Haul! 6/28

So I went out to the mall with my friend Sarah to catch up and of course my wallet literally just opened and out went some money....

First stop was Lord and Taylor's, where we pretty much looked at everything. I was drawn to this 5 shelved little thing full of Ahava. I got a facial moisturizer from them in a Birchbox and I really like it. I also was intrigued because it is a brand that bases all of its products from the Dead Sea. It takes ingredients you can find in the Dead Sea and infuses them into the products. They are also paraben free and allergy tested (great for someone sensitive like me).

I picked up this starter kit for $15! Such a cute little travel bag. It has a Dead Sea Water Mineral Body Lotion, a Time To Clear All In One Toning Cleanser and a Time to Hydrate Essential Day Moisturizer for normal to dry skin. Then I bought one of their body lotions in Honeysuckle and Lavender :)

Since I bought two items I was given a free gift! This is one hell of a free gift too.....it is a bag designed exclusively for Ahava by none other than REBECCA MINKOFF!! Did you fangirl inside a little? Yea so did I!

How cute!

So next we hit Target, which was great because I actually had to go buy a new hamper. I'm adding a desk to my room soon so I wanted a hamper that was higher, rather than wider. You can see Charlie and his devil eyes. It's probably because my dad and I thought it'd be funny to stick Charlie in the hamper...whoops!

I also wanted to pick up some more face towels, and I had liked the Yes to Blueberry face towels so much I thought I'd try cucumber!

Finally, we made a last minute stop in Bath and Body Works who was having their massive sale. I bought a Pink Tulip candle for four dollars and then I bought what I thought was hand sanitizer in Wild Honeysuckle...until I got home and showed my mom and realized it was hand soap. Oh wells!

Hope you enjoyed!

FOTD: June 27th

Hi peoples!

Just wanted to share my "face of the day", with you.

Face: Bobbi Brown's SPF 25 Tinted Moisturizing Balm in Medium
Concealer: Sonia Kashuk Hidden Agenda Palette

Eyebrows: Clinique's Superfine liner for brows in #03 Deep Brown

Eyeshadow: Stila Smudge Crayon in Antique (pretty pink with copper undertones)
Eyeliner: Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide on Eye Pencil in Zero (smudged out)
Mascara: Clinique's High Impact Mascara in #01 Black

Very simple look :)

BTW! Today is mine and Shaun's 9 month anniversary! We don't really celebrate the months but it's nice to remember it :)

Bikini So Teeny!!!!!

I had to go get my shellac manicure taken off because I cracked a few of my nails :( but I got to try Essie's Bikini So Teeny, so I'm a happy girl :)

Drowning....

in homework! I have been non-stop all day today working on my two classes. I literally thought my computer was going to explode...and it may very well still do that. I could roast a marshmallow over the back of it!

It makes me sad, because I should be enjoying my Summer. Then again I should have technically graduated in May. But alas, not until December, which is why I'm stuck in Summer classes.

(SadFace)

The US of Beer!

This awesome info-graphic by GOOD is the best beer in the US of A. I love this and it almost makes me want to go on a beer road trip around the United States!

Day 6 & 7 of LGMH

Day 6 was just the pushup challenge, I got super busy and never fit in time for running yesterday. Not happy about it but I made up for it today. I stretched a little and then ran for ten minutes but I ran longer than I walked in the ten minutes. It felt good and I wasn't totally dead at the end of it. I think I managed .55 miles which is not my best but it is fine by me.

Tomorrow is another pushup challenge, 26 pushups I believe? I think I'm going to do some yoga and running tomorrow. I'm feeling positive! :)

June Favorites: Nail Polish

So I was inspired by my trip to the nail salon on Friday to do a post on nail polish. I've been very into painting my nails for a while. For whatever reason, my nails are actually healthier when I put nail polish on. Whatever works right? 

