How in hell is it May already? This year's passing by too damn fast for me. It felt like just yesterday it was January, and now it's May. Dafuq. But anywho, let's get to my favorites for April. As promised, there are finally a few newbies on the list!
DG Beauty Makeup Remover Wipes
I didn't try out any new makeup products this month, so the star of the show for me has been removing what I do wear at the end of the day. These are a generic brand of makeup remover wipes from Dollar General, but for a makeup removal product under $2 these work quite well. They remove all of my makeup when I'm wearing light makeup, but they're pretty good at loosening the 99 layers of mascara I wear during full makeup days. I don't have to scrub at my eyes, they don't burn like other removers, and make the rest of my removal routine much easier. They're not the best makeup remover wipes I've ever used, but they work much better than I expected them to.
A Beautiful Mess Photo Idea Book, The Anxiety Toolkit, The Mayo Clinic Happiness Handbook
As I mentioned in my review of this book, A Beautiful Mess is one of my all-time favorite sites. I find it insanely inspiring in terms of the design, personality and content. But the problem with me is that I follow so many websites that I don't often remember to check out the individual sites, so I wasn't aware that they'd released a book full of photo ideas. I found this at the library earlier in the month and it's quickly become a favorite. It's chock full of ideas and inspiration, for both the casual photographer and the blogger, and summer would be a perfect time to try out some of those tips.
The Anxiety Toolkit is going to be included in an upcoming post about anxiety and relaxation tips as well as its own separate review, and even though I haven't finished it yet I've enjoyed it so far. It's full of different tips on how to get to the root of your anxiety and successfully manage it on a daily basis. Even though I haven't seen many anxiety-related help books that helped me significantly, I have been enjoying this one.
Finally, the Mayo Clinic Happiness Handbook is another book that's going to have its own review in addition to being included in the anxiety/relaxation post and I think I've been enjoying this one more than The Anxiety Toolkit. I've always loved handbooks; they help me to be more aware of my habits and behaviors and fix them accordingly. This month was full of books from the library that I'd rather "lose" than return but I'm not a complete jerk. I'll take 'em back. Eventually. lol
The Anxiety Toolkit is going to be included in an upcoming post about anxiety and relaxation tips as well as its own separate review, and even though I haven't finished it yet I've enjoyed it so far. It's full of different tips on how to get to the root of your anxiety and successfully manage it on a daily basis. Even though I haven't seen many anxiety-related help books that helped me significantly, I have been enjoying this one.
Finally, the Mayo Clinic Happiness Handbook is another book that's going to have its own review in addition to being included in the anxiety/relaxation post and I think I've been enjoying this one more than The Anxiety Toolkit. I've always loved handbooks; they help me to be more aware of my habits and behaviors and fix them accordingly. This month was full of books from the library that I'd rather "lose" than return but I'm not a complete jerk. I'll take 'em back. Eventually. lol
Marriage Contract, Miss Granny, Brickleberry
This was another month in which K-dramas ruled my tv, because I was obsessed with them this past month. Marriage Contract focused on the life of a single mother who signs a marriage contract in order to secure financial freedom for herself and her young daughter in exchange for her liver. Her own health issues put a private rush on the procedure when she finds out that she has a terminal brain tumor. She decides not to tell anyone about her own diagnosis and instead tries to navigate around keeping her illness a secret from everyone, keeping her contract marriage a secret from everyone, and trying at all costs to keep from falling in love with her boss, who also happens to be her faux husband in the arrangement. Marriage Contract is the first real K-drama that I ever watched the entire way through and while I enjoyed it, it did take a little while to get moving. Regardless of my few complaints with it though, I can't deny that I was obsessed with it and couldn't wait for the new episodes to hit Drama Fever every Monday.
