Nails of the Day

Why is it that whenever I post anything that involves "of the day" I always get this song stuck in my head? lol Oh well, it's a good song. :) 

Seche Vite - $9.95 at Ulta (Best top coat available)

ZOYA "Skylar" - $8.00 at ZOYA.com

Fun fact? ZOYA is a vegan friendly nail-polish company! (Heck-yeah) I can't believe I found my "Skylar" at my local Ulta...their selection is usually pitiful. 

I thought I would also include a photo of this fantastic thrifty bling I found yesterday at Plato's Closet. (Auburn location) It's a sterling silver ring y'all! I ended up "really" paying 98 cents for it after my trade-in. I think the band is really unique and I'm kinda in lurve with it. :) 

I hope everybody is having a nice Sunday! What are you up to today? I'm about to go tackle some laundry. 

Mini Review | La Fresh DIVAS & STUDS GENTLE DENTAL FINGER MITTS

This is Karma! Her full name is "Cherry's Good Karma," clever right? ;) She was originally Matt's dog - but Silas kinda stole her. We thought she would be a good test subject for today's product. 

La Fresh DIVAS & STUDS GENTLE DENTAL FINGER MITTS

30 Mitts for $7.99 (Regular $9.99)

More mitts from La Fresh! Again...it's a very smart design, my hubby was pretty fond of them. :) They make touching slobbery dog teeth not so icky. (Says Matt) Karma is only going to be 4 years old next month - so she didn't have much plaque to work with. She is also a chew bone enthusiast, so there's that.  BUT she is rocking some pretty nice breath right now - due to these mitts being peppermint scented. Matt and I both feel like these would make a more noticeable difference when used on an older dog. I know lots of people have to have their pet sedated to get his/her teeth cleaned. Maybe this is a safer option? If you aren't a fan of doggy toothpaste. It's obviously not going to be as deep of a clean, but it's better than nothing. :) These mitts are a nice plaque prevention device. 

See how easy these are to use? (Haha, that face) God bless her. These are definitely durable but gentle, and they are a universal fit. Matt has large man fingers and it still went right on lol.  Verdict? Fabulously convenient doggy dental care!

Review | NYX Dark Shadows Palette

$19.99 on Amazon - free shipping

Sorry that it has taken me ages to post this review. I have been one busy mama lately. (I need to start drawing again too) The palette that I'm going to be talking about today is "The Crimson Amulet Collection inspired by the movie Dark Shadows" palette by NYX. :) It has many names, but I'm just sticking with "The Dark Shadows" palette. Seriously, google it...you will see what I'm talkin' about. 

Sadly, you can no longer purchase this in stores. BUT - you can certainly find it online! If you think you need one - I would go ahead and hunt one down before they are gone.

Amazon - palette

Amazon - movie/DVD

eBay - hopefully this link will work

This collection includes 24 shadows, 1 mirror, 1 shadow base from their HD line, 1 black liquid eyeliner, 1 highlighter, 5 blushes, and 4 lip colors. It also comes with three example "looks"...Josette, Dr. Hoffman, and Angelique. I think that I can say that this is probably my current favorite palette that I own. The little book is adorable and has a magnetic clasp so everything stays in place. (Cruelty free) Dark Shadows is an excellent movie too...

A little info about this palette?

• It has a nice range of matte and shimmer shadows that I can simply not get enough of. (I love some bold eyes y'all)
• You have to be careful with the illuminator/highlighter, you can easily go overboard. If applied sparingly it creates a natural healthy glow. 
• I tend to ignore the lip colors that are included in palettes, (poor quality) but these were a pleasant surprise. I'm wearing the red shade in the photos above. (Silas dug his nail into the nude gloss after I snapped the photos.) -_- Oh well, at least he didn't go for the red!
• The blushes are incredible, especially the dark rose shade. (It reminds me of Snow White for some reason - very pigmented) I just wish they made them more accessible, I dislike them being so darn close together.
• The black liquid eyeliner has great staying power, and it glides on easily. I plan on hunting down a full size of this liner as soon as I run out of my normal stuff. I'm equally impressed with the primer, I will be picking up a full-size of that as well. 
• My only big complaint is that nothing is labeled. It's really hard to talk about a specific shadow or blush that has no name. It would be a lot more convenient if everything was listed in order on the back. (C'est la vie) 

Have you tried this palette out? What do you think? Do you want to marry Johnny Depp too? LOL Sadly...he wasn't pictured in the palette. (Sad times) NYX should have stuck him in there somewhere.

There...that's more like it. ;)

Mini Review | La Fresh travel lite Baby Cleansing Wipes

8 Wipes for $1.99 ♥

Correct me if I'm wrong - but I don't believe you can purchase these in a larger size.

Today I'm reviewing a baby related product, so Miri gets to be the star in this particular post. :) La Fresh seems to have a little something for just about everybody I tell you! 

