New Blog Address

Bye bye blogspot, hello wordpress.

New address: kkaboodle.wordpress.com

Once We Were Brothers

Amazing book. Don't argue, just read it!

Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner

While I'll use a pencil eyeliner in a pinch and always have one in my bag, my go to move is always either a "gel" or just a dark eyeshadow. I think the pencil is way harder and if you can't draw in a straight line, using a brush is 100 times easier. Gel eyeliners are all the rage now but I'm pretty sure Bobbi Brown was first. They come in colors you haven't even thought of yet and go on so smoothly it'really easy to apply without looking like an idiot. They'll try to sell you the "appropriate gel eyeliner brush" with it but the version that Sephora makes is cheaper and actually a lot better. 

Kate Middleton

I've been saving my ode to Kate Middleton for a while now. It seems fitting to discuss her when there's all this buzz about how she gets her hair blown out 3 times a week. The amount of websites talking about this as if it's a bad thing is insane. She's a PRINCESS. If I were her, I'd have my hair dresser of choice move into the palace and do my hair every single morning (sometimes again in the afternoon if it's especially steamy out). She even goes to the salon herself instead of making them come to her which is so normal I can't even stand it. 

Benetint Lip Balm

My mother always told me that I wasn't "really wearing makeup" unless I had lipstick on. The best I was willing to do was Aquafor because lipstick seemed a bit "mature" for me. Benetint lip balm from Benefit is a happy medium. It's basically Vaseline with a cherry tint. Nothing extreme, just a little pop of color and a ton of moisturizing action. 

I Got Robbed...No Big Deal

Ok, he wasn't wearing a mask but my phone was still stolen. 

Last Thursday, (yes, I needed a week to compose myself before writing this) I was walking to the subway on 7th Avenue when a 14-year old boy ripped my phone out of my hand. At first I tried to stand my ground and not let go. HUGE MISTAKE. He then proceeded to twist it out of my hand anyway and I really would have liked to avoid the wrist injury. 

I'd like to say that I man'd up, chased him down and got my phone back. Unfortunately, I stood on the street corner hysterically crying while he turned around to laugh at me before sprinting off into the crowd. Way to kick a girl when she's down! I immediately went into crazed survival mode. I took the subway to Grand Central and tried to find a payphone. Do you know how to use a payphone anymore? Because I sure don't. $3 worth of quarters later my mother had hung up on me three times because she didn't recognize the number and couldn't understand the crying freak on the phone. Mission failed. Quarterless, teary-eyed I boarded my train home to try to pick up the shambles of my life. 

Yes, yes I know what you're saying. "It's just a phone." Well you can suck it! While I'm unnaturally attached to my phone it wasn't about that. My entire sense of security has been completely shattered. I fell asleep on the train holding my iPad and when it fell a little because I was passed out, I immediately assumed someone was robbing me and jumped out of my seat like a lunatic. 

Moral of the story: keep your phone in your pocket or carry a knife...your choice.

Joan Rivers...An Icon

This woman is amazing! After she stopped hosting the red carpet shows she kind of fell off the map for me but between her shows Fashion Police and Joan & Melissa and her new book I Hate Everyone...Starting With Me, she's back with a vengeance. 

I read her book in a day and a half and laughed out loud the entire time. She's honest and ridiculous and I hope I'm as fabulous when i'm her age!

The Fault in Our Stars

I am not a crier. Just never been my thing. Obviously, there's an exception to every rule but I'm fairly sure a book has never made me cry. Until now. This book was amazing and I'm so glad that my friend Gi told me to read it (even though the crying took place while at work which is less than ideal).

Saving Max

This book combines my deep love with medical and legal story lines. A boy determined to be mental unstable is accused of murder while at a mental institution and his high powered lawyer mother tries to prove his innocence. Could I ask for more???

Girls

By and large, the coolest thing about this show is that it's written, starred in and directed by someone who's my age. I'm barely functional and she has her own show-no fair! 

Hannah-Aside from her hideous "children's book illustration tattoos" is the perfect character. She's funny without trying too hard and just chock full of terrible life decisions that make us all feel better about our own lives. Also, when she fell of Adam's bike I may have laughed for ten minutes and kept replaying it (I'm rude like that). 

Marnie-She's the person every hot mess like Hannah needs to make sure she doesn't end up on welfare and is always wearing clean underwear. She's annoyingly pretty and is clearly far too poised to be part of this little group. Like all "proper" girls, she occasionally has a melt down or does unknown drugs and gets stuck to a pole which only makes her more appealing. 

Jessa-This may be the only character I can honestly say I completely dislike. I've never had much patience for the "free spirit" so it comes as no shock to me that I find her "I'm a citizen of the world" persona to be tremendously irritating. O yeah, and her clothes never match.

