Checking In: Current Beauty Wish List, Spa Day Shenanigans, Thoughts on Back to School

Current Beauty Wish list

Lots of skin care and hair stuff on this list, I know. They’re both what I’ve been into for a while now, so I’m going with it!

Speaking of hair products, do you like higher end or drugstore? I usually do a mix of both, so please note the items I plan on grabbing at Target and Ulta soon!

Another thing I’ve been into lately — makeup you can draw on your face with, particularly lipsticks and eyeshadows in crayon packaging. If you have any ideas to add to my list, please drop your recommendations in the comments.

Where did the summer go?

It’s Connor’s last full week of summer before she goes back to school next week. First grade already!

I didn’t schedule any camp for this week because I wanted time with her to just “be,” and I also wanted the flexibility to do things like get her haircut, or pop on over to the park, etc., on a whim.

Yesterday, she wanted to a spa day at home, so we made that happen.

It’s a little crazy to me how school starts in August now. When I was a kid/teenager, school didn’t start until the first or second week of September.

When I was in high school, August was devoted to band camp. Yup, I was a band geek back in the day!

Funny how I didn’t realize just how geeky it was until my mid-30s. I think I must’ve been 32 or 33 when I called my friend Jen up one morning and said, “We used to walk around a field. With instruments. IN UNISON. And we were super serious about it. That’s so dorky!” LOL. We had fun, though.

I didn’t play sports or do any organized team activities growing up because when you were a first generation Filipino child in the ’80s, the only acceptable non-scholastic activity was banging on a piano keyboard against your will while a stern, humorless piano teacher glared at you.

Band was my first fun experience where I felt part of a team. It was geeky, but I have lots of good memories.

All this to say, Connor will be doing her first team activity this year. She’ll be joining the junior competitive dance team at her studio this year. They have a program called the “prep” team where younger kids like her can get a sense of what it’s like; the prep team gets the experience of weekly rehearsal and the chance to perform at community events, but the schedule’s not as intense. If she likes it, she’ll have the option to go all in next year. We’ll see how it goes!

Anywho. I’m off to go write some stuff (so many deadlines this month). Have a great Tuesday, OK?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen