Category Archives: JNJ Original Content

[Ho Ho Haul] It’s a Digital Christmas!

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     Hey guys! Before we dive into this Haul, I hope you had a great Christmas, if you celebrate. Alternately, if you’re one of my witchy brothers or sisters, I hope you had a festive Yule! My friend and I made some Wassail Cider and did some divination to break in our new decks. Not a bad way to spend Yule for my first Sabbat with another actual Pagan. 

    If anyone was curious about the life event that occurred last week, it was my Marriage. We had a small ceremony with those who were able to make it on such short notice. If you’re reading this, and you’re my family or just plain couldn’t make it, don’t fret! We’re holding another Ceremony down the road, the one we really want. We were just ready to go ahead and get the actual official stuff out of the way, since we’ve been trying for almost 2 years. 

   

     Neither of those topics is what this post is about though! I don’t know why, but in true blogger fashion I feel compelled to show you my haul from the Holidays… Haulidays. My haul was almost entirely digital this year, due to the aforementioned lack of planning on my part. I decided on Christmas Eve to put up the tree, and tried to go to Walmart to do some very last minute shopping but was advised strongly against it.

       I’m going to split this haul into different sections. The first one is going to be your ‘normal’ miscellaneous stuff, and the second one is more witchy stuff.

Haul; The Miscellaneous:

     We R Memory Keepers, Foil Quill

     This was something I found like 2 days ago. I was intrigued. I can foil things? Without a machine? I can just write on stuff and it’ll be foiled? I can already tell you that I have plans to foil. my. life. I’m going to draw on everything I can with these things and as an added bonus, it was a heck of a bargain. This kit retails for $100 on the We R Memory Keepers site, and I got it for $30. (I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t also use this for witchy stuff though…)

 

   Toy Hammock

     You might not know this about me, but I’m an actual child. My room where all of my witchy things are, also houses my makeup station and all of my stuffed animals. Last night, I got a wild hair to go ahead and organize my room. I have this urge to expand my current witchy corner, and to do so I needed to move all of the furniture around. Now the bed is in the perfect place to watch TV, and I can pull out the second bed pretty easily too. Now all I need is to organize these stuffed animals.

     Hanging Organizer

     I don’t know if this one needs a photo demonstration, do you guys know those hanging things? They’re mesh tubes with different compartments and they can hang from a rod or the ceiling. I got one of those too. You guys may not remember the time my Husband held this elaborate scavenger hunt that included little bears and candies, but my bed does. And so do the multiple small bears on my bed. I figured, some of my stuffed animals are of the smaller sizes, and I didn’t want them getting crushed by the big bears and stuff. 

    Re-haul itemNorvina Pro Palette Mini V. 1

    I got this the day before my wedding, because I fell madly in love with the shade in the middle. There’s something about a warm glitter that steals my heart, and I adore that shimmer in the middle of the top row. I will shamefully admit that I lost this a couple days ago, and have since repurchased it (because Christmas). I couldn’t bear the thought of being without it and I do hope that I find it so I have two of these! Sadly, they are limited edition and it wouldn’t suck too bad to have multiples of something that I like this much. 

 

 

Haul; The Witchening:

    As it would turn out, this haul is primarily witchy things. So there’s that. I genuinely thought I had gotten more… not-witchy stuff. Guess I was misremembering? I’m not mad about it at all!

      Favorite Haul ItemWhite LED Herb Planter

     I was super excited for this first item. I’ll preface this by saying that I have absolutely no green thumb. At all. I do not have a gift with plants, I don’t know what they need or how to grow them. But I’m about to find out. I’ve developed a sudden interest in growing my own herbs, like Rosemary, Sage, or Mint. Also, no lie, I want a succulent. 

    I also feel the growing need to incorporate living things on my altar, like plants, for instance. I’m getting more interested in Green Witchery and I figured it would make more sense for me to grow my own herbs rather than keep buying them. Hopefully soon I can convince my husband to allow a fish… I would love a betta by my altar.

 

  Favorite Oracle Deck from this Haul Moonology Oracle Deck

    For someone who claims to not really get Oracle decks, I sure have a fair number of them in my arsenal. I blame the moon. Literally. The Oracle decks I’ve gotten focus on the moon, like this one and the next item on this list. This particular deck, I like quite a bit. Despite my initial impressions off of the back of the box, I don’t find the art sparse or displeasing in the least. Alongside this deck, I also got a journal to use exclusively for tarot, and a pendulum from the local witchy shop. (And a desert rose!)

 

Journal, deck and pendulum haul
Everything unpacked and chilling 🙂

 

     
The Queen of the Moon Oracle Deck

     This one I’m less sure about, honestly she hasn’t made an impression on me in the least. I think when I get back home today I’ll take another look at her. Honestly, I do seem to recall that the card stock was flimsy, so that’s a strike against this deck. I will say that the art is stunning... Which is what led me to impulse buy this one. 

 

Jewelry Items

   

     I grabbed a few jewelry items that I didn’t think warranted their own subheading. That triple moon pendant is just for me, the Labradorite bead is because I really want some Labradorite on my altar but can’t afford it from a shop. Labradorite and Flourite are usually pretty expensive, but I did get lucky and find some. The charms are for my spell vials on Etsy so I can make them all pretty and junk. All about that aesthetic. 

