The Oddity of Dreaming...

    This past weekend I lost a family friend to a long battle with cancer. It sucks. And I'm sad, even though I'm thankful that she is no longer suffering.
    The reason I bring this up is that last night I dreamt of her in the most realistic dream I've had in a very long time.
     Actually, I rarely dream.
     So the fact that I not only dreamt, but envisioned an opportunity to see her again, is, I feel, more than coincidental.
    But I can't help but wonder if I dreamt of her because she was on my mind, or if it was an odd almost supernatural meeting, something beyond explanation. Maybe this is the fantasy writer and movie enthusiast in me, but it was almost like she came to see me to say goodbye.
    The dream was that we were at a nice restaurant, sitting at a table lit by candlelight. Red table cloth, black linens, bone china. We were the only people in the restaurant. She didn't speak. Only I did. And in this one-sided conversation, I had the chance to tell her how much she meant to me and how much she was loved. In the conversation, I had the chance to tell her goodbye, a chance that I didn't have with her while she was here.
     I know it sounds crazy, but as someone who doesn't often dream, to have a dream of such a lucid and realistic nature seems even more odd than believing it was simply coincidence.
     So, what do you think? Are dreams only manifestations of our subconscious, or could they possibly be more? Legend indicates that the veil between the physical and metaphysical, the living and the spirit-world, is most transparent during sleep.
    Maybe she really did just stop in for a visit.
    Or maybe I'm just wishing she did.

Photo Credit: Kohei Nawa
(http://www.designboom.com/art/kohei-nawa-forms-a-cloud-like-landscape-made-of-foam-12-08-2013/)

These Are a Few of My Favorite (MAC) Things...

    I have been employed by MAC Cosmetics as both a freelance and a permanent artist over the past two and a half years. I love their company. I love their products. I feel like to be a MAC Artist is a coveted position, one that garners a fair amount of clout and prestige. And I have been lucky to be a part of their organization. 

      With that being said, I am sad to report that I put in my two week notice last week and will be working my last shift as a permanent artist for MAC this Friday. As much as I have loved the job and loved my MAC family, it has been a hard adjustment for me to make in terms of retail hours versus the regimented schedule of a full-time teacher. After being a teacher for the last eight years, I have grown accustomed to a regular schedule, spending holidays with my family, and enjoying weekends with my friends. Retail is SO not that life. I have more respect than ever for retail workers. We (they) are required to work 'round the clock, year round, on holidays, after hours, every weekend, etc. It is a hard schedule to keep, especially if one is used to the opposite of that. And it is for that reason, along with a few others (to be divulged in time), that I feel that it is time for me to leave. 

    But as I said, I have learned SO much over my time with MAC. I have been blessed with an awesome work family who has kept me laughing and growing through the good times and the bad. I have learned a ton of business knowledge - things about marketing, merchandising, bookkeeping, inventory, mix of business, scheduling, etc. This was a world about which I knew very little, having had no prior experience in retail and no courses in business. Now, hoping to venture into business myself (more info to come) I have learned some valuable and useful skills that will help me run my business more effectively. 

    Okay, so enough of that. My main purpose in writing this post is to share with everyone some of my ALL-TIME FAVORITE MAC products. To be clear, I am not being paid by the company for this promotion, these are truly just my opinions about products that I love from a company that I adore. 

1. Prolongwear Paint Pots:

I tell my clients every day that this is single-handedly my favorite product at counter. And here's why. First of all it's a cream shadow that can be worn on its own. One swipe and boom, out the door you go. But even better than that is that it is 15 hour wear, water and sweat resistant, crease-proof eye shadow that makes for the most AMAZING shadow primer I've ever seen. (Especially the opaque, matte colors.) The translucent shades are nice but I prefer the opaque colors because they have greater color payoff and they neutralize any discoloration in the lid. That's I think the characteristic that most shadow primers lack. Most are completely transparent and thus, the eye lid tone (which most often carries shades of blues, purples, and reds because the skin is so thin) competes with the eye shadow color. So instead, if you use a neutral matte shade like Soft Ochre, Painterly, or Layin Low on the lid first, it enables you to use less shadow and it displays the truest color of the shadow. Lastly, I love that it really helps the shadow to stay on all day! Any time you seal a liquid or a cream product with a powder product, it elongates its wear-time. This product is what enables me as a makeup artist to makeup a face at 10:00am and feel confident that it will stay for a party at 7:00pm. 

