Beach Day

bag | hat | glasses | towel | suit | shoes

In all likelihood, I will not see much of the beach this summer (oh hey beach, why oh WHY must you be so far away from DC?). But if I were to go, this is basically what you'd see me wearing. Well, maybe not exactly, because let's be honest: who spends $50 on a beach towel? But you catch my drift.

The beach is one of my favorite places on earth. There's just something so wonderful about it. Add in a warm day, good book or magazine, some sunglasses and a hat, and you've got my ideal summer day. 

Who in DC wants to take a road trip!?

Also, let's have a moment for that Lo and Sons bag. I'm obsessed with their O.G. bag, too, and now I want this weekender. They're so gorgeous and have convenient pockets. Look at the pocket on the bottom for shoes! Love!

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In Love With.... Peter Thomas Roth's Max Anti-Shine Mattifying Gel

Like most people out there, I have combination skin. Unlike most people out there, however, where my skin is oily, it is OILY. As in, 2 hours after I apply my makeup, my t-zone looks like an oil slick. And the shininess is compounded by the arrival of summer and the resulting heat and humidity. So I'm always on the lookout for a mattifying product that works (for the record, most things I've tried that claim to be "mattifying" are not). 
I've been eyeing Peter Thomas Roth's Max Anti-Shine Mattifying Gel for a while now. It has great reviews, both on Sephora and Beauty.com. And I figured it couldn't be any worse than the other products I've tried. Well. Let me tell you, folks. This stuff works. It's a miracle. The bottle is tiny and relatively pricy, but a little goes a long way. The gel, which is less liquidy than I would have expected (the package containing my bottle was caught in the rain and it was super hot and humid, so I'm not sure if this is normal or not), almost immediately mattifies. As soon as you put it on (I put it on after my moisturizer and before primer), it smooths and creates a dry finish. And it lasts! I still have to blot by the end of the day, but the amount of shine is so reduced that I was shocked the first day I wore it. I couldn't stop staring at my face every time I used the ladies' room. 
This is a product I will definitely be buying again.
Do you have oily skin? What products do you use to combat the shine?
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Life

Well, hello there friends! Sorry I've been missing! I've been trying to figure things out, and honestly, blogging has been the last thing on my mind (except when I feel really guilty about not posting, so I guess it's still on my mind a bit). 

Life has been a little crazy lately. As I've mentioned, I bought a bike! Which is awesome. Except outfit photos are the last thing on my mind when I roll up to my house in the evenings a sweaty mess. Sweat + gym clothes does not a pretty picture make. I'd take photos in the mornings, but let's be honest. I'm never on time. Ever. I'm trying to figure out how to continue with the outfit documentation, but in addition to being sweaty all the time, I haven't felt inspired by my closet in ages. I want to throw everything out and start fresh. Alas. 

I've also been struggling with feelings and trying to live a happy life. Yes, not all is happy happy joy joy here in MC+M land. My spirits have been low lately, for a variety of reasons. I don't love my job, so I've been on the hunt for a new one. For a year now. With nothing to show for it except a few interviews and then a conciliatory email telling me that I was the second choice, and they would have chosen me if the first choice declined to take the position. Except, museums are a nigh impossible field in which to find a job, so no one is going to turn down a job. While I appreciate that everyone has told me I would have been an excellent choice as well, it gets really discouraging after a while to be told that you're always second best. And for someone as competitive as myself, it makes me really upset. So I'm still applying to things (which is tedious...anyone else struggle to write cover letters?). And waiting. I don't like waiting! 

 

I also don't know where I want to end up. I feel like my life is on hold, and has been since graduating. Which would be fine, if the graduation of which I speak wasn't for my Masters degree. And despite that degree, I still feel like I don't know what to do. Except I'm 26 and feel like I should know by now. And that, if I don't, I already have two degrees and have made my bed and therefore should lie in it. But I know so much more about myself now than I did at 18 or 21 when I made the decisions to get the degrees I did. Or I like to think I do. And if I could go back, I would do everything differently. I don't normally put much stock in regrets (you can't change the past, after all), but I don't like feeling trapped. And sometimes I feel really trapped by my choices. So I'm exploring my options :).

