Retail Therapy

It's been a while since I've done some sort of haul post. This here is everything I got for my birthday gift to myself: an It Cosmetics CC cream, a travel size Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara, a Tarte sampler (free gift from Sephora), Lush Rehab shampoo, Lush Lust perfume, and CosRx Centella Blemish Cream. So far, I'm incredibly happy with everything here, so there's not too much I want to write about. Nevertheless, a few comments.

» It Cosmetics CC cream in Light ($38)
I've always had problems finding suitable foundations for my skin tone and texture, but this CC cream is the best I've tried so far. It doesn't feel heavy but still does a good job on coverage (you can see that it covers my tattoo quite a bit). It also has more yellowish undertones than my Maybelline Fit Me foundations, which does wonders to prevent me from looking orangey. It's probably one of the priciest items in my makeup drawer, but I feel like its important to have a good quality foundation because it goes on your skin all day, and I hate having clogged pores. My only complaint is that it doesn't blend into my skin perfectly and can be a little streaky, but that's also likely because I have really dry skin (I've had this problem with every foundation and concealer I've ever tried). An added bonus is that it has 50 SPF.

» Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara ($12)
I'm don't typically use mascara because my lashes are so short and straight that they don't show up with mascara anyway. Even more concerning is the cost-effectiveness of buying expensive $35 mascaras, which a) I wouldn't wear often, and b) would need to be replaced every three months if you're going by the book. Nevertheless, I started to wonder if high end mascaras would make a difference at all. This one is nice; I like the formula which isn't too goopy or clumpy, and the brush is dense enough that it covers all my lashes all the way. Out of the tube, a little bit of formula does stay on the tip of the wand, but that's easily wiped away on the edge of the tube.

» Tarte Gift Set — Amazonian clay 12-hour blush in Paaarty and Tartiest Lip Paint in Birthday Suit
Even though these are small sample sizes, they still pack a lot of product. I'm a huge fan of both of these because the colors suit me and they wear extremely well. You can see the swatches on my arm, the blush on the left and the lip paint on the right. They're both really great for a natural look.

» Lush Rehab Shampoo ($14)
This is usually much more than I would ever spend for shampoo, but I bought it toward the end of the summer in DC when I was running out of shampoo but didn't want to waste a huge new bottle. I enjoyed this shampoo formula. It has peppermint and is super clarifying and fresh feeling, perfect for humid DC, but again it is much more than I would be willing to regularly spend.

» Lush Lust Perfume ($17)
I typically don't wear perfumes because lotions and such are more than enough to take care of daily scents already. However, these perfumes are not available in California because they don't meet the emissions standards (or something like that) so I had to get one at the Georgetown Lush. This one smells of straight up jasmine, one of my favorite scents. It is incredibly strong, so I don't use it often, but that means it will last and last for a while.

» CosRx Centella Blemish Cream ($15)
This one came at the recommendation of my smol child (check out her blog!) and I've been using it on the stubborn acne that's taken up residence on my cheeks and jawline. So far I haven't noticed a huge difference in my skin in the long term, but at night after my skin is irritated from washing my face, this calms it down right away.

That's it for now. There are a lot of products that I want to try in this upcoming year, so hopefully I'll have the opportunity to do more of these review posts in the future. ◊

Sleek Unboxing and Swatches

My lovely friend Wei-Wei was in Europe this summer and kindly asked if I would like some makeup from exclusively across the pond. Having no real experience whatsoever beyond lipstick and eyeliner, naturally I said yes. Giving credit where credit is due, requesting both of these products was inspired by Youtuber Roxxsaurus, who probably wears them better than I ever will. Nevertheless, the highlighter and blush by Sleek exceeded my wildest expectations and makes me so happy whenever I see them on my desk.

The highlighter quad by Sleek in '032 Solstice' is an incredibly worthwhile purchase at $15 USD. It is extremely high quality, from the packaging to the pigment. It comes with a fairly large mirror and a small brush. I would not recommend using the brush, as it is not all all fluffy and smooth. I have yet to try all of the shades, but I'm very excited, and the names are so elegant as well!

The Sleek blush in Rose Gold is approximately $8 USD, but according to Roxxsaurus, it's a near match for Nars Orgasm blush. The packaging is nearly the same as well, so I'm quite excited to try it out. Below are swatches for all four shades in the Solstice palette, as well the blush.

