Monday, July 29, 2013

Mommy Monday: We have a walker!

OK well Sloane isn't exactly a full blown walker yet but I know those days are right around the corner!

Saturday afternoon, right before I went off to work Sloane took her first steps! She took the first 4 steps to Mat. He has been trying to get her to walk for probably over a week pretty consistently and Saturday she decided to do it!

I sat there watching in complete amazement. I can't believe this is happening already, and she isn't even 9 months old. I was nearly in tears. Then I realized I needed to catch this on camera so I quickly grabbed my phone and caught the second time she walked.

 
She is just adorable and so proud of herself in the video.

She has been walking while holding on to things for quite a while and for the last month or so she has been standing up without holding on. We knew the walking was coming but I didn't really think it would be so soon, I thought for sure it would be after 9 months.

Now I will say she hasn't done much more walking after that. My mom said she took two steps on Sunday while she was watching her. I know we will be working with her each day to see if we can get her to walk just cause it's too adorable!!

Also just a note, Sloane has three (almost 4) teeth now and her smile is just too cute!

I can't wait to see what the next mile stones we will have in store!

Friday, July 26, 2013

July Ipsy Bag reveal AND review

Please excuse this blog. It is days late and it is completely unedited. I mean my blogs are never perfect but I didn't even read through this after I wrote it... I'm off to bed!............




Well it is nearly the end of July so of course I'm just now writing my July Ipsy reveal, and tacking on the review into one post!  I don't know what has been up with me lately but I have just been letting the waking up at 6am thing just make me lazy. I'm done with that! I am writing this blog just to get me going, screw that I'm posting it after Beauty Wise Wednesday! I'll get this out and then I'll get back on track!So here we go, the July Ipsy bag!!



This month the bag is a tube like, clear pink latex bag with "Ipsy ...Beauty by you" printed on the front in white. I really like this bag, seems like a great bag to put in a beach bag because it is slightly water proof.



Product #1: Big Sexy Hair Weather Proof 1.4 oz... $5.99 on e-bay.com
Coupon: save $5 off a purchase of $25 more at Ulta.com
Product Description: Humidity resistant spray
First impression: I'm pretty excited about this. As a girl with curly hair I am very aware of the slightest bit of humidity in the air and I'm always trying new products to fight the frizz when my hair is curly or straight!
Review: I honestly only used this product once but I did like it. I put my hair up ( with no other products in it) and just sprayed my hair with this and it did great at reducing frizz in my hair. The only thing I think I would do differently next time is, working the product into my hair a little bit because when I sprayed it on just like hair spray it left my hair just the slightest bit crispy (that I was able to remedy by running my finger through it)
 

 
Product #2: BH cosmetics the California Collection "sample" pallet  $9.99 on E-bay buy it now.
Coupon: 10% off the California collection at bhcosmetics.com (basically only $7)
Product Description: Three eye shadows samples: Hollywood; a deep purple (I used in my crease), San Francisco ( a golden brown) and Malibu (golden)
First Impression: I was pretty excited about these color, they are right up my ally being slightly neutral but the purple is a great pop of color for my greenish eyes.
Review: Once again I of course love all three colors! they have great pigment and make a great everyday look! I have mostly work the Malibu as a all over lid color and the Hollywood in my crease. (*note: my friend didn't think the Hollywood was very pigmented on her first swatch)   

 

 
Product #3: Coola mineral sunscreen/ tinted moisturizer .23oz... 1.7oz is $36 so per my talent in math this sample is worth $7.50 (yikes pricey)
Coupon: 30% off any purchase at Coolasuncare.com
Product description: organic mineral sunscreen/ tinted moisturizer in Rose essence SPF 20
First Impression: I have heard about this product in a couple of YouTube videos so I'm excited about trying it out.
Review: I actually never tried out this product despite being in the sun a few days. It is such a small sample I feel like I should save for some special occasion (like I have any) but overall I know I wouldn't purchase this product because of the price.
 

 
Product # 4: Demeter Salt Air roll on perfume .290z $10 on their website
Coupon: 20% off any purchase at demeterfragrance.com 
Product Description: From their website: "Imagine a perfect sea breeze on the perfect beach at your favorite tropical island."
First impression: I wasn't sure what I thought of this scent when I first opened it. My friend mentioned she thought it smelled like soap.
Review: I don't think I'm too impressed with this perfume. First of all I don't really know what to think about the scent so I had Mat smell it and he didn't like it at all. Second even if I did like the smell I don't think it really is something people can smell on you unless they get all up close and personal. This will be a give away product for me.

