Please talk me out of buying these

Too Faced Chocolate Bon Bons Eye Shadow Collection

$49 for 16 eyeshadow shades ($3.06 per eyeshadow)

Reasons to buy: CHOCOLATE HEARTS PRETTY EYESHADOWS UGH!!! It's actually supposed to smell like chocolate!! $3.06 per eyeshadow is a pretty good price! Also if I bought it I'd accrue more Ulta points

Reasons not to buy: I already have an expensive eyeshadow palette I rarely use, plus enough eyeshadow singles, duos, trios, and quads to outfit an army/last me my entire life. I probably already have most of these colors. Plus I'm not the hugest fan of pink


Too Faced Love Flush Blush Long Lasting 16-Hour Blush Wardrobe
honestly these names are ridiculous/ly long

$36 for 6 blush shades ($6 per blush)

Reasons to buy: HEARTS!!! Plus blush is something I use every day, or at least every single time I put on makeup, because I am deathly pale. If I'm running late in the morning I'll slap on blush and run out the door, but I often neglect my eyeshadows because creating even a basic eyeshadow look involves multiple eyeshadows, eye brushes, and time. Even though I already have several types and shades of blush, I know I'd use this one. Each of these shades is sold individually in an adorable Polly Pocket-esque heart-shaped case for $26 (!), so $6 each is a pretty good deal! Plus if I bought it I'd accrue more Ulta points

Reasons not to buy: I already have a lot of blush, and $6 per blush is kind of a lot for me. I think the most expensive blush I currently am using is about $3. I also have no counter space in my bathroom.

Further reasons not to buy: Ulta won't let coupons apply to these! >>:(((((((

Reasons I miss school/college:

• learning fun/interesting new things
• get to choose classes that interest me
• interesting class texts/readings
• must carve out time for reading/writing (between work and chores/errands/gym I have no free time)
• around lots of people my age who are doing the same kinds of things as me
• built-in friend groups (classes, dorms etc.)
• great classmates/teachers (when you get them)
• extracurricular activities/groups
• cafeteria/campus cafes
• structure
• can schedule classes to have several half days or entire free days a week (even when I was taking five classes a quarter I was in class way less time than I spend now at work full-time)
• vacations, especially summer
• programs, especially learning abroad 
• campus life in general
• reason to buy school supplies
• you can wear whatever you want as long as it's not inappropriate
• familiar (I was in school from ages 5-24)

Reasons I do not want to go back to school:

• expensive (am already several $Ks in debt)
• homework
• exams and quizzes
• have to study 
• can't read for fun/have to read what's assigned/things that aren't interesting to me
• lack of motivation to actually do the work
• if actually going to school, would have to quit work ($)
• online programs mean missing out on 70% of what makes college fun
• PTSD from grad school; would rather slit own wrists than get a PhD at this point
• impractical (I would rather do regular college than grad or postgrad and there is literally no point)
• really I just wish I could go back to my college days but you can't step in the same river twice

Books read in 2015

I realize I forgot to write a post about this. I've been keeping track of my reads in a Google spreadsheet (previous years' readings have been tracked in Textedit table docs, but I needed something that I could access on any device and Evernote doesn't have very good tables formatting in its notes).

• Total books read in 2015: 40
• Total books that I started to read but didn't finish: 6
• physical books read: 21
• ebooks read: 19
• ebooks started but unfinished: 3
• physical books started but unfinished: 3
• Nook ebooks read: 10
• Kindle ebooks read: 2
• Other ebooks format (app/browser/Project Gutenberg type) read: 8 (due to my SFF class that had a lot of old books)
• books I liked: 18
• books I loved: 8
• books I hated: 1 (Frankenstein. I get why it's important but still hate it)
• books I disliked or found meh: 9
• books that impacted me strongly but I can't really say that I loved or hated them: 3 (I included Villette here and in Loved because I feel like it)

I wrote book reviews for almost all the books I finished. They can be found in my "book reviews" tag in the right sidebar. >>>

Last of 2015: flash book reviews

Cry of the Peacock by V.R. Christensen. Mid November
This was a Kindle book I got for free. It's a historical fiction story set in Victorian England about a girl being pressured to marry for what she'll inherit upon her marriage. The dialogue felt too modern, as were some of the characters' opinions on things, and some of the characters were cartoonishly evil. For the two main characters to get together, something has to be done about the people they're actually with, so the spares are magically paired off to each other in the end even though it makes no sense for them to be attracted to each other (well, the girl, anyway. She's so nice and the guy is such a douchey jerk that it's hard to see why she'd be secretly in love with him the whole time). This was otherwise good. 3.9/5 ***BREAKING: as of today, 1/8/16, the ebook is free on Amazon!***

I have this app (Appsgonefree) that tells me about the apps that are free that day, and one a while back was an ebook app of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It had interesting animations made from the illustrations, but the "page" background had that burnt/antiquated look that made it hard to read the black text sometimes. I would have been annoyed had I spent money on it, but for free it's fine. 3.9/5

Sorcery and Cecilia, or, The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. Late November
I LOVED THIS. I had read an excerpt a long time ago but never got around to getting this book until the ebook version (I think Nook from Barnes & Noble) went free, and I pounced on it. It's historical fantasy set in Regency England, like if Jane Austen were more lighthearted and could do magic. Way more bubbly and fun than Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, but along those lines (nothing about fairies tho). The two authors are because it's an epistolary novel: two cousins write letters to each other about a magical plot, cute annoying gentlemen, the Season, London, parties, fashion, and getting around their strict aunts. I highly recommend this. 4/5

Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling. Mid December
This is an excellent book to read if you want to be immersed in grief because you cannot be best friends with Mindy Kaling IRL. It's a book of essays like her last book, so if you liked that/other "essays by famous people/comedians" books, you'll like this too. 4/5