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Friday, September 7, 2012

FRIDAY

Today is...
      - Gloomy
      - Rainy
      - Windy



Today is perfect for...
      - Reading
      - Writing
      - Coffee/Tea



Today is Friday.

Here's to a great weekend!

What are your plans for the weekend?

Monday, September 3, 2012

You Capture: Green

I didn't get a lot of pictures this weekend.

In fact, I haven't been getting a lot of pictures for a while, because I've been slacking.

I'm trying to do better.

Luckily, this weekend I went to the Kansas City Irish Fest, so it wasn't too hard to find "green."


Even the water was green!




If you want to see other "green" pictures, check out You Capture. 

What did you guys do this weekend?

Saturday, September 1, 2012

GOODBYE SUMMER




I know, I know… according to the calendar it is not Fall yet, but Summer is basically over.

Everyone is getting one last weekend at the pools and water parks before they close for the year.

All of our schools are back in session. For the kids in our neighborhood, summer ended last week.

Honestly, I’m not sad to see it go.

It has been one very hot and long summer.

I can’t wait for the temps to drop and the leaves to change color.

This week I get start the process of putting up my Fall decorations.


I’m ready for the crisp cool air and the pumpkin spice candles.

Fall is my favorite season and it can’t get here fast enough.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Birchbox - July 2012

Once again, it's Birchbox time!

This was a great month for Birchbox.

 They teamed up with Glamour magazine to celebrate the five senses.


I have to say, they did a great job, I was pretty excited when I opened up my box.


I'm just going to get right into what I got.


1. Larabar - Cherry Cobbler
            
      My husband ate this right after I took this picture. It didn't really look that good to me.



2. Oscar de la Renta - live in love (notes of hyacinth and orchid over a rich base of sandalwood and cedar.) 



 
3.  boscia - Green Tea Blotting Linens
 
     I've never used any kind of blotting papers, so I am excited to try these out.


4. Jouer - Luminizing Moisture Tint



5. Eyeko - Skinny Liquid Eyeliner (in purple)

    Stuff like this is the reason I signed up for Birchbox. I was so happy to find makeup in my box, and having it be a full size product was even better.



6. Birchbox Exclusive - earbuds

      These were totally unexpected. When you pay $10 dollars for a box, you really only expect a few nice size beauty samples, not earbuds. These alone made the box for me. Are they the best quality? No, but they will be perfect for the gym. Now I don't have to worry about my nice earbuds getting all sweaty and gross.
     

That is all for July's Birchbox.

Have you tried any of these products? What did you think?

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Birchbox - June

I was so excited to see that little pink box in my mailbox on Monday.


I never look up the theme of my box before I get it, because I think it's more fun not knowing.
So, I was surprised when I saw the cute little stamp designs on the inside of the box.


They made more sense when I found out that this month's theme was "Jet Set."


Anyways, here are the products that were in my box.


1. Masqueology - Brightening Mask (I am really excited to try this type of mask.)

2. Likewise - Facial Moisturizer + Sun Protectant SPF 50 

3. Stainiac in Beauty Queen - lip and cheek stain

4. Ada Cosmetics - Bronzer

5. Lifestyle Extra - Cynthia Rowley Dress Up Band-Aids ( I actually got a full size of this product, which is worth $15, so I was pretty excited about that. Who can't use Band-Aids?)

Overall, I was really happy with this box. The only thing that I don't know if I will like is the bronzer. Bronzer never seems to look right on me and this one has a lot of shimmer in it which I don't usually like. I am still excited to try it though, and everything else in my box. 

Have you tried any of these products? If so, did you like them? Let me know.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Quick Update

I never meant to take such a long break from this blog.

What have I been up to?

1. I decided to try Camp NaNoWriMo. So far I'm not doing so well, but I haven't given up yet. (Camp NaNoWriMo is basically the same as NaNoWriMo, it just takes place in June and August instead of November.)

