September Favorites

This month doesn't have a bunch of items on it, but there are a few newbies on here for once. I think from here out in terms of official categories for the site, the apps and websites will be combined into one Tech category but if necessary, I'll still keep them separate for my Favorites posts. I have to start checking out new apps and websites again; I've been slacking a little bit there. And everywhere else on this blog if I'm keeping it real, but that's another story for another day. On to the favorites!

LA Girl Glazed Lip Paint in Tempt

I didn't really try anything new this month in the way of beauty products, but I found this stunning blood red lip paint from LA Girl last weekend and I fell all the way in love with it. It is the perfect deep red lip that I was looking to wear for fall and I can't wait for the next time I feel like resembling a human so I can put it on. LOL I've had hair like Goku and (other than for a few minutes Sunday while I was trying out a look,) not a stitch of makeup on all weekend and I've been diggin' it. This lip paint does sweeten the pot of putting some on, though. lol I think I have enough of the LA Girl products I've tried to pull together a review that I'm satisfied with so you'll be seeing a swatch of it soon.

none this month!

Even though my answer is the same as it's been for a few months now, the difference is that this month I've actually been reading. I just haven't read anything that stuck out to me. I've read a few books but they were romances, which I prefer to review on book sites, or they just weren't very memorable. I'm hoping that the next batch of books I read give me something I can put up here. 

Narcos, The Blacklist, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries

Netflix really came through for me this month. I've been trying to get more involved with what's on regular tv this month, but the more interesting options were on Netflix for me. Firstly, the Netflix Original miniseries Narcos debuted earlier this month I believe, and I loved it. There's some heat on the main actor for being chosen to play a Colombian despite being Brazilian himself, but I thought he did a stellar job. If you aren't aware of Narcos, it is a miniseries about the players in the Medellin Cartel, and the various individuals in law enforcement who work to bring them down. I thought this was a gritty series that showed an adequate amount of what was going down on both sides of the coin. If you've seen the documentary Cocaine Cowboys then many of these names will be familiar to you; Narcos goes much more in-depth about the everyday happenings during that time in a way that's true to the meat of the story, while putting a new spin on things. 

I was in satellite timeout last year when season 2 of The Blacklist premiered and didn't come back until the end of the season, so I just waited until Netflix made the entire season available. I loved it. Season 3 premieres tonight, and I can't wait! I love the show and James Spader so much that I end up forgetting how much I don't care for Liz lol, but I'm still excited to see what the writers have cooked up for this season. 

Speaking of shows that I was in timeout for, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries was another one that I didn't get to see. Instead of it being satellite timeout like The Blacklist, this one was an American timeout. LOL MFMM is an Australian show, so being in America I didn't get to watch the third season when it premiered in the spring. Netflix didn't make me wait forever for once though so when the third season was uploaded last week, I was all over it. I am in love with this show and I really wish the Australian ABC affiliates aired it here in the States. If you like period crime dramas in the same vein as Agatha Christie's Poirot but with much more sassiness and less fussiness (I love my Poirot but anyone who says he isn't a bit of a divo sometimes is a liar lol), then I think you'll like Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. 

Murdered: Soul Suspect for PS3

I've had this game for a little while now, but I got stuck early on in the game and didn't touch it for months because I couldn't get past the level. I was talking to a friend a couple of months ago when she mentioned she had the game as well. A common complaint we had was the demon presence, which (despite it serving as the major obstacle to get past, which I understand) sort of detracts from the game overall. It was actually a level with the demons that I struggled to get past, so it killed my desire to play. Talking to my friend helped reignite it so I tried again, but this time I ended up addicted. 

Murdered takes us into the world of Salem, Massachusetts, where we're introduced to Ronan, a street-smart delinquent turned rough around the edges police detective. Unfortunately, we're introduced to him through his murder, which is the first bit of gameplay. After being thrown out of a 4th story window, the killer uses Ronan's own gun to kill him. As Ronan, the player gets to experience the spirit world through his eyes and find out who killed him before being able to reunite with his wife in the light. In finding out who killed him, Ronan finds an unlikely sidekick in a bratty but powerful teenager, and a backstory much larger than anything he could have imagined himself. I enjoyed this game immensely, irritating demons aside. I can usually take a stab at guessing how the story ends and be right, but I wasn't even halfway right for this game and I liked that. The controls were fairly easy to learn and remember, there are tons of smaller side stories to keep you occupied, and the graphics were awesome at illustrating the mysticism and supernatural influence that is part of Salem's reputation. It was a dark, eerie environment and enhanced the gameplay for me. I would suggest manual save options if I had any critiques, because the autosave can get irritating if you have to leave in the middle of an objective. Overall though, I thoroughly enjoyed this game and am probably going to play it again so I can complete all of the side missions. 

