Nutshell Continued...

Anna--typical.

The group at the Long Trail brewery

The Stumpz and Krumpz show makes an appearance at the Otter Creek Mud Run in Middlebury, VT

Princess Leia (aka CAT)--the official face of Couch

Einstein bunz

Lyndsay and Farleigh at Killington Brewfest

Cooking with Cristina

Cristina, Lyndsay and I at Halloween

Love you all!! XOXOXOXO

2011 in a Nutshell

As you can see, I spent most of 2011 playing tourist while nom-ing and boozing with the best of people. All in all, it wasn't a bad year for me. Here's hoping 2012 brings about a reunion with these foolz on Couch. I love y'all and I am extremely thankful that you have each enriched my life.

This is a supremely adorable stop-motion video.

Kalle Mattson - Thick As Thieves (Official Video) from Kevin Parry on Vimeo.

I love the liberal use of aliens and Christmas bows.

Time to Spend Some Christmas Money...

On new makeup! I need your help. I am looking for some new makeup products to buy, particularly the following: eye brow set, eyeliner, blush and a good everyday nude-ish lipstick. What are some of your favorites? I'm hoping to hit the nearest Sephora and, potentially, MAC later this week and would absolutely love some recommendations. Thanks in advance, loves!

Insert Holiday-Best-Pertaining-to-You Greeting

For me, it's Merry Christmas! You might be celebrating the Solstice or Hannukah or whatever else is out there this time of year. I decided to make this a 2-fer on my party makeup since I previously mentioned I would upload a couple of my Christmas party makeup looks.

Foundation: MUFE Face and Body #18
Eyeshadow: Sonia Kashuk Nude Instructional Palette - one of the nude brown ones (no names on the shadows), NYX Wildfire
Eyeliner: the black shadow on the Sonia Kashuk palette
Lashes: Eyelure Naturalites (either 020 or 116, I forget which ones I used), Clinique High Impact Mascara in Black
Eyebrows: A mix of the black shadow and the dark brown shadow on the Sonia Kashuk palette
Concealer: Maybelline Fit Concealer in #35
Cheeks: Victoria's Secret bronzing powder in Goddess, Cover Girl Cheekers in Pretty Peach, ELF Shimmering Facial Whip in Toasted used as a highlighter on my cheeks and under my brows (Only $1 at Target!!!)
Lips: Buxom Big & Healthy Lipstick in Brooklyn and Mary Kay Lip Gloss in Sweet Raisin

This picture was taken post eating and dancing, and aside from some shine on my forehead, I was quite pleased with how the makeup pretty much stayed put. I went with my mom and a few family friends, and they all wanted me to do their eye makeup after seeing mine. That was very flattering but nerve-wracking at the same time because I have zero experience with applying makeup on other people!

Foundation: MUFE Face and Body #18
Eyeshadow: Revlon ColorStay 12 Priceless Metals (I used the bottom 2 shadows), NYC Sparkle Eye Dust in Champagne
Eyeliner: the black shadow on the Sonia Kashuk palette, Maybelline Unstoppables Eyeliner in Onyx (just for the bottom)
Lashes: Clinique High Impact Mascara in Black
Eyebrows: A mix of the black shadow and the dark brown shadow on the Sonia Kashuk palette
Concealer: Maybelline Fit Concealer in #35
Cheeks: Victoria's Secret bronzing powder in Goddess, ELF Shimmering Facial Whip in Toasted used as a highlighter on my cheeks
Lips: L'Oreal Colour Riche Liner in Rouge, Kate Spade in The Perfect Red (sadly discontinued but I hear the KS Supercalifragilipstick is amazeballs)

Also, I would like to take a moment and bask in my Kate Middleton-esque hair from the night! It was super easy; I just used big velcro rollers (I think they were maybe 2 1/4 inch) and left them in my hair for a couple of hours while I was getting ready. I sprayed a little bit of John Frieda Frizz Ease hairspray while they were in the rollers and then again after I took them out. Seriously, amazeballs. I LOVED my hair that night and wished I could wake up every morning with my hair looking like that.

So there you have it. These were my makeup looks for a couple of the Christmas parties I attended. I'm really excited for New Year's Eve because I'm going to an event where my boyfriend's mom's big band is playing! I plan on doing it big again then. Hopefully, I'll be able to blog more about it with several pictures! Until then, enjoy your time with your friends and family! Thanks for reading!