    What's not to love about that?!?!

2. Cleanse Off Oil - 

  

This is my favorite face cleanser/makeup remover. Personally I have dry skin so I love how moisterized it leaves my face and neck. But it is even great for oily skin as well! I know that sounds crazy, but the science behind it is similar to that of oil-cleansing, which has been getting a lot of hype lately. Basically, if you have oily skin, you do not want to strip your skin of oil or else you skin will fight to just produce more. So if you keep your skin hydrated, your oil levels (ideally) will balance better. 

    For me I love it because it starts as an oily consistancy, which I use to rub away my eye makeup, even the tough to remove, waterproof kinds. I mush that around my eyes and on my whole face to loosen everything up and then I wet my hands and rinse it off. The cool thing about it is that once it mixes with the water the consistency changes to a milky white liquid and that oily slip disappears - like magic! Then I just lightly towel off my face and voila, clean, moisturized, glorious skin!

3. Prolongwear Eye Liners -

    I have leaky eyes and terrible allergies so when I say I've tested out a hundred different eye liners, I ain't kidding! This is by far the best for staying power. It is safe for the waterline (the inside rim of the eye) and boasts 6 hr wear on the waterline and 12 hr on the skin. It is water resistant and sweat resistant and I love the intensity of the color! My favorite is Definedly Black, Mac's blackest black pencil. So long raccoon eyes!

4. Matchmaster Foundation - 

This is the foundation I keep in my makeup kit for when I freelance and do event makeup, like weddings, proms, and photo shoots.  The reason I love it (and I've heard dozens of my clients agree) is because it has nice coverage but has a great natural matte finish. I have so many clients that are thrilled to have such a flawless coverage without looking cakey and fake. I love that it is not broken down by tone due to its true-tone, self-adjusting technology (brilliant I tell ya!). It makes finding your shade so much easier. 

5. Harmony Blush - 

This blush is pure magic. It is a beautiful matte, brown toned blush that is a PERFECT contour for light-medium shades. I do not leave the house without wearing this blush. Bonus: it is also a beautiful neutral eyeshadow color! Versatile and awesome!

My Running List of Audiobooks...

Since I am in the car A LOT and don't have as much time to read as I would like, I decided to try my hand at audiobooks and have been LOVING IT! So I want to keep a running list of the books I've read, more as a reminder to myself than any thing else. (Listed in no particular order.)

