Santa Picture

Photo Courtesy of Photography 35

 

I know you are probably on overload of my boys, but I just had to share this. Gabriel and Zachary met Santa this week, and Gabriel enjoyed his visit, but Zachary notsomuch.

 

I just think this is precious.

 

Perfect.

 

Merry Christmas!

 

PS- I love their bow-ties, I got them from Little Ties for Little Guys. She is amazballs!

 

Mascara Project: Rimmel Day 2 Night

 This mascara promises:

Now get two mascaras in one amazing new system. Get two dramatically different lash looks with one mascara from glam’eyes day 2 night mascara, choose defined length for day or intense volume for night. The magic is in the double cap which allows for complete lash customization. Choose the pink cap for up to 75% more length and the black cap for up to 12x more volume. The buildable formula allows you to create the look you want for day or night. With rimmel london’s newest glam-making mascara, lashes are instantly transformed from daytime length to night-out volume without a clump in sight.

Looks like this in the store:

I really thought this was pretty cool, I get two mascara's in one, and if I wanted length, I'd pull out the one brush with the pink cap, and if I wanted volume I'd just use the other.

Realistically, the two brushes are intertwined. And just the length, made me feel like that tall, lenky kid in High School that didn't grow into his body, you know the kid, right? Just using the length, made me feel half naked.

So really, you need to use the volume brush all the time. Otherwize, it's a cruddy mascara, that leaves you feeling used.

I like the Volume brush, I think it worked well, nothing super, duper WOW, but it was easy to apply, good solid brush. It didn't clump, but I'm not super wow'ed. It was easy to get off of my lashes with soap and water, and some towel action.


Cost: $7.99

Rimmel Glam Eyes Day 2 Night:

My Boys

Gabriel (almost 3) and Zachary (Age 1)

 

I feel so blessed to have friends that have amazing talents. Especially when it comes to documenting my boys, growing up. Krystal from Verve Studio is just amazing, and I feel so grateful for her gift.

 

I mean seriously, check out my boys! This is so them.

 

Zachary is always smiling, he smiles when you sneeze, when you stub your toe, or when I open the fridge.

 

Gabriel, so serious, but seriously funny. And his crooked smile in this pictures is just... perfect.

 

Thank you, MisKrystul. 

Mascara Project: CoverGirl Lash Blast

Lash Blast by CoverGirl promises:

The biggest brush ever from CoverGirl, for a blast of lush, volumized lashes!
Lash Blast's volume-boosting formula and patent-pending brush are designed to max out each and every lash leaving you with the ultimate big lash look!

This is what it looks like in the store, a huge barrel of mascara



In all honesty, because that is what this whole project is about. One girl's mission to find the perfect Over the Counter (able to purchase in a drug store, not a mall or boutique) Mascara.

This was my Go-To Mascara before this project. And one day, I just thought my lashes were dead. Like there were just there and no oomph.

So... I wanted to include it in the Project, after I tried a few others. So I did. Again.

And here are my thoughts. The brush is HUGE, it really is ginormical, I think this mascara photographs well, because the picture makes my lashes look way longer and fuller than I thought they did in the mirror. And it did take longer than a minute to achieve this look. Normally, one minute per eye is as long as I am willing to devote to my morning routine.

It's a very dry mascara, and compared to some of the others that are wet and goopy, it's almost a nice change. But it's also dry and flakey at the end of the day. After I washed my face, I had large clumps that flaked off into my eye. That I was not a fan of.

Although, the mascara did wash off with soap and water and some towel action, that is always a bonus.

I like it, not sure I love it as much as I used to.

Left Eye, Completely Nekked                                                        Right: Cover Girl Lash Blast

 Cost: $8.99 (but can be found on sale often)

Turtle Cookies

 

Cookie Time is back! Once a week I am going to be sharing with you my favoritest cookie recipes!

 

Enjoy!

 

Turtle CookiesSource: Adapted from America's Test Kitchen, as shared by Pixelated Crumb

Cookie:
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. salt
8 T. (1 stick) butter, softened
2/3 c. sugar
1 large egg, separated, plus 1 additional egg white
2 T. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. pecans, finely chopped

Caramel Filling:

14 soft caramel candies (I used Kraft)
3 T. heavy cream

Chocolate Drizzle (optional):

2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (I used 2 squares of Baker's semi-sweet chocolate)
1 tsp. shortening

Cookie: Combine flour, cocoa, and salt; set aside. With electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg yolk, milk, and vanilla; mix until incorporated. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture until just combined. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, 1 hour.

Whisk egg whites in a bowl until frothy. Place chopped pecans in another bowl. Roll dough into 1-inch balls, dip in egg whites, and then roll in pecans. Place balls about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet. Using a 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon, make an indentation in the center of each dough ball. Bake at 350 degrees until set, about 12 minutes.

Caramel Filling: Microwave caramels and cream together in a small bowl, stirring occasionally, until smooth, about 1 to 2 minutes. Once cookies are removed from the oven, gently re-press the indentations. Fill each indentation with about 1/2 teaspoon of the caramel mixture. Cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Drizzle (optional): Place chocolate and shortening in a small zip-top plastic bag. Set bag in a bowl of warm water to soften. Gently knead the chocolate with your fingers until melted and smooth, placing back in the warm water for a minute or two as needed. Snip a very small hole in the corner of the plastic bag. Drizzle chocolate over the cooled Turtle Cookies.

Enjoy!

Baby in a Stocking

Thank you, Footstone Photography

I was just looking at this picture and cannot believe this was a year ago. We posed our 7 day old baby in a Christmas Stocking. And hung him using a Command Adhesive Strip.(Previous words may be slightly exaggerated)

Our life has changed so much in a year, and I won't get all sappy on you, I'll wait until my New Year's post for that...but for now.

Life has grown, tremendously.

Mascara Project: NYC Hi Def

I was super excited about this Mascara, only becasue of all of the hype I've been hearing, and I didn't want to build it up in my head and then be all bummed if I hated it.

NYC Promises:

Volumizing & defining. Up to 70% lash lift & 10X volume. Immediate long lasting wide eye effect. Dual response technology lengthens lashes up to 60% and lifts lashes up to 70%. DuoPlay Complex with Panthenol & Vitamin E strengthens lashes and helps to keep them supple. Moisture resistant technology helps to keep lashes lifted. Flake-proof. Smudge-proof.



This is what it looks like in the store, notice the funky brush.



So, I think I like it. The brush totally took some time to get used to, it really doesn't have soft long bristles, so you have to get ubber close to your eye lashes. I am not sure that I would call it "high definition" but I did notice that it had nice staying power, at the end of a long 13 hour day, my lashes still looked great. My lipstick and eye shadow, notsomuch. Not a fan of how it photographed though.

It washed off with soap and water as well as tiny bit of towel action. It didn't clump or flake. I am sort of impressed, considering it's one of the cheapest mascara's I purchased. (Less than $5)



Left Eye is Nekked                                                       Right Eye, with NYC Hi Def

Cost: $4.99 Regularly (on Sale at Target $2.49)

Christmas Party to Inspire

Thanks Tiny Prints

I think I am going to have a Christmas Party because I am so inpired by this board.

Do you wanna come over?

Christmas Inspiration

Borrowed from Oh Lovely Day

Are people still creating inspiration boards, or just using Pinterest?

But either way, I love this one! So romanic and sophisticated.

You? Love? Notsomuch?