Becca x Jaclyn Hill Champagne Palette Unboxing & Swatches

I will not hesitate to admit that I am a stress shopper, but I will reluctantly admit that I'm a bit of a hoarder when it comes to supplies, most notably office supplies and beauty supplies. In my time of intense stress a few weeks ago, Mina mentioned that she had an extra unused Jaclyn Hill palette. At first I wasn't sure what it was, but then she mentioned that it included the Champagne Pop highlighter, I was intrigued. I had heard so many bloggers and vloggers rave about the shade of highlighter, but I was a bit put back by the price ($38 for a single shade). The palette, with five shades for $52 total, is much more economical (lol, right?). It also happens to be impossible to find anywhere; I can't even find it on sephora.com anymore. It turned into a win-win situation: I took the palette off her hands, saving her the return trip, and I now own a Champagne Pop palette, which I never in one million years would have found in stores.

I have yet to try it out, but you can see the shades in the pan and in the swatches. As I am still in Sacramento, I do not have all of my makeup brushes with me, and even if I did, they are long past due an upgrade. I have a basic set from e.l.f. but they're quite old and there's no specific brush for blush and highlighter. I considered getting the e.l.f. professional set, but since they're more or less the same price as the highly acclaimed Real Techniques brushes, I'm leaning more towards that core collection instead. I'm still a good bronzer and foundation short of a full makeup set; I don't know why I'm buying all this makeup when I rarely wear anything but eyeliner on a daily basis. Hopefully once I have the brushes I'll be more inclined to wake up an extra ten minutes earlier every day to pop on some highlighter. ◊

Birthday Haul (A Well Deserved Shopping Spree)

Teaching is exhausting work. This week was 4th of July, Back to School Night, and a field trip (that I was in charge of planning). With only three days of class but two upcoming events, it was easily twice the work in half the time. While I had a lovely birthday and all the students sang to me, I had no time on Thursday or Friday to do anything fun. Saturday was a huge breath of relief. One of my coworkers, Mina, who has a car, offered to take me to the mall. We had a grand time shopping at the Roseville Galleria, and I stocked up on pamper products and a few new garments.

First up, as always, is Lush. The shop was a bit smaller than most I've seen, and there didn't seem to be a back room for stock. As a result Saturday was crazy busy, and all of the attendants were helping other people. I wanted my go-to face mask, Love Lettuce, and fortunately there was one left, but I didn't want to buy it early and have it melt in my bag as I was walking around that day. I decided to come back for it later, which I would regret. I did however, pick up one of the new soaps, Outback Mate. It's a beautiful marbled blue, with eucalyptus and peppermint, topped off with lemongrass scent. Initially, I was a bit iffy about buying it, as I still have two soaps to use, but as soon as an attendant mentioned the peppermint, I was sold.

Sadly, Love Lettuce was no longer available when I came back. That second time I did come back, the store was still crowded, and it felt like all the attendants were strangely rude. When I described what I needed, they pushed the first product they could grab towards me without hearing out my concerns. I've always felt very relaxed and at ease in Lush, but this time, I had to wait a very long time just to get someone to help me try a new face mask to use in place of Love Lettuce. Finally, I was able to try Mask of Magnaminty, which I instantly fell in love with. It left my skin so soft and smooth, and far less red. It also doesn't feel like it leaves a film after rinsing off, which is my top concern with skincare products.

Next up was the Body Shop. I still have two vials of tea tree oil, but I'm fairly sure I left those in Berkeley. Tea tree oil is ridiculously expensive, which is why I was ecstatic that the Body Shop expanded their line. The attendant recommended the new Tea Tree Oil Anti-Imperfection Daily Solution, which promises to take care of blemishes and soften skin through oil control. It costs $22 for a 50mL bottle with a dropper, but as they were promoting the new products, it was on sale for $17.60. This was a huge deal, because I usually pick up three 10mL vials of tea tree oil for $20 ($10 each, but the Body Shop usually has a buy 2 get 1 sale). 30mL of tea tree oil only lasts for about half a year, and is far too potent for my needs. The attendant promised that the new product will probably last three years and has a three year shelf life, which I doubt, as the packaging said a 12 month shelf life, but even if it lasts one year, I will be highly impressed. It seems like an excellent product and I hope they don't raise the price if it gets more popular.


