My Christmas Wishlist, Part 1

You know what I really miss about being a kid? Spending weeks (maybe months) before Christmas compiling everything you could possibly hope or dream for onto a Christmas list for Santa. Since my birthday is exactly two weeks before Christmas, December is the ONE time of year that I ever got stuff, unlike those lucky kids with summer birthdays who had two nice evenly spaced holidays to divide their desires between. I only had one shot, so this was serious business. (Not as bad as my oldest sister, with the December 24th birthday had it, though. Poor kid.)

Anyway, I kind of miss the fun of compiling a good old fashioned Christmas list, so here is a quick (or not so quick, depending on how carried away I get) run down of the things I would like to find under my Christmas tree this year. (BTW, does anyone have any suggestions on how to secure a tree and ornaments when you have FIVE curious cats?)

Benefit Cosmetics Big Beautiful Eyes

Oh, Santa, this isn't even a "want", it is a flat-out NEED. Benefit makes the best eye shadow kit in the history of EVER, and I have gone through two of them. I have been down to just the dark brown in my more recent one for like a YEAR now, and I need a new one to be pretty! Do you know how long I have been single, Santa, or how many cats I am acquiring? Show a girl some love. That concealer is my only hope if this whole waking up after 3 hours of sleep all the time thing is going to continue.

U2: Vertigo//2005 - Live from Chicago

This is the ONLY U2 DVD I don't have yet. And that is really dumb because Vertigo-era Edge is one of my favorites. Plus it was mostly filmed on Bono's birthday, so that's an automatic win. I've been waiting to get it so I can afford the deluxe version. I don't totally know what the difference is, but I think it is pretty obvious that 2 discs of U2 are always better than one!!

Ann Demeulemeester Fall 2008 triple lace boots. These are my holy grail.

As an alternative, I will accept these Pied Piper boots from Anthropologie:

They are only $298, as opposed to the $1500-ish you would pay for the Ann boots on ebay. A steal! Look at the little ruffle and the studs and all the details! LOVE.

Viper socks from Ozone Socks

I entered a giveaway to win free socks from this company, but I did not win, and now I am sad. I really wanted these socks! I just discovered that Annie's Home is doing a giveaway for two pairs of them, too, though! Maybe I will have better luck!

This shirt from Guess that I tried on back in February! Every time I manage to find it on eBay, it is still like $40. I am so in love with it, though!!

Wild Horses Dress, Crochet Tall Socks and Joe Lace Up Over the Knee Boots, all from Free People. I know I just blogged about this dress a few days ago, but I am sort of obsessed with this look!

This is already quite long, so I'm going to break it off here and come back soon with Part 2! Apparently I am a girl of many wishes!

Free stuff is better than sales!

I am going to work on getting a few more e.l.f. eyeshadow quad reviews up (or at least ready to post) today, I haven't forgotten about them! Please let me know if you have any questions about the products from this order or want to see a certain kind of eye makeup look!

In the meantime, I wanted to share some giveaways I've come across! Who needs Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales when you can get free stuff? (E.l.f. has half off everything for Cyber Monday, btw!)

Here are a few snazzy things you can win from blogs I read:

This one ends the 30th, so hurry up!

Almost Crazy Coupon Lady is giving away a $50 Think Geek gift certificate! (Ends 11/30)

Florida Frugal Family is giving away an OhMiBod um.. "massager" (*cough cough* WOOHOO!). It plugs into your iPod, dude. (Ends Dec 10)

The Adventures of Paul and Natalie is giving away salsa (nom nom!), two pairs of Ozone socks, $50 worth of Jewelry, and some snazzy wall art from Right On The Walls.

Sweeps4Bloggers is giving away a pair of roll-up ballet flats!

Happy entering!

Totally not cliche post idea! NOBODY has ever done this before!

(I was totally not kidding when I said I had my messenger set to display my name and Katie's name like this.)

Ms The Edge: oooh, wanna blog shit we're thankful for?

Ms The Edge: but maybe in slightly better words?

Lady Bobo: Giant tapdancing penguins

Ms The Edge: win!

Lady Bobo: Sure!

Lady Bobo: I'm thankful for youuuuu

Ms The Edge: how many things?

Lady Bobo: 10?

