laylalex

It was the cabin one we got a back up for, but you're right, we should also get an extra one for the engine.

Great idea. We literally just got a spare air filter last weekend when I took the car in for a service. We changed the one in there and got a spare just in case. The DWP sucks. The Santa Ynez reservoir being emptied was necessary for repairs but it's been empty for a YEAR. And they never (apparently) let LAFD know it was still empty. I am very grateful to be close to two completely full reservoirs where I am but I had no idea they were full! Things are looking a little better where I am this morning. We're no where out of the woods yet, but the fire has not advanced and we haven't gotten any evacuation warning yet. So we're staying put and being watchful. I've never been so grateful to wake up in my own bed.

Hey, it's me! Thanks for posting that, TBone. It's been a crazy day, a crazy week. Briefly: Tuesday morning I was at work in West LA and my coworker told me to check out a plume of smoke. At lunchtime, it looked like this when we went out to take a couple pics: We didn't think much of it -- fires are normal around here, and while obviously dangerous they're not something that goes on for too long. But the Santa Ana winds are in this week, and were blowing crazy hard on Tuesday. We had forecast gusts up to 80-90 mph. And we haven't had any appreciable (and I mean over 0.1 in) rain since May, so this place is a tinderbox. The predictable happened, and this was the sky when we packed up and left around 4:30pm because we were all getting spooked: My usual 25 minute commute was nearly an hour, all those people leaving at the same time. And when I got home: no power. A tree had fallen, a victim of the Santa Anas, on a car a block away from our home, and it took down a power line. We had no power for six hours, but at least the fires were really far away. I get an email that the office has been evacuated and not to come in until further notice. Wednesday morning: working from home while the Palisades are getting turned into something my mother compared to looking like Dresden, and out in the east Altadena is disappearing. We have family friends who lost their home of decades, both artists and all their art and instruments and studios and equipment poof. Gone. They are safe, thank god. I have since learned a high school classmate and her husband lost everything. My own parents evacuated to my sister's in Studio City (now they're all in San Diego after tonight). And we had a small fire near us, but it was put down rapidly. Everyone becomes obsessed with the Watch Duty app, checking where fires are, how big, what's in control, links to announcements, etc. Thursday: still at home, but things seem... better? Then we get a random and incorrect blaring emergency alert on our phones telling us to get ready to evacuate, followed by another heart-stopping siren saying whoops, our bad, no emergency. Watch Duty has already told us this! (We love Watch Duty and no, they are not paying me to say that.) Calm night here, and I get an email from my boss saying the office will be open again tomorrow, we have an all hands meeting so be there if I can. Ah, normal life! And then... Early Friday morning: 4:50 am, to be more precise. Blaring emergency alert EVACUATE NOW! Alex is running around cursing about our go bags not being completely ready, and I'm checking Watch Duty (still not paying me, but they should!) and saying, um, honey, I think it's another false alarm. Which it is, but we can't get back to sleep. I get to work, we do an almost all hands meeting (one coworker has totally bugged out and left for Redondo Beach) and everything seems fine until... This afternoon, Friday, around 4:15pm: ANOTHER emergency alert. Except this one is real, I'm at work, and I still have to meet with my boss before I can go so I can brief him on a project before the weekend. I hang around for an hour, while Alex is texting me to come home ASAP, he's worried. I finally leave around 6pm, and when I get to the parking structure in my building there are huge flakes of ash blowing around like snow. I jump in the car and head up the 405, and at some point the air getting into the car is so bad I'm coughing. When I got home, the air was fresh and clear and I felt like everything was going to be okay. Well, it wasn't. News started pinging around on our group text with neighbors -- there's now an evacuation warning (i.e. get ready to go when we tell you) the other side of Ventura Blvd., a few blocks away. I look out the window and the sky is glowing red. It feels surreal, utterly unreal. I go completely numb, and then Alex and I are running around, not really speaking to each other, packing up toiletries and shoving sweaters in bags and what not. I felt anesthetized. I've never seen a fire like this here, ever. Encino doesn't get fires, which is one of the many reasons I felt safe moving here. (It's really just one of the best places that's actually in the City of LA.) We find a place to crash that has enough room and is far enough away from everything; so many of my friends have already evacuated so we're lucky to have a place to be with friends. But then, as we're getting the last things packed, and talking to seemingly everyone to tell them of our plans, I say: let's look at the news. I've been avoiding the news -- the images are traumatizing for me. Seeing places I love unrecognizable is like getting punched in the gut. But now I want to see the news. And what I hear is that the fire line is holding south of us, and the reservoir is full. Chinooks and other choppers are dumping thousands of gallons on the flare up less than a mile from us, firefighters from Orange and Riverside counties, and from Clark County in Nevada. So right now (1am) I'm going to sleep, with go bags ready, but I am hopeful. Winds are down, humidity is up to almost 30%. Santa Anas are in the forecast again tomorrow, so things may change again. Thanks for reading this brain dump! Keep us in your thoughts, I'll check in tomorrow.

