Some of my Favorite MAC Colors

I get asked a lot what colors I have on my eyes or what some of my essential colors are. I am definitely a MAC addict. I believe that for their quality of product and the price range, it's very competitive and I get a lot of bang for my buck! And since a lot of my bucks are going this direction I might as well by something I believe in right? Ok so here are the pics and I'll give the names of what they are. Each photo, I will explain starting from the top and going clockwise in each set of 8.


1. Dazzlelight - shimmery cream highlighter - great brow highlighter
2. Retrospeck - pearlized beige - great all over color - this color gets used a lot
3. Naked Lunch - neutral pink - get all over color - could use everyday
4. Phloof - very shimmery light pink almost white frost - I use this all over my clients faces for a great highlighter as well as using on my eyes - again this color is very frosty
5. Paradisco - coral pink - can swing pink or more orange - very fun and light
6. Talent Pool - great teal - I love teal with taupes and purples for something different, great as a lid color or crease color
7. Amber Lights - metallic orange gold - fantastic for warm colors and layering on top of pinks to make it pop, great as a lid color or crease color
8. Juxt - fun lime green - I put this with both a dark smoke green and black - looks fantastic with a fun pink lipgloss, fantastic fun lid color


1. Patina - gorgeous pearlized medium beige - this is a MUST have!!! It can go either way, cool tones or warm. Looks awesome on the lid.
2. Sumptuous Olive - a brown olive green with gold shimmer - great with warm tones, can use on lid or crease
3. Woodwinked - golden medium brown with gold shimmer - can go with both the above colors very nicely, again another lid or crease color
4. Nighttrain - this color is discontinued but it's a metallic gun metal grey. You can so a wash for a light grey on lid or pack on for dark smokey effect. Looks amazing with blue eyes. Also a great sub for black if you don't want to put black in your crease for a dramatic effect.
5. Embark - burgundy red brown - looks fantastic with Patina. Also goes great with neutral pinks for a natural look when used in the crease. I've also used it to line my eyes too.
6. Black Tied - Shimmery black - great as a liner - yes you can line with black and it looks natural
7. Espresso - deep brown - great crease color along with eye liner.
8. Plumage - dark teal blue - this looks great with teal greens, it makes me pop as a crease color or eye liner

Also before I wear any colors on my lid, I first put on a light layer of a primer on my lid to help the colors stay on and not crease throughout the day. I use MAC Prep+Prime and then reinforce it with a layer of paint that dries to a powder.


So all in all, I have a little over 90 eye colors. Isn't that just crazy??? And here I am going to Vegas and I'm most definitely going to hit up the MAC Pro store at Caeser's Forum Shops. It's like my candy store seriously!! FUN!!!

I'll post some of my favorite combos soon and the next time you are at Nordstrom strolling through the cosmetics department, you can take a trip to MAC and see if it's something you might want to pick up.

Let's Play Makeup!!!

Ok I know I already posted tonight but I have had a lot of my friends request to see some photos of makeup work that I've done. Lately I have been doing a lot of faces for homecoming, dances, and prom. And I've done some weddings. It's so fun, I LOVE it!!! And I love my little 'clients' too!

For those who don't know, last fall I decided to hone my skills as a makeup artist. I took a long distance learning course about makeup, technique, color strategy, and facial analysis. It was about a week course and I had to watch my classes from home and then do a makeup assignment. My assignment consisted of different types of makeup and taking photos of my working and sending them in and getting graded. I graduated as an honor student . . . wahoo!!! Here's photos of some of my work. But please remember this photos have not been enhanced by photoshop or taken by a professional photographer. This last picture is me. I know it's scary and weird but that was the point. I had to do a creative/high fashion look. Granted this is not high fashion but the point was to do something you don't wear everyday. So I put on my wedding dress . . . thank goodness it still fit. And yes, that is my dead, dried bouquet. Jared and I went to Memory Grove and took some photos. People were looking at us like we were crazy. So I put on the palest color foundation I had and really caked it on. Then I drew my eyebrows super thick and darker than my natural color. I did just matte colors and just put a strip going up my lid. I wanted to look flat and have no shine or dimension to my face. Finally I did 'doll' like blush and it was very splotchy red, the photograph has toned it down some from what it really looked like. And it was freezing and windy so my eyes were watering like crazy and I was just smearing the stuff all over my face. Anyway, I'm being brave by posting this.



