Recent Sephora Favorites

Let me just preface this whole blog post with the statement that I am not a beauty blogger nor do I claim to be one. I am just taking you guys along on my makeup journey lol. Over last few months I have been trying to get makeup products that I love and that I want to go back to over and over again. Until recently, I would just buy what ever I could find that was on sale and just go with it because I didn’t want to think that much about it. Another factor with changing up my makeup from drugstore-whatever-I-can-find products to higher end products is that since moving to Boston my skin is SO different, it is so dry and I break out in a rash if my skin doesn’t like what I put on it. I think it could be a combination of the move and getting a little older but nonetheless, I am changing things up. This also hasn’t been a over night process because makeup isn’t cheap.. lol I have been slowly adding things into my routine and testing them on my skin.

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The Products

  1. Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask - I have heard so many good things about this mask, its literally all over the internet. But it really does live up to the hype. It is a great lip mask! It says that it is for night time but I use it throughout the day when my lips are really dry - it also adds a little pink to my lips which I like. The mask gives my lips a relief that my Vaseline doesn’t always give. It is definitely something I will buy again and again.

  2. Becca First Light Primer - I have never really used a primer before but I got this one in a kit that I ordered around Christmas and I love how smooth my makeup looks when I use it! I could also be crazy but I think that it adds an extra level of moisture to my face before putting on the rest of my makeup. I have a small tube of it and I will be repurchasing it!

  3. Benefit Gimme Brow - I got this in a kit as well that I ordered and I am loving how easy it is to fill in my brows. This is a great product if I am in a hurry and just trying to add some color/filler to my brows. The only downside is that I do still need to use a pencil if I am going for a more dramatic look {lol I sound so official when I say “more dramatic look”} but it does still speed up the whole brows process. I will rebuy this for sure!

  4. Urban Decay Setting Spray - YOU GUYS. I used this a few years ago and its like I blacked out and never rebought it. I have no idea why I stopped using it! I love this setting spray, my makeup lasts so much longer throughout the day. Also, I am not sure if this is the way its supposed to be done but I put all my makeup on except mascara and then spray my whole face with the setting spray and then put mascara on. I don’t know why I do this, honestly it’s probably becuase I don’t want to wait for my mascara to dry before I spray my face so I don’t blink and get mascara all over my eyes. Lol I will definitely NOT black out and forget to repurchase this again in the future.

  5. Becca Hydra Mist Set & Refresh Powder - I really like that this product doesn’t make my under eyes super dry. Around my eyes is one of the places that gets really dry on my skin and I have to be very careful with powder around my eyes. Again, this was a product in a kit that I ordered so I decided to just give it a try and see how it went with no expectations and I love it! It sets my under eyes with out taking away allllll of the moisture. It lets me keep my makeup on longer as well because with other setting powders I am ready to take my makeup off by 4:00 pm because of the dryness.

Christmas Grazing Table

This is honestly one of my favorite things that I have ever put together.. I love the way that it turned out! I’ve said this before but I think that when you have guests its hard to gage when people are hungry and I like having food around to snack on that people don’t feel weird about grabbing. It is so easy to put something like this {of any size} together that people can pick and choose what they like and don’t like and then you aren’t having to worry about making something that everyone will want to eat. Here is my Christmas Grazing Table!

The Setup

The decor that is on the table is 100% from Target! They are all old but you could easily find new versions of these things. The trees I found at the dollar spot along with most of the houses. The jingle bells, lighted garland and the pine cones are from the Christmas area of Target and then there are a couple of the houses that are Hearth and Hand!

