Favorite Summer Products

I am no fashion blogger or anything of the sort. I can appreciate pretty shoes and clothes, but until we have real money coming in, I will just have to stare from store windows and online catalogs.

This also applies to fancy makeup and beauty products. This girl here is balling on a budget. And I never know what things I actually need. Sephora and all its pretty things always lure me in, but then I get overwhelmed and leave.

But, I do have a few new summer products that I am LOVING right now and I thought I would share.

So, first up:

Sunblock.

And this Neutrogena Dry Touch Sunblock is amazing. I am a very pale girl, and by looking at my parents, I never had a chance. Which means I burn incredibly easy. Mr. A and I sat outside for lunch on the first warm day and my arms burned after no more than an hour. So when I was going to a baseball game during a 100 degree day and my seats were in the sun, I asked what sunscreen I could wear all day and not feel greasy and gross. A couple people mentioned this one and I am hooked. I put it on in the morning before I drove up and I felt fine all day. Even better? No burn after sitting in the direct sin for about 3 hours. Go buy some. You will love it.

This is Biolage Smoothing Gel.

In this Midwest humidity, my hair can get all kinds of crazy frizzy and this stuff helps a lot. It doesn’t make my hair feel like I have gel in and at least helps my hair maintain some smoothness and shape.

Add in this:

CHI Silk Infusion and my hair will still be shiny, smooth, and straight. And that is one heck of a feat for my hair. And the silk infusion also helps keep my hair looking great since I have to flat iron my hair.

Dove Ultimate Go Sleeveless

Folks. It’s hot. Like really freaking hot. Like heat warnings on the second day of June and oh my word what is August going to be like hot. And while we like to be all ladylike and think we just glisten, that no longer applies in 100% humidity. So yes, I sweat. But this deodorant is amazing and I love it. And it really does help make the underarms look better for all those tank tops and fun summer dresses. Never been so in love with a deodorant before.

Australian Gold Forever After Moisturizer

I found this lotion last year when I was tanning to get ready for the wedding and Mexico. I needed some color so I didn’t look like a ghost in all the wedding pictures and so I didn’t scorch the second I jumped off the plane in the Mexico sun. But since I burn so easily, I wanted to make sure my skin stayed moisturized and didn’t look like leather. Also, this lotion helps the tan stay longer. Even better? It doesn’t smell like coco butter because I HATE the smell of coco butter. It’s not greasy and I use it as my usual moisturizer. Even has some aloe in it for when I inevitably turn my shoulders into lobsters.

Nivea Kiss of Smoothness Chapstick

And I can’t forget about the lips. They burn just as easily and this stuff is amazing. Not sticky and goes on smooth. Even better, if I put it in before my lipstick, it just seems to make it look better.

And I love summer wedges. No, these aren’t fancy, or even my favorite ones, but I love that summer wedges can dress up an outfit. And heels always make legs look even better. Also, the perfect way to show off those fun summer pedicures.

 

So what are YOUR favorite summer products? What are your must-haves for the days in the sun and staying cool?

He’s On My List

You know the joke. Couples have the list of celebrities that their significant other is allowed to cheat on them with. It’s funny and amusing.

Mr. A’s: Natalie Portman (even bald in V for Vendetta), Katy Perry, Ellen Page, and Lea Michele.

**I just realized all of them are dark haired, a little darker skinned, a little exotic looking. And the total opposite of me. Hmm. I’ll try not to focus on that. ha

I have a list. Not always typical. I love Dennis Quaid, Ryan Reynolds, Adam Sandler (more to go grab a beer with), John Krasinski.

And Ben Folds.

I don’t necessarily want to sleep with him, but if he could just sing to me and be his funny, uncensored self? I’d be sold. I really would have loved to have “The Luckiest” as our wedding song, but that wouldn’t really have been in our wedding singer’s repertoire. And it wouldn’t have been as good as him, so no point trying. Now if he sang at our wedding… Can I get a redo and invite him???

I have been a fan of his since he was in Ben Folds Five. There is just something about his voice that I love. I think his songs are great and I could just listen to his music for hours.

 

He is from Nashville, which is about 2 hours away from my undergrad. He did a show at my school my junior year. I was so freaking pumped because 1. Ben Folds would be at my undergrad 2. my school NEVER had good people come unless it was a country person. Or John Mayer and the tickets were so effing expensive and then he only played for 37 minutes. Screw you John Mayer. or 3. Because my dad was AMAZING and got us second row seats.

So, the opening band played, and they were good, but was anxious for Ben. Now, just to remind you, he’s from Nashville. It’s SUPER easy to get from Nashville to my school. Since he had a show in ugrad town, he decided to make a doctor’s appointment for that day since he wouldn’t have far to go for the show. Somehow, he and his wife got lost from Nashville to school. No idea how, but they did.

