heather & olive

Kush Fiber Brown Gel - Milk Makeup

The Thursday special is a new weekly post where I highlight something (anything) I'm loving. Will it really be weekly? Will this be a one and done like so many of my other posts? Only time will tell.

For the last 5 years I've been on what seems like a never ending quest to find the perfect brow gel/pencil/powder. I've bought products that have had zero effect on my brow shape and color, and bought others that made me look like a scary Peter Gallagher/Eugene Levy combo. I was the goldilocks of eyebrow enhancement: it was either too bland or too severe.

But this all changed when I pulled the trigger on the Kush Fiber Brown Gel during Sephora's recent VIB event: I finally found the perfect brow tamer/enhancer. I ended up going with the Herb color, which is a neutral medium brown, and it provides grooming plus a hint of color that isn't too intense. It lasts all day and every time I look in the mirror I'm impressed with how fantastic and natural my brows look (and I'm not afraid to mention them every time I FaceTime with my mom and sister, which I know they really appreciate). I seriously cannot recommend it enough, and it's become a must-have for my daily makeup routine.

Hi! How are you holding up? Honestly, there's still a part of me that can't believe this is happening, but over the past couple of months I've kind of settled into a new routine. I'm not going to call it "the new normal", because there's nothing "normal" about it, but I've slowly been able to adjust my expectations and my understanding of reality, and I'm doing okay. I hope you are, too.

I'm still hunkered down in Portland and have been communicating with family and friends via FaceTime--I don't anticipate seeing people in person any time soon, which is tough. Even with all of the re-openings and the constant call for getting things back to they way there were, I'm really struggling with the fact that nothing has changed--yes, the curve has been somewhat flattened and yes, maybe there are more hospital beds, but the risk remains the same and there's no vaccine or life-saving treatment in place. I'm super hesitant to make any trips to Massachusetts in the near future despite an insane ache to see my nearest and dearest.

Lately I've been trying to support local businesses by ordering takeout from the places that are still open and buying meals for hospital workers at Maine Medical. And aside from the limited trips to the grocery store and taking Olive for walks (and some recent trips to the emergency vet--she's fine, but yikes), I've been inside where I should be.

In terms of other things, I'm working from home and have a set schedule with that for the months to come, but I've been pretty crappy when it comes to working out. There are online barre classes that I need to take better advantage of, and I also need to run more earlier in the morning (it seems like so many people are out and about later in the day, so the earlier the better). But I'm not going to lie, getting out of bed has been tough, and that's okay. On the plus side, my absence from the office has meant my breakfast sandwich consumption has decreased significantly--I'll take the little victories where I can get them.

So I don't have much else, but I'm sending a little bit of love from Maine. We'll get out of this.

Hi. How are you doing? I had been meaning to do a life lately post and fill this page with photos of cheeseburgers and my recent trip to Pittsburgh but it all seems a bit irreverent given the current state of things.

I've been working at home since the 13th and have pretty much confined myself to my condo aside from taking Olive out and going on the occasional grocery store run. I've also been trying to support local restaurants that are doing takeout (I got a delicious three-course dinner from Chaval on Saturday night and it was so nice to mix things from my home prepped meals).

And that's pretty much it. Things are super scary and stressful out there--seek out what makes you happy and safe.

And stay inside and wash your hands.

helsinki old church.

Hello! It's Helsinki recap time. I don't think I mentioned this before, but my sister had a work trip scheduled in January and I decided to tag along. We left Wednesday night, arrived early afternoon on Thursday and then flew back Tuesday afternoon. Here's a breakdown of what we did:

How we got there:
We flew Iceland Air to Reykjavík, and from there we flew to Helsinki--the prices were super reasonable, and that might be due to the time of year but my round trip flight cost less than $500. Traveling there and back was a breeze--aside from being a tad disoriented from the time changes, (and much longer flights on the way home) it really wasn't too bad.

Where we stayed:
We stayed at Hotel Indigo in the design quarter, and the location was perfect. It was very walkable and there were a lot of restaurants and shops in the surrounding area. The rooms were a bit on a small side, which wasn't surprising, but we would both stay there again.

What we did:

cooling off after a sauna session at Löyly.

