Troops > BBQ

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY, EVERYONE!!!

(Kirk Franklin's "Looking for You" with America the Beautiful Intro)

O beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

God shed his grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

'Merica knows this day as a day to go swimming, grilling out, and getting wasted...bronze, barbeque, and beer. Now don't get me wrong, I will be doing ALL of those things while on vacation, but I wanted to dedicate this post to our troops.

There are too many holidays that we celebrate in our country where we forget the true meaning of that day. I'm not asking to not do any of these things. I just ask that we raise our glasses and say a special salute to all of our soldiers during this day of remembrance. Or maybe instead of spending the entire day on ourselves, maybe we can find an hour or two to spend hanging out with relatives who served in past wars. What about taking the family to one of the military cemeteries and saying a little thank you to all of them who have helped protect our country? It's the least we can do. We take our freedom for granted.

So from our family, THANK YOU to those who have served or are serving now!!! And another thank you to those soldiers up in Heaven that died trying to protect our freedom. I'm very blessed to be living in this great country.

GOD BLESS THE USA!!

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Beach house beauty

I'm going to be keeping these next few posts as short as possible because, honestly, I need to be headed to the beach! I mean, wouldn't you?! My parents have been planning this beach trip for almost a year. We've never really taken a family vacation before. Luckily, we have family in Florida so we COULD call that a vacation but it was strictly to see those relatives. And there were several summers growing up that we had to go to Gatlinburg for a music conference that my dad had to attend. So we COULD call that a vacation too. But this is our official first vacation with no agenda to see family, go to any conferences, or any meetings. We're just here to hang out, drink, lay out at the beach or pool, and even do a little shopping. It's going to be glorious!

This beach house is relatively close to the water. It's not ON the water but still super close. And if we asked 7 or 8 extra people to go with us again, the costs would be very affordable. We're already talking about coming again next year. Here are a few pictures of the house and us on the beach.

 We had to drive through Highway 331 and it was in the middle of no where. I just had to take a picture of this cute little town clock.

 Annnd Papa's gas station was the cutest! They were selling produce under that yellow umbrella.

 Welcome to our beach house--Margarita House. Most adorable place EVER.

 Yes, we're dorks. Sue us. This is our house number!

These chairs look like something I would've bought for my house back home. Perfect color.

 By the way, don't go to the beach at 5:30 pm. Bad idea. The water was like ice. We tried anyway.

 How adorable is mama and Zion?!

 Everybody went to the beach this morning except for dad. They went running pretty early so we got out on the water around 8:30 am. He thought we'd be out there or it'd be too hot. This is the prime time to go. I didn't get too burned and I wasn't miserable because of the heat.

Saturday night we made lime margaritas. Tonight we're making pina colatas! Between dad and us, we've got liquor to last us for a whiiiile. Bottoms up!!

It's like crack--CHICKEN DIP

A week has passed since the recipe I posted about the mini s'mores and I promised I would follow up with the chicken dip recipe. You know how Wal-Mart has these itty bitty shelves on a pole like in the middle of the produce section with recipe cards stacked neatly? Welp, this recipe came from that shelf and I could not have been happier after I stuffed the first heaping bite in my mouth. This chicken dip was the shit and I don't know how they do it! It has a total of five ingredients and if I didn't already know, I would've thought there was crack inside. Not that I know what crack is like. Crack is whack, kids. I'll quit trying to build you up to its' awesomeness and just give you the recipe. Try it and tell me what you think!!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

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Ingredients:

• 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup of Ranch salad dressing
• 1/2 cup of Frank's REDHOT Buffalo Wing Sauce
• 2 cans (12.5 oz. each) chunk breast of chicken, drained
• 1/2 crumbled blue cheese or shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

HEAT oven to 350 degrees. Place cream cheese into deep baking dish. Stir until smooth.

MIX in salad dressing, wing sauce, and cheese. Stir in chicken.

BAKE 20 minutes or until mixture is heated through; stir. Garnish as desired.

SERVE with crackers or vegetables.

Disclaimer:

It takes about 1 hour for cream cheese to soften on its own. If you forget, no big deal, just put it in a bowl and heat in the microwave in 30 seconds intervals, stirring in between if needed. It needs to be creamy. The last thing you want is to be eating this dip and one bite is all cream cheese. Barf.

If you are not a fan of Ranch dressing, like my husband, you can use Blue Cheese dressing.

