Gift Guide: Charitable Donations

This holiday season, some of you may have the desire to extend your giving past your circle of friends and relatives. With that in mind, I thought it pertinent to remind my readers that there are many reputable charities you could donate to this holiday season. And remember, if there's someone in your life who isn't into gift-getting, making a donation in their name is always a nice option.

Whether you choose to give to a humanitarian organization, animal welfare group, medical research institute, or any other non-profit, it's important to do your research and make sure that your dollars will provide the greatest possible benefit. It can be overwhelming, as many organizations have overlapping goals, so start with a cause near and dear to your heart, perhaps. In addition to national organizations, I'm sure many local charities in your area do beneficial work for the community, so check into that, too! If monetary donations aren't your thing, perhaps look into donating some clothes or food.

Many donations to charitable organizations are tax-deductible, so don't forget to keep track of your giving this holiday season. If you'd like to get started on your research, here are a few links to the websites of non-profits accepting donations:

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

Freedom from Hunger

Goodwill

Human Rights Watch

National Council on Aging

Reading is Fundamental

Save the Children.

The Y (formerly YMCA)

I hope you're all enjoying this holiday season. There are plenty of ways to make sure everyone else enjoys it, too!

Gift Guide: Beauty Stocking Stuffers

Hey everyone! After taking a week off from my iPad, my migraines have definitely gotten less severe, so I'm feeling much better today than the last time I wrote. I also turned 26 on the 2nd! I am not at all sure where the last three years of my life went, but I finally cleaned my room yesterday, so I've accomplished something.  ANYWAY, this week, I thought I would take a break from my normally scheduled NOTHINGbecauseI'mtheworstbloggerever and bring you some gift guides! These are all gonna be pretty reasonably priced, since I'm barely an adult with money and most of the gift guides in the magazines are geared toward functional adults with high credit limits.  Onward and upward!

Bioré Self-Heating One Minute Mask $6.99 at drugstores Who doesn't like a little pamper at the holidays? If you're anything like me, you've been hitting the makeup game pretty hard for the holiday season, so getting a little extra cleaning in can't hurt!

Color Me Essie Mini Polish Set Walgreens I'm sorry I don't remember how much this costs, and it doesn't appear to be for sale online anywhere, but I remember it seeming really reasonable for such lovely colors from the range. It's got four classic Essie colors, plus a glitter topper from their Luxe Effects collection.

Revlon Colorburst Lacquer Balm $9.49 at drugstores A quick pop of color for the lips that feels absolutely lovely while you're wearing it, plus it's that fun twist-up crayon thing that pretty much every brand is doing these days. I think it'd look nice and cheery peeking up over the top of a stocking.

Sephora Sheet Masks $6 at Sephora I haven't tried these, but they just look like fun! Again, a pamper is always necessary around the holidays, and during the winter in general, and these single use sheet masks make it awfully easy. I almost bought one not too long ago, but I had just had an MRI that left me feeling claustrophobic and the thought of putting something over my face made me feel a bit panicky :/

L'Oreal Paris Infallible Silkissime Eyeliner $8.99 at drugstores Smooth application plus a wide range of colors make these eyeliners perfect for some makeup fun this winter. Check out the full range in drugstores and pick one for a friend that you think will compliment her eye color perfectly.

L'Oreal Miss Manga Voluminous Mascara $7.99 at drugstores This has been my favorite mascara release of the year for the long, fanned out lash look it gives. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a bit of a dramatic eye!

Real Techniques Duo Fiber Collection $19.99 at Ulta and Kohl's Real Techniques brushes have been an excellent addition to my makeup tool collection. Created by Sam and Nic Chapman of Pixiwoo on YouTube, they're so reasonably priced, they wash beautifully, and they're all synthetic for those who prefer to avoid animal hair brushes. This collection features duo fibers, so they're great for the friend who's just getting into makeup application or suffers from a bit of a heavy hand with the blush.


I hope this gives you all a few ideas for your holiday shopping. The drugstore is a great place in general for little gifts all year round, and most brands have stepped up the quality of their offerings a lot in the last two years. Happy holidays!

Thanksgiving: Brought to You by A Beautiful Mess

If you read my blog, you DEFINITELY already read A Beautiful Mess. C'mon, we can all admit that those ladies are running one of the finest lifestyle reads the wide internet has to offer. However, if on the off chance you haven't checked it out, I wanted to share a few of my favorite posts from their lead up to Thanksgiving. As much as I love the site the rest of the year, their game is particularly strong in the late fall and winter months. Obviously, this Thursday is a lot about eating, so that's what I'm going to focus on. Without further ado...

Prosecco and Cranberry Mimosa

Let's not pretend this doesn't look like the perfect Thanksgiving aperitif. My dearest wish is to consume this as soon as possible, isn't yours?

Roasted Grape and Honey Goat Cheese Crostini

Things I love include fruit, bread, and cheese. I guess there's a few others, but none so masterfully addressed in this appetizer. Have I ever mentioned that appetizers are one of my favorite things? It's because I like eating as many different things during the course of a meal as possible. Ipso facto, tapas is my jam. I digress.

Pie Crust Cookies

DOES THAT NOT LOOK PERFECTLY DELICIOUS? Go, get thee to the site, and be happy.


Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone has something for which to be thankful this year.

Just Another Mani Monday #4

Hey, hey, hey, how are you doing? I'm doing pretty medium myself. Been having some mighty awful migraines lately, which sure doesn't make me feel like staring at a computer screen to write posts. You know, though, that I've always got my nails all lacquered up. Look good, feel good, right?

I'm trying, anyway.

Julep Winnie came in the Fa La La Trio from Julep for Holiday 2015. Since I love the shit out of Christmas and shiny things, this set begged me to get it. Seriously, it would have been wrong to leave it. So I got it. Winnie is described on the site as a "rose gold metallic" and I think that pretty much hits the nail on the head. Application was totally cool, good opacity in two coats. The only reason my pointer finger looks janky is because It's gonna be great as an accessory for the holiday season, and even better than a piece of jewelry since it's much harder to lose your nails than you bling when you've had a bit too much champagne (not impossible, though, I would say). On that note, enjoy your Monday.

Holiday Hors D'oeuvres

The holidays are certainly a time for shiny things, are they not?   I was unsure about the new Essie Luxe Effects collection, but my sister gave me two of the silvery shades for Christmas, and I'm never one to turn down new nail polish.

BAM!  Pretty awesome, right?  I mean, not the picture, because I have shaky hands, but the nail polish is suuuuuper cool.  Apparently this mofo is sold out pretty much everywhere, but that;s what the internet is for, y'all.  Get yo' hands on this lickety split, while the cold-as-a-witch's-tit weather is still around.  It'll look like you've got ice crystals on your fingernails, and who doesn't like to pretend they're the Snow Queen every now and again?  Speaking of which, I have got to get my ass in gear and go see Frozen, which I hear is positively charming.  Have you seen it?

Happy New Year and cheers to 2014!

I love fireworks, you can't even stop me.

I love the 4th of July, not least of all because it usually ends in a delicious feast of summer food.  Because I am a moron and a bad blogger, as we have repeatedly established here, I didn't have my real camera with me on the 3rd or the 4th, so you're just going to have to deal with the fact that I'm showing you pictures of fireworks from my cell phone.

Rewarding post, right?