The food

Cheeses

Brie Wheel

Manchego Cheese

Red Wine Soaked Goat Cheese

Dijon Herb Rubbed Fontina 

Dubliner Cheese

Aged Cheddar

Cabot Clothbound Cheddar 

Havarti Cheese

Blue Cheese

Vermont Extra Sharp Cheddar

Mozzarella Balls

Meats

Prosciutto

Genoa Salami

Pepperoni

Chorizo

Extras 

Marcona Almonds

Table Crackers

Simple Mills Almond Flour Crackers

Macaroons

Pistachios

Cranberries

Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives

Gift Guide for the VIPKID Teacher

Gift Guide for the VIPKID Teacher

I have been a VIPKid teacher for about 3 months now and it is seriously the best job! I love teaching those kids so much. I plan to do a full blog post on my classroom must haves but that post won’t come until the new year. I wanted to share allllll of the adorable things that I have found that are specifically for VIPKid teachers {spoiler alert, there are SO MANY cute things}!

One thing that I wanted to add to this list that didn’t make it on the image for the gift guide is a Teachers Pay Teachers gift card! I get about 90% of my props and rewards from Teachers Pay Teachers and there are many props I would love to use but they cost money! If I had a gift card I could snag some of those props on my wishlist. I’m sure I’m not the only VIPKid teacher that feels this way! You can grab a gift card for your favorite teacher here.

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5 Tips to Get Your Guest Room Ready for Guests

At this point, it feels like each blog post I start, I say something along the lines that Dustin and I love to host people. We love having people over, entertaining, feeding people and enjoying their company. Two weekends ago we had my sister and her boyfriend come stay with us for a few days and it was a blast! This past weekend, Dustin’s friend came into town for a few days. Now, this weekend we have more family coming into town!

Living halfway across the country isn’t always great for when you are wanting to grab dinner with your parents but the plus side of this is that when you do get to see your friends and family, it is special! Its uninterrupted time with the people you care about. Now I am just rambling but the point of my ramble is that when I have people coming to visit, I want things to be prepared and ready for them to get here so that when they are here we get to just enjoy the time!

Today I am sharing 5 ways to get your guest bedroom and really your whole apartment or house ready to have those guests there.

  1. I like to make sure that I have things on hand that our guests will probably need but might have forgotten. For example I buy things like extra toothbrushes, contact solution, makeup remover/wipes, lotion, razors, dry shampoo and hairspray. There are some other things that I keep in the bathroom rather than the guest room like Advil, Tylenol, Tums, tampons/pads and other things that they might not have or forgot but also depending on the guest, they may not want to ask for!

  2. A laundry basket for dirty towels and clothes, if they are staying for awhile they might want to do a load of laundry! A table of sorts so they can put their suitcase on something and not bend over all the time to dig around in their luggage, we have our old tv stand in the guest bedroom and it works perfectly. Lastly, a spot to hang things! We just give our guests access to the closet in the guest bedroom to hang things if they need.

  3. Fresh towels and linens! I think the day that I became a true adult was the day that we officially had two sets of sheets for our bed and the guest bed{full transparency that we literally just got extra sets of sheets a week ago…. sooooooo yeah}. I LOVE the feeling of getting into a fresh, clean bed but I HATE having our bed unmade all day long while the sheets get washed. I know this is nothing new but I had a serious AHA moment when I started just swapping them when I took them off the bed. Especially with having guests back to back to back, having a change of sheets made it so much easier!

  4. Have things on hand that they like! For example, my sister and her boyfriend both drink Dr. Pepper, I made sure to have that on hand for them to have while they are here. Another thing to pay attention to is is they have any allergies! My sister is allergic to dairy and we made sure that she could eat each meal.

  5. Having a cozy and homey space for them to escape! When we are traveling or visiting family I love being able to have a spot in the place I am visiting to sit in silence for a minute.. probably the introvert in me talking but sometimes a girl just needs a nap or to sit by myself. Even if your guests are sleeping on the couch, being aware that you should give them time to recharge. I think that art makes a space feel more warm and inviting, not to mention interesting! It can be a great conversation starter. I love the art that is in our guest bedroom, I will link to the seller here! The pieces are amazing, I seem to find something new in the art every time I look at them.

I hope you guys found these helpful and will make your lives easier as well. I will leave you with two things.. Having an extra set of sheets will make your life easier. Number 2, having all of those extra things on hand for your guest could/will come in handy when you run out of toothpaste one morning and realize that you have an extra tube in the guest bathroom!