You can take the girl out of Minnesota...

...but can't take the Target out of the Minnesota girl. 

East Palo Alto just opened a new Target store on Sunday, and naturally I had to check it out after work/the gym yesterday. Guys - I basically blacked out in a Target-y haze. They were fully stocked. They had everything. The store was pristine. I had SO MUCH FUN. 

Target's killing it currently with their Who What Wear collection, and I may or may not have found myself in a dressing room with legit fifteen things to try on. Ended up coming home with...

...this off-the-shoulder, bell-sleeved white wonder...perfect for refreshing my tired wardrobe of summer whites (and kind of adjacent to this fantastic Anthropologie top, which I just can't justify at that price)...

...and this dress, which I saw on a blogger I follow and was intrigued by to the point where I had to try it. Still not sure I'm keeping it, but we'll see. 

They are, however, sadly discontinuing their Merona and Mossimo lines to introduce twelve new brands, and I'm kind of sad. Merona had great work basics and Mossimo has produced most of my casual "idgaf" sundresses for the past several years. I justified an oh-so-trendy cold-shoulder, bell-sleeved top (that I cannot find ANYWHERE on their admittedly awful website!) because it's basically going to be a collector's item once Merona stops being produced...and also it's a super cheap way to try a trend that, I'm sure, will be out in about five minutes flat. (Plus, it's blue and white striped. I'm powerless.)

A few other quick Target faves:

I love the Sonia Kashuk lipstick, and have since Courtney surprised me with a few way back in 2014! I bought "Peach Passion" last night and it's an excellent subtle, not-neon coral for summer. 

One of the first things to get dropped in the face of a California budget was regular shellac manicures and pedicures. Instead, I'm embracing the art of the self-mani with basic nail polish. My problem, however, is that I'm incredibly hard on regular manicures, with most lasting just a day or two before I've bitten and scraped and cracked and smudged them beyond acceptability. So I picked up some Essie Gel Couture to try, in a nice, basic pale pink. I don't have high hopes - but we'll see! 

Also, I'm obsessed with L'Oreal Pure Clay masks. My mom and I bought a couple when she was here helping me move in June, and I do one at least once a week - I'm a huge fan of the charcoal Detoxify, but also love the Purify&Mattify. (Plus, seriously, they're sooo cheap. It's heavenly!)

A final item of note: Target's candle selection is absolutely bonkers, friends. And the best part is that a lot of their candles are manufactured by Illume, the same brand that produces ridiculously fragrant (and expensive) candles for Anthropologie, Patina, etc. I tend to find myself lost in the candle aisle most times I go to Target, but my favorite spot for absurdly cheap hidden gems is actually the dollar section right in the front of the store. You can thank me later! 

101 in 1001 #34: Try a foot peel.

Gang, this was so satisfying and so gross and so generally "out there" that I debated even wanting to share it BUT! I genuinely feel like it's a public service to evangelize for a minute here. 

I'm terrible about pedicures. I generally only get them in the summer, when I'm, you know, strolling around barefoot or in sandals or whatever and everyone has to look at my feet. Feet are gross, and I don't generally love letting people look at mine...let alone touch them. I always feel kind of guilty when I go in for a pedicure and it's like, "Hey, here are my feet that have been shoved in shoes and walked/run on all day and are now going to be in your face for the next hour." 

Anyway, I got a pedicure for the first time since August before my family's trip to Miami and Puerto Rico, and it was stressful and not pretty on a lot of levels. I left the salon and ended up randomly Googling "pedicure fixes," and stumbled on Baby Foot. It's this crazy cult beauty phenomenon, apparently - a literal chemical peel for your feet. After reading way too many reviews on Amazon and various beauty blogs, and clicking through dozens of equal-parts horrifying and gratifying before and after photos, I was sold. I was going to try a foot peel. 

Per the website, Baby Foot is "an innovative foot care product that will make your feet as smooth and soft as a baby's foot." The formula is supposedly all natural, based entirely on natural fruit enzymes, and works within ten days to make you shed dead skin and legit peel your feet down to smooth perfection. 

I ordered it in early March, and waited until after St. Patrick's Day to do it. With a bit of apprehension, I soaked my feet for awhile beforehand, then booted up and covered up with my very sexiest fuzzy granny socks for the requisite hour. 