Miri and I have been very much enjoying these baby cleansing wipes. She is what we affectionately call a "blanket baby." She is always snuggling/rubbing a blanket near her face. This creates lint in strange places lol, like under her neck. (If you can call that a neck) These wipes are perfect for carefully removing blanket debris! So - our new bath routine begins with a gentle La Fresh wipe down. It's nice being able to rest assured that the products I'm putting on Miri are safe for her. :) These wipes claim to be a sensitive formula, hypoallergenic, and fragrance-free. I will say that I do find them to have a slight scent, I would almost call it a lime smell? I enjoy it - so that factor really doesn't matter much to me. 

Naked baby alert! Diva extraordinaire! :)

We use these for unexpected diaper changes too, I find them to be the perfect size for my purse. (Hence the name) Sometimes it's nice to have a stash of wipes in a few convenient locations - the car etc. (You never can be too prepared) These wipes are perfect for families on-the-go!

Miri and I hope you are having a loverly week!

Haul | Kohl's & ULTA + Giveaway Winner!

Guys, I just had to share...because I totally hit jackpot (again) on Monday night. (Especially at Kohls) So many lovelies! 

Kohl's

LC Lauren Conrad Sunglasses ($30) - $6.00 Clearance (So very Ozzy, I adore them)

Candies Mint Bicycle Scarf ($26) - $7.80 Clearance (Check out the rhinestone embellishments!)

LC Lauren Conrad Teapot Necklace ($20) - $4.00 Clearance (Adorable!)

Grand total: $13.58 after tax

Total saved: $63.54

Amazing right? I love love love the Lauren Conrad stuff.

ULTA

NYX Matte Finish Makeup Setting Spray - $7.99 (I am going to battle against the oil!)

NYX Automatic Eyebrow Pencil - $4.99 (I thought I would try a different kind)

Maybelline Oil Control Loose Powder (Light) - $4.99 (Go away shine!)

These three were not rung up correctly so I ended up paying $1.60-something more than I should have. Oh well, it's not worth dragging both the kiddos into ULTA to make them fix it. 

Grand total: $13.05 after the buy one get one 50% off sale/$5 off coupon

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Gardein Giveaway Winner

(I already announced this via FB) Before I go I thought maybe I should announce the lucky winner of the neoprene lunch bag and 3 free product coupons from Gardein! Sarah Floyd is the winner! :) Sarah, I have sent you a message on FB and through e-mail. I hope you enjoy your prize! 

Thanks for visiting my blog and entering the giveaway everybody! Please go "Like" my Facebook page!

Review | June's BarkBox

Nowadays there are all kinds of beauty boxes you can subscribe to, but did you know there is a subscription service for your canine friends too? If Harley could type I would let him write this review lol. ;) As soon as this package arrived he started dancing around in excitement, I guess he smelled the goodies before I even opened it! He had surgery a couple of weeks ago - so I was happy to see him in good spirits. BarkBox is a monthly box of goodies for your dog! 

BarkBox ♥

$29/month

1 Month

$24/month

3 Months

$19/month

6 Months

The subscription is based on the size of your dog, so our box was the medium option. (Harley is a beagle mix) If you subscribe - every month you will receive a box in the mail with four or more carefully selected goodies. Ranging from toys, bones and all natural-treats to hygiene products and innovative new gadgets. 

Harley was sent June's box, it was a puppy picnic basket, complete with food, drink, and even supplements to soothe firework-induced anxiety! 

Inside this month's BarkBox

Heartland Premium bone (We were sent a different brand - Butcher's Block Bones "The Champ")

Bowser Beer (A beef-based canine friendly beverage)

Puppy Cake/Puptato Chips (Low fat sweet potato chips)

Whole Life/tail mix (Grilled sirloin burgers)

Dale Edgar/CALM K9 NUTRI-WAFERS (Wafers to soothe frightened nerves)

Harley and I highly recommend BarkBox. :) It is a little pricey, but I do believe that opening this box was the highlight of his doggy-month! It's a really neat concept and a portion of the proceeds from each box will go to help dogs-in-need. It definitely made Harley (aka Mr. Bahrrells) feel very loved. 

Interested in a box for your dog?

BarkBox's Facebook Page

Mini Review: La Fresh DIVAS & STUDS EYE SPARKLE FINGER MITTS

It's another La Fresh mini review! (Applause) On Saturday my sister (India) and I put these Diva & Studs Eye Sparkle Finger Mitts to the test. She owns a little white chihuahua named Prada that was absolutely perfect for this review. :) Prada had pretty significant tear stains, and these little mitts claimed to lift away dark stains caused by tears. 

