Merry Christmas! + my first M.A.C.

 Merry Christmas! I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays surrounded by their family, friends, and pets. I'm spending time at my parents' which I hadn't been to since last Christmas. It's really nice to be home! I realized I haven't written a blog entry in twenty days. December was a crazy month for me--- I had to move (homes), finish a final paper on stem cells, and work. Oh, and no more internet, since December 5. I canceled the service prior to the move, and haven't gotten new internet at my new place yet. Blogging is tough without interweb...

Speaking of internet, and the lack of, I had to turn in my cable boxes and things to a relatively shady cable co. office location---  imagine bulletproof  glass in between you and the agent. But that's how it is near where I live, and people come to pay their bills since they don't have credit cards. Even  nearby fried chicken joints have bulletproof glass. It's such a different kind of life than living in suburbia, or uptown. I'm glad I get to see these things, even though it is a bit scary at times. Really reminds me to count my blessings, especially around the holiday season.

I've included a couple pictures of these wooden German-made ornaments my mom collects. I hung them all up on our tree the other day. Aren't they so cute? I love seeing Christmas trees--- everyone's is so personal and different!

Now on to something I'm really excited about: my very first M.A.C. Cosmetics products! I never really jumped on the MAC bandwagon, but I've always been curious because they have a huge following AND they're PETA caring consumer approved cruelty free. This year my brother really went out on a limb with gifts and surprised me with a tartan-wrapped bag full of MAC goodies (wooden elves not included).

First up is a customizable palette filled with four different eyeshadow colors. 

I don't know what any of the colors names are, except the dark grey, which I believe is smut. I'll have to enlist help from the MAC counter or MAC aficionados to figure out what the others are! There is a lime green with shimmer which i'm really excited about. It reminds me of NARS mangrove which I really liked on Temptalia, but couldn't justify the $23 for. there's also a matte coral-like color that is more intense than shows in the picture. Finally there's a purple with golden shimmer.

I also received MAC 228 and MAC 263 brushes. They have the smallest heads out of any brushes I own, so good for precise work. Excited! By the way, I have no idea how people remember all the different MAC brush numbers. I'm used to Bobbi Brown brushes, which are labeled with things like "foundation" or "eyeshadow".

So there you have it. My first MACs. Much thanks and love to my bro who probably won't read this, but still. Apparently he let them test colors on him to make sure they would go with my skin tone. A real trooper. Well, that's all I have for now. I have a nail swatch and some ten-pan updates (finished round 1, although with a snag) that I hope to write about soon. I've missed blogging and it's good to be back!

Merry Christmas!

Love in the dove,
Dovey