The blessings of blogging

 

This little bloggy of mine has become a blessing in disguise and I couldn’t be happier. In the eight months that I’ve been blogging I’ve not only found a new hobby and rediscovered my love of photography, BUT also found some amazing friends. Friends that truly care and support me, even though we have never met in person. I am honored and blessed to call many of you my friends, and hope to meet you all one day IRL.

One of the amazing girls that I met through the blogging community has been Veronica Grace of Knitful Dezigns. She is such a talented, beautiful and caring lady, and I love that I have gotten to know her pretty well through the past few months. I’m also honored to be the recipient of an award from her.

I cannot thank you enough Gracie! This is such an honor, and I am so thrilled that you thought of me for this blog award. It really inspires me to keep blogging, and really makes me appreciate the blogging community so much. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!

I’d love to pass this on to some of the girls that have really made blogging a blast for me, and who made me feel welcomed to the blogging community when I first started.

Meghan from little girl in the big world  - Meg is one of the sweetest people I have met, she was also one of my first friends in the blogging world. In the time I have known her, she has become a great friend

Kayla from Ramblings of A Small Town Girl – along with Meg Kayla was one of the first people I met, and a huge part of my support system. She’s been MIA from the blog world for a bit due to her hectic work schedule and training for a marathon.

Lindsey, The Bargain Blond herself. Lindsey is amazing. She is super helpful and sweet. She is also hilarious and make me laugh on a daily basis. I cannot wait for our eventual move to Dallas, so that I can spend more time with this lady!

Megan from A Suitcase and Stilettos – This girl is amazing. She packed up her bags and headed out to live in Norway!! Her blog is full of adventures and stories of her travels and life. She’s been a great inspiration for me  and become a great friend. Now I just need to save up to visit her in Norway!!!

There are many many more, but it’s a little late and I just remembered that I promised to write a guest post… and I’m cutting it really close to when I promised I would have it done. This is what happens when I neglect to write things down in my planner. OOPS.

Hope you all had a great weekend and I will be back soon with more updates and posts.

A Top 10

 

The beautiful Veronica Grace at Knitful Dezigns, has given me a blog award and I couldn’t thank her enough. It is such an honor to get these little buttons to add to my small collection, and to know that people actually enjoy reading my gibberish! So thank you Veronica Grace!!! From the bottom of my heart!

The idea behind this award is that you list your top 10 cosmetic choices and then tag other bloggers so that they can also do the same.  

Here are my top 10 products that I use almost daily:

Since this is asking me about cosmetic products I’m only going to include makeup, later on I might do a post about skincare since I just got a new moisturizer that I am in LOVE with.

[ONE] – Benefit Boi-ing

This might be the best concealer that I have ever used. It’s a bit price at $18.00, but lasts forever and blends perfectly with my skin tone. It also works amazingly well with my BE foundation.

[TWO] – bareMinerals Matte Foundation

This is also a bit pricy ($28.00) but worth every single penny. A container of bareMinerals should last anywhere from 3 to 6 months. If you are using the right brushes they will last 6+ months. I use to use this foundation on my face daily, and never had issues with breakouts or any other problems. Mineral foundations are healthier for the skin because they are light and allow for your skin to breath. Also, it helps that this foundation comes with 15 SPF.

[THREE] – Prime Time

Another Bare Escentuals item. This primer is magical. I’ve tried a whole line of them including Too Faced, Smashbox, StudioGear and a few others, this by far is the best out of them all. The primer not only smooths out your face but also locks in moisture making sure that your skin is super soft throughout the day. 

[FOUR] – BADgal lash Mascara

I have this in all four colors that the mascara comes in. Usually I’ll wear the black with plum or blue. Sometimes I’ll just do black, sometimes a dark brown. Anyways, this is by far the best bang for your buck! There are a few other mascaras that I like, but for everyday wear BADgal does not dry out your lashes and comes off super easy. I also have the waterproof version for vacations, swimming and other watery activities. However, I wear the regular to the gym and have no issue with it smearing all over my face and giving me raccoon eyes.

[FIVE] – brow zings

My beautiful friend Laly does my brows, and with a little help of this guy from Benefit they look perfect until they are overgrown and completely out of control. I love this little kit because it’s not just powder to fill in the brows but also a colored gel to get the color to set in and your brows to stay in place.

[SIX] – Urban Decay Glided Bronzer

This is one of the BEST bronzers I have ever had the pleasure of working with. I originally started using Urban Decay when I started doing make-up at Ulta. The eye shadow colors are to-die for, especially if used with a primer to bring out the pigmentation. This bronzer is no different, its my go to in the summer because it gives a total sun-kissed look, with a bit of shine. For a day out, I usually tone down the shine with some foundation or mineral vial over it.

[SEVEN] – Urban Decay Liquid Liner

I loved the old Urban Decay liquid liner much, MUCH better then this one. BUT again, this is better then a lot of the other choices out there. The application wand works for me, so it makes life a great deal easier since liquid eyeliner is a pain in the tush to apply. I usually stick with black liquid liner.

[EIGHT] – Stila smudge stick waterproof eyeliner

This one is really a splurge item for me, and I got hooked on it when I did makeup for the Stila line. Each one of these beauties will run you about $20.00. *hangs head in shame* and I am more than willing to pay for them. I got several for free, and was literally hooked. The colors are beautiful, I LOVE the purple tang, bluefin, and the peacock for a night out on the town or to add a hint of color to an office look. 

