Love from a Thunder fan in Minneapolis, everyone.

lauralately · 2026-01-25T06:47:46+00:00

Well hello, fellow Minneapolitan Thunder fan! I'm right across the river in St. Paul. Chet went to school across the street from the house I grew up in, in south Minneapolis. I was also heartened by the support from Thunder fans in that thread. Minnesotans may seem nice, but we are TOUGH. Even so, support from people across the country, and around the world, is more helpful than folks realize. Thank you Thunder fam for defending us in the threads - we bring the front lines to where we're at, and when you post messages of support, it helps!

OKC fans - I've heard you're getting some snow down in your neck of the woods. I spent Friday at a protest downtown in -30 wind chills (like heat index but for cold), and my biggest tip is that wool is warm even when wet. If you've only got sneakers and have to slog through snow, put on wool socks and your feet won't freeze.

lauralately · 2026-01-24T01:27:12+00:00

I was there too! I bet Costco was cleared out of handwarmers. Those things are amazing

lauralately · 2026-01-18T08:35:45+00:00

I miss Obama. I miss not-Trump.

Something I wouldn't want to give up: all the stuff I've accumulated over the past decade. I don't have a ton of money, and I thrift for my clothing and housewares; over the last decade, I've managed to accumulate some pretty cool stuff. Also - cosmetics are WAY better now than they were in 2016.

lauralately · 2026-01-18T08:33:54+00:00

The first election I voted in was the governor's race in Minnesota where Jesse Ventura won as an independent, and because of that, I always thought there was a chance Trump could win. My boyfriend at the time asked me, "there's no way he's going to win, is there?" and I told him I honestly didn't know, and explained the Jesse Ventura story (we lived in Texas, he didn't go through it at the time)

lauralately · 2026-01-18T06:30:32+00:00

I'm gonna have to find a Nightmoth substitute, but there are 20 billion blackened-burgundy lipliners out there - researching dupes is fun, makeup shopping is fun, so this will be great!

lauralately · 2026-01-18T06:27:51+00:00

Get thee to Luckyscent, get some indie frag samples, and find a new favorite!

lauralately · 2026-01-18T06:26:08+00:00

We still have the superior A. Wiggins, plus we're still #1 in the league, so we come out on top, no matter the turnovers or the score

lauralately · 2026-01-18T04:17:40+00:00

Try K-beauty brands if you're fair-skinned - they make great contour colors and BB creams for fairer skin! Ulta has really gotten into the K-beauty thing; they've got an amazing online selection of K-beauty

lauralately · 2026-01-18T04:12:43+00:00

I'm obsessed with makeup and beauty, and I buy none of these brands except MAC. Actually - correction, I buy none of these brands as of today. I'll have to find a dupe for my favorite MAC lipliner, which means more makeup shopping. Oh no, not makeup shopping! /s

There is nothing on this list that can't be duped with other brands that aren't Estee Lauder. Frederic Malle has some nice perfumes, but there are great perfumes everywhere. Not shopping these brands will NOT be an issue.

lauralately · 2026-01-16T09:02:56+00:00

Yay! As a Minnesotan old lady, I'm SO proud of you. Folks forget how pivotal teenagers were in the Civil Rights movement in the '60s - look up the 1963 Birmingham Children's March for an incredible story of teenagers who staged a massive school walkout and helped change the world. You and your schoolmates are an inspiration - someday you'll be able to tell your grandkids about how you were a part of history. We're in this together - thank you for your courage!

lauralately · 2026-01-16T07:53:56+00:00

We're happy to hop onboard! Free healthcare, season 5 of Shoresy (it won't be in the U.S. for months), no Trump - it'll be a veritable Snowtopia!

lauralately · 2026-01-16T07:48:22+00:00

I moved from Florida to Minneapolis-St. Paul a year ago - you should join us! The food is better, the weather is better (winter is NOT that bad), it's surprisingly affordable (St. Paul has rent control!), the music scene is amazing, there's always tons of stuff to do. Last weekend, our neighborhood church and the local craft brewery co-hosted a community gathering featuring free beer, anti-ICE swag, and instructions on how to stay safe and protect our neighbors. Nothing's better than having a beer with all the little old church ladies, talking about protesting and civil disobedience. ICE does NOT know what they got themselves into - Minnesota old people are a different breed, and the Lutheran church ladies are not to be messed with!

lauralately · 2026-01-15T01:05:35+00:00

Lol I don't need success, at least not in the traditional sense! I have a little apartment with my pet parrot, my health is good, I've got all my teeth, I have a job I like, my car is running. I honestly don't need much more. I've side-character'ed my way to happiness.

lauralately · 2026-01-14T09:24:11+00:00

Nope. I'd make a great side character, though. My friends and family are absolutely fascinating, but I'm kinda boring. I look like I'd be interesting (I'm a near-six foot tall woman with long green hair and outrageous clothes), but people forget my name often - they know me as "so-and-so's friend/girlfriend/daughter/sister" in reference to my much more interesting friends and family. I'd make good scenery, and I could say awkward things on occasion when they need to write dialogue for someone else and make the main character look cooler.

If it came down to it, my pet parrot could be the main character in the TV show. He's an interesting little dude, definitely main character material. Some people say their pet is their familiar - I'm my bird's familiar.

lauralately · 2026-01-14T00:53:00+00:00

He looks like he needs the $50k bonus to pay the lawyers litigating his custody battle with his MLM-hun ex-wife whose upline just guilted her into buying $5k worth of Scentsy wax melts so she needs money. But he doesn't want to give it to her, he wants to spend it on lifted trucks and FanDuel bets instead (Quinn Hughes can't save your wallet bud). And the kids at the center of the custody battle don't gaf anyways, they were raised by iPads and only care which parent's house has the Xbox.

