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Super Cute Saturdays #1

Pretty, Reviews

I’ve done a pretty decent job of covering all of my ‘so very ___’ bases on this blog so far. Marriage Mondays are generally my so very churchy days (and once in a while if it’s an intimacy related post I can squeeze in a so very naughty gem), Work in Progress Wednesdays obviously are my so very crafty days, cooking and baking through Deceptively Delicious has been an easy way of sneaking in some of my so very healthy ideas, clearly the rest of my posts are so very domestic and I know that my so very nerdy tendencies shine through fairly often. All that’s really been missing is so very pretty! So here goes – with the first installment of Super Cute Saturdays!

I wasn’t sure where to start at first because of course, this area of my life has so many blogging possibilities. I could do makeup tutorials! Product reviews! Share little tips and tricks!! Then I thought, since my ‘go to’ manual for getting cute is Carmindy’s Crazy Busy Beautiful, I will use that as a reference guide. Fun!! So this post will be a slightly disorganized intro!

 
(left photo is Urban Decay shadow in kiddie pool, right is Urban Decay in Skimp and Romp – and Revlon lashes. Both photos have Too Faced Lash Injection mascara)

Let’s jump in with eyeshadow, because it’s just more fun than the basics of skincare and sunscreen (which you really, really should wear every single day even in the rain and especially in the snow). There are some things about shadow I’ve just learned in the last year or so since meeting Carmindy and becoming more than just a little obsessed with her book.

One of my dear friends, who is actually Wee One #3’s Godmother, Miss Lindsay, is a very talented makeup artist and she’s told me for years that if you want your shadow to stay on all day, you have to use a primer. I really didn’t think it mattered that much in my little world, now of course I realize that it matters more to me than to others because it’s not like I always have time for touch ups with three wee ones underfoot! A couple of months ago, I bought primer for the first time – Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion. It’s beyond amazing. It’s $18 for a tube smaller than a mascara BUT you only need a dab and it actually works. Really, truly. I generally get up around 7, and do my makeup within minutes of falling out of bed. Between kids and cooking and cleaning and blogging, I generally don’t have a chance to touch up till just before supper, which is 5. That’s 10 hours and it stays put – and even then I just powder my face I don’t mess with my shadow at all. When I finally take it off around 11 or so when I get in the shower it’s starting to feather a bit but that’s after 17 hours of wearing it. When I do my shadow without a primer, it’s feathering at lunch. No lie.

I also learned that you can make a base with a little extra foundation and powder on your lids and brow bones and that does work, though not as well as the primer potion I picked up from Urban Decay.

Of course, playing with colours is the best part of playing with makeup! For a long time I stuck to the three shadow sets, the little kits that have a highlight, lid and contour shade. For a long time I stuck with just that, and mostly in two colours. I’d get the green trio and the purple trio. This one from Clinique is a good example of a trio of three shades in the same colour family.

If you’re not used to wearing shadows and you’re not sure what colours to try, a shimmery brown eye shadow works for all skin tones, eye colours and ages!

Eventually, I embraced the seventeen year old in me and started mixing it up myself with three shades of gold, or mixing a purple with a green (I know that sounds like a bad carnival ride but it’s adorable). These two kits, one from NYX and one from Almay, are kits with colours that go well together but are not just different shades of the same colour.

A few quick little notes that have made playing with makeup more fun. 1) Keep a makeup sponge with a little foundation on it on hand when you’re using super glittery or shimmery or otherwise loose eyeshadow. So when the shadow inevitably lands on you cheeks and the area under your eye, you can smooth it away like a little magic eraser. 2) When you look exhausted and there’s no time to properly do your makeup, a few dots of white eyeliner blended with your finger in your tear duct area coupled with just a little super light highlighter on your brow bone wakes up your face – considerably. 3) Vaseline is a great eye makeup remover!