  Highly Anticipated haul item!   Mortar and Pestle

    On the heels of my Herb Garden dreams, I’ve been wanting a Mortal and Pestle for months. I managed to snag this nice looking ceramic one from ebay for $11 with a pentacle etched into it. I’m pretty thrilled with the find, since these babies run you about $24 dollars locally. For my altar, I need to expand and get a bigger table and larger shelf for my books, once I do I’ll be able to justify getting even a mini cauldron… which I anticipate using for primarily holding my Sage. 

    More Cards!

       The Wild Unknown deck is for my friend who mentioned she had been looking at this particular one a while back. If I know someone wants (or wanted) something, I’m hellbent to get it for them if I can. Why am I like this?  The The Witches’ Wisdom deck… is for me. I like anything to do with ‘Witches’  or the moon. And I really liked the art on these, so I sprung for them. For as low of a price as I got on these, I regret nothing for having them in this haul. 

       I think the other two decks were bought prior to Christmas, but  I want to include them here because it may have been just a couple days prior. The first one was the Ethereal Visions Illuminated tarot deck, and guys it’s beautiful. Every card has some gold detailing, which took my breath away when I ran through the cards for the first time. This deck has a very maternal energy to it, especially in the way it phrases things. I love it!

     The last deck I got was the Ostara tarot (Photo from HERE) and this one… I felt very called to. I was in the book store and just kept feeling pulled to the Metaphysical area. Once I picked up this deck, the feeling went away. Truthfully, I wasn’t set on this deck, despite liking the artwork. I wonder if there’s someone who’s going to need it in the future? Sometimes I feel like I’m called to items simply to pass them on, so I wonder if that’s why. The cards seem somewhat intuitive, but do not have clear demarcation of what suit or the numerical associations… which I guess counts as a con. To be fair though, it’s beautiful.

Final Haul Item
My first Witchy Mystery Box!
    Mystery Box!

    This last major thing I got for myself in this sizeable haul was a mystery box! I got the Medium one, and I’m super excited for it to get here. What is it about Mystery Boxes that I love? I buy a thing, but I don’t know what it is. The mystery makes it worth it to me. Like a makeup subscription box, I can’t explain it. I just love them. I basically told the shop to go wild with it, and I’ll be doing an unboxing post (possibly video) once it arrives!

     As you guys can tell, I kind of… lost my damn mind for the Holidays. I’m having a little trouble coming back down to earth, honestly. I’ve just felt so shoppy lately, and I need to get it back under control. With the whole big Hauliday gone and over with, what did you guys get from others or for yourselves? In the meantime, I’m going to wait for all of this stuff to get here. 

    ᕼᗩᑭᑭY ᑎEᗯ YEᗩᖇ!

Short Hiatus; Update!

JNJ Original Content, Updates

Hey guys! I just wanted to pop in really quickly today to let you guys know that there is going to be a short lull on the posts. I’m planning a brief absence as we’re going to be taking a trip and we have a fairly large life event occurring this week. I thank you all for your patience as we get our acts together after this week!

Hometown Cravings: Alley Cat Cafe Debut!

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     Hey guys, and welcome to another Thursday post! I figure once I get into a swing of things I can produce the OG content one week and then then the New “Spooky” content the following week. It’s going to take some finagling, but I have like 4 posts on the burner right now for the shadow side, and I haven’t had a backlog of posts in a while. So I’m feeling like this is a good direction for me. Anyway, Alley Cat Cafe. Let’s get to it.

     You know those cafes that you see in Japan and Orlando, Florida that have actual furry, adoptable friends? I mean, you guys might know of more. But legit, those are the only places I had ever heard of. A couple of months ago Columbus Georgia got their own. And I was so hype to find out. I’ve already brought people there and gone into the cat room to fall in love and (unsuccessfully) beg my Fiance to allow another cat into the house. 

    The brew is good and the cats are photogenic, without further ado let’s get to the review on this is lovely establishment. When you walk in, the first thing you notice is that due to the location of the actual cafe, it is rather narrow. On the right hand side of the shop is handmade crafts, the menu, a cashier counter and the tea station against in the back. To the left is the main attraction, the cat room. In the back of the shop is the seating area, and behind that a room where they produce their beverages.

    The first time I went, I got the Whiskered Mocha with dark chocolate, essentially your standard mocha. At first, I must admit that I found it a little over-sweet for my tastes. I did adjust to it, but it did truthfully remind me more of Chocolate Milk rather than coffee. You guys know me and my incorrigible sweet tooth. So, inevitably I did find myself enjoying it like I would enjoy a frozen hot chocolate sort of drink. I would most definitely recommend this drink if you enjoy the sweeter things in life, or maybe don’t enjoy coffee flavors.

     I went back a couple of times, and didn’t buy coffee but just went for the cats. They’re all lovely, by the way! On the third time, I got a peppermint mocha. I likewise found that first sip extremely sweet. But, after a thorough stirring I found myself enjoying it quite a bit more. It toned down the flavor nicely and took it from sucking on a peppermint disk down to a manageable  amount of peppermint. T’is the season, after all,  but I don’t want to die from it. 

