Archive for August, 2008
Sunday, August 31st, 2008
Jeff took out the dogs this morning and found everything in the back yard, except for the hot tub and trampoline piled in front of the back door.
The trampoline had been drug across the back yard and the legs were bent, there were lighters and aerosol cans in the grill, a solar light was stolen - and the single, perfect apple from my Snowsweet Apple tree is half eaten on top my hot tub.
I cried when I saw the apple. We just planted the tree this year, and I’ve been waiting since June to see what the apple tastes like, so I was really disappointed.
I think seeing me cry is why Jeff called the police.
The cops can’t do anything unless there is a witness to a crime - which I guess makes sense, but it’s frustrating that they won’t even try to find out who committed a crime unless there was a witness to it.
Jeff was a MP so he knows what he would be doing in that situation, and the cops here don’t do that, so he’s getting frustrated too.
It’s hard to know that people can keep harrassing you, and unless you see them the only thing the cops can do is tell you to put in lights in the back yard.
Of course by some strange stroke of fate there is an actual street light in my backyard, that stays on all night - so it isn’t like the vandals were doing this in the dark.
The stupid streetlight probably helped them find all the stuff so they could move it around.
The cop was getting mad - and he yelled at me!
I can’t believe it.
All I did was say “So basically we could commit any crime we wanted to as long as no one saw it?”, and then ask if it was standard operating procedure to send the home owners into the house to make sure there wasn’t anyone who supposed to be in it before the cops went in.
That wasn’t this cop - that was the cop that responded when we came home and found a computer monitor on the ground in the snow.
Yup - he made us go in the house first to make sure no one was in the house while he followed the footprints to see where they led, and told us to give him a call if someone was still in the house.
Seriously - I thought you were always supposed to call the cops and have them check it out since they are supposed to be trained at dealing with intruders, but I guess I was wrong - at least here in Moorhead.
This cop said he didn’t know what standard procedures were for that kind of situation, so I’m guessing he’s not a great cop.
You’d think they’d at least be able to tell you that much if they were, or am I asking too much?
They police didn’t even want to come - but when stuff keeps happening you have to do something to make it stop.
I don’t want to be scared of what I’ll see everytime I open the back door, and I don’t want to worry that my dogs will find something in the yard that will hurt them.
So far in the two years we’ve lived here we’ve had someone shoot out the windows of all the cars parked on our street (fortunately ours were in the driveway), someone vandalized the house 3 times, and then we had the aforementioned computer monitor incident.
It really sucks.
A couple of the times we’ve seen other people vandalized too, but this was the first time that it was just us.
The scary part is that these things started right after our renter who couldn’t pay the rent because he was bipolar (according to his dad) and couldn’t keep a job moved out.
The dad said he had been having serious mental problems and was going to get treatment - but Jeff saw him a few days later so I don’t think he did.
We still have to go over the yard to make sure that the vandals didn’t put anything down that will hurt the dogs, and we are going to drain the hot tub before we use it.
There’s no way I’m taking a chance that they didn’t do something to it.
I hope you haven’t dealt with this, but if you know anyone who has leave me a comment and let me know what they did.
Jeff is looking at security stuff for the back yard - but if we do get more lights they’ll have to be electric - I don’t think the solar lights work when it’s -40F outside.
That will suck - us spending more money to keep the vandals away.
But I guess that’s life in Moorhead.
I don’t think extra lights will help anyway - if they aren’t scared of the streetlights in the front or back yard why would they be scared of other lights?
And if they know that we slept through all of this this time, will they try more the next time?
Posted in Life | 6 Comments »
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008
Ok, I’ll admit it - I’ve been having trouble deciding which of my Lumiere Blushes to use because they look very similar in the pots, so I decided to swatch them so I could see the difference in color for myself.
Of course I decided that you might be interested in seeing them too - so here you go.
The swatches were applied with my fingers - so they are a little more intense than they would be if they were applied with a brush. You can also click on the picture to make it bigger, and easier to see.
I have three blushes from Lumiere Mineral Cosmetics - Wild Rose Veena Blush(at the top of the picture), the Poppy Veena Blush (middle), and the Neutral Pink Mineral Blush (bottom).
The Veena Blush has “just enough color to bring out your natural blush,” so it only seems right that it’s a little lighter than the mineral blushes - of course the intensity of the color can be easily adjusted while you’re applying blush.
All three colors are pretty, and seem to last, but it is nice to see them side by side :-).
Of course, now I think that all three colors are pretty interchangeable with most of my makeup looks so I’ll still have the same trouble deciding which one to wear.
If you’ve tried Lumiere blushes I’d appreciate it if you’d leave a comment and let me know which one is your favorite.
Or you could let me know how you decide which blush to wear.
Thanks!
Posted in Beauty | 1 Comment »
Monday, August 25th, 2008
Sorry - I’m a little behind with this news, but everything is 30% off at Urban Decay through 8/28, and everything is 75% off at Hard Candy.
