Days 7&8: June Blogging Challenge.

Whoops! I'm slacking again.. I'm a day behind; so let me catch up and do yesterday plus today's blogs for the blogging challenge!

Day 7: If you could have one super power..
Well, you see, I'm torn. I'm nosy. And when I say nosy, I mean beyond super nosy. If you tell me something but don't tell me the full thing, I most likely will stop at nothing until I find out the entire story. (Yay, Sagittarius!) So part of me wants to say the ability to read minds.. because, let's face it, that would be extremely useful in this world - especially since people are hardly ever straight up with you.

On the other hand, I'd love to be able to teleport - as cliche as that sounds. I love to travel, but I hate the in between of getting from one place to another. And in the military life, I have a love /hate relationship with being far from my family. There's part of my family that I only get to see once~ a year, and that makes me sad. There are friends that I'd love to constantly see, but it doesn't get to happen. It'd be much easier if I could just snap my fingers, blink my eyes, or pull an "I Dream of Jeannie" and whip my ponytail to get from here to there as fast as I could!

Day 8: Your top 3 favorite blogs to read and why.
Now, these are definitely in no order. And I love reading all of the blogs that I follow! So don't feel bad if I follow you and didn't mention you, because I can only pick three!

1. weddingringsandislandthings /Madison. I love this girl anyway. I've known her for quite a while, since before she got married to her husband, and she's just adorable!! She has fantastic DIY ideas on her blog, and she's always looking for new things to do for herself and to share with everyone else.

2. secretbeautybyan /An. An's a new beauty blogger, and she's partially the reason that I got the courage to start beauty blogging! She's also a huuuuuge impact on my whole "get fit" lifestyle, and I'm very thankful for her. She's an extremely awesome makeup stylist, and I always recommend anyone to go look at her looks that she posts! I love her use of liquid liner ALWAYS - ugh, it always looks so flawless! Jealous -__-

3. lovebuildsthishappyhome /Nicol. She's the creator of this blogging challenge, and she's a personal dear friend of mine. She's a cute little pregnant lady, who's gonna be a wonderful mommy soon :) she's even got her own Etsy shop, so obviously she's got some crafting skills.. which I also love and hope to eventually be a cool crafter like her one day, haha. But I love her blog, because it's very personal! It's got some cute DIY ideas, much like Madison's blog, but it also has a lot about just her life in general; and I'm a sucker for personal blogs sometimes.

Day4-6 June Blogging Challenge.

I got busy and slacked behind a little bit, so I'm catching up!

Day 4: Something /someone that makes you happy.
This is any easy one, and I'm sure we all know where it's about to lead.

These two, diva #1 and diva #2, make me happier than anything in life. Being home or coming home to these two brings a smile to my face like no other. Sure, they drive me nuts sometimes.. but doesn't that happen to everyone!? I honestly don't know where I'd be in my life without either of them. They're both my rock - even my dog, as silly as that might sound.

Day 5: Home.

Home will always be the beach. Always, always, always. But not any beach.. it has to be the Gulf beach/es. I miss them more than anything in the entire world, and moving away from them was by far one of the hardest decisions of my life. The Pacific beaches were pretty, but they're too cold. The Atlantic beaches are ugly, ugly, ugly.  But the Gulf beaches.. they're perfect! And boy, I can't wait for the day we get to move back!! There's nothing that compares.

Day 6: Three ways to win your heart.
This is a tough one.. haha. One way is definitely to make me laugh. I love laughing; and I love people who are genuinely funny and like to make people laugh. Another way is to like to cook! I'm in love with cooking nowadays, but I also like to step back and have people cook for me every once in a while.  And I guess the last way would be dancing! A lot of people know that I danced for 14 years, so obviously I love to dance. I love going out to bars /clubs and dancing.. I love dancing around the house.. I'll dance almost anywhere, haha. So I love when someone isn't afraid to get out on the dance floor with me! It's so much more fun when someone else is willing to let loose and just have fun, even if they aren't the best at it :)

This is really long, haha. Sorry! I decided to just catch up in one post, instead of doing three different posts. And don't forget, if you want to see the blogging challenge I'm doing.. click here!

Day3: What you wore in detail.

Considering my life is boring lately, and all I did today was clean.. I'm sorry to say this is going to be one short and boring post, haha.

• Gray patterned running shorts from Old Navy
• Pink and white zebra print undies
• Turquoise sports bra
• A gray Nike running tshirt
• A bright yellow ponytail holder
• My Rainbow flip flops when I took Sofie out
• My hot pink and white Columbia jacket for when I took Sofie out in the rain

And yep.. that's about it, haha. Exciting, huh?!
To see the blogging challenge I'm doing, click here!

Day1: Something beautiful to you.

It's only day one, and this is already a tough one! There's so much that's beautiful in my life. The sky is beautiful. New contacts are beautiful (if you don't know what it's like to put in a new pair of contacts, you just won't understand). I'm beautiful. Life is beautiful. The ocean is beautiful. My purse collection is beautiful - ha!

