Julep and a nail polish obsession

Over the weekend I posted a picture of my unwieldy collection of nail polishes. I saw unwieldy because large numbers of nail polishes are heavy, take up a lot of space, and difficult to sort through.

(Apparently I don't have easy-to-corral collections. *ahem*Shoes.*ahem* Why can't I collect things that are easy to store, like sheets of paper.)

Nail polish is a more recent addiction for me. Four or five years ago, I probably had a handful of bottles. 

I'm not sure what happened, other than the fact that I actually started painting my nails. (Seven years of mowing lawns and painted nails don't really mix.)

In the past six months or so, my collection has increased almost entirely because of Julep. Maybe you've heard of them, or filled out your profile to become a Julep Maven. They're actually a local company that has salons, tons of polish, and other beauty products.

Their monthly box ($20) comes with at least two polishes and a product, or all polishes, or all products, depending on your preference. You can add-on polishes and products (up to three for $5/each) and you skip any month you want to. Plus they often have specials.

I had been getting emails for months but didn't become a Maven until this fall when I came across a special to add three polishes to my first box for free. And I haven't gotten a box every month. But through the program, I've never paid full price (or even close) for polishes, which have a pretty high price tag.

The colors each months are new, which is fun. And while you have a profile – I'm boho glam – you can actually get any box that you want.

In case you can't tell, I'm a fan. And I'm not being paid any money to tell you about Julep.

What's your polish of choice? Do you do any monthly subscriptions?

Lazy Weekend Days

I celebrated finishing my week of working at 5:30 a.m., but giving myself the weekend off from lots of plans. And it was lovely.

Friday after work I ran a few errands (see: spent too much money at the drugstore) and then spent about an hour enjoying happy hour at a local bar so I could watch some college basketball. It's my favorite sport, which makes March the best month.

I didn't do much else that night, just enjoyed dinner with my aunt and uncle, and relaxed.

Saturday I started out slow after almost 9(!) hours of sleep. I got my room organized because it was out of control and went for a run (a.k.a. a slow job/walk combination).

It's been months since I've exercised regularly so I'm pacing myself. I started with day 1 of couch to 5k, but may skip ahead a little because it felt like a little too much walking for me.

Saturday afternoon I headed to a beer and music fest, complete with food trucks. I spent a few hours hanging out with friends, sampling beers, and trying to ignore the overly loud, not amazing music. Some of the groups were pretty good but the sound was horrible--lots of feedback and so loud you couldn't actually understand words.

The second half of the event I volunteered by pouring beer. I'd like to say I'm a professional. It was fun to get to know some other volunteers and the rep of the brand I poured for. But man, it was a long night. I made it home around midnight, which is hours past bedtime for me right now.

Today has been another slow day. I slept in until 8am, had some breakfast and then headed out to catch some basketball. I got to the restaurant just before it opened, so I did a tiny bit of shopping. Then I parked in front of the big screens in the bar and ate corned beef and cabbage.

I made it home early afternoon to finish up some job applications and prep some blog posts for the week. I'm trying to plan ahead so I can post a little more consistently. Currently goal: three posts a week.

After dinner tonight, I'll be headed to bed early because I have my last 5:30 shift tomorrow. Going in at 7am on Tuesday is going to feel amazing! :)

What have you been up to this weekend? Anything exciting?

Awkward and Awesome: Oh so early

I don't know if I mentioned this already or not, but I've been working starting at 5:30 a.m. every morning this week.

The funny thing is, I've always been a night owl. I still think I am, but I have managed to mostly adjust my schedule. And I haven't slept through an alarm.

(Side note: I highly recommend the sleep cycle app. It tracks your sleep and wakes you up at the best time based on that, so you aren't pulled out of a deep sleep. You do have to keep it on the bed though. But seriously, it's great.)

Anyways, work has gone pretty smoothly. We've been fairly short staffed, but my team is awesome and we've risen to the challenge. That said, I'm exhausted and on a crazy schedule, so I'm going to quickly share my awkward and awesome moments and then head to bed.

Awkward:
- I'm volunteering on a project that has a conference call every week and one guy continues to call me Emily. I'm the only woman on the team and I always say "Elizabeth here." So that's cool.
- The days I forget to bring my water bottle to work are awful. Today drinking coffee resulted in a dehydration headache. But I'm pretty sure I would have had a caffeine withdrawal headache otherwise. So lose-lose.
- Paying two big bills in one day. I had been feeling a little rich. Haha. (Don't worry guys, I'm not broke.)
- My lack of socializing this week. When you hit a wall around 4:30 p.m. and then just hold out a couple hours for bed, it's hard to want to do anything.
- I haven't put any clothes away all week. Holler.
- This is the one time of the year I would really like to have TV. College basketball is my thing and I'm missing out on a lot of the fun.

Awesome:
- Feeling like I got into a groove at work this week.
- Homemade cookies. 'Nuff said.
- Finally checking a few big things off my to-do list. Such a relief. Here's hoping for some more motivation this weekend.
- Being at work this early means there is never traffic. Next week, my normal time is going to be a bit of an adjustment, but at least a 7 a.m. start will feel like sleeping in. :)
- Things that I could like to write on the awesome list every week: sweatpants, puppy cuddles (not that I've had any for a while), showers before bed, sunshine, coffee (except when I don't drink water), warm towels, falling asleep to the sound of rain, pho, fro-yo, driving on sunny days with the windows down and music cranked.

