Congratulations!

We have some exciting news in the Gresh household! Steve is officially a licensed CPA! I am so proud of him. I can't even tell you how challenging it is to receive that license. Steve had to work so hard and spent over a year studying for those exams. So if you know a CPA I would like you to give them a call and tell them how grateful you are for all of their hard work. You wouldn't believe how many hours they pull in a week during tax time. Steve is currently at 68 hours a week, but the closer it gets to April 15th the more hours he will work. Last year he was up around 85 hours for the last two weeks of tax time. Last year I didn't really notice the 85 hour weeks because I was chaperoning the Model United Nations group to New York. Sometimes when I need a good laugh I think back to that trip. If anyone wants to know what kind of teacher I am, just realize that I spent a week in New York City cleaning up a mixture of my vomit and six different children's vomit, and I never once thought of quitting. Normally I have a hard time accepting gifts from parents, but when I saw that Panache Salon and Spa gift card in that mothers hand I snatched it up so fast and never looked back.

So the moral of that story is since I found myself a new job this year, I might need some friends during those first two weeks of April to keep me company.

Anyways, today was my first day back to work after six days off. Two of those days were the weekend, four of those days were snow days. Which actually were more like cold days because it didn't really snow. I took the time to do some things that I really needed to do but I was neglecting. I cleaned all of my make-up brushes using a mix of olive oil and baby shampoo. I noticed that whenever I clean my brushes using just the baby shampoo that they tend to dry out, so I mixed the olive oil to add some moisture. Let me tell you, that was one genius idea I had there. It really worked!

Snow Day

So I didn't get the stereotypical screenshot of my weather app this morning, but it was -17 degrees when I woke up and that was without the wind-chill. Because this is only our second winter with bone chilling temperatures, northwestern Pennsylvania has turned into South Carolina with snow flurries, and now everything is shut down. I am on my second snow day in a row and let me tell you, snow days lose their magic once you are an adult. I couldn't even sleep in this morning because I was so stressed about trying to figure out how I am going to squeeze in my fact and opinion lesson.

You know, we always made fun of Virginia for freaking out over an inch of snow, and yet here we are canceling everything in our path because the temperatures are in the single digits.

I don't really keep up on the news, so is this another polar vortex? If so, why is this a new occurrence? I feel like I have never heard of a polar vortex until last winter. Perhaps Mother Nature thinks it's trendy.

I guess I'm just wondering if this is Day After Tomorrow stuff we are experiencing, or if New York City is safe from any flooding for the time being.

I went to the IMAX theater with parents yesterday and they had a commercial for a documentary about the Arctic. Honestly I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between if they were scanning the horizon of the Arctic Ocean or just Lake Erie. Actually the humpback whale gave that away, but I could have swore I saw a glimpse of the Biennial Tower as they were doing a panoramic view (just joking).

Let's play a game. Which one is the Arctic and which one is Erie?

 

Now don't let the polar bear fool you.

Tattoo Concealer? Don't Freak Out Now Deborah

Does anyone have any advice on good tattoo concealer? Now you need to calm yourself down Deborah because it's not for me. My friend is getting married, and David's Bridal was just full of lies on Monday. They said that she could add a panel to cover up her tattoo when she bought the dress in October. However when we went to the dress fitting earlier this week they told her that it was just too bad, and they are not allowed to alter the designers original design.

I'm sure she will just end up finding someone else to add the panel, but just in case everyone who she comes across between now and August have my same sewing skills, we figured it might be best to ask the internet for any good tattoo concealer.

Lies

So I want to take back everything I said about the H&M pallet. We did not have a horrible pallet on our hands everyone, we had a user error. Which I guess should be expected since I am new to this whole thing.

I was watching a YouTube tutorial and the girl was talking about this new eye shadow that she was using. She said it worked great but you had to use your finger or a synthetic brush. Then it hit me that perhaps this was the same thing for my H&M shadows. I remember reading the reviews online and everyone said they loved the pallet, and let's face it, if it's posted online it must be true. So I figured it must have been something I was doing wrong.

So I got out my synthetic brush, and sure enough, the colors came out beautifully.

 

 

So I am sorry for all of the lies I have been spreading all over the internet.

Typical Me

So the Valentine's Day Gods were shining their goodness upon my soul yesterday and blessed me with the perfect hair day. My make-up application was flawless and my hair was curled to perfection. However let me tell you that this perfection came at a price.

I was so excited with the blessings that were shining down upon my hair, that when my parents called to tell me that they were waiting outside of my house, I threw on my coat and ran out to their car. We had brunch and then went to Wal*Mart so I could pick up a card for Steve before he got home from work. As I am walking around Wal*Mart feeling so pleased with my hair for curling the way that it did, I began to realize that I was feeling really good. Perhaps a little to good. I was feeling freedom in only ways that I felt months before I started my beauty journey, and then I realized. I forgot to put on a bra.

So you win some you lose some people. Although I vowed never to go braless again, there I was, showing off my girls to the people of Wal*Mart after having brunch with my family no less. Typical.

In other news, I made Baby Muggles and Blaze some booties out of running socks and hair ties to wear so they don't have to put their poor paws on the snow in this polar vortex.

 

I'm such a good mommy.

BB Cream vs. Tinted Moisturizer

Does anyone know the difference between bb cream and tinted moisturizer? Thanks!

The Struggle is Real

So I have been all aboard the struggle bus lately. I took about a week and a half break from being fabulous and I think I'm ready to get myself back into gear. I think I mentally needed that break. It's hard business being so fantastic all the time. (just joking). But seriously, I feel like I should have taken baby steps. This is a little difficult to jump in all at once.

