Sick Christmas

2014 was not the best year for holidays around here... Ant had to work on the 4th of July, Harry was sick on Halloween, and we were all sick on Christmas! Harry actually got sick late last Saturday night, and has been feverish off and on. He was coughing so violently that it made him throw up a few times. By Friday he seemed to be on the mend. Meanwhile, Ant spent the weekend miserable and I luckily, have barely felt it (just a sore throat really).

Always such a positive attitude when he's sick!

Backing up to Christmas Eve, we put out reindeer food, decorated Christmas cookies for Santa, and made homemade pizzas. Even though he wasn't feeling well, Harry still wanted to fully participate in Christmas.

We had a little incident with the sprinkles ;)

Before bed we set up some cookies and milk for Santa. And a few little carrots for the reindeer.

Christmas morning started out nice. Harry was nervous to walk out to see what Santa brought, but he loves his new bike! The seat needs to be lowered, but he had fun just sitting on it.

Already got that wind blown hair

Santa left us a note saying that a Spiderman helmet is on its way in the mail, I guess the elves got a little behind at the workshop ;). After seeing what was in our stockings, we sat down for breakfast- blueberry muffins!

Harry had one of his coughing fits during breakfast and threw up. Ugh! It was so bad we ended up calling our doctor to see if they'd give him a prescription for a cough suppressant (not that any pharmacy in the area would have been open...), but of course they wouldn't give him anything without seeing him first, so the nurse suggested sitting in the bathroom with a hot shower running and giving him spoonfuls of honey and lemon juice. That seemed to do the trick, and soon enough he was feeling better and anxious to open presents.

Everyone got some great gifts! Harry couldn't get the bike off his mind and begged to go outside with it. Since we didn't have the helmet, we compromised and pushed Harry down our hallway for 5 minutes.

A little ridiculous, I know, but he had so much fun with it.

Here's to hoping 2015 holidays all go a little smoother around here!

Sephora Give Me More Lip

First and foremost I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! I wanted to get this posted earlier, but it took me a long time to try on all 17 lip products in this post. Thought I'd put it out today in case you're looking for a last minute gift and can get to Sephora before it closes!

Our 4th wedding anniversary was earlier this month. Traditional gifts include flowers and fruits. Ant got me 2 dozen roses and a few little dollhouse fruit arrangements. He also surprised me with the Sephora Give Me More Lip kit.

I've been using more makeup lately and have been wanting to try a lot of new products so this kit was absolutely perfect! Unfortunately it looks like the kit is sold out online, but I'm sure some of the stores still carry it. And, all of the products are available individually, so I thought I'd still give my review. This kit comes out yearly (with different options), so if you can't find it, keep it in mind for next year! I think the holiday stuff starts rolling out in early Fall.

Side note, there is also a smaller lip product sampler kit called the Give Me Some Lip set. Different products that what's in the kit I have, but a lot of beautiful options!

The kit comes with 16 lipsticks/glosses and one lip liner. All are mini sizes, except for one full size item. Most of them are pretty generously sized though- and when was the last time you used an entire tube of lipstick?

I had never tried any of these lippies before, but did have opinions on them just based on looks alone. A lot of them surprised me!

Here's a breakdown of the Give Me More Lip kit.

Pinks

Tarte Power Pigment in Flush

Duck face, quack quack!

The only full sized item in the bunch. A color I knew I would love, and I do. A nice, soft reddish-pink.

Too Faced Melted Liquid Lipstick in Melted Fuchsia 

 
 I thought this shade was going to be too bright for my liking, but I actually love it! It is bright, but I think it goes well with my coloring. It dries to a pretty matte finish. I see myself wearing this a lot, and would definitely look into more of the Melted colors.

Bite Beauty Luminous Creme Lipstick in Palomino

After loving the Melted Fuchsia so much, I thought this would be a winner, too. I like the color, but I'm not blown away. The stick looked like this was going to be a very matte color, but there's a bit of shine.

Benefit Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm in Posiebalm

I was really disappointed with how little product you get with this one. What you see in the picture is it, folks. This balm felt nice on my lips, but I don't really like how it looks on me.

Reds

Laura Mercier Creme Smooth Lip Color in Red Armour 

 Red lipstick scares me. It's just so... bold. And this one's a bit orange-y on me, but it's pretty true to color. Not my favorite of the bunch, don't think I'll reach for it much. I didn't wear this color for long, so I'm not sure about the wearability of this brand yet.

Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick in Icon

I felt like Snow White while wearing this one!