At the Body Shop, it is essential to go with a friend to take full advantage of their sales. Even then, you have to be careful that the items you pick up are included in the sale. The new tea tree products were not included in the buy 2 get 1 sale, but another deal was to spend $50 and get a free body scrub ($20 value). When both of us bought a tea tree solution, we were close to that deal, but there would also be the issue of splitting the body scrub. The resolution was to buy another sugar scrub to get the sugar scrub for free, and split the total cost down the middle. This worked perfectly, and now I also have a coconut sugar scrub and Mina has a honey sugar scrub.

We wandered around the mall a bit more, not sure what to get. July is a great month for shopping as all the stores have their mid-year sales. I had to take care not to buy too many things, because I still have to pack everything up in one suitcase to bring back with me to Berkeley. I had a list, but unfortunately I did not pick up a lot of those items. I did get my hands on this "Squad Goals" shirt from H&M. I saw it last month when I was shopping in Bay Street looking for orange clothes to match my Breakthrough club color, but didn't buy it because I wasn't sure if I'd want to buy a shirt specifically for Breakthrough. However, being here and having a pineapple related inside joke meant that this was the perfect item to memorialize this summer, even if I don't get a lot of wears out of it. Unfortunately, it was a popular shirt so there were none left in my size (and it's no longer available online), but I bought a size L to wear as an oversize shirt (it still looks cute).

I also ended up buying three bras. Two were clearance from Victoria's Secret. I have an odd loyalty towards VS, as they were the first place I bought a bra myself that actually fit. All my bras prior to that were ones my mom bought, where the bands were too big and the cups were too small. At VS, I got measured and wore a bra that felt comfortable for the first time. It felt like I had pillows hugging my chest, and it was on sale for a reasonable price. However, as much as I love VS, there is no way I'm paying full price for a piece of clothing that goes under my clothing. The clearance bras are about $20 each, and there is a fair selection of items in my size. I bought a strappy neon-yellow piece, and a soft purple everyday bra. I really wanted a wireless t-shirt bra, but there weren't any available in the color I wanted for my size. The last was a cute pink and black bra from H&M that was on sale for $7. It isn't as soft as the ones from VS, and the underwire is a bit more pokey, but at $7, it was worth it.

We ended the day with a classic In-N-Out. I can probably say without hesitation that In-N-Out burgers are my favorite food. The fries could use some work, but the burgers are #blessed. 

I arrived home exhausted. I thought I could get some work done, but after shopping from 1pm to 7pm, I dropped. After guzzling a bottle of water (shopping is surprisingly dehydrating), I napped from 8:30pm to 12:30am and instantly regretted it when I woke up, knowing how messed up my sleep schedule would be. I finally went back to sleep from 1:30am to 7:30am today, which wasn't bad, but hopefully, my sleep schedule rounds itself out before going back to work tomorrow. ◊

Doing Things & Lip Creams

As my week and a half in Berkeley draws to a close, I find myself scrambling to complete all of the things I've procrastinated on. After settling in on Sunday, rallying on Monday, voting on Tuesday, powering through readings and responses on Wednesday through Friday, and shopping on Saturday, I find myself with only two days left to take care of all the miscellaneous adult things, like housing, that I need to do in Berkeley. On another serious note, in light of all the recent tragedies (Christina Grimmie, Orlando nightclub, and more) and a sleepless night due to coffee and social anxiety, I have found myself mentally and emotionally overwhelmed.

A bad habit of mine, which is unfortunately a go-to coping mechanism, is stress shopping. The first item on my to-do list was the Livescan fingerprinting, but Apple maps sent me to a location that was not the Livescan office. It was on Telegraph Avenue, but this far down Telegraph was unfamiliar territory. I wandered up and down the street until I decided to go into a large establishment to ask for directions. A block down was a CVS, where I saw a stand for NYX through the window. I had heard a lot of good things about the NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams, but I've looked for them multiple times at Target and they've always been sold out. When I saw them in the window at CVS, my impulses got the better of me. I immediately swooped in and grabbed three, despite the markup. I reasoned that I bought one for each of the things I did (or would be doing) today: completing my Livescan, mailing out all my forms, and figuring out housing.

Many shades were sold out, but I picked out three that I was familiar with and knew were popular: London (mid-tone beige), Stockholm (mid-tone beige pink), and Copenhagen (matte rich plum). They remind me of the Kylie Lip Kit, though I'm not sure which ones they're exact dupes for. Right now I'm wearing Stockholm, which I'm very satisfied with, but I'm not going to post a photo because the rest of my face is icky. I wish London were a slightly darker shade of brown as it somewhat blends in with my skin, but the next shade is far too dark.

