Stuff I Love At The Moment

COSMETICAL WOTSITS

Garnier BB Cream in Light, or Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser in Nude, set with MAC MSF Natural Medium.
I absolutely detested the original Garnier 'BB cream' (it's not - it's a tinted moisturiser, and not a very good one), but this one (also not really a BB cream) is awesome. It gives a nice coverage and smooths out general redness and uneven tones. It doesn't disappear in minutes like the original one, either. My only complaint about it is that it's very thin so it's hard to get out of the tube without getting way too much. My other favourite face coverage at the moment is the Laura Mercier tinted moisturiser, which actually reminds me a lot of the Garnier one but is thicker. Regardless of which one I use, I set it with MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural buffed in with one of those soft Coastal Scents brushes (since my Everyday Minerals flat kabuki carked it recently). The MSF holds it all in place without looking cakey or powdery.

MAC Studio Finish concealer in NW20
I'm not a big MAC fan, so it's odd that two of my current favourite things are theirs. I bought this yonks ago, didn't like it, threw it in a drawer and forgot about it. I hauled it out a couple of weeks ago and decided to give it a go, and I really like it now. I use it under the eyes very lightly, as it's really thick, and around the nose and any other small red areas, then smooth out with an Everyday Minerals Eye Kabuki brush. I set it with a bit of MSF and I'm good to go.

Revlon Colorburst Lipstick in Blush and Petal
Weird confession time - over the past couple of years, my teeth have shifted a lot. They used to be pretty tightly together, and now they are gappy and the top ones are starting to protrude. I'm not gonna lie - it's heading towards hillbilly territory. Apparently it's something to do with my bite pushing them out, but I can't afford whatever it would cost to fix them at the moment so I tend to concentrate on making sure Noodles' teeth are looked after and ignore my own. It's made me self-conscious though, I've always had slightly crooked teeth and I kind of liked them, but these are just not a good look. Anyway, as a consequence, I have been steering clear of any bright lipsticks or glosses that will draw attention to my mouth. I wouldn't wear any lip colours at all except that I don't think faces look quite finished unless there's something on the lips. Enter Blush, a nude beige, and Petal, a nude pink. These are both very unassuming, easy to wear colours and I've been using them almost exclusively for the last few weeks.

Bath and Body Works Warm Vanilla Sugar Fragrance Mist
Jacquie brought this back from the US for me and I love it to death - it's one of those wintery vanillas that smells really foodie and delicious (in contrast, Dreamy Vanilla Woods, which I bought on eBay, smells like toilet spray). It doesn't have huge staying power, but I'm going to decant some into a smaller bottle (the one she brought back was huge) so I can carry it around with me and respray regularly. I don't even care that it's more of a cold weather perfume - I'm wearing it anyway.

NON-COSMETICAL WOTSITS

Bean and Asparagus Salad
Asparagus is my favourite vegetable, so I love it when Spring rolls around (Ha! See what I did there?) and it's everywhere. I make this salad at least a couple of times a week at this time of year, and I never tire of it. It's not even really a recipe, you're just assembling a couple of ingredients.
 

1. Top and tail some fresh stringless green beans, and chop the bottoms off some asparagus (I like the thin stalks, but you can use whatever you like).  
2. In a big pot of rapidly boiling water, blanche the vegetables for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then fish them out with a spider and plunge them into a big bowl of iced water.
3. Drain well and spread them out in a shallow bowl. Drizzle over a really good quality olive oil (use your best for this, as the TV chefs would say), fresh cracked black pepper, and fancy salt flakes or fresh ground salt. Toss a little bit with tongs to get it all coated and then eat. SO GOOD.

The Walking Dead/Watching Dead
It's that time of the year again! Haters to the left, I love this show, and I don't care about the dodgy writing or bad accents, or the supposed realism or otherwise of what people would or wouldn't do in a zombie apocalypse (Seriously? It's a ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE). I've read all the comics, so I have a fair idea of where everything is headed, even though the show deviates considerably at times. And then a couple of days after each episode I listen to The Watching Dead podcast for an entertaining recap, discussion on each episode, and audience feedback. If you're a fan of The Walking Dead, I highly recommend this podcast as a side dish. The two guys are big fans, but not above critiquing the show when it needs it, and they are both funny and entertaining without trying to sound like morning radio DJs, as podcasters are often wont to do. 

Nashville
My newest obsession, which has sparked off several other new obsessions, as listed below. This TV show is not on Australian TV yet (WHY?), but the US is about 4 episodes into it. Set in Nashville (der). it's about a fading country superstar (Connie Britton) and an up and coming pop/country crossover starlet (Hayden Panettiere) battling it out. There's also political intrigue going on with Connie's dad, a dodgy business man, trying to make her sort-of-useless husband the new Mayor of Nashville, and a bit of a bone thrown to those who just want to hear gorgeous love songs sung by ridiculously pretty people in a side plot about two plucky young'uns being discovered. It's glitzy and fun and has some awesome music, as well as Connie Britton's hair. Which leads me to...

Sam Palladio and Clare Bowen
The previously mentioned ridiculously pretty people singing gorgeous love songs. Like this one. 

And this one.

 

And that leads me to...

The Civil Wars
Apparently I'm the only person in the world who had not heard this band. This is what happens when you don't have a radio or television and you work with people who are mostly middle-aged. I thought it was Jessica who introduced me as she mentioned them on Twitter, and when I looked them up I found that they had written one of the above duets, but as it turns out, Natalie had pimped them to me in an email a couple of weeks ago, AND I had written them on my 'to download' list on my phone. I just didn't make the connection, until she huffily informed me that she was the one who had originally put me on to them. 

So, vindication and apologies to Natalie, and thank you to both her and Jess, because this band is AHMAAAHZING. Such gorgeous, gorgeous voices and beautiful, sparse music. I downloaded their album Barton Hollow on Friday morning before work and after the first 30 seconds I was completely in love, then proceeded to play it continually over and over all day, as well as most of Saturday (you're welcome, neighbours). And speaking of gorgeous duets...

Lennon and Maisy
Again, I seem to be the only person who didn't know about these girls. They play Connie Britton's daughters on Nashville and in the third episode they do an acoustic version of one of Hayden Panettiere's songs from the show which is crazy good. I was telling Noodles about it (living vicariously through other people's talented children since mine inherited her complete lack of musical ability from me), and she says, "You mean Lennon and Maisy? Everyone knows them!", and then she showed me this video. 

I'm usually pretty up on virals so I don't know how this one passed me by, but regardless, the song is on iTunes so I downloaded it and it's another one I've been playing to death. I hope they let them sing more on Nashville, they're so good. And check out their real life parents - is this the coolest family alive or what? I wonder if they would adopt me. 

Parks and Recreation
Look, I have been on at everyone I know to watch this for years, and if you haven't succumbed by now, I just don't know if we can be friends anymore. If you're a regular viewer, you'll know that the most recent episode was amazing and touching and oh my god I'm choking up again just thinking about it. The show is hilarious, the cast is perfect, Amy Poehler is the most flawless human being who ever walked the earth. WHAT MORE DO YOU NEED, PEOPLE?   TREAT YO' SELF.