    My favorite of the two from this charming cat cafe is probably the peppermint mocha, partially because I’m a sucker (heh) for peppermint. And the other reason, because it’s purrfect for the holidays. 

    I’m pretty rusty on my coffee reviews– I need to get back into the swing of doing actual reviews. I’m so thrilled to have an actual cat cafe here in my town. And I’m super hype to be able to share them with you. If you’ve never been to a cat cafe, I highly recommend it. If not for the coffee, then for the sweet babies who need their Fur-ever homes.

 

[ngg src=”galleries” ids=”18,19″ sortorder=”91,90,92,88,86,87,89,94,93″ display=”basic_imagebrowser”]     I don’t go into my love of animals too much, honestly. But, my two girls were both returned to the shelter and they showed me that they felt that abandonment when I had to load them up and take them to get checked out by the vets at the shelter. Marceline in particular, nuzzled and purred as though on her best behavior like she thought she was being returned. When I got her back in the car to take her home afterwards, there was trust between us. I feel like she understood that she had a safe home with someone who loves her. I firmly believe that even though cats have a reputation for being aloof and unloving, that they do bond to their humans and feel the sting of being left behind. 

     The Alley Cat Cafe is working in conjunction with a rescue out of Phenix City. The rescue from my understanding is a solitary individual funding the rescue and rehabilitation coming from their retirement fund. If you have an inkling that you might be on the market for a furry, feline companion I urge you to check them out because it will help them save more cats. I have one more thing to say; even if you’re not in the market to adopt a new fuzzy family member, you can go into the cat room for $5 for half and hour or $10 for an hour (with a free drink).

     Every little bit helps provide for funds to allow the owners of this establishment. As well as the rescue and will allow them to provide for and rescue more kitties.

    I’m going to leave that here for today’s post, since it went on much longer than intended anyway. I’ll see (some of you) next week for Thursday’s post!

Update Complete! (I think!)

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Results of Update
From Pexels- artists rendition of my hidden posts

   Hey Guys! It’s time for a kind of big Update! I’ve been working feverishly to figure out the direction on this site. I don’t want to restrict myself to a certain subject matter. After all, why am I doing this if I do that? I’m doing this because I like to blog. I like to talk to you, my readers. Before some more of the recent posts, I had pretty much completely attempted to hide a whole part of myself.

     I’m very into the paranormal side of things, and I enjoy exploring abandoned places. I like ghosts, tarot cards and New Age things. I don’t want to be to hide on my own website. 

    That… precursor… aside… you may have noticed some changes that may have lead you to immediately assume that I deleted a fair number of posts. What I did, was more or less separate my posts by catagory. Since I started this endeavor as beauty, coffee, fashion and travel, that’s what you see when you come to the home page. I moved all spooky stuff to a category aptly named, spooky. 

   With this new update, if you mouse-over the posts heading, you’ll be able to view both main categories: JNJ Original Flavor, and Spooky. Under the original flavor, are all of the categories you’ve been seeing for the past year. Under the Spooky category, you’ll find the Shadow side of JNJ. Meaning, that’s where you’ll find Ghosts, Haunted Doll Updates, Witchcraft, Divination and Urban Exploration. I guess this is me coming out of the Broom Closet, as it were. 

    I have one major part of the update to attend to, the subscription emails. I’m figuring out how to make emails send out according to the posts you are interested in. I know that the subject matter I’m wanting to bring on isn’t for everyone. So, I’m working to make sure sure you keep the same JNJ you’ve been hanging out with for over a year. 

    I’ll be posting the Spooky posts on Twitter and Facebook, but they will not be appearing on the homepage, unless there’s a demand to merge everything back together again. The hard part is over, now it’s going to be a matter of promoting the heck out of those posts that might not get the same amount of love and viewership that I’ve been seeing.

      I also want to thank you guys for your patience. And also for sticking with me through my hiatus while I figure out what’s going on. Color-wise on the site I still have to figure out how to make just the Spooky category appear as a darker background. But other than the emails and a little bit of cosmetic preference edits… I think we’re about ready to get back into the routine. 

    

Welcome to JnJ’s 13 Days of Halloween!

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   Hey, guys! I have some cool posts planned for the next week and 6 days leading up to Halloween. We may be looking at another potential movie watching party if I’m lucky enough to have people stop by, last year was a little bit of a bust to be honest. We have a few days to get in the mood, and because I’m a creature of habit beyond all else… I’ll probably feature the same movies, or maybe I won’t. We do have a movie post planned for this series after all. Some of it very well may be considered creepy!

   I thought I would feature my favorite Creepy Pasta in lieu of writing my own, as I’m trying to get back to writing and I’m not quite there yet. What better way to ring in the Spooky vibes than to share my absolute favorite Creepy Pasta with my lovely readers? And also, the idea that by indulging myself in creepy pasta and the written word I may be able to grab that spark again.

   This one is fairly long, so I’m just posting the first portion of it here for you, and if you want to you’re welcome to follow the proceeding ‘read more’ link to check out the full story. This story is by u/bloodworth on Reddit and I absolutely adore their writing. This one has a  special place in my heart because it’s got a foot in the real world with the corresponding phone number that titles it.

