Prompt 11: What is in My Makeup Bag

The ratio here seems to be one decent prompt to three incredibly stupid ones.  But I've decided to be more proactive.  Let's see if I can make this post even a little bit interesting, shall we?  Here we go

First and foremost, I'm writing this at work which means that I'm going entirely off memory...so who knows how accurate this is.  Because much more important than what is IN my makeup bag is how often I use those contents.  And the answer to that implied question is: not very often.  About once a week, really, on Sundays when I'm expected to look like I at least tried a little bit.  Sometimes I'll wear makeup during the week...usually to remind myself that I am, in fact, a human and not a slug.  You'd be surprised how often I get confused on that fact.

As for what is in it, I think there are more things that I literally never use than things that I do.  Because my makeup pretty much consists exclusively of eyeliner, mascara, and eyeshadow.  If I am feeling ridiculously extravagant I might use an eyebrow pencil to give myself entire eyebrows, because typically my eyebrows look like this:

I drew this...cuz I'm an artist...or something...

Of those things that I do use, I think I have four or five eyesadows which are simply variations of these colors:

Why?  Because I have blue eyes.  And orange is a complementary color to blue, which means that if I paint orange (or in this case, metallic orange, aka copper/gold) around my eyeballs my blue eyes look even more blue.  That and I just am instinctively drawn to these colors.  Because I have gone to the store several times with the purposeful determination that I will buy eyeshadow that is NOT these colors...and I end up buying yet more coppers/golds.  It's a sickness...

I also have just recently discovered a magical new kind of eyeliner that has revolutionized my entire concept of wearing makeup.  Which is eyeliner that comes in a tiny pot that you put on with a very tiny paintbrush.  It turns out that paintbrushes are better than crayons (what I had previously been using) for creating the very popular "winged eyeliner" look which I have been striving to achieve for some time now.

possibly the most literal interpretation of anything I've ever seen
and therefore utterly awesome

Before the winging efforts, my eyeliner strategy has always included a certain amount of smudging.  I was delighted to discover that my pots of eyeliner also lend themselves to this practice equally well.  I fell like I've been wasting my life up till now...

My mascara is some wretched thing in a violently purple capsule.  I hate it.  But since I paid $8 for it I am forcing myself to use it up.  It's depressing.

so much for the things I actually use.  As for things I don't use, let's see if I can remember any...

I believe there is one shoddy pair of tweezers that I never use because they are ineffective.  There is a strange little tool that my mother gave me years ago that I think is for the...judicious removal of blemishes.  I think there are a couple sample size pots of Burts Bees products because the bag I use was originally a travel bag full of Burts Bees creams and salves.  I think there's a wooden stick for maintaining your cuticles.  And I think there's some various MaryKay products that I was given when I graduated from high school that have been used maybe twice ever.

And there you have it.  I don't think I succeeded in making this stupid prompt a nevertheless enjoyable read, but I got it written.  Next up is prompt 12: a photograph of the town I live in.  psh.

Prompt 10: The Prompt Was Stupid So I'm Making Up My Own....

...and it is to write my own 30 prompts.  Because these ones have been super ridiculous.  I think that next month I'll try this challenge again, but with these prompts because this way I know they'll be interesting (at least to me)

1. Where did you grow up?  Share some memories...
2. How do you best demonstrate your cooking skillz?  If you literally have zero skillz, then what is your best food-related story?
3. What were your top 3 favorite movies growing up?
4. What is your favorite fairy tale and why?
5. What is your favorite non-big-5 holiday (not Christmas, Halloween, New Year, or Easter) and why?
6. Which literary world would you pick to live in instead of reality, and why?  Remember, you get alllll the parts of your chosen world, good as well as bad.
7. What books are you most looking forward to sharing with your children and why?
8. What superhero do you wish was your best friends with and why?  Also, which version of him or her?
9. What are the bottom five most shameful songs in your collection?
10. What always makes you cry? Song/movie/story/commercial/etc
11. If you were to suddenly develop a mental illness, which is most likely for your personality?
12. If you had to have a mental illness, but you got to pick, which would you pick?
13. What are your top 3-5 favorite jokes?
14. What is your dream career (regardless of its actual existence)?
15. What is one random, non-touristy place you want to visit?
16. What are your top 5 secretly favorite features/abilities/attributes about yourself?
17. Is there anything you wish people knew about you?
18. What is your weirdest food eccentricity?
19. What are your five favorite fantasy wardrobe items?
20. What is your best story?
21. Which Disney film is your favorite and why?
22. What's the best meal you've ever eaten and why?
23. What is one skill you wish you had the time/money/resources to learn?
24. If you could instantly change one single thing about yourself what would it be? How do you feel about that?
25. What are your top 5 biggest pet peeves?
26. Is there anything you secretly love/want that you're afraid to admit because you don't think people will think it is "you"?  (does this even make sense?)
27. Where are your top 3 dream cities to live in and why?
28. You showed up to work with a black eye...how did you get it?  
29. The Doctor shows up.  After the obligatory world-saving, where is the first place you'd go?
30. What are 5 songs you love to belt out in the car?  

