The Week That Was

I'm not sure if it was the time change or the weather transitioning from "crisp fall days" to "winter blah days" but this week was LONG. There were some bright spots among the daily routine (most of which  are related to yesterday's trip to Target).

{One}

Via Target

I bought this sweater yesterday at Target and I can't wait to wear it to work with leggings & boots. Our office is generally about a million degrees though, so I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to wear the sweater without sub coming to heat stroke but I will make it happen. 

{Two}

Via

I am late to party on this one but I was pretty loyal to Soft Lips lip balm so I never did get around to trying EOS. It happened to be on sale yesterday at Target and I've only used it a handful of times but I am hooked. I bought the Honeydew and it so wonderful. My lips have been brutally dry lately, I am constantly applying lip balm and using pure vaseline on them at night hopefully this will be the solution I've been looking for.

{Three}

I cannot stop singing this song! In the car, getting ready for work, at work. I think it's the shout out to Train/Drops of Jupiter that really seals the deal for me. I have a deep love for songs that mention other songs. Plus it's catchy and happy.

{Four}

I've been reading The Kitchen House and at first I couldn't turn the pages fast enough and was totally enthralled with the characters and their story. I'm almost at the end now though and I've gotten a little less interested in the whole thing. I'm a few chapters away from the end and I'm sad that I don't love the characters the same way I loved them in the beginning. I'm leaning towards the thought it would have been a better story if the author had of turned the story into a series and not rushed through seasons and jumped ahead five years all over the place. 

{Five} 

My last though is entirely devoted to how excited I am for bedtime to crawl around. 

Make Up Must Haves

I'm joining Nikki @ Blushed on a Budget where she's hosting a fun link up all about beauty! Nikki was my partner for The Pretty Little Beauty Swap and she made my first swap experience seriously awesome! You can check out all the goodies she sent me in this post. And then head over and share your beauty related post! 

I'm extremely amateur when it comes to make up. It's safe to say you won't ever find me filming tutorials on how to get the perfect smokey eye any time soon. My look is pretty basic, but I still enjoy playing with those neutral colours and throwing in something fun every once and a while. I decided for this link up I'd share my every day essentials. I don't necessarily use all of these products every day but they're the ones that I always have in my make up bag!

The first thing you probably noticed about my must haves is they're all drug store brand. Partly because the nearest Sephora is five hours away in the City and partly because $50 eyeshadow is totally not in my budget. These products are what I use on almost a daily basis when I'm running errands, getting groceries, visiting family/friends and that get tossed in my purse without fear of them getting ruined.

Body Shop Concealer 01

I have really pale skin in the winter months. (Spring & Summer I pretty much live outdoors so things are all good, they go downhill quickly come the end of September.) With this pale skin comes super sensitive under eye area, even with weeks of sleep I would still have dark circles. I bought this stuff from the Body Shop during a sale and even though it's doing the trick right now I don't think it will put an end to my quest to fall madly in love with a concealer. 

Garnier BB Cream in Light/Medium (for Oily Skin) 

I've been on a quest to find an amazing BB Cream, I've tried a few out but so far this one is my favourite. I'm not head over heels in love with it, depending on the kind of skin day I'm having and how pale I am it can look super cake and orange. For now it's my go to though.

CoverGirl 2 in 1 Foundation (Creamy Natural) 
I love this foundation! It provides the perfect amount of coverage and I've been loyal to it for a couple of years now.

NYC Sun 'N' Bronze Bronzing Powder
I'm late to the bronzer love fest. I was convinced that with my pale skin any sort of bronzer would make me look orange. I was feeling brave one day though and invested in some and now it's one of my favourite things. Even if I'm not going to put on a "full face" I'll dust on a little bit of this before Skype or other super low key "event" to give me a tiny bit of a pick me up.

Great Lash Mascara Very Black
If I was forced to choose mascara would be my ultimate favourite beauty product. So I have quite the collection but this is the one I always fall back on. And it's so cheap that it hardly feels like a waste of make up when you go through the trouble of putting it all on for no real reason. I keep one of these in my purse for emergencies and in my regular make up back and on my dresser...

Wet & Wild Sweet As Candy Eye Shadow
So simple, but so perfect. There's not much else I say about these colours, I've re-purchased this over and over again, it's truly a staple.

Essence Stays No Matter What Black Eye Pencil.
I left my entire make up bag at a friends house a while back and so I ran out to replace a few things to get me by until I was reunited. I really like this eye pencil it goes on smooth and stays on all day even though I have a horrible habit of touching my eyes/adjusting my glasses every 15 minutes.

