Ongoing Projects

Alright! Back to my bathroom. Hope your not tired of it yet. I have a few ideas swimming around in my head but I'm not always the greatest at executing them/can't envision it properly to know if it will work well once done. I'm thinking about the sink skirt I want to make and I'm wondering if I should do a solid color or fabric with a design on it. I'm also wondering if I should incorporate different colors into the fabirc. So far my bathroom colors are brown, grey and white. So my question is, should I have my sink skirt brown? Or grey? or grey and white like my shower curtain? Or grey and brown? Or grey and brown and an entirely new color? Lets get some visual up in here! On the left is the shower curtain, middle is to show the towels are brown, and right is the skirt ideas. 

This one I like that the one color looks brown

but also has a hint of grey in it. And then 

adding the blue into the mix as well. 

I'm not sure about this one, now that I see it

next to everything I think its too alike. 

Again adding a new color, but has no brown

within the skirt

Another patterned idea that I'm not

really liking anymore. 

I am also thinking of just a solid colored fabric but I didn't add that because it's pretty self explanatory. Also I'm pretty sold on hanging a wash cloth on each hanger, I'm thinking a light grey, and then on the opposite wall of this, above the toilet add some hanging baskets for spare towel storage OR a shelf for decorative stuff to add color.Which is your favorite?

Also in the works is make-up storage ideas!!! I found a desk-like thing on the Ikea website that I'm liking as a vanity, it's $150 I believe so that might be easier to get The Husband to agree to.

I like the sleek look of it, and that I can add storage on top of it as well as in the drawer. I'm thinking I could put storage containers inside the drawer to work as dividers and then put things on top such as this:

I like that this also looks sleek. It's an acrylic drawer storage unit and the drawers can be pulled completely out. The only thing I don't like about this exact model is that the drawers are so thin, I'd want something a little bigger. I'm also looking for a lipstick holder thingy, something along these lines:

So those are just some ideas I've been thinking about that I wanted to get out so I don't forget! 

Freshening Up

I completed a little project yesterday in my bathroom. It's nothing much but I'm smitten. Usually when I do projects they don't turn out well... at all. This one actually did! With the help of the Husband, this is what we made:

And here's a close up:

Aaaaand even closer up:

Bad lighting as always but you get the point, I never said I'd be good at taking photos. And lastly, this was my inspiration picture: 

I was going to say that mine looked really empty and I was thinking of maybe adding shelving to the top of it all but as I look at this other one I like the wash cloth idea. Although, we would never get any use out of the wash cloth (shout out to the loofa!) so I don't know. I'll try it out and see what it looks like. 

what I used was these really sweet bamboo hooks from Dollarama. They have a sticky back so I simply just stuck them on the wall. I let them sit there for 24 hours before hanging anything on them. Crossing my fingers it doesn't peel off the paint when we move out. I did make sure to stick 2 of them onto where the previous towel rod was hanging so if I do need to touch up it will only be on 4 spots instead of 6 lol. The more I look at my version the more it looks like it needs some color, this wash cloth idea is looking better and better, or do any of you have any suggestions? It's so difficult because I can't paint, that would make a world of a difference :( Also I want a totally different color scheme then what I've got going on. I have green and brown towels and a grey and white shower curtain. But I discovered that a really light grey looks good with the dark brown, so I'm debating on getting light grey towels and then just storing away the green ones. Also I still want to add a sink skirt which I need to find fabric for but I'm thinking of incorporating grey,white and maybe another color so the overall color scheme will be 3 colors. And I'd like to switch out the dark brown bath mat I have in there for a color that better suits the overall room. I really wish I didn't have brown towels though, then I would do grey and blue and white. 

And because I like to make lists here is my Bathroom check list:

New shower curtain

Switch out towel rod

Add sink skirt

Switch out bath mat

Add shelving?

Add hanging baskets for towel storage

That is pretty much all that I will do to the bathroom. I've also been trying to cultivate ideas for the bedroom which is next on my list of things to do. I don't really want to do much in there since we really don't spend much time in it but I'd like to do something so I don't walk in there every day and cringe at how ugly it is. I hate the fact that we live in an apartment so I want to try to make it as nice looking as possible so I don't kill myself from ugly overload. I've got some inspiration pictures to share with you on this topic though. 

1. The Husband didn't want anything large or pointy above his head when we sleep in fear of dying or losing an eye so above the bed I have to keep it simple/light. I do like this idea although I think it would involve a lot of holes in the wall. 

2. If you can see it, it's the emblem above the bed that this pic is aiming at. This might be a better alternative to #1 and I'm really into monograms!

3. I like the side table ideas here, I'm thinking along the lines of making some artwork myself and hanging them above or behind the lamps on each side.

