Life Lately

This weekend was extremely busy, but full of fun, family, and friends. Right after work on Friday, Mike and I headed to Orlando to my parents’ house. All the guys (my dad, two brothers, Mike, and two of my uncles) went to a Kiss concert and had a blast! Meanwhile, the girls (my mom, me, my aunt, and my cousin) went to Panera for dinner and did a little shopping. It was great to have a little girl time. Saturday morning we all woke up and had a big breakfast with a little more family time. Then my parents, Mike, and I stopped at Bass Pro Shop for some more shopping. We all got a little something (that's always the best)! From there, Mike and I headed back to Tampa. Saturday night we went out with two of our friends, Mike and Ashlee, to Ybor for dinner and a comedy show. It was a great night out! Sunday we slept in a bit, and then went to Mike’s parents’ house in Bradenton. His mom was out of town, but we spent some time with his dad and went to lunch. Once we got back home, we just wanted to relax and get ready for the week ahead. The weekend went by super quickly (doesn’t it always?), but time spent with family and friends did my heart good. I failed at taking lots of pictures, but here are a few from our weekend.

Some of our loot from Friday's shopping adventure

Mom & Dad at lunch after Bass Pro Shop

 

 Mike working on his new "toys" at his parent's house on Sunday

P.S. I made a great meal last night and hopefully have the recipe here on the blog tomorrow. Have a great Wednesday!!

High Five for Friday - Food Edition

Happy Friday everyone! We made it another week and it’s time to celebrate. I decided to make this week of High Five for Friday a food edition. We had lots of great meals this week and I wanted to share it with you all…

 

1. Monday night I was seriously craving some spaghetti. So that’s what we had for dinner! It was really yummy with some garlic bread on the side, and we even had leftovers for lunch the next day.

2. So I pinned this recipe a long time ago for a copycat version of Bonefish’s Bang Bang Shrimp. I had been a little intimidated, but finally decided to give it a try. It turned out SOOOO good!! We will definitely be making it again.

3. No week is complete without a little dessert, right? I just baked premade cookies and spread some of Publix’s delicious buttercream icing in the middle. Super sweet and oh so good!

4. Currently, Mike and I are working at the same location. It’s been so nice to enjoy lunch together every day…especially if we are eating these great chicken wraps!

5. Wednesday night I just wanted something simple and good to eat for dinner. This is what we came up with and it was perfect.

Mike and I have a very busy weekend ahead of us and we can’t wait! Hopefully, I’ll have lots of good pictures to post on Monday. Have a great weekend!!

Birchbox - August Edition

If you’ve never heard of Birchbox you are missing out. I absolutely love it! You pay a monthly subscription and once a month you get a box full of goodies at your door. I really love surprises, so this may have something to do with my obsession for Birchbox. The box usually includes about five products of either hair, beauty, or skin related goodies. When you initially sign up there will be a bunch of questions to answer about yourself so the ladies of Birchbox can send you the best products for your hair type, skin type, make up preference, etc. However, you can login online at any time and tweak your preferences if they change. I have been a subscriber of Birchbox for about a year and half now, and, while some boxes are better than others, I have never received a bad box. There’s always a least one item in every box that I’m excited to try. I love that I get to experiment with different products or brands that I might not necessarily just go buy on my own. The products sent are usually in a trial size or mini version. If you find a product you absolutely love, you can go on the Birchbox website and purchase the full size versions. There are lots of free shipping offers, plus you get points for every purchase you make. Once you reach 100 points, you get $10.00 off your purchase. I really can’t say enough good things about Birchbox. If you have been on the fence about trying it, you should definitely take the plunge and go for it!

Let’s check out my August box:

 



 

 

1.      Whish Coconut Milk Correcting Gel – This is meant to be applied twice daily, both morning and night, to your face and neck area. It’s supposed to help with wrinkles, unevenness, dryness, and sun damage. I haven’t used it yet, so I can’t give my honest opinion, but I don’t typical suffer from any of those skin issues.

2.      ModelCo Party Proof Lipstick (Kitty) – So far I’m loving this lipstick. It goes on silky smooth and the color is great. It adds a little life to my lips without being a super bold color. Plus it’s called Kitty, so of course I’m going to like it.

3.      Violet Oasis Organic Argan Oil – I’ve gotten a couple different brands of this type of oil in my Birchboxes and I really like them. It can be smoothed over your face, neck, body, or hair. I’ve only really used it in my hair and it works wonders. After using the blow dryer and straightener/curling iron I put a couple drops in my hand (a little goes a long way with this stuff) and just smooth it over my hair. It adds a ton of shine and tackles out of place hairs/fly-aways like no one’s business. These oils are usually on the expensive side, so I haven’t ordered a full size version yet. Luckily, these little bottles last quite a while!