His concert team was great. They gave out free stuff and all that jazz. They kept us updated on where they were. Mr. A was a little perturbed because he figured Ben would show up late, play for like 30 minutes and leave since he was late.

Well, two and a half hours later… he showed up. And not only did he apologize a BILLION times, he played as long as he would have had he been on time. So it was nearly a 2 hour show. Even better? He improved an entire song about our school.

Part of the song he improved for us. And yes, he does say “there’ll be no beer at the BP station.” Oh going to college in a “moist” county blows. (Sorry it’s not a great video. Best one I could find…)

One of my all time favorite concerts. He’s fun. He doesn’t censor himself, which I’m a fan of. He puts on one hell of a show live. Just wonderful.

And now he’s on the NBC show “The Sing Off”. I’m a new fan of the show and I love that one of my faves, who wasn’t always mainstream, is getting some more popularity.

Maybe I can covert a few of you as well. 😉

Music Fun

Since it’s the weekend, I figured I would do a post of some of my favorite songs and music videos. So here’s some music and maybe it will make you smile remembering an older song or a funny video or it might even show you something new.

Warning: This will be an eclectic collection of songs. I pretty much like a little of everything. Broadway, hip-hop, pop, country, rap, punk, etc.

Green Day- “Basket Case”

 

Jay-Z and Alicia Keys- “Empire State of Mind”

 

Taylor Swift- “Love Story”

 

Spring Awakening Hodgepodge- Performance at the 2007 Tony Awards (And yes, that IS Lea Michele and

 

Spring Awakening– Bitch of Living (Profanity)

 

Spring Awakening– Totally F***ed (Profanity. Also, not the best quality, but shows the performance)

(Showed the real versions of the songs as well. Probably my favorite musical and I love that they make no apologies for the honest nature of the play. It’s amazing!)

Michael Jackson- “Thriller”

 

Katy Perry- “Firework” (Love the video. Love Katy Perry and think she looks amazing in this video. Also looks pretty good in “Teenage Dream”)

 

Ludacris- “How Low” (I’m strangely in love with just about anything Ludacris does.)

Eminem and Rhianna- “Love the Way You Lie”

 

Michael Buble- “Everything” (LOVE this song. Wanted it to be first dance, but because we had a singer, she didn’t know it, so went with an awesome Aretha song that she blew away.)

 

Far East Movement- “Like a G6”

 

Lil Wayne- “Knockout”

 

The Band Perry- “If I Die Young”

 

 

Okay, I’ll end here. I hope you all have an amazing weekend filled with the people you love. Any new music video or amazing video I need to see? Let me know!

First day of class

Do you remember, whether it was high school or college, the first day of class? After you went over the preliminary “These are my rules and you will obey, or else” speech, you probably had some ice breaker. Get to know your peers. Which always amused me because, if I was allowed to pick my partner, I picked a friend. Who already knew me. And we laughed at the whole event. But hey, good try teacher. (I’ll use it in my future classroom. It makes for an easy activity.)

Well this is my getting to you. 4.5 months into it. In blogging, it seemed awkward to start off with a list of my quirks and likes. More like, draw you in, let you believe I’m normal, then hit you with the odd stuff. Suckers.

-I may have been an English major, but unless it’s for a professional purpose, I’m not much for being a grammar nazi. I have typos. I sometimes use cliches. Deal. Now when writing to a boss, or writing a paper, or anything of the like, I try harder. I won’t embarrass the English degree.

– I decided to get said English degree because I loved to read. Yep. I’m a dork.

– Favorite candy in the whole wide world? Chocolate covered gummi bears. I’ll wait for the gasps of terror and the fake vomiting noises to cease before I continue.

Waiting

-Serial killers are fascinating. Not in a “I wonder how I could be like them” kind of way. But a, “Wow. They are really messed up in the head and I’m intrigued how they got away with it for so long, but so very glad they have been caught and are in jail” kind of way.Except Dexter. He’s cool and only kills the bad guys. We can keep him.

– When I was younger, I used to only read R.L. Stein books and Stephen King novels. Now? I won’t even watch a suspenseful drama if I’m home alone. No more scary movies for this chick. It’s my dad’s fault. I’ll have to explain the Carrie incident in another post.

– I read the Twilight series. In a week. Please don’t take my degree away. Does it help that I couldn’t finish the first one because the writing was so terrible? But I did get drawn into the rest. Sometimes you just need a cheesy love story.

– best snack (for me) in the entire universe? My homemade popcorn and a sugar free red bull. I’ve had this combination for meals. On a more regular occurrence than I would like to admit. And by homemade, I mean with oil and kernels, in a pan, on the stove. That bag crap is just that. Crap.

-I can’t sleep with my feet covered. This means no socks and feet outside the covers. I did this when I was a baby. I’d kick the socks put on my feet off almost immediately.

