FOTD with some new products

FOTD- I went with a bronzey look. Also, I got my hair trimmed this past monday. The past 2 cuts that I have gotten have been off. Like she doesn't remember how to shape my bangs, grr I think I'm ready to grow them out and sweep to the side. That would be easier.

Here's a close up of ELF- All Over Color Stick in Spotlight. I used it on my cheekbones and on my brow bone. Makes your skin glow!
I just tried Maybelline Dream Mousse in Porcelain Ivory. It felt nice and creamy on my dry skin. Here's my face with just the foundation on. Pretty good coverage. I feel naked without my mascara on! But doesn't my skin look nice?
Products that I used- ELF blush in Fuchsia Fusion, ELF Mascara, ELF brow kit in Light, ELF liquid liner, ELF Concealer, MAC vanilla pigment, MAC blush in Sincere as contour, ELF Studio Eye Transformer in the gold/white as a base, ELF Studio Natural Liner, Revlon Nude Attitude and Sally Hansen Naturals gloss.
This was funny! I knew Violet was watching a Tinkerbelle movie while I was getting ready. When I came out I saw that she had somehow reached an apple off the counter and had almost eaten the entire thing! She said "My tummy was so hungry Mama." She is too precious :)

Wa Wa Wasabi Burgers

This was our dinner last night. It's a very spicy burger, the meat is seasoned with Wasabi and so is the sauce. Our side was baked sweet potato fries. Look at those pretty buns! King's Hawaiian now makes burger/sandwich buns and they were delicious.

Wa Wa Wasabi Burgers-
1 pound lean ground beef
1/8 cup onion powder
1 T. minced garlic
1 tsp. Wasabi paste for meat and 2 T. for sauce
1 T. soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste
4 buns
mayo
pepperjack cheese

Mix together the beef, onion powder, minced garlic, wasabi paste, soy sauce, salt & pepper. Shape into 4 patties. Heat a non stick cooking pan on med-high heat and cook the patties about 4-5 min. per side until cooked through.

Toast your buns! Then mix 2 T. wasabi paste with 2 T. mayo together for the sauce. Spread on each bun. Then build your burger. These burgers DO have kick to them, so beware! My hubby wants to omit the spicy sauce next time for his.

adapted from Jethro Beltran's recipe on AR

NOTD, Lincoln Park After Dark Suede

OPI- Lincoln Park After Dark
Named Best Dark Nail Polish in InStyle's Best of Beauty 2009!

I just love this color and the suede finish is so cool ! I'm sure many of you have tried this color or have seen it somewhere. But I got it for Christmas last year and have not gotten much wear out of it yet. Now that the temps are cooling down I'll be wearing this shade more often. So pretty!

ps. If you want the suede finish, do not put on a top coat!

Guess what?! Disney Villians is up on the MAC site now. I ordered 3 items...Devlishly Stylish and Wicked Ways Lipglass and Bite of an Apple blush.

How to make a Pizza Roll

This is a simple recipe and kids love it too! I found this recipe in my Once a Week cookbook by Joni Hilton. I was able to make one pizza roll for dinner and another to freeze. I could have made a third since 3 bread loafs come in a pack of Rhode's Frozen Bread. I'm slowly adding freezer meals to my fridge to eat when our little one arrives. Otherwise my husband would be content eating Wolf brand Chili from the can and we can't have that!

After you have thawed out your bread loaf. On a floured surface roll your bread dough into a rectangle. Then spread with pizza sauce and sprinkle on your toppings of choice. (I had a cute helper!)

Now roll it up starting at the short end of the dough. It doesn't have to be perfect! The dough is kinda wiggly.

Place the loaf seam side down on a greased baking sheet. Then brush on beaten egg and cut 4 slits in the dough to vent. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

Easy Peasy! Now you can eat it for dinner with a salad. Or you can wrap it tightly in foil and freeze. It's good for 3 months if kept in the freezer.

