The Daily Puppy!

It's a little bit late for posting but I just had to share this one. A friend from work showed me this website where you can check out daily pictures of adorable puppies. That's right, a whole website devoted to adorable puppies. Isn't that genius? There are also lots of articles on puppies and their care but honestly, I just like the adorableness.

Now we just need a daily kitten and a daily panda and I'll be all set.

Edit: Turns out there is a daily kitten, which you can check out here. No word on a daily panda yet, but I'll keep an eye out :)

Image via The Daily Puppy.

Thursday Bullets

• It's Thursday and I just got done with finals week yesterday. Two tests and one giant paper later, I'm feeling pretty tuckered out. Tuckered out enough to miss blogging for a day and a half, heh.
  
• On the other hand- it's officially summer break for me! I don't have classes or papers or homework to deal with until September! So hopefully you all can forgive me for my sporadic blogging if I promise to throw in a few extra posts over the summer?
• Summer doesn't mean I get to be lazy. Instead, it means that I have to find a (second) summer job stat if I want to pay my rent. I've got my first job interview Saturday afternoon- wish me luck!
• I want an Organic Chocolate Trio from farmsteadorganic's Etsy shop. Organic chocolate fudge goat milk soap, chocolate body balm, and chocolate lip balm. Sounds good enough to eat (not that I'd recommend it).
  
• I have a giant hot fudge sundae in front of me instead.
  
• I just realized that the first ingredient on my hot fudge is not chocolate, as you might expect, but high fructose corn syrup. That can't be good.
• I couldn't come up with a good picture for this post, so I stuck one of a cute girl from The Sartorialist up there. On a related note, I really wish I was as cute/hip/pretty as anyone that makes it onto The Sartorialist.
  
• That's about all I can think about right now (post-exam brain freeze). I'll be back in normal blogging mode again tomorrow though! :)

How has your week been going?

Image via The Sartorialist.

Green Thumb

When I was little, I remember that my grandma helped me make a little square garden right outside of the apartment I shared with my dad. It was my first garden, and we filled it with petunias, marigolds, zinnias, snapdragons, and a couple of massive sunflowers. Flash forward a couple of years, and I got distracted with things like friends and boys, and the garden was filled with nothing but weeds.

Now that I'm older, I've regained my interest in gardening. Unfortunately, there is now nothing outside of my apartment except a parking lot, which isn't very good for growing things. I've been toying with the idea of potted plants, and today I stumbled across several articles discussing that very thing. Coincidence? I think not.

If you've got gardening on the mind, check these out...
Potted Plants 101.
Dummies' guide to shopping at the garden center.
Balcony garden inspiration.
A genius little inside window box idea. (for those of us who only have parking lots outside)

How do you feel about gardening? If you've got an impossible-to-kill potted plant suggestion for me, please share. :)

Both pictures, Apartment Therapy

Fabricadabra!

Aren't these pillows from Fabricadabra super cute? I sort of have a thing for bold, geometric pillows. I have neither the money nor the space for these ones- but in another life, I would totally buy them up :)

If you had more money/space, what's the one home item you would buy?

Images: Fabricadabra

Monday Random List

I can't think of too many intelligent things to say on a Monday after 4 hours of sleep. So here's a bunch of stuff that I've been thinking about instead :)

My walls are feeling a little naked lately, so I've been eyeballing all sorts of art that I'd like to see up there. I love this Red Wattlebird print from Etsy.
Summer is coming, and I am sans air conditioning. I'm going to need more fans (and this vintage one looks way cooler than my ugly plastic dustcatchers).
Whenever I go to Aveda to get my hair cut, one of my favorite parts is the delicious herbal tea they serve there. My only beef is that they only give you a teeny little dixie cup's worth. Now I can get 4.9oz of it (!) off of their website.
They need to make more moisturizers with high SPF. Preferably ones that won't make me look like I dunked my face in oil. This Aveeno one is promising, but it only has SPF 15, which is not going to work for this pasty white girl. The search continues.
In addition to the perfect sunblock, I've been searching high and low for the perfect white casual dress that I can wear with flipflops all summer long. This Modcloth one was in the running because of the cute stripes on the skirt, but unfortunately it's sold out.

