something worth sharing

Hard Candy Lash Ink - $7

Once I read this lash "stain" can stay on up to 4 days, I was sold. I must say, I'm lucky to have good eyelashes. (See here.) Mine are fairly curly and lush on their own, long thanks to "the juice" but blondish in color. But this stuff does a great job of keeping them covered, flake free for days.

Normally I'm a messy mascara applicator - I just coat the stuff on and go back with a q tip to clean up any smudges on my eyelids. You can't do that with the lash Ink. It doesn't come off your skin. So delicate application is needed. But it really does last for 4 days. Sometimes 5. Towards day 4 and 5 I've been touching up the ends with a little bit of the regular stuff, but it saves atleast 5-7 minutes of my morning not having to clean up the ol' eyelids. 5-7 minutes is valuable sleeping time if you ask me.

i'm alive!

*Preston's surgery was two weeks ago and it went well.

* It hadn't given much thought to the after surgery part..but he's improving more and more each day. Last night, in the same rant, he went off about health care and how Lowe's doesn't have a wedding registry. Pain meds are fun.

*I was on the snowed in diet, then the hospital food diet and last week I was on the southern (soon to be) in-law, home cooked diet. Needless to say the wedding workout hasn't been started.

*Wedding planning is coming along! We have a date!

*I want Oliva Polermo's long bob

New Year's resolutions

Resolutions aren't normally my thing, but this year there are some goals that I'd like to accomplish.

• Read the Bible. Like really read the Bible. I've read it once straight through for a college class, all while being tested and writing papers, so that should tell ya how much I retained. This reading plan breaks it up easily and seems to be pretty manageable. (To be honest, I haven't started. But I WILL!)
• End the year debt free. I'm super anal about balancing my checkbook and saving bills, but not so good with the budget thing. So I've set myself on a plan and it looks completely doable to get rid of all our bad debt by the end of the year, if not before.
• Read 12 books. I'd love to read more. List to come soon.
• Get into a work out routine. I l oved C25K while I was doing it. But daylight savings came, and I'm not one for running in the dark (or the cold.) I hope to pick it up again soon; hopefully starting somewhere around week 3 or 4. Maybe join the gym? Let's not push it here... :)

my 2010 holiday wish list

I've already dished out the list to any family members who have asked. But here are a couple of things I'm hoping end up under the tree.

Women's Pattern Poplin Shirt

I love the leather gloves I received from my sister last year but, Echo Driver Touch Wool Gloves would be so convenient

Longchamp Le Pliage Tote

Kindle Wifi, I'm not sure I need all that 3G power

And just in case...(ha no pun intended)

(1,2,3,4)

I have to mention, I wouldn't be opposed to one of these...

Fantasia

Kardashian Konfidential, One Line a Day, Catching Fire, Mockingjay, Freedom a Novel, The Lost Symbol , The Glass Castle, Marcus of Umbria, Orange is the New Black

Kiehls Gardenia Oil

Laura Mercier Lip tint in mocha

thoughtless thursday - the red of my dreams!

  

I've recently been on the hunt for the perfect red lipstick. I'm normally a chapstick/lipgloss girl,

but would love to glam it up every now and then. But red is so hard to match to your coloring..I've always had trouble with mathcing lipstick in general. I also hate pouring tons of money into makeup I won't use very often, so I wanted to try and find a cheaper red. Lindsey had told me Ulta now has testers out for all drug store brands, so I knew this was my opportunity to spend my time finding the one.

Ultimately, the red lipstick had to win me over in two categories: color and texture. Real Simple rated lipsticks last month, and since they never fail me in the recipe department, I assumed they could be trusted in beauty. I was set on trying the one they rated for Best Matte - Revlon Matte Lipstick.

I went for the Matte, because I wanted the longevity without the dryness of a stain. And I could always layer with gloss if I wanted a lighter, shinier look.

After trying the Really Red and In the Red, I knew I had found the right brand. I just had to pick the color! The Revlon went on smoothly blended well, and if I went a little outside the lines, I wasn't left with a weird stain after wiping with a Kleenex.

