You're Outta Control.

Ever since my last BB post, I've been thinking about my obsessions. (And why I have so many.) Earlier tonight, I was watching CSI and a breeze wafted through the open sliding glass door. It smelled like Pullman in the summer -- like crisp, dry wheat.

It's so hard to describe scents, isn't it? It's tragic, too, because it's tedious to try and describe something solely with similies. Something always smells like something else. Good thing everyone knows what wheat smells like.

Anyway, so I was sitting on my couch and this breeze came into the apartment and I was like "Wow, I really love that." It was kind of a mini-epiphany. It's never really occurred to me how much I love the smell of Pullman in the summer. Maybe it was because a tiny part of me remembered this is my last summer here. Maybe it was just the right time, and place, and state of mind for me to realize, "Oh yeah, that's marvelous."

Then I went and got all obsessed with it.

So I was like, okay, I'm just going to write about this. Then maybe it'll all get out of my system and I can go about life like a normal person, instead of running around and pouring love into a squirrel splayed out on a fence slat or a scarf around the neck of some girl because I feel so much love and desire and passion for stuff. It's not that I'm exorbitantly materialistic or anything, I just enjoy looking at things. I enjoy smelling, touching, getting involved. Must be the Taurus in me. So, I'm going to put it all down for you to read and maybe you'll be like, Hey, I'm obsessed with that, too! Or maybe I'll inspire you to write your own list!

My Unofficial & Incomplete List:

The smell of Pullman in summer. Duh.

Look Ma, New Hands lotion from Bath & Body Works. I feel like, somehow, I should save this for later in the list because I adore it so much. Like how the best song on a CD is never the first track. But I gotta get it out: I'm obsessed with this shit!

I am a compulsive lotion purchaser. On more than one occasion, I have stepped back, surveyed my bedroom and bathroom, and thought, "This has gotta out of hand." But have I ever stopped? Nooooo. I buy way too many lotions because they smell good, because the bottle is pretty, they're on sale, they are thick like butter. But I always hate them for some other reason: the bottle is too big, they are sticky or greasy, they wash off too easily, I get sick of the scent.

But then I found Look Ma, and it was like all was right in the world of my hands. First, this shit is expensive, so you know it's good. Just kidding. Seriously, I love it because it isn't greasy. As long as you use a reasonable amount (which is a teeny bit because it goes a long way), it just soaks right into your skin, and stays there for hours. Reapplication is hardly necessary (unless you wash your mitts). It's not oily or slimy or anything! I don't ever get it all over my steering wheel! It's got paraffin in it, so it's very spa-like to use. That's a horrible description, but you know what I mean. ...Right?

It also smells marvelous, and the scent isn't too overbearing. One of my favorite memories goes like this: I was at breakfast with Tony and his family and I whipped out one of my teeny, 1 ounce tube of Look Ma. Tony's dad started sniffing around and was like, "What is that?" I kind of got embarrassed and said, "Um, my lotion?" He asked to see it, I handed it over, he sniffed it, and was like, "It smells really good! Kind of citrusy." Yeah! Then he asked, "Can I use some?" HA. HAHAHAHA. I was like hellz yeah, dude! It was so adorable and made me supremely happy.

Also from Bath & Body Works (I spend way too much money there)... Wallflowers! These are THE BEST way to make your home smell pretty. If you don't know, Wallflowers are little wall plugins that heat up and diffuse the oil contained in a screwed-in little fragrance pod. (Who knows what they're actually called??) Candles suck in comparison to what a Wallflower does for a room. The tops of the normal diffusers, which are part of either the Signature Collection or Slatkin & Co., quite literally look like a flower:

But that's a little too foofy for me. I prefer the White Barn New York diffusers, such as that which is pictured above. And Vanilla Coconut is the best. When I lived alone and was having compy troubs as well as getting oodles of shipments of books from Amazon and Bedford/St. Martin's, I became amigos with the DHL guy. And every time he came by, he was like, "It always smells so good in your apartment!" And it was always Vanilla Coconut. (I really like Sensual Amber as well [ooooer], but VC is most delicious.) This is one of the perks of being a girl, I believe: everything around us always smells good. Except, you know, after you go to the gym. But that doesn't count.