Whish Hair Inhibiting DeodorantSwipes – This deodorant wipe not only tackles odor, but also helps slow hair growth. It can be used in the morning or anytime you need a refresher. This sounds like a great product to throw in your gym bag!

1-2 – Miss Jessie’s Original RapidRecovery Treatment & Super Sweetback Treatment – I haven’t tried these products yet, but I’m very excited to do so. The Rapid Recovery Treatment is supposed to smooth damaged hair, while the Super Sweetback Treatment is used to promote hair growth. My hair grows really slowly, so anything that says it can help with hair growth I’m always eager to try. I’ve used other products by Miss Jessie and they usually smell really good!! I’m hoping this will also be the case with these products.

Do you subscribe to Birchbox? What are some of your favorite products?

 

 

 

What I Wore Wednesday

This is my first ever outfit post and I'm really excited! Today I'm linking up with The Pleated Poppy for What I Wore Wednesday. She created this weekly link up to help motivate women to get a little snazzy at least once a week and share it with this awesome online community.

Tank - Target/ Skirt - I made following this tutorial/ Shoes - Target/ Necklace - Caroline G.

 

 

 

Happy Wednesday Everyone!!!

At Home 'Gel' Manicure

I found a tutorial on Pinterest for an at home gel manicure and decided to give it a try. It worked pretty well, and after a few tweaks of my own I’m really happy with it! I still don’t think it’s as nice as going to the salon, but it’s pretty darn close. I have to be honest; I haven’t always been the best at painting my nails. It’s taken me a lot of practice, but I’m finally getting better at it!

First things first, you will need Gelous Nail Gel (you can find it at Sally Beauty Supply). This is what will make the manicure “gel” like. You will also need whatever color nail polish you wish to use, my favorite brand to use is Essie. For this tutorial I used the color "Cute as a Button".  You may also use a top coat if you like, but you don’t need one.

1.      Clip and file nails to the shape you like.

2.      Put a coat of the Gelous Nail Gel on and let dry completely.

3.      Repeat step two again…trust me.

4.      Paint your nails with the nail color of your choice and let dry completely. It’s really important to let the color completely dry or you may get little bubbles on your nails.

5.      Put another coat of the Gelous Nail Gel on and let dry completely.

6.      Paint a second coat of the nail color of your choice and let dry completely.

7.      Now you can either put on a top coat or finish up with one more coat of the Gelous Nail Gel. I’ve done it both ways and actually prefer the Gelous Nail Gel.

Side note: If your nail color only needs one coat then you can skip steps 5 & 6.

It sounds like a lot of work, but it really doesn’t take long and the results are great!

Simplified Planner

I have been drooling over this planner ever since I read about it here. First of all, I’m a sucker for any sort of organizational anything! I love planners, notebooks, pens, all of it! Second of all, just look at it! It’s gorgeous! Plus, once I found out this planner is created by an awesome designer from Tampa I wanted it even more! Emily Ley has a great shop and blog with lots of personalized and organizational notebooks, binders, note pads, and more.

The Simplified Planner arrived in very cute packaging and I was very excited to open it. The binder itself is really durable and I love that the corners are protected with gold covers. The planner comes with dividers for Calendar, To Do, Home, Work, and Heart. Of course, the ‘To Do’ section is my favorite. I can never make enough lists! The planner also comes with monthly and weekly calendar pages for one year. I have quickly been filling mine up! One of the unique aspects of the weekly calendar pages are boxes to plan for lunch and dinner. I love this idea, as I have been trying to meal plan for a while now. This is extremely helpful!

Also, Emily provides a library of free printables to help you customize your planner to your needs. I have never seen this before and think it’s a wonderful idea.

Do you use a planner? If so, what's your favorite?

High Five for Friday

Happy Friday Everyone!! I'm so ready for the weekend! Here's a few things I enjoyed from this week:

1. I finished a skirt I was working on and it turned out great! You can see the tutorial I followed here. The tutorial includes pockets, but I did it without and still really like it.

2. I started a new cross stitch project this week that I'm super excited about. It's the hardest pattern I've ever attempted, so we'll see how I conquer this challenge!

3. Wednesday night Mike and I helped our friends Justin and Latoya move into their new apartment. They have been away for a year, so we are very excited to have them close again!!!

4. Thursday evening it was double eviction night on Big Brother...enough said.

5. I'm looking forward to having a relaxing weekend. Saturday Mike and I are thinking of catching a movie and doing a few things around the house. Then, Sunday we'll be headed over to my grandma's house to celebrate my mom's birthday with everyone. Can't wait!

What are your weekend plans?