Shoshanna-I clearly saved the best for last. She's an obvious favorite just because she's so completely tragic. She accidentally smoked crack, lost her skirt and beat up Ray as if he was the mattress that she learned self defense on. LOVE. 

St. Ives Apricot Scrub

Possibly the only thing I like better than I good scrub is a good CHEAP scrub. Over the years I've learned that there's not much difference between a scrub you buy at a department store and one you get at CVS. The St. Ives Apricot Scrub is both amazing and cheap making it perfect in my book. For years, I overlooked it because it's most often found on the bottom shelf which I generally associate with loser products. Clearly I was wrong since this scrub is gentle yet leaves you feeling super clean!

What's Wrong With Kris?

So we're about two episodes into this season of Keeping Up With the Kardashians and it needs to be said...Kris Jenner is out of control. Let me backtrack...I love this family! I find them hilarious and ridiculous (except for Kim who sucks). I've even allowed for a lot of Kris' madness since she's exactly what I imagine my own mother would be like should I ever get famous. (Especially the part where she almost changed her last name from Jenner back to Kardashian because it was "good for business." aka it got her tables at better restaurants). 

I'm sorry to say, my girl has lost her mind. She's taken her role as momager to the bad place and we need to get her some help. Poor Bruce left home for 2 days as an experiment to see if anyone would care and NO ONE NOTICED! The show has become less about "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" and more about "Who's Going to Throw the Chef Prepared Family Dinner At Kris' Face." 

I miss the Kris from past seasons who worked from home and needed depends. (Naturally she parlayed her bladder issues into an endorsement deal with Poise...so savvy!)

The Real World

Today marks the 20th anniversary of The Real World. To say I love this show and all of its spin offs would be an understatement. It's the original reality show and nothing will ever match it. (I'm looking at you Real Housewives!). Even though it's become more about twenty somethings getting drunk and being inappropriate and less about a passionate and diverse group of people pursuing their dreams and making a statement, I love it just the same (shamefully, I may just love it more!). 

Happy Birthday Real World!

Girl in Translation

Such a good mother/daughter story! 

The Voice

I HATE TALENT SHOWS!!!

That being said, I officially LOVE The Voice! I've avoiding getting sucked into any of these immensely popular talent shows (American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, X Factor...whatever, I hate it). On a whim I started watching the reruns they play on Sundays and quickly became obsessed! 

Now, for the judges. The only time I had ever heard Adam Levine speak was on his ADD commercials so it was a nice surprise to hear him be articulate and shockingly nice. Who knew?

CeeLo is hilarious even though I find the cat he's always petting during interviews to be disturbing. 

Blake (who I didn't know existed before this show) has quickly become my favorite partially because I love his southern drawl and they hinted that he may be drinking "sarsaparilla" while on stage. 

Now for the diva. I've never been a huge Christina Aguilera fan and this show has proved why. I don't understand why she insists on breaking into song mid-speech...you can sing, we get it. I also get that all the judges are dressing in their own "personal styles" but her decision to wear a sparkly coaster as a hat and no bra completely baffles me. It also seems pretty clear that the other judges aren't her biggest fans (probably because she gets paid more). 

Watch Mondays at 8!

Cetaphil

When it comes to "products," I'm the first to admit that I have a serious problem. Of all the things I feel passionate about, face cream was never one of them. They all seem the same to me. I figure as long as you use something, it's fine. A while ago, my dermatologist told me to start using Cetaphil face wash and body lotion because it's supposed to be amazing for dry skin. She's like sixty with smoother skin than me so I decided to listen and have been a fan ever since. Then, last night my mother showed up with a sample of this little gem. Allow me to preface that it's still just face lotion so let's not get too excited. However, it's amazing and even better, CHEAP! For $13 you get a big bottle and it's light but moisturizing. It even prompted me to abandon all my fancier products (I even stopped occasionally stealing my mom's really fancy stuff). It's just that good! 

Nars Tinted Moisturizer

I just love me a great tinted moisturizer! There are a bunch of them that are excellent but this new one one from Nars is hands down my new favorite. It's creamy and you don't have to be an expert to apply it. With this winter's weather going back and forth from hot to frigid so quickly this stuff has kept my face from slipping into it's usual chapped state. 

Definitely worth the investment!

It's a Brad, Brad World!!

Bravo has made a lot of bad choices over the years (namely the whole Real Housewives franchise-sorry, but it offends me) but giving this little Canadian bombshell his own show was definitely a sign of redemption. Just look at him!!!! 