I went and got the shellac done on my nails which will last for like two weeks. By this point if I had a regular manicure my nails would be shot to hell already! I believe it ended up being like $35 but it was so worth it. I don't know if I'd do it multiple times in a month to keep up with it but once a month? Yea I would. 

I'm including swatches of all my favorite colors for the month. There are quite a few but I adore all of them and they are maybe only a fourth of the polishes I have! Enjoy!

What are your favorite nail polishes this month?

Day 5 of LGMH

So yesterday I continued on with the workout. I have been so busy that I literally finished an assignment for school got on the ground did my pushup challenge and got back up to do more work. It has been insane. I am hoping tomorrow I'll be able to start getting the running in again. My arms are starting to look better though :) Maybe it's just my imagination lol

Happy Friday!

Hey guys, what are you all up to this weekend? The weekend is supposed to be really nice out, so I was hoping I'd spend time outside. Sadly, I have training from 9 to 3 for my job in the summer on Saturday :(

Tonight Shaun and I are going to mini golf, which I am pretty excited about. We don't always get to have date night so we're really looking forward to it. Plus, it is something we've never done together. What do you guys do for date night to mix things up?

Favorites:
I haven't watched her videos in a while but I love Daily Grace (Grace Helbig). She is hysterical and literally has no shame or fear! Her video from Thursday was great, I don't know why it just cracked me up.

See Jane Work is a website I accidentally happened upon thanks to Pintrest. I am all about organization, and work spaces. I am dying to have a desk again, considering I do all my work on my bed. This site has the most awesome things. Which is dangerous for my wallet!

 Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie. I adore this dessert, and it may just be one of my top 3. I made up my own recipe from two separate onBes on Hershey's website. It went over amazing at the part I brought it too. Makes me want on right now!

 I will forever and always love Barnes and Noble. I could spend an entire day in that store. I've been looking around on the site for new books and I have quite the wishlist built up. Of course I have a huge pile of books here at home I need to read, but I'll never turn down a trip to B&N!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Day 3 & 4 of LGMH

So, I didn't get to post yesterday because I was insanely busy but I managed to get my pushup challenge in yesterday. It wasn't very difficult, except my arms were so sore from the first couple of days that I had some trouble. I didn't get to run yesterday or today. But I did about 15 minutes of yoga today. I had an insane migraine that is only just going away now. I could barely concentrate on driving to work let alone go running.

LGMH Day 2!

LGMH = Let's Get Me Healthy :)

It is technically 12:07 am Wednesday but I just got home...

Today was insane I went to work, helped fill 200 water balloons, worked out, and showered all before 11am! Then I did some stuff for my internship and went back to work, where sadly, water day was cancelled and moved to Thursday. Worst of all is I babysit Thursday afternoons and I won't be able to take part :(

Anyways - to the workout! Today I ran on the treadmill 10 minutes just like yesterday. I'm going to keep going with the 10 minute set-up and move it up gradually as my stamina improves.

Then I did the Long and Lean workout from the Beach Babe dvd! I loved it because it is pretty much a yoga routine and I love me some yoga! The girls who made the dvd, are the owners of Tone It Up, and they are amazing. You just want to watch them and see what they have to say on their blog, it is infectious. I'm hoping as I get stronger I can start doing the other routines on the dvd, I've tried and I end up collapsing part way through. I know it is better to do a little, but not when you can't even hold the right form.

Other than that, I felt good today. I am sore in my shoulders from the pushup challenge, but I'm excited to do that tomorrow.

Good Night!

Fitness Series! Let's get me healthy!

Picture from wikepedia

Let me preface this entire post by saying, I know, I'm the last person on earth you expected to be making this post. Don't worry I wasn't expecting it either!

As I've mentioned in the past I am not exactly a "healthy" person, and I don't only mean in the food and lack of exercise sense. I've got fibromayalgia, I am usually sick with some sort of infection a few times a month, and I've got pretty bad joints due to dance and just being me.