1. Macbeth - Shakespeare (narrated by Alan Cumming) (Play)
2. The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith (Mystery)
3. Eragon - Christopher Paolini (YA)
4. Leaving Time - Jodi Picoult (Contemporary Fiction)
5. The Storyteller - Jodi Picoult (Contemporary Fiction)
6. Testimony - Anita Shreve (Contemporary Fiction)
7. Horns - Joe Hill (Horror)
8. The Snowman - Jo Nesbo (Horror)
9. NOS4A2 - Joe Hill (Horror)
10. Fated - Alyson Noel (YA)
11. The Silent Wife - A.S.A Harrison
12. Big Girl Panties - Stephanie Evanovich (Women's Fiction)
13. If You Ask Me (And Of Course You Won't) - Betty White (Memoir)
14. Black God's Kiss - C. L. Moore (Fantasy)
15. Guts - Kristen Johnston (Memoir)
16. Murder on the Orient Express - Agatha Christie (Mystery)
17. Dark Lover: Black Dagger Brotherhood - J. R. Ward (Romance)
18. Darkly Dreaming Dexter - Jeff Lindsay (Crime Fiction)
19. The Maze Runner - James Dashner (YA)
20. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald (Literary)
21. The Silver Linings Playbook - Matthew Quick (Humorous Fiction)
22. A Discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness (Contemporary Fantasy)
23. Outlander - Diana Gabaldon (Historical Romance)
24. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins (YA)
25. Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins (YA)
26. Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins (YA)
27. Firefly Lane - Kristin Hannah (Contemporary Fantasy)
28. Caught - Harlan Coben (Mystery)
29. The Alchemist - Paul Coelho (Fantasy)
30. The Road - Cormac McCarthy (Post-apocalyptic Fiction)
31. Dear John - Nicholas Sparks (Romance)
32. The Lucky One - Nicholas Sparks (Romance)
33. The Last Song - Nicholas Sparks (Romance)
34. Cinder: Book One of the Lunar Chronicles - Marissa Meyer (YA) *nab
35. Scarlet - Book Two of the Lunar Chronicles - Marissa Meyer (YA)
36. The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova (Fantasy/Horror)
37. The Other Boelyn Girl - Philippa Gregory (Historical Fiction)
38. If I Stay - Gayle Forman (YA) *nab
39. Delirium - Lauren Oliver (YA)
40. Pandemonium - Lauren Oliver (YA)
41. Requiem - Lauren Oliver (YA)
42. Just One Day - Gayle Forman (YA) *nab
43. Just One Year - Gayle Forman (YA) *nab
44. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - J. K. Rowling (YA)
45. Vision in White - Nora Roberts (Romance)
46. UR - Stephen King (Sci-Fi)
47. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Johnathan Safran Foer (Contemporary Fiction)
48. Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography - Rob Lowe (Memoir)
49. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? - Mindy Kaling (Memoir)
50. One Good Dog - Susan Wilson (Contemporary Fiction) 
51. The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman (YA)
52. Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton (Sci-Fi)
53. Will Grayson, Will Grayson - John Green (YA)
54. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - Michael Chabon (Historical Fiction/Speculative)
55. Misery - Stephen King (Horror/Thriller)
56. We Were Liars - E Lockhart (Contemporary Fiction)
57. Eleanor & Park - Rainbow Rowell (YA)
58. Paper Towns - John Green (YA)
59. Yes, Please - Amy Poehler (Memoir/ Nonfiction)
60. Mockingbirds - Chuck Wendig (Urban Fantasy) *nab
61. Missing You - Harlan Coben (Mystery) 
62. Caught - Harlan Coben (Mystery)
62. The Martian - Andy Weir (Sci-Fi)
63. Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights - Salman Rushdie (Fantasy)
64. Cartwheel - Jessica Du Bois (Contemporary Fiction)
65. Bossypants - Tina Fey (Memoir/Nonfiction)
66. Love Life - Rob Lowe (Memoir/Nonfiction)
67. The Shack - William Paul Young (Christian Fiction)
68. The Identicals - Erin Hilderbrand (Women's Fiction)
69. The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt (Literary Fiction) 
70. The Identicals - Elin Hilderbrand (Women's Fiction)
71. The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins (Thrilled)
72. Me Before You - Jojo Moyes (Women's Fiction)
73. Paris for One - Jojo Moyes (Women's Fiction)
74. The Paying Guests - Sarah Waters (Women's Fiction)
75. The Shack - William Paul Young (Contemporary Fiction)
76. Heartless - Marissa Meyer (Young Adult)
77. Truly Madly Guilty - Liane Moriarty (Contemporary Fiction)
78. How to Stop Time - Matt Haig (Contemporary Fiction)
79. A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle (Young Adult)
80. Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology - Leah Remini (Non-Fiction)
81. My Life in France - Julia Child (Non-Fiction)
82. The Magicians - Lev Grossman (Urban Fantasy)
83. Geekerella - Ashley Poston (Women's Fiction)
84. Where She Went - Gayle Forman (Young Adult)
85. The Best of Me - Nicholas Sparks (Women's Fiction)
86. Into the Water - Paula Hawkins (Contemporary Fiction)
87. Perfect is Boring - Tyra Banks (Non-Fiction)
88. I'll Be Gone in the Dark - Michelle McNamara (Non-Fiction)
89. Kitchen Confidential - Anthony Bourdain (Non-Fiction)
90. Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore - Matthew J. Sullivan (Contemporary Fiction)
91. The Good Daughter - Karin Slaughter (Contemporary Fiction)


*nab - not audiobook

A "Life-Sharing" Moment...

