roots.

So, now I'm brunette, but not all the way.  I still have tons of blond ends, but super dark roots.  It's been about 10 hours, and I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about it.  If it wasn't 12:30am when we finally stopped, I would have had her go back and put the blond ombré highlights through the ends... But I was tired and to get up early this morning.  I figure, I'll give it a week and then I'll decide what to do with it.

In a round about way, though, I sort of got what I wanted... I wanted it to be darker overall, have dark roots and light ends... funny how that worked out!  Bonus: My hair has that delicious saloon-processed smell.  Seriously, I love it.

Ombre is "the Hombre"

I apologize for my horrible attempt at a play on words.  Lately the Hollywood hair trend seems to be "Ombré" highlights.  While in Spanish ombre means "man," in French, ombré translates to shadow. This particular color technique is defined by dying the hair so that the roots are dark, and gradually fade out to a lighter color at the ends.  If done right, the finished result looks like summer hair which has grown out just enough to make a fall debut.  OK OK, essentially it is an upscale version of "I'm-too-poor-to-keep-paying-for-highlights-and-my-roots-are-outta-control," but I am obsessed with this look...  I've noticed, however, that I am particular about how I like it. 

For example:

The looks above are done so well...  There isn't too much contrast between the root color and the end color, and there is a really nice gradient of in-between colors.  The picture of Hillary Duff is my favorite!  If I were to get this done, I would bring lots of her photos.  She has an beautiful, subtle, natural looking gradient of colors.

I do worry, however, that if I were to get ombré highlights, I would come out of the salon looking like this... In which case I would have to "burn down the barber shop."  Most stylists I've talked to agree on one thing: this isnt' a good look for girls with short hair, there just isn't room enough for the blending of colors.  Rachael Bilson looks like she really did run out of money in her Hair Fund.  The photo on the end just screams "NO!" Thank goodness it is a wig.

So I'm curious...

Radiant Jewels

Well I have gone and done it.  I have put off the inevitable for as long as I could, and I finally had to give in.  I purchased my first piece of makeup from MAC!  Any follower of this blog knows how much I L.O.V.E. makeup.  Over this last year, my makeup stash has become huge... Seriously, it's taking over my living space. 

Of all of my makeup, however, I don't own anything from MAC.  Why?  I just knew that once I started buying their products, I would most likely love them, and then I would go crazy.  When the To The Beach collection launched early this summer, I fell in love with every.single.piece.  The colors were incredible, the packaging was so retro-cute (and I tend not to like retro).  I could have gone hog wild.  But, I was a student, who wasn't working, and couldn't exactly justify spending $500 on makeup; no matter how badly I wanted to.

So the months past, and slowly, everything from To The Beach disappeared.  Then came Fabulous Felines (which I loved, but same predicament as before) and the Venomous Villains, inspired by Disney villains.  Nothing really grabbed me, I've never thought Cruela Devil's makeup was particularly noteworthy...  IF it had a been a Disney Princess Collection, that would have another story.

Most recently, MAC launched A Tartan Tale, their Fall/Winter 2010 collection inspired by the Scottish countryside, and it's namesake the tartan!  I really really REALLY wanted to love the makeup in this collection because the packaging was so delicious, but the actual products were just sort of "mehh."  The idea for the collection was brilliant, but the color payoff and pigmentation left something to be desired.  The brushes are lower quality than most drugstore brands, most of the colors of the mini pigments and mini gloss tins are part of the permanent line and the adorable tartan pattern on the single eye shadows is just for show, and is only on the top layer of the pan.


I was disappointed in almost everything, except...

THIS!

The moment I saw this Dazzleglass Creme in Radiant Jewels, I knew I had to have it.  MAC describes this gloss as a "dark sparkly magenta."  I call it GLORIOUS!  It is quite honestly the most beautiful thing I've ever seen; which seems a bit silly because "Other BF" J.G. is pretty gorgeous.

I've been taking it everywhere with me- even days I'm not wearing it- just so that I know it's safe.  And whenever I open my purse, I swear sunbeams shine fourth and angels begin singing.  I may as well have a purse full of emeralds, rubies and other "Radiant Jewels" in there for reals!  Real BF thinks I'm ridiculous.  Radiant Jewels seems bright in the tube, but applies surprisingly sheer (which is a downer for me, I wanted it to look on my lips like it does in the tube).  It has all the luxurious sparkle of a dazzleglass, but with a creamier texture, and did I mention how moisturizing it is? 

See, it goes on really sheer

I always thought lip colors were supposed to make my lips dry, you know an unspoken trade off, color payoff for dryness.  WRONG!  I don't even need to apply my lip balm anymore.  I decided I love this color so much, that the thought of running out of this "limited edition" product was giving me anxiety, so...

Radiant Jewels applied over a hot pink lipstick

Mama couldn't be more proud!