4. I like this artwork idea, I'm trying to come up with ideas where it's not just random photo's on all the walls but rather has a bit of structure

5. I love the industrial feel to this room. I'm not sure if we could do it but I just wanted to share it ;)

6. I'm also crushing on this above the bed idea. If you can't tell it's a rope like contraption with a quilt/blanket/cloth of your choice simply hanging down from it. If this fell on The Husband he'd get a carress like a kitten instead of the death claw like from Nellie's evil spawn of a cat if a picture frame were to fall on his face. (does that make sense? I really just wanted to reference Nellie's evil cat in the smoothest way possible, seriously, that cat  has issue's man).

7. These are just some side table decor ideas. But in truth I just had nothing to put in the last two slots. 

8. It's so small that you can't see the real beauty in this picture but I wanted to share anyway. This room is beautiful, I'd never be able to actually recreate this in my space but it's just so lovely :) 

Appreciation

So Black Friday was this past Friday, and Canada has decided to take part as well. Although in my experience they might as well not, it was a waste of my time as far as I'm concerned. My brother and common sister in law (lol, get it?) however, said they found great deals. So maybe it was what I was looking for that weren't the great deals but whatevs- this girl is not impressed. I did finish my Christmas shopping though woop woot! 100% done!!

The few things I did buy though I'm quite pleased with, although mostly not on sale I'm still happy I got the stuff. One thing I purchased was Glamoflauge by Hard Candy. It's a concealer and I looooove (said in a sing-song voice) it!

I was a bit sceptical of this at first because it has such a thick consistency and my under eye skin is usually dry. But after using it all weekend I've come to really love it. You seriously only need the tiniest amount because it's so thick, and it spreads really nicely too, this baby will last a long time. I also really like the pencil  it came with, it glides on really smoothly and gives a good coverage as well. I got this in the lightest shade because I like the area under my eyes to be lighter then the rest of my face. Also I found applying this with my fingers worked way better then using a brush.

I also needed a dress for all the Christmas festivities going on and I figured I could wear it to several different events. Enter amazing dress:

**Side note: this dress looks a lot better on in person then in this picture** I like that it's black yet there is subtle flower print detailing. Also I like that it's not as short as a lot of F21 dresses are. I'll be pairing this with some sheer tights and maybe boots? I'll have to see how that will look, otherwise I'll wear it with some heels, either black or colored. And because I like to leave no man behind, and by man I do mean dress, I will show you some other lovely dresses I tried on yet didn't get the privilege of buying, we had a good run though, we had a good run. 

Super cute right ;) 

I loved this one, my friend Nellie didn't share that love, she hasn't learned to apreesh the  leather trend yet, I'll convert her though, just you wait! I figured I might get a few dirty looks with this one at said Christmas events so I decided against it... for now. I didn't want people thinking I'm a part of hell's angels cuz that's probably what they'd think, it made me look badass in that- oh you must belong to a gang- kind of way. I don't think my world is ready for that yet. Who knew so much thought went into buying a dress... hmm. 

I also got a cardigan, don't have a picture of it but you can take my word for it that it's awesome. And the moment you've all been waiting for- a picture of the new purse I got. It's so pretty it just needed an intro like that. 

Here is the lovely Nellie modeling/displaying the purse for you all. Let's take a moment of silence to appreciate the purse......! 

And now let's take a moment to appreciate that I made Nellie now appreciate leather!!!! (your welcome Nellie) 

Breathing

I feel like my life has a lot of drama. Not always self inflicted, but more so I get affected by what happens to others. My family in particular seems to have a drama magnet. I try to keep my personal life pretty simple because of it. Usually drama isn't something fun or exciting, usually its awful and uninvited. Our drama tends to be more of the awful and uninvited kind. One of the times that would be the most dramatic, the time I will carry with me forever is when my brothers were in jail. This story I'm about to tell is very personal, it's very emotional for me but I'm an open person and I like to share. People seem to be always so misunderstood and maybe this would shed some light. Maybe. I'm almost certain my family doesn't read this blog, and if they do and get offended I'm sorry. But I'm telling my story because it's my story to tell.

     January of 2010 I got woken up from a text from my brother's girlfriend asking if I had heard from him. I said no, and thought it was weird that she was asking. Then she went on to tell me that he had been arrested the night before along with my younger brother as well. I asked her what  had exactly happened and all she told me was that they had gotten into a fight with a guy at a bar and they got arrested for it.