So, what's been awkward and awesome for you this week?

I think I've officially hit maturity

This weekend, I had a moment that made me feel old. Not ancient, but fully-adult. Beyond my youth. Mature.

It was a good friend's birthday on Sunday, so on Saturday a group of us met for dinner and headed to a local bar for a larger party.

We walked in and the music was pounding, there were kids everywhere (and by kids I mean just over the legal drinking age), and we all felt old.

It wasn't a bad thing. In fact we felt quite superior to the girl fell down and the kids who paid five dollars to dance upstairs to the same music we were hearing below.

But, the waitress who told us downstairs was great for lounging and conversation had no clue what she was talking about.

We joked about turned the music down, only hearing every third word, and hiding under my coat to have an actual conversation.

Then we tweeted to each other the next day about how our ears were ringing unrelated to any alcohol consumption.

We definitely had fun celebrating my friend. But it was a reminder that we are old(er).

Has anything made you feel old recently? Please tell me I'm not alone.

A Sunny Saturday Meander

Even though spring doesn't officially start for another ten days, Saturday was the first real spring day around here. The sun was out, the sky was devoid of clouds, and the temperature was above 50 degrees. We're pretty hard to please around Seattle.

My great aunt and uncle (whom I'm living with) invited me to go for a walk with them. We decided to head into the University District for pizza and then head to campus to see if anything was in bloom yet.

Sadly the cherry trees still haven't let loose, but we still took advantage of the sunshine and managed to find a few flowers around campus.

It was nice to get outside, especially since that so rarely happens these days for me (partially because of work and partially because I'm lazy).

I took along the big camera to snap some photos as we were out walking, mostly so I can look at them for the next week while it rains.

 Did anyone else get to enjoy some sunshine this weekend?

Awkward and Awesome: Stuff to do

There are so many things I've been meaning to get done. Like commenting on all of your blogs. Or some side projects I have going on.

But yesterday, when I actually had the whole afternoon to get things done, I actually ended up cleaning and watching a couple TV shows. The stuff dreams are made of. I managed to write a blog post too.

I hope to be back next week with some more content, even one or two of the post ideas I have sitting in drafts. And I hope to visit  more of your blogs. For now, you'll have to make do with a few awkward and awesome moments from the past week or so.

Awkward:
- Next week, one of my coworkers is on vacation so I'm covering his early morning shift. If anyone needs me I'll be at work starting at 5:30 a.m. Hopefully I don't break anything, because I'm on my own.
- My debit card expired last month and I picked my new one up last weekend from my parent's house with all my other mail. But I still haven't activated it. Good job procrastinating, huh? I've been using my credit card for all purchases, large and small. At least I have it.
- Remembering that I was going to send Christmas cards and even collected addresses (from some of you). It's March. Whoops.
- I don't really like to focus on weight much, but I realized recently that my clothes don't fit very well. I haven't actually stepped on a scale, but I can tell sitting at a computer every day is catching up with me, because not much else has changed. Time to get active.

Awesome:
- Successfully arming and de-arming (unarming?) my aunt and uncle's house alarm while they were gone for a few days. It didn't go off once. Victory!
- I only have plans Saturday evening this weekend. I am soooo excited. Life has been relatively busy for the past month or so and I have a long list of things I want to get done.
- Buying a Living Social promotion for brunch at a local spot that includes bottomless mimosas. Life just got a million times more awesome.
- Getting an unexpected graduation gift and a rebate check. I might have to treat myself to a few little treats this weekend.
- Running into an old friend this week when I was out running errands. It was good to get a hug and catch up for a few minutes.
- Getting some plastic drawers from my parent's storage last weekend. I was finally able to put some clothes away and it feels wonderful.
- Having a friend suggest a color run in September. A 5k is the perfect motivation for getting into a workout routine.
- I purchased a $30 AmazonLocal deal to try out CrossFit. I'm sure I'll feel like dying but at least I'll be getting into shape. And CrossFit has really interested me. I'll be let you know how it goes.

I think I'll end my longer-than-necessary lists there. What has been awkward or awesome for you this week?

My Firmoo (Hipster) Glasses

I pretty much live in glasses. For years, I wore contacts almost full time, but in my old age, my eyes have gotten dry and sensitive so it's not really an option anymore.

When I was contacted by Firmoo to review a pair of their glasses, I jumped at the chance. The hardest part of the decision was deciding which pair to go with. They have a pretty extensive collection and I kept finding ones I liked.

Here's are the glasses I went with:

I have a couple other pairs, including one that I wear almost daily. But I wanted something that would be pretty multi-functional. They had a virtual try-on feature, so I could get an idea of what the glasses would look like, which I really appreciated.

Plus, I really want to be as hipster as possible. Mission accomplished.

Now, you may have seen other bloggers reviewing Firmoo glasses recently, but just in case, I wanted to share their First Pair Free program. If you are in the market for glasses, you should definitely check out their site for more information.

And I'm not going to lie, their prices are low enough, I may end up buying another pair somewhere down the road.

Overall, I was really happy with the experience. The customer service was great, my glasses came fairly quickly.

My only issue is that the glasses are a little tight, but that's more of a problem with my large head. (Seriously. My head is not small. Or medium.)

So, what do you think of my choice? And if you end up getting pair, make sure to share pics!

Disclosure: I was given a free pair of glasses by Firmoo in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own. I did not receive compensation for this review.