High Five for Friday: January 5

I've been feeling more punch than sparkle this week. Although it wasn't what I had in mind when I named this blog, "sparkle" and "punch" pretty nicely sum up two sides of my personality: the one that wants to be happy and bubbly and grow and get better annnd the dark and twisty feisty one that wants to fight everyone on everything. That side has been coming out more and more lately. New Year's and resolutions and change really bring out the best in me! 😂

Even though I'm not feeling so sparkly, I didn't want to give up this space because I am always able to find five things that made me happy in the past week. At the same time, though, I didn't want to pretend that I'm all sparkle right now because I ain’t. 

Exit pursued by a bear

• I watched a lot of Mom while I was home last week, and there's this great moment when Jaime Pressly’s character goes back to this gorgeous, sprawling rehab facility and groans, "OH GOD. BACK TO HELL!" Which promptly became Pops and my new favorite saying for any situation, haha!

• I ventured out to Kohl's last Saturday to return a blouse, but I conveniently also had a gift card! Which was good because I wanted basically everything in the Lauren Conrad jewelry section! Her stuff is always so cute, gah. I especially fell in love with this dainty little midi ring, even though I haven't quite figured out how to wear it. Like, can I pull off a pinky ring? (The midi ring trend just makes me so nervous that the ring will slip off, and I won't even notice. Why am I too practical for fashion?)

Put your pinky rings up to the moon?

• Timmi did a tarot reading for me on Tuesday! I chose this "Bridge" reading so as to keep pretending that the New Year hasn't happened. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, even though every card was like "TRUST YOUR INTUITION" aka the opposite of what I ever want to do, and the fact that I am definitely living my best Four of Cups life right now. (Petulantly ignoring what's right in front of you? Isolating? Sounds about right! The Four of Cups is apparently all of my favorite negative coping skills wrapped up in one, haha.)

• I was able to actually sit down and do some creative writing this past week, which makes me so happy. I didn't even realize how happy it made me until I started babbling excitedly about it in therapy!

• Last night, Pops and I braved the bomb cyclone to see the DWTS tour! (Tickets had been one of my Christmas presents.) We had never been before, and it was so good! My new goal in life is to become a bad-ass dancer like Sharna. 

Hope you have a great weekend! xo

High Five for Friday: December 29

Let's see what put the sparkle into the last week of 2017:

• Christmas in our house (or, rather, the lead up to Christmas) was a bit of a disaster. The Internet/cable was out for four days, and when we finally got the Christmas tree up (on the 23rd shhh), the tree stand promptly started leaking because it was cracked. HOORAY. But we duct taped the stand, and the Internet/cable was restored on Christmas Eve, so it all came together in the nick of time!

Looks totally normal! 💯

• I got my hair cut on Saturday, which was so nice! In addition to loving the style, I had a grand ol' time reading about Meghan Markle and all the other people in People and US Weekly while under the hair dryer. #treatyoself

• Sweet cards from Mica, Tif, and Lisa arrived just before Christmas! Blogger friends are the best! 💖

• I've noticed that when I'm out of my routine (I’ve been off all week), I tend to immerse myself in some beloved TV show. This week, it's been General Hospital, but GH circa 1998 because who doesn't watch 20 year old soap operas? I think I love Lucky and Liz so much because, in addition to being so damn cute as a couple, Liz was a teenager coping with trauma, which is something I hadn’t seen on TV before (back when I was 12). She would talk about dissociating and being scared of other people and leaving the house, and I was like, "GIRL. You just get me." ❤️

But full disclosure, I also love how ridiculous soap operas are. Like, sure, Jason got shot in a mob ambush, and Liz (then a college freshman) harbored him in her art studio. Totally normal. 

• On a related note, I also learned this week that I shouldn't be allowed on eBay when I haven't had access to the Internet or cable in three days. 😂😂

Hope you have a great weekend and a very happy New Year!

December 2017 Budget

HOLY MOLY, this month (and YEAR) just flew by. I know everyone says that, but I really can't believe it's the end of the year. I also can't believe that I only bought two things this month! Being sick and then having to catch up on Christmas shopping helped in that regard. (I'm also back on my old medication, which might have helped too. As much as it annoys me to say that, the budget post data doesn't lie.)

1. Apt. 9 Lace Panel Jumpsuit (Kohls): $60 on sale for $30
2. Franco Sarto Dandy heels (DSW): $60 - $10 coupon = $50

TOTAL: $80

Yes, I ended up keeping the jumpsuit that I talked about here because once I belted it, I LOVED IT. I felt so fancy! And it's very comfy, which is really the bottom line for most clothes I buy, haha.