     ** There is a bit of a back story to this, I wont go into detail but basically both of my brothers were under a curfew for different reasons. They weren't allowed to be away from home after 9pm on any day **

   After she had told me this I immediately called my mom. My heart was pounding through my chest, all I could hear was the thumping in my ears. I paced around my apartment with my whole body shaking, willing my mom to pick up her phone. Finally she answered and I quickly told her what I knew. There was a short silence, then the questions started coming, but I had no answers for her. So we sat on the phone, both not quite knowing what to do. What happened after that is a little fuzzy to me, but I know that I told my mom that I was the only one the boys would be able to call. I had a city number and I knew that in jail they could only call locally, so I told her I would keep her posted. I had somewhat been down this road before with my older brother, he had gotten sent to the remand centre and I was the only one he could call so I was speaking from experience. So we played the waiting game, it was all we could do. I remember feeling helpless, at a loss, and for someone who likes to be in control this was agonizing. I believe I waited 2 days before I received my first phone call. In that time I had to continue on with my normal routine, go to bed, wake up, go to work, go home, eat supper, go to bed... ect. Except it went more like pray, go to bed, pray, wake up, pray, go to work, pray, cry at work, continue working, cry at work, cry, cry, cry, go home, talk to mom, cry, cry with mom, pray, pray, pray. I thank the Lord I was a Christian at this time, I think my prayers would have felt useless otherwise, and that is all that I had. My phone was practically glued to my hand, checking it constantly. I made sure the ringer was ALWAYS on high, I even took it with me to the bathroom. No matter what I was determined I was not going to miss that first call.
    Then it happened. I got that phone call. I was sitting at my desk in my office at work and it rang. I answered it immediately and my younger brother was on the other line. I even get teary eyed just writing about this part, my heart has never been pulled so many directions from a single conversation in my life. All the while I had been waiting for that phone call I was never worried about my older brother, well not as much as my younger one anyway. I know their personalities, I know that Matt can take care of himself, I know that he can blend in in a second and roll with the punches so to speak.  I know that Troy views things differently, I know that his heart is more sensitive. I knew that he would be sad, I knew that he would be scared, I knew that he would be lonely. Knowing that they were both in jail at the same time didn't bring any comfort, I knew that chances were they wouldn't be in the same cell block, later it was confirmed that they weren't. I knew this would be hard on Matt, but I knew it would be harder for Troy.

I could hear it in his voice over the phone, the sadness, the defeat. He said "hi" I said hi back.I asked if he was okay and he said yes. I could breathe again, he was okay. Then he choked up and pleaded with me to get him out of there. He said "I can't be here Dez, I can't do this" I didn't know what to say, what could I? I was powerless, more powerless then him and he was the one in jail. My whole body was fighting against my mind, do something! Help your baby brother. But he wasn't my baby brother any more was he. He made choices, and those choices got him to where he was, and he had to deal with those consequences. The phone call was short, we hung up the phone and I just sat there. I cried, I shook, I prayed. I called my mom right after to tell her that Troy had called, she cried too.

After that I received phone calls every day, a few days later I finally got a call from Matt. He was doing okay as well, we mainly talked business, about getting a lawyer and preparing for what was to come. A little while later the boys had a court date. This was the day that would decided if they could walk free. My mom and I went to the court house, we sat in our seats and we waited all day. I watched the other cases, trying to gauge the mood of the judge. Gauging the mood of the Crown as well, and she was not happy. Even more so to men it seemed. Every now and then the door to the court room would open, and across the hall the door where the inmates were being held was slightly open. I had a direct line of view into the room. I could see my brothers. I would steel glances whenever I could. They looked healthy, they looked good. I smiled and they would smile back.

Finally it was time for my brothers to go up, I can't remember the order in which they went up but I'll talk about Matt first. His hearing was relatively short, they spoke a lot of things I didn't understand. What I did understand is that he wasn't in jail because of the fight, that just got him arrested. He was in jail because of the reason of which he had a curfew in the first place- that is not my story to tell. He was escorted into the court room, he had on grey sweats and a grey t-shirt, his feet were shackled as well as his wrists, he took a seat at his post. His legal aid then began to talk on behalf of him, honestly he probably would have been better off without him. If I remember correctly the judge postponed for another hearing, an official court date for a month later and the time in between that was to be spent in jail. They walked him out of the court room and he stole a glance to my mom and gave his lopsided half smile. I don't know if I've ever seen him look so sad.

