All the little things I'm loving lately. Part 1.

I have a few bigger posts in the works, but I always enjoy the short ones on everyday life from all the girls I read on the regs. So why not?

Here's what I'm digging lately --

To eat: Chips and salsa -- my favorite dinner when it's just going to be me. Healthy, right? I do buy the best kind possible from Whole Foods because I'm bougie like that. (I'm also craving urrything pumpkin. I might make something fall-themed soon! Read: Pumpkin. Hard to get motivated though when it's still 80 out. But don't tell that to anyone in Sac. They all think it's "really cooled down out there." Uggs are out, peeps. And they're certainly not mine).

To drink: La Croix sparkling water. (Passionfruit at the moment!) Just discovered these from Targz. Calorie free/sweetener free/sodium free! So, it's not pop.

And while they're def not as great as Clearly Canadians -- throwback 1995 -- the taste has kind of grown on me. They're like better tonic waters.

Nom! Here's my work desk.

On Teev/DVR/Netflix: (Yes, I finally joined the rest of you in 2014 and got the 'Flix). Anddddd ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK! Omg, late to the party. But we just finished season two and I'm obsessed. And oh so sad that I have to wait until summertime for seaz3. I maybe cried real tears during a recent Larry/Pipes interaction. Can't say which because SPOILERS.

Also Teen Mom2, Dancing With the Stars, etc.

Will someone please tell Jonathan his hair looks sexy pushed back?

On the brain: Apple Hill! Going on Friday and I can't wait to stock up on pumpkin rolls, apples, cider and maybe another bottle or two of wine. (Not a TON of need for the vino after our Oregon trip, but why not). It's so pretty up there. Love living so close to the Sierra foothills!

On my face: Naked Palette 3. Such soft, warm colors. My mom gifted me this for my birthday because I'm too cheap to spend $50 on a palette. But I'm so glad I requested this! I've been getting really nice compliments on my eye makeup and this is likely an investment I'll use for years to come! Also, NYX butter lipstick in the taffy shade (so smooth! Stays on pretty well, too). 
*And mom ... are you proud of me? This was like, $3.50 at Ulta. 

In my hurr: Oh, you mean on the days when I actually wash/deal with it? Rare ... But, some throwback Herbal Essences shamp (it was on sale! Smells like middle school. Actually, middle school smelled gross, didn't it? I'm not sure then. This purchase was just nostalgic). And a few random curls. I just dug my curling iron out from under the sink last weekend, and wavy hair distracts me from my split ends. 

Should I get a hair cut? Or should I finally color it? My hairstylist is really good. I'm feeling bored with my look lately.

My work BFF Mal's last day. I baked these! Is my hair gah-rosse?

Reading: Just random shit online, really. I'm been so busy with work lately, I need to jump back on the reading train. The Gillian Flynn books blew my mind all summer, anyone have any suggestions for what's up next? Oh, and I was f'ing fired up over the Hoke sitch on Saturday. Read this.

Oh, and ... [no category] SLEEPING IN. Enough said. I need to get back to the gym/or yoga. I've been staying up super late then sleeping in till noon most weekdays and it needs to stop. It just creates this viscious cycle of working and sleeping and nothing else. Halp me get uppppppppp.

David Kind, m-f.

Glasses, yo! I struggle with glasses. 

I guess like, two or three years ago I was trying to save Ds, and I canceled my vision insurance. I kind of remember it, actually. I was all, "wellllllll, I just got new glasses and I won't need 'em again for a year or two so I might as well cancel! I could def use that $7 extra a month on Chipotle or whatevz."

Groan.

And then -- you can see where this is going -- I lost my glasses like, a week later in San Luis Obispo. Should have known. Story of my life.

So, I have a familiar habit of losing my glasses and then finding them anywhere from six months to two years later in a random coat pocket or old purse. It's kinddddd of my thing. 

So, when I lost my Christian Diors in SLO (tears), I grabbed an old pair of D&Gs that I had only sat on about 50 too many times -- instead of a million, my Cosmo pair is WRECKED -- and I just used those for awhile.