It's a total mess. And I am 100% here for it! I am always ready to watch Florian in anything, he's such a weird guy, like a grumpy Eastern European grandpa in a male model's body.

I think she looks amazing -- so healthy! Shame about her eyebrows, but so many girls and women made the same mistake of overplucking in the late 90s/early 00s. I graduated high school in '03 and that was like the height of the pencil-thin look. I am forever grateful that I listened to my mother who told me to put the tweezers down.

Yay for the makeup experimenting! Boo for the sad panda look. Luckily there is a solution for this problem, and it's something I use nearly every day, since I am an eyeshadow/eyeliner/mascara fiend: eyeshadow primer. Total game changer. Great news is that you do NOT need to spend a lot of money to get a good one, although there are a lot of expensive ones out there. The one I like more than any other is by Milani: https://www.milanicosmetics.com/products/stay-put-eyeshadow-primer A little goes a loooooong way, so a squirt the size of a ball bearing will be enough for both lids. It not only grips eyeshadow, it also helps mascara stay in place because oftentimes, it's the oil on our lids causing things to get messy in our lashes. If your eyeshadow isn't moving, more than likely your mascara isn't either. There are a ton of eyeshadow primers out there, so it might be trial and error, but Milani is it for me. I used to love the Urban Decay one which is about 2.5x the price and while it is excellent, there are cheaper alternatives. Another option if you are skipping shadow but want to wear mascara, there is also mascara primer. There are MANY expensive options and some very good drugstore ones that work very, very well. This one from L'Oreal is solid: https://www.lorealparisusa.com/makeup/eye/mascara/voluminous-lash-primer A fancier option I rate is https://www.lancome-usa.com/makeup/eye-makeup/mascaras/cils-booster-xl-enhancing-lash-and-mascara-primer/990604.html (which now that I click on it, I want to buy myself!). Don't look to me for nail tips, I'm in your camp! My sister used to forcibly file my nails for me when I was younger because she said it was embarrassing. I do use an emery board to keep things in order, and I do NOT do long nails. Mine are all very short, and the only thing I use is this, because it is actually a nail strengthener, which I do need to use sometimes: https://us.amazon.com/modelones-Filler-Strengthener-Treatment-Damaged/dp/B0CNR9J3P5 When I remember!

Well, all the hard work paid off because I got a raise today! It's all going to finance my makeup addiction.

Excellent! Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner -- my workload has been recently and I am also working on a personal project that is sucking up all of my precious VJ time! I was going to recommend this cream: https://www.amazon.com/ACWELL-Balancing-Intensive-Anti-Wrinkle-Anti-aging/dp/B09B3CNL42 I have not used it myself, but when I was poking around I saw a bunch of solid reviews from beauty editors on its effectiveness for dark circles. If you are thinking about something drastic (lol) like tinted moisturizer with SPF for days you want a tiny bit of coverage just to even things out, I love the NARS Pure Radiant Skin with SPF30+. https://www.narscosmetics.com/USA/pure-radiant-tinted-moisturizer-spf-30/999NACPRTM001.html Use the color matching tool to find the right shade, but it's so light and buildable that if your first guess is wrong but close, you probably won't notice it. So gentle as well for sensitive skin.

USE THE SUNSCREEN! And don't keep it in the car, the heat and sunlight can damage its effectiveness. It can also explode if it gets too hot which... would be some clean up.

