REVLON COLORSTAY WHIPPED CREME FOUNDATION BUFF CHAMOIS REVIEW/SWATCH (THE BEST STUFF EVER!)

You have to forgive me for the quickie review, but I had to share! This foundation is truly the best foundation I have ever used, and I have used just about every foundation that is easily found on the market. I'm typically too pale for drugstore foundations, but this one is just barely light enough for me to wear during the summer. 

I use my fingers to apply this in the morning, and it lasts all day with medium-full coverage (very build able) and a natural finish. I have awkward combination skin, and it works beautifully on both the dry and the oily bits. 

I know the photo is terrible, but my skin looks ten thousand times better there than it does without makeup. I have been wearing this foundation for eight hours, in 87 degree heat with high humidity, through classes, and now to an oil change that is taking forever. 

I haven't been doing as many skincare or beauty related posts lately because my skin has been awful. I have been to a dermatologist, and we are working on it, but it isn't improving as rapidly as one would hope. Hopefully I will be back to posting regularly asap!

I HAVE A FAMILY!!!!

It has officially become real. I have a family assignment and an actual, physical address of where I will be living in Chile. My host mom has sent me an email. I have host siblings, and I know that it will be a roughly fifteen minute walk from where I'm going to live to the University. 

It just... hasn't felt real until now. I have been going through the motions of filling out the applications, working on passport stuff, and looking at the dates, but it has been kind of a game up until now. 

Now? It is real. I fly out in 41 days. I can't imagine what it is going to be like to wake up in the U.S., and fall asleep in another country. 

FARTHER

The past couple of weeks have been crazy! So much has happened and I'm so excited. We got engaged, and are looking at summer/fall of 2014 for a wedding.

And... I'm studying in Chile this fall! I'm so nervous and excited. I'm buying my plane tickets tonight, and I leave September fourth. To be able to go I have had to take all of my first year Spanish over the summer, and it works out to be roughly 5 hours of work per day. Pretty difficult when you are working full time afternoon/night shifts. Plus, my manager was incredibly angry with me for not being able to take on day shifts due to my classes, classes that she already knew about when she hired me and shifts that she knew I would never be able to work. I was miserable and stressed out all the time. Which leads me to...

I just gave notice at my job! My last day is July 29, and I can't wait to be done. I was so miserable for so long, and I am so ready to be able to focus solely on my studies and trip preparations. 

I have to say, If you had asked me a month ago if any of this would happen, I would have said you were crazy. And yet here we are!

I'm choosing happiness. 

SAY HELLO TO FOREVER

Today the love of my life asked me to marry him, and I said yes. The past two and a half years have been amazing, and I can't wait to spend the rest of our lives together. 



So yes, an entirely awesome Friday. 

REVLON COLORSTAY LIPSTICK HEAVENLY MAUVE SWATCH/REVIEW

During the move I came across a huge box of lipsticks I have used a couple of times and haven't touched since. I decided that I would use each one of them, try to make them work, and then toss them if I couldn't make the color or formula work. This is the first one I tried. 

In the tube it comes off as a rose-gold sheer with a slight shimmer to it. On my lips it comes off as a granny red with a crap ton of gold Sharpie scribbled all over. It photographs far better than it looks in real life, and I think that this is one of the unfortunate shades that may have to go in the trash. 

I'm going to try it with one more outfit, but I'm pretty sure that this was made for someone with a different skin tone. And maybe someone about fifty years older. 

FOURTH OF JULY

We decided to have a relaxed holiday as a family, and I went for a beautiful walk down by the river today. It was absolutely gorgeous!  

I definitely want to go for picnics here in the summer! 

WHEN DOES IT PAY?

Life rarely works out in the way that one would hope. I used to believe that if you worked hard enough and put enough time in, your time and energy invested would be rewarded. 

I'm going into my third year of university, and I probably have another 6-10 years left (I want to be a surgeon.) I recently found out that, to pay for my education, my parents are expected to take out $12k worth of loans per year. This is figured into my financial aid, and therefore I'm $12k short for this year. 

This has been especially devastating, because I have truly excellent grades (one pesky B that I'm presently retaking) and have spent the last two years at a community college to take back-core classes for a lower price. I have worked incredibly hard to pay my dues, and now I have to look at selling my car.

It is incredibly frustrating, but it also shatters my worldview. I have worked since I was 14, and I have always hoped and planned for a future where life wasn't so hard. 

I'm a wee bit down, I have to say. My relationships and classes are going beautifully, and I'm being offered opportunities that I never could have imagined, and the only thing holding me back from these opportunities is the lack of funds. I know that it gets better, and that these problems are truly first-world problems. It is just incredibly difficult to keep picking yourself up time and time again. 

I know this is a bit more personal than what I typically post, but it is real. This is where I am, and I feel a lot of the time like I'm the only person who struggles like this, when in reality there are many people who do and just hide it. I don't want to contribute to anyone else's feeling of loneliness. 

AWKWARD AND AWESOME FRIDAY. ERM, WELL, SUNDAY. I TRIED?

Awkward:- The above is what the bedroom at our old apartment has looked like for the past week. We bought a new bed, and took all the furniture we needed, and kind of hoped that it would disappear before our lease ran out. 
- Getting a mediocre grade on a test I had studied incredibly hard for (a 91%, which is not good enough for the hours I put in) and whining about it to the man next to me, who then responded that he got a C. I officially feel like an ass. 
- Losing my deodorant in the moving process and not having a chance to run out to the store for more. Why yes, I am wearing Brandon's deodorant. Smelling like a man is not awkward at all!  
- Working 8 days in a row, having one day off, and returning for another two shifts. All without overtime pay. While taking a 4 credit three week long Spanish class from 9-12 every day. 


Awesome:
-The above is what the bedroom at our old apartment looks like now. We managed to clean out everything and get all of our deposit back! Our landlords our notorious for not returning their tenant's deposits. Slightly less awesome: All the stuff in the top photo did not magically disappear, and is now in our new apartment.
- I may have a chance to study in Chillan, Chile this fall! Nothing is set in stone yet, but if I am able to find a way to pay for it I would leave September fourth and return December fourth. I'm meeting with the advisor on Tuesday!
- Honey Dijon Kettle Chips. Oh my goodness, we just started carrying them at work and I think I have eaten a mini-bag per shift. So incredibly delicious.