I promise to post more, I haven't taken photos of my work in the last month or so. But I do any kind of makeup for any occassion, i.e. wedding parties, formals, dances, special occassion, or makeup lessons. I just love it . . . I can talk about it forever!! Got questions . . . just ask! Know anyone who needs a makeup artist . . .please send them my way!

This Week's Happenings and Yummy Easy Taco Soup

Today I am counting down the seven days until my little Vegas vacay. I almost thought about making a paper chain that's how excited I am. I am seriously looking forward to some spring like weather and some serious shopping. I am also looking forward to doing some serious eating too. For some reason, I keep craving gelato and a pastry lately. I'm still looking for a theme of pictures I should take everyday. Maybe I'll take a pic of something inside each of the hotels I visit for that day and you can guess where they came from. I'm not super creative so we'll see what I come up with. But today I bought tickets to see LOVE at the Mirage. It's an amazing show if you haven't seen it. I saw it last year and I was so taken back by just how good it was. I wanted Jared to see it with me. Plus you gotta love The Beatles.


This week I am having 2 pampering sessions and I'm extremely excited about that. First, tomorrow night I'm getting a much needed pedicure by my sister. She gives the BEST pedicures, hands down. Don't believe me? You should make an appointment. She has the cutest room in her house that she does it in and we're not talking a little tupperware you put your feet in, we're talking full on tub that half your leg gets soaked in. Love it! Second, I'm getting a facial at SkinScience on Saturday. It's an aestitician school and I have heard that the treatments are amazing and it's done by the students. I've had facials before but I'm looking forward to trying the school out and having a clean face for Vegas. And I had my eyebrows waxed last Saturday so I would say that I'll be quite ready to go on my vacation by the time next Tuesday rolls around.

On a side note . . . I have made it half way through Anna Karenina. This book is a beast. I had to take a break after making it half way through because I was starting to get a headache just trying to truck through it. So I'm reading a fun easy 250 page read and then I'll get back to it and see if I can't finish the last 400 pages before I go to Vegas. I bought some fun books to read in Vegas. Too bad it's not warm enough to read by a pool. Oh well, I'm not complaining.

Alright . . . here's the recipe for the week.

Easy Taco Soup

1 lb. cooked ground beef or turkey if you want to be healthy - make sure you drain it
1 can tomato sauce
1 or 2 cans water from tomato sauce can
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can corn with juice
1 can kidney beans, drained and washed
1 packet taco seasoning
Salt and Pepper to taste
Tortilla Chips
Sour Cream
Cheese

1. Cook your ground meat and make sure you drain it afterwards
2. While meat is cooking, heat in a large pot the tomato sauce, water, tomatoes, corn, beans, taco seasoning and salt. Bring to a light boil.
3. Add in cooked meat and stir. Let boil a little longer.
4. Serve over a bowl filled with tortilla chips. Top with whatever taco type toppings you like such as cheese and sour cream. I also like to cut an avocado in mine.

Super easy, super good.

I still need to remember to take some real pics and post them. I just keep forgetting.

There you have it! 'Till next time.

Spellcheck Function On?

This was too funny that Jared said I had to post it. Notice something that doesn't quite fit? "Wait! Jared, rewind . . . did you see that?" Apparently, someone who works on the ad campaigns for Stockton to Malone Honda had some dirty glasses. Or, oh no! All this time I thought it was spelled S T I L L and I've been in err all this time!!

Also on a side note . . . Jared was insistant that I blog that he bought us a 47" LCD flat screen tonight at Costco. He's been saving up his money. Now we just need to sell our old set up so he can mount his new toy flush to the wall. It's on KSL if anyone is interested.

Brittany's Chocolate Chip Cookies, books, and The Vegas

See what happens when you don't have children to blog about? You blog about the next best thing . . . FOOD. Since I'm a slacker and a day late I thought I would post the one recipe that probably anyone would be interested in. And since I didn't make it to the gym tonight, I thought what could be more appropriate than cookies?