2. My husband and I have been spending time at the lake, enjoying the sun.

3. We also spent some time at the Kansas City Zoo this weekend. They had a special event for Friends of the Zoo and we had a blast!

4. I took a couple of small road trips with my sister-in-law two weekends ago. We had a lot of fun and I may write up a little post about them if I get the chance.

5. We are currently driving a rental car because of a minor accident we were in about a month ago. Our car is getting fixed and hopefully it won't take too much longer. 

Again, sorry this blog has been silent for so long. I plan on getting back to posting on a regular schedule soon.

With all of the stuff going on (especially Camp NaNoWriMo) my schedule is a little out of whack. 

I should be getting my June Birchbox in the mail today, so I will have a post about that coming soon.

How has your summer been so far?

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Birchbox - May

The theme for my Birchbox this month was "Gossip Girl."

Now, I don't watch Gossip Girl, so I have no idea how these products relate to the show.

The card says the samples were inspired by the series and Manhattan's chicest events.




1. BVLGARI - Omnia Crystalline Eau de Toilette Spray (also known as perfume)

2. Miracle Skin Transformer Body SPF in Glow

3. fresh - Sugar Rose Tinted Lip Treatment SPF 15 ( I have already used and fallen in love with this stuff. A full size is $22.50. We'll have to see if I love it enough to pay that price when I'm done with the sample.)

4. Kiehl's - Abyssine Cream+

5. Lifestyle Extra - A notecard. (It's cute, but I haven't figured out what I'm going to do with one notecard yet.)

That's it for my May Birchbox. 

Still no makeup, but maybe next month.

Have you tried any of these products? What did you think?

You Capture - Lines

*Sorry this is a day late. I completely forgot about You Capture. I did take this one picture this weekend with You Capture in mind and it would be a shame to waste it.




I hope everyone had a good weekend.

Friday, May 11, 2012

5 on Friday

1. I hurt my back this week. I don't know how I did it, but for two days everything I did was painful.

2. My Birchbox came in the mail yesterday. This time it was in a black box instead of pink. I'm assuming that had something to do with the "Gossip Girl" theme.


3. Started reading Let's Pretend This Never Happened  by Jenny Lawson (The Bloggess.) It is very good, I can't count the number of times I have laughed out loud.

4. I went shopping with my friend on Thursday and I bought some new lipstick. It's always fun to try something new. (Well, not always, but trying new lipstick is usually okay.)



5. I'm getting my hair cut next week and I'm trying to decide what to do with it. I always have horrible anxiety before getting my hair cut. (Which is why it only happens every 2 years.)

Monday, May 7, 2012

Weekend Recap

(Sorry there are no pictures.)

Saturday

1. Warrior Dash - While not as hot as last year, it was still super hot. 
Luckily I was able to find a shady spot to sit and the boys seemed
to have a good time. 

2. Cinco De Mayo Party - My husband's friend throws a party every year, and we
had a great time hanging out with everyone.


Sunday

-It rained most of the day on Sunday. 

- We had lunch at my Dad's house with family, but we left early
because we were still exhausted from Saturday.

How was your weekend? 


Friday, May 4, 2012

My Thursday in Pictures (Instagram)


My Buffy Bar, which I might talk about later.

 Getting ready to spend day with friend.

Awesome lunch at Chapapla's.


Waiting room.


Dessert and drinks.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Tuesday

Just a quick post today. This post has 2 parts.

Part 1: Weekend Recap

This weekend wasn't a great one for me. I just wasn't feeling the best.

BUT!! We did finish painting our house on Saturday.
(Well, not completely finished, we still have some touch up work, but that is all!)


Part 2: May Goals

I have made some goals for the month of May.

Nothing big, just some things that I think I  would like to work on.

The 3 B's:

Bags - I really need to get back in the habit of bringing my own bags when I go shopping. I'm tired of all the plastic bags taking over my house.

Blog - I feel like I've been doing an okay job of posting here, but I want to make a goal of posting at least 3 times a week for the month of May.

