And now for something completely different.....

.....and if you know where the title of this post comes from....you're instantly on my cool list.

Now. On to the fun stuff! Wait...let me apologize first. I've come to realize that I'm fairly terrible at churning out new material in any kind of timely manner. I get all these awesome ideas for posts I want to do....at 3am. I promise to be better about putting out more frequent posts after this hectic holiday crap is done and over with.

*Note to self: keep a notepad and pen next to the bed, dumbass*

Speaking of hectic holiday crap....can you believe Christmas is in less than a week?! I mean really...where did this year go? Last year, I was done with my shopping and all major preparations by December 1st. This year....not so much. I *just* mailed out my cards this morning. The hubs and I decided not to put up a tree this year because we have 4 cats, 2 of whom are assholes. So, in lieu of a tree, we put up a garland over the living room window with lights and snazzy decorations. It's not a tree but, it serves its purpose. Anyway, we just put that up last night. We're not yet done with Christmas shopping....that's this weekend's adventure. If it's anything like last weekend....I'm not looking forward to it. I haven't wrapped anything yet and I still have cookies to make.

So...if you're a professional procrastinator just like me....and you've left yourself with little to no time to make a sweet treat to bring to Christmas dinner (or just to munch on while you're watching "Home Alone" or "A Christmas Story" for the 156th time...c'mon, you know it's the truth), never fear! I have three super easy cookie recipes for you! 

Two of them are old recipes from my Nonny (my mom's mom) which I have written on old, stained, well-loved recipe cards, in her handwriting. They're like little treasures all by themselves. The third I copied out of some magazine years ago and it's become one of my favorites. They're all very easy to make and they're hubs-approved!

Here we go!! 

Peanut Butter Balls

1 1/2 cups peanut butter (chunky or smooth)

1/2 cup margarine (I use real butter {softened} because margarine is gross but, it's totally up to you)

1 lb powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons vegetable shortening

6 oz chocolate chips

Mix first 4 ingredients until well blended. (I use my hands, it's much easier since it's a relatively dry mixture.)

Squeeze about 1-2 tablespoons (depending on how big you want your balls to be..yeah, go ahead and laugh) of the mixture into a ball shape. Since it's dry, it won't really roll so it's easier to squeeze them into shape. Set out on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.

In microwave or over a double boiler (whatever you're more comfortable with), melt shortening and chocolate chips.

Dip peanut butter balls into melted chocolate. Refrigerate until set. Place in container and store in fridge. 

Icebox Cookies

Preheat oven to 350°

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar (packed)

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt 

Optional add-ins: nuts (your preference), raisins, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, dried cranberries (I usually go with the last 2...so good!). Use about 1/3 cup to start and add more if you wish.

Combine all ingredients. It will resemble a soft dough. Turn out onto wax or parchment paper and form into a roll, wrap tightly. Refrigerate overnight. Unwrap, slice (about 1/4 inch thick) and bake for 10-12 minutes until edges are lightly browned. Cool on a cooling rack. 

Italian Ricotta Cookies

Preheat oven to 375°

1 stick unsalted butter (softened) 

2 eggs

2 cups white sugar

1 15 ounce container ricotta cheese

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Glaze:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons lemon juice

zest from one lemon

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar (with an electric mixer) until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beat until well incorporated. Add ricotta cheese and vanilla and mix well. Slowly add dry ingredients and stir well by hand to combine. Drop dough (about 2 tablespoons per cookie) onto parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until edges are golden brown. When done, let cookies rest on cookie sheet for 15-20 minutes.

To make the glaze, combine powdered sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest and stir until smooth. Spoon over cooled cookies. Add a *tiny* bit of water if you'd like your glaze to be thinner. Let glaze harden for about 2 hours.  

And there you go! The three cookies I'll be making this year. I'm keeping it simple. I hope you enjoy making (and eating!) these as much as I do! Please let me know if you do try them and feel free to share your favorite recipes with me! I'm always on the lookout for new goodies! 

Merry Christmas!!

Two gift ideas for the makeup lover...for $5 each!

Greetings and salutations fellow cheapskates bargain hunters!

It's that time of year....again! The season of rude shoppers and no convenient parking spots. I am soooo not a shopper. I hate it, loathe it actually. I have a very low tolerance for idiots and unfortunately, holidays seem to bring out the idiots in droves. I try, as much as I can, to simplify my Christmas shopping. Whether that means shopping online or hunting down bargains in the store....it's just how I do things.