Brittany's SOFT Chocolate Chip Cookies (you can cut this recipe in half too)
4 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 cups butter, softened
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 packages (3.4 oz) instant pudding - vanilla
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Sift together flour and baking soda and set aside. Cream butter, brown, and white sugar and beat well. Stir in pudding, then add eggs and vanilla. Once a creamy mixture, gradually add dry ingredients. Do flour mixture in 4ths and then add chocolate chips. Roll tablespoon size balls of dough onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, no longer. YUMMY!!! Just typing this out makes me what to eat these. Jared already asked me to make them tonight but I had to respectfully decline, unfortunately.


On a side note, I am doing quite well in keeping my deal with reading a classic novel every other book. Actually, I've already read 6 books for the month of January and it's only the 20th. That's just crazy. The last classic I read was To Kill a Mockingbird. I actually read this when I was in 7th grade but didn't remember the book. I love the movie with Gregory Peck, but I forgot how closely the movie followed the book.

So yesterday I started my 3rd classic novel and it is Anna Karenina. When I ordered the book, I had no idea I was getting an 818 page novel, broken down into 8 parts with tiny tiny writing and no page breaks for chapters. Here's to hoping I can finish it!

Also . . . today marks the 2 week countdown to my little vacay in Vegas. But here's the kicker . . . there is a silver lining to the clouds that hang over our troubled times . . . Vegas hotels are CHEAP!!!! That's right, I checked rates on hotels last Friday even though I had already made a reservation. The Wynn, here I come!!!! I can't wait!!! I am so excited that Jared got annoyed with how often I said I was excited over the weekend. Now I may be the poorest person staying at the Wynn but with the $200 I saved from changing hotels, I will now have money to tip the various service people of the hotel. (Picture me smiling). I'll try and post pics everyday while I'm there. Maybe I'll get creative and take pics with a theme. Any suggestions?

Awesome Artichoke Cheese Dip

I know I already did a recipe this past Monday but I found this recipe while cleaning out one of my email accounts tonight. I get asked for this recipe a lot after I make it for a party. So here it is.

ARTICHOKE DIP
1 can marinated artichokes (chopped)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup mozzarella cheese (shredded)
1 cup Jack cheese (shredded)
1/4 cup Parmesan (shredded) plus 1 tbs to sprinkle on top
1 or 2 cloves garlic (pressed or minced)
1 or 2 shallots (minced)
salt & pepper to taste

1 large sourdough bread round
wheat thins, crackers or tortilla chips

Combine all ingredients for dip and place in 13x9 dish. Bake at 325 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes - until bubbly and heated. You can also combine all the ingredients and heat in a crockpot.

I also substitute the Jack cheese sometimes with cheddar cheese, it's a nice change sometimes.

There you have it. Now you can buy all the ingredients tomorrow and make this on Friday night for a little treat. YUMMY!!!!

Too bad I'm trying to watch what I'm eating right now. DANG!

Recipe Mondays!

Since I don't have any little Brittanys or Jareds to post pics of or blahg about, I'll do a recipe Monday every Monday. Sometimes they will be healthy and other times . . . not so much. Today is healthy. This comes out of my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook for Dieters. This is a yummy pasta recipe and I found it to be quite good and light at the same time for a pasta dish.

Chicken-Vegetable Pasta

8 oz dried penne - I like the multigrain penne with protien in it
8 oz asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1.5 inch pieces
1 Tbs olive oil
3 cups sliced mushrooms
1 medium leek thinly sliced or 1/2 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 mushroom or vegetable broth
1/4 cup half and half
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
12 oz cooked shredded chicken
1 cup roma tomato chopped
1 Tbs finely chopped fresh basil
1 Tbs finely chopped oregano
Finely shredded Parmesan Cheese

1. Cook penne according to package directions, adding asparagus for the last 2 minutes of cooking; drain. Return pasta mixture to saucepan; cover and keep warm.

2. Meanwhile, in large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, leek or onion, and garlic; cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until most of the liquid is evaporated. Stir in broth, half and half, salt, and pepper. Bring to boiling. Boil gently, uncovered, for 4 to 5 minutes or until misture is slightly thickened. Stir in chicken, tomatoes, basil, and oregano; heat through.

3. Spoon the mushroom mixture over pasta mixture; toss gently to coat. Serve immediately. If desired, serve with Parmesan cheese.

Try it. It's pretty yummy and like I said, you won't feel like you need to take a 2 day long nap afterward. Next time, I'll have to take a picture.

