Thursday, June 28, 2012

Thankful Thursday


Today, I am so so thankful for my sister in law, SM.  She is a great burst of energy to be around.  She always has a way of making me bust out laughing....sometimes for not apparent reason. 


This past week we were able to enjoy a nice boat ride (thanks to her future in laws) to a great restaurant on the water.  The weather was perfect and the food was amazing.  My husband, her brother, said we both like to have a plan for everything and always enjoy a good meal.  That we do!  I am so lucky to call her one of my favorite sister in laws. 

 SM will be getting married this November to an awesome guy and his family is one of a kind.  I am so honored to be one of her bridesmaids and to be able to share in her special day.  I am thankful and lucky to call her family.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

June Favorites


June Favorites


How many of you research products before you buy them? I never use to look up reviews for products which lead me to throwing a lot of products away.  However, I no longer “blindly” pick up items without reading some reviews on them first.

So, I’m going to try a new thing on my blog where I show you my favorite items (makeup, facial cleaner, favorite blogs, favorite stores, food, etc.) of the month, as well as do a quick review of the items.


 I am not exactly new to etsy.com.  It’s a great site for anything original that you are looking for.  My favorite etsy site for June is Love with Ruffles.  You can find her store here http://www.etsy.com/shop/RufflesWithLove

I love her original workout tops with the different sayings on them.    
I ordered this workout tank in Black with Pink writing.  She can customize it with your tank color, word color, and what you want your tank to say.  I ordered “Eat Clean Train Dirty” because that is what I have been doing for the past 6 weeks and counting. (That’s a blog post all in itself)  Ruffles with Love was kind enough to let me share her store on my blog.  If you want to order from her store you can use coupon code EDWARDS27 for 10% off your order.  I know I call them workout tanks, but how awesome would this be for a bride to be?  The store has examples that say “Sweating for the Dress” and “Future Mrs.”  I absolutely love this store.  Don’t forget to order your customized tank using coupon code EDWARDS27 for 10% off!! 



In May, I was introduced to two different makeup lines.  The two lines I’ve been enjoying this month are Benefit Cosmetics and E.L.F Cosmetics.  Benefit Cosmetics can be found at any Sephora or Ulta in your area.  E.L.F (eyes.lips.face) can be found at Target stores.


       Benefit cosmetics has a great makeup line.  I love how they brand their line with a vintage feel.  It’s more expensive than your drugstore brands but the quality is amazing.  My go to items for this line are The Porefessional Face Primer, Hello Flawless, and They’re Real Mascara.


I use this product to help minimize the look of pores on my nose and cheek area.  I also use this as a face primer before applying makeup.  This helps smooth out my face for an even application.  Love.this.product!


Hello Flawless!!  This product does exactly what the name says.  It makes my skin flawless.  I am very picky about my foundation because I don’t want something that is going to break my skin out.  For years and years I switched back and forth between Clinique, Merle Norman, and BareMinerals.  This product has the full coverage that I like, but it is very light wearing.  It does not feel like I have foundation on.  This product also is very buildable depending on your desired coverage.  No matter if you apply three times, you will never get the feel that it is caked on.


I don’t know about ya’ll, but I hate curling my lashes.  I have tried numerous eye lash curlers but have never “trusted” them.  I’m always worried about breaking my lashes off.  Anyhoo, Benefits They’re Real mascara does the work as an eye lash curler.  They are amazing for lengthing, volumizing, and curling those beautiful lashes.




Now, onto E.L.F.  I found E.L.F just by walking and wasting time in Target.  E.L.F is a cheap but good quality cosmetic line.  Cheap as in $1.00.  Hello, you can try all of their products without the guilt of spending too much.  My favorite products by ELF this month are Elf Tinted Moisturizer  and ELF Eyelid Primer.  Some reviews for the tinted moisturizer said it gave off an orange tint, however I still picked the product up since it was only a buck.  I am a lighter shade and did not see an orange tint to my skin. It also has SPF 20 which is great to have in any face products. The Eyelid Primer is another $1.00 product and it is a dupe for Two-Faced Shadow Insurance which I believe is in the $15-$20 range.  The eyelid primer gives great coverage and is very creamy.  It allows your eye shadow not to crease and enhances the pigment of your choice of shadow. 


My last beauty favorite for June is BareMinerals Well-Rested.  This is applied over eye concealer which helps set your concealer.  This product gives you that perfect “well rested” glow under your eyes which helps your eyes POP!  I was worried about this caking up under my eye in the creases and making my fine lines more noticeable.  Because of my worry, is why I reviewed this product before buying and learned many said it would not, and they were spot on.  


 Like I said before, I have been eat cleaning (and training hard) for the past couple of weeks.  While I have been on this journey of a life style change, I have learned to love.love.love fish. 
My favorite to eat is Sea Best Tilapia Fillets.


This is by far the best thing I can put in my body and actually enjoy what I am eating.  I’ll share my easy recipe for this soon.  I go to Ingles and Bi-Lo (Bi-Lo usually has buy one get one free) to buy these.  I usually pick up 5-7 bags at a time and stick them in my freezer.  What I love about these is of course the flavor, but each individual fillet is vacuum sealed for perfection.  You can just pull out how many fillets you need and stick the rest back in the freezer. 

Mrs. Dash is now my new favorite seasoning.  Why?  IT’S SODIUM FREE!!  I am able to cut out salt but not compromise the flavor that it gives to my food.  I put it on everything!


I am in no means a vitamin taker.  Since I was little I have never been able to swallow pills.  I know, I know...grow up.  Anyhoo, I will not turn down a gummy.  These MultiVites Gummy allows me to get my daily vitamin supplements but not struggle to get them down.  I.love.a.good.gummy!


My last June Fav is a Scentsy scent.  MY favorite is Scentsy Be Still.  I have been burning it all month long.  I walk into my house and the smell hits you in the face. Which I love!  It’s a scent that you know is there, however it is very calming.

This is all of my June Favs!  I am always on the look out for a great item with rave reviews to back them up.  What products have you been reaching for this month?