Next up was Troy, he too was escorted to his post. In the middle of the judge's speaking she stopped and looked at Troy. She asked him if she should continue or if he wanted to continue this another day. In between sobs he told her to continue. This was the hardest thing I've ever had to see. Imagine yourself sitting in a court room, it's relatively empty so all you can hear is your sniffling and loud swallowing. Your listening to a judge speak words you don't fully understand and she's speaking to your younger brother. He's shackled and his stance is one of defeat. His legal aid is nothing like the title implies and you can't say a word. You have to watch and that is all you can do. She pauses to ask if she should continue because all your brother can do is cry. He tells her to continue as he continues to sob.And then you sob louder and more uncontrollably. Then your mother stands up and asks to be heard. They allow it, and as she walks up to the podium she puts a hand on her sons shoulder, trailing it across his back and to his other shoulder, slowly lowering her hand to her side because she doesn't want him to get in trouble for her touching him. She stands there visibly shaking and opens her mouth to speak. The trembling carries through her voice as she defends her youngest son. They thank her for her character witnessing but it goes unwavering in the judges mind, her mind has already been made up. My mom walks back to her seat beside me, drained and defeated as well. I can't look at her because I know I will cry louder. I can barely look at the back of my brother's head and control myself.

After more words I don't understand I start to hear numbers. The numbers of months my brother will be in jail- also not because of the fight, but because of the reason he was on house arrest in the first place. One- he spends his birthday in jail, two,three, four- he misses my birthday, five, six, seven- he misses summer and eight- his release. A total of 8 months in jail. We cry louder. What else can we do? He gets escorted back into the holding room.

We walk out of the court room slowly, sad but grateful that we know. We know where everything stands, we know that the boys are okay. We know. Now we just wait to know more about Matt's case.

A month later we make our trek back to the court house to hear the outcome of Matt's case. Meanwhile we had gotten him a lawyer, while sitting in the court room waiting, we find out that the Crown didn't know we got a lawyer. The look on her face was priceless when she found out, she took her client and had an impromptu meeting before the case. When finally having the case we came to learn that the Crown and her client had changed their story. They put a deal on the table and Matt took it. You could tell it was a hard decision to make- take the deal and do some jail time, or don't take the deal and possibly walk right now or possibly serve a longer sentence. All the while the judge was reading out the sentence Matt was shaking his head. It was so hard to keep your mouth shut just knowing it was all lies but there was nothing you could do about it. The judge had to stop mid sentence to ask Matt if this was true, Matt had no choice but to say yes. After everything was said and done Matt got sentenced to another 2 months in jail, equalling a total of 4 months served. After we left the courtroom we saw that the holding room door was open, we could see Matt, so we stopped to talk to him. After a few seconds the guard told us we couldn't talk, so we said our goodbyes and made our way home.

After all of this we played the waiting game, but it was an easier waiting game. We already knew the outcome, we just had to go through the motions of every day living ... well every day living minus half your family. After the entitled months had passed eventually both brothers were released. Matt was released first, what a happy day that was. My mom hugged him and we brought part of our family home. A few months later Troy was released, I wasn't able to be there for it but I saw him that same evening.

Our family was complete but with almost a sense of fear, well fear on my part. Could this happen again? Would it pan out the same? Or worse? Will I have to live in a state of not knowing again? When my phone rings will it be a call I'm dreading? I've even gone so far as to call the police station just because I couldn't get a hold of my brother. After ruling out that he wasn't there I could breathe a little easier. It seems as though I often can't breathe doesn't it. It's like each breath has sections reserved for each person I love, and when I'm worried about someone I love, each breath gets tighter. Each breath gets harder. But I guess that is how I feel, that is how I love. That is how I breathe.

Coffee Date

Part of me having this blog allows me to express how I'm feeling whenever I feel like sharing. It's a sort of outlet as well as a place to keep me accountable. So sometimes my posts will be about material things, and sometimes it's going to be a place for me to reflect. Today I want to reflect. Today I want to dig deep. Today is for me. Today is for my heart. 

A while ago I was talking with some friends about how lucky we are to live where we do. We live in a Christian community which makes it so easy to talk about God. I can talk about God at my place of work, at the gym, in the grocery store, at a school and in my home without giving it a second thought. I think about those places where God isn't allowed in. If I weren't able to talk about my beliefs where I work how would that make me feel? I would probably feel so hidden. Would I push the boundaries? Probably. Would I lose jobs because of it? It's a probable. How different would my life be? I've worked in places before that didn't have Christians. God's name was said in vein instead of in praise. It definitely made me uncomfortable but did I talk about my beliefs? No I didn't. I had no one to band with to talk about it openly. I didn't ask anyone to stop talking so negatively about God around me. I didn't stand up for what I believe in. I'm not necessarily ashamed of myself for it but it saddens me to remember how I felt. I felt such negative vibes coming from everyone, and in a place where I spent 8 hours of my day, it definitely wasn't the kind of atmosphere I wanted for myself. Although I didn't speak openly about God, it still wasn't banned from my work place. I was allowed to talk about it, I just didn't. That's the difference isn't it, being allowed to but not speaking as opposed to not being allowed and speaking anyway. My boss now is a Christian man, a family man, and I am so grateful for that. I didn't really think twice about it until a few weeks ago but I'm lucky. I'm lucky I don't feel negative vibes any more, it has definitely changed me. I'm more happy, I feel light, I feel God. 

