2017 Favorites

January really got away from me, so let's look back at some of my Favorites from 2017 before it's 2018!

(These first few items I’ve had since the end of 2016 but hadn’t had long enough to consider them favorites in 2016.)

• Y'all know I'm obsessed with Lipsense, especially with Bombshell, which is my ideal "my lips but better" shade. I've already gone through two tubes of Bombshell and Glossy Gloss since fall 2016!

• I like these Sketchers Go Step sneakers because they are comfy without being bulky and so can go with anything! (At least in my mind they do!)

• I seriously agonized for months about buying this fidget ring from Etsy and am so glad I did. It's so cute and fits perfectly--in addition to being there for the fidgeting. I wear it every day!

• I'm on my second bottle of Glossier's Milky Jelly Cleanser. It hasn't bothered my sensitive skin and has a very nice consistency. 

• I bought Glossier's Balm DotCom in Original after seeing Fran rave about it, and I have not been disappointed. It just melts into your lips and doesn't seem to wear off as quickly as other balms do, which is exactly what I want as a lip-biter! Since then, I've also gotten the Cherry flavor, and I love that one even more. The Original can get a little oily, not to mention that the tiny pop of color that the Cherry has is just 💯.

• These Primark skinny jeans are super soft and stretchy, while also being $15. SOLD. I now own two pairs!

• I had been coveting Lanolips forever (curse you, primarily European beauty brands!), so I nearly shrieked when I spotted it at Ulta over the summer! The multibalm has not disappointed! I use it every night before bed.

• I bought this $10 phone holder for my car on a whim while in the checkout line at Nordstrom Rack and have not regretted it one bit. It keeps my phone in place even while driving over the cobblestones in Chestnut Hill, so you know it's legit!

What are your faves from 2017 that I've got to check out?!

High Five for Friday: January 19

Friday already! Let's see what put the sparkle into this week: 

• My exciting Saturday night was spent buying a shower cap and toothpaste at Target--woo hoo! While I was there, of course I had to check out the $1 Spot, which is all Valentinesy, much to my pink-and-sparkle-loving glee! I found the heart pouch below and totally fell in love because A.) pink sparkly hearts! and B.) it looks kind of like this Paper Source pouch but does not cost $22! (Actually, I don't know how much my pouch really costs or if it's even from the $1 Spot--it was the only one there and had no tag, so they were like "Whatev" and charged me $1!)

When you find a pouch that sings the pink sparkle-heart song of your soul @target 😍👌💖❤️✨

A post shared by Jess (@jessie_face4) on Jan 13, 2018 at 5:02pm PST

• Did anyone else love the movie The Cutting Edge as a kid? Hockey player turned pairs figure skater who finds love with his figure skating partner? If that doesn't sell you on it, maybe awesome workout sequences set to Black Box will! (Does it get any more '90s than that?) What's not to love?! #HaleSchmale

• I'm so over the cold and snow, but I'm willing to accept Wednesday's little storm because it looked pretty and the roads were fine.

• Did anyone else watch the first episode of The Assassination of Gianni Versace this week? I don't know much about his murder (I was 10 when it happened), but I LOVED The People Vs OJ Simpson and also conveniently loved Darren Criss on Glee, so I am on board!

I happened to catch him on Kelly and Ryan and was clearly pumped about it, haha. 

The first episode was beautifully artistic and deeply unsettling. Even though I knew he was going to be playing a murderer, I still was not emotionally prepared enough for Blaine Warbler: sociopath. On the plus side, Versace is def #robegoals in the first episode:

• Lastly, is there anything cuter than cats taking over toys that are not meant for them?

New brother = new toys! #catlife

A post shared by Lemon & Sugar Pies (@lemonsugarpies) on Jan 15, 2018 at 7:06am PST

I doubt I'll get a post up next week because I'll be away on a retreat, so have a great two weeks, friends! xo 

High Five for Friday: January 12

This has been such a wacky week. Sometimes, you just have to laugh at the chaos though, right? What else can you do!

• Before I get into all that, one legitimately positive thing that happened was teaching my first mini yoga class on Sunday! As freaked out as I was beforehand, it felt surprisingly intuitive and was very fulfilling! ❤️

• I had to head up to YTT on Friday night, and about 15 minutes into my drive, the tire pressure light came on. I'm still easily spooked driving and didn't remember what that light meant, so I shrieked about it a bit, as you do. And then, later in the drive, my defroster began losing the fight against the bomb cyclone, so my car basically looked like this:

• When I was leaving for therapy on Tuesday, I discovered that our walkway was basically a sheet of ice. Oh goody! 

My attempt to navigate it drew an audience of the two little boys next door, who were so excited about watching me flail that they accidentally opened the door, and their dog came sprinting outside. (Now we have the answer to that age-old question "Who let the dogs out?") He was scampering around and skidding on the ice and having a much better time than me until our poor neighbor came out and corralled him.

• Not surprisingly, I wound up being a few minutes late to therapy, so I just rushed inside with my sunglasses on, thinking I had my real glasses in my bag. NOPE. 👏

• On Wednesday, I had a doctor's appointment and scans, and one of the computer systems was down, which meant that my doctor couldn't actually look at my scans. (Although she wasn't worried by the report from radiology so WOO HOO!) Then on Thursday, when Pops and I went to put air in my tires (because I'm still a rube with everything other than putting gas in my car), we had to go to FOUR different gas stations before finding one where the air thingy wasn't out of order. IS IT ME?! 

OY! 😂 Here's hoping for a less bonkers weekend! Hope you guys have a great one! xo

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!