So....today I have for your viewing pleasure, two *very* affordable gifty-type things for yourself the makeup-lover on your shopping list! Both of these items are really great stocking stuffers or for a quick and easy idea for a gift exchange/secret Santa between girlfriends. Best part? They're only (slightly less than) $5 each!

First up:

The Wet n' Wild Deluxe Eye Collections

Price - $4.99
Where - Rite Aid
What's Inside - A mini black eyeliner, a full-size black mascara and a 6-pan eyeshadow palette

Who doesn't love a little Wet n' Wild? For most of us, I'm pretty sure some of our first makeup items were from WnW. They're affordable....super affordable....and are generally pretty damn good quality for the price. This little collection doesn't disappoint. Ok...so maybe the eyeliner and mascara aren't the greatest but, are you really buying it for those items or are you buying it for that eyeshadow palette? I was after the palette myself. I'm not sure if anyone remembers those palettes....they were discontinued a couple years ago and I was really bummed.

The shade I picked up (the Rite Aid I checked only had 2 options but, if you're really after the shadows, a little RA hunting might turn up other colors) is "Greed". I also saw "Vanity" which was a palette of coppery brown neutrals, very pretty!

"Greed" is a palette of slightly cooler-toned neutrals and to me, seems like a traditional "smoky eye" kinda thing. Six very wearable neutral colors that can take you from day to night. The shadows themselves are really, really gorgeous. Like other WnW Color Icon shadows (which I highly recommend and will do a post about my favorites soon), the formula is great for a cheap inexpensive shadow. All of the shadows in this palette are soft and silky and applied nicely over a primer (WnW has a very nice primer from their Fergie line that you can pick up at Walgreens).

*Apologies for the bad lighting on the swatch pic....still working on my lighting*

Shade 1 - A matte cream. Perfect for a browbone highlight. It barely shows up on me because I'm pale as hell but, if you're a subtle highlight fan, this will work well. It was very buttery soft in texture, not chalky at all and blended out nicely.

Shade 2 - A light, warm brown. Great for warming up the crease and as a transition color for blending out the other shadows. Also would work well as a lid color if you just want a quick, everyday natural look. Again, texture was awesome...nice and soft and not chalky in the least. I was really pleasantly surprised by both of the mattes in this palette. 

Shade 3 - A rich black with teeny, tiny silver micro shimmer. Not the blackest black I've seen but, it's still very deep and dark. The silvery shimmers are very subtle but, add a nice little bit of sparkle. This shade would work well along the lower lash line or blended into the outer "V". 

Shade 4 - A cool-toned taupe with a gorgeous champagne sheen. My *favorite* of the bunch. It's. So. Pretty. Looking at it straight-on you'll pick up the cool, almost silvery, taupe color but, when the light hits it....oooh girl! Unfortunately, this one had the poorest texture out of them all. It definitely needs to go over a shadow base or a primer and packing or patting it on is better than trying to sweep it on. It's so worth it though! 

Shade 5 - A light peach/rose gold shimmer. Again....gore-juss! The texture doesn't measure up to the 3 mattes. It's not terrible though and can be worked with the same as Shade 4. The little bit of work it takes is worth it. Just make sure you use some kind of base or primer and pack this sucker on.

Shade 6 - A deep charcoal/pewter with multicolor micro-glitters. So pretty for the holidays! Patting this on over a sticky base/primer is key to getting the glitters to stick. I love this because so many "glittery" shadows are all chunky and gross and the glitter *never* stays....it always ends up all over your face, not a good look....unless you're a stripper. *ahem*  MOVING ON! This shade along with Shade 3 will take your daytime/office looks and turn them into really gorgeous nighttime looks! 

The eyeliner and mascara - Honestly....nothing super special here. They do their jobs though and are handy to throw in your purse for quick touch-ups. I won't go into any crazy detail here. They're pretty basic. The eyeliner actually applied smoother than I anticipated and would make a nice sticky base for those black shadows. The mascara was decent too. I was able to build it to about 3 coats before it started to look wonky and gross. Two coats gave me a nice, natural look.  Also, a quick note....they are NOT water or smudge-proof! So if you're not planning on going water-skiing or crying a whole lot...these will work just fine.

All in all....for about $5, you just can't go wrong with this little kit. Whether you decide to keep it for yourself or give it as a gift....I really think it's worth picking up before the holiday gift set bonanza is over!


