Subway Playlist: I Love The 90s!!!

I've been feeling a little nostalgic lately.

These songs may not have defined the 90s for you but they're some that left an impression on me. And it's my playlist so suck it. Besides a lot of these songs don't get love anymore. Show them some love!

1. Luscious Jackson - Naked Eye
   
2. Toad the Wet Sprocket - All I Want
3. Third Eye Blind - How’s it Going To Be and Semi Charmed Life and Graduate.
   
4. Tom Petty – Free Falling (Released in 1989 but discovered by me in 1997 because of this).
5. Coyote Shivers – Sugar High
6. Harvey Danger – Flagpole Sitta
7. Janet Jackson – Runaway
8. Eagle Eye Cherry – Save Tonight
9. Blink 182 – Dammit
10. Marcy Playground – Sex and Candy
11. Republica – Ready to Go
12. No Doubt – Spiderwebs
13. Blessid Union of Souls – Hey Leonardo
14. Soundgarden – Black Hole Sun
15. Nirvana - Lithium
    

Let's Talk Beauty

Once upon a time, I worked for Self magazine . I was hired to help out with the Healthy Beauty Awards (check out the winners here). It was a lot of fun. Not only did I meet some pretty awesome ladies (now friends), I went home with a crap-load of products!

Picture a room where every closet is overflowing with shampoos, body butters, lipsticks, bath salts. EVERYTHING. If it was a beauty related product, it was in the closet.

It was a magical time readers. A very magical time.

Unfortunately, my days at Self were numbered. Sad, I know, but I did get to take products home with me. And believe me, I did. I worked at Self around the holiday season so everyone's present was beauty related last year.

Of course, I took products home for myself as well. My room looks like a mini Sephora. I don't like to go crazy but I always took home different hair products, body lotions, hand creams and face creams.

Out of all of the products I've tested, the following are my favorites!

SkinCeuticals Blemish + Age Defense: $78.00
Now I know it's stupid expensive but this product is amazing. I have had acne since I was nine years old (I got smacked with puberty early).

Anyway because of my long history with zits, my face looks like a chocolate chip cookie; I've got all different shades of brown on there. So I asked one of my bosses what she recommended for acne scars and hyper-pigmentation and she handed me Skin + Age Defense. I've been using it for about four months now and my skin definitely looks more even.

The bottle is small but you really don't need much (I still have about two months left in mine). I try to apply it at night so I avoid the sun. Like a vampire.

Frederic Fekkai Essential Shea Tame and Style Pot De Creme: $35.00
As many of you know, I cut off all of my processed hair and started growing it out again. My hair is super curly and easily dries out. I prefer wash n' go styles but most styling products leave my curls looking defined but feeling crunchy.

Who wants crunchy hair?

Anyway, Fekkai's Pot De Creme is fantastic because it leaves my curls looking super defined and feeling incredibly soft. I wash and condition my hair, and then spray it with my leave-in and then I apply some of the creme. And then I shake my head around to separate the curls. After that first wash, all I have to do is wet my hair to reactivate the product. It's like magic.

So I love this product. I've got big lusty love for it. Nothing has come close to working as well. The only thing I don't love is the fragrance. It's really strong.

Really strong.

So I hope they'll come out with an unscented version one day.


Farmhouse Fresh Hello! Yellow Shea Butter Cream: $30.00
Sprinkled with natural vanilla and citrus oils - Hello! Yellow is the happiest of creams -- transporting your mind with just one sniff to a warm beach with sun on your face. A truly uplifting experience each time you lift the cap!

Yep, that pretty much sums up this body cream. Winter was brutal in New York and nothing lifted my spirits like this. And I smelled yummy : )

Farmhouse Fresh One Fine Day Flawless Face Polish: $25.00
This cleanser/exfoliator is awesome awesome awesome! I love it because it leaves my skin feeling clean and moisturized. I prefer to use it at night and it's definitely a must during winter though I may shelve it during the warmer months.

Fresh Brown Sugar Bath & Shower Gel: $18.50
Out of all the products I've tested, this is my all time favorite. It's not the shower gel, it's the citrusy, sugary scent. I want to EAT IT! You guys, it smells so goooooood. You don't understand how hard it's been to find a scent I like that doesn't make me sneeze. So when I was in LA, I went to the Fresh store and checked out their other Brown Sugar products.

Let's just say, I'm letting everyone know what I want for my birthday this year.

P.S. All of their scents smell great!

