November 2019 Budget

I actually didn’t buy too much in November, hooray! But in light of splurgy months past, and the fact that I bought quite a few things for myself on Black Friday (😬), I’m going to be like Mica and attempt a No Buy for December. I don’t know if I’ve ever successfully done a No Buy before (have I even tried?), but I’ve definitely already spent enough for December, and for 2019 altogether, to try one!

1. Mangopop bodysuit (Amazon): $17

2. Moon & Madison chenille sweater (Marshall’s): $17

3. Benefit Bad Gal Bang Mini Mascara (Ulta): $13 - coupon = $12

4. Benefit Watt’s Up Highlighter (Ulta): $30 - coupon = $28

Not pictured:

1. Sara Happ Lip Scrub in Grapefruit (Amazon): $24

2. Sara Happ The Lip Slip in Ballet (Bluemercury): $24 - coupon = $22

3. Treat Beauty Color Stick in Candy Apple (Amazon): $14

TOTAL: $134

You might recognize the sweater from my Queen post. You know I’m all about cozy chenille sweaters this fall!

I love Watt’s Up—it’s the only highlighter I use because applying and blending is about as advanced as I get, makeup-wise. 😂 So this purchase just finally replaced a sample size one I had from roughly 2013. 😱 The Bad Gal Bang is new to me, though, and I’m pretty impressed so far.

I’ve only worn the bodysuit once (I got it to wear with these mauve Amazon pants), and I was STUNNED by how comfortable it is! I did size up, so maybe that helped, but either way, I was very pleasantly surprised.

I love the Confetti Cake Treat Beauty lip balm I bought back in September, so I thought I would try out one of their color sticks, as I’m always on the hunt for a “My Lips But Better” shade. The color is great, but I’m sad to say that the formula is a bit drying. 😞 I haven’t experienced that with Confetti Cake.

What did you buy in November?

High Five for Friday: November 29

Happy Black Friday! I’m thankful for everyone who stops by this little slice of the Internet! Now let’s see what SIX things brought the sparkle in this Thanksgiving week:

• One of my grad school friends works at my high school now, and she invited me to join her for a Christmas event last Friday night. I LOVED high school, so I was very excited to be back at the ol’ stompin’ grounds! Plus, it put me in the Christmas spirit! 🎄❤️

• I painted my nails a nice festive shade in honor of Thanksgiving! It’s actually the orangey color from this post (Zoya Tawny), but as you can see, it came out a deep shimmery red, which I’m actually a big fan of. It’s very pretty in person!

• Look at this adorable card Kristin’s sister sent me! What a sweet angel! It made my day! ❤️

• I took Wednesday off and didn’t do much. And it was… weird. But pretty delightful. I took a couch nap, watched Days, General Hospital, and the “Gilmore the Merrier” Gilmore Girls marathon, put out some Christmas decorations, started writing out my Christmas cards, ordered a pizza, and called it a day. 👍😂

• I really enjoy the Strange Planet cartoons, and not surprisingly, I especially love the ones about therapy. My therapists could easily say, “This is not the objective” to me because anxiety spiraling is like my middle name, haha WOMP.

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o b j e c t i v e

A post shared by Strange Planet (@nathanwpylestrangeplanet) on Nov 25, 2019 at 6:46am PST

Also, I have the Strange Planet book, and this is my favorite panel so far. IT ME with the neighborhood cats! 😂

• Thanksgiving was lovely! Just a nice, cozy day. ❤️

Hope you have a great weekend! xo

High Five for Friday: November 22

What a crazy week. I ended up having a doctor’s or therapy appointment every day before work, so the sparkle might be a bit abridged today, but here’s what brought it!

• THIS POST by Crazy Head Comics.

• Finally picking out my Christmas cards! They are not traditionally Christmas-y, but they’re very me and I love them. 💜

• Finding a new “on repeat” song… although it’s a heartbreaker. I’ve just been casually crying over Selena Gomez’s “Lose You to Love Me” for most of the week nbd.

