I'm Back!

So after a hiatus from posting I'm back with so much to say and so much to share. I just spent a month in beautiful NE visiting family. Lovely visit but busy from morning to night, which is the main reason I haven't been posting on facebook. But now that I am back in the heat and we are closed up in our cube of air conditioning I'm finding I have time to write again (yay!).

And it's a good thing too because there is something sweeping the internet and I want to talk about it. A group of very strong and beautiful women have been making videos of themselves to Rachel Platten's Fight Song coming forward as survivors of sexual abuse. Let me tell you, every single one of these videos makes me cry, I'm tearing up just thinking about them. But I want to say something to  these women.

You are beautiful
You are strong
You are brave
I'm here to voice my support to you.

And now a message to everyone who has been sexually abused and have not come forward.

You are beautiful
You are strong
You are brave
I'm here to voice my support to you.

How To Compliment

A genuine compliment is a powerful thing. It can change the entire course of the day, or even a life. So also can a complinsult (an insult masquerading as a compliment). One of the complinsults that has bugged me the most in life is the "you know you don't need makeup to look beautiful" after I've clearly spent time putting on my makeup to try to look nice. I haven't faced that in a while thanks to my wonderful family and friends but in my younger days (high school and college) I would run into it a lot. And it was always like a punch to the gut. It was as if the person was saying "you look terrible when you do your makeup." No. If you believe that someone is beautiful (which we all are btw) just tell them. Never qualify a compliment. It is no longer a compliment if you do.

As I was thinking about this this weekend and my mind was wandering back to high school I remembered one of the best compliments I ever got in those four years. It was from my dad. My dad taught at my high school so we would ride in together. I was not a morning person in those days so when I would get into the car my hair would be the rat's nest that I woke up with. I would sit there in frustrated silence as I brushed and combed and pinned and clipped and tried to make my hair presentable. I would then turn to my dad and say "how does my hair look?" to which he would always reply "very nice' and then I could relax.  Then one day, it must have been at the dinner table or something, my dad started to talk about this. "Kateri sits in the car working on her hair doing things that I can't fathom and then when she turns to me and asks how her hair look it always looks like something out of a magazine." Talk about an awesome compliment. It was genuine and it was not qualified.

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Writing Hungry

Who doesn't love a picnic? The warm breezes, the sun peaking out from behind the fluffy clouds, sipping lemonade, eating water melon...mmm. Yes please. Since I'm lucky enough to live walking distance from a park I plan on picnicing all Spring, Summer, and Autumn, As a family we like to do picnics from around the world. Sometimes it's sushi and sake, sometimes it's prosciutto and mozzarella, sometimes olives and those delicious stuffed grape leaves that have a name that I can't seem to remember right now. All the while of course looking beautiful as I eat :)

Lip stain review

I always get so excited when something arrives in the mail for me, even if I ordered it and I know it's coming. It's like a little taste of Christmas. This morning my stiff upper lip stain from Younique arrived. And now I would like to share my excitement with y'all.

First of all the application was super easy, like a watery lip gloss, Which is really good for me since I had to apply it while keeping my toddler from dumping all my other makeup into the toilet.

The color (saucy) is really pretty.

And lastly it's hours after just one application and the color has not faded or smudged! 

I give this product an A+

#noexcuses

I'm not going to lie, sometimes things can overwhelm me. And when that is the case I tend to turn on Netflix and tune out the world outside of my apartment. But does that ever really help? Not really. Don't get me wrong, I'm in no way shape or form going to swear off Netflix, I'm not crazy! I'm just taking a half hour break to reflect on something I saw yesterday that i thought was really beautiful.

Last year I started watching Dancing With the Stars. I loved the grace and energy it communicates as a show and even more than that I loved to watch my baby dance along. Yes at a very young age my DS will dance whenever he hears music. It's one of my biggest sources of joy. We've been impatiently waiting for season 20 and it's finally here folks!

Everyone's dances I thought were very impressive for the first night but the one that really made an impression was Noah Galloway and Sharna Burgess. If you don't watch the show here's a little background. Noah Galloway is a veteran who lost his left arm and leg in active duty. That's right, one arm, one leg, and he had the most beautiful dance of the night no question.

It wasn't just an impressive dance considering his injuries, ladies and gentlemen it was an impressive dance. I'm looking forward to seeing more of what he and Sharna do together.  

 

The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Spoilers)

I'd like to start this post with a confession. I watched every episode of the unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt in 24 hours. It's not just that it's funny, warm, and lacks so much of what the kids are calling "feels", it's the fact that Kimmy, Titus, and Jacqueline are all magnetic characters. I loved when Titus gave Kimmy a makeover stating that in exchange she can take him to brunch sometime and then using the most bizarre collection of household items turns her into Cinderella. Or when Jacqueline embraces her Native American heritage and howls at the sky while destroying a marching bands mascot. It may not be accurate to how life actually is, but why not? Seriously I might just go buy myself a pair of light up sneakers. Ellie Kemper in her pink jeans and light up kicks makes me happy!

Let's do a get the look.

Kimmy's charm is in her simplicity and brightness. So I paired her with 3D Mascara and Shy lip stain from Younique, and that's it. Really she hardly ever seems to be wearing much makeup at all. 

And then there is Jacqueline. 

If anyone in the world is using 3D mascara, it has got to be her! I didn't even bother putting it in the collage because her big eyes speak for themselves. But I did match her with Elegant splurge eye shadow and Pouty lip liner.

Well lovelies, till next time!

Kateri

Let's Think Spring

I know that in some places around the country it still feels an awful lot like winter but believe it or not spring is almost here. If you are one of the people still battling snow just remember that spring where you are is literally the best. Nothing is as exciting as definite seasons.

I'm so excited for spring, for Easter, and for all the new beginnings opening up around me like flowers.

And I'm excited about purple, especially when it comes to eyes.

Before I talk about eyes I'm going to talk a little bit about the beautiful color. Purple to me has the confidence and vivaciousness of Princess Anna. You know, the young idealist from the ever popular Frozen. This lady
  I know here is she is dressed for winter, but she has an attitude for spring.

I don't get to walk around in a regal cape and hat all day (although I'm thinking about changing that about my life) but I know I can get a little taste of royalty in my life with this regal eye pigment.

And this passionate eye liner

And yes I do look forward to sharing my Princess Anna spring time look!

Till next time beautiful people!