Prompt 9: A Picture of the Item I Last Purchased

It just so happens that I made a trip out to Target today.  This means that I purchased several things.  To determine the very last thing I purchased I suppose I must consult my receipt

Even though I distinctly remember the cashier scanning these quite early (he was deeply confused by the fact that they were called hobo bags) they are the last items listed on the receipt.  So we shall say they're the last items I bought.  So here is a picture of them.  Slightly irresponsible a purchase as they may have been, I am quite happy with them

I had initially thought to give the green and white striped one to Kara, but the more I look at it the more I like it.  Not to mention she just snapchatted me that it looks like me.  Which is a nice way we have of saying that we would never wear/carry/have whatever the other is showing us, but we appreciate that the other person likes it.  So looks like two new purses for me!  After I'm done writing this I think I'll check if I can fit my laptop into them.  If so, that will make a very awesome purchase indeed.  Always looking for ways to cart around this giant laptop...

Coming up next we have #10: A photo of my favorite place to eat...

Prompt 8: A Song to Match My Mood

Well, for better or worse, at this specific moment I am not aware of any particular mood.  On the one hand, as it is 11:30, this is good because typically at this hour if I have a mood it is more or less depressed.  On the other hand, it is difficult to pick a song to match a mood you don't have.  So here is my strategy.  I shall pull up iTunes, put my entire library on shuffle, and then keep skipping till I find something that feels right.

Apparently iTunes was really dedicated to the idea of me listening to New Model Army.  Matt, you should appreciate that Desdemona is clearly on your side about that band.

Two hits on Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom audiobooks, and, in all honesty, those felt like just exactly what I wanted to listen to.  However, the prompt very specifically states a song, so I pressed onward till I found the song where I wanted to stop and listen.  Here you go:

Just to see what happens, I shall try this again and see if the next song I stop on is of a similar mood.  Fair notice, though.  I am a blues dancer and DJ, so there's a very good chance whatever I settle on will be blues-y

Nope.

This song won through pure nostalgic value.  Don Williams = my dad.  My mom and dad would sing all these great old Don Williams songs like "Lay Down Beside Me" and "Amanda" and "I Believe In You".  One day I ran across a "Best Of" album on iTunes and had to buy it.  We'll try one more time and see where I land...

This came up almost right away.  I think that taking all three of these into account that would put me in just a solid chill mood.  Bonus points go to songs I can sing along with.

And there you have it

Click on through to read the actual prompt for today, a photo of the item I last purchased (so exciting!)

Prompt 7: My Dream Wedding

This post is a day late, but only because I really got into this prompt.  Planning a fantasy wedding when you don't have to consider constraints of money or your fiance's taste turns out to be a whole lot of fun (with just the slightest hint of bitterness because we're being honest and contrast makes everything taste better).

Perhaps this should have come first, but it wasn't till we'd both spent an unnecessary amount of time searching for the perfect dress for me that Kara asked me what the "essence" of my wedding would be.  Once I figured this out it really helped me settle some of the "but I like allllll of them!" quandaries.  Like what dress I would hypothetically wear.  So without further ado, the "essence" of my wedding: organic, dreamy evening wedding with touches of Southern Gothic.

This leads us first to the venue.  My ideal venue would be a southern plantation with a long avenue of southern oaks draped in Spanish moss, absolutely covered in twinkly glowy lights.

photo by Marc Walter

Imagine that just covered all over with glowy lights!

