High Five for Friday: April 27

Let’s see what put the sparkle into this week!

• On Friday morning, I had to clear out of the house early (or hear about driveway estimates PASS), so I stopped at Walmart on my way to work and checked out their make-up section again. I really like the Flower Petal Pout lipstick I got last time, so I picked up another, this time in the matte shade Autumn Rose. I think it's really pretty while also being appropriately subtle for me, haha!

I also picked up a Hard Candy lip gloss and their Sheer Envy Under Eye Fix, which I'm enjoying. It's not a full-on concealer, but I haven't been wearing much in the way of make-up lately, so it's been good at toning down my dark circles some, while not taking forever to slather on or looking crazy considering I'm only wearing mascara. Bonus that it feels really cool when you first put it on!

• I spent most of Saturday cleaning my room, which was way way overdue. It's so nice to have everything organized and free of dust bunnies now! And I found a home for my letter board!

Found a spot for my letter board over my desk!😊💞 . . . #target #springcleaning #quotestoliveby #tennyson #victorianpoetrynerd #deskdecor

A post shared by Jess (@jessie_face4) on Apr 21, 2018 at 1:40pm PDT

• Later that day, I made a new cat friend: Brindle Pinky! When I see a cat in the great outdoors, I usually just sit down at a distance and see how they're feeling about me being there. I'm a scared indoor cat myself, so I never want to spook them. Brindle Pinky had never ever come up to me before, so I had very low expectations: so imagine my surprise when she came a-running and a-meowing! Being deemed safe really warmed my heart. 

• On the topic of cats, since Wednesday, I've been staying with this darling gal, PUDGE! (She's my friend Maggie's cat.) Pudge is super affectionate and has a bum back leg, so she basically waddles around and then rams herself into me so that I'll pet her. I'M DYING. 😭💖

When I first got to Maggie's, I didn't expect anyone to be home, but her roommate Karuna was there, and boy was I thrilled to see her! It’s like when you're in college, and you're dreading going to the cafeteria alone, but then you find out that one of your friends got out of class early! Having dinner and chatting with Karuna was a real unexpected treat.

• And finally, here's this week's Weird Ass Song of the Week, in honor of the guy who wrote the songs for Schoolhouse Rock. (He passed away this week.) Honestly, I don't know “Three Is a Magic Number” from my childhood, but rather, because it's what the band would play at the beginning of one of the Supernatural con panels featuring three of the actors--that's where I first heard it like a year ago! It's so cute and catchy that I couldn't resist!

Hope you have a great weekend! xo

High Five for Friday: April 20

Let’s see what brought the sparkle this week!

• I finally put together the $1 Spot letter board I bought months ago! (Thank you Lisa for reminding me about this!) The quote is from one of my favorite poems: "In Memoriam" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. I like to use it to remind me of the presence of a higher power. 

• Friday was another night of dancing, so I stayed over in Reading and went to a yoga class Saturday morning. One of my YTT friends also came to the class, and not only was it lovely to see her, but she brought me a crazy-delicious cookie! I think I'd like yoga classes better if they were always followed by cookies tbh, haha. Another perk of Saturday was the GORGEOUS weather! Sunny and 80! It was a beautiful day to catch up with a few of my Nova friends in Philly in the afternoon.

 ~casual penitentiary shots~ 

• On Sunday, I woke up totally anxious. Like, sweating and full-on panicked. How do you just wake up in that state?! Was I having a nightmare? I don't even know. I hadn't been planning on going to yoga (even though I usually do on Sundays), but once I woke up feeling like that, I was like, "NOPE you need yoga, sister!" and signed myself up. The class was taught by a different teacher than usual, and she had us do tree pose in a circle, pressing into each other's hands for balance. I've talked before about how I'm not a huggy/touchy person, so I was not thrilled with this idea. But it turned out to be really cool to use other people for support in that way, and I definitely needed to feel more supported/grounded amid my anxiety. The class also ended with a like 10 minute savasana, which is always fine by me! 😂

• I found a new phone case at Five Below, and I’m in love with the tranquil colors, marble-y look, and geometric gold accents... and the price tag. 👌🏻

• Lastly, I’ve started getting up a little earlier in the morning to either get small things done (which makes me feel more accomplished for the whole day) or to watch an energizing YouTube video or two. I’m really feeling Kalyn Nicholson right now--I just love her vibe and attitude!

