There’s something to be said for a night in with friends, drinking wine and playing Cards Against Humanity. That, and the fact that I have my whole Sunday open to plow through Gillian Flynn’s GONE GIRL means that this weekend is shaping up to be a pretty good one, low-key as it is.
Beauty
Emily’s lipstick guide will come in handy next time I’m in the market for a new lipstick. I’ve got my eye on Maybelline’s Coral Crush, personally.
Shayna shares a tutorial for a look that can transition from sunrise to sunset with Urban Decay’s Naked palette.
Finance
SB shares 21 Tax Return Mistakes to Avoid, a list I will be consulting when I file my taxes.
Food
I’ve never heard of cilantro quinoa soup, but Alaina’s take on it sounds delicious.
I like the punch that grapefruit brings to baking; Michelle’s pink grapefruit sandwich cookies sound awesome.
Strawberry nutella stuffed French toast. Need I say more?
Life
As I finalize my 25 Before 25 list, Stacking Pennies’ post on the point of goals reminded me of why I wanted to make a goals list in the first place.
I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a five-year question or one-sentence journal. Cassie’s taken the plunge and just might inspire me to finally do the same.
Music
I really dislike Taylor Swift. In fact, I think I might even hate her. Carly addresses a lot of the reasons why I think Taylor is a terrible person.
Photography
Anabela’s backstage photos of the National Ballet’s performance of Giselle takes me back to my own days as a ballerina. I miss those days so, so much.
Travel
I agree with Amanda’s take on the ethics of holiday spending. If I want to frequent chains and franchises, I wouldn’t have gone traveling for a vacation.
Work
Diana writes a love letter about web designing for small businesses. I’ve never worked in web design but her points resonate for a lot of fields, I think. Know the value of your work and don’t sell yourself short!
SUCH a good post about Taylor Swift. I really dislike her music (as I discovered last night, haha), but what really disturbs me is the irresponsible message she sends to her fans, many of whom are impressionable young girls. Normally I don’t think it’s necessarily a celebrity’s place to be a role model, but she is actively positioning herself that way so I absolutely think it’s fair to critique the harmful messages that a lot of young girls may be internalizing.
That lipstick guide is great! I’m trying to get more into lipstick, so I feel like I need to start small… The coral one looks great to me too.
I love these link posts so much! I woke up today and one of the first things I thought was “Yay, Manda will have a link post.” Hahaha.
I used to like Taylor Swift’s music, but her latest album super sucks. I like the track Red, and I Knew You Were Trouble. The rest are “meh” at best or “blegh” at worst. (I know, how articulate
) But I have never liked the message behind any of her songs! Way back when, I was like “I hope Abigail is okay with the world knowing she lost her virginity at 15?” And then all those songs about all those boys, and the girls that “replaced” Taylor in her relationships, and how she is always the victim and let’s all pity Taylor because she’s just so great and no boy is ever good enough for her and none of them truly deserve her because she’s just so fabulous and all the girls her exes date after he’s broken up with Taylor are so awful and are only useful for opening up her legs and blah blah blah BLAH BLAH. Like seriously. If I were a guy, I wouldn’t want to date her! And I certainly don’t want to be her best friend, or her friend in any capacity, because I’m pretty sure she is more than a few fries short of a Happy Meal.
I’m glad you like my link posts! I really like putting them together
Thanks for the link love! I love your blog!
For a second I thought I was the only person who disliked Taylor Swift. I don’t believe her music is all that great and her voice sucks in my opinion. I used to like like two of her songs but her new album is terrible and I don’t consider her a “country” singer.
Wow, I just read Carly’s tumblr post and I couldn’t agree more.
She is most definitely NOT a country singer anymore. That’s something that really irritates me too. She gets nominated for these country-related awards despite not sounding at all country anymore, which is unfair to those who get nominated who DO actually sing country music!
I hate Taylor Swift. Aside from the fact that she had dated Harry Styles, I also hate the way she writes a song when someone breaks up with her. I used to love her (Those “Speak Now” and “Back to December” days), there’s something I dislike about her already. -___-
There are some songs on her earlier albums that I really love. I think Fearless is always going to be an album I enjoy listening to, but I’m just over her as an artist and a person. Too bad she’ll probably be around forever. Maybe one day she’ll write a crazy cat lady album because she’s scared off all the boys from ever wanting to date her.
Link love <3
I think there's too much woman-hating in Taylor's music…WHAT IF THE GUY WANTS SOMEONE WHO WEARS HIGH HEELS AND IS CHEER CAPTAIN, AND NOT SOMEONE IN SNEAKERS ON THE BLEACHERS? Just because someone wants to wear high heels and be a cheerleader doesn't mean they're any less worthy of being loved and being in a relationship – they are not automatically a bitch who doesn't deserve the man you want!
*sigh*
PREACH!
(If only Taylor would listen.)