Last but, not least:

Hard Candy Glam Kit eyeshadow palette
Price: $4.88
Where: Walmart
What's Inside: a super portable palette of 24 shimmery shadows

I spotted this one at Walmart in their "seasonal" aisle. You know the one....always packed full of crap you think you don't need until you actually walk down it. I almost missed these because they're really small and compact and they were shoved in between some awful-smelling men's body spray and a hot cocoa sampler.....not the best product placement, eh? Anway...I picked up the gold one but, there were several other color configurations, all in a different colored little book style compacts. I chose this one because of the rose gold and coppery colors....they're my faves of the moment.

I honestly haven't tried much from the Hard Candy line so, I don't have much to compare this to, quality-wise. They're on my list of brands to try. The hubs told me I'd probably regret buying this since it was so cheap and I knew he was probably right but, I threw caution to the wind and spent the whole $5 to give it a whirl.

The entire compact is pretty small....for size comparison, it's slightly larger than my Samsung Galaxy Note II. Which makes this ideal for a stocking stuffer or to toss in a makeup bag for travel. One thing to note though: these are *all* super shimmery....not a single matte or satin in the bunch. So if that's not your thang....you may want to skip this one. Unless the person you're buying for likes the shimma shimma...then they'll probably really enjoy it.

No Flash

With Flash

So as you can see, in the package....those colors!! Gah! So pretty. I really hoped they wouldn't disappoint. And honestly....for the price, my hopes weren't super high so as long as they had *some* color payoff, I would be happy. They were all pretty soft, definitely had a moderate amount of fallout. Nothing terrible though. I've had *way* more expensive shadows perform worse than these.

My apologies for not swatching *all* of them. I'm not that patient. So instead, I picked a few of the shades that really stood out to me.  As you can see....the top row of really pale shades....don't have the *best* pigmentation but, they're usable for sure. The first three were actually pretty nice! The last one, the silver, was very patchy even over a primer. The second row...can we just talk about that green for a second? It was *very* vibrant!! I was pleasantly surprised by that one. The copper and the metallic taupe were good performers as well. The last row, the deepest shades, were also surprising!

I think this would make a great gift for a teen just starting out with makeup. The colors are fun and vibrant but, there are also some more subdued colors. It'll fit nicely in a purse or travel bag too, making it a great gift for a girl who's always on the go. To make a complete gift out of this one, pick up a small palette (or a few single shadows) of soft mattes, a black or brown eyeliner, a mascara and a lipgloss or lipstick..... TA-DA! Complete gift for about $10-15! Can't go wrong with that. Not when there are several very affordable, good quality brands out there these days!

So.....for those of you still looking for that last little something to tuck in a stocking, or if you just got slammed with a Secret Santa thingy.....I hope this helped!

Nail Honey's Bee Day Trio

A few weeks ago, I came across a picture on Instagram that caught my eye. It was a picture of a polish by the indie brand Nail Honey. Cute name right? Love it! Anyway, I immediately followed her Instagram and started polish-stalking her.  Her polishes are absolutely freakin' gorgeous! Eventually, I worked up the nerve to contact her through kik (an instant messaging app) and found her to be one of the sweetest people I've met.  I eventually convinced the hubs (you'll be hearing about him a lot) to let me buy some of her polishes....for the blog, of course! *wink wink, nudge nudge*

The day she opened up shop, I scooped up her "Bee Day Collection Trio".  It contains three polishes (Duh, Molly...trio...three...) - "27 Candles", "11:11" and "Crown Jewels". As soon as I got them, which was *really* fast...I mean...I ordered on a Saturday, it shipped out Monday and I had it by Wednesday.  How's that for kick-ass customer service?!

"27 Candles" is described as - "A birthday cake in a bottle! This creamy, strawberry base is filled with a rainbow of sprinkles in the form of hex glitters! On top of that, there's various micro-fine glittahs that make the polish dry with a shimmery, rose gold finish!"

I found that to be a pretty damn accurate description. It's a perfect, creamy pink (it seriously looks like melty strawberry ice cream) with a literal rainbow of various-size hex glitters and a really pretty micro-fine rosy pink shimmer. I love all things rose gold so this was really up my polish alley! It's seriously the prettiest, girliest birthday cake.... shoved into a bottle and without the calories or guilt!

The first coat applied very nicely....slightly streaky but, nothing major and it didn't bother me in the least. I got pretty decent glitters that distributed nicely over my nail. The shimmer....oh my, the shimmer!....even on the first coat, it's gorgeous!  I'm pretty sure you could get away with 2 even coats but, I went with 3 just to be on the safe side. It was *very* shiny, even without a top coat, though I did use one for the swatch....because I'm weird and OCD and can't go without a top coat...it'd be like leaving the house without a bra, not gonna happen! I've never seen a polish quite like this one! So. Much. Sparkle. I couldn't stop looking at my hands because the light would keep catching on each little bit of glitter and it was just SO pretty!

