March Ipsy Bag

I'm back for another round of what I got in my Ipsy bag this month!

As always, to sign up for Ispy, click here.

I have to say I was a bit disappointed when I only saw 4 products this month. Typically it's 5, so I've been spoiled! Good thing I liked all the products ;)

1. Bora Bora Eyeshadow Quad by Be a Bombshell

What they say:

The Bora Bora Eyeshadow Quad contains a highly pigmented long lasting formula for all day wear. 

What I say: The shadows are surprisingly very pigmented, especially when wet! I'm not too sure how much use I will get out of these shades, but I think they'd be perfect for summer. I love the idea of using that blue shade as an eyeliner. {swatches of the shades below}

2.Body Butter by Pacifica in scent Indian Coconut Nectar

What they say:

Smell incredible with our nourishing and anti-oxidant rich ingredients. The Pacifica Body Butter helps fight signs of aging while adding deep moisture and protection. Made with nature's best moisturizers - shea butter, almond oil and safflower oil - Pacifica’s paraben-free Body Butter is a skin must-have. Now available in tubes in our best-selling fragrances, making them easy to take with you anywhere.

What I say: I love this lotion! It smells so yummy and really moisturizes my skin nicely. It sinks into my skin fast too, so that's a plus. 

3. Marvelous Moxiee Lipstick in Get Ready by bareMinerals

What they say:

Make an impact with Marvelous Moxie™ Lipstick. Creamy, super-saturated, ultra-pigmented color glides on like butter for full coverage in a rich satin finish. Lips look fuller and more voluptuous. An infusion of minerals revitalizes lips for a healthy-looking pout, while a moisture-loaded hydrating complex helps to nourish and condition with Abyssinian Oil and Omega Fatty Acids for supple, baby-soft smoothness. All the while, an encapsulated vitamin A, C and E complex helps to deliver antioxidant defense, so you’re ready for anything—and everything. Learn more about Marvelous Moxie™ here. 

What I say: I looooove this lipstick! It's such a gorgeous shade and is so moisturizing and smooth on my lips! This shade is the perfect 'my lips but better' shade for my own lips. (they are pretty pigmented on their own!) I will definitely be interested in trying other shades, too.

4. Roughles by Nicole by OPI in shade On what grounds?

What they say:

Nicole by OPI launches Roughles (“ruffles”) - 4 new textured nail lacquers featuring speckled, pastel shades of purple, pink, turquoise and yellow. When the lacquer dries, Roughles lacquers reveal a unique pebbled finish. For the perfect matte effect, skip the top coat!

What I say: I'm not a big fan on matte nail polish nor textured polish, so I don't think I will be using this much. I will say I love the color, it's the perfect aqua!

Here are the swatches:

To get a bag each month with products correlated to exactly what you like, for just $10 a month...click here. 

My March Photo Journal 2014

Thanks so much to Deaf Girl Musings for hosting such a fun, creative challenge! 

It was challenging, fun and most importantly, it helped create such an amazing journal of memories

(Which just so happened to include two different vacations!)

Here is my completed photo journal:

I plan on printing these out and adding them to my scrapbook.

To see all the photo journal posts, click here.

30 Day Photo Challenge, Week 5- Last one!

I can't believe the end is here! I know I am late on posting my last week of pictures...I blame it on travel. Nevertheless, here are my final pictures of the challenge:

Day 24, Animal:

This is Sophie (my cousins/aunt's pup) and she is just the sweetest, most loving dog on this planet. Can you believe she was born in 2001?

Day 25, Something pink:

This one was actually challenging. I don't really prefer the color pink, so I don't have a ton of it. 

But I did have this hot pink bag that I kept because I adore the polka dots!

Day 26, Close up:

This is my youngest cousin, Will. Ain't he adorable!?! He's so witty and fun loving... he's my little buddy. I love him so!  

*also note Spongebob's impeccable photobomb!*

Day 27, From a distance:

While visiting PA, we decided to drive out to the United Flight 93 Memorial. It was so moving and heart-breaking. This shot was taken looking directly at the crater where the plane hit (a little to the right of that big rock) in the direction it was flying.

They truly were American heroes!

Day 28, Flowers:

Hydrangeas are one of my absolute favorite flowers!

Day 29, Black and white:

Before I left, we snapped a few shots of my family members I haven't seen in forever. 

