March Happiness Project: Day 31

Yes, it was called a 30 Day Challenge--but March had 31 days in it!  So today is the last (and bonus) day!!

Boy!  That's a hard one!  I'd say it is a three-way tie between: Day 11 (A story of something that made you happy that day), Day 21 (A picture of a happy place) and Day 4 (A picture that makes you smile).  It's been a fun adventure blogging every day and I hope those of you who frequent my blog enjoyed reading my posts as much as I did writing them!  Thanks to Lizzy for "tagging" me in this challenge!!

March Happiness Project: Day 30

Today was soooooooooooooo cold out!!  I'm convinced it might just *always* be winter!!

Whether or not it's miserable weather doesn't change the fact that we have a new topic of the day!

1. I realized that the key to happiness is watching more Disney movies!  I know that Winnie the Pooh is next on our chronological list--I gotta get on that!  There are Disney movies out that I haven't even *seen* yet!
2. The more you think about happy things, the happier you will be.
3. Making commitments and sticking to them brings a lot of fulfillment to the day--even if it's such a small thing as remembering to blog every day!

March Happiness Project: Day 29

Today was a pretty successful day.  But then, any day you're not at the hospital visiting a friend seems like a pretty successful day!  Hooray for that, I guess!

Today's topic:

This calls for busting out the numbered bullet point list!

1. Baby ducks
2. Baby kittens
3. Naps
4. The thought of sleeping
5. Baby raccoons
6. A good plate of tasty vegan food
7. The colours red and teal (not together, definitely separate.  But those are two awesome colours!)
8. Novels by Kurt Vonnegut
9. Getting mail
10. The silly times when I make my husband laugh really hard

The end!  :)

March Happiness Project: Day 28

We're almost done here, folks!  Day 28, already!!

And here's the topic:

Now.  The thing about my dreams is that I only seem to remember my weird work dreams or my nightmares.  I don't remember dreams that make me "happy", necessarily, and so I don't have a super good response for this topic!  I have weird work dreams that make me laugh a lot when I tell them to other work people, but they're not funny on their own.  Something that I do dream a lot about (usually in nightmares) is water and being able to fly (usually away from crazy killers who are after me!).  Water and flying sound like pretty happy things on their own though, right??  I also always do find it pretty curious that I have so many dreams about water.  I should look it up in some kind of dream book, but I'm positive it wouldn't be good news!

What is a happy thing that *you* dream about??  Maybe reading your happy dreams will inspire some happy dreams of my own.  :)

March Happiness Project: Day 27

The rain has returned, but I'm hoping it's nicer outside on  Thursday (at least) so that I can go for a nice long run!  The weather be on my side!!

But, on to the point.  Today's topic:

This is actually a pretty hard one!  I don't really "dance"...and the most I do (if ever) is a "silly" kind of dance to different shows' theme songs!  Theme songs such as:

and

and

and

Yep!  And now you know what kinds of shows I like...

:)

March Happiness Project: Day 26

This March weather is seriously starting to freak me out.  We go from rain to hail to snow to sun to rain and back again in such quick succession that I just cannot keep up!  Hopefully frogs don't start falling from the sky...

But on to today's topic!

Can I have two categories of blogs?  Vegan food blogs AND makeup blogs?  (Yes, you can, it's your blog!  Do whatever you want!)

First up: Food!

This guy's blog makes every meal he ever makes look like a piece of edible vegan art.  You should all be following it, just so you can salivate with me.

This isn't technically a "blog", but it's a food related site that gives me LOTS of tasty ideas!

Lastly, I really enjoy reading her ramblings about food and all things vegan.

Second up: Makeups!

Everything these two girls do is genius.

I could probably listen to her talk ALL DAY long.

Then we have the ever wonderful Xsparkage and Vintage or Tacky!

Yay!  That was fun!  :)

March Happiness Project: Day 25

Soon there will be no more days left!!  That will just be weird, I think!

Today's topic:

And here is my sticky not(e)!

Oscar Wilde was a smart, smart man.

Madd Style Cosmetics: Eastery-Brights Tutorial

Hi Everyone!

Today I finally had time to sit down and film a tutorial!  Yay!!  Now--there is a big disclaimer with this one!  Likely, I should have just trashed it instead of trying to salvage it...and you'll see why (actually, the thumbnail alone might be enough of a clue!!)!!  I'd still love to know what you think of the final look and whether you find the tutorial itself helpful to you!!  :)

If you want to find out how I did this look:

(With Flash!)

 (No Flash!)

Then please click "play"!

