November Favorites!

I can’t believe it’s December already!  This month has gone by so quickly, and now it’s almost 2013.  I’m pretty excited for this coming month, but first, here are my favorites from November.

TV Shows

This month Daniel and I have been watching a lot of a Bob’s Burgers.  I’ve talked about this show before.  We just think it’s hilarious.  It’s about a guy named Bob who owns a burger restaurant with his family.  His wife Linda reminds me so much of my mother, but Linda is much more funny.  His 3 kids, Tina, Gene, and Louise, help to run the restaurant.  Gene reminds me a lot of Daniel, and Louise is very similar to Nicole, but more evil.  If you want to know more about it, check out my previous Bob’s Burgers blog post, which I’ve linked above.

We’ve also caught up on New Girl.  I actually started watching this show when it premiered, then made Daniel watch it, and now I think he’s more addicted than I am.  We love Schmidt.  I don’t care much for Zooey Deschanel, but the male characters are absolutely worth it for me.

Books

This month, I finished Habibi, a graphic novel by Craig Thompson.  All of his work is just incredibly heart-wrenching, and Habibi is no exception.  If you’ve never read anything by Craig Thompson, then I would recommend starting with Goodbye, Chunky Rice.  It’s not as daunting (length-wise) as Habibi or the semi-autobiographical Blankets, but the story-telling is amazing, and the art is stunning.  All of his lines are so fluid, and it looks beautiful.  The word “Habibi” means “my beloved” in Arabic.  The book is set in the Middle East, and it’s about two people who are doing the best they can to survive under the circumstances.  They are trying to live “off the grid” as much as possible, since they essentially ran away together as children and became fugitives.  Eventually, they are separated for many years, but their feelings for each never fade.  Instead, their feelings grow stronger, and eventually they find each other again and begin their long overdue romantic relationship.  Since Daniel hasn’t read it yet, I’ll leave my brief synopsis there, and he can read it and explain to me all of the Islamic symbolism in it, since he’s the Religion major in this relationship.  It’s a wonderful, exciting, tear-inducing book that should definitely not be overlooked simply because it’s a “graphic novel”.

Movies

Since Daniel and I saw Skyfall earlier this month (on our date night), we’ve been on a huge James Bond kick, and because we have all of the 007 movies, we’ve been trying to watch them sequentially, starting with Dr. No.  At this point we’ve only watched the first three, but now that I’m back from Unadilla I’m sure we will be resuming our Bond movie marathon.

Nail Polish

This month I really only wore two colors.  The first was a Sephora by OPI color.  Now, a lot of people have had problems with these polishes being streaky and difficult to apply.  I do find that the formula is a bit thick, but once the polish dried there were no streaks on my nails, and it looked great.  I’ve been wearing “Three Way Mirror”.

The second color was a nail polish from Avon that I’m sure I must have stolen from either my mother or my sister.  I believe it’s called “Mosaic Plum”.  It’s a gorgeous deep purple color with gold micro-glitter.  However, I wouldn’t really recommend Avon polishes.  I currently have two, and I have the same complaint about both of them.  They chip pretty quickly, even with my amazing Revlon ColorStay Base Coat and Top Coat.  Also, at least with this purple color, it didn’t come off with nail polish remover very easily at all, and when it did finally come off, it wanted to take the top layer of my nail with it.  That’s not a good look for anybody.  So, while I adore the color and would love to wear it again, I really don’t want to go through the slow and messy process of removal again.

Pretty colors. You can really see the gold flecks in the purple polish.

Makeup

For this month, I feel like I have more makeup favorites that I usually do.  I’ve recently discovered Maybelline’s Instant Age Rewind Eraser for Dark Circles.  I’ve heard a lot of positive chatter about this, and it has not disappointed.  It doesn’t have to be used only for the under-the-eye area; it definitely can also be used as an all-over concealer.  It works like magic.

I’ve had Mac’s Cranberry eyeshadow for almost a year now, but I’ve hardly worn it because it typically made me look like I had a black eye.  I think this is a common problem with eyeshadows that are a deep berry or purple color.  I finally figured out how to wear it so that it doesn’t look like a bruise, and I’m absolutely in love with it.  Plus it’s very festive to wear an eyeshadow called “Cranberry” to Thanksgiving.   Cranberry looks great on the outer half of the lid and outer “v”, with Wet ‘n Wild’s “Nutty” placed on the inner half of the lid and Urban Decay’s Buck (a light brown matte shadow) in the crease.  And you only need a tiny bit of the Cranberry shade, because it’s very pigmented, and will quickly start to look like a bruise if you really build it up.  I’ve also been using my Wet ‘n Wild Comfort Zone pallet a lot this month.  You can do so many looks with this pallet, the shades are great quality, and for $4.99, you cannot beat the price.

Mac’s Cranberry Eyeshadow

Wet ‘n Wild’s Nutty, which is a dupe for Mac’s Satin Taupe (so I’ve heard). I hit pan on this quite a while ago. This is my go-to everyday shadow.

Urban Decay’s Buck Eyeshadow

The Wet ‘n Wild Comfort Zone Pallet

For lipstick, I’ve recently purchased L’Oreal’s “Blushing Berry”.  I definitely needed a good berry color for this season, and this one is beautiful.  I’ve also been wearing Maybelline’s “Born With It” lipstick, usually layered with their lipgloss of the same name, for a very light pink, shimmery lip.  For a more neutral look, I’ve re-discovered one of my favorite lipsticks, Maybelline’s “Nearly There”, which I have heard is a dupe for Mac’s Viva Glam V lipstick.  And “Nearly There” looks great when paired with Mac’s Viva Glam V lipglass.

Blushing Berry, Born With It, and Nearly There

Top: Mac’s Viva Glam V lipglass, bottom: Maybelline’s Born With It lipgloss.

….and swatches! Left to right: L’Oreal’s Blushing Berry, Maybelline’s Born With It lipstick, Maybelline’s Nearly There, Maybelline’s Born With It lipgloss, and Mac’s Viva Glam V

Random Things

Since this is my first fall/winter in Durham, I’ve been loving the weather.  And for the next week, it’s supposed to be in the 60s and 70s.  It is December, right?  I can honestly say that I don’t plan to spend  another winter in Upstate New York, if I can help it.

I’ve been really, horribly addicted to watching beauty gurus on Youtube this month.  It was bad before, but this month has been really bad.  Currently, my two favorite Youtubers are Amarixe and Missglamorazzi.  Allison (Amarixe) gives great, honest reviews, interesting makeup tutorials, and always uses a mix of drugstore and high end products.  I’m all about that.  I also have a link to her blog in my Blogroll, to the right.  Ingrid (Missglamorazzi) is just adorable and I love her “Get Ready With Me” videos.  She seems like such a sweetheart, and if I’m in a bad mood or if I’ve had a rough day, I try to watch one of her videos and it kind of cheers me up a little bit.

Depending on what day you ask, I actually really enjoy holiday shopping.  Sure, it sucks fighting with some grandma over the last cinnamon scented candle that you want to buy for your sister-in-law (I just made that up, that’s never really happened to me), but it is an awesome feeling when you find the perfect gift for a certain person.  It’s a good feeling when they open it and you just know that they like it.  My nephew Gavin was so excited about his Dinosaur Lego set that now he wants the rest of the sets that go with it.  And even though Lily didn’t like it at first, eventually she wanted me to read the book to her over and over again, and loved the cute little necklace that came with it.

What were some of your “November Favorites”?