Official Packers app, Snapchat, Tumblr

Now that football is finally back on the radar, I can use my Packers app again. The spring and summer are the driest times of life in every conceivable way, including activity on that app because its off-season. lol I've been trying to catch the games when I can but since I often forget, I keep up via the app and the team's IG account. I think it's a very extensive app in terms of the team information and access to stats that it provides, but I'm not a fan who cares much for the stats (partially because I don't understand them and can't remember all those numbers anyway lol) so I hop on there for the schedule, player statuses, gameday scores and injury reports. All of those are fairly accessible but I'm subscribed to instant updates so it wouldn't matter anyway. It's well but simply designed and I like that as well. 

I've been on Snapchat a lot this month, but I have yet to actually post anything on it. The only reason why I have one at all is because some of the YouTubers I follow are active on there so I'll check in and be nosy a few times a day from time to time. I didn't see the appeal of Snapchat for the longest time and there's still no personal pull towards it, but I do like it. There's nothing interesting enough in my life for me to create any snaps myself, but that's totally fine with me. I can barely keep up with both blogs, the last thing I need is another barely updated social media account. But it's a fun app to be nosy on. lol 

I was really late to the Tumblr train and I still wouldn't say I'm on board with it entirely, but it is an amazing source of inspiration for a number of things. It has been an immensely helpful resource in helping me create my Fall Bucket List and Autumn Inspirations posts (both of which are coming soon), so I've been spending a lot of time on there. I don't post on there very often (shocking, right) but scrolling through the feed is a lot of fun. 

Bloglovin', YouTube, Google

I get daily updates from Bloglovin' on the blogs that I follow on there, and it has been a real lifesaver for me. There are tons of great websites, all of which put out awesome content, and I can't remember all of the names on my own so Bloglovin' saves me the trouble. It's one of my favorite emails to get every morning; it's like a collection of daily inspiration and ideas. If you follow a lot of different blogs or websites, I suggest getting a Bloglovin' account and adding them on there so you don't miss any posts. 

Duh, of course YT is on here. I'll go into more detail later, but one of the main reasons why I always watch YT is because since my satellite timeout last year, I noticed that I don't really care for regular tv anymore. I enjoy the more personal feel of YouTube, and I find myself more excited for new videos than I do for shows that come on tv. Well, except for wrestling and Scandal, because duh. My tv time this month was split pretty equally between Netflix and YouTube, and I have no complaints. 

Finally, Google is on here because I was building some ideas for Octoberfest over on ATV, and I needed to research those ideas first and see if they were feasible to make into an entire post. I had to consult Google quite a few times this month, so I had to put it up here. 

Fall and Halloween decor

I haven't had my eye on any other kind of DIY project lately except for the ones related to the season or Halloween. I was finally able to figure out how to integrate a little design into my room, so the only things I've been looking to be inspired by are fall and Halloween. Usually, I don't mind Halloween but I don't think much of it because I don't end up doing anything or going anywhere. The area is more often than not pretty dry of trick-or-treaters as well, so sometimes it feels like the holiday just skips by us entirely. But for some reason, I've been feeling really inspired by Halloween decor, so I've been testing out some ideas I came up with. If I'm satisfied with the results, the goal is for them to make it into a few DIY project posts here. The same goes for fall, although I haven't gotten around to testing a lot of those yet. But other than that, there aren't really any DIY projects grabbing my attention right now. 

Fall and Halloween decor/inspiration, website design, fall makeup, baking, cold weather recipes, bonfires, creepy Halloween topics

Fall and Halloween decor are about the only things that I'm seriously interested in creating right now, so I've been looking for project inspiration almost constantly. I think I'm finally getting somewhere in terms of realizing the look I'd like the blog to have, now I'm just trying to figure out how to bring that vision to fruition. There is a template that has an important element to it that I'd like to integrate into the final blog design, so I've been scouring the 'Net trying to find it. 

Fall makeup has been on the brain lately as well; after keeping my makeup neutral and light for most of the summer I'm looking forward to more intense looks. I've been looking for makeup looks that integrate some of my fall palette without being too dramatic or overdone, and I've found a ton. Those will be up soon; I'll probably put them in a playlist in case you're a little short on makeup ideas too.