I'm not thrilled to have spent $50 on the heels, since they're not something I'll wear regularly. But I didn't have a pair of plain black heels, so at least if I spent a little more, it was on a closet staple (and one that I probably would have already had if my job had a dress code 😂). They're also fairly comfortable (as far as heels go) and are low enough that I can walk in them without flailing about. And the ankle strap is clutch. (I have narrow feet and need to be strapped into anything with a heel!)

I wore both to Christmas Eve Mass (along with a $3 belt I'd found at Plato's over the summer), and I love how my outfit turned out!

I’m in love with this jumpsuit. Secret pajamas (©️ @a_canny_lass) are really the way to go. Merry Christmas Eve! ❤️🎄 . . . #ootd #whatiwore #outfitoftheday #kohls #dsw #platoscloset #francosarto #christmas

A post shared by Jess (@jessie_face4) on Dec 24, 2017 at 4:25pm PST

I also now have the Senegence concealer. Becky and I had been going back and forth trying to find a good match for my skin tone, and Sandstone Pearl (purchased in September) and then Candlelight (which I later exchanged Sandstone Pearl for) just didn't work for me. But I think the Corrective Color Concealer in Light is finally a winner for this pale Irish lass!

Now, since it's the end of the year, let's total up my budget posts from 2017 and see how much I spent... 

$1,364.

That's $222 more than I spent in 2016, which is a little disappointing, but not crazy. I mean, this year's total is still way better than 2015's ($2,768 YIKES)! Looking back at my budget posts for the past year is also a good reminder that, no matter how excited I am to buy something, that initial excitement does fade, and I don't end up loving/using everything I buy as much as I thought I would. I'm still working to separate shopping from emotion, but I think I'm slowly getting better at it.

High Five for Friday: December 22

Merry almost Christmas! Let’s see what put the sparkle into this whirlwind week: 

• Are you guys ready for the big day?! I have almost all of my gifts (just need to add to two), but our house still isn’t decorated. Like, at all. (I did put my one pumpkin decoration away at least!) On the plus side, we spent last Saturday preemptively rearranging our living room furniture to free up the one outlet we can use for our Christmas tree, so we are ready to spring into action!

Yep, this is us! 

• You guys, I did aerial yoga on Tuesday. AERIAL. YOGA. What the what?! My friend has been doing it for months (she was seriously impressive!) and invited me to go with her, and it was the coolest thing ever. You're basically doing yoga in a hammock, which is really challenging (duh) buuut made it easier for me be present so as to not fall on my head! I felt like such a bad-ass with the things I was able to do! (I had very low expectations going into this class haha.) The only bummer is that I got nauseous after a few inversions, but the teacher was super nice about it, and I didn’t throw up! 👐👐

• How cute is this card from Bri? It was a total surprise--I was racking my brain when I saw the return address like, “Did someone move to Texas and not tell me??" haha Also, if I had a cat, I would totally do the same thing and send a card with pictures of the two of us!

•  Speaking of cats and cards, I got this precious Meowy Christmas card from my mom!

•  Lastly, this cracked me up. Sadly, I can't find the original meme I saw, which had the added bonus of an annoyed Kim K. visual, and obviously "barking" would need to be changed to "meowing" for me," but still. 👌😂

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! xo

High Five for Friday: December 15

Hooray, we made it! Here's what put the sparkle into this week:

• Saturday turned into CATURDAY because I got to meet my cousin's precious new kitten, Leo! He's two pounds of tuxedo cuteness that climbed right into my lap and fell asleep. I was basically like, "Welp, I live with you guys now!" 

😭😭😭 

😍😍😍 

• I successfully drove in the (very light) snow on Saturday! The biggest accomplishment in this was that my aunt offered to pick me up--a perfect opportunity for me to avoid driving--but I turned her down and drove myself! 

• Here's something I never thought I'd say: I ordered a jumpsuit this week! I'd been sort of looking for one, as an alternative to the usual pants or a dress for the holidays, but all the jumpsuits I'd seen online were too intense. Plunging necklines, super-wide legs, bedazzled accents... nah bro. I finally found this tame one on Kohls’ website, and it arrived in two days! Now, it's super comfy, but I’m not sure that I can pull it off... I need some more time to mull over this very important decision.

• This week has been disco/funk week in my car. Aren’t you jealous you don’t get to hear to these jams on repeat too?! 😂

• Lastly, I'd really been wanting to get my nails done (I've been so lazy about painting my nails lately blah), and I finally did on Thursday night! It was delightful! I went with a bright red with a bit of shimmer that is perfect for the holidays!

Hope you guys have a great weekend! xo