favorites.

I had a few things I wanted to share with you that I have been loving lately.  First off is the little acrylic organizer that I have been using to hold my most reached for things on my bathroom counter.  I have been loving this.  I picked it up at marshalls for around 10$. 

 Second is my revealed two pallet from coastal scents.  I have used my revealed two pallet a ton.  I would say is is my most reached for pallet.  So when I heard they had a revealed two that was total dupes for the naked 3 pallet I was soo excited.  I ordered it on sale for 10$ it is normally 20 but soooo worth it I don't think I have used another pallet since it came about a month ago.

 I have a few skin care favorites that I use daily.  I use the fruit of the earth vitamin e cream every day as a moisturizer. It is great keeps my skin moisturized and it is smooth and I love it.  I find it at walmart for 3$ something for a two pack.  (I heard about it from holly chastain I love her and really do wish she would post more).  There is my acure marula oil.  I have posted about it before I love this stuff I use it under and around my eyes and any where I feel like I am dry.  Usually in the morning and at night.  I also have the trader joes serum. I  grabbed this two trips ago in the cities.  It is great stuff.  It has a silicone feeling like a primer.  I use a pump of this at night and in the morning.  It is around 10$ and is some great stuff.

 My sleek contour kit in light.  I ordered this off amazon and love it!.  It has a great non muddy matte bronzer and pretty shimmer highlight.  I love love love this bronzer.

 Those are a few great things I have been loving lately.  Do you guys have any new things you are loving.  :) 

9 easy Halloween nail art

I have decided it is time to start the Halloween nail art.  I love doing my nails and I love having fun nails but I am not the best at nail art.  I love fun easy nail art.  I have compiled a few great tutorials that I have used and loved that I thought everyone would enjoy. :) 

Here is a cute and easy candy corn tutorial from the beauty department

Here is a super cute jack skeleton mani.

This has three great easy nail arts from MissJennfabulous  I love her nail art for beginners series.

I used some of this one in my monday mani Very cute and very easy

This one is super cute I love these whimsical nail ideas

I hope this gave you some great ideas for some fabulous Halloween nail art ideas

Mani Monday

Quick mani Monday who'll share more on it tomorrow

So I have been thinking allot about marriages lately.(  I want to preface this by making it clear I am not judging bragging or anything of the sort.  I am not saying everyone should stay in doomed marriages or be door mats or condemning people for divorce nor am I saying to give up and get divorced.)  I have just had the thoughts running through my head of how every marriage is different. Since everyone was built on a different foundation and each one has different people in it with different standards and needs and believes and has different problems, every one also has a different amount of strengths and breaking points.  

I was talking to a gf the other day who was just frustrated that she was in a argument with her hubby, but they couldn't get past it and move on because it is harvest time and he isn't home long enough to get through to the other side.  So frustrating.  I have been there.  This probably isn't a big deal breaking fight but a frustration. My advice was just wait it out they will be fine and while it isn't easy every hurdle you get past in your marriage makes it stronger.  

That lead me to think about the trials and tribulations my marriage has been through.   We aren't perfect we are normal people. We have had money troubles. Where you are always on edge and bickering because its stressful trying to make ends meet with young kids.  We have had opposite schedules. Where he works when I am home and vice versa.  That didn't work well at all for us.  We wrote notes in a note book almost every day but we need to be together that just wasn't for us.  I have a gf that her and her hubby do that all the time to avoid daycare and it works for them but I know in my marriage it doesn't. 

We have had power struggles with families (meh inlaws lol).  Huge moves where we moved away from friends family and our home for my hubbies job.  We have had medical troubles and babies.  We have grown up from young adults, who like to go out and have drinks and party, to parents who don't see the value in that.  Everything changes and goes through seasons.  While this isn't the steamiest time in our marriage, having a one year old..not enough sleep...not enough energy..and being the heaviest me and my hubster have been at...probably ever.  but it is one of the happiest.  We are comfortable and feel loved and there isn't as many stresses and worries and external factors. 

While I feel like I am happy and great and could weather the storms, I think of things some of my gf's have been through with husbands who have had full blown affairs where they left them and the  horrible betrayals and they have worked through it and are back together.  I know that is something that would be beyond the weight limit of my own marriage and it would snap under that.  But I think about my advice to my gf about the harder the times you weather, the stronger it feels like your marriage is and I think maybe they just have a stronger marriage then even mine....who knows.  

I just know the longer I am married and the more I see, the less I judge.  I love all my gf's and if they are happy I am happy.  I am off for a weekend with the hubby while my sis in law takes our monkeys for us I will miss them, but I am looking forward to a good nights sleep and some relaxing date nights with my hubby.  I hope what ever your troubles are right now the scales tip and things balance out and you can just enjoy life this weekend.  Have a good one guys.

easy spot cleaning for make up brushes

 I have been out sick all week slacking off.   I have that may respiratory bug that's going around.   So I haven't had much to share.   My nails aren't even pretty because I am doing nail envy strengthening treatment.  But I have had this little life Saber of a trick up my sleeve for a while.   I have been using allot of cream products lately and if you use a gel liber with your brush and go to use it the next day. .. not going to work.   Here is what I do to spot clean my brushes.