Bare Minerals, ya'll. I am ashamed to admit how long I lived in other makeups. I can't believe I didn't just try this stuff like 6 years ago when I was first introduced to it. It baffles me to know that every woman in the world does not wear this stuff.

It's a powder that you use as a foundation. AND a concealer! Yes. It IS as good as everyone says. Believe the infomercials. (I know, I never thought I'd say that, either.) It IS inexplicably creamy for a powder. You really CAN sleep in it. In fact, I believe Toria does, every night, and she has fabby skin. If you are thinking about buying this stuff... DO IT. And for God's sake, get the little, special, kit thinger that they show on TV. You can order it online, too. It comes with that how-to video which is very exciting if you've never used Bare Minerals before. My favorites: I love the Handy Buki brush (whose name makes me laugh, and I can't figure out why). I also love Warmth. It's amazing what that stuff does for your complexion. If you are a girl who wears makeup and you have no idea what I'm talking about here... shame on you.

This is a tank made by Rubbish that you can buy at Nordstrom. They are even longer on me then on this girl since I am like 5 inches shorter than the shortest model. But I love them for their length, and they are so comfy. They are all cotton and don't have any stretchy shit in them (like the BP camis which I also own loads of but don't love quite as much) and I pretty much wear one every single day ... and they are getting effing discontinued. MAD. DAMN YOU, RUBBISH.

MAC eyeshadows. I know people are always shilling for their favorite makeups and people that don't use MAC generally say that MAC is reserved for drag queens and their ilk. I wholeheartedly disagree. Sometimes I hear that "normal" people, in their "everyday" makeup routine, don't need an eyeshadow as highly pigmented as MACs. Again, I say No, because I want my eyeshadows to be the same damn color on my eyelid as it looks in the pot. I want to be able to dust on a bit of color or, if I so desire, add a couple layers and smudge it with my finger and look like I have two of the chicest black eyes in town. It's so frustrating to spend money on makeup and then get it home and realize you're basically putting pixie dust on your face. If I'm spending money on an eyeshadow, I want people to be able to see my eyeshadow. (And no, I don't make myself up like a drag queen.)

Some of my favorite shades of MAC shadows are:

Paradisco, a "soft bright pinky-coral with golden shimmer." (I often will wear just this, by itself. Okay, with a highlight, too, but still.)

Woodwinked, a "warm, antique gold." (OMG it's soooo pretty.)

Sketch, an "intense burgundy-plum flecked with red shimmer." (This is hands down my favorite shade to wear out at night.)

Goldmine, an "intense gold with shimmer." (I am clearly a fan of what is "intense" and what "shimmers.")

You'll have to keep in mind that the colors do not look the same in real life as they do on screen. In fact, MAC just photographed a crushed version of every type of shadow they sell (I think there are like eight), and then Photoshopped them to resemble each color that is that specific type. For example, Goldmine and Paradisco are both Frosts, and if you look at the photo of each, it's obviously the same shot; only the shade is different. That's okay, I suppose, because it would pain me to think of the MAC people crushing up each and every shadow they sell in order to display them online. Not very economical, either. Also, their way is probably less time-consuming. Just keep all of this in mind if you ever consider buying a shade you've never worn before online. I urge you to test them out first. You just never know.

OPI nail lacquers. One day I want to own, like, every single shade. However, I have two that I seem to love more than, well, all the others I own. (Sorry, other lacquers!) They may look kind of similar in the photos, but they're not. The most they have in common is that they are both a pinky-orange. (Kinda like Paradisco... I am seeing a trend emerging in my beauty products.) But they really are very different looking once they're on.

