It's like paint...on your face.

It’s no secret, I have an addiction. Make-up. More specifically: Eye Make-up. If eyes are the windows to the soul, then I love to play with the shades! I could go into Ulta, MAC, and Target and spend a mint. Do I need any of it? No. Does it make me happy? Yes! Will I keep buying bits and pieces until I run out of room in my bathroom? It’s highly likely! =)

Perhaps it’s because I loved playing dress up as a child. Yeah, I was half tom-boy: running around in the dirt, riding bikes, catching frogs and snakes, but the other half loved Barbie and mom’s costume jewelry. That has translated into a woman who still loves to catch frogs and snakes and run around in the dirt, but now I dress up in my own costume jewelry and play with make-up.

The right eye shadows, liner, foundations, and contouring can give one person dramatically different looks. It’s awesome!

I watch certain shows and covet the hair and make-up. Melissa Gorga’s coloring is night and day from mine, but I still blink in wide eyed make-up envy.

I also love to watch people do their make-up. Not in a judgmental “You’re doing it wrong” way, but because I find it fascinating. Almost soothing. I told you, make-up spaz! But every woman has her own ritual, her own way of styling and that’s how I learn. Once I discovered tutorials on Youtube, I was hooked. I will watch videos of technique the way some people watch sports.

My look isn’t flawless like the professionals, but I sure do enjoy trying. I also enjoy playing with palettes of color for writer conferences and meetings. We're creative folk, so why not paint my face?!

I don’t get to play with dramatic looks often because my job is fairly conservative and my boss might frown if I rocked these looks.

However, next time I break out the Evil Queen or a RockaBilly chick again for Halloween, I’m going big guns!

Okay, enough of my make-up fangirling. Here are a few more of my fave make-up divas (hats off to their artist/stylist) for your viewing pleasure.

Angie. Queen of the Cat eye.

Mila - no one has a better sultry look.

Mila with a mod feel and thick liner

Lana Del Rey because for the longest time I thought she was a model from the 70s...

or 80s.

Don't be surprised if you see a few of my favorite tutorials or Pins show up here in the future. ;-)

McGovy

Shoooooooes!!!

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for spring.  Even though it's been unseasonably cold here, I've been getting ready for the season.  And what's the best part of spring?  The shoes of course!   So here are a few of my favorites from my wish list for warm weather...

Are you ready for spring?  Have you started shoe shopping? 

Spring Forward!

I woke up on Tuesday of last week, sniffed the air twice, and knew. Spring is here! Allergy season is here! :) Don't get me wrong, I love spring. It used to be my favorite season. Once I became an allergy sufferer, summer became my favorite season because it's the one time of year I'm symptom free. Now, thanks to Zyrtec and ongoing allergy immunization shots, I hope spring will reign supreme once more.

Why, oh why, do I love spring?

I love the longer days. I love the little flowers all over my yard, belligerent in their push up through the layer of dead leaves, insistent upon the sun.

I love walking out to my car in the morning and not shivering. I love leaving the coat behind and sitting in the sun. I love the budding oaks and dogwoods, though my sinuses do not. I love playing in the yard with my son, doing a lot of this:

I love the fresh start and new promise that hangs in the air. I even love spring cleaning! Cleaning the house, cleaning the mind, cleaning out the clutter both figurative and literal. It's the perfect time to wrap up old projects and begin a new. That's exactly what I'm doing. Today I officially begin a new novel and pariticpate in #80khotfoot - a book race challenge over at BadgirlzWrite.com. We will motivate and keep each other accountable as we write our new books and push to The End by summer. It seems so fitting that these will be our books of spring. Our promising, brand new book babies.

Happy Spring!



Writer Party Time!

There are times in a writer's life when she does a whole lot of this:

But then after months of typing, pulling out hair, more typing and more pulling out hair it's time to do this:

From left: E. Michels, Darcy Drake, Anna DeStefano, McGovy

That's right!  This weekend it was time to have a writer party! After attending an amazing workshop by the fabulous Anna DeStefano....

