My brief adventure into vlogging

Hey guys, sorry I haven't blogged in a while, I had a busy weekend followed by a buy week at work and it all just kinda left me tired and lazy. I'm back now and you can look forward to a Mommy Monday blog post! Here is a little video explaining my exploration into vlogging, inspired by Vlogger Fair! You can read about my experience at Vlogger Fair here and you can read about what my obsession with YouTube and vlogs here

 

Vlog as defined on Urban Dictionary:

A video log. A journalistic video documentation on the web of a person's life, thoughts, opinions, and interests. A vlog can be topical and timeless, instructional and entertaining. The main thread is trying to communicate on a personal level with your audience.

 

 

The video is kinda long, you could probably stop watching at the 5 minute mark!

Let me know if you think I should try out vlogging more cause I'm just not sure about it.

Beauty Wise Wednesday: May Ipsy Bag review

Well it has been just about a month since I got my May Ipsy bag. I have been using all the products throughout the month so that I could give you all my honest opinion of them. If your new to my blog. Ipsy bags are a monthly subscription where I pay $10 and I get a bag in the mail monthly filled with beauty "samples". I say that with quotations because more often than not you get full sized products.
Without further ado, here are my thoughts on the May Ipsy bag!

Product #1: Pacifica Coconut Crushed Pearl Luminizing Body Butter 2fl oz: Sells on their website for $7.00

Product Description: Shimmer and glow with coconut oil, pearls and sea minerals; ultra-nourishing tropical phytonutrients.
Coupon: 20% off on the Pacifica web site
Review: I love this lotion!!! the smell is so perfect for summer and I love having the slight
shimmer. Just makes my arms glow when I wear it. I really am going to buy something from the Pacifica web site one of these days. I know I would just love their candles!

 Product #2: Pacifica Island Vanilla Perfume Roll-on .33fl oz. This is a full sized product that sells for $12 on their website.

Product Description: From their website: Sensual blend sets sweet and sultry vanilla absolute, with honey-jasmine notes and a touch of fruitiness, against a deep and beautiful base of tea.
Coupon: Same as product #1
Review: This is a very yummy perfume! the scent is very warm and kinda sexy. My only complaint is that it doesn't seem to roll out much so I really need to roll out for a bit to feel like I'm getting anything that people would be able to smell on me. I typically start by rolling it on my wrists and then once I've gotten the roller started I'll roll it on my neck/behind my ears. 

Product #3: Juice Beauty Lip Gloss in Champagne .14oz. This is half the size of the gloss they sell on their web site so it's worth about $7.50.

 

Product Description: From the website: This Reflecting Gloss will give your lips the most brilliant shine on earth. The combination of antioxidant-rich berries, minerals and sweet agave will wrap your lips in radiant color
Coupon: 20% off on the Juice Beauty web site
Review: This product I think is all natural and you can totally taste the fruits it is made with. It's not sticky at all (just a little grainy) The color is very subtle which I like. I have used this on it's own and over my lip stain. I love it, I just need to remember to re-apply it because it obviously doesn't last too long.

Product #4: Yaby concealer refill in the color Buff. This seems to be a full sized refill that they sell on their website for $4.85

The color looks paler that it really is.

Product Description: No real description available but a concealer doesn't really need much describing.
Coupon: 20% off the Yaby website
Review: I'm pretty excited about this product. I just might have found my new concealer. I love how thick it is! it goes on very smooth and I feel like it doesn't end up looking cakey like other concealers I have tried. I will probably be buying this as my permanent concealer in the future.

Product #5: Zoya nail polish in the color Jacqueline. This is a full sized product that sells on their website for $8.00.

Product Description:  Light creamy beige has slight warm undertones and a glossy crème finish.
Coupon: Buy 2 get 1 free on the Zoya website
Review: So I traded my Jacqueline cream color of Neely which is a pastel/mint green color. It went on very smoothly, didn't take too long to dry and lasted for over a week with only minor chips and of course grow out. I got more compliments on this nail polish than I ever have on any other nail polish. I just love the color!

Once again Ipsy has given us an amazing bag filled with products I love!! My only complaint is that I went to buy from these companies after trying out the products for the month and the coupon codes had already expired. I really think they need to keep the coupon does good for at least two months because we need time to try out the products to decide if we really want to buy something or not.

