Birthday Celebration!

This weekend we had a very special occasion to celebrate: My mom's birthday!



We went to the Flying Fish and had some delicious seafood!



My Aunt Janet came from Alabama, and she brought my mom the cutest birthday cake!



It was a great weekend!



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Creative Idea for Makeup Brush Case!

This post is to preface my upcoming post on using paintbrushes as makeup brushes. I will get to working on that post very soon!

After acquiring several paintbrushes and actual makeup brushes from several different brands, (including Loew Cornell {paintbrushes}, Coastal Scents, Sonia Kashuk, Ecotools, and Daily Mirra) I needed something to hold them in, like a brush roll or case. The problem was that the brushes are all different sizes. Some have long paintbrush handles, some are normal size makeup brushes, and some are travel size. Well, I found a solution!



Creative Couture makes a "padded case needle holder" that works perfectly to fit all my different sized brushes, not to mention that it is very cute as well! I got this at Michael's with my 50% off coupon for $7.50!! I think it's a great deal. It has 12 slots on the bottom with different size slots for big or small brush handles AND at the top, I could fit in all my travel size brushes! Score! Just what I was looking for!



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Interesting Night!

Today I had my first pedicure! Can you believe it? I have always been kind of creeped out at the thought of people messing with your feet, but I actually liked my pedicure! We went for my friend Mandy's birthday and had a great time! The time I spent after that is what's not so great. This happened:



Yes, that is my car's tire DIAGONAL instead of vertical! I know what you're thinking: "Crissy, what did you run in to?" But nope, not my fault! It seems my husband put a new camber kit on my car when he lowered it in the past and that camber doomahickey broke. On the bright side of things, I broke down in Collierville so I got to visit with Brian's family!

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Sweet Surprise!

Last night I got home late because I had to work until 9 p.m.  Brian was tired and wanted to go to bed, but I still had some energy left and wanted to play Prince of Persia on the Wii.  So we moved the Wii upstairs so he could get in bed and I could play my game.  Little did I know Brian had put a very special surprise in a red box on my side of the bed.  I played my game without noticing, the whole time Brian said that I would roll on top of the box and hit the box, but I never noticed it.  When I finally got frustrated and quit the game, I reached for my night stand to plug my phone in, and I heard a noise and felt something in the bed with me!  I found the little red box, opened it, and found the most beautiful diamond necklace!

The picture really doesn't do it justice- it is so sparkly!  My husband is the sweetest, most thoughtful person!  I love my "just because" gift!  I am excited about wearing it today!

And speaking of today . . . today is one of my BFF's birthdays!

  Happy Birthday, Mandy!!!

I just realized we need an updated picture together, Mandy!  This one is over a year old! :o)

Blog Update

So, my blog is a smorgasbord of random things, but mainly I like to either do beauty posts, personal posts, or shopping deals posts.  To make it easier to find what you want to read on my blog, I have new, super-cute buttons at the top.  If you care nothing about me, and just want to see beauty product stuff, you can now click "Beauty" and ignore all my personal posts and vice-versa!  I just thought it would be a great way to organize my blog and my thoughts!  All of my posts will still be posted in order on the blog "Home" page, and there are still labels at the bottom of the blog as well.

Enjoy!

Review of Daily Mirra Makeup Brushes

If you know me well, you know I sometimes get on a "kick" for a little while, then I move on to something else.  Earlier in the year, I was on a self-tanner "kick".  I found one that I am happy with, so I moved on with challenging myself to keep potted plants alive.  They are now flourishing and blooming away.  Currently, I have been looking for makeup brushes.  I am determined not to spend the money on MAC brushes, unless I get them as a gift or something :o) So, I have been reading reviews and trying out supposedly comparable, cheaper makeup brushes.  I read on makeup websites that sometimes you can find surprisingly good brushes at random grocery stores or drugstores.  One store that was mentioned was Kroger, so I headed down to my local store to see what they had.

I found out that Kroger actually has their own line of beauty products.  The brand name is Daily Mirra.  I could not find many reviews on these brushes, so I decided to try them out and give them my own review.

The first set that I got was the 4-Piece Face Essentials Mini Brushes.  My first observation was that the brushes are very soft.  You should always wash your makeup brushes before using them the first time, so I washed them with MAC Brush Cleaner . During the first washing, the powder and blush brushes shed like crazy and continued to shed during use until I washed them a second time.  I was about to give up on them, but after that second washing, they really do not shed at all.  I am no makeup brush expert and cannot compare them to high end brands, but for $7, they seem pretty good to me!

Powder Brush

Blush Brush

Eyeshadow Brush

Eyebrow Brush

Overall, I use the powder, blush, and eyeshadow brush a lot.  I have tried the Sonia Kashuk white-handled brushes from Target before, and I feel like these brushes are softer and perform better than those. (I actually threw my Sonia Kashuk blush brush in the trash after getting these).

I got another set as well called the 4-Piece Eye Duo Mini Travel Brush Kit.  I am not a big fan of the fact that these are duo brushes.  I would much rather they be 8 single brushes, but I guess it is convenient for travel.  I have not found these brushes to shed at all.  I will do an individual review of each brush under its corresponding picture below.

Crease Brush- Labeled "Eyeshadow" on left and "Smokey" on right

This is the brush that I use most often out of this kit.  It is very soft, and I find the left side of the brush labeled "Eyeshadow" is perfect for putting shadow in the crease. The right side labeled "Smokey" is great for putting darker colors in the "outer V" of the eye and blending.

