Monumental Success and Monuments for When it's Lost

Beauty's in the eye of the beholder.
The concept of success lays nestled there too. We work our years, working, thinking, learning, and dreaming. It's not always tangible or desirable or even real, but it's invaluable and transformative and seductive all at once to have that success.
Success is work.
Success is patience.
Success is dedication.
Success is something we are proud of and teach our children to value.

9/11 left its mark upon our country in the span of a moment. With both collisions, the success, happiness, lives, and security of a vast network of people crumbled away and fell into the street with the rumble from the Twin Towers. Work, pride, and success all fell that day.
And as I stood staring at the 9/11 Memorial in NYC it seemed terribly unfair for it all to break so easily and fall apart as we all fear that our success one day shall.
The 9/11 Memorial is an impressed fingerprint scarring the concrete of New York City. It feels like it should be completely silenced, as if in salute to the events that transpired there and America's iconic stance on terrorism as we know it today. This silence does not exist--or at least, not yet. The scene throbs with booms, crashes, and beeps from construction and from my perch on a balcony overlooking the area, cranes and digging equipment abound and make their own mark in the traumatic traffic situation the city's famous for. The machines seem out of place next to the serene Ground Zero falling waters.
But what seemed most foreign was the thought that maybe this was someone else's idea of success.
It is obvious that anything on the scale of 9/11 requires planning, logistics, and faith.
Is this not comparable to work, patience, and dedication?
It is a morbid thought but it is also a reality; different people have different ideas of success that oftentimes do not coexist easily. Perhaps the Disney-esque response to this uncomfortable realization would be to say that given time, any ideas can exist together and everyone can be happy--but I'm not so sure Disney would have it right in this case.
It's become a global responsibility for people to learn how to define their idea of success and outline a plan for achieving it. We detail these concepts in applications, diary entries, via text, or even during drives and flights and conversations. We then attempt to pursue this success. It is, if anything, natural. But as we can see in 9/11, all these ideals and ideas can create conflict, friction, hatred, and hurt.
From this comes another responsibility: communication. If we take the time and the effort to communicate--both with one another and with ourselves--we would better understand other peoples' motivations and definitions of success. This is not to say that terrorism is acceptable nor is it to say that terrorism is preventable; this, rather, is completely true: the majority of the time, we don't understand another's reasons for doing things.
As a realistic goal, it may be that simply communicating and showing others the respect implied by communication could help solve many difficulties we as a global community face today. On a mini scale, it's difficult, for example, to try to guess why my dog's barking (did he see a squirrel? Or was it a rabbit? Is there a robber? Or did he attack the other dog?..), much less to understand what some other person separated by a hemisphere, a religion, a language, and a huge mess of prejudice and propaganda is trying to accomplish.
Unfortunately, I can't answer what people were thinking about 9/11 and I probably can't even conceptualize at the "why". But I do know that communication is powerful. And a lack of communication is dangerous.
And how does that saying go? Something like "better safe than sorry"....

The Notebook

SPOILER ALERT: THIS POST HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH THE RACHEL MCADAMS- RYAN GOSLING ROMANCE
(I am sorry about this, truly sorry)

A MUJI store <3

After we went to NYC last spring, my mother and I returned to Colorado with a wonderful discovery. No, we hadn't stumbled upon the secret hideaway of Hugh Jackman or wandered into a top-secret government meeting--we'd done something far more exciting. Yes, we'd found the perfect notebook. In the airport, we stumbled upon a little stationary and writing supplies store called MUJI. MUJI is a Japanese stationary store with a handful of stores in NYC.
MUJI is such a gem of a brand for three key reasons; it is:

• useful
• cute
• cheap

These notebooks are unique; rather than upping the bulk and cost like other brands such as MEAD and FIVE STAR, MUJI opts for a minimal, compact size and shape to their notebooks. These light, sometimes recycled, and useful notebooks fit easily into a purse, backpack, or even glove compartment.
Plus, the pens, highlighters, and desk accessories have the ability to make any note-taking session approximately 1000X more enthralling (Advice to teachers: invest in these--they're well-worth your $$).
There's no better way to illustrate this point than by giving you the facts, so here's a mini-MUJI summary:
My favorite notebook "planner"....$1.50
Highlighter...........................$1.25
Benefit you get from having the perfect writing supplies? Priceless.

To check out MUJI for yourself, visit their website , click on "stationary," and shop away!

Line Those Lashes!