Gah. That was a lot of whining. I'm sorry. I needed to get some things off my chest and to explain and apologize to you all for where I've been. The key, I guess, is to take things day by day. To enjoy the little things, until bigger things - like my job - are better. To find pleasure in everyday life (which I need to work on, because I am an extremist and like the big things and then the little things pass my by). And I have my friends and my health, and family. And a good book or 65. So I'll be fine! And I'll be back!!

 

 

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65 Books to Read in Your Twenties

Books are one of my favorite things, and I always feel like I read the most in the summer. Now that summer has (almost) arrived, I've been planning what books to read. My taste runs the gamut of everything from non-fiction works about the brain to trashy romance novels (I love me some trashy romance novels...don't judge), and I'm always open for recommendations. Whenever I see a news article or list of "must read" books, I save it. So when Buzzfeed published a list called "65 Books You Need to Read in Your 20s," I tuned in. I'm in my twenties. I like books. I just turned 26, so I'm in the last few years of my twenties (can we say GAH?!). Obviously, I need to read them all. So I'm making that my goal for the last 4 years of my twenties. Read these books (except those I've already read). Quite a few were already on my radar as ones to read, but others I've never heard of. I'm excited to challenge myself to this. Hopefully I will learn a little more about myself and others from these books. 

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1. The Emperor's Children - Claire Messud
2. What She Saw... - Lucinda Rosenfeld
3. The Deptford Trilogy - Robertson Davies
4. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
5. Giovanni's Room - James Baldwin
6. A Visit from the Goon Squad - Jennifer Egan
7. The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz
8. Lucy - Jamaica Kincaid
9. The Moviegoer - Walker Percy
10. White Teeth - Zadie Smith
11. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - Michael Chabon
12. Infinite Jest - David Foster WAllace
13. Bright Lights, Big City - Jay McInerney
14. The Namesake - Jhumpa Lahiri
15. Call Me by Your Name - Andre Aciman
16. The Rachel Papers - Martin Amis
17. Song of Solomon - Toni Morrison
18. The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway
19. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro (March 2013)
20. A Home at the End of the World - Michael Cunningham
21. The Sandman Series - Neil Gaiman
22. The Group - Mary McCarthy
23. Quicksand and Passing - Nella Larsen
24. Pastoralia - George Saunders
25. Ready Player One - Ernest Cline
26. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - Dave Eggers
27. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
28. Main Street - Sinclair Lewis
29. His Dark Materials Trilogy - Philip Pullman (2010)
30. Generation X - Douglas Coupland
31. The Fortress of Solitude - Jonathan Lethem
32. Housekeeping - Marilyn Robinson
33. I Love Dick - Chris Kraus
34. On the Road - Jack Kerouac
35. Even Cowgirls Get the Blues - Tom Robbins
36. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World - Haruki Murakami
37. Bossypants - Tina Fey
38. Kitchen Confidential - Anthony Bourdain (2011)
39. How to Lose Friends and Alienate People - Toby Young
40. The Dirt - Motley Crue and Neil Strauss
41. Lunar Park - Brett Easton Ellis
42. Just Kids - Patti Smith
43. Another Bullshit Night in Suck City - Nick Flynn
44. Oh the Glory of it All - Sean Wilsey
45. I Don't Care About Your Band - Julie Klausner
46. Wild - Cheryl Strayed
47. Lit - Mary Karr
48. I'm with the Band - Pamela Des Barres
49. Dear Diary - Leslie Arfin
50. The Complete Poems of Anne Sexton - Anne Sexton
51. Actual Air  - David Berman
52. The Collected Poems of Kenneth Koch - Kenneth Koch
53. Alien vs. Predator - Michael Robbins
54. The Collected Poems of Audre Lord - Audre Lord
55. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris
56. How to Be a Woman - Caitlin Moran
57. My Misspent Youth - Megan Daum
58. Slouching Towards Bethlehem - Joan Didion
59. Up in the Old Hotel - Joseph Mitchell
60. How to Cook Everything - Mark Bittman
61. How's Your Drink - Eric Felten
62. The Elements of Style - Strunk & White (NO!)
63. Letters to a Young Contrarian - Christopher Hitchens
64. Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain - Betty Edwards
65. He's Just Not that Into You - Edward Behrendt and Liz Tucillo

