Halloween!! - Katheen

Whenever I have exclamations in my title, there are always two of them...

Hiyo!!! Halloween is on Tuesday!! What are you guys being? I'm going to be Megara from Hercules...

I wasn't planning on being anything which was kind of a bummer because Emma and I were Thing One and Thing Two last year, and I couldn't just let that be my last Halloween costume because I feel like, even though I'm a little old to actually go Trick or Treating, I'm at the age when Halloween costumes actually get really good. When you are little, its a witch, or a princess, or Dorothy from Wizard of OZ.

Anyways, I went shopping and out to lunch with some friends lately, and we went to a thrift store in downtown Belleville. I found a vintage off-the-shoulder dress. I have been loving off the shoulder anything so much lately. It was the prettiest purple and it twirls soooo well. I can't wait to dance in it sometime! I tried it on and it fit perfectly, which rarely happens considering how short I am.

It was $36.

I bought it.

Sorry for the crappy portrait mode picture; I'll make it up to you.

I also got a super curly ponytail extension because Meg as super long hair, and I have relatively short hair. Do you remember those ponytails that were really popular a while ago, they were kind of like elastic ribbons? Some of them were glittery. I still have a rose gold one, but I don't use it, so I cut it in half and I'm going to fasten it around the top of the sleeve. That will give it a bit more of a Greek/Roman look.

We went pumpkin picking today, and I went on a photography spree, so I thought I would show the pictures to you. I got a really cool pumpkin; I love it so much I'm not carving it. I'm keeping it in my room as decoration.

This is my pumpkin.

I'm sure you all remember Braeutigams Orchards, we went there last year to get pumpkins. We got our pumpkins there this year too.

This is kind of a crappy picture, but Papi was being so cute with his pumpkin that I couldn't stand it.

Thanks so much for reading!! Comment below and tell me what your thoughts are on dressing up for Halloween, does your faith allow/encourage it?

Kathleen

twodorkswithablog.blogspot.com

braeutigamorchards.com

My Makeup Essentials -Emma

So...The daunting task of writing an intro...

Hello everyone! I'm finally here with a new post! I've been getting super into makeup lately (yes, even more than before, for those who know me). I've been watching a lot of makeup tutorials on YouTube and just obsessing a bit. So I thought the perfect post would be to talk about my essential makeup products.

To clear things up before I start: I DO NOT wear makeup everyday, in fact most days I wear little to no makeup, maybe just some concealer under my eyes and some mascara. And nor does anyone else have to wear makeup to be beautiful. I wear makeup purely because I enjoy it and like trying new styles.

So there.

Anyway.

Starting in the order in which I would put on a full face of makeup...
I use the Maybelline Baby Skin Primer. I just recently started using this after seeing it on (you guessed it) YouTube. It really does work amazing though and I like the feeling of having a barrier between my skin and all the makeup I am about to put on. I have noticed a good amount of acne disappearing after using this for a few weeks.

This is my all time favorite foundation. I've tried sO many different foundations and BB Creams in the past (even $40 ones from Sephora) and nothing compares to this. And it's at an unbeatable price too, for those of you who are like me and are usually pretty broke.

It's full coverage, not oily at all. I use a brush to blend it out (which I will show later). I use the shade 120 for anyone who is wondering.

Yet another Maybelline product...
This is the everyday concealer I use. It works pretty darn well. My only complaint with this product is sometimes it doesn't come out very well onto the sponge and just doesn't cover enough. And it is a bit pricey for the size. But overall, it is one of the best drugstore concealers around.

I swear the Maybelline products will end soon! This is the powder I use. It's from the same collection as the foundation I use. This pressed powder is actually amazing. Some days I really just use this on my face and nothing else. It just smooths everything out and makes your face look much more natural when you're wearing foundation. I LOVE it!

This is the highligher/blush I use on days that I'm doing more light makeup. It has just enough glow, but isn't too glowy. It also gives a great amount of color on your cheeks. I like to take my highlighter brush and just swirl the two together so they combine (saw this from Summer McKeen on YouTube).

Next up: brows. I am a blonde, so doing my brows is a must. My eyebrows are basically non existent without this. I use the Maybelline (of course) Brow Define and Fill Duo. This works fantastically, even better than the Sephora brand pencil I used to use.