For a re-cap of the supplies I used:

 

(Left to right: Too Faced Shadow Insurance; Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on Pencil in "Yeyo"; NYX Eyeshadow Base in "White"; Madd Style Cosmetics pigments (clockwise from the yellow): Princess Buttahcup, Flamingo Croquet, Seaglasm, Birfday Suit, Fire & Ice and Phantasm; Brushes: Eye Shader Brush, Domed Crease Brush, Pencil Style Brush, Slanted Eyeshadow Brush; Korres White Eyeliner; Urban Decay Lush Lash Mascara and Gabriel Color Mascara (which I put on my lower lashes, not on the upper ones!).

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the tutorial!  (I promise I'll do better next time!!)

March Happiness Project: Day 24

Day 24's topic might be too deep for me to accomplish with any kind of elegance this late at night!  (I should really learn my lesson and do these in the morning!!!!!!!!!!!!)

I dedicate this post to my little sister.  Although she and I had a rocky start (as far as sibling relationships go!) I could not imagine my life without her in it.  I'm so incredibly proud of the wonderful young lady she has become and I think she has such a good head on her shoulders.  She's the type of person who can accomplish whatever she sets her mind to and I know that her future is bright and full of much goodness.  A more beautiful sister (inside and out) someone could not hope for!

March Happiness Project: Day 23

It's past midnight, but I haven't slept!  I swear I'm not late!!

As if it isn't obvious which activity I find fun!!

Putting on makeup, of course!  I get to play with my creativity that way!!  :)

March Happiness Project: Day 22

Oooooooooh gosh!  I actually *forgot* to post this yesterday!!  I thought it took like literally 21 days to make a habit?  I'm laughing at myself right now, seriously.  So 22 comes now, 23 will be later!

A picture that gives me hope??  Gosh.  My first instinct was the first bee I saw this year--but I've already talked about that!!  Here's one!

Salmon berry blossoms!  That things still grow definitely gives me hope!  Especially since we'd all be in some serious trouble if that wasn't the case!

March Happiness Project: Day 21

March 21st brings us Day 21 in the Happiness 30 Day Challenge!

Today's topic:

There are many places I would consider a happy place!  But the first one to pop into my mind is a place I've only been to twice.

This is Jenny Edlington's garlic farm in Cawston, B.C..  I had the absolute pleasure of working on this farm for the 2010 and 2011 garlic harvests.  My workplace was awesome enough to put together these trips both years and I excitedly participated both times.  There is nothing quite like watching the sun rise over the valley while you walk out on to the field at 6am and kneel down in the dirt to pull out that beautiful organic garlic. When I did it the first time, I'm certain that it bought tears to my eyes (seriously)..and only because I felt so lucky to be there and because I realized how disconnected I was from my food.  I would work there every summer, if I could.  Sadly, I believe that in 2011, Jenny planted the crop but intends to sell the farm before the 2012 harvest (in fact, the farm may be sold already, I am not sure).  I can only hope that the farming on the land remains organic and that everyone in the future who gets to work there loves it as much as I did.

A happy place indeed it is!

March Happiness Project: Day 20

Another Tuesday come and gone--but there is only one Day 20!

Last spring I took a lot a lot of pictures of one of my most favourite flowers.  The magnolia.

Yes, indeed!

March Happiness Project: Day 19

When all these days are done, I hardly know what I'll do with myself!  This blogging everyday thing catches on to be quite the habit!

The topic for Day 19:

Here's what I found:

Hooray for that!

March Happiness Project: Day 18

Hiiiii!

Day 18, Day 18!

Favorite flavour of cake??  I haven't had a piece of cake in a really really long time (it's been just over 11 years, in fact).  But back when I used to eat cake, my favorite was probably Black Forest.  Is that really a "flavour" or more of a "type".  I might be answering this all wrong!  I always liked that Black Forest had that whipping cream type "icing" as I didn't ever really enjoy the thicker and sickly sweet icings that were on most other kinds of cakes.  My second favourite kind of cake was probably a Chocolate Mousse.  Yep!

What is Lizzy's favorite cake??  Wouldn't you like to know!  :)

March Happiness Project: Day 17

The topic for Day 17 is a bit trickier than something I'd like to tackle at 12:38am.

It seems like such a loaded question!  The first real answer that popped into my mind is: women who speak their minds.  That should likely be qualified a tad, or perhaps you can take it at face value, for now.  :)

EOTD: Sugarpill Colourful!

Good Evening!!

Yesterday I had the idea of a yellow, blue and purple look and all night last night and all day today--it was really all I could think about!!  (Okay, maybe not *all* I could think about...but seriously.  I had to do it today, especially before I forgot about the idea!!)

Using my lovely Sugarpill products, this is what I came up with:

( Blurry...or at least not the lashes--but I think this shows the intensity of the lid colours well!)