 
Product #5: Pop beauty pouty pop crayon in Fuchsia Flirt .1oz $4.16 0n their website ( the 6 pack is $25)
Coupon: 20% off popbeautycosmetics.com
Product description: a lip gloss in a light pink tint in a twist up pencil form.
First impression: I was so excited to get this! I am still experimenting with lip products and I love trying new things.
Review: I like the product it's self a lot. It goes on very smoothly and has great pigment. The only downside is the color. I'm just not sure about it. It's a pretty pale pink and I'm not sure if I can pull that off during the summer when I am more tan.
 
Total Value: $37.63 plus the bag, once again I paid only $10. even though I wasn't a huge fan of two of the products I think it was still completely worth it!
 
 

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Seaside Oregon

Hi guys, how's it going? Me? Well, I'm doing pretty damn GREAT!!! Why might you ask, because I am in the home stretch of my much anticipated vacation. OK, fine call it what it is, a weekend getaway, during the week. I don't have much vacation time since I was out of work for so long on bed rest and maternity leave so I can't afford to take the entire week off but we are making the most of my birthday week and I'm just too excited about it!!

We are headed to Seaside, OR on Tuesday! Growing up I actually never went, or even heard of Seaside. We spend our ocean side vacations either at Ocean Shores or Westport. I loved those places growing up and really developed a deep rooted love for the ocean or any water front location really. But as I got older and ventured out on vacations with my friends I discovered Seaside, OR and it was love at first sight.

I have always dreamed of spending the day on a California beach and Washington is nothing in comparison. The Washington beaches are full of rocks and they are freezing cold. I would never dream of actually going into the water.

The first time I went to Seaside was on a girls road trip and we literally just drove through the town, seeing the beach only briefly. I was amazed at how smooth the sand was, knew I wanted to come back!

Can't resist at least putting my feet in!

I came back a couple of times here and there, never staying the night in the actual town of Seaside. My favorite trip to Seaside was with my friend Tara. It was also just a day trip into town but it was one like no other. We explored the town, ate a lot of yummy food and then ended our trip by full on body surfing in the ocean, something I never thought I would do and something I hope to do again! I hope we can make this trip just as memorable.

The last time I came was just about a year ago. Mat took me to Portland for my birthday and he agreed to take the long way home and swing through Seaside, even though he had never been.

 
 We were only there for a couple of hours but we enjoyed the beach, took in the sights and had a drink. I think he was in love as soon as we got there also. While we were leaving he asked me why we hadn't come before. At that moment I knew that this would be our family vacation destination from now on!

Mat's first time to Seaside
 
It's such a perfect location! It has fun activities for the whole family that range in prices. You could spend $20 a day or $200 a day and still have just as much fun!

We booked our hotel a little late for the summer season so everything that is really nice on the beach was all sold out so we booked the Best Western (not ideal), but is right on the beach and will do just fine for our little family.

I can't wait to see Sloane's reaction to the ocean for the first time. I can't wait to enjoy all the little shops with my family. I can't wait to relax in a place so far from my reality.

This vacation will be our first "just us three" vacation and I know it is just going to be perfect!!
 
 
Me... 6 months prego... on the beach at Seaside

 

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Beauty Wise Wednesday: Cinnamon Honey face mask

It is 9:45pm on Beauty Wise Wednesday and I have just now discovered what to write my blog about. I haven't gotten my July Ipsy bag yet, I wanted to write about BB Creams but I want to try out one more before I write a blog about it, I even took to twitter to get ideas. I got some great ideas but I didn't really feel like I was able to do a lot of them with my little collection of beauty supplies, but they gave me some great ideas for future blogs!


My last resort was going to Pintrest and looking through my beauty pin board. I was thinking I might attempt a make up skill, or a hair style but then I came across the Cinnamon Honey Face Mask.

I have done tons of homemade masks with honey but never one with cinnamon. I have to be honest all I could think of was the cinnamon challenge that people do one YouTube, where they try and hold a spoon full of cinnamon in their mouth. I just imagined my face burning up, but I had the stuff on hand so I went at it!

