New Year's Resolution

After reading a few women's blogs who chose this as their "New Year's Resolution", I talked to J and we decided we wanted to do one of our own. It's not so much about cutting something out of our lives come January 1, but really changing how things will be for our future.

What is the resolution, already?!
We have decided to cut out any unnecessary spending. You think it can be done very easily, but when you have someone like me who needs that sweater with the spikes on the shoulders and thinks she can't live without the furry vest OR I'LL DIE, then you might have a problem. There are more important things in life. Like makeup. Or SHOES. Nope, those are going too.

Why are you doing it?
We wanted to turn around our expenses in a way that reformatted our brains. Like why do I feel the need to buy something with every new trend? Or why does J feel the need he has to buy PC video games just because they're in some dope bundle? Now that we have been in our own house, expenses moved to wall decor and patio furniture and floral cookware on top of the purses and Mellow Yellow. Something's gotta go. Annnd cutting silly things out will help in paying off J's student loans. Yikes!

NYE: UD look no.2

So I don't know about you, but I love going out on the town for New Year's Eve. Going out as in getting all gussied up with sparkles and falsies and champagne in our hands. Even though I'm still learning my own MUA secrets and signatures, I wanted to show you what my face would be like on NYE.

From what I've seen, most girls either go with golds or silvers with a LOT of whites/creams in their outfit. And since I've been coveting gold lately, I wanted to change it up a little and go with silvers and grays!

Merry Christmas

December Birchbox

Luxury-shmuxury. I'm finding it very difficult to actually stick with my promise of hanging in with Birchbox for a whole year. Their samples just don't appeal to me any longer. On average, there are two products that I like in the beauty box each month. I know they give you these samples to inspire you to buy them on your own, and not everyone is going to like every single thing, but I still felt as if it has been a huge waste of money.

I'm still trucking forward, though, and maybe I'll adjust my online profile so that I won't get anymore similar moisturizing products. Or since my face is so sensitive, maybe I'll take out that I want to try those types of products as well.

So let's jump right in! Here are my 5.5 products in this month's Birchbox.

High five for Friday!

(visit my Instagram for full-sized pictures)

The closer it gets to Christmas, the faster the days seem to fly. Less than a week now! I'm thinking about giving ye ole' blog a break between now and the end of the year, but I don't know. We'll see how crazy these last few days get.

DIY Christmas tree decor

I learned about this DIY Christmas decor when my family used to live in Chattanooga--15 years or so ago--from our hairdresser. He was quite the stylish man from what I can remember and always feathered my hair just like Farrah Fawcett. I hated it, but it was all the rage. That's besides the point. He showed us a practically free way to re-use some things in our home as Christmas decor.

We've all got stacks and stacks of magazines under the coffee table or in a basket beside the recliner, right? Grab a few of those because they will be your Christmas tree. The smaller the magazine the better, so grab your National Geos or Reader's Digests. And if you're like me and like to spray paint stuff, then you might just have some extra in the garage. If not, most stores carry the smaller cans of spray paint for less than your large fast food meal.

[one] Fold your magazine like this.

Emerald Smoky Eyes

Remember the other day I asked if someone would remind me to do this tutorial for you? Well, of all people, I reminded myself! I figured I should go ahead and get it done because if I put it off for too long, I'd really forget. **Ahem, celeb makeup tutorial, no mirror makeup challenge, AHEM. **

I wasn't too drawn to this emerald eye crayon from the drugstore shelf because I thought it would clash with my blue eyes. But once I had it on, though? That was a totally different story.

The thickness of the pencil made it easy to apply to my eyes and the sponge applicator on the other end smudged the color b-e-a-utifully. I wanted to show you four quick steps in applying this and achieving a smoky eye in just a few minutes. Once you have applied all makeup except for your eyes, follow these suggestions:

1) Line your eyelid with a thick line almost up to the crease. I used Maybelline Master Smoky Longwearing Shadow Pencil in Emerald Fury.
2) Blend to a little above the crease and out to the corners making a wing and apply a brown shadow to the crease to give your eye some depth. I used Mac eye shadow in Haux.
3) Line your lower lash line, including your water line, all the way out to the corners meeting with the color above.
4) Blend both lines until you achieve the smokiness and wings that you desire. I also added in a mini #ootd. Don't shoot me.

