Happy #thinkingoutloud Thursday! No idea what I’m going on about? Click here!
1. Okay. So you know how I said that I finally picked up some fun falsies to play around with? Well get this… I went to go put them on this past weekend only to find out that the lash glue I grabbed has formaldehyde in it. Uhm… what? Maybe it’s just me, but I’m not overly keen on the idea of putting that stuff so close to my eyeballs ? I did a little bit of research and found out that formaldehyde is actually a pretty common ingredient in most lash glues, so either I find one of the rare ones that doesn’t have it or I keep going natural because, yeah… it skeeves me out.
2. And I know that might sound a little strange coming from a self-professed beauty & makeup addict, but I do try to be a little more conscious of what I put on my body… even if it is still a work in progress. I figure we devote so much attention to what we put in our bodies, that we’d kind of be doing ourselves a disservice if we didn’t pay attention to what we put on them as well. I mean, we read food labels all the time, so why not read the ones on beauty products too? If you’re looking to clean up your beauty closet as well, there are some pretty great resources out there when it comes to ingredients to watch out for, and if that seems a little overwhelming, you can always start by trying to avoid the Dirty Dozen.
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3. So I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this already, but I picked up a new iMac for work about a month ago since my old one just hit the 8-year mark and was laggy AF, and the two of us have been going through a bit of an adjustment phase. I think my eyeballs finally got use to the fact that it’s basically like sitting 2 feet away from a small TV (my last one was 21″ and I went with the 27″ this time around), but I have to turn the brightness way down otherwise I feel like my retinas are about to burst into flame. It’s not an issue for things like browsing the net or writing, BUT I always, always forget that it’s turned down so low, which comes back to bite me in the a** when I’m trying to edit recipe photos. I’m pretty sure I’ve had to go back and re-edit each shoot I did this year because I thought the pictures were darker than they actually were ? I think I need to write myself a Post-It note saying: “TURN THE BRIGHTNESS UP!!” or something…
4. And yes, I do the majority of my editing in iPhoto. I’ll hit up Photoshop occasionally if I had an exponentially bad shoot and just can’t get the pictures to look the way I want them to, but I’m a sucker for the simplicity of iPhoto. That being said, there are definitely times where I feel like it can be a little too simple, which is why improving my Photoshop skills is on the [never-ending] to-do list.
5. Also on the to-do list? Adding metric conversions to my recipes for all my international readers and/or anyone who bakes using a food scale…
I’ve been doing it for all the recipes that I’ve put up since the beginning of 2016, buuuuuuut that still leaves close to 200 older recipes to go through and convert. Kill me now. Or bring massive amounts of coffee. And chocolate.
6. Speaking of chocolate, would you judge me if I admitted to eating a chunky monkey breakfast bake alongside a chocolate smoothie for lunch pretty much every day this week? Because I have. I blame it on the joys of being a woman.
7. It’s not the size of the carrot that matters but the motion in the… yeaaaah I have no idea where I’m going with that one.
8. Also… thank you high res camera for making my hands look like they’re 80 years old ? Apparently I need to up my moisturizing game.
9. And because I couldn’t not include this picture after coming across it on my phone, here’s Ky giving me her best puppy dog eyes on one of our more recent walks…
10. Happy Thursday, friendly faces!! I brought back #10 just for all you odd number haters ?
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I need to be better about reading cosmetics labels. Chemicals are so scary! Ky is looking extra adorable in that picture
OOYEEE, makeup is sketcchhh man!! Those puppy eyes slayyyy me.
When I got my first Apple computer my eyes were like wtf are you doing??? I love Photoshop but I use Photos and iPhoto a lot for editing now because I can’t pay for Photoshop. Still works fairly well, I just can’t get super advanced.
Have you tried editing in PicMonkey? You can do a lot of stuff on there for free, and I actually find it a little bit better than iPhoto for some things.
Aw, I love it when Kyah makes an appearance! That face is too much. Muah!
I managed to find a glue without formeldahyde but I can’t remember the name…either way, it didn’t do the best job keeping them on. Or maybe it was just me, who knows.
I hope you have a great weekend, love!! xo
Sigh. Yeah. That’s one of the biggest problems I have with the more natural makeup products — sometimes they just don’t work as well as the chemically-laden stuff. Ahh well. More reason to go the minimal route, I guess?
I have just recently decided to clean up the products I’m using and start using more natural products! I just wish I found a reasonably priced company or brand! I would love to know what you discover brand wise as you start paying more attention to this as well!
Right?! It’s super sad that all the healthier ones are so expensive. Ugh. But I’ll definitely be putting together a post when I find some products that I like!
OMG how did I not know about lash glue!! Glad I have long lashes. I only use fake ones for very special occasions.
I totally wouldn’t have known either if I didn’t happen to catch it written on the packaging. Scary stuff.
It can be so scary to find out the chemicals in our beauty products. It makes me really want to go through all my products and do a purge of the “bad” ones, but I’m a little worried my entire makeup stash would be cleaned out!