After attempting to sleep in on Friday, we walked down to the water to Löyly. We had sauna reservations at 1:00, and we grabbed a quick bite in their restaurant beforehand. I highly recommend making a reservation, as this spot is really popular and can get packed, but it's totally worth it. There are two saunas: a traditional sauna and a smoke sauna (which was hot) and then a couple of lounge areas with fireplaces. You can also order snacks and drinks in the lounge. The reservation is for two hours, which I thought was the perfect of time to do everything, including a couple of dips in the Baltic. It was definitely freezing, but really refreshing.

helsinki's design museum.

On Saturday, my sister was at work all day so I was left to my own devices. I walked all over the place, and ended up going to the Design Museum. They had an exhibition on "Collectors and Collections" and it was cool to see extensive collections of Moomin mugs and Karhu sneakers. The museum also featured works by other famous Finnish furniture designers and clothing by Marimekko.

On Sunday I went to the Sinebrychoff Art Museum (and didn't take any pictures). It's a house museum that showcases the 14th through 19th century art collection of Fanny and Paul Sinebrycoff, and the second floor has their furniture and is set up to reflect a glimpse into their lives as members of 19th century upper class.

festive esplanadi.

Helsinki Cathedral.

I also spent some time walking around the Esplanadi and saw the Helsinki Cathedral. It was pretty dreary and a little chilly so I kind of speed walked around town.

skywheel sisters.

On Monday we went back to the Esplanadi and rode the Skywheel. It was super touristy, but fun to see the views from the top. They also have a Veuve Clicquot bar that's adjacent to the wheel but sadly, it was closed when we went. The Skywheel also has a special Veuve gondola and sauna gondola which we did not partake in, but looked pretty cool if you're willing to shell out the $.

Where we ate/drank:

Giwa

beef dolsot bibimbap.

Giwa was so good we ate there twice (dinner on Thursday and Monday). It's a Korean restaurant that was a stone's throw from our hotel, and they had the most delicious bibimbap bowls ever.

healthy lunch at Löyly.

Before our sauna adventures at Löyly, we had a very tasty lunch at their restaurant. My sister had the chicken grain bowl (pictured above) and I had their salmon soup which set the stage for my continuing love affair with all things salmon for the rest of the trip.

Drinks at Pikkulintu.

We had drinks at Pikkulintu a couple of times during our trip. It's a whiskey and beer bar with a pretty great selection on tap, and the bartenders were really knowledgable and nice.

tasting menu.

salmon was the fish of the day.

delicious dessert.

drinks at liberty or death.

coolest building for a great lunch.

bedroom mantle scene.

Hello! I hope you had a lovely weekend. Mine was even more uneventful than usual because I came down with a gross cold on Friday (and I know you're wondering how it's possible for my weekends to get more low-key than they already are, but hey, I'm an overachiever when it comes to being a sloth). I did nothing on Saturday aside from going through an entire box of tissues, and on Sunday I was feeling a little better so I took a Pure Barre intensive class. I promptly canceled any benefits from said class by going to the Little Tap House for a burger and beer, and then I started packing for Helsinki (I leave Wednesday and I'm super excited). And if you have any recommendations, send them my way--we're definitely going to Löyly and have a couple of restaurants lined up, but I'm otherwise going to figure things out on the fly.

Follow along on instagram if you're so inclined @heatherandolive.

l.l. bean wicked good lodge chukkas my mom got these for christmas, and I would have stolen them from her if my feet weren't too big. currently backordered until march, but 20% off until 1/14/20 with code WINTER.

cuyana oversize carryall tote I have the medium version of this, and it's slightly too small for everything I want to bring with me to work (mostly, another pair of shoes and my beats headphones, along with all of my other office stuff). I will be buying this sooner rather than later (and it's way more practical than the other designer bag I've been considering).

madewell roadtripper jeggings can jeans change your life? If they're these, they can. I'm super late to the madewell jeans game, but I finally snagged a pair during black friday and I love the fact that they're super high waisted and fit like a glove. I will be slowly replacing all of my denim with some version of these in the future,

what may be the best pizza in all of portland.

one of the funniest faces I've ever see Olive make.

sunday's din.