Except I really had to avoid wearing them in public. They were fine for watching Teen Mom 2 around my apartment -- #TeamChelsea, what whattttt -- but like, in public, my frames were still bent as shit and it was embarrassing. I felt all like, "halp me, I'm poor."

Then I heard about David Kind.

Here's the deal. You get your prescription -- or you call Eyes on J and ask for your most recent copy because you no longer have eye insurance ohwaitthat'sjustme -- and you mail it to DK. You also go DavidKind.com and sign up. They'll give you instructions on how to send in the scrip and get all situated. It's super easy.

I think I first went to the site out of curiosity one day.

I learned about DK through EatLiveRun, this blog that I sometimes hate-read or steal recipe ideas from. I liked the concept of someone else picking out the glasses for me. Although I think I have impeccable style when it comes to frames, I also think I don't always pick the perfect pair for my face. Maybe I'm just not objective enough. Who knows.

So, I eventually entered all my info -- shipping address, billing address, style preferences. Like I said, easy peazy.

They have you submit a selfie, too, so they can help you decide what's flattering for your face. You put a credit card on file for like, $300 and the company ships you a box of glasses all meant for you and you alone.

Hey heyyyyyyy

I got my box pretty fast, likely because the company is based out of California. It's a super pretty wooden box with like, six cases of glasses. Your stylist even writes you a little note about what she was thinking when she hand-selected each pair. Somewhere in the registration process, I had indicated that I didn't want anything too off-the-wall -- no colored frames or anything I couldn't wear to work. I also said I liked the NorCal hipster look that's kind of in right now if they had anything under that umbrella (ella, ella, AY).

I liked probably four of my six pairs. They sent me the styles in brown and black, so I could see that difference, too. Cool. I wore a bunch to work throughout the week and asked around to see who liked what. Really cool concept in that way. I got feedback like, "pick the smaller pair if you're trying to just have functional glasses. But pick the bigger pair if you want to be more like, 'I'm Kourtney Kardashian and I'm trying to be a bit trendy.'"

And then I could get all, "OMG well I love Kourt and personally think she has the best style of all the Kards so let's def vote for the bigger pair!!!"

And the bigger pair I got!

If you end up ordering, your $300 deposit goes toward your order. I think it covered my order perfectly, if I'm remembering correctly. So, not a cheap purchase, but not as bad as if I would have gone to LensCrafters without insurance.

If I would have ordered another pair, I would have just had to pay the extra cost. If I didn't like any of the glasses, I could have just sent the box back and gotten my 3-hundo back in its entirety. No presh!

It took maybe another week or so for DK to pop my prescription into the frames and send back the final product. All shipping was covered. It was just EASY and kind of fun.

So if you're looking for glasses and you think you need some assistance, check out DK! The "stylist" thing may seem hokey, but it's actually pretty helpful. Your person, once you select your frames, will talk you through the process of taking an unflattering selfie so that the technician can get your face measurements. And the stylist will even help you pick between pairs if you're feeling stumped. I didn't crutch on my person too hard, but it was nice to know someone was there to assist, if needed.

I now love my glasses!

And now I can wear them in person! Like to the Mayweather-Maidana fight, where the lighting turned me all red. Yay for no more bent-ass specs!

 As always, I'm unaffiliated with David Kind. Just trying to pass along some of my favs for those of you invisible readers who also love a good suggestion!

(Although, hook me up, DK. I'm not opposed to some freebs!)

**And yes, I am the last person in the world holding out on contacts. Srynotsry.

AWARDS SEASON!

I'm obsessed with awards season. Still not sure what we'll do without Joan Rivers. I realize this post is WEEKS UPON WEEKS UPON WEEKS late, but it's been sitting on my desktop unpublished for far too long and I'm saying F it. Posting anyway, deal with it.

(I really fell off the posting train for awhile. Things came up. Sry!)

So without further ado, here is a way-way-too-late Emmys fashion post. Judge me, please. I deserve it. Also, it should be noted: I know nothing about fashion. I just know what I like/what I hate. So, take this with a grain of salt. My opinion is completely unprofesh.

