The Sratty Archaeologist

My house has been having a major wifi problem so I'm sorry for the lack of posts but everything should be fixed so I'm no longer living in the stone age! Anyway today I had an interview for a part time job and I thought I'd share my outfit with you all!
I kept it pretty simple and chic. Basically my entire outfit was from Old Navy, their pixie pants are my absolute favorite. I have these navy ones and also about three more pairs in a few different colors and patterns. I paired today's pixie pants with a classic white button down and added a pop of color with a navy blue statement necklace.

My shoes are a new addition to my wardrobe. I wore through my Steve Madden nude ballet flats this year. When I mean wore through I mean wore through. The bottoms of the shoe fell off while I was in Scotland. These are by the brand Kelly and Katie and the pointed toe makes the shoes feel a little bit dressier. Still I could totally dress them down with some jeans and maybe a striped shirt, super chic.
Other accessories? My Claddagh ring and my Celtic knot and thistle ring I bought in Scotland. And my handy dandy Target sunglasses for the commute!

Recently I've stepped up my skincare game. I used to be really bad at washing my face every night, using moisturizer, etc. Since getting surgery my skin has been having a MAJOR freak out. My skin went from super dry and flaky to super oily and acne prone. Yes, I totally have gotten spots here and there especially during that time of the month, but nothing like the bumps and texture on my face now.
Every morning I start my day off with Cetaphil's Daily Cleanser. It's very gentle for sensitve skin and doesn't dry my skin out. I don't have a Clarisonic or anything super fancy so I use my fingers and massage it into my skin in circular motions. I pat my face dry with my dedicated face towel. Basically it's a hand towel I only use on my face. I'll switch it every few days so it stays nice and clean.
After I'm done I'll use a bit of Garnier's Micellar Water on my eyes to get off any excess mascara I didn't get off the night before. After I'll pop some Neutrogena Acne Stress Control toner on a cotton pad and swipe it all over my face. Then I use some Neutrogena Oil Free Acne Moisturizer. It's grapefruit scented and smells lovely.
After, I'll used a little bit of scar gel on my facil scar. During surgery, my skin was stretched and cut by accident and even though it's gotten a lot better I'm very self conscious of the scar. I'll massage the gel on my face and let it dry a bit before I begin my makeup.
After a long day, doing my nighttime skin care routine is a great way to unwind. I wash my face with Feeling Beautiful's 4 in 1 Apple Cider Vinegar Clay Mask. You can use this as a cleanser too and I love it. It does have some scrubby bits in it but it's a very gentle scrub.
I basically repeat my morning routine but I switch out the Acne Moisturizer with Aveeno Ultra Calming Nourishing Night Cream. It is great for sensitive skin and helps with irritation and redness. If I have some extra annoying zits I'll dip a Q tip into my Mario Badescu Drying Lotion. It has a pretty strong smell and if you picked at a zit it stings for a little bit but it drys out my zits overnight!
I also slather a ton of chapstick on before bed to give my lips some well deserved moisture and then curl up in my bed with my skin feeling great.

I'd like to think I know a thing or two about self tanning. I've always been fairly decent at it. Helping me achieve my faux glow was my Sugar Babies Golden Tanning Mousse. In a recent post which you can find here, I was on a hunt for more of my Sugar Baby self tanner and I had thought I hit the jackpot at TJ Maxx, finding not only my trusty Golden Self Tan Mousse, but a dark self tan mousse and Dark Tan Lotion. Needless to say I was super pumped to try these out.
So I did my usual pre tan routine. I exfoliated in the shower, applied lotion to dry patches and around the areas that self tan really sticks to like my wrists, ankles, and elbows. I pulled my hair up into a bun got undressed and began applying the Dark Tan Mousse with my tanning pad.
And that's when everything started to go wrong. The tan literally crumbled off me and was so streaky. The more I rubbed it in the worse it got. I quick cut my losses and jumped back in the shower to wash it off.
Then I tried the lotion. At first I used it on my forearms and I thought it was working. It sunk in normally and my skin felt pretty good with it on. Then as I applied it to the rest of my body the tan began to crumble off and around my chest area the tan clung to my natural tan (which I got while watching the PGA) and crumbled off my untanned area. Again, I cut my losses and jumped in the shower, afraid of leaving the streaky mess on my body.
Apparently the Sugar Baby company reformulated their tanning lotion and mousse and I'm a little scared to try the new formula for the golden tanning mousse. I still have a little less than half of my original bottle and will use that until I can't use it no more. And for the next week I'll be rocking the orange hands of shame. Despite my quick jumps in the shower and crazy exfoliating my hands seem to be semi permanently cheeto colored.

