Beauty Faves Part 1

So this blog is pretty much about everything...I've tried to do blogs about one thing only and got bored, so this one is going to mix it up. As you can see from my old posts when I first started the blog, I definitely blogged about anything and everything...

Today's blog was supposed to be a summary of my weekend but I have chalked my weekend up to "sucky" for lack of a better term, so beauty products, here we come!

So today's post is about some favorites of mine. I don't try new products too often, but I've tried a few lately that I really like. And they are each under $7!

1. These face wipes are the best I've tried over everything. They are 98% natural (don't ask me about the other 2%, I have no idea!) They make my face feel very clean when I don't feel like washing in the sink or showering. They smell ok too - a little perfumey but that goes away quickly. (maybe that's the 2%?) My mom always handed me a cucumber peel to wipe my face with when she would peel cucumbers and it always felt cool and refreshing. And - these wipes get off mascara, people!

2. This scrub is to die for.I have tried a lot of scrubs, both handmade and store bought, expensive and cheap. This is the best.
The scent - I like it a lot. It is beachy and tropical but light and doesn't leave you reeking. There are several scents but I like Coconut Lime the best. Plus I use my body wash after.
The scrub - exfoliates so well and does NOT leave any residue. I have spent a lot more on a scrub only to leave the shower feeling like an oil slick. I have also had homemade that made me feel that way.
The ingredients - With things like Coconut, Shea Butter, Evening Primrose, Almond, Avocado, and Orange oils, I feel pretty good about using it on my skin. This scrub rocks. The body butter is also fabulous and I use it often. Family - expect a scrub or lotion in your Christmas bag especially if you have not already gotten one before!

3. This conditioner is very inexpensive and made my hair feel really soft. It's like $3-$4 at my local grocery store. Smell is ok, typical hair product sort of smell, and similar to other Aussie products I've tried. and the squeeze bottle means no more prying it open in the shower, just squeeze out and apply!

4. I tried this for use between hair cuts and I use it daily now. (or whenever I wash and style) It really seems to keep my hair in good shape, and I LOVE the smell. not sure what it is but it smells SO GOOD to me! and it lasts a long time - I have very thick hair and only need one pump each time.

5 Last but not least, my very favorite summertime body spray. I don't use in the winter, it is very light and refreshing and in the winter I prefer to use Coco Mademoiselle or whatever appeals to me. I use the deodorant and well which has more cucumber scent to it. This does not, it is very faint and mostly smells like "green tea" or something...It's funny, I have two cucumber based scents on here and I really don't like the smell of cucumber...!

A Few of My Favorite Things - Kitchen

I decided that for the next few weeks I'm going to post now and then about things in a room in my house that I love. I have a pretty small place so I think the posts will be short. :) But I try to decorate with things I love and my husband loves, and make our house a home.

First off, I have to mention this:

I've recently tried to drink coffee again (I say "try" because I love it but no matter what it always gives me the jitters) so we got this at the store for creamer. It is delicious. And it was on sale.

I love, love, love my cookbooks. I rarely use them but love and appreciate them and it's one of my favorite things about the kitchen.

This is on a small wall in the kitchen under the cabinets. My mom and I both got one during a difficult time in our lives. Sometimes I have to re-read it when I am going through a hard time with someone or something and it all makes sense.

I woke up in a great mood this morning...no idea why...but was super excited to have blog comments and then I was thinking of crafty things to put on my blog, and fall, and this candle came to mind. I know it is mid summer and I haven't even gone on vacation but I am CRAVING fall. i am not too much of a fruity smells person but have been lately for some reason. But this one smells like Wildberry Skittles which are my favorite, and makes it smell divine in here. Unfortunately it is super strong and even with mild asthma I feel like my whole face and chest are closing in on me...so I have to blow it out soon. :(

This is my last favorite kitchen thing but maybe the most important. It hangs on the side of the shelf that holds the cookbooks, above our keys to see each day before we leave.

