Panduh!

This  past weekend, I decided to actually go thrifting for the first time. Mind you, I’ve been in thrift shops, but not very often. I have been wanting to go check out some of the ones we have around here to see if I could find anything interesting. James and I went this past Sunday and hit up three different thrift stores all in the same area, pretty much.

I found a few things that I got pretty excited about in all three stores and I thought I would share my finds with you guys.

I got these two gold frames. I just love the detail on the edges and of course I love their shape. I am ok with what is inside of them for now, but I will eventually put other stuff in them. Until then, hello birdies.

I collect salt & pepper shakers, so these were a nice fine that I had to have.

Apple-shaped dishes/ramekins. I love these! I thought they would be perfect for my kitchen. I have an apple theme going on in there, so these are a nice addition. They had ones shaped like bell peppers, but I thought they were a little odd-shaped, so I didn’t get those.

This little frame is really nice! I can’t believe I only got it for two dollars. It is made of real wood and hand finished. It is a beautiful little frame. As you can tell, I have an obsession with picture frames. I have so many in storage that it is ridiculous. I just don’t have the shelf space to display them all since most of them aren’t for hanging, so that is why they are in boxes and long forgotten.

And those are my thrifty finds! We plan on going at least once every weekend if we have time. I just need to look up where all the thrift stores are in the area because I know there is a lot!

Late April, I signed up for a subscription for Birchbox. I was quite excited about the idea as I love make-up (or I used to, but I am getting back into it) and samples. So, I thought I would give it a try. I received my first box a few days ago and I thought I would share with all of my two readers on what I got in my box.

Left to right: Green twistband, Dr. Jart Water Fuse Beauty Balm SPF +25, Color Club Nail Laquer: Disco Nap, Sugar Rose Tinted Lip Treatment, Atetier Cologne: Vanilla Insensée, & a blank note card.

I love the twistband! This is probably the best hair tie I have ever used. I am definitely going to order more of those.

The beauty balm? I liked it, it did as advertised, but I normally don’t like putting stuff on my face other than a dab of lotion after a hot shower. I do like how it has a hint of sunscreen in it, though. That is a plus. I can look good and be protected from the sun? Yes?

Disco nap. haha. The name alone I adore; makes me giggle. I have been wanting a gold polish and I guess the beauty gods heard my thoughts because now I have one. I haven’t tried it yet, but I hope it goes on as it is in the bottle. Such a pretty gold color.

The ‘chapstick’ is awesome. I really like how it adds a hint of color to my lips. It works really well and I will be sad once my sample size dwindles.

Atetier Cologne: Vanilla Insensée – Oh man, I love this stuff. It smells sooooo good. This is definitely on my wishlist.

All in all, I am happy with my first month’s Birchbox and look forward to the next! Hooray for getting stuff in the mail!

Explosions in the Sky – Postcards from 1952

This song combined with this video, absolutely moves me and makes me cry so hard everytime I watch it. I can’t explain why it makes me feel that way, but it most certainly does.

Yesterday, as I mentioned before, I went to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers in DC at the Verizon Center. It turned out to be a good time, except for the leaving part, which I will get to later.

So yea, I get into DC, probably around 3pm. It took me a little over an hour and a half to get there due to crappy traffic. Normally, I don’t drive into downtown DC, but I wanted to park in a garage this time for a couple of reasons – (I normally park in a residential area further out and I didn’t feel comfortable leaving my car out there unattended not knowing whether it would be towed or not because I’m not really supposed to park there and two I didn’t know when the concert was going to end and I didn’t want to miss the last metro train). In retrospect, I should’ve just parked where I normally do and I would’ve been fine. At least I know for next time, right?

I did some wandering around since I was there way before the concert started, but I did that on purpose. I always like to have a cushion of time before events/dates/appointments/etc. I am afraid of being late to anything.

I took this while waiting on the train to come. It took forever, it seemed like. I always feel kinda seasick/claustrophobic when I am down on the subway platform. I don’t know why.