  Product used:

• MTCoffinz "Under the Rainbow" eye primer
• NYX Eyeshadow Base in "White"
• Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Pencil in "Yeyo" to line the duct and lower lash line
• Korres Soft Eyeliner Pencil in "24" to line the waterline
• Sugarpill "Buttercupcake" on the lid
• Sugarpill "Afterparty" in the crease and as a thick winged liner
• Sugarpill "Poison Plum" to blend out the "Afterparty"
• Sugarpill "Magpie" applied on the deepest part of the crease, as a "thinner" winged liner and along the lower lash line
• Sugarpill "Tako" for a brow highlight
• Sugarpill "Bulletproof" to darken the upper lash line (kept it VERY close to the lashes so as to not interfere with the blue)
• Sugarpill "Lumi" in the duct
• Sugarpill "Afterparty" to set the waterline
• Milani Power Lash mascara

The end!

This was my first time using Magpie, and I gotta say--I love it!  What is *your* favorite Sugarpill product?? :)

March Happiness Project: Day 16

T'was a long day today.  Yes, indeed!  But not so long that I don't have time for Day 16 of Happiness!

A happy day in my life???  Gosh.  How does one go about picking just *one* of those????  No, okay, got one!!  In 2008 I decided to go back to school.  I decided that I wasn't finished with my learning (not that I believe any of us are ever finished our learning, whether we go the "traditional" route of education or not!) and wanted to see if I could survive getting my Masters degree!  (Never mind the anxiety of "will I get in or not??", once I was in, it was all about whether I could actually *do* it!)  My school likes to try to push their M.A. students through their degree in 12 short months.  Many of my fellow students in my cohort, however, decided to take 4 (instead of 3) terms to complete our requirements.  Throughout my graduate degree I continued to work at my full-time job as well as doing school full-time (although now that I think about it, I only took the "full time" course load of two classes for my first term) AND T.Aing part-time.  It was quite a load, let me tell you!  My happy day was definitely the day I defended my M.A. graduate paper!  I was so incredibly nervous.  It was the kind of experience where even though you're sitting there with your "final" paper you keep thinking of all of the things you wished you had done differently.  Maybe you could have read just *one* more external source!  Maybe you could have tweaked the title or opening or closing paragraph just that *one* more time!  And it's funny.  I remember my Graduate Supervisor asking me during my defense: "What did you learn??" and my answer: "That nothing is ever finished!"!  Is it ever true, too.  In my faculty you can "Pass with Distinction", "Pass", or "Pass with Revisions" (and I suppose there is a "Not Pass" option, although I'm sure none of my fellow colleagues would have considered NOT passing a viable option).  There were definitely some who defended and had to do additional revisions and I was almost certain that that was going to be my fate--especially because one of the members of my committee was pretty darn tough during my defense.  But nope!  I got the "Pass"! I could take a sigh of relief even now...just remembering it.

Definitely a happy day!

March Happiness Project: Day 15

I have these plans for a fun eye look--but I have to work at 7am tomorrow (which I just found out) so now I have no time for makeup!  Oops!  Hopefully I can do it tomorrow before I lose the idea!

But on to Day 15 of the Happiness Challenge!

The first two that popped into my head:

and

The West Wing

(Specifically seasons 1-4).

Seinfeld should really win as I own every season on DVD...but the beginning of the West Wing definitely holds a special place in my heart!!  :)

March Happiness Project: Day 14

For mid-March it sure is colllllllld in Vancouver!  This morning I was up in the snow and now it's just raining raining raining!  I hope the little bees will survive it!!

It's a new day, new topic!

In my Day 13 topic I had the ever lovely Azure, from EyeGraffiti, comment to say that The Princess and the Frog is a movie that makes her happy.  That got me to thinking about how when I have bad days, sometimes the only thing I want to do when I get home is watch Finding Nemo!  There are many conversations in that movie that tickle me pink.

Example #1:

Squirt: Good afternoon. We're gonna have a great jump today. [rather inaudibly] Okay, first crank a hard cutback as you hit the wall. There's a screaming bottom curve, so watch out. Remember: rip it, roll it, and punch it. 

Marlin: It's like he's trying to speak to me, I know it. 
[to Squirt] 
Marlin: Look, you're really cute, but I can't understand what you're saying. Say the first thing again. 

Example #2:

Marlin: Now it's my turn. I'm thinking of something dark and mysterious. It's a fish we don't know. If we ask it directions, it could ingest us and spit out our bones. 

Dory: What is it with men and asking for directions? 
Marlin: I don't want to play the gender card right now. You want to play a card, let's play the "let's not die" card. 

Example #3:

Dory: Hey there, Mr. Grumpy Gills. When life gets you down do you wanna know what you've gotta do? 

Marlin: No I don't wanna know. 
Dory: [singing] Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do we do? We swim, swim.
Marlin: Dory, no singing. 
Dory: [continuing] Ha, ha, ha, ha, ho. I love to swim. When you want to swim you want to swim. 
Marlin: Now I'm stuck with that song... Now it's in my head. 
Dory: Sorry. 