I would like to mention that these are a super cool idea, and that they may work for your dog. But sadly, they did not work on Prada. India scrubbed the stained area for several minutes and all it seemed to do was smear and make it appear larger. (Especially on the right eye) Prada was also terrified of the mitt once India had it on her finger, and we found this quite hilarious. ;) The mitts do smell really nice, it's a pleasant fruity scent. Maybe they would perform better on a less noticeable stain? I would definitely recommend them for basic eye gunk removal on your canine friend. We found the mitt very convenient. :)

Divas & Studs Eye Sparkle Finger Mitt ♥

$30 for 7.99 (Sale) Normally $9.99

(Safe and gentle)

All product images were taken straight from the La Fresh website.

Mini Review : La Fresh travel lite Makeup Remover Wipe

travel lite MAKEUP REMOVER WIPES

$1.99 for 3 packets ♥

The sweet folks over at La Fresh were oh so kind to send me a large box of samples this week. At first I was very overwhelmed about how I should go about reviewing everything, but I think I've finally figured it out. :) I'm going to break everything down into fancy mini reviews! 

The first product from La Fresh I'm going to talk about is their travel lite makeup remover wipes. 

My favorite thing about these wipes is that they smell like "Skin So Soft." It reminds me of being little and running around outside during the Summertime in AL. We have bad mosquitos - so my mom used to coat us in that stuff.  (Did your mom do that to you lol?) These wipes instantly dissolved my makeup,  and left my face feeling soft and smelling nice. I really like this formula, it's very refreshing!

La Fresh's travel lite amenities are perfectly portable and airport security friendly! I'm going to throw a couple of these in my purse to use this weekend in Montgomery. :) 

They come in 3 different amounts:

travel lite Makeup Remover Wipes, 8 Wipes

travel lite Makeup Remover Wipes, 3 Packets

travel lite Makeup Remover 48 Packets

I hope everybody is having a pleasant Saturday!

Scented Candles & Meet Bumper!

We have been trying to sell our house for a couple months now. It's a 2 bedroom, and obviously we need a 3 bedroom. ;) Miri needs a place to put all of her amazing girly things. Well - we finally had a lady come look at it. (She came on Wednesday) Before she arrived I ran to Target to search for a nice candle to burn in the house. The problem I've been having is that I cannot find a scent I like because I'm so in love with "Illume's Red Cedar Candle." I featured it on my June's Lust-worthy Items post. I actually got this little candle for free from Birchbox last year. I instantly fell in love, it is my favorite scent of all time! (If only they made perfume!) Well, on the Illume website it is $10 for 2.5 oz...plus shipping. I was really depressed about this because I have not been able to find it in stores so I could avoid shipping costs...until now! 

Would you consider this a dupe? Hmmm...

Target now carries a range of candles that is called Bella by Illume. (Praise Jebus) I only paid $10.79 and it's much larger than the monogram candle! (10.2 oz) The scent is identical, except this one is called "Mandarin Woods." I nearly did a little jig on the candle isle inside Target. ;) Do yourself a favor and go buy this candle today, if somehow you manage to hate it...give it to me! (LOL) It smells of red cedar infused with essential oils of mandarin, vetiver, vanilla, tobaccos leaves, and cedar-wood. Moving right along...

I know you guys are probably thinking "who the heck is Bumper?" Let me introduce him!

It's so fluffy I'm gonna die! 

Silas finally got old enough to ask for a pet. He really wanted a pet lizard for a while there. Reptiles are pretty expensive...food, special lights, habitats etc. Plus - some of them carry salmonella...and that just makes me a little nervous. (I used to work at Petco, no I'm not scared of them.) They don't tend to be very cuddly either lol. 

Well - I finally decided that a bunny would be a good match for us! On Tuesday, Silas and I drove to Lanett AL to purchase this little floppy eared guy. (I found him on Craigslist) I'm sure you can tell that Silas picked the name haha. He is really sweet and Silas and I are having nice bonding time each day while playing with the rabbit. Bumper is currently living inside Harley's small dog crate, but his cage just arrived via FedEx from Amazon. (I will post pictures of it later.) 

How precious is this? (Ignore the bedhead and no pants) We were letting Bumper hop around and play for a bit. Silas was lovin' it! I think he is such a handsome rabbit, and he has a very good temperament. 

Bumper now owns the bathroom, can you tell? :) Ignore the messy floor...Georgie walks litter everywhere. I have to vacuum it every other day. I hope you guys are having an awesome Friday! 

Review | Balmbini Volume 2 Palette

This past week I decided to treat myself and buy a couple palettes. I found this one by theBalm on ebay (brand new) for $10.99 including shipping. Huzzah! We travel to Montgomery most weekends to hang out with family. I'm forever lugging this huge/heavy bag of makeup to and fro, so I thought some palettes would lighten the load. :) Right off the bat my favorite shade was "Manic Maribel." It's pretty similar to "Half Baked" from the Naked palette. Which just so happens to be one of my favorite shadows ever. (I'm such a creature of habit.) 