Lady Bobo: -lazy-

Ms The Edge: too easy!

Ms The Edge: one million!

Lady Bobo: 30?

Ms The Edge: 50,000?

Ms The Edge: I want pie.

Ms The Edge: I will be thankful for pie.

Lady Bobo: One google

Lady Bobo: Pie

Lady Bobo: I love pie!

Lady Bobo: I want to have it's babies

Lady Bobo: Its

1. Pie

2. The fact I am not outside in New York in a tiny cheerleader costume freezing in a parade.

3. BonoCat Mewson, who is snuggled up next to me in bed.

4. Coffffffeeeee!

5. Twitter

6. Vogue magazine

7. Eye shadow

8. Taco Bell

9. Harry Potter

10. Nutella

11. my U2 fan friends

12. U2!

13. The fact that I have never heard a Justin Beiber song.

14. My one true love, my cat Tallulah Jane

15. The fact that Bono wears leather pants

16. Live feeds of shows

17. Netflix

18. Textsfromlastnight.com

19. Wine

20. Digital photography

21. Chocolate creme Oreos

22. Being freakishly flexible

23. Mah KT.

Ms The Edge: my list is pretty highbrow so far

Lady Bobo: I'm thankful for mimosas

24. Cricket, Jasper & Tiger Lily

25. My awesome boobs

26. Facebook

27. Mama Lupe's Salsa

28. Hummus & Pita chips

29. Gossip Girl

30. The fact that the Backstreet Boys and NKOTB are touring together. Even if I don't get to see it, this confirms that the world is a beautiful place.

31. High heels

32. Hats. I love hats!

33. iTunes

34. The parts of my family that I like

35. The fact that as we grow, we can find our own "family".

36. Doctors Without Borders & Amnesty International

37. Gilmore Girls on DVD

38. Redbox

39. The awesome yoga mat I won. Hurry up and get here!

40. Starbucks

41. "The Artitst's Way"

42. The Adventurers Club, even though it isn't around anymore.

43. Epcot Food & Wine festival

44. That Bono & The Edge were just mentioned in the Macy's Parade. My boys are everywhere! And little random mentions make me happy.

45. All the awesome blogs I read.

46. Lady GaGa. Someone needs to wear an outfit made of Kermit dolls, she fills that need for us.

47. That I get to decorate for Christmas soon!

48. Silly holiday traditions

49. The Thanksgiving episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I will totally watch it later.

50. Blog & Twitter followers!

How will you be spending the holiday?

Stuff I totally Need Saturday #4: Free People

I haven't done a "Stuff I totally Need Saturday" in a while, so I thought I'd see what was new at Free People, my favorite clothing line!

I am so in love with this coat! I love that it kind of looks like you dug it out of an old trunk in the attic. It's just beautiful! If I had a spare $1500 sitting around, this would so be mine.

I love photos of dresses in front of windows. But this is so pretty & feminine! Sad that my boobs would probably never fit in it.
I love this picture because it's the perfect example of the spot-on styling they always have on the site. Those thigh-high socks and necklace are *perfect* with this dress!

I looooove this, and I'm amazed it's only $28! It appeals to my inner bellydancer.

Why is the necklace $28 and the ring is $258? The world may never know. But it is still awesome.

I love this skirt! Especially with that brown belt. I purposely cropped that top pic where I did because the model had creepy knees. Have you ever noticed how freaky model knees are? Look at any runway show.

I looooove the way all of the necklaces in FP's vintage shop are displayed! This makes me want to buy a bunch of picture frames and stick my necklaces in them.

Wee People

I was just working on a blog post of my current favorite items from Free People when I discovered they have a whole new line of children's clothes. Crap, now I have to have babies just so I can buy this stuff.

The down side, of course, is that that cardigan is $138, and you know she is going to get grape jelly on it in two hours.

I love this girl's sassyness:

Amusingly, I sent Katie this picture via IM, and this was her reply:

Ms The Edge: this is obviously my child

Lady Bobo: the sass makes it clear

This was without her seeing my "sassyness" comment.

And yes, my messenger is set to display our names like that. It makes me laugh.

Also, I want this skirt for me:

SO. Much. Cute!

I'm a winner!

Dude, I love contests so much. At least lately I do, because I have won stuff twice lately! I'm so excited, I never win stuff!

