Week in Photos

1. Yellow Nails. Revlon ColorStay in the color Buttercup.

2. Protein Smoothie. Inspired by Benji from BenjiManTV on Youtube.

3. Spray Paint Art @ a Local Skatepark.

4. Minty Green jeans from Target.

5. Grilled Teriyaki Salmon, Rice Pilaf, Grilled Pineapple, Spinach. Dinner by the boyfriend.

Hope you enjoyed!

Lush Haul/Review

Hey guys! I'm back with a Lush Haul/Review today! A few weeks ago my boyfriend and I spent the day in Carmel, CA a cute little beach town. Downtown they have a little Lush Cosmetics shop.

During this time my face was really drying out. It was getting to the paint where skin was literally flaking off my forehead. So I ran in to see if they had any good moisturizers for dry skin. The sales girl was really polite and helped me pick a few things out.

1. Oatifix Fresh Face Mask ($6.95 apx) - The Facts: I had the Oatifix  in my hand and the sales girl said it was enriched with bananas with rich oils that help quench dry skin. The mask also contains oatmeal and almonds which help to scrub the dead skin off your face. This mask is suppose to be gentle and perfect for sensitive skin.

My Thoughts: To be completely honest with you I've only used the mask once. I'm pretty bad when it comes to keeping a routine with face masks. Sometimes I'm so busy I barely get to wash my face at night. But anyways back to my review...the mask was pretty clumpy and looked as if I dumped oatmeal on my face. I don't feel like it moisturized my face greatly either. It was just an OK mask. I don't think I'll be re-purchasing.

2. Eau Roma Water Toner ($8.95) - The Facts: This toner was suggested for me by the sales girl. It is supposed to be Lush's most moisturizing toner with only 2 active ingredients; rose and lavender. The rose is to cool and nourish the skin while the oils in lavender moisturize.

My Thoughts: I have mixed feelings. Spraying my face with the toner is very refreshing but I don't feel like it really does anything to my skin. I also noticed that most other toners clean left over residue from make up after a face wash while this toner doesn't do that. This is also probably another product I will not purchase again from Lush.

3. Skin Drink Facial Moisturizer ($22.95) - The Facts: This moisturizer was highly suggested by the sales girl helping me that day. She insisted that I not leave the store without it. Skin Drink is made up of rose petal extract, avocados, and aloe vera.

My Thoughts: I LOVE IT! I only apply this moisturizer in the morning after I wash my face and before I apply my tinted moisturizer. After I apply it I literally feel like my skin is soaking up the moisture. It improved my dry skin in literally 2 days! The only face product I've purchased at Lush that I believe actually helped my dry skin. There are only 2 draw backs; 1) Hello! The price? Geez. $22.95? That's a little steep for me. But the amount in the container has been lasting pretty well so maybe it's worth it. If my skin's happy, I'm happy! 2) It smells funky. I think it's the avocado in it. It literally smells like rotten food or something along those lines. But with that said, I will definitely repurchase.

Rock Star Soap ($7.95 for 3.5oz) - The Facts: Vanilla fragrance soap that is supposed to leave your body feeling smooth and smelling sweet!

My Thoughts: I'm a huge fan of Lush soaps. I heard about Rock Star from one of the Youtube beauty gurus and had to smell for myself. Most Lush soaps leave your skin feeling great. This one does that as well and its pretty to look at. Definitely smells sweet too. The scent lingers on my skin for a few hours after a shower. Another repurchase.

I hope you enjoyed my little Haul/Review and this gives you some ideas for your next Lush trip!
Have a lovely day!

E<3

Thursday Things about Manicure Things

Hey! This week I'm doing a special Thursday Things post entirely on manicure/nail things. I want to share some of my favorite nail care products as well as nail polishes.

1. Essie All in One Base Coat. Recently my nails have been very brittle and weak. Then I discovered this Essie base coat and it worked miracles on my finger nails. It gave my nails the strength they needed. I purchased mine at Walgreens for $9.50.

2. J.R. Watkins Hand & Cuticle Salve. When I neglect going to a pro for a mani my hang nails and cuticles can get pretty dry but with this cuticle salve I can skip the nail salon for weeks! Every time I paint my nails, I wash my hands and then apply this cuticle salve all around my nail bed and into my cuticles. It leaves my nails looking freshly manicured every time I use. I discovered J.R. Watkins in my Birchbox a few months ago but currently you can purchase it at Ulta for $5.24.

