The Notebook Challenge

Another year is about come to an end, leaving us with memories of tiger blood, a royal wedding, sweet satin jackets with scorpions, dragon tattoos, zombies and a slightly creepy, skinny Jonah Hill. The year had it's share of pop culture highs and lows. Somethings were amazing, while others made me wish I could scrub my brain with Comet and erase them.

Everything about this film is perfect. I do not understand why more people are not talking it for awards season. So much more than a fighting film. Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, and Nick Nolte  had me bawling and cheering. Best thing I saw all year.

Eye opening and heart breaking. Michael Fassbender gives a gut wrenching performance that sticks with you.

A spy film the way they don't make them anymore. No gadgets, gizmos or over blown special effects. Just conversations and amazing performances.

Sweet and endearing. Paul Rudd always finds a way to burrow into a small corner of my heart.

This movie proves that you can find bright spots in life, even in the darkest of times. Kudos to the writers and actors.

Now, on to the badness......and it is Awful.

The picture says it all. I've watched better things happen when I have a raging case of the flu.

What could have been a fantastic film was turned into a convoluted, far fetched story with way too much cgi. A swing and a miss.

Remind me again why this was made??? Not funny and a total waste of time.

I barely consider this a film. it's more like a social experiment in how much stupidity an audience can take. Only reason it is not my #1 worst is because it should never be #1 for anything, EVER!!!!!!!!!!

That's it for my film wrap up. I urge you to see my top 5 best and avoid the 5 worst at all costs. 2011, I bid you adieu!!!

-Jess

In Norse mythology, Freya is a goddess of love and fertility, and the most beautiful and propitious of the goddesses. I'm thinking she was so beautiful because she used the skincare line bearing her name.

Freya Skincare is hands down the most amazing product I have used this year....possibly ever. I am in my late 20's and noticed I had the start of some sneaky crows feet developing and my skin just seemed kind dull. It has always been a battle finding moisturizers and eye creams due to my combination complexion, so when I got these I had my doubts. I had heard really good things about the line from friends who had purchased it, which is what I listen to most when choosing a product. The line uses something called the LEXA complex, which stimulates collagen production and repairs free radical damage. It also contains salmon roe, full of antioxidants and an insulin like growth factor. Lots of science speak, in short??? This line is the cat's pajamas.

First up is the Intensive Anti-Aging Serum (130.00)

I swear it is like they found the fountain of youth and bottled it. The first time I used this light weight miracle my skin instantly looked and felt different. Redness went away, lines looked reduced and it felt like satin. I don't think I will ever stop using this product. In the time I have been using it my skin just keeps looking better and better.

Hydrating Day Cream (90.00)

This product was honestly the one I was most worried about. I figured when it met the oily/dry mess that is my face it would be all sorts of horrible. Wrong. The formula in this cream is not heavy, but hydrated all my dry spots, kept any oily patches under control and made my skin look like it had a nice, healthy glow. I used it over the serum like the package said and it stayed nice and smooth until I washed my face before bed. And the smell is too die for, it's a clean, fresh scent. Kinda smells like a spa in a bottle.

Firming Eye Cream (85.00)

The amount of product in this jar is so generous. You only need the smallest bit to cover your eye area, so it's gonna last a long time. This cream seems like it would be thick and heavy but it's velvety and light. It absorbs into the skin quickly and doesn't leave a nasty residue. The lines that had started around my eyes are basically gone and it hasn't even been a month I have been using this.

The packaging is an added bonus, it is beautiful and high quality. The soft, aqua glass just looks nice setting on the counter.

These products speak for themselves. They do what they are meant to do, I can not praise them enough. The price might scare some people but it is completely worth it. It's radiant, healthy skin priceless???

-Jess

That is it for the moment. I really enjoyed doing this little guide, I might do a few others in the next few weeks. Hope it is helpful!!!!

-Jess

Meet Stanley. He is a 3-year old Mini Schnauzer, who just happens to be schizophrenic.

I adopted this little ball of terror in mid-July. My younger brother wanted a dog, so I told him he had to get a shelter dog, that's the only way to do it. He found a little Maltese that he wanted, but when we went to the shelter to meet her she had already been adopted.

We walked around checking out the other critters, my heart breaking all the while, and we stumbled upon Stanley.

Stanley had been found wandering stray with a Chihuahua named Frankie. Stan seemed very friendly and calm, the perfect little loving dog. Turns out he's an excellent actor.

I went to adopt him, signed all the paperwork and we were told they would get back to us within a week. After 3 weeks of phone tag, lost paperwork and confusion, Stanley was finally home. And then the crazy started.

