At least she had a Husband to Kill...

Busy week here.

Let's just say that attending a funeral for a 10yr old when her little Brother and Sis (6 & 8) are there is not my cup of tea. By the time I got to sit down I was shaking. Seeing the Mom touching her little girls hair is just heartbreaking...

In other news the Mom-ster is coming to visit next week from the Homeland, so we get to go to NYC again!!! She is coming for a short visit but still was looking forward to it, until she called me today and drove me NUTS about her flight in just 5 minutes.

The little guy had a play date today with my niece and nephew and he seems awfully tired since he didn't nap. I' hoping he would be in bed by 8:30pm because I plan on taking the Hubs on a date night (we won free movie tickets). I've been looking forward to "The Woman in black" so lets see how it goes. I feel so grown up by going to the 10pm viewing!!! I told the Hubs I did not want to go during the day, I wanted a "REAL" date night.

Oh, and I got this beauty with a coupon. Revlon Naughty is a remake on Revlon Perplex, which was a dupe for the coveted Chanel Paradoxal (which I would never pay for) I also saw it @ WM for

$3+ and if you get the coupon is less than that. Isn't it a beauty?

Above- Revlon Naughty (photo by The nail Network)

Above Chanel Paradoxal (photo) All Laquered up.

So that is it for this Saturday evening, I have to go finish dinner and then get ready for our date.

Over & out

New Stuff!

Short post to let you know my goodies came in!!!!

First my Birchbox box with:

Befine Exfoliating Cleanser
Befine Night Cream
kate spade new york Twirl - 3.4 fl oz (I may have to buy the big size of this one, is delicious)
blinc Mascara (aparently fantastic, made in Japan)
LIFTLAB Lift & Fix™ High Potency Solution
Twistband Hair Ties

Then my Zoya polishes (from L to R) Cynthia, Jem, Angelina and Envy.

I also got this baggie of goods from the Hubs cousin who works there...I already love their fluid sunscreen.

They are all sample size but I love how many goodies she got me :) including a pore refining mask, night treatments, clay mask...

Yay for samples, goodies, and new nail polishes.

Over & out

Stepping on Dinosaurs

Today I feel like if I have Mumps...my throat hurts and it feels really swollen, like I have a lump in it...lovely. But I still did my Leslie Samson Cardio burning exercise! I don't feel so hot right now, so I'm not really caring that I keep stepping on Dinosaurs- cause they multiply here- nor that the big lego blocks are the worst thing to give to your kids when their Mom has OCD...but he loves it so all over they stay.

Bad timing to get sick, my schedule is crazy for the next 6 weeks but we are going to NYC this weekend. My lovely Sister in law, is due in September so we are having a small baby shower at the park. Should be lovely but not fancy, she is after all one of the simplest woman I've ever met in my life. She doesn't care for fashion, or makeup, or bags or heels. It's the strangest thing, but she is seriously a great SIL and a great friend.

Then I'll be at the Airport on Sunday picking up the Mom-ster and my Daddy-o, I can't wait to see them {yes, you read correct, and I'm not even being sarcastic}, should be fun to have an excuse to go out more, visit Georgetown cupcakes {which I will only have 1/2 of one} and shopping, apparently the Mom-ster comes with a plan of attacking all the store...my poor, poor Dad :)

On to some other stuff...I'm trying my hardest the work the coupon thing, sometimes I dont get it, some days I score. I actually signed up thru FB and got 2 coupons of $2.99 for Herbal Essences and Aussie and this is what I got:

I pay $0.40 total because the gal at WM combined the 2 coupons, score! I haven't use HE in ages but is free so I will give it a go (this one is for Long hair) and the Aussie I heard great things about it, even though I don't need that much conditioner but it smells SOOOOOOO good I had to get it.

And here is the stuff I got in the mail this week:

First I won this cereal package from the lovely Molly of Stilettos & Diapers, which includes this little contraption in which you can carry a bowl, a container for the milk and even the spoon!

This has been perfect for a snack for the little guy, and I got to try the Cinnamon burst which I LOVED.

I also order these trousers Jeans from QVC, they where on sale, and 3 payments...yeah, that works for me. They are still on sale but I actually got them for a few dollars less last week. I'll post a pic of me wearing them this weekend.