BACK IN BLACK

Cue ACDC's Back in Black.  No seriously, go turn it on, and continue playing while reading this post... I'll wait.  Personally, I feel that this post is worth of theatrics!  Ready?  Good, let's get going.

I am back!

[Sweet guitar rift ♬ ♫ ♩ ♫]

First thing's first; I will not apologize for my absence.  I hate finding a blog, and reading a few entries and seeing that every.single.post. begins with, "I'm sorry I haven't been blogging but..."  or "I've been so busy, I neglected my blog..."

Everyone is busy, I know this.  Life can do that to us, so I won't apologize for having "a life," if that's what you want to call it.

Sometimes, we all just need a little vacation.  For example, I can spend about 3 to 4 days with BF until I decide "I need my space or I am going to pull my hair out."  My first year of college, I was roommates with my best friend.  After that, we didn't speak to each other for a very.long.time.  There were absolutely no hard feelings, there was no fight, there was not even communication acknowledging the fact that we weren't talking, we just needed a break.  After about a year, we finally hung out, and are still the best-of-friends.

Just like the above mentioned scenarios, I decided I needed a little break from my bloggy-blog...  Well, that and I have been experiencing an extreme brain fart!

Doctors say it IS curable but will take some time.

I used to blog once a day, or even more than once, and save ready-to-go-posts in my queue.  However, during this time, I should have been studying for an exam, etc.  It is the darnedest thing...  I can blog all day long when I have other "important" things to do, but when I have a bunch of free time... Nothing!  I can't think of anything!  It has been very frustrating.

So to any of my readers, sorry to leave you all hanging.  I didn't realize I would be called out (numerous times) for my hiatus, in comments and in person... Oh!  Side note: "Shout out to Wendy!"  Also, my reader following has grown by 100+ people since I stopped posting... hmm.  I think someone is trying to tell me something.

Anyway, I'm back, and I'll be blogging more regularly, although, probably not every day... Stay tuned for updates and more fun-ness (uhh is that a word?)!

[ ♬ Cause I'm back in ♪ errr... Gray.]
black!

Status Check

♥  Thanks to everyone who left me a comment the other day.  I was feeling a little low, and needed to vent.  And I apologize, because I hate getting emotional.  HATE IT!  I did make a decision, and decided to take the job.  After some negotiating on my end, my new boss is going to allow me time to go to school; but instead of 14 credits, I'll only be taking 11.  So instead of graduating in May, I'll have to take summer courses next year, and then walk in December.  Wah wah.  I know other jobs come along, but not one like this.  It really is just too good to be true.

♥  I have Pink Eye, AGAIN!  This time, I have no clue how I could have gotten it.  Seriously, what human being contracts Pink Eye twice in 5 months?  I swear I take showers, and wash my hands after using the bathroom.  My Dad told me that I need to stop swimming in cat pee.  His advice was most helpful.

♥ I  organized tried to organize my closet yesterday.  It's official, I need a bigger one.  I have used all the space under my bed, in my dresser, and now in my closet.  My initial plan was to do a small rennovation on my current closet, but now, I think I'll just buy a really big house... With a really big closet.


Hooray!  It's Friday!

Ice Cream Man

As previously mentioned, my Dad came home from Germany a few days ago.  We decided to have a family dinner/get-together to celebrate.  Just as we were finishing up eating, and making our way to the living room.  All of a sudden, I heard Colby yell, "Ice Cream Man!" in a pitch that grown men shouldn't be able to reach.  Before anyone could respond, he had run out the front door. 

I must have been the only one who understood the importance of his message, because I quickly took off after him.  By the time I had reached the driveway, he was halfway up the street, yelling, and trying to flag down the truck driver over the music.  I half suspect the driver actually did see him in his side-rear-view mirrors and continued driving just to have a good laugh at the 26 year old man chasing down his truck, rather than a bunch of 10 year olds.

By the time I caught up, I could hardly breath for the sake of laughing!  Standing at the window, Colby was shouting out the name of almost every picture on the side panel of the truck.  "Oh I want one of those too!" I'd chime in. 

I started to feel a little foolish, but was completely validated when I saw our neighbor, Phil, and his mom walking towards us, with his wife, Raime close behind.  Ramie stated that she was cooking dinner, and Phil and his mom were in the garage.  She got so excited when she heard the music, that they decided they needed a cold treat;  the sight of Colby sprinting past their house yelling at the truck to stop was the last push they needed!

When Colby finished ordering, Phil had guessed our bill was close to $25.00.  I'm not sure the final total, I let Colby pay.   We walked back to the house, and enjoyed our treats.  Thanks Colb!

Me, Ev, & BF with our Popsicles.  Hooray for blurry iPhone pics!