 

Mommy Monday: Sloane's first trip to the zoo

Sorry this blog is a day late. We had so much fun in the sun yesterday at the zoo that I just had no energy to blog about it when we got home. My co-worker asked to switch shifts so I had the day off and it looked like the day with the best weather this week so I had to take advantage!

Sloane and I visited the grandparents in the morning until Mat got off work. It's so nice to have them around and they so love having her over at their place. I have to admit I was a bit worried about having her over at their place because of *personal reasons but so far it seems to be going OK, they watch her a couple of times a month when we need someone.

Once Mat got home from work I gathered a lunch for us and we headed our way to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. Sloane had already had two naps for the day but she still fell asleep on the car
ride to the zoo so we ended up having to bring in her car seat instead of just putting her in the stroller.

 

This is something I won't be at future visits. Sloane had to pull herself forward in the seat to be able to see anything and she didn't like that.

We arrived at the zoo and went straight for the elephants because we read that it was time to feed them. It cost $5 per person to feed so we opted out of that since Sloane was probably too young and might get too freaked out. We then decided we wanted to eat our lunch first thing so we headed to find a place to sit and eat.

 

We found a concession stand with tables which was perfect cause we needed something to drink. It was nice cause they had high chairs for us to use so Sloane was happy she was able to sit at the table with us. After eating, putting on a sun hat and sun screen and getting Sloane's diaper change it was time to take on the zoo.

First stop was the penguins! Sloane was able to stand right up to the glass and see under the water as the penguins swam by. She was especially interested in the waves the enclosure created. There was also a fountain of water that Sloane was a little frightened of at first but then decided it was pretty fun after figuring it out.


The rest of the zoo was a blast. We tried out best to get Sloane to see all the animals but there were some she just couldn't see or wasn't interested in looking at. Her favorite two animals she saw I think were the fruit bats (gross) and the kangaroo.

She also enjoyed seeing all the animal sculptures and other toys she could play with. It was also nice that she can stand up while holding onto things cause I think that made she enjoy the zoo that much more.

 

Unfortunately we didn't get a membership this trip cause Mat wasn't sure if we would be back but I think it would be nice to have a membership cause Sloane and I could go just anytime we wanted to get outside.

*this part I has been changed to protect privacy. 

Vlogger Fair!!

I've mentioned in past blogs that I enjoy watching daily vlogs (video blogs) on YouTube, but my obsession went to a whole new level yesterday.  Sloane and I were able to convince my friend Tara to join us at Vlogger Fair and we were so thankful cause she made a great photographer, lol.

We picked Tara up at 8:45am cause I wanted to make sure we arrived early enough to see one of my favorite vloggers Judy who was scheduled to be there at 10am (she ended up running late). We arrived just before 10am and we a little lost when we first arrived. We were a little lost at first because no vloggers that I follow had arrived yet and there were fewer booths than I expected. We passed time at the Yelp booth by checking in to their app. to get free sun glasses and then taking a fun picture (I wonder if they uploaded them cause ours was too cute)

The first vlogger that I recognized arrived; Joey Graceffa. I don't actually watch him much but I have seen him in a few MissGlamorazzi videos before.

  

Next up Shay Carl of The Shaytards arrived with his sister Carlie and brother Logan. The Shaytard is a vlog that I have to watch daily, no matter what. They are such a fun family that no matter what they are doing I enjoy watching it.

I actually got flustered while talking to Shay (of course) and when he asked how old Sloane was I said 4 months and Tara had to correct me! Carlie also loved meeting Sloane, after taking pictures together she asked me to send her the pictures so I did over twitter and she retweeted/ responded/ favorited the tweets! So basically we are best friends now lmao!

The next vlogger to arrived that I was super excited about was Judy from ItsJudysLife. I was probably more excited to see our daughters interact with each other than I was to actually meet Judy. Judy and Benji's daughter is named Julianna and is maybe 2 weeks older than Sloane. Judy's vlogs are what we watch first thing in the morning (thanks to her early upload schedule!) It's so fun to watch other parents going through the same things we are, even in their busy jet setting lifestyle.

It's funny cause Sloane is the baby that is usually reaching out at other babies, grabbing at their face and such, but Julianna was actually the one grabbing out to Sloane while Sloane just sat there kinda confused I think. It was so adorable!