    Ladies and gentleman, I present to you, 630-296-7536 ( Call at your own risk, I’ve called and I still live… but who’s to say you’ll be as lucky?). I hope you love it as much as I do!

I’m sure that all of you on r/nosleep are used to the cry for help type stories by now. Help me, help me, blah-blah-blah. I won’t bore you with another. Even if I wanted your help, you couldn’t give it to me, because your help is useless.

Why?

Because you’re not a member.

I just wish that I wasn’t either.

It all started innocently enough. With a phone call.

I’d been up for a few hours, unpacking and cleaning, waiting for the plumber to call. I just moved into a cabin and the contractors fucked everything up. Because of that, I now have the wonderful task of making calls to competent people that can fix what the original contractors did wrong.

The phone rang at 12:06.

Not bad, I thought. Usually plumbers don’t bother to call or show up until 5.

When I picked up the phone I didn’t even get a chance to say hello before a woman on the line told me to “Please hold for the next available operator.”

I hopped up and sat on the cabinet in the kitchen. It was one of the few places in the cabin not occupied with boxes. Elevator music leaked into my ear. I’d started to drowse off when the music stopped and a piano chord that sounded like it was three notes that didn’t quite go together played through the receiver twice.

A voice came on the line.

“Welcome to Boothworld Industries. My name is Samantha and I will be your operator today. Name?”

I didn’t know what to say so I told the operator my name.

“Sir, we know who you are. I’m your operator. Please give me a name to access.”

“I don’t understand,” I said.

“It can be anyone, sir. We just need a name.”

“Uh, okay,” I said. I made up a name. “Harold Withers.”

“Sir, as your operator, I must point out that fictitious names, or the names of people that you don’t know, cannot be used.”

“Used for what?” I asked. How had she known that I’d made up that name? The whole thing felt like it was some sort of prank, but hardly anyone knew my new phone number.

“Remodeling.”

“Remodeling? Is this the plumber?” I asked.

“Welcome to Boothworld Industries. My name is Samantha and I will be your operator today. Name?”

Read More!

   If you’re still here, I’m glad to have you! You’re probably over there finishing that story. I don’t blame you! That phone number that titles the story is so cool to me. I don’t know who owns the number or who voiced the recording, but it’s perfect. I love stories that tie in to our world a bit, phone numbers, nursery rhymes… something I can interact with, y’know?

I know it’s not particularly creepy in the sense of BOO! but I feel like it fits the season, nonetheless. Happy 13 days of Halloween! I’ll see you guys tomorrow!

 

Guest Post: 8 EXCLUSIVE SALWAR KAMEEZ STYLES TO MATCH YOUR ETHNIC WARDROBE

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Hey guys! Happy Monday and happy first ever Guest Post! I’m thrilled to share this one with you, it’s a departure from my usual content but I always enjoy looking at other types of fashion. I especially love both Number 7s on this list. Enjoy, and feel free to submit your own! 

Provided by; Apeksha Salunkhe 
Follow the Author: www.mirraw.com

Undeniably, Indian women love to wear traditional apparel. Their love for the traditional salwar kameez or suits can never die. Not just in India, but in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, women prefer to wear salwar suits. 

In the recent decade, the trend for salwar kameez is definitely ruling the Indian fashion. From simple to designer, cheap to expensive, Salwar kameez has a great variety that you can’t resist to buy. When talking about the variety in salwar kameez, there are some gorgeous designs and styles available these days to match with your wardrobe collection. For example – straight cut style salwar suit with palazzo, Punjabi suit with Patiala salwar and many more. But the best part about them is the designing pattern, neck and sleeves design that makes it a bit modern and swanky in style for the young ladies to wear and flaunt.

To know more about the exclusive designs and styles available in salwar kameez, then scroll down and read the below mentioned entire blog.

  1. Anarkali Style Salwar Suit

Anarkali style suit is a classic and absolute traditional one, which is among the favourite styles of ethnic wear. The delicately and intricately designed Anarkali style salwar suit is an all-time favourite. The sheer elegance and sophistication of the Anarkali style salwar suit can never be matched with any other style. The best part is that it has that stunning flare from the bottom of the hemline.  Get a gorgeous Anarkali style salwar suit and team it up with statement jewelry! 

Anarkali Style Salwar Suit

 

  1. Bridal Style Salwar Suit

The bridal style salwar suit is a perfect traditional Punjabi attire, which is available in distinct embroidery and embellished work. The bridal style salwar suits are usually made from expensive fabric material like silk, satin and velvet. If you are going to bride super soon, then you must check out the red colour wedding salwar suit. From golden zari work to stunning embellishments, you can buy it in your favourite design and style to look super sassy.

Bridal Style Salwar Suit

 

 

  1. Short Kameez Style Salwar Suit

The short length of the comfortable salwar kameez is surely a fashionable and more recent piece of fashion. If you are one of those fashionista women, then you may be searching for a gorgeous and stunning short style salwar kameez. The short kameez style salwar suit is available in comfy and smooth cotton and chiffon fabric material.

