My new "job" with Examiner.com...

Let's travel back in time to sometime last week, when I stumbled upon a headline about Katie Holmes appearing on So You Think You Can Dance (a show I've actually never seen) to promote a new charity or something. I wanted to see the video of her "dancing" (and I put that in quotes because it was more like jiggling around and walking with her hips popped out), and the only place that still had a link up was an article on this website I'd never heard of, examiner.com. The article I read seemed to have been written by a normal person, and I got curious about what kind of set up the people at examiner.com had going, so I clicked around and realized that anyone could apply to be an Examiner! So I picked a topic of interest (Reality TV and TV were already taken, so I suggested that I become the Internet TV Examiner, the next best thing) sent in a sample article, and 3 days later I was hired! Ha! So random, right?

Today I published my first two articles, which you can see on my Examiner.com homepage (I've also set up a "button" in the sidebar that takes you to my articles). Let me know what you think of my "journalism" skills! And, if you think they're adequate please subscribe to my page (by clicking the "Subscribe to Email" link), and "Digg" or "Thumbs Up" (for stumbleupon.com) my articles (only if you think they're good, of course!), and share them with anyone you think might be interested! Thanks dear readers!

Awkward Family Photos!

This post is purely to share with you all the wonderment that is AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com, a site that I recently discovered and LOVE. The site is dedicated to posting, as you may have guessed, awkward family photos that people send in, and they usually but a cherry on top of the hilarity with a great caption. Sprinkled among the pictures are "awkward family stories," which are pretty great, too. It's one of the most hilarious sites I've seen in a long time, so enjoy!

Here's one of my favorites thus far, though it was really hard to pick just one!



(photo: Submitted by Alayna to awkwardfamilyphotos.com)

and my least favorite can be found here, but I'll let you choose to see that one at your own risk! (Warning: mildly NSFW!)

Check it out, and prepare to laugh till it hurts.

Narciso Rodriguez for her...

This, my favorite fragance, was my first Sephora.com sample find. Ever since, any time I order anything, I happily choose to get another little sample of NR for her, since I won't be able to afford (or justify purchasing) the full-sized bottle
for quite a while. For about a year, though, to my dismay, they'd pulled it from the sample options, but while I was without NR, I discovered another great scent, but that's a post for another day. Anyway, such joy, such bliss, it's back in sample rotation, yippee!

Here's the touchy-feely, pretty ridiculous description of the fragrance from Sephora.com:

Musc is at the heart of For Her. The fragrant harmony of the musc expresses itself through three pulsations; honey flower, radiant amber, and tactile wood. This fragrant harmony develops gently and slowly, rounding out into the warm tones of sunkissed skin, dusted in a soft, velvety sensuality.
Notes:
Honey Flower, Solar Musk, Orange Blossom, Osmanthus, Amberlyn, Vanilla, Tactile Musk, Tactile Woods, Vetiver.
Style:
Warm. Sensual. Feminine.

Um, okay, if they say so! In short, it smells really, really good, and, in my opinion, is great to wear year-round. I certainly would if I could! Enjoy, ladies!

(Photo: Sephora.com)

The Sims 3...

Okay, so I'm breaking the geek seal right at the start, and admitting that, yes, I play The Sims. I've played this ridiculously addictive and admittedly dorky game since the first version came out long ago. And I love it. So there.

So, why do I love the newest iteration, The Sims 3? Well, for one, I can actually play it on my laptop, which has less to do with the game and more to do with the fact that I finally have a decent laptop. Aside from that, they've gotten rid of those heinous, slooooooooooooow loading screens that used to make playing the Sims a great thing to do while trying to get boring reading for school done, as most of the time playing the game actually involved waiting for the game to load. But no more! Now the whole game loads at once, and then it's seamless game play. Good dorky times.

This new version also goes to the next level as far as being able to create really life-like sims, with very interesting personalities. You can pick up to 5 traits for your sims to have, and the unique combinations result in them doing alot of wacky things of their own accord that make the game much more an experience in voyeurism this time around than ever before. Very entertaining. The sim I modeled after myself, for example, is a "mooch, light sleeper, friendly, flirty couch potato" and when left to her own devices, all she will do is watch TV. So true to life! But with a little prodding (i.e. telling her to stop watching TV) she's turned into an avid gardener! (Okay, so that's sooooo not realistic, as all I can seem to grow are weeds, but I do wish I had a green thumb, so...close enough. Hmm, and I should probably explain the "mooch" trait. I picked it b/c I really do enjoy getting stuff for free, I mean, who doesn't? So I thought that trait would represent that part of me...instead, it means that my sim likes to steal food from people's refrigerators. *sigh*)

Anyway, Sims 3 is also really cool because there's "The Exchange" on the sims website, where you can download characters and houses that other people have created and plop them into your game and let them carry on with their little sim lives and interact with your sims and lots of funny stuff happens! This is possible because of another new feature in this version of the game called "Story Progression" which means that while I'm playing as my simulated self, gardening away, other characters in the neighborhood are falling in love, having kids, breaking up, moving out, and sometimes even pining after my sim! I just so happen to get a lot of calls from the sim I modeled after the hubby and plopped into a bachelor pad in the neighborhood :o).