I went to Sticky Fingers and got some amazing vegan food. I got a faux tuna melt and a cupcake. I was going to get a carrot cake cupcake, but I noticed the vanilla ones had these cute rainbow sprinkles.

Concert nails. [=

I finally made it back to the concert venue. I got a beer even though I am not supposed to be drinking right now. It didn’t bother my stomach too much, which is good. I just really needed something to help me loosen up so I wouldn’t be all weird and worried about other people. I just wanted to dance and have a good time and not be bothered with anyone else.

The opening act was Sleigh Bells. They came on at 7:30 and put on a half hour set. I was not impressed. I never liked them in the past, and I definitely did not like them live. There was barely anyone in the stands while they were performing. The Peppers came on around ten minutes ’til nine and put on a good show. I danced and had a good time. It wasn’t the best concert I have ever been to, but it was still pretty good.

The show ended at 10:30 and that is when my traumatic experience started. I blame the parking garage that I parked in, which happened to be attached to the Verizon Center. Long story short: a machine ate my money, I panicked, had a hard time finding someone that spoke English so I could find a manager, Nobody wanted to let my car out of my parking spot so I could get out of the garage, The guy in the booth gave me wrong change, my GPS couldn’t get a signal so I was stuck driving in circles downtown DC in the dark, and I had an anxiety attack trying to find my way around due to crappy GPS and it being dark. I was fine once I get on the highway because I knew where I was going then and I was able to calm down a bit.

So at the end of the day, I learned a valuable lesson — never take my car into downtown DC ever again.

Monday, May 7th marked six months having Bell’s Palsy, so I decided to make a quick vlog talking about it.

I got my hair done on Saturday after much anticipation. Yay! I have always wanted a full head of fun colored hair, and now I’ve got it. It is going to take some time to get used to, personally. When I look in the mirror, it is still surprising. I love it. Its just going to suck not being able to wash my hair as often as I would like. I have a dry shampoo, but I absolutely hate it. Its an aerosol and it is the worst to spray. I feel like I am suffocating everytime I use it. I should probably find another brand of dry shampoo and maybe it won’t be so bad?

I went to Sprout Salon in the city, and I really liked it there. I think it is my new go-to for all hair stuff. Before, I only got my haircut whenever I was in SC (even then, I didn’t do it everytime I was there) because I didn’t really know where to go to get haircuts here in Baltimore. Problem solved, I suppose!

Other than exciting new hair, I am going to a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert on Thursday in DC. I am pretty excited/anxious/nervous about it, but I am sure I will have a good time like always. The only downfall, I won’t be able to drink any booze (I think I have a stomach ulcer, so avoiding anything fun for a bit.) while I’m there to put my mind at ease and to help loosening myself up. I should have a good time either way.

Fun stuff.

I obtained the most awesome nail color (Mermaid’s Dream) ever and painted my nails. Wheeee. They look so pretty and I smile everytime I look down at my fingers or see a flash of color when I’m doing something with my hands. Hooray for girly times!

I felt so silly taking that photo because I see people doing that all the time on pintrest. I almost did it to be funny, I think.

I’ve been eating like crap for the past couple of weeks and its really starting to catch up to me. Blargh. I’ve had intense stomach aches and really bad headaches over the past couple of days. Pretty awful. Lesson learned.. for now.

Also, out of the blue, I’ve gotten the urge to paint my nails. I haven’t done this since I was in middle school. I don’t know why, but I am quite embarrassed that I am all of a sudden wanting to paint my fangernails. To make things worse, I bought a dress this past week. I can probably count on one hand how many times I’ve worn a dress in my lifetime. WHY am I getting these girly urges??!

I finally broke down and just made an appointment at a salon to get my hair dyed a crazy color since I don’t have anyone around here to help me just do it myself. I tried to get James to help me out and it was complete fail. So, right now, my hair is pretty awful looking, color-wise.

Woe is me.