I will think about it, but the brand Dashinka just mentioned, Sulwhasoo, may have something for you. Korean skincare tends to be both more gentle and more effective than a lot of mainstream US brands. So I'll think about something that might have organic ingredients, for sensitive skin, and for the delicate eye area. Dark circles can be handled with creams, but also using cold compresses (think: cucumbers on the eyes -- they work!), or undereye patches (I love these). You're looking to moisturize AND bring down inflammation. Also consider using a gua sha tool with a nice, neutral oil like jojoba or rosehip. I love the Ordinary rose hip face oil for working with a gua sha and it is stupid cheap at about $11. A bottle will last you 6 months, easily, since you only need a tiny bit. If you've never used a gua sha before, it's a little weird at first but it really does work. You don't need to spend a ton on one either -- most people prefer jade or rose quartz. Rose quartz is supposed to be a little gentler but I think that's mostly hogwash. They're both stone! Keep it in the fridge for extra help with inflammation. I will report back with eye cream ideas but my parting thought -- SUNSCREEN! I am very boring about sunscreen, ask anyone who knows me, and nag people to remember to wear it. So if you aren't, do! It will also help with dark circles.

Kobe is the best, sweetest, most mature cast member in any of the various shows and seasons. He's kind, compassionate, respects his wife's parents, is a great and involved dad, and on and on... I like to think he helped Michael make the decision to leave and maybe got him that bus ticket. Angela is terrifying -- I found the screaming very, very triggering. The new season of Before the 90 Days is ... well, it is something!

Yes, my local Pavilions I go to multiple times a week is on there. It's a fantastic supermarket, with a massive Kosher section (including frozen and chiller aisles, not common outside of specifically Kosher supermarkets). For this reason it's a community resource, so I hope that stays in place for my neighbors.

Those nails aren't that long. My former co-worker's aunt owns a tire shop, and she always has gorgeous nails around that length. In general, I keep mine pretty short and buffed instead of nail polish, except for special occasions. I am so clumsy that nail polish gets chipped almost immediately on me. Pedicures are another matter -- that is something that I do spend a little on every 2 weeks or so. Of course few of us are performing manual labor with our feet......

We haven't really thought about applying, because our attitude has basically been: let's do one thing at a time, no rush. But the window opened earlier this month, I know that. He's currently in the UK dealing with a death in the family, so all of this is really on the back burner at the moment. I know he has continuous residence covered but we'll have to tot up all his trips abroad to make sure he's okay for physical presence. Almost 100% sure he is, but there have been a number of longish trips. Believe me, I would know if he was gone more than half the time because I'd have bought fewer groceries over the past 3 years!

Anyone had any updates recently? It'll be a year (!!!) tomorrow since we sent it off and while I know there are many people who have been waiting way longer... I'm ready for it to be over.

For perfumes, I love what they call "gourmand" scents -- vanilla, chocolate, peach, pistachio, and yes, sometimes berries. But not strawberries -- it's a difficult scent to replicate without seeming too fake. Raspberry and blackberry I love though. And I love smokey scents -- By the Fireplace is in my top 5 perfumes of all time and it smells like you've been sitting in front of a campfire, roasting marshmallows. I adore it. My all the year round "signature" go-to scent is Across Sands (sadly, a limited edition) which is a spicy oriental. Love it. Now, in terms of order, it's often preference. I start with skin prep: AHA/BHA toner, followed by a serum, and moisturizer with sunscreen. I am fanatical about sunscreen. On a low key day, I smear a little eyeshadow primer on my lids (I prefer the one by Milani over the very expensive fancy ones) and some e.l.f. primer with niacinamide on my face. Primer is KEY for keeping what you like in place, and not all primers work with all foundations/skin tints. More info here: https://www.byrdie.com/what-is-makeup-primer-and-do-i-need-it-346076 After I let the primers set a little (2 mins or so), I like to do eyes first. Neutral daytime look: I sweep an off-white/ecru shade over my entire lid and up to the browbone. Then a slightly darker shade over the lid itself; often I choose a shimmer for this. I have a couple of discontinued Tom Ford shadows I prefer for this look, but my go-to is this Kim Chi Chic palette: https://kimchichicbeauty.com/collections/eye-shadow/products/spinning-hearts-love-01-lifetime-partner-shadow-palette Then because the shadows are understated, I choose an interesting liner shade, like deep berry, dark green or navy blue. Not too thick a line, but not tight lining. I have hooded eyes so I have learned a few tricks to deal with much of my lids being hidden, and colored liners help with that. Then face -- currently, I love love love the Danessa Myricks Yummy Skin Tint, which has a lot of skincare benefits. You don't need a lot of it, and it is light to medium coverage. I use a foundation brush for application. I sometimes use concealer, mostly for my rosacea (ugh) and it's from Danessa Myricks, too. I also love the brand new Charlotte Tilbury Unreal Skin Sheer Glow Tint -- it is VERY sheer and gives an amazing sheen. It is also basically foolproof. Followed by the NARS Orgasm (said it again!) --I use one of the liquid formulations for a sheer application. Then a very light dusting of setting powder (Kim Chi Chic's Puff Puff Pass) and a couple of sprays of setting spray. I run an eyebrow comb through my eyebrows and if I think they need a little something, I use Boybrow from Glossier, very natural. One coat of mascara -- I like Too Faced's Better than Sex more than anything else. Lips -- this is my favorite for no makeup days in Dolce Vita: https://www.narscosmetics.com/USA/afterglow-lip-balm/999NAC0000069.html?dwvar_999NAC0000069_color=7845034209&cgid=lips But in general, a tinted balm is always a good, low key choice. I KNOW THIS SEEMS LIKE A LOT! But I can do all of this in under ten minutes, and for me it is time to focus on myself alone. I put on some music, or listen to a podcast, and shut out the world. Makeup can be like meditation, which sounds like a pretentious thing to say, but I find myself very at peace in a time that is for me. Experiment! Get things wrong. Laugh at bad choices (I have made some very bad makeup choices). Figure out what works. And most of all have fun.