Finish this look off with two coats of your favorite mascara and a little bit of highlighter dusted on your cheekbones and your nose. You can add your favorite nude lipstick or dare to go bolder and add a pretty light pink!

[ONE]

[TWO]

[THREE]

[FOUR]

                      

 

              

 

Hello Gorgeous shirt: ON (simliar) // Gray cardi: Target (old) // Plum cords: ON // Taupe booties: Gap

I'm linking up with Random Wednesday and Wildcard Wednesday.

December Ipsy Glam Bag

Yayyy! It's that time of the month--no, not that one--to reveal December's Ipsy glam bag. I'm going to be a little honest with you and say that I wasn't as excited as I have been in months past. There are still some great products but I felt it was very neutral this time. And I'm always on the hunt for new beauty items that I feel Ipsy is good at introducing me to but these were all things I'd probably buy on my own.

Don't take from this that my Ipsy bag was horrible because it wasn't. I was just expecting something with a little variety, if that makes sense. These were the five products selected based off of my profile.

uno | #startingoutwithmyfavorite Be a Bombshell The One Stick in "Girl Crush" | $16.00

I've alway wanted to try one of these stick thingy-ma-bobbers. Supposedly you can use it for you lips, eyes, and cheeks. I'm not very impressed with the color because it's a pale, almost nude, pink. That won't give me much color on my face once I have on the foundation underneath. But maybe I can use it as a highlighter.

dos | NYX Creamy Lipstick in "Iced Honey" | $4.00

I have a lipstick very similar to this shade so this is one of the products I wasn't too thrilled in receiving. I love the NYX line in general but I feel like they could have picked a better color. Most all girls feel safe using this color so I think they should have chosen a more daring color so that we all can try something new.

tres | Ardell Natural Demi Falsies in "Black" | $3.99

I love a good pair of false lashes and these aren't your typical straight-across-obviously-fake lashes. They vary in length as they move across the lash line and wing out on the far ends. They also come with glue and most falsies don't do that anymore. I'm definitely going to save these for...oooh....maybe New Year's Eve?!!!

quatro | Pop Beauty Bright Up Your Life eye shadow trio in "Smokin' Hot" | $24.00

I haven't always known about Pop Beauty but my love is growing for it. Although this trio is colors that I already own in my makeup bag, they will be beautiful on your eyes. The only thing I don't like is that the colors don't seem to apply very well; they're very thin. But the good part is that this sample is only three of ten.

cinco | Nicka K New York nail polish in "Classic Taupe" | $4.99

I love a purple-ish, gray-ish, taupe-ish colored nail polish. It goes with every single piece of clothing in my wardrobe and will work with every single season. I've never heard of this brand so I probably won't buy it in the future but it is pretty cheap.

If you're interested in signing up with Ipsy's subscription, visit their website and follow their instructions!!

I'm linking up with Monday Morning Gossip and Monday Mingle.

H54F

Can you believe Christmas is only 13 days away? I remember thinking October was so far from the end of the year and now it's almost gone. Jeesh.

It's time to recap our weeks!!

ONE | Kitty Cats

I gotta start out the first picture with a shot of Asher. We got out our Christmas decorations last Friday night and he thought it was so comfortable (?) to sleep on top of the garland.

TWO | Smoky Eyes

I know you can't tell from this picture, but I'll have a green smoky eye post coming next week! I also got some new casual clothes from Old Navy and I am IN LOVE with this "Hello Gorgeous" shirt. You can dress it up, you can dress it down, and the possibilites are endless.

THREE | Winter Sun

So I don't know if any of my readers are from TN but we had some crazy winter weather earlier this week. It snowed during one night but it was icy on two days. You can imagine the terror on our faces when we got this little bit of ice and we don't know how to handle it. Anywho. The sun was so weird looking. I could be staring straight at it--it was huge--and it looked like it was glowing. Coolest thing ever!

