To Sparkle Punch...

High Five for Friday: August 11

JessComment

Let's see what brought the sparkle this week!

  • On Saturday, I was reunited with one my grade school friends that I hadn't seen in eons for her LulaRoe launch party, and it was delightful! I didn't foresee buying a kimono, but hey, wonders never cease! 
😍😍😍 

😍😍😍 

  • We got our back door replaced last week, and all of our usual woodland visitors had since been MIA, so I was starting to worry that we had traumatized them. I was very relieved, then, when this little guy showed up!!
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  • Pops had me accompany him on a walk on Sunday, which is always a mistake because Pops likes to, you know, WALK, and I like to stop and gawk at every flower, cat, and bun we meet along the way. But there was a very necessary intermission when we stumbled upon these awesome sunflowers! 
#basic 💁🏼

#basic 💁🏼

He loves me or he loves me not??

He loves me or he loves me not??

  • My therapist had me take the Myers-Briggs test this week, which is always a fascinating thing #nerdalert. (Although I've taken it before at least three times and can never remember my results!) This time around, I'm an ISFJ (Introverted Sensing Feeling Judging), which seemed pretty darn accurate. And I came up 96% introverted, surprise! 😂

 

  • Lastly, if you're all caught up on Game of Thrones, then you might enjoy these hilarious reactions to Sunday's episode! 

 

Hope you have a great weekend! xo

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High Five for Friday: August 4

JessComment

Let's see what put the sparkle into the first week of August!

  • As I did in August 2015 and 2016, I decided to document my daily outfits again! But because I knew I wouldn't get my act together enough to track and post a batch of them on here once a week, I'm uploading them daily to Instagram! If you want to follow along, I'm @jessie_face4 (I really struggled with the grammar of that sentence: at @jessie_face4?? #Englishmajorprobs)
  • In an attempt to do something fun before work on Monday (in keeping with my "one happy thing a day" goal from last month), I started working on my August goals post at the Starbucks near work! I enjoy working in coffee shops, so naturally I never do it. 💯
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  • Deena sent me this meme that FINALLY combines two of my loves:
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  • My friend Kristin sent me this "Which badass Game of Thrones woman are you?" quiz, and apparently I'm "gorgeous and a total badass," thank goodness. 
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  • Lastly, today is H54F friendship day! I can't focus on just one friend that I've made, though, because it's more like who HAVEN'T I met through H54F?! Tif, Becky, Katie, Della, Nicole, Ashley, Crystal, just to name a few... And some of those friendships extend beyond the blogosphere--Nicole and I have exchanged Christmas cards, Becky is my go-to make-up gal, and Ashley and Tif are some of my biggest cheerleaders. I was really nervous about joining the link-up initially (as I was posting very infrequently back then), and it has changed my life in so many great ways. (Not just the friendship aspect, but also by forcing me to post more frequently and to notice the good things that happen during the week.) Love you ladies! 💖

 Hope you have a great weekend! xo 

August 2017 goals

JessComment
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I'm revamping the goals a bit this month! I'm going to try to focus on one bigger goal that's geared toward healthier living and then a few smaller but clearly actionable goals that I just keep forgetting to do. When I try to make a bunch of big changes (eat better! no caffeine!) at once, I usually get frustrated quickly and abandon them all. So maybe this method will help

So this month's big goal is *drumroll please*... get 8 hours of sleep a night!

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I don't know about you, but I exist in a state of near-constant sleep deprivation. And I don't even have a kid or anything! Back in high school, I started prioritizing schoolwork or other obligations over sleep and have just never stopped. I try to catch up on weekends, which is not great, and I rely on caffeine to get me through the day (especially on weekdays). But trying to go to bed earlier usually makes me anxious because sleep deprivation makes going through the motions so easy--I just have no energy to do anything different. And going to bed before 11:30-12 makes me feel guilty, like I'm not being productive enough. So as easy as this goal may sound, it's going to be a serious challenge for me. I mean, in the last three weeks, I've only gotten 8 hours of sleep THREE TIMES, all on weekends. Yikes. (Thank you, Fitbit, for making this horrifying information available to me!)