Short Kameez Style Salwar Suit

  1. Knee-length Salwar Suit

Nowadays, the knee-length style salwar suit is quite popular among women’s fashion. From stylish prints to intricate embroidery work, you will get everything in store for your wardrobe collection this season. The prominent plus point is that you can get the knee length salwar suit either in cotton, polyester or silk fabric material. So, don’t just rely on the boring and conventional styles of salwar suits and get yourself updated this year in new patterns and designs. Knee-length Salwar Suit

 

  1. Pakistani Salwar Suit

These days the fashion designers of ethnic garbs are busy in designing the Pakistani style salwar suits. Undoubtedly, Pakistani style salwar suits are beautiful in design and patterns. The length of the kameez is quite longer than usual and can easily be teamed up with different varieties of bottom wear to rock the desi look. Pakistani Salwar Suit

 

  1. Embroidered Salwar Suit

What about the embroidered salwar suit? Do you prefer to wear the intricately designed and embroidered salwar suit? Well, then you must check out uniquely designed salwar kameez in heavy embroidery work on the neckline, sleeves cuffs and borders of the suit. If you perfectly choose the right salwar suit in embroidery work, then you will surely be going to make heads turn your way on every special occasion or festival. Embroidered Salwar Suit

 

  1. A-line style Salwar kameez

A-line style salwar kameez is one of these designs that can be worn anytime and anywhere without even thinking twice. The exclusive design and patterns of the A-line salwar kameez are truly irresistible for women. To not to leave your shopping baskets empty hand, you can explore the A-line style salwar kameez to buy an exceptional and exclusive salwar kameez for your wardrobe collection.A-line style Salwar kameez

  1. Salwar Suit with Dupatta

The last and final is a salwar suit with dupatta. Some women don’t feel like wearing the dupatta with the salwar suit. Maybe because they aren’t comfortable carrying and wearing it. There are some women who love to wear dupatta with salwar kameez as it’s the essence of ethnic salwar suits, isn’t it? From attractive designs to border work, dupatta will surely enhance the beauty of your ethnic salwar kameez this time if you plan to wear it. Salwar Suit with Dupatta

 

Hopefully, these ethnic style salwar suit will match with your wardrobe collection!

 

Hometown Cravings; Autumn Sans Pumpkin Spice

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Stop: Starbucks
Drink: Caramel Apple Spice   

     Hey guys, happy Thursday! We’re getting so close to Halloween and I have some friends coming up to pay a visit to really crank up the spooks this season. But, they’re not here yet, so I’m just chilling on my own nursing a toothache. What else is new? So, anyway, I do want to address my radio silence last week. I was laid off from my job and kind of fell into a void for a few days, truth be told, I’m still in it. But, I’m also still hunting for something good to happen.

     We have some tentative plans that I’m actually hoping pan out, but I can’t say anything about that since we have no idea what’s going to happen in the next 3 months. Fingers crossed though that I get another job in the field I want. I’m hopeful, but cautiously optimistic. 

     With that being addressed, let’s move on to our content. Actually, one more thing! I am going to briefly return to the old posting schedule this week, because I did have a couple of guest posts come in. I’m super excited about that! You should be seeing the first of them on Monday. 

    If I can stop interrupting myself for a moment, I took myself to Starbucks for Happy Hour since my Fiance` so sweetly gave me coffee money. I got, of course, my customary Macchiato and then asked after something autumnal that wasn’t pumpkin spice. I was told about the Caramel Apple Spice. Interesting. I wanted to do a writeup on a drink that I had no idea about, and this fits the bill.  I don’t know why I’ve never heard of this. It does sound lightyears better than Pumpkin Spice for me, so I decided to give it a go. 

Caramel Apple Spice
Picture from the Starbucks Site

    Since all of their hot drinks come in their white paper cups, it pretty much looks like any other drink you might order. So I did borrow the image from their page on this drink. 

    On first sip, it feels a little heavy on the tongue. And, if I think about it for a moment, it tastes like straight-up Apple Pie. It tastes like memories of walking in the downtown area near my high school and stopping by this little boutique where the lovely lady, Julie, would give my friends and I apple cider. That being said, it’s quite good. At first, the weightiness of the drink was a little offputting. The weight is probably from the caramel being dissolved in the Hot Cider. Which, once I adjusted, I really don’t mind after adjusting to it.

     I’m trying to come up with more to say, but the fact is I keep getting stuck on how it strongly resembles Apple Pie. If you like Apple Pie, you’ll like this. If you like Pumpkin Pie, you’ll like the Thanks Giving and Hugs from Fountain City.

Starting Off the Spooky Season with Six Flags!

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    Hey guys, Happy -almost- Halloween! Are you guys ready? Because, I’m not. I have no idea what I’m going to do this year for Halloween stuff, but I’ll figure it out. For now I’m just living my best life and trying to have fun. My friend and I went back to Atlanta last weekend, and to my pleasure (and panic) that was the first day that the Halloween stuff started. You guys may not know, or you may suspect, that I am I huge coward. I don’t like loud noises, being touched, being startled, chased or anything else that generally happens at Haunted attractions. You guys know that theme parks like to show out for the Halloween festivities, and while I like the aesthetic of it all, I would be just as happy wandering around the attraction without the spooks and just take in the decor and creepy effects.