Courtesy photos/my half-assed Photoshop work

Best:

1.) Lizzy Caplan
DONNA KARAN ATELIER
So flattering. So sleek. And then you see the back of this dress and it's so fun! She rocked perfect hair and perfect makeup. Girlfriend has come a long way since Janis Ian.

2.) Sarah Hyland
CHRISTIAN SIRIANO
Perfect way to rock a crop top. Fun color on the skirt. Super young and fre$h. Get ittttttt.

3.) Heidi Klum
ZAC POSEN
J'adore this style and coral color. Do whatcha do, HK. (Sorry I cropped out your arm in the pic. My Photostop skillz are janky as fuck).

4.) Teyonah Parris
CHRISTIAN SIRIANO
Obsessed with these neon colors. I'm also remembering how much I loved her style during last awards season. She got knocked on E! for having a ton of fabric here, but I wasn't mad at it.

5.) Allison Williams
GIAMBATTISTA VALLI COUTURE
I was surprised the new Peter Pan didn't choose Zooey's Oscar de la Renta number. Allison hasn't been much of a risk-taker on the red carpet. But this look impressed me a lot. I liked that her belt wasn't matchy matchy. Gorge.

6.) Aaron Paul and his wife
(She wore Lorena Sarbu and a chic pony. Who cares who he wore. It was a basic tux and he's hot).
She is adorable. They are adorable. She's always wearing the perfect arm-candy dress. I just had to include them.

7.) Julia Louis-Dreyfus
CAROLINA HERRERA
The Veep is so effortless and age-approps. Red-tones were def the colors of the night. Loved.

8.) Kate Mara
J. MENDEL
Girl crush. This asymmetrical gown is just super cool. And she's super cool. Should I get my hair cut like hers?

9.) Halle Berry
ELIE SAAB
Similar neckline to Mindy Kaling, whose look I also loved. HB is so stunning.

10.) Julia Roberts
ELIE SAAB COUTURE
I love that she went with a short dress! Very youthful and fun. Perfect for the Emmys.

Courtesy photos/my half-assed Photoshop work

Worst:

1.) Lena Dunham
GIAMBATTISTA VALLI
The hair, the dress, the color ... less is more, Lena. At this point, I feel like she's just trying to F with us. Is this real life?

2.) Amanda Peet
GIAMBATTISTA VALLI
This is a nightgown. With bedhead. She debuted her baby bump, I shouldn't be rude to a preggo lady. Wait, yes I should. No excuses, play like a champion.

3.) Sarah Paulson
ARMANI PRIVÉ
She looks like Pigpen, walking around surrounded by a cloud of dirt. That, or the dress looks like a giant bush. I can appreciate that she took a chance, but ... flop. Love #AHS though.

4.) Natasha Lyonne
OPENING CEREMONY
Hate the length, the '80s prom style and how falling-apart she always looks. Should have known.

5.) Laura Prepon
GUSTAVO CADILE
Hate the peplum, the color, the weird half-collar. And girl, smile. I saw her live on TV and in a million photos, and the pissed off/constipated face just isn't helping. This is too severe.

6.) Katherine Heigl
JOHN HAYLES
Gross. Mother of the bride much?

7.) Mayim Bialik
OLIVER TOLENTINO
I want to see this on like, Meryl Streep or someone older. Not her. This, plus the hair, is just too mature. Props for the royal blue, but that's the only nice thing I can say. Just because you're not a size 0 doesn't mean you need to cover up THAT much.

8.) Zooey Deschanel
OSCAR DE LA RENTA
Z, get your bangs back out -- all the way. Also, your dress is plain. And it photographs really wrinkly. Ugh.

9.) Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting
MONIQUE LHUILLIER
Bleck. She's usually bleck though, what did I expect. Disliked the dress, the hair, the minimal makeup. In fact, I even hate the Big Bang Theory. Gross. GTFO.