The Happiness $6 Can Bring

Well I'm on my way to making good on my resolution to read more classic novels. Tonight I finished my first one, Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton. It was just a quick read but that's one down and many more to go. I've been waiting on some other books to show up in my mailbox that I ordered the day after Christmas but they haven't arrived yet. So tonight around 7 I made a trip to Barnes & Noble to pick up my next bestseller read. I had a hard time finding this particular book so I decided to pick up another book and quicky because I had an appointment at the gym at 7:30. So I hurried and grabbed another book that is on my list to read and went to the front counter. Up at the front, the book series I had been looking for was all there and I just decided to buy both books because I was in a hurry. When the cashier opened my 'second choice' book there was $6 cash just sitting behind the counter!!! How's that for luck???? Things like this never happen to me. . . ever! So my $16 bill ended up being $10. I always knew Thursday were my favorite days becuase it's the beginning to the weekend. This made my night and just added to my love of Thursdays.

My GG comments for Jan. 5 ep

For those of you that know me well, Gossip Girl is one of my favorite shows and I love to talk about the episode after every Monday night.

So after a month of waiting, the anticipation was finally over and GG picked up where it left off with Chuck running off to Bangkok to put a band aid over his wounds after the death of his father. I thought this episode was placed close to the good/ok area of the scale of goodness. I am missing the catty and strong side of Blair while she is trying to help Chuck who, I believe, doesn’t deserve nor appreciate her support. I’ve been a long time fan of Chuck and Blair being together but is anyone else ready to see Blair get with someone else to put some seeds of jealousy in Chuck’s brain? Which brings me to the question of what the following exchange between Jack Bass, Chuck’s uncle, and Blair was all about last night. “He cannot know about what happened on New Years.” What????? I had my predictions that Jack was going to take a liking to his Highness Waldorf but apparently maybe that is old news. It looks like Chuck may be finding out the juice on that next week but does he really have the right to be upset with Blair over that? Ok, she could have chosen someone else, but Chuck’s record with who he chooses at dates isn’t spotless in the least. I’m anxious to see where this is going to go. But I had a thought . . . perhaps Jack blackmailed Blair into doing something she didn't want to do to protect Chuck and his interest in Bass Industries. I mean she did drop the L bomb, would she really go haul off and hook up with Jack? I'm not so sure.

So Dan and Serena are back together . . . for the moment. Any predictions on how many episodes this is going to last? My guess is 2, ending the beginning of the 3rd episode.

Where was my favorite hair boy Nate??

Favorite things about the episode: LOVED the headbands that the exclusive women’s club was wearing over to Blair’s apartment. And they had matching argyle sweaters to boot! I love argyle. Loved Blair’s outfits this episode, especially the beret. Jenny is finally starting to redeem herself from her ridiculous teenage behavior. Thank you. What about Chuck don’t we love? I loved his bi-color loafers he was wearing to school and I was digging the suit he had on later in the episode at Victrola. And finally . . . Serena left Aaron in South America to find a remedy for his lack of facial hair growth, personality, and chemistry with girls.

Can’t wait for next Monday. Will Rufus get the style back in his hair if he reconciles with Lily? He looked like a wet dog the whole episode. I guess time will only tell.

Need a New Book Series to Get into Ladies?

I wanted to mention a good book series that I read over the fall and this past month. The author is Libba Bray and the series is the Gemma Doyle Trilogy. First book is called A Great and Terrible Beauty. It's followed by Rebel Angels and concludes with Sweet Far Thing. Even though these books are classified as YA reading I really enjoyed the story line and the characters were well developed in my opinion. I couldn't put the little things down and when that happens, that makes a good book for me. They have pretty much everything from the 19th century Victorian era, mystery, romance and magic. Super good . . . a few years ago I would never had read something like this but my tastes are expanding.

Check them out. They would make a great January read.

When Will it be My Turn to Have a Celebrity Encounter??

I already have my first item on my Christmas list for Santa next year. Yes that's right, I want my first celebrity encounter.

In true Gossip Girl fashion:

SPOTTED: S & D patiently waiting for their red eye flight to board to NYC.

My best friend's husband, Mark, checked in right behind these 2 at the SLC airport. I could die because Gossip Girl is the highlight of my Monday night television. Of course Mark doesn't watch the show religiously as both his wife and I do. When he walked up to the counter he asked the attendant if she knew who that was the she just helped. She said no and he told her they were famous and on TV.

