Lazy Friday Evening

Mike recently built us a little deck of the dining room and everyone loves it; the dog, the chickens, they all love it. We love it too. Last Friday, I brought home takeout from the Greek Festival (love that they have a drive-thru!) and after dinner, we sat on the deck. I was alternating between watching the animals and reading my book and Mike was alternating between yardwork and relaxing beside me.

The deck isn't quite finished as it still needs to be sealed. I need to buy new plants to go in the pots that are full of dead plants. But it was so nice to sit out there and enjoy what is surely one of the last cool evenings of the year. Once it got dark, Mike lit a bonfire and we sat around that with Bella asleep in the grass between us.

Most of our evenings are spent inside as we are quite the lovers of technology. But this was such a very nice treat, I hope they deck brings us more lazy outdoor evenings. :)

Ipsy May 2013 Glam Bag: Spring Fling

Got my Ipsy Glam Bag over Mother's Day weekend and it turns out Mary and I got the exact same one! It was a pretty good bag this month :)

This bag's theme was "Spring Fling" and this month's bag was the cutest bag I've received so far. I currently use it as my travel makeup-bag that I keep in my purse. 

Zoya Nail Polish in Piaf (full-size, value: $8). Buy any 2 bottles and get 1 free + Free 1oz Remove+ & $5 Shipping at zoya.com/ipsy. Enter code ipsyz at checkout.

I was so very excited to get a Zoya polish, but less excited when I saw the color. I know a lot of people like Piaf, but I'm not a fan. It's a good polish though (got an A- from Temptalia), so I might keep it around in case I change my mind.

yaby concealer refill in buff (full-size, value $4.85). Receive 20% off your purchase at camerareadycosmetics.com. Enter code ipsyluvsyabycc20 at checkout.

I was initially underwhelmed by this product. What am I going to do with a concealer refill? I can't put it  in my mini magnetic compact because the powder shadows will get all over it. And I feel like it will dry out really quickly. But, hey, I'm always on the lookout for a new, awesome concealer, so it couldn't hurt to give this one a try...

Juice Beauty Reflecting Gloss in Pink (deluxe sample, value: $7.50). Receive 20% off any purchase of $30 or more at juicebeauty.com/ipsy. Enter code IPSY20 at checkout.

Another great product in my Ipsy bag, a pretty lip gloss! I actually haven't bought any new lipgloss in a while so it's really nice to have a new one. Not too much to say about this, but I'm really glad I got it.

Pacifica Island Vanilla Perfume Roll-On (full-size, value: $12). Receive 20% off your purchase at pacificaperfume.com. Enter code Beauty20 at checkout.

Anyone else LOVE roll-on perfumes? I love Pacifica and I'd seen their roll-on perfumes around at Target but hadn't purchased any yet. Island Vanilla is the perfect way to describe this smell. Another word is YUMMY. It smells so wonderful! I love to have this in my purse for when I feel like I need a little pick-me-up. :)

Pacifica Coconut Crushed Pearl Luminizing Body Butter (deluxe sample, value: $6) Receive 20% off your purchase at pacificaperfume.com. Enter code Beauty20 at checkout.

I was thrilled to pull out a SECOND Pacifica product from my Ipsy bag and double thrilled that it was a body butter since I've finished the Tuscan Blood Orange body butter I got in January's bag. When I first opened it, I noticed the smell right away. It smells so yummy! And then? And then I put the lotion on. It's what I like to call "twilight lotion" because it makes you go all sparkly. Yuck. Not a fan. Maybe my 7-year-old niece might like it...

$110 off Hair Styling Tools and Hair Extensions + Free Thermal Pouch with Purchase from NuMe.

So, I wasn't super excited about this gift certificate. But, then again, I got five great products in my bag, so it wasn't like I felt cheated either. After checking out the site, I actually may consider using this. However, If I don't, I'll let you all know and give my promo code away. It doesn't expire until November 30, 2013, so there is a lot of time. :)

How much was my bag worth?

Zoya Nail Polish in Piaf: $8

yaby concealer refill in buff: $4.85

Juice Beauty Reflecting Gloss in Pink: $7.50

Pacifica Island Vanilla Perfume Roll-On: $12

Pacifica Coconut Crushed Pearl Luminizing Body Butter: $6

Value excluding bag and NuMe coupon: $38.35

Considering I paid $10 (free shipping), it's a great bag! If you'd like to subscribe to Ipsy, I'd love for you to use my affiliate link. If just two people use that link, I'll get a little prezzie!

Urban Chickens

I took this photo of Joan earlier this week. Mike had left the back door open and Joan followed him inside! She looked around for a few minutes and then walked right back out. Mike says she was disappointed that there wasn't a mountain of corn in the dining room! 

Our animals LOVE to follow Mike around. Bella because she's curious and the chickens because they're hoping for food. This means that when Mike walks outside in the morning, he's got two chickens doing their funny chicken run to catch up with him and Bella at his heels. 

Natural beachy waves

So, I have a bit of natural wave in my hair and I've recently felt like embracing it. And after seeing before & after pictures on the curly girl forums, I was really inspired! So, yesterday and today, I followed this guide loosely. After two days, I've got cute beachy waves happening. I'm excited to see how it continues to progress if I keep styling my hair like this.

