Today's the day!

We have our first competition today for UIL One-Act Play! My kids (and I) are super nervous/pumped and hope that we advance to the next level of competition. It's like football, kind of... (haha) Two plays advance from each level -- Zone, District, Area, and then on to State. I don't like to think ahead, I just want to get out of Zone!

Break a Leg, Amadeus!

It's going to be a long day (7 a.m. 'til midnight-ish), so I am making a judgment call and I will not hosting Passing Notes tomorrow. One less thing to worry about tomorrow will make life a little easier today.

Instead, I'm passing some notes of thanks to each and every one of the kids today. They worked so hard on this show and I want them to know that I appreciate every single one of them. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if we advance or not - we have a fantastic show.

Will this suffice for my handwritten post for this week? 

I'll update on contest results tomorrow, instead. Capiche?

In the meantime, send happy thoughts and warm fuzzies our way! Your well wishes are greatly appreciated. You all are awesome.

p.s. I can tell you I'll probably hear our "pump up" song at least 10 times today.

(Not like I haven't heard it every single day since January.)

Bobbi Brown, I'm Loving You

I recently made a few purchases at Bobbi Brown. I got a little postcard in the mail inviting me to a free sample of their new Lip Color. While I was there, I decided to take home a few other things. Let me just say, they are awesome at the BB Counter. The Sales Associate made a face chart for me, with what products I bought or were interested in and which colors work for me. She also took my phone number and told me they were expecting a deluxe gift with purchase set with and actually called me to invite me in to get it on March 30! She reserved one for me! I really think they've got such good customer service at Bobbi Brown. I love MAC, but let's be honest... some (definitely not all) of the sales associates tend to be a bit snobby and think that it's a privilege for you to be shopping there.

So happy Bobbi Brown has a counter at my local Macy's! No having to drive across town to get to Neiman's!

I would also like to add that I really like the Bobbi Brown philosophy. All of her models look so natural, are of all ages and not super model-y. She's all about enhancing natural beauty and accomplishing a realistic look for you. Let's face it, we all may not have incredible cheek bones or jaw line. We've gotta work with what we're given!

She's also got a few books that are highly-rated. I don't own any, but I'd love to get one (or more).

Anyway, let's get on to my recent purchases. I briefly touched on them in a recent Vlog, but I've got to go into more detail!

Hydrating Eye Cream

Purchase Here

I definitely don't drink enough water (don't we all?), and it tends to show underneath my eyes. I have little dehydration lines (not noticeable to many but myself, really) and sometimes my concealer/eye makeup looks a bit cakey. Simply put, this eye cream is amazing at hydrating my eyes. My concealer and eye makeup go on smooth and stay all day! It also moisturizes well at night. I can't say if it is good at erasing dark circles or getting rid of wrinkles, but I can say it is a darn good eye cream. I personally think my eye circles look less dark when I am well hydrated, and this definitely helps. I've even applied this cream under my eyes later in the day (over my makeup) and it really does freshen me up! I highly recommend this. At $42 it is a bit expensive, but it is a nice amount and a tiny bit really goes a long way.

Lip Balm SPF 15

Purchase Here

When I was at the BB Counter, the Sales Associate insisted I try some of this stuff on. Instantly, my chapped lips became moisturized. I'm not even kidding. I wish I was. Yeah, it's the most expensive lip balm I've ever bought at $15, but gee golly, it's amazing stuff. And it's a huge amount of lip balm.


This is definitely a brand I will keep purchasing, as it always delivers superior quality!


What about you? Have you tried a new brand recently you're in love with?

Holy guacamole!

I hate to gloat, but I love my homemade guacamole. It's super easy, and there are different ways to make it, depending on what ingredients I have on hand. My father-in-law always asks for me to make it whenever we're together, and my hubby loooooves it.

Here's how I make it.

Ingredients:
Avocados (however many you want, I usually use about 2)
Pre-made Pico de Gallo or Ro-Tel Tomatoes, whatever you can find (Or make your own pico with tomatoes, cilantro, onion, and jalapeno)
Garlic Powder
Garlic Salt
Ground Cumin
Chili Powder
Lemon Pepper
Lemon Juice (squeezed from lemons or poured from a bottle)


Preparation: Combine everything to taste.

Everyone has different taste preferences, so I don't want to give you specific measurements. I personally like my guacamole more garlic-y lemon-y, so I tend to add quite a bit more lemon juice and garlic powder. Just get out your tortilla chips and taste as you add ingredients. Make it your own!

I made a huge batch yesterday and thought I should share. After that, I made my homemade pizza for him!

Friday Night's Performance

It went well on Friday night.

Let's hope competition on Thursday goes just as swimmingly!

I am so very proud of these darlings. Such passion. Such talent. Such dedication to their craft as young actors. They are like my own children (that I'm much too young to have), as I've spent so much time with them. The wonderful thing about being a theatre teacher is that you get to watch kids grow from mumbling, awkward freshmen into poised, articulate, confident, and mature seniors. Seeing them transform onstage and bring characters to life and love those characters really makes me feel like I did something right. I really do love these kids!