(By the way, that photo is a promo shot for OPI's India line, of which I own Curry Up, Don't be Late, and I chose it to represent this category of my obsessions because, once, my grandmother was like, "What is that you're wearing?" And I told her and she was aaaaall over it, wanting to buy it for herself, raving about how she liked the subtleness and the way it glittered. I was just like, "Oh yeah, Grams! Rock the gold!" If I would have brought the bottle with me to my grandparents house that time (I don't know why I would have, but for the sake of argument), I'd have handed it over to her right then and there, based solely on her adorable appreciation for the shade. She is so precious.

This is My Chihuahua Bites!

This is a kind of crappy photo (the OPI site doesn't show the bottle anymore!) of Nicole Alert! I guess they're not really that similar, are they?

I bought Nicole Alert! to try and mimic a shade I saw a girl wearing in a video online. It's not the same color, but it's damn close. It'd better be, considering I spent about 20 minutes in that beauty supply store in the Palouse Mall having every sales girl help me find my perfect shade... which was so sweet of them, since they had NO idea what I was looking for. I just kept going, "That's too orange. It's not bright enough. It needs to be pinker."

It probably isn't coincidence that two of my favorite shades end in an exclamation point. 

   

In case you're wondering, this is Curry Up, Don't Be Late. It's kind of metallic, just a little shimmery. It's very pretty.

Old Navy flops. I buy too many pairs of these every year, but they were SO AWESOME this summer that I bought pretty much every color. Toria said they were very J.Crew-ish this summer, what with the skinny, half-circle-patterned straps.

But they are effing 2 for $5.00. You can't go wrong! You can afford to buy every color! And the way I wear them, I need tons. And I usually buy more when they get gross. I was ooooobsessed with my yellow ones this summer (hence, up there) but when I went to go back later and get more, the store was sold out. Of course. I also stopped once Toria was like, "Lauren, you're ridic!" It was jocular with just a touch of sincere concern for my compulsive flop purchasing. So I haven't bought any more. Well, after the "1 pair, 1 dollar" day. I will just have to make do with what I have, which includes a pair of flops that were at one time yellow and now look like dishwater. At least they look all right when they're on.

Next obsession: Italicizing for emphasis. This really just hit me, just now. I do it a lot. I have to consciously not do it in academic writing. Hope it doesn't annoy you!

My Macbook. This is one of my most precious possessions. My dad bought it for me as a graduation/congrats-on-getting-into-grad-school gift. In fact, he gave me a congraDulations card with a piece of paper inside that said something like, "This coupon good for one laptop of your choice," and he drew a little picture of a laptop. He's so cute.

I am totally an Apple fangirl. It's kind of sick. Like, I use iTunes even though it sucks. I guess I kind of have to, since I own three iPods. I'm obsessed with Leopard. Hands down, my favorite feature is Quick Look. I could not live without it and when I saw the keynote for Leopard, I knew it was going to be the feature I used the most. True. I looooove typing on my Macbook. The learning curve was kind of steep when I first got my MB, but now it's significantly harder for me to type on a regular keyboard. (Not impossible, I just can't go as quickly without making spelling errors.) I recently started using Pages, because Microsoft Word sucks so hard. I wouldn't be able to teach if I didn't have my laptop (and the appropriate cables and adaptors and whatnot). This is part of the reason I am iiiiiiiRATE that I got put in effing SLOAN. Sloan?! C'mon! Have you a-holes in French Ad met me?! Clearly not. Good thing Jerri, the world's best academic coordinator, is pushing everyone to get me moved. (Fingers crossed for 1st floor Avery.) Yes. I adore my MB.

Is this list long enough? I feel like I have surpassed the point where people will stick with this post because they are genuinely interested in what I have to say. I realize this turned out to be probably incredibly dull for any boy that stumbles upon this blog post. Unless you really like me, or like reading long-winded blog posts (which, admittedly, I do. Especially if I've got a cup of coffee.), I'd be surprised if you made it this far and therefore, I'm going to end my list.

For now. (Dun dun duuuuuuuuuuuuun.)

There is undoubtedly so much more I could add, but I really need to get to the gym before, like, 2:00 rolls around. I need to get in the habit of being responsible and productive again since school is starting shortly. Last year in Pullman. I'd better enjoy this summer while it lasts.