V-Day Recap and Many Leather-bound Books

Happy Monday!

This weekend was a really nice one, filled with things to do for Valentine's Day and a mini home project that Joey and I tackled.  We didn't have any Valentine's Day plans at first, but when we both got home from work, we were starving and didn't want to cook.  Hubs suggested heading to Aubree's Pizza for dinner, since it just opened right down the street from us.  I had never been there before, so we tried it out and it was delicious.  We will definitely be going back, and that can be dangerous considering it's right down the street!

He also surprised me with a bouquet of beautiful lavender roses!  They are definitely a contender for my favorite flower now and they are making me crave springtime even more. We didn't realize it until we were eating dinner, but last year we did the exact same thing for Valentine's Day.  We ordered pizza in and watched the new Season 2 of House of Cards on Netflix.  Apparently, we like our V Day's laid back and casual.  We will probably be keeping this tradition up!  Unfortunately, Season 3 of HOC doesn't come out for another 11 days, but we were content with watching random shows on tv.

On Sunday we decided to put together the bookcase that his family got us for Christmas.  It's from Target, and we love it!  It was easy to put together with 2 people and only took us about an hour and fifteen minutes.  So excited to have it up, now I just have to fill it!  Isn't it a beaut?

Can't wait to get some cute bookends for this bad boy.  I may end up purchasing another one, too because I like it so much and I think I will need it for all of the books we have.

Have a great start to the week!

Xo

Finally Friday!

Hello Friends!

We made it to Friday...thank goodness.  This week has gone sloooooow.  Anyone else?  How was your week?  Here are some highlights of this week and things I am looking forward to this weekend:

1. I bought Express jeans for the first time last week, and unfortunately, after one wear, they aren't for me.  I am heading straight to the mall on Saturday to return or exchange them.  I finally decided to invest in some nice jeans and they did not work out well for me.  Ugh, oh well.  The search for great jeans continues.

2. While at the mall I need to go to the Macy's Clinique counter.  I'm at that point where all of my skincare products run out at once.  Why does that always happen??  I need to get some new foundation and a couple other things.  I may make a small run to Ulta, too ;)

3. I saw these beautiful flowers today after work and I thought they were so beautiful for Valentine's Day...the pastel colors are just gorgeous, especially the lavender ones.

4.  Joey and I are getting into the new show Backstrom with Rainn Wilson.  It started off slow but it's getting better every week.  Does anyone else watch?

5. The biggest thing I am looking forward to this weekend? Getting some good R & R.  We were swamped with things to do last weekend and it will be nice to have a pretty chill weekend.  Plus, it's going to be COLD.  Like, -8* cold.  I will definitely be staying snuggled up under a blanket pretty much all weekend.

Hope you all have a great Friday and Happy Weekend!

Xo

Spring Finds

With warmer weather getting closer each day, my mind has totally shifted away from winter everything.  I have been getting the bug to shop, but I'm trying to make sure that I really zero in on things that I love and not just impulse by for the sake of changing seasons.

In addition to sprucing up my wardrobe and makeup bag, I also have many projects planned for around the house this year as well.  I'm looking forward to injecting our home with more personality and charm and really making it feel like our space.

Here are some things I'm currently obsessing over:

Cedar Street Maise - Kate Spade

Stila Eyes Are The Window 'Soul' Palette - Sephora

XO Greeting Cards - Rifle Paper Co.

Personalized Scroll Pillow - Joss & Main

Apothecary Jars - Pottery Barn

Gold Foil Desk Calendar - Paper Source

Ibilin Heels - Aldo

Gold Canvas Print - Joss & Main

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush 'Luminous Flush' - Sephora

Learning How To Fold My Clothes

I was recently introduced to this book by Marie Kondo and I've got to say...she definitely made me realize that my life could use some decluttering and organizing.  I don't know what it is, but I get attached to my clothing.  I remember where I got everything, where I wore it, what kind of outfit I turned it into...and for this reason, I have kept a lot of things that needed to go.  A lot.

So I did a mini purge. (This is not what she teaches in the book but it's all I had time for at this point!)  This was a nice way to dip my toes into letting go of some really old things that I loved, but never wear anymore.  It felt really nice to do this, especially before Spring gets here. I wanted to really look at what I own and see what truly "sparks joy" for me like Marie teaches in the book.

So after the mini-purge, I realized my drawers could use a makeover in the folding department because they were still unorganized and cluttered.  I admit that I am the clothes-in-the-drawer-smasher where I pull things out, look at them, throw them back in and throw my weight into the drawer to get it to close because I'm running low on time and patience.

Marie has a whole system for decluttering and organizing your life but the one thing I felt like I needed immediately was a new way to organize my drawers.  Her method was perfect, and exactly what I was looking for.  I can now see all of my clothes at a glance, without frantically grabbing and stuffing.  I would have taken pictures of my stuff, but I was so excited to get started on my drawers I didn't take any before pictures, so, you're going to see my husband's drawers get a makeover ;)  When he saw how my drawers turned out, he asked me to do this to his!  (Little did he know I was going to do his next anyhow in my fit of a folding spree.)

I went from this:

to this in a matter of a forty-five minutes:

Now I didn't just do one drawer of his, I did his entire dresser in that time period.  By looking up Marie's KonMari method of folding on YouTube, I was able to teach myself how to do it and so I figured I would snap some pictures while I was folding.  Here's a step by step of how it's done.  (oh, and let's just pretend everything was ironed beforehand, mmkay?  Hey, this is real life people and my sister stole my iron!)