I have terrible iPhone photos of the In the Red with (top row) and without gloss (bottom row).

I love it! I hope I can rock this look...if I'm off base about being a red wearer, please someone tell me :) Now if I could only perfect the pout...

BTW - Ulta has super deals. I could've gotten a buy 2 get 1 free deal on Revlon products, but needed new mascara so I went for the Maybelline deal - buy one get one 1/2 off. (I got Full & Soft and Volume Express in blackest black. They've always been my go to's. My Falsies dries out too quick - I give up!!)

I'm such a sucker and spend more money than I would've because of these damn deals! But I had to snag some fall nail colors and Ulta always has 2 for 1 on Essie and OPI.

OPI's Lincoln Park After Dark, Miami Beet, and the top coat made the cut..

 Ok, I'm rambling! In summary - found my red, spent extra money. All's well in the world :)

Happy Thursday!

 

thoughtless thursday: Netflix obsession & C25K

OHHH How I needed this brain dump!!

I have spent the majority of my day trying to figure out what Netflix DVDs I want to arrive on Saturday. I have mere hours until they receive the two I shipped today. Preston normally requests we have a movie on hand, but when I asked him for any suggestions he rambled off some important football games. No prob. I'll pick two myself! I finally settled on the entire first season of United States of Tara. I'm relying heavily on the quality of this show since my precious two discs will both be the same show. Putting all my eggs in one basket.

I loved you in In Her Shoes, Toni Collette. Sometimes I feel as though I am Rose. That's a blog for another day...Anyway, don't let me down.

I'm Mexican Food-ed out. Never thought it was possible. There goes tonight's meal plan.

Back to DVDs. I've been on a huge television DVD kick. We've been watching Lost and Dexter together and I've been watching True Blood, Arrested Development, Pushing Daisies and Damages on my own. Gosh that's a lot of TV! I don't get a lot of tv time to myself since football season started. And I only watch one show at a time. I just started Damages. I'm so hooked to DVDs I gave up on the current season of Gossip Girl just to catch up when they come out on DVD. Any other shows I should check out?

Last night I completed Day 2 of the Couch to 5K workout. I didn't know if I was going to be able to get through it! I was hesitant to even try because I was sore from two days prior. (I'm out of shape. I know.) But it felt so good to finish. (And it was beautiful outside!)

The poor dogs barely made it. This is a good hour or so later.

Now I want some cute running clothes. I'm sick of the shorts up my butt. TMI?

 

why aren't all weekends 4 days long?

We had a great time in Dallas this weekend! But I'm so glad I took today off to get back to normal. The house was dirty, kitchen cabinets empty, and my body flat worn out.

This week's meals:
Sunday
Pizza. You really think I was going to cook?!

Monday
White Chile Casserole from Tasty Kitchen courtesy of Kate
We had this for dinner tonight. YUMMO. Easy. Tasty. Enough for leftovers. My kind of meal.

Tuesday
First Tuesday Girl's dinner for me. Leftovers for P. Can't lie, I'm kinda jealous.

Wednesday
Deconstructed Enchiladas from Tasty Kitchen
I'm not sure how I'm going to sneak two Mexican-ish meals in this week. I hadn't planned on the theme, but the white chili casserole is more like enchiladas and less like chili. I may swap this one out...

Thursday
Pork chops, squash - Preston's night

Friday
Can I get away with two nights of leftovers? Here's hoping

Saturday
French onion soup for lunch
Chili for the next 3 days :)

Besides cleaning and napping today, I made hummus and some cinnamon bread. I also finally started the C25K program. If you follow me on twitter, I've thrown around the idea for awhile. Heat was always the biggest deterrent, and I knew the week before OU/TX wasn't going to work. So today was the day. I took the dogs, but I'm not sure I'll ever do that again. They do ok on the leash, but two (overweight) dogs...and squirrels...and interval running...I'm surprised they lasted. Hell, I'm surprised I lasted! I'm proud of myself for actually finishing the entire work out. I hope I can stick to the whole 8 weeks! Stay tuned..

