everyday minerals

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Ok people, I have made a discovery.

I've been wearing "mineral powder" makeup by the drugstore brands (Maybelline/Cover Girl) for a few years now, but recently discovered Everyday Minerals online. EM markets sustainable ingredients and uses only pure mineral pigments, no fillers like talc, plus it's relatively affordable ($12 for a tub of base powder that will probably last a year). The best part though, in my opinion, is that you can order a free set of seven customized sample products including blush, foundation, or concealer, for only the cost of shipping, which to me is a little over $2.00. So you can try out tons of shades if you aren't sure which one to order, or get some free makeup just for fun. They are also constantly running promotions and free-with-purchase bonuses, found under the "color" tab.

I think I'm sold on the matte base. It has amazing coverage and is very smooth. See before and after:

 [Internet, meet absolutely no makeup Anna!]

[Aaaand 5 mins later wearing Fairly Light base]

Obviously I swiped some mascara onto my translucent eyelashes as well. But I love anything that can smooth out my blotchy redhead complexion.

This post was not sponsored or contracted by Everyday Minerals in any way. Just thought I'd share my latest beauty obsession!

running in winter

I'm currently up in Michigan for the weekend to visit Ben. His mom lives in an adorable neighborhood built around a bunch of little ponds and wetlands. {Let me just say that while this morning was all blue skies and 40* sunshine, the afternoon brought a random snowstorm and drop in temperature and Winter Wonderland is back. Grrr.}

I'm known among the neighbors as the "girl who runs" because if there is not a foot of snow and ice on the sidewalks, I will probably be spotted outside jogging around the neighborhood whenever I'm visiting. I love running in big loops!

I have a love/hate relationship with winter running. Love because the cold makes me run faster and is invigorating (I DIE when it's hot/sunny out), Hate because cold wind blowing into your face sucks, and so does exercise-induced phlegm and crap that builds up and chokes you. Gross! My perfect running weather is in the 40's and faintly misty or drizzly. However, as long as you are wearing enough clothes it's possible to survive and even sweat when it's as low as 10*F outside (that is the coldest I've run and I probably wouldn't do it again! Ice crystals on eyelashes are fun though).

Cold Weather Running Tips

-Dress in thin layers. If it's around freezing I wear fleece lined tights, a long sleeved tech shirt (love the Mizuno breath thermal line), lightweight hoodie or fleece, and thin windbreaker. Plus gloves and fuzzy earband.

-Experiment with your amount of clothing until you figure out what you need to wear for certain temperatures. You should be chilly for the first 5-10 minutes or so. If you're too warm from the beginning, you are wearing too much!

-Warm up inside. Put on all your layers and do jumping jacks, mountain climbers, lunges, anything to get your heartrate up so you start to get uncomfortably warm and really want to get outside to cool off.

-If it's well below freezing, wrap a thin scarf around your nose to warm the air you're breathing.

-Take it slow and careful around ice or potentially slippery patches.

-Get out in the afternoon or over lunch, when the daylight is brightest and warmest.

-If it's dark out, wear bright reflective gear or a light up vest, and always let someone know where you're going and when you'll be back.

-If there is just NO WAY you are going outside, look up some indoor cardio circuits you can do in your basement or bedroom! Check my Pinterest board for ideas.

Anyone else have tips or motivation for getting outside to exercise in the winter?

my scarf addiction

I don't have a shoe or handbag collection, but my scarves are getting a little out of hand. I honestly do wear one almost every day though, which totally justifies it, right?

I just got back from a quick weekend trip to Chicago, where Ben and I finally had our engagement photos shot! Of course we picked the coldest day of the warmest winter...wind chill of 6*F made it interesting. Here's a sneak peek from our amaaaazing photog Christy Tyler!

books I'm reading

So, being unemployed has drastically improved my reading for fun AND workout habits. Silver lining! Here's a few books I've been inhaling recently.

His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass) by Philip Pullman

Ok I first read these in junior high and The Golden Compass is one of my favorite books of all time. The main character is a twelve year old so it's easy to lump them into "young adult fantasy," but the themes are really intense-- we're talking religion, politics, science, plus the literary quality puts them more on the Narnia end of the spectrum than the Twilight end. And there is no cheesy romance factor, in a good way! I have no idea how I even comprehended these when I was 12. Definitely worth a re-visit. And the movie is pretty good too.

Tara Road by Maeve Binchy

This was my "pretty cover" grab from the library, and it is a typical heartwarming Oprah choice. Two women faced with tough life challenges decide to swap houses. One goes to New England and one goes to Dublin, and they encounter many entertaining and deeply developed characters and ultimately discover great things about themselves and work through their challenges to get to a happy ending. I liked how it was written, kind of in a vignette style like the movie Love Actually that lets you become involved with all the many many many characters without feeling really overwhelmed with sheer number of them. One quirk that I COULDN'T get over though was the inability of the author to create believable American dialogue. So, the Americans talk like the Irish. Good thing that the majority of the book took place in Ireland.

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

I love love love Steinbeck. And I'm making a big effort to mix some classic quality literature into my fun entertainment reading. The Grapes of Wrath is probably the best novel about the Great Depression that has ever been written. Steinbeck alternates chapters of plot with chapters that describe the land and create the atmosphere of the dust bowl. Our issues these days don't even come close. Confession: I didn't finish this book before it was due back to the library and I gave it up, mainly because it was so vivid that I could practically taste the dust and despair in my mouth and I haven't been in the mood for soul crushers lately. BUT I will finish it someday!

Have you read any good books lately?



my tree job

I guess I never really posted about my job in Oregon. It's a dark drizzly day here, so why not share some warm sunny pictures? This was my "office" last summer and fall.

Lots of people I know seem to have trouble describing or understanding what I do. Well, this project is to develop a fire history of old-growth forests in southern Oregon, and then show how the forest has changed since the "white man" moved west and started putting out the forest fires.

We look for fire scars in cut stumps of pine trees that were logged in the past, and use the tree rings to assign dates to each fire scar. Fire scars are pretty obvious:

Basically, small fires used to burn in these particular ponderosa pine/mixed conifer forests every 10-15 years until the 1900's, when the fires stopped. No fire allows lots of flammable trees to grow, so when there IS a fire it tends to be a lot worse than it should be.

I study old-growth forests to see what needs to be done to restore them to more stable conditions. That's basically it. Fun science, yes. Scary confusing hard-to-understand science, definitely not.

happy birthday mama

My mom was born on Groundhog's Eve. AKA today. So was Ben's mom!

**Insert grandmother telling all the family birthday coincidences she knows of**

I was perhaps most excited to have an excuse to make this amazing ruffle cake ...  it is deceptively easy for how professional and ridiculous it looks! As long as you have enough buttercream (I ended up using almost 3 sticks of butter and then beat in a whole bag of powdered sugar with some vanilla and milk to thin it out. Paula Deen's legend must live on.)

Not pictured: me covered in butter-- because of course I ran out of frosting midway-- yelling at the poor souls who tried to do something in the kitchen while the pastry chef was at work.

p.s. I love how cute my cat is