Here's what I did today:

• Co-washed in the shower with Tressemme Naturals Nourishing Conditioner
• Scrunched in some of the same conditioner as a leave-in.
• Scrunched my hair dry with micro-fiber.
• Used my Turbie Twist to kind-of plop my hair. (Didn't twist my hair into the twisty bit. Just put the turbie on and let my hair fall back into it, on top of my head, and then sealed it up. Does that make any sense?)
• After a little while, scrunched in some Not Your Mother's Kinky Moves Curl Defining Hair Cream
• And then let it all air dry

I gotta say. If I'm going to let my hair air dry, this is a much better method than my usual. Wash, shampoo, Turbie, brush, air dry. This leaves me with pretty awkward hair that I inevitably must heat style.

The Importance of a Snapshot

If you were fancy, you might call these photos "lifestyle photography," but I call them snapshots. These are just photos I've taken while hanging out with family. They're just moments that I've been blessed to capture simply because I happened to have a camera on my person.

Obviously, I believe that getting family portraits is an important thing. But family portraits shouldn't be your exclusive tangible memories. Don't wait for the special moments to take photos...you never know what you might miss in between. I realize that I have very few photos from last year because I was so busy working that I just didn't take very many.

Then, I was visiting a friend who has a ton of snapshots on her wall. Just photos taken of her family living life. I visit her a lot and I've seen these pictures more times than I can count. But for some reason, it hit me that day and I found myself marveling at the importance of a snapshot.

You don't have to have everyone all dressed up and smiling to take a good picture. You just have to capture a little bit of life.

(And don't just leave them on your phone or your computer. Print these photos to put on your wall or in a book! They're much more enjoyable that way and you never have to worry about loosing all your photos because your phone and/or computer died.)

Out to lunch with my mom

Hanging out at my brother's house and Adrienne was laying on the couch because she didn't feel well

Sitting on my brother's porch and I just *had* to take a photo of his adorable dog

In our hotel room while we were in Florida. Leo was reading random excerpts out of Mary's novel and making it sound ridiculous. Mary is in the background doing up her face.

Right after the last photo. We went to a beach/park about 20 minutes from my Grandpa's and a fellow beach go-er snapped this photo for me.

My Uncle Joe is the best story teller! And that's Uncle Marc, to the right, laughing. To the left, you can see just a smidgen of Uncle Mike. He's going through pictures like we all were that night.

I was out to lunch with Anne Marie when we ran into Leo & Jade celebrating their ONE YEAR anniversary! 

Playing Apples to Apples with Kyle & Kristy. Kyle's trying to figure out which card to choose. 

FOTD: before & after

If you're not on r/makeupaddiciton, you may not have seen a whole lot of these. Meanwhile, I see them everyday. I felt like posting this because I did a photo shoot where a before photo was posted that made me look like a sick zombie. And I just knew I didn't look like a sick zombie without makeup. I might not look my best, but better than without makeup.

I chose a particularly bad hair day to do this b&a. This is what my hair looks like if I shower the night before and sleep in wet hair. It's super sexy.

This was my pretty much my daily makeup routine for a while. Like most of my recent posts, though, I took these photos a while ago, so it's changed just a bit. I know, my eyebrows still need work.

Products used:

Pixi Flawless & Poreless Primer
--No strong feelings.

Lumene Vitamin C+ Illuminating Anti-Age BB Cream in 02 Medium
--Blends nicely to my skin. Needs primer & powder to last all day. Light but even coverage.

Urban Decay 24/7 Concealer in NSA
--Great for under eyes and around the nose. Slides right off my cystic acne, though.

e.l.f. Tone Correcting Powder in Cool
--It's okay for setting concealer. Won't give my BB cream or tinted moisturizer longevity, though.

Be A Bombshell blush in Sweet Cheeks

--Love this stuff. Pretty bright, but I stipple then blend for a nice sheer wash.

Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original
--Obviously a great product. Helps my shadow last all day without any fading or creasing.

Rimmel Scandaleyes Eyeshadow Stick in Witness White
--Eh. Haven't used it enough to say, but I don't think I'm going to like it.

Wet n Wild Color Icon Trio in Walking On Eggshells

--I'm a huge fan of WNW shadows, you know. This trio is very pretty, but the lighter shades are a little to frosty for me to wear often.

Sephora Waterproof Jumbo Liner 12HR Wear in Black

--Love this. Will last all day on your lid, but will not stay solidly on waterline all day.

Covergirl Clump Crusher Mascara in Very Black
--My favorite mascara. HG product here.

fresh Sugar Lip Treatement in Rosé
--Another HG. Love this stuff. Makes my lips super soft with just a touch of color.

So Much Pretty: Shopping In Gray Shorts

I already blah blah blah-ed about this shopping excursion in my last post. So, in this post, you get to see many of my wonderful poses. Sometimes, I like to tilt to the left.

Other times, I like to tilt to the right. Oh, and I love to have my legs crossed and touch my hair while getting my photo taken.

Yep. I'm super talented.

Outfit details: Urban Outfitters sunglasses || NY&Co earrings {gift} || Kate Spade necklace {gift} || American Eagle blouse {thrifted} || Mossimo shorts || Liz Claiborne purse {off-price retailer} || NY&Co flip flops