High Five for Friday: January 25

January 25, 2019JessComment

Happy Friday! 💕 Let’s see what brought the sparkle this week:

On Saturday, I discovered that The Virgin Suicides is on Amazon Prime Video, sooo I basically had it on a loop for the rest of the weekend! It’s super weird and dark, yes, but it’s one of those movies from my tween years that has a special place in my heart. The music is SO great, and of course there’s this stone fox:

Someone please call me and play “Hello, It’s Me” or “Alone Again, Naturally”! (The only acceptable reason to call someone tbh.)

On Sunday night, I went to another moon meditation (full moon this time!) with Alana and Steph. It’s so cool to just spend a few hours in this cozy little mystical shop with other likeminded people doing stuff like journaling and talking about crystals! This time, I picked out a gorgeous carnelian:

I recently got a macro lens for my phone, and I decided to try it out on my carnelian, with some pretty cool results (even though I have no clue what I’m doing!)! I love me a stone with lots of different colors or “imperfections.”

So, true confessions: even though I have two English degrees, I hate reading. I’m always starting books and never finishing them, or even better, buying books and never starting them! I think part of the problem is that reading often feels like work, like I should always be analyzing, and underlining things, and taking notes. But I’m currently 260 pages into a book I bought a few weeks ago, and I’m LOVING reading before bed! What the what?! Apparently, all I needed to do was ditch my usual self-help/psychology books and read about World War II! Who knew? 😂 I’m reading With the Old Breed by Eugene Sledge, which is partially what The Pacific was based on, and it’s really good! And, okay, I have underlined a few things because I’m a monster who can’t be stopped!

Maybe enjoying a book about WWII isn’t so weird for me because I did love The Things They Carried when we read it in high school. On that note, over the weekend, Russell asked me if I’d ever read The Things They Carried, and I basically quoted the passage below because it wowed me at 17, and it’s always stuck with me. I then dug out my old copy and found my high school self’s reaction to it. As Russell said, “Deserving of the old star!”

And while we’re on the topic of books, how about a book I really enjoyed but never finished? Like, say, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert! I LOVED this quote from it (and probably underlined it!), and then Alana posted it on Instagram a few days ago, and it was hashtag too real—I always need this reminder!

Hope you have a great weekend! xo

2018 Favorites

January 21, 2019JessComment

2018 was a strange year. There were some high highs and some low lows, but PLOT TWIST: I ended the year in a pretty happy place!

2018 also introduced me to a new crop of favorite things, so here are some of my most-loved buys and tries:

1. Lavendaire’s Artist of Life Workbook: Aileen Xu, the creative force behind Lavendaire, has these gorgeously filmed, self-helpy YouTube videos that I watched a lot in 2017. So I bought her workbook… and then didn’t start it until late January because I was in such a negative headspace to start the year. The monthly exercises? Yeah, didn’t start doing those until March! But once I got going, I really enjoyed having that space to reflect on my wins each month. Even when I felt like I wasn’t accomplishing anything or growing, I was—just maybe not in a huge, dramatic way. I now have Aileen’s 2019 workbook, and I started its exercises on New Year’s Day! #progress 🎉

2. Agate bracelet: In yoga teacher training, each of us gave small gifts to the other trainees when we taught our first class. One of the other gals made us these beautiful bracelets, and I’ve literally worn mine every day since! Besides being pretty, it’s such a nice reminder of the girls and that wonderful experience. 💕

3. Roller Chain Fidget Toy (Amazon): I tend to be very fidgety with my hands, especially at work, so I ordered a few fidget toys from Amazon this year. This one was by far the winner—I just fiddle with it endlessly while sitting at my desk at work!

4. Pop-Up Pill Organizer: Remember when I found this pill organizer at Marshall’s? Yeah, I’m totally in love with it (and I’m also 100 years old!). It’s so nice to be able to set up a week’s worth of pills but then just take one day with you at a time, thereby avoiding having said week’s worth of pills spill in your bag (something that used to happen to me all.the.time).

5. Aurora Bar Ring in rose gold (GLDN): My Rebirthday ring! It’s so pretty and dainty and personal GAH, I just love it! And I think it arrived pretty quickly too, especially for being a custom piece!

6. Five Below iPhone 7 Case: I love this case so much! I tend to switch up my cases, but I’ve been going strong with this one since April! (Unfortunately for you guys, that means it might not be in stores anymore.) I love the geometric pattern, the soft colors, the gold details, the whole faux-marble vibe, and the super-slim profile. For $5, it’s perfection.

7. Timer Tab: I easily lose track of time when I’m working on something, so this site has been a godsend at work. Otherwise, one hour balloons into three, and I’m like, “I’ve been going through my inbox for HOW long?!” I think it plays a video of a chiming grandfather clock when time’s up, which may be annoying (or hilarious, depending on your view!), but my work computer doesn’t have speakers, so the flashing visual in the toolbar is perfect.

What are your favorite buys and tries from last year?

High Five for Friday: January 18

January 18, 2019JessComment

Happy Friday! What brought the sparkle this week?

Let’s start with the ten-year challenge!