Example #4:

Dory: How about we play a game? 

Marlin: All right. 
Dory: Okay, I'm thinking of something orange, and it's small... 
Marlin: It's me. 
Dory: Right! 
[Later] 
Dory: I'm thinking of something orange and small... 
Marlin: Me again. 
Dory: All right, Mr. Smartypants... 
[Later] 
Dory: ... It's orange and small, and has stripes... 
Marlin: Me, and the next one - just a guess - me. 
Dory: Okay, that's just scary. 

Thanks, IMDB.com!  You were very helpful with Day 14!

March Happiness Project: Day 13

Well it's (lucky) number 13 Day for the March Happiness project!

And that is a really *hard* topic!  My gut instinct was to go with:

I can't very well go against my gut now, can I??  There was a point in time (what seems like many many many many years ago now) that I could recite this moving line for line.  (I could also do that with Crybaby, but we're not talking about Crybaby right now, are we??)  I love absolutely everything about The Breakfast Club--the music, the actors, the characters, the story--everything.  I wish I could watch it right now!!

March Happiness Project: Day 12

I think time change has officially made me crave a nap every evening.  Last night and tonight it was the same--I get sooooooooooooooo tired in the early evening and end up sneaking a nap in!  Luckily I woke up tonight with enough time between nap time and real bed time to write my Day 12 entry!

My husband didn't want me to post a picture of him for this topic, but I couldn't very well resist.  I took this picture while we were out yesterday and I messed around with it a bit in photoshop (obviously).  I like the effect.  :)

He makes me happy for all kinds of reasons.  I was just thinking earlier today how it's almost our 6th wedding anniversary!  Yay for us!

March Happiness Project: Day 11

Day 11 happened to take place on "Spring Forward" day.  "Springing forward" is probably my LEAST favorite thing to do!  I don't like losing that hour (although it's always described as "gaining" an hour, which I think is silly!) of darkness.  I sleep the most soundly in the dark and I like to both fall asleep AND wake up in the dark.  But no more!  However, it's Day 11 and there *is* cause for happiness!  :)

Usually on Sundays I don't have time to do much other than to prepare for my second job (which largely is on Monday mornings/afternoons) since Sunday is my only day off from my full time job.  Today was a bit different though!  I only had four papers to grade and so I wanted to go out with my husband on his walk in the park.  I also got to bring my camera along and I'm quite certain this is the first time I've taken it outside since last year!! So we walked around taking pictures of the new berry blossoms that have come out, and we stumbled upon a surprise!  Our first bee of the season!!

The first  bee means pollination!  And that means we're even closer to things like fresh local berries, local produce--and MORE!  If that isn't enough to make me happy today, then I don't know what is!  

March Happiness Project: Day 10

It's technically past midnight--but I haven't slept yet--so it's still Day 10, darnit!

Just like yesterday's challenge--this is a cinch!

EOTD: Madd Style Cosmetics + Sugarpill Lashes!

Today I had different makeup on at work, but I got home and washed it off so that I could play with my new Sugarpill Shady Lane lashes!  I wanted to do something dark and smoky (with some Madd Style Cosmetics) and I anticipated that these huge lashes would make it difficult to actually photograph the whole look--but I was proved wrong!  These lashes are light to wear and hardly made it difficult to snap a good picture!  I am already impressed!

The obligatory: "My camera focuses on the lashes and not the eyelid" picture!

The (other) obligatory: "Purposefully blurry to show off the sparklyness" picture!

Products used:

• MTCoffinz "Under the Rainbow" primer
• NYX Eyeshadow Base in "White" applied from the lashes and then blended up toward the brow
• The All Natural Face Eyeshadow primer in "Black" applied to the lid and blended up to the crease
• Madd Style Cosmetics "Polkadot Punch" applied to the crease
• Madd Style Cosmetics "Zazz" applied to the lid and blended into the crease
• Sugarpill "Tako" applied lightly as  brow highlight
• Madd Style Cosmetics "Stargazer" applied to the duct
• Urban Decay 24/7 pencil in "Zero" to line the lower lash line & the upper/lower waterlines
• Madd Style Cosmetics "Zazz" applied to lower lash line
• Urban Decay "Lush Lash Mascara" for mascara
• Sugarpill's "Shady Lane" false lashes as the crowning touch!

I had a lot of fun with this look and I hope you liked it!  I do need to cut these lashes down a bit as they are too long for my eye--but I'm always hesitant to do that just in case I'd prefer them to be this long!!  We'll see what happens!  :)

March Happiness Project: Day 9

Day 9, as you all know, bring us to a new topic of the day!

A site that makes me happy?  Easy peasy.

Cute Overload, hands down.  It will bring you such things as:

and

Need I say more?  No...I thought not! 

:)