Five Things 4.25.14

The library is open, ladies and gentlemen!

1.  Tarte Maracuja Oil: I bought a tiny sample of this product at Sephora for ten dollars last week (damn those tiny and cheap things they put next to the line, something gets me every time) and have been obsessed with it ever since.  I put it on at night after washing my face and have already seen a big difference in my skin.  I have always been lucky to have minimal skin problems but now that I am (eek!) firmly in my thirties I have slowly been trying to up my skincare regime.  I was worried using oil would make my skin oily, but so far it has only made it more silky and supple looking.  I am definitely going to be investing in a big bottle once this sample is done with.  The nighttime eye cream is also pretty awesome!

Perfection!

2. Bianca Del Rio:  Watching RuPaul's Drag Race is probably the most fun I have every week, period.  I have been a fan of the show since the first season and while I think this season got off to a bit of a slow start, it has made up with it in the amazing gift that is Bianca Del Rio.  To me she is everything some of the past "comedy" queens have tried to be: quick witted, excellent at reading the other queens,  and so funny I usually end up doing that thing where you can't stop laughing and think you might die.  But unlike some of the "mean girl" queens of the past, Bianca has a heart of gold.  She helps the other girls and wants to win on her own merits not by making others look bad or sabotaging them.  I will admit that her look is a bit exaggerated and not what I usually go for and she doesn't have great versatility (boat neck!) on the runway but she looks polished and beautiful every week.  If she doesn't win, you are going to hear the scream I let out from around the world, but honestly I can't see it going any other way.  Please, please, please let me become best friends with her a.s.a.p.

Doesn't this face make you want to buy cologne? 

3.  Valentino L'Umomo: Well, more specifically the ad campaign starring my favorite dirty hot frenchman Louis Garrel. I may or may not have jumped up and down in Nordstrom and asked K to take a picture of me next to the ad for Valentino featuring Monsieur Garrel (he walked away and pretended he didn't know me).  I have had a slight obsession with him since The Dreamers and was happy to see his unconventional but smoldering looks peering out at me in the U.S. (and Louis I love you but your project choices are questionable at best, so I was happy to see you and not have to slog through at least two hours of existential dialogue and sighing And I like existential dialogue!).  K is definitely getting a bottle of this cologne, and soon.  (Basically this item was an excuse for me to post this pic of him, no shame, also I have watched the commercial at least 20 times).

This definitely made me happy on Day 23.
A gorgeous rum
cocktail at Aragona.

4.  100 Happy Days: Instagram is definitely my preferred social media outlet and I recently started seeing the 100 Happy Days hashtag pop up, and decided to investigate.  100 Happy Days is a project where for 100 days you post something each day that makes you happy on whatever social media you like.  I looked at it as a way to appreciate the little things that make me happy in life and as a way to renew my love for Instagram.  I started on April 1 and am happy to report I have posted something everyday since.  So many times I worry that I won't get any likes or that my pictures aren't good enough or that people will unfollow me, but this project has made me focus more on taking pictures of stuff that I genuinely love regardless of their perfection or how others perceive it.  Instagram is supposed to be a fun way to record your life, not a competition and this little project has helped me get back to why I loved Instagram to begin with.  That doesn't mean I don't want you to follow me at unefemmejulie though!

5. Cafe Presse: And finally, I have the pleasure of writing this post while waiting for my dear husband K to present an assignment in his legal writing class, and lucky for me, one of my favorite places in the city is just a few short blocks from his school.  Cafe Presse is open from early morning to late night and they serve the same casual french cafe menu all day.  I love that depending on the time  of day, the restaurant is everything from a coffee shop, to a cheap dinner spot to a bar late at night.  The food is consistent and tasty (I love the Croque Madame and the Steak Frites) and you can get a Royale (sparkling wine with your choice of liquor in it, I like Ste. Germain, for under six bucks!

Julie