Oh, and next week I should have my Birchbox box and new nail polishes from Zoya (don't worry, got them on sale buy one get two, which is the only way I purchase them. If you are interested in their deals make sure to open a free account with them, they will send you an email when the next promo becomes available. Here are the colors I choose:

Zoya Jem (Jem, the music’s contagious, Outrageous! Jem is my name, no one else is the same, Jem is my name, JEM!- totally 80's kid)

Zoya Envy

Zoya Cynthia

and finally Zoya Angelina, and yes I was going for a dark period on nail polishes :)

I hope you guys are being healthy, staying beautiful and specially, sane!

Over & out

***pics of nails are totally NOT mine, I saved them from Google images when I was deciding on the colors and now have no clue where they are from***

Ins and Outs

This week has been, as always, challenging. Seriously you would think I have so much going on but in reality little things drive me bonkers. Dear old Josephine aka old PC finally passed away leaving us all using Alain's Laptop (and I despised them) but beggers can be choosers. We will be purchasing a new one...eventually. Sooner rather than later but I am a stubborn pigheaded woman and told the hubs that if we are going to invest in one is going to be one I absolutely love.


Dear Josephine lasted 10 yrs people! so I'm hoping to make a good investment so this next one will last as well. I'm not a whore for new devices so I do not plan to change it every year. I say I because is mainly for my personal use. So here are this week's In's and Out's:


IN

• new nail polishes. I've gotten three in the last few weeks and very happy with them.

Essie- Tart Deco, Hard Candy- Beetle, which is a dupe for one of the MAC Venomous Villains, Sally Hansen-Mint Sorbet, which I already tried on my toes and loved.

• getting my nails done. My salon changed owners and got remodel which made it even nicer.
• going out to eat Mexican, even the little guy enjoy a tasty quesadilla (which I can make at home but I needed to have a break from cooking)
• Getting a Triceratops for my little guy that made him so Ubber HAPPY! Dinosaurs are really important to him :)
  

• buying and making amazing NY Strip steaks
• Getting crabcakes (wanna ask how my diet is going?)
• getting a compliment on my blouse by a hip girl while @ the college. I felt so young!
• Finally getting so in to the book I'm reading ("Mina")
• getting motivate to dress up more which means wearing my lovely heels
  

OUT

• Obviously Dear Josephine passing
  
• The insanely ridiculous amount of paperwork we are still doing for college. seriously, how many copies of my taxes do these people need?
• The bathroom tub getting clogged as I tried to take a midnight shower...UGH!
• trying to find a decent bodywash that doesn't smell like a field of flowers. Not all women want to smell flowery. I spent about an hour at WM trying to get something that didn't make me want to gag. Not to be a snob but I was using Philosophy's Silent Night and The Body Shop coconut and now I don't like anything out there. Finally decided on J&J baby bath.
• having my manicure damage by the time I got home. I don't get it. I have gel on and it looks like it shrinked, so off I go tomorrow to get them fix.

So that's it for now, I'm looking forward to a smooth weekend, lots of cleaning and of course redoing my mani. Hope you enjoy yours...or the last day since the world is supposed to end.

Over & Out

A bargain is something you don't need at a price you can't resist.

We are back with another little titbit on beauty. and to think I was the girl in high school who only wore eyeliner and refused to paint her nails...boy do I have come a long way =)
I got my second Birchbox and was even happier with my new items.


it came with deluxe samples of:

Juice Beauty Green Apple Peel Full Strength
Weleda Wild Rose Smoothing Facial Lotion
LIV GRN C2C Fragrance Collection Earth Eau De Parfum
Juice Beauty Stem Cellular Repair Eye Treatment
Zoya Intimate Spring 2011 Nail Polish Collection

I've haven't use it all yet though. In the meantime, I had decided to lighten my beauty routine so now I am using this cleaner Neutrogena Naturals Pore Scrub,




then I use the apple peel that came in the Birchbox, followed by moisturizer. I'm liking it so far. I don't use the peel everyday, but it even works for my Hubs_ I decided to give him a spa day last Sunday and he was loving it. I also got this pore minimizer, which works wonders:

clinique pore minimizer instant perfector ($18 as opposed to the serum which is $30+) and would be saving to get this next
origins vitazing


