The bottle insists it lasts for 12 hours, but I'm pretty positive that my allergy medicine peters out after eight hours because this is the second day in a row I'm battling the runny nose and leaky eyes at 4 pm. It's a little dumb.

In other news, some other dimwit who wasn't paying attention and I had a little fender bender in the condo parking lot this morning. Finally, proof that something can wake you up faster than coffee!

Tags: not ruling at life, zx2
This crazy trip has got me feelin': groggy
And I'm singin' along to: Fireflies - Owl City

I've been meaning to update the LJ for quite some time, but I've also been working on another project - a new blog! Don't worry, the LJ isn't going anywhere. I just needed a blog to encourage me to write about subjects other than the random ridiculous events that make up my life. Apparently those events haven't been motivating me to write here very much anyway. Besides, now that I've started the new blog, I'm determined to keep the old one going, too!

The new blog is called The Coastal Chicster. Please feel free to check it out, and let me know what you think. In the meantime, on to my post that definitely does not belong in the new blog...because there is nothing chic about it. (Hey, just because I started a chic blog, doesn't mean I'm there yet.)

I woke up feeling kind of under the weather and moody today, what with all the clouds and things being so slow at work this week. My head was pounding, I was bloated and I overslept, so I was running late. I had no time to choose any sort of decent-looking outfit, and I raced out the door, forgetting to take the trash out. At least I remembered to grab the Midol, I thought. Although,  when I got to work and pulled it out of my purse, I noticed the Midol expired in 2007. So that didn't really work out.

I decided to get a pedicure and an eyebrow wax at lunch. (Wait, maybe there is something chic about this day after all.) I was also having some serious McDonald's cravings, so I ordered a 10-piece Chicken McNuggets, a medium fries, one cheeseburger with no pickles, and a medium Diet Coke. I am now officially playing McDonald's Monopoly, so if you have any game pieces you don't need, please feel free to send them along. Needless to say, I was so stuffed, I wasn't even able to finish all that food, and most of it ended up in the trash. And I felt worse. I don't even know what I was thinking - I usually just get a little Happy Meal.

Even so, I tried to make myself feel better after dinner. I deep-conditioned my hair, gave myself a facial, trimmed my bangs, and even blow-dried this massive amount of hair on my head. I look like a million bucks, but I still feel kind of gross. My allergies are kicking my ass today, for sure.

Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that my cat accidentally had explosive. farty diarrhea on my freaking carpet. I love when that happens. Cleaning poop is my fave.

I should have gone to bed at 6:30.

Tags: food, kona the kitty, not ruling at life, the coastal chicster
This crazy trip has got me feelin': sick
And I'm singin' along to: Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap

I know you've been waiting patiently for the results of my body lotion comparison, so here it is. Like Brad Womack on The Bachelor: Season 11, I picked...neither! Here's how it played out.

After I wrote my last entry, I went back to Sephora and slathered the tester of Fresh Sugar Acai Age-Delay Body Cream all over my arms and legs. It felt kind of sticky at first, and I wasn't sure if I liked the smell as much as I did the first time. However, after a few hours, my skin felt awesome. It continued to feel awesome the next day (even after I showered). I was impressed. My little sample bottles have arrived, but I haven't used them yet. I've decided to save them for special occasions.

The Alba Botanica Acai Antioxidant Body Lotion arrived yesterday, and I quickly ripped it out of the package to try it out. As soon as I opened the box, it smelled extremely fruity. When I put it on, the scent was a little to strong for me, and I didn't think what it did to my skin was very extraordinary. It was nice, but not as nice as the Fresh body cream. I was disappointed, but I think I'll still use the bottle. You might like the Alba acai body lotion if you're a fan of fruity scents, and lighter lotions. Alba is a great line -- I love their Hawaiian line of products, and my boyfriend and I both use the Sea Moss Moisturizer with SPF 15 (for day) and the Sea Plus Renewal Creme (for night) from the Advanced line.

By now, you're probably wondering why I chose neither. Let me start with hair products...

A few weeks ago, at the salon, my stylist used MoroccanOil on my hair for the first time. It smelled delicious! I was intrigued and Googled the product to find that the main ingredient is argan oil -- an oil high in Vitamin E that Moroccans have been slathering on their hair and skin for thousands of years. Grown only in the Berber region of Morocco, the rare Argan tree is yields the magical nuts from which this legendary oil is made. Now, I don't know about all that, but I certainly liked a.) the way it smelled in my hair, and b.) the way it made my hair feel. And we all know what happens when Lisa experiences silky smooth, fragrant tresses. I have to buy! I ordered a travel-size bottle from SleekHair.com.

