Great lash blue voxbox

Hey interwebs!
Well obviously it's been a while, but I just started up with this fancy influenster thing!
I got my first free voxbox the other day and it's for maybelline great lash royal Blue mascara.
Royal blue mascara?
Yup.
If your anything like me and had an older sister growing up, maybe you remember that stuff, cuz I sure do! So when I got the chance to get this box I was all for it!
Let me tell you, I was not disappointed! It's definitely a fun product to have and I'm looking forward to wearing it often. I also received an awesome eyeliner in the box which was exactly what I needed too!
I'm super looking forward to more influenster campaigns and contests, and you can catch the reviews here!!

My Dam Vegas Vacation.

One night in March April-ish my husband and I went out to dinner with some friends of ours. While chatting they happend to mention to us that they were booking a vacation to Las Vegas. The boy and I totally invited ourselves on their trip having always wanted to go to Vegas, I mean who hasn't? It was going to just be a short vacation on days I already had off of work and was going to be very cheap hotel wise and my mother was willing to get us very cheap tickets through her miles credit card. So all seemed well!

However by July came around, This vacation couldn't have come at a worse time for us. 

Confusing if know, but we had decided to buy a new car back in April, and by this time in July we were also in the process of buying a house (condo). That is an upcoming post don't you worry. 

Life just has a way of doing things all at once and overwhelming you past all sense. Anyway, as bad timing life/money wise this trip was going to be we really did need a long weekend away and some time to just unwind, so it was off to Vegas we went!

July 9th we headed to my parents house because they were going to bring us to the airport but some last minute things happend and the couple we were going with decided they should come down to their house too and we'd stay us all night and all just drive in together, since our flights were stupid early in the morning.

I was the only one who didn't fall asleep and around 3am we headed out to Boston Logan airport. A crazy transport ride, going through security, and take off we were on our way to Vegas baby!

July 10th 

We land in Vegas and run around with our heads chopped off trying to find the rental car place, once we do we all pile into our 2014 mustang convertible and head to our hotel located on the strip in the planet Hollywood complex. We were staying at the Elara, it's a fairly new hotel and oh my goodness is it nice! Complete kitchen, big living room, projector screen that covers the whole wall, beautiful art work, amazing bathrooms, stupid comfortable beds. This place was amazing. We only took about 5 min to enjoy our hotel because we wanted to go to the hover dam asap. We jumped in the car and has a beautiful drive all the way to the dam. We got there for one of he last tours. It is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen, just the sheer enormousness of the place will fill you with awe. 

On our way back downtown we stopped at Festas! They has a sign for 99cent margaritas, which did not disappoint. From there a trip to target to stock our kitchen with different snacks and other items and a hilarious trip to a liquor store for supplies. Finally made our way back to our hotel and we decided to try out the hotels dinner Buffett. So many different foods it's so hard to decide what to eat! It was pretty decent by the time we were done it was about 10pm, Vegas is just getting going but we're all starting to fade considering we're all living in an hour or so of sleep and back home it was 12am! 

We decided to relax at the room and wait for my husbands cousins from California, Laura and Jordan to arrive! 

They found our we were going to be in Vegas and decided to use a weekend they had there at the same time, they are our favorite vacation buddies so we were so excited about this! Around 1130 ish they get to our hotel and we go out to walk the strip for a few hours before we called it a night.

July 11th 

We slept in and lounged around the hotel all day, went to the pool, Nate and Corina had a "time share" meeting to go to and then a free show as did Laura and Jordan so hubby and I got dinner with them and then relaxed in our room. When everyone was done first we went wandering around the strip near our hotel, saw the bellagio water show, and some other things, then we went for a drive on the strip and met up with Laura and Jordan and two of their friends who joined us Joe and Kim, also from California,  at the Cosmo hotel at the chandelier bar which was beautiful! We all had drinks and chatted caught up with each other and played late into the night.

July 12th 

Much the same we slept in all day, when its 120 degrees outside there isn't much else to do. We later when to the hotel where the others were staying on the other side of the strip and went to the pool with them. We all parted ways to get ready to go out that night, we had bottles service reserved at Tryst in the Wynn. That place was amazing, there is a huge waterfall and the whole club over looks a lagoon. Yeah, way nicer than anywhere I've ever been. We all had an amazing night and danced our pants off. Crawling into bed at around 5am I felt like I'd had really experienced Vegas.