Aside from working like a fool, much to my dismay, I haven't really been doing a lot. I work as a makeup artist during the day and on the weekends and teach as an Assistant Professor of Foundational Writing at night. Pretty exciting, eh?

Long story short, I haven't had many blog-worthy experiences to speak of over these past few months. Except for the other day. 

I had a day off and decided to spend it in Princeton, having some lunch, walking around the shops, and doing a little writing on campus in the brisk fall air. I went to lunch at the BEST Indian restaurant ever called Cross Culture. (If you ever get a chance to go, GO! It is Ahhh- MAAAZing!) At lunch, I brought my iPad and earbuds to do some reading while I ate. I wasn't looking for a friend, a conversation, a pal... I was looking to eat my lunch, in quiet, with my book. So when a small, old, Indian man sat alone at the table three inches from mine, I smiled politely and then returned to my book.  Every so often he would say something to me, and I would respond politely, yet briefly, and then resume my reading. He told me that he came to this restaurant every week with his friends and they sat at the big table in the corner. He told me that he had lost his wife last year and that they had been planning a big trip to Australia before she had gotten sick. He told me that he didn't order off the menu and instead the chef made him a special item because he was such a regular at the restaurant. 

When his food came out he turned to me with the cutest little smile and a twinkle in his eye and asked if I would like to try some of his dish. I politely refused - not because I didn't want to try it, but more because I felt a little odd digging my spoon into a stranger's meal. But when I declined he looked at me and said that he insisted and fixed me a little plate. And as he handed it over to me and I thanked him, he looked me straight in the eye and said, "No need to thank me. Life, my dear, is meant to be shared." 

I smiled and truly appreciated his gentle eyes and his toothy grin. His adorable face, paired with his generous offer, immediately made me tear up. I tried to hide from him the fact that his little pearl of infinite wisdom had made me so emotional. Here I was trying to disconnect from the world and from others and it took a chance encounter with a stranger to reminder that that's not what life's about. 

This encounter reminded me that some of the greatest chance encounters I've ever had happened when I was dining alone. I would start my meal alone and then would end up making a new friend. It happened several times when I was living in Europe, and I allowed it to happened there because, in my mind, I was on "adventure" and that's what adventurers do! But why did it need to be different just because I was home and living in the land of the familiar? Maybe this was that way to infuse some newness into my ordinary and routine life! By stepping outside of my comfort zone, by opening myself up to something different, something outside of my expectations, maybe I'd be pleasantly surprised that life isn't all that ordinary or routine. 

Afterall, Pruesh, my Indian friend is right - "Life is meant to be shared."

Where'd the "Adventure" Go?

     I've been home from London now for longer than I was there, which is kinda unbelievable to me. And life's definitely been a little hum-drum since my return. I've settled back into a life of working, commuting, writing when I can, and you know, just daily crap that isn't all that fun. So sadly, I haven't had any adventures to report. However, I think I am realizing that I need to make more of an effort to infuse adventure into my everyday life since it is more likely that I'll be committed to the daily grind of work and life at home as opposed to jet-setting across the world. Travel is amazing. But I can't wait to only have adventures when I plan them or when I'm away from home. Everyday should be an adventure in some capacity. It's hard because we become complacent and comfortable to just do what we need to do and have that be the end of it, but we should all make a greater effort to try to do something awesome every single day. It doesn't need to be an epic-level-of-awesome, just something new, something different, something that challenges us and helps us to grow.
     I'm really going to try and work on that.

Alright Mr. DeMille, I'm Ready for My Close Up - Bucket List Item #4

     Let me begin by stating (quite clearly), I AM NO MODEL. I don't pretend to be. In fact, it took a bit of coercion to even get me to agree to do the shoot. I'm a makeup artist. I ordinarily hang out on the OTHER side of the camera, but as my bucket list would indicate, it is something I always wanted to do, even if no one but me ever saw the pictures.
     With that being said, my friend Tisha (yes, the one who I worked with on the film) is also a photographer and asked me if I wanted to do a shoot with her. I thought it'd be a good opportunity to shoot some of my makeup and utilize the photos for my portfolio. (Plus, I wanted to see if my hundreds of hours spent watching Top Model would finally pay off. FYI - it didn't! That shit's harder than it looks!).
So here are some of the shots, not many but a few, just so I can show you that I did it.
    I was super self-concious. I was freezing. And I am wildly critical of the shots that we ended up with, but overall it was a really fun time, especially because Tisha and me together is always a recipe for madness and ridiculousness.