When fall comes around, the desire to cook becomes similar to an obsession. I, despite my best efforts to appear otherwise, have a mother hen in me, constantly clucking at everyone around me to be careful, make sure you eat, and during the colder months that mother hen/hermit hybrid is amped up a notch. The way I show my love or hope to provide some comfort and warmth to someone else is through food (but not in an emotional crutch type of way) anyway, so this is really when I like being in the kitchen. I love stick to your ribs, feel-good-food, especially during fall and winter. I love to cook anytime of the year, but this is when I feel the most at home, so to speak. Delicious smells piping out of a warm home, all of the inhabitants full and happy inside the home, me surrounded by bubbling pots and pans of food, it sounds like heaven to me. I waited so long for it to be warm enough for me to grill again, but now that the season has officially passed, I'm over it. LOL I'm trying to break out the slow cooker and make a bunch of hot meals, even though the temps haven't cooled yet. But watch, when it finally does get cold I'm going to complain. I do it every year.

Since I was in high school, I have wanted to go to a bonfire party. I hear about those who live up north or by the beach doing them all the time, regardless of season, but I don't hear about them too often living here in the desert. I'm a bit of a firebug anyway so this is probably for the better lol, but I have always wanted to either build a bonfire or go to one. My mom and uncle used to tell me about bonfire parties they'd attend while they were in high school, but I don't hear about the kids doing that nowadays. If I could build a safer version of one so we could roast marshmallows in the backyard, I'm on it. lol

As I said earlier, I'm doing an Octoberfest of sorts over on ATV, so when I was using Google it was to research topics and content. I don't want to make things gory, but I wanted to find a way to combine history with the creepiness and jumpscare popularity of Halloween, so I've been trying to find all sorts of creepy Halloweenie subjects.

Documentary I watched: 

Pecados de mi padre/Sins of My Father

I came across this in the "Because You Watched" section of Netflix while I was watching Narcos, but I waited until I was finished with the season before I watched this. Sins of My Father is a documentary following the son of Pablo Escobar as he attempts to seek forgiveness from the sons of the families his father wronged. We get to hear his story, which we don't see much of in Narcos because he is a child. Juan Escobar, who has since changed his name, made headlines at 16 immediately after his father's murder by vowing vengeance on those who killed him. This statement, although said obviously in distress, ended up marking him forever, as if being Pablo Escobar's son wasn't enough of a marking, and he ended up being exiled from Colombia as a result. I don't want to spoil the story, but Pablo Escobar had political dreams that were shattered when news of his drug empire went public, and the public figures who opposed him the most were killed. His son makes it his goal to seek forgiveness from the sons of those men, and that's what a good deal of the documentary deals with. It also touches on the juxtaposition of the loving, doting father that his son grew up around with the heartless, bloodthirsty monster his father also had the capability of being and his struggle to accept both as truth. It was at that moment that I understood and sympathized with him because through no fault of his own, he was as dragged into the situation as the other victims were, but because he is the living 'heir' of Pablo Escobar's legacy, he now bears the brunt of his father's sins. It has to be an incredibly difficult situation to live with, and I applauded his courage in making this a documentary rather than keeping his story to himself out of fear of being discovered. It's an honest look into his son's path, from the uncertainty to the viewpoints of those whom he's seeking forgiveness from, and I highly recommend it. 

Well I hope you enjoyed this month's collection of favorites and you're as excited for fall as I am! I have some fall-themed posts coming up this month and I am going to try my hardest to stick to the blog schedule I wrote out last night. I know it's been very dry around here for months and I promise that isn't the intention. I try to find reviewing jobs and opportunities all the time. I don't have money to spare most of the time, so more popular things to review often evade me and because I don't have the audience to market myself to larger companies, obviously they aren't going to be sending me items like they do with more popular vloggers and bloggers. They need to start a company that serves as a middleman between more popular vloggers and smalltime bloggers, and if they get sent a box of products that they have no intention of reviewing or even speaking about (which happens often), they can send it to us and we'll do it instead. lol I have no issues with reviewing a box full of makeup, giving my honest opinion on all of it and getting to put it all together into a post full of swatches and fun details. Anything that doesn't get used can then be added to a giveaway. And getting paid to do all of that too? Sounds like a review blogger's dream. I'll gladly put my name on a list for that. But anywho, let me pull my head out of the clouds and get to work on the next post. See you soon!