July 13th

It was rough waking up not only because of how little sleep we got but also because we knew it was our last day in Vegas. Us girls lounged by the pool till the boys got everything done they needed to and went out to breakfast. The it was time to do something I will admit I was avoiding, but still dying to do. The stratosphere hotel and it's terrifying rides.

I'm sure you have heard of these but let me just break it down for you. The hotel itself is 1,149 ft the big shot is at the top of the hotel at 1,081 ft followed by the insanity at 900ft and the scariest of the all X-Scream at 866ft being the 3rd highest thrill ride in the world. This ride shoots you 27 ft past the edge of the building before breaking sharply. My husband and I sat in the fron seat, I am terrified of heights, but I also love rides, so I just had to do it. It is the most terrifying thing I have ever done/experienced in my entire life. I was shaking long after we were done with these rides. 

We went for another drive around, went to the pawn shop from pawn stars had a look around, met up and said goodbye to the Californians, then went for a drive around in old Vegas. Went back to our hotel and walked from there to Caesars palace, which was huge! Said our goodbyes to Nate and corina and returned our car. Boarded our red eye flight home and that was that.

A quick whorl wind vacation! I can't wait to go back to Vegas because we hadn't even scratched the surface! 

paint and vino

The month was June. The day was the 13th.

I, had been sick as a dog, which was pretty much my MO for the last year and a half. I didn't feel like moving or doing much of anything but...

My lovely friend Heather had decided to organize a lovely girls night out at Paint and Vino. 

What is this you ask?

Well, its where you put a bunch of girls in a big room give them wine, canvas, paint and a instructor. Its really a fantastic night out and I totally recommend it and would do it again in a heartbeat.

The painting that was chosen for our group was my favorite painting by my favorite painter ever "Starry Night" by Vincent Van Gogh.

They take you step by step through the painting to make something...similar to this great masterpiece. Really something like this is very complex and detailed and would take much longer than a few hours and many many more glasses of wine out of plastic cups. But what you get is something very cool and a fun time being had by all.

So for anyone thinking about hosting, or has been invited to such a event I highly recommend it. Be adventurous! Go for it! 

Buying a House and Moving. Also known as, How to do the two most stressful things ever in the same month.

I have been the laziest of lazy people lately when it comes to this poor blog. 

Reason being is well my husband and I bought a house! Well, it's a condo but that's essentially the same thing.

On our way home from Virginia my husband and I were talking very seriously about moving. I was trying to pack up some of my friends and move to Virginia beach and get a new apartment and become a beach bum. In the back of my mind I knew that would probably never work at this point in time during our lives. I was nice to dream. 

Now fast forward about two weeks and I get a message from my real estate agent sister telling me she found us the perfect place. Now in the past when we were looking at houses we figured out for the most part what we wanted. Something closer to my family, a 2 bed, 2 bath and a garage at the very least. And that is exactly what she found for us. It's in my old neighborhood from elementary school, right across the street from the football field and very close to down town the highway and anything else my town has to offer really. Not to mention the new Starbucks and panera...

Anyway it wasn't even on our minds anymore to look at houses but we decided to give it a look anyway out of curiosity. 

Well when we walked in we fell in love. It's not perfect but it had everything we wanted in a place. Next thing we know it's August 1st and we are moving into our new house! 

I mean a LOT more went into all of that.

Getting pre approved

Selling my old car

Getting the money for the down payment

Inspections 

Paper signing

Making sure the seller did what he said he would

PACKING

Etc 

It was a lot of work and SUPER stressful.

Our trip to Vegas was a few weeks before closing and while it was much needed was also stressful to make sure everything was going to get done while we were gone.

My husband and I are so happy to be where we are now, it really was the absolute best decision we made. 

While it is a lot of work (A LOT) it is so much fun to be able to work on our house together!

Many Diy blogs coming your way! 

How to spend a day on the water. Hanngelica adventures.

The day June 24, 2014

The setting: two girls who desperately wanted to go to the beach...

This was foiled by weather. 

It was one of the weirdest summers ever, and by weird I mean cold. I didn't even put our AC in until July. If you left the windows open and had a fan it would be chilly in your room at night. Anyway, i digress. 