Cut into slices to serve.
Freezing Instructions- Take out of freezer. Thaw overnight in fridge. Heat in oven, covered, at 300 degrees for 10 minutes. Slice and serve.

My 3 year old thought this was delicious with Ranch, of course!

FOTD and FLIRT Eyeshadow Palette

Wow, I actually put on some eyeshadow today. I've been so sleepy lately and have just been doing liquid liner with mascara and that's on my Good Days! Today I did purples on my eyes and some pink on my cheeks.
Here's the palette I used. I got this at Kohl's last year around Christmas. It has a lot of different colors and is lasting me forever! Looks like I haven't touched it. It's a special edition but I'm sure they will bring out something similar pretty soon for the holidays. It's listed for 30 dollars on Kohl's website but I'm sure I paid 15 or 20 for it.
I'm sorry this is vertical!! I tried and tried to rotate it, bugged me like crazy. Look at all the pretty colors. I put pink hearts on the shades I used. The highlight shade is more pearly white in person.

Some swatches of the colors I used. I used the white as a base and highlight. Then the medium purple in the crease and the darker purple to smudge out my black liner.

(just realized my hand looks huge and hungry! watch out now,lol)

I think this palette is a good deal since your getting 40 wearable colors!

Coco Couture!

Hi Everyone! I wanted to give you guys a peek of items made by my stylish friend Mandy. I have known Mandy since the second grade, a long time! Mandy runs Coco Couture. It's a cute, little shop filled with baby clothes, women's clothing, bags and some home decor. Lots of cute gift ideas there!

Here's a link to her whimsical website, Coco Couture. You can also find her on Etsy. Is it obvious that I love Etsy?!

Hope you all are enjoying this lovely, Fall weekend! We have 2 birthday parties to go to :)

Thanks So Much

Something cool happened this week, I reached 100 followers! That is so neat. I've been writing and sometimes just plain venting on this blog for a while now. I only just started to take into consideration that maybe people were actually reading! And I'm so glad you are, makes it all more fun.

Thank You for stopping by and leaving me nice comments!

(daisy pic from google images)

Chicken Skin

(close up of Keratosis Pilaris)

Do you have Chicken Skin? I do! I have Keratosis Pilaris aka KP on my upper arms. Keratosis Pilaris is redness and bumpiness in the cheeks or upper arms from blocked follicles. Exfoliation can help unblock follicles and alleviate the rough feeling. KP will never go away there are ways to treat it and help it to fade. KP is hereditary although some women experience it during pregnancy. For them it may go away after the baby is born or it may stay with them for life. I have had it since I was a child. Lucky Me!

What to do? You need to exfoliate the area every other day and always keep your skin moisturized. Sunless tan can help the bumps to appear less noticeable. Do not confuse the clogged pores with oily skin. Your pores are clogged because your body is over producing keratin. That is what causes the hard bumps. So, you need to exfoliate to break down the keratin and then put moisture back in.

Odd product that helps is Pure Coconut Oil. Yes, the kind you can cook with! You can find organic coconut oil at a Whole Foods or the like. Apply the oil on at night right after you shower. Blot off any excess with a towel. Use this like you would a lotion.
Here are the products currently working for me! I'm alternating between Yes TO Carrots-Carrot Rich Body Scrub and Sally Hansen Hand Revitaliser with micro crystals. My daily lotion has been St. Ives Replenishing Mineral Therapy.

Yes to Carrots- It's made of carrot seed oil, carrot juice, pumpkin, sweet potato and Dead Sea mud. Massage into skin with warm water for 3 minutes then rinse. I like this but it's a little too gentle to stand against my KP.

Sally Hansen- Hand Revitaliser with micro crystals is made from collagen, vitamins and ceramides. 3 very good things! The "micro crystals" are small bits of pumice stone which I like very much. It's meant for dry patches on the hands but I think it's doing a great job on my arms!
I have been gently rubbing it onto my dry arms and then rinsing away. Feels like it is working.

