It's about time!!!

It's here, It's here, It's finally, finally here!!! I have hit the 20 pounds lost mark! YAY!!!! I thought I'd have this super cool post, but I'm just not thinking clearly right now...so I stole this questionnaire from my friend Jess at http://craftychicgirl.blogspot.com/, she stole it from a blogger she reads...looks like fun so I'm going to try it.


Right Now:
listening: to a vacuum cleaner in the lobby and my co-worker drumming on the desk
reading: "The Golden Compass" By Philip Pullman
eating: had a rotisserie turkey tenderloin and Brussel sprouts for dinner.
drinking: water
wearing: Maroon work shirt, new black work pants, and a gold name tag
feeling: bored...can't wait to go home and work out on the new elliptical
weather: warm kinda springy weather...
watching: catching up on my DVR; caught up with Once Upon A Time, now for Merlin
waiting: for eleven pm to get my W2, do my taxes and work out.
needing: my tax return...after springing for the elliptical, we're kinda tapped out.
wondering: If I'm going to ever get into my book
working: on my blog post...hopefully it was a fun and informational foray into the mind of me

Peace, Love, and LipGloss!!!

Adventures into Cookie Land

You'll have to excuse me tonight. This post may appear to be a drunken rambling, but in reality it's a sleep deprieved, sugar high, rambling. As you all know I have been dieting and have successfully cut sugar out of my diet except the sugar that occurs naturally in fruits and some food. Everything else is sugar free. I've noticed that anytime I have something with sugar or a high sugar content I become this wired monster. That is me tonight, but like ten times worse because in all of that I am sleep deprieved. I left work at eleven pm last night. Came back to work at seven am and will be here till eleven pm again tonight. BRIGHT SIDE....I have the next three days off.

The reason for this post is I wanted to share with you some of my thoughts for the direction of my creativity. I used to focus on just cakes and cupcakes and scrapbook pages. But here lately I have been staring longingly at what others around me are making with cookies! I've decided to take the plunge and try my hand at cookie making. I've even uploaded some pictures of things I want to try. Some of them I know I can do...others are a hopeful dream that should come true with a little practice.





I absolutely love this first series of cookies. The top two shots are of relatively easy cookies that you make and decorate with the dough. The flat 2D and a 3D dog. The 3D puppies are actually chocolate filled but I thought I could put like peanutbutter cup or something in there as a surprise. The second shots are more decorative. The first is texturized icing with little bones. This would be hard work getting these cookies just perfect enough that I would want to let anyone have them. I can only aspire to be able to make these cookies soon. The second ones are easier. They are regular puppy shapes just outlined with how old the child will be on their birthday. I actually am hoping I have some of these cutters already cause a little girl I know is having her birthday party at Home Depot and she LOVES dogs.






This second series of shots are flower cookies they are kinda self explanatory. They all look hard too, but upon looking at directions they are all super easy. The hardest part would be going fast enough that the icing doesn't dry while your working all your steps.






My favorites of all the series would have to be the hearts. I know I have the cutters for these and they again are relatively simple. They look intricate, but they are pretty easy. I'm sure most of you who know me can easily pick out my very favorite one out of this series that I will be trying first. The zebra stripped!!! YAY!!! Plus, these are just in time for Valentine's Day. I think, even though I may be dieting and losing weight...my husband is probably going to be a blimp by the end of this year!

Another thing I wanted to "crow" about is an idea I had for work. I wanted to do a cookie swap. What is a cookie swap you ask?? It's where several people get together and decide to swap cookies. Generally, you want about six cookies per person. So if there are four of you participating you bake 2 dz cookies. You can do decorative, or no bakes, or oatmeal raisin, or peanut butter, or oatmeal scotties. I've seen sour cream cookies, turtle cookies...basically if it's your favorite cookie and someone hasn't already signed up for it...bake it and bring it. It's kinda like a swap meet for baked goods.

Anyways, I ran it by my boss and she loved it!! Several people have already said sign me up and I was going to upload my beautiful flyer for y'all to see, but blogger uploader hates me and it totally messed up my whole post when I tried to place it, plus it was so small you couldn't read it. So anywhoo...that's my thoughts for awhile...I am sooo looking forward to sleeping tonight and then getting into my 101 cookie cutters to see what I have and can start making. Until next time!!!

Peace, Love, and LipGloss!!!

House Work

Just thought I'd update you guys on why I haven't posted in awhile. My husband and I have been busy with priming and painting our kitchen (pictures coming soon)

,

staining and varnishing my pantry he built, and then the subsequent re-arranging of all my shelves and creation of my crafting corner!!!!

I also wanted to let you all in on a little secret too!!! I was able to get signed up for GoGoGirlfriend, which is like BirchBox, but they send full sized samples out. You can sign up for a regular subscription which is $12.99 every two months and the box is every two months, or you can get the premium subscription which I did and get a box every month. I can't wait to start my reviews and show you guys what I got!!