If you're in your twenties (and even if you're not!) and you want to join in, please do! I'll be updating periodically, so please let me know in the comments if you plan to read some of the books too! And you can follow along with me here and on my Goodreads!
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Monticello

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Gettysburg

My parents came down this weekend and we took a couple day trips. It's really nice to see some of the area around DC, and I'm so glad that we can do that when they come for a visit. Gettysburg is really awesome, as is Monticello (more on that tomorrow). 

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Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day, everyone! I hope you're having nice weather (apparently not the case if you're in New England...) and doing something fun! Thank you to all who've served!
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SHAYvorites, 5.24.2013

My birthday is next week. I turn 26. GAH. Where are my twenties going? Why do I still feel like I'm waiting for my life to start? Is that normal? I think it's normal, or at least that's what I am going to keep telling myself!

• Your twenties are hard. But you define them, not anyone else.
• About Me pages are so. hard. to. write. But here are some really awesome tips.
• I love A Beautiful Mess' crafts. Seriously, need to try this one.
• In the sea of bloggers out there, it's hard to know how to stand out. But this handy outline shows you how to ID what makes yours unique! 
• I love scarves. And I need to make this awesome constellation one.
• I wish I had an excuse to wear black-tie gear. Then I'd choose this dress. 

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Bow Tied

As I mentioned before, Friday and Saturday were my brother's graduation ceremonies. This is what I wore Saturday to the all-university ceremony, which was outside. It was gorgeous, but way warmer than I expected, so I was a little bit hot, but whatever.

In other news, my parents are coming down to visit for Memorial Day. Yes, I know, I just saw them, but they hardly ever come down to DC, so when they said they were coming I was pumped! We're (probably) going to go to Gettysburg and down to Charlottesville. I've been to the latter before, but never to a battlefield! They don't really exist in New England, outside of Lexington and Concord, which are not battlefields so much as plaques in the middle of the towns, which have grown since the 1770s. I can't wait to see what it's like, and Gettysburg is such an historic place.

{Top: Gap | Pants: Gap | Shoes: Loft | Watch: Michael Kors | Bracelets: Alex + Ani | Lippie: NARS Schiap}

P.S. - Have you entered my giveaway from Oasap.com yet? You should enter! You can win one of eight adorable items. Remember, register at Oasap.com, follow them on Twitter, and leave a comment telling me what item you'd choose if you won!

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Graduation Day

I cannot (repeat, cannot) believe my little brother graduated from college on Saturday. It feels like just yesterday that I was graduating from college and he was graduating from high school. How times fly!! My parents, grandmother, and I drove up to New Hampshire on Friday afternoon for his Communications ceremony, and then I spent the night at his house and played with his new puppy, before getting up for the all-university ceremony Saturday morning. It was an absolutely gorgeous weekend, and I'm really glad I got to spend so much of it outside. That said, I wish the weather report had actually stated that it would be in the 70s, as I would have packed some shorts, but alas. At least I brought this adorable dress. It's one of my favorites and I am excited to wear it all over this summer! {Dress: Anthropologie (similar) | Belt: Forever 21 (similar) | Shoes: Sam Edelman via Nordstrom Rack | Necklace: Found at a flea market (similar) | Bracelets: Alex + Ani | Watch: Michael Kors | Lippie: Revlon Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti} Find more MC+M on Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Bloglovin'