Facecare

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. It’s just a list of more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007).

1. Last show you binged watched?

“The Diplomat” season 2 on Netflix with Keri Russell. It’s a little silly but I like how they weave real things that happen in the world into it.

2. Have you started planning for Thanksgiving yet?

Girl, no. LOL! I barely made it through the Halloween season, which honestly felt like it was three years long. I know in a few years, when Connor’s older, I’ll miss all the activities. Anyway, for Thanksgiving, we’re invited to a dinner that a friend is hosting, so we’ll probably do that. Or, we’ll just stay at home in our jammies, watch movies and have a crab fest again. So fun!

3. Pick your fall nail color – red, burgundy or dark blue?

Ooh, burgundy please! I’d love a touch of barely there micro shimmer and a shiny finish.

4. Peas mixed into your mashed potatoes – yes or no?

Hard no. I like my mashed potatoes traditional. Lots of butter, with the option for gravy.

5. Something you’d like to accomplish this week?

I’d love to carve out some time to write. Work is finally winding down a little, and so are all the activities that packed our calendar last month. I’m hoping that a little bit of breathing room will allow me to relax enough to joyfully sit at my computer and let my mind wander. I’ve had a hard time focusing lately; I’ve felt pulled in all the directions.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon.

1. Last show you binged watched?
2. Have you started planning for Thanksgiving yet?
3. Pick your fall nail color – red, burgundy or dark blue?
4. Peas mixed into your mashed potatoes – yes or no?
5. Something you’d like to accomplish this week?

Last year Harris, that dastardly lothario, won the annual Novato pumpkin growing contest, which came as a huge shock to Rosie because she thinks he’s mentally inferior.

While that may be true, Harris has figured out how to grow big pumpkins.

This year, Rosie isn’t holding back. She’s put a lot of time and scientific work into maximizing her pumpkin yields. She also read a bunch of books on botany and interviewed all the top minds in the field.

Hopefully she can reclaim the crown that Tabs once had. 😸

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. It’s just a list of more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007).

1. Last Halloween costume you wore?

Hmm, a couple years ago I was a panda! It was a low-effort panda though. LOL!

2. Best and worst Halloween candy?

I used to love Snickers, but now I find them too sweet, so please give me all the Ghrirardelli Caramel Squares. As for the worst ones, I automatically toss the rolls of Smarties and anything licorice related. Blech!

3. Pick your Halloween nail color – orange or black?

Black with a high shine top coat please.

4. Vampires or werewolves?

I’d rather hang out with the werewolves.

5. Scariest Halloween movie?

“The Shining” still freaks me out!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon.

1. Last Halloween costume you wore?
2. Best and worst Halloween candy?
3. Pick your Halloween nail color – orange or black?
4. Vampires or werewolves?
5. Scariest Halloween movie?

No one threw a Halloween shindig like Tabs — fancy cat costumes, spooky snacks, special appearances from top-tier talent, including Tabs. In fact, Heidi Klum stole the idea for her spooky soirees from him. Here’s a look back at a typical Halloween 🎃 and all the prep Tabs usually did.

My Darlings,

There’s an old saying in the plus-size kitty modeling world: “Go big or go home,” and I take that phrase to heart when it comes to hosting parties. I want my guests to be talking about them for years to come.

Being a famous feline supermodel, I’ve hosted many Halloween shindigs in my time, and I have almost a decade of party-planning experience. In that vein, here are the four essential components of a successful feline Halloween party.

1. Invitations

First things first — the invitations. In the digital age, e-vites and group invites via Facebook are acceptable; however, I’m a little old fashioned. I prefer paper invitations. Do what I do, and ask your assistant to design you a custom invite.

Don’t forget to include all of the pertinent details, like date and time, location, how to RSVP and, most importantly, the dress code.

2. Food

As you can tell by my husky girth, food is EXTREMELY important to me. Catering is always an option, of course, but if you are lucky enough to have an in-house chef/gravy preparer (I do), spend some time with them brainstorming fun Halloween-themed beverages, hors d’oeuvres and desserts.

I start scouring gourmet cat culinary magazines months beforehand, and this is what I’ll be serving this year. Feel free to riff on any of these ideas.

3. Entertainment

“Everybody have fun tonight. Everybody Wang Chung tonight.” Why, yes, I did just quote one of my favorite party songs. It’s on the Halloween mix I plan to play this year, along with several cat-themed songs, of course.

Music is absolutely key to a successful party, so take the time to build a good playlist with upbeat songs to get ever furry feline tail twitching.

Once you’ve got the mood music covered, you’ll need additional entertainment, and I’m a big fan of tabletop games. Cat-Opoly is a classic that’s guaranteed to get your party rolling.

Also, if you have room in your budget, hire a live bad. This year Maroon 5 will be entertaining my guests because Adam Levine owes me a favor.

4. Decorations

Set the stage for your party with Halloween decorations. I like spooky silhouettes, and if your assistant is handy with a paring knife, have her carve at least one appropriate jack-o-lantern. My assistant is currently working hard on ours as we speak!

Cats like to interact with their space, so it’s important to take that into account. Make your decorations accessible, and hang streamers from the ceiling to encourage swatting and play. Also, set up your DIY silhouettes so that cats who love shadows can watch them for hours.

Lanterns are also a great way to enhance a spooky mood, but don’t forget to turn down the lights.

Whatever you do, have fun. Don’t let your duties as a host prevent you from interacting with your guests. Mix, mingle, rub a cheek or two, and make it a night to remember.

