Part of my inspiration to write about what we miss from NYC was that Matt has been requesting that I make bagels for weeks. Probably because we haven’t found a decent place to get one in Boston. It was his birthday this week and I had the morning off (#labordayweekend!), so I decided to dig out my tried and true bagel recipe and get boiling. Bagels sound impressive when you tell people you made them yourself, and they take a good amount of time to prepare from start to finish, but it’s so worth it and actually pretty easy.

We officially moved to Boston in May, meaning we’ve been living in Beantown (is that a thing?) for almost 4 months. And we love it. There are a few things we miss about NYC, but so many more things that make living in Boston perfect for us. For example: NYC has way better public transportation. The NYC subway system is one of the best. It’s extensive, fairly reliable, and people (generally) understand how to use it.

Summer movies are always some of my favorites. And going to see movies in theaters is one of my favorite “Date night” activities with my husband. We always share a popcorn and a soda and, if we’re up at the new AMC Assembly Row, try to get the seats that fully recline. Also, if you haven’t been to that theater, GO. IT’S AWESOME. THERE’S A BAR. There are the typical summer blockblusters that always get major press (Hello, Jurassic World!

Strobing. So hot right now. If you haven’t heard (I’m sure you’ve heard), “strobing” is using intense highlight to contour the face, rather than trying to blend a darker color and create a shadow. Instead of creating depth, you create height and volume (yes we’re still talking about skin, not hair) by extreme highlighting. While this is a great look for photos, strobing, like contouring, is not the most natural look in real life.

I’ve introduced a number of new products to my routine over the past few weeks. I’ve been absent from blogging (I’m so sorry!) but not from beauty, obviously. I’ve noticed that while my new go-to products work great on their own, sometimes you hit a combination where it seems like two (or sometimes three) products were meant to be used together. Here are a few of the best combinations I’ve found.

Since I’m leaving NYC and my current job, my coworkers and I went out last night for drinks to celebrate and say goodbye. And when I say drinks I mean… Vodka sodas, and picklebacks, and fireball shots. Let’s just say my skin (and the rest of me) was not quite its vibrant glowing self this morning. Luckily, I’ve developed a routine to get myself back to radiant (or at least fake it!

I have been shopping lately. Between the Sephora VIB Sale, the dwindling days left I’ll be eligible for my Birchbox employee discount, and just general excitement for the spring season, I’ve picked up quite a few bits and pieces here and there. I decided it’s better to break it up a bit instead of having one monster post. Which is extra bad because soon I’ll have to pack up everything I own, so I’ve also been trying to use up my current stash as much as possible (aka apply self tanner daily).

After four years, three apartments, two jobs, and one crazy cat in NYC, it’s bittersweet to announce that I’m moving! Matt and I will be packing up and shipping up to Boston starting next month. I came across an amazing opportunity to work at a very early start up (more to come on that later!) and we jumped at the chance for a change of environment. I’ve had an incredible experience working at Birchbox these past 2+ years and I’m sure they will continue to produce outstanding experiences, content, and products.

It’s that time of year, when the temperature surges above 50 degrees and the bare legs are set free. Except most of those bare legs haven’t seen the sun in literally months and are looking a bit sickly pale. I never really got into the whole self tanner thing until recently, but now I consider myself fairly well versed in the application, formulation, and other aspects of becoming sunlessly bronzed.

It’s March favorites time, but I just posted a Holy Grail list, so instead I’m going to post about the things I’m looking to maaaaybe pick up in April? The Sephora VIB sale is coming up, right? Hmmm… Surratt Artistique Blush The who Surratt line is new at Sephora this week. I have heard great things about the collection but it hasn’t really been accessible. Until now. The blush shades I’m looking at are **Grisaille, **a contour shade, Guimauve, a “marshmallow pink” (pictured above!