Words can not express how much I love this one! It has the perfect blue undertone, so it doesn't show up orange at all on my skin. Even though it's bright and not something I would have ever bought myself, I see myself wearing this a lot. Unfortunately the package is really small, so it won't last long.

Sephora Rouge Infusion Lip Stain in Red Essence

Eh, not too impressed with this one. The coverage is weird and streaky. I think it looks like I had been wearing it for hours in this picture, but I put it on just minutes before.

Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Outlaw

So bright, so matte, so gorgeous! I don't know which red I love better, this one, or the Hourglass Icon. It looked to me like it was going to be orange, but it has a wonderful blue undertone. This one is ultra long-wearing, as well. An all-around great formula. I'd definitely purchase this color in the full size, and be interested in other colors in the line.

Berries

Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment in Berry

 
This felt soooo smooth going on my lips and smells wonderful. But I was disappointed with  the color payoff. It looks dark in the tube, but goes on very sheer as you can see. It's good for a quick pop of color while running out the door.

Buxom Full Bodied Lipstick in Menace

I look translucent in this picture...

The coloring is off in this picture, but this turned out really red on my lips. It's pretty, and the formula is nice, but I'll probably save this one for special occasions only.

Tarte LipSurgence Lip Tint in Moody 

Do you like my pinky talon?

Love this one! It's sheer, but still offers good coverage, if that makes sense. Shades like this have been a go-to of mine for years, they're easy for me to wear. I wish this would have lasted a little longer, it seemed to wear off quickly.

OCC Matte Lip Tar in Black Dahlia 

I do a mean Billy Idol impersonation

Oh, don't I look lovely... Not a fan of this! There is so much buzz around this stuff, I was expecting to like it a lot. First of all, it's really difficult to apply. It comes with a lip brush, but it's really thick and hard to spread around. And don't even think about making a mistake, because it's not easy to fix. And look how blotchy it is! And I spent a good 5 minutes trying to get it to look nice. And, it's not really matte like it said it would be. And, it stained my lips pink after a few hours. Not necessarily a bad thing, but just weird. Phew.... lot's of reasons I didn't like this. Probably the biggest dud in the box for me.

Neutrals

Too Faced La Creme Lipstick in Naked Dolly

You're my... bug eyed girl!

Before trying any of the lippies, this was the one I was least excited about. I thought the color was hideous and was mad at Sephora for including it in the kit. The shade reminds me of the original Silly Putty color, which is not appealing. However, my entire opinion changed once I put it on. I think it's lovely! This obviously would never be a shade I'd purchase on my own so I'm now so happy they included it in the kit. I see myself wearing this one a lot.

Stila Stay All Day Vinyl Lip Gloss in Nude Vinyl
Make Up For Ever Aqua Lip Pencil in 3C

Not a huge fan of the lip liner color, but the application was nice. If I ever have an extra $20 laying around, I just might pick up another one. I wish they had a clear lip liner (yes, that's really a thing!), though. As far as the gloss goes, the name kind of turned me off. I just kept picturing gross, old vinyl chairs. But, the formula is actually really nice! For a lip gloss I thought it lasted a long time (the lip liner probably helped).

Bare Minerals Marvelous Moxie Lipstick in Speak Your Mind

Streak city! Yikes. After I took this picture I evened it out easily, so it was probably just user error. I love this color! It felt nice and moisturizing on my lips. Just a heads up if you get the kit, the first time I applied this I wore it with the Make Up Forever lip liner, and it looked awful. The two colors don't compliment each other.

Laura Mercier Lip Glace in Blush

I spy a photo bomber!

Similar shade to the Stila Vinyl Lip Gloss, but this is more sheer and has a little glitter. For a lip gloss it lasted a long time.

Phew... that's enough of my face for now!! I really love this kit and had so much fun trying out all the lippies. If you can find it, I would definitely recommend you pick it up!

As far as favorites from the kit... I don't know that I can narrow it down to one, but if I had to pick one from each color category, I'd probably go with: Too Faced Melted Fuchsia (pinks), Tarte Lipsurgence Moody (berries), and the Bare Minerals Marvelous Moxie Speak Your Mind (neutrals). For the reds I'm really torn between the Hourglass Icon and Kat Von D Outlaw.

Breakfast with Santa

Saturday morning was an exciting one... we had breakfast with Santa!

The event was run by the Roselle Park District, and was a lot of fun. It was the first year for the event and was very well organized and a whole lot of fun!

I think breakfast was catered by a local diner, and it was served buffet style. Nothing spectacular, but it did the trick. About halfway through our meal Santa showed up and said hi to all the kids. When he came by our table Harry got so starstruck! They gave each other a high five and Harry was so wide eyed during their interaction.