Oh, and I didn't take these performance photos. I wish I could do this, although I'm still learning my camera. A very talented parent brought his camera and shot  these from his seat in the audience! He got the photos to me a day later. Did I mention that I love their parents, too?

My very talented friend, Leslie, also took some photos of one of our rehearsals, so I hope to post them soon!

Competition week always proves itself to be extremely stressful and long. I hope I get through it alive. After it's over, it's much needed quality time with Greg and Dexter!

Passing Notes 3/25

Hand write a post, a list, a doodle, a sketch, or anything else of the like and link up at the bottom of this post! It's all the rage (and fun, too, I might add)! Grab a linkie button for your post, if you please! 

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Link up with me and be sure to visit everyone's posts!

Getting Naked!

I recently purchased the much coveted Naked Palette from Urban Decay.... FINALLY.

Let me preface this by saying that I've been trying to get this palette for months. Every time I check at Sephora, they are out of stock, including online. These babies were even out of stock on the Urban Decay website! To add insult to injury, the ones on Amazon went for more than double the price. I wasn't about to shell out that kind of cash.

So many YouTube makeup gurus and reviewers on my favorite beauty website, Makeup Alley, had nothing to say but positive things about this palette. I had to have it! I have palettes of MAC eyeshadows, as that's all I've used for years (as they provide the best quality and consistency for me), but I felt this palette was worthy for me to branch out.

I got word that Urban Decay's website re-stocked these babies! What do I do? JUMP ON IT! Unfortunately, I'm sad to report that they're currently out of stock again. Poo! That must tell you something in itself.

Well, anyway! When it arrived, I held this lovely darling in my hands and, through my tears, I whispered the sweet words, "Finally! Finally, you are mine, my dear!" (I think I've been at play rehearsal too long.)

For $48, I got 12 shadows, a travel-sized primer potion (which is ah-maaaay-zing in itself!), and a good quality eyeshadow brush. The packaging is so pretty and lightweight. I honestly think this is a deal! $48 is the price of three full-sized UD eyeshadows, and about the price of a MAC palette of 4 shadows.

The Naked Palette definitely is worth branching out of my usual MAC shell. It is the ultimate palette of neutrals. There are endless amounts of combinations that can be used with this palette, from "barely there" to "smoked out sex kitten." Office appropriate to in da' club. The shadows are highly pigmented, and they range from a matte to a shimmer, and even somewhat glittery finish. This is pretty much the best "basic" palette. EVER.

Naked on me:

(Get your minds out of the gutter, you freaks.)

I'm wearing Virgin all over, up to brow bone and in inner corner, Naked over lower lid, and Buck in the crease. I also might add, they name their shadows quite saucy names. FYI, I didn't re-touch these photos in any way. Just cropped 'em. Hello, pores!

Final Verdict:

I think I made myself pretty clear on this one, but in case you didn't get it, this is TOTALLY worth it! Every gal should own this!!!

...if you can actually get your hands on it!

p.s. We're Passing Notes tomorrow! Don't forget to link up!

A Few More Gems

I just want to share more photos, honestly. They make me happy.

Yesterday, didn't want to be back to work. I wanted to sleep in, to lounge, to be freeeeeee! Life is so unfair! Why must I undergo the torment of work after a week off?! My sentiments are as evidenced by my tweet:

OMG I have a major case of the Mondays. And to top it all off, a late rehearsal! Nap please.less than a minute ago via Twitter for iPhoneMeg O.
mo_meg

Alas, I can't always have it my way, although I did manage to squeeze in a 20-minute power nap. I need a pick me up today, too!

Maybe these little gems will brighten my day, along with yours.

Band in a Window. SXSW

Cutting My Script.... Here's to UIL One-Act Play and being under 40 minutes! So much for choosing Amadeus, a 3.5 hour play...

Dear Grilled Cheese Sandwich, it's been too long since we've seen each other.

Dexter's preferred method of hydration

I feel a little better already.

So what about you? Have you found any gems today that will help the day pass a little smoother?

Spring Break Photo Highlights

Spring Break is officially over. BOO! I'm so glad to be able to get some time off and spend it with wonderful people and my cool new camera. Now that I've had my camera a little more than a week, I tried as best as I could to document my spring break artistically. This weekend provided the best opportunities for photos, as we went to visit my in-laws in the Austin area! Everyone had a blast, including Dexter! Yes, we road trip with our cat. We're awesome like that.

Anyway, here are a (quite-a-many) few of my favorite photos:

My little model!

I won a light up shamrock necklace on St. Patty's Day!

Dexter's Uncle Trot (my in-law's Springer Spaniel)

Trot and Dexter having a stare down. Too funny.

Trot and Dexter. They're cute! And BFFs.

Greg and I at the State Capital

On 6th Street

SXSW!

A band from Mexico City named Sour Soul. They were really jammin'.

Sergeant Pepper, Uncle Sam, and Co. Protesting on the steps of the Captial. They were singing "Give Peace a Chance" and ironically enough, it was the worst music we heard that day.

