Everyday Natural Brown Tutorial

Hey all!  I hope everyone’s Wednesday is going well.  The weekend’s almost here so in celebration of that I have a new tutorial for everyone, lol.  This is an everyday natural brown look that goes with anything.  Check out it out below and enjoy!

Products used:

Eyes:

Too  Faced Shadow Insurance Eye Primer

NYX “Box of Smoky Look” Palette

Loreal Carbon Black Intense Liquid Eye Liner

Rimmel Soft Kohl Eye Liner in Sable Brown (011)

MAC Mascara X in Black

Face:

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Liquid Foundation in NW20

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Baked Powder in Soft and Gentle

Stila “Love at First Blush” Blush Palette

Too Faced Pink Leopard Bronzer

MAC Lipstick in Angel

e.l.f. Mineral Lip Gloss in Pageant Princess

Weekly Wrap-Up

Happy Sunday everyone!  I hope everyone’s weekend went well, now it’s time to get ready for a new week ahead.  I start a new schedule at work this week, starting 30 minutes earlier which means off 30 minutes earlier which will be nice.  It’ll just take a few days to get used to being up earlier, lol.  Now on to this week’s wrap up.

We had our final weigh-in this week for our “Wedding Weight Loss Challenge” at work.  I was up two pounds from my last weigh in but down a total of 8 pounds from where I started.  I’d say that’s very good personally.   As a team we decided to start a new challenge for the summer to keep up the encouragement to be healthier.  I’d just like to say again how proud I am of all my coworkers who have put so much effort into getting healthy!  We’re AWSOME!!

I have a few beauty purchases this week thanks to another small bonus at work.  From Ulta I purchased the new Too Faced “Summer Eye” palette.  It has 9 really pretty colors, a few pinks, a nice blue and some browns, to put together a some great looks for summer.   I’ll have the swatches up this week (along with the swatches from last week’s “Crimson Amulet” palette purchase).

At Sephora I picked up a new perfume.  I chose “Daisy Eau So Fresh” from Marc Jacobs in a rollerball.  I really love this scent but haven’t been able to bring myself to spend the $70 on the full bottle of perfume.  The rollerball version is only $20 and should last a while considering I switch between fragrances pretty much every day, lol.

Finally, at Target I got 2 e.l.f. cream eyeliners, one in “Midnight”, a dark blue, and one in “Plum Purple”, a dark purple.   I really like e.l.f. products, they’re very reasonably priced (the eyeliners were $3 a piece) and good quality in my opinion.

Also at Target I picked up a bright blue lightweight knit cotton Mossimo scarf to go with the crops I got last week.  The one I ordered turned out to be more of a bright green than the seafoam color it appeared to be.  I kept it though and am trying to decide if it will still look good with the orange color of the pants.  We’ll see I guess, lol.

That’s it for all my purchases this week.  I do have a few other things on order that I’ll go over next week after I actually receive them and can look them over.  Two of the items I’m really excited about and can’t wait to try.

Well, that’s all I have for this week.  Like I said, I’ll have the swatches of the 2 palettes up this week, hopefully tomorrow.  I also have a new tutorial I hope to have up by Thursday at the latest.  Again, if anyone has anything they want to see or want me to review please let me know in the comments and I’ll get on it!

I hope everyone has a great week and I’ll talk to ya’ll later!  J

Healthy Meal of the Week

Hey everyone!  This week’s healthy meal is “Sauteed Sausage and Grapes with Broccoli Rabe” from the April 2012 Cooking Light.  I wasn’t able to find broccoli rabe when I went grocery shopping so I just substituted regular broccoli.  I thought it was yummy and so did Aaron.  Scarlett on the other hand picked all the sausage out, threw it away and only ate the grapes and broccoli, lol.  I guess that means it was “sorta” good for her.  Check out the recipe below and enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 pound broccoli rabe, trimmed and coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 (4-ounce) links hot or sweet pork Italian sausage, casings removed

3 cups green grapes, sliced in half lengthwise

¼ teaspoon kosher salt, divided

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided

1 cup thinly sliced red onion

1 tablespoon minced garlic

¼ cup white wine or water

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

1 ounce Parmesan cheese, shaved (about ¼ cup)

Directions:

1.  Cook broccoli rabe in boiling water 1 ½ minutes; drain and rinse with cold water.  Drain well.  Place in a large bowl.  Set aside.