I just took my cinnamon bread out of the oven. Fail on the bread. But the cinnamon, sugar dough tastes yummy :) Just keepin' it real.

randomness

image via Sweet Simplicity

• Last night I was on the verge of a major freak out as Situation was almost kicked off DWTS. Instead of  Bristol or Cho. I know he's ridiculous, and Jersey Shore's terrible for society (and my brain), but they make me laugh and I enjoy the drunken debauchery. Especially when chicken tits end up in their hot tub and the guys start tossing them around like beach balls. (I'm not the only one who enjoys him!)
• I am not a "design blogger". It sucks that all these design bloggers (and many more) were invited to attend the Nate Show and no appreciation was shown. Not even recognition. I think he's really done it now...Nate has no idea the power of bloggers on twitter/facebook/blogs! I haven't seen the Nate show. Once I heard it started and sucked, I chose not to waste precious DVR space.
• Glee was UH-MAZE-ING last night. Next week looks to be better!
• Another game day cook out this Saturday! Looking forward to smoked ribs. I have yet to decide on sides or desert...post to come later. Is it too soon to make fall themed deserts? It still doesn't feel like fall.
• Finally ate at Big Truck Tacos Monday night. (We have a hard time sticking to the menu) It wasn't bad! And cheap for sure.
• I wish someone would throw me an owl themed birthday party :)
• I will not be watching The Bachelor if they bring this guy back. And I mean it this time!
• Somehow I deleted all my wedding blogs. Can you suggest any good ones?

• Christine and I are actually going to do the C25K thing. Meaning, I've downloaded the app and made the playlist...tonight I need to double check my workout wardrobe. Start date TBD.

What's on the playlist you ask?! Well..

Happy hump day!

top two tuesday - things i wants to accomplish.

1. Be more active. 
Carrying the groceries from the car to the house and taking the stairs at work no longer cut it. I need something to validate my trash tv watching. I've never been a runner, but I've heard great things about the iPhone app. I think having tangible goals and guidelines will really help me stay on track. I'll keep you posted :)

2. Refinish this chair.

I've never re-upholstered something this size. I've been bookmarking good links for months now. Preston's family has a re-upholstering shop in SC, so he claims it's in his blood. This chair was given to us for free, so I'm not super concerned about ruining some fab piece. I must conquer this chair. I'm thinking orange with a bold stripe to give our office a little pop...should pair well with my black desk.

Now that I'm really putting these out there, I really have to stick to it :)

mascara let down

Don't get me wrong, I love my Maybelline Falsies Blackest Black mascara, but I feel like it dried up pretty quick? I bought it July 17, and I already feel like I need a new tube.

Has anyone else had this problem? Besides it going to the garbage rather quick, the stuff is really amazing.

 

back in action!

Preston and I got back last night from our week at the beach in South Carolina. More on that later, since I haven't had time to upload any pics, but we had a great time. I love Charleston and the beach we were at was perfect for relaxing and lots and lots of reading. Stay tuned for extra details.

We left last Monday, but I was overwhelmed with travel preparations to post July 30th's favorites. And I haven't completely caught up on my reader from last week...but I'm going to go ahead and post links that have recently caught my interest. No time for pics and quips, I've got laundry to do and DVR to catch up on :)

• Perfectly chic summer hair-do from Happiness is...
• I've already emailed Lindsey to find out where she purchased this Okie Grown print
• Chalkboards in the kitchen from High Street Market
• Chalkboard decals for your chalkboards in the kitchen also from HSM
• White or a pop of color in furniture..I share this current dilemma with Starfish and Sundresses
• Hair crushes of L&L. Have you seen Hermione's new pixie cut?! (OK - 1 quip. Anne Hathaway has THE.BEST. hair. Love her.)
• 30 days of blogging from my friend Meggi. I love this idea..I may take on the challenge
• Homemade trellis stencil
• Painted wood floor DIY by High Heeled in the Front Door
• Donut muffins posted by For the Love...sharing the love via Pioneer Woman
• Dirty Risotto via Giada
• Hoisin Chicken
• Creamy Chicken Toquitos from PH&HH

Happy Monday!

