5 things I’ve Been Loving Lately

1. This top and base coat combo

I just started using it two weeks ago, but it’s difficult as nails! The base coat is Essie grow stronger ($9), and the top coat is Dior Gel coat ($28, yes, it’s kinda fancy schmancy).

I wore it last week with Smith & Cult Bitter Buddhist. Side note: This is my favorite green polish of all time (even much more than Chanel Jade), and I have a lot of greens. It’s a sensational sea-foamy jade that looks baby blue sometimes. I wear it all the time. I love it!

I didn’t have a single chip for seven full days, but then a big chunk came off in the shower on the eighth day. but that’s terrific for me (I’m difficult on my nails). Whenever I can get a full week from a mani/pedi without any chipping, I feel like I ought to throw a parade, LOL.

Even though I actually only want to wear Bitter Buddhist because the obsession is real and ongoing, I’m gonna try this base/top coat combo with different polishes over the next few week to see if other polishes hold up as well.

2. Bread recipes

I’ve been stockpiling them for days because I want to try baking bread this weekend for the very first time.

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As of best now, I’ve tentatively chose on this artisan bread recipe from Laura in the Kitchen. It looks easy enough (famous last words)… I think I can deal with it.

Obvs, this has all been brought about by The terrific British baking Show, which I still view every night before bed.

Right before I start making the dough this weekend, I want El Hub to say, “On your mark, get set…BAKE!”

3. hourglass Arch Brow Gel

WHAT!? This stuff is good! (Here’s the review, BTW). I love filling in my brows with it, and I want to shout it from the rafters. “I love hourglass Arch Brow Gel!!!” In the three weeks I’ve been using it, I haven’t touched the brow pencil/clear brow gel combo I had been using and wearing daily in some form or fashion for three YEARS (most recently it was MAC Brow Sculpt brow pencil and the benefit clear Brow Gel).

It’s that serious. love it for bushy, natural-looking brows, especially.

4. Senita’s new dance-inspired spring collection

I used to be one of those people who believed that workout wear ought to stay in the gym.

No more.

Now that 99% of the outfits I wear on a daily basis 1) include Lycra and 2) can deal with burpies or squats at any given moment (I kneel about 3,647 times a day to pick up Connor because she wants to be carried 24/7. I’m like, “Kid, you’ve got legs! You ought to use them!”), I no longer subscribe to that belief system.

Senita is an indie workout line from Arizona, and their clothes are well made, good deals, and I think they’re CUTE. I have quite a few of their pieces, and I love everything. Their capris are in the $37 range, so that’s compared to lululemons at $89 and Zellas at $49. and they’re just as good as Zella IMO.

Their new collection was inspired by dance and yoga, and I want IT ALL. SO much pink and black. and they have dresses…WITH POCKETS!

5. Foam rolling

My HIIT teacher got me hooked on this, and now I “foam roll” every night (well, I try to!), because it’s like getting a deep-tissue massage before bed. For free. My muscles feel loose and unwinded afterwards, and when I do it consistently, I promise I sleep better, too.

Here are a couple of foam rolling workouts I like to do…

That’s it for me! Those are my five at the moment. how about you? What are some things you’ve been loving lately?

Your friendly neighborhood charm addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF.

1. It’s a HIIT!

Or “high intensity interval training.” It’s a full-body workout where you do all sorts of things, like throwing 10-pound medicine balls around (which I did yesterday), old-school burpies, squats and other interval exercises, and there’s always something different thrown in to keep your muscles guessing.

Anyway, I just started taking classes at a studio down the block, and oh, my lanta! — to live in a constant state of soreness… but it’s a good sore, ya know?

One of my neighbors is an instructor and a personal trainer, and the studio is in her garage, so I just walk down there for an hour of sweet, sweaty torture.

There’s a woman in the class in her 50s who I vow needs to be my BFF. She comes dressed in black from head to toe with her hair in a best high bun, and she works out wearing a full face of makeup. and she likes to make naughty jokes. Oh, and homegirl goes HAWD when she planks, whereas I just end up laying there sadly on the floor ready to pass out.

2. champion sports bras

On that note, these champion double dry sports Bras are the sh*t. They’re soft, comfortable and keep me dry when I’m sweating up a storm. Plus, they never chafe or irritate my skin. When I work out, I layer two of them to keep “the girls” firmly in place.

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They’re normally $25 each, but they’re on sale for $19.99-$21.99 ideal now at Kohls.

3. L’Oreal root conceal momentary gray Concealer Spray

I picked up a bottle of $11 L’Oreal root conceal momentary gray Concealer Spray in Dark brown a couple months ago at le drugstore to cover my roots because I was running low on my fave Rita Hazan root Concealer and couldn’t make it to Sephora before it closed (#beautygirlproblems), and yay! — I like it. It gets the job done, and it costs half as much as the Rita Hazan spray, which is still my number one, though, because I think it does work a little better (it’s a lot more pigmented and doesn’t leave my hair as stiff as the L’Oreal one does).

4. My crockpot

Soup is good food!
Otherwise known as the best thing EVER. OMG! You just throw a bunch of stuff in a pot, turn it on, then have a yummy dinner 5-8 hours later.

I made chicken tortilla soup in it the other day, and it was ???.

Do you have any good crockpot recipes? HOOK A HOMEGIRL UP.

5. saving email and social media for the afternoon

So I’ve been doing this for the past two weeks, and it has absolutely helped my focus and get a lot more stuff done, especially in the mornings.

I do all of my writing first thing in the morning when I’m mentally fresh, and only after I’m made with it do I check email, Instagram, etc.

It really helps me stay on task.

Your friendly neighborhood appeal addict,

Karen

P.S. What have you been loving lately?

P.P.S. TGIF!