10.) Jessica Pare
LANVIN
Again, tea-length rage. You can do so much better, Megz. This isn't flattering and looks wide. Have you gotten the memo? "But you're like, really pretty."


Random notes: I wanted more out of the Mad Men girls. January Jones' look took awhile to grow on me (I'm still not a huge fan), and Christina Hendricks' hair looked unbelievably greasy. Sally Draper was cute, but I hated the gray. Wear some color when you're 14, ya feel me?

Also, was Allison Janney wearing crushed velvet? I can't even.

My favorite ... DICTIONARY.

The only dictionary, really. M DUBS! (m-w.com)

So, do you ever find yourself wondering, "is xxxx one word or two? Or does it take a hyphen? Or is this a word at all?"

[The newsroom finds itself wondering this every day. No exagg. And I'm the one who gets asked. A few people will fumble around with Google for a sec, realize they don't know where to look for the answer and then give up. "Michelle! Is letdown one word or two?"]

And the follow-up question usually goes: "Are you using it as a verb or as a noun?"

This matters.

And then I realize not everyone with whom I work knows the difference between a verb and a noun. And THAT'S an issue for another day.

"I'll help. Is it a person, place or thing? Or is it an action word? Or ... just read me the sentence."

"San Francisco 49ers suffer letdown."

"K, it's one word because it's a noun here."

[Because yeah, the 49ers can LET DOWN their fans with a loss, or the game can be considered a LETDOWN. No matter how many times we go over the noun/verb lesson, some people don't retain.]

Anyway.

Hyphens can be a bit trickier, there are always exceptions to the rules and sometimes the AP Stylebook just wants to F with our shit. So needless to say, I don't ALWAYS have the answer off the top of my head. Sometimes I just make a good guess and then I check myself.

[Before I wreck myself, clearly.]

Which is when I pull up a good old M DUB tab on the Chrome and figure it out.

Instructions: Pull up the site. Type the word you're wondering about into the search box. Hit the magnifying glass.

Magic! Our pals M and W will tell you how to use your word as a noun or a verb or whether it has a hyphen -- and if your search comes up with no results, then you're cray and need to reexamine your diction. STAT.

Voila! Now you're a newsroom/office genius, too. [Super modest, I knowwww.]

The lesson here? Just don't go to dictionary.com. That shit is NOT real.

As I said in 2009 -- I think Avi has me quoted in the WOOD TV book? -- "Ew.  Dictionary.com is for poor people."

I'm obvi just being a dick -- lately, I am a poor person -- but I stand by my statement. Dictionary.com has nothing on Merriam or Webster. It is so unprofesh and just NOT the real deal.

Thank you, State News, for teaching me the m-w ways.

Road trips! PDX style.

I love ROAD TRIPS.

I went on another this past weekend -- my last for awhile as the summer is winding down and I'm running out of money! -- and although my beloved Sparties couldn't quite hang on vs. Oregon (despite a pretty promising first half!), I just have to say: I'm so glad I went. I lovvvvvvve Oregon.

It was my second trip there. I went to Portland for Allison and Terry's wedding last fall, and just knew I'd have to make a return visit. It's really not that far, and c'mon. Any kind of MSU /West Coast game and you know I'm in.

I had planned on taking Friday and Monday off for the long weekend, but I owed one of my coworkers a swap, and he really needed his Friday morning covered. So I figured, why not. I wouldn't be getting up super early to get on the road, anyway. What's a little 5a to 2p between friends?

[Hard. That's what it was. Especially when your Michigan friends decide to plan their wine country vaycay on the same weekend so you drive to Sonoma on Thursday night for a late dinner and then get two hours of sleep before your 5a Friday shift! I know. I did that to myself. No complaining.]
 

BUT IT WAS SO WORTH IT!

Work actually went by pretty quickly on Friday, I rushed home at 2p, finished packing and we were off. We drove from about 3:30p until 10 or so, when we hit a city called Sutherlin, about an hour south of Eugene.