I use a stamping up stamp pad cleaner some spray brush cleanser. 

 See how dirty this is with gel liner from yesterday

Well I spray the cleanser on half the pad.  I then scrub the brush around then sib it on the dry side and boom clean! ! And no dry time or laying flat.  I can toss them back in the holder out use them right away. 

See how clean that came. 

I love this trick when I am traveling so I don't have to pack tons or brushes and don't have to worry about having a good clean brush for my eye brows or liner.  The pad I use is just fuzzy one.  You could use anything like that texture I use this when I clean my brushes to.  I just put I bit of ivory dish soap on one side to scrub them on. Works beautifully.   Have a good day guys. 

cheese stuffed shells

 I posted some family favorite meals but I didn't have a recipe for this one so I thought I would post one.   It's for cheese stuffed shells.  My entire family LOVES this meal.  It's not that hard I have a few tips to make it easy. 

You need:

1 box large shells

1 jar spaghetti sauce

2 containers of ricotta

1 package shredded parm

1 block mozzarella

Italian seasoning 

salt and pepper

a cookie scoop

I mix the two things of ricotta with half bag of parm add some pepper, salt,  Italian seasoning.  Boil the shells for the amount of time they say on the box. (Prob varies per brand) run a bit of cold water over them in the strainer so you can handle them.  I pour a bit of sauce in the bottom of pan then grab the shells like so to squeeze open.  I use a cookie scoop for the filling. 

Once they are all full

I cover with pasta sauce mozzarella and ready of parm and bake at 375 for 30

I had a few extra shells so I put the four each girl on mini loaf pans. 

This is the end product.

Always yummy.  You know it's a big hit when the kids ask what's for dinner and when you tell them everyone says "yesssss".

I love not having to argue at the dinner table.  It makes life so much easier.  Hope you guys enjoy this and it makes for happy dinners for your

family's.  Have a good day. 

a weeks worth of dinners

I love hearing what other people cook and what their favorite recipes are.  So I thought I would share what we had for dinner this week. 

Fridays dinner was white chicken enchiladas. 

 This was the first time I made this and it turned out great.  Was a big hit with the hubbies and me the kids grumbled a bit about the green chili's but they ate. I made half the pan cheese enchiladas (hence the tooth picks)

Thursday was stuffed shells.  This is a recipe that wasn't from online. I am going post it for you guys. 

This is a sure fire hit with the entire family every time. .. which is rare. there is always someone complaining.

I missed we'd dinner but Tuesday was potato soup in the crockpot. I do office hours so it's usually eat out our crockpot night. This is another one that is always a winner and soooo simple.  We just had Italian bread with it.

These are mini french dips. These are another easy one.  The girls love to help roll them and they are fun for the kiddos to eat.  They are quick and no complains again with this one again. 

Those are the meals for this week.  Some weeks don't have as many hit meals 

but with a family of five everyone isn't getting router favorite meal every night that would be impossible.  But I do make some little attempts to appease (like cheese enchiladas or leaving meat off something or such). What are your family's favorite meals? Have a good night guys. 

how we threw shelbys divergent bday party

 Shelby decided that this year she wanted a divergent party. Gone are the days where I can buy plates and a cake and have my self a theme.  So this year it fell to me.   Thank goodness I found these printablesites on pinterest.  Here is where I went from there. .

I picked up a table cloth, balloons, and frames from the dollar tree. 

I had my cupcake tree for years.  I baked the cupcakes and made butter cream frosting. I punched or the printable circles with my 1 3/4"punch then got glued them top tooth picks.  

For favors I put the printables in frames then we bought sixlets that coordinated with the faction colors.  I put some of each color in a paper dish and wrote their names on it with a chalk Marker.   I placed the rest of the sixlets in dishes on the table for kids to grab their candy for the movie. 

I bought paper straws at Walmart. 

So each kid took home candy , a picture and a balloon.  We also strung black steamers all over upstairs.  

Every kid came dressed as their faction of choice .  Then we had pizza. They all went through a test to see which faction they would be in.  I popped some popcorn on the stove. They grabbed their candy and soda. We had borrowed my sisters projector and we were going to have a bonfire and watch divergent outside but the mosquitoes were insane! We couldn't even do it with the garage door shut in the garage!   So they watched it in the basement.  The girls all slept onset and we had cinnamon rolls in the morning before the got picked up.  It all went off with out a hitch and everyone had a blast. 

Hope you guys are having a great day. 

organization tips and tricks

I have a unhealthy obsession  love affair with all things organization.  I am sure it stems from my childhood being raised by a hoarder.  But I thought today I would share a few things I worked on a round my house lately. 