However, one of the biggest things that can help with fibro, they say, is exercise. I'm exhausted of constantly being in pain, and I rarely complain about it or even mention it...but it's gotten pretty bad.

Plus, I've gained some weight and I haven't felt great about myself and how I look. I'm not strong at all in my arms and I've lost most of the strength I had in my legs.

So what is a girl to do? Get off her ass and start working out!

So here's the deal, I am going to post everyday about the exercise I do. I have a plan in place and I am going to try and stick to it.

What I am attempting to do :
- running
- yoga
- 100 pushup challenge
- 200 squat challenge
- Beach babe workout by Tone It Up

Those are the five things my exercise will consist of...however I won't be doing it all at once. This week I've decided to start with running 10 minutes a day, and doing the 100 pushup challenge. If you don't know about the challenge don't worry, tomorrow I am going to do a post on it.

My running though is broken up into this: 1 minute of walking, 2 minutes jogging (3mph), 4 minutes of running (4mph), 2 minutes of jogging, and 1 minute of walking. 10 minutes may seem wimpy and 4mph may not seem that fast...but hey, I have to start with baby steps!

Happy fitness!

Love/Hate Review: St.Tropez Bronzing Mousse

Today I am going to review the St. Tropez Bronzing Mousse for you guys, but beware this is no ordinary review. I've been using this for probably two weeks now and I have such a strong love/hate relationship with this product. No joke.

First let's start with the details - you can buy it at Sephora or at St.Tropez's website. I went to Sephora and I bought the 8oz bottle for $40. Yeah, I know, it is an investment. I will say this though, if you go to St. Tropez's website, no matter where you bought it, they have great videos on how to use all the products in their line.

Okay so here is the good stuff about this product:
- The smell isn't that terrible. They say they have some fancy technology called Aromaguard that helps with that.
- The color is GORGEOUS. I knew that going in, St.Tropez was considered one of the best for self-tanning. The mousse comes out this dark deep brown and to a girl who is pretty pale, that is down right terrifying.
- If you use the applicator glove then it really helps putting this stuff on, it is fool proof though because you can see where you're going and if you go over a spot more than once it is okay. It is only spotty if you miss a spot.
- The color isn't too dark for someone who has lighter skin. Usually, when you have a tan people are always complimenting it or saying their jealous...I didn't get any of that, which I think was a good thing. It wasn't too in your face.

The bad news about this stuff:
-If you're sensitive to smell then you'll probably hate it. I'm pretty sensitive to everything and while it wasn't bad compared to other tanners...it still wasn't great.
- The sticky feeling you get is horrendous. I felt like anything I touched was going to cling to me! There is no transfer of color but I felt so gross!
- You have to wait 4 hours before showering or sweating...that was torture.
-It is expensive....
- If you miss a spot...it is really noticeable.
- The glove is not precise. There was a lot of splotches on my arms in particular, where the skin was thinnest. The application went on even but one you showered the color came off more in some areas.
- It is a ton of work! You have to spread it over your body, you can't rub it in or else it just dissipates!

So in the end this thing is going back. I love the color payoff but the hassle and the stickiness is just not worth it. I would like my $40 back please!

Book Review!

I just finished a really great book about Apple, yes the company, and I wanted to share it! It is called "Inside Apple : How America's Most Admired - and Secretive -  Company Really Works", by Adam Lashinsky. It is an honest look into the company and how Steve Jobs built it and ran it.

Mr. Lashinsky does an amazing job of getting the reader to see Apple for what it is. He lets us see how Apple set itself apart from the rest, and why it has worked for so long. The book also delves into the company's future and new executive employees.

It is really incredible to see the tactics that Mr. Jobs employed throughout the company. What makes this book so stand out, is that the author actually was able to speak with many former employees. Without giving away too much, one of the major characteristics of the company and its employees is its' secrecy. If they are developing a product, the design department will only know about their own information, they won't know anything from the other departments. The secrecy is so intense that in a note about the interviews he conducted, Lashinsky says that some employees were as hesitant to be quoted praising the company as they were criticizing it.