*My apologies for the less-than-perfect pictures.  I'm currently working on a new lighting setup so please be patient with me!*


"11:11" is described as - "Packed with silver holo and black hex (glitters), along with silver crescent moons and bright blue stars! All of this submerged in a scattered holo, royal blue base!"

Again....a pretty accurate description. It's a beautiful royal blue jelly base crammed full of glittery goodness! Now...I have to confess something here. I'm not really all that schooled in the differences between jelly and "crelly"....I actually hate the word "crelly" because....well, it's not a real word! So, chances are I'll be sticking with the usual jelly, creme, glitter, shimmer, etc. This polish is indeed a jelly though, and a gorgeous one at that! In true jelly fashion, it was semi-sheer on the first coat.  I was able to get a fair amount of glitters but sadly, no moons.

The second coat went on smooth and seeing the depth it created over the first coat was amazing! Like the first coat, no moons on the second coat. I shook this polish every which way and even stuck a small orange-wood stick in there to see if I could scare some up from the bottom. Unfortunately....this was a losing battle. Molly 0 - Moons 2.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely *LOVE* this polish...the color, the sparkle...it's to die for.  It's seriously like a starry night sky fell face-first onto my nails....wait, can skies fall face-first? Yes! I say they can!

I used two coats plus top coat (remember....no top coat = no bra).  Like "27 candles" it was super shiny without top coat but, using one just made the shimmers and glitters come alive! The *only* con I could come up with for this one was the moons...those stubborn little bastards! I *will* be victorious eventually!

"Crown Jewels" is described as - A purple crelly (ahhh, that non-word!) base filled with an assortment of hexagon and fiber glitters! Two coats and you're set!"

I found this one to be a beautiful royal purple jelly base with silver hex, small blue, hot pink/magenta and black hex, black and white fiber glitter and a rainbow of micro glitters and shimmers. So, so pretty.  The first coat was quite sheer, as most jelly bases are but, it made up for the sheerness with a whole lot of sparkle! Wow! I just couldn't get over how pretty this one was and I definitely don't have anything else like it in my stash. It took 3 full coats to cover any VNL (visible nail line) but, everyone's nails are different so you might be able to get away with 2 good coats.

Each new coat produced more glitter and sparkle and by the third coat, my nails were jam-packed with super-sparkle. I had no trouble pulling out glitters, even the bigger pieces came out and applied easily. The micro-fine fiber glitters are really different and make this polish even more interesting! I've seen polishes with bar and fiber glitters before and wasn't super impressed by them, especially those "fuzzy" looking ones....ew, just EW! The fibers in this don't bother me in the least though and actually add some awesome dimension.

As with the other 2 polishes in this trio, "Crown Jewels" had a crazy shiny finish without top coat and a truly jelly-like finish.....yummy and squishy! Although...."yummy" and "squishy" aren't really words that you'd think to describe polish with but....oh well. They work here!

The Final Verdict:  Get your asses over to Nail Honey's storenvy and pick this trio up! It's worth every penny!!

Find Nail Honey here:

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It's About Time!

I've pretty much loved all things beauty since as far back as I can remember.  Rifling through my mom's makeup bag, sneaking into the cupboard she kept her nail polish in, cutting my Barbie's hair and putting makeup on her with markers. All *very* fond memories....except that time I got into my mom's jar of Indian Earth (if you don't know what that is, Google it! I was surprised to see that you can still buy it. Hmm...possible future post?)....that wasn't the smartest idea my 4 year old self ever had. All of these memories have stayed with me throughout my life and have ultimately landed me here, starting a blog.  It's taken me a lot to get here and I invite you all on this journey with me!

My plan was originally to stick to only writing about nail stuff....but, that's no fun. Not when there's a plethora of things I obsess over.  And I do mean *obsess*.  Ask my husband....he'll tell you.  I didn't want to back myself into the nail corner so I decided to write about whatever strikes my fancy.  Nail polish, makeup, my cats, books, music, movies, video games, maybe something crafty here and there, my favorite recipes, my general ranting and raving and probably a few swear words thrown in for good measure.  I want to keep the the tone of this blog as even as possible with how I speak in real life and in real life....I cuss like a damn trucker.  I'll try to keep it to a minimum....but, I make no promises. What I *can* promise you is this: no matter what I write about, I'll keep it real.  Maybe too real in some cases but, I'm opinionated so I can't help it.  Either way....buckle up! It all starts here and I'm hoping you'll all come with me for the ride!