 

[NINE] – Too Faced Shadow Insurance

Again, I’ve tried several different shadow primers including Urban Decay and Benefit, but this seems to be the best out of them all. Especially if you mix it with a drop of silk hair serum. The primer just glides right on, its not oily or too dry and makes the pigmentation in the shadows really come out.

[TEN] – Urban Decay Naked Eyeshadow palette

LOVE at first sight. I assure you this will be the best investment of your lifetime. I really love Urban Decay eyeshadows and own a million individual ones, but its so hard to travel with them or locate the color you need when they are all dumped into a drawer. This palette is perfect because it includes all the colors you need for a day at the office or a soft natural look.

And there you have it! The 10 cosmetics that I use on a regular basis.

Finally, here are the bloggers I am tagging:

Kristin at Asymmetrical Joy 

Meghan at Little girl in the big world

Megan at A Suitcase and Stilettos

Lindsey at The Bargain Blonde

Sherry at Sweet and Sassy

Leah at Happily Hitched

Sarah at Living, Laughing and Loving Life

WooHoo!!! Another Blog Award

 

I’m so honored to have received another Blog Award in less then a month since my last one. This one came from the beautiful Veronica Grace over at Knitful Dezigns.

Honestly, I am so excited and honored that people actually like my random blabbing about kitchen sinks, random fitness motivation and whatever else I talk about. Thank you!!!

In accordance with the award here are seven random facts about me:

1. I’m super clumsy. And by this I mean trip over my own feet standing on flat ground kind of clumsy. It’s a little embarrassing, especially when surrounded by other people or strangers.
2. I love snacking, especially if I am working or studying. I snack way too much and on unhealthy things like chips and crackers instead of fruits and veggies. I’m actively trying to fix this.
3. Sometimes all I want to do is curl into my bed, hide under the cover and sleep for a few days. Seriously, I think one of these days I just might do that. and NO I am not depressed, just sleep deprived at times.
4. Traveling is my passion and I would LOVE to travel for a job. I hope that one day the Mister and I can take month long vacations. Maybe when we have our own little shop or some form of home business.
5. I honestly enjoying staying at home and working from home. While the money isn’t great, and honestly I stress over this entirely too much, I love the fact that I am home when the Mister gets home, and that I don’t have piles of laundry covering the bedroom floor and the dishes aren’t trying to take over the kitchen. HA!
6. Even though I spent almost 2 years growing my hair out, I sometimes have the urge to just chop it all off. My hair stylist would love the drastic cut, but the husband might kill me.
7. I need a vacation. I know, I know… who doesn’t. But really, I want to be on a beach in Mexico, or somewhere else in the tropical. Unfortunately we wont have a chance to go until end of the year or early next year, which is way too long but what can ya do?!

Here are the some other lovely blogs that I’d like to pass this little award to:

    Megan from A Suitcase and Stilettos

Lindsey from The Bargain Blonde

and

Sarah from Sunlight After Rain

My First Blog Award!

 

Seems like this week is a great number of first for me! I just checked my comments and did a little jig when I saw this one:

Sarah is adorable, go make friends with her over at Sunlight After Rain

The award requires the recipient to post 7 facts about themselves. And just because I know you are dying to know more about me here they are:

[one]

I love when it rains! I really do, but only if I can stay home and curl up on the couch with my favorite book. I’d love to spend the day lounging around enjoying a good read. I also hate when I wake up and it’s gloomy out, only for the sun to shine 10 minutes later. It gives me hope that we’ll have a grey day, then goes around and breaks my heart.

[two]

I’m really ready to move from Colorado to a state with more stable weather. I love Colorado, especially Denver and the mountains, but I feel that I’ve lived here long enough, maybe I’ll come back one day, but for now I cannot wait to move somewhere different and start over. I think I’m just craving adventure.

[three]

The Mister and I have gotten into this bad habit of spending too much money on vacations and experiences. Just in the last year we spent over $20K on vacations, weekend trips, shows and so on. Not to mention how much we spent on going out and cars. HOWEVER, I don’t regret a single penny of this. We had so much fun that we cannot wait to get some extra room on the credit cards so we can do it all over again. (Please note that I don’t recommend doing this if you have depends or your job isn’t stable. Credit card debt sucks, especially at high interests. We’re just wacky) 

[four]

I love writing, I really do! I’m also good at it, at least I’m better at writing then anything else in the world. I’m a little sad that I didn’t at least minor in writing to improve my skills.

[five]

I really should be looking for full time employment, however, I’d rather do my own thing and have been trying to put a few things together. Seems like they might work out, so keep your fingers crossed for me. It would be fantastic to continue to work from home!

[six]

I am obsessed with photography, and cannot wait to add a few new lenses to my collection. I also, think that I love to travel because I get to take new pictures of things I would otherwise not be able to. ALSO, I would much rather have photographs then videos of our trips. I feel that photos tell a story much better.

[seven]

I am really trying super duper hard to get my life in control regarding spending an excess amount of money on food and such. I really need to start couponing but don’t know where to start. So if any of you have helpful tips, I’d appreciate them very much.

AND now for the fun part, here are the blogs that this award goes to:

little girl in the big world

Ramblings of A Small Town Girl

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Sweet and Sassy

Our Forever

and of course

The Bargain Blonde