Better Butters By Sheago After Shower Splash in Mango Pulp: $16.99
Another scent I was feeling (though not nearly as much as Brown Sugar) was this Mango Pulp splash. It's a light body oil in a spray bottle and it's yummy. I spray it on my body and on my hair and it leaves a light fragrance behind. The coconut scent is great too.

Butter London All Hail The Queen: $14.00
I'm not big on nail polish mainly because I'm too broke to get manis and pedis and too lazy to do them myself. Or I was before I discovered this nail polish. It's simple; I wear it because I love the color. It's a grayish brownish toffee-like kind of goldish beige shade.

So now I polish my toes all the time. Of course it doesn't hurt that it's free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, DBP Color and Carcinogens.

While this was released as a winter shade, nude colors are totally on trend for Spring.

If you guys happen to try any of these products out, let me know what you think! Also, check out my friend (and former co-worker) Angelica's blog for a look at the work we did for Self's Healthy Beauty Awards.

Quote It.

Word.

Today in Frivolity.

• Jersey Shore's Snooki lost a bunch of weight. Good for her! If I was Snooki, I would have signed an endorsement deal with a weight loss program so they could pay me an obnoxious amount of money to say "I could have never done it without (insert Diet here)!"
  



• Word on the street is Stephanie Meyer is open to writing a Twilight spin-off focusing on Jacob the werewolf and Renesmee, the half-vampire/ half-human girl. If that happens, more Twilight movies may be coming to a theater near you.
  
  Nooooooooooooooo!
  



• Levi Johnston is Writing a Palin Family Tell-All. Levi Johnston can write? I know it's mean but all I can think of is it sounding something like this: "I'm Levi Johnston. I put my P in Bristol's V bunch of times. It was fun. Sarah Palin's a bitch. She never let me do nothing."
  



• LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian are now married. Yay for them. Wanna read about the scandalous duo's nuptials? Here ya go.
  



• Ryan Phillippe is so done with acting. Or not. He's just really tired of the paparazzi.
  
  Meh. There's not exactly going to be this huge void in cinema if he retires. Here's the story if you care .
  



• Actress Emma Watson is leaving Brown University. Her rep explained that while the talented actress loved her time at Brown, she is planning to transfer to another school that offers some classes she's interested in taking.
  
  No drama there.
  
  Can you imagine what going to school with Watson must be like? I would be constantly struggling not to ask her Harry Potter related questions. She would HATE me.
  



• Lindsay Lohan is going to jail again.
  



• Tennis star Serena Williams is working on a rap album. A RAP ALBUM.
  Wha?
  I mean, really?
  Well maybe it'll be good. But I really don't know. Do you think she just woke up one morning and said "I'm gonna be a rap star"?
  

Shits and Giggles Mondays

Hehe.

Boys. A Lesson.

This is the most recent lesson I’ve learned about the opposite sex but I’m sure it can be applied to females too.

For the last eight years, I have been in love with the same person. You could say we were in a relationship. Except, you have to commit to someone to be in a relationship. So forget about the relationship part.

You know how in season two of Grey’s Anatomy, Meredith gives Derek the “choose me” speech (I totally recommend you watch it; it’s very touching)?

Anyway, while he doesn’t choose her at first, he does by the end of the season. Problem resolved in about ten episodes. Aww, what a sweet scripted scene from a television show!

Am I bitter? Of course I am.

See, I gave that boy the “choose me” speech pretty much every six months for years. I did everything but beg him to trust me enough to believe it when I said I wanted to be with him. But he never did and I felt like I somehow wasn’t doing enough for him to feel secure in what we had. So I gave more speeches and I wrote more emails. Do you know what I learned from this?

Don’t be with a guy who’s insecure because you will spend years trying to reassure someone who can’t be bothered to reassure you.

Along this eight year journey, I’ve had many epiphanies about the boy. I would tell family and friends “I’m done” but I never really was because he IS a great guy and I DO really care about him. And I truly believed he loved me despite the fact that he was too scared to at least try to be in a relationship with me. What has finally dawned on me is this:

If a guy really loves you, you shouldn’t have to persuade him to be with you. That person will want to take the chance even if it means the relationship will fail. That person will have enough faith to take the leap. If he or she doesn’t, it isn’t worth it.

So when you say you’re done, it better be for good.

Thank you light bulb.

West Coast Living

Greetings everyone! I'm back from my AMAZING trip to California!

I had such a wonderful time with my friend Viviam, I really can't articulate how much I needed that vacation. The sun, the views, the company, it was all like a balm I needed for a cut I didn't even know I had.

