Finally passed my G2 Driving Test!

I had my G2 Road test today at 9am and ohhh my lord I am soo happy that it is finally over.  I didn't sleep AT ALL last night (literally no sleep) and I was really, really nervous.  I got out of bed at 7 and went practicing.  Guess what? As I was practicing, the automatic steering (I think thats what my boyfriend called it) started to fail!! My boyfriend drives a Pontiac and one of the issues for this car is that this often fails in his specific model.  Apparently he got it fixed but it broke today.  Basically when I try to turn or park going under 30 miles an hour, its almost impossible to turn the wheel..you literally have to put ALL of your muscle into it and it looks really, really bad; like you don't know how to control your vehicle.  However, it only gave me a problem during my parallel park and fortunately it didn't cause too much of an issue. I PASSED!!! So I can officially drive alone, on the highways, at night etc. 

For those of you who are about to take your G2 test (also called your G1 Exit test), I did make some small errors (a bit of a wide left turn, forgot my e-brake when parking downhill) but if you really drive with confidence, do frequent mirror and blind spot checks and come to a complete stop at all the appropriate stops, you will pretty much pass. Also, make sure you know how to do an emergency stop (downhill and uphill park too), parallel park and reverse park...even though she didn't have me reverse park, 9/10 people usually have to.  Overall it was a really positive experience.  And don't forget, if you fail you can retake the test in two weeks..so just practice, practice, practice!!

If anyone needs some tips or has questions about the test, feel free to comment and I will get back to you :)

Gym Update

So I mentioned a few posts ago that I joined the gym.  Well so far I am really, really loving it! I try to go every day whether it's early mornings on the weekend before work or after work at around 10 or so.  I generally go in and do about 45 minutes of cardio and then a half hour of weights.  I now know how to use all the machines in the women's gym (yeah, I still don't feel comfortable in the huge gym area so to the women's gym I go!!)So far I have been able to go 5 days a week! It's been three weeks and I am already starting to see some changes in my body. I feel stronger and firmer, I have more energy, and knowing I worked out helps me keep on track with my eating habits.  I've been drinking a lot of high protein shakes and have cut out a lot of the junk I used to eat.  I started out at 134 pounds and right now I am sitting at 131.  I was a bit discouraged at first because I've been doing really well with my eating and working out and though I would have lost more. Apparently though when you're building muscle, the scale doesn't budge much because muscle weighs more than fat.  So I'm just going to try to focus on how I feel and be happy with the changes I see on the outside as opposed to just focusing on what the scale tells me (although I still would like to get down to 120!ha!)

Someone told me the best way to drop pounds is to do 10 minutes cardi0, 10 minutes of weights back and forth. I may try this after I reach a plateau.  Any helpful tips?

A Pop of Color!

I picked up a copy of LouLou magazine the other day and came across a picture of a model with really natural makeup with a pop of color across her eyes done with a really nice cobalt blue eye-liner.  I then went into my makeup stash to see if I had anything in there to recreate this look. 

Here is my take on this. My color is a little bit more bright but I think it will look nicer in the summer with a bit of a tan (Please excuse the wide eyed look, I was trying to really show the color!!)

With my pale winter skin it was quite a stark contrast but I think it's a really nice, vibrant color. I used a creamy, water proof eye-liner pen from a brand called Styli-Style in color 176 Turquoise. It was purchased at Rexall for I believe around $7.  I'm not sure if Shopper's would carry it or not but I'm pretty certain it would be available at most Rexalls (or Pharma Plus).  It reminds me somewhat of a mixture between the Urban Decay Liquid liner in Ecstasy and Minx but for a much more reasonable price.

I really would like a liner like this but in a bright gold color.  Anyone know of any good drugstore brands that have a good metallic liner with staying power???



Maybelline The Falsies mascara vs.Rimmel Max Volume Flash mascara

I am a huge, huge fan of L'oreal Voluminous Mascara. It is my fave as far as mascaras go..makes my lashes look miles long and super volumized.  The only thing is that I, like a ton of others out there, love to try new products even after I've found "the one".

I got Maybelline's "The Falsies" for Christmas and just opened it a few weeks ago.  I have been trying Rimmel's Max Volume Flash for a few months now.  Here is my review and comparison!

"The Falsies"

So I have been wearing this daily now for quite some time. While I do like it, I will not be repurchasing it.  After opening it, I found it has a ton of little thread like fibers.  I think this may be an attempt to follow the whole Fiber Lash idea. However, I find they don't apply very easily to the lashes and they constantly fall into my eye.  I literally find myself constantly rubbing my eyes or having them be all red and irritated.  And I didn't find any indication on the packaging that this was even in the mascara (Maybe I missed it, I'm not sure).  It did volumize somewhat, but doing two coats is difficult because then all the litte pieces start to create fall-out so that's a no go.  Overall, kind of a sloppy mascara.

I didn't mind the wand shape, as it did allow me to get right into the base of my lashes, but again with the fibers, I didn't want to get too close for fear of getting too many of them in my eyes.

If it did not have the fibers I might have reconsidered it but definitely not with all that irritation!

"Max Volume Flash"

First of all, I love the packaging of this mascara.  Who doesn't like a girly pink packaging in their makeup bag.  Honestly this is what initially attracted me to it! However, this really isn't too bad of a mascara.  It does add substantial volume which I love and it does lengthen quite a bit.  The wand is fairly standard, not overly thick or thin and it's not that plasticky type that you get in some mascaras (like in Telescopic, I reaaaally dislike that wand). My only gripe is that you really do need two coats of it to get a dramatic look.  If you only apply the first coat, it's quite natural looking and to get the length you really have to go in behind the lashes with the wand.  Below is a photo with only one coat.



One coat



As you can see, they don't really look extra long or volumized with only the one coat.  But after applying two, it makes a pretty large difference.




Two coats



In terms of the lengthening and thickening, these are both pretty similar.  I would say that the Volume Flash wins out though, because it doesn't irritate my eyes, I prefer the wand and I'm a sucker for the packaging. 

Any tips on good drug store mascaras I should try out?