The pin I found was actually a mask made with nutmeg, cinnamon and honey but I didn't have nutmeg on hand, so just cinnamon and honey was all it was.

The Supplies

Here is the blog that the pin linked to: Guide to Good Living

Honey uses it's natural antioxidants to balance out acne which I really need right now cause I have a garden of zits blooming on my chin!

The cinnamon is known to bring blood to the surface of the skin sometimes flattening out fine lines. The post did say be careful around the eyes or other sensitive areas of the face. Cinnamon is also a great exfoliate also apparently which is great for the face, especially when you've been sun kissed as much as I have been recently.

2 teaspoons of honey

1 teaspoon on cinnamon

mixed together

So I measured and mixed the ingredients and when measured out it was a lot more cinnamon than I thought it would be, making me even more worried about the burning factor.

I applied the mask to my face with the rubber scrapper because basically getting my fingers all sticky didn't sound very appealing, plus it would be harder to take pictures of my progress.



Once on, it wasn't too bad. It did sting a little bit on the upper lip area, you could probably skip applying the mask to that area.

the smell was very nice, but it could be too sweet for some people.


The only issue I had was that it was a bit drippy and it seemed to move down my face during the 30 minutes that it said to keep the mask on.


Once the 30 minutes were up I got some water on my fingers and rubbed my face in a circular motion exfoliating. it was very surprising to me how exfoliating cinnamon really was. They should make more face scrubs with cinnamon.

Rinsing off was pretty easy but I have a couple tips to keep in mind while rinsing. First: Keep your eyes closed! I can't even imagine the burn you would get if the cinnamon got into your eye. Second, make sure that you rinse your hair line well, it would suck to have honey it your hair for any extended amount of time.

 
Final thought is that I would defiantly do this mask again! My face is amazingly smooth and feels so refreshed, like an all new face! I do wish I would have exfoliated my temples a little more but that's just an over sight on my part.


While doing this face mask and writing this blog I was watching the pilot for Camp, a new show on NBC. I love summer camp shows, probably because I've never actually been to summer camp. Did anyone else catch the show? I liked it, but I'm not sure it will have lasting power. As long as it's on I'll watch it though.

I made good use of my "me" time tonight and I feel nice and relaxed now. How do you spend your "me" time? maybe the next opportunity you'll try out this mask.


Monday, July 8, 2013

Mommy Monday: Colors of the rainbow tag

Hello and happy Mommy Monday!!!

My dear friend Kristin over at Cupcakes and Cosmos tagged me in this fun tag. All the blogs/vlogs that I have seen have done this on beauty and fashion things, but I thought I would switch it up and do a mommy version by high lighting things for Sloane.


Red: Sloane's Cat in the Hat quilt given to her at my first baby shower from a family member, Melody.


 

 
Orange: It's a beach blanket roll up with a pillow. I'll be honest I haven't brought it to the beach yet but we use in to prop up Sloane while she is having a bottle. It's a great thing to have while she learns to feed herself.


Yellow: Fisher Price Rock and Play, given to us by a friend. This is an amazing thing we have used continually since she was born. It was the first bed she would sleep in and now I use it to keep her contained while I shower.
 


Green:  The doll Sloane was given at Kells in Seattle. She loves this doll and I just think it is so special because they gave it to her, made our day in Seattle that much better.



Blue: My keys, I swear these are Sloane absolutely favorite toy. When ever she is being a bit fussy I can give her my keys and she's nearly instantly happy. It's funny too cause she prefers my keys over all others.

 
Indigo: So.... I'm not really sure what color indigo is and I don't really think I have anything that is indigo so I chose her favorite actual toy. This is her singing monkey. We put my old iPhone in there and it has an app on it where she touches the screen and it goes through the alphabet and counting and colors and shapes and sings. She just loves it some much and it amazes me that she has learned to touch the screen to make it change.



Violet: Her very first Care Bear she got for Easter from her Auntie's Tara and Kristin. she plays with this thing all the time and loves to suck on it's ears.


Pink: Fisher Price Night light Sea Horse. This is the first item I bought for her that wasn't very necessary but I had heard that babies sleep well with it so I quickly purchased it when Sloane was probably under 2 months old.