Miss Granny is a Chinese flick I found on Netflix about a cantankerous old woman who, for the most part, has become a pain to everyone around her. She has no f*cks to give, she's a bit bitter, and she's quite hilarious. After finding a mysterious photo studio one evening, she goes into it to have her photo taken but emerges as her 20-year-old self. Her mind remains intact but to the rest of the world, she's just another 20-year-old girl. The rest of the movie follows her journey as she gets an opportunity to do things she was unable to do when she really was 20, this time alongsideszwe3 her grandson, who is clearly her pride and joy (even though he's completely unaware that the cute, kinda weird girl that he tries to check out at first is actually his grandma lol). This was such a cute movie and I enjoyed watching it.
Lastly, I kept coming across Brickleberry on my Netflix recommended list but the show description didn't really appeal to me and I thought it would be like Family Guy so I kept scrolling past it. I forget what caused me to change my mind, but I'm so glad I did. I guess you could say I hate-watched the first episode because I was already expecting to dislike it. I'm not a Tosh fan and similar shows (Family Guy, American Dad, etc.) aren't funny at all to me so I didn't have high expectations for Brickleberry at all but I ended up loving it. This show about the daily ins and outs of an incompetent ranger team and its talking bear sidekick is politically incorrect as shit, it's bigoted, sexist, rude as all hell and features characters with some of the most shakiest moral foundations I've ever seen. It's also one of the funniest shows I've seen in a very long time. I wish I'd found it while the show was still on the air. In such a PC society (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), shows like Brickleberry seem all the more risque, and I kinda liked that it wasn't afraid to offend people. It also wasn't picky about who it offended; nobody was safe. Some of the jokes were clearly inserted just for the purpose of making a joke, but I also appreciated the approach that Brickleberry took to displaying the obtuse opinions that we hear being spouted on a daily basis as well as popular topics in the world today. If you're trying to find a show that doesn't just dabble but jumps headfirst into dark comedy, give Brickleberry a whirl. It's not everyone's cup of tea, that's for damn sure.
None this month!
I haven't played anything new this month on either the PS3 or mobile, so I have nothing new to add here.
Reddit
Reddit recently released an app for the site, and since I don't feel entirely intimidated by the site anymore, I finally joined and downloaded the app. For downloading and using the app during its launch week I got three months of Reddit Gold out of it, which was pretty cool. I like the app because rather than a small, condensed and difficult to navigate version of the site, a major complaint of mine with many sites that develop their own apps, Reddit's is practically the same. For a newbie like me who's just now getting a hang of the site, I appreciate the continuity (?--Hope that's the right descriptor) between the site and the app.
Hootsuite
If you're a blogger like me or just depend on social media as part of your job, then Hootsuite is a tool that I believe wouldn't be bad to utilize. I found Hootsuite earlier this month and tried it out, and I kinda liked it. Hootsuite combines different social media networks so that you can manage and post to them at the same time rather than having to open all of the sites individually and copy+paste the same message. Because I have social media networks for both blogs, this kind of site is right up my alley because it can be difficult to keep up with them, since I don't have the social media sites for both blogs. I primarily use Instagram to promote this site (although I know I've been doing a shit job with it and I'm really sorry for that) and Twitter for ATV. I use Bloglovin' and Google Plus for both sites but it's nice to be able to keep up with each site and its networks at the same time. The free version only supports 3 networks so I don't get to see all of my stuff for both blogs, but it's an investment I'd be willing to make at some point in the future.
Wall art, home decor, home cleaners and fragrances
I love the concept of DIY For Cheaper wall art. I'm not an art aficionado by any means, but I do love wall art. It's makeup for the home. But what I don't love are insane prices for simple artwork. I don't like exact copies, but I like something similar that gives the art a sense of individuality yet still evokes the feeling of what I liked about the original without ripping off the artist. I also love the concept of creating something that looks high-end for a low-end price, which is the sole motivation behind why I'm trying to create the DIY For Cheaper series. It's fun to be creative and see how close I can come to a high priced item on a low budget. It's also a more subtle way to bring out a theme, color scheme or play on seasonal elements, which I like. Wall art is easy, gives you a chance to express yourself, and costs pennies compared to what's in a lot of stores.
The same thought can be applied to home decor, something else that I like. It's my goal to have my home full of products that look high-end, like I paid a pretty penny for them, but I actually made them myself. I also like to reflect color or seasonal themes in my decor, so I've been looking for items that I can create myself. This is another element that I'd like to add to the DIY For Cheaper series and I've enjoyed trying to find more inspiration for it.