The Buffalo Wing sauce can be substituted for any sauce you like. If you have your favorite BBQ sauce in the fridge, by all means, use that!

Frank's REDHOT sauce also comes in Original Cayenne Pepper sauce, Ketchup-style hot sauce, Extra Hot Cayenne Pepper sauce, Kickin' BBQ sauce (our personal favorite), Sweet Chili sauce (our second favorite), and Chile n' Lime sauce.

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Print Frank's REDHOT Chicken Dip recipe.

#ootd

Rule number one: Ignore my hair. It's a hot mess at the moment and I will be going to get it thinned out and trimmed tonight. It was at my chin back in January so it was turning into that hideous triangle that your hair always does when trying to grow it out.

Rule number two: Well, this one's not really a rule. All I wanted to point out was my outfit. Thus, ootd (outfit of the day). It's nothing fashion forward; I just loved all of the colors I brought together with the simplest of dresses. If you like the idea of the outfit, I'll link where I found each item so you could find them or something really similar.

Dress is from Old Navy. Found here.

 Watch is from Charming Charlie's. I don't have a link but I can tell you that it's rose gold with crystals around the face of the watch. Goes with literally everything!

Green braided belt is from H&M. They do not have online shopping for the Nashville area so I don't have a link for this either. They had tons of other colors if green isn't for you. 

Yellow wedges are from Old Navy. I bought these many many summers ago. They do not sell these any longer but here are some that are similar (here and here) and would work with an outfit like this. It's just more fun when you can find a yellow or red pair!

Stay tuned for my next several posts!! We're headed to the beach Saturday morning. Get excited and wish you were all there with us!!

Two lies and a truth

I'm still chugging along with writing posts every day. Go me!! Granted I only started this back up about a week ago, I still feel pretty accomplished. However HOWEVER--yes, this needs to be big--writing posts every day gives me quite a bit of pressure. Can I keep up posts every day? Can they be somewhat of good quality? Will I lose interest and become bored? Will things become redundant? Will I ever build up followers? I have a crap ton of questions that roll through my brain on a regular basis. So if anything negative ever comes from this blog, someone please stand up and tell me. I'd hope I could handle constructive criticism.

On to a completely unrelated post tonight...(Imagine me saying this in the voice of any famous game show host) Lllllet's plaaay Two lies and a truth!! I saw this posted on another blog recently and thought it would be a quirky way to get to know me. I'll write out a question and you can pick which answer was the truth. Since I don't have any followers yet and have just started the blog back up about a week ago, I wasn't expecting much. So this will just be a fun way to start from the beginning.

Ten Questions about Meghan. Keep track of your guesses and the answers will be at the bottom of the list. Don't cheat, just be sweet!!

1. My top front tooth came out by:
     a. My brother's ninja chop to my face.
     b. Falling out of the top bunk and hitting my mouth on the bed frame from the bottom bunk.
     c. I just plain pulled it!

2. The first words out of my mouth after experiencing my first car wreck were:
     a. Are you hurt?
     b. Am I hurt?
     c. Are we going to jail?

3. The scars on my bottom lip are from:
     a. The cat.
     b. The stairs.
     c. The fort in the backyard.

4. The scariest thing when I was about 14:
     a. Almost killing a little girl.
     b. Going through puberty.
     c. Moving.

5. One of the many strange things done to my parents growing up:
     a. Painted my dad's nails.
     b. Gave my dad pretend shampoos.
     c. Refused to go anywhere in public until they both wore red bandanas around their necks.

6. What I wanted to be when I "grew up":
     a. Teacher.
     b. Singer.
     c. Veterinarian.

7. I am afraid of:
     a. Heights.
     b. Being alone.
     c. Death.

8. I began my relationship with my husband on what U.S. holiday?
     a. Memorial Day.
     b. New Year's Day.
     c. April Fool's Day.

9. My worst personality trait:
     a. Narcissism.
     b. The need to control.
     c. Not being able to listen.

10. My best personality trait:
     a. Being positive about life's circumstances.
     b. Bringing the life to a party.
     c. Putting others first.


Answers:
1. a  2. c  3. a  4. a  5. b  6. a  7. c  8. c  9. b  10. a


Was it at least a little fun?! Make a quiz of your own and send me the link. I'll take your quiz next!!

