Fri-Yay #2

What I'm reading

I'm still so-reading the annotated version of Emma. It's been good for me since I didn't read Austen until college (and then on my own) so I feel like I'm missing some of the instruction that could help me understand stuff. The first time I read Emma, I found it confusing (who is Frank Churchill in this world?) but the annotated edition explains things very well. I'm also reading An Edited Life by Anna Newton. I didn't realize that Newton is the same person as 'The Anna Edit.' I've watched her on Youtube on occasion. I don't keep up with her because my style is a bit different but I like her channel.

I'm thinking about starting Sharyn McCrumb's Zombies of the Gene Pool. I love McCrumb's books and I've had this in my TBR for awhile. I have some other books going but the first two are the ones I'm hitting first. It's part of a series, and I swear I've read some of this series but it's not coming to me at all. 

I also read this short article about Temptalia, a makeup blogger. I like (and trust) her website even though the colors might show up a little differently on me. Her grading system makes sense. When I google a product that I love (or hate) she tends to align with my thoughts, so it's easy to go to her website and see what I might like. Anyways, the article is on Allure and is titled "The Woman Behind 70,000 Makeup Swatches." She also keeps tracks of sales...so it's worth following if you like makeup. 

I've also been going down this list of new summer reads from Crime Reads. It's a huge list (with descriptions and links) and ends with bestillmyheart Tana French's new book. OHMYGOSH. I'm so ready. I'm getting prepped to do a re-read of her Dublin Murder Squad series. 

What I'm Watching

I tend to only watch comedies. I don't like watching most dramas because I don't like feeling anxious. Or crying. Like, I'm not getting into This Is Us because I paid $25 for this mascara...we're not doing tears. 

ABC canceled Single Parents, because ABC cancels the comedies I love (Happy Endings anyone?) So at the moment I'm only watching What We Do In The Shadows by FX and when it's on, Brooklyn 99. National Geographic has a new Egyptology show that I might watch. I like stuff like that and the History channel used to be semi-decent for it but then they started going downhill (I didn't even watch Shark Week this year). Anyway, that show is called Kingdom of the Mummies (and has links to the Egyptian Department of Antiquities, so there's hope there).  I'll be honest, when National Geographic had ties to Fox I tended to ignore them because Murdoch is mostly a tabloid hustler and brings down the content of anything he touches (to the gutter) but now they're owned by Disney (mostly). Is the mouse better? I would say yes. At least the gutter is cleaner. 

I said what I said. 

There's a new documentary on Netflix about Epstein. I don't know if I'm totally sold on Netflix's documentaries because they tend to be highly entertaining but heavily slanted or missing important facts. Like, they don't always meet the standards that I'd prefer for my docs. Netflix doesn't care about me though and obviously I might be in the minority. I rolled my eyes through Tiger King as it seemed super obvious that the documentarians let the story get away from them. No props from me. Anyways, I hope we can all agree that Epstein is and was a trash person. I know everyone is keen on who he might have been blackmailing etc but I'm obsessed with the Victoria Secret's connection. It's just odd. The documentary or series is called Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich. Some of his victims are involved with this project so I hope it goes well for them. 

​The other thing I've watched which has changed my life recently (not dramatic--it's been amazing) is Jamie Genevieve's makeup brush cleansing process. I tried it out this last go round and my brushes are cleaner than they've ever been. I've used brush mats and eggs and double washed with an oil remover and regular brush wash. Her process got my brushes clean. Jamie is a make-up artist in Scotland. Which is originally why I started watching her. I wanted to get used to the accent before I moved over. Her tip went kinda viral so I saw it before I sat down and watched her whole video. I mean, it's on Cosmo...

If you want the quick and dirty, her 36 second TikTok clip is also on Twitter (via her page). The whole video (with her lovely accent) is around 19.30 minutes. She's just cleaning her brushes and her make-up room etc. I'll link it below. Her Youtube channel is linked here.

What I bought (Update!)

I did a gel polish with my cobbled together kit. I'm on day three and there is only one chip. Granted, I think the only chip was because I messed up while painting. I followed the directions that I saw on various Youtube channels. I think if it all goes well I might do a post on it (maybe). Basically I prepped my cuticles, prepped my nail bed, used a base coat and a top coat. For the actual color I used one I already had. You can get specialized gel polish but I wasn't that worried about it. The top coat seems to be the biggest factor for longer lasting polish (for me at least). That's exciting at least. I'm going to see how long this lasts. My goal was mostly to keep polish on longer than a day--so success! Next time I'll be a lot less messy and clean up as I go. 

I've been loving my latte glasses from Macy's. I also like my espresso glasses from them as well (they're espresso size) but I use them for really flavorful tea where I don't want a huge cup. For example, heavily fragrant or fruity versions. I am missing a spoon so I should probably let Macy's know in case they have an extra one but to be honest I'm not too fashed. I have a bunch of tea spoons as it is and I don't really use it for small pours like that. I do want the normal sized wave glasses...just for aesthetic reasons. I don't need anymore tea cups. I only want the cups as I don't love plates like that (I have had some in the past). We shall see! 

It's by Villeroy and Boch and I've wanted the drinkware set for awhile so since there has been a few sales I went ahead and bought some. 

What I'm listening To

I'm still listening to Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend. I'm catching up on episodes (I just finished the one with D'arcy Carden who plays Janet in the Good Place). I started a new (to me) podcast today though. It's called Monster: The Zodiac Killer by iHeartRadio and Tenderfoot TV. It's okay so far but the background music is too loud for me. The voice of the host is soft and peaceful (great for the subject matter) and sometimes blends into the music. Sometimes, when the music is gone/background noise gone) his voice seems so much louder. I'm not as up to date on Zodiac...or even how these murders/attacks are connected. Every time I see or hear something, evidence emerges or the story seems to change. It's pretty scary though. I'll see how this podcast shakes out. 

I put this in the listening category although I suppose it's more watching but it's the ASMR type cooking videos on Youtube. The focus isn't on the cook but on the food preparation and cooking process. It's pretty quiet otherwise and usually has soft light. Most of the channels seem to be in Korea or Japan so maybe it's more trendy in that area? Or maybe YouTube has decided I have an Korean cooking fetish. I don't know! It's all gravy.