Holiday makeup tips
Now that the holidays are approaching, you may want to dress a little more daring. If daring isn’t the look you want, you may at least want to spice up your style a tad. You can easily do this with makeup, as well as a little bit of accessories. You can also throw out some of the normal rules during this time, especially when you are heading out to some fun holiday parties.
What rules should you consider remembering? First, don’t stick with the basic rule of matching your makeup with the color of your outfit. Too much of a good thing can make you look to match up with your outfit and tacky instead of flashy and daring. For instance, if you are dressing in a full length gown, keep your makeup low-key. If you are wearing sparkly clothing, don’t wear sparkly eye shadow or body glitter, as well.
Do consider wearing some shimmery eye shadow, if your outfit is low-key. There are a number of options of eye shadows you can shimmer. This can include the basic powders to the creams. This writer loves the shimmer creams for those special occasions.
The ideal place to add the shimmer is right above the iris of your eye and then on toward the outer corner of your eyelid. This will help open up your eyes and make them look more dramatic. You can also apply a small amount of glitter onto your cheeks, over top your blush. However, if you do, this skip the glitter nail polish. Remember too much of a good thing is overkill.
What about your lips? If you choose to use shimmery eye shadow, a neutral color lipstick or lip gloss if your best bet. However, if you aren’t planning on using shimmery eye shadow, you may wish to play up your lips instead of your eyes. You can do this with your favorite shade of red lipstick.
First, you should line your lips with a lip liner that is close to the color of the lipstick. Next, carefully draw in the lipstick. Set your lips by covering lightly with powder and then reapply another coat of lipstick. Now your lips should have a wow effect all night long.
The last thing you may want to consider is adding some highlighter to your look. Highlighter can act like a skin brighter. This should be applied in a series of lines. One line should be brushed under your eyes, one across each side of your nose and finally one should be brushed along the corners of your chin.
These looks are hard to accomplish. In fact, they only take a few minutes. Yet, they will give you that polished holiday look.
"Lois Comes Out Of Her Shell"
Trust Family Guy to spoil its own punch line. The promos used the "Get out of this house" line, so it was thoroughly beaten into the ground by the time it actually came up in the episode. It should have been a hilarious final stinger, but the only thing it mustered in me was annoyance.
"A Tree Grows In Springfield"
I'm not a genius or psychic by any stretch of the imagination. But I have been watching The Simpsons regularly for 23 years now, and you pick up a thing or two. That's my explanation for why, the instant I read the capsule description in the scheduling guide, I immediately knew what would turn out to be the origin of the mysterious appearance of the word "HOPE" on the tree in the Simpsons' back yard.
Pop Culture Happenings: (S)he's Right Behind Me, Isn't (S)he?
Nothing helps a Monday after a long weekend like a supercut. Here we have a nice collection of all those "She/He is right behind me, isn't she/he?" moments in film and television by Zach Prewitt.
Why you need a second shooter
As a wedding photographer who started out as a second shooter for other photographers, I can say that having a second shooter is truly a blessing. When I first transitioned from a second shooter to a solo wedding photographer, I wanted to do it all by myself. After the first wedding, I quickly realized that was nearly impossible. Here’s why second shooters rock:
They can focus on the small details while you focus on the big picture. While you’re taking pictures of the families, they can be snapping shots of the bouquets, decorations, the location….you get the idea.
If you don’t own a backup camera, a second shooter is a good thing to keep around.
If you are so busy that you don’t even have time to go get a glass of water, make your second shooter do it! (They’re also good at carrying your equipment!)
I had a second shooter last weekend at a wedding with me, and while we were shooting the bride and groom, I made her throw leaves in the air into the picture. It was hysterical, but it worked! The bride had an extremely long veil, so I made my second shooter throw the veil into the air for the photos, and they turned out absolutely stunning!
Perhaps the best reason to have a second shooter is the ceremony. When the bride walks down the aisle, they want photos right before she walks, and of the groom’s face as he sees his bride. You simply can’t be in two places at once to get both of these photos. It’s also best to have one photographer in the back of the room to get wide-angle shots, and the other to be at the front getting close-ups.
Most second shooters get paid $100-$500, depending on the main photographer. However, many photographers just starting out would love the opportunity to learn and you can find many that will do it for free.
Happy holidays, suckers!
Fortunately people don't go too insane in my neck of the woods. We didn't have a single Black Friday mishap in my town, and I can't think of one in recent memory. The biggest Black Friday news around here was some people setting up tents outside of Best Buy to await the store opening. From the looks of the coverage, everyone was having a good time and being friendly.
The rest of the country isn't quite as civilized, according to reports. Guns were drawn, cell phone riots were filmed and small children were left alone in cars. To compound the issue, many stores decided that the only thing better than one frenzied shopping day is two, so the sales actually started on Thanksgiving. I vote we give it the name “Idiot Thursday” going forward.
What cracks me up is I looked at the deals – both online and in the stores – and saw absolutely nothing worth leaving my Thanksgiving for. True, most of my seasonal shopping was done a month or more ago. In fact, the best deals are actually in January when all those goodies that didn't sell are marked down to nothing.