Have a frightfully fabulous Halloween!
Tabs

Hiya and happy Saturday!

How’s your week been? You know, I thought of you the other day when I put lipstick on right before work; it was MAC Sweet Deal, a mid-tone pink that looks like a neutral on my skin. Anywho, I wondered if you were still keeping up with wearing lip color all week long. I hope so! Even though I wasn’t adventurous with color, I’m happy to report I wore Sweet Deal all through the week.

I grabbed it on Monday right before I brought Connor to school. We did a short presentation on Filipino History Month for all the grades in her elementary! You can kinda see it here in this pic one of her teachers took of us. 🙂

The presentation went well, and I think Connor was excited to share different things about Filipino history and culture.

At the end we taught the kids some Tagalog words and phrases, and even though my American accent makes things sound a little wonky, I figured it was better than nothing, LOL!

Anywho, work at the college was busy this week, although we did have a fun little team building exercise which involved me dressing up as a ghost in a wrinkly old sheet and jumping up and down in a field full of flowers.

We also climbed the dive tower at the aquatic center to do a ghost picture, and I stood on the seven meter platform which shockingly FREAKED ME OUT.

I never thought that I was afraid of heights until I tried to walk to the edge. In my mind, I was logically thinking, “Hey, if I fall, at least I’d fall into some water,” but oh no. There was something about standing at the edge looking down that was really, really scary.

Are you dressing up for Halloween? Sadly the wrinkly sheet is the most prep I’ve done for one of my favorite holidays. I really have to come up with a last-minute costume!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

I’ve lived in the Bay Area practically all of my life and had no idea that this gorgeous place existed. Fioli Historic House and Gardens is just about an hour away from where I live Marin county. It’s in the peninsula, south of San Francisco. Back in the day, it was a private residence, but now you can visit it and explore the mansion and the grounds.

I went a couple weeks ago with my friends, Jen and Cindy; you might remember them from the MAC Evolution Revolution launch from waaaay back when. 🙂 We had tea at the cafe, explored the gardens and caught up.

Sometimes I can’t believe that I used to talk to these two and see them every day. That’s one of the magical things of my childhood and teenage years that I didn’t fully understand the wonder of until I got older. To be able to say that I spent almost every day of my formative years with good friends was such a gift.

Anywho, back to the gardens! Everywhere you go, there’s something gorgeous to see.

If you ever get the chance to visit, please make your way to the rose garden and read through all the names of the roses. They’re low-key scandalous, LOL!

Where you live, are there any cool houses with gardens like this one?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Yup, it’s officially fall around here, and Rosie’s soaking it in.

Tabs would have been bustin’ out the scarves already! As you know, this is a great time of year for feline fashion.

Rosie’s also a big fan…

Tabs did some of his most memorable kitty modeling campaigns for fall, including his award-winning Autumn Leaves tutorial, which set the standard for feline makeup infographics for years to come.

Rosie has kept the fall vibes going here at Tabs the Cat Industries, LLC, but Tabs was the cat who blazed the trail.

Jeez, that swagger, those eyes, those markings…

Simply incredible. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. It’s just a list of more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007).

1. Are you contemplating any limited edition holiday makeup releases?

I usually prefer products in the permanent collections because in my experience holiday makeup performs differently for whatever reason. I do love a holiday fragrance set, though!

2. Are BB creams worth your time?

My answer was no back in the day, but now that I’m into minimal base, I’m thinking it could be good if I find one that agrees with my skin. Hmm, maybe that will be my next makeup project – finding “the one.” I stumbled onto this one by Dr. Jart and it looks pretty good.

3. Your favorite video game?

It’s all about old school Tetris on a Gameboy, baby!

4.Advice you wish you would’ve received as a young person?

I wish someone would’ve found a way to convey to me without sounding judgemental or preachy that worrying about boys is a waste of time and that throwing yourself fully into your studies with an exciting end goal in mind (like studying abroad), is the key.

5. Something you hope to accomplish this week?

Make it through the week with a growth mindset. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon.

1. Are you contemplating any limited edition holiday makeup releases?
2. Are BB creams worth your time?
3. Your favorite video game?
4. Advice you wish you would’ve received as a young person?
5. Something you accomplished this week?

I’m so proud of us, babe! First of all, we made it to Friday, which is no small feat. Secondly, we’ve risen to the challenge to wear lip color all week long! Good job, friend. 🙂

Here’s what I wore yesterday, MAC Velvet Teddy. Sometimes you just need an old friend to get you through the last bits of the week, you know?

OK, so whatcha got?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. It’s just a list of more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007).

1. Something nice someone did for you recently?

My friend took me out to tea yesterday. I don’t know what it is about those tiny little sandwiches and a hot pot of earl grey, but it does a lot for my soul.

2. What’s your favorite holiday?

Halloween because it’s fun, you get to dress up and it doesn’t involve getting gifts or orchestrating a big meal!

3. Something that makes you nervous?

Driving next to big semi-trucks on the freeway that are going waaaaaay too fast.

4. My favorite weekday lunch is?

Roasted red pepper pasta with garbanzo beans and basil topped with lots of parmesan cheese. YUM!

5. Something you accomplished over the weekend?

I made myself take some downtime and did absolutely nothing housework related. Sure, there are tufts of pet hair floating down the hallway and I’ll need to do a grocery run after work, but I actually feel rested.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon.

1. Something nice someone did for you recently?
2. What’s your favorite holiday?
3. Something that makes you nervous?
4. My favorite weekday lunch is?
5. Something you accomplished over the weekend?