Going clockwise

Top left: My grandmother, 

My grandfather

Bottom left: My cousin Hayden and my Uncle Tom, 

My cousin T.J. and I

Day 30, Self portrait:

 This was taken after I got some chocolate. All is good in the world!

To see the previous posts, click here!

Next, I am going to add all of them together to create my photo journal. Stay tuned!

30 Day Photo Challenge Week 4!

I can't believe that we are already on week four! I have to say this challenge has been really fun. I love getting the opportunity to be creative with the different days and also being able to look at how other's differed from mine!

Here are my photos for this week:

Day 18, Shoes:

Last week, I was on a plane heading for Ohio to spend time with my family. I always wear my tennis shoes when I travel because they normally take up the most space in my suitcase. 

Day 19, Something orange:

Orange is probably my least favorite color, but I did manage to find some in my suitcase. Even though my beanie is technically coral, I still think it fits. I just got this orange blouse at the thrift store  and my glasses case just happens to be corally-orange, too!

Day 20, Bokeh:

This is my Aunt Denise and I (check out her blog). I am so happy to get to see her!

Day 21, Faceless self portrait: 

I am not very good at messy buns, but my aunt loved it and wanted to take a picture of my bun that day for her Pinterest board.

Day 22, Hands:

This is my hand next to my grandmothers. Isn't it neat!?

(We both have tiny hands, don't we!)

Day 23, Sunflare:

This was taken on Mt. Washington looking at the Pittsburgh skyline.

Check back next Monday for the last week of the challenge! (I'll share today's photo then)

and be sure to check out the Deaf Girl Musings Facebook Page to see all the other participant's photos!

30 Day Photo Challenge, Week 3!

First off, Happy St Patty's day!

It's been a crazy week filled with tons of wonderful memories. If you didn't already know, I spent the past week up at my grandparents mountain retreat. My cousin's spring break just so happened to be the same as ours, so we all drove up for a week of fun! I think I will do a post tomorrow or sometime soon with all the adventures we went on.

 We just got back saturday, and tomorrow I leave to go visit my other side of the family. I am so excited because it's been so long since I've last seen them and I know we will have a blast together. Anyway, here are my pictures from this past week:

Day 11, Something Blue:

This one came out a little blurry because I was zoomed in so much, but my family decided to go bowling and this was our score board. Actually this was only the younger kids one, as we split up into two groups (one with bumpers, one without). It was funny because my papa shocked us all and whooped our butts at bowling! He was scary good and giving us all tips... this is coming from a man who hardly ever bowls! (Must be the engineer in him)

Day 12, Sunset:

I'm cheating on this one because this photo was actually taken back in July while I was in Florida. I'm dreaming of being back at this beach, though!

 Day 13, Yourself with thirteen 'things':

I guess I am also cheating on this one... because I am with people not things, but this one was too good not to share! This was our entire group up on the mountains with us. Here's who is in this picture: My brother Austin, SIL Holly, my cousins Tyler, Matthew, and Jake, myself, my mom, my cousin's friend Michael, My grandfather (papa), my other brother Addison, my aunt Teresa, my nana (grandmother) and family friend Ian way in the back. That makes 12, not including me.... so for the 13 things, I am including Sydney, my dog who so gracefully photobombed this picture! Look at the middle left :) There you have it...myself with 13 things people!

Day 14, Eyes:

 There's an unspoken rule in our family: Never be the last one awake in the mornings. We will make you look silly (these were dog toys) and take your picture. And we will post it all over Facebook. This time it was poor Ian who got it. This makes me laugh because his eyes are perfectly shut and his mouth is open, as if he's in a deep sleep completely unaware of what's going on around him.

Day 15, Silhouette:

I absolutely love this picture! I just think it's so neat. My Papa built a zipline on their property and every time we come out, we always have to ride it. This time it was dusk and this shot was taken of my Papa looking up at the deer stand/ top of the zipline as he was waiting for the next victim, I mean adventurer. 

Day 16, Long Exposure:

This was my failed attempt at long exposure. First, I had to google what that is and then it took about a billion shots just to barely get an acceptable one. Nevertheless, it's still a pretty picture, long exposure or not! This was Cherokee Falls at Cloudland Canyon State Park. It's about 280 steps down to reach it, but it's so worth it! It's absolutely breathtaking and I am lucky enough to get to visit all the time because my grandparents live so close to the park. 

Day 17, Technology:

(Excuse my terrible cell phone quality picture, it was last minute!)

