Giveaway Winner! Hayley Shorney

Congratulations Hayley! You won some of my favorite beauty items for this giveaway! I hope you enjoy them and be sure to check back and let everyone on the blog know how you liked the products! (: 

Keep checking back for more giveaways and contests! I will be posting up some photos from my vacation in a few days after I get all settled back in reality. 

Meet My Best friend Bethany + Her Passion for Jewelry Making

I have had the same best friend for about 12 years and we've been friends through so much separation and other things. We pretty much grew up together and it was so great because she lived like 4 houses down from me so we could always just walk to each others houses any time we wanted. Eventually she graduated high school though and went to college really far away, by the time she finished college and came back to Jersey I was graduating high school and moving far away for me to go to college. So there was a good 5 years that we didn't really see each other or hang out much, but despite that we're both back in Jersey and reunited (:

Last winter Bethany taught me how to make my own infinity scarf!

A couple weeks ago we made our first trip to the beach for the summer!

Being our typical selves (:

I couldn't find any photos from when we were younger. I'm sure both our parents have those packed away somewhere. We used to do the craziest, weirdest things when we were younger from who can eat this scolding hot soup faster to slipping and sliding on a tennis court in the pouring rain. Now we're both all grown up working and Bethany has become quite the crafter! 

She makes her own jewelry and runs a business off of Etsy doing what she loves. It's really inspirational to have a friend that always follows their dreams and sticks to what they set out to do. 

This is just a sneek peak of the kind of jewelry she sells in her Etsy shop. If you're interested in looking at the rest of the shop Click Here! A lot of her stuff is customizable so the options are endless! 

Don't forget to enter in the giveaway where one lucky winner will receive some of my favorite beauty products as well as one surprise item from Bethany's shop!

Rainy Days for Weeks

I've made plans to head to the beach for the past four days and it's rained every single day. I'm so sick of the rain and the fog and all the crappy weather! I had to come up with something to get me out of the house before I drove myself crazy wishing the sun were out.

Mall outfit. Sort of bum meets super girly

Took my niece out to the play area since all the parks are wet!

Rode the carousal :)

Acting silly at my cousins graduation party 

Posing with my boyfriend, mom, and cousins at his party

Of course I did work quite a lot this week showing off some of our nail polish (:

My Summer Haul: Plato's Closet, Wal-Mart, & Target

Plato's Closet

I put together this cute summer outfit at Plato's for less then $20! It's super cute for the beach or just hanging around with my friends. What I love about Plato's is that you get brand name clothing for 75-80% off the original price! Yes the clothes are used, but they only accept slightly worn clothing, so you'll never find anything there thats grimey or gross. The shorts were $8, the shirt was $8 and the necklace was $4. A cute outfit all for $19!!

I absolutely love this necklace! It's so cute and simple. Definitely my style (: 

I also figured I'd grab a couple more pairs of shorts. I recently just got over my HUGE discomfort and insecurity wearing shorts so now I'm buying like 100 pairs haha. It's really great to conquer insecurities. 

Wal-Mart

I wanted to try a new shampoo and conditioner instead of the Dove oil blend I've been using for about a year now. I love the Dove, but sometimes I like to try other things. I came up with Herbal Essences Totally Twisted which is for curls and waves. I'm really hoping it works good because I love the smell of it and it's definitely a little cheaper than what I was paying for the Dove. The folic acid I bought because I heard it was really good for hair growth. I watched all of these videos on YouTube claiming they noticed a different in their hair growth just from taking this so I'm gonna give it a try and let you guys know if it works out!

Target

Everyone needs a new bathing suit in the summer! I love the print on the bottom piece! It's so cute and a solid top makes it a little more simple which I love!

Giveaway! (CLOSED)

I just wanted to make this blog a little bit more interesting and more interactive by hosting a giveaway with some of my favorite products! I'd love for you guys to try out some of the things I absolutely love in my beauty routines to see if you agree. Here are some of the products I will be giving away to one lucky winner!

BIOSILK Beach Texture Spray
Hask Placenta + Henna Deep Conditioning Packet
Hask Natural Essentials Deep Conditioning Packet
Essie Pop Art Pink
Essie Nice is Nice

There is also another item that will be included in this giveaway. I have partnered up with BethanyMaeK on Etsy to giveaway one item of jewelry! Click on the link to her shop to see what kind of vintage jewelry she makes. The item she will be giving away along with the products above is a surprise and you will only know once you receive the package (: We like to keep things interesting haha

To win these items is simple. Leave a comment on this post telling me about one of YOUR favorite beauty products. Later on I will take all of the names from each comment and randomly select one winner. I will also buy the product the winning name lists to try and review on my blog, mentioning the winners blog as a shout out.

Don't forget to become a member of my blog for updates on posts and more fun giveaways! Thanks so much xoxo

My Fourth of July Celebration!

