The big day is just around the corner. Tomorrow Prince William will marry Catherine Middleton and her dreams of becoming a princess will come true! While most of America won't be awake for the royal festivities, the DVRs will be set on record. I'm excited to view this little piece of world history, as I was not around when Prince Charles wed Diana Spencer all those years ago. It makes me think of my own wedding some day- What dress will Kate choose? How will her hair look? Will she be super nervous and forget her lines at the altar? The whole world will find out tomorrow. Stay tuned!
It has been a whole month since I last posted! That kind of upsets me, but I know currently "life" is getting in the way. Anyway, I realized I'm missing out on doing something I love when I don't post, so here is my latest post to get back in the game. (Sometimes adages are so lame - if think about it literally, blogging is not a game).
I wanted to do a fun post about what's in my purse; essentially items I can't leave home without. Every woman has at least a few things she must carry with her at all times. Here's what's in my bag:
Michael Kors black leather wallet - I found this for a steal at Nordstrom Rack. Perfect for keeping all of my cards organized. Sleek and sophisticated; just the way I like it.
Clinque Almost Powder Makeup in Neutral Fair - By far the best powder I've found. I like my face to look fresh and light, never cakey. I swear by Clinque's light-weight formula and this compact is perfect for touch ups.
iPod Ear Buds - These are a must have when I'm trying to talk on my phone and drive. The buds have a speaker that when connected to my iPhone I can talk hands-free. Also, they come in handy for their main purpose of listening to music while I sweat it out at the gym.
CVS Maximum Redness Relief eye drops - My eyes tend to get strained while staring at my computer screen all day at work. I whip these drops out when the redness starts to set in and viola! My eyes are fresh and relieved once again. No one likes to look like a stoner in front of their colleagues.
True Blue Spa Look Ma, New Hands lotion - The dry winter really gives my hands that years-beyond-their-age look, so I need a thick, moisturizing hand lotion. This small tube is the perfect size for my purse and packs a moisturizing punch for my cracked digits. The softening paraffin smooths out the lines and leaves my hands soft as ever.
Nivea A Kiss of Recovery Healing Lip Care - Just like my hands, my lips always suffer winter's wrath. Luckily I discovered this great lip product that smooths and softens my chapped kisser and protects against sunburn with an SPF 6.
M.A.C. Lip Glass in Pink Poodle - This lip gloss has always been my go-to when I want a punch of color. Unlike other glosses that can be oily and wipe off right away, Lip Glass is lasting and thick so you don't have to reapply every few minutes. My other favorite color is C-Thru, which is a great neutral for when you want to go heavy on the eye makeup but not on the lips.
TRESemme TRES TWO Hair Spray - This miniature version of it's bold counterpart helps me tame my frizz on particularly humid days. I spray a couple spritzes into my hairbrush and run it through to get rid of fly aways or static.
Now that you know what's in my bag, what items can you not live without?
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OK, I know Halloween is a month away but it's never too early to start planning your costume. This year I decided to get a jump start on my costume, so I'm not scrambling at the last minute to throw something together. In the past I would buy a ready-made costume from an online store or my local Halloween shop. This year, I wanted to have a little more fun with my costume and try out a creative, budget-friendly idea. When I got to thinking about who I could dress us as, the first person that came to mind was Katy Perry. This year has been a big year for the pop superstar with a chart-topping new album and an upcoming wedding to Russell Brand. I decided to commerate her success into my own homemade costume.