Hope you have a great weekend! xo

High Five for Friday: April 13

Whoa, what a week! Complete with three therapy sessions in three days! (A sign you’re doing super well! 🙌🏻) I'm feeling better now, though, so let's see what brought the sparkle:

• Yo girl is a yoga teacher training graduate! I still can barely believe it. This thing that I decided to do somewhat on a whim has impacted my life so profoundly. I really needed this community over the past eight months.

The graduation ceremony on Sunday was so cute! Unicorn straws and flowers! Dancing! I was in heaven! 

You could invite guests to the ceremony, but since I was staying over (and the studio isn't exactly close to my house), I decided not to. But one of the YTT girls apparently mentioned this to her girlfriend, and her girlfriend declared herself my person for the day and made me a sign and gift! And I had never even met her before! I was seriously blown away by her kindness. It made the day even sweeter! ❤️

• On Saturday, I happened to be driving back from Target as the sun was settling, and it was just mind-blowingly gorgeous. I couldn't resist--I had to pull over and take some pictures. (This week’s post really captures life with me in a nutshell--stopping to photo document everything and playing the same song 70 times in a row. But we’ll get to that....) Just hanging out in this random park watching the sunset was glorious.

• I'm starting to find flowers on my post-therapy walk, hooray! I especially loved these tulips that were sitting outside the door to a church.

• Our Weird Ass Song of the Week is Ron Swanson and Tammy II's song: "Dancing on the Ceiling." It's sooo bad and so mood-brightening on repeat 70 times in a row, I swear. 😂

The video doesn't disappoint either!

• Lastly, I’m just gonna leave this here (even though Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez is missing 😩).

I loved The Sandlot so much when I was a kid. It was the rare movie that could trump my Babysitters' Club movies when I stayed at my mom's! But 25 YEARS?!? My god.

Hope you have a great weekend! xo

High Five for Friday: April 6

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

• V for Villanova, V for victory! As you may recall from 2016, I went to grad school at Villanova, so I'm very proud that they won the NCAA Championship this week! Also, I've been in the Connelly Center (where they kept showing the student celebrations on TV during the game), so I felt v cool. (Annd now I really want the M&M cookies I used to get from there on Chicken Finger Monday!) 

• Friday night was another night of wild dancing! And afterwards, I got to dance with the facilitator's adorable three year old daughter! She ran right up to me to dance, and my heart basically melted. It was interesting to see how easy it was to be nice to this little girl when I have no patience for my inner child!

• I think I've talked about this before, but I love the movie She's Out of My League. It's so stupid but makes me laugh so much. It’s one of those movies that I’ll totally forget about but then get a craving to watch, and last Saturday was one of those days. And it was On Demand! When does that ever happen?!
  

• On Saturday, Pops was out all day, so I was living it up! Ulta, Target, taxes, and She's Out of My League--woo! I had also given a friend the advice of taking a walk as a way to calm down and help manage big emotions... and as is the case with most advice, I soon realized that I needed to take my own advice! So I went for a walk at magic hour! It was really more of a "stop and take pictures" than a walk, but what else is new?

• I hope y’all had a wonderful Easter (or Sunday, if Easter’s not your thing)! Because I dressed up for Mass, obviously OOTD pics needed to happen! I enlisted Pops to be my photographer, but when you have a dad behind the camera, instead of a tripod, you get teased and end up with pictures like this:
  

Honestly, this might be my favorite picture of me ever. It so perfectly captures the zaniness that I'm usually trying to keep under wraps! 😂

Hope you have a great weekend! xo

March 2018 Budget

I actually didn't buy much in March, hooray! I didn't really feel the urge to shop to make myself feel better, which is a wonderful change. (Especially because I'm off that medication that has the convenient side effect of curbing my shopping impulse for me!) The fact that March just flew by and left no time for shopping probably helped too.

ANYWAY, here's what I got:

1. Aurora Bar Ring (GLDN): $46
2. Beaded Amethyst Choker (Francesca's): $18
3. Deva Curl Light Defining Gel (Sephora): $23

TOTAL: $87

The Aurora Bar ring is my Rebirthday ring! I totally fell in love with the style a few months ago after seeing it in an Instagram ad. It's just so dainty and perfect! 

Fun fact: I have this awesome amethyst heart necklace that I love, but I can't wear it all the time, like, say, during yoga because it smacks me in the face. Good times! So I immediately loved the dainty, choker-like nature of this amethyst necklace. Plus purple. 🙌🏻💜

And the Deva Curl gel was just a boring repurchase. Yawn. 😴

Did you buy anything fun this month?