Tuesday, October 23, 2012

First Impression of Revlon Colorstay Creme Gel Eyeliner

Now some people know or don't know I am kind of obsessed with make-up. I love playing dress up. Have since I was a kid and even though I may not wear a much make-up or any at all, it is so much fun to play with. Today I purchased Revlon Colorstay Creme Gel Eyeliner in 001 Black. It is my first encounter with a creme gel liner and with a coupon I figured, eh, why not. At CVS, the price is $9.99 USD and if you purchase $10 or more of Revlon products, you receive a $4 extra bucks coupon. Apparently tax counts with this too and it is calculated before coupons so WOO!

It comes with the gel creme in a pot which is 0.08 oz, a lid and a brush attached to the lid that hides in it. Now at 0.08, that is not a lot of product. Looking at other pots of creme gel liner, there is more than double that. Some at the drugstore for the same price, even. So the amount is a con for me. The quality though is quite decent, in my opinion. It glided on fairly smoothly and the brush, for me, did the job quite nicely. I am still new to using brushes so it took a few attempts to get a straight line on my eye. 

Overall, with this first impression, I give this a 3.5/5. The color pay off was nice, it went on smoothly, the brush is nice but the amount of product you get is so minimal compared to most brands. I plan on purchasing a creme gel liner from L'Oreal here soon. And possibly even trying out ELF if I can find it. Hopefully, with more time and use, the score will go up. Thanks for reading. Any suggestions on what I should try next? Let me know in the comments!

Emily

Vegetable Spaghetti

This is a recipe I came up with the other day. I have been trying to eat better and I love pasta so I had to figure out something that combined both of those. And I did! Also, one of the reasons I came up with this is because I wanted to treat my boyfriend. I have a bad knee and sometimes it acts up and walking for me becomes really hard. For 3 out of the 5 nights at work recently, he picked me up without question, even when he had to be up at 6am and I wasn't off work each night until 1130pm. He's a keeper! :)

Anyways, this recipe is so simple! I did use ground sweet sausage in this but it can be easily left out if you don't eat or want meat in this. You just throw it all together in a pot!

Vegetable Spaghetti
1/2 pound ground sweet sausage or beef (optional)
1 box Pictsweet Tuscan Vegetable Medley -You can also use Birds Eye Tuscan Vegetables in Herbed Tomato Sauce. Both are delicious for something like this-
1/2 can diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning (any brand will do)
1/2-4 tablespoons of minced garlic -You can use the stuff in the jar with oil and as much as you want. I love garlic-
1/4-1/2 medium red onion, diced
2/3-1 jar of garden style pasta sauce -Use any that you like. I would even say use other flavors if you are feeling creative-
1/2 box or 8oz of whole wheat pasta of your liking
seasoning of your liking -Salt, pepper, Italian seasoning-

Start by cooking your meat, if you choose to use any. I added garlic and Italian seasoning to it while it cooked. Drain off the grease and set it aside. Boil the water and cook the pasta as directed. Drain and set aside. Now for the veggies! Since there are frozen boxed veggies, follow the directions on the package to heat them up and then, with all the other veggies, meat and seasonings, throw them in the pot you cooked the pasta in. Use medium heat to cook and thoroughly heat through the canned and raw veggies. Cook them too your liking. I prefer mine to still have crunch to them so mine don't cook that long. Once heated add the sauce and heat some more! I usually wait until everything starts to simmer and the sauce starts to constantly bubble. Toss in the pasta and make sure everything is heated through thoroughly!! At this point you can heat it quickly or turn the heat down and let everything melt together till the pasta is swollen from the sauce and everything is one.... I couldn't wait. Was hungry :)

Serve with bread sticks and enjoy! This recipe had 6-8 servings in it so even with just 2 people we had leftovers! I hope you enjoy this. I'm sorry I don't have pictures. Next recipe will definitely have photos!

Emily



Monday, October 22, 2012

Quick odd post

If I seem to post a lot this week it is because I am on vacation and other than cleaning around my apartment, running errands and reading, this will cover most of my down time.