You KNOW you've never seen anything more appealing than that, come on. Really pleased I've made the decision to share that with the world. 

While there are hundreds of photos of the process on the internet, I'm 100% not subjecting people to the process on MY feet. I didn't take a single picture, because, like I said, it's a bit repellent and a bit horrifying. You can Google it if you just NEED to see pictures of the process. That said, I started peeling in about four days, and was done in about eight. In that four-day window, though, I only had about one or two days of really massive peeling. I think this is mostly because I made a point of soaking and scrubbing my feet daily once the peel started working...it seemed to accelerate the process quite a bit. 

Now, ten days out from the initial application, I will say that I've noticed my feet are super smooth and in way better shape than they've been for a long time. Are they baby-soft? No, but honestly that's probably a good thing...I have noticed a few spots that are a little irritated and blister-prone in my gym shoes now, and any more peeling/exfoliation would probably have made that worse. 

Looking forward to sandal season! If you're feeling crazy, pick up your own foot peel here. Or, if this is just too out there for you, head to my 101 in 1001 and tell me what I should do next instead of grossing you all out - ha! 

101 in 1001 #8, #13: Little Life Changes

I have the worst tendency to get really lazy with my appearance when it gets hot out, and when I'm terribly busy. Given that this summer has been the most brutal combination of both, my daily routine has pretty much become "shower, go to work with wet hair and nothing but moisturizer on my face, apply mascara and concealer at my desk and pull my hair up, call it a day." 

That's so terrible, but it does have a few tangible benefits. My hair, given a break from constant heat styling, is growing way faster than usual and looks way better when I do take the time to do something with it. My skin, offered a vacation from constant makeup, is clearer and healthier than it's been in a long time. Noticing that, I've been extra-focused on taking care of things at a basic level...good skincare, hair care and dental care. 

So incredibly basic, but after my scary teeth-smashing over the Fourth of July, I've been hyper-focused on taking care of my teeth and gums. I escaped having to have a root canal primarily because I have really healthy teeth, and especially with several of my front teeth being partially fake, I want to keep my real teeth looking as white and good as possible. I floss once daily, right before bed and after brushing, based on these American Dental Association guidelines (yes, I know I'm a nerd).

In addition to flossing, I use whitening toothpaste, mouthwash twice a day, brush my teeth after lunch (I KNOW, I KNOW, NERD), and use a Whitestrip once a week. Call me crazy, but having just paid the residual bills for extensive dental work, I'd rather invest the time and care now than pay a ton more down the line for more care. 

I'm also hyper-aware of skin care after encountering several family members and friends with melanoma or associated skin cancer scares. Thanks to my mom's Italian heritage, I've been blessed with the kind of olive-toned skin that tans 99% of the time in the summer, and I rarely burn as a result. That said, I've had one or two bad ones in the last few years...

...and knowing that even tanning easily and rarely burning still increases cancer risk, I wanted to be more careful about my skin this summer. (See this list of skin cancer myths, from the American Society for Dermatologists.) Even spending much of my week indoors, I go out enough to want to do something to protect my skin. So I started using Lubriderm Daily Moisture with SPF 15 every morning...it takes legit two minutes to apply, and it's improved the texture and health of my skin along with providing a little sun protection. My face lotion already has SPF in it, so I'm covered there for daily wear. 

As for days when I will be outside (dreaming of floating in Iceland's Blue Lagoon, obviously)? I've been using this SPF 30 Sun Bum screen all summer. It was an impulse purchase before our Kentucky Derby party in May, primarily because I liked the bottle, but it turns out it's organic, vegan, and smells like a piña colada...well worth the higher price tag in my book, as I don't use full sunscreen often enough to worry too much about the cost. 

Like I said, trivial things that have made a great difference this summer. Now if I could just get myself out of bed early enough to actually do my hair on the regular.....

More 101 in 1001 here...and plenty more coming up in the next few weeks! 

101 in 1001: #25: Use up an entire chapstick.

Oh my gosh, this was such a frivolous goal. I almost feel ridiculous being excited about it. Almost. 