Did anyone watch The Bachelor Pad??? I chronologically catch up on DVR so it will have to wait... any thoughts??

something red, white and blue

In honor of Independence Day-

my new favorite red nail polish..

Essie Lacuqered Up. Candy apple red with a tinge of orange. Love it.

a lovely white dress..

Dune Gown

and a blue striped tote bag.

Big Baggu - $14

I want one of these BAD. What a great pool/grocery/everything bag!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Fourth of July weekend!

household help

1. Any tips on how to get nail polish out of carpet? (tag: personal care) I managed to spill a bottle last week. I let some dry while and I worked on some spots with nail polish remover. Well, now the areas I didn't touch isn't noticeable, while the places I worked on look like big huge "Cajun shrimp" colored spots. (Yes, the color is fabulous. Not on carpet. On your nails.) Help!

I feel like nail polish companies have a duty to provide a product that gets this out of fabrics.

2. I'm feeling starved of my shows this week. I haven't touched the DVR since we've gotten back. I know eventful things happen on "The Bachelorette" and the final episode of the RHoNY reunion. I really hope party planner Jen joins next season. I can't seem to get settled before 9 pm to watch anything. And tonight may not be any better since I'll be scrubbing carpet... I bet these ladies never have to scrub carpet. OR paint their own nails!

josie maran argan oil

Josie Maran argan oil is similar to Moroccan oil but it can be used for all sorts of stuff. I'm not sure where I heard about it, but I was sold after reading it can be used on hair, bug bites, lips, cuticles, heels...need I go on?! (See all uses listed on the website.) You can buy it in oil form or stick form. The mini-stick is only $6 and I snatched one up from Sephora.

I am IN.LOVE. After 4 day's the stick's half way gone, and I'm not allowing myself to take it out of the house. It's that amazing. I love it on my lips and face/eye area. It also did wonders for my cuticles. I know Sephora had the oil form, but next time I'm definitely picking up the big time stick. If you're looking for Moroccan oil for the skin, this is it!!

friday faves

This week was quite busy for me. Between work, floods and power outages...I didn't have a ton of time to read through my greader. But a few did manage to catch my eye!

Favorite DIY

Once again, Remodelaholic posted another great DIY from The Fickle Hobbyist. This Eiffel Tower model cost a total of $4.05!! So cute.

Favorite New Recipe

Domestic Goddess posted a Cooking Light recipe I'm looking forward to trying.

Smoky Spanish-Style Pan Roast

Favorite Videos

I am many things, but makeup expert is not one. (My current label for makeup and beauty stuff is "personal care". Not luxurious and girly. "Personal care" is what my Quicken told me to call it! Oh well, I am my mother's daughter.) Joi posted her favorite YouTube beauty girls and I am now obsessed. I can just visit my friendly YouTube for makeup how-to's? Who woulda thunk it?!This girl is my fave. She's too cute.

Katie at The Neo-Traditionalist posted the trailor for Sofia Coppola's latest film, "Somewhere". It looks so sweet.

Favorite Quote

La Dolce Vita posted this quote that I think belongs in our bathroom.

Favorite Room

A Diary of Lovely posted a tour of the house that won the teeny-tiny division of Apartment Therapy's 2010 Small, Cool Contest. At 350 swuare feet, I would say it is indeed teeny-tiny. But I love the dark color used in the home. It looks so striking against the white baseboards. I'm thinking..office?

Favorite New Blog

(New to me anyway.) Makeup Diary Confessions & Saltwater Dreams also tie into the "personal care" theme.. These girls try out all kinds of products, including self tanners and the best red lipsticks. They have the life I dream of..visiting local drug stores and the occasional MAC counter, buying and trying all kinds of loot. It's gong to take a lot of  how-to youtube videos before the trying is actually worthwhile. *Sigh* A girl can dream.