FRAGRANCE!!! I am always down to talk fragrances. Okay, I will put on my thinking cap about what you might like if you like Charlie Blue (which I am not familiar with) and DKNY Delicious Night (which I am). Be Delicious was my signature scent at university, until I did a year abroad in the UK and I was told that it made me smell "aggressively American". But I do know Delicious Night as well. I have a couple of ideas off the top of my head but I'll ponder a little. I'll also keep the price right. Right now I am mostly wearing ffern's Summer 2024 blend which is spicy and sunny; Kayali's Vanilla Candy Rock Sugar, which smells exactly what it sounds like; and L'Etat Libre d'Orange's Encens et Bubblegum, which... also smells exactly what it sounds like. My older sister taught me pretty much everything I know about makeup. I resisted wearing pretty much any makeup until I was almost 16 -- my mom is a no/minimal makeup person -- and my sister basically said something along the lines of, you [expletive], you're making me look bad. (She's very sensitive, as you can tell.) So she hooked me up with some Maybelline Great Lash and the very same blush I still use today, NARS Orgasm. I was hooked. I loved how simple it was to change how I looked, how small differences made me look like someone else altogether. Sometimes like a girl who had her stuff together, which I definitely did not in real life. I then started in with lips, but nothing too over the top since my mom wouldn't let me wear it. So I had tinted lip balms -- the Nivea Cherry one was my favorite, and I still keep one in my handbag for lipstick emergencies. (Shut up, such things are real. ) My sister also taught me how to do more with eyes than mascara, but because this was around Y2K there were some questionable and sparkly choices. (Ahem.) I taught myself liquid liner later on, and it takes a very steady hand and a LOT of eye makeup remover. Really the best advice I can give you is to just buy some relatively cheap stuff and start experimenting. Buy whatever you think is pretty, knowing some of it will look meh, some will look comically awful, and some will work. Makeup remover is key, plus Q-tips and cotton pads for using it! Make mistakes and play with it -- it is paint, after all. Soon you'll have a good idea of what colors work for you. But mascara and a nice lip tint or lipstick are great places to start. Best brands I think for this kind of experimentation are NYX and e.l.f. Quality products at bargain prices. They both have good brushes too. I currently use the e.l.f. primer which I think is better than the really expensive stuff I used to use, and I have a bunch of NYX lip and eyeliners in fun and neutral colors. Other good brands: I know someone who works for the company that makes Kim Chi Chic and Jason Wu cosmetics, and I get tons of freebies from her. Pretty much everything I have from those brands I've loved, and they are very affordable too. I especially love the Jason Wu Hot Fluff lipsticks and the Kim Chi Chic lip liners. Hope this helps a little -- as you can see from this thread, I am always trying new stuff at all sorts of price points. Ask questions! And I will come back with the fragrance ideas....