Show Business? More like SNOW Business!

     Ok, so as I mentioned, movie making isn't nearly as glamourous as it sounds, but it is especially heinous when it is negative six degrees outside and there is no functioning bathroom on set. Without complaining too much, this experience was literally HELL ON EARTH. The people were great, but the conditions were SOOOO difficult that it made it almost impossible to enjoy. We worked an average of 12-13 hours a day (not including over an hour of travel each way from the set to the hotel) in the freezing cold and without much sleep. Late nights. Early mornings. And if you weren't already aware, I HATE the cold. I am not cut out for it. A few years ago I decided that I'd had enough of the winters of the Northeast and packed up my life and moved to sunny Florida. Glorious beach days in February. Yeah, that's what I was daydreaming about while losing my toes to frostbite on set. I literally had to wear every article of clothing I brought every. single. day. Eww gross. Tisha and I even took a trip over to Goodwill to stock up on sweaters and more layers because we were so friggin cold.
    But as I said, putting ALLLLLL that aside, it was a pretty cool learning experience and the people were pretty fantastic. I had a blast with Tisha (together we are insanity personified!) and the rest of the talent and crew maintained an oddly positive outlook despite the conditions. I think we all had our moments where we were on the brink of short-circuting, but in general, we all hung in there. I learned some valuable lessons about set etiquette and makeup for film and other things and most importantly, I now have my official first film credit! I was also featured in a photo in the Philadelphia Inquirer and on www.philly.com for my work as a makeup artist in the film. So that's cool.
    Below are some pictures from set. Let me warn you, when you are freezing cold and WAITING (which was like 90% of our day), you get a little kookadoo. Hence some of the wacky pictures. Enjoy!
(For legal reasons, I'm not certain about the parameters of how (if I am at all) allowed to mention the title of the film just yet. So I'm going to hold off because I can't quite afford a lawyer if I'm sued. ;)

Noree Victoria on set
Photography Credit: Jennifer Helene Photography 

Krista Robelle as Holly Monroe
Photography Credit: DerekBrad Photography

Yup, that's the sunrising. And I'd already been on set for hours. 

The Crew and Talent at chow time in holding. 

On set in the maze - check out the creepy clown in the background at crafty. Yikes. 

You can't even IMAGINE the weird and creepy shit we found on location.
I guess that's what happens when you film at a fright farm.

Bundled up and still smiling. Or maybe my face just froze that way. Hmm...

It's a little blurry, but that's me and Tish bundled up to our eyeballs trying not to freeze our asses off!

Another creepy clown. We became buds.
He kept me warm during the long periods of waiting.

That's my scared face. 

That's not a person, it's a prop that's hanging in the maze.
I was trying to make the face he's making.  TWINS!

This is why you don't give the prop gun to the makeup girl! 

Yup, shenanigans.  

Kristin and Logan gettin in on the prop gun action!

This is BY FAR my favorite picture ever.
We didn't stage it this way, but the clown over Kristin's left shoulder is HILARIOUS!

Chillin' at montior waiting waiting for 'last looks'.  (94% of my day.) 

Driving to set - at the ass crack of dawn!

Finally indoors! Filming at a cafe for half the day. 

Ooh! That's me in the paper! Right in the middle! 

Me and Tish doing our impression of an eskimo!

This is me, on set. And that foggy mess around me is my ICE COLD BREATH!

Tish made this meme - a picture of us before and after the shoot. Haha.

Ok, so clearly, the cold weather makes people looney.

But it's evident that we did the best we could to have fun and make the best with what we got! 

I'll keep you posted on the progress of the film and when it is expected to drop.