All images via their respective websites (see links).

Things to Read (Again): One Sentence Stories

Way back at the very beginning of One Happy Panda I wrote about One Sentence, a website devoted to telling stories in, you guessed it, one sentence. Yesterday I was flipping through some of the "stories" on love and I thought it would be fun to share a few more.

True Love, in a sentence...

"I don't care if your last name is a word for a genital condition, I still love every little thing about you." (romantic?)

"I would have never have met my true love if it weren't for my sudden desire to plant turnips." (so random)

"Our hug may have only lasted for ten seconds, but my smile has lasted for weeks." (I love hugs)

What's your one-sentence love story, if you could write one?

You can check out One Sentence for more single-sentence stories (some are cheesetastic or sort of cliche, but there are definitely some good ones in there).

ThinkGeek: Because we're really all huge nerds inside (yes, even you pretend-cool people)

ThinkGeek is one of those websites I can count on to have lots of funny and sort of genius stuff at any given time. They especially have a great collection of silly office supplies, which I amused myself by flipping through this weekend.

A couple of my faves:
Origami sticky note pads. So you won't feel so bad about the fifty billion sticky notes littering your walls (it totally counts as recycling).

Paper voodoo notepad. For your a-hole boss when he wants to you to come in on Saturday. Again.
And my personal fave, inanimate object stickers. No real use to these, I just think having a face on my stapler might be amusing.

Alright, so they're all pretty silly/useless items (and I'll admit, probably a little immature) but- funny, no?

All images via thinkgeek.com (see links)

20-Minute Workout

I've been trying to get my booty (and everything else!) in shape more lately but time has been a huge issue. With a thesis, two jobs, and classes, it's hard to find the time or energy for working out. Running is pretty easy to squeeze into a day (it takes no time to lace up and head out the door) but strength workouts are a bit trickier because they usually involve, you know, going to the gym. Lately my best friend has been the 20-minute workout over on Real Simple's website. It really does only take 20-minutes and while it's not the most intense workout you'll ever do, it works every body part. It also takes minimal equiptment (weights and a chair) so it's easy to do at home between classes and work, which I love.

What quickie workouts do you know of?

(PS: I'm posting more than once today to make up for a slow week so check out the post below too!)

Image via realsimple.com

If I had lots of disposable income...

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Anthropologie makes some of the cutest dresses ever. All three of these would be great for today (it's in the 70's and sunny!) with cute sandals. I'd also wear the first one, which is more of a tunic than a dress to be honest, with skinny jeans or capris. And I just LOVE the braided straps on the third one.

All images via Anthropologie

Yellow for Spring

I always know it's spring when I start craving pops of yellow every where. It isn't even my favorite color, but I get obsessed with it every year when the weather starts to warm.

From Top:

• Cute girl in an even cuter yellow dress from The Sartorialist (I think this is from last year, or the one before).
• Yellow flowers and a beaker as a vase (and I'm a dum-dum and forgot to mark the source down).
  
• Pops of yellow in a kitchen (via the late Domino).
• Yellow boots (and awesome wallpaper!) via Cup of Jo.

Mini Smellies

Fragrances are fickle things: you never know how they're going to treat you until you try them out for awhile. Which is why when I'm thinking of trying a new fragrance, I usually look for a mini version. They're less expensive, and I can always buy the full size after I run out if I really like it. But honestly, by the time I get through 1oz. of the stuff, I'm usually ready to move on to something new. I guess I'm fickle, too.

I'm considering the 1oz. bottle of Fresh Sugar Lemon, which can be had on Sephora for around $25. I don't wear a lot of perfume when it's warm outside, so this would probably last me most of the summer.

What's your perfume habit: full sized all the way or do you like to try 'em before you buy 'em? Or do you forego the smellies alltogether? (PS: Sometimes I just like to smell like soap.)

Image via Sephora.com- where you can find all sorts of mini smellies.