DIY Garland

This has got to be the easiest way to make garland and I wanted to share it in case you needed a simple party pick-me-up! My birthday was on the 7th this month so we combined that with Cinco de Mayo. And if you knew us, you better believe we get together and drink at even the silliest of holidays. Late twenties and we'll still partying hard. Classy, I tell you. 

Supplies needed:

• Twine--I bought the kind that came with the razor blade in the top part of the pastic
• Washi Tape--Target has these bad boys in their new gift section near the cards

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The only other things needed to make this garland is your time. Now, there are a few ways you could make this garland. You could make it like this, spaced close together, centering the tape with the twine.

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Or like this. Use any kind of string you like and press the tape around it, cutting the edges like so.

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I decided to press the tape around one side or the other and spaced it out about two inches instead of so close together like the others. I wrapped mine around the mirror over our mantle three times.

 I know the washi tape looks washed out from this picture but it was dark when I took the pictures. Cry me a river. Ha ha. The colors are true to the picture above in the dispenser. I was very happy with the outcome of the garland display. AND it was perfect for Cinco de Mego!! Oh yes, that was the name of our party. 

So if you need a quick party decoration without buying something expensive, try this out! What other easy tricks do you have to decorate for a party? I'm interested in them all, so shoot them my way and maybe we can try each other's?!

Maybe it's time for a career change.

I've been thinking a lot lately about my career. I graduated from MTSU back in the summer of 2009 with a BS of Liberal Studies, emphases in Marketing and Music, and a minor in Management. And what has that gotten me? Not a thing. Not that I'm ungrateful for having the opportunity to go to college, but honestly, to this day, I feel like it was a waste of time. I didn't know then, nor do I now, what I wanted to be "when I grew up".

This was my train of thought in high school and college.

You've been accepted into Tri-M...Here's all these medals for all of your choral accomplishments...I think I'm going to be a Music Education Major!! Here ya go, Meghan, we'll put you in the elite choir groups, you'll go to Paris, and think you're the bomb-diggity.

Once I finished classes to be a teacher WITH music--it's like double majoring-- I knew I didn't want to do both so I switched my majors to just Education.

Here's your straight A's, Meghan....Train at some of the local schools and the degree is yours! This was going to be a piece of cake!!

I realized that KIDS SUCK AT LIFE...(not really, I just wasn't cut out to be their teacher). Long story short, I ended up with several different classes under my belt including music, education classes, marketing, and management.

To make an even longer story shorter, I'm doing nothing with that degree and I'm presently working as a medical coder at an Orthopaedic surgeon's office and couldn't be luckier to be in this position. I get paid well, we don't have an in-office manager, they don't care that we're late, and can have overtime as long as it's justified. Score! There's just some days that I wish I had a passion in life, you know? I wish there was that one thing that I loved to do since I was a kid and followed through with that dream as I matured. But there wasn't. Yeah, I was known for singing but my voice is more suited with a choir, not as a solo artist. And yeah, I like to teach people, but not as a licensed teacher.

I really only have a couple of options. I can either go back to school and get another degree or I can quit my job now and find something else that I'm good at doing. The sucky part about this is that we are all dependent on our financial security. Either of these options knock our combined income down quite a few steps so I'm left wondering is this really worth it?

My co-workers and I always joke about opening a boutique similar to Francesca's Collections since we don't have one in our area, and the store would do well, but then we'd have to figure out the loan situation and we'd still be stuck working in retail. And that's not always that fun. But then it dawned on me, why don't I become a make up artist? No, seriously. I think I'm pretty good at my own make up but I would just need to practice on doing it on others. I've only had experience with my skin tone and face shape. So that is where classes would come in handy. I don't know that I'm willing to give up my job now and sacrifice our income to do this full time. But it would be an awesome side job, right?

So here are my current plans:

• Purchase a cornucopia (What up, Even Stevens reference!!) of make up products
• Begin working on applying makeup (for free) to friends.
• Research make up classes, pricing, dates, and so on.
• Take a few classes and see what tricks I can learn!
• Build up my portfolio and take head shots as reference for any potential clients.
• Build a website with information about my services including pricing, travel info, etc.
• Make a name for myself and market the hell out of it.
• Maybe even look into joining up with a photography company and I could be their make up consultant when clients sign on with their services

We'll see where this takes me. I'm a little nervous to start this journey but excited at the same time. I know once I begin practicing the art, it will be like second nature. But for now....

Let's do it!!!

