HEY THERE, FRIDAY

Tortoise Fascination by jlrey

What can I say? It was the 90s. 

If you become obsessed with this too, it's not my fault. I was just following the directions. 

When I read Joy the Baker's post on Refinery 29, I thought, "Hey, I could do that." I've never made popcorn on the stovetop before (although I have made kettle corn in a giant vat with the burns to prove it), and after moving last week, I really don't have the energy for a full-on dinner.

I truly don't even know where most of my cooking stuff is.

Miraculously, I had the ingredients for this popcorn. They were practically staring me in the face.


Cinnamon Kettle Corn via Joy the Baker & Refinery29

- 3 TBS coconut oil
- 1/3 cup corn kernels (I looked at these spread across the bottom of the pan, thought it looked like a pitiful amount and added another half a cup which made a lot of popcorn. Hey, live & learn.)
- 2 TBS granulated sugar (more if you decided to take the excessive route I live on)
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- sea salt to taste

Put the coconut oil in your skillet/saucepan (I used cast iron), making sure you're using cookware with a corresponding lid. Melt the oil on medium heat. Add corn kernels and sugar. Place lid over pan, keeping it slightly open for steam to escape. Allow popcorn to start popping.  Once or twice (I did twice), close the lid all the way, pick up the covered pan with potholders and give it a little shake.

When the popping slows down, remove from heat and sprinkle with cinnamon & sea salt. Serve in a bowl or eat it straight from the pan with eager hands. You will be eager. You will love this stuff. You will eat it all.

Come to find out, Murphy's a pretty big fan of popcorn. When the little kernels started popping out of the pan (because I used too many), she had the best night ever. She chased every stray popped popcorn piece and wolfed it down.

And if this precious face loves it, you will too.


Any other DIY popcorn recipes I need to know about?

Take a break from Buzzfeed quizzes and listen to this talk from my favorite little inspiration machine, Kid President, on 20 things we should say more often.

Last-Minute Beauty by jlrey

First things first. TOUCH UP greasy roots with a dry shampoo. While I like powders like Bumble & Bumble's Prêt-à-Powder for sprinkling in my hair and leaving it in overnight for fresh hair in the morning sometimes only an aerosol spray like Drybar's Detox gives me the immediacy I need at 9 a.m. To use: section hair and spray into roots. Let sit while you brush your teeth, brew coffee, etc. Rub into scalp, taking care to disperse any white residue. Blast with cool air from hair dryer to finish.

Next up, CONCEAL dark circles, blemishes and redness with this heavenly concealer from NARS. I haven't met a better do-it-all, stay-all-day formula, and I've tried a lot of concealers. This in Vanilla is a staple in my makeup bag. Dot onto blemishes and blend with brush or fingertips, pat into under-eye circles and in any area where you're concerned about discoloration or blemishes.

Then, PERFECT your complexion with a BB creme like Diorskin Nude. I've used and loved the Dr. Jart products for over a year, but this Diorskin Nude BB Creme may have made me a convert. I feel like I've got the glowy perfection of foundation, without the weight. Applied with a buffing brush, I can get full coverage out of this without trying too hard.

Once you've got the perfect canvas, you need to add a GLOW with dewy color to your cheeks so you don't look like a zombie. These Stila Convertible Color products are amazing - I keep one in my purse at all times. Just apply with your fingers to the apples of your cheeks and blend up and out toward the temples. Be sure to pick a shade that gives you a good flush - nothing too statement-looking for daytime.

When you're in a rush, the last thing you might be thinking about are your brows, but taking a minute to DEFINE your brows goes a long way. Benefit's Gimme Brow tool helps me apply color to my thin, nonexistent eyebrows while also whisking down the wonky strands that were smushed against my pillow. The mini brush delivers a fiber/gel formula that helps me create brows where there were none.