Pasta is my favorite food. It is pure magic, you can make so many different dishes with it. The only problem with this food of the gods is the carb-o-load that comes with it. Enter spaghetti squash.
I've pretty much been waiting to dig into this bad boy for about two weeks. The squash keeps at room temperature for about a month I've been told so I literally made a shrine to it on my counter top.
Since it's summer and my house is small, I hate heating it up with the oven, but I wasn't about to microwave my squash. In my opinion it tastes so much better roasted in the oven. I waited for a coolish evening to bake the squash and it couldn't have turned out better.
The trickiest part about spaghetti squash is trying to crack it open. I used a giant meat cleaver and even then it took me awhile to pry the two halves apart. Once I finally got it open I scooped out all the seeds and season each half with salt, pepper, and a bit of Mrs. Dash seasoning, then drizzled it with olive oil. Placing the halves cut side down on my baking sheet I popped those bad boys in my preheated (400 degrees) oven.
The squash takes 40 minutes to cook so I went and scrolled through Instagram, walked my neighbor's dog, fed my dad and then it was finally time to take them out! I scraped one side of the hot squash with a fork and placed it into a glass bowl. I saved this half for leftovers because I am a small gal and although always hungry I don't think I could ever finish an entire squash in one sitting. The second half I scraped clean and tossed with olive oil, marinara sauce, and fresh mozzarella. I replaced the spaghetti goodness into the skin(?) of the squash using it for a serving dish. Of course I topped it with some more cheese and dug right in!

The squash is great as a leftover too! The second day I wasn't feeling the marinara route, so I decided to sauteed the squash with fresh garlic, olive oil, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, and lots of Parmesan cheese. It was just as good as the fresh squash!

Needless to say I was pretty proud of my adventure with spaghetti squash and my pinterest has literally been consumed with different squash recipes that I have a hankering to try. I think my next adventure is going to be with an Alfredo sauce and some mushrooms and caramelized onions...stay tuned!

If you're looking for more in depth information about cooking spaghetti squash and the nutrition behind it check out this post by Quick Easy Cook!

There is a magical place in this world called Target. Once you go in you never leave with just one thing or just what you came for. My journey to Target began with looking for the latest Harry Potter book and I left with a whole lot more. I didn't stop just at Target. Oh no. Conveniently located in the same shopping center as Target is a TJ Maxx. So I stopped there as well. If you'd like to see what I purchased keep on reading. Warning it's a whole mix of things!
So first and foremost I bought Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I'm a huge Potter fan and I'm super excited to read this bad boy. I wish it had been playing in London when I was there but alas it wasn't. And Target had a special on the books where it was a few dollars cheaper than Barnes and Noble and I got a free poster with my purchase. Who doesn't like free things.

Now no trip to Target is complete without a trip to the dollar section. It is truly my vice. I picked up these cute $1 blank cards that I have some plans for :). Going with the stationary theme I found these super glittery cards perfect for two very special ladies in my life. Anything with this much glitter just sucks me in ya know.


I also bought a cold shoulder top from Target. Super cute, super on trend, super summery. All my favorite beauty bloggers have been wearing them from Jaclyn Hill to Fleur De Force. They look so comfy and it's perfect to show off my very tanned shoulders.

So now for the TJ Maxx goodies.
Scalloped clothing is my weakness. If it has scallops you can bet your bottom dollar that I;m buying it. High necked shirts are also my weakness. Combine those two and you have basically my entire wardrobe. This blush colored top was hiding in the active clothing section and it called to me. I love how it fits and how it accents my shoulders.


The last few things I bought at TJ Maxx are self tanner. Yes I live that fake bake life. I used to be really into tanning, like no sunscreen and just lots of tanning oil. I'd fry my skin for hours. I had a huge wake up call when my grandma was diagnosed with skin cancer last summer (she's all good now, her dermatologist was awesome). I did a giant 180 with my tanning. Yes I'll still sit by the pool but I'll wear at least 30 SPF and my makeup always has at leas 15 SPF for my face. Not to mention this summer I've been pretty much a cave dweller because of my jaw surgery. Needless to say I supplement my natural tan with self tan. My favorite brand I've found I stumbled on quite by accident last summer. It is a brand called Sugar Baby. I use the Golden Self Tanning Mousse and I love it. It applies super even and isn't sticky. However, the brand is so hard to find. So when I found this trio at TJ Maxx I had to buy them all. I repurchased my Golden Self Tanning Mousse and then I also bought the Dark Bronze Self Tan Mousse and the Dark Bronze Self Tan Cream. I'm interested to see what the Dark Bronze will look like. The brand is Cruelty Free and Vegan Friendly and smells pretty nice so I'll have to get back to you all on how Dark Bronze turns out.

Well that's all for my haul! Back to reading Harry Potter and the Cursed Child!