I bought an electronic item for one person on my gift list in August from Amazon. Out of curiosity, I watched its price fluctuations until Cyber Monday. At the end of October, its price began to creep up, topping out last Wednesday at $25 more than what I paid for it.
On Thursday evening the price began to come down, slowly. It featured its lowest price this morning, still set at $5 more than I spent on it several months ago but now looking like quite a deal with a false $20 discount. What's more, I noticed the same strange phenomenon in the Black Friday store ads on some items I purchased some months ago.
So go out and shop those deals, suckers. I'm going to sit at home, sip some spiked cider and laugh at the lemmings running off the cliff at the mall.
Master planning
The best thing I ever did when I started homeschooling six years ago was to set up a master plan. This plan guided me through those early years in a way that no curriculum could have, especially since early education doesn't usually require a rigorous curriculum and its attendant schedules.
My master plan makes it home in a well-worn binder. It evolves constantly as my children grow and my educational philosophy develops. Although not written in stone, it does provide comfort that I am teaching the kids appropriately and doing my best.
My binder contains several sections. There is the calendar, which is updated each year to reflect our school year and vacations. This is followed by a loose daily and monthly schedule, which helps keep us on task so we complete things when we need to, while also providing a general guide to our day-to-day schooling.
Behind this sits our supply list. I update this constantly with items and curriculum I will need in coming months so I can keep an eye out for good deals. It also holds an inventory of the items I have already collected so I don't purchase doubles.
The next sections are set up for each child. My overall curriculum for each student outlines a loose plan for the next few years, including possible texts, subjects and projects. This section changes the most since it's a long range plan, but it does keep our goals sharply in focus.
Following this is our yearly progress reports. I write these up each month, providing an outline of everything each child studied and mastered. These aren't required by our state, but I like have these reports to look over when lesson planning for the future, plus they will come in handy if we must ever return to traditional schooling or if something were to happen to me. I find them much more useful in the early grades than a standard report card.
I don't use my master binder daily. Sometimes a month goes by without me opening it once. But when I need it, it's a relief to know it's there.
Holiday homeschooling
December is almost here, what many kids consider the middle of the school year. I know it's a tough time for traditionally schooled children and their parents because everyone is looking forward to the holidays and a break. It may be even more difficult for us homeschoolers, because we get to be with our kids 24/7 as the winter blahs and holiday excitement begin warring with each other!
Routine is vital at this time of year. We stick to our normal school schedule, which means no, we aren't taking a break to go to the mall to see Santa until school work is done, no matter how tempting it may be. Sticking to the schedule up until we “officially start our break” helps keep the jitters at bay and prevents that winter slump that hits so many of us at this time of year.
That's not to say we don't take advantage of the flexibility of homeschooling to enjoy some holiday cheer! We stick to our morning schedule, or the core subjects of language arts and math, pretty rigorously. But come 11 a.m. I try to schedule in something a bit different once or twice weekly leading up to break. It may be a visit to the museum, visiting a “Santa's Workshop” kids' shopping event for a quick and fun economics lesson or baking together in the kitchen.
Finding the balance between routine and celebrations helps ramp up the excitement and combat boredom without sacrificing the school rhythm we have worked so hard the last few months to establish. After the holidays, it is much easier to slip back into schooling because of this.
Video Non Sequitur: Bacon Pancakes New York
"Adventure Time" is a truly original and amazing cartoon on Cartoon Network, and Jake The Dog is often responsible for some of its sillier moments. Here we have a great blending of Jake's "Bacon Pancakes" song with a snippet from the Jay Z-Alicia Keys "Empire State Of Mind." I dare you to watch just once.
Garden gift ideas
The holiday season has officially kicked off, and the stores are now packed with shoppers on a feeding frenzy for both the best deal and the best gift. I usually avoid the stores as much as possible throughout December, only venturing out when absolutely necessary. Fortunately the Internet ensures I can still get my shopping done without dealing with actual flesh and blood people! I have a few gardening friends on my list this year, so I thought I would share what I am getting them.
Stepping Stone Kit: One crafty gardener on my list is also a new momma. I purchased a simple mosaic stepping stone kit from the craft store for her. She can make stones in any design she likes to fit her garden décor or even incorporate the hand prints or foot prints of the new little one into the design. These kits are so easy to use that they also make great garden-themed gifts for elementary children!
Chia Herb Garden: Honestly, any small indoor herb garden kit is great for a gardener, but I personally love the whole kitschy feeling of the chia kits. The herb garden uses pots, not terracotta heads, so it isn't quite as cheesy. These kits are great for new gardeners or for anyone that likes to grow herbs indoors.
Garden Books: Ask any gardener and you will learn winter is the time for eye candy and inspiration. Peruse your local bookstore or head on over to Amazon and check out their gardening selection. Unless you know the gardener well, skip the hardcore how-tos and instead get a book full of inspiring full color spreads.
Garden Journal: A garden journal or planner is great for a gardener of any skill level. My favorite journals have a calendar inside, room for making daily notes, planning grid pages and a section for listing my seed purchases for easy reference later.