Now, back to body lotions. I ventured into Bath & Body Works today looking for hand sanitizer. (You know there's a swine flu pandemic going on -- everyone needs hand sanitizer!) Of course, I didn't leave with hand sanitizer; I left with a new body lotion because you can imagine that I was intrigued to see argan as an ingredient in a body lotion at Bath & Body Works. I tried a little dab of it on my arm, and I fell in love with it. The True Blue Morocco Sweet Fig & Argan Body Lotion -- that's what I choose for my new body lotion. It feels almost as good as the Fresh Sugar Acai Body Cream, and it smells even better! Plus, it was 50 percent off! You know I love a sale. (However, I did find out it was 50 percent off because they are phasing it out of the store, so if you want to try it, you'd better get it soon.) I bought two bottles -- one for home, and one for work. I have to say, it looks very pretty sitting on my desk.

Well, there you have it. Leave it to me to pick something entirely different than what I set out on a quest for. Argan and acai are both pretty legendary and beneficial if you ask me -- they're both so exotic-sounding, too.! But, at the end of the day, I think I'll keep drinking that fruity acai in smoothies, and leave the body and hair care to the timeless argan oil. Unless someone wants to buy me that Fresh stuff for Christmas...

Final thoughts: Fresh Sugar Acai Age-Delay Body Cream is a great product; if I owned a full-size tube of it, I'd probably use it once or twice a week to make it last and feel like I got my money out of it. Alba Acai Antioxidant Body Lotion smells like a Juicy Juice, and I definitely don't love it. True Blue Morocco Sweet Fig & Argan Body Lotion gets the job done for the right price -- 50 percent of $15 -- in a cute and classy glass bottle with a pump. For now, I'll be indulging in argan oil for my hair and my skin, all the while keeping my fingers crossed that this product is still around when I run out!

Tags: don't waste the pretty, hair care, product reviews, shopping, skin care
This crazy trip has got me feelin': enthralled
And I'm singin' along to: What's So Bad (About Feeling Good) - Ben Lee

I realize that I haven't updated the LJ much this year, so I'm going to try writing about specific topics and then follow up with my results in an attempt to blog more frequently. (Note that in this particular case, I'm going to justify spending a lot of money.)

My quest for an acai body lotion was pretty much non-existent until yesterday, when I happened to sample Fresh Sugar Acai Age-Delay Body Cream at Sephora. I've always been a fan of Fresh in the sense that I usually sample a few of their products when I'm in the mall, and I frequently choose their Sugar Blossom Hand Treatment to give as a gift. My general review of Fresh is that their products are great, but they're very expensive. Therefore, I usually don't buy any for myself because my shopping tendencies lean more towards deal-seeking these days - I'm not the indulgent, compulsive buyer that I used to be.

That being said, I have been known to occasionally cave on a pricey beauty product if it meets two criteria: (1) it works better than what I already have, and (2) it smells amazing. Fresh Sugar Acai Age-Delay Body Cream appears to meet both - it made my skin feel silky smooth, and I couldn't stop sniffing my arm all day. However, 6.8 oz. of this lotion costs $65! Before making any hasty decisions, I decided to do a little research in order to make an educated decision on such a lofty purchase.

Taking into account the fact that I've never sampled any other acai body lotions (but that I've been familiar with the acai berry for quite some time), I figured it was safe to assume there aren't very many similar popular brand-name products out there (as in, products I can sample before buying). Also, after a thorough Googling, I found that there are no instances of the Fresh body cream selling for less than $65 on the Internet anywhere. I did find an acai body lotion availabe from Alba, a brand I've used and loved for several years, however it appears to be somewhat new, and there are no local retailers carrying it. The Acai Antioxidant Body Lotion is part of Alba's Rainforest line of products.

My next step? I'm going to purchase a few sample-size tubes of the Fresh body cream (three .33 oz. tubes for $8 on eBay), as well as the 8 oz. bottle of the Alba body lotion ($11 at albabotanical.com). I should have both this week. Stay tuned for the results of my comparison, and my final decision!

Tags: don't waste the pretty, product reviews, shopping
This crazy trip has got me feelin': determined
And I'm singin' along to: Love Drunk - Boys Like Girls

Here's something you never want to happen to you at work. You don't ever want to receive a letter via Certified Mail that starts off like this:

"Dear [you]:
Although I have never met you nor heard of your name, I am in receipt of your e-mail of Friday, May 1 (received 3:34 pm) and your voice mail which you left me 15 minutes prior to sending your e-mail. Your e-mail and your voice mail are not acceptable to [company sending the letter]. We have paid [your company] hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last three years..."

See how this might be a problem? What you also don't want are the following:

1. For this letter to go on reeming you out for your idiocy for two entire pages
2. To be called out multiple times in the letter for your incorrect spelling in the e-mail to which the letter is a response
3. To be accused of unethical business practices and told to "be prepared to refund the fees that [company sending the letter] has paid to [your company]"
3. To see "Cc: [the CEO of your company]" at the bottom of the second page

If you're wondering if this letter was addressed to me, the answer is absolutely not. I actually have a background in something called customer service and would never have done anything to warrant such a letter.

Good luck with not letting this happen to you at work. Although, if you're good at what you do, it shouldn't be too hard.

Over and out.

Tags: employment, important topics, top notch communication blunders
This crazy trip has got me feelin': amused
And I'm singin' along to: The Fear - Lily Allen