One of my best friends Angelica and I finally for once both had the same day off during the week by some miracle. So naturally it being summer our first instinct was to go to the beach. However when we looked at the weather it was going to be a steamy 65 in Westerly, RI. Not exactly what I call summer beach weather. We still wanted to hang out of course so I headed down to Plainville to see what kind of shenanigans we could get ourselves into. We settled on taking a blowup raft to the Norton Resivor to float around. 

Here were the problems. 

We had to blow up the raft before we left and put in one of our cars without squishing it. 

We only had ONE oar. (Our other one was a hockey stick)

It was surprisingly windy out. 

While it was going to be cold at the beach in good ole Norton Ma it was I. The 80's go figure huh? 

Eventually we made our way out to the water to float around and listen to music from when we were 15 and talk about life and whatnot. All was well except for the fact that the wind kept carrying us Into the lillypads and marsh of the Resivor. Eventually we made our way out to the middle and found a stick to attach ourselves to so we could sun bathe without being carried away. About an hour or so went by when we realized that we were slowly deflating. 

Now I don't know if you've ever tried to row a deflating raft with one oar and a hockey stick but let me tell you. It is not an easy task! By the time we made it back to shore we were soaked, sun burnt, smelled like marsh, and starving. 

We had a wonderful day of adventure that to some would have been a disaster. 

 

To Virginia and beyond!

Hello internets! Its been a while! 

Allow me to slowly update my life for you here.

Back in May I went on a mini road trip with my husband and sister. My parents had a hotel in Virginia Beach for the week and wanted us to come down with them for a few days. We took this opportunity to go do some touristy things we've been wanting to do. 

The trip went as follows....

Wednesday

So we woke up bright and early around 4 am and started the first part of our trip Washington DC!

Now I will admit, I was very very cranky. My husband had went to bed early the night before so he would be fresh for driving, and I stayed up far to late trying to get all the last minute things together for the trip. When I finally went to bed I didn't sleep and when we left I was nauseous, so the first part of the drive did not make me feel amazing. Around mid-late morning we got to Alexandria,VA where there is a T-stop that heads into DC, we figured this would be easier and cheaper than trying to find parking in the city.

We finally figured out how to get tickets for the train and whatnot and we were on our way in. The stop we took popped us right near the Washington Monument area, which was totally cool.We wandered around and tried to avoid the crazy street people trying to sell us various tours of things, and decided on where to get breakfast. 

Here is where I introduce you to Lincolns Waffles.

 One of the strangest little places I've ever eaten, with some of the weirdest menu items I have ever seen, but i'll tell you this much, the waffles were pretty dang great. Whats really neat about this place is its across the street from Fords Theater, we didn't go in but still cool to see!

From there we started our Smithsonian adventures.We did not research our trip very well and had no idea which one we wanted to go to, my husband didn't even know there was more than one, but at this point it had started to rain so we darted from museum to museum pretending to know what we wanted to look at. I was soaked and getting progressively grumpier, so we took a break and stopped at Elephant and Castle. 

If you recall from my post about our trip to Toronto this particular pub is my new favorite place ever, and much like its Canadian counterpart this place did not disappoint. We dried off and warmed up with a few beers and poutine, always a favorite. When we left we made our way to our last Smithsonian (American History) stop and it turned out to be our favorite of all the ones we had been to yet, it was however closing so we didn't get to spend as much time there as we would have liked to. This is when the real trial began, where we were was very close (so we thought) to the Washington Monument, and we wanted to make our way over to the Lincoln Memorial. It was one of the longest walks ever! From SAH to the WM was a bit of a hike, from there we went to WWII Memorial, and lastly we made our way to the LM. I've never seen any of these things in person before, they were amazing! But definitely bring your walking shoes!

We walked for what felt like forever to the next T station we could find and made our way back to our car and headed for VA Beach. 

We got to my parents hotel around 9pm to a very hyper mom who was beyond excited to show us what was going on right outside.

MONSTER TRUCKS

Thats right, I said monster trucks.

Our hotel is right on Atlantic Ave which all the rooms face the beach, and the section of beach right outside our hotel was being roped off and set up for monster truck shows that weekend. It was AWESOME.

 Thursday

We got to have a lazy day at the beach, relaxing and reading and sleeping, all my favorite things. A local restaurant had a amazing happy hour deal with the most delicious wings I have ever had in my life. If you are ever in VA Beach go to Mahi Mai's. You will not be disappointed.

 After stuffing our faces we took a walk around the strip a bit, stopping at Ben and Jerry's for some ice cream and shakes. Spent the night watching the draft and playing cards together.