But I digress. The coolest thing I've found so far, and the thing that actually tipped the scales and forced me to buy the game (wink, wink) is an experiment a girl named Robin is doing about homelessness using the Sims game. How cool is that? She created two characters named Alice and Kev, plopped them in a dilapidated "park", took away all of their money, and pressed play, and has been watching how they survive in the game without a home. It sounds a little lame, but believe me when I tell you, it is fascinating. Admittedly, I'm very interested in how people behave and interact, which is why I think this game is so much fun to me in the first place, but I think the idea of using a game to "watch what happens" (Bravo, anyone?) to people in really shitty circumstances is awesome. Plus, you can download the characters Robin created and have them wandering around in your own game, which I of course did. Sometimes I invite Alice over for dinner, and she ends up falling asleep on a lawn chair in the backyard before I can invite her to stay the night and sleep in a bed. :( If you want to check out the experiment and the story of Alice and Kev, click here.

Well, there you have it. I'm a big dork. :o)

Wii Fit...

Hi people!
My next post was going to be about The Sims 3, but I just tried out the Wii Fit, and I must rave!

Okay, so I've been very curious about the Wii Fit
ever since it came out, but for the price, I knew there was no way we'd be getting one until we'd heard RAVE reviews, but it turns out we don't really know anyone with one who could tell us how awesome it is, so it remained on my Amazon.com wishlist (another ever growing page) and I moved on.

But then! At a random barbecue a few weeks ago, one of hubby's friends mentioned that they have Wii Fit AND EA Active (a new-ish fitness "game" designed to go with the balance board) which I've been very interested in since I saw the first commercials (disclaimer: I am extremely susceptible to commercials...it's a bit sad, really) but of course, there was no point in looking into buying EA Active w/o having the balance board, so...add it to the wishlist, move on with life.

Anyway, long story short, this friend of hubby's said that they never actually use their Wii Fit etc., so would we like to try it?? Um, yes please! The hand off happened today, and when I got home, all haggared and exhausted from the clinic, there it was, a brilliant white hunk of plastic in the middle of my living room floor...

Now, the one thing I had heard about Wii Fit was that it is merciless and shaming. It does this Body Fit Test when you first use it that weighs you (oh, joy) and calculates your BMI and tells you if you are "Underweight, Normal, Overweight, or Obese." Normally, this wouldn't scare me, as I'm clearly not obese, but! I'd heard horror stories about it calling people obese who aren't! And I have been a bit slack lately, indulging in all things cake-related, so I was nervous. It also calculates your "Wii Fit Age," telling you how old your body really is, you pathetic loser. So, as I stepped on that hunk of plastic, I was nervous, I won't lie.

But then...then. Guess what it said? It said that my Wii Fit Age was 23. 23!! Ha! I'm 27 (almost 28) suckahs! I literally whooped and hollered and it was the best part of my day. *whew* And then I had a glass of wine. 'night!

Korres...

I've been in the midst of a bit of a beauty kick lately (as I guess is obvious, since I've started this ridiculously girly blog), and have been taking stock of all of the bottles and jars that clutter my dresser and every available space in our bathroom. As I was doing this, I stumbled upon a stash of samples that I've been sent over the past year from my very few (added for my husband's relief) Sephora.com orders. I'd never actually tried any of the samples, except for an AMAZING perfume that I'll post about later (I know, the suspense!), and I figured it was time to see what all the fuss was about.

The first sample I tried was Korres Pomegranate Balancing Moisturizer (SPF 6). I was shocked at how amazing my skin looked and felt after trying it. I tend not to trust the claims that products, especially skin care products, make, but this stuff really did balance out my delightfully unpredictable, combination skin. I was wonderfully matte all day, without even putting any makeup on! Those of you out there who, like me, are in a daily battle with 'the shine', especially in the middle of summer, can understand how monumental this was! And my skin felt supple and well-hydrated. A miracle.

Also, as an added bonus, this moisturizer is stamped "Naturally Sephora", which means it's made without alot of the crap you find in most beauty products (Sulfates, Synthetic Dyes, Petro-Chemicals, Phthalates, GMO, Triclosan---I don't know what some of those things are, but they sound bad) , and I assume that it's also probably at least a little better for the planet, and that's always nice.

Needless to say, this moisturizer is now at the top of my ever growing Sephora.com wish list, and I made that sample last for 4 days. Now I'm waiting patiently for my other moisturizer (standard issue Clean & Clear) to run out, and then I'm making the switch! If anyone out there tries it, let me know how much you love it!

(fyi, I realize after re-reading this post that I sound like this is paid advertisement or something, but it's not...I've always been this gushy about stuff as basic as face cream, and just hid it well! Now, I just want to share the love :o).

blogging...

Welcome to my new blog! I've started and abandoned many blogs in the past, but I've caught the blogging bug again, and have been inspired to now blog about something I really love...STUFF!

This blog will be a place for me to share with all of you the various things (books, TV, makeup, movies, music, clothes, games, etc.) that I am currently obsessed with. In some ways, this blog will be an outlet for me to drool over stuff that I can't have (yet), and in other cases, I will gush about stuff I love and use everyday, that I want everyone to know about, in hopes that you, too, can have a life that's a little more fun, a little more beautiful, a little bit easier than it was yesterday.

I have tons of things in mind already to post about, so stay tuned!