    I have a dear love of Urbex, so just stick me in an abandoned, creepy building and let me explore. But please don’t scare me. My fight or flight has a couple levels. There is no fight, if there’s no flight response, I’m laughing… actually, I have been known to say “STOP IT” or just stare blankly at a spook. Sometimes I’ll try to make them as funny to myself as possible, like the ridikulous charm against a bogart. My flight response now, its either save myself and throw my friends (or future husband) at the zombies… or save one (1) person and myself. Like this one time, when exiting a haunted house. I grabbed my friend and shoved her boyfriend back in to the ‘butcher’ that had been chasing us.

   For our first stop in Atlanta we stopped by Phipps Plaza. Mainly because they have Build A Bear, Revelator Coffee and a decent little selection of the more boujee stores. Let’s face it, that is one of the reasons we planned this trip. I was also interested in checking out Nordstrom, which we don’t have here in Columbus. I’d been hearing that they have discounted makeup- sign me up. We left my house at the early hour of 9 AM. We had a little time to browse and enjoying the process of being grown women at BAB. I had figured about 2 hours for exploring this mall, and we needed the entirety of my estimation. The drive was terrible and somehow my game-plan was perfect, with us arriving at just after the estimated time by 4 minutes. Thanks, Atlanta.

Adelynn
My (wonky) bear, Adelynne!

   After making our bears, we made our way to Lennox Square, which got us closer to our destination only marginally. Lennox also has its own Revelator coffee shop, which is great for me! They also have a lot of the stores that we were dying to go to since last time. Steve Madden, Free People, Sephora, Lush,  Coach… among so many other things. This was the boujee part of the trip. The part of trip where we just made ourselves suffer by looking at expensive stuff. To be fair though, it’s the beginning of fall so there are some Summer things on clearance. Even that’s not terribly helpful though. A girl can dream. I valiantly talked myself out of buying makeup at Sephora, since I can get Kaja and such at my local inset store. I ended up only making it out of the mall with coffee, and a forever 21 dress that I ended up returning because it had a defect.

    We went to Six Flags afterwards, probably dressed too cute for the spooks, because yes, it’s officially the Fall. However, it still feels like summer. It was supposed to be 75 in Atlanta. And yet, no need for toasty layers and autumnal colors here in the south. We arrived at Six Flags about 4:00 PM with our tickets already in hand. We were able to ride Dahlonega Mine Train, Mind Bender, Crime Wave and the Log Jamboree and I spent a lot of time panicking because Six flags somehow makes rides scarier during Fright Fest, and I wanted no part of the Goliath being scarier. Luckily for me, the line at the Goliath was 90 minutes long, and unluckily for me it was the same case for both of the rides I was looking forward to the most- Batman and Superman. We rode substantially less rides than I had intended to, especially with the amount of time we spent there being like 6 hours. But, it’s okay. I was 100% okay with seeing Goliath from the ground. No. Thanks.

     We went into the Casa De Muerte, where the story was that a bride stumbled into the basement to see evidence of her husband’s necromantic ways and science experiments. When he returned home, she slaughtered him. I was excited for this house because the page mentioned ‘ghost viewers’ and sign me up! The viewers ended up being 3D glasses that made the house disorienting, didn’t like that too much. I was surprised to see that I didn’t get particularly scared or even jumpy, maybe it was being there were people around me who were looking jumpy. Can’t be letting the children see me freak out, right? The haunted house had a cool aesthetic and we met mama bear who was hyping her cubs up and telling them to remember it’s all fake, and all in good fun. Haley and I stuck behind them through the house, as we shuffled through in near single file. 

    Honestly, given that I wasn’t jump-scared or anything, I found it to be underwhelming. But, with the description as below, how could I not check it out? I would have linked you to the page, but given as how I’m pretty certain the page will fade from existence after Fright Fest, I wanted to share it with you! 

Find out if your heart is strong enough to stand Casa de Muerte

Madeline Mendoza is known in legend as the Blood Stained Bride. Shortly after her marriage, on the Day of the Dead, her new husband, Prof. Vincent Crowley, a famed world traveling explorer, archeologist and forensic scientist, she was taken away from her home in Mexico City to his palatial Victorian mansion in Georgia.

Crowley was a domineering husband who forbid her from exploring the lower recesses of the home, but while he was gone on his travels, she gained entrance to his laboratories and even the catacombs deep within the home… and what she uncovered there drove her mad. She found that her husband was a necromancer who used science and black magic to raise the dead and to open gateways into other dimensions. He led an ancient cult of twisted sub-humans, who participated in his unholy rituals. The discovery almost killed her and, as she narrowly escaped alive, was determined to put an end to Crowley’s mad schemes.

When he returned from his voyage, she tore him to shreds with her bare hands. The halls of the house were drenched in gore and she immolated herself in the fires of the boiler room, putting an end to the cult of the damned. Every year, on the Day of the Dead, some say you can hear her shrieking, and that you can see the blood dripping a ghastly trail through the house of evil.

Do you dare follow the trail of gore to uncover the Mysteries of the Manor? If so, put on your Ghost Viewer and find out if your heart can stand the terrible things that your eyes will see!