This is my absolute favorite makeup item at the moment, and probably the only high end product I will have in this post. This is the Too Faced Sweet Peach Palette. The colors are so vibrant, and the palette smells like peaches. I've only had this for about a week but have been using this constantly. It does run on the very high end of prices at $48. But I was lucky enough to get it with a coupon I had to save a few dollars.

I normally use a few different products for my eyelashes, but my favorite is this Loreal Voluminous Lash Paradise mascara. It really works like a dupe of the "Better Than Sex" mascara from Too Faced. So this saves you like, $14.

Lastly, I will show my favorite brushes. From left to right: Elf Foundation Brush, Luxe Cosmetics Foundation Brush (but I use this for bronzer/ contouring), Glamour Dolls Highlighter Brush (for highlighter and blush), and Elizabeth Mott Blending Brush (for eye shadow).

Thank for all so much for reading! I think this might be the longest blog post I have ever written... probably because I tend to rant about makeup...

Let me know if you'd like me to do a post on the Too Faced Sweet Peach pallet, because I would love to do a few tutorials.

Talk to you all soon!

-Emma

Let's Just Chat - Kathleen

Sometimes I feel like the posts I write, while very often on schedule and grammatically correct, they aren't very personal...

Hey guys!!!! How are you! I hope you are all having a wonderful month so far, we are almost half-way through! Comment down below and tell me what you are doing for Halloween or if you are dressing up. I am going to be Meg from Hercules.

Anyways, today I thought I would just kind of chat with you, I want to just talk and get to know you all, because you all hear from me pretty much weekly, but I never hear from most of you. (Some of us are actually friends who I talk to often)

So lately I been doing a lot of school and it's actually a little better than last year. To be brutally honest, last year I was a bit of a slacker, and while my Latin situation was not ideal, I can't blame all of last year on that. I had a pretty rough winter, what with my grandma dying somewhat unexpectedly and then a week after her funeral we left on a 4 day (round trip) drive to Washington DC for the March for Life where I think I hurt my knee and had a really rough time walking around DC. I'm so grateful for my amazing teachers who were all so understanding, however, I know I could have done better. Because of how behind I was, I started procrastinated on school (because I was lazy) then I got more behind and piled up, which resulted in me cramming on everything and just trying to pass classes, which by my standards is getting Bs.

So last year was a really crappy year, which scared me a lot. What with college prep coming up, I definitely feel the pressure to get good grades and stay on top of anything. So I resolved to take good, thorough notes and submit every assignment the day the assignment was due. I took that super seriously during the first maybe 10 weeks which resulted in me exhausting myself and, honestly, working way too hard. I laid of a little bit so I wasn't over-working myself, but still getting good grades and working hard. So this year has, so far, been much better than last year.

Speaking of college, Mom and I are going to Atchison, Kansas to visit Benedictine College. I'm interested in a major in Communications and they also have a minor in Film Studies. I'm also interested in Ave Maria (in Ave Maria, Florida) , they also have a major in Communications and also a minor in Family and Society, which I thought would be VERY beneficial for when I have kids/start a family. Lastly, St. Katherine's in St. Paul, Minnesota has a major in Communications and also Family and Consumer Science. That encompasses both the family and the blogger/I-don't-know-what-to-call-it-but-I-have-it-in-my-head. So those are my college thoughts.

I haven't been doing any activities outside of school for various reasons. I stopped taking piano lessons. It wasn't that I hated piano and it also wasn't because I didn't like my teacher. My piano teacher was amazing, and I love her teaching techniques. I honestly think, she is the best piano teacher I know and it would be hard to top her. The are a few, simple reasons why I stopped taking lessons. A) College is coming up. I'm not planning on majoring in any music, so I want to focus on getting ready for it. B) I wasn't feeling the motivation to keep working and pushing ahead. I was feeling like a machine plunking out notes and not feeling any passion towards the music. Many pianists (or any musician) go through this, but normally in phases. I've gone through phases of not enjoying it, but this one was lasting something around six months, which is crazy. I decided to take a break. I'm super glad I did. I still play a little here and there, in fact, because I took a break, I'm so much happier playing now than I was. I'm working on Perfect by Ed Sheeran. (but the piano music is by The Piano Guys) If any of you are curious about a good sheet music website, I can tell you about one.