Willkommenes Heim

{The headline says, "Welcome Home" in German.}

Remember how my Dad went to Germany last year for voluntary deployment?  Well he cut his 18 months short, and surprised everyone by coming home this past Saturday.  He brought us all custom, handmade Beer Steins as souvenirs!  Sweet!  A new cup to drink my Pepsi out of!

My stein has a hand carved scene of the Rhine River on it.  There are little towns, a castle, a wine-making vinyard, and of course the river.  On the top is the siren that guards the river.

Heartbroken

When I was little, Wedding Midge was my favorite toy ever!  {I'm sure I've mentioned it before}  Not only did she have LONG BANGS and WAY longer hair than barbie, she came with a totally cute party dress underneath her wedding dress.  One Christmas I got the full Midge & Allen Wedding Set.  I remember one of my favorite things to do was remove Midge's Wedding skirt, revealing her little white mini-dress.  Then I would take Allen's white wedding blazer, and BAM!  Instantly transform Midge into Dr. Midge.  She would then drive either her Ferrari, Mustang or Jeep to her fabulous job as a doctor-of-something.

I have wanted to be a doctor for as long as I can remember.  It is THE only career I have ever thought of, or taken interest in.  When I wanted to go to "Hair School," my parents told me to get a degree, become a doctor, and then I could do whatever I wanted; but I was too smart to settle for anything less.

Over the last however-many-years-I've-been-in-college it seems like the odds are stacked against me.  I feel like I have been stuck in a rut,  and my life is definately not where I pictured it to be at 25 + 1 years old.  My parents have always stressed the importance of an education {high school was a must as well as a college degree} and it is something that has ALWAYS been extremely important to me.  I love learning.  I always have.  I always loved school, and would throw a fit if I had to miss a day.  It really seems, however, like getting a degree has been harder for me than for anyone else I know.

School isn't necessarily "too hard."  I am a Pre-Med major, and after, numerous, long, intellectual conversations with other Pre-Med/Pre-Dental students, and students of other majors in the foyer of the institute building, it has been decided that my major is definitely one of the most challenging offered in colleges today.  But like I said, it isn't that it's hard, but sometimes I feel like I am not supposed to be doing this. 

The first 2 years I was in school, I bounced around trying to decide a major; Broadcast Journalism, to Biology, to Photography, and back to Biology.  After deciding, I was only able to attend school part time because of work conflicts.  Then I took time off to figure out my personal life, and then again because of work conflicts.  Then, I couldn't afford to go to school full time and only work part time, so I had to drop some classes.  The cycle seems never ending.

Most people ask, "well can't you do night school, or online classes?"  HAH, I wish!  Maybe if I were a business major, or a Psychology major or something "popular," I could.  But science majors?  Yea right!  Science classes are a pain in my bum!  The classes we need are only-offered-one-semester-per-year-and-in-one-time-slot-and-if-it-fills-up-and-we-don't-get-in-TOO-BAD!  Wait until next year and try again.

Moving on...

This past spring I was fortunate enough to not have to work, and focus my attentions only on school.  I had hoped that this would be the case until I graduate next May (finally).  However, circumstances changed.  I was recently offered a job, and while I was skeptical about working while trying to finish school, I decided that I needed something else to occupy my time (at least until school starts back up in the Fall).  I went in for an interview today, and now I'm left with a very difficult decision.

I never considered a job in this field, and it isn't my dream career, however, I could not have dreamed of a better suited occupation for myself at this time in my life.  If I sat down and wrote down all of the things I would like in a job to help me get through school, this opportunity reaches far beyond those expectations.  The pay is amazing, the benefits are incredible (Medical/Dental/Retirement and I haven't had insurance for years),  Christmas bonuses, yearly raises, paid time off/vacation, monthly birthday parties, Christmas parties, annual summer BBQ's, lunch brought in almost every day, choice of 30 minute or hour long lunch breaks, choice of in-time in the mornings, it's only 5 minutes from my house, they want to start me at twice my asking salary, and start on Monday.

I realize that for most people, this job is a no-brainer.  The only drawback is that they CAN NOT be flexible with my school schedule.  So, essentially, for as long as I would be working with the company, I can't go to school.  I could maybe take a night class here or there, IF one is ever offered.  I am absolutely heartbroken.  I have worked SO hard to try to finish school, and I AM SO CLOSE!  I am so close to getting my degree.  I am SO CLOSE to going to Medical School, and SO CLOSE to being just like my Dr. Midge.

I called my mom after my interview to ask her advice, and she couldn't give me any.  She realizes what an amazing opportunity this is, and it really seems like the stars aligned for me to get this job.  She realizes that another opportunity like this probably will never present itself, but she could not, in her better judgement, advise me to put my education on hold.

It looks as though I will be spending an adequate amount of time today praying and asking for guidance.  I called my bishop for a blessing, and hopefully, afterwards I'll have some guidance.  This is one of the biggest decisions I've had to make thus far in my life {yea, I'm fairly sheltered}, and I don't have a lot of time.