   All in all, we had a great time in Atlanta, aside from the horrible Atlanta traffic and the small issue of random people approaching my car. The malls were great, and I’m left wishing I would have participated in Beauty Week, which was happening at the time. The malls were of course, overpriced for my budget. But that’s what I was expecting. We did do one more thing of note as we were on our way out of the bustling city. I haven’t shared this here, but there’s a restaurant that has robot servers. It’s so cool! I took a gif for you guys!

via GIPHY

   Look at that face! For some reason I think it’s really adorable, and I don’t know why. This little guy is at Big Bang Pizza in Brookhaven, which is think is basically still in Atlanta. Or… in the same way that Homestead is in Birmingham.  This pizza is some of the best I’ve had outside of New York City and I can’t recommend them enough. True, it does look like it might be a little gimmicky. But it’s great pizza with a futuristic appeal and is much more than just a gimmick. If you live close-by Atlanta, definitely check them out!

    

     

Anti-Haul; New and Upcoming Releases!

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     Hey there guys! I haven’t done one of these in so long, but I feel like it’s about the perfect time to do an anti-haul with the holidays approaching. I’ve been stalking Trendmood and Indiemood just to know what my wavering self-control is up against. Guys, there’s some gorgeous things coming out and I feel like I need to be held accountable. I’ve made two purchases so far, and I need to reign myself back in, because money doesn’t grow on trees. Let’s go ahead and get started with the festivities of me talking myself out of things! 

NARS Queen of the Night

     This one almost got me, guys. It’s a beautiful shimmer palette that looks like it has some beautiful toppers for your looks. Kind of like the Ignited palette that I bought, thinking it was going to be able to be noticeable alone. Wrong. That’s, of course, not to say that it’s not gorgeous. But when I say this almost got me, it almost got me. NARS has afterpay. Afterpay is my weakness- and I know it can snowball, so I have to stay strong. It’s beautiful, but like I have to ask myself for most things- “Will I use it?”. And if I have to ask myself that, the answer is probably no. And I don’t need to spend $58 on something I’m just going to look at and occasionally swatch.

Shu Uemura x Pokemon 

    I’m not even going to lie- I want this for the packaging, and the name. But the colors are very underwhelming. I have no experience with Shu Uemura, so who knows? It might be a bomb formula. But with the theme of Pikachu, this is what you came up with? The whole aesthetic of pokemon is bright colors and out of the box designs. The doodle Pikachu is to die for, but I don’t need another neutral palette with a single pop of color. The lash curler is really cute with the little charm, and it looks like they’re doing brushes, blush/contour, eyeliner and is that a wallet? It’s honestly adorable, but… why? 

 

Viseart New Grande Pro

   I don’t have too much to say about this- while I love the viseart formula, I do think that Rainbow palettes are little overdone at the moment. I mean I have a few palettes currently that would qualify as a rainbow palette, and cumulatively across my collection, as well. This is something that I just don’t need.

 

 
 
 
 
 
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#TrendmoodSpotLight ✨💡 For all the #NEON Lovers 🌈⚡️ Here are some Colorful, Bright #EyeshadowPalettes by #rubymaycosmetics . 1. Pop Zombie 9 Color #EyeshadowPalette $23.14 pre-sale *ships September 20 2. NEON LIGHTS 24 Color Glitter and eyeshadow palette. 24 colors of pressed & loose glitter and eyeshadow + #GlowInTheDark with a variety of textures $39.99 3. Street Art Palette And more… . Available online @rubymaycosmetics . . What are your thoughts? 🌈☀️⚡️XO #Trendmood THANK U to our AMAZING makeup community for this update 😘 . . #instabeauty #beauty #beautyaddict #cosmetics #bblogger #beautyaddict #beautyblog #beautycare #makeupart #makeupartist #makeupblogger #makeupobsessed #wakeupandmakeup #maquillaje #fashion

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Ruby May Neon Lights Palette

  This is one I actively have to talk myself out of, I’m intrigued by the neon colors but I know realistically that I’m not at a point to implement them into my looks. This palette is gorgeous though, if a little eye-stabby. What can I say? I like the pain, and I like this palette. Maybe if some reviews come out I’ll be moved to buy it, but for now I’m not planning to buy it.

 

Morphe 3503 Fierce By Nature Palette

     I don’t know if this is going to catch me some heat or whatever, but wow a neutral palette with a pop of green. Yawn. Sure it has a couple of colors that are more red and that one weird yellow-green color above the bright green, but I’m not feeling this palette. Morphe hasn’t impressed me so far, so I’m not moved to buy any releases beyond my JCxMorphe palette that I bought on pure impulse. 

Pat McGrath Midnight Sun

   This one is on here purely because of the price.  I simply cannot justify a palette for $130, no matter how drop-dead gorgeous it is. Maybe if I come across it on sale or on reddit, I’ll splurge, but for now, I just simply can’t. But would you look at that.  I mean, I know it’s a nearly neutral palette with a pop of purple, so realistically I don’t need it. But I also know that I love the PMG transformative formula.

Miss Fame Beauty’s Under My Skin

   As I was scrolling through IndieMood I was a little torn, because when I tell you that for me the indie brands are killing it, I mean it. But this list isn’t here to convince me to buy things, but to not buy things. While I do love this palette and want to buy it; I’ll not be moved. This almost reminds me of PMG in the layout, and the colorstory kills me, but much like the Ruby Ray palette, I’m unfamiliar with the formula and so will most likely not be buying this at least until I know more about it.  