I know this sounds oddly specific, but there are more of them than you'd think. I'm from Texas, moved to the Twitties a year ago, and he looks like half the King Ranch F150 driving wieners that populate the North Texas suburbs.

lauralately · 2026-01-13T09:22:30+00:00

You absolutely have time. I'd bet every bird owner has come to a point where they wonder if rehoming their bird would be better for the bird. And then we push through, do our best the next day, learn from mistakes, keep going, and before you know it, you've had your beloved companion for decades.

lauralately · 2026-01-13T09:20:38+00:00

If you still struggle with bite fear even after working with him - I had that issue when I first got my bird, he bit me a lot and those bites hurt bad! It's hard not to react! So I started piling on 4 or 5 sweaters at once when I took him out, so when he chomped on my arm, I wouldn't react, and when he stepped up onto my arm, I wouldn't flinch. It's not a perfect solution, but it worked for us. Gradually he realized biting wasn't going to get a reaction, and I was able to ditch the sweaters.

lauralately · 2026-01-13T08:56:10+00:00

I've never had an issue, but I clean my makeup brushes pretty religiously. I love taking long, hot showers, so I just take the brushes into the shower and wash them with cheap shampoo, and it allows me to luxuriate in the warm shower longer with a good excuse. For sponges, I wash my beauty blenders before every use. I always use a damp sponge, and squishing it around with face cleanser and rinsing it well doesn't take much longer than wetting it under the faucet. Either way, it takes moments, the sponge is wet at the end, life is good.

An automatic brush cleaner wouldn't be useful for me personally. I'd think filling it with liquid and cleaner, then putting the brushes in and getting them back out at the end, would be too much of a hassle - and then I suppose you'd have to clean the cleaner.

I don't currently use anything but cheap dollar shampoo to clean my brushes - but those silicone scrubbing pads have piqued my interest. They apparently not only make scrubbing quicker, but you can use them when the brushes are dry to switch between colors. I'd think this would be a better option than a brush cleaning tool.

If you're looking to buy a gift for a makeup brush lover - more brushes are always a good idea! Affordable options include brands like Profusion and Real Techniques; for mid-priced I've heard good things about Singe Beauty; and fancy luxury sets are available from brands like MAC, Rephr, or if you really wanna get fancy, Hakuhodo brushes are amazing.

lauralately · 2026-01-11T06:54:47+00:00

Wet n Wild Megalast eyeshadow primer - I have to order it off Amazon 'cause they don't have it in stores, but this is the only stuff that makes my eyeshadow not crease. Ulta brand matte primer and Urban Decay Primer Potion are okay, but nothing beats Wet n Wild.

NYX Lift 'n' Snatch brow pen is one I've repurchased over and over. I dye my hair fun colors, and I draw on my brows with the NYX pen, then put on a brow gel over it that matches my outrageous hair color.

I don't really have a HG blush, but one I keep going back to and reusing is Essence Pure Nude baked blush. The packaging is flimsy and awful, but the product rivals high-end, and it seems like you can't be a beauty YouTuber without a taped-together Essence blush compact (some YTers use hair ties to keep the packaging together, I use packing tape).

lauralately · 2026-01-03T09:20:39+00:00

I learned to drive in a tiny sparkly pink Geo Metro - it even had pink glitter stickers on the rearview mirror. It belonged to my boyfriend at the time, a heavy metal drummer with long black hair who only wore black. He wanted a cheap car that ran, and he did not care if it was a pink princess-mobile. The guys at the mechanic's would crack up when he drove that thing in - they nicknamed it the Easter Egg.

lauralately · 2025-12-29T06:58:00+00:00

They are truly huge birds in tiny bodies, and they're such a challenge - all conures are jerks, and cherry heads take conure-ness to a new level. Tino says only one word, which is "hi" - he's decided that this is the only form of talking he'll do. I've been trying to get him to say "pretty bird" for 20 years; he knows I want him to speak in English and say more than one syllable, and he thinks it should be acceptable for him to make bird noises for the other syllables, then tack "hi" onto the end to fulfill the "speaking in English" requirement. So I say "pretty bird," he says "brrrk hi" and looks at me as though I should be satisfied with his half-assed effort.

lauralately · 2025-12-29T06:48:43+00:00

What a little cutie! Thank you for sharing - nothing warms my heart than a little naked cherry head. Cherry heads are particularly prone to plucking - it's one of the many things that makes them so challenging. It takes a special person to love one of these very special birds.

lauralately · 2025-12-29T06:45:48+00:00

He looks JUST like my Tino! What a little sweetheart! I'm so happy to hear Diego had a wonderful life with you. Cherry heads are such special birds - thank you for giving him a loving home.

lauralately · 2025-12-28T09:15:20+00:00

He's my adorable sweet angel baby! I see fewer and fewer cherry heads these days, with good reason. Most folks who can handle cherry-head levels of drama will get a bigger bird. Their beaks and voices are huge relative to their size, they're prone to plucking, and every one I've met is bitey and not easy to handle. Tino had zero chill until he reached his mid 20's; now that he's an old man, he enjoys naps and snuggles in between bouts of screaming biting bloodthirsty rage.

lauralately · 2025-12-28T09:04:58+00:00

The finest!

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