Recently...

Since this blog is titled "My Life AND Other Girly Goodies" I figured I'd include some actual things that have been going on in my life rather than the normal girly goodies I've posted about. My internship is quickly coming to an end. This week will be my last week in DC, and I head back to Alabama on Monday. I'll take a pit stop in South Carolina to break up my traveling time and to visit one of my best friends, Trey. Until then I'll be packing, organizing, loading up my car, and preparing myself for the severe sadness that I'll be going through when I head back down South.

Quick mood change now, didn't mean to take it to that level. Let's backtrack a couple of days/weeks to some interesting things I've been up to! My family and I picked the most amazing weekend ever to see the cherry blossoms. We went on St. Patty's day! They were in full bloom, and absolutely amazing. We packed a picnic, and hung out on some grass while playing ball in between bites of food. Here's some pics from that:

My mom came to visit during the last weekend of March! I was so excited to see her and have some much needed mom time. Her plane was delayed on Friday so we didn't do much. We ordered room service (pizza and cokes) and hit the sack. On Saturday we did some shopping and sightseeing. We ate at fun restaurants and watched movies. I even talked her into seeing the Hunger Games (the second time for me). Sunday we did a little more shopping (our favorite past time if you can't tell) and rented a movie in the room. We relaxed, talked, laughed, and had a blast. Here's some pictures from our short time together: 

The last blog worthy thing I've done lately is attend the White House Easter Egg Roll! It was pretty cool to walk around the White House grounds. Obviously, the focus is toward children, but it was so fun to see Summer's face when seeing new exciting things. Autumn is too young and enjoys herself regardless of the location, White House or not. But here's the one picture from the White House that will upload. There are many others on facebook, but I'm still annoyed that I can't upload more here... oh well.

Now that I'm all caught up blogging on the fun DC experiences I've had it's close to being time for me to leave. I can't believe 4 months have gone by so fast, but we'll save the emotions for another post. For now, I'm happy as a clam and having an amazing end to a semester well spent with wonderful family and new friends :) 

March Favorites

I can't even believe I am already writing this post. Where has time time gone? I feel like I was just writing about starting my internship (the beginning of January) yesterday. Anyway, here are a few products I was loving in the month of March:

1. Fairydrops Scandal Queen Mascara: This mascara is patented in Japan, made by a Japanese TV host. It is absolutely amazing. The brush is so unique, I have never seen one like it before. I start by putting it on the top of my lashes to lengthen then brushing up on the bottom of my top lashes to curl. I recommend this mascara for everybody. There isn't another one like it.

2. Bobbi Brown Pale Pink Blush: This blush is perfect for spring and summer. It is absolutely ridiculous looking in the packaging- it looks very bright and clown like. But it doesn't go on the skin this way. I decided to buy it when Michelle Money from the Bachelor did a youtube video about it and I fell in love with the way it looked on her, and I love the way it looks on me.

3. St. Tropez Self Tanning Mousse: This is the best invention since sliced bread. I have tried every spray tan, and self tanner imaginable, and this one puts them all to shame. I mentioned it here. It is a perfect self tanner, and I will continue to buy it over and over. 

4. Gucci Guilty Intense Perfume: The boyfriend got me this for Valentine's Day. The smell is so different than anything I've ever had before. I absolutely love it and have worn it almost every day this month. It is feminine but has pepper like undertones at the same time which makes for the perfect scent in my opinion. 

Obviously, I'm not the kind of person who wears the same scents or makeup products over and over. I like having a variety to choose from, or else I get bored. That's why this months favs and the last favorite post I wrote are so different. I am always looking for new things to try, and I'm a sucker for anything girly :) 

My iPod these days...

I am so excited to be writing this post because it's exciting news! I finally have some good jams to listen to in my ipod. For awhile there, music was in a rut for me (notice I didn't say I was in a rut). It was actually the music that wasn't any good. The songs on itunes were boring and overplayed. Until these: 

Come Away To The Water- Maroon 5

Wild Ones- Flo Rida

Somebody That I Used To Know-Gotye

I find myself listening to these three songs over and over. I know they will shortly become overplayed, but until then I will continue jamming.

Sunless Tanning; A less Cancerous Option

Tanning beds. We've all been there and done that. But honestly I'm over that fad, and you should be too! The over tanned look was really popular when we were 17, but now not so much. Even celebrities have a nice glow, but don't look super unnatural. For example:

These three have natural glows but their skin isn't screaming for help. How often do you see a tanning bed tanned super model? Never. But I get the opposing side. We all feel more attractive with a little glow to our skin. Olive skin girls, stay out of this... you will never know what it's like to feel truly pale! There's something satisfying about having a warm glow to your skin; like the one's you get when you get a spray tan. That's why I want to tell you about the best product ever that I recently discovered, that beats getting skin cancer and premature wrinkles in a tanning bed or paying an arm and a leg for spray tan after spray tan.