I will post some crafty stuff that I've been doing lately and the cool personal pineapple upside down cakes I made soon too!!!

Urban Decay Order

Hey Guys!!! So I was super excited last weekend while the hubs was gone and went online shopping at Urban Decay, Ulta, Sephora, E.L.F., and Makeup Geek.com. I only bought stuff at Urban Decay because I found a really great deal!!! They had their primer potions in the vintage bottles on sale.

I now understand why they were so inexpensive. Their really small, but this is just allowing me to test it without having to spend $30 on one tube. I spent $25 shipping and all for this little package of all four shades.

Top is original, eden, sin, and then greed. I wore eden tonight under my nyx jumbo eye pencil in pure gold and my nyx eyeshadow, but I really didn't notice a difference in my eye shadow not creasing. I'm actually kinda dissapointed. It doesn't mean I am going to stop using it...I'll just try other applications. Like without my eye pencils and with a foundation of bare minerals on.

Also, the vintage bottles kinda sucked in their application. They used to have a wand that you applied everything with that was angled as it came out of the bottle. You really don't get alot of primer on it at all. I am thinking of maybe trying to straighten one of the wands out and see if that doesn't help.
I got this pretty awesome sample. It's their 24/7 eyeliner in Zero. When I swatched it...it was pretty smooth and had a bold black color which I absolutely love. I guess I am still on the hunt for a good liquid eyeliner and a trial version of too faced shadow insurance. Glad I lucked into this find because $30 for a tube of this stuff is just too expensive for me and it really doesn't work well. Guess I need to find out from my friend Sarah is she likes the Nyx primer she got from our Ulta haul the other day.

Peace, Love, and Lip Gloss!!!

It's BirchBox Time Again!!!

This months Birchbox is all about Clarity. Clarity for the mind, clarity for the body, and clarity for the soul. Plus, a little clarity for the skin too!

The first product is Archipelago Pomegranate Body Soap. The description reads: "Laced with good-for-you pomegranate extracts, this triple-milled soap smells divine and leaves skin feeling clean, not stripped."

First off, I LOVE the smell of this soap. It's been a super long time since I've used bar soap...so I must have forgotten how much it sheds, but it was all over my box and everything in it. I didn't really notice a difference between washing with the soap and washing with my other hand soap, but the smell was definately worth using again and again.

The second product is Clark's Botanicals Smoothing Marine Cream. The description reads: "Dull skin no more, thanks to the glycolic acid in this exfoliating moisturizer. The gentle tingle means it's working."

The first thing I noticed about this product was it's price. Full size of this is $115!!! It said that is would tingle, but I never experienced anything. My skin was smoother, but my moisturizer achieves the same results and it's in the $20 range.

The third product is a Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner. The description reads: "It's time to put down the black liner. This colorful pigment makes eyes stand out and stays put for hours."

I LOVE this color. I am a black eyeliner girl. Colors just cause me to freak out, but this blue was very inky and dark. I felt like I still had my black on, but it was colored. It also caused my blue eyes to pop! Plus, it was waterproof. I couldn't get it off with my makeup removing wipes. LOL! That was fun.

The fourth product is Juicy Couture's Juicy Couture perfum. The description reads: "Juicy's signature fragrance is a blend of sweet floral notes. sphisticated and feminine, it's perfect for day or night."

As we all know...I like musky scents. Harvey Prince's Ageless has been my favorite sample they've sent so far. But Juicy Couture has been the first scent that my husband noticed me wearing without having to ask him if he likes it. I actually like it too. I thought I wasn't going to, but it's musky but still feminine. To me it's kinda earthy, but has a hint of powder to it. All I can say is...this I will definately purchase.

The fifth product is Larabar Mini Bar. The description reads: "You won't find any artificial fillers in these natural bars: just dried fruits, nuts, and other wholesome ingredients. They're as tasty as they are healthy."

I totally shouldn't have, but I couldn't resist trying this while I was on my diet. Come to find out it was only 100 calories, 4 grams of fat, and a minimal amount of sodium. Plus, it was really good! I didn't think I was going to like it, but the fruit bits in it went perfectly with the chocolate and the nuts weren't too much.

As an added bonus...they sent this cute little magnet and a card that they want you to hang on your refridgerator about Mini Detoxes for your mind, relationships, closet, diet, and bathroom cabinets. It's really common sense things that they remind you about how to declutter your life. I am crazy for magnets so this totally helped to save the box.

In all, this box was kinda skimpy...the products were pretty good, but nothing phenomenal. I did love that the Stila eyeliner was a full size eyeliner. Here's hoping that they keep getting better over the months.

Whelp...I'm outtie! Need to get some other stuff done!

Peace, Love, and Lip Gloss!