I will use the above instead of a base since I don't need that much coverage, plus this is SPF and is tinted. The reviews state is wonderful so we will see. Finally, last week I finally got a chance to get a Mani done, a glittery french, I wanted to show you my new color but the camera sucks...not sure what I'm doing wrong...but here it is: Zoya Faye






Zoya is NOT one of my favorite brands, just because of their service, but the colors are nice...and they are vegan if you are into that kind of thing.
Today has been a quiet day, but I was so thrilled that I finally found a learning center that I can take the little guy, so excited to do this! Even though I'm home I would like for him to interact with more kids his age and this place offers education to prep him for kindergarten.

I'm also setting up for his 2nd birthday and I cannot wait! Happy Thursday

Over & out

If that's my conscience calling, tell it enough already,

Yeah, she has been calling and I been hanging up on her. OK so this week SUCKED for my healthy new habits. We had a little glitch that prevented me from working out (but oh...can I say I missed it? I did) . My goal is to loose weight by my next birthday in September.
I cannot focus on what I failed to do but instead on what I can do better.

Above all we did have a great weekend now that the weather has greatly improved. I Had a chance to go out with the kiddo to the playground, did some cooking and baking. Wanna see our weekend?



I did manage a few healthy bites. Above is red and green peppers, red onions, tomatoes, low fat shredded cheese and grilled chicken. Yummo. Great on a wrap, pita or sandwich.


Mixing ingredients with the little Princess.

awwww, the fruits of our labor: Brownie covered Oreos!. Thankfully, dear Sis kept most of them to send it to her Hubs coworkers. (above is just the first batch)

Above...My little man ready for our outing...

...and having Dinosaur time. His favorite thing right now is having me sing "we are the Dinosaurs" By Laurie Bekner. I also manage to do a little Pedicure. Love my Ms.Pedicure mint scrub, then a little body butter follow by O.P.I "Bogota Black cherry". I have a few great reds but I tend not to do them often because I hate reds on Christmas or Vdays...seems so cliche to me.

This one makes me happy; maybe I'll even do my manicure with it next.
Hubs is off Monday and I think going for a long walk is in order. Hope
your conscience has been better than mine :)

Over & out

Friend Making Mondays & a package

So Dear Kenz has another great FMM (oh and if you are looking to loose some pounds I strongly suggest joining her weekly challenge). Soooo this week we have the following:

Answer each question using only one word...

1. Where is your cell phone? neverland

2. Your most significant other? hero

3. Your hair? dye

4. Your mother? crazy

5. Your father? sick

6. Your favorite? nighttime

7. Your dream last night? vacation

8. Your favorite drink? coffee

9. Your dream/goal? size10

10. What room you are in? living room

11. Your hobby? crafts

12. Your fear?

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? thin

14. Where were you last night? train

15. Something that you aren't? selfish

16. Muffins? nope

17. Wish list item? boots

18. Where you grew up? Caribbean

19. Last thing you did? dinner

20. What are you wearing? sweats

21. Your TV? Nick Jr

22. Your pets? lazy

23. Friends? Family

24. Your life? blessed

25. Your mood? tired

26. Missing someone? yes

27. One place that I go to over and over? NYC

28. Something you want: kitchen aid mixer (me too!)

29. Your favorite store? Target

30. Your favorite color? Purple


Funny to read her and I had similar answers.
So another package finally arrive, this one from E.L.F makeup...everything was $1 and had great reviews...lets take a look...


The above eyelash curler has great reviews and from my one try it is really great, and for that price? even better!


Yes, some falsies because we all need some... here are some swatches...bad lighting, sorry


First in nail color smoky brown...perfect neutral
2. Brownie points luscious LL
3. Baby lips luscious liquid lipstick
4. Voodoo lipstick

the liquid lipsticks are glossy without being too sticky and all the lip items smell like Juicy fruit gum :) so far I am liking all these items. Have to try the nail polish for my next manicure but so far is creamy and dark. Lets hope is a 2 coats polish.

And here is a pic of my Lazy girl Pearl



She was playing with the string of A's balloon...she is like a small dog, really.