The formula and applicator are easy to use, but I wish I had read the reviews before buying. My lips are fairly full and I have a lot of ridges in them — this lip cream shows every single one of them (though it's not too bad from a distance). Also, it's something I'd be more likely to wear on an "airbrushed" face of makeup to achieve a flat, smooth look with a well defined lip instead of something I can pop on just by itself. The three of these cost just over $20 with tax, so it's not a horrible loss if something goes wrong, but I'd have to wear them more to really see the value. ◊

A Day Off

Despite the fact that I haven't done much this past week, I decided to officially take the day off today. This week has been a mess of stress and social anxiety, so it was quite nice to reset from the grouchiness. Kelly took a Zipcar to the Bay Street Ikea, so I tagged along for the ride in order to watch X-Men: Apocalypse at the AMC Theater. Berkeley's theaters are nice, but I feel that action movies should always be watched on the biggest screen possible to get the best effect. Plot-wise, the movie was a bit disappointing, but I wanted to watch it because I absolutely love the X-Men as characters, so I don't regret it. I'll write more about the movie further down in the post, so if you haven't watched it you can avoid mild spoilers.
While I was at Bay Street, I also went shopping. I arrived at 10:30AM, but the movie wasn't until 1:30PM so I had three hours to kill. Originally, I only needed to buy a one-piece bathing suit. I'm working at a summer program in Sacramento so I can't wear a two-piece, but all the stores I went to — H&M, Old Navy, and Forever 21 — didn't have any suitable one-pieces in store. I also checked at Ross, but they didn't have anything under a size 8. Also, I figure if Sacramento summers are going to be hot but I'm not allowed to wear shorts, then the next best option is to have a lot of dresses and skirts on hand. I'm glad I decided to go shopping because H&M has a ton of affordable summer dresses and skirts right now. I bought a versatile black skater dress and a maxi skirt with the color/pattern of the background of the movie ticket photo. Ideally I'd have more belts to accessorize with, but that takes effort, so this will do.

Every time I'm at Bay Street, I can't resist visiting Lush. Somehow I always end up buying far more stuff than I need, but I can't help it! Everything smells so good (and now I smell good too). Their current theme was Father's Day products. In the first photo of this post, on the left is the 'Thanks Dad' soap. It's a bit of a smaller soap, but it's not as expensive either. It really is that neon color in real life and it smells amazing, like sunshiney oranges. I honestly don't want to use it because I'd rather keep it on my desk for scent. In the middle is 'The Modfather' bubble bar. It doesn't smell as strong as the soap as it is a bubble bar, but the in-store demo created a beautiful blue color. It also is less expensive than a typical bubble bar due to its size, but I figure I could get three or four uses out of it in the tiny apartment bathtub. On the right is the 'Buffy' body butter. I was hesitant about buying this one for a number of reasons. One, it was the most pricey of all the things I picked out. Two, I've tried the Rub Rub Rub Body Scrub, and while I really wanted to like it, it completely melted in the shower (it was tragic). Three, it's listed as a body butter, while I was looking for more of an exfoliating product. However, after the sales associate gave me a demo of how it worked, I was hooked. It's a very gentle soothing exfoliation. I usually don't feel comfortable chatting with sales associates in stores, but Lush has that atmosphere and the associates are always super friendly and expert at finding what you need. You'd think that Lush is more intimidating because the associates are always trying to rub soaps and whatnot on your arms, but while some people really hate it, I love it — it's quite relaxing.

Finally, to make a visit to Lush truly worth it, there are the samples. My main concerns were summer weather and splotchy skin, but it's difficult for me to invest in expensive Lush products without knowing how they'd react to my skin. Two associates helped me with this actually, and one said that Vanishing Cream was the product that fully fixed her skin. It's almost $50 a unit, so this sample was a must-try. The bottom sample is the Ayesha fresh face mask, which is the only fresh face mask to date that I have not tried. I don't know why I've overlooked this one because from its description it sounds perfect: "refresh tired-looking skin," "soothing red areas." I suppose it's because I lean towards exfoliating face masks, but I'm excited to try this one out.
I spent way more time in Lush than I had anticipated so by the time I left the store, there were only 20 minutes left until the movie was scheduled to begin. I had a chicken and bacon slice at what I believe was my first time eating at Pizza My Heart. For some reason every time some kid in elementary school brought leftover Pizza My Heart to school for lunch the next day, it always looked really unappetizing, so I assumed that I wouldn't like it. There weren't any other fast food places available so I didn't have much of a choice, but to my surprise, I really liked it!

