Month: October 2013

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How is the cruelty-free shopping going?

It’s actually going really well, thanks for asking! I’ve replaced *most* of my bath/body/beauty items with more eco-friendly (and at the very least, cruelty-free) alternatives.

These are some of my faves:

Too Faced Cosmetics – foundation, blush, and bronzer

Physicians Formula – mascara, brow pencil, eyeliner

Alba Botanicals – shampoo, conditioner, face wash

Village Naturals – body wash (though I love Jason, for an occasional splurge)

St. Tropez – self-tanners

Basically all I need now is a good face moisturizer and eye cream. I have some in line to try, but first I need to finish my current bottles (which I thought were cruelty-free, but actually aren’t… which is a bummer because I really like these.) I’d like to find a good toothpaste next! I feel like that may be harder, unfortunately… especially since I’d have to impress Chuck with that one too 😉

Anyway, that was probably way more info than you wanted, but yeah – I am on a roll with it!

I think the military has made Chuck a better person. He is so strong, and confident, and successful. On the other hand, I think the military experience has made me a worse person, for myself and for him.

“Worse” isn’t quite the right word, but maybe you know what I mean? Less comfortable with myself. Less whole. More frustrated and lost, clingy and dependent. Something like that.

This has nothing to do with Chuck himself, of course – it’s just the reality of military life. That’s my negative moment for the (hopefully) forseeable future! It will pass… They always do.

There’s only one thing to be done with white hair: dress up as Daenerys Targaryen for #Halloween! Annie will be my baby dragon! Now all I need are actual plans for Halloween…

… minor detail.

If you were to ask me who my childhood heroes were, it would be WW2-era Resistance fighters – the everyday Joe Schmoe’s who harbored Jews during the Holocaust.

I watched this blast-from-the-past Danish resistance move last night with Chuck, and it all came back to me how amazing and brave those people were. In a time of such great evil, there was so much incredible goodness and selflessness. I ate it all up when I was younger – reading every book, watching every movie, signing up for every class…

I always wonder if I would have been as brave in those situations, and of course I will probably (hopefully) never know, here in my cushy 21st century American life. But they will always inspire me, and if I ever face such adverse circumstances, I can only hope I would do the right thing.

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FITNESS Over FOOD…. HOOAH!

I love how the Commissaries are closed, but the Fitness Centers are open. You can stay fit during this shutdown, but you’re SOL if you need milk! Seriously though, it is pretty funny. I DO need milk, which I can’t get, but I surely can still hit up the gym!

Anyways! I actually went to “Butt & Guts” on Monday, which is about to be cancelled due to low participation. At first, I didn’t mind that fact – the class was pretty blah and I didn’t feel like anything was really all that intense. I could keep up with all the seasoned class buffs just fine…. But boy was I wrong!! My DEEP core is so sore, even two days later!! I’m really impressed, because ab exercises never make me sore. I actually wonder if secretly I’m doing them all wrong…but Monday, I must have done something right, even if I didn’t feel it at the time.

The class used a lot of “extras”, like weights, balls, body bars (?), etc., so it wouldn’t be super easy to replicate the workout at home (if I could even remember it – it was that boring.) But, it’s nice to know I can feel the pain in my abs after all. Maybe a different class will incorporate some of those moves? I’ll have to keep exploring the options!

I must say, however… yoga is still my fave…