I can take moments out of my day to pray and not think twice about it. What a simple thing that even I take for granted. Albeit praying can be in your head so no one could ever take that away from you, but how much more aware you would be if you knew you weren't allowed to do it. 

That will be my segue into what's next on my mind. Prayer. The power of it, the easiness of it it, or the lack of easy. I'm still quite new to Christianity, I'm learning every day, but one thing I haven't learned is how to pray. I suck at it to put it bluntly. Well I feel that I suck at it lol. Sometimes I even apologize to God for not being able to speak properly but we have an understanding, I know He knows what I'm thinking :) . Most days I forget, I forget to use prayer as a tool, as a reflection outlet, as a conversation with God. I need a constant reminder that I can pray whenever I want, that God is listening always. I want, no I need to do it more often. I want prayer as a meditation, I don't want it to be a few seconds, or minutes, I want it to be longer. I want a conversation. I want to have "coffee" with God, and by that I mean I can go for coffee with friends for an hour or two, I want that relationship with God as well. He's my bestest friend, I should treat Him that way.  This is what I mean about keeping me accountable. In a few months I will look back on this and see if I have been doing what I set out to do. So God, lets go for coffee? 

Hair Care

I've been trying to grow out my hair for like, ever! And then I get tired of trying to grow it out and I chop it off, and then I want to grow it again. And the cycle continues. Right now I'm in the 'trying to grow it out' stage, and I think this time I'm in it for the long haul. In the past year I've picked up a few helpful tips to get my locks lookin long, and since my hair grows the same pace as a turtle walks I need all the help I can get! One super important thing I was never doing but should have been doing was using heat protectant. I cannot stress how important this was and how stupid I was for not doing it. I use heat on the daily, I'm talking blow drying and straightening, double trouble. And I wasn't using a heat protectant!!! My favorite product to use is called Black and it looks like this:

I always accidentally call this 'Magic' instead of 'Black' but I think Magic is more suitable because it is just that- MAGICAL!!!! I forget the price on this one, I think its around $20 and I get mine at a local salon called Masters of Design. I like to get all of my hair care products there because they usually have sales. It is a small bottle but it does last a long time but I honestly don't joke around when it comes to hair products, I'd pay double the price for this baby. 

Another product I like to use is a leave in conditioner for my ends. Because I use so much heat my ends get dry pretty fast, I noticed right away the difference a leave in conditioner made in my hair. I really like the Pureology line of products and I use the leave in conditioner. Blurry picture but you get the idea. I've had mine for about a year and a half and I am close to the empty now but for the $25 (on sale) I spent on this, I'd say that's a good deal. 

Continuing on with the Pureology line, I am also using the conditioner in the green bottle. 

This isn't the entire line, this line is huge, but this picture shows what they have to offer. I've also used the hairspray, but that is one product I am willing to cheap out on when it comes to hair. I will in the future be trying the other products though, specifically the hair mask and the inti-fade shine serum!

My hair is known to get super tangly, and I don't mean - run your fingers through it and it's good to go tangly- I mean that I'm taking a solid 3 minutes for sure just to brush my hair, and that's AFTER my shower when I've JUST used conditioner. I don't know why its taken me this long to finally buy a detangler but yesterday I finally did! I was wanting to try out Dove's detangeler but I couldn't find it for the life of me, and come to think of it I'm glad that I didn't, I don't even like Dove products, not to mention it dries out your scalp. I did however find a detangler in the Fructis line, I used it today and so far I love it! I didn't time it but I bet it took me .00002 seconds to brush my hair!!! That may or may not be an understatement but I think you catch my drift ;)  And the one I got looks like this:

Like I said, I just started using this today but I already love it. Not only did it untangle my hair perfectly, it made my hair feel, look and smell so good! 

That's basically it for my hair process, I could probably do more but my hair is so fine I don't want to weigh it down too much with product. Another product line I'd like to try is Moroccan Oil so I might purchase something from them in the near future. I've noticed my hair is a lot more healthier since taking these necessary steps, I'm not sure if it necessarily grows faster, but I am noticing growth. My goal is to get my hair down to about my belly button, right now its to the middle of my bust, although my hair is longer in the back then the front, so I'd also like for it to be even on front and back. Part of my plan for this is not get trims as often as I usually do (every 2 months) they always end up cutting off all the growth I had so I never get anywhere with it. I'm thinking I'll get it cut every 6 months and see how that goes. The last time I got it cut was in August so I'll wait until February to get a trim. In honour of my hair growth "journey" for lack of a better word, here are a few pictures that I want to continue to take a month apart every time. I've compared my hair to my friend Nellie's hair, 1. Because my hair has pretty much never been longer then hers and I'm basking in the glory, and 2. Because her hair grows wicked fast and I just wanted to see if she could pass my hair growth and if so in what amount of time that would happen.