Now, for the movie. Potential spoilers under the image, so read at your own risk.

Regarding the movie, despite negative reviews, I decided to watch it because I love the X-Men, even more so than the Maximoffs in the Avengers (though arguably the Maximoffs are X-Men as well due to their connection as Magneto's children in certain plots). Magneto is always a fascinating villain because he is so good at heart and he was truly the star of the show in this movie as well (Apocalypse-who?).

Unfortunately, time travel confuses the f*ck out of me, so I would have liked to have gone in with a better understanding of the consequences of the previous movie, Days of Future Past. The main villain seemed to have come about fairly spontaneously rather than as a consequence of a previous action, which is usually more compelling. For those who watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Apocalypse is reminiscent of Hive. Hive:Inhumans::Apocalypse:Mutants, in a nutshell.

As a result, the movie spent a lot of time setting up the plot, but somehow the Four Horsemen weren't very well introduced (Psylocke is who??). They also spent a lot of time building up Apocalypse as a Big Bad, but it didn't make much sense. I remember looking at the time and wondering how they were going to solve the problem, but of course, Jean Grey does a Jean Grey thing and everyone lives happily ever after. Still, it was great to see some of my favorite characters again —  Mystique, Nightcrawler, the Beast, and many more — as well as a really cool cameo of by far one of my favorite characters ever in the entire Marvel universe, Wolverine (though he was more of a deranged beast-man than the snarky Logan from earlier movies, see gifs). Constantly proving himself as another of my favorite characters in whichever studio universe he exists, Quicksilver's scenes were pure beauty.

http://ewanmcgregod.tumblr.com/post/88611058531/logan-plz

The movie felt more like a clean-up for Days of Future Past to set the line straight in order to have a solid foundation for future movies than a good standalone movie. The plot is fairly predictable. I would even go as far as to say that the trailer is an adequate summary of the movie. If you like the X-Men go watch it, but if you want a really satisfying movie, it's not worth the ticket. ◊

Self Care in the Dead of the Semester

At first I wasn't sure what to title this with — #obsessed, Food Friday, or MDIP. It's a bit of everything, so we'll see how it goes, but it may be for the best to do a plain, uncategorized post. The context of this shopping trip is Dead Week, the week before finals, when Berkeley students have nothing and everything to do all at once. For me, this meant meetings and events and projects to attend to, and my stress levels were through the roof. Worse yet, the stress left me with little attention to pay towards self care. Suddenly, on Wednesday, I found myself heaped upon my bed, utterly burnt out and wasting away, feeling icky both mentally and physically (I hadn't showered for three days, it's gross, I know). This was too far. I pulled myself up with an emphatic, "Ugh." It was time to do something about this mess, both me and my room.

After a thorough shower and complete restoration of my desk to a functional work space, I made plans. Captain America: Civil War was coming out on Thursday, and I needed a face mask. Emma, who's also a big Marvel fan, had expressed that she wanted to see the movie at the first chance possible, but we had only made tentative plans. "This is self-care," I told myself. "I can't work on my project due Friday if I'm not relaxed," I rationalized. It was going to happen, no matter what. And it did. Thursday morning, after checking off a slew of to-dos and popping my laundry into the machine, we headed off to Bay Street (or as I like to call it, Bae Street). The movie wasn't until 7pm, so we had four hours to shop and eat. I traded in five old Lush pots for a new face mask, my regular, Love Lettuce, and picked up a sample of the Sacred Truth face mask (to refresh and brighten), which I've never tried before. I also bought a solid shampoo bar, the Montalbano, which will be easier for transportation when I'm traveling this summer. It smells like lemons and I can't stop sniffing it (I've always had a weakness for citrus scents). I grabbed a catalog on the way out too, and it smells just like the Lush shop.

After Lush, we browsed around in Forever 21, finding nothing of interest. We meandered up the street to Aerie, which was having a 5 for $15 undies sale. You can never have too much underwear. I spent too long being indecisive, so with an hour left, we finally ended up in H&M. I picked up a $10 pair of jeans and some loose grey trousers (on sale for $5). I also found a $35 cardigan on sale for $15, so I bought it. You can never have too many cardigans.

