POTD: Polish of the Day

I don't paint my nails EVERY day but thought it would be fun to share pics when I do. I've been becoming more and more a polish junkie recently and I know I like to see the different combos people come up with.

So without further ado, here's today's POTD.

 

 The purple base is Nicole by OPI's I'm a Beliber and the glitter is Wet 'n Wild's Party of Five Glitters.

It's a Girl! - Mojo Monday 238

 This week's Mojo Monday sketch looked like this:

 And this is what I did with it:

 

Meal Planning - Month 2 - Foodie Friday

This is my second month of planning out meals. (Click here for the first post) It's going pretty well I'd say and I'm catching on pretty quickly.

Because I really want to do a minimal amount of thinking about it, I tend to go by the schedule and have what's planned for that day on that day. However, it does happen that substitutions need made for whatever reason or we're just not feeling the meal planned for that particular day. The calendar set up makes it easy to just cross and switch things around. So far this month, and it's pretty well done with, there has been minimal switching and most everyone has been happy with the meals.

I feel like it's also cut down on the grocery shopping to an extent. It's easier to look at the calendar and see that we'll need peppers, potatoes and hamburger instead of waiting until the day of and realizing we're out of onions, noodles and pasta sauce.

It's also making it easier to take advantage of sales. Knowing that we're going to need x, y and z at some point in the month is great. Then, when the local grocery store runs their 10 for $10, get the 11th item free sale we can stock up on not as perishable things we'll need later in the month if we know they never go on sale any cheaper. The same goes for meats. Ground beef is $3 a pound this week? Great! We're going to need 5 pounds to get through the month so we'll buy it now knowing it rarely goes much cheaper anymore.

In order to try new things and get out of a cooking rut, I've also added chef's choice/new recipe days to the calendar. That way, we get to try something new to break up the meals we tend to rotate instead of waiting until we've had a month of the same meals and we're sick of it. In the end it's still cheaper to toss in a random/new meal than to get take out because no one wants to eat what we're supposed to.

Anyone else meal planning? What's the method to your madness?

Birchbox?

I've read all sorts of reviews, watched opening videos on YouTube and checked out the website, but was wondering if any followers/readers have tried Birchbox. Personally, I just signed up and am now waiting on my first box to arrive.

What is Birchbox?
From their website:
"Birchbox delivers the best products and the best insider secrets, without any fuss. Every month Birchbox members will receive a curated box of luxe beauty samples. Each box will span beauty categories and deliver exciting products that fit into both your day-to-day routine, and into those days when you want to turn up the drama a notch."

"Each month, you'll receive a selection of samples that we’ve tried (and retried) ourselves. We source our samples from both well-known brands and emerging gems. The women’s subscription includes everything from skincare to makeup, as well as fun non-beauty extras. The men’s subscription delivers top-tier grooming products in addition to lifestyle accessories ranging from hip socks to tech accessories."

Sounds amazing, right? And the best part? It's only $10 a month for a monthly subscription or just over $100 for a yearly subscription. Plus, you can cancel any time you want with no cancellation fees.

Anxious to try it yourself? Join the wait list here. Let me know if you sign up and what you get in your first box!

I'll be sharing what I get in my box when it arrives.

I am not affiliated with Birchbox, nor was I compensated for or asked to do this blog post. All items mentioned were purchased with my own money and all thoughts/opinions are 100% my own.

Gecko's Night in Vegas

Have you noticed the hashtag #GeckoVegas on Twitter lately? No? Then you should check it out.

From the Klout Perk description:

• During a crazy night in Las Vegas, the GEICO Gecko and his new friends took a bunch of pictures. But, when they woke up the next morning, his camera was gone.  Thankfully, we found it, and goodness did it have some interesting shots on it. Now you have the chance to see the pics and uncover all the things that happened that night. 

 

 

I have to say this is pretty brilliant marketing. Send a cute bobblehead figure and some pictures to a bunch of people on the premise that said figure's "real life" counterpart had a wild night in Vegas and ask them to share the pictures they personally received on Twitter and Facebook to help piece together said "wild night."

The figure is adorable. My mom loves it and thinks it's hilarious. The pictures are cute (the ones I received), while some are bordering on strange (some I've seen shared on Twitter).