Ever since I was younger I always went to see fireworks with my family. Usually we'd travel to West Virginia and watch them over the Ohio River which has been pretty great. Or one year we rented a condo in Wildwood to watch them on Wildwood beach which I loved. This year, being on my own without my family I really wanted to do something special with Dan so we decided to spend the holiday on Pt Pleasant boardwalk and watch the fireworks from the beach. We had so much fun! Going on rides and eating unhealthy boardwalk food was definitely a great way to celebrate independence day (: 

My festive nails (:

A great view from the boardwalk over the ocean (:

Dan won this for me popping balloons!

This ride spun so fast!

Walking from the car to the boardwalk was insane! Parked all the way in another country! haha

Probably one of the scariest rides I've ever been on..

Took a short video of some of the fireworks on the beach for you guys! Sorry my phone takes sideways videos haha!

How did you guys spend your holiday? I'd love to know!!

July Favorites!

Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Touchable

I've been looking for a hairspray that really does the job without all the stickiness and hard feeling hair. I must have bought like 500 different types of hairspray and I FINALLY just found one that's absolutely amazing! It holds my style great but doesn't feel hard or leave any sticky residue on the hair or hands! It's definitely something I would look into if I were you. It also has argan oil in its ingredients so its like a treatment and hairspray in one! I absolutely love this product and am so glad I found it (:

I bought this 9 oz can for $16.59

You can also find this product at the following places Ulta and JcPenny

Hask Placenta plus Olive Oil Leave In Spray
This product is absolutely AMAZING! If you have dried out extremely damaged hair you definitely want this product. I know the name kind of throws you off a little bit, like who wants to put placenta in their hair! But its totally worth it! The olive oil really gets in and conditions your hair leaving it so soft and shiny! It has a great smell too. This is already my second bottle. I swear by this stuff and tell all of my customers about this product and how great it is. I even bought a couple bottles to share with my family because I love it that much haha.

I bought this 5 oz bottle for $4.49
You can also find this product at the following places Texas Beauty Supply and My House of Beauty

TRESemme Freshstart Dry Shampoo Strengthening Formula
Dry shampoo is another product I must have bought dozens of. Every dry shampoo I've ever tried left a gross white powder residue in my hair or knotted up my hair when I sprayed it in that I couldn't even get a comb through it. I thought I just couldn't just any dry shampoos until I came across this one and thought I'd give it a try. I had been spending larger lumps of money on expensive dry shampoos and it turns out the cheapest of them all works the best! This product doesn't have the powder residue or knots my hair. It's really great for skipping washes or if you're running late and need a quick pick me up for your hair.

I bought this 5.7 oz can for $6.99
You can also find this product at the following places Walmart, Target, and Beauty Brite

NYX Single Eyeshadow in Gold Glimmer
We put these on sale at work for 99 cents because the color has been discontinued from the company so I figured I'd try it out for a $1. I really love the color and I have been wearing it every day since I bought it. It's really subtle and totally cute for dressing up or down. What I love about nyx shadows is how smooth they go on with brushes. You don't have to wet it and it's really spreadable and creamy.

Since I bought this on sale and the color is discontinued I will not post any links where you can find this color, but if you are interested in other nyx products visit their website!

The Help by Kathryn Stockett
I know this book was like really big a year or two ago and I'm really late about it, but I was at a thrift store the other day and I usually go there to visit the book section. They always have these great classes books there for like $1-$3. While I was there I came across this one and I figured since I saw the movie and everyone raved about this book that I would give it a try. I'm not far into it yet but so far I really like what I've been reading. It's really interesting and kind of funny at some parts. It's a great read so far and I hope it only gets better!

Mayonnaise Chicken

This recipe is fairly simple and can be found on the label of any Helmans Mayonnaise bottle. I like to add a couple of my own ingredients to spice it up a little!

Ingredients 

1. 1/2 cup Mayonnaise
2. A couple sprinkles of Parmesan cheese
3. Garlic powder (optional)
4. Pepper (optional)
5. Salt (optional)
6. Oregano (optional)
7. Chicken breasts cut in half long ways

The seasonings listed above are the seasonings that I like to add to my chicken to give it the extra spice and umf! It tastes great, but its not required for the recipe. Feel free to experiment with your own favorite seasonings!

To go with the chicken I made some simple mashed potatoes. To make these I just boil up some potatoes with the skins on them, add some milk when theyre fully cooked and butter to mash them nice and creamy but still a little lumpy. I also add some garlic and pepper for flavoring (:

Delicious, simple, and easy! All for under $25 (:

Say Hello!

We got new pets! Cute little dwarf frogs (: They're so adorable I absolutely can't stop watching them! 

We named them Hamlet and Claudias from Hamlet by Shakespeare. I have a thing for naming my pets after historic figures our made up characters.

It's really hard to take pictures when they're constantly moving around and all you have is a phone camera in your hand haha, but I hope you can see how cute these little creatures are!