FOUR | #ootd

I braved the ice and begged my sister to come out and take pictures of me at the train station. One of the blogs I follow did a link-up party Tuesday and it was to do with statement jewelry. Everybody and their mothers did statement necklaces so I decided to bring out the funky earrings. You can see that here.

FIVE | Family

J and I always go over to my parents for dinner once a week. Zion was being good (the first part of the night, anyway) and wanted to take pictures with everyone, as always. This one was super cute and I couldn't just leave it off my post. Gigi (mom) and Zion (my nephew) sitting pretty...

What were your favorite things from this week? Comment below and tell me!! :-) I'm looking forward to two Christmas parties this weekend. I gots-ta break out the jeggings for every meal because you know there's going to be something sinful on my plate.

I'm linking up with Friday Favorites, Five on Friday, That Friday Blog Hop, and High Five for Friday.

Are you trying to brainwash me?

(source)

I had planned this trip with my friends for some time now. We wanted to do something different than just the beach or lake or mountains. Someone suggested visiting an abandoned house that gave tours. I wasn't much into staying the night at haunted houses or penitentiaries, but for some reason I really wanted to go on this specific tour.

It reminded me a lot of "The Amityville Horror" movie because that house was built on top of a burial ground and so was this house. The only difference was that the house was right in the middle of a tourist trap. There were two story gas stations, souvenir stores, and carriage rides.  So how haunted could it be, right?!

All eight of us packed our bags and headed out first thing in the morning. Luckily, Conner's cousin  was one of those show-timey ghost hunters so he was able to borrow all of the equipment in hopes that what we might see could be recorded.

We got to the house later that night and unpacked all of our bags in the upstairs rooms. There was a lounge-y type area on the landing with several chairs and a fireplace so we all sat down before dinner to just chill. Mindy noticed this little girl walking up the stairs and eyeballed me so that I would notice her too. The girl was dress in a floral dress with a lace collar, white tights, and black mary janes.

As the girl gets to the top of the stairs, she stares at us for several seconds, and then walks off to a room at the end of the hallway. None of us knew what that room went to because there was a gate in front of it. But it was the strangest thing ever! All we could do was look at each other and then bust out in laughter.

Dillon gets up from the couch and walks downstairs, very blankly, and slams the front door as if he were going on an evening stroll. Nothing was thought of it until Brittany did the same thing. She got up from the group, with a blank stare, and walks into her room slamming the window shut.

I didn't know what was going on until Mindy looks at me and notices that she has these tiny splinter-like bristles stuck to her hands and the part of her body that had been sitting on the couch. She moved a pillow to see what was on the couch and more bristles were stuck to her hand. She moved more, placing her inner bicep on the back couch cushion, and bristles were now stuck there too.

As she is looking down at her feet, it's like her face switched off, and she slowly stands up, walking toward the stairs like Dillon did earlier. I had been standing up leaning on the banister this whole time but I put two and two together that there was something going on when you touched things in the house.

One by one, all seven of my friends walked out of the house like they were being brainwashed and drawn to something outside. Dillon, Brittany, Mindy, Drew, Chris, and Heather all disappear within twenty minutes. The idiot that he is, Conner had been recording this ever since Brittany began acting strange.

I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier, but I began pulling out these bristles from my body and as soon as each bristle was pulled, I began feeling myself slip out of this craze. I grabbed Conner's arm, camera in hand, pulled him down the stairs, out of the house, and to the closest gas station so that someone could help us.

On the way escaping this house, I see a flash image of Heather jumping over a cliff towards a huge patch of whatever those bristles were. I scream her name but she doesn't hear me. I run towards this opening and see that all of my friends were at the bottom entrapped in bristles and thorns, dying. At the other opening of the cliff, that little girl from inside the house was just looking at us. We make a mad dash towards the interstate.

Because of the camera equipment that Conner was carrying with him, he tripped over a rock and fell down a little slope into more of these damn bristles. There wasn't any hope of saving him. He was majorly entangled and if I tried to help him, we'd both die. The last thing he said to me was "RUN!"