Next up? Lashes. But when you wear them everyday like I do, you have to call them laaaaaashes. 😉


(I used Tarte Lock & Roll in bronze here with Urban Decay plush lashes)

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Window Shopping Wednesday (and Giveaway) at Little One Books

Kids, Reviews, Window Shopping

This is part nine of my Window Shopping Wednesday series, this time focused on a single store, Little One Books. I’m featuring this store because their selection is unlike any other in that all their books are handpicked by the couple that created it! They have over 700 books, music and videos and they have all been chosen based on content and readability. Each book even has a ‘why we chose this book’ write up explaining in great detail what made this book stand out.

 

 

Before I go any further, I want to mention that the book I was sent was packaged well and in perfect condition! I am mentioning it because all too often I’ll order something with a set of expectations because it’s from a well known company and when it arrives it’s falling apart. Very well done on that front, Little One Books!

The book I requested when I was given the option? Where the Wild Things Are, of course! I have loved this book since I was first read it as a child by my parents, who had read it to their Godchildren before I was even born! Timeless and fun!

 

They have also put together bundles of themed books, music and videos! From Quiet Time to Let’s Sing and Dance, they’ve got a nice selection and they are well matched up!

 

 

Want a $25 gift certificate to Little One Books? Here are all the ways you can enter this giveaway – just be sure to comment here and let me know what you did to enter!

1. Head over to Little One Books and sign up for their newsletter. (1 entry)

2. While you’re there, have a look around and let me know in the comments which book you’d pick if you win. (1 entry)

3. Head over to Little One Books on Facebook and become a fan. (1 entry)

4. Follow Little One Books on Twitter. (1 entry)

5. Tweet that you’ve entered this giveaway! Mention me (@soverydomestic) and Little One Books (@littleonebooks). (1 entry)

Remember, you don’t have to do all five things to enter, each one counts as it’s own entry!

 

This giveaway will run for two weeks, closes November 17, when a winner will be chosen by random.org. I will email the winner immediately and they’ll have 48 hours to claim the prize – if the winner does not claim their prize within 48 house, we’ll use random.org to choose another winner. Good luck!

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Crazy, Busy, Beautiful and 45 Minutes with Carmindy

Pretty, Reviews
Crazy, Busy, Beautiful: Beauty Secrets for Getting Gorgeous Fast by Carmindy Just like anything else in life, in my ongoing effort to keep myself pulled together, I am all over the research and doing it right. You know? Because why bother making an effort if it’s only going to be a weak one? Though I do support the concept of aiming higher on the regular, so some effort is better than none, however I’m a ‘jump in with both feet’ sort of gal. To that effect, I am all over Carmindy, make up artist on What Not to Wear. The show itself I’m lukewarm on, only because I think some people (yes me) are a little quirkier than is usually allowed, you know? I suppose if I’m honest it all comes down to my love of plastic jewelry and total inability to give it up for daintier, more adult fare.
Back to Carmindy, when her second book, The 5-Minute Face: The Quick & Easy Makeup Guide for Every Woman was published, I checked it out and learned a handful of things I still use often. So when Crazy Busy Beautiful: Beauty Secrets for Getting Gorgeous Fast came out, I felt like I could assume this one would be good too, and thankfully it didn’t disappoint.

Essentially, this book is a collection of beauty secrets, categorized into sections like Get Cheeky and Lips, Lips, Lips. Nine chapters, from skin care to each facial feature, all have tips and ideas from Carmindy and also from an open call for her fans beauty secrets. Some of them are actually things I’d do, like sticking my hands in the freezer for a minute to set nail polish quickly, but there are so many other weird ones that sound shifty. Ha. Like steaming your face with potato water (really?) and dabbing Jell-O powder on your lips to stain them (delish too?).

When I read on Twitter that Indigo – Eaton Centre was hosting a book signing with Carmindy, I was there! I had been to a signing at that Indigo before and I found it to be really well organized and a lot of fun. When fans get in line with their books, Indigo staff writes who the book is for on a post it to make the signing smooth and make sure everyone’s name is accurate!

  

Carmindy came out looking stunning, of course, and jumped right into a Q and A after a quick intro. She was helpful and really sweet, she answered everyone’s questions and, naturally, posed for photos and signed books. There was a really good mix of people there with some diverse questions, so she covered a lot of good info.