This stuff is absolutely amazing. It's made by St. Tropez and its a self tanning mouse. The color is very natural, which is my favorite part about it. It doesn't give you the streaky orange color most do. The key is to exfoliate your body first. You need to remove all of the dead skin before applying. I apply it at night and sleep with it on. My one complaint is that the smell is awful, which is why I use it at bedtime, but I wake up and shower the smell away, so my complaint is tiny. A little bit of this stuff goes a long way (I'm 5'9'' and only use about 5 pumps) which makes it much better for those of us on a budget. You only need to use it about once every week 1/2 or so. 

Overall, this product is great and I recommend it to everybody. It is a much safer alternative to a tanning bed. I think it's a more attractive look too. Until the sun is shining and we can get a natural glow, let's stick to this mouse & not get cancer! 

House Concerts.

If you don't think I have the coolest parents ever after reading this post, you're crazy. Last night they introduced me to something I had never been to; a basement concert (which is sometimes a house concert, if you don't have a basement.) They seemed to be vets at this type of thing, but it was my first time going, and I really had no idea what to expect. Little did I know that I'd be so pleasantly surprised. This is absolutely the coolest concept ever. 

Basically, someone completely opens their house up to total strangers, and allows them to occupy their home while enjoying live entertainment. The one we went to was called "The Stone Room" in Falls Church. These are private concerts. The venue is a basement of a private home and seating is about 45 people. The owners of these homes that host house concerts are doing so to support independent artists who are making a living off of traveling and performing at bars, colleges, coffee houses, and houses of complete strangers. Such a brilliant concept! 

The amazing part is that 100% of all suggested contributions go to the artists.You obviously have to reserve your seats ahead of time, because the seats fill up fast. They had a huge spread of appetizers out for everybody, but it was BYOB, which is completely understandable. 

The people who host these events obviously have a ridiculous passion for music. To open their houses up to total strangers, and trust them around their belongings to enjoy live entertainment from some amazing artists is so unique and admirable. 

The artist we saw last night was Rebecca Loebe. She's an indie-folk singer from Atlanta, who now "lives" in Austin. I put lives in quotations because she literally is traveling all day every day to make it to her next performance. She performs anywhere from once a day, to once every other day. She was on "The Voice" last year and I can completely tell why. She supports herself as a full time touring indie/roots singing songwriter. Not only was her voice amazing, but the performance as a whole was awesome. She had a great sense of humor and the audience was laughing the entire time between songs. 

Needless to say, I bought all three of her CDs. I honestly like her better live than on a CD... but the albums are still great. The night was pretty cool and I have a new found obsession for "House Concerts."  It's neat to know absolutely nothing about an artist and fall in love with them during their performance. I recommend these "house concerts" and Rebecca Loebe to everybody.  Thanks parentals for introducing me! 

Check out some of her songs :)

"California" - Rebecca Loebe

"Come As You Are" - Nirvana Cover by Rebecca Loebe

"Stronger" - Kanye West cover by Rebecca Loebe

Girls Night Out; Birthday Style!

This past weekend was my birthday weekend! One of my best friends, Sydney flew from Auburn to visit me and we had a great time together. She is the nicest person ever to take time off school and spend her money to travel to DC to spend time with me. I am a lucky girl!

So she flew in pretty late on Friday. When we got home we enjoyed some wine and caught up on the couple months we haven't seen each other. The fun pretty much started on Saturday, though. When we woke up the next day, we got ready for a fun filled day! We started off our day at the Air Force Memorial, which I had never been to. My dad did our mini tour of DC with us, and he really had fun explaining the memorial to us.

Next, we went to the Pentagon Memorial which I had been to a couple of times... but I wanted Sydney to see it. In my opinion, it is the most thought out memorial in DC. Each person who died in 9/11 has a bench in their memory. Each bench has the person's name engraved. If you are reading the name and facing the Pentagon, they died in the Pentagon. If you are facing the opposite direction while reading the name, they died in the plane. You are facing the direction the plane flew into the building. The benches have a small stream of water flowing under them, and it's a very relaxing and peaceful memorial because of the mini streams under each bench. The benches are also positioned in birth year of the people who passed. For example, if three people were born in 1990 that passed at the Pentagon on 9/11, there would be three benches in that years column. The memorial is so humbling and breathtaking. It really puts into perspective how many lives were taken just in DC on that terrible day, while looking at all the benches. I truly recommend this memorial to anybody who hasn't been. 

