Snow Cream!!!

As a good southern woman, I always get myself to the store when there's snow in the forecast for the standard eggs, bread, and milk.

And apparently lots of fruit.

What in the world?!?! I guess I'm trying to bring some tropical vibes into our house. And some much needed vitamin c. 

I also got the fixins for pasta fagoli (blog post on that soon!) and sugar so we can make snow cream! 

Wanna know how we make it???  First, gather a big bowl of clean snow.... How do you make sure it's clean, you ask? Gather it from an elevated surface like an outdoor table.

Add 2 cups of milk (maybe more depending on how much snow you get) a cup of sugar, and a tablespoon of vanilla.... 

Mix until super creamy and yummy.  I ended up adding more milk (about 1/2 cup) to get it juuuuuust right.

Dish it out and enjoy!

I dish out the leftovers and pop it in the freezer for later.

I hope you are staying warm and cozy on this snowy day! :)

Thankful Thursday #3

I've been thinking an awful lot lately about unanswered prayers... or rather, prayers that were answered, but not in my way.  I've prayed for God to do many, many things in my life.  And I don't mind being very specific with God, letting Him know exactly in detail how I think He should answer my prayer... Yah... I can be super selfish.

But thankfully, God doesn't always give me my way.  I was thinking this week about what if God had given me everything I'd ever prayed for... I would likely not have any of the blessings I currently have in my life.  Would I be married?  Maybe... but probably not to Brian.  Would I have children?  Yes... but likely not the two amazing ones I ended up with.  There's no telling what in the world I'd be doing for a living... I've prayed so many employment prayers it's not even funny :).  If God had answered one of those early prayers about what I wanted to be when I grew up I'd be a pretty crappy Astronaut or Neurosurgeon  (math and science are NOT my thing :)).

Is my life perfect?  No.  Not at all.  But, I love my life.  I love all the amazing people God's placed around me and the crazy, unbelievable opportunities He's given me.  I remember in college, when I'd changed my major for the 6th time in 4 years (yes, I'm one of those people), how I hated having to pick one thing and make that my career.  I don't think I ever verbalized what I wished for into a prayer, but I longed to be able to do all the things I enjoyed doing without having to pick just one.  Would you believe in the past year of my life, I've seen that wish come true?  I get to make graphics and tinker around with nerdy web stuff, I sell things on Ebay, I got to coordinate a wedding and had a BLAST doing it, I organized events for our church, I'm finally writing again (yay blog!)--something I've loved to do my whole life, and I've gotten to learn more about makeup artistry and test out my skills on some super sweet people. It's crazy.  And I have an amazing husband who is my biggest cheerleader and has always made it possible (financially, physically, and mentally :)) for me to do whatever I want to do. Man, I'm blessed.

So this week, I'm so thankful for all the times God's not let me have my way... His plan rules.  :)

STRESSED

Stress is not my friend... Really, is stress anyone's friend?  Who comes home from work and says, "Today was a stressful day!!! YAY!!!!"

Stupid stress with its stupid stress-inducing ways.

Stress happens to all of us from time to time, but we don't have to let it rob our joy or get us down.

So, here are five ways you can give ol' stress a punch in the gut and keep your cool :):

• MUSIC.  Crank those speakers up and throw on some Jamie Grace or MercyMe (links of some of their amazing songs are provided for you... you're welcome). Sing as loud as you can, even if no one wants to hear you sing.  And dance... even if you look like a fool... Bust it.  Feel that stress melting away... ah.... 
• Make crazy selfies (or usies as they are calling them now) with your kids.  

The girl got braces today... Look at that cuteness!

• Eat some chocolate. Or a lot of chocolate.  Oh, chocolate... you are my friend.  But don't eat too much or then you'll stress about how long it will take you to burn that off at the gym :)
• Watch some funny videos online... This is a good one :).

Kid Snippets: Math Class

• Pray... Actually, do this before you do any of the above... If there is anyone who gets stress better than anyone, it's Jesus.  He's been there... and He wants to be there for you.  So let it out... tell Him all about it and feel the peace that can only come from our Heavenly Father.

If today was stressful, I'm sorry... I'm praying that tomorrow is full of laughter and good news for you :). 

Best Beauty Bargains--Wet n' Wild Walking on Eggshells

It's no secret, I love makeup.  LOVE.  And I love finding a bargain... So when I discover something that's a good dupe (makeup lingo for duplicate) for a higher-end makeup item, I get super excited!

My number one most recommended item to friends is the Wet n' Wild Color Icon Trio in 380 B Walking on Eggshells.

You can pick up this bad boy for a whopping $2.99 at Walgreens, CVS, or Walmart.  The shadows are so velvety and the color payoff is amazing.  It's an amazing bang for your buck.  But, the best part?  These shades are amazing dupes for some of my favorite shades from the Urban Decay Naked Palette (retail $52).  Let's take a look:

On the left I've swatched the eyelid shade from the Wet n' Wild Trio, and on the right I've swatched Urban Decay's Sin.  Impressed?  Let's keep going.

Here I've swatched the Crease shade (left) and Urban Decay's Smog.  Smog shows up a bit more metallic, but the Wet n' Wild is still a good substitute.