Turns out Stanley knows a full set of commands, but argues with everything you tell him. He does love to shake hands tho. I have never encountered a dog that will bark and yell the way he does if you tell him to do something he doesn't agree with. We did get lucky in the fact that him and Sgt. Pepper get along great. There was a slight dominance struggle the first couple days, but now that's over. Stanley knows Pepper runs this s**t.

I am a complete product junkie, I always want to try new things. I love using all 5 senses when reviewing a new item, except taste, I don't eat too many cosmetics lol. But when a product has a greater purpose it let's me use my heart. Kiss My Face Peace Soaps do just that, it's great for your skin and heart.

These soaps not only clean great, smell really fresh and have multiple uses, they are also trying to better this world. Seeds of Peace is a program that brings together teens from opposite sides of conflict. They attend a camp in Maine that teaches them about conflict resolution, not to view each other as enemies but instead try to understand each other. The company says "By planting Seeds of Peace we hope a brighter, more peaceful future will flourish". It really is a beautiful idea.

Now the soap themselves are probably my favorite thing at the moment. They are 100% natural Castile soap and I have used them for everything.

 I love using Grassy Mint in the shower, it's is such a wake up scent and it leaves my skin so clean and soft. I hate the residue feeling most soaps and body washes leave on you, but this leaves none of that, just clean, soft skin.

Lemongrass and Clary Sage I use to soak in the bathtub. It is so relaxing and gentle smelling, like I'm in a kick ass meadow or some completely overpriced spa. 

Lavender Mandarin is hands down my favorite. I use this for everything from washing my hands, doing laundry, to cleaning my fruit. It is a jack of all trades and smells unbelievable.

I have these in the bathroom, kitchen and laundry area. I was my hands now more than ever, just so I can sniff these fragrances. All around they are fantastic products to clean my self and my home, but more than that, they are trying to clean hate and misunderstanding from the world, one teen at a time.

-Jess

So I realize I have been super neglectful to my baby blog and if it were my child I'd be in prison for the way I have treated it as of late. Between working on the hell house and various other distractions, I have been a piss poor mother to it. Hopefully things are going to be less chaotic from now on and I can get back in the swing of things. I have a stock pile of bucket lists items and reviews to post, along with pictures of the house that will not die turning from zombie to lovely, little cottage. So to kick off my not so triumphant return, Linky Dinks!!

Alrighty, time for this chick to hit the hay. Later folks!!!

-Jess

We are in the process of repairing a recently purchased house, sounds simple right???? Wrong!!! This house was a daycare until May of this year and it was a disgusting, filthy one at that. I was having visions of this being like a HGTV show but it's nothing like that.....yet. We are slowly making progress from what it was. Figured I would  start doing weekly posts about how it's going. These are the initial pictures:

Pray for this home and me

-Jess

#117 Complete a family tree

First things first, I am convinced it is impossible to "complete" a family tree. So far I have traced my mothers side all the way back to 904 A.D. and it still wants to keep going.  I didn't think I would enjoy doing it but it really is interesting and sucks you in. I always jokingly refer to myself as "white trash" but turns out  I come from royalty. Very, very, very distant royalty :).  Some of those I have stumbled across have been Alexander the I of Scotland, The "Black Count" of Anjou (he was all sorts of sane), Templar Knights and numerous titles such as Knight, Lady, Duke, and Earl.

I'm not finding anything at all on my fathers side. I don't really know a whole lot about him to begin with. I met him once when I was 8, he brought his other daughters with him and they stole my one of my Barbie dolls. I told my mom I didn't want to be around them ever again. She listened. I received birthday cards for a few years after that but don't really even remember opening them.  I had my mom and step father,that's all I needed.

I would like to be able to trace my roots on his side, but not enough to contact him for information.

Ancestry. com has been awesome, I strongly encourage you to subscribe if you are interested in this sort of thing. You can view mine right here.

-Jess

In 1991 Terminator 2 graced movie screens and I had a bejsus scared out of me. The T2000 terminator was the worst thing I had ever seen just for the fact he was liquid metal, could change into anyone,  and WOULD NOT FREAKIN' DIE! Basically, he was pure evil.

 Superior is plain and simply gorgeous. I've never been a huge blue fan but this is such a deep, rich blue it's making me change my ways. I wore it in an eye look yesterday and 2 people asked what I was wearing. It's got the perfect amount of shimmer and would work well for evening looks year round.

 It's also very buildable color.



 The Pure Pigment I got is in the shade Android. It is a great black with tons of silver shimmer. It is a super fine powder and you only need to use the smallest amount. It reminds me of a night sky full of starts, all dark with little, sparkling diamonds.  I think it is ideal for smokey eye looks.

This was a super fast 5 minute look using Solstice and Android. Horrible picture but you get the idea. They are easy to blend, great to work with and hold up to wear really well.