The whole point is to get people talking by sharing these pictures and such. It's a great marketing tool because people feel a certain necessity almost to talk about and share the pictures because they feel like someone else is depending on them to complete the puzzle. In reality, no one is relying on them to complete a puzzle and it's just a good excuse to see what pictures everyone else got. Apparently there's also the chance to win prizes for sharing your pictures, so that's another incentive.

So what do you think? Brilliant or another marketing gimmick heading toward a flop?

I was given a free product or sample because I'm a Klout influencer. I was under no obligation to receive the sample or talk about this company. I get no additional benefits for talking about the product or company.

Happy 1st Anniversary! (pic heavy)

It's hard to believe that this was one year ago:

Yep that's right, on April 16, 2011 I got married. All of my planning (aka stressing) had finally come together into one amazing day. The whole planning process was...eventful to say the least. I was on a very tight, low budget (if you'd like to see some of my budget steals and deals or hear some of the tips I have for working with a low budget let me know) but still managed (with the help of my mom and other family and friends) to pull off a pretty fantastic day that people were still talking about months later.

Studio G Clearance at Walmart - Valentine's Day Items

Just wanted to let fellow crafters know that Walmart currently has their Valentine Studio G things on clearance. Mine has them for 20cents though I've heard of others that have them for 10cents.

As far as I can tell it includes the flocking, glitter, glitter glue (though you might have to price check to make sure specific colors are from Valentine's Day since they have no real markings), chipboard and cardstock stickers, bling, stamps and paper packs. I'm sure that inks are also included, but mine was completely out of ink so I can't be sure, and like the glitter glue you'll probably have to price check them individually to be sure.

Happy Shopping!

Wednesday Weigh-In

I think I said in last week's weigh-in that I would post what I ate for a week, but that's not happening this week. I wasn't thinking about the holiday and how that messes things up. Whoops! Plus I started to keep track of the whole week but it got to be a bit overwhelming to not only track it in my app but also write it down here. Maybe I'll just do a representative day or two instead of a whole week.

That said, this week I'm up nearly 1.5 pounds. A holiday which features loads of yummy chocolate is mostly to blame as well as the fact that I haven't worked out in nearly a week. I'll be honest, I've just been lacking the motivation as well as not feeling well. I'm hoping to turn things around and get back to it this week. I've obviously proven to myself that if I want to eat half a cake (I didn't really eat a whole half of one), I need to get my butt moving to make up those calories.

Revlon Lip Butter Review - Peach Parfait, Creme Brulee, Berry Smoothie

I know I'm fairly late to the game, but my local Meijer was just running a 40% off sale on Revlon products so I decided to take the plunge and get a few of the Lip Butters.

I've been watching a lot of videos on YouTube and reading a lot of the reviews of them and decided I had to have one (or some!). I picked up 3 colors: Berry Smoothie, Peach Parfait and Creme Brulee. Below you'll find an overall review of the Lip Butter line based on the 3 I own as well as individual color reviews.

Overall:

I think these are great, moisturizing lip products. To me, they are meant to be more of a lip gloss or shiny lip stain as opposed to a lip stick. I say this because the overall staying power is fairly low. I'd say 3 hours tops if you're not licking your lips, eating, drinking or talking too much. Once you eat or drink, you'll need to reapply. However, at least on my lips, some of the deeper colors leave behind a stain which helps keep a little color on my lips even though the gloss and glitter is gone.

The one real negative I have, aside from the low staying power, for all of the Lip Butters is the glitter. I LOVE glitter...when I'm crafting  or painting my nails. I am not so fond of glitter on my lips/eyes/face. When I'm wearing the Lip Butters, I don't find the glitter that noticeable. However, once the product had worn off, I found quite a bit of glitter had wandered off my mouth. I even had it clear up by my nose. This wouldn't necessarily be a problem if it wiped away as easily as it had wandered up there, but some of the pieces were quite stubborn - as glitter usually is.

Peach Parfait: 

This is probably my second favorite color. To me, and on me, it's almost a really light berry color as opposed to a more peachy color like the name suggests. I think this is probably due to the pinkness of my natural lip color. It was also not as bad of a loose glitter offender. When the glossy part had worn off, it left a lightly pinky color behind.