Confessions of a Bookworm did a whole string of Harry Potter related contests in October, and I entered about half of them. I ended up winning a Snape puppet from Crafty Girly Pies on Etsy!

He got here about a week ago, he's so cute! Katie and I have plans to take him to Disney World some day for lots of fun photo ops. Maybe we will take him drinking around the world at Epcot. A potions master would appreciate a fine mixed drink, right?

Last night I got another e-mail with the magical words "Giveaway Winner!" in the title and got all excited. I was even more excited when I read what I won, though! I won a Yantra yoga mat from Momma Told Me. It's a yoga mat with tons of little acupressure discs, kind of the modern day equivalent of those beds of nails yogis used to lay on, and laying around on it is supposed to make you feel all awesome and energetic. I am an EXPERT at laying around! Bring it on! (Her review of it is here.) I can't wait to get it!

e.l.f. Drama Quad Review & Holiday Party Looks

I am a firm believer that no matter what your makeup style is and no matter what other products make up your makeup collection, everyone needs a matte white eyeshadow and a black shadow. The best matte white in the universe is Cloud Coverage by Glamour Doll Eyes, and nothing will replace it in my heart, but I have to take into consideration that with the sale, the white in this quad cost me twelve and a half cents. (BTW, the best black shadow I have encountered is Storm from Mary Kay.)

One huge note of praise I have for this quad is that the white is matte- no sparkle or shimmer at all. The silver and dark grey are so glittery that if the white had been sparkly, too, it wouldn't have worked as well. You need something matte in there to balance it out. The black also has a little bit of sparkle, but it isn't glittery like the silver and grey, so you really can use these colors together in harmony. LOVE that!

First up is a sort of "Home for the Holidays" smoky eye, perfect for family get togethers that aren't fancy, just fun.

This uses the white on the brow bone, silver on the lid, a very light application of the dark grey in the crease and a bit of the black along the upper and lower lash line.

Next I wanted to do a dramatic look, perfect for Christmas parties where you're getting dressed up and want some drama!

This uses the white on the upper half again, but I pressed a bit of the silver over it very lightly to add the glitter. I have the dark grey on the lid and the black applied in the crease and along the lash line.

I would totally recommend this quad! I don't do a black/silver smoky eye often, but you can use the black and white with SO many other looks, it's totally worth the $1!

Coming soon: the Katie-inspired guide to eyebrows!

Random Things I Love

10 Random things I love

1. Camels

2. Starbucks Cafe Vanilla Frappuccino

3. Downward Dog

4. The Edge

5. Chocolate Oreos

6. Reticulated Giraffes

7. Gibson Les Pauls

8. Crazy high heels

9. Alexander McQueen's Spring/Summer 2010 Collection

10. Ginny Weasley

Customer service & brushes

I heard back from e.l.f. customer service. You may recall that when I got my order, the purple cream eyeliner wasn't there (OH, purple eyeliner, I pine for you!) and my plum eyeliner pen was totally dried out. It took me about 3 days to hear back from them, but they refunded me $4, which is the full price of the two. I am pretty ok with that, since because of the sale I only paid half that. Amusingly, with that refund, I now got 36 items for $20, several of which (at least 5 that I can think of) were $3 items originally. Score!

The awesome Naima of Naima's Bellydance Blog asked in the comments on my last post about the brushes I'm using for the e.l.f. quad reviews, so I thought I'd post them in case anyone else is curious.

I started out trying to use the little sponge-tip applicator that comes with the quad, but abandoned that pretty quickly. It's ok if you don't have anything else around, but I would much rather use brushes!

I've done most of the application with e.l.f.'s eyeshadow brush, which is $1, and is thankfully carried by my local Dollar General, because I need a lot of eye brushes in my life at all times.

It's nothing fancy, but totally works if you aren't doing anything too complicated.

For the crease, I alternate between that brush and one of my favorite brushes ever, my Smashbox definer brush:

It came with an eyes kit I bought a few years ago, and is totally awesome for the crease! It's currently $24, though, so I advise holding out for it to be included with a set again. The one I got had two shadow trios, this brush, my favorite eyeliner brush ever, a mascara and a cream eyeliner duo all for about $60. When I've been talking about $1 makeup, $60 for a kit sounds like a fortune, but when you consider the two brushes alone would cost $48, it's an excellent deal! My serious lack of money these days means way less time at Sephora, though, and way more time trying to get the most out of brands like e.l.f.!