Finally, home cleaners and fragrances are still on my DIY list because even though my Spring Cleaning series is over (although you probably have yet to see it lol), I'm still on the hunt for different cleaners that may work better than the ones I featured. I had a lot of fun with them last month and I see these recipes popping up everywhere now, so maybe I'll do a part 2 of the cleaners and fragrances post so I can add on the new ones that I've tested.
The same thought can be applied to home decor, something else that I like. It's my goal to have my home full of products that look high-end, like I paid a pretty penny for them, but I actually made them myself. I also like to reflect color or seasonal themes in my decor, so I've been looking for items that I can create myself. This is another element that I'd like to add to the DIY For Cheaper series and I've enjoyed trying to find more inspiration for it.
Finally, home cleaners and fragrances are still on my DIY list because even though my Spring Cleaning series is over (although you probably have yet to see it lol), I'm still on the hunt for different cleaners that may work better than the ones I featured. I had a lot of fun with them last month and I see these recipes popping up everywhere now, so maybe I'll do a part 2 of the cleaners and fragrances post so I can add on the new ones that I've tested.
Cookbooks, photography equipment, Mother's Day gifts, artistic makeup looks, braids, eyeglasses, yoga, compression socks
I've talked about both my obsession with cookbooks and my offline business plans with building a food truck, so it shouldn't be a surprise to find cookbooks on this month's list. Food is one of those things to me that can never get tiring to discuss, will never not be inspiring to me, and will always light a fire under my ass. You can give a simple item, say tofu, to ten recipe creators or chefs and tell them to fix something with it. You would then get ten totally different recipes created with that tofu. It still blows my mind that one food item can be turned into so many different things, can be made to taste so many different ways. I love blogging and business seems to be a natural extension of who I am, but I always have this sense of reconfirmation that food is my true passion.
Photography equipment is another element that I'd like to add to the DIY For Cheaper series because said equipment is by far the most expensive expense I'd need for these blogs. A lot of the equipment isn't hard to replicate with cheaper items as long as they can provide the same effect and there are tons of filter/backdrop hacks to utilize.
Mother's Day is coming up and per usual, I don't have a lot of money so I have to be resourceful with finding a gift for my madre. She has simple tastes but it's still insanely hard to find something useful for her, which means whatever I do come up with has to be good.
I love makeup--clearly, or one of the sections on this site wouldn't be beauty--but usually, I'm looking for makeup looks that make me want to step my everyday game up. Lately though I've been more into artistic beauty looks. I struggled with them before because they weren't practical, wouldn't be seen anywhere except for in photos, and I didn't see the point of working so hard on a look that you couldn't wear anywhere. I also struggled with what my idea of an 'artistic' look was. But I've had these three makeup looks in my brain for months now, and I won't be able to finish out the year without trying them out. So I've been looking at different 'artistic' makeup looks and trying to have a more open mind, so I can challenge myself more often.
Braids are everywhere again all of a sudden, but I've always been a fan of the braid. With the rise of these 'Instagram baddies' and the like, Dutch and fishtail braids have been filling up my various social media feeds. I don't know how to do anything except the basic braid but I've finally started to try them out. YouTube's an amazing teacher. lol
I've been on the hunt for a new pair of glasses for quite some time. I can only have an eye exam every two years but because of my eyesight, I usually have to pay extra to get my lenses shaved. I wasn't able to do that the last time I had an eye appointment, so I had the prescription and no new glasses. I tried out Firmoo for the first time due to a sale on frames, but all I will say about the experience is that the frames I chose looked cuter on the site than they do on me.
I took part in a week-long yoga challenge this month with Brett Larkin (who is an amazing yoga instructor--or is it called a yogi? and I enjoyed it. I always intend to continue on with some sort of physical activity after I finish a fitness challenge of any kind, but it never happens. I'm leaning more towards yoga being what I need; it targets both the physical and mental, both of which I need help with. My doctor recommended yoga to me some time ago but I didn't notice a difference in how I felt day-to-day. I'm willing to give it another go now and see how it helps.