So that's a little bit about my life right now; I hope you enjoyed it! Tell me a little about your life!


WAIT WAIT WAIT!!

I have an announcement to make.

So. Last year you may remember that we did Blogmas. This year we won't be doing it. It was so much fun and I loved all the festive everything, but it was sooooo much work.  I think with less posts, the festivity in each post will be upped a bit.

So.

Yeah.

My Nightime Routine - Kathleen

Fall is here and I'm soooooo excited I would type in caps but that kind of annoys people I've heard...

Hello my lovely readers!! I have come to grace you with another blog post. It's fall and I've been feeling very cozy lately. Watching people's nighttime routines always makes me feel even more cozy so I am sharing mine with you. Lets get started!

I know this may seem early for many people, but honestly I have a somewhat old soul/brain. I go to sleep at 9:30 and 5:45 is generally the time of day I either start relaxing for the night or I go to a friends house. So I'm either chilling out, or going crazy having fun with friends: one or the other, there is no in-between. So after I eat dinner and clean up my desk, I get in the shower.

 I have been loving the JASON Normalizing Tea Tree shampoo. It helps regulate dandruff and itch which I love. Whenever I rinse my hair I feel like I have mermaid hair, but I've talked about the shampoo a few times before. My body wash is Tutti Dolci Golden Honey Praline from Bath and Body Works. I got it right around Independence Day when they had a big sale, so it was three dollars for a full size and I was like, "Yes please!!"

After I get out of the shower I slather some of NIVEA's Post Shave Balm on my legs. Yes it is a men's product, no I'm not a freak, yes it works soo well. I don't have any poke-y hairs and it's been 2 days since I shaved. Plus it moisturizes and helps keep my skin looking vibrant and not pale like are in the fall/winter. I also put a little Alberto VO5 Conditioning Hairdressing gel in my hair. Guess what. This is a men's product to. But really it's not like it does anything special for men's hair that a girl wouldn't want. It helps prevent frizz, add shine, and makes your natural highlights stand out. I don't know if anyone has noticed, but I've seen an extra vibrancy to my hair and the red-ish highlights are standing out so much in the right light.

After this I put on some comfy clothes. This sweater is a pinky/beige sweater I got at Sears, but it's by Simply Styled. I love this brand, all their clothes are so soft and comfy. I also put on my floral drop shorts. I know you wouldn't normally wear a sweater with shorts but it is super comfy and sometimes long sleeves AND pants make me a little sweaty.

Mom just got back from the grocery store and she brought home a caramel-chocolate-pecan caramel apple so I had to have some of that. Let me tell you: this was the best thing I have EVER tried. You all should eat them, or make them or whatever. Just get your hands on them somehow!

Now. If you were here about a year ago, you will remember my obsession with all things Department 56. And if you were keen, you will notice above the picture of my chocolate-caramel-apple-pecan-delicious-diabetes-ness had a Department 56 house in the background. If you are KEEN (capital letters KEEN) you will notice that it had lights inside of it. You will then remember that I could not put lights in the Dept. 56 houses last year. Well I figured it out this time. That got me a little excited. So my project tonight was to make sure all the Christmas lightbulbs worked.

I pulled all twelve houses out.

All 12 houses worked.

It's October.

By now it was about 9pm so it was time for me to get ready to go to bed. I headed into the bathroom to wash my face. I have been using Biore's Pore Unclogging Scrub to gently exfoliate my face. I can't even describe why I love this so much. But give me time because it will be in my favorites. My skin is always soooo soft I literally feel like a baby. Then I cleanse with AVEDA's Botanical Kinetics Purifying Cleansing Crème. I've already said a lot about my cleanser so I won't say much about that.

So then I just get into my jammies and cozy in bed with a good book until I fall asleep.

I really hope you enjoyed this post because I had so much fun writing it!!! Leave a comment down below telling me what your favorite fall snack is!!

Kathleen Pederson

twodorkswithablog.blogspot.com