I hear that! And, as sad as it is, it’s hard to find natural makeup that works as well as some of the chemically-laden stuff
Bahaha that carrot. I made an inappropriate vegetable joke when I was teaching a class this week to a group of 50-80 year old women… and then I realized that was probably a really awkward thing to do lol!
LoL! You never know… maybe some of them didn’t get it? Even when I’m trying to crack jokes with my mom, some things go WAY over her head.
Hey Amanda,
I almost never comment – but just wanted to point out that you may want to re-check your conversions. Most of the ones that you’ve displayed are incorrect (e.g., 3/4 cup isn’t 90 grams, it’s 180 grams, 2 tsp is 10 grams not 2 tbsp, 1/3 cup is 80 grams not 60 grams). I know it’s probably taking you aaaaages and it’s probably the case of the converter you using being off
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Kate. The metric conversions are actually the exact weights of each specific ingredient, not the weight of the cup if it were filled with water (since 1ml = 1g). Different ingredients have different weights, so 3/4 cup of flour ends up being 90 grams, whereas 3/4 of oats, for example, would only be 60 g… just like when you look at the nutrition label for a bag of oats and it says that 1/2 cup equals 40 g.
I may not be a dog person but Ky is so cute! I just want to cuddle with him. Those cookies look delish as well – how did I miss those?!
For someone who lives in the world of grams, thank you so much for this addition! It is very much appreciated
Also the pic of Ky… I very much appreciate that too! X
It’s funny because I always work with grams when I’m actually baking, but I never thought to put it on the blog because I figured no one used a kitchen scale. Womp, womp.
Yahoooo! I thought I was the ONLY one who still edited pictures in iPhoto! I don’t feel like such a goober anymore LOL! I atually LIKE the simplicity of it…Photoshop editing is waaaay out of my league right now.
I hear that. I’m sure it’s not so bad when you get the hang of it, but it’s just finding time to learn everything that’s the tricky part!
Aw, your pup is so cute! I think I might have to look into a new computer in the near future. I’ve been with mine a while and one of us is getting slower and the other is getting cranky. I hope your retinas adjust soon
“and one of us is getting slower and the other is getting cranky” <-- seriously made me laugh out loud. Perfect way to describe my relationship with my own computer
haha #10… aw so cute!
I dont judge you..I’m currently in the process of ordering a pizza and thinking about eating a brownie! hahaha! balance right?!
Definitely can’t neglect the foods that are good for the soul
“…otherwise I feel like my retinas are about to burst into flame.” <- HAHA, I know *exactly* what you mean! I have sensitive eyes, so I used to keep my screen brightness down super-low, too, and then also regretted it later as I was partway through editing pictures. I totally know the feeling about the simple editing software, and it's nice to know there is someone else out there! I still use the free software that came with my PC, though maybe that's because I'm not a professional blogger. Photoshop has always overwhelmed me, despite my friends and sibs telling me it's so easy and I should give it a whirl.
Wow, sounds like you need a team of volunteers to make the old recipes! That certainly wouldn't be a hardship to eat the yummy results (and with more people to eat it than just you, so you wouldn't be overloaded with food)!! And chocolate always…no judgement! I feel guilty when I want it multiple times a day. ?? Love your sweet doggie's face!
I hear that about Photoshop as well! And I’m sure it’s not too bad once you get used to where everything is and what everything does, but it’s the whole learning phase that has me a little “ehhhh.” Ky says thank you for the compliment!
First of all: Ky is adorable! Second, that chunky monkey bake looks delicious. And since I can’t cook the fact that it contains only three ingredients is amazing. (Not to mention three ingredients I love). Have a good Thursday!
Ky says thank you for the compliments
Happy Thursday, Mecca!
Hoorray to metric conversions
Woohoo! I’m glad they’ll be helpful
I was wondering how you got your pictures so beautiful! That carrot is too cute… one time I found a “two-headed” carrot that was rocking two stems lol.
Cute! The closest I ever came to that was finding a carrot with two little legs coming out of one stem.
Where to start? The chunky monkey lunch looks DELICIOUS! Wow – can every meal be lunch? The carrot picture cracks me up …. but I mean, it’s still a carrot right? And I love your puppy’s puppy dog eyes. Grateful for #10, I don’t know why but I am one of the odd number haters
Happy TOLT!
Breakfast for lunch is never a bad idea. Heck, breakfast all day is a good day
Happy Thursday to you too, Brandi!
I do most of my photo editing in iPhoto too—I keep intending to take a course or teach myself something more advanced than my current system of playing with it until I’m satisfied, but working the crazy hours that I do has made that hard…one of these days I’ll stop making excuses ; )
Ha! You and me both. And I feel like even just editing in Photoshop takes so much longer, but then again that might just be because I have no idea what I’m doing
OMG PUPPY! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
Eeee! I know
I have one hand and one side of my face that are both looking 80+ these days. Coconut oil has been helping. It’s not easy to find things to put on the body that aren’t full of junk. We are into the Shea Moisture line of products atm.
I’ve heard really great things about shea, and YES to coconut oil. I’ve been using it on my hands, and while they still have a way to go, they’re doing better than they were.