On the Cusp

Feeling:  Incredibly sick of the cold! Hopefully, we've experienced our last snowstorm of the season here in MN and it's only spring weather to come.  Wanting:  So there are two things you should know about me. 1) I have a hard to find bra size. 2) I hate spending more than $20 on a bra. So I've been wanting a couple new 32D bras that are functional, affordable, and most of all...comfortable! The search is still on. Cooking:  Pasta salads. I must be experiencing some severe warm weather deficiency or something - I don't even like pasta salads. But the other day I used some leftover bow tie noodles and tossed 'em with olive oil, pesto, spices, and diced tomato and feta. It was actually pretty good.  Drinking:  Caribou Coffee's Mango Smoothie. I go back and forth on whether I love mango or hate it. Right now, I love it. If you're lucky enough to live in a part of the U.S. that has more Caribou Coffees per square inch than Starbucks, get yourself one

How To Tell If A Child Made Your Clothes  - do you buy from these companies? Maybe it's time to reconsider until they stop using child and slave labor overseas. Sexual Harassment Was Rampant at Coachella  - are we even surprised? The author of this article herself was groped over 20 times while conducting her report. (Coachella's owner is also anti-LGBT and "pro-gun" - why support that?) South Korea Stops Blasting K-Pop At the DMZ. Sad Day.  - but since it was supposed to be demoralizing and inspire North Korean troops to defect..... Is Walking Good Exercise?  - 4 out of 5 experts say yes. Just in time for all that warm weather and melting snow! No frills over 40? Why you should ignore age-based fashion rules  -  Former Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman would like to ban frills and bows on anyone over the age of 40. Where’s the fun in that?

At the start of the new year, we may tell ourselves that we want to be more present in our lives and bodies, that we want to be more mindful of what's going on within and around us, and we may want to even try incorporating a yoga or meditation practice into our daily routine. But what I've discovered is that very few people will actually stick with it unless it comes pre-packaged in a nice little box. And thus we have sophrology, the next wave of Mindfulness Sophrology - 'the science of the consciousness in harmony' The phenomenon is currently on the rise in parts of Europe - where it's offered as a therapy at some businesses and colleges, but expected to make its way across the pond shortly to American audiences. It mixes aspects of Western relaxation with the meditation of Eastern practices, and includes breathing and relaxation techniques using gentle movement and visualization. These self-development techniques aim to create an alert mind in a relaxe

H2O+ BEAUTY Oasis Hydrating Treatment TRIFLE COSMETICS Sugar Bunny Lip Scrub NYX PROFESSIONAL MAKEUP Soft Matte Lip Cream in Stockholm LUNA BY LUNA COSMETICS Eye-shadow in Spiced Pumpkin STEVE LAURANT BEAUTY Blush in Rosé All Day This is going to be the last IPSY bag I get for a bit - I downgraded my subscription to every two months because I keep getting a lot of products that I'm either not going to use or will not use in a timely enough manner. Case in point - this blush is way too bright and pink for me. Brighter and 80's inspired colors are gaining traction in the makeup world again, but in my eyes they're on the same level as scrunchies and neon. Hard pass. I adore the LUNA eye shadow but the spiced pumpkin shade will be better suited for next October. I've always liked most of the products I've used from NYX, but since I'm not a fan of liquid lipsticks I was really on the fence about this one. Fortunately it

Work stress is not kind on one's skin. And I've been noticing. So last week I tested out two new TONYMOLY sheet masks - a Pearl Mask and a Caviar Mask. Strange, eh? The Pearl Sheet Mask promised brighter and clearer skin and since my complexion's been looking a little dim lately, I figured I would give it a go while having a nice, luxurious soak in the bath. These masks are made of 100% cotton so don't be surprised to find actually cottonseeds hanging out in the fibers. Fortunately, they didn't really affect the fit or feel of the mask - which could have been a bit more snug but still managed to evenly cover most of my face. The Results: Definitely a bit brighter. But that might just be confirmation bias because I've also been using a fantastic Vitamin C serum from e.l.f. Still, the next day my eye circles didn't look nearly as dark as they usually do and there was more of a glow to my skin. 3.5/5 Would Recommend! The Caviar Sheet Mask w

When the week began, I had honestly forgotten that Mercury was in retrograde. Last week didn't bother me all that much - even though there was a flurry of mass emails and texts that had to go out to a million of our contracted interpreters, I wasn't feeling the brunt of any nasty retrograde effects. This week, however, was an entirely different story. It began with a sudden onset of panic as we realized that all our normal daily tasks would have to be set aside to account for a mass audit of 157 interpreter files. What *IS* an audit, exactly, you might ask? Well, it involves combing with a fine tooth comb through every single one of these files to make sure that each and every interpreter has all their documentation up to date and meeting compliance standards. What if they don't? And here's where it became the ultimate clusterf*ck showdown.  Monday: The audit begins. New spreadsheets, new email templates, new naming conventions. Woo~ Tuesday: I accompa