Mascara and Lip Gloss Swap!

I am so excited to share this with you! This is my first swap and I couldn't have had more fun picking out things to send to my partner, Ashlee of On The Front Porch! There was a $20 limit, and I still went over the limit because I just couldn't NOT send her that last lip gloss! It was too pretty of a color!

Ashlee is such a doll, and I have been reading her blog nonstop since we got paired up! It's also a plus that we have similar color schemes for our blogs, and that makes her that much more awesome! I'm so glad that we got to meet and start to get to know each other! Check her out!

Here is what she sent me:

Covergirl Wetslicks Fruit Spritzers Lip Gloss in Fig Splash: The color is nice, but it's a little too light for my skintone, and the smell gave me an instant headache! But, I love and swear by these lipglosses so I know they're a great product! Maybelline New York Baby Lips Lip Balm in Quenched: I love the way this feels on my lips when I apply it, and the fact that it has 8 hour moisture and SPF 20 makes this chapstick my new Blistex Silk and Shine! (love that stuff - it really does feel like silk!) P&G (which I think is still Covergirl) Lashblast Volume in black brown: I love CG mascara! It's the only one that doesn't make my eyes irritated (I am a contact lens wearer) This one does not disappoint! =) She also sent me a cute pencil case/makeup bag by Sonia Kashuk. Super cute! This was so fun! I definately will do this again soon!

A Few Random Things About Me

Before I begin, I apologize for any mispelled words or capitalization errors. I am typing this on my cell phone.
So, I've seen a few other bloggers doing this, and I actually have a few good quirks about me, so I thought I would join in.
Here are a few random things you don't know about me!
After I shower the FIRST thing I do is rub my face with the towel. It's the best feeling in the world!
I have always slept with one leg out from under the covers. My Dad calls it my thermometer!
I repeat myself by moving my lips after saying something sometimes to make sure I said it the right way. Its a bad habit I have had since I was a kid.
I have an obsession with people spelling my name wrong, especially on Facebook. I mean c'mon! It's right there in front of you!! Ugh.
I am also a spelling and grammar nazi in general. I often find myself proofreading things without meaning to. I actually got so frustrated at a book one time with its constant context and grammar errors that I stopped reading!
I hate the smell of horseradish, but love wasabi. I wonder which one is actually spicier? Is that even a word?
My second toes are longer than my first toes. My daughter also has the unfortunate gene. I think it makes our feet look wierd.
Speaking of feet, for the longest time I couldn't wear flip flops. Not because I didn't like them but because I couldn't keep my first two toes together and kept falling out of them. Which is a problem because...
I am VERY clumsy. I have a very warped sense of distance, and I often find random bruises on me and have no idea how or where I got them. I am also a bigger person, so I tend to say "excuse me, I'm so sorry for running into you a lot."
There you have it! Tell me something about you! Leave a comment telling me one of your quirks =)
Oh and just for fun, and because all I have are cell phone pictures right now, here's a pic of Natalie in her birthday outfit =)

Well crap.

Today and yesterday have been two of "those" days.

You know the ones where you leave the house for your daughter's first birthday party and think, "This is not good, something is going to get chewed up while we are gone."

Yep. Happened to me. I have photographic evidence but I'll get to that in a minute.

So, today Hubby and I were discussing the fact that we can't get through the month without some emergency come up. And I think my exact words were "Please God, just let us get through one month without having to drop two hundred dollars on something last minute."

Ugh.

Yeah, so I went to blog tonight, having left the computer on the side table in the living room. It won't turn on. It won't even light up. Instead it decides to spew a warning siren at me that sounds a lot like "You're freakin screwed!"

Which is why I am now blogging from my phone. (oh goodie!)

Which is why there will be no pictures. (oh joy!)

Which is why I am currently freaking out, because that computer kinda has my daughter's entire LIFE IN PICTURES ON IT!!!

::insert sad, bored, pissed face here::

Why oh why did I open my big fat mouth???

On My Heart...

Lately, I have been thinking alot about what I want to be when I "grow up." Yes, I am almost 28 years old, and still don't have a "career" to speak of. Let me recap:

I recieved my Associate's Degree in Medical Transcription in 2005. Searched for a job online for over a year. Finally got a local job doing work for ONE doctor in a local nursing home. The director or said nursing home wouldn't let me offer my services to the other doctors working there. I was only making about $20.00 a week. So I quit.

Found another job online, which was using archaic software (who even uses the F keys anymore??!!?) and they wouldn't help me learn how to navagate their system. I typed up one document for them. THREE CENTS. I quit, right then and there.