Steve and I were grocery shopping yesterday and he decided that it is time that we try eating healthier. I should have seen this coming. The warning signs were so clear. He has been cutting back his portions at dinner, and when I suggested Cicic's on Thursday he just have me a dirty look and made some tofu tenders instead. However I think I was finally slapped into reality when we were grocery shopping yesterday. As I went to pick up a thing of queso he took it out of my hand, put the queso back on the shelf, and picked up a bag of lettuce instead. So this morning I am looking at a cup of 100% all natural orange juice instead of hot cocoa with whipped cream, creamer, and sprinkles. The struggle is so real guys, I think I am about to lose my poor mind.

In other news, I know I have been complaining about mascara lately. To me it's annoying, and sometimes the thought of having to put on mascara is what stops me from wearing make-up altogether that day. So I was reading that false eyelashes are a lot easier to put on (once you get the hang of it) and take way less time. So I bought a pair and tried them out last night. I only went grocery shopping with them on. I didn't want to do a big event where I would see a lot of people, because in case they looked horrible I didn't want to scare the little children along my way.

I think for the first time trying them on they didn't turn out to bad. What do you guys think?

 

In case anyone was wondering, it was like 110 times faster to whip these babies on rather than doing coat after coat of mascara. However I was slightly disappointed. There are not many things that as a woman I can confidently shout out to the world about myself, however let me tell you, I have some good eyelashes. I should have known that falsies weren't going to look that much more dramatic on me. Just about every time I wear mascara, strangers ask me how I get my eyelashes so full, and if my secret is falsies. So considering I already have full eyelashes, all the falsies did was save me 15 minutes. I know that is an unnatural amount of time to spend on mascara, but when you spend as much time trying to get your eye to stop watering from the countless wand pokes to the eye as I do, fifteen minutes of mascara is a good day.

 

Here is a side by side of falsies vs. my real eyelashes. The bottom is my real eyelashes.

 

 

What do you guys think?

 

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!!

I think Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays. I realize a lot of people hate Valentine's Day and look at it as single awareness day, however my family likes to look at Valentine's Day as day as a day to do something special with the people who adore you. Be it family, significant others, or friends, there is always someone in your life who you can take a moment out and tell them how much you care about them, and how grateful you are that they are in your life.

So happy Valentine's Day everyone!!

Lip Liner Fail

I tried using lip liner.

 

 

I've got a lot of practicing to do.

50% off 50% off

I've kind of been in a funk for the last few months. Steve has been trying to cheer me up, so in a moment of weakness he told me that he would run a half marathon with me over the summer. So I am really excited about that. The problem is that for some reason this year I am having none of this cold weather (probably from my funk). Even though I come equipped with all the essential running gear to survive in the tundra, I have zero desire to strap on my yaktrax and run in this cold. That, and my yoga class takes a break from December until April, so all forms of exercise are on a break for me. So perhaps when Pennsylvania decides to thaw I will drag my sorry behind off of the couch, but until then I am going to continue to watch British television and eat popcorn.


So this week I noticed that ever since I started wearing nail polish my nails have been chipping and splitting like crazy. I have been using a coat of nail strengthener before and after I apply my nail polish, so I don't really know what could be the problem. Does anyone have any ideas? I bought a liquid bandage for nails and I have been using that, but I guess I want to prevent the problem instead of always have to liquid bandage my nails every day. I tried taking Biotin for hair growth a few times, (my hair growth journey is another long and dramatic process). However the Biotin also made my nails split and chip. I feel like a lack of calcium isn't the problem either because I eat more than enough cheese on a daily basis to feed a third world county. Just kidding.

But for real, one time we were playing this game that is like trivia, but it has really crazy questions so basically the person with the best guess wins. I forgot what it is called, but I'll figure it out and let you guys know. It's a blast. Anyways, the question was how many slices of pizza does the average American eat a year. Well I was more thinking along the lines of how much food I eat, so I guessed 500 pieces of pizza a year. The actual answer is 34, so everyone had a hoot with the fact that I thought Americans ate 500 pieces of pizza a year. I mean in hindsight that is a lot of pizza. So clearly you can see how much cheese I consume a day.

In other news. I spent some more of my birthday money. I bought a jewelry armoire from Christmas Tree Shops so that has been helpful in organizing my life. For those of you that do not have a Christmas Tree Shops in your life, I feel nothing but sorrow for you. I wouldn't recommend getting anything important from there, but as far as decorations go, you can decorate your entire house for any occasion for under $100 and still look more festive then Disney World at Christmas. It is truly magical.

I also saw that Icing was having a sale so I went to buy some flowers for my hair. They had 50% off red line items. It was awesome. I also bought some earrings and rings and then I saw that they had some make up in their sale shelf too. Now I know what your thinking, "Remember the H&M eye shadow pallet." I know, for I was thinking that too. But for $2 who could say no? So I took a gamble and bought the pallet, and it turns out I made a super awesome life choice. It's super pigmented, and it lasts the whole day.

 

Plus I really like that it has both warm tones and cool tones for whatever your mood.

 

 

So all hail 50% off 50% off! I said it's like 100% off, so it really should have been free, but Steve did a tiny face palm and told me it didn't work like that.

 

I got some other stuff at Ulta, the picture about is just most of what I bought this weekend. I forgot to take pictures of the jewelry, but I think everyone will live if they don't get to see the 50% off 50% off jewelry I bought as well.