Mt. Shasta from the car. #nofilter

I was hitting a wall at this point -- so tired! -- so we dropped our stuff in a room and crashed hard. The next morning, I thought it'd be tricky: The drive to the game, figuring out parking, meeting up with James W. and Stephen, etc.  It was so easy. Traffic was nonexistant, we ditched the car in no time and met up with the boys a few minutes later. And we made Oregon friends and played beer pong and helped people eat their Whole Foods-sponsored tailgates : )

At this point, I've seen more of Coxie's boyfriend than I have Meesh herself because of MSU football. You're coming next time, MC!! (And Can and Nattles, too, even if Nattles isn't a Spartan).

The game ... we don't need to reflect on the game. I still feel confident Sparty could win the B1G and all will be fine at the end of the season. But yeah, crappy that the rest of the conference ALSO decided to shit the bed on the same day. What can you do? I guess I'd rather lose early to a solid team than have that happen later in the season. I didn't really think State would be national champs anyway -- they can still land a decent bowl game [fingers crossed!]

Boooooooooo.

After the game, I had a headache. Only, the word headache isn't quite strong enough. It was like, probably a migraine. My brain was grinding against my skull and I couldn't even think or see straight. It made for a crabby patty Meesh. We tried to eat dinner on the road, but I ended up taking mine to-go and sitting in the car. I was eating Ibuprofen like it was candy and just ...  nothing. No relief in sight. Until I finally got in my hotel bed (in Albany, Oregon) an hour later, I couldn't even function.

Up early-ish the next day -- and feeling better, TFG! -- we started the drive to Portland.

But first?

I saw a sign for a winery on I-5 and asked to pull over. Random. And then the winery was more like 6ish miles off the highway, which isn't exactly the quick on-and-off I was expecting. But we figured YOLO, and continued on.

But first?

Let me take a selfie.

So anywayyyy, they had BRUNCH. Delish brunch. And the best bellinis. And this cinnamon roll that blew my mind. We tasted some wines afterward and even bought a few bottles. Best impromptu stop evz? Yes. The winery was called Ankeny, near Salem. If you're ever in the area, imaginary readers, look it up!

My bellini. Not the most photogenic, given all the floaties.

We followed that experience with some shopping at these outlets outside Portland -- SUCH great store selection -- then drove downtown for a beer and a bite with Tim Steele.  !!!!! Yay.

Portland!

Great to see Tim, as always, but before we knew it, he had to get back to work. So G and I strolled the riverfront, grabbed another bite and then got motivated to knock out a few hours of our drive back. [The car ride isn't awful, but Sac to Portland is a trip handled best when broken up.]

We made it to a city called Roseburg before we finally threw in the towel. I pulled up Hotels Tonight (great app for last-minute, cheap bookings!) and we found a reasonable place with breakfast included.

Woke up Monday, had some brekkie and started the slow haul back to NorCal. We stopped a few more places to stock up on wine -- don't worry, we didn't sample EVERYWHERE, it was just tiny sips here and there -- and then had dinner and watched Monday Night Football in Ashland.

My first wine club. A true sign of adulthood.

And ughhhh. Ashland is adorbs. I really want to spend just a weekend in Ashland someday! So so cute. That's where Harry & David's is. Have you ever had their pears? YERM. Anyway, I also love the shops and restaurants and would like to check out the hot springs someday.

I offered to G, we could stop and get one more hotel -- didn't have to be back in Sac until 2p Tuesday -- but he said he'd rather knock out the rest of the drive and was feeling fine. So that we did. I actually dozed off for a bit -- worst travel companion? -- and we were home by around 2a. Which isn't that late figuring we work until midnight or so every night! It felt good to be home. In my own NEW bed. Holla.

Then I slept innnnnnnnn Tuesday morning. We cursed our final vaycay being done. I think I have three PTO days left? Plus whatever comp I'll receive for working all the hols? Sigh.

And now I'm back to work. Time to start saving money again and enjoying the new place. Which I'll tell you about next time! And the new bed. Because predictably, those are two more of my favorite things.

The place is so warm and spacious and wonderful. For right now, I'm definitely all-in on suburban living.

Until next time!