3. INM Out the Door Super Fast Drying Top Coat. For months I was looking for a top coat that gave my nails a glossy shine and helped to dry freshly painted nails quickly and I finally found it. INM Out the Door can be purchased at most nail supply store, I believe I purchased mine for somewhere around $5.00.

4. True Blue Spa Shea Cashmere Hand Cream. <- That's a mouth full! I got a bottle of this lotion for Christmas 2 years ago and ever since then it's the only hand lotion I use. It makes your hands so silky smooth is unbelievable. I even use this on my legs! This can be purchased at Bath & Body Works for about $10.00.

Now for some of my favorite colors...

4. Essie Tart Deco.This is the perfect combination of a light and creamy coral. I bring this color out for Spring and Summer. It's the perfect pop of color to wear on your nails.

5. Orly Rage. I first saw this color on Youtube beauty guru Sonia. She wore the color in one of her videos and I immediately went on the hunt. I was disappointed when I wasn't able to find the color anywhere and then FINALLY weeks later I found the color at a Sally's Beauty Supply store. This is my favorite gold color to wear and still keep my nails looking neutral.

6. OPI Pink Friday. This is my favorite light, Barbie pink nail polish. I'm currently wearing it on my toe nails!

7. Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mint Sorbet. Last summer mint green was a trendy color for Spring and Summer just as it will be this year. When I saw this color I had to get it!

8. Essie Lady Like. I love this color. I wore it all Fall. It's my go to neutral color. Sometimes I like to change it up a bit and paint the tip black for a more modern french tip. (Not pictured below)

I hope you enjoyed this post and hopefully you find some of these items are what you've been looking for!

Have a lovely day!

E<3

Thursday Things about Food Things

On a morning that I've forgotten to eat breakfast I came up with this brilliant idea to write about "Food Things" in this weeks Thursday Things blog post. Sooo by the end of this blog post I will be even more starving than I already am.

1. I LOVE CUPCAKES. I love eating them and I love baking them. When my boyfriend and I started dating a few years ago I used to bake him cupcakes ALL THE TIME. His favorite is Vanilla Funfetti flavored where as my favorite is Pumpkin or Carrot cake. This past week I went to Kara's in Palo Alto, CA. Now unfortunately, I think Kara's is only a Bay Area bakery. So here is what I got:

From left to right: Hazelnut, Carrot Cake, Raspberry, and Banana. Cupcake flavors at Kara's are always hit or miss. My all time favorite which I know will never disappoint me is the Carrot Cake.
2. Pacific Catch. I don't even know how to explain what type of restaurant this is. They are obviously a bit of a seafood grill. A lot of their dishes are inspired by Asian and Hawaiian culture. My favorite thing about this place is I can order a good sushi dish and my not-so-fond-of-sushi-for-dinner boyfriend can order something he calls dinner like a rice bowl. Last time we were there for dinner I ordered the Chicken Island Tacos and they were a little spicy but so delish! And I am not a spicy girl.

3. I watch the Food Network after work a lot of the time. My favorite is Paula Dean even if she is killing America with her recipes. The other day they were showing an episode of The Best Thing I Ever Ate, which if you don't know is a show where some of the Food Network stars talk about some of their favorite things to eat at certain restaurants. One of the stars I forget his name talked about this ice cream place in San Francisco which served prosciutto flavored ice cream. Wellllll I'm not a huge fan of weird flavored foods like that. I like it simple. But I noticed they had Honeydew flavored Sorbet and that sounds delicious to me! So this past Monday I convinced my boyfriend to drive 45 minutes to the city just so I could check out Humphry Solocombe. Unfortunately, they rotate they flavors and they did not have anything that seemed a slight bit tasty in my opinion. So I settled for Chocolate.

I hate to say this but I was slightly disappointed of my 45 minute ice cream run but next time we're in the city and craving ice cream and definitely have to give it another try and fingers crossed they'll have Honeydew!

4. Ok, lets talk about the best damn pretzel I've ever had. First time ever strolling through Carmel, CA with my boyfriend we came across Carmel Bakery and they had these pretzels on display in the window which were drizzled with chocolate and frosting. They looked to good to pass up. So we went in and just bought one to try out. We've been going back to Carmel not only because they're beaches are beautiful but for those flaky sweet pretzels.

5. I don't know if I'm just really late on this or what but there are Dark Chocolate Mint M&Ms! I found these at Walgreens the other day and they are so yummy! I love mint flavored chocolate.

I hope you enjoyed this weeks Thursday Things! Please share some of your favorites food places if you're located in the Bay Area!

Thanks for reading!