Books - I have a lot of books that I want to read, but I don't seem to be making the time to read them. My goal is to read 3 books in May. (This doesn't now include the one I am currently reading because I only have a few chapters.)

That's it for me.

Do you have any goals for May? What are they?

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Pottermore

I have super exciting news!

I've been meaning to say something about it, but I've been a little busy.

I joined Pottermore a week ago since it has finally been opened to everyone.

I was sorted into Gryffindor!


I wasn't too surprised, as I have always felt that I belonged in Gryffindor, but I could also see myself being sorted into Hufflepuff.

I was also assigned a wand in Ollivander's shop.

My wand is 14 1/2 inches, elm, phoenix feather core, solid.

I haven't gotten too far into the Pottermore experience, but what I've seen so far is pretty amazing.

I love getting little bits of background information on the characters that didn't make it into the books.

Information like:

                  - How Petunia met Vernon Dursley.
                  - Why Professor McGonagall is so passionate about beating Slytherin in Quidditch.

If you are a Harry Potter fan, and you haven't already, you should definitely check out Pottermore.

If you have been sorted, which house are you in?  If not, which house do you think you would be sorted into?

Monday, April 23, 2012

Weekend Recap & You Capture

I don't know about you, but my weekend was exhausting.

We started the (longer than planned) process of painting our house this weekend.

I don't have much for a weekend recap because that is basically all we did.

We had a chance to go to a NASCAR race, but we couldn't because we had to much work to do on the house. ( We have never watched NASCAR, but I think it would have been fun to try something new.)

We were supposed to go to the mall so I could visit the Lush store and restock some of my products that I've used up...but I never got the chance.

The one thing I did accomplish was getting my camera out and taking some pictures of "sunshine" for You Capture.

Of course, I didn't think about it until Sunday and it was cloudy all day. So, I just had my camera around my neck while I worked outside and every once in awhile the sun would peek out for a few seconds and I would try to get a decent shot.


This was the best one:




The sun also came out while I was trying to get a picture of the tree in our front yard.



So that is all for my (kind of) sunny weekend recap.

How was your weekend? Did you manage to have more fun than I did?

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

April Birchbox

I received my April Birchbox last week.

This is my 3rd box, and I still think it's pretty exciting to get a package in the mail once a month.

I never check to see what kind of items they might be sending. I like for it to be a surprise.

I think it's more fun that way.

The theme for April was "Natural Wonders." The packaging inside the box was green this month, which I loved!

Green happens to be my favorite color.

As always, I got some samples that I am really excited to try.


1. Juice Beauty - Oil-Free Moisturizer

2. Dropps - Laundry Detergent

3. Amika - Obliphica Nourishing Mask

4. Wonderstruck by Taylor Swift

5. Zoya Nail Polish - Lotus from the TRUE Spring Collection


I am always excited to get nail polish in my box. It's fun to try new colors and the samples last a long time.

It's hard to tell in the picture, but this nail polish is a very pretty purple color that has some glittery sparkles in it.

I have already used the nail polish and while it is very pretty, I think I prefer the bright green color I got last month for spring. I think the darker colors are better for fall or winter.

I am still enjoying Birchbox.

The only complaint that I have so far is that I haven't received a lot of makeup products. In my first box I got some lip gloss and some stick on eyeliners (which were a disaster, by the way.) I can't complain too much because I have loved most of the samples that I have got, but I would like to see some more makeup samples.

Maybe next month.

What products do you love? Have you used any of the products that I got in my box? If so, what did you think of them?


Tuesday, April 17, 2012

I'm Back

I can't believe I made it! One whole week without the internet.

I realized a couple things last week.

Not only was it not difficult to go without internet, I was a happier, more productive person without it.

Once I forced myself out of my usual routine, I found that I had time to get all my work done with plenty of time to spare.