If that was me, I would have totally said something to them along the lines of "Thanks for making my Mondays so entertaining. Also, can you please tell Chuck Bass that he should finally be with Blair Waldorf?" Why can't these things happen to me??? Santa, I am a well behaved girl and I'm patiently waiting.

Here's my YUMMY Enchilada recipe. WARNING - not healthy at all!!!!

1 - 8 oz cream cheese - softened
1 lb. shredded Monterrey jack cheese shredded
1/2 bottle of your favorite salsa
1 lb. cooked chicken tenders - shredded
1 package flour tortillas
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 pint sour cream
1 lb. shredded cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together cream cheese, Monterrey jack cheese, salsa and shredded chicken. Spoon into tortillas and roll. Place in 9x13 pyrex baking dish. Combine soup, sour cream and cheddar cheese. Spread generously on top of enchiladas. Back for 40-45 minutes until bubbly.

Well there you have it. Tonight is GG. I'll blahg my favorite parts tomorrow. You can expect a review of each episode every Tuesday for those of you who are fans.

Happy Monday!!

First day . . . First Step to 2009 Resolutions Fufilled!

At this very moment, I have finally joined the blogging movement. Today, on this first day of 2009, marks my first official attempt as a novice blogger. As I'm sitting here trying to purge my brain of useless information to put out there to the world, I thought . . . what better way to start this blog and 2009 with a list of my resolutions for this year. I am not one of those people that really sit down and write out a few resolutions that will never come to pass in the coming year, but this year I felt ambitious and did just that. Here's this years resolutions or goals:

1. Start a blog - FIRST STEP TAKEN!! Wahoo!! What a way to start the year off. When I first told my husband that I was going to start a blog he gave me this wide eyed face with his jaw slightly dropped. "My wife, doing a blog? You don't like to share things, you like to keep things to yourself. I think that sounds awesome." Well here I am . . . looks like I'm changing.

2. Eat healthier - I know, I know, too cliche. I guess with all the eating over the Christmas holiday far outweighing the time spent in the gym, it gave me a case of the guilts. Want to know what I had for dinner tonight? Chicken enchiladas, rice, cornbread, and a chocolate chip cookie bar. How am I doing so far?

3. Go to the gym 4 times a week - Again . . . more guilt over all the eating over the holiday. I'm doing good on this one . . . already 2 times down this week. Give me Friday night and Saturday morning and I think I can put a star on my chart for this one.

4. Get a part time job at MAC Cosmetics - if there is one resolution/goal that is the most important to me this year, it's this one. This goal is a result of the power of an epiphany occuring during my morning commute to work. Why MAC? I remember to this day when the first Nordstrom opened up in Dallas, Texas. I walked into it and saw the hip/mod girls dressed in black working behind the makeup counter and I knew I wanted to be one of them one day. It only took me 12 years of trying to be someone I'm not meant to be to realize that I'm happiest when I'm doing something I love. And that's being a makeup artist. Who would have thought? Right? Over the fall I took steps in honing my skills as a makeup artist and getting to be one of those girls in black at MAC is my next step.

5. Play the piano more - As a kid I took piano lessons for 8 years and I was pretty dang good. And of course, I quit. I still know how to play and read music but I never practice. I feel guilty becuase I have been given this talent and I'm doing nothing to keep it. This year, I am going to try and learn one piece a month. Now I just need to go get some music that I can actually learn.

6. Read more classic novels - I LOVE to read. It's probably one of my top two favorite things to do. I didn't always love to read, in fact, it has only been the last few years that I have really gotten in it. I'm so into, that I read about 2-3 books a month. What kinds of books am I reading you ask? I normally read women's interest/bestseller/girl books. So am I a great accomplished reader? No, not at all. So this year, I vow to read a classic novel every other book.

So there you have it! I'm excited about this blog. I plan on blogging a lot, and I'll blog about anything I want from TV episodes that I love, recipes, funny things that happen to me, to just whatever I darn well please. And with that, I say hello fellow bloggers, thank you for welcoming me into your circle and may you make your 2009 the best year ever!!!!!

Brittany's BLAHg has been officially launched!!