Multi-Color: Her Baby Einstein bouncer, she loves this thing. We have added a bunch of things on it for her to play with. She still only likes if for 15-20 minutes max but it is a great thing while we are trying to do dishes or pick up a little bit.

 

 

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Beauty Wise Wednesday: June Ipsy Bag reveal and review

Wow, so before I knew what was going on the month was over and here we are into July and I haven't blogged in what, 2-3 weeks? I'm not really sure what happened this month, I'm feeling a little off and I think my blog is taking the brunt of it, but I'm here to deliver not only the much over due June Ipsy reveal blog but also the review post.

I'm very impressed with the products that were given this month but to be honest a couple of the products I'm not sure how of often I would use them. That's the beauty of this subscription service however, I get to try out things I wouldn't think of buying myself, and once I used them I just might be won over and start using the products, even if it isn't necessarily the same brand I got in the bag.

This months bag is leopard print with a neon green zipper on the front instead of on the top and Ipsy tag on the side. So adorable. I just love how they switch them up so much from month to month.


Product #1: NYX Powder Blush in Espresso... $5.00 on nyxcosmetics.com



Product Description: It is a silky blush that goes on pretty smooth. The color is a warm tan with a slight under tone of pink.
Coupon: 15% off the entire site or 30% off Tango with Bronzing Powder.
First Impression: When I first opened the blush I was a bit worried about the color.
Review:  I tried it out and I feel like it has a pink under tone that gives a nice glowing tan. I'm not sure if I'm sold on this blush being better than any other I've tried but I have enjoyed using this blush this month.

Product #2: J. Cats Sparkling Cream Palette called Volta. $4.49 on jcatbeauty.com


Product Description: A palette of 5 cream glitters, gold, dark teal/blue, a black silver, a silver black and a silver blue-ish color.
Coupon: 25% off any product on the website.
First Impression: I had heard a bit of controversy about this palette being for the eyes or not. Upon opening it I thought it was possible to use it as a slight glitter accent in the crease.
Review: I went into using this product with a pretty positive attitude after hearing some pretty negative thoughts on it. I decided to try it out while going to a Mariners game. I found it hard to put on in a controlled fashion. I tried using the wands they provided and my fingers and neither really gave me a good application. I will try using the product again but my hopes are dashed and this might be just a wasted product.

Product #3: J. Cat Eyelashes with eye lash glue $3.99 on jcatbeauty.com


Product Description: 100% human hair, style EL20 with latex free glue. They look a bit natural just thick, which I like cause I am not very familiar with fake lashes.
Coupon: same as the glitter palette, 25% off jcatbeauty.com
First Impression: I was very excited to get these in the bag. I think I might have worn lashes once in my life. For no other reason than I don't ever really feel like wasting my money on them. These I'm excited to try out!
Review: I haven't worn these yet since I feel like I need to wear them when I'm going out somewhere or something.

Product #4: Chella Ivory Lace Highlighter Crayon $18
Product Description: The name of the product is pretty self explanatory, it's an ivory colored highlighting pencil. What I like is that it doesn't have the shimmer that an eye shadow would typically give you when used as a highlighter.
Coupon: 20% off any order at Chella.com
First Impression: I was super excited about this cause I just love using highlighter under my eye brows and in the inner corner of my eyes.
Review: I have used this every day I have worn make up. It goes on so easily and gives a nice subtle highlight. The only issue I have with it at the moment is that I need to go and buy a bigger pencil sharpener to be able to sharpen it. I like the pencils that u can twist to get more.



Product #5: Star Looks Lip Pencil in K308 Bare $12
Product Description: Once again pretty self explanatory in the name. The color is a light tan color.
Coupon: 35% off any order on starlooks.com
First Impression: I was also worried about the color of this product, not sure if a brown is a color I can pull off but I figure I can always mix it with a different color lip gloss to brighten it up.
Review: To be honest I didn't use this product this month, basically because I forgot about it. I rarely wear lip products and when I do, it is just an easy glide it on and forget about it product. I will have to make the effort to try it out and get back to you guys on my thoughts.

Total value of the bag: $43.48 plus the leopard print bag.

Overall I am very happy with the bag. It's just too much fun being able to expect the bag of goodies each month. I have seem three preview pictures of the July bag and it's going to be just as exciting I think.

Thanks for coming back and reading my blog again after I took far too long of a break. I hope you keep coming back cause I am getting back on track and writing every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.