Blogging Break

Hey gals! I'm sorry I totally skipped Friday's post. I just really think I need a little bit of a break from posting, so I'm taking about a week off. I'm taking a break from pretty much everything online including social media.  I will be back with an epic recap next Monday! (Or not so epic, this past weekend consisted of cleaning my house and eating. Woo.)

In the meantime have a wonderful week, and I will see you next week!

March Round-Up

I received these products for free to try and review. All opinions are my own. 

So I've had the opportunity to try some pretty awesome products this month! I thought I would share about my favorites all in one post. Here's the scoop:

Dessange Paris Vox Box:

(Received from Influenster)

So this was a hair care set, it came with the Oleo Miracle Replenishing Shampoo, Oleo Miracle Replenishing Conditioner, and Oleo Miracle Replenishing Oil. They are specifically made to restore damaged hair, and since I've been known to be a little overzealous with the flat iron on my wavy locks, I was interested to try this. I was also a little skeptical, the shampoo and conditioner contain 3 types of oils (argan, camellia, and pracaxi), and while I have heard good things about oils for your hair, I had never used them and figured they would probably weigh my hair down or make it feel oily and dirty more quickly.

Plus there is the oil you are putting straight on your hair as part of the process and I was really skeptical about that! But I tried it anyway and was very pleasantly surprised! The first thing I noticed was the scent, at first I wasn't a fan. It's a fairly strong Gardenia type smell, which I have never cared for. However I noticed the next day when I would smell it in my hair it really wasn't cloying or overpowering, it mellows to a nice, pleasant scent.

I used all three products, as I said I had never used an oil in my hair so that was kind of weird! But the next day when my hair was dry and styled I noticed it looked very shiny and healthy! And it didn't weigh my hair down or make it feel or look dirty.

The only negative I would have to say about it is that it has Sodium Laurel Sulfates. I have some thinning issues with my hair and SLS is not great for that, so I prefer SLS free shampoos.

SweeTARTS Soft and