Obviously these were taken at different distances, from here on out they should be at the same distance, we figured out a system lol. But you can sort of get the idea. Also, yes my hair is different lenghts from my left side to my right side, my left grows faster for some reason. I don't want to cut it to even it out though because it will just continue to grow faster and it will also make it look/feel shorter. So the uneven length stays!

Until next time <3

Dolla Haula !!

Haul Time!!! I hear the word "haul" used a lot and I never knew what it meant, but I knew the jist of it and I knew I wanted to use it today so I googled it for good measure. Haul- An amount of something gained or acquired. So there you have it! I gained and acquired a few things yesterday, it cost me a whole $36 but I was pretty excited about it all. I went to this store in my little city called Dollarama, you've heard of it right? I mean, who doesn't want to see a haul form Dollarama?!? So moving onwards- here is a picture of said haul:

1. Fuzzy Socks 2.Star tree topper 3.Clear filler beads

4. Air Wick 5.Wooden hangers  6. Candles 

7. Lipstick/lip gloss 8. Cupcake set 9. Speakers

10. Colorable Tote  11. Bamboo Hooks 

This was the result of me "bored" shopping, at least I'm bored shopping at Dollarama and not Sephora ;) 

Number one was an impulse buy (the rest wasn't impusle... it was strategically planned....it really was..) who doesn't love brand new fuzzy socks!? Number two was for my cute little tree: 

Number three was for my clear glass jar's that I put my make-up brushes into, I've tried a few different methods for this and I've never liked any of them until this one. I've tried larger bead-like things and the brushes didn't want to slide in nicely,and I've tried sand and again, the brushes didn't want to slide in nicely. I was looking for something that would allow the brushes to glide in and both of those methods wouldn't allow that, I had to struggle just to get them far enough in to stand on their own. These filler beads are small enough  to allow space to move aside quickly as the brush pushes in. Such a minor thing but makes me much more happy in the morning, and lets keep this girl as happy in the morning as possible! 

 Number four and six were because our apartment has a weird smell to it and we wanna try to mask/fix it as best we can, so when Dollarama has Air Wick stuff for $3 you better jump on that! Number five and eleven are for a project I'm working on, I'll post pictures if it turns out how I want it to. Hopefully that will be done by this weekend. Number seven are some Wet n Wild lipsticks and a Bonnebelle lip gloss. Wet n Wild is a cheap brand of make-up but super good quality. Sometimes you can luck out at Dollarama and get some good make-up there. One time I even got Almay eyeshadow there and Almay is pretty expensive stuff!  And apparently the lipgloss is a dupe to a Nars lipgloss so I figured why not try that out. Number eight and ten are just some cute things for my niece to do. I don't have a lot of toys or activities to do at my place so I wanted to accumulate a few things to keep up the "cool Aunt" status (I have 3 other Aunts to compete with so I better step up my game!) 

             So then hopefully we can go from this ^                         to this ^ !!      

And number nine is just some cheap speakers I got to plug into my Iphone. Turns out my Iphone's speakers are louder then these though #fail. I did ask for an Iphone/Ipod dock for Christmas though, hopefully I get that!

On another note- Is everyone ready for Breaking Dawn part 2 this weekend?? I've got my tickets pre-ordered thanks to my smart and handy friend Nellie! I'm partly excited to see their version of the book in this last movie and partly excited to not see Kristen Stewart's face plastered all over the place. I was really disappointed in the first movie, I thought they did okay with depicting the book but the acting was awful. Throughout the movies I felt their acting got a lot better so it was easier to watch (well as easy as it is to watch Kristen Stewart act).  Next I'll be looking forward to the rest of the Hunger Games movies (love!) and also anxiously waiting to see if they do a Fifty Shades of Grey movie!


That's all for now, toodles <3

Moving On

My husband and I recently moved! I love moving, I hate packing, but I love the moving process and the unpacking... oh the unpacking mmm mmm, love it! Finding new homes for your things, trying different things out that you hadn't thought of before, it's a whole new world of possibilities. We moved into a 2 bedroom apartment and its much more spacious, more space to fit all my crap! Everyone was so surprised at how much stuff I was able to cram into a 1 bedroom. Oh I can pack it baby, I can pack it in good. But with a 2 bedroom I don't have to sit there and think about how I can squeeze another piece of furniture that I just had  to get into my small space. The husband can now put stuff INTO his night stand, it's no longer turned facing the bed because there wasn't enough room between the bed and the wall! This is huge people, huge! In fact, there's even EXTRA space in between EACH (yes each!) night stand and the walls!! (I'd use more exclamation points for that sentence but I feel I already go on exclamation point overload). Of course the cram-everything-in person inside of me is automatically thinking "oh, what can I put in the little space between the night stand and the wall" but I stop myself because I can hear my mom's voice in the back of my head telling me I'm a hoarder.