Texas Seal in the Capital Building

House of Reps Room

Duchman Family Winery in Driftwood, TX

Wine Tasting

Local Wine

Fountain at the Vineyard

I realize they're a little small but there were so many, I couldn't choose just a few!

Now that it's Monday morning, looking at these photos will either pick me up or depress me even more. Oh well! The bulk of the school year is over, and I am just going to look forward to summer and what fun adventures I can get myself into! 2 months and some-odd days left!

How was your weekend? What did you do? Bear with me as I play catch up, as weekending in fabulous ATX lends no time for bloggy-ness!

Passing Notes 3/18

Hand write a post, a list, a doodle, a sketch, or anything else of the like and link up at the bottom of this post! It's all the rage (and fun, too, I might add)! Grab a linkie button for your post, if you please! While you're at it, why don't you grab my new blog button over yonder in the right sidebar? Pretty please?!

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Did ya write me? Link up! Be sure to visit everyone's posts!

(Just a little note: make sure your link submission went through by refreshing the page. There were a few that got left off of last week's list that said they tried to link up!)

CAPTCHA: Defined.

I'd just like to throw something out there: I hate CAPTCHA. I think everyone should disable this on their blogs because it is the devil. I understand the point behind it, but it just frustrates me so much to type words that aren't real. As much as I hate this dreaded CAPTCHA, it does give a good laugh sometimes. I try to sound the word out in my head and then I come up with my own definitions for these words (in my head, of course). I made myself laugh so much, I started taking screen shots. Let's face it: there are some pretty darn funny CAPTCHA words.

So, I present to you, ladies and gentlemen...

Meg O.'s CAPTCHA Dictionary!

(a work in progress)

 

When a man named Bo intended to deliver a message to someone. 

EX: "Boment to tell ya the rodeo is next week." 

 

The multiple form of "cat" with a lisp.

 

Pairs of two individuals who feel like they are missing something. 

 

A person who likes their eggs with one "G."

The Irish way to fluff things

(Happy St. Patty's Day!)

A way to curse while at the same time having a thick Italian accent.

A tantalizing place to store "Ta Tas".

And, finally...

When "sexting" has that extra little zing.

In case you were wondering... oh yes, there's definitely more where that came from.

p.s. Just a little reminder... we're Passing Notes tomorrow! (For those that are new, that means we hand write a post, scan/take a picture of it and post tomorrow.) Get your handwritten posts ready, grab this little button for your post, and link up tomorrow!

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p.s.s. I have a little surprise tomorrow! I'm sure you'll see it when you come and visit! Yay!

Dexter Plays Tag

Now that it's OFFICIALLY Spring Break for me, I have time to edit and post Dexter videos!

I'm telling you, Dexter is not a normal cat. I think he's part dog. He plays fetch and he likes all sorts of people food. He and Greg like to play tag/hide-and-seek. It's so cute watching them. I captured it on video recently. Watch his amazingness (although please excuse our messy apartment).

Happy Spring Break to me!

My new DSLR!

Yesterday, I made a Target run during rehearsal for a few things. I stopped by the electronics section to get a SD card for our theatre department digital camera, when I spotted that they were having a clearance on some of their cameras. I spotted this little guy.

Canon EOS Rebel XS

I've been wanting a new camera since... well, for over a year! I take so many photos and I have been dubbed the "family historian." I have over 1,500 photos tagged of me on Facebook, and most of those photos are my own. Friends and family know they can count on me having a camera. However, I don't have a fancy camera. In fact, I have my Canon Powershot from 2006 (although I think Canon Powershots are probably the best point-and-shoot cameras around). I have been wanting to add some quality to my historian responsibilities, and I started to look around for a DSLR. I wasn't really loving the pricetag on these cameras, especially for what I wanted.

My brother gave my little sister an older Rebel model that I am familiar with using because I like playing with it whenever I see it. It's pretty user-friendly, although I am not an expert by any means. Seemed like it would be fairly easy to learn. This is, after all, for a hobby and it should be fun.

I couldn't help but notice the low price tag. I saw it online for at least $100 more.

I asked the gentleman behind the counter about it, and the one I was stalking was the last one left (the display one). Not only that.... he could give me an additional 10 percent off of the display camera. I called Greg and he didn't have an opinion over it (that's a good thing). I called my brother and he said that was a perfect starter DSLR and the price was incredible.

I walked away with that baby.

We just got our tax return in, so that's how I'm justifying it financially. And since I got a cool new gadget, Greg should be able to get a cool new gadget. Yay for both of us!

When I got home later, I automatically started playing with my new Rebel. Here are a few photos. Yeah, keep in mind-- first day with the camera! I know some photos aren't super clear, but I am a beginner!

With the flash on. Dexter looks weird.

Dexter's toy mouse. He's obsessed.

In my spot

Eye see you.

Yay new fancy camera!

So excited to learn and have fun! If any of you have a Canon or are photo-savvy (I'm lookin' at you, Ashley and Anne!) any advice is welcome! Tips, tricks, books I should read, websites I should visit, etc.!