My very favorite eyeliner brush in the universe (from Smashbox) is currently being held hostage at a friend's house in Florida despite my desperate pleas for its safe return, so for liner I'm using a cheapie angled brush that I picked up at Wal-Mart or Target for about $3 a few years ago. It's made by a company called Ms. Makeup.

Almost any decent eyeshadow can become an eyeliner with some water and an angled brush. Before I became addicted to cream eyeliners, black shadow applied wet was the only thing I would use!

One other thing I wanted to mention about the quads I've been reviewing, while we're taking this lovely break from staring at countless photos pf my eyeballs (even I'm a little creeped out by them at this point.). One thing I'm REALLY impressed by is that as far as I can tell, none of the colors in the quads are duplicates. I have 14 quads, which is 56 different colors. I would not have been at all surprised if there was some overlapping with the colors included, but there's not! For instance, although there are several different off-white colors, none of them are exactly alike. One quad will have a matte white, one has a shimmery white, one has a glittery white, one has ivory, one has champagne, etc. Even the blacks are different- there's a matte black, a shimmery black, a not-that-dark black, etc. SO impressed by this! I really hope they release more of these quads soon, because I am kind of in love with them, and there are only 3 more colors I don't have yet. (I have no idea why I didn't just buy those with this order! An extra $1.50 would not have killed me!)

Finally, since there's so much e.l.f. talk here lately (and more to come!) I have to say my #1 piece of advice when ordering from them is to wait for sales. They almost always have a promotion of free shipping with orders over $20 or $25, and that's great, but if you watch and wait, you can get some really great deals. 50% off all eye makeup was awesome, and right now they have 50% off their mineral line. I've heard that last July they had a 60% off everything sale. Sometimes they have sales where you get a bunch of free products with orders over a certain amount (like 10 free mineral eye shadows with orders over $30 a few months ago.) Waiting sucks, but if you hold out for a sale that applies to the type of products you are drawn to, it's totally worth it! (Did I mention 36 products for $20???)

Mi blog est su blog!

Today I wrote a guest post for my dear Katie's blog. You can check it out here!

e.l.f. Ivy review and looks

This is another website photo that confuses me. The one on top (the larger version) is pretty accurate, except the top right color is less reddish than it appears there. But that bottom pic- wtf? Light pink? And it makes the dark green look more blueish, compared to the very olivey color it actually is, but I can't fault it too much for that since it shows up kind of blue in my photo, too.

You have a lot of options with this quad, which is awesome. I love light greens, so for the first look I applied the pale green all over, dry above the crease and wet below on the lid, to give a more intense color on the lid. I used the lower right color, a sort of gold with green undertones, on the crease, e.l.f.'s waterproof eyeliner pen in "coffee" as eyeliner and a bit of the upper right brown on the lower lash line.

I'm surprised how green the eyeliner looks here- it's very brown! (Pardon my sloppy liner application, I did this on almost no sleep!) I wish I could have gotten the crease color to show up better, it's very subtle here. I LOVE how the green turned out wet, though! Awesome color.

For the next look, I used a thin application of the pale green above my crease, the gold color applied wet on my lid, the dark green as a liner and the dark brown in the crease.

I am loving this dark green as a liner! The gold-green is such an unusual color, too. Not something I usually wear, but fun to play with!

Next I applied the dark green wet all over my lid. I decided to cheat a little and use a matte white that wasn't from the quad above the crease because I was bored of using the pale green in every look. I applied a thin stripe of the dark brown in my crease with an angled eyeliner brush and used e.l.f.'s black cream eyeliner to finish it off.

The dark brown shows up so much nicer wet! I really like these two colors together. I really prefer the green as a liner, though. On me, it's too dark for all over the lid. I should try flip-flopping this, with the brown on the lid and green in the crease.

I'm giving this quad a thumbs-up! Each color in it can be used a lot of different ways- I'm sure I could have come up with several more looks using just these four colors, but I thought three was enough for one post. I would recommend using these colors wet, it makes them much richer!