Online Dating 2: Electric Bugaloo

Alright. Even after I made my dramatic statement about giving up on online dating, my friend convinced me to join again by reminding me I could block people very easily.  So I'm officially going on record to say that I'm back on just one dating site.  But let me restate...as I haven't dated since 2007, I am now beyond neurotic and feel the need to consult friends frequently.  Who else feels neurotic about dating?

one of my favorite movies of all time, combined with Before Sunset. I think it says a lot about me that I also think they may be the most romantic movies I've ever seen. 

Christmas Party Style

As mentioned in a previous post, I will be attending a Filipino-American Christmas Party on Saturday. It's more like a cocktail party with lots of Filipino food (NOMZ), music and dancing. I have fully practiced my "Wobble" and "the Dougie" so I'm ready to go, with the exception of my outfit. I finally figured out how to do those cool look-book style collage things so I'm super excited to share this with you! My outfit won't consist the exact products featured but it gives the general idea of my lovely look.

Cocktail Dresses by Jax
Platforms by Nine West

My actual dress is slightly different in that it's sleeveless as opposed to the cap-sleeves in the photo. I was going for the jewel tones with some "hard" bling. My makeup is actually an inspiration from this video from Pixi2woo on YouTube.



What do you guys think? Should I change something? Do you like it as is? Let me know! Hopefully, I'll be able to share pictures of the lovely event with you all (and obviously how the "Wobble" goes).

Occupy Couch Demands-Paco

In addition to the previous demands I also require the following, dammit! I expect every single one of them to be met.

Outfit from the Jason Wu Spring 2012 Collection

Miu Miu booties

Classic Quilted Chanel Purse

World's most expensive dessert made with a real gold leaf, sparkling diamond and strawberry caviar (My invite to this guy's party must have gotten lost in the mail)

An all-expense paid trip to an exclusive bungalow resort in Bora Bora, including all-you-can drink beverages, personal masseuse, delicious food and ocean adventures

Ain't No Party Like a Liz Lemon Party

Last night I went to the Filipino-American Christmas Ball in Memphis with my mom and some of our family friends. We actually don't live in Memphis so we really didn't know anybody else there. That didn't matter though because we so rocked out on dancing. My friend Randa and I pretty much rocked the party last night what with our dancing on the runway, starting the train and pretty much being plain ol' amazeballs. That being said, some of the dancing made me feel slightly old. Does anyone know how to dougie? Or how to wobble? Yeah, this girl sure didn't. Kids these days doing all sorts of dance moves. Lucky for this old geezer, Youtube exists for the very purpose of learning these dance moves. You can be sure I'll break these out for the next Christmas party this upcoming Saturday.



Note: the wobble is also known as "the nasty girl soul line dance." What the what?!?


In my vain attempt at the above I'll probably still end up looking like this:


And I'm totes okay with that. I'll try to do another post with my make up because I was pretty much in love with it. I'll also work on my Occupy Couch Demands post. Word.

Occupy Couch

As a spin-off of the occupy movement...I feel that as Couch members, we should come up with our own list of awesome demands...I will start with a few (feel free to add!)

Kate Spade- Flicker Melinda in Dark Spearmint

An all expenses paid month long trip to Greece

Cooking classes at Le Cordon Bleu Paris

http://www.cordonbleu.edu/paris/home/en

Over 2,000 views!

:)

Best Christmas Party Outfit

I couldn't find a better picture, but Mindy Kaling's outfit is adorable.  Gold sequined blazer, taupe blouse, red pencil skirt.  Perfect and I want that blazer.  Also, Kelly Kapoor was amazeballs in this episode.  I have definitely been called in to be mean to new girlfriends.

My December Favorites

The title is pretty self-explanatory. I wanted to post some of my current favorites for this month. Hope you enjoy!

I actually just bought this sweater at Old Navy today, and it cost me all of $6. It was on sale at my Old Navy store plus I had a $5 coupon. Do the math and you get a very pleased Paco.

With the exception of warm, practical coats for Vermont, I haven't actually had a new coat since my sophomore year of high school. The picture above isn't exactly the one I got. The main difference is that mine falls a little below the hip while this one is much longer. What's the best part? I got it for free! My little sister got a job soliciting perfume samples for a day at the Macy's where my aunt works. I had to baby-sit her so I got this coat as a reward for a hard day's work.