It took me a while to get through the book only because I've been so busy but I give it a 5/5. It is worth reading if you're an Apple fan or even interested in just the company and how it became so successful.

June Birchbox

I'm back with my June Birchbox! I know, I've been absent but you can thank my summer classes for that one! I'm almost done with the school year in terms of work so hopefully, I will have a little more free time.

So let's get started! This box's theme was travel and being a jet setter....something I am not haha I really haven't been on a true vacation. My first and only was to Puerto Rico for my dad's work and I was probably six at the time!

First up, is Stainiac by The Balm. It is a cheek and lip tint in the color beauty queen. It is a berry red color, very pretty and the swatch on my hand is faded but still there even 9 hours later. I've never tried any of The Balm's products but I hope now that I have this, maybe they'll send more! Full size - $17.00.

Next is Coola mineral face sunblock in cucumber. Cucumber is a hit or miss smell for me, so we'll see about this. I'm intrigued by the mineral part of this, I'm not sure if it will be any different from a regular sunscreen. What I do love though is that it is certified organic and it is spf 30. Can't wait to try this! Full size - $36.00.

This is a scent that I've heard about over and over and never was interested in trying. It is the signature scent by Juicy Couture. It says that it is a blend of sweet and floral notes. I do like floral, but it is usually Jasmine or Rose or something sexy like that. It has a little of that, but it is a bit too strong for me. I'm sure I'll use it just because it only takes 10 sprays to get rid of the sample, but other than that, I am not a fan. Full size - $69.00 - $89.00.

This is an iffy product for me. It is the One Step Bronze by Stila. While I am impressed that it was a full size product at 1 oz, there is one thing I really hate about it - it has too much shimmer in it. It looked like I had stuck my hand in a bucket full of shimmer after I rubbed this in. Not to mention the color is dark. However, the idea for this is cool. It is a bronzer, primer, and serum all in one. It is also supposed to help with oil control. I think it is extremely moisturizing which is awesome. However, it is pretty dark for me and I really don't think even foundation would help hide the shimmer overload. On the card it says 3 masks for $36...I think it was a misprint because it makes no sense! On Sephora it is $36.00 for the full size which is 1 oz.

This bag here is the lifestyle extra for June - a bag by tili. It says these are great for traveling and going through airports! Again, I would know because I've only been on a plane once but this is such a cute bag! You can get a pack of 9 -12 for $8.49 - $9.49.

Beginning of Summer Update

Well the beginning of my summer also marks the beginning of some new things happening. Sadly, it includes me working and still taking classes. Yes, that is right, I am already in week number 3 of summer classes. I have 3 more weeks of Empirical Political Inquiry and Writing for the Professions, and then I start another two classes for another six weeks. Yikes.

I'll also be working a new job schedule, but it won't be all summer, which means I am on the hunt for a second job :( In some ways it is good because I need the money, but it makes less time to get all the things I need to do done.

I am also in week two of my internship (officially). If you want go check out Citelighter.com! I've done five knowledge cards already! Martinique, Gaza Strip, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, and Sulfates (yes I know the last one is random). It is awesome to see my work go live on a website. I have my new topics for this week already picked out so we'll see how that goes. I have been thinking about a lot of ideas for the company and the website, I'm thinking about maybe making time to go to the office in NYC to meet everyone and talk to my boss about what I'm thinking. It would be awesome to do.

Let me see...what else? Well on the health front my whole family is pretty much cruddy :/ Both my parents have been fighting off some bug. My dad has to get a root canal. I just found out I have an ulcer in my mouth which has been causing the pain. Oh and I pinched a nerve in my shoulder stretching...once again I prove I am a danger to myself haha

I need to wake up for work in like 7 hours so I will end this post with a puppy picture!

Charlie looks so happy in this picture! He turned 9 months old yesterday :)