What are some of your favorite things that make your house a home?

My First High Five for Friday

This Friday took forever to be over so there is not much "High Fiving" here...but still, it was a Friday. Some of my favorite things from the week:

Lots of much needed rain!

 

D spotted this Gray Tree Frog...he's in a tree next to our pond, and he's pretty cool.

I got my iPhone and it's about stinkin' time. I have wanted one for a while (that's an understatement, I've been walking around the house jokingly asking where I put my iPhone as if one would magically appear) and my Blackberry finally kicked the bucket. It was almost time for my upgrade so I sweet talked Verizon into letting me get the discounted price and upgrading early. I really like it! I also got the Otterbox case today to keep it safe.

I made my own Big Mac sauce today...no exact recipe but went by something I saw online...was pretty tasty!

And finally:

This little booger that was supposed to be an outside kitty snuggled up with me. I do miss snuggle time.

Check out Lauren's blog and create your own High Five for Friday posts!

Painting over old memories

So, it's been a while since I've done anything around my house creative. I've been wanting to paint something slate blue FOR-EVER and then sort of let it go...then I went to the dentist the other day and voila! The perfect color was surprisingly the color of my dentist's bathroom and waiting room. They have great colorful slate, and the walls are painted the perfect slate blue to match. Melissa, the receptionist, said everyone asks for the color. It is Behr Premium in Juniper Ash. To.Die.For. So I let go of my old dining room color...my old stand-by, the red wine red look. Always had compliments on it, but it is time for a change. It was the first room I painted when we moved in, and the last for me to repaint. And I like to paint. A second, third, or even a fourth time. I can't actually say I LIKE painting. I like the idea of things being a different color and I'm too cheap to hire our professional-painter-neighbor. Plus my little "foyer" table and mirror are black, the decorations on the table are black and white, I have black sconces...well, you get the picture. So I had some great shots I took made, (In black and white, of course) and I'm going to be putting them in a funky looking large frame. Black and white and blue look so great together.

A little scary at first...

But I've gotta say, this brand covers GREAT. I used it in my living room in gold and it was fan-tab-u-lous, but to cover red in two coats? Phish.

And it's still a little shiny, but here's the result:

I just need to let it dry and put my dining room back together, and post that later.

Here are some of the pics I took that are going in the funky frame:

I've got some more but I want to go rest. Phew! That was hard work, but I am so satisfied. An even if I wasn't, it's done now, and I am NOT repainting!


I am loving it more each time I look at it.

Lately

Ohboyohboyohboy...it has a been a long time since I've posted on here. I have missed it. So what have I been up to lately?


Well, not much really. Just the usual...we had a lovely Christmas.

We spent Christmas Eve at Grandma's House...

 Then went down to my mom's house and visited there with my stepbrother Shane and Stepsister Tammy.

 The next day we went to Dustin's other grandparents' house and then that afternoon had my Dad over and cooked for him.

We had SNOW on Christmas Day!

AMAZING! That has never happened in my lifetime.
Then it snowed again on my mom's birthday! The pic below is from her party. Then we played out in the snow next day! Even got to sled!

My mom's dog Heidi (the German Shepard) and my dog Samantha loved it!

 (We did too. That's my mom and me sledding!)

Let's see, what else?
My sister, Kelly had a little girl - Kayla Grace! January 25, 2011.

Other than that I've just been working at my favorite place...Yankee Candle! They kept me past seasonal and I'm a permanent part-time employee! It works out great for me. Everyone I work with is wonderful and I love smelling the candles!

That's all for now. I'll have to update again soon! I promise!

Kitchen Redo - It's all I can talk about!

OK Homies. So I may be a little unrealistic about what I want out of this kitchen that we will move out of in a couple years. I'm imagining something like this:

That's basically the colors that we will use...I went to Home Depot and got the paint the other day...I'm itching to paint but we have a few minor things to do first. I have "mudded" like three-fourths of the walls to cover all the old trim boo-boos and nail holes that I just painted over before because I am lazy  had pneumonia last time I painted the kitchen and really didn't feel like messing with it. Yes, PNEUMONIA. I got bored.

