Oh do pardon my barging in, I thought I'd find my passion in here.

It has been way too long since my last post ...  oh Timekeeper, you are sao cruel.

I wanted to make clear that I blog when I am extremely excited or have incredibly intense feelings, like after scoring a killer deal at the mall, or just having finished a delectable meal or finding a nickel and not a penny, in the parking lot.  The latter rarely ever happens, do you notice?  Yeah ... definitely blog-worthy.

Well, I am blogging now because I just found a $5 bill in the pocket of a pair of old, neglected jeans (SCORE) and because I am extremely and incredibly homesick.  So much so that I physically feel sick and cannot sleep.  Oh Vancouver, you`ve got my knickers all tied up in a wad.

We are truly blessed to call such a beautiful place home.  

I`ve missed you so much for so long...
-C

Beauty is only skin deep. Which is why it is absolutely essential to use a moisturizer that will penetrate all the way to your hypodermis!

It's been a little over a month now since I've started working part time at Sephora.  It's my first retail job at a mall!  Man I feel like I'm 16 all over again!  Only at 16, I didn't work at the mall.... so I feel like I've been given a second chance to really live up 16! :D

So working at Sephora entails learning not only about the different brands and products but new lingo!  For example, employees are not called employees but "cast members".  The manager is called the Store Director.  The sales floor is called the Stage.  Customers are referred to as "clients".  Display cases are called "gondolas" and "end caps".  

So far, it's been great!  I've been trained by reps from Tarte, Fresh and Makeup Forever.  I LOVE THE COSMETIC INDUSTRY!  I've also been given a lot of Gratis, it's ridiculous!  (Gratis are free products, usually full size, that the brands give to cast members.)  And the employee discount and bonuses are generous.

Here's my first gratis haul from the last couple of weeks!  Like I said, RIDICULOUS!  I would have been happy with just the Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment and the Tarte powder brush!  But no!  They just had to give me moar! :P  How stupid crazy is that? 

Coral by the way, is the newest shade to the Sugar lip treatment line.  It's a beautiful colour for summer! ;D

Speaking of beautiful!  Here's my recommendation for the week!  It's a limited edition set by Benefit called The Pretty Committee; it's exclusive to Sephora.  It's an amazing deal!  For $42 (CDN), you get the following products:

• 0.13oz High Beam (delux sample size)
• 0.28oz Bella Bamba blush, beautiful deep watermelon pink (full size, retail $36)
• 0.33oz Stay Don't Stray eye primer (full size, retail $30)
• 0.05oz Eye Bright (full size, retail $25)

 Amazeballs, right?  You're essentially paying $42 for $100 worth of product.  ((:  DOOO ITTTTTT!

A bitch is a bitch with her actions, because she isn't willing to give herself up.

I was 13 when I watched the movie Fight Club.  I learned a lot from the movie.  I learned that Brad Pitt has an exceptionally delicious posterior and Edward Norton has the most captivating green eyes.  I also learned that bar soaps are made from combining animal fats with sodium hydroxide.  Gross ...but I love soap!  I love how they smell and how they leave my skin feeling so rejuvenated and so clean.  And there are so many different types of soaps!  Hard soaps, soft soaps, tallow based, vegetable based, glycerin based, triple milled... the possibilities are endless! 

These are two of my favourite soaps and they're from Trader Joe's.  (I got my beef to pick them up for me *^-^*)  They're made in France from 100% vegetable oils and shea butter.  They smell heavenly!  The green one is Lemon Verbena and the blue-ish one in the back is Lavender.  I like the lavender because it has actual flowers in it but the Lemon Verbene is my absolute favourite.  The lemon scent is so strong and refreshing, it's great for the hot summers here in Kelowna.  I always feel so uplifted and cheerful afterwards.  

They're triple-milled soaps.  Milling refers to a process of grinding, heating and cooling of the soap in a mill so that all moisture is removed and extras like fragrance, emollients, moisturizers and colourants are added.  Triple-milled just means the soap mixture goes through this process 3 times.  The end product is a very dense, very hard, and very long-lasting bar of soap.  They're $3.99 a piece, which I admit is a little expensive for soap but they last a long time and they truly smell amazing. (:  

Boyfriend.

BF for short.

Pronounced be-ef.

Hence beef. 

-C

Leap! .... and the net will appear.

