Friday Randoms

I hope you are lucky like me and have the day off for Good Friday.  If not, my condolences.  It's been one of those weeks, so let's end it with some random thoughts.

1. So, I love Project Runway (Spoiler Alert).  Last week they did the Lord & Taylor challenge, meaning that they did a design just for Lord & Taylor and the winner's design would be mass produced and sold at Lord & Taylor.  If I'm being completely honest, this is the first look that's walked the runway where I said I absolutely have to have it.  Unfortunately a) It's sold out and b) it's $259.  (which makes me laugh).  The Lord & Taylor website will not allow me to access the photo, so the link is here.

2. I love the warmer weather.  Not that it's been ridiculously cold or anything here.  One of the 'small things' in life that makes me happy is the return of the pigeons that hang out on our window sill.  Seriously, it's the small things.

3.  Another reason why I love warmer weather?  There's a ton of things to do in Dallas.  The husband and I went to a wine tasting at NorthPark.  It was co-hosted by La Duni and Breadwinners.  We had a great time.  We found a new favorite wine (that's not sold in Dallas - of course), enjoyed some small bites and I even got a facial by Origins.  It was so much fun.

4.  I'm still eating salads in a jar.  Learn more about them here.  I've changed it up a bit by throwing in some fresh fruit.  Also, this dressing is Raspberry Nectar Vinaigrette from Whole Foods.  It's delish!

There's more lettuce than there appears to be.

5. The husband is going out of town this weekend, so Lola and I will be on our own.  Doesn't she look excited about being left with me all weekend?

Have a great weekend!

Birchbox: March

My March Birchbox sat at the Dallas Post Office for 5 whole days before they decided to actually deliver it to my mailbox.  Color me annoyed.  So, I cheated and looked online at what was in my box.  I was pretty disappointed.  Let's take a look.

Caldrea - Body Lotion
Description: Elegant body lotions, which come in three ethereal scents: Tea Olive Lime, Aloe Water Apricot, Coconut Fig
Full-size: $22
My Review:  I don't really have a review.  This is heavily scented body lotion and I'm allergic to fragrance.  Birchbox is aware of this allergy.

Dermablend Professional - Smooth Indulgence Concealer
Description: This velvety concealer masks flaws without triggering breakouts.  Plus, it's smudge-proof and lasts up to 16 hours.
Full-size: $22
My Review:  I received a really nice sample size of this product.  It's hard for me to say if I really liked it or not.  The shade I received was way too dark for my skin, so I couldn't really even use it.  I did put it on the back of my hand while I got ready for work, just to see how well it would stay.  It definitely didn't smudge or run.

Stella Cadente - Miss me Descrete? Eau de Toilette
Description: This chic Parisian perfume is made with rose and orange blossom notes.
Full-size: $49-$69
My Review:  The scent is very, very sweet.  I did not care for it at all.

WEI - Golden Root Purifying Mud Mask
Description: A velvety soft mask with China clay to purge dirt and oil from pores, plus golden root to lessen signs of premature aging.
Full-size: $42
My Review:  This actually made my skin nice and soft.  It's definitely a product I would like to use once a month or so.  I just can't get over the price.

Whish - Shave Crave Shaving Cream
Description: The organic shea butter in this foam free shaving cream makes for an insanely close shave and leaves skin incredibly soft.
Full-size: $20
My Review:  I don't have a review on this, either.  It is heavily scented (blueberry).

Madewell for Birchbox - Emery Board
Full-size: $5
My Review: I always need an extra emery board.  I threw it in my purse for on the go nail touch-ups.

I really like the idea of Birchbox.  Really, I do.  However, with my allergies I'm beginning to think it's just not a something that's feasible for me.  I can't really expect Birchbox to go through each product and not send me something scented because of an allergy.  I've decided to give Birchbox one more month.  I'm hoping I get more make-up samples and less scented products.

DIY: Terrarium

The husband and I live entirely too close to West Elm.  I like to walk through there on the weekends and look at all the nice, new things.  We have a few pieces from there in our home.  If I could completely furnish our home with items from West Elm, I would.  However, our budget does not allow for that.  One of the things I've been seeing for a few months in the store are terrariums.  You can purchase one all put together in a beautiful glass terrarium for a pretty penny.  I really wanted one.  So, instead of splurging on a $100 terrarium from West Elm, the husband and I decided to make our own.

We have several apothecary jars that we purchased for the candy bar for our wedding.  I'm so glad I've held onto them.  We did a bigger version with succulents in a chubby apothecary jar, but as usual I didn't take a single picture.  So, we decided to give our cactus a better home in one of our tall, cylindrical apothecary jars.  As you can imagine, they are pretty easy to do.

First: Gather everything you will need.  We used potting soil, a cactus, an apothecary jar and rocks (not shown).  You can also add moss, sand, etc.

Next: Pour the soil into the apothecary jar.

Make a hole in the soil and 'plant' your cactus.  We used a spoon to cover the cactus adequately.

Add the rocks.

Add water.

Tada!

Easy peasy, yes?  Below is the one we made with succulents.

Linking up with Molly.  Have a great day!

Random Friday

Happy Friday!  Here's a list of my random thoughts for this week.

1. I'm sure you're dying to know if I cut my hair or not (sarcasm).  That or maybe you can tell by this week's pictures that if I did, it was not by much.  Well, I did.  But not by much.  I still think a lob/bob is the final goal, but I think it's going to take some time to get there.  Baby steps.  It's a process for me.

Before

Currently

End Goal (but obvs not blonde) (via)

2. The Dallas Rock 'n' Roll Marathon is this weekend.  I'm definitely not running it, but it does affect me because the course runs right by our loft.  The great thing is that one of the bands sets up in the parking lot across from us, so free music all day.  The not so great thing is that they shut down one of the major roads next to us.  So we are partially trapped for the day.

