Monday, July 30, 2012

Watermelon Ice Cubes

Do you ever come up with really great ideas and wonder why no one has thought of them before? But then when you try it, you find out why no one does it... that's how my experiment with watermelon ice cubes went.

I had been cutting up a big watermelon and had a little bit left that wouldn't fit in the container. I thought, hey, watermelon is mostly water, I bet you could mash these up, freeze them, and make tasty ice cubes. Thus, these were made.


They look really pretty and I thought they might give a tasty hint of flavor to a glass of water, like cucumbers or lemons. Great in theory, but terrible in practice.


They instantly melt in to floaty grossness and no flavor added. Instead I will throw them in to smoothies so they won't go to waste, but needless to say, I'll never make them again. Now I know why watermelon ice cubes are not a thing.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Little Baby Luna

This week Tim and I decided to adopt a new little kitten. It wasn't really planned, we were at PetSmart and looking at all the cats for adoption and got sucked in by their cuteness. And the longer we stood there, the more we convinced ourselves that now would be the best time to get a new cat. Also, after taking in Nemu when he was six months old, we knew we wanted a young kitten to make training easier. So, I introduce to you, little (3 month old) Luna!


Mojo and Nemu have handled the new addition well. In fact, this morning Nemu was chasing her and playing with her. He had been a little unsure of what to do with her before; he would start to bat at her and then stop and run away. Mojo, on the other hand, just stares at them both, which is pretty normal for him. It's been a lot of fun, the only bad point is that Luna is pretty stinky. I can't image the shelter fed her very good quality food, so I'm hoping the diet change will help. In the mean time I constantly burn a candle to cover the smell and clean the litter boxes more frequently. She's pretty cute, so I can't say that I mind.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Face Masks

I've always done face masks with either my sisters or a group of friends just to be girly and have fun. I've never used them in my skin care routine, nor felt a need to be incorporate them. However, after hearing/reading about quite a few beauty professionals relying on face masks as part of their own routine, I thought I'd try some out to see what the buzz was about.

I had an order coming from Sephora a while ago and thought that would be a good time to find one. And while I waited for my order I picked up a few cheap ones from Walmart. It turned out that the inexpensive masks made a bigger difference than the Sephora one. The picture below is the Mint and Lemon Facial Clay Mask, made by Freeman. The "travel" size (the only size I've seen sold in stores) lasted three uses and that was enough to see a difference. The picture below is the full size container (5 fl. oz.) and it's only $3.99. It's such a good deal and it actually made my skin feel better and look clearer.


Monday, July 23, 2012

Nail Polish

I think I paint my nails almost every other day. I've had a basic red on for 4 days and it feels really weird.

This post is just to share my more creative designs. Hopefully it'll give you some ideas or maybe a little nudge to try something new.

The first is a white base (from my MyGlam bag) with two mint colors sponged on top. I wanted the effect to look like a wash, hense two different mints; one more sheer than the other.


The other is a very trendy deign, the herringbone. I painted mine in layers, I prefer that to tape.


Both were first attempts, so they're definitely not perfect. I also try to not over-stress about my nails. The edges will smooth out with a couple of showers and all colors eventually chip. I spend my time trying new designs and playing with color combos, it's much more fun.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Bridesmaids Dress

My sister is getting married in October and I could not be more excited! I love the excitement and buzz that a wedding creates. I am a bridesmaid and we get to pick our own dress. The guidlines are to find a dress that is gray and tea length. Somehow I can never seem to find a proper tea length dress, mine are always a bit shorter. But, I have checked with my sister and I think it will be ok. These are my top three choices right now.


The first one (far left) is my top choice. I really like the third dress, but we're wearing little sweaters on top and I think the flowers would get covered and look bumpy and funny.

I wanted to share these because searching for the perfect bridesmaid dress can be challenging, especially if you're on a budget. I checked soooo many websites! I'm still not committed either; I check back multiple times for sales and new stock. The month of July is a great time to look in bridal stores because it's after the two major wedding months, so they usually have sales.

 I search every store website possible! I check ModCloth the most because their stock constantly changes and updates. I also look at JCrew, David's Bridal, Macy's, Antropology, but I rarely find a dress that I love on those sites. I don't really set a budget, but if a dress is $100+ it needs to be one that I will wear again and again and again - that's how JCrew usually gets cut out.

For me, it always comes down to dresses that are at either Target or JCPenney. And this is my third time being a bridesmaid, so this hunt is not too foreign for me. The best part of ordering from these stores is that their return policies are really easy and I know my size for sure. Also, with JCPenney I can ship to my local store which makes shipping free!

Where's your favorite place to shop for dresses?

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

MyGlam July

Here's my MyGlam bag for July. I used one picture and described the products below; nothing new with that layout. 


Juice Beauty moisturizer: I like that this has SPF 15 and Green Apple anything is always fun, espsecially for summer. However, I do want to point out that last month's MyGlam had a moisturizer in it as well.

NuMe hydrating conditioner: This little sample is going to go with my shampoo sample from Birchbox for when I travel. There were also two certificates for NuMe, one was $50 for a set of either Hydro Punch or Pure Remedy products, and the other was for 50% off any product on their website.
*I am not going to use these, nor am I going to be using the $100 off certificate (from many months ago). If you would like to use them please let me know if the comments and we'll figure out a way for me to get you the specific code.