I think I’m going to pass on this one, because I’ve got some stuff from About Face Cosmetics coming, and I’m already planning on ordering their black and nude mood eye primers.
Of course the Hard Candy Delinquent Mini Nail kit is cute, and it’s only $6.95
If you’ve bought anything lately, or if you’ve got something on your wish lists I’d love to hear about it - just click on leave a comment and tell me about it!
Happy Shopping.
Posted in Beauty | No Comments »
Thursday, August 21st, 2008
My mom gave me the Neutrogena mineral sheers for eyes in sand about a year ago because they were to sheer for her, and I rarely wear them because they’re too sheer for me
When they say these are sheer they mean it.
These shadows would be great for someone who has to wear makeup but doesn’t especially like wearing it (when I was a vet assistant it was in our contract that we had to wear eye makeup) or for someone who is just starting to wear makeup - or is sneaking and wearing makeup when they aren’t supposed to.
The Sand due has a beige, and a light brown - and when I rub my finger across them to swatch them all I end up with is a slight shimmer on my finger - you really can’t see anything but the shimmer - so that’s why there aren’t any pictures of the colors for you.
I don’t see a difference in the colors at all after when I apply them side by side, and I don’t have the patience to try to build it up so that I do see a difference.
If you’ve tried Neutrogena Mineral Sheers Shadows I’d love to hear what you think - especially if you’ve tried the different colors.
I’m wondering if they actually show up, or if they just look shimmery.
Posted in Beauty, Reviews | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 20th, 2008
It’s been one of those days - Jeff emailed one of the guys who bought some of our German Blue Rams and found out that all of them except one died when he had a problem with the heater in his aquarium.
I know they are just fish - that aren’t even mine anymore, but we were so excited when we finally got ram fry, and we had so much fun watching them grow up, and get color, so it was hard to realize that they’re all dead.
Then our female panther chameleon started digging a hole - it’s way to early for her to lay eggs since she just laid some a little over a month ago.
Taking care of female chameleons is kind of like walking on a tightrope - you have to give them enough food so that they don’t starve or become malnourished, but you don’t want them to be fed so much that they keep laying eggs, because it’s unhealthy for them and it shortens their life span. Obviously we haven’t figured out the right amount of food yet.
I have to admit I was feeling pretty sad about my pets - and then On Makeup Magazine came in the mail, and I remembered that I was supposed to be mentioned in it.
I tried to open the plastic around it, then threw it at my husband and said “Open it, open it,” impatiently.
He pulled the plastic apart and the magazine bounced off my head :-).
I eagerly began flipping through the pages, and I saw it - on page 88
“Sarah O.
Age 31. Capricorn. Minnesota. Mystical Beauty’s Musings. blog.mystical-beauty.com
What do you blog about? Life, Love, and Beauty - with a focus on makeup and makeup reviews.”
It’s my first magazine mention.
I’ve been flying since I read it :-).
Posted in Life, Beauty | 5 Comments »
Monday, August 18th, 2008
I was in the bathroom at Target last week, and I looked in the mirror and realized for the millionth time that my Prune Drama Girl lipstick had completely worn off leaving just a shimmer of silver behind.
I got fed up and decided that I’d had it, I was buying another lipstick that I could actually keep on!
I always have trouble making up my mind when I’m deciding on a new lipcolor, and it’s even harder to pick one out with my husband staring over my shoulder (although this time he actually wasn’t rushing me), so after looking at every lipstick in Target, I ended up with N.Y.C Ultra Moist Lip Wear in Violet Shine.
Violet Shine looks mostly pink with a hint of violet, and it seemed to be the most similar color to Prune Drama Girl that I could find.
Violet shine is a tiny bit darker than my natural lip color, and a bit lighter and pinker than Prune Drama Girl.
Unfortunately, the similarities don’t stop there - the NYC ultra moist lip wear doesn’t last very long with my constant chapstick use either, but I don’t mind applying a 99 cent lipstick every hour as much as I mind applying the Lancome lipstick every hour.
The color is pretty, but I don’t think that I’d buy this again, unless they had a fabulous color that I couldn’t get anywhere else.
If you’ve tried N.Y.C. lipstick I’d love to hear what you think about it - leave a comment and let me know.
I’d also love to know about your favorite long wearing lipstick.
It seems I’m still on the search for the perfect one.
Posted in Beauty, Reviews | 1 Comment »
Friday, August 15th, 2008
Where do you keep your makeup brushes?
I keep mine in several places - the ones I don’t use regularly are in the bottom of the gold canister that the MAC Heirlooms 5 Basic Brushes came in, and that stays in one of the built in cabinets in the bedroom.
The Billy B Beauty brushes are mostly still in the black Billy B brush roll that resides in my makeup case, while the brushes that I use daily are in a black zip top brush case that also resides in my makeup case.
Where do you keep your makeup brushes?
Do you have brushes that you use, and brushes that you don’t use?
If you do are they kept together?
Posted in Beauty | No Comments »