Even though he burned a huge fashion bridge when he ditched Rachel Zoe, he seems to be doing just fine. When I googled him to get that picture he was the second brad to come up in the automatic search thing...right after BRAD PITT. For a guy who made his television debut crying in a corner because he was such a hot mess, I think that's pretty good. 

That's him and crazy Taylor, his former co-worker at Rachel Zoe. She left too but not before nearly crushing Brad's spirit and making him cry on national television...repeatedly. 

Perhaps the best part of Brad's new show is not his antics which I'd grown accustomed to on the Rachel Zoe Project, but getting to experience his boyfriend of ten years, Gary. He originally left Rachel's to "spend more time with his boyfriend" which, at the time, I thought was kind of lame. Now having witnessed Gary in all his glory, I get it. He was a writer for Will and Grace and now Family Guy so not only his he hilarious, but his success has kept Brad from being homeless during his many attempts at being a fashion icon.

This basically sums up their relationship.

Whitney

Finding out Whitney died this weekend was truly devastating. My first concert ever was Whitney Live at Radio City when I was four years old and from then on I was in love. Even when she wasn't the perfect role model, she was always a favorite. If you haven't already, go see The Bodyguard. Aside from Whitney being her fabulous diva self, Kevin Costner is amazing!

The Hunger Games

Let me preface by saying that I'm a sucker for this kind of thing. Harry Potter, Twilight...I was all over it. While The Hunger Games has nothing to do with magic or vampires, I've decided they're in the same category. (Maybe because everyone who tried to convince me to read it gave the argument of "I hate all the Harry Potter/Twilight stuff, but I LOVED this") It's kind of like The Most Dangerous Game meets The Jetsons (they have hover crafts!). 

Love, love, love!

Foster the People

My general stance on music is that I don't really care. I refuse to wear headphones on the train or while walking down the street...just never been my thing. I will, however, pop them in at the gym and at work (we work in cubes and people in my office tend to express themselves loudly...headphones are a must). This isn't so much of a super secret find because Foster the People's new song "Pumped up Kicks" is on the radio at least 8 times an hour but I have to say I'm a little obsessed. Not only are they great but their Pandora station is even better. I've never heard of half these people but I'm officially the girl bopping to her headphones in her cube. 

A Thousand Splendid Suns

I'm pretty sure I read this book a few years ago, but forgot and recently read it again. The author is best known for writing The Kite Runner but I definitely like his second book more. Amazing story about two women living in Afghanistan spanning from about the 1950's to almost the present. 

Definitely worth a look!

Lancome Cleansing Milk

It appears that for whatever reason all the skin stuff I like has unpronounceable French names. For that reason, I shall call this stuff "cleansing milk." If you go to the Lancome counter they'll know what you're talking about so there's no point in being French and fancy about it. With the winter weather being as dry and raw as it is, I'm all about having my skin not crack. My new amazing find is the Lancome cleansing milk. It's milky, silky and amazing. You don't even need to use water which my dermatologist claims is ideal for dry skin. No water you say? I promise it works and you'll feel just as clean. It'll even take makeup off. Get involved!



Shameless

I am beyond excited that Shameless is returning tonight. It basically cemented the fact that Showtime is amazing and HBO's best days are over. I almost refused to watch this show because at some point, I decided that I hated Emmy Rossum. I don't think I even had a reason, I just didn't. I was clearly wrong, and she and this show are amazing! One dad, six kids (I think, they're so many it's hard to keep track) and tons of shenanigans. They're so offensive and hilarious and makes my Sundays a little less depressing. Given that it's Showtime, it's an hour show that actually takes an hour whether you DVR or not but it's so worth the time commitment. 

Some New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year!!! 

Yes, I'm fully aware New Year's was a week ago but it was a busy week so please move on. 

In generally don't love the idea of resolutions a however this year I've decide to make a go of it.

Here goes....

1. I will use or throw out every bottle of shampoo/conditioner/body wash/lotion in my bathroom before buying a new one. I had far too many near death experiences involving the contents of my shower shelf toppling on top of me.

2. Remember why I used to love yoga and start going again.

3. I'm stealing this one from my friend Lexi, but it's a goodie...I would like to start sending cards to my friends. Not an e-mail, text or e-card...actual cards/notes/etc. It was a sad state of affairs when I received several holiday cards this year and realized I had sent out none. To those who send me those lovely cards, my bad and I'll step up my game for next year. (I'm pretty sure this means I get to go out and buy adorable stationary so I'm already excited.)

4. I have downloaded at least 5 "News Apps" on my iPad and am shamed to say that I am much more likely to play words with friends on the train than read about what's happening in the world. This must change. 

5. Finally tell off the creepy old man at spin class who asked my mom out on a date and stares at us mid-class. (Ok, maybe this one isn't the most enlightened but he's really really weird.)

Happy 2012!!