"Promiscuous Pearl" is such a lovely highlighter, and I may attempt to bring back the 80s with "Open To Offers Olwen." ;) I wish I could insert Mom's senior portrait here. (Hehe) She would murder me.

I was wearing the nude lip gloss in these two shots, I don't think it looks so hot.

Small-ish rant: theBalm's website is always on the fritz, it really annoys me. -_0 I mean come on...

I didn't wet the shadows for this particular look, I think next time I will. (I prefer bold eyes) Overall - I'm pretty happy with this deal, you can't beat theBalm for $11. Most of their palettes are normally around $40, and they always have amazing packaging. I think I need to splurge on the "Mary Lou Manizer" next, it has such a cute name! Verdict? One happy mama. :) Have any suggestions for other palettes I should try? 

Note: I'm going to try to work on my lighting situation soon. :)

Birchbox Un-boxing | June 2013

Gasp you should folks. This year just seems to be flying by.

If you would like to subscribe to Birchbox, you can do so (HERE.)

Sorry for the dark photo, what was I thinking? Oh well...

I'm not going to lie - this month's box made me a little sad. Maybe it's because it included another curly hair product. I used to have curly hair, so I should probably shuffle on over to the Birchbox site and edit my profile. So maybe that's my fault? Moving right along...

Birchbox + Color Club | Wanderlust Collection  

Full-size, $8

Miss Jessie's | Original Jelly Soft Curls

Full-size, $14

Oscar de la Renta | Something Blue

Full-size, $85-$115

SW Basics | Lip Balm

Full-size, $15

Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics | Hi-Definition Hydrating Mineral Perfecting Powder

Full-size, $36

Lifestyle Extra

Tweezerman | Matchbox Itty Bitty Nail Files 

Full-size, $5

I was probably most excited about the mineral powder. It claims to be this magical shine-zapping stuff that keeps your oil levels in check. My face has been very oily lately and I don't think this product has improved it at all. Maybe it will work for one of you guys? Do you have any shine control product suggestions for me? I'm willing to try anything! I want to be shine free for the entire day if possible.

Don't forget to go enter my giveaway! 

Gardein Review & Giveaway!

Watch-out-now! It's a fat-mcfatty-food-post! I've been a vegetarian since early 2007. It is seriously one of the best decisions I've ever made. (Now - if only I could convince my husband to join me lol.) Today I'm going to talk about Gardein. They are the maker of deliciously meatless foods, and you have to give them a try! (Even Matt likes their food!)

Mmm...what a tasty Kroger haul. I'm a little sad though, because I couldn't find the classic style buffalo wings or the crispy chick'n sliders. (Bummer) Their food is just phenomenal, it's really better than most meat substitutes I have tried. (I have tried a lot.) I would have to say that the little burger sliders are probably my favorite so far. 

(Does this remind you of crabby patties from Spongebob too lol?)

These little things are only 150 calories! That makes me pretty darn happy, considering I'm currently on a diet. They also make great healthy snacks for your little ones. Some people might try to whine about the price - but you have to consider that each package contains multiple servings. The only thing that disappoints me about Gardein is the limited selection in my area. There are so many drool-worthy options on their website...and like 4 different kinds at the grocery stores. (Boo-hiss-boo) I will just go ahead and blame all that business on Kroger and Publix. I should probably just be thankful that I can find them at all. (Where to buy?) I also have to recommend their chipotle lime crispy fingers. (Not pictured) I cooked some of those in the camper on our recent beach trip, and my entire family thought they smelled amazing. 

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Now onto the really exciting part! You can give Gardein a try for FREE.

It's a giveaway y'all! All you have to do is follow the steps below to enter. The lucky winner will receive this snazzy neoprene lunch bag with 3 free product coupons! Fancy!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Father's Day 2013

Today was not only Father's Day, it was also my brother's 23rd birthday! Super fun times I tell you...

Yes...Matt finally got the "Gandalf Arrives" Lego set he has been whining about forever lol.  I had to order it online because I couldn't find it anywhere. We also had a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy towel specially made for him. (Nerds unite) He also got two tanks from Target, and some Ninja Turtle boxers. (Silas called them rescue turtles lol.) Please note that my husband is a total goofball and never smiles normally for a camera haha. 

Check out the awesome Batman that my sister India made for our Dad! I'm super impressed...are you super impressed? I also made him a portrait of the kids (see closer photo below) and my brother got him some super cool books. I love you Dad!

The background is made entirely of dots. Will I ever make that mistake again? Absolutely not! If you are interested in one of my portraits, you can order one HERE.

Ugh, 23 years old...where does the time go? He is going to be training to be a fireman soon, I'm very proud of him. 

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We had a great Father's Day weekend, what about you? :) Before I go - I should mention that I will have a Birchbox post up soon!