When Santa moved on to the next table Harry nearly burst in to tears because he didn't tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas. Awwww... Of course we reassured him that he'd get the opportunity to talk to him again.

After we finished our food, Harry couldn't wait to sit in Santa's lap. After momentarily questioning whether to go up to him, Harry happily walked right up to Santa and sat down.

Yay! Santa success! Third year is a charm. Harry enjoyed talking with him for a few minutes and had no problems letting Santa know what's on his wishlist this year. A bike, Spiderman helmet, and Thomas jammies!

Last month Ant took Harry to the store to try out bikes so we could tell Santa what size would work. Harry's been excited about them ever since. He came up with the jammies all on his own, though! He fell in love with Elmo PJs he saw at the store a few weeks ago and was originally asking for those, but he's now changed his tune and wants Thomas ones.

It's so funny how little brains work, isn't it? I remember when I was almost 3, I wanted a building for Christmas! Specifically, an office building, like what my dad worked in. Ha! Much to my dismay, I didn't get the 5 story structure I was expecting, but I got a little pink playhouse that we called a building.

Anywho... after wishing Santa a Merry Christmas we walked around the gym for a bit and Harry made a cute little scratch off ornament.

We had a great time! I hope they do it again next year, an easy an stress-free way to talk with Santa.

Here are a couple pictures from the event's Facebook page.

My First Ipsy Bag- December 2014

Last month I finally signed up for Ipsy, a monthly subscription beauty service. I got my first bag the other day, I love it!

After you sign up you'll take a style survey to determine what kinds of products you like and don't like. Bags are customized so if you got an Ipsy bag this month, yours is probably slightly different from mine.

Ipsy costs $10 a month, which is a steal I think. My bag was worth nearly $40, according to Amazon prices. Y'all know I like a good deal!
 

This month, I got:

• Bumble and Bumble Straight Blow Dry Balm
• Crown Brush Deluxe Infinity Shadow/Crease Duet
• Tarte Cosmetics Lights, Camera, Lashes mascara
• NYX Butter Lip Balm in Ladyfingers
• Cailyn Cosmetics Eye Polish in Orchid

There isn't one thing I'm not excited to try. I was a bit skeptical about the eye polish, and expected a ton of fallout (it's a loose powder), but it went on beautifully! Here I am wearing it yesterday. Mixed with a little bit of brown shadow in the crease.

Pretty! I also used the Tarte mascara, which is fine. I like how it's a traditional bristle brush and not a rubber one like a lot of them are nowadays.

What a great introduction to Ipsy! They have a lot to live up to for next month :). You can check them out here if you're interested in signing up. FYI, when you sign up you automatically get wait listed... lame. But, you can bypass the wait list by following a bunch of their stylists on YouTube and Instagram and inviting friends to join on Facebook. If you'd like a direct invite from me, leave your email address in a comment and I'll send you one (and delete your comment as soon as I invite you).

If you subscribe to Ipsy, tell me what you got in your bag this month! What did you love, and was there anything you weren't excited about?

Also, since I'm using makeup more now I thought it'd be fun to do a mini series on my blog trying new colors, techniques, etc. I haven't figured out all the details, but something like that could be a lot of fun, so keep an eye out for that!

3.1

12/7/14

One month in to three. He's been kind of a handful lately. I've heard that three can be worse than two, and they weren't kidding!  Random tantrums (once because I gave him a red vitamin instead of an orange one), and issues with listening (and not just at home- he almost got a timeout at school for not listening to his teacher) are our biggest hurdles right now. But, with the struggles, come a lot of awesome things about being three!

• Math! He's caught on to the concept and can do really simple addition and subtraction. For instance, he counted 5 pieces of broccoli on his plate once. As he ate them he would say, "4 pieces left... 3 pieces left, etc," without having to recount. 
• Why why why! He's officially in the "why" stage. And will go on asking it for 10 minutes, never just satisfied with what we've told him. 
• Imaginary friends! He has one :). Simply named Baby. She's a girl and lives in the lamp in his bedroom. He doesn't mention her all the time, but when he does it's usually about stuff that she likes (Baby likes this car, this book, this food, etc.). Very cute!
• Mama's Boy!  He's still really clingy with me. It's cute, but also frustrating when he refuses to let Ant help him with anything.
• One not so great thing, nightmares! Saturday night he woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep in his own bed. I took him with me and he kept going on about dinosaurs and lions, and how they were scary. Sunday morning he told Ant about the nightmare and he brought it up again Sunday night at bedtime. It must have been a really intense dream! Poor kid.

Real nice, kid. LOL!