Other vloggers that I was excited to see but didn't really need to go out of my way to meet were iJustine, Olga Kay, and Corey Vidal and Coorado of ApprenticeEh

Overall I'm very happy I was able to go to Vlogger Fair and I defiantly think I'd go again! Plus it's so much more fun watching the vlogs when I've met the people. It's funny though cause I totally felt like I knew these people when I saw them I just felt like they should have recognized me.

Beauty Wise Wednesday: My Spring Influenster VoxBox!

I mentioned in a past post about receiving my first Influenster Vox Box of Palmolive Soft Touch dish soap and offered a give away here. Influenster is a a website where you can sign up, do different activities like answering surveys, reviewing products, and you can link all of your social media's to it as well. With each activity you do on the web site you earn points. The more points you earn the more likely you are to earn a Vox Box, which it a completely free box of products. Some of the products are sample sizes while a lot of the products you get are full sized.

One you receive the box they ask you to do different things, like tweeting a picture of the products, posting about it on facebook/instagram/pintrest, or writing a blog/video reviewing the products. It's all pretty simple tasks that take not much time to do and the more you do the more likely you are to earn another Vox Box.

I recently received my second Vox Box which was their spring box. This was a bit more beauty related and of course I just had to share it with you guys!

Here is the box right as I opened it.

The first product is Nichole Scherzinger signature series Impress nails in Just Say Yes. These are press on nails that say last up to a week with just the sticker on the back of the nail. It includes 24 nails so that you can find the perfect size. I'm not so sure about this product because press on nails just make me think of like 12 year olds trying to look older. I also have pretty large nail beds and I'm not sure that these would fit. I'll attempt them the next time all of my nails break and see what I think. The color is a very fun summer color so it is worth a shot. If nothing else I can give them to my friends cousin who is 12 years old I think and totally into beauty and such. 

 

 

Second product is Schwarzkoph Professional Osis; Dust It texture, mattifying powder. My guess is that this is like a dry shampoo in the way that it will get rid of shiny, oily hair. I'm interested to try it out the next time I straighten my hair cause I tend to not wash my hair for a few days when it is straight.



 

 

Next is Secret Outlast Completely Clean Clear Gel Antiperspirant/Deodorant. This frightened me a little bit because I have only used gel deodorant once and I didn't enjoy how my pits fell wet after applying it. This deodorant I have used a few times now and I really enjoy it. I will admit I am a sweater and I am notorious for having pit stains. With this I haven't noticed any pit sweat and it has been in the 70s near 80s the last few days and I have spent a majority of the days outside. This also has no real smell to it so it won't interfere with any other scent you might be wearing. I think this is a product I will continue to regularly purchase in the future!



 

 

The NYC Applelicious Glossy Lip Balm is pretty awesome also! I wasn't sure what to expect but it is pretty much all around great! I moisturizes great, tastes amazing and leaves a subtle color that is just a nice added touch without having to go threw the effort of applying a lip stick. This is a no mirror needed lip color.  I also have worn it over the Elf pink lip stain I got a while ago and I think it is just a fun and simple combo. I actually applied them both while driving to the beach yesterday with minimal effort on my part.

 

 

 

 

The final product is a Tasty Kakes Kandy Bar Kakes S'mores treat. This seems like a Hostess replacement treat. I was pretty excited to try it out since it was S'mores. It lived up to my expectations but there wasn't anything super amazing about it. I don't remember the exact day I got my Vox Box but the treat as "Use By" date of 5/23/13 so when I ate it, it was expired (I'm not worried about my health of anything.) That might account for my the cake seemed a bit dry. Luckily the marshmallow filling and chocolate coating made it so you didn't really notice. Overall I think I would MAYBE buy this from a gas station while on a road trip if it sounded good at the moment, but it wouldn't be something I threw in my cart while grocery shopping.

 

Disclaimer: I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

Mommy Monday: Alphabet Wall Help Wanted

So, I'm just a bit too excited to plan Sloane's first birthday. I think I have been thinking about it since the day she was born. So far I know that I want it to be alphabet themed. Why may you ask? I love singing her the alphabet, her favorite toy is a monkey who teaches her the alphabet (and shapes/colors/numbers too) and finally is have a great plan to redecorate her room and to do so I'm going to need every one's help!