Brush labeled "Concealer" on left and "Touch-up" on right

I don't usually use a brush to put on under-eye concealer, so this brush has been used for other things.  I've used the "concealer" side for precise placement of eyeshadow and the "touch-up" side on the right for highlighting the brow bone or packing eyeshadow on the lid.

Brush labeled "Smudge" on left and "Brow" on right

I really like the rubber-tipped "smudge" brush for smudging eyeliner.  I haven't used the "brow" brush for brows but it works for lining eyes with eyeshadow.

Eyeliner Brushes

These brushes bristles are very stiff and work well for eyeliner placement.

So for my final thoughts:

• My favorite brushes out of these kits are the powder, blush, and eyeshadow brushes that came with the face kit AND the duo "Eyeshadow"/"Smokey" brush that came with the eyes kit.  
• Both kits were around $7 each, so both were worth giving a try.
• Overall grade: B : I know there are better quality brushes out there and the initial shedding was annoying, but these brushes do the job well and are extremely cheap!

Look forward to another makeup brush post about using paintbrushes as makeup brushes! (Sounds crazy, but apparently a lot of people do it!)

Creeper

Delta Fair!

Saturday Brian and I made our annual trip to the fair, and oh was I excited!  I love everything about the fair: the disgustingly greasy food, the scary fair people, the possibility that you will die from a ride malfunction!  It's just an all around great atmosphere.  

The first thing that I went for was the consistently delicious Cajun Chicken-on-a-Stick!  After that, I was ready for some rides. The first ride we decided to go on was the Avalanche, which was a mini roller-coaster ride.  While standing in line for the ride, about 1/3 of the fair's power went out.  People were stuck on rides that shut down because of the power outage! Very comforting, I know!

Us Waiting in Line for the Avalanche!

The Avalanche

Power Went Out!

Then we decided to go on what my husband calls the "kiddy swing ride".  It was a lot of fun, but also a little scary because you can never be completely safe on a fair ride! As Brian puts it: "At theme parks they spend MILLIONS researching and testing their rides. These people put these rides up in a DAY!"

We then headed over to get some kind of deep-fried dessert!  Neither of us had tried the Deep Fried Oreos, so we decided to give them a try.  Needless to say, they are delicious!  It's like a funnel cake with chocolate inside!

We HAD to get in line for the "Crazy Mouse" next.  If you've never ridden this ride, let me tell you- it doesn't look like much, but it is pretty intense for a fair ride!  You feel like you're going to run right off the track.

After the Crazy Mouse, I told Brian that I just had to ride one more ride.  It is one of my favorites called the "Gravitron".  It's a ride that spins around so fast that you get sucked up against the wall off of the ground.  So, we were standing in line for a while and got up to the front of the line when we hear "The ride is shut down!" Nooooo!!  Why?  Come to find out, someone had THROWN UP inside the ride!  I am so glad we were not in there for that! 

So that was the exciting end to our day at the fair!  The only complaints I have are:

1. The really scary, mean clown in the dunk tank was not there this year.
2. There were no people guessing weights or birthdays!
3. No one yelled at us to come play their game. This is an essential part of the fair experience!

Other than that, it was another great trip to the fair!

Just Call Me Mrs. Green Thumb!

I love my potted plants!  Does that make me an old lady already?  I don't care if it does because look what my little green thumb has accomplished:

Before

After

My flowers are just growing and blooming away!

I'm Crazy About This Prince!

Prince of Persia, that is!

Ok, so this might seem a little out of character for me (I am not known to sit around playing video games), but one of my absolute favorite games is Prince of Persia.  I just found out that they released a version for the Wii this year, and I was all over that when I found out!  *Side note*  Clearly, I am on break from pharmacy rotations right now, or this would not be possible!  I see you shaking your finger at me and saying "I thought you were always so busy!"  Well, for the past umpteen years of my life, I have been.  But I am happily enjoying my break right now, thank you! I will get back to reading my PubMed articles soon enough!

And as if I couldn't get any dorkier, they also have Prince of Persia on the iPhone!!  I will leave you guessing as to whether I bought it or not. :o)

Pumpkin Spice and Mango Lip Balm!

If you know me even a little bit, then you know that I LOVE Starbucks frappuccinos.  I frequently make trips with my special "gold card" to pick up one.

For those of you wondering, a "gold card" is a rewards program that Starbucks offers.  All you have to do is register any gift card, make so many purchases, then voila! - they will send you a personalized gold card of your own, which is nothing more than a fancy-looking giftcard that gives you special perks!

All of this to say, PUMPKIN SPICE frappuccinos are back for fall! Yum!!  There's something about them that reminds me of the fair, crispy leaves, the haunted corn maze, cool breezes, and all the wonderful things associated with fall! So get yourself to Starbucks and try out one- I recommend the Pumpkin Spice frappuccino with soy :o)

So, yesterday I had to stop by Walgreens to get some cash back on my debit card for a special baby shower with friends at Old Venice.  I was looking for something cheap to grab that I needed, and I came upon the Burt's Bees section.  I was planning on grabbing my usual "Replenishing Balm with Pomegranate Oil" when I saw the new "Nourishing Lip Balm with Mango Butter".

Ever since eating Jamaican mangoes in Negril, I have been a huge fan of anything mango.  I have to say that I love the smell of the lip balm, and I've never been disappointed in a Burt's Bees product so far.  So, if you're in need of some lip balm and you love-you-some-mango, I'd say give it a try!