1. Tell Homeland Security to stop Steve Bannon from joining the National Security Council: yep, I’m going a little political here today.* I received an email from the Southern Poverty Law Center this morning that Homeland Security is tallying phone calls on whether Americans support or oppose Bannon’s appointment to the NSC. I wholeheartedly oppose the appointment so I just sent an email, and I’ll also try calling today to register my opinion. If you’d like to make the call too, instructions on how to do so are in the image below. To send an email, click here. I haven’t always been much of an activist, but these days reading the news each morning is like waking up to a fresh new nightmare, and I simply cannot sit with my thumbs up my ass and do nothing.

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2. #BodegaStrike: just one more political item and then I’ll move on. Yesterday afternoon I had my first physical therapy appointment** in Brooklyn Heights, and when I left I heard a bunch of chanting as I headed toward the subway. I realized I must be walking into the bodega owner protest, and I was excited to be able to witness it firsthand. So if your local bodega was closed yesterday, here’s why: many Yemeni-American bodega owners decided to close their shops for hours yesterday in protest of what the merry band of assholes running the U.S. are not calling a Muslim ban. The protestors—about 1,000 strong when I walked through around 3:45pm—gathered on the steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall with signs and chants and prayer. I felt a little awkward walking through the protest to get to the subway—I wondered if doing so was a faux pas akin to breaking a picket line? I hope not and if so, my sincere apologies to the protestors! But hearing the chants made me tear up and I felt proud of all of the people who purposely chose to not earn money for an afternoon in order to make their voices heard. It was lovely.

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3. Brooklyn Heights Promenade: my PT is located very close to the promenade, so I made sure to get to the area early so that I could stroll on over and take in the view. I haven’t been to the promenade in years, and since we are moving to DC later this month I wanted to make sure to get at least one more visit in. Yesterday was chilly and windy but sunny and still beautiful. It’s hard not to be in love with NYC when presented with a view like this one! Plus, the promenade offers a clear view of the Statue of Liberty (not pictured), which is a wonderful reminder of what this country stands for.

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4. Catit Flower Fountain: I recently had a fit and gave up on the old cat water fountain that we’d been using because the motor was finicky and rattled around a lot. I did a little research and ordered this adorable fountain off of Amazon for $29.99. You can remove the yellow “pollen” piece for a stronger flow, or you can remove the flower piece entirely if your cats prefer less of a waterfall. The fountain was easy to set up and is pretty quiet—quieter than our last fountain, at least. I’ve seen both of our cats drinking out of it, so that’s the real test. And it’s just so cute. So far so good!

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5. L’Oreal Paris Cosmetics Infallible Total Cover Color Correcting Kit: I noticed this kit in the drugstore recently and made a bit of an impulse buy. I’m not much of a drugstore makeup girl, but I was curious about color correcting and this kit was priced well (about $14). I know the color correcting trend is a little bit over already, but I thought it would be fun to try out without spending a lot of dough. I’ve used the kit once so far, and the peach shade on the left seems to work the best on me—it did a good job at hiding the circles under my eyes. I need to spend some more time playing around with the other shades, but I’m enjoying the kit!

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*There are a lot of beauty/lifestyle bloggers out there who pretend like all is well in the world and carry on as per usual. That’s 100% up to them and I understand not wanting to mix potentially polarizing commentary with the usual topics. Personally, I can’t write about makeup and food and whatever else while ignoring our current political climate. I’m sure that some of my blog visitors must disagree with my views, but I just can’t avoid posting my feelings about the insane situation we’re in. I believe it’s that dire and I feel compelled to add my voice to the vast chorus of Americans upset about literally everything our new president has done and plans to do. But don’t worry. My blog isn’t turning into a blog about politics!

**I’m finally doing something about my sesamoiditis! I have a lot of foot strengthening to do.   🙂