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The Best Bake Sale Ever Cookbook

Domestic, Reviews
I’ve been baking for bake sales since my first wee one’s play group seven years ago, and in that time I’ve had some winners and some some losers and I still use some of the trusty recipes from my Good Housekeeping Cook Book! When I came across this book though, and started flipping through it, I knew it’d be a winner and it is.

I honestly love a cookbook that takes cooking or baking seriously, how else can you get to the serious business of making it taste/look divine, right?

Outlining what makes a bake sale recipe exactly what it needs to be, (presentation, portability and portions – naturally), options abound! Cookies, bars / brownies, breads / coffee cakes, cupcakes / rolls / muffins, cakes and pies!

The thumbprint cookies were a hit when I made them for the kid’s school bake sale, and I tried the blueberry pie, pumpkin pie and cherry pies during Pie Year! All recipes were easy to follow and none had any errors.

The very last chapter is called Something Extra, with fun, never fail bake sale standards like popcorn balls, candied / chocolate covered / apples and trail mix. Plus other fun ideas like English toffee packaged in small portions, homemade marshmallows and marshmallow fudge!

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Creme on College

Domestic, Reviews, Toronto

This is the first in another weekly series for this blog, Thursday will be a review day for local spots! With all the places we check out around the city, especially foodie and crafty spots, this weekly was bound to happen eventually. First up is Creme, a new gelato spot on College in Little Italy.

Creme – 703 College St – www.cremebuzz.com

I hadn’t read anything about Creme before I went in for the first time, so I had no real expectation. I immediately loved the design of the cafe. There is a row of bench seating with tables and accompanying chairs by the front window. There is a lot of nice light in the afternoon and it would be a good spot to get some work done (WiFi coming soon, I’ve been told) while still enjoying the day.

Our trip to Creme started with my wee ones asking politely for gelato. Our out of town guests thought the concept of polite children was so crazy they decided we must all go for gelato. Choosing flavours was as hard for the adults as it was for the kids and when it came to truffles, it was even harder for the adults! We ended up with three different kinds; chocolate, green mint and ‘vanilla’ (it wasn’t technically called vanilla and had wee chocolate flecks in it). All three kinds were devoured immediately, except for one wee one, who managed to hold on to her unfinished cone all the way to Lillian Smith library! This gelato was much creamier than others I’ve tried recently, and the flavours were also much stronger (in the best possible way).

  

The presentation of their cakes and truffles reminded me of the Sweet Gallery in Bloor West Village, but the prices at Creme are so much better! The selection of the chocolates was nice for a cafe, and the small portion size goes along very well with a small coffee or espresso.

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Handmade Nation

Crafty, Reviews
When I first heard about Handmade Nation, I was over the moon. It was so exciting to me that such a thing existed, a book covering crafters all across America? Amazing that craftiness, in any form, has gotten to be not just socially acceptable, but cool. Obviously, if you’re here you have a taste for the slightly off-beat side of crafty, so you already know that knitting is rad and mod podge is something serious. The rest of the world doesn’t seem to know this though. Faythe Levine traveled 19,000 miles around America to talk to over 80 indie crafters about what they do and their take over a 2 year period
to make a documentary about it. In that time it spawned into a book, while the film came together.

This book opens with a timeline and gives a wonderful look into how ‘the new wave of craft’ came to be what it is today (like from Debbie Stoller’s first Stitch n Bitch in NYC in 1998 to when MyMy went live in 2005 and when Knitta Please bombed Houston, TX the following year. It is filled with photos and write ups of so many extremely talented independent crafters – hello My Paper Crane! There are also essays throughout it by even more crafters on everything from the internet to activism, craft fairs, and of course, the Church of Craft

Some of my personal faves include Lekkner, Sublime Stitching, and Naughty Secretary Club (love them). Then there are all the crafters I hadn’t heard of yet that I fell in love with once I read this book like; KnitKnit, The Small Object, Made With Sweet Love and Blissen.

Pairing perfectly with the movie, I am sure. I can’t wait to see it!

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