Fashion - Pocketful of Joules

I Saw it On Pinterest: ‘Cat Eye’ Eyeliner

So far in my Pinterest adventures, I’ve tackled a braided bun, made some fire starters, tried to unclog a sink drain, made a t-shirt bag, baked some crappy s’mores pockets and made an awesome blanket scarf.

Well I received a liquid liner in my January Birchbox (review of box coming soon) and had the great thought that I’d use some Pinterest tutorials to try the ‘cat eye’ look. I mean, how hard could it be?

I found two posts that sounded perfect to help me figure it out: 22 Genius Eyeliner Hacks Every Woman Needs to Know and 18 Useful Tips for People Who Suck at Eyeliner. Considering that I use eyeliner on a daily basis, I figured that with these 40 new tips I’d be a PRO!

The girl on the pin is exactly the look that I am going for:

I mean look at her… it’s perfect! And don’t even get me started on the eyebrow jealousy I have going on right now…

So with this exact ‘swoop’ in mind, I readied myself. I read EVERY SINGLE tip in each article. I steadied my hand on my face. I made small dots with the liquid liner and slowly smudged them together. I tried making the liner extend out on a curve… only to realize it was randomly curving down when I stopped pulling my skin tight. I wiped it off with makeup remover and tried it again.

And again.
And again.
Okay, so I got one side done and it’s not TOO awful.

And then, I did the other side.

What the hell just happened here?!
I’m not even kidding when I say that this is literally the best that I could do after trying over and over again.

Even when it seemed like I was doing a good job, I’d back up from the mirror to look and I pretty much looked CRAZY.

I mean, LOOK AT THIS:

Maybe I just need more practice? Like months and months of more practice…

Have you perfected the art of the ‘cat eye’?

All About Comfort: My Favorite Loungewear

One of the fashion/style blogs I follow recently posted suggestions for what to wear when you work from home. I work from home two days a week, so I was excited to find some more comfy-cute options to try.

The blogger’s suggestions included button down shirts, jeans, delicate necklaces and a cool pair of printed shoes.

Can you see me rolling my eyes all the way across the internet?

Who the heck is going to put on a $70 button down shirt and fancy shoes to work from home? I mean, I understand that you want to look presentable if you have a client meeting or skype call or something (even then, you don’t really have to wear real pants…) but REALLY?!

Look, I get it that some people may not want to wear their pajamas all day, but I just can’t see me getting all dolled up for my dog to stare at.

So, I put together a list of my favorite comfy clothes for lounging around the house. Or working from home. Or running out for kid drop off… because they are so cute you can totally leave the house in them if you want.

Click on over to check out the special post I wrote for BlogHer’s Style Section, My 4 Favorite Loungewear Pieces to Get Cozy In, and let me know what you think!

Do you have a favorite “loungewear” item that I should check out? Do you immediately put on pajamas the moment you get home, no matter what time it is?

PS, If you haven’t already, be sure to stop by yesterday’s post and leave a comment to enter to win some gorgeous handmade bracelets!

Musana & a Giveaway

{This is not a sponsored review and Musana has no idea I’m writing about them or giving away an item}

I have a weakness for jewelry with a story.

Most of my favorite pieces of jewelry have some sentimentality involved. When I travel, I tend to buy myself something made locally to remember my trip. I’m obsessed with the whole small batch/handmade aspect of Etsy.

So obviously when I heard about Musana I was immediately intrigued.

The women who make the jewelry work at their workshop in Lugazi, Uganda for a steady salary which helps them provide for their children. The organization provides the women with opportunities to take English classes, business classes, receive financial mentoring and more at workshops throughout the week. They also subsidize medical costs, work to prevent sickness, and give back to the community. You can learn more here.

When clicking around on their site, the necklace that immediately caught my attention was the Bumba necklace ($42).

The beads are made from clay sourced an hour from the Lugazi workshop. The artisans shape each clay bead by hand and then send it to the kiln for firing. After firing, the beads are strung on fishing line and tied up to be painted. The women mix the color and paint each bead by hand. Then, the beads dry for two days before being taken down and strung onto the necklaces.

All that work done by hand results in this gorgeous one-of-a-kind necklace that I just HAD to have. It comes in a bunch of different colors, but I really love the teal.

Pretty, right?
And such a great story too.

Actually, it even had a story in getting to my house. Somehow my beautiful necklace was lost in the mail for so long that the nice people at Musana sent me a second one, along with a trio of bracelets as an apology for it taking so long.

The Festival Bangle bracelets (retail value $42) are a lightweight set of three hand-pounded metal bangles (7.5 inches) locally sourced in Lagazi, Uganda. They are so pretty and I can totally see wearing them stacked together or even adding in a leather wrap bracelet or two.

Ollie likes them too.

While I love the bracelets, I’d actually love it more to give them to one of you! All you have to do to enter to win is leave a comment on this post telling me the story of one of your pieces of jewelry. I’ll use a random number generator to pick a winner on Thursday!

So, what’s your best jewelry story?

2/4/16 Update: The winner of the handmade bracelet set is… Annie Greaves! Congrats and thank you to everyone who shared their jewelry story!

Disclosure: I repeat… this was NOT a sponsored post. I paid for the Musana necklace with my own money. They gifted me the bracelets because my order was lost. I’ll randomly pick a winner on Thursday and post the winner’s name here.