With half an hour left, we needed to get food before seeing the movie. Moving upstairs, Emma suggested Fuddruckers. I had never eaten there before, but I trusted her judgement, so in we went. They had an interesting assortment of burgers, including elk and buffalo burgers. I decided to play it safe, with a grilled chicken, which was absolutely amazing. The portions were huge, so it was a good value, and the meat was perfectly tender. With ten minutes left to the movie, we inhaled the food in record time and sprinted to the theatre. It was packed, but luckily a pair of guys realized they were in the wrong theater, and we got their seats. The movie was amazing, but I won't talk about it to avoid any spoilers. By now, it was almost ten, and the sky was pitch black. This was probably the latest I've been off campus independently, but we were right on time for the bus, which took us straight back to campus.

It was an exhausting adventure, but completely worth it. Self care is a necessary part of life, and sometimes I forget that because I'm so preoccupied with work. I need to remember that it's ok to not be working on a project, and to go out and have fun and forget about responsibilities. Very few, if any, people are designed to be 100% productive 100% of the time, no matter what kind of workaholic they may be. And self care doesn't have to be anything extravagant, like a two week tropical vacation. It's spending time with friends, shopping, watching a movie, sniffing lemons. ◊

MDIP – Rainy Day Thrifting

Thrift shopping has been another activity on my Berkeley Bucket List (I should really write out an actual list at some point) for a while now, but I hadn't had much time to do it. At the beginning of the year, I mentioned it to my friends who were also extremely enthusiastic about the prospect, but it was not until the beginning of this semester that we resolved to set aside a date to pursue the endeavor. Alas, as the day rolled around, Berkeley was in the midst of a storm. In fact, the day before, I had been caught unprepared by the rain and had unhappily sloshed back to my dorm room from campus. Averse to recreating that experience, I broke out the combat boots and coats and braved the elements with my friend Emma on Saturday morning.

The destination was Crossroads Trading Co. at the corner of Durant and Shattuck. On the way, we decided to pop in to Francesca's to see if there were any suitable gifts for our friend Anna. Her birthday was upcoming and she had expressed interest in an adult coloring book. To our delight, a beautiful copy of Johanna Basford's Secret Garden was available, which we instantly bought without a second thought, along with a card and a funny little cat coin bag. Approaching the bus stop, I ran into a friend from high school. The few seconds we spent chatting about the rain resulted in a missed bus. With the rain, buses were always overcrowded and behind schedule, so we walked down, knowing that the time it would take the next bus to arrive was far longer than the time it would take to walk.

We arrived at an unassuming storefront, high-ceilinged on the inside (I've always had an affinity towards rooms with high ceilings), rows and rows of racks meticulously crammed with clothes. Towards the left of the entrance were women's clothes, but a pair of shoes on top of the racks quickly caught my eye. Black suede wedge heels with gold accents, size 6.5 – perfect. I snatched them up and continued browsing, looking specifically for a Gatsby style dress, a floral maxi skirt, and a coat, preferably anorak style, in forest green or navy.

At the coat section, Emma, walking in front, found a green coat in the style I was looking for. Unfortunately for me, she wanted to keep it for herself, so I was out of luck. Not long after, I picked up a heavier coat in navy, but it felt well worn and was a little more expensive than I expected (this is a thrifting adventure, after all).

I enlisted Emma's help to find a suitable dress; combing through the racks, we found two potential candidates. One was a smidge too big, the other fit like a charm, but didn't fit the theme exactly enough to warrant being a must-buy. I would have bought it had there been any other upcoming events requiring a dress, but since there was not, both ended up returned to the shelves, and I walked out with the pair of shoes and the coat, at Emma's insistence.

Catty-corner to the thrift shop was a used books store, Pegasus books. Whilst waiting for the bus, we wandered inside a bit, but found nothing of interest except more copies of Secret Garden. It's been ages since I've immersed myself in a fictional world of words. The last time I tried, with The Lord of the Rings, I found that I simply could not replicate the sense of wonder books used to bring. Nowadays, a particularly resonant academic assigned reading elicits excitement; Freire and Lipset enrich my scholastic repertoire but are stressful to read nonetheless.

I returned to my room exhausted. Out of my window I saw a city enveloped in drizzle and sunk into my chair knowing that it wasn't likely that I would finish any homework. In this state, it would be far more productive to take some time to unwind from a horribly stressful week. While watching an episode each of The Middle and Modern Family, I savored spaghetti and meatballs from Gypsy's, and afterwards, a large hot chocolate (extra whip) from Peet's. As Lorde crooned softly in the background setting a contemplative mood, I opened my computer to write this blog post, reflecting on the day, the week, and life in general. Both roommates gone at the time, it was moment of unperturbed peace. ◊