Job

First this one, because it's given me the most headaches recently. I think that I'm at a point where I can clock one full year at this job, and will then be able to start jobsearching. I'll have a year of employment at the same place under my belt, and it will be a year in a job role that's not in the same vein as what I used to do, so not only will it be easier for agencies to sell me as NuJob, it will be harder for them to sell as as OldJob. (For the curious, I work on tech. The last long-term job I had was from 2007-2011. Other than that, nine-twelve months is average job tenure in the tech industry. Also, there is more and more call for web developers, and the job definition of "web developer" has changed significantly from 2010...but that doesn't stop the recruiters from hounding the hell out of me with "just one more web developer role" and/or trying to mismatch me with jobs that I do not have the skillset for.) At any rate, I've got plans, and have taken steps to make my immediate future less stressful so that, while I'm still at the current job, I can actually be effective there.

Home

I've lived in an HOA for six years now. I have come to peace with the fact that I can either try and control everything and make things as fair as possible for everyone, or I can take care of Number One using any and all legal means at my disposal. That's...well, it's actually quite a bit more latitude than I would have had just two years ago. There have been a number of condo-law cases in my state that have increasingly sided with the individual homeowners' rights to "quiet enjoyment of their property" rather than restricting things like unit rentals, building mother-in-law cottages, et cetera in places where these things are not against local municipal laws, but had previously been restricted or outright barred by homeowner-association CC&Rs. Since I already decided, after living here for two years, that I was not cut out for HOA living, I am not going to be a doormat any more. I am not going to try and become a perma-landlord, because a) I don't want the hassle; and b) I don't care to deal with the HOA at all, even as comparatively little as I would have to if I were not physically living here but only managed the property. But if, after checking with a lawyer, I find that yes I can legally rent out my condo for a year or two (so that I can qualify for a second mortgage on the land to build-to-suit the place that I want to live), I'll do that. My goals are to stay on the property ladder, and to find a place to live that is not part of any HOA. For a while I've held off because I didn't want to cause any inconvenience for the rest of the homeowners, who may not be able to refinance if we have too many renters. But...nope. There's a point past which I cannot think of every little detail of everyone else's happiness, at the ultimate cost of my own. (And yep, I totally get how Very Libertarian that statement sounds. And while it kind of icks me out...it is what it is. I'm not going to viciously screw them into the ground forever or give myself a lifelong income property here; but I'm not going to stay trapped in this HOA forever either because I don't want to make them cope with a few years of having more than 25% rental units in this complex.)

Site

Last year I tried to launch a beauty-blogger participation thing of weekly looks...and that didn't happen. Not many people were interested in a year-long commitment, or really, in any of the posts at all. I gave up after three months of almost zero activity. While that did not go well, I did much better with content frequency and variation. I carried forward a posting schedule that I'd started in the second half of 2013: themed "days' of posts, multiple posts a day, prepare the bulk of each post in advance. This worked for me because it gave me a framework, and I got through the overwhelming bulk of my product backlog. By sticking to my framework, I also managed to even out my post frequency, and keep things nicely varied. For 2015, I am doing some reductions to post volume, but sticking with the overall framework. The 2014 schedule was:

• Monday: 4 eyeshadows (warm+brown)
• Tuesday: 2-3 kits and collections
• Wednesday: 2-3 nail colors
• Thursday: 4 eyeshadows (cool+black/white)
• Friday: cheek and lip colors
• Saturday: eyeliners and cream shadows
• Sunday: ???

Now that I've cleaned out most of my backlog, I can see that I have a smaller load of nail polishes to review, and the bulk of my remaining eyeshadows to review are red, brown, blue, and purple. The 2015 schedule will be:

• Monday: 2 eyeshadows
• Tuesday: 1-2 kits and collections (older in the morning, newer in the afternoon)
• Wednesday: 2 nail colors
• Thursday: 2 eyeshadows
• Friday: cheek and lip colors
• Saturday: eyeliners (morning) and pencils/cream shadows (afternoon)
• Sunday: mascara/brushes/skincare/beauty tools, and one op-ed/company review
• "Overflow" eyeshadows will go one a day, any day except Saturdays

I hope to keep an even posting cycle and even further reduce my backlog by...oh, the end of 2015. (I would have said "by the middle of 2015", but I already have nail posts scheduled out through June, and I know that I have enough red, brown, blue, and purple eyeshadows to last all the way through 2015.)

Part of the reason I'm able to reduce my posting frequency is because I've started buying fewer products. I've found what works for me, and so rather than flitting through the different brands, I'm sticking with (for the most part) the tried-and-trues. In 2014 I also started using CND's Vinylux polish, which is a "weekly polish" gel hybrid with a top coat that strengthens as it's exposed to UV light. Not every gel hybrid will work for every person - I've tried a few others with a distinct lack of success - but Vinylux polishes will last three days without any tip wear at all, and tip-wear repairs are very simple and look seamless. To me, this kind of performance completely justifies the higher cost-per-bottle. I'll still happily use my Sally Hansen polishes, and when I want to try nail art I'll reach for my old OPI and China Glaze colors (especially until I perfect a technique) But for regular daily polish, or for a manicure that I want to last the week, I'll use Vinylux. Showcasing all of my Vinylux polishes (at the rate of one a week) will take the better part of a year; and my remaining Sally Hansen and Zoya polishes will be fine alternating on the remaining days.

I want to start reviewing the mascaras I've tried, and I've always wanted to talk about the brushes that I use. I've never really made the time for them. Maybe this year, I'll actually get a chance to do that.

There are other things that I’d like to do, that I haven’t formally put a plan in place for.

I want to revisit the Qualities EoTD themes that I originally did back in 2011, and re-do them. This time with fewer color restrictions. I think I’ll try to limit them to EoTWs, though. I think that will give me more success doing them if I feel like it’s an achievable goal.

I want to learn more nail art techniques. I think that I’ll be able to, but I’m not going to set myself too many hard goals with this one. Learning nail art is something that would be kind of cool, but realistically, since I’m going to be trying to jobsearch in the latter half of the year, I won’t be able to wear fanciful nails too often. (Doesn’t mean I won’t have fun on the occasional weekend, though…)

I want to learn just a little bit more about skincare. I have my nice Christmas gift from Christine, and it will be great to test out that brand; but my current routine of products does work well for me. (I’ve even had the privilege to teach this stuff to my mom. She has never been a huge beauty-products fanatic, and so she’s just kind of ignored most of the items that are heavily advertised to women. Thus when she started getting older and getting more promiment age spots, I was able to recommend a short-term spot treatment to her, and it works great. When she started getting mystery-deserts of dry skin, I told her about Olay Regenerist - and told her to buy it at Costco, and to use it on everything so that she wouldn’t be left with a huge amount of less-than-effective product - and she fell in love with it. When she started having redness associated with age and general skin wear, I was able to tell her about color correctors and she was thrilled. The fact that I get to teach her this stuff, at a time in both of our lives when learning about all of this is purely for personal reasons as opposed to “society expects us to look this way”...is such an amazing gift.)

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