In 5 days I :

     - Spent 1 day at the zoo with some family members.
     - Spent 1 day shopping with a friend.
     - Read 3 books.
     - And I still had time to do all the basic housework that I usually put off till the last minute because I'm too busy surfing the web.

Now all of this doesn't mean that I'm not happy to be back.

There were times when I wanted to look up information, but didn't because I knew it would cheating.

I am more than happy to have to convenience of the internet back at my fingertips.

The internet is really my only source for news and current events. It's how I find out what is going on in my city.

I'm happy to be back.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Time Off

I've been feeling a little overwhelmed lately.

When I'm overwhelmed, I tend to shut down.

Unfortunately, this blog is always the first thing to go.

Also, it's come to my attention that I really have no idea what I am doing with this blog.

I rarely post and when I do, I don't really put a lot of effort into my posts.

I know it's just fear. I'm afraid if I'm honest, people won't like me.

I'm afraid if I actually try, people won't think it's good enough.

I'm afraid that people will think my blog is stupid. (It kind of has been because of my lack of effort.)

Anyways, I've been thinking hard about what I want to do with this blog, because I certainly don't want to get rid of it.

I may decide to delete some past posts. I haven't decided yet.

I wanted to let you guys know that I will be taking a break from the internet next week.

That means no Facebook, Twitter, or reading other people's blogs.

I feel like it's the main reason that I don't get anything done. It's just too good of a distraction.

I'm going to use my time off to refocus my energy on what is important to me.

There are 3 main areas I feel need my attention the most:

      1. Daily Routines - I feel like I can't focus on my work when my house is a mess. I am hoping to set some routines in place that will help me get my house in shape so when it comes time to work, I can do so without distractions.

      2. Blog - Like I said above, I need to figure out what I want for this blog. I'm hoping to come up with a posting schedule and some new ideas to keep my posts interesting.

     3. Pick up my Camera - One of the reasons I started this blog was to have a place to post pictures I took. I don't think I have picked up my camera since I got my iPhone (6 months ago!) It's just so convenient to use my camera's phone. The weather is nice and it's the perfect time for me to get back out there and start taking pictures again.

So, that's it.

Those are my plans.

I guess I will see you in a week.

Jenn

Monday, March 19, 2012

Birchbox - March

I received my Birchbox in the mail last Friday. I love getting packages in the mail, and it's even more fun when you have no idea what you are going to get. I thought it would be fun to show you what I got in my box, just like I did last month.

The box looks like this:


This month's theme was "Spring Training."


This is what it looked like when I opened the box:


As always, there was an extra package in the box that you get to open, which is always fun.


This is what was in that package:



Here is what was in my box:


1. Color Club Nail Lacquer - Age of Aquarius


       Brighten blah nails with this on-trend, '60's-inspired green polish.

*I have tried this already, and I love the color! I am already thinking about ordering the full size.

 2. Harvey Prince - Ageless


        Most scents just smell pretty, but this one is designed to make you feel more youthful.

*I haven't worn this yet, so I might change my mind, but just going by the smell, I don't think that this will be a scent that I like.

3. Lulu Organics - Lavender + Clary Sage Hair Powder


       Revive flat locks by sprinkling this lavender-scented organic dry shampoo onto your roots.


4. One Love Organics - Skin Savior Waterless Beauty Balm


        This all-natural two-in-one cleanser and moisturizer is completely free of fillers, which means it's extra concentrated and extra effective. 


5. Supergoop! - Sunscreen Swipe


        Shield yourself from harmful UV rays anywhere you go with these portable wipes - they're soaked with an award-winning, skin-safe sunscreen formula.


6. Tea Forte - skin-smart Teas


        An antioxidant tea that tastes amazing and helps your skin look more radiant.


That's it for this month's Birchbox post. I enjoyed this box more than my first. I felt like the things in this box were things I would actually like to use, or at least try.

I felt like last month's box had stuff that I would try just for fun since they gave it to me, but they weren't products I was actually interested in.

It makes me wonder what they will send me next month.

Jenn