Flawless Starts with Skin

 

The e.l.f. brand is not a new name to me but I've never in fact owned or tested any of their cosmetics so I was pretty ecstatic when Influenster sent me a Voxbox of beauty and skincare goodies to test.

 


Hydrating Bubble Mask
Goes on as a gel, and then transforms into a refreshing fizzy bubble foam that removes excess dirt and cleanses pores without drying them out.

Mineral Infused Primer
Helps prep you skin so makeup goes on silky smooth for a long lasting finish.

Lip Exfoliator
Treats and helps smooth lips for a soft and supple pout.

Matte Lip Color
Glides on effortlessly and gives long lasting, richly pigmented matte color.

Baked Highlighter & Bronzer
Creates a gorgeous sculpted glow.

I've read several e.l.f reviews and I'm happy to report I was extremely impressed with all of these products.

The Highlighter & Bronzer compact creates a gorgeous look which will be perfect for the holidays and the lip exfoliator is another favorite especially around this time of year when the cold can take a toll on your lips (mine at least). I've been using it everyday.

Another favorite was the Hydrating Bubble Mask, because hello my skin needs all the hydration it can get and I haven't tried anything like this before.

You push down on the top to dispense a small amount which helps to keep bacteria out. Leave it on for 5-10 minutes and it works magic on deep cleaning your pores. This is a product I definitely need since I wear makeup on a daily basis.

For such great quality products, the price point is shockingly low. For instance the bronzer is $3 an the lip exfoliator is also $3. That's very affordable and are perfect stocking stuffers.

e.l.f. offers some great gift sets such as The Desk to Dinner eyeshadow set for only $5.

The e.l.f. Cosmetics and Skin Care Voxbox is definitely one of my favorites to date with so many good quality products and ones that I'll continue to use.


These products were sent to me complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes but my review stated in this post are my true and honest opinion.

Unbeatable Happy Hour Specials

 Since I moved to Florida in 2002, Miller's Ale House has been one of my favorite happy hour spots and casual restaurants to grab a bite. Thursday nights used to be Ladies Night back in my college days so me and the girls would often get together from some cheap drinks and dinner.

It's incredible there are now 78 locations across the US and I'm not surprised because it's a popular place to eat, drink, and watch sports without breaking the bank.



K and I went to our local Ale House on Wednesday last week to kickoff Thanksgiving weekend with some dinner and drinks and as usual it never disappoints. 

 
If your have an Ale House in your area, it's often that all-American meeting spot for sports fans like my husband. There are TV's in every corner to watch multiple games at once while nibbling on some good food and all-day drink specials.

 
 Miller's Ale House World Famous Zingers^®


Zingers^® Flatbread

Build Your Own Burger


The Miller's locations in Florida offer all-day and late-night happy hour specials with hard-to-beat prices so it's a great place to unwind and watch some sports.



All-Day Happy Hour: From 11am to 7pm Monday - Thursday
$2.50 Drink of the Day, $2.95 pints of Miller Lite, $4 craft pints, $5 specialty cocktails and more

Power Hour: From 4pm to 6pm Monday - Thursday
$5 Miller's Ale House World Famous Zingers and $6 Miller Lite Pitchers

Late-Night Happy Hour: From 10pm to close Monday - Thursday
$2 Miller Lite Pints, $6 Miller Lite Pitchers, $5 craft beer, $7 sangria pitchers and more
A variety of $5 appetizers, including Zingers and Ale House Loaded Fries

Never a dull moment or a lack of a great deal at Miller's Ale House!

Check out their website to see if there is a location near you.

Thanksgiving Weekend

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. I wish I could say mine was a long weekend but in fact I had to work on Friday so we went to my in-laws on Thursday for Thanksgiving and then made the 2 hour drive back home that evening.

Friday was a very slow day at work so not very stressful. In the evening K and I went out for some dinner and then had a relaxing night at home. I avoided the crowds and did some Black Friday shopping online to finish up some holiday shopping.

On Saturday, K went to Tampa for the UCF game so I had a full day of 'me time' which was glorious. I went to get an hour long facial at a cute salon near home and then went to our local small business holiday market and bought some cute gifts from local vendors.

My favorite vendor was Katie Wu's LuLaRoe shop. I bought the softest pair of leggings which are also perfect as gifts since the sizing is very flexible.

I spent Sunday putting up Christmas decorations around the house and getting started on our tree. It's beginning to look like Christmas around here ~ my favorite time of year!

Joining the lovely Biana.

Thankful & Grateful

We had a lovely Thanksgiving with family yesterday but unfortunately I'm back to work today. Luckily it's Friday so I'm sure the day will go quickly and the weekend will make her appearance soon. That being said it's time for some favorites and things to be thankful for.

Life Planner
I just bought my 2017 planner from Target and found they had such a cute selection of planners and stationary this year.  I'm one of those that won't remember to do anything without my good old fashioned planner and it doesn't need to be $50+ dollars. A planner is a planner.

Holiday Cards
I used Minted to order our Business Holiday cards and I loved the selection of designs they have for all types of customizable and photo holidays cards. I'm hoping I can get some photos of my family of 3 in time to send out cards this year.

Tasty Sips

I tasted one of the most delicious sangria's while visiting St. Augustine last weekend and immediately went on the hunt to find a similar recipe. This Tropical Pineapple Coconut Sangria recipe seems to have all the right ingredients to recreate the taste.

Ingredients

4 cups white wine, such as Pinot Grigio or Riesling
2 cups pineapple juice
½ cup coconut rum
1 pineapple, cut into 1" chunks
1 orange, sliced
2 limes (one juiced and one sliced)
2 cups Pineapple Coconut seltzer

Work Style

My new job is a little bit more traditional from previous employers who had a semi-casual dress code. The one requirement is that our shirts have a collar and these Express Portofino Blouses are my favorite and I love that they keep coming out in different colors and patterns.They just went on sale so I snagged 3 new colors for work. 