Say Yes to Cucumbers face wipes: I actually bought this exact travel packet a few weeks ago and I'm happy to have them again.

Buxom (Bare Essentials) lip gloss: I tried this out as soon as I got it and I was pretty impressed. It stays on for a long time, but it's not too sticky. The color is subtle, but it has a lot of shimmer to it; I think it would look great on top of a lipstick.

Circus by Andrea's Choice nail polish: This is already on my nails! It's really creamy and pigmented, especially for white. The brush is kind of small, but that's not a big deal.


Monday, July 16, 2012

Dainty Rings

I used to be the biggest ring person, and the bigger they were the better. However, ever since I got engaged it felt weird to wear other rings. It literally took me months to wear a cocktail ring on my right hand! Lately though, I've been wearing just my wedding band, so I feel like I can put other small rings on my left hand. So I started looking on Etsy, and found these:


All three are on my wish list now. I like that they're better quality than Forever21; it's always nice when your rings don't turn your fingers green.

Rings {1,2,3}

Saturday, July 14, 2012

July Birchbox

I wanted to start this post by talking about why I've come to love Birchbox so quickly, but I'm making myself wait one more month and then I'll do a whole post about monthly subscriptions. Just know that I'm really enjoying Birchbox, and this month's box seemed to be made just for me.

The box's theme was "the senses", so each item relates to a sense. Birchbox partnered with Glamour Magazine, their July issue is also all about the five sense. I've had opportunities to use some of the items, so for this month I'm going to talk about each item seperately.


Smell. I am overwhelmed by perfume samples right now! Between monthly subscriptions and a couple of orders form Sephora, I think I have six. From these samples I can tell you that I really appreciate the ones that have spray tops (like this one). Birchbox sent the scent Hello (that was too fun to say to not put it in here). Unfortunately mine leaked and I'm left with a lovely smelling box, but only half the sample. This is especially sad because I love the scent!


Touch. The next item is a hair mask from Amika. I haven't tried this yet, but the info card says it's a full of omega acids and vitamin C, all to help repair split ends. On the upside, this doesn't seem to be a protein mask which is interesting because that's all I've tried. On the down side I really don't like when products say they'll repair split ends, because that's just not possible. But, like I said before, this box is made for me - I love hair masks and deep conditioners and since this one doesn't have protein it can be used as a daily conditioner as well. I am also learning to like hair oils, which brings me to the next item...


Touch. This oil treatment is also from Amika and it says that it's made from sea-buckthorn berry and argan oil. I had never heard of this berry, so after some investigating I found out that it's full of antioxidants, vitamins C and E and can be found in many skin treatments. All of which sounds great and I'll be happy to try it.


See. This BB cream and the next item make me soooo excited! I almost always reach for my BB cream over foundation, but the one I have now is a heavier, creamier one and it also has a grey tint to it before it oxidizes. Even though this is a western BB cream it has more of the "true" BB cream components. As you can see, it has SPF, but it also hydrates, diminishes pores, fine lines and uneven skintone. I tried it on the back of my hand and it's really light and smooth, it also seems to have a red/warm base. After I've used it for a while I'll do a post on how it compairs to Skin 79 BB cream, which is what I use now.


See. I am SO excited to have another liquid liner to try!! It has a felt tip, which I like, and it seemed to dry quickly on the back of my hand. I don't have much else to say about it, other than I'm really, really happy to have it.
*As an update about the liner I got in the MyGlam bag, it has not held up so well. It dries nicely and doesn't smudge around my eye, but it transfers on to my crease - not cute. I'm going to use it up, but I won't buy it for myself.


Hear. These headphones were one of the extras in this month's box. They are really cute, bright colors; and the cord is suuuper long. To be honest though, the sound is not so great... I normally buy cheap $10 headphones, so if I can tell that the sound is poor, that's not a good sign.


Taste. This was a tasty little snack bar that I ate up after photographing it. It's defnitely a little snack, but it has some healthy things in and it's still sweet.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Cheers!

There is something about drinking out of a fun glass that makes your beverage taste better. We learned this when we were kids and given crazy straws. Koolaid was sooo much better after it made the windy path up to my mouth. Even as an adult, I want my cabinets to have fun cups for all different occasions. Thanks to my love of coffee, I'm set on coffee mugs. Tim and I registered for funky, curved drinking glasses and after breaking a few (we're very clumsy) we decided to stick to affordable glasses. Fortunately we discovered that our Goodwil has an amazing glasswear section.

When you shop for anything used, inspect every edge of it! For glasses, I turn them over and inspect for and cracks or scratches. I double check that any detail work is still intact and that the glass feels durable. I don't care if my dishes match, but I do stumble accross complete sets - so if you're pickier about that you can still find what you're looking for.


I may not care if the dishes match, but I do want them to go together. The middle one is my favorite, but the two on the ends are similar in color, size and shape. If I was entertaining and setting up a nice presentation, I would look for these similarities when selecting cups.


Monday, July 9, 2012

Summer Storms

The past week has had some crazy weather. The beginning of the week and the preceding weekend held big thunderstorms. They would blow in out of now where with huge. swirling gusts of wind. The clouds looked insane!


There have been some really big trees knocked down too. The clouds were the coolest part though; they swirled around each other and broke apart. I sat on my back porch watching it and taking pictures.


After a couple of storm days the weather heated back up to the 90s and stayed there until Sunday. Today it's a beautiful 82 degrees with clear blue skies. Amazing.