So, I got my insurance license and was an Allstate agent for two years. Loved it, hated the sales goals (way outta my reach, unattainable so I never got my commission) and eventually I moved on from that job as well.

I am back to serving, which I have been doing off and on since I was 17 years old. Nowhere to go in a job like this, unless you want the drama of management, which I don't want to deal with.

So now I am enrolled in an online school for my Pharmacy Technician degree, which I think I will like. The only thing is....


It's not what I want to do.


I have always been told "Find a job that makes you happy, because if you don't you won't want to get up in the morning." I totally feel like that now. I have a severe love/hate relationship with my job right now. I love the customers, my regulars, and I'm good at what I do and I enjoy the actual serving part of my job. I can't stand the drama of a restaurant. Everyone always in bad moods, constantly getting screwed over, no seniority/paying of "dues" even though I had to "pay" mine, etc. etc. etc.

I'm not sure that I'm going to love my job when I become a pharmacy technician. I think that I will like it, but I don't think I would love it.


But...


I would love to be a photographer, professionally. I think I'm pretty good, although I have no proof other than a few photos of my kid and some flowers. I don't have a decent camera, and so I don't know if I consider myself "up to par." But, I think I could learn, and I think I could be good. It will probably be something that I will eventually do on the side a few years down the road.

An idea that I have been playing around with lately is opening my own Etsy shop. I searched on that website, and there are a lot of people who sell the same thing I am interested in making, but I have a ton of ideas in my head that are slightly different from everything that is on there at the moment.

Photo courtesy of SlyRaven on Etsy

I am thinking about making bracelets. All different kinds - beaded ones, knotted ones, wrapped ones, ones with charms, ones with patterns, cuffs, dainty bracelets, EVERYTHING!

The only thing I need? Embroidery floss, and interest. I casually mentioned it to the girls at work tonight and they said that if I made them they would buy them from me. I'm thinking about starting out with custom work and once I get some "themed" ones made and photographed offering those PLUS any bracelet customized in any colors they want.

So, what do you think? It's been on my heart a lot lately, and in my mind bouncing around. Every time I think about it I start to get excited and nervous...now...

What do I call it?????? (HA! Any of you who have read for a while know that I can't seem to stick to a title for my blog, so how am I going to name my shop!!) The enternal debate begins!!!

Linking up here:

Influenster Mom VoBox2012

DISCLAIMER: I recieved these products complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster.

I posted this photo on Instagram a few weeks ago, and since them I have been giving the products a go.

1. Ivory soap - I grew up with this bar of soap and know it well. It has a clean, fresh scent, and it's a great bar. Unfortunately, I am partial now to liquid soap, and would probably have used it if there was a way to get it from a bar to a liquid. I didn't really research it, but I doubt it's possible. And I just don't like the way a bar leaves residue EVERYWHERE.

All in all a good product.

2. imPRESS-on Manicure by Broadway Nails - I'll admit, I've been wanting to try these since I saw the commercial for them thinking that they were more like the nail polish strips. Unfortunately, they are the plastic press ons that we all love to hate. Plus, I got a horribly ugly color. I will probably use the coupon and get at least one more set, but I have to say I was only mildly impressed.

A good product for people who like press ons. I was fortunately blessed with decent nails, and don't need them.

3. Stash Superfruits Tea Sampler -  I honestly read the side of the package and was afraid to try half of these teas. They have exotic fruits in them, and most of them just intimidated me. I actually really liked the Acai Berry one, however. Unfortunately, I am not a big tea drinker so I have only tried two of them, and didn't like the Goji Berry one.

Hit or miss on this product.

4. Quaker Soft Baked Oatmeal Raisin Cookie - I heart BIGTIME oatmeal raisin cookies and this one did NOT disappoint! You can't ever go wrong with a soft, chewy oatmeal raisin cookie! There was just enough ratio of sweetness, oatmeal and raisin.

A winner in my book!

5. Dentek Flossers Floss Picks - I love these things, and have known about them since I was a kid, but I didn't think that they still made them! So easy to use, no cutting off the circulation on your fingers from wrapping floss around them, easy to get in between your teeth, the perfect amount of floss to clean with.

All around a great product!


I thoroughly enjoyed this first voxbox and I am looking forward to many more!

On a last note, I have to say that all opinions are my own and do not reflect Influenster or any of the companies in any way. I was not compensated, I am simply spreading the word! =)

Have a great day everyone!