I make it up to the gas station and find this 20-something boy pulling up in his white mustang. He had just taken a huge hit of Mary Jane and blew it in my face with a big smile on his face. I tried to tell him what was going on at this house but he just laughed like I was crazy. At this point, I'm not sure if I had gotten more bristles in my skin, but I could feel myself fading out of consciousness and hitting the pavement.

The story of this house was that anytime that little girl looked directly at you, granted you had enough of those bristles in your skin, she would brainwash you by louring you out to the cliff outside and you would willingly jump to your death. The house was built on top of the girl's family's graves and she thought everyone staying at the house were trying to replace her family. Obviously, she didn't like that.

Man. Dreams are weird, huh?!

I'm linking up with Random Wednesday for today's post.

a pair of statement earrings

Well all know that statement necklaces are all the rage right now. Bib, peter pan collar, bauble, you name it and we've been wearing it. Rather than showing you another adorable statement necklace, I wanted to show you some statement earrings. Granted these are a little heavy for my liking, I couldn't pass these up at Versona.

Speaking of Versona, do you have those where you live? They just opened them up in Murfreesboro and Mt. Juliet outside of Nashville and I could get LOST in there. I'm not kidding. I think they're trying to compete with Charming Charlie's but they are much cheaper.  I think it's time that I apply here for a second job. And I wouldn't get a paycheck, I'd just get store credit for however many hours I worked. That would make me a happy camper.

Photo props to my sister for taking these pictures of me. I hate that it's dark by like 4:30 pm. I only have the weekends to take outfit pictures and I don't always want to get gussied up.

 

 

 

 

 

Cropped top: F21 // Maxi skirt: F21 // Cut-out booties: Charlotte Russe // Infinity Scarf: Francesca's (similar) // Statement earrings, Cross bangle, Rhinestone-ball cuff: Versona (shopping online is not available so I can't provide links) // Pink lipstick: Covergirl (old) //

We all love a good statement necklace, but are there other statement pieces you own that makes you happy to wear?? Comment below because I'd love to hear!

I'm linking up with Love it and Link it, Trend Spend Tuesday, and Tell All Tuesdays.

Beauty Haul

This is my first "Beauty Haul" blog post. Get excited!! I know I don't always post about beauty related topics, other than eye shadows or lipsticks, but I wanted to share what I recently purchased at the drugstore. Some are a little unexpected and others are just things I wanted to try out.

And I realize now as I'm about to display this list to you, five out of the six are eye or lip products. Obviously I need to branch out for the next time I go shopping. For now, I hope that at least one of these six items will end up in your makeup bags.

[one] Maybelline Master Smoky Longwearing Shadow Pencil in Emerald Fury
In my last haul, I purchased this pencil in Blue Blaze and was in love. I knew I wanted to go back and try one of the other colors. They also offer a black, brown, gray, and purple. All of those I could achieve with eye shadows already in my makeup bag, but not the dark green.

When I think of a smoky eye, I always think of blacks or browns, so that is what interests me about using the green. The pencil is thicker than a normal eye liner so you can line your eyes quickly, smudging it with the sponge on the other end of the stick.

1) Line your eyelid with a thick line almost up to the crease. 2) Blend to a little above the crease and out to the corners making a wing. 3) Line your lower lash line all the way out to the corners meeting with the color above. 4) Blend both lines until you achieve the smokiness and wings that you desire.

Someone remind me in a couple of days because I definitely want to show you a pictorial!!

[two] Rimmel Scandal Eyes Eye Shadow Stick in Tempting Turquoise
I've seen so many MUAs using this type of blue pencil on their lower lash line and I wanted to try it too! The color might be more something that you use in the Spring or Summer, but none the less, it's still something fun to use.

I didn't realize that I bought it in waterproof so it was a little difficult wiping it off at night. The consistency was just as creamy as the Maybelline pencil above. Many people complain about how "cheap" Rimmel products are but I have yet to be disappointed. Here are some pics of celebrities that I hope might inspire you to create the same look.

(source)

[three] Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in Sultry
I've mentioned this stuff in a previous post, but I can't say enough about it. Before this, I think the only Revlon product I owned was some old foundation. And I haven't used that stuff in years. BUT, I know that they have their shiz together when it comes to makeup products.