Creme Brulee:

This was my least favorite out of the 3 colors I have. I got it because a lot of the reviews I had seen raved about it as a great nude color, and I lack in those. I hate it. When I apply it to my lips, it makes them blend into my skin tone so well that I look dead - or at least my lips do. Since it has had such great reviews from others and I've seen it on others and it looks great, I'm guessing I just have a skin tone that's a little too close to the actual color to pull it off. It does have quite a bit of color for being a nude, it's just that the shade is too similar to my skin. For the record, I'm 003 - Shell in

Berry Smoothie:
This is my favorite of the 3 colors I have. I love the color and it's not too bright/dark/harsh for my skin tone. I also love that once the shine has worn off, it leaves my lips tinted a dark pink. If I didn't want to reapply this particular color, I could just swipe over a clear gloss and still have a decent looking lip. The biggest downside to Berry smoothie is that it's quite possibly the biggest glitter offender. It's almost without fail that every time it's worn off and I'm reapplying new, I look in the mirror and find glitter up to my nose. And by "up to my nose" I mean more than just on my upper lip. I've seen it clear up to the sides of my nostrils and climbing up to the bridge of my nose. However, this is not enough to make me not want to wear it. As I said in the beginning, this is my favorite so far.

Have you tried the Lip Butters? What colors do you have? Favorite? Least favorite?

Disclaimer:
I am not affiliated with Revlon, nor was I compensated for or asked to do this blog post. All items mentioned were purchased with my own money and all thoughts/opinions are 100% my own.

Happy Easter! - A day late

I hope everyone who celebrates had a fantastic Easter.

My side of the family celebrated by having a cook out on Saturday night. It was delicious! The in-laws celebrated by having a cook out on Sunday. It too was delicious.

I decided to go a bit old school with my contribution to each dinner and made these:

 

The cake on the left was for my family. We like coconut and so I piled it on. The cake on the right was for the in-laws. Not knowing how many were coconut lovers, I just put some on the face and used colored frosting and jelly beans for the other details.

Santa Fe Chicken Casserole - Foodie Friday

I have to start out by saying how AMAZING this recipe is. To be honest, it really tasted so much better than I expected.

 

A while ago we had purchased some Santa Fe Blend Philadelphia Cooking Creme and I swear this recipe was on the back of the package. However, I didn't get around to using it before it expired and I wasn't sure how long it would be good past the sell by date, so I tossed it and purchased new. However, the recipe wasn't on the back of the new package! I had to do some digging, but finally found it here.

April Photo a Day

I decided (a few days late) that I would like to participate in April's Photo a Day challenge on Fat Mum Slim's Blog (click for the prompts). I've been taking pictures starting with Day 3 and I started posting them on Instagram and Twitter. I'll be posting them daily there and posting a weekly recap/collage on Sunday here.

Let me know if you're doing this too and leave a link so I can check out your week in pictures!

Weigh In! - Week 9

As of this morning I'm down another 1.8 pounds! I have no idea how because I went to a birthday party on Saturday and ate a ton!

I typically choose one day a week (usually Friday or Saturday) and don't log the calories or exercise for that day. Do I usually pig out? No. Will I sometimes have food that I shouldn't? Yep. But really, I eat stuff I shouldn't on the daily - I just do it in moderation. Last night, for example, I wanted some peanut M&Ms we've got sitting on the table. Did I eat the whole bag? No. Did I eat a small handful (about 8)? Yes. And I still had a few calories left for the day.

Anyhow, the point of this post isn't to preach about how to lose weight - I'm still figuring that out as I go along myself. The point is to update on my progress and whatever else I want to babble on about.

Oh! I've added a weight loss ticker thing to my side bar ----> Isn't it nifty? It should be updated every Wednesday since that's when I weigh in.

Are you on a weight loss challenge? How are you doing? What are you doing?

I think I'll try to keep track of my eating/exercise for the week and post it next weigh in. Sunday will likely be my skip day this week since it's Easter and we're going to the in-laws. I have no idea how to calculate recipes I don't know. Usually I just guesstimate, but eh. It's a holiday!

WomanFreebies.com Easter Egg Hunt

For those of you who don't know, womanfreebies.com is having an Easter egg hunt. You go through the blog posts to find Easter eggs. When you find and click one, you fill out a little form with your address, etc. and they send you the gift card you won.

I won't lie, it can be tedious and frustrating, which is why I'm asking for your help! If you click through the banner below and find an egg, we both win gift certificates!



Good luck and happy hunting!