See, I'm one of those people who tends to be incredibly scatterbrained. My mom always used to call my life "organized chaos" when I was younger...for all I know, she still does. I tended to know where the important things were, but little stuff? Always lost in the shuffle. I notoriously never have a pen, can rarely find my keys if they're not securely placed on the hook by the door the second I get home, and have even misplaced my car at the Mall of America (easier to do than you'd think). Obviously chapstick is a low-priority item...and therefore often lost for me. It got so bad that after my move back downtown in October, I found no less than eight separate, practically untouched Burt's Bees chapsticks in my boxes and bags. That's totally ridiculous. 

That said, having eight chapsticks meant I could have one pretty much everywhere. I stuck one in a side zipper pocket of my purse, one in the sunglasses holder in my car, one in my bathroom medicine cabinet, one on my nightstand, and already had one in my cube at work, right next to the hand sanitizer and lotion that I use religiously. 

Having them visible and accessible made remembering to use them (multiple times) daily much easier, and I have to say, my usually dry, cracked, winter-chapped lips are loving it. The desk one was the official first to be used up: it took about six months and, as little as it is, it's so satisfying that I actually burned through an entire tube before losing it. 

Here's to the little victories and frivolous goals, and checking another item off my 101 in 1001! 

High(light)s and Lows

So it's been radio silence over here in blogland lately, but I promise I have a good excuse! My friends, I had the flu. And it's been a hell of a past few days here. Just a quick catchup on my survival (or lack thereof), starting with the lows to get them out of the way.

Well, for starters, my lovely immune system picked the best weekend ever to kick the bucket. Pause...not. Hannah, her roommates, our friend Caroline and I bought tickets to Sam Smith at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium months ago, and the concert was Saturday. I was 99% sure I wasn't going to make it, and 100% in denial about that fact until it just plain became inevitable. Talk about a total bummer! Fortunately, Hannah's friend Tara was able to take my ticket, and I've assuaged my sadness by listening to him on loop on Spotify and watching Hannah's many videos from the concert. How cute are these ladies?! Look at the signs!

Funny story: one of the admins at my office saw Sam Smith in person right after the concert grabbing some Cossetta's. He obviously knows what's what in Saint Paul, is all. 

This weekend was also Crashed Ice in Saint Paul, and it happened to be a stunningly gorgeous mid-forties weekend weather-wise. Of course, I missed this as well, as I didn't leave my bed for approximately 22 hours straight unless under bodily-enforced duress. Fortunately, I'm a glass-half-full person, and I managed to find a few high points in all the sickness. Namely: 

-On Thursday, before I totally fell apart, I went to my beloved stylists at Cole's for a cut and color. My hair had the January blues in a big way--I called my mom spazzing from the car threatening a drastic cut and dye job. Instead, I came in with this photo for inspiration: 

She's perfect. Teresa and Jen talked me off the ledge and I left with light, face-framing layers and beautiful highlights: 

Next time you think you spot the Duchess of Cambridge walking around the Twin Cities, your double-take shall be forgiven. It's just me rocking my utterly lovely new hair. 

Other weird but looking-on-the-bright side pluses to a weekend of illness: 

-the flu is an excellent way to jump-start weight loss. I lost six pounds in three days. (Yes, medically-intelligent friends, I know it's all dehydration and I will gain it all back as soon as I can stomach more than Saltines and dry English muffins.)

-Diet ginger ale. I powered through an entire two-liter over the weekend. No shame in my game. 

-The flu is also a great excuse to power through all of Season 4 (and half of Season 5) of "Gilmore Girls" in bed. You just can't watch Netflix for 12 hours straight on a 50-degree day in January unless you have a viable excuse. Like you can't move because your body hurts so much. 

See? Little Miss Sunshine over here. I did my best to feel better with hot baths and cozy socks and lots and lots of sleep. And as soon as I could hold my head up without the room spinning around in circles, I dragged my less-sick ass to Bachman's for emergency doses of green, healthy, growing things. 

Doesn't that just LOOK like spring? Yellow is my favorite color, flowers are a natural mood-lifter, and just seeing things grow makes me feel like spring is around the corner. 

Finally, just to make sure this up-and-down post ends on a high note, this was my view after an early morning wake up on Saturday. I may have felt sick as a dog, but could you imagine a more perfect affirmation that life is beautiful all the time? You just have to know where to look.