• Finding out that GORDO will be in the Lizzie McGuire reboot! FINALLY, A REASON TO GET DISNEY+. 😂😂

SWOON

• Let’s bookend this post with some more great Insta Inspo because I’m tired. 😂

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Gratitude Challenge Day 16: Magic ⠀ ⠀ If you want to join in on the 9th Annual Gratitude Challenge, the prompts are available on PositivelyPresent.com (or go back to the beginning of the month here)! ⠀ 💫 #Gratitude30 💫

A post shared by Dani DiPirro (@positivelypresent) on Nov 16, 2019 at 9:41am PST

Hope you have a great weekend! xo

Ooh, you make me live

Do you guys find that music helps you with things like anxiety and depression? Because it helps me TONS! Especially the band I’m going to talk about in this post: her majesty, QUEEN!

I always enjoyed Queen, but seeing Bohemian Rhapsody last November has put me on a yearlong Queen deep-dive. Knowing that, my bffl got me this Queen shirt for my birthday! (It’s extra exciting because Pops saw Queen live in 1975!)

When I put together this outfit, I used the same recipe from this post: cozy sweater + leggings (not that you can see them lol) + cute necklace! This is the second super soft chenille sweater I’ve bought this fall, and I’m equally obsessed with it and want to wear it every day of my life. I completed the look with my Virgo necklace, in honor of Freddie also being a Virgo! (#nerdalert)

Sweater: Marshalls

Tee: gift from my bffl

Necklace: Lucky Feather

Here are a few songs that have been in very heavy rotation over the past year. I must say that although I am generally anti-live recordings, Queen has SO.MUCH.ENERGY live that I can’t get enough.

Radio Gaga

(even my one friend who is very meh on Queen loves “Radio Gaga” haha)

Sheer Heart Attack

Bonus: Hot Pants Freddie and Monochrome Blue Deaky!

I Want to Break Free

(Such a freaking mood, and also penned by bassist John Deacon, aka my favorite member of Queen!)

Dragon Attack

This was my JAM for dealing with holiday stress last year! And it has a bass solo! *swoon*

Bohemian Rhapsody

My first favorite Queen song. I put it on a mix the summer before seventh grade, and the rest is history!

Plus, because there’s so much going on in Queen recordings, there’s tons of stripped down versions on YouTube, so you can really hear some interesting stuff that you never noticed before!

Buuuut despite my deep-dive and the tons of new-to-me Queen songs that I now love, my favorite is still “You’re My Best Friend” haha! The more things change…

What is your anti-anxiety music?

Linking up with Mica and Lisa!

High Five for Friday: November 15

How the heck are we already halfway through November?! Where did 2019 go?!

Let’s see what brought the sparkle this week:

• Last Thursday afternoon, I decided to sign up for workshop about how to facilitate a retreat… and it started on Saturday! Nothing like a last-minute change of plans! So that’s where I spent my weekend, along with a few of the yoga teacher training gals and some other lovely ladies! Being in that space and feeling the creative energy with them was so great. I really needed it. And who knows, maybe I’ll even lead retreats one day!

• On my drive home on Sunday, I couldn’t resist pulling over for some nice sunset + foliage shots! When your drive is already an hour+, what’s another ten minutes for #aesthetics?

• I had three days of therapy in a row this week! LIVIN’ THE DREAM. I got to see both my EMDR and IFS therapists and had some revelatory moments with both of them. I got in touch with one of my inner children and made sense of her experience… and saw how she continues to show up in my life (in ways that often confuse the 33 year old me, haha).

• This inspo that Sarah Nicole reposted is definitely something that I need to keep in mind when I get discouraged with myself and my perceived lack of progress:

• Lastly, yep, I am totally on board with this. I cried about two minutes into EMDR, so a crying session sounds DIVINE right about now! 😂😭

Hope you have a great weekend! xo