I guess I'll be a little on the predictable side though. My family is probably be most beautiful thing in my life. I've been so fortunate to start my own family this past year with my best friend in the entire world whom I love more than life itself. After 8+ years, we got to start our lives together; and then we added another member to our fur-baby family (besides the old and grumpy asshole kitteh), Sofie. She's quite possibly been the biggest blessing of our lives. There's been nothing but love and support in this household, which is what it should always be, but not necessarily what I've always been used to until the past few years. It just amazes me how much happiness can come from being married and just being with your other half.. and then throwing a dog who seems to loves you more than you could ever love her makes it all just even better.

But I'm still apart of my original family too; and that's beautiful in itself. Growing up and becoming more of an adult has brought us all closer together, in my opinion, than ever before. It's nice to be able to call my parents, my brother, my aunt, and whoever else in my family my friends rather than just my family. I'm lucky enough that I've got my own family here in North Carolina, and though it may be small at the moment.. it's perfect. But then I've got my other family. The original family. The family I didn't get a choice in, but I find the beauty in every single day no matter what happens or who makes who mad.

That's beautiful, if you ask me.

If you want to find the blogging challenge, just click here!

Blogging in June

I'm going to try to remember to do this every single day this month! I stole it from a good friend, who actually made this, so you'll have to check her blog out as well :) I think it's a fantastic idea though! Blogging every day about different things for an entire month? Who doesn't want to stick around and hear me ramble on about life and stuff and things? Ha!

Car ride eyeshadow!

Since I'm going on a trip, I also decided to give y'all a small tutorial of what my toned down /car-ride look is going to be.

Inner corner: Naked Basics Venus
Under brow: Naked Basics W.O.S
All over lid: Naked Palette Sidecar
Crease /outside corner: Naked Palette Buck
Liner: Ulta kohl pencil liner (in deep brown)
Mascara: 3 step mascara.. UD's Supercurl Curling mascara on the top, Smashbox Hypercurl on the tips, and Ulta Amped Lashes mascara on the bottom

Finish off with an eyelash curler, and you're done! It's that simple, and it's still pretty. One of my favorite "go to" looks for sure :)

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

My "must haves" when going on a trip!

Here we are.. going on yet another trip, and the hardest part is trying to figure out what to take out of the makeup collection. The usual questions always run through my head: Where are we going? What will I need? Will I be going out? Will I be wearing certain outfits? How much room do I have in my makeup bag? Why can't I just take everything? WHY IS THIS SO HARD?

So I narrowed it down to a list of the things I take with me most often and find myself using the most. Plus, I always add in a few extra eyeshadows and eyeliners.. since we all know a girl needs options!

We'll start with the face:
Ulta face moisturizer - I got this a while ago as a sample, and I've loved it every since. It's perfect to use when my face is just a little dry, especially in the summer. I never need too much, or else my skin gets a little oily; but I love putting it on after I clean my face before bed or in the mornings before I put on any makeup - especially if I'm sunburnt!
Smashbox primers - I have two of them that I got as samples. One, the green one, is for color correction. It gets rid of redness, which happens on certain spots on my face sometimes. And the other, the clear, is just the regular oil free foundation primer. Both are amazing! I use the green on my red spots, and I use the clear all over the rest of my face.
Rimmel Clean Finish liquid foundation - Now, I'm not usually a liquid foundation person because I think it can get really cakey really fast; however, I'm in love with this foundation. I apply it with a foundation brush, and it's so light and feels like you've barely put anything on.
Rimmel Stay Matte powder - Favorite. Powder. Ever. If you're ever looking for something to get rid of shine, THIS is the powder you need to be looking at!
Revlon BB Cream - This is my favorite drug store BB cream. It's so close to Urban Decay's BB cream, which is the best one I've tried yet. I love using it on days that I don't feel like using full foundation, because it's so quick and easy. It's also great for summer time, because it's so light!
Maybelline Super Stay 24hr concealer - I have this concealer in three different shades.. that's how much I love it. I use it on blemishes always. I never even need that much of it. Sometimes I'll cheat and use it after I've already put on my powder, which you aren't really supposed to do.. but what the hey, right? Sometimes I'm in a rush and get myself out of order haha.
Maybelline Dream Lumi under eye concealer - As a college student, I'm so prone to the dark "stress" circles.. it's not even funny. But I love using this, because it's so light colored and light feeling that it just lightens your entire face up with just a little bit.
Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer - I don't even go anywhere without it.. ever. It's my favorite eyeshadow primer I've ever used. I have samples of other kinds, but I just can't bring myself to use any of the others until I get done with my big bottle - that's lasted me forEVER, I might add!
Urban Decay All-Nighter face spray - I use this at the very end, right after I'm done with my makeup. It's become my savior, especially being from the South and living in the hot and humid weather. My face doesn't melt off in the summer! How awesome is that?! I never leave home without it.
Makeup remover towelettes (2nd picture) - I'm not too picky on which kinds of makeup remover towelettes I get, as long as they don't have alcohol in them. My skin isn't prone to breaking out a lot, so I don't have to be picky. But I love using these for everything.. whether it's taking my makeup off at night, refreshing my face in the mornings, cleaning mascara off of my eyelash curler, etc.