Anywho. I am still debating on painting the cabinets dark. We (I) picked out a dark chocolate brown since the step-dad wasn't groovin' on the black, and I must say, I think it will work. But I'm a little nervous...the kitchen isn't tiny, but isn't huge either so I don't want to feel boxed in. Another issue is that the cabinet doors are well, not in the greatest shape, and sometimes painting things dark brings out the imperfections. BUT, I'm thinking if I sand and do a really good job, get some new hardware like this:

And this for the doors:

And some new hinges since lazy clumsy Lori painted over the old ones...then it might look pretty darn good for mobile home cabinets.

So, more pics to come as things move along...I can't wait to put down the new floor and get the walls painted. *squeal*

 

Kitchen Redo Part 1

Nothing stresses me out like a mess. And that's what our house is right now from this kitchen redo. A hot mess. The mess has overflowed from the kitchen into the dining room, living room, and anywhere else the mess needed to be moved to in order to get this kitchen done. I am so lucky that we went to my Dad-in-law's girlfriend's house last night for dinner and she sent us home with lots of leftovers, because I don't think I'll be doing any cooking for a WHILE...

Exhibit A:

Oh, Lordy. That is (was) my dining room with my kitchen island, trash can, and other kitchen items chunked in it. I nearly had a coronary when I walked in this afternoon.

Yes, those are boobie and bootie salt and pepper shakers on top of that island...just wanted to clarify that I don't collect nude sculptures, but I DO collect salt and pepper shakers. They were too good to pass up. I found them in Panama City Beach one year (where else, really?) and found them wildly hilarious.

So anyway, back to the kitchen. The original plan was to redo the floor in our ancient mobile home because it had warped with all the humidity and running of the new giganda air conditioner this past summer. Although, being me, Miss Never-Satisfied, I started observing all the cracks and trim and other things on the walls that needed to be redone, so...we are now doing that as well. But I'll have to post on that later.

Here is my floor all torn up, being prepped to put in new, clean, un-warped new wood:

In mobile homes, (especially old ones) everything is done...well, weird. I am installing a dimmer in my living room for the recessed light that shines on the fireplace and am lucky that it was a "normal" light switch. I'll have to post on that when I do it, too, and show you what I mean.

 Anyway, sorry for my ADD. Here is a shot of the floor after the "fixed" wood is put in:

We are only fixing the warped part because the rest of the floor is in pretty good shape, ever after like 20 years. Tomorrow Dustin will putty the cracks, sand it down, paint a coat to help the floor tiles stick, and we will start on putting down the new floor.

Which is fab, by the way. It is linoleum tiles that look like parquet, or wood, flooring.

We went with those because this place is not an actual house and will probably be demolished one day if we sell off the land. But these tiles were cheaper than some of the stone ones I looked at! And they will be a breeze to clean, which I will do immediately upon placement. :)

OK one more pic for the evening. This one is a shot of the kitchen wall color, called Soothing Green Tea. At first it looked nice but now I call it "Exorcist Pea Soup Green".  I want more of a sage-y greenish gray which I have seen in some high-dollar homes and was very inspired by. I felt a little crazy creative when I walked in and decided to start ripping off the old trailer "trim".

I can't wait for a trip to Home Depot tomorrow with the landlord...AKA the Mom, to pick out new paint (I've already found Soft Sage and Frosted Pine, which both look kinda like my expensive inspiration kitchens) and maaaaaybe get some under cabinet lighting if I'm lucky. I'd love to paint the cabinets black and then have that lighting...ohhhh...yeeeeaaaahhhh....but the landlord (step-dad half) is not too thrilled about the black. Of course, he also asked my mom what color they are now, and didn't realize I'd painted them white 3 years ago...hmmm.