Friday

We spent the morning on the beach and got kicked off by the tractors finishing set up for the truck show that night. My husband and I rented bikes and rode up and down the strip, I showed him all my favorite spots along the way. The stage where I saw the Gracelanders (female elvis impersonators) when i was little, the statue of Neptune, different hotels i've stayed at over the years, it was lovely.

In the evening we set ourselves up on the balcony of our room with snacks and drinks and waited for the show to begin. 

To sit in the stands for the show went about $20 a pop, we got a free and better view from our room. The show was awesome! There were 4 wheeler races, amateur monster truck drag races, wheelie contests, monster truck drag races, the car eating robot dinosaur, and the free style competition. Not to mention there was fair food right outside our hotel. Corn dogs anyone?

Saturday

Saturday was the day we checked out of our hotel and my parents headed home. My sister, husband and I tried to spend one last morning on the beach but it was far to windy to enjoy. So we headed back to our hotel where we had a pass to still get in and use the showers, where we watched some of the afternoon monster truck show (which was just as awesome as the night before) until we got kicked out. We went to Mahi Mahs again for some sushi and wings before we headed out to Richmond where we had another hotel waiting. There was ridiculous amounts of traffic for no apparent reason so it took us forever to get there. We stayed the night in a stinky hotel room and headed out in the morning for Waffle House!

Sunday 

No southern road trip is complete without the Waffle House experience. It was delicious. From there we drove into Philadelphia. Our main goal was to see the Rocky Statue and get some cheese steaks. Went to Pats and Ginos and got cheese-steaks, both were amazing, but i'm a fan of Pats just a little bit more. 

From there we went to the famous rocky steps and jogged up them, which was quite the feat after stuffing our faces with cheese-steaks.

After we accomplished our goals and even did a little most sight seeing trying to go to the Liberty Bell which was closed for the day.

While we were in the area we went to Macs Tavern.

If you are at all familiar with the show "Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia" this bar is owned by 2 of the actors of the show Rob McElhenney and his wife Kaitlin Olson, better known as Mac and Dee. Personally, I liked the place. It was a Sunday evening, and there was a sketchy local guy causing all kinds of issues, and the staff wasn't very attentive. In my opinion if you are a fan of the show it was like being at paddys, 

All in all i enjoyed philly, and cant wait to go back and spend some more time there.

Then began the long trek home, traffic everywhere for no reason whatsoever. We finally made it home late that night.

It was a wonderful little trip that I would do again in a heartbeat.

Marry the beast and get that library.

It’s been quite a while since I’ve been on this blog, and I constantly kick myself about this fact. I've been sick off and on so much lately, that this, piled with work, eBay, and a few vacations/concerts/other things in my life, I have totally neglected my little personal space of internet. 

 So let’s start back up with something easy, BOOKS! I am a total book worm. I have gone through some points in my life where I haven’t indulged in this favorite past time of mine, but when I finally pick up a book that I love, it starts all over again and I’m reading 3-5 books a week.  

This hobby of mine can be a little costly, since I loath the library for the following reasons:

 1) If I totally love a book I want to keep it, it’s like a trophy, like "Look! I read this!" It makes me happy to see all my accomplishments.(I hate e-books for the same reason, but sometimes they’re just so much cheaper I have to justify it.)

 2) I can be messy. If I don’t own a book I get terrified that I will somehow ruin it and the library will hunt me down and murder me for ruining their book. 

 3) What if I start reading it, and then life, as it usually does, gets in the way and I am unable to pick up my book for a few days or weeks even?! I don’t want to be one of those people who avoid the library until amnesty day, throw my books at them and run! 

 4) Librarians. Enough said. 

 These, are all reasonable and sane reasons I have given myself allowing me to buy all the books in the world. If you are anything like me, and I would like to believe that you are so I’m not alone in the world out there, here are the places I go to and ways I like to save a few $$ when it comes to my book addiction.

 Savers/Goodwill 

 About 3 years ago I went to a local goodwill and picked up a 50Cent James Patterson book “Honeymoon” I tore through that book in a day or two and rekindled my love for Mr. Patterson. I won’t lie, his books aren’t the greatest things I’ve ever read, but he has for darn sure written a lot of books. These books are in abundant supply at all the Savers near me. Savers is great because most of their books are under $3 and are buy 4 get the 5th book free. How can you pass that up? I know I certainly cannot.