St. Ives Replenishing Mineral Therapy- It's a light lotion made with 100% natural moisturizers. Feels good on and has a nice scent.

I must say the Coconut Oil helps a lot and I need to go get more soon. That is what I would use prior to my wedding and I was very pleased with the results. For those of you that have this skin disorder I hope my little tips helped!


reference- Milady's Standard Fundamentals for Estheticians. The first 3 pics were from google images.

Friday Update

I hit the third trimester this week, yippee! I'm feeling lazier than usual. I went to visit my parent's house last Sunday and forgot my camera. Feeling lost without it and it makes blogging a challenge.

Lookie what I made last night! A fall wreath. I had never made a wreath before. One of my favorite home decor bloggers, Thrifty Decor Chick inspired me. I'm loving the warm fall colors.

(pic taken with my phone)

Today is my mother in law's birthday. I offered to make her whatever she wanted. So, I'm cooking Shrimp Scampi. I'm also making a "Better than Sex" cake. I've made it before and it's delicious. But I will not be telling her that's what it's called! Gotta come up with something else.

What are y'all up to?!

Some Jordyluxe Love

My sister Jordan has a shop on Etsy. She is so talented and is always thinking up creative art projects. Her latest is these custom cartoons. That's my little family above, love it! I also have one done of just my daughter. I can't wait to get one of my little boy on the way. Jordan also designed my blog header.

Here's a few more examples of pieces she has sold from her shop.

I'm sure she would love for you to give her a visit! Jordyluxe Store

September Wish List

Here's what I have been drooling about lately. I included the prices in US dollars.

1. MAC- Bite of an apple blush, 19.50
2. MAC- Bad Fairy Nail Lacquer, 13.00
3. MAC- Toxic Tale lipstick, 15.50
4. MAC- Fluidline in blacktrack, 15.00
5. MAC- Impassioned lipstick, 14.50
6. MAC- Style blush, 18.50
7. Burt's Bees Royal Jelly eye cream, 15.00

A lot of these products are from the Disney Venomous Villains collection. I can't wait to see them in person! The Bad Fairy polish is gorgeous. Please share your thoughts if you have tried any of these products.

(nail picture and prices found on this blog Temptalia, there are lots of color swatches from the Disney collection)

All different kinds of me

Moulin Rouge Costume, Halloween 2005

Went through a Little Mermaid hair phase, 2006

Lots of bronzer, teal liner and highlights. Summer 2006

"ouchie" pony tail with super straight hair, 2006

Pink! a few months after Violet was born, 2007

Teased hair, 2008

Pin-Up Shoot, 2009

I wanted to try a new makeup look for this post. But I left my camera at my parent's house over the weekend. So, I took a trip down memory lane! It has been so long since I've had highlights.

I really am considering getting it done before my baby is born. I wanna have pretty hair for my baby shower and family pics. My mom laughed at me because I said my goal was to take "cute" hospital pics this time around, funny! Because that will be a challenge. I looked completely exhausted in the pictures of me holding Violet for the first time. What a shallow goal, huh?! Well, I'm kidding....sort of. I think this thought occurs for most mothers. Anyway. Thank You readers that stuck it out for this long picture post!

(all makeup/hair was done by me)
I appreciate all the feedback girls. I find it funny that the most popular picture is the one from 5 years ago. I was thinner, blonde highlights, very fake lashes and my brows were accidentally dyed too dark by a girl from beauty school. Anyway, I just wanted to show how makeup can dramatically change your look!

My Flower Girl

Yay, it's the weekend! My sisters all go to school and work now so weekends are usually when we hangout. Tonight were doing a belated birthday dinner for Jordan since my parents were away on a cruise during her real one. My weekend will involve some cleaning as well and my hubby may be having the guys over to watch football.

Happy Weekend from my little Violet!