3.  I made Snickerdoodle cookies this week.  I used this recipe.  They were absolutely delicious.  If you need a good, easy cookie recipe, I definitely recommend this one.

4. Speaking of cookies, I'm currently trying to persuade my husband into thinking we need a kitchen aid mixer.  I mean, come on.  I could make so many good treats.

Source

5. If you don't already, please follow me on Facebook and Pinterest.  That's where I'm most active.  That's random, right?

Link up: Lace

Marion's trend of the month is lace.  I was so excited to hear that she chose lace and I raced to my closet to see what I could put together and discovered that I own one lace article of clothing.  Wha...?  How did that happen?  So, lace is definitely on my list of things I need to add to my closet.  Anyway I pulled out this lace top and immediately thought of yellow/mustard.  It's one of my favorite color pairings.  Yellow and navy is also a favorite color pairing of mine and so that's how this outfit was created.  Those are navy pants, just so 

you know.

Top: Banana Republic (similar, also cute) // Cardigan: Banana Republic (similar) // Pants: Banana Republic (similar) // Shoes: Nine West (similar)

Linking up with Marion!

Go Green

  

Top: J.Crew (no longer available), but this is fun // Skirt: Banana Republic (similar) // Wedges: Payless (blue no longer available)

She's ready to go back home.

Nail Polish: This came in my birchbox and is the only thing I'm including on the blog from February's box (that's how meh it was).  Color club in "wild cactus"

She was so over it.

I decided to wear green to work on Friday to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.  I mainly just wanted to wear green nail polish and my boss was out of the office, so it was the perfect time.  Lola did have a pretty green bow, but she decided she was not going to be festive this year and ripped it off.  Diva.

Linking up with Molly.

Random Friday

I've kind of taken over Lola's Friday posts.  The older she gets, the more she sleeps and that can be pretty boring.

Note to her Aunt Tiffany: That little piece of fabric in the photo is Sheldon #1.

So, today's post is a bunch of randomness thrown together.

1. My face has completely broken out.  It's annoying.  I have super sensitive skin, so I use Clinique 3-Step but since I'm such a beauty addict I notoriously cheat on them.  I like Clinique, I just wish it made my skin clearer, etc.  I'm hard to please.  Clearly.  Every time I use something other than Clinique I either have dull skin, I break out or I get really red/rashy/itchy and go crawling back.  It's a never ending cycle.  I really want to try out the Philosophy line.  Yeah, I just said that.

via

2. We have a house guest visiting us tonight and I'm so excited.  This of course means I have been scrubbing our apartment from top to bottom.  This is such a FWP (first world problem), but it's really done a number on my manicure.  I'm currently wearing a very chipped Essie Glamour Purse.

via

3. Ulta is having one of those months of savings things that they do every once in a while.  I have about eight things circled on the catalog I received in the mail (to the husband's dismay).  I've always wanted to try CK One makeup and I've heard nothing but fabulous things about the Stila BB.  Check it out here.  Also, hello UD eye shadow primer.

That's it.  I only have three randoms today.  Thanks so much for reading.

Is it just me?

So, I get a Julep box each month.  Well, each month that I choose to.  What's Julep?  Click here.  Anyway, in my last Julep box, I received this nail treatment.

I was super excited.  Why?  I honestly don't know.  I don't have weak, brittle or discolored nails, but for some reason I was super happy about this product.  It's advertised as an oxygen treatment for your nails.  Plus, it has some slight tint to it, which is a bonus.  I put some on and went on about my week.  Towards the end of the week, I reapplied per the directions.  When I took the polish off, my nails were peeling.  Hmm.  Okay, well who knows why they did that (even though they never do that).  I wore regular polish for a week and the next week I wore the nail treatment again.  My nails peeled again.  So, is it just me?  Several other bloggers that I read absolutely love it and it has received some pretty great reviews online.  So, if you have it and you love, I'm glad it works for you.  If you don't have it, well good luck.  I hope it works for you.  Does this mean I'm now against Julep?  Absolutely not.  My next Julep box is in the mail as we speak.  (speak?)

I'm still here

Hi.  I'm still here.  I know I haven't had a post in a while.  The last week or so has been a whirlwind.  The husband and I took a trip to the great city (town?) of Lubbock to participate in an event held by the program we graduated from at Texas Tech.  It's always a fun time.  We get to see old classmates and professors and visit old stomping grounds, such as Chimys.  We attended a banquet on Friday night and earlier in the day I remembered that I forgot to pack a clutch for such an event.  Now, Lubbock doesn't have much in the way of shopping (no Nordstrom, no J.Crew, etc.) so I knew that I would have to really do some scouring.  I actually first went to Target to see if I could find a good, cheap bag to use for the night.  I don't often use a clutch, so why spend lots of money? Target actually had a few clutches to choose from, but none of them really spoke to me.  (Do bags not speak to you?)  So, I decided to just put my phone and lip gloss in my husband's pockets.  He was very excited about this.  (not.)  So, on the way to the car he pointed out a Ross that was next door.  Well, why not.  That's where I found this.

Isn't it lovely?  A nice, neutral clutch for, ahem, $16.  It doesn't hurt that it's a Kenneth Cole Reaction clutch, but I would have purchased it either way.  I love the asymmetrical lines and the hardware.  I love that I will be able to carry it for future events.  I can carry it with a cocktail dress and heels to a wedding and even carry it with skinny jeans and heels on a date.  I really just love it.  I thought about throwing all my necessities into it and carrying it for everyday, but a) clearly it's not an every day bag and b) sadly I have way more 'necessities' than I thought.  So that's what I've been doing: whirl-winding, traveling, coming across gems in dirt towns, etc.