Naturally I want to redecorate the entire place, and with the new IKEA going up at the end of the month I'll be in redecorating heaven. But I'll need to do it on a budget. I've decided I want to tackle it one room at a time, I've started with the bathroom, it's so ugly. Bad linoleum, ugly brown vanity and even uglier counter top. So I'll have to work with what I have but I have a few idea's brewing. I have brown and green towels - I regretted this right after I got them all but I have a bajillion of them so I can't really go back on that now. And I have a white and light grey shower curtain, which actually doesn't look bad with the brown towels at least so that's sort of the color scheme I want to go by.

Enter ugly bathroom:

I want to add a few things to the bathroom to spruce it up a bit. My main issue with this room is the vanity, I'm thinking of maybe removing the doors and putting a skirt around the entire thing, like this: 

But my vanity is larger so I'm not sure if that will make it look worse? 

So right now for the bathroom this is my To Do List:

-Make a makeshift vanity skirt to see if it will look good

-If it does look good, find some fabric to do so. (ask mom to help make skirt)

-Replace towel bar with some other form of hanging

-Put artwork above toilet, or some kind of storage for functionality

-Come up with ideas to clean up/store things on top of vanity

I think that's as far as I'll go with that room. After that I want to work on the bedroom. I don't want to do too much in that room, just put some pictures up and/or artwork, add some decorative or functional things to the top of the dresser and put something above the headboard. Most of those things I already have on hand, its just a matter of doing them. 

From there I'll move onto my make-up room. Yes you heard me right, I have my very own make-up room. Oh, you want to see a picture of said glorious room? Okay! 

It's probably not as glamorous as you envisioned but I moved in on Friday, C'mon! The closet doors are currently being fixed so that eyesore will be dealt with soon. For this room I know that I want it "travel" themed, but that's as far as I've gotten. I have no ideas for it yet. Also I'd love a new make-up vanity but the one I want is very pricey and I'm sure The Husband wouldn't like me for that.  

Isn't she gorgeous?!?

I want this beaut along with these: 

The vanity is $200- $300, the chest of drawers is $450 and the Armoire is $400. I can hear my bank account laughing at me already! I can see the make-up vanity being attainable, maybe a birthday gift? But the other two I may as well forget about. 

So those are my ideas/dreams for now. After I've completed a room I'll be sure to post pictures of them!

Until next time I'll leave you with my cute lil Christmas tree before and after. (I procrastinated on this like no other, it took me probably a total of 2 hours just to put balls on the dang thing) 

Swatch It

There's a few things in this life that I have deep love for. 1.God 2.Family/Friends 3.Make-up and 4. Coffee. They may or may not be in that order :s Today I want to talk about my deep love for make-up! I don't always love the process of putting it on but I love the way it makes me feel when I do. It's amazing how a little bit of make-up can be a total confidence booster! It's taken me some time to master what looks good on my face and what techniques work for me but after many hours spent with my good friend YouTube I'm gettin there! I wanted to share my fav products with all of you and it may also resemble somewhat of a starter kit for someone with not a lot of make-up or someone who wants to expand their collection. Shall we begin?

This first ones obvious, every girl should have this in her make-up bag - I'm talken mascara ladies! My personal fav? CoverGirl Lash Blast Fusion (the purple one) in blackest black. Sorry for the poor quality photo, I took it from the interweb seeing as I'm at work and forgot to take a pic of my own at home. I love this mascara because it seems to work the best for me. I love to try new mascara's just to see what's out there but I always come back to this one.  My eyes are more inset so when a mascara flakes it just looooves to sit on my cheeks- not pretty! This mascara doesn't flake or hardly flakes at all, I love the formula to  this one and I also like the rubber brush. The rubber brush tends to work a lot better with my lashes, not to mention makes them look longer! I've been asked a few times if I'm wearing falsies just by wearing this mascara!!

Next up is Primer. MUST HAVE. I cannot stress how important this is. Primer should be applied to the entire face before you put on foundation, this will help keep your foundation on your skin all day and give you a better 'finish'.  I do not have a picture because I've yet to find one that I love but next I will be trying Arbonne's face primer for $45. Before you freak out on me and tell me I'm crazy for spending that much I'd like you to take a moment and slap yourself on the face! How dare you almost lash out on me when it comes to make-up!! First of all Arbonn'es primer is in a huge bottle (30ml or 1 fluid oz.) this will last you forever people. Now take $45 and divide that into forever and you've got yourself a good deal! Also I really like Urban Decay Primer Potion. The purple bottle, not the yellow bottle. The yellow is shimmery and that's just dumb. I only apply this onto and around my eyelids before my foundation to really make my eyeshadow pop and stay put all day.  