<3E

Thursday Things

1. First of all it's a beautiful day in Northern Cali today! I can't get enough of this sun!

2. Sunshine calls for short dresses and skirts. Unfortunately, my legs are not ready for this.

3. This did not stop my from wearing a pencil skirt today though. :) Hey! They're not going to tan unless I let the sun shine on them. :D

4. I'm also in a giddy mood because I just booked my flight to Vegas! It will be my first Vegas trip so I'm just ecstatic!

5. Now I feel the need to shop for some new outfits for my trip but I'm hesitant because I know I'll be wanting to shop once I'm there so I limited myself to 1 dress for a night out and a bathing suit.

6. I can check bathing suit of the list. I bought this retro style suit at Old Navy for just a little over $40. I love that the ruching on the tummy will hide my gut that formed this Winter and I've yet to work off.

7. When the weather is nice I like to take quick little walks at the nearby park during my lunch break. I did this today. And I realized I probably should have never stopped for I felt a little bit out of shape. I mean how out of shape can I be when I walk everyday, right? I don't know.

8. I've had a weird sore throat for a week now. I feel fine except for my throat is sore. It's weird. I hope it goes away soon.

9. I realized this week that I am a shoe & nail polish addict. I need help.

10. Seriously though.

Jewelmint Review

Jewelmint is a monthly jewelry subscription. Every month they email you a showroom full of different jewelry pieces all for $29.99 each with free shipping. If there's a month where you don't like any of the pieces in your showroom you can simply skip the month.
I signed up for the Jewelmint membership a few months back but never found anything I really loved in my showroom. Plus the $29.95 for a piece of jewelry kinda turned me off especially if I could find something similar and less than half the price at Forever 21. But this month while browsing the showroom I noticed the Cinema Americano Bracelet. This piece is a beautiful gold plated chain bracelet. I've been wanting something like this for awhile now, so when I saw the Cinema Americano I had to order it. But still the $29.95 price was bugging me I was hoping for a coupon code and finally one was sent to my email. Jewelmint sent me a 70% off coupon code for my first order. This made the bracelet only $9.95! I went straight over to my showroom and ordered the piece that morning!

And yesterday it came in the mail in chic black packaging with Jewelmint written across the envelope.

When I opened the black envelope inside I found a minty green little box with a black bow tied around.

When I opened the mint green box inside was a velvet jewelry bag that held my beautiful bracelet and a little note from Jewelmint.

I have small wrists so when I ordered the bracelet I was afraid it was going to fit too loose around my wrist but when I tried it on I wasn't disappointed. The bracelet fit perfectly around my wrist. I'm really excited to where in stacked with other jewelry pieces.

All in all I'm very satisfied with my first Jewelmint experience. My order came fairly quick. I ordered on a Friday and it was delivered on a Thursday. And the packaging was just beautiful not to mention the bracelet itself. If you haven't given Jewelmint a try head on over to the website and create your style portfolio. It's free to sign up!

Thanks for reading!

E<3

Thursday Things on a Saturday :))

Hey ya'll! I am not a country girl; I'm a country girl at heart living in the city... and I'm currently playing Miranda Lambert on Pandora as I type this blog post.

1. Speaking of city, I was up in San Francisco this past week for some strolling around Haight-Ashbury. It's a great little shopping and food district where you can find unique items and clothing. Unfortunately, Haight did not give me any little treasures this time around.

2. I did enjoy a yummy Nutella and Strawberry Crepe at Crepe Express though.

3. I also found a high-low dress at Forever 21. I've yet to try it on but I'm hoping to wear it with a jean jacket and some wedges this weekend.

4. I think this is gonna be my go to outfit for Spring. Cute dress, Jean Jacket and cute comfy sandals.

5. I have yet to find the perfect pair of Sandals for this year. It seems like every year I add a new pair to my collection but this season nothing is popping out for me. Maybe as we get closer to Summer I'll find something.

6. Last weekend I put my own little spin on missglamorazzi's pretty little liars nail tutorial.



7. I've been really into only decorating my ring finger when I paint my nails lately. Currently I have on a shimmery hot pink with my ring finger decorated in chunks of multi glitter. Just lovely. :)

8. I FINALLY bought a new alternate down comforter this past week. Macy's was having a 60-70% off sale! Great prices. I'm really getting into interior decorating lately.

9. Inexpensive throw pillows are hard to find! I found this faux fur pillow at Kohl's for $13.80 in store this week. If you order it online you save $3!

10. Let me know if you have any ideas where I can find cute throw pillows for under 20 bucks! I'm on a budget!

Thanks for reading!

Have a blessed Easter!

E<3