Body Shop Natural Lip Roll On 
I always have some sort of lip moisture in my pocket. I like this one because it adds a bit of shine and I can reapply like crazy without making my lips a weird colour or making me feel like I have layers and layers of stuff on. My favourite flavour is coconut although I've also tried to berry (pictured) and orange.

Essence XXXL Shine Lip Gloss Bright Side of Life
Nikki sent me this in my Pretty Little Beauty Swap exchange and I love it! It's the perfect colour for my skin tone, isn't too thick and doesn't dry out my lips. I am forever indebted to Nikki for sending me this stuff! I wore it Christmas Day to a family gathering and got a lot of compliments!

What are your make up must haves? Don't forget to go to link up your beauty related post!


*I was in no way composted for offering my opinions on these products.

'Twas The Day After Christmas

I had such a great Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. God is good. 

Christmas Eve we had supper at my aunt & uncle's before church then we went to church where my cousin's baby was baptized. Afterwards we all went back to my aunt & uncle's and just enjoyed each other's company. Watching the excitement of my three year old cousin A. was the absolute best. We had given baby M. a present for her baptism and didn't want A. to feel left out so we brought a little something for her too. (And by little something I mean a single Christmas ornament that we found at Wal-Mart for under $5.) When she found out she was allowed to open it then she carefully but enthusiastically tore off the pink paper and squealed with delight and yelled "A decoration!" then she ran around the room to show everyone her new "decornation" and simultaneously offering up a "sank you". I also loved watching her in church as she proudly stood up on the pew, hymn book in hand and sang her heart out. I am so thankful for her and pray with every fibre of my being someday it's my little girl keeping everyone entertained Christmas.

Christmas Day we opened presents and I was seriously blessed. My biggest surprise present was a Magic Bullet Deluxe set with a bunch of different blades and attachments for the cups! I haven't gotten a change to try it out yet but I see A LOT of smoothies in my future. And homemade salsa. And iced coffee. I may even attempt to recreate Second Cup's Frozen Hot Chocolate! 

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I also got an amazing gift from my friend who I met through church back when I was in university. We send each other a Christmas package and I was so excited when I opened this on Christmas morning. At this point you all know how much I love words of affirmation and I love how much thought went into this gift. I'm using a lot of willpower not to read all those little notes right away but I really do want to save them and read one each day in 2014. I've also been thinking about how I need to get back into journalling with a real pen & paper. The next time I'm in town I'm going to pick up a notebook and for each day of 2014 I will glue in the quote I pick from the jar each day and scribble down a few words about the day, draw a few doodles, and by the end of the year I'll have an amazing scrapbook. I think I even have a blank Smash* Book that might be perfect for this project. That's a post for another time though...back to Christmas!

I got some great new clothes including this hoodie that has been on my wish list for months! 

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I also got some new make up, a supply of body washes & lotions to last well into the new year and a few gift cards to spend once things quiet down a little. 

And of course the kitties got some new toys too. 

We enjoyed Christmas dinner with my Dad's side of the family and then spent the evening with my mom's side. I can't put into words how thankful I am to have so many aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. And that family really is a priority. I can't imagine growing up without cousins and aunts and grandparents, but I know that for so many it's hard to imagine growing up with that kind of extended family. Mine certainly isn't perfect and there was the usual arguments about how many chairs we need and the uncles probably had one too many glasses of homemade wine but that's life. 

I'm off to spend the rest of the day enjoying the Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives marathon on the Food Network making homemade pizzas for supper and visiting with a family friend this evening. I hope everyone is enjoying time with family & friends! 

Pretty Little Beauty Swap Reveal!

I am so excited to write this post! Since I started blogging a few months back I've been seeing awesome reveal posts from bloggers who have participated in swaps and knew it was something I wanted to do 'eventually'. Back in November I came across the Pretty Little Beauty Swap hosted by Justine & Chelsee decided to make it my first swap! And I am so glad I did!! I was paired with Nikki from Blushed on a Budget and could not have asked for a better partner or first swap experience!

Friday I checked the mail and sure enough my package from Nikki was waiting for me! I opened it up right away and immediately loved everything inside! I also got to play with my new camera to try and capture the perfect shot to share on my blog!

Nikki sent me a cute plaid make up bag full of products that I can't wait to use!

Inside the bag was lip gloss, lip stick, mascara, eye shadow and scent samples.

With lots of family dinners and brunches and friend visits during the next few weeks I was definitely in need of some new lip stuff and an updated eye shadow. I can't thank Nikki enough for her package and I am so thankful my first swap experience was so amazing! If you're into trying new make up products and want to meet some wonderful new bloggers I highly recommend joining in the next round of Pretty Little Beauty Swap!