The final step? WAKE UP your lashes with a mascara that doesn't give you the spider-lash effect. I'm a mascara junkie and have tired just about every formula on the market, but this impulse purchase of Maybelline Full & Soft, Thick & Healthy mascara has changed my life. No more clumped lashes or spidered-out fringe. This mascara contains Vitamin E for soft, plump lashes, and the best part is that it washes off easily. Swipe horizontally to the right and left, then finish with a standard sweep up the lash, wiggling a little at the base of your upper lashline for more volume.

What are your go-to products when you're rushing out the door? Any tips for the rest of us late risers?

Two of the mall's most potent stores face off on opposing corners - Origins & LUSH, competing for my loyalty and wallet-ensconced dollars. I'm definitely an Origins addict (Dr. Weil all the way!), but this weekend, LUSH won. 

I popped in for a hair treatment that a coworker had recommended on her blog, and entered the store with the sole intention of purchasing just that item, and walking out. Which of course, at LUSH, never happens. A conversation with an associate (and my own cheapskate-ness) had me looking at other items almost right off the bat. Truth be told, I didn't really need yet-another hair treatment (like the Roots item I was looking at), but I was in dire need of a new shampoo/conditioner system. 

I couldn't decide on a shampoo to try, so the associate hooked me up with some generous samples. 

After high school, I pretty much wrote off American Eagle Outfitters as a teenage brand with nothing to offer. I'm sure I'm not the only one, who, after the days of brand-splaying in raised, cursive felt, ditched all Hollister, Abercrombie and American Eagle-brand items the moment after graduation.

But lately something has happened to American Eagle. Every once in a while, I find unbelievably wearable pieces at super-cheap prices. I went into a store this past summer, looking for the perfect pair of skinny, ripped jeans, and came out with a pair of high-rises that garner compliments hand over fist, from the employees at J.Crew, Madewell and Free People to random people on the street.

The other day, I went online and ordered these dark, forest-green-almost-black moto jeans, and these sneaker/ankle boot shoes that look like slip on sneakers for cold weather. They may be completely impractical, but I'm going to wear them with leather and layers, channeling Isabel Marant.

The best part? Jeans and shoes, under $30. And free shipping.

I've noticed that lately, I enjoy books more when I skip the inside cover or reading the back-of-the-book summary. When I go in with zero expectations, I can take each page of the story as it comes, and decide whether or not I like the book as I read it, not beforehand based on assumptions. 

My to-read list is miles long (and I just discovered an archived note in some stray journal with 20 more titles to read), but when I can sit down and settle into reading with Miss Murphy on my lap, the hours fly by and it's as though nothing else exists. 

I'm not big on the whole, "My new year's resolution is to jog every day and never eat carbohydrates!" thing, because I hate running and love carbs, but I have a coworker who decided to make a 2014 resolution to read as many books as possible, and is already on book #3 this year. 

Now that's a resolution I can get behind! 

Read:

Had I sat and pored over every review, I may have never picked up this novel by Kate Atkinson, but Life After Life is now one of my newer recommendations to friends looking for something different to read. Opening with a quote by Nietzsche, Life After Life asks the question we've all pondered at one point in time, "If you could do it all over again, would you do it differently?"

“What, if some day or night a demon were to steal after you into your loneliest loneliness and say to you: 'This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more' ... Would you not throw yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse the demon who spoke thus? Or have you once experienced a tremendous moment when you would have answered him: 'You are a god and never have I heard anything more divine. ” — Friedrich Nietzsche

Reading:

Found as a recommendation on Goodreads, I don't know that I would have picked this book up instantly either, but I'm currently inhaling The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker. I won't spoil the premise for you - just pick it up and see what you think, but don't tell me the ending. 

To-Read:

Sitting on my shelf for literally weeks now is Tom Rachman's novel, The Imperfectionists. 

From Goodreads: Set against the gorgeous backdrop of Rome, Tom Rachman’s wry, vibrant debut follows the topsy-turvy private lives of the reporters, editors, and executives of an international English language newspaper as they struggle to keep it—and themselves—afloat.

According to my sister, who knows good books, this is one I'll enjoy. 

What have you read lately? What are you reading?