First, spread out the shirt face down on the floor.

Fold in the right side and then fold the sleeve back toward the outside...

Then repeat on the left side, so that you have a long skinny rectangle.

Once it looks like this, fold from the bottom to the top...

...so that it looks like this:

Then fold once more from bottom to top.

If you've done it correctly, the shirt should be upside down.  Next just flip it and stick it in the drawer with the rounded edge facing upward!  This makes it really easy to see which shirt it is because the design is in plain view, and easy to grab with the rounded edge facing up in the drawer.

Ta-da!  So easy.  I couldn't believe how nice everything looked when we were done, and I can't believe that my drawers actually stay nice when I take something out.  TRY THIS.  I promise, you will want to hug your dresser after.  Let me know how it turns out!

Xo

Serial Podcast

It seems like I am always a beat behind everyone when it comes to the latest trends in technology.  I am never really romanced by all of the tech-y things that come out on the market because, quite frankly, it's just more crap to take care of.  More cords, more chargers, more syncing this and downloading that.  Honestly I just don't care.

Despite that, I do try to keep up with what people are reading or what they're listening to.  I'm pretty sure everyone has heard of the podcast Serial by now, but this is the first podcast I have ever listened to.  (I know.)

I downloaded the episodes last night before bed so that I could listen on my way to work yesterday morning.  You guys.  I got hooked on this so quickly that I listened to it on the way home from work last night, when I was in the shower, and while I was putting my crockpot dinner together for tonight. It's so interesting!  There are so many twists and turns to this it is so hard to say who's guilty and who's innocent.  I have always admired cops and lawyers but I am appreciating them in a whole new light.  I'm already on Chapter 5 and I am looking forward to listening to it on my commute again tomorrow.  I have already got a few people into it as well, like Ashley.

Who else has listened to it?  And can you please tell me what I should line up to listen to next?  I have a feeling I will be done with Serial within a week ;)

Winter Skin Woes

I understand that because I live in Michigan I should expect cold and snowy winters.  I get it, it's par for the course around here.  We've grown up shoveling, snow blowing, salting and driving through horrible weather conditions but I am OVER IT.  So over it.  Cabin fever has hit me especially hard this year and I want nothing more than 70 degree days and sunshine around the clock.  But it's February, so there's that.

Oh, and did I mention the havoc that this weather is playing on my skin?  Oh no?  Well, let's talk about that then.  This winter has been extremely drying on my skin and I just don't know what on Earth could combat it.  I am still on the hunt for the perfect moisturizer for my face because nothing seems to penetrate enough without breaking my annoyingly sensitive skin out.  Help a sister out and send some suggestions my way!

My lips feel like raisins and I keep plastering balm on them.  Thanks -10 degree windchill, you know how to whip the skin off my lips.  For a while I was using Jack Black and then I ran out and stupidly bought Carmex which just dehydrated my lips even more, so I finally bit the bullet and bought some Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask.  It seems to be working well so far, so I am hoping this keeps up the good work!

My nails have also decided to be a total piece of crap to deal with, so I keep slathering on some vitamin gel to try to help them get growing again.  I am trying to keep nail polish on them, too so that some strength can build up so they don't chip as easily.  I cannot wait until the weather warms up and I can go get a manicure and pedicure that will actually help my hands and feet feel normal again!

Spring, I miss you.

Xo

Copying the Internet

I was poking around on YouTube last week and I watched this video that taught me how to de-pot MAC eyeshadows from the individual containers.  Since I had five of them laying around, I figured I would get all the supplies and give it a go this week.

Believe it or not, this was super easy!  I was worried, because whenever I try to copy a hack it usually turns into a big fat failure.  This one involved melting plastic.  (Can we say fire hazard?)  Luckily, I was really pleased that it was actually easy to do, but it required a very watchful eye!

The things you need:

Flat iron (I used my 2" Chi)
Strip of magnets
Small, flat knife
Scissors
Quarter
MAC eyeshadows to de-pot

Before I started with the eyeshadows, I traced the quarter onto the magnet sheet and cut out circles that fit perfectly onto the back of the MAC eyeshadow pans.  After that, by using the small knife I popped the top part of the plastic container out which houses the shadow pan.  I then placed that whole piece onto the heated up flat iron and watched it closely while the plastic melted ever so slightly away from the edges.  After about 20-30 seconds,  I took the pan off and used the knife to remove the whole pan.

After I let it sit on the knife to cool a bit (it gets hot!) I put the magnet onto the back of the pan and let it sit again.  Using the same technique I did with the inside pan, I took the outer shell of the MAC eyeshadow and put the label side down onto the flat iron.  After about 15 seconds, I took it off, used the knife to remove the label and slapped it right onto the magnet.  DONEZO.

It really was easy to do and I actually had quite a bit of fun with it.  My 15 color palette is almost full!  Only 4 more colors to choose!

Here are my colors in the columns from top to bottom:

Naked Lunch

Satin Taupe

Charcoal Brown

Rice Paper

Era

Brun

Woodwinked

All That Glitters

Nylon

Cranberry

Fig 2

Let me know if you attempt this and how it goes for you!

Xo