Emily

Pegomastax africanus

New fanged dwarf dinosaur

I was incredibly pleased when I first read this article. It is such an astonishingly weird looking crazy angry beast. I think it is adorable. Then again, I think anything part of the dromeaosauridae family is absolutely stunning to me, which everyone finds weird. This isn't part of that family but I think it looks like one of my angry cats. Another story for another day. 

A heterodontosaur with vampire like fangs on the lower jaw. Not what you would expect out of a herbivore, right?  Well there is the therizinosaurus. Check that one out to see out out of the ordinary it is. Speculated to have used those tiny fangs for digging for roots, gathering fruit and, of course, sparring for a mate. Not one to be cuddle with porcupine-like spikes all along its back, the term "punk sized" seems to fit quite nicely. In modern times, don't you think this would be a great guard dog? 

Emily
Male Beluga whale mimics human voice - Yahoo

"In 1984, scientists at the National Marine Mammal Foundation in San Diego began noticing unusual noises emanating from where they kept the whales and dolphins. These resembled two people conversing in the distance, just beyond the range of the understanding of listeners.
Researchers traced these sounds back to one male white whale, Noc, when a diver surfaced from the whale enclosure to ask his colleagues an odd question: "Who told me to get out?" The investigators concluded sounds resembling "out" came from Noc. [Listen to Noc Speak Human]" 

This is by far one of the coolest things I have read in a long time!

Books I have recently read

Hello all! I decided to start this out with books I have recently read and finished and what I am working on now. As a kid, I was not a avid reader. It just wasn't my thing. I would have rather been outside or hanging with my friends. And with all the reading assigned in school, it just felt overwhelming and, well, annoying. But recently my mom helped me out by giving me some money to buy a Kindle. It is my baby. Oh my god, if I had this as a kid, I may have never left the house!

Books read:
The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
-The Hunger Games
- Catching Fire 
- Mockingjay 
Summary on Wikipedia (spoiler alert) 
Overall, I give this series a 5/5. It was compelling, nerve racking, fairly quick paced. I quickly became attached to the characters. I find it i enjoy and really sink myself into a book or series, I feel like the characters are people I know. This dystopian tale really sunk into me. Yes, it may be catered to young adults but that shouldn't take away from the majesty of the book. I don't want to say much more because I do not want to give away anything. Worth the time to sit and read. And if you're like me, reading these books won't take long

The Frankenstein Series by Dean Koontz
-Prodigal Son
- City of Night
- Dead and Alive
- Lost Souls
- The Dead Town
Summary on Wikipedia (spoiler alert)
Overall, if I was just considering the first 3 books, I would give this a 4/5. But since there are 5 books in this series the whole thing barely gets a 3/5. I almost feel like I should knock it down a tenth or two. The first 3, may have felt too long at points and I feel could have been 2 books easily, were a quick, entertaining read. Learning about the monster, what he had become. I won't say anymore! And the other characters, delving into their minds. I enjoyed this take on an old classic tale bringing it into modern times. But the last 2 were such a let down. It felt like he wrote 2 more books to extend the series either to satisfy the publishers or to make more money off the fairly successful series. Such a let down. And Dean Koontz is one of my favorite fiction authors. My advice, read the first 3 and stop there and then read the summary for the last 2. They are not worth it! 

Right now I am on the A Game of Thrones Series by George R.R. Martin. On book one, A Song of Ice and Fire. I started 2 weeks ago and I think I am 20-30 pages in. This will be a challenge for me. I am not really a fan of wordy authors. To just sit there and describe a tree in the wind and use one whole page for it...yeah. But I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try something different. I really feel I can do this and maybe, after attempting the Hobbit 5 times now, I can conquer it! I am also reading Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters by Matt Ridley. I love science and am trying my best to get in as many science based, non-fiction books as I can on different subjects. HPB (Half Price Books)  and I are such good friends!

In the comments, let me know if you have any suggestions for me or what you think of the books I have talked about. I would love to hear other thoughts an opinions since I am now just discovering my love for the written word. 

Til next time! 
Emily