Let me know what you think of it. Nice that they threw in some free samples too. I have really been neglecting my Sephora addiction this year, sadly. But I do have this arriving this week: https://www.sephora.com/product/afterglow-liquid-blush-P506024?skuId=2670396 I got a sample a while back and I adored it. I have had about every formulation of this shade of NARS blush (Orgasm) and this one is so pretty and light. Also belatedly getting my Rouge birthday gift -- the Charlotte Tilbury set. Mini setting spray (which is the one I use every day already) and a mini Pillow Talk lipstick, and an even tinier sample of Magic Cream. Now the moment of truth when I find out whether the name of the blush gets by the language filter!

Okay, who's going to be the person who figures out Michael's handle?? I know Amira (8th season of 90DF) was on here, and I can totally believe they used to recruit from here. It also explains how relatively normal the people in the first couple of seasons were -- real couples with boring problems. Like most of us.

It's moments like these ones where you watch and think: these people need VJ. Then you think: VJ does not need these people.

Adriano's parents handled that beautifully -- bravo!!! Alex is very new to her religion, basically bouncing from being a party girl to devout evangelical Christian, and has the zeal of a convert. That's not meant as a value judgment, not at all, but she cannot expect a guy who is an avowed atheist to convert just because she wants him to and because it gives her a sad. It's simply not fair to either of them. And she clearly will not be happy or feel secure with him until he does more than respect her right to her own spirituality, but also share it. Total non-starter.

LA is... fine? I live here and work here, and have lived and worked in and around the LA area for most of my life. Just like any city, there are better parts and worse parts. It's not a cesspool. We had a great evening last night at my sister's house in Studio City -- kids and adults running around, jumping in the pool, grilling meat for galbi tacos, watching the sunset. Today we drove down through a lush canyon for lunch in West LA, then pointed ourselves towards PCH for a little drive up the coast. The sun was sparkling off the waves and the skies were impossibly blue. Just like most days, really. At the same time, what happened to this man is awful, no doubt. How could anyone justify it? I know exactly where that happened as my husband went for physical therapy there during the pandemic so I often went for walks around there in the daytime. And in the daytime it is absolutely fine. Really. Gritty, sure, but plenty of regular middle-income folks live around there. But property crime is high there, way too high. Although car part theft is down in LA, it's still most common Downtown. Just lots of cars parked on the street which makes it easier for thieves. Some of these thieves have guns and I know better than to say anything about guns in here, or that guns make it easier for people with little to lose, or who are strung out on drugs (a lot of overlap there), to pull the trigger and end a life with brutal efficiency. I have my own thoughts about that and I'm not here to open that can of worms. We can disagree, and that's okay by me. Every needless death is one death too many. Random murder at the hands of a stranger is appalling. But LA is still a good, very misunderstood place full of regular folks just living their lives, a place where I feel safe walking around at night in my own neighborhood on my own. The murder rate is not even in the top half of the top 100 US cities by population (currently 63rd, right between St. Paul and Omaha). Not as safe as NYC (81st) but safer than Des Moines (31st). I wish we were lower down on the list. I wish we weren't even in the top 100. Be safe, everyone, wherever you are. Best wishes to you all for a safe Memorial Day weekend.

That's a good price. I only know a little about the brand, but it's supposed to be pretty moisturizing. I have also heard that some people use it for skin lightening?

Nothing here. I saw that some of the June 2023 filers are getting theirs already but there has been zero movement in our case.

LOL, 29 is a way back now. Next year is a big one and I am... ambivalent? Birthday activities this year involved on the day itself some cake after dinner (vanilla with very slightly sweetened whipped cream frosting and layers of lemon curd, topped with fresh berries and blackcurrants), and a delayed present will be a promised romantic getaway in York Harbor, ME at the beginning of July when we're in New England and New York for a family wedding and related festivities afterwards. Alex says the getaway is very much a gift for himself too, as he will be in close proximity to many of my family members for nearly 2 weeks, which is more than any man should be forced to endure, especially when he's going to be made to wear a tuxedo at some point against his will. Last night was drinks and bites with some of my closest girlfriends -- the bar was BYO food, so we had a picnic of sorts, with charcuterie, crackers, bread, sandwiches, olives, etc. Tomorrow night is a blowout meal with my mister, and on Sunday morning we are going to hope against hope that our football team is not relegated to the Championship.