Yep, this is me in 2009, back when I was a senior in college. I pretty much lived and breathed Victorian lit—oh, and hockey, obviously! I had just applied to grad school and had no clue what I was going to do with my life. Ten years later, not much has changed!! 😂 I think I look basically the same today, except RIP headbands (god, I loved ya). My “glow up,” so to speak, is mostly from finally embracing mascara! 😂

In honor of my college self, here’s a song that I played about 8,000 times back then! I actually rediscovered it last week and was like, “This! is! so! cute!” and have, once again, been playing it nonstop. I love Wings, I love the Fender Rhodes, and I love adorable lyrics, so it really checks all of my boxes, haha!

On Saturday night, I visited Kristin and Sharkey, until the first snowflakes started falling, and then I was out of there like the Road Runner! At least I got some quality cat time in!

For all the inquiring minds that want to know (okay, just Tif and Becky), an update on last week’s fanny pack saga! I did NOT end up getting one. Kristin got the pink one that I have on in the picture below. I did see a cute one (that I can’t seem to find on Nordstrom Rack’s site) on our way out, but I have not crossed over to the land of fanny pack ownership (…yet)!

Lastly, like I need an excuse to swoon over Joe Mazzello (in a maroon velvet jacket, no less!), BUT this is something that other people might actually appreciate: a little Jurassic Park reunion with him and Laura Dern at the Critics’ Choice Awards! How adorable! Bonus: a swooning Rami!

Hope you have a great weekend! xo

High Five for Friday: January 11

January 11, 2019JessComment

Happy Friday! The week was pretty dull (even for me 😂), but luckily, the weekend brought some sparkle!

On Friday, I met up with Alana again (two weeks in a row?! 🎉) to go to a new moon meditation at the Prana House (one of the cool mystical places Timmi and I had gone to back in August). It was a great way to slow down and start the weekend, and the year, in a more mindful place.

On Saturday, Pops was out, so I lived it up—by finishing The Pacific and painting my nails! I picked the Essie color After School Boy Blazer, which I hadn’t used in ages. As much as I love sparkle, I really enjoy that this color is a very flat navy. It makes me feel so edgy and bad-ass! 💃😂

On Sunday, Kristin and I went shopping… for fanny packs. One fanny pack was in fact purchased, ridiculous pictures were taken, and we’ll never speak of this again! 😬

Once I got home on Sunday night, I geared up for the Golden Globes, which I think made me the only person in Philly not watching the Iggles, whoops. (Considering how stressful that game was, though, I definitely didn’t need to be watching!) I only knew the end result when this hilariousness ensued:

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How I found out the Eagles had won: a trumpet rendition of “Fly Eagles Fly.” 🎺🏈 Never change, neighbors. 😂❤️ . . #delco #phillyphilly #eagles #flyeaglesfly #hilarity #football #unexpectedtrumpeting 😂

A post shared by Jess (@jessie_face4) on Jan 6, 2019 at 6:10pm PST

And then the Golden Globes. HOLY MOLY. Let’s review: I’ve seen Bohemian Rhapsody (an embarrassing) four times and am lowkey (okay, highkey) obsessed. I thought Rami maybe had an outside chance of winning Best Actor, so I was pleasantly surprised when that happened, but then THE MOVIE WON like five seconds later, and I was shocked. Like, what the what? What about A Star Is Born? Wasn’t that getting all the hullabaloo? But whatever, cue “We Are the Champions”! Bonus that there was a cast reunion for the occasion, and we all know that I love those boys (and their ridiculous, lovey-dovey posts)!

This is so adorable, and also, Lucy Boynton is gorgeous. Like, DAMN GIRL.

Hope you have a great weekend! xo

High Five for Friday: January 4

January 4, 2019JessComment

Oof, back to work this week! 😭 Let’s see what brought the sparkle:

On Friday, I had a restorative yoga + acai bowl date with my friend Alana, who is an utter gem! Although we went to high school together, we’ve only discovered that we’re basically the same person over the past few years. (Full disclosure: Alana was waaaay cooler than me in high school! 😂) She’s been one of my biggest cheerleaders since I started this blog, and it was great to chat IRL for a change!

I don’t know about you, but I hate New Year’s Eve. So this year, rather than staying home and being annoyed, I went to a get-together at the yoga studio near my house! I was sort of scared about it because I wouldn’t know anybody there, but I still went, and it was great! The evening started out with a yoga class (featuring live, acoustic music!), then we did a few journaling exercises, made a body scrub, and ended with a meditation. (The new year actually started during our meditation, which was pretty cool!) It was such a nice, relaxing way to end the year and usher in a new one! Last year, I was super bitter about the new year (why, I don’t even remember), so I’m glad I’m not feeling that way this year!

In that vein, I sometimes struggle anxiety-wise with time off, but this year, I LOVED it and really felt like I made the most of it by balancing fun activities and socializing with chill time. The only problem is that I was then smote by anxiety on Tuesday afternoon, as I had to go back to work on Wednesday. This led to me signing up for a random yoga class like 30 minutes before it started on Tuesday night! I was kind of in a daze through most of it, but there was some nice chanting toward the end that helped to mellow me out some. Kristin, upon hearing how I dealt with this bout of anxiety, was like, “Oh, I figured it would be BoRhap, but I guess yoga works too!” LOL

Look at these adorable Christmas cards from my dear blogger friends Lisa, Bri, and Mica! Mica wrote the sweetest message in hers, which I will definitely treasure. These ladies are the best! 💕💕

Lastly, I don’t even drink LaCroix, but I somehow stumbled upon these tweets, and they killed me. I wanted to single out just one from the list, but I love them all! 😂😂