I saw on pintrest the idea for an alphabet wall that is made up of the letters of the alphabet designed by family and friends. How will this work? I will be asking everyone I know if they would like to contribute to the wall, those who would like to will sign up for a specific letter and then design it in any fashion they desire. I have seen so many different ways to design these letter, big or small, a painted wooden letter or painted on paper and framed, I also like the Letter O that is made out of a round object like a life preserver or a clock! Finally once they have designed the letter they bring to to Sloane's first birthday party and we reveal all the letters together!

 

The fun part is that even people who can't make it to Sloane's party can join in the fun! Just design the letter and the mail it to us. Everyone who participates will get a picture of Sloane in front of the finished wall. 

 

I'm super excited about this idea and I really hope I get enough people to have participate that all the numbers will be original!

Along with the alphabet wall I have a few other birthday plans already. I have recruited my dear friend Kristin to design and make the cake and Mat will be compiling a video of Sloane's first year!

 

The next thing I am trying to decide on is the location of her party. Our apartment is just too small to house any size of party and it's in the winter so an out door party is pretty much out of the question. I like the idea of having it at either the children's museum or something like that. I'd prefer to stay away from things that are too crazy like Chuckie Cheese till she is a bit older. Do you guys have any good ideas on where to host a birthday party, indoors? 

Oh and finally I know for a fact that I will be having the party around lunch time, hopefully Sloane won't get too tired or cranky at that time. 

So yeah, I know I'm about 4 months early for planning this thing but I'm just too excited!!!

 

Sunny Summer Blogger Swap!!

 

I don't know how to add the HTML version of this so HERE is a link to the swap page

 

Like I told you in a previous post, I have been participating in some online swaps. The first was the Mother's day swap through a Facebook group I am apart of. This swap is actually ran by a blogger I follow; Melissa over at Lulu and Sweet Pea. I was so excited to take place in this swap because who doesn't like summer goodies?!

 

In this swap we were actually paired up so we bought gifts for each other rather than one person buying a gift for you and you buying a gift for someone completely different. I thought this was a great thing because we were able to really get to know each other.

 

I was paired up with Sara over at My Journey to Happiness.  She contacted me through e-mail to let know we were paired together and we exchanged information about ourselves to better understand what we should buy for each other. We discovered that we actually lived fairly close to each other so we made plans to meet up to exchange our gifts; so nice to not have to worry about shipping!

 

As it turns out she comes up to Seattle from Tacoma twice a week for PT on her hand so we made plans to meet at a small park in the U District. I arrived very early and she was running a little late so we didn't get lots of time to chat with each other (I had to get to work).

 

We exchanged our gifts and fit in as much chatting as we could. Now it might not seem like it these days but I have a real issue with meeting new people. I grew up very shy, with not many friends, but I have grown a lot as a person since then. Still, meeting new people is pretty nerve racking for me. I always worry about having nothing to say, or how the other person is going to think of me. I am actually pretty impressed that I even went to meet up with her alone.

 

Our conversation was really great but of course I found myself stumbling over my words and feeling like a complete idiot, luckily it was only once.

 

So what did we get each other you ask?

 

She got me some awesome goodies!!! A beach mat with pillow that all rolls up and has a handle to carry it with. I absolutely love the colors, I can't wait to use it! A floaty for Sloane. I'm pretty excited about this because it attaches to me so she will hopefully feel secure. This is something I really wanted to get for the summer so I'm really excited about it! finally two pop-up trash bins. These are so cool, they will be super useful for all the summer picnics I plan on having!!

 

I got her several smaller items; A summer themed cold drink cup, filled with margarita flavored crystal light, a Market Peach candle from Bath and Body Works, fun BBQ themed corn skewers, star shaped ice molds, a watermelon knife, watermelon gum and finally some Russell Stover's s'mores candy. 

 

 

 

If you haven't tried these s'mores candy you should totally check them out! They are new this year I think and they are amazing! I bet they would be super good if you put them in the microwave for 5 seconds too!!

 

Overall I am so happy with this swap, as I was with the last one. I wish I could do these all the time, I just love buying gifts for other people! My next swap is actually through the Facebook mommy group I am apart of and it is once again a summer swap! Stay tuned to see what I end up getting for that one!