Because of my big lips (not bragging, just a fact), it's hard for me to pull off certain lipsticks. I can't wear lip gloss at all because my lips will look ginormous shine of the shine. And I have to be super careful that the regular lipsticks don't have much of that gloss-effect either. Then last year sometime, I started wearing the matte lipsticks and have been in love ever since.

Sultry is the perfect brick-red color that can be worn with anything. I love that even though it is brick-ish, it is still blue-based, so it will flatter every skin tone. Some matte lipsticks can dry out your lips, but this stuff doesn't, surprisingly.

[four] L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Mascara
This particular mascara has only been out on the market for a few months now and I really like it. It's got longer bristles on the ends to make your outer lashes super thick and long...like a butterfly's wings!!

My co-worker bought it before me and said she couldn't use it because she applied her mascara with the same hand. So when she applied it to her left eye with her right hand, the longer bristles were on the inside of that eye, and that just didn't work. She gave it to me and now I'm using it.

I like that the bristles are more plastic-feeling as opposed to brush-feeling. New mascara with brushes feel very light when I use them and I feel like the plastic bristles really coats each lash a lot more. So I've been very pleased with this stuff.

[five] Sinful Colors Nail Polish in Easy Going
When I used to work at Francesca's, they sold these mini nail polishes by Bonita. I had what I thought was my perfect nude/pink color, but I've misplaced it. I remembered it was called Salmon but have since found out that they have renamed some of their colors.

I bought this new polish at Target and am in love all over again. I know everyone's perfect nude is different, but this is it for me. The best part about this polish is that it's thick enough to paint over the white tips of my nails. Most pale colors like this are too see-through, but not this one. I'm super happy that I randomly picked it from the shelf. I know it looks super white here, but it's really a pale pink in real life.

[six] Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in Shameless
This is the same stuff as number three just in a different color. I wore it in this outfit post and will wear it for a very long time. This is seriously THE PERFECT purple matte lipstick. It's not too much of the traditional purple. And it's not too dark either. Jiminy Crickets!! Just go out and buy it. DO IT!!

Have you guys been doing any beauty hauls lately? Pick up anything from Black Friday that you've been dying to show the world? Comment below on any suggestions for me to buy or link up your blog and I'll check out your haul!

I'm linking up with Join the Gossip, Monday Bloom, and Monday Mingle.

Five on Friday

Blah. Gripe. Erg. I've gotta be honest with you. I cannot do this 31 day blogging challenge. I'm five days in but I just can't. That's pretty sad, isn't it? I've realized that I have a hard enough time getting blog posts together as it is with my regular content and I don't want that to fall behind. So I'm just going to nip it in the bud and go back to how things were. The challenges weren't always all that interesting anyway.

Now. On to today's post: HIGH FIVE FOR FRIDAY!!!

[one]

We have an open house floor plan. The living room is open to the bottom floor and second. And the kitchen doesn't have a ceiling, just beams. Asher decided he was smart enough to jump on the counters, on top of the fridge, and then up to those beams. We've got a ninja on our hands.

[two]

My brother, sister-in-law, and their two kids came up for Thanksgiving last week and their daughter, Ruby, was all about going outside to play. It was FREEZING that day. All she wanted to do was wear Zion's Batman toboggan. So cute.

[three]

Other breaking news from Thanksgiving: I woke up with a sore throat and it's only gotten worse. On a more positive note, did you know that the wrappers on Halls cough drops have little upbeat messages?

[four]

I loved this outfit post I did earlier this week. I was hesitant to style a sweatshirt and on top of that, the sequin skirt. How many things can you pair with that?? RAWR!

[five]

Downtown Nashville has had their Christmas tree lights up for many weeks now, but I think it was the first time I've been up close to them in order to take a picture. They're so pretty. It's especially pretty when you're on one end of the street and all you see the end is tree upon tree of lights.

What were your favorite things this week? Or do you have five favorite products you've been loving? Comment below. I'd love to hear!!

I'm linking up with Lauren Elizabeth, The Good Life Blog, Friday Favorites, and That Friday Blog Hop.