 Gratitude

Yesterday I shared a Throwback Thursday post about when Lola came into our lives so go check it out if you missed it.

 Happy weekend my friends!

TBT For Thanksgiving

As I count my blessings this Thanksgiving Day, know that you are among them - my family, my friends, my husband and my Lola are my world and I'm definitely thankful for all the genuine friendships I've made through blogging!

I wanted to share one of my favorite Thanksgiving memories in sort of a Throwback Thursday style...

It began when Lola came into my life the week before Thanksgiving.

She was dropped off at my office in the pouring rain and my heart just melted. I hadn't owned a pet since living at home with my parents so there were a lot of uncertainties in my mind.  Probably explains why it took me more than 10 years to take the plunge.

 The right opportunity was dangled in front of me and I couldn't say no to this gorgeous bundle of wrinkles.

Since then Lola has grown into her full bully frame but has a heart of gold for children and other dogs of any size, She shows K and I never ending love and loyalty.... sometimes to the point where she can be a Stage 5 clinger but, Boy has she redeemed herself from the puppy and potty training days.

I don't have kids so my adoration goes to Lola and I'm so grateful and thankful for her companionship over the past few years.

Happy Thanksgiving to you, your family and fur-babies!

Birthday Celebrations & Beautiful Weekend

We've been having a small taste of Fall weather in Florida lately but this weekend was our first sweater and boots kind of weather. It was cold in the night but beautiful during the day and a perfect weekend to explore St. Augustine once again.

On Saturday morning K and I made the two hour drive north to celebrate a good friend's birthday. We checked into our hotel and gasped at the beautiful ocean view from our balcony before heading out to meet up with the birthday girl and the gang.



We walked around the cute downtown area which was bustling since the Light Up! Night Ceremony was happening that night. We finally settled at St. Augustine's famous restaurant, Columbia, for some dinner which is one our favorite restaurants in town.


 

For the Light Up! ceremony that night, St. Augustine turned on over 3 million white lights decorating the historic downtown to kick off the holidays. It was beautiful and this came as a pleasant surprise to us since we were unaware of this annual event.

via
  

After an amazing dinner and some hilarious table banter, we went to Scarlett O'Hara's for a drink to cap off the night.

On Sunday, K and I were up and about early so we decided to enjoy the beautiful weather and explore. We walked around the riverfront and checked out several local shops downtown while waiting for another favorite restaurant to open so we could grab some lunch before heading home.

 

Joining the lovely Biana.

Never a Dull Moment: Family Vacation Edition

I was recently reminiscing about my cousin's wedding in Montego Bay and how much fun we had with the entire family vacationing together. And then I started remembering some of the mishaps and misfortunes that happened on this trip and couldn't help but laugh.

Have you ever been on a perfectly seamless vacation? I'm sure rosy glasses can make anything seem perfect but, when kids are involved, unexpected things are bound to happen.

Most of the extended family arrived a couple days before K and I since they opted for a longer vacation so we missed some of the initial incidences but here's what transpired on this family trip.

Day 1: Hour 1
The groom's sister and her family with three young girls all under the age of nine were one of the first to arrive. As soon as the parents checked into the hotel and got settled, Chloe, the 3-year old hightailed it for the pool and jumped right in even though she doesn't know how to swim. So we had a near death drowning experience upon arrival.

On day two, Chloe's 6-year older sister got stung by a jellyfish while swimming in the ocean. If you've ever been stung by a jelly fish, you'd know it's extremely painful especially for a child to endure.

Everyone trucked along enjoying our vacation in paradise and had a blast at all the events leading up to the wedding.

With all the swimming and water activities during the day, my cousin's sweet 2-year old Zoe developed a terrible ear infection which had her screaming in pain by the time the wedding ceremony came around. With no access to proper medication, Zoe's mom felt helpless with the little supplies she had packed for the trip.

Meanwhile, Zoe's adorable baby brother was the center of attention with all the Jamaican mosquitos and ended up sporting red polka dots on his soft baby skin.

Dominic, my 3-year old nephew, got bitten by a stray cat on the resort so my mom, being the nurse in the family, rushed him and his parents off to the local hospital. I don't know all the details from the waiting room but it took them over 8 hours to return and Dom's parents spent hours trying to get in contact with their family doctor and sort things out with their insurance company back at home.

I'll round this up with my teenage niece who was a also a bridesmaid in the wedding. She got sunburnt so badly in the first couple days leaving her with a florescent pink tan and in pain for the rest of the trip, even though she said she applied sunblock over and over. Oh teenagers!

With all misfortunes aside, I love my family and it was still an extremely fun and memorable vacation. There's never a dull moment when you have a big family and especially when kids are involved!

Maybe I'll create a Never A Dull Moment series and talk about all that goes wrong with adults or in the workplace or life happenings in general...

Housewarming Weekend

The weather was perfect this weekend for some outdoor entertaining at our new home. We hosted a BBQ for about 30 friends and their kids. K was the grill master and we had a huge spread along with an ice cream station for dessert.

I should name this weekend the one when I forgot to take pictures. Luckily a couple friends including Kate happened to snap some and shared them with me.

It was a fun night catching up with everyone! We have SO much leftover food, I could easily host another party for 50 people.

Sunday was cleanup day and the realization that our fridge is bursting at the seams. We even donated some beer to our neighbors since it all couldn't fit in our fridge. 

Joining the lovely Biana for some weekend whereabouts.