Dreams about Eyelashes

I had a dream last night that most of my eyelashes had fallen out due to wearing too much eyeliner and mascara. They were patchy and sad and I made a logical, yet mopey decision to stop wearing eye makeup until they had grown back. I wear a lot of eye makeup and I have had times when the abuse has caused some of my eyelashes to fall out, but nothing like my dream. I should probably take this as a wake-up call and take better care of them - mascara always looks so much better when my eyelashes are strong and healthy - I can tell when they're getting cranky because my eyelashes go in different directions and refuse to curl.

Normally, I'm incredibly lazy and use my normal facewash when I'm in the shower to take my makeup off. While it does the job, it leaves my eyes sore and the skin around them irritated as a lot of rubbing is required - the damage to my eyelashes is a bit more long term. I have proper stuff in my cupboard and while it stings my eyes if I'm stupid enough to open them while I'm using it, it does an amazing job of getting all the black gunk off my face - it's also good for lipstains too, but it's not really meant to be used for that.

The product in question is Almay Oil Free Eye Makeup Remover Pads - but considering it boasts being the 'Number #1 Brand in America' I'm guessing most people already know about it. It's soaked in the remover and they stay soaked all the way to the last wipe - I normally only need one to take off the makeup on both eyes, but if it's a big night sometimes I need two. I've only tried the oil-free one as I get sty's if I get oil in my eyes, but I don't think the oil is necessary. I hold the pad to my eye for 5 seconds before gently rubbing and it just all comes off - I don't wear waterproof mascara or eyeliner so I don't know how effective it is for them but this is all I need and at AU$10 (which lasts months for me) it's something I will keep buying. Hopefully I won't have any more creepy dreams.

Introductions - Coming Out of a Cooking Slump and Declaring a Mission Statement

I've been in a cooking slump lately. Starting a new job with a 1 hour commute while also doing my degree by correspondence has been very challenging. Couple that in with it getting colder and colder and the fact that my house always seems to be a damned mess, I have zero enthusiasm for planning, shopping and cooking a meal. Since I can't afford to/don't have the time to eat at restaurants, it usually means that I eat junk food for dinner or if I can't bear to eat shit, then I just don't eat at all. That's really not conducive to performing well at work or at uni and well, it makes me grouchy and the week drags for what feels like an eternity (weekends? What are weekends? And when will I see one again?).

I took a good two hours today to go through my favourite cookbooks and my favourite cooking blog to find some recipes that are simple, delicious, nutritious, healthy, and minimalist. Now since I didn't go the farmers markets today (it was raining and cold) this will have to wait until next weekend, but by then I will most certainly be ready.

I've wanted to start a blog for a very long time, but I have always had trouble sticking with a mission statement. I go back and forth between wanting to blog about: cooking, weight loss, fashion, literature, gossip, music, politics ... it goes on... but with my mind divided between so many things, I failed to do any of it very well. When I tried to concentrate on the one thing, it immediately became the thing I wanted to talk about least. So out the window with that. Do I need to label this? Does this have to be one thing? This blog is going to be about everything and nothing at all.