I used my $25 gift certificate from Funktional's Facebook/Twitter contest today.  Instead of using it on purchasing one of the items that I took a photo of (which is what I'm suppose to do), I spent it on acquiring an Andrea Waines necklace.  Andrea Waines is a Canadian jewellery designer.  I love her work, it's simple but inspiring.  She uses only sterling silver and personally hand stamps each piece with a hammer, one letter at a time.  Okay, how ridiculous is that?  She has my "A" for being amazeballs.  I can't imagine the extent of her effort and patience.  And exceptional hand-eye coordination.  And steady fingers.... I wonder what else she could do with her steady fingers. :P 

If you just mentally sighed and thought to yourself "Oh Cathy..." then you are no less pervy than I am.  (:  ADMIT IT. 

If you can imagine it you can achieve it.  If you can dream it you can become it.

In other news, I started reading The Book of Negroes around 9 this morning and I was aiming to finish by this evening.  But at this point, something just tells me that it's not going happen.  Hrm ... something... like... the fact that I'm on page 132?  ...out of 1162?   Whatever, I get "A" for effort.  Honestly, I don't know why it's taking me so long to plough through this one.  The last 4 books were easy, effortless even.  It's not the writing style because from what I've read so far, the author is an excellent writer!  Maybe it's the content, I can't relate to it.  (Not that I could relate to 50 Shades of f'd up haha).  I still want to finish this book, but not merely because it's on my list of to-reads for the book club but because I feel like I owe it to ... the people... I mean they had to endure so much cruelty and destitution and degradation.  I feel like I should at least be able to commit a few hours and honour their strength by reading about it.  And hopefully be a little more educated and worldly in the end. 

.....sounds like bullshit huh? hahaha WELL IT'S NOT.

I know, I'm weird. 

But that's why you guys keep coming back for more, is it not? (: 

LOVE.

-C

"Even cancer isn't a bad guy really: Cancer just wants to be alive."

I started reading The Fault in our Stars by John Green this morning, around 8:12am.  Yes, 8:12am on a Saturday morning.  That's what I call commitment to self improvement . (; Actually the novel came highly recommended by a good friend so I intentionally slept earlier the night before to wake up early and read. (:  Best decision ever.  Five hundred forty one pages and buckets of tears later, I finished!   And it was absolutely amazing.  Truly amazing.  It is so brilliantly crafted.  The story itself is simple but the love and tragedy that it entails is so real.  Battling cancer is such a tremendous feat; it's happiness and sadness constantly colliding, with anger and confusion.  Lots of confusion!

Having watched my own 'po' battle cancer for a year before succumbing to its inevitable will (I despise using the word "losing" in this context), it's obvious the story affected me on a very personal level.  Frankly, it broke my heart.  But on a good note, it reminded me of the importance of self-preservation and good health.  I will now proceed to recycle all the fast-food chain coupons that I have accumulated and saved over the last few months and solemnly promise to upkeep a regular exercise schedule.  *nods*  

NEXT on my reading list (well, more like my book-club reading list) is The Book of Negroes (aka Someone Knows My Name) by Lawrence Hill.  Keep posted! (: 

Dear Mr. Grey, I am completely and utterly smitten by you. Beguiled, bewitched, spellbound. You are my sweet escape.

I've recently (and by 'recently' I mean in the last 36 hours) finished the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy.  At the expense of my BUSI 344 exam.  And boy was it well worth the sacrifice! These books were AMAZING.  And they continue to be amazing in my head *pokes temple*.  I never fell in love with the Twilight series or The Vampire Diaries, but I am hopelessly in love with these books!  Think Pretty Woman meets Eyes Wide Shut. (; I don't want to say too much about the content other than that it gets pretty F***KED up at some parts.  Okay, maybe that's an overstatement.  Really, it was just the first book that was a bit of a shocker because you don't really know what you're getting yourself into it and then ... BAM!  "You're both mortified and intrigued by the glamour and dysfunction."

It's difficult to explain or pinpoint exactly how the books made me feel other than ... a bewildering array of emotions!  And it's been a long time since I've felt this captivated by ... anything, let alone a book!  I feel like I've found.... magic. (:

And you know something's genuinely good if it makes it on to Forbes. (;

This is the infamous tag on a paperback copy in Montclair, NJ

"Yes, this is THE book everyone is talking about.

Lost and insecure, you found me Mr. Grey, you found me.

-C

I am grateful for your inexperience. Simply put, it means that you are mine in every way.

Two weeks ago, I entered Funktional's Spring Facebook Contest.  (I talked about the store briefly and posted a few photos. Post found here.)  The contest was simple: (1) take a picture of your favourite item, (2) upload that picture on to their Facebook/Twitter page.  So while I was in the store during Small Shop Saturday, I snapped a handful of photos and posted ALL of them to their website.  I rarely have just one favourite thing of anything!  Anyway, I won!!!  Which is miraculous because I never win contest or draws.  I was one of three winners to receive a $25 gift card.

Twenty five bucks, but I feel like a million dollars baby!