Friday Five: Status post road trip edition

I'm really inspired by tropical brights lately, thanks to my subtropical travels! (Paintings here by Matisse).

            Hello from Maryland! Today Mr. Lovey and I are relaxing with family (pups included) after logging 3,000 miles on a roadtrip down south.

         We love U.S. National Parks, and had already been to quite a few in the Northeast, Midwest, and West. This time we checked off a number of parks in the Southeast, including Congaree (South Carolina), Biscayne (Florida), Everglades (Florida), and Dry Tortugas (Florida). Dry Tortugas was the toughest; we drove all the way down to Key West and from there took a 2 hour ferry across the ocean! Of course we took time to relax as well, and spent time at a number of beautiful beaches, including those at Hilton Head, Palm Beach, and at Key West. I've shared a few picture on my Instagram feed; I'm hoping to share a few more, as well as specific park/beach visiting tips on the blog in the near-ish future.

        We're getting ready for the last leg of the trip back to sunny Chicago! While I had an amazing time on vacation, I'm looking forward to catching up with life at home. In this edition of Friday Five, I'm listing the five things I'm looking forward to back in the Windy City:

Baby Bird's a well weathered traveler as well! Here she's found a little hideout away from home.

1. Trying hot yoga for the first time
I've really enjoyed practicing yoga regularly for the past few months. It's had a noticeable effect on my strength (during climbing) and given me an overall sense of well being. Lately I've become more curious about hot yoga. I was able to pick up a cute towel-mat on Lululemon's We Made Too Much (a.k.a. sale) section that I'm hoping to put to use. Apparently Bare Feet Power Yoga (a hot yoga studio) is practically next to Brooklyn Boulders Chicago, so I'm thinking that's where I might head next.

2. Playing with Bobbi Brown 'Sandy Nudes'
Thanks to the beach, I went from translucent to tan! I'd guess that I'm a couple shades darker at this point, so I'll have to experiment with my beauty regimen. I prefer a more natural look for warm weather, so I've had my eye on the Bobbi Brown Sandy Nude collection for Summer 2015! The Bobbi Brown Face & Body Bronzing duos look particularly gorgeous. I'm hoping to have the chance to play with this as well as a few other pieces from the collection.

3. Planting a mini herb garden
We had the most delicious home barbecue today, garnished with fresh rosemary, mint, and Italian parsley from the garden. While city gardening can be a bit tricky, there's just enough room to have a small herb garden. I've been all about clean eating lately (much do to my numerous food allergies and sensitivities) so this seems like a complimentary endeavor.

4. Painting (canvases) for home decor
It's time for a little refresh when it comes to my apartment decor. I'm hoping to add a little color with some paint and canvas! It should take a bit of planning and preparation, but should be a fun project overall!

5. Penning perfume reviews
I've been going through my blog archives, and realized I have quite a few partially written posts on perfume! It's high time I polish these up to post, as well as explore new scents to share here. Perfume reviews can be the most time consuming, yet rewarding posts for me  to write on this blog. I feel like I can always discover something new upon dissecting individual notes! In the meantime, I've reread some of my old reviews; I'd recommend my posts on Diptyque Eau Duelle and Diptyque Eau Moheli if you're looking for scented reads.

Thanks for reading! How have you been? I'd love to hear about your to-do's or travel plans!

Love, Dovey.

P.S. I know it's technically Saturday, not Friday, but I guess I'm still on vacation time!

Friday Five : Halloween Edition

          Happy Friday! It feels like October has spirited away and Halloween is already upon us. To celebrate, I bought a jack-o-lantern print shirt for Baby Bird at Target and she's been sporting that for the past week. I'm hoping to do some more late Halloween / early Thanksgiving decoration shopping this weekend to spruce up the apartment. In the meantime, I've been enjoying my LUSH Halloween goodies (see here), especially Pumpkin Soap. With the turn of the season and impending holiday, one will find a plethora of new products and creative ideas to look forward to in the blogosphere. Here are five such blog posts I enjoyed this week:

1. Makeup Magpie has a spectacular Halloween nail post.
2. A zombie and brains are on display at Makeup Withdrawal.
3. Making up 4 my age has pretty Halloween nails and gruesome fake wound.
4. Vampy Varnish has swatches of OPI Skyfall. I'm loving Die Another Day and Skyfall.
5. I love the sheep sweater (look at their legs) and red pairing in Atlantic Pacific.

          Thanks for reading! What are your weekend plans? How are you preparing for Halloween this year?

Love,  Dovey.

P.S. For more Instagram photos, be sure to check out 'cuteandmundane'!

The smelliest shoebox

           Baby Bird has a tendency to move her doggie toys, pile them up, and sit gloatingly on top of  them. The toys never stay in one place for long, else something should happen to them when she's away. Lately I've come to the realization that the two of us are not so different. Like a dog and its bone, I am constantly digging up my perfume samples and moving them around. The result is that I have fragrance leaflets poking out from everywhere. I've got them stuffed in the fridge, shopping bags, on my desk, in my dresser, and on my vanity. The pendulum always swings between preservation (in the fridge) and practicality (out for use). In an attempt for organizational normalcy, I designated my best-looking shoebox (it's dark brown with the Cole Haan weave pattern) for my fragrance sample collection. Now, when I open my box, I find a dancing rainbow of colors and scents. It's much like a secret treasure trove. I love my new shoebox organizational scheme, but I do wonder how long it will last.The instinctual tendencies that cause me to collect, pile, and shuffle around my perfume samples already have me wondering if I should just toss everything back in the fridge! Thanks for reading! Where do you store your fragrance samples? Do you have any bizarre beauty storage tendencies? What kind of things do you share in common with your pet?