I could give up my cell phone, my nook, my alarm clock and any other technology I have ( I really don't have that much seeing that I had to mention my alarm clock as a piece of technology). But I tell ya, I couldn't live without my laptop. I use it daily and for almost everything. I use it a lot for school (it was a grad present) but I also use it to blog (what I am doing in this picture, it's like a 'blog'-ception!), keep up with social media, watch TV (hulu mostly), listen to music and so much more! 

That's it for this week, check back next monday for Day 17-24!

30 Day Photo Challenge Week 2

I'm a day late, but here I am...week 2!

To see week one's pictures, click here

Day 4, Something Green:

 My mom got these gorgeous daisies (my fav flower) the other day and they make me smile every time I see them!

Day 5, From a high angle:

This was looking down at one of many jars we have filled with shells that we collected on several beach trips we've taken. They make me think of those fun memories!

Day 6, From a low angle:

Taken on my grandparent's property... they have lots of trees!

 Day 7, Fruit:

 I looooove pineapple. That is all.

Day 8, A bad habit

I have a major sweet tooth. Major. To the point where I have to have something sweet after lunch and dinner. One of these peanut butter cups does the trick!

Day 9, Someone I love:

(he is only holding a BB gun... don't worry!)

This one was hard to narrow down, I love too many people to choose just one!

This is my oldest cousin on my mom's side, Jake. He inspires me every day. As I've said before on here, he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 2 years old.  It's a terrible terrible thing to deal with, let alone dealing with it so young. I pray everyday that one day we will find a cure, and I know we will!

 Day 10, Childhood memory:

 My brothers, cousins and I all grew up playing card games together... in fact, we still do! Our favorites are spoons and Uno.

What's in my Travel Makeup Bag?

This month I am planning on doing a lot of traveling, so I figured I'd share with you what I plan on bringing with me! 

As I travel more, I've started to realize that I don't need to bring everything that will fit. I've added so much stress onto myself by overpacking and I've learned to just to bring what I only truly need. This goes for makeup too. As you all know, I am a bit of a makeup junkie and it's really tempting to bring all of my lovely products, but I am not going to do that to myself. So I've vowed to bring products that either are compact, can be doubled up (meaning more than one use), or are small travel sized. 

 Here's what I plan on bringing on my spring break trip:

*Note* What may seem like minimal products for me, may seem like a lot to others. Again, keep in mind I am a bit of a makeup junkie.

I get a ton of travel sized products in my ipsy bags each month, so I made sure to pack them to save space and to get good use out of them. The two mascara samples I brought are this Tarte one and this one (from an ipsy bag). Now, I know I don't need to bring two mascaras, but one is almost out, so I needed to make sure I had a back up. 

 I packed as my highlight, my sample of Benefit High Beam, which I will also use as a cream eyeshadow. Eyeliner is my go to Urban Decay 24/7 pencil which has both brown and black. (Both of which are almost out!) I packed a sample of the Urban Decay Primer Potion that should last me a long time. I also brought a new favorite, the NYX Jumbo eye pencil (shade milk) which I will be talking about on the blog soon. The primer I packed was this sample of the Too Faced Primed and Poreless which I've never tried...so we will see. Of course I had to bring my holy grail foundation (also because I didn't have any foundation samples) the Urban Decay Naked Skin (Shade 0.5). 

 I packed my Nars The Happening Palette (No longer available, I got w/ my mom's discount). I love this because it's so travel friendly! It has both blush and bronzer AND 4 eyeshadows... it also is really compact! 

Again, I know it's not totally necessary to have two blushes, but blushes are my thing and I just wanted options. (Again, I'm a woman and want my options!) The Tarte Amazonian Clay blush shade is Fearless, but it's been discontinued... too bad, it's a favorite! And last is the Bobbi Brown eye shadow palette that is so compact and small... again perfect for travel! (Shade is Champagne Quartz eye quad) I got this as a freebie, and love it. It gives a great neutral eye look.

and I'm not going to go into too much detail here, but these are the brushes I'm bringing with me:

Of course my favorite foundation brush (Real Techniques Expert Face brush) and a few ecotools kabukis for the face thrown in there. For eyes, I packed a mix of ecotools and a random cover girl brush. 

Oh! For makeup bags, I get a ton with my ipsy subscription, but I have always loved Forever 21's selection of cute, affordable bags. (That's where my polka dot one above is from.)

Hopefully you found this post helpful if you plan on traveling anytime soon!