New Year's Resolutions 2013

Happy New Year!

Yep, it's that time again: Time to make resolutions for the New Year. I'm sure you've already read how I did with last year's resolutions so I won't waste time on that. I'll just jump right into what I'm resolving to do new/different this year.

There's a lot I want to do and do better/different in 2013 so it was a little hard to narrow it down to a few things. Hopefully I'm able to stick to these!

1. Be more present - I, like many, spend so much time caught up in what happened and what will happen that I forget to think about what is happening
2. Take more pictures - It kind of goes with the first resolution, but while it's nice to have memories of things, sometimes a physical memento is nice too. Plus it would be helpful for continuing my scrapbooks.

Hopefully my resolutions will benefit my friends, family and even you readers as well. By being present and taking more pictures, I'll have more interesting things to share with all of you!

What are you resolving to do new/differently in 2013?

December 2012 Favorites - Beauty, Craft, Food and Lifestyle

You might notice that the title of this is different from months past. That's because I've decided to stop doing monthly misses. If you've noticed over the last several months, there isn't always something I tried and disliked in a month. I will probably add things when there is a month when I really do dislike something, but otherwise it will be just things I was loving that month.

Beauty:

Real Techniques Stippling Brush
I got this at the beginning of the month and I love it. I'd previously just used my fingers to apply my makeup and I was looking for a better way to do it. This fits the bill! It makes putting on my foundation and blending everything in a breeze. The only thing I sort of don't like is that I tend to use more makeup when I use this than when I was using just my fingers. However, the overall application is much more smooth and even looking.

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in 001 Honey
I freaking love this stuff. It goes on super smooth and easy with a hint of a mint taste. The color payoff is amazing for being a balm stain and it lasts a very long time. This past week or two I've had a super bad cold and while it wipes off after a time or two of blowing my nose, the stain part stays for quite a while after the initial application has been worn/wiped off. I'd really like to get these in more colors.

Hawaiian Tropic Aloha Kiss Moisturizing Lip Gloss in Island Berry
Am I the only one who didn't know Hawaiian Tropic had lip gloss?? I got this baby for free for winning a brand challenge on Influenster, but I think I may have eventually picked it up for myself had I seen it at the store. It's a pretty good lip gloss and I love the flavor. The only down side, I find, is that it tends to wear off quickly. However, at the same time, the perk to that is that I get to taste it again when I reapply. It tastes amazing.

Revlon Colorstay Foundation in 220 Natural Beige
I discovered the Revlon Colorstay foundation line this month and I'm so sad I hadn't done it sooner. Previously I was using Revlon's PhotoReady line and I loved that too, but it was just missing something for me. I found that "something" in this new foundation. Honestly, the color is a bit dark and orange for my skin tone. I could have gone at least a shade lighter and been fine. To get me through until I can justify buying the correct color I've been mixing it with a little of a PhotoReady shade that's way too light. I love the coverage and coupled with the heavy hand I seem to have with my stippling brush, it tends to hide blemishes and acne scars I have pretty well.

Eyeko Skinny Brush Mascara
I feel like I've mentioned this in a favorites before, but I can't help mention it one last time. I say one last time because I'm pretty sure it's going to give out on me here soon. I've had it longer than the recommended for a mascara but it's still good! The formula was pretty wet when it was new and it's drying up quite nicely actually. The wand is a bit funky to work with at first but once you can find an application method that suits your lashes you're golden. I can't tell you how much I really love this stuff and I'm only sad that it will cost so much to replace.

Craft:

Monster Corner Chomper Bookmarks
At the beginning of the month I got a request for a custom order of these babies and I really remembered that I enjoy making them. Plus, people tend to like them and they sell out quite quickly when I have them in stock. They're a great use for scrap paper and I feel like sometime soon I need to sit down and make another stock pile of them. If I have any for sale you'll be able to find them here.

Food:

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
I think that once the cold hits I really want comforting foods and for breakfast, few things are comforting like oatmeal. My favorite flavor is apple cinnamon, but I'm open to trying new flavors every now and then. I also love that when I need to stay full longer, two packets seems to do the trick.

Lifestyle:

I got this bracelet from my BFF. She's an amazing person and so thoughtful. I adore this bracelet as much as I adore her. It's beautiful and I only wish I had more places to wear such a fancy bracelet since I know I won't be able to wear it to work.

Ghirardelli Gourmet Milk Sea Salt Escape Review - Foodie Friday

I'm not even going to waste time on this review - not that I ever really do, but sometimes I've got a back story or other things I want to tell you about first. I'm just going to jump straight to the point. This chocolate bar = amazing.

I know that the whole sea salt thing is kind of a trend in food as of recently and I'll admit that I never really got the fascination especially when it came to desserts and sweets. I mean, salted caramel? But at the same time, I love dipping French fries in my Frosty when I go to Wendy's. But I digress.

At any rate, the combination of sweet milk chocolate, roasted almonds and sea salt is just amazing. I've had my share of chocolate bars with almonds over the years but I have to say this is by far the best one - thus far at least. I really attribute that to the addition of the sea salt. In the back of each bite was a salty little flavor making the milk chocolate taste even sweeter - if that's even possible.