Love, Dovey.

Happiness is...

Happiness is...

... a whiff of fresh air. 

Pugs and Kisses,

Baby Bird

My Bobbi Brown Ultra fine eyeliner brush - a whodunit

Here's some photos for you of Bobbi Brown Ultra Fine Eyeliner brush, followed by a mini-mystery involving said brush.  Recently I purchased a new ultra-fine eyeliner brush for my mom at the Bobbi Brown friends and family sale to replace one she'd lost. This brush is renowned to be one of the best tools to use with gel eyeliners, including BB's own gel liner. It's soft, very small, and works quite well. My ultra-fine liner brush was actually my first makeup brush ever (incidentally gifted from mom), back when makeup was a mystery to me. I didn't really know how to take care of it, so it got pretty beaten up--- I thought you were supposed to jam the plastic protective cover back on, which lead to the permanently splayed end fibers you can see below. Despite the abuse, it's served me well, and I've used it for years now!

After getting the new brush, I thought I'd do a quick comparison review with my old brush. Overall the sizes are similar, although the new brush's head looks slightly more pointed.

While the head of the new and old brushes are largely similar, there is quite a difference when they're seen in full. My old brush is short! The short length of my old brush is partially due to the old brush style, before BB standardized handle lengths. However, if you look closely, it takes on a peculiar... chewed appearance at the end. So, whodunit?

Baby Bird, of course! She's not a big chewer, but apparently this brush had some mysterious tasty appeal. That little rascal.

I could have replaced my old brush, but I kind of like it with all the teeth marks. It's got character. Has your dog or cat gotten to anything lately?

Love, Dovey.

Feeling Zen with Ocean Love Potion (SOPI)

This morning I decided to go to work a bit late and instead do some computer work (and dilly-dallying) at home instead. Sooooo I had the time to paint my nails. I was drawn to Sephora by OPI's Ocean Love Potion, which is one of the oldest SOPIs in my stash. The blue-green creme is such a calming color- it's the perfect color-therapy for stressful times at work. I also notice, the more stressed I am, the more likely I am to paint my nails!

In terms of application, it was flawless. SOPI's have great formula in general, but Ocean Love Potion is on the better end of great! I fell in love with SOPI all over again. I'm a little conflicted since OPI was bought out by Coty, a known animal cruelty company. Supposedly PETA still supports OPI since it has pledged to remain cruelty free, however you can't help but think that some of your money is ending up in the wrong hands. I'm not sure what sort of cut OPI gets from Sephora by OPIs, making this even more murky. I  think I may tentatively continue to purchase select SOPI colors I really love, but not as often as I did before.

On a more positive note, surprise! Baby Bird is making an appearance in this entry =). For those of you who don't know Baby Bird, she's my mischievous secondhand poodle. I found her in a shelter almost three years ago. She doesn't really like the smell of polish (who does?) and ran away shortly after this pic.

Finally, here's a picture of my jade plant, or rather what's left of my jade plant. I've had it for about  a year now--- I think it was from Trader Joes. If you've seen Jade plants usually they're big and branchy and tree-like. My plant used to be this way, until I took bad care of it and it all but died. Maybe I watered it too much? However a few branchlings took root (as succulents often do) and there are a few little plants growing. You can see one BIG leaf, which was the leaf size of my original plant. The little guys are growing reaaaally slowly. This plant is a lot more finicky than my other succulents for sure. I'd like for it to grow faster--- so if anyone with a green thumb has ideas, I'd love to hear!

Last time I wrote about feeling like spring... however it's supposed to snow again soon according to the forecast. Sigh. My new sunhat and a yellow bikini lemmings went down the drain. Well, a girl can dream....

Love, Dovey.

Baby Bird - Living on the Edge

Hi furriends, Mom finally had time to help me write another entry. I hope you like it!

My name is Baby Bird, and I like to live on the edge. Here you can see me walking on the edge of the sidewalk, nearest to the grass.

Although sometimes I like to walk down the middle of the pavement too.

Cities are always full of tuff folks who won't say hi. Kind of like these guys here.

Some guy who thinks he's tuff wrote something on the park bench. Unfortunately I can't read his handwriting.

Maybe he should have spent more time in school to work on his ABCs.

Cities are full of signs. Sometimes they are in confusing places.

Well that's all for today. As you can see, I am always living on the edge. I hope you have an exciting day today too!

Peace and Paws,

Baby Bird

P.S. Don't forget to check out www.petfinder.com to find your own ruff and tuff shelter pup like me!

Baby Bird: Downward Dog

My favorite yoga doga pose.






















Peace and Paws,
Baby Bird