Nails of the Week, Grey and Blue

Rimmel Steel Grey- I am really liking this Grey polish trend! This color looks slightly brown in the pic but in real life it's more grey with a purple hue. My Dr. complimented me on this color. Which made me wonder if Doctors can wear nail polish? I'm guessing that wouldn't look very professional unless it was french tips and natural nails.

Opi Play Til Midnight and Sheer Your Toys- I've seen some bloggers doing their nails like this and had to try. It's fun seeing a random color on one nail!

My fingers are looking plumper than usual. I've been trying to drink a gallon of water a day to keep the pregnancy swelling down. My engagement ring does not fit anymore! It's really not that much water though. 8 full glasses is 16 cups so that's not too bad! How much water are you drinking?

Dinosaur Poop

Last weekend Violet and I made Dinosaur Poop Cookies! Also known as No Bake Cookies. But my mom always called them Dinosaur Poop and us kids thought it was funny. Violet looked at me like I was crazy and said "OH no! We don't eat poop". But once they were ready she couldn't wait to share her funny cookies with her daddy and cousin! Sorry if I'm grossing anyone out but once you have a toddler that word will not phase you anymore.

Dinosaur Poop Cookies

Ingredients-
1 stick butter
4 T. cocoa
2 C. sugar
1/2 C. milk
2 1/2 C. quick cooking oats
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 C. peanut butter

Put butter, cocoa, sugar and milk in a saucepan and bring to a full boil. Boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add everything else. Stir well and drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper. Let cool and harden.

I put them in the freezer to cool. I'm too impatient! Enjoy.

Black Cherry Lips

Hi Everyone! I got some much needed rest today. We had a lot of rain so it was nice to curl up in bed. I'm 27 weeks along now. My baby boy is gonna be here before we know it!

It's feeling more and more like FALL. I picked up a dark hue to try. I'm pretty sure this is a very old shade by Revlon. It looks almost black in the tube so I had to check it out. Remember that old Clinique shade? I think it was called Black Cherry as well. Makes me remember being a teen and getting that lipstick in the gift with purchase bag. I quickly swiped it on. My makeup is barely there and not fresh at all. But I think this shade would look beautiful with bronze or gold on the eye.

Revlon Black Cherry- true color, taken with no flash.

Why yes I am wearing a tank top? It's still hot here. Will be 100 one day and 85 the next. That's Texas for ya!

I like it. It's an easy berry shade to wear for these cooler months coming up.

E.L.F. Studio and Covergirl Smokyshadowblast

E.L.F. Haul I received in the mail today! I was super pumped to tear into this and try it all out. I spent 20 bucks for all of this including shipping. That's a good deal right there ;)

I had never tried their Studio brand. Glad I did. I was really impressed with the packaging and the variety of products. I'm going to just focus on a few of these today so this post won't get obsessively long.

Lip Liner in Natural- Very soft texture, easy to apply with a nice brush attached.

Minty Lip Gloss- shade Houston. The scent was nice. Goes on smooth, not sticky. The color is a sheer, dark pink with a bit of glitter in it. I paired it with the lip liner above.
The Primer- goes on lighter than concealer would, not cakey. Good base for lip stick. The Plumping balm smells like cinnamon and tingles. Like!

A little random but I decided to try this out today.

Smokyshadowblast in Purple Plume - I applied the pink first and then the brown in the crease. I thought I would really like this. Since it would be one tool for a smoky eye and I'm always wanting quicker ways to do my makeup. The colors are not what I expected. It's not very purple at all. It's easy to mess up and smear the colors up on your eye and it creases.

As you can see in the pics, my eyes look very plain. Can't really see pink or purple. The pink end did not look good up to my brow bone like the box says to do. So, I used white to highlight.

Face- Revlon Photoready, ELF Complexion Perfection, ELF blush Fuchsia Fusion.

Lips- Houston Minty Lip Gloss

I let my hair dry naturally since I just had a lazy day of lunch and Hobby Lobby with my sister. I did flat iron my bangs because they just look weird curly!

Happy Weekend!