2.  Heat large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to pan; swirl to coat.  Add sausage; cook for 6 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble.  Add grapes, 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper; cook for 2 minutes or until grapes begin to soften.  Add sausage mixture to broccoli rabe.

3.  Return pan to medium-high heat.  Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to pan; swirl to coat.  Add onion; cook 2 minutes or until soft.  Add garlic; cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant.  Add wine; cook 2 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates.  Add remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper, sausage mixture and vinegar.  Toss to combine; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated.  Sprinkle with cheese; serve immediately.

Serves 4 (serving size 1 ¾ cups)

Nutritional information:  310 calories; 16.7g total fat (4.9g saturated fat; 8.9g mono.; 1.8g poly); 13.3g protein; 29.9g carbohydrates; 1.4g fiber; 21.3mg cholesterol; 2.1mg iron; 621mg sodium; 164mg calcium

Weekly Wrap-Up

Hey everyone!  Well, it’s Sunday again, how was everyone’s weekend?  Mine was pretty good, did a little shopping, celebrated Aaron and Becca’s birthdays, now just getting ready to head back to work on Monday.  I was on vacation this week so I’m sure I’ll be a bit behind on things tomorrow but I get to see my awesome coworkers so that makes up for it, lol.

So, since I was on vacation this whole week I really have no idea if I’ve lost, gained or maintained any weight.  I’m gonna guess gained since I have not worked out nor eaten well at all.  Starting tomorrow I’m gonna have to get back in the game.  I’ll be honest, I just really didn’t care.  My plan this week was to sit and not do anything I didn’t want to do, so that’s what I did, lol.  My schedule changes on the 7^th of May and I’ll be getting off work 30 minutes earlier so I’ll have a little more time in the evening to work out and cook healthier things.  It will also give me a chance to use the workout room at work which gives more exercise options.  Wish me luck, I’m gonna need it J.

I did manage to pick up a few beauty items at Ulta on Friday.  I got 3 new eyeliners.  One was a replacement for my Loreal Carbon Black Intense liquid liner.  This is my favorite liner of all time.  It’s just really easy to use and a great starter liner for anyone who’s never used liquid liners before. 

I also grabbed a Revlon Colorstay Liquid Eye Pen in “Blackest Black”.  This one is more like a fine tipped marker.  I’ve seen a lot of reviews that state this eyeliner is the best to use for winging so I decided I’d try it out.  It’s very similar to MAC’s Penultimate which I’ve tried before but for quite a bit less money.  I’m hoping it lasts longer than the MAC one did.  That one either dried out fast or had very little product in it to begin with.  I’ll be sure to let everyone know what I think.

The last eyeliner I got was one of NYX’s Jumbo Eye Pencils.  The one I got is called “Purple Velvet (623A)” which is a dark metallic purple.  I actually don’t use these as eyeliner but more as base for different shadows.  That’s really what these work the best as.  I have two others, “Dark Brown (602)” which is a matte dark brown obviously, and Rust (619) which is a dark metallic red.

The next thing I picked up was a new essie nail polish in “Sure Shot”.  It’s a bright magenta pearl.  It’s actually what this week’s manicure is so the picture will be below.

The final item I picked up at Ulta was the new NYX “Crimson Amulet” palette that was inspired by the new Dark Shadows movie.  It has 24 eye shadows in a wide variety of colors from darks to lights to neutrals, 5 blushes, 4 lip glosses, an illuminator, a small tube of eye shadow primer and a small liquid eyeliner.  I haven’t tried any of the colors out but from my experience NYX eye shadows are quite pigmented so I have high hopes for these.  I’ll be sure to get swatches up this week and start working on some new looks.

The last beauty item I purchased this week I don’t have yet.  I ordered a new Crown Brush palette from Hautelook.  This one is called “Blizzard” and has 28 “shimmer” (frosted) colors.  I’m really excited about this.  I love my Crown Brush “Smoke It Out” palette and I’m positive this one will be just as awesome.