I keep my most used spices in a old wooden soda crate on top of the stove. But to make things easier to find I wrote on the top of the lids with a chalk marker.  ( if you don't know about chalk markers they are awesome.  I have loved them since my days at a coffee shop where we used them for everything. ) p.s. penzeys spices ate the best.  I have tons more in my cupboard if you haven't tried them you need to. 

 Next I took my cart that I bought off a local garage sale fb site and made the top drawer a charging station.  (Notice the mom hook lock to keep max out ;) that's a bonus tip yw) the kids got tablets at school this year.  Between that and all the other electronics we needed a spot of the way.  Also the kids have to ask to get the electronics out that way I can make sure they have their homework and chores done before they start using them. 

 I drilled a hole in the back and then I slid a power strip cord through and plugged in all the electronics and bring the cords into the drawer on top. I also added the container from walmart on the left. 

Next I took core charts from the dollar tree and instead of refilling out the chart every week I put them in a frame so the kids can use a dry erase marker to check them off. 

 Next tip. .if you are like me you love your tart warmer but hate changing the wax. . Well just grab a cotton round throw it in. .

In a few minutes you have this. .

take it out and throw it away or if you're going to be having a bonfire be camping anytime soon throw it in a baggy and user it as a fire starter. 

 Next organizing thing to tackle will be labeling Evea's dresser so that her dad and sister know where things go when they put away laundry. I got these chalkboard labels at the Dollar Tree. Then I used my rotary cutter to cut them in half. For some I also used my Stampin Up 1 and three-quarter inch punch. I got chalkboard markers from Walmart I am so glad that they are so easy to find now!!

 I stuck them on the dresser and then I wrote the contents of the drawer inside so that my husband and daughter can put away the clothes without a jumbled mess or if they go to get things out for her they know where to look!

There you go done quick tips and tricks to make your house run a bit smoother and organize it a bit more :) p.s a lot of times I am flying through these posts, trying to get them up while the Munchkin is napping or playing at my feet.  so please bear with me if my grammar is even worse than normal;) have a good one guys

my amazing skincare and hair discovery.

I don't know about your guys but I am constantly on the search for two things. 1. is soothing that helps with my exzema on my scalp. 2 is something with amazing skin benefits that will help my fine lines, treat my exzema,  and help with the sun spots I have got from age. This is a big deal to me because now that I'm in my thirties I'm really trying to pay attention to my skin care routine that is good for anti-aging but I have mostly been at a loss because everything is so expensive you hate to try and not have it work I have been so happy with my hair and skin lately that I had to share the products and results with you. My skin has been in such good shape that most days I don't even wear foundation! I throw a bit of concealer under my eyes and call it a day!  To demonstrate just how much I am loving my skin right now I took them bare faced pictures for you. 

Normally this time of year I have a big problem with exzema on my face and scalp, but this year I have found some product is cleared that up entirely for me and I had to share I took a picture of my face up close so that you can see there is no eczema patches no dry patches on my bare face and my dark spots that I have under my eyes on the edges have started to fade drastically! The only problem I have with my skin in this picture is some hyper pigmentation on my chin from a pimple. I have also seen a huge difference in my fine lines and wrinkles around my eyes.  Take note of the fact that there is no red patches around my hairline and my scalp insanely flaky or red and raw. 

okay so let's get into it. I have two main products that I think are responsible. For myskin it is my marula oil from acure organics. I am in love with the stuff.  I put it underneath my eyes in the upside down triangle just like I would do my concealer at morning and at night and then I take whatever is left over and ran it through the ends of my hair. I think this is a huge reason that my dark spots are fading and I have no eczema right now. I have also noticed a big difference in the fine lines around my eyes. I've been doing this for over a month because I wanted to give it a good try and see the difference before I reviewed it. This is working wonders for my skin and I use less than half a pump twice a day. On top of that its only $15 for a bottle so that will last you forever at a crazy reasonable price.  Here are a few more great things you should know about it :it's cruelty free, paraben free, gluten free and its wild crafted and is cold pressed also it provides economic empowerment to South African women!!! Can you say amazing.  

As for my scalp and hair I have been using acure organics shampoo and conditioner in pure mint and echincea stem cell.  This has been great for my scalp.  It is full of amazing natural ingredients but still lathers amazingly and leaves your hair clean soft and shiny but not feeling striped. The mint is cooling and soothing. 

My hair is wet and snarly in these pics so it's hard to tell.  But it is shiny and smooth.  My skin has its glow back.  Bye bye dull red exzema ridden skin hello glowing even smooth skin. 

 I am so glad I found these products I can't even tell you.  I hope you give them a try and am as satisfied as I am.  I did some research and found a coupon code for you to get 15% off your first purchase use TRYACURE. (they didn't give this to me it isn't a referral code I get nothing from your purchase) 

Have a good one guys.