There are many ways to use eyeliner. We use it to draw attention to our eyes, lift up our faces, enhance our lashes, and accentuate our best features. However, we all have different preferences, goals, and eye-shapes--and it's important that we acknowledge these differences and apply our eyeliner how we like it! Here are some easy tips, brands, and types of eyeliner to try, so that you're covered for any situation!

Testers of Sephora's Flashy Eyeliner Minis. Also try:
Sephora's Nano Eyeliners. 

First things first: the basics

 Every make-up-loving girl ought to have at least one eyeliner pencil. This make-up staple is easy to apply, easy to use, easy to correct, and easy to find (since it's obviously so easy you obviously have no excuse to complain about using one...). My personal favorites came from Sephora in a set of minis; at different times in the year, Sephora sells sets of mini-eyeliner pencils in fives and sixes. My personal set contains: silver, brown, black, blue, purple, and green minis--enough variety to keep it interesting and enough convenience to keep it simple. 

The fun range of colors offered in eyeliner pencils make experimenting with new styles easy and fun. And the best part? They're easily corrected with a cue-tip and a dip of make-up remover (useful for those early-morning make-up disasters that we've all had...)

                                                                    
                                                                      Gettin' Slick and Sassy

Urban Decay's 24/7 line. Also check out their
gold eyeliner pencil that's another wing of
the line.  I promise you won't be disappointed!

To take it a step up in the drama and difficulty departments, go for a liquid liner. I personally rarely wear it--but I have applied it to many people. The key is to go at it slow and steady and not rush--because then you'll look like you're bleeding blue/purple/black all over your face. Liquid liners are best for a clean or dramatic look; you can taylor the line to be as thin and natural-looking or as thick and cat-eyed as you'd like. Two of my favorites are Laura Mercier's liquid eyeliners (because they're easier to control) and Urban Decay's fun metallic-y set (let's be honest: I can't even resist that packaging!).

Fun and Fancy

Is this photo dramatic enough
for you? MAC's own website
brags that this "Penultimate"
eyeliner can help shape ANY
eye shape you want!

Now that we've hit the "Big 2", it's time to get fun and specialized. One of my favorite discoveries this past year has been the eyeliner pen. While I mainly use it for night-time occasions or winged eyeliner, I hypothesize that the eyeliner pen is on its way to make-up stardom. Not only is it like using a pen--it's also easy to control and to correct. It's the liquid look minus the risk of dripping, smudging, and missing. Mac's eyeliner pen creates a clean, steady black line that can be pulled off either winged or un-winged. Plus, it can be applied in a low-key way that doesn't leave you feeling naked without mascara. In short, my two favorite aspects of this type of eyeliner are: 1). It's easy to use, fun, and quality. 2). I've worn it several times during the day and it makes my eyes pop without any mascara at all! 

                                              Classy, Classic, and Romantic

The Macroviolet Gel Pot

I have a confession: I have one more favorite MAC product to flaunt to you today. Not only do they have me bound to their will through my adoration and fascination with the Penultimate eyeliner, but they have a killer gel eyeliner that puts any other brand's product to shame. The gel pots are savvy, compact, and long-lasting. My favorite MAC eyeliner is the gel eyeliner in Macroviolet (coolest color name ever!), and I discovered it with my mother in NYC last year. We walked into a freestanding MAC store over spring break, and I all but threw myself at a make-up artist there with a burning question: "I love eyeliner and make-up, but I need a fun to way to use eyeliner. Do you have anything besides a pencil??" The answer, my dears, was YES! And thus he instructed me on how to use gel eyeliners... If you need a lesson, please comment and I'll provide details! However, to apply gel liner you must use a special brush (or risk ruining the products) and never, ever, rush yourself. This is another product that you can wear without adding anything--including mascara! The purple/maroon/brown color of Macroviolet is a softer, sweeter shade than true black--especially since I'm fair skinned. Plus, it's a welcome sight after the multitudes of poorly applied black liner paraded daily by teens and women everywhere. Although no one will ever think that you've gone completely "natural" if you wear MAC's gel pot eyeliner, it's classy, sophisticated, and elegant--the perfect image we're going after anyways!

Quick Challenge: Now that you have all these wonderful new options for your eyeliner, go out and pick your favorite and experiment! Happy lining! For more inspiration just look to the Internet, make-up advertisements, or--yes, it's true--Lady Gaga herself. Just Google her, and you'll see what I mean.