-My dream would be to live in a place that I could wear flip flops year round. (For those of you who do: Does Old Navy sell their flip flops year round? Do they have they sandal sale in December? If so, please let me know and I will buy them then. Thanks.)

– I think I would like to be a lawyer. Or a child psychologist. Probably more the latter. But this chick can’t afford grad school. Damn it.

– I hate the smells of vanilla or cinnamon. They make me nauseous.

– I also hate plain vanilla ice cream. So boring. What’s the point?

– I WILL be going to the midnight showing of the newest, and last, Harry Potter movies. But I won’t dress up. That’s too much.

– The husband and I already have the names of our future dogs and what breed they will be picked out.

– We also have the kids’ names picked out. And how many. And if I have twins the first round, we’re done.

– I don’t understand the Bachelor/Bachelorette. I’m all for some trashy reality tv, but I never got that one.

– I refuse, under any and all circumstances, to go into a bathroom without the lights on. When we had ice-pocalypse a couple years ago? I made the then fiance take the flashlight into the bathroom with me. Dark bathrooms scare me to death.

– I have developed a bug-phobia. I start shaking. I sweat. My heart starts racing. All because a butterfly landed on me. Or there was a cricket in the living room. (Everyone better pray no bugs show up int he apartment next week, or my neighbors will be meeting me in a very awkward way.)

– I like ketchup with my grilled cheese sandwiches

– I’ve never broken a bone. Or been taken to the ER.

– I’m not a cat person. Not only because I’m super allergic, but I think they’re sneaky. I’m a dog person. Dogs need and want your attention. Cats think you should bow to them.

– Going to an actual Broadway show on Broadway is a dream of mine. I would probably pass out if I got to go.

– GLEE? Totally addicted. As I probably tweeted about more than any self-respecting adult should have. In. Love.

– I love the smell of chlorine. The best place? The locker room of a pool, particularly at YMCAs. Because the pool area has its own changing room.

– I would rather eat chips and dip than cakes or cookies. Salt is my addiction.

– I love staying up way later than I should. But only if I can sleep in the next morning.

– My mom used to always let me eat leftover pizza for breakfast (see where it began?)

That’s probably enough for one post. I’ll catch ya with more oddities later.

The nerd that I am

I’m an English major. Was an English major. {Still getting used to not defining myself by college major…}

Anyways, I love to read. Always have. When I was younger, I used to purposely wake up early so that I could read a whole book before lunch. Yep. I was a dork.

However, I don’t really fit with the stereotypical English major. One of my students asked me if I read Shakespeare on the weekends. I quickly informed them “no” and that I had enough of Shakespeare in college to last me a while.

Also, while I know grammar and can teach it, I’m not a grammar nazi. So, please don’t say , “Aren’t you an English major?” if there is a typo on my blog. I try to fix them and such, but it’s my blog, not my honor’s thesis. I’m not concerned.

So, I thought I would share some of my favorite books and authors. I LOVE American literature. I want to be a college professor one day and I want to teach Modern American Lit. It’s my fave.

I also like sappy chick books. We all have our flaws. 😉

SO. A more “typical” book.

Looking for a writer who creates crazy characters (mostly all southern) and bizarre events? I give you Flannery O’Connor.

She creates some of the most bizarre, yet fascinating characters.

{These are short stories btw}

Favorite new writer (new as in the last 5 or 6 years). Caprice Crane.

I adore her characters and the hilarious predicaments they get themselves into. While it’s not Whitman, she uses pop culture references brilliantly and you instantly feel attached to the characters. Truly awesome books, and easy reads.

They meet. They hate each other. Add Kurt Kobain and some Tab energy drink and it's awesome.

Cheating scumbag. Fake Amnesia. Real Amnesia. Brilliant.

Couple divorces. She sues for custody of HIS family. Rather heartwarming.

—–I know Kurt Cobain, Amnesia-real and fake-, and getting custody of the in-laws, don’t sound like usually good story line, but give one of them a shot (I suggest Forget About It or Stupid and Contagious first). They are really wonderful.

–I also enjoy a lot of Jodi Picoult books. Total girl books, but they also always have an element of law/lawyer/courtroom. My favorite is called Nineteen Minutes. It’s a Columbine-esque story, but with a twist.

Really gut wrenching. Loved it.

And, my “boy” book. Fight Club. Yepp. It was a book first and it was fantastic.

Great psychological twists. And a few fights. A few.

There are more. Many more. Maybe I’ll add a couple each week, but these are the ones that stick out.

I’m currently re-reading the Harry Potter series along with some Flannery short stories thrown in.

What are your favorite books? Any suggestions?

Also, lots of studying this week for my exam on Saturday. I clarified that I am for sure going to be testing from 7am til 7pm. Yeah. 12 hours. How sadistic is my future state????

Enjoy!

New Teacher. New Wife.