After the Pentagon Memorial, we drove to Arlington Cemetery. Again, I have been many times... but I really wanted Sydney to see the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier because she had never been. This is another must-see while in DC. The guards of the tomb are super dedicated. They are required to live monk style under the tomb for two years, & they can't drink alcohol for the rest of their lives. They can't swear in public for the rest of their lives, and for the first six months, they can't talk to anybody or watch TV. Talk about motivation. We also walked up to the Kennedys' grave, which I have no pictures of because my battery was "exhausted."

After fulfilling our tourist duties during Sydney's visit. it was time to celebrate my birthday and her trip to DC! We met my co-intern, Rachel, and her two roommates in Georgetown (my favorite place ever) and went to a couple different places there. After a good night of girl time and dancing, we called it a night at about 3AM. I had a blast! 

In a nutshell, I have one of the best friends ever. She is a friend that I will have forever, and we will be so glad we spent this time together in DC & took advantage of me living here for the semester. And I am so thankful she was here on such a special weekend. Turning 22 only happens once, ya know!

There's nothin' like a good deal!

I've decided that since this is my second post about books, that I am a nerd. I'm OK with that. & I'm super excited to share the good deal I landed today! So anyone who knows me knows that I will never give into a kindle or any other type of reading device. I have my reasons and in case you're interested, I'll name a few. 

1. A kindle doesn't compare to holding an actual book in your hands and flipping the pages.

2. You can't have a bookshelf or library which I will definitely have in my house one day. 

3. The "environmentally friendly" approach is stupid. The books are printed regardless of if you buy one or not. You aren't saving the world, one book at a time. I used to believe this, but now it's pointless to me, because its unrealistic. I've never been to a bookstore that didn't already have at least three copies of the book I was buying. 

The downside of me being so anti-kindle (or any other electronic reader) is that books are expensive. And by expensive, I mean ridiculous. That's why today was such a cool day for me! I went to mass with my parents and before hand there was a book fair going on. Guess who scored FIVE books? Me! Guess who got FIVE books for TWO dollars total? Me! How amazing is that? Not only does the money go to the church, but I paid two dollars for what would have cost about 100. Here's what I got:

"Addie Downs and Valerie Adler were best friends until the swirling currents of adolescence swept them into different cliques. Fifteen years later, Valerie (a beautiful TV weather girl) and Addie (a plain Jane seeking love on the Internet) are leading very separate lives, but fate soon thrusts them together once again. When a hysterical Valerie shows up on Addie's doorstep with blood on her clothes, it marks the beginning of a hilarious set of adventures that will bring the two friends closer together as they try to keep their distance from the law."

"In this powerful and riveting novel, literary phenomenon Christos Tsiolkas unflinchingly exposes the inner- workings of domestic life, friendship and parenthood in the twenty-first century, and reminds us of the passions and malice that family loyalty can provoke. When a man slaps another couple’s child at a neighborhood barbecue, the event send unforeseeable shockwaves through the lives of all who are witness to it. Told from the points of view of eight people who were present, The Slap shows how a single action can change the way people think about how they live, what they want, and what they believe forever."

"Simon and Emily Bear look like a couple that has it all. Simon is a respected doctor. His wife, Emily, shines as a partner in a premier public relations firm. But their marriage is scarred by hidden wounds. Even as Simon tends his patients' ills, and Emily spins away her clients' mistakes, they can't seem to do the same for themselves or their relationship. Simon becomes convinced he's discovered a cure for chronic pain, a finding that could become a medical breakthrough, yet he is oblivious to the pain that he causes at home. Emily, struggling to move beyond the devastating loss she and Simon suffered fifteen years earlier, realizes she hasn't felt anything for a long time-that is, until a lover from her past resurfaces and forces her to examine her marriage anew."

"Delia Hopkins has led a charmed life. Raised in rural New Hampshire by her widowed father, Andrew, she now has a young daughter, a handsome fiancé, and her own search-and-rescue bloodhound, which she uses to find missing persons. But as she plans her wedding, she is plagued by flashbacks of a life she can’t recall. And when a policemen arrives to disclose a truth that will upend the world as she knows it, Delia must search through these memories – even when they have the potential to devastate her life, and the lives of those she loves most. Vanishing Acts is a book about the nature and power of memory; about what happens when the past we have been running from catches up to us… and what happens when the memory we thought had vanished returns as a threat."

"Self-awareness is a slippery thing, though, when you find yourself at odds with a "supposed to" in life. I understand that I am supposed to want to marry Andrew. That some women wait their whole lives to stand before a bended knee, or fantasize about a sparkly stone that silently announces to the world, see someone loves me, someone picked me. But I can't do it. I would be nothing more than a fraud, a pretend grown-up, a con artist playing the role of bride, I don't even want to spend the rest of my life with me. How can Andrew? And how do you explain to someone you love that you can't give yourself to them because if you did, you're not sure who you'd be giving? That you aren't even sure what your own words are worth? You can't tell someone that, especially someone you love. And so I don't. Instead, I do the right thing. I lie."