It's Ultalicious

Hey Guys!!! Today I decided for giggles to do a video log entry...with some pictures after the show. Enjoy and please don't judge harshly cause this is the very first one I've made.

This is Nyx Eyeshadow in daisy (left), and Rust (right).



You can tell I have already been playing with Daisy




Nyx shadows in Rust (left), and Daisy (right) with Nyx Jumbo Eye pencils in Cottage Cheese (left), and Pure Gold (right).

Cottage Cheese, and Pure Gold

My bare minerals!!

While the Cats Away....

So the husband is gone this weekend to Iowa for a SPAD weekend with the boys. For those of you not in the know...SPAD is a form of foam airplanes that geeky boys who grew up still build and fly. They go on outings about 4 times a year in various places...have forum boards that they spend almost all their Internet time on...and specific online shops for all their SPAD wet dreaming. My husband just happens to be all these big "little boys" guru. He builds them, he flys them, and almost always wins their competitions. So much so that they've had him on many judging panels just to give the others a shot. Anyways, this weekend is one such weekend. Now normally this is when I would migrate to Oklahoma City or Rogers, AR to spend time with friends and family and try to forget the fact my "cookie" is not attached to my hip or at home waiting to be reattached. (Yes, even after almost three years of marriage its still hard to be apart.) But I've started a new job which requires me to work the weekends. Now Friday night and Saturday are going to be easy for me. I'll just pretend he's out washing an airplane and let both dogs sleep in bed with me. But Sunday will be the hard day. I'm off work and trying not to eat everything in sight. So I am looking for something to do and someone to do it with. I have some crafty ideas to do for cake decorating, but in the end I know that will be impossible. My kitchen is hiding under a mountain of dishes, clutter, and stain and varnish for my pantry that my husband built me. I've got one counter cleaned off, but I really need the table and the corner that has all my cake decorating items. I could go watch a movie, but I really don't want to go alone and there really isn't anything out that I absolutely just have to see. A friend said I should go visit my bestest friend in Rogers, but she's working on Sunday and if I go to my grandfathers I'll be driving home over the mountain in the dark. So I don't know what I'm going to do to bust the boredom of that day!

So this week was a lesson in endurance.

Monday: I had the energy and went for a two mile walk around my neighborhood. Absolutely loved it! I saw parts of my neighborhood that I'd never seen before and I've lived in it for four years. Well later that day there was absolutely nothing on TV so I decided to do a 20 minute Zumba workout.

Tuesday: Ended up switching shifts with a co-worker so I worked days. I was a little sore at the end of my shift but didn't think anything of it. Went home and Russ said he needed to clean the inside of a plane. I'm thinking a King Air so we can both fit in it and clean at the same time. So I wear leggings, a tube top, and this super thin cardi that's more pretty than functional. So I decide after walking around Home Depot and feeling the burn I'm going to sit in the truck and wait for him to finish because it won't be that long. He comes back five minutes later and says I thought you were going to help? I stared at him quizzically and he says you can hold the shot vac. So I climb out to hold the shot vac. The hose reaches into the cockpit quite nicely so he says you don't have to help, but since I'm already out I just stand there and hold it. Now everyone knows...if your cold your muscles clench trying to provide enough energy for heat. That was a huge mistake. By that evening I was in sweats, a sweater, thick socks and under three blankets not being able to move and thinking I was dying. Russ thought I was going to cook, I thought I was going to die and so for my last meal I asked for pizza. To be exact a thin crust, chicken, pineapple, and mushroom pizza. I was at least a little health conscious. So I noshed on half a large pizza and went to bed at nine pm.

Wednesday: I awake at ten thirty am...crawl to the couch and there I stay under blankets till it's time to start getting ready for work. I feel a little icky but not near as bad as Tuesday night...I'm already guilty about food so I make it a light lunch and dinner. After work...I'm feeling spunky so I decide to work out in our fitness center. The Elliptical was the only thing available. I spent 28 minutes in hell people...it chewed me up and spit me out. But I finished...I just kept pushing through the pain.

Thursday: Uneventful...did 20 minutes of Zumba and was looking forward to 2 miles on the treadmill. Didn't make the treadmill...so I just went home and chilled.

Friday: Day of Reckoning people...I almost didn't go to weigh in. Finally right before I had to leave late or not go at all...I decided to put on some clothes and just face the piper. I got the stern looks, but my consultant was proud that to help undo the damage I did I worked out all week. And because of all that hard work....I lost.........2 pounds!

From Pizza Fest 2012 to losing 2 pounds, I'll take that any day.

So now the Elliptical is about to become my best friend. I know we will have a love hate relationship, but if it helps me to keep losing weight and not plateau for a week and a half...I will endure...I will survive...and I will make that machine my bi*#@.

Peace, Love, and Lip Gloss