Chics and Salsa: May 2013

This project literally took my blood sweat and tears. Two long days of scrubbing and stripping and painting and finally this creature emerged.

{Before}

{After}

My hands came in contact with the stripping solution a couple of times, so they are a beautiful shade of peeling brown. I leave a trail of skin flakes where ever I go, and I may or may not be barren now, but it was well worth it.

Granted, it's not perfect. Apparently, the doors were of a cheaper wood than the actual console, so they absorbed paint in uneven ways that threatened to make me cry. I tried sanding some color off on one of the doors, and after sanding too much off, it refused to take color again. I can live with it.

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Like any rational person in the interim between finishing school/finding a job and homelessness, I have taken it upon myself to give the living room a makeover. I sold the old couches and began a mad search of all my thrift shop favorites. Here is what I have so far:

Why yes, that is the latest model in Akita rugs...it comes with a built-in snoring and farting machine.

I am still trying to decide if I want to keep these lamps. I am not a fan of the black paint on them, but I love their shape. I believe one of my upcoming projects will be to try and strip off the black paint with professional strength stripper.

Budget Breakdown so far:

Couches $200
Lamps $14
Sofa Tables $28
Accent Pillows $6
Ikea Curtains FREE (Thank you sister!!)
TV console $15 (Not shown in picture)

I am currently still on the prowl for:

Floral pillows
Lamp Shades
An affordable octagon mirror for Feng shui reasons per my mother's request (...I don't know why either...)
Colorful art
Coffee table
Bar stools

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When I worked at a shipping company last year, I had the unforgettable experience of working around a lot of men. A lot. There were awkward moments, but I learned a lot about the types of men that exist in this world, and the type of man I want for myself, but that is a topic for another day.

One morning when I was getting there, one of the more handsome European 'studs' was droning on and on about how woman get uglier somehow during the night. I could not have been more upset at the time, but boys will be boys. The only thing you can do is avoid the ones who think they are prettier than most women, like they're the plague.

Then I started to see a lot of these pictures on the internet....

11 Makeup Makeovers that Look Photoshop Worthy

Source

....and women commenting about how they made them "feel better", as if someone else's perceived imperfections could somehow make ours less apparent.

The answer is no. Who is really uglier, the woman with "too much makeup" or the mean girl peeing on the other girl's rainbow? If we are okay with tearing each other down and calling each other ugly, how can we argue for men not to treat us the same way? Honestly, everyone looks different with makeup on. We brush paint onto our faces. A blank canvas will always look different before you draw a beautiful landscape on it. In her prime, Pamela Anderson said that natural beauty actually took two hours in front of a mirror, and damn it if Pamela Anderson believes it, it must be true!

I have battled acne for the past year and have finally found a regime that works for me, but have to cover a lot of postinflammatory hyperpigmentation and scars that I hope and pray will eventually go away. This does not mean that I wear "pounds" of makeup, but it does mean that I use very specific types of makeup that make my skin look normal and on some days, dare I say, pretty.

In the new year, I am going to make it my personal goal to say one beautiful thing to a stranger every day. Makeup or not the women in the above pictures have features that their makeup is highlighting and airbrushing so the beautiful after shots are still them in a more polished shell. To each his own.