Palettes.. because yes, I take more than one palette:
Naked palette - Whenever I'm not sure what looks I'm going to want on my trip, I always make sure to take my Naked palette; because I know I'll use it at least once.
Naked Basics palette - I use this every. single. day. And I wish I was lying. Whether it's just for the inner corners of the eyes, under the brow, and the crease.. or all over, I find myself using it every day.
Naked Flushed palette - With it being summer time, I'm using this more and more. I started off only using a little of the highlighter and the blush, but now I use the bronzer (since I'm more tan) and the highlighter with a touch of blush. And it looks fantastic for day or night!
Sonia Kashuk palette - I mainly use this palette to help darken my eyebrows a little bit. I use angled brushes with the brown eyeshadows.
Lorac Mint palette - We all saw how much I love my Mint palette the other day.. so of course I'm taking it! It's so perfect for day or night when I feel like being a little brighter than normal.

Lips:
Lorac Lips with Benefits Gloss (in Christian) - This coral /pink lip gloss is so fun for summer. I was so scared to wear it the first time I put it on, but now I love it especially for night looks! So I try not to leave home without it.
MAC #7 Lipstick - Possibly my favorite lipstick ever. I use it on a daily basis when I'm not using a gloss.
Smashbox Lipgloss (in Illume) - When I'm not using the other two, I'm usually using this.. which is almost every normal day. I'm in love with this gloss. It's perfect for daytime, chillin' looks. And it's adorable!

Liners, mascaras, etc:
Maybelline brow gel
Ulta Amped Lashes Mascara
Smashbox Hyperlash Mascara
Urban Decay Supercurl Curling Mascara (all for the 3-step lashes)
Ulta purple liquid liner
Kohl pencil liners (in deep brown, white, and plum)
Smashbox Limitless crayon eyeliner (in Onyx)
Urban Decay pencil sharpener
Eyelash Curler

Product Review: Lorac Mint Palette

Available at Ulta /Sephora for $36.

The Lorac Mint Palette is definitely one of my favorite things for this summer! I've been in love with it every since I bought it about a month ago. It comes in an adorable blue palette with 6 eyeshadows and a coral blush, which looks fantastic on tan and lighter skin! My favorite look to do is the light blue lid with the dark purple on the outer corner (see the tutorial!).

I really love Lorac eyeshadows in general, because they're very long-lasting.. in my opinion; and this palette is no exception.

All in all, this is definitely a summer "must have!"

Summer Eyeshadow Look

Eyeshadow tutorial for today!

Excuse the lighting.. I didn’t take the pictures when I should have.

I used my Lorac Mint palette (Ulta /Sephora $36).

Corner of the eye: white with sparkle
All over the lid: light blue
Outside corner: dark purple
Crease: neutral
Under the brow: Naked Basics W.O.S
Top eyeliner: Ulta’s purple liquid liner
Bottom liner: Ulta’s kohl white liner
Mascara: Urban Decay’s Supercurl Curling on top, Smashbox Hyperlash mascara on the top ends, and Ulta’s Amped lashes mascara on the bottom

Possibly the best burger I've ever had?

I'm just going to get right to it, because let met tell you.. it's a week later, and I'm still wishing I had one!

1lbs of hamburger meat patted out into burgers
1 tsp of Montreal hamburger seasoning
1/2 tsp of garlic seasoning
1/4 tsp of cinnamon
1 fried egg
Lettuce
1/2 avocado
2 slices low sodium bacon
Hamburger buns (with or without sesame seeds)
Cheese

Season hamburger meat with Montreal hamburger seasoning, garlic seasoning, and cinnamon. Cook the burgers however you desire (I personally like a bit of pink in mine, but not the whole still mooing thing - yuck!). Toast the hamburger buns - this little secret makes them slightly crunchy and warm! Melt cheese on top of burger. Fry an egg and place on top of the cheeseburger. Slice up half of an avocado and add salt and pepper to taste. Top with lettuce and bacon.

Product Review! Broadway's ImPRESS Press-On Nails

I got these in my Influenster Spring VoxBox and couldn’t wait to try them out. I’m a huge fan of acrylics /gels /fake nails, period; however, I’m not a fan of what it costs to go get them done. ImPRESS Press-On Nails by Broadwayretails anywhere from $4.50-6.99, keeping it budget friendly while still looking like salon work!

The packaging looks like a nail polish bottle, which is a cute idea. You twist off the top, and then open the container to reveal the nails. It comes with 24 nails, and they can last up to a week with easy removal. There’s also a small alcohol wipe included in the package for nail prep.

The color pictured is “Joyride” - which is a slightly richer berry /purple than the picture shows (silly iPhone). They feel fantastic! It’s literally just like I went and got acrylics. The length is great for me, but I naturally like my pinky nails a little longer.

Overall, it’s a fantastic product! I’m definitely going to be repurchasing these in the future.

Just testing!

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