DIY Food Passport

What is a food passport, you might ask? If you're one of those people who like to make lists just so you can check off an item or if you like to keep note of new restaurants you've been to, then this journal is for you! It's a notebook where you can write down different places that you and your friends or you and your significant other want to try out in the area. Then you can either check it off the list or you can place a sticker like I did. Yes, I'm 27 and I still like stickers. I got the idea from another blogger who just happens to also live in the Nashville area but I made it my own. When I get on the doodling train, especially when it comes to letters, there's no stopping me. I'll show you some of the restaurants I wrote down and you could adapt yours to something similar.

I wrote down the restaurant names, the date we dined with them, hours of operation, phone numbers, and if reservations were needed or not. But you can write down whatever you feel like writing. That's for you to decide. All you need is a small notebook so that it can fit in your purse and some doodling magic in those fingertips!

Step 1: Buy a cute notebook.

Step 2: Buy some stickers. I thought about getting other stickers but these were in the dollar bin at Target and I couldn't say no to these guys.

Step 3: Write in your Food Passport title page.

Final Step: Decide what restaurants you would like to dine in and write them down!

Several others with this same idea made their passport with a different notebook. Here is what some of theirs look like.

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Making a food passport was a DUH moment for me. I don't know why I hadn't thought of it before now. We like trying out new restaurants all the time. And this will be such an awesome memory when we look back 40 years from now and think of all the good times we had.

If you're unsure about trying new restaurants, take that leap of faith and just do it!! You'll be pleasantly surprised at all the exciting and delicious foods out there. It's always an adventure when you open your appetites to world in front of you.

Have you made a food passport before? What did it look like? Have you made a similar notebook? What new things were you trying out?

Mini S'mores

It's time to mix it up! I'd love to have every single post about makeup but, let's get real, it would probably get boring. And predictable. Yawn. So today I'm going to post a recipe for a dessert that I was just introduced to about two weeks ago--mini s'mores. It's not even 8 am yet and my stomach is excited in the anticipation. I think I might even throw in my recipe for chicken dip. Plain ole' chicken dip? you say. I thought the same thing, but it has got to be the BEST I have ever had. It even surpasses my love for cheese dip, salsa, and any other dips. The ingredients are super simple and all I ask is that you try both recipes at least once and come back and tell me that you're mind has been blown away.--EDIT. Now that I see how long this recipe actually is, I'll save the chicken dip for another time. Get pumped!!

Mini S'mores

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Ingredients:

• 7 whole graham crackers, finely crushed
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 6 tbsp butter, melted
• 4 bars milk chocolate candy
• 12 large marshmallows

You are going to be shocked at how easy these are to make.

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. And in the mean time, place graham crackers into a large resealable plastic bag. Finely crush them into crumbs using a baker's roller. First, we bought the box of graham crackers that came in squares, not the typical rectangles. So I ended up taking out 14 squares for this recipe. I also didn't have a baker's roller so I just finely crushed them using a bottle of alcohol. I promise we're not alcoholics. We just keep lots of liquor at our house for parties. Combine crushed graham crackers, powdered sugar, and butter in a small bowl.

Step 2: Using a small scoop, place a scant scoop of crumb mixture into each cup of a mini muffin pan. Press crumbs to form shallow cups with a mini-tart shaper. I didn't have a small scoop or a tart shaper so I just pressed them as best as I could. They just need to look like a bowl. Bake 4-5 minutes or until edges are bubbling.

Step 3: While the crust is in the oven, break two of the candy bars into rectangles. After the cups have finished, remove them from the oven and place one rectangle into each cup.

Step 4: Cut marshmallows in half crosswise using shears dipped in cold water. Don't ignore this! They will stick if you don't run the scissors through water with each cut. Place one marshmallow half, cut-side down, into each cup. Return them to the oven for 1-2 minutes or until marshmallows are just slightly softened. Remove from the oven to a cooling rack; cool 15 minutes. Carefully remove cups from the pan. Cool completely. I wasn't sure how to get these cups out of the mini muffin tin. I just ran a plastic knife along the edges and kind of popped it out, very gently so that they wouldn't fall apart.

Step 5: Break the remaining candy bars and place in a prep bowl. Microwave on HIGH 1-1/2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring every 20 seconds. Dip the top of each marshmallow in the melted chocolate. Turn top-side up and let stand 40 minutes to 1 hour or until set.