I am seriously in love with this lip balm! I got it at Sephora on a whim mainly because I needed to reach a certain amount to use a coupon I received via email. I don't normally go for scented lip balm but this is fantastic because it's not a ridiculously strong scent and it feels so light. Plus, it makes my lips all smooth and lovely. It's perfect timing to ward away chapped lips.

I have always heard of Make Up Forever but haven't actually used any of the products. The saleswoman told me that the Face & Body one is best for in-person looks while the HD looks best for photos. Plus, this one is 1.7 oz for $2 less than the HD one at 1 oz (this one really sealed the deal). I have never been more in love with a foundation before in my life! I was using Clinique before but this is so much more amazing. I'm even more excited to try makeup looks like the one below for upcoming Christmas parties:

I'll probably do a simple red lip as I'm not going anywhere bold enough for a velvet lip look. I love this channel loads and am always looking for an excuse to try out some of their other makeup tutorials (hard to come by where I live).

There you have it! Hope you enjoyed my current December favorites. It's not really anything too fancy or exciting. I'm sure I'll have an updated list as time passes. Let me know what some of your current favorites are.

Wig on a Chain

Here is a dark comedy Christmas song by Jonathan Coulton. You may know him from Re: Your Brains, which is hilarious. Give him a listen! Side note: the guy in this video is cute. Just sayin'.

I was supposed to have my Medieval Latin exam today (shudder), but gale force winds have basically shut down Glasgow. I really wish I lived closer to the beach, and wasn't so damn lazy. Nap time!

Countdown to Christmas: Music Video Style with (Old-School) Mariah Carey

My first memory of this song was actually performing it during my Christmas voice recital circa 1998. It's such a true 90s classic Christmas song. Oh and Couch, take note of the bunz' appearance at approximately 1:56. I will now continue to watch copious amounts of Love Actually.

Goals Revisited

I put up a couple of posts not too long ago (here and here) about several goals that I have made for myself for the end of the year. I reckon now is as good a time as ever to see how I'm doing thus far.

As far as the first post goes, well, it's going. I have gotten better at getting out of bed at a more reasonable hour despite the fact that I'm not always up and going by 10 a.m. I did mail some baked goods and sent out postcards to other members on Couch. I do have to write a nice letter update to my former roommate who is Norwegian. This one is a little more difficult to put together because we've been sending each other Christmas/Birthday gifts the past few years, and I like to put together nice gift sets from the different places I've lived/visited. She does one-up me every time she includes European chocolate with my packages. Good God, they're so delicious! Right, back on track and no more dreaming of delicious chocolate. I have yet to call my credit card company and have not scheduled two interviews. My one true success is the flossing! Aha! I have been very good at flossing my teeth every single night no matter what. I must say, I am quite proud of that one.

The other set of goals for the month of December is moving quite nicely. I have been inputting my food every day in My Fitness Pal. I really do like their features and I love checking out the different reports and graphs (I am a nerd like that). I'm also super excited that other Couch members have joined MFP with me! Portions and food choices could always be better but I'm working on that one. My one big failure was the no bread rule (shocker). I literally broke that one within hours of posting my December goals. Oh well, all's fine and dandy in moderation I suppose. Here's hoping to some lovely results come December 31!

I'm not much of a Christmas person...

time to put up my Festivus pole and prepare for the feats of strength!!

Clearly this needs to be in the Music Round Up

Countdown to Christmas: Music Video Style with Wham!

Guys, I have to thank Adulting for introducing me to this gem of a video. I used to think of this song as that annoying one with the weird lyrics and instrumentals. Not anymore. I didn't even know this song had a music video to accompany it. This video has it all: 80s ski style at a cabin that can only be reached via gondola, flashbacks in the snow with blond mullet guy (really just any shot with the many mullets provided for enjoyment), two characters who sneak awkward we-slept-together-and-you-broke-my-heart-but-i'll-keep-looking-at-you looks with each other. I mean, honestly, this video is so amazeballs. And according to the comments, the Poles are apparently huge fans of this song. I don't blame them. Between the blond guy brooding from his parka and the many mullets (So many mullets!) it's hard for me to choose the best part about this video. Please enjoy and watch on repeat. I swear, it gets better and better.

What do Blake Lively and I have in common?

these wonderful Coach boots.  (btw, I had them first, back off Blake)

Blake, I know decisions are hard, but did you mean to get dressed in a blanket? Judging by the look on your face, you don't even know what's going on right now