So that's this month's main goal. The other two are calling my insurance company to see if I can get one stupidly expensive prescription by mail, and trying to figure out if I can get my gmail associated with my iTunes account. Yippee.

 

Let's see how last month's goals went:

1. Check bank account daily: CHECK! Okay, so I didn't do it every day, but I'm giving myself a pass for doing it 90% of the time, which is a big improvement for me. I set a daily reminder on my phone, and that has been a huge help. I've also been writing down my balance and subtracting transactions every time I check my bank account, which has really brought my bad spending habits to my attention. 😒

2. Do one thing that makes me happy every day: CHECK! I still have a hard time remembering to do it (how sad), but I'm getting better, especially at making time for fun things before work. (In fact, I'm currently working on this post in a Starbucks before going to work!)

3. Creative writing: Hmm. I maybe worked on my story once, but I'm giving myself a HALF-CHECK because I signed up and started doing Shonda Rhimes's (!!) online Master Class. I'm still in the early stages of the course (so analyzing TV shows rather than writing myself), but just signing up is a step toward taking my creative writing more seriously.

4. Keep using the Calm app: HALF-CHECK because I used it faithfully through the first half of the month and then things fell off a cliff. Which is disappointing, since I do like the app and usually feel calmer when I use it. I just have such revulsion toward sitting still and/or meditating that it's easy to talk myself out of doing it.  

5. Less screen time: Meh? I don't know how to grade this because some days I was better about it than usual and some days I wasn't.

 

This was a pretty darn good month for my Phrase of the Year ("out of hiding"): I went to a Fourth of July party that I was invited to at the last minute (last-minute invites are usually the easiest for me to wiggle out of), I brunched with my grad school friends, had an especially social Saturday in which I had lunch with Deena and then saw another friend later that same day (!!), and oh yeah, I drove to the freakin' SHORE! Not too shabby.

Linking up with Nicole at Writes Like a Girl!

High Five for Friday: July 28

JessComment

Happy Friday! Although this week wasn't bad or anything, it seems like most of the fun/excitement got crammed into Saturday, so let's see what put the sparkle into that day!

  • First of all, I got a much-needed haircut, thank the lord! I was so desperate I actually took a 9:15 appointment on Saturday morning BLEH. But at least now I don't have to put my hair up immediately because I don't know what else to do with it. 🙌
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  • After that, I met my friend Deena for lunch and miraculously managed to parallel parking in the city!!! (Unassisted for only the second time!) I was so excited that I took a picture of my car and sent it to Pops with a text comprised entirely of exclamation points!  

 

  • In addition to a lovely reunion with Deena, I was also reunited with Sasha, who was not nearly as excited about it as I was!
She's not a kitten anymore! 😭😭😭

She's not a kitten anymore! 😭😭😭

And then, to make it a full-on Caturday, I also stopped at the pet shop in Deena's 'hood and had a grey and white kitten climb all over me. 😭😭😭 

Pops is real lucky that I didn't come home with this girl and her Ike of a brother! I mean, SHE PAWED AT MY ARM WHEN I CLOSED THE GATE. 😩😩😩

Pops is real lucky that I didn't come home with this girl and her Ike of a brother! I mean, SHE PAWED AT MY ARM WHEN I CLOSED THE GATE. 😩😩😩

  • Actually, it's a wonder I ever made it to Deena because I kept stopping and taking pictures of pretty flowers on my walk to the restaurant! 
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  • And lastly, something not from Saturday! It's been a strange week of rain and clouds, but this threatening sky on Monday night was just gorgeous.
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Hope you have a great weekend! xo

July 2017 budget

JessComment

Oh boy. Cue Marshall/Beercules:

I Did It Again - Marshall - HIMYM S07E02

Yep. Even worse than last month, actually!