BTW my Mother in law had her surgery, it took longer than expected; they found something else and they are doing some additional test...we wont know for another week...then the hubs family has another family member in a coma...not a great week. Still praying...

Over & out

P.S
this post was so random but I need to rush to the train station now

The Tale of the Body thieve (aka flu)

Yes, I'm alive. I survived an encounter with the flu even though I didn't get the vaccine. Thankfully between the hubs and the oldest they took care of me and the little guy. One day I woke up and my oldest vacuumed the entire place, cleaned his room, had feed the little one and cleared the dishes. I think I should get sick more often.

I have, however, been doing some retail therapy without actually shopping...kind of window shopping over the net. Wanna see? First off this beautiful hand bag from handbag Heaven (what a lovely name, isn't?) $43.16

These are from payless:


Above $45 and below Christian Siriano $49.99 (a little pricey for Payless but I still love them)




And this gorgeous boots from Miz Mooz! ahhh, I swear I wish I had a closet full of boots...although these are $179...meh...one day.


I did find the covete nail polish grey area from the previous post. Got it at Ulta along with this fellow:


It's called Cuckoo for this color. Thankfully I had $9 worth of points with ULTA so he came home with me for free :) awwwwww nail polish makes me happy. Not like job hunting, that stresses me to no end, specially because I got no call backs. Lets see what happens.

Off to make dinner.

Over & out

Loving the pretty things

This post was going to have a very different tittle...something to the effect that people anger me. No, I'm not a hater of any sorts but lately unappreciated people make me really angry...or maybe is sad...sad that they do not see what they have an do not appreciate it.

A very popular blogger posted about being minimalist and how Christmas decor was annoying her. She has every right to feel that way, but I saw so many people agreeing with her. Does EVERYONE out there feels is no longer needed to decorate for Christmas? if that's the case, that is very sad to me. It kind of makes me feel like when I watch HGTV House Hunters: the house is perfect but they don't like it because it has a pink bedroom...really? ever heard of a paint brush?

I remember the blog "Rue's Peanutbutter & Jelly" and how she no longer blogs publicly. It felt there was a competition, all the houses looking almost the same. It didn't feel like anyone was putting any though but rather following along the "big" bloggers. How she felt out of place because her dinning room was red and not the trendy all white. I do love the inspiration but we are not all going to be the same.

I was fortunate to grow up in a upper middle class, all 6 kids going to private schools and universities, having maids, building a new home out of pocket (by my Father) but life has thrown me a few curves; big ones actually. I DO know the most important thing is to have my family with me and their love and health, but believe me...being homeless gives you a new perspective on things.

Last year I wanted so bad to have my Christmas tree up, have my own kitchen, my own towels, my own bed. I though of all my little nick nacks and how I wanted them. We did give and throw away a bunch of stuff, and every season I donate the things we no longer use...I get that.
What I don't get is being bother by the pretty Christmas lights, the ornaments, the feeling of the Holiday these things brings.

Is not all, but it helps...because if you see yourself without them one day, trust me, you will dream of having them again. Getting off my soapbox again, I better switch gears. Lets talk about lovely things, shall we?

Right now I'm loving my new Christmas CD by Trans-Siberian Orchestra.I want one of these too. 32 shadows, blush and bronzer, 8 lip colors and 5 eyeliners. Come to mama. (Tarte Jewelry Box)and tomorrow after my lovely encounter with the unemployment office I will be on the hunt for this: (Pic from Short & Chic)


because I want to change the one I'm currently wearing...China Glaze Wagon Trail (dark greenish)


so that is it. Let me go watch Family guy :)

Over & Out

Before and After My Style

Before...arriving at work 8:30am in my shiny red high heeled pumps



After...leaving work 5:30pm (Flip flops, courtesy of da' sister) notice the swollen piggies...that's what a day with an open house will do to you.



***Shiny new favorite nail color O.P.I "Manicurist of Seville" Spain Collection


Much after...at home with Homeland Style Hot dogs:


These babies have on top of the actual hot dog: Cabbage, ground meat, cheese and corn. Yummo.
Who says having a desk job isn't hard labor?

Over & Out