Moving on to fashion purchases this week I stopped at Target and got some colored denim crops by Mossimo.  The color on the tag says “orange” but I think they’re more of an orange-coral mix.  To go with them I got a white three-quarter sleeve peasant style top and a pair of coral colored sandals, both by Mossimo.  I also have a light/foam green lightweight Mossimo scarf I ordered on the way as well.  I think this will turn into a really cute outfit and will probably end up as the “Outfit of the Week” the first time I wear it, lol.

My last purchase for the week isn’t really a beauty or fashion purchase but I do love it.  I got a new tattoo on Thursday.  My friend Jared helped design it and the tattoo artist, Bryce at Addictions in Ink Tattoo and Piercing, adjusted it some more.  It’s a crow with eyes in the wings, based off the graphic from the cover of The Crow movie/CD jacket.  I chose this as a tribute to my late friend Aaron who passed away 10 years ago last month.  I had it put on my right calf and the detailing in it is absolutely amazing.  I had originally planned on having it on my right wrist but it never would have fit and looked good.  I think it turned out just AWESOME and I LOVE it!

I’ll finish up tonight with my manicure, “Sure Shot” by essie.  Like I said above, it’s a bright magenta frost that looks really great for this time of year.  I’m also including a shot of the cute pedicure I did myself.  I just thought it was pretty!

Well, that’s it for this week, I hope everyone has a great week ahead.  I hope to have a new tutorial up sometime this week.  You would have thought that with a whole week off I’d have a slew of looks to show everyone but really, I did as little as possible this last week, lol.  If anyone has any suggestions for things they want to see or know, whether it be looks or just topics in general, let me know in the comments and I’ll put something together! 

Again, everyone have a great week and I’ll talk to y’all soon J.

Outfit of the Week

Happy Friday all!  I hope everyone had a good week.  Anyone have any exciting weekend plans?  Aaron and Becca’s birthdays are on Sunday so we’re having a small celebration with his mom and stepdad.  Other than that not much else going on here.  Anyway, here’s this week’s outfit!

Purple dress:  Mossimo (Target)

Black tank top:  Mossimo (Target)

Black capri leggings:  Mossimo (Target)

Sandals in purple:  MAX rave (Wal-mart)

Signature strap watch:  Coach

Purple studded wrap bracelet:  No Boundaries (Wal-mart)

Silver shamrock and trinity knot necklace:  no brand (local renaissance faire)

Jet Set Medium Tote handbag in vanilla:  MICHAEL Michael Kors

Sunglasses:  Coach

Healthy Meal of the Week

Hi all!  It’s time for the “Healthy Meal of the Week”.  This week we had “Shrimp Vodka Pasta” from the April 2011 issue of Cooking Light.  I thought it was yummy and Scarlett liked it okay.  She’s not all that big on seafood/fish but she usually likes shrimp.  Check out the recipe below!

Ingredients:

9 ounces refrigerated fettuccine

1 tablespoon olive oil, divided

12 ounces large shrimp, peeled and deveined

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1/3 cup vodka

1 1/3 cups lower-sodium marinara sauce

1/3 chopped fresh basil, divided

¼ cup heavy whipping cream

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

1.  Cook pasta per directions.  Drain.

2.  Heat 1 ½ teaspoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add shrimp; sauté for 4 minutes or until done.  Remove shrimp from pan.

3.  Add 1 ½ teaspoons oil and garlic to pan; sauté 1 minute.  Carefully add vodka; cook 1 minute.  Add marinara, ¼ cup basil, cream, salt and pepper; bring to a simmer.  Stir in pasta and shrimp.  Sprinkle with remaining basil.

Serves 4 (serving size 1 ¼ cups)

Nutritional information:  427 calories; 12.6g total fat (4.9g saturated fat; 4.8g mono.; 1.4g poly); 24.6g protein; 60.1g carbohydrates; 2.4g fiber; 184mg cholesterol; 2.2mg iron; 632mg sodium; 65mg calcium

Outfit of the Week

Better late than never I suppose, lol.   Here’s this week’s outfit! 

Khaki capris:  Jordache (Wal-Mart)

Top:  Rue21

Sandals in snakeskin embossed leather:  Coach

Signature strap watch:  Coach

Silver star bracelet:  Michael C. Fina

Black and white clover necklace:  Lucky in Love