The first night I arrived in LA, Viv took me to this cute dive bar. We spent the next week going out every night, meeting new people and spending the days exploring parts of the city. By the time I left, I'd seen Hollywood, Indio, Los Feliz, Malibu, Palm Springs, Santa Monica, Silverlake, the Valley and a lot of other places I'm forgetting.

We went to the beaches, we went hiking, we tried to go to Coachella (ah well, next year) and we went to lots and lots of bars. It was everything a vacation should be.

I want to say thanks to Viv of course but also everyone who suggested things to do during my west coast trip, especially Laney, the writer behind my favorite blog Fa-Lo-Me. This is the second time she's emailed me back with great advice about places to go which means a lot because I pretty much want to be her.

I'm not ashamed to say I'm girl-crushing, she's fabulous.

Anyway, thanks everyone for the well wishes. I'm back now and ready to work!

Shits and Giggles: Comment of the Day.

5'1" actress, Hayden Panettiere, talking about her sex life with 6'6" boxer, Wladimir Klitschko, on Ellen: "He is quite a bit bigger than me. I get the prudest people [that] come up to me, and they're like [lowers voice] 'Does it work?' Yeah, it works. We find a way."

The funny, courtesy of Gawker.com:


drunkexpatwriter

13 Apr 2011 11:10 AM

So these people have never heard of doggy style or girl on top? (Edit comment)

Greasy Thumb Guzik

Yeah, but what if he rolls over while they're sleeping.
She's not really immortal!

California Dreams

It's 3:00 a.m. and I'm wide awake. It could be because my sleep schedule is never normal when I'm not working a 9-5 but I think it has more to do with my excitement over the upcoming L.A. trip.

This mini vacation couldn't have come a a better time and I'm beyond psyched! I keep on imagining the things I'll see and do and the little experiences I'll have. I'm fully aware that expectations and reality don't always meet up perfectly but I don't see how this trip can be a disappointment when I'm going to be spending time with one of my best friends.

Viv is one of those people that help me remember to enjoy my present. Sometimes I forget I'm 24 and I truly value the people in my life who bring out the sense of fun in me.

Here's to an obnoxious amount of laughter, tipsy conversations with strangers, behaving a little badly and going to sleep when the sun's coming up.

Pretty Things.

Dresses, concerts in the park, sunshine, fruits and limeade. These are some of the things I'm clutching to as I tell myself "winter is almost over". It's so close now but I don't see or feel anything remotely resembling warm weather yet. So I look at pictures of pretty things that remind me of spring.

Here are some of the images that make me smile.

AOL Axes Freelancers: Including Me.

So after six months, AOL has decided they no longer require my services. I could be wrong (or just comforting myself) but I think it has more to do with the AOL/Huffington Post merger than my abilities as a writer.

Either way, I’m out of a gig.

Let me tell you what I’d like to do: There’s a box of Oreos in my kitchen with my name all over it and I could really go for some Mocha Almond Fudge soy cream. I also wouldn’t mind spending the next few days watching reality television and not showering. And eating some chips and guacamole would be great too (just to break up the monotony of eating cookies and soy cream for breakfast, lunch and dinner).

But I’m not going to do that. While I’d love to bury the overwhelming feeling of rejection and failure in some junk food – and some wine – I refuse to gain weight before my trip to LOS ANGELES!

That’s right; I’m going to L.A.! I’m going to L.A.! I’m going to L.A.!

Humor me, I’ve never been before and I’m excited.

One of my very good friends has lived there for years now and the trip is long overdue. Sure, it sucks because I bought my ticket when I thought I still had a job but what are ya gonna do? It’s non-refundable.

*kanye shrug*

Anyway, in honor of my trip to the West Coast and since it's not like I have articles to write, I’m jamming to Tupac!

Anything I absolutely have to do while I'm in L.A.?

Quote It.

"Talent is luck. The important thing in life is courage."

Woody Allen.

Subway Playlist: Dancing It Out.

1. Outkast - Roses
2. Looper - Mondo 77
3. Ratatat - Loud Pipes
   
4. Santigold - Lights Out
   
5. Mirah - The Garden
6. Fatboy Slim - Rockafeller Skank
7. Cypress Hill ft. Pitbull and Marc Anthony - Armada Latina
8. Ashlee Simpson - La La
9. Velvet Revolver - Slither
10. Lady Gaga - Born This Way
11. Keri Hilson - Turnin Me On
12. Shiny Toy Guns - Le Disko
13. Santigold - Creator
14. Pitbull ft. T Pain- Hey Baby (Drop it to the Floor)
    
15. Far East Movement - Like a G6
16. Rihanna - S&M
    

Dancing makes you brave!