 Amazon.com 

 Oh amazon, how I love thee. Used books for 1 cent, brand new books for $1, and they almost always have what I am looking for. It can get tricky however with shipping. Yes the book may only be $4, but the shipping is $3.99. In that case I would rather go to Barnes and Noble and buy the book for $9.99 and not have to wait. A lot of items will have “FREE Shipping on orders over $35” Which isn’t a bad deal if you have a lot of things in mind that you want. 

 Amazon also has the Kindle store, I’ve ready many of their free books out of total boredom and you will find the occasional 99 cent, or $1.99 book that isn’t a total waste of your time. I find an e-reader is great when you are going on a long trip or any trip that requires light packing; you can bring as many books with you as you want with only taking up a silver of space in your purse. I would still rather the feel of the book in my hand, but you do what you got to do in these times. 

 Barnes and Noble 

 I’ve been a Barnes and Noble member for quite a few years now. I got the membership when I was young and rich (the spoiled 17 year old living at home) and somehow over the years my card was renewed which filled me with such joy I didn’t even try to question it. With the membership card you save 10% off almost everything, books, coffee, etc. 40% off hardcover best sellers, free shipping, and other savings throughout the year. I don’t know about you, but I think it’s a pretty good deal. 

 Now that I’ve divulged all my book buying secrets, I am going to bore you with a list of the books I’ve read so far in the 2014 calendar year. 

 An Abundance Of Katherines by John Green Personally

 I was drawn to this book for 2 reasons 1) I’m in love with anything John Green has written and 2) It sounded like the title of a book I would write about my life, as it is that I am surrounded by Katherines. Needless to say, the book did not disappoint. Bravo Mr. Green, Bravo. 

Delirium, Pandemonium, and Requiem (The Delirium Trilogy) by Lauren Oliver

 This was an interesting little trilogy, much like the popular genre right now it’s a love triangle in a dystopian society. I, like everyone else, cannot get enough of it. I HATED how it ended, but I understood it. UGH 

 Before I Fall By Lauren Oliver 

 I figured since I liked her other books why not give this one a try, I enjoyed it. It was the mean girls version of ground hog day. Very neat.

 The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, The Death Cure (The Maze Runner Trilogy) by James Dashner 

 These were also pretty decent, I wanted to read them before the movie came out, and I am glad I did. Yes, the main character was annoying and it wasn’t written very well but I’m still happy I read it. I’m still trying to get through the Prequel to the books, The Death Trials. Blah. 

 The Giver and Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

 Now I know what you’re thinking, “What? You JUST read the giver?” Yes, I was homeschooled; I was not forced to read this like everyone else was in high school. OK? I loved it, I read the whole book in a 8 hour period, between buying it at my lunch break at work and around 8 at night. It was wonderful. 

So when good ole B&N finally got more of her books I picked up Gathering Blue per the recommendation of my friend Corina, it too was wonderful. Kind of odd but captivating when you get into it, the idea of the singer reminded me of an episode of Doctor Who “the rings of akhaten” so points there.

 I am the messenger by Marcus Zuzak 

After reading and absolutely loving The Book Thief I knew I had to read this book. I loved every second of this story. Go read it right now. The end.

 Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell 

 Do you love teenage romances? Of course you do! Read this book as soon as you possibly can, it is beyond perfect. 

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn 

 What can I say about this book other than wow. Just wow. Just when you think you have the whole thing figured out you still have no idea what’s coming next. I can’t wait to read more of this authors books.

 Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and other concerns) by Mindy Kaling 

 The first half of this book felt like reading my own autobiography, being the constant chubster as was Mindy really hit home to me in the most lovely charming way. Thank you for this book Mindy, I would read anything you wrote from now on into eternity. 

 Matched by Ally Condie 

 This is the first in yet another love triangle dystopian society trilogy, as I pointed out earlier I obviously cannot get enough of. It was okay, not good, not bad, just ok, readable. I mean it’s no Katniss, Peta, Gale… it’s no Tris and Four, it’s just another one of these stories that keeps me entertained. 

 I am currently reading the sequel to Matched, “Crossed” 

 Also I’m in the middle of a lovely little book “I Was Told There’d Be Cake” by Sloane Crosley. 

I’m savoring every little bit of that book I can because it is far too entertaining to just blow though. 

Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy. 

This has been the first of many blogs on this topic, I hope you enjoyed!