Because I'd been on a roll of responsibility before May 2017, I've been trying to figure what caused me to become so out of control, starting about late April. And I think I've finally got it. In mid-April, I stopped taking a medication that significantly bolstered my mood and boosted my impulse control but had worrisome side effects. I'd started taking this type of drug in April 2016--a month in which I ended up spending an "all-time low." Coincidence? 

With that realization, at least I can now expect my impulses to run wild in a way I haven't experienced in a year, and know that feeling lower in mood will make me want to shop all the time again... and make me more willing to ignore my shopping budget.

Information is not transformation, but it can't hurt.

With that said, let's move on to the many many things I bought this month:

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  1. Old Navy shorts (Plato's Closet): $6 on sale for $3
  2. Bow belt (Plato's Closet): $4
  3. Sans Souci scallop-hem shorts (Plato's Closet): $6 on sale for $3
  4. Lipsense Climate Control (Lips that Last by Becky): $60 on sale for $51
  5. Lularoe leggings: $25 on sale for $11
  6. Magnolia Quarter-Strap Sandals (Target): $20 on sale for $15
  7. Stella & Dot Ever After necklace (Poshmark): $25 + $6 shipping: $31

Not pictured:

  1. Lipsense Lip Color in Bombshell (Lips that Last by Becky): $27
  2. Striped Lularoe Carly: $55 + $2 S&H = $57
  3. Solid grey Lularoe Carly: on sale for $30 + $7 shipping (for both Carly and leggings) = $37
  4. Black belt (Plato's Closet): $3
  5. Innersense Pure Harmony Hairbath shampoo (hair salon): $27

TOTAL: $269

Welp, one of my goals for next month is going to be no online shopping because HELLO. 

This was the first month in a long time that I felt like I just couldn't control myself and just bought everything in sight regardless of having surpassed my budget looong ago. I definitely fell into the trap of thinking that I needed something RIGHT NOW, or that buying something in particular was going to solve some "problem." Although I will say that I did legitimately run out my beloved Bombshell (seriously my ideal MLBB color), was in need of a pair (or two) of not-so-short shorts, and was running low on shampoo. 

Now onto the less necessary purchases! 

I had been intrigued by Climate Control, as it has great reviews and my skin needs some help. (I'm prone to redness and feel fairly self-conscious unless I wear make-up. 😞) But it sold out before I decided to commit to it! Wah! Luckily, Becky is the absolute BEST and tracked it down for me in about 24 hours, meaning that I could also still take advantage of her "Christmas in July" sale! If you're thinking of trying Lipsense (which I love, despite not branching out from the nudes!) or the Senegence skin care products, she's your girl!

I was skeptical of the Target sandals, even though they had great reviews, and it turns out I love them! I'm thinking of getting the black pair too! They go with everything and are surprisingly padded for such a flat sandal. And even at full-price, they're a great deal. I've been wearing them like four days a week minimum, although I am a bit concerned because they can't be ideal for my injured foot...

The Ever After necklace (which I actually got in gold) is something that I'd been searching for forever because one of my besties at my last job (hi Piper!) had it and I fell in love... but it was like $50, and I hemmed and hawed, and then Stella & Dot stopped selling it. So I would check periodically on eBay and Poshmark to no avail (or it was too expensive), until now! I love me a good dainty heart necklace!

As insane as my spending was this month, I still hesitated before buying a $55 nightgown-esque Carly dress, but it was the thing I liked the most at a fundraiser, so here we are. And I must say, it is sooo comfy, and its nightgown-esque silhouette allows you to move freely while still staying covered. PERFECTION. Hence snagging a second Carly when another LLR seller friend of mine had a summer sale! I rarely belt dresses, but the Carlies showed me how few belts I have, so when I found two I liked for $3 and $4 each at Plato's, I decided to stock up.

Here's hoping I can rein in it more next month!