Surprising Clearance Dresses

I must be in a shopping mood today, given my earlier post on colorful coats and now this one.

But I saw these two dresses while flipping through the interwebs and just had to share, as both are from places I don't normally look for inexpensive dresses.

via urbanoutfitters.com

I love all the cute, hip clothes at Urban Outfitters but I feel like a lot of their dresses are a wee bit overpriced. At $25 (on clearance), though, this pretty Kimchi Blue Graphica dress is a steal. They show it with tights, but I'd wear it with flat sandals on warm spring/summer days.

via Alloy.com

And while I know Alloy has great clearances, I have always thought that they were a little bit teeny bopper for my taste. Then one of my friends suggested I take a second look, and I found this cute metallic stripe jumper. It has a sexy/girly feel that wouldn't look totally out of place on someone outside of Jr. High- and it's on clearance for less than $20.

Lesson learned: keep your options open. You never know where you'll find things you love.

In-Between Jacket

I don't really have an in-between seasons jacket, so pretty much every morning in March/April consists of me trying to decide if I want to wear a coat and be hot or wear a sweater and be cold. This cute hooded jacket might just solve that problem. Plus, how cute are the green and yellow colors? They make me think of spring!

(via Buckle)

Pretty Smelly Things

via The Daily Obsession

Floral perfumes always make me think of beautiful, elegant women. Unfortunately, my skin seems to turn florals into rotten, angry creatures. All the same, I'm thinking of trying out Banana Republic's Rosewood eau de parfum. According to the website it's a mix of "rare florals" and "rich amber," and I think the amber will tame the angry floral. Plus, a mini bottle is only $10- not a huge waste if it doesn't work out.

And how pretty is the packaging? The pink bottle is so simple and pretty that I can just see it on some beautiful, elegant woman's vanity (does anyone use vanities anymore?). Or, you know, my plain wood dresser.

Alright- tell me what fragrances you wear. Florals? Woodsy scents? Plain old soap (don't be ashamed, I am so a soap-smelling person!)? And is anyone as much of a sucker for packaging as me?

Sale Alert!

via Threadless

If you're in the market for funny, artistic, or just plain cute tees head over to Threadless.com for their Spring Cleaning Sale. Tee shirts usually $15-$20 are now starting at just $5. I've written before about how much I love Threadless Tees, and right now I'm coveting the cute little milk and cookies tee above (they're in love!).

As a side note: don't you hate it when you buy something and it goes massively on sale just a few weeks later? That always happens to me, maybe that's why I rarely buy things at full price...

One NICE Website You Should Visit.

If you are having a long, annoying day like I am you should definitely go check out the blog Operation NICE, like, right now. Operation NICE is devoted to encouraging people to be "proactively nice" to others. It is one of my favorite "daily" blogs and I go there every day for a little niceness inspiration in the form of stories and suggestions for nice things I can do in my life. I love having a website to visit that is always upbeat and full of good news about nice people doing awesome things, and I love the daily reminder to be nice to others. Definitely check it out if you get the chance.

What's one nice thing that you have done for someone lately? It can be big or small, just spill!

Spending Hiatus Update: Week Five

There's not a ton to say about the spending hiatus this week, to be honest. I was so busy with classes last week that I didn't have time to hit the grocery store for food, much less go shopping for anything else.

The weekend was better, though I still didn't have any time for illicit shopping. On Saturday, Nathan and I revisited Baja Sol, the burrito place with the amazing salsa bar that I hit up with a friend during week three. It was, once again, delicious. I'm serious, no matter how down and out I'm feeling, a good burrito or some enchiladas will always make me feel better. I'm going to make Burrito Therapy my contribution to modern psychology. Anyway, we also watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest with Jack Nicholson- fantastic movie if you haven't seen it (also an excellent book, but that's a whole other blog topic).

Watch Me: via Wikipedia

On Sunday my dad and his girlfriend Cindy had a Pictionary party which was super fun. It didn't hurt that I came home with a huge bag of leftovers so that I won't be needing to cook for awhile yet. Most college students I know will agree: leftovers are like GOLD.