The tables would all be decorated with moss and flowers and vines and such.  And there would be tables because, as this is a fantasy, I can afford to put on a big dinner like we had at Ralf's wedding.  Full catered dinner for my close family and friends.  Delicious food...in fact, I'd be willing to have exactly what Ralf had, because that food was freaking delicious!  Anyway, I can't find any good pictures of what I'm imagining but imagine soft moss, candles, and windy twisty vines and woods.  And the dishes are all clear glass that catch the light and are beautiful.  This is where I would have it

Which leads to my colors.  Here is a link to look at them (ish).  It's hard to make exactly the right ones, but that's a pretty close idea.  The primary colors would be the orange and charcoal, with the blue, heather, and green as accents.  I deeply deeply long to have orange poppies involved in this, but I just don't know if they'll fit.  But I will absolutely have roses.  Because I love roses.

this is possibly the most perfect thing I could ever imagine

So we've got an evening wedding covered all over with lights, with the colors down.  As far as things go, I guess we're just missing the dress and ring.  Here you go:

I don't even want to know how expensive this dress is, but I could buy it here:
http://www.allurebridals.com/products/8901

I could buy this here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/96725424/lovely-elvin-organic-flow-band?ref=market

So, obviously the dress would need to have a sleeves of some sort.  I have some ideas, but I'm not sure exactly how I would do that.  Also, I would want the bodice to be less crusty, more embroidered.  And for the ring, I would just want to add a raw sapphire on the left in that space.  A dark blue one.

So that's that for things.  I also would say that my ideal wedding would also have a specific feeling.  My favorite thing about Ralf's wedding was the way every single person came there with the intention of staying and having fun and dancing.  It was literally a celebration.  Not like so many of the weddings I've been to here in Utah where it's more like a ritualized meet and greet where people come, eat some food, hug the bride and groom, sit for a set number of minutes, and then leave.  I want a real dinner, and I want actual dancing where all of the people dance, not just my dance friends.  I want us to party late into the night.  I want people to make new friends and talk to each other.  That is also one of the most important parts of my dream wedding.

prompt 8 is a song to match my mood...so keep your eyes peeled today for that

Prompt 6: An animal I'd love to keep as a pet

I'm just going to point out...none of these are so much "writing" prompts as they are picture prompts.  Annoying.

We're going to do this in two categories, actual reasonable pets, and fantasy pets you only get to have if you're a rajah in turn of the century India.  First, normal pets

My current dog obsession is a blue brindled French Bulldog or Boston Terrier.  Basically dogs with bat ears who look like they got their faces smashed in by a door.  Look at these guys!

Look at him!  They're so compact and squatty!

another frenchie

I literally cannot handle Frenchie puppies

Boston terriers have longer legs and are a little less powerfully built

puppy!!!

I would also like to have a cat.  I don't really have a particular type in mind exactly (Russian Blues are pretty, as are Ragdolls) it's more of a personality thing.  I'd need to meet the cat and see how we get on.  But because cats rule the internet, here are some cute pictures of various cats for you to enjoy

Russian blue

ragdoll

black cat of indeterminate species

As for unrealistic pets...well...

obviously the slow loris

pygmy elephant, equally obvious 

miniature giraffe...why are you still even questioning these....

a freaking tiger!  Really any big cat, but especially a tiger

a hedgehog!

a real, normal sized elephant.  It would not be my pet so much as my friend

a freaking river otter!!!

"'sup"
yes, an owl.  Because I am part of the Harry Potter Generation

I'm pretty sure there are many more animals I have longed to own as a pet, but that's probably enough for one post.  If you come back tomorrow you can find out what my dream wedding will look like!

*Edit*
Literally the minute I hit publish I thought of one more that needs to be included

Prompt 5: A Photo Of Myself Two Years Ago

This is, quite possibly, the best picture of me to exist in the entire world.  It was inspired by this blog post from The Bloggess.  If you don't know who the Bloggess is then I really have to question our friendship.  Well, I say inspired by, but who are we kidding.  The minute I saw this gigantic metal chicken just hanging out on the side of the road I knew I was going to have a picture with it.  It was whole minutes after that that I remembered The Bloggess and Beyonce.  There was actually a whole series of photos taken that day, featuring, in addition to myself, the wonderful Callie and Summer.  We literally drove out to Home Depot with no other goal in life but to take pictures with this vast menagerie of cast iron/aluminum (the chicken was aluminum) creatures that this man had put out for purchase.  It was the best possible use of a day.  And for good measure, here are pictures of Callie and Summer posing with some of the other, slightly more reasonably sized animals

This was Summer and the Bear's engagement shoot

Callie cradling a baby t-rex...presh!

Come back tomorrow to find out what kind of animal I wish I had for a pet.  Feel free to post guesses in the comments...