Kraken Cosmetics End of the World Palette

      This particular one is another one I’m very curious about- however, it is pastels. Which I already have on hand, so I may be passing on this one because I already am able to emulate having the palette. This is a beautiful palette that I know nothing about, I’d suggest waiting for reviews unless their formula is familiar to you.

Likely Makeup Clown Blush Palette

    Anything that I could say is pretty much already in the name of the palette- which is basically that I’m pretty sure that this is not for me. I’ve always thought yellow blush makes you look kind of sickly, and while it looks gorgeous on their model, I’m definitely not taking my chances. Those pinks are lovely though, but I can’t commit to a full blush palette if I only want a single color.

Hell Bites Beauty’s Holy Trinity Palette

When I look at this all I can think of is a darker and more imposing Secret Sinner palette from P Louise.  This one is substantially more vampy than the P Louise one, and to be honest, I don’t really do too much with vampy colors. I’m generally more for champagne or silver shimmers and natural tones with the occasional pastel or bright color thrown in. That being the case, pretty though this palette is, I may wait for one more my speed.  

 

 
 
 
 
 
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👑NEWS👑 @euniquebeauty . . @euniquebeauty new “Elite Edition” of their mini palettes are available now. Each palette has 2 mattes, 2 shimmers (one shifty magical one – idk how else to explain it but they look like fairy dust), and one pressed glitter. I tried these out and they’re absolutely stunning 🤩 they make some of the best indie shadows shadows I’ve tried. They’re £14.99 each – use the code INDIEMOOD for 10% off (Affiliated) . . Pictures: @euniquebeauty , edit: @theindiemood . . Follow us for news in indie makeup, polish, perfume, and more! @theindiemood . . . . . #indiemood #indienews #newcolors #indiemade #makeupnews #newmakeup #indiecosmetics #indiemakeuplover #eyeshadowpalette #euniquebeauty #ukindiebrand #blackownedbusiness #indiesdoitbetter #supportsmallbusiness #indiemakeupandmore #makeupmess #indiemakeupbrands

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Eunique Beauty Elite Mini Palettes

   Now, this particular entry on this list is here because while it’s stunning, and it is, that pressed teal glitter looks too chunky for use around the eyes. Honestly, I’m not on body glitters or any of that, but eye glitters are my thing. It would be too tempting to put it on my eye, even though I can see the large hexagonal chunk glitter just sitting there. If you guys hear anything different on this particular one, I’d be interested to hear it. Because, honestly, I won’t lie. I’m lusting over that teal shade a fair bit and would love nothing more than to hear that I’m wrong in this case and that I can smear that beautiful color all over my eye.

 

     I think I’m going to end this one here, on a good note. These were just the things that stood out to me when I was scrolling through @theindiemood and @Trendmood1 so it may not be all of the new releases, just the ones I wanted to talk about. Honestly, I did a fair amount of scrolling because some of the things I actually wanted and just couldn’t bring myself to talk myself out of them. Aside from talking myself out of things, I’ve bought a few new products from brands that I have no experience with, like Midas, OMFG Cosmetics, Mellow Cosmetics and Melt. I may do kind of a rapid fire review post including all of these new products. Though I may need to break the post into two, just because I know Mellow is international and I’m not sure about OMFG. 

     If you guys are talking yourself out of some of the new releases, how are you doing with that? I hope you guys make informed decisions and only buy the things that will spark joy… or that you get at a hefty discount. That counts as joy, right?

 

via GIPHY

 

 

 

 

Hometown Cravings; Sweet Redemption with Midtown Coffeehouse

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City; Columbus
Stop; Midtown
Redeemed Latte- Half and Half, double shot espresso and vanilla.

Hey there, guys! I hope everyone is doing great this Thursday! I visited an old favorite today and tried something new! I almost got a different drink, with Cayenne but I chickened out last minute and changed it to the glorious drink of redemption you see before you up above! This particular drink is the Redeemed Latte from Midtown Coffeehouse! It’s breve Half and half, vanilla and a double shot of espresso.

When I was reading the ingredients, I was honestly a little iffy, but eventually took the plunge and gave it a go for the vanilla. It’s delicious. I’ve been trying Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee and this is reminiscent of it. Since I’ve been learning about different coffee environments, the nuttiness being milder than that of the JBM coffee makes me wonder what sort of environment their Rawanda coffee beans are grown in. I actually am trying to not talk about this job I’m trying to get, because I don’t want to jinx it. On the one hand, speak it into existence. On the other, if I tell too many people, I’ll get jinxed. It’s not even a big job, or a pretigious job. But, I want it. I want it bad. 

This one may be another for people who don’t like coffee, but really like a nutty undertone. The further in the cup you dive, the more the nuttiness sinks into the background and the vanilla steps to the forefront. 

Taste; /5

This one somehow falls just short of a 5 for me, and I really can’t verbalize why. There’s something about it that just makes me falter. It’s quite good, however, if not completely my speed I know a lot of you that might enjoy this one!