2013 church christmas party part one: my outfit.

so.... i disappeared again. and im sorry. but not feeling good on monday and not being home all day tuesday turned into "i think im actually getting sick" wednesday to "yep, i definitely have strep throat" yesterday and now its friday and i havent done crap all week (seriously yesterday it took me 45 minutes to write a short email) and theres like two days till christmas and im freaking out about how much stuff i have to do (oh and now james wants to go down to san diego a day earlier? cue multiple panic attacks). 

oh, and i had a really good week of blog posts planned. and its just not going to be possible to catch them all up and still be ready for christmas, so, ive had to make some adjustments to the schedule. 

but the good news is im feeling much better! and while i cant catch everything up, i can finish my posts about the church christmas party that was on saturday, and all the time ive spent in bed unable to work on bloggy things ive done a lot of thinking about this blogs direction in 2014. im excited. 

now obviously i cant go hugely into detail about all the changes i have planned for the new year (thats an entirely different blog post for another day) one things for sure, theres going to be a lot more outfit posts. 

starting right now, with my church christmas party outfit:

outfit details:

dress: knitted dove (i got mine at a sample sale, but it was available from modcloth)

shoes:  thrifted (but originally from target)

necklace: macys (bridal shower gift, heres a similar one)

glasses: zenni optical

bracelet: vintage (you can read the funny story about how i got it here)

ok seriously, this dress. im just going to add another picture of it because its the best dress ever (even though i realize the whole curtsy thing is only cute when alice does it):

this dress. i got it at a sample sale when we went out for my birthday. it was $20. it retails for $100 more than that. best $20 ive ever spent. ever. i mean, do i even have to go into detail to describe its awesomeness? i dont think so (though maybe i should add that it even has pockets!). 

and those shoes. i love them. theres a thrift store near my old house in lomita and for like, the whole time i was in college there must have been a lady with my exact taste in shoes and size because basically all of my fancy shoes are from that thrift store. i hardly ever wear these (for obvious, toddler having reasons), so id forgotten that theyre really comfortable. 

honestly my only complaint is that the neckline is a little high and i only have an 18 inch pearl necklace and not a 16 inch one (i feel like a proper lady would have pearl necklaces in all the sizes to go with all her dresses) and maybe the necklace situation wasnt ideal. 

im also really proud of the fact that i did my hair fancy without a tutorial (im terrible at doing my hair):

and it wasnt even hard! this style only took 10ish minutes (most of which was making the teeny little braids), and for a lady that never learned how to do an updo till her mid 20s, i feel like i did a pretty good job. 

also, funny story about my lipstick. basically ive worn my makeup exactly the same every day since i was like 15 (maybe one day ill do a post about my makeup routine), and as far as lips go its either nothing or mac you say tomato (which i just found out is discontinued but heres a similar one). well as i was getting ready i though "you know what would be perfect for christmas? a berry lip stain. its really too bad i dont have anything like that", but i looked in the vintage hatbox i keep my extra makeup in just in case, and lo and behold, there was the exact color lip stain i was thinking of:

so that was my christmas party outfit. stay tuned for tomorrow when i talk about the actual party!

little treats. free eyeshadows.

if you had asked me a few months ago, i would have told you that  most drugstore makeup isnt worth the money, especially eyeshadows. the reason being that with the drugstore shadows, (at least in my experience) what you usually end up with is a low quality base that creases and fades in a matter of minutes, with hardly any pigment, meaning you have to use tons of product and re-apply throughout the day in order to keep it looking presentable. on the other hand, for just a few extra dollars you could invest in a quality product (my favorite has always been mac) that is mostly pigment, and be able to use a teeny-tiny bit of product and have it stay put ALL DAY (and sometimes even two days, not that ive ever done that...). 

now i am all about quality over quantity, and ive worn my makeup the exact same way since i was like 14, so most of my makeup is just a small, carefully selected collection of higher-end products. since it only takes a teensy bit to get the job done, and almost never needs touched up, i literally dont even remember the last time i bought eyeshadow. i was mostly ok with that, since i had found what worked for me for everyday wear. 

i got kind of bored, and wanted to try something a little different, and i looked at lots of pallets online, or at sephora, but since im a total makeup snob anything i deemed worthwhile was waaaaaay out of our price range. but then when i started couponing i noticed that sometimes, eyeshadows (but for some reason, only eyeshadows) are completely free. and im totally willing to try something that might not be so great if its free. 

a couple months ago there was a $4 off almay manufacturers coupon, and a $1 off printable target coupon for any almay eye product and these pallets are only $4.99, so i got the purple one on the left. and while it certainly isnt the superpowered makeup im used to wearing, but its still pretty great. its not as pigmented as id like, but i really like the colors together, and its a nice change to my normal "everyday" eye. i really like though is how all three colors are in a single small compact, and i dont have to juggle a whole bunch of seperate pots like i do with my other shadows. also, the texture is really nice and it holds up for most of the day without creasing (which may not even be a problem for most people because my skin is SUPER oily). overall im pretty happy with it, and i was hoping that the $4 off coupon would be printed again (it happens more often than youd think). 

then two weeks ago (or was it three? im not so good at remembering anymore), it did! i could get another one! for free! i really wanted to branch out try something different, so i got the silver one on the right, since ive never really been able to achieve a smoky eye on my own. and that one, i REALLY like, it has just the right amount of shimmer and seems to have more pigment than the purple one. 

this is totally something i would have shied away from trying if they werent free, and im really glad these coupons came around, because these eyeshadows are actually pretty great. and maybe ive changed my mind a little bit about drugstore makeup. maybe. 

stay tuned for next week, ive got a really cute tutorial in the works!