The chocolate was pretty creamy and the bits of almonds were just the right size. There was some in every bite without being the only thing in every bite. Just typing this is making my mouth water for more. I wish I had put this on my Christmas list!

The Gourmet Milk like also includes Creamy Devotion and Coconut Rendezvous flavors as well. Each bar retails in the $4 - $5 range.

Disclaimer: I received this product complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster.

2012 Resolution Review

If you want to read the whole post I wrote about my 2012 resolutions, you can read it here.

Basically I had 2 resolutions for this year:
1. Be a better blogger
2. Be a more organized crafter

So how did I do at keeping them? I'd honestly say I'm 50/50.

I have been a MUCH better blogger this year (in my opinion). While I haven't necessarily tried to have a new post every single day, I've tried to have an update or something to post at least once a week. There were many times when I was posting much, much more often than once a week. As far as my math skills can tell, I've managed to post enough to average a post every other day (weekends included even though I don't usually post on weekends). That's pretty darn good and I'm not sure how, or if, I can even top that in 2013. You'll have to check out January 1st's post to see what I resolve to do in 2013.

As far as being a more organized crafter, I kind of fail. My craft area is almost always in a state of disarray (aren't most craft areas?) and I still don't have enough storage or space for all my goodies. Every couple of months I'd clean everything up because I ended up in a crafting rut. Somehow cleaning up the space and looking at/touching all of my supplies is inspiring to me and I'd get a rush of creativity. Of course this meant that within a few days, sometimes hours, my craft area was once again a mess. It's a vicious cycle. Maybe I'll have to think about a similar resolution for 2013.

So how did you do this year? What did you resolve to do in 2012 and how well did you stick to it? Feel free to post links to your own blog posts about your 2012 resolutions and updates on whether or not you were able to keep them.

Meijer Mounted Photo Review

My sister and I decided this would be a great gift for our parents for Christmas (hence why this blog post is going up so late. Hi mom!). Actually, our family has decided to do Christmas a little later this year and won't be exchanging gifts until this weekend instead of ON Christmas. My mom has promised not to peek here until after she has received her gifts. But at any rate, we thought this would make a great present for our parents so we recruited her boyfriend to go to the park with us on a relatively warm day in November (nearly unheard of in Ohio) and snap a few pictures at a local garden park.

We ended up choosing this picture:

Once we got to Meijer, I asked the clerk behind the photo counter if it mattered which kiosk we used to create our mounted photo. It did not. Sometimes, at other photo places, they have specific kiosks for 1-hour products and specific ones for other products that take longer or need sent out for processing. I'm glad that at Meijer it doesn't matter. Sometimes all of the kiosks are filled up and it would be nice to know that I can go to the first kiosk that opens up the next time I'm shopping for photo products at Meijer.

It took literally less than 5 minutes to click our way through all the on screen prompts and options - choosing and uploading a photo, options to enhance and edit, selecting which product we wanted, etc. There were a lot of options and if you know exactly what you want you should have no problems just clicking your way through everything. If you're a bit undecided on what you're looking for, it will probably be a more time consuming task.

At the end of the ordering process, a ticket was printed by the kiosk and the screen told me it should be ready in about an hour, but to expect it to take a little longer if things were busy. We set off to explore the rest of Meijer in search of some other Christmas gifts my sister needed. We're very familiar with Meijer and regularly get our groceries here, so we weren't really "exploring" as much as wandering around looking for things to catch our eyes.

A little less than an hour later we were done with our other shopping so I went to see if our mounted photo was done yet. It was! We were really happy it was done in less than an hour - they must not have been very busy that day.

This is what we saw when we opened the package:

 
It looks flat in the picture, but I promise it's 3-dimensional. In fact, the sides look like this:

 

It might be hard to tell from the pictures (I couldn't get the lighting to cooperate), but they're actually a brushed silver sort of color on the sides. I don't think there are other options as they weren't presented at the kiosk.

The back looks like this:

So now about the quality. To be honest, I'm a little disappointed. I feel that for the money they're a little cheap in construction. For the price I feel either the construction should be better or the size should be larger. They are described as being "mounted on durable, foam core mounting board." Basically this means they're mounted on Styrofoam. That's great for being light weight and all, but I feel that most/many craft-type people would be able to make these at home with very few supplies and time...and less money.

So the big question is: Would I use my own money to purchase one again?

That's a tricky question to answer really. Mostly the answer is probably not. As I'm sure you know by now, I'm a pretty crafty-type person. I feel I could make my own for less money and if I have the time I would probably do so in the future - in fact I'm envisioning the possibilities now. However, DIY projects are not for everyone and this makes a lot of sense for those who are not so crafty or just don't have the time to whip together their own version.

Some other important to know information:

• You can currently only order and purchase these in store. You cannot order them online and pick up at a store. However, in 2013 they will be available on the website as well.
• They cost a little over $6 for a 5x7 and of course increase in price as you increase in size
• Available in three sizes: 5x7, 8x10 and 11x14

Disclaimer: I am a BzzAgent and received coupons to get this product for free