So really, I didn't have any time to go shopping last week at all. There are a few things that I've sort of been lusting after lately, though...

The Remington Emi Air Wave:

via drugstore.com

According to the ladies over at The Daily Obsession, this little guy will give me soft beachy waves (as opposed to the Chewbacca hair from my last attempt at beachy waves). It is also on sale for $20 *cry* but the fact that I now have short hair has helped me resist the temptation thus far. I'm pretty sure that if I try to get a wave in my thick, short hair, I'll end up with a fro.

Also, I've been really feeling the need for new workout clothes. I've started running and hitting up the gym again because I, uh, live next door to my university's gym, which is free, and I rarely use it. And I know that technically it shouldn't matter if all the other girls there are way cuter in their workout clothes than I am in my ratty tee...but it does. I know I'm there to sweat, but I still want to look good, you know? I've definitely been liking the cute tanks from the Stella for Adidas line:

via shopadidas.com

How cute is this yoga tank? I love the ruffles on the sleeves! Unfortunately, at $75, it's way more than I want to spend on a workout tank (note to self: find affordable workout clothes).

That's about all the temptation I've had lately as far as shopping goes. I've found that resisting little purchases gets WAY easier with time, though I still struggle when I get bored on the weekend. I keep telling myself that if I really want it, I can have it after the spending hiatus is over.

Here's the part where you all advise me: should (affordable) workout clothes count as a necessity or should I let them wait until after the spending hiatus? Technically I have clothes I can work out in. But also technically, they're fugly. Is cuteness a necessity? You decide.

PS: You can check out the other spending hiatus posts here.

Honey Facial Mask Review

via allposters.com

This post is super late today because I had a ridiculously hectic day. Nevertheless, I promised you all a review on my honey facial mask yesterday and here it is.

The concept of the mask was simple: smear honey all over your face, let it dry, wash it off. According to the folks on MUA it would make my skin soft, radiant, even pimple-free. Yes, please! My skin was threatening to freak out on Sunday night after I neglected to wash my makeup off the night before, stayed up late, and downed a bunch of sugar and caffeine because it was Valentines Day, eeps. I decided a calming honey mask might just be what my skin needed.

I started out by washing my face with a mild cleanser. I use Clinique's liquid facial soap in mild but anything gentle should work. I didn't dry my face all the way after washing, since honey on dry skin didn't seem like it would work very well. I was a bit skeptical about how I would like having honey on my face because I thought it would feel really heavy, but it just felt a bit "tight" like most facial masks do. It really helped to apply it with your fingertips in a circular pattern to sort of "massage" it on (think of how they would do it at a spa). I definitely had to pull my hair back for this part, there is no way you want to get your hair in honey, and I would also suggest avoiding the eyebrows unless you want a sticky mess.

After applying I kicked back for 15 minutes until I felt the mask was a little bit "dry" though it was definitely still sticky. You could probably leave it on your face longer, but I was impatient. I hopped in the shower and steamed it up a bit before splashing water on my face and the honey came right off! No huge sticky honey removal mess, which is what I had been really afraid of. I rinsed all the honey off with water, then patted my face dry and dabbed a bit of sensitive-skin moisturizer on my cheeks.

The results when I got out of the shower were really nice, though not earth-shattering. No, my pimples did not suddenly disappear. No, there was not a halo of light emitting from my face. But my skin definitely felt softer and looked more even. I'm not sure about radiant, but it looked less ashey and beat-up. And the best part was that the breakout I was SURE would come never did. Could it be the honey that helped? I think so. It really made my skin look and feel a lot more calm, and sooo soft!

So, in summary:

• Honey is (naturally) a sticky mess, but applying on a damp face will help a lot.
• Wait 15-20 minutes before rinsing, then use lots of water to get it off. I found a shower worked better than hovering over the sink with honey on my face.
• There is little risk of irritation it seems. My skin is somewhat sensitive and it was perfectly fine with the honey, both while it was on and after I washed it off. Some of the ladies on MUA did report reactions though, so definitely wash it off if you feel burning/itching or start to look irritated. Or do a skin patch test first. At any rate, I had no problems and the honey felt like it actually decreased the irritation in my cheeks.
  
