Birchbox II

My Birchbox came in the mail today!

If you're not sure what a Birchbox is, or need a little refresher, 

here's my first post about it. 

Basically for $10 a month, Birchbox sends you a box of high-end beauty samples!

It comes in this cute little box and wrapped in pink tissue and ribbon.

And now to the good stuff...

Here's what I got:

A Colorescience Pro Glow & Go Travel Puff.

Show Stoppers Designer Fashion Tape in Black & Nude.

Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy Perfume

Jouer Moisturizing Lip Gloss in Birchbox Pink

Eye Rock Designer Liner Instant Eyeliner Tapes

Free Green River Ordinance Album Download

One of the best parts of Birchbox, if you LOVE one of the samples

in your box, you can order a full size from the site & they will ship it

FOR FREE!

I'm excited to try everything out!

Valentine's Day.

Alright, I caved in and decided to wish everyone a 

Happy Valentines Day!

Although I do believe that if you love someone, every day should be like today,

and if you're alone, you should love and appreciate yourself all day, every day.

So, enjoy this extra bit of love today!

Bon Iver

I really love Bon Iver. 

The band, led by Justin Veron, just won a couple Grammy's. 

Justin's speech was pretty special--he was so overly nervous, 

but somehow it just worked.

I have the "For Emma, Forever Ago" vinyl and it is completely perfect.

Here is my favorite song from the album.

Skinny Love.

Valentine's Day Blogger Swap

I just took part in my first blogger swap.

For those who aren't sure what a blogger swap is, don't worry I didn't really

know what they were either--until recently that is!

I stumbled across this great blog, Fabulous But Evil, and saw a post about a

Valentine's Day "Blogger Swap." 

Basically you sign up on the host blog, and then get paired with a random blog--

you have some time to read through the blog & get to know the person, then

you get together a little box of goodies to send to your new blogger friend!

Well, I got paired up with Elizabeth from The Young Retiree.

Let me tell you, Elizabeth is one amazing woman.

Her husband recently got deployed (he's in the Navy), so she is once again

adjusting to life without him. She is a hopeless romantic and always comes up with

cute and fun packages to send to her husband. I sent her a "Navy Wife" necklace, 

a bright orange Gardner Ann's flower clip, a Lush bath bomb and some other fun things.

And here is what I got:

I knew just by the look of the package that I was going to LOVE it!

She told me she loved bright colors, and I told her I loved peacocks!

How pretty is this handmade card?

Ahh and these peacock notecards! They're beautiful!

Flower stud earrings.

And this nice note : )

I definitely lucked out with my first blogger swap!

It's such a fun idea and for $10-15 you can really brighten someones day!

DIY: Coasters.

I wish I could remember where I first saw this idea--
but all I know is that these DIY coasters have been stuck in my head ever since.
This is the third time I've made them--
I wanted to "perfect" this craft before I posted about it.

This craft is so unbelievably easy and cheap!
I made a set for a friends fairly new home, a Dave Matthews Band set,
and now the one I'm about to share with you!

Here are your supplies:

4 square ceramic tiles (Home Depot or Lowes)
1 piece of felt
photos/scrapbook paper
scissors
E6000 glue
Mod Podge
Paint brush
Acrylic finisher spray

Cut out four squares of paper, for this I chose scrapbook paper.
Make sure the tile is clean and apply your first layer of Mod Podge.

Place the scrapbook paper on top and be sure to smooth out any bubbles.

Once it dries, put on the top layers of Mod Podge.
I usually let the layer dry, then apply one or two more layers.

Make sure your Mod Podge is completely dry before you spray the finisher.
This will make your coasters waterproof and give a nice glossy shine to them.

I highly suggest doing this outside. It has a pretty strong smell that sticks around for a while.
I sit the coaters on wax paper (not any colored paper) because the coating tends to be a bit sticky and you don't want anything attaching to the coasters.

Let this dry for a few hours, overnight is best. Do NOT stack the coasters on top of each other until you are sure the finisher is completely dry--trust me, I made this mistake.

Cut out the felt squares and glue to the bottom using your E-6000 (or similar) glue.

 

And you're done!
These make great gifts--people can't even tell they're homemade!

 

You can really notice the glossy finish on this last picture. 

I've used them, dripped water on them, and they work perfect!

Weekend Recap

This weekend went by SO fast--I know they all go by fast, but this one went by quicker 

than usual. It was more low-key than last weekend, but I did get to see my best friend 

from college, Cassie! Even though it was for 10 minutes it was still great! 

I've come to the conclusion that last weekend was just too awesome 

that there was no way the next one could beat it. 

And that is okay with me. 

Sunday as we all know was the Superbowl. I wasn't too sure who I wanted to win, in fact I don't think I really cared about the outcome. But just like every sports fan, I was excited to watch a great game of football. And in the end, the New York Giants prevailed--congrats to them! From what I read Tom Brady took the loss pretty hard, which I think was expected, especially being that the Patriots lost to the Giants and young Eli Manning just four years ago. The halftime show... ehh that was another story. Lip-syncing, really Madonna?!

I know your in your 50's but come on--I was expecting better.

I started to take pictures of the fajitas--but didn't take one of the finished product!

My favorite part are the green and red peppers and the onions! 

Fajitas are super easy to make--

just chop up onions and red & green peppers, saute in butter or oil and add salt and pepper. 

In a different pan, I cut strips of boneless, skinless chicken breast and cooked in some butter and oil. Once the began to cook through, I added some fajita seasoning that I bought in a packet from the grocery store. It usually tells you to then add in the veggies, but I like the chicken and veggies separate. Pile the two onto a tortilla--be sure to heat them in the microwave for about 50 seconds--and add some shredded cheese or sour cream and you are good to go! So delicious and not bad for you (if you eat them without the cheese!). 

And as I'm making dinner, my mom calls me in the hall to look at this:

She jumped onto my mom's bed and crawled under the covers all by herself! 

She looks like a little person sleeping under there--how cute is that?

And something funny to leave you with... my new glasses. HAHA!

I picked these up at Urban Outfitters on Saturday afternoon. They were on clearance

for $1.99 and I wore them out that night! I weirded so many people out!

Hope you had a fantastic weekend!

Today

Despite the fact that Iwoke up 20 minutes late

  and thought it was Friday, today is a pretty good day.

Why shouldn't it be?

I'm here, firstoff. I have a job that I love, a place to live, 

a wonderful family and beautiful friends.

Nothing too exciting is going on today, 

but I still think it's pretty amazing.

A big part of that is because I'm currently

sitting at Bruegger's on my lunch hour enjoying

a delicious veggie bagel sandwich (thanks, Erin).

I hope you are having a ridiculously amazing day.

Tomorrow's Friday--yay!