I'm planning on doing a costume from Katy's "California Gurls" music video. With so many creative outfits in one video, it was hard to choose. I decided to go with the candy button outfit, as it was the least risque and the most age appropriate. These are the supplies I'll be using to complete the costume:
White tube dress ($4.99 at The Closet)
Pink, yellow & blue plastic Easter eggs ($0.79 for 10 ct at Party City)
Jewel glue ($2.99 at Michael's or any craft store)
Long blue wig ($9.99- $16.99 on Amazon.com)
White or nude platform Mary Jane's (already have a pair in my closet)
I will be using the jewel glue to attach halves of the Easter eggs in rows to the white tube dress. This will make it to look like old-fashioned candy buttons. I'm only going to do the front, so I am able to sit down without ruining the costume. For my makeup, I'll use blue glitter eyeshadow (you can find cheap at any drugstore), bright pink lipstick (already own M.A.C. Viva Glam Gaga) and a pair of false eyelashes that are in my makeup kit waiting to be used. I will probably go mystic tanning (no UV rays) the day before Halloween to get some color, so the white dress doesn't look pasty against my fair skin.
The great thing about this costume is that I have many of the items at home already and it should cost under $30! I'm super excited to see how the costume turns out, and I will be sure to post pictures of the final result. Now if I could only get my boyfriend to agree to dress up as Russell...
Recently I received a promotion code in my e-mail for a free 8x8 hardcover photo book . This was sent to me by Shutterfly, a popular online photo storage and printing company. In the last couple years I've been far too lazy to take my memory card to an actual brick and mortar store, upload the photos and request prints. Instead I've opted for making photo albums online and printing only the pictures I choose. My prints are shipped to me and I never have to leave the house!
I put together my free book with photos of a trip Jon and I took to Disneyland and California's Adventure Park this summer. It was so fun to choose the different lay outs and placement of the photos. After an hour or so I was ready to place my order for the finished product. The only cost I paid was $8 for shipping and handling, and I received my book approximately two weeks later. I thought the promotion was a great idea to get patrons to try out the books, as the cost for each book starts out at $20 (not including shipping). The 8x8 book comes with 20 pages standard, but more pages can be added at an additional cost per page. I chose to leave two pages near the back blank so I could paste ticket stubs and other paper goods to commerate our visit. These books make great gift ideas and they're super simple to put together (even for the creatively-challenged, such as myself).
This past March my boyfriend suffered a serious head injury doing what he loves best: surfing. Thankfully he had amazing doctors and his recovery has been more than excellent. I seriously thank my lucky stars everyday that he is still here with me.
While his beloved sport is now crossed off his list of what he can do (at least for a year anyway), he has had more than enough time on his hands to find some new hobbies. One of the first ones he decided on was gardening. We only have a small cement patio in the back of our townhouse, so I was interested in how he was going to build our garden. Jon quickly bought a couple "how-to" books and got to work building a compost bin and planter boxes for an "urban" garden. An urban garden is basically a garden grown without use of grass or land. On our patio we have several large buckets, planter boxes and pots. Together with our worm compost bin we were able to start an organic garden in an urban setting.
The beginning of the garden (June)
It has been a few months since the garden was started and there has definitely been rough patches along the way. San Diego had the coldest summer this year since 1933, so that definitely did not help our strawberries, cucumbers or tomatoes. Also, since the garden is organic, no toxic pesticides are used which leaves room for all the little garden creatures (aka caterpillars) to snack on whatever they please. Let me tell you, Jon wanted to go to war with these little guys until he finally found an organic solution to remedy them. I'm happy to report we used our first batch of romaine lettuce last night to make dinner, and it was a great feeling to know where the food we were eating came from.
While the garden hasn't produced everything we hoped it would, it has been nice to see my boyfriend so happy and full of life. I have really learned a lot about gardening just from listening to his everyday observations and trials with it. The garden has definitely been therapeutic in Jon's recovery and I'm glad he has found joy in something once again.There is always next spring/summer for our little garden and we will definitely hope for warmer weather. In the meantime we'll be testing out what we can grow in winter. Wish us luck!
Tomatoes
Spinach plant
The garden now (September)
"How fair is a garden amid the trials and passions of existence." ~Benjamin Disraeli
"No two gardens are the same. No two days are the same in one garden." ~Hugh Johnson
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