• The results probably won't rock your world- but you skin will look a wee bit nicer. And with repeated use? Who knows? It's totally worth the cost of a $3 bear jar.

via mejier.com

PS: I know there was some talk on the internet about whether it was alright to use regular processed honey for this, or if you needed to go organic. My honey literally came from a bear jar like the one above, and was Target brand. Perhaps there are more benefits to organic honey, but I didn't have easy access to any so I didn't bother. The store brand seemed to work perfectly fine. If anyone has tried organic honey and noticed a difference though, definitely share. :)

I Think You're Fat.

Actually, I don't. But I DO think that this article from Esquire Magazine** (from way back in 2007) is really intriguing. The author, A.J. Jacobs, takes on a movement called Radical Honesty in which one is supposed to be, well, radically honest. Say whatever is on your mind, hold nothing back, don't sugarcoat it. The results? Mixed.

When the author confesses to a friend that he was insulted at not being invited to his wedding, the friend confesses that he did it in retaliation for not being invited to the author's wedding years before. Apparently the whole thing was a mix-up: "A breakthrough! We are communicating! Blanton is right. Brian and I crushed some eggshells. We are not stoic, emotionless men. I'm enjoying this. A little bracing honesty can be a mood booster."

But when his wife is telling him a story and he blatantly says he doesn't want to listen anymore? Not such good results. And as Jacobs says: "Ninety percent of the time I love my wife...And 10 percent of the time I hate her. Why should I hurt her feelings that 10 percent of the time? Why not just wait until that phase passes and I return to the true feeling, which is that I love her?"

Which brings up the question: is it okay to be totally honest or are white lies necessary to keep from hurting others? Or even more thought-provoking: are we capable of being totally honest?

I am inclined to say no. As humans, we are designed to have censors that keep us from doing and saying whatever we feel like. Not only does this benefit other people, it benefits us. What happens if you eat whatever happens to look good? You get chubby. What happens if you say whatever you want whenever you want? You destroy social bonds (and occasionally hurt other people). And your brain is always deciding how information is filtered and presented, so chances are the information as you are seeing it isn't even the truth in the first place. At the risk of sounding too New Age-y, there could be no literal "truth" to tell.

When Mr. Jacobs tells his twenty-seven-year-old nanny that he would ask her out if he wasn't married and that she is "stunning," he confesses that it visibly makes her nervous. Um, yeah, you're hitting on someone who works for you. Sexual harassment much? But Brad Blanton, the founder of Radical Honesty, states that sex talk in the work place doesn't count as sexual harassment and it is society's inability to handle the truth that's the real problem.

Here's my bit of honesty for the day: I think Brad Blanton is an idiot who, despite being called a "psychotherapist" has clearly never actually studied psychology.

What are your thoughts? Think you could be radically honest for a day? A month? Your entire life?


**I don't happen to read Esquire magazine on a regular basis, the article was just something I stumbled upon. However, if you happen to be female and up for a few good laughs, I highly recommend that you read some of the things the mag has to say about women because they can be hilariously innaccurate. Are women's mags that inaccurate about men? Hmm...

A Hairy Topic

I am getting a haircut tomorrow and I've got no clue how I want to do it. I might just keep it safe and just refresh the style I have now (long and layered).

But if I were going to make a major change, here are some of the styles I'd be considering:

Via the Glamour website

Long with bangs. I had bangs last year and loved them but Nathan hated them and I hated trying to make them lie flat every.single.morning. They were cute though- and I like the little "pieces" beside the bangs above.

confession: I forget where I got this picture

I'm not sure what you call this...a layered bob of sorts? It's very similar to the Steven Alan hair (below).

The Steven Alan hair I mentioned a while back- shorter and messy.

via totalbeauty.com

Anne Hathaway's long bob (lob?) is too cute- I like that it is a little messy to keep it from looking boring.

Feel free to vote on which is the best- perhaps I will change my mind and try something different tomorrow after all :)