Then we've got my good friend Liquid foundation, we go way back. My skin is far from perfect and on those really far from perfect days my face begs for liquid foundation. Lately I've been using L'Oreal Visible Lift liquid foundation. It does have a brush attached to the bottle but I use a stippling brush for the actual application. I've tried a few foundations in my time and this one I find to be my fav as of late. Everyone's skin is different though so find what works best for you. Don't forget, you can return foundation with receipt if you take it home and decide you don't like it. Why would you want to keep a foundation that doesn't match your skin tone and/or doesn't apply as smooth as you'd hoped? You wouldn't cuz thats just crazy! So exchange it for something that better suits you my friend! 

Next I'll be trying L'Oreal's True Match because I've been hearing a lot of good things about it. 

As mentioned previously, I apply my liquid foundation with a stippling brush. I've tried my fingers but hate how it gets behind my finger nails. I've tried sponges but I can't get that down so I end up with streakyness. A stippling brush is my fav and it looks like this: 

After I apply my liquid foundation I set it with a face powder. Right now I'm loving Maybelline's Dream Matte Powder. It give's good coverage, good color and keeps my skin matte. It comes with a pad like "brush" but I like to use a larger fluffy brush to apply the product all around my face. 

Then I'll use a bronzer to contour my face. Contouring can be tricky, my advice would be to look on YouTube to learn the techniques. I usually apply it  under my cheek bones (below where you would put blush), under/on my jawline and on the sides of my nose. Contouring is basically creating the affect of a shadow. You can use it to make your nose look slimmer (my personal fav), your cheeks more pronounced and your jawline more pronounced. The trick is to make sure you blend it all out so to not have any harsh lines. And to use it in conjunction with highlighting, contouring brings it in and highlighting brings it out! I haven't tried a lot of bronzer's but I hear good things about Benefit's Hoola Bronzer. I just ordered this (don't tell the husband) so I'll be sure to let you know how I like it. Just a tip, in store it's really expensive, I bought mine on ebay but I got the old packaging (shown below) which made it cheaper then one with the new packaging. 

To highlight I like to use Mary-Lou Manizer highlight. This. Is. The. Bomb. Diggity. If you do not have it, you should! It is quite pricey, I think I paid $25 for mine on ebay but I use very little of it each day and it still looks like I've used nothing. This baby will last me for years! Here's my swatch, it doesn't really do it justice. If you can see it gives a subtle shimmer look and I apply this above my cheek bones and blend it into my blush. I apply this with a fan brush also shown below. I got my brush from Coastal Scents and if you haven't already heard of them be sure to check out their site! 

And last on the docket is blush. Sadly I've only been wearing blush for the last year, I knew about it of course but I never felt like I needed it. If you feel this way as well then take it from me -> wear blush!!! I love me some blush!! I will not, would not, could not leave the house without it. It completely livens up your face, here I was walking around looking like I was dead! What happens is when you apply foundation to your face you are creating a matte blank canvas, that is why contouring and highlighting and blush is so important, it's bringing out all of your lines to in a sense recreate the bone structure in your face (and by lines I do not mean wrinkles people!)  My personal all time fav blush (which also happens to be the first blush I ever purchased) is Mac blush in Cantaloupe. It's a peachy/coral color and works so well with my skin tone whether I'm tan or pasty white! 

I also really love the blush palette from Coastal Scents, it has a variety of colors to choose from and the pan size is awesome, this little gem will last you a long time. My personal fav is bottom row second from the left, it too is a peachy/coral color. These colors also rival some of Mac's blushes so if your looking for a cheaper alternative this would be the way to go! The colors are gorgeous and very pigmented, you can also mix two colors together on your cheeks to create a different look. If you do happen to order this palette don't freak out when you see the colors- some look very bright but as you can see from my swatches it wont apply to your skin that way. I apply blush with a fluffy angled brush (not pictured). 

I noticed that a lot of these colors look brown

in the pic but I assure you none of them are. 

This palette is full of pinks, fuscias and peaches. 

I apologize for the very horrible quality of this picture,

it definitely does not do these gorgeous colors 

any justice. Also I think my arm skin really

sucks for doing swatches :( boo. 

Hope this was helpful, now go out and spend all your money on make-up and don't tell your husbands! Or don't take my advice and walk around looking dead, it's your choice!