Yield: 24 cups

Store the cups in a single layer in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Freezing is not recommended. For a richer chocolate flavor substitute dark chocolate candy for the milk chocolate.

Print Pampered Chef Recipe

Foundation Frenzy

I have been using Bare Escentuals Mineral foundation, concealer, bronzer, and blush for over a year now. It is one of the few makeup products that I truly feel lets my skin breathe. Aahhh. I used Mineral Foundation in Medium Fair. My skin tone is on the yellow side and while trying out the shades at the counter, I thought I picked a color that suited me well. The more I used it and was able to look in mirrors under different lights, the more I noticed that it was not the best pick. One of my co-workers used mineral foundation from a similar company. It was MUCH cheaper so I decided to give it a try. They have this awesome service where you can order up to 7 samples  of foundations for a penny a piece. You can choose matte, semi-matte, or non-matte finishes. I was able to find the perfect color for my tone. I decided to purchase Everyday Minerals foundation in Light Neutral. I used Bare Escentuals concealer in Bisque. Powder concealers are so good on my skin! And then I used their bronzer in Warmth. As you can read from this post, Warmth is too... warm. So I opted for a gray-based bronzer that I talked about in my earlier post. If anyone takes away anything from either of these makeup posts, I would highly recommend finding the correct bronzer and brushes to apply it.

With that being said, my skin is acting like a drama queen at the moment and the mineral foundation ain't cutting it. I might as well be sixteen again. It's ridiculous. So I wanted more coverage without looking cakey. Because that's the last thing you want your face to look like, cake...with icing. Yuck!

Cara recommended a Clinique product for a concealer, something that would conceal as well as highlight--Even Better Concealer in Buttermilk. While at the counter, I asked about foundation. The makeup consultant brought out some amazing products to try on my skin. I decided to go with the Even Better Foundation in Ivory. Ivory?! Am I really that pale? Sadly, at the moment, I am. So I might have to go back after I get a little sun. Not only does it cover the rashy redness on my left cheek but it evens out the tone. I'm secretly squealing like a little girl at this point. I was in love with this stuff. It was an easy purchase.

The consultant also put the concealer under my eyes and it was gorgeous. It lit up my eyes, covered the dark circles, and blended very nicely. My only drawback was that because it was a creamy texture, it settled in my laugh lines. I don't have the crows' feet laugh lines. I have these random lines in the middle under my eye where my cheeks push it up. Weird, I know. I'm hoping it's just because I have a fuller face at the moment. BUT, even though it can crease, the rest of my face is dewy looking (in a good way) so it looks like it is meant to be that way. So I might just not worry with it. And again, it's not bad, so I'm sure I'm just overreacting. I'd definitely recommend this product to anyone looking for a new concealer!

I kept this post short and sweet since the other was as long as Santa's Naughty list. See you next time!

Three's a charm

Don't hate me, although I know you will. This will be my third attempt at bringing my blog back to life. Initially it was going to be this great blog about my hilarious newlywed life and then I thought I could try again with fashion advice, but I couldn't stick with either. Call me what you will but I'm okay to admit defeat. I follow a handful of blogs and I want to try my hardest to mesh them all into something I can call my own. One posts mainly makeup vlogs, another is more about hair/makeup/products, and another is about home renovation. Now I know I'm not the greatest or wittiest blogger in the world but I want to start here. I'm not going to post this publicly for a while anyway because I want to be able to link it with my Pinterest account. Well, I guess I will post it. I just won't link it. I like to talk aloud. Moving on. And who wants to watch/read one post and not be able to snoop around the site when they're done? Let's start 'er up!

I went to Sephora last Friday for the first time in years. If you knew me, you'd think that was crazy. And it is. I went a little overboard with my purchasing decision but I don't regret a single penny; or 170,000 pennies. Shh, don't tell the husband. Just kidding, he knows. These are some of the things that came home with me.

Nars blush in Orgasm. I have heard for years that this blush is DA BOMB and it really is. Most flattering shade I've seen in a long time. I didn't mind the increased price for the quality I was getting. It's a peachy-pink with bronze undertones. I'm telling you, it works for every skin color.