My uncle bought me some socks earlier in the month to help with my feet. Seems 29 years of being mostly barefoot on all kinds of surfaces has finally caught up with me, because now I have near constant pain in both feet when I walk anywhere. My uncle got me some socks from Wish to help give my feet some support and they worked for a little while, but they're very thick so I wouldn't recommend wearing them during the summer.
Mother's Day is coming up and per usual, I don't have a lot of money so I have to be resourceful with finding a gift for my madre. She has simple tastes but it's still insanely hard to find something useful for her, which means whatever I do come up with has to be good.
I love makeup--clearly, or one of the sections on this site wouldn't be beauty--but usually, I'm looking for makeup looks that make me want to step my everyday game up. Lately though I've been more into artistic beauty looks. I struggled with them before because they weren't practical, wouldn't be seen anywhere except for in photos, and I didn't see the point of working so hard on a look that you couldn't wear anywhere. I also struggled with what my idea of an 'artistic' look was. But I've had these three makeup looks in my brain for months now, and I won't be able to finish out the year without trying them out. So I've been looking at different 'artistic' makeup looks and trying to have a more open mind, so I can challenge myself more often.
Braids are everywhere again all of a sudden, but I've always been a fan of the braid. With the rise of these 'Instagram baddies' and the like, Dutch and fishtail braids have been filling up my various social media feeds. I don't know how to do anything except the basic braid but I've finally started to try them out. YouTube's an amazing teacher. lol
I've been on the hunt for a new pair of glasses for quite some time. I can only have an eye exam every two years but because of my eyesight, I usually have to pay extra to get my lenses shaved. I wasn't able to do that the last time I had an eye appointment, so I had the prescription and no new glasses. I tried out Firmoo for the first time due to a sale on frames, but all I will say about the experience is that the frames I chose looked cuter on the site than they do on me.
I took part in a week-long yoga challenge this month with Brett Larkin (who is an amazing yoga instructor--or is it called a yogi? and I enjoyed it. I always intend to continue on with some sort of physical activity after I finish a fitness challenge of any kind, but it never happens. I'm leaning more towards yoga being what I need; it targets both the physical and mental, both of which I need help with. My doctor recommended yoga to me some time ago but I didn't notice a difference in how I felt day-to-day. I'm willing to give it another go now and see how it helps.
My uncle bought me some socks earlier in the month to help with my feet. Seems 29 years of being mostly barefoot on all kinds of surfaces has finally caught up with me, because now I have near constant pain in both feet when I walk anywhere. My uncle got me some socks from Wish to help give my feet some support and they worked for a little while, but they're very thick so I wouldn't recommend wearing them during the summer.
Chuck Norris v Communism gives me a new perspective on the pettiness of America's #firstworldproblems. Back in the day when Romania was still being ruled as a Communist nation, all Western media was banned from the country. A few very clever folks found a way around the law and brought those movies to Romania, where they were translated and distributed to the locals. This documentary focused on the viewpoint of the residents and what those couple of hours of secret entertainment meant to them, as well as the collective memories of the woman responsible for translating all of those films over the years. We were over here complaining about too-teased hair in the '80s, Romanians were facing serious jail time for watching an American movie. Makes you think.
Love Hotel focused on the ins and outs (pun not intended but still relevant lol) of a pleasure hotel called Angel Love Hotel in Japan, where the environment is increasingly conservative as time goes by. Love Hotel was meant to be a safe haven from the judgmental eyes of the outside world, a place where people could safely indulge in their varied sexual interests. But due to the government crackdown on establishments like Love Hotel, changes have to be made that usually end up killing the business. What I liked about this is that it was a full view into Love Hotel, from the people who clean it to the people who dirty it and the people overseeing all of it. Both of the links go to trailers for the films.
So those were my favorites for April. There are a bunch of newbies on the list this month, but I wish I could have found even more. Next month there'll be a few more, I promise. I hope you check out some of the things I enjoyed this month and I'll see you soon!
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