Anna schoolin' us on plot.

I'm paying attention.  *polishes halo*  Darcy...is giving the camera the evil eye.

...We hit a local shopping area for some retail therapy!  We laughed.  We tried on clothes, (and tiaras.)  We laughed.  We stopped for Starbucks.  We laughed.  We had dinner.  Are you seeing a theme here?  So, when we finally made it back to the house for the night, we did a little of this:

Giant Mimosa in comparison to the size of my giant bling bling ring.

Giant Mimosas with Darcy and her "Ugly shoes" in the background.  LOL

After some much needed coffee the following morning we went home.  I went back to doing the hair pulling out thing in an attempt to complete my edits on DESPERATELY SEEKING SUZANNA.  And I did a little historical research about breeds of rabbit around in the Regency Period.  That's when I found this little guy:

Yes, he is soooo in my book now.  *grins*  I had a great writer party weekend.  What did you do this weekend? 

The Importance of The Weekend Getaway

I don't know how you feel, but this working mom and writer needs a break from time to time. The cure for an over-full plate and too many To Dos is a couple of days to hang out with little to no responsibility.

Twice a year, my childhood friends and I get together for a weekend. We've done everything from going nowhere - just downtown in the city we live in - to cruises around the Caribbean. This time we went to good ole Myrtle Beach. As always, MB is good for a cultural laugh and people watching.

We drove down Friday afternoon. Here's how excited JD and I were on the way:

The obligatory welcome to MB Book in the hotel. What is it about hotels on the main strip of MB? No matter how expensive or upscale, there's still that same "we're SOOO in Myrtle Beach" feel. If you've been, you know what I mean!

The view was awesome. There was a swim up bar, though no one was interested in the Polar Bear swim.

We went out to a piano bar Friday night. I don't remember it being this dark!

Lots of dancing at this table. They played the Time Warp! It's been awhile, but I still remember every word and all the moves~! LOL. (If you know it, you know you're singing it right now in your head. I remeeeember!)

Me and KA.

The next morning was a day of beach strolling and chit chatting. It was perf weather for the hot tub and mimosas!



I meant to take a group pic Saturday because we dressed up and went to a nice sushi dinner. But you know how sometimes you're having too much fun and too busy talking to remember pics? This was one of those times. 

I hope everyone had a great weekend! If you're feeling stressed and like you need a break from life - maybe weekend away is exactly what you need. =)

McGovy

Birthday Extravaganza!

The past week of my life has been about all things birthday since my little monkey turned 5! 

The Little Monkey

This year instead of a party we decided to take a family vacation to Disney World to celebrate.  From where we live it’s only a 9 hour drive, so we loaded up in the car and got on the road.  We were worried about everyone being well since we had all been sick the week prior, but it worked out perfectly.  The little monkey did sleep most of the way to Florida though.  Finally, we were there! Disney World!

Mr. Alpha Male, the Monkey and Me with Mickey Mouse

We rode tons of rides…

Some of us more than others...

And got mouse ears…

Arrrrrrrgh!

And more mouse ears...

And watched shows…

And we met some of the characters, although the little monkey refused to smile in the character pictures.  “Mommy, they’re not real.  They’re just people in costumes.”  LOL

But, no worries, I still smiled....

We spent one afternoon in “England” inside EPCOT.  Mr. Alpha Male was only able to pry me away with the promise of dessert in “France” only a few steps away.

I’m always amazed by the attention to detail at Disney.  It makes the OCD parts of me sigh in contented bliss.

I’m glad we took the time to enjoy our little family this week because it seems like all you have to do is blink to miss so much.  I had an amazing time.  I hope you had a great week too! I’m looking forward to getting back to normal now that the birthday extravaganza is over, even though I can’t believe I have a 5 year old!  When did my baby get so big?

We’ve got ears say cheers! *winks*