Sephora bronzer in Los Cabos. I love watching makeup tutorials. There I said it. I feel a little weird admitting that because I do get compliments on my makeup. But I have never gotten the hang of HACing (highlighting and contouring). Cara from maskcara.com had this video put up recently about the very art of HACing and she suggested using a bronzer that was gray-toned as opposed to orange/brown toned. Most all bronzers we could find at the store had either the orangey tint or had shimmer. And if we contouring our face, it's like we're making our own shadows. So who wants sparkles in a spot we want to look sunk in? Not this girl. That's when I found the Sephora brand bronzer called Los Cabos. It was matte AND gray based. Perfect! Easy peazy.

Sephora stipple blush brush. I was in dire need of a new blush brush. Mine came in the beginner's kit with makeup purchased at Bare Escentuals. The consultant at Sephora said this stipple brush was their most popular aside from the angled brush. I really wanted to get the angled brush but they were out of every single one so I just settled on the stipple brush. Fast forward about half an hour as I'm standing in front of this random endcap at Walmart in the beauty section. I found this set of four brushes from some no-name brand and they are Heaven sent. No joke.

Essential Tools hi-def ultimate face set. I use the angled brush for blush, the next brush for my liquid foundation, I haven't found a use for the third brush yet, and the last I use for concealer.

This is a picture of all the brushes I use.

Starting from left to right: liquid foundation brush, concealer brush, all-over powder brush to help my foundation set, blender brush that blends the bronzer I trace along the outer edges of my nose, brush to trace bronzer along nose, angled blush brush, bronzer brush, another foundation brush but I use it to apply my Mac Paint Pot in Painterly for an eye shadow base, eye shadow brush, smudging brush, and blending eye shadow brush.

Lorac Take a Brow kit in Brunette. I was a little nervous with this purchase decision. I've always admired the girls with the perfectly full eyebrows and have wanted to try it myself. I was just scurred. But it came with a small angled brush and was super easy to apply. And because it had the texture of eyeshadow, if you messed up, you could wipe it off and try again. Cara suggests making a line beneath the line of your natural brow and color in above that. Here is her post for brow science with Megan Fox as the lovely model.

Urban Decay eye shadow palette in Naked. This was a definite splurge and I went back and forth with the decision several times before I just threw my hands in the air and HAD to buy it. Sephora made a look alike palette but after rubbing a couple of colors on my hand and compared it to the Naked palette, there was no competition. Urban Decay had much higher quality in the color, texture, even the sparkles in the eye shadow! That's how I knew to just go for it. After wearing it, it was one of the best $50 purchases in my life. Here are some of the colors included with this palette. And I'll make it a little bigger so you can see the colors.

There have been many pictures of applied makeup using several different combinations and from my willingness to try anything, I completely agree! Virgin is the perfect highlighting color. Swipe a little on your brow bone or in the inner corner of your eyelids to make your eyes look bright and awake. Naked is a good base color for your eyelid. I have also used Sidecar on top of Naked and then applied Sin to the inner third of my eyelid. Smog, Darkhorse, and Toasted are all beautiful colors to use in the crease. That is a basic combo I've used. Here is an example of a smoky eye using this palette.

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Since I hadn't shopped at Sephora in years, I signed up for their Beauty Insider card. It's just like any other rewards card where points add up with every dollar spent. And because it is my birthday month, I got a sample of some mascara and highlighter. And holy cow. Let me tell you about this little secret.

Two products came in this tiny box from Benefit.

The first was "the world's #1 mascara" called They're Real! I have been stuck buying the same mascara for a while now but this has honestly changed my mind about what I'm going to buy once this sample runs out. I'm not sure what the full tube is priced but it blows all of the other brands out of the water. Before I used this mascara because I didn't think a silly sample would be worth anything, I bought Maybelline's Mega Plush Volum' Express mascara in blackest black. Whomp whomp whomp. I was disappointed. The wand was too wiggly and I had to put on at least three coats compared to the one I used with this sample. I've been disappointed in the past with Maybelline's products and I thought this might be my turning point but I'm just going to do a u-turn and never look back. They're Real for the win!!

The other product in this box from Benefit was a champagne highlighter called Watts up! Another makeup secret exposed!! The sample is only about two inches long and it twists up the more you use. I don't know how many actually use highlighters with their makeup but it makes a big difference with HACing your face. No, seriously. Dab several dots down the center of your nose, blend, dab more in a C-shape along the outside of your eyes, and blend again. It brightens your face and gives your complexion that youthful look that we all crave.

I have a few more makeup products to review from my shopping spree. I know, I sure can talk, huh? At least it's about something fun like makeup! Stay tuned and I'll review the foundation purchases.