Now we're looking at the Browbone shade from Wet N' Wild (left) and Urban Decay's Virgin.


I've seen on Pinterest that these shades are exact dupes for Mac's Shroom, Cork, and Naked Lunch.  Those shadows run around $15 each, or $45 for all three... Insane.

So, are you running out the door to buy your Wet n' Wild Walking on Eggshells yet?

How I Clean My Makeup Brushes

Those who know me, know I can be a bit of a germaphobe.  I love bleach. And anything with "antibacterial" written on it.  And when I think about how many germs my makeup brushes collect on a daily basis, I squirm.  So, I wash my brushes once a week.  And if I'm doing makeup for someone, I always clean them before and after.  But, if cleaned improperly, brushes can be easily damaged or destroyed.

So, here's how I clean them and keep them in good condition :).

Here's what you need:

• Makeup brushes (duh!)
• Hand Towel
• Paper towels
• Olive Oil
• Dawn Dish Soap (original)

Start by gathering your brushes, a hand towel, and a couple paper towels folded into squares (the square part is optional... it's just what I do :)) and head to your sink.

Grab your favorite olive oil and pour about a Tbsp onto one of the paper towel squares.

Rub your brushes over the olive oil, onto the paper towel.

It will start to look gross.

The olive oil breaks down the product on the brush and the friction of rubbing it on the paper towel removes a lot of it from the brush.

Set your brush aside and move on to the next brush. 

When you have rubbed all of your brushes over the olive oil paper towel, then it's time to wash them in dawn to remove the olive oil and remaining product.

On the larger face brushes, put a dab of Dawn on the brush and wash the brush under the water, kinda like washing your hair... just be gentle and don't the water get past the metal on the brush... If water gets under there, it could dissolve the glue that holds it to the handle and make it fall off... Not cool.  

When all the soap is out of the brush, squeeze out the excess water and shape the brush like so.

Use your clean paper towel squeeze out some moisture.

Place it flat on the hand towel to dry.

For the smaller eye brushes, I just put some dawn in my hand and run several of them over my hand, under the water and let the soap work on the brushes.

Just make sure they all get thoroughly rinsed.  Squeeze out the excess water and shape them, then place back on the towel to dry. 

It's best to let these dry overnight before using them.

And my brushes are mega cheapies.  Most of them are Elf Studio or Sonja Kashuk (you can get these at Target), but by properly taking care of them, they have lasted for years.  I very much want a Sigma or Real Techniques complete brush set... someday :).

Weekly Highlights #2

It's Sunday again, which means it's time for my weekly highlights!

1.  Aquaphor. Sort of a boring highlight, but a truly necessary one. My skin is hating all this dry, cold air... Everyone in our house is suffering from cracked, dry hands... No fun. So, I've been making everyone use a generous amount of aquaphor before bed and we are starting to improve! 

2.  On the subject of dry skin, my face has been mega dry lately and my normal facial wash is just drying my face too much... So, I looked through my stash and found my Estée Lauder Soft Clean Tender Creme Cleanser and my face did a happy dance... It feels like a lotion that you wash with... Kinda weird at first... But when I rinse, my skin feels so soft and clean. Love love love it!

3.  The Sweet Clementine Candle and Hand Soap from Bath and Body Works... Smells like I just busted open a cutie... Or halo... Or whatever we are calling them these days. So clean and fresh and makes me think of spring and summer... Which I cannot wait for--so done with winter! 

4.  Chai Spice Tea from Stash.  I love a chai latte... Especially this time of year... Yummy warm goodness in my cup as I cuddle up on the couch and read a good book... Ah. Love it.  I just heat some water, steep the tea in my fave mug, heat up some half and half on the stove and add it to the mug along with sugar and honey and voilà! Starbucks has nothing on my chai latte... 

5.  Revlon Colorstay Long Wear Nail Enamel in 050 Passionate Pink... Have you noticed the "I dislike winter" theme to today's post? Well, I do. And this polish was one of my faves last summer so it makes me think of the beach and vacation and flip flops and green grass... Ahhhh.... So I just popped it on my nails tonight :).  

6.  This week, I fell back in love with my Urban Decay Vice 2 palette after doing a fun green smoky eye... Oh, this palette and it's many happy colors. I mostly use the bottom row because they are safe, neutral shades... But all the colors are truly wearable if blended correctly. Endless possibilities :).

Here's hoping the 58 days until spring fly by!  Have a great week!!! :)

I like big jewelry, and I cannot lie . . .

Oh yeah, I do...

Just look at these necklaces.  They're so big they don't fit in my jewelry armoire, so I have to hang them from a command hook on my wall...

I can wear the most drab shirt ever and throw one of these babies on and BABAM!  Instantly, I look like I tried to look cute.  It's magic.

 

 

 

Having a craptastic hair day?  No prob... Throw that mop up in a ponytail and put on some of these big earrings and SHAZAM!

Glamorous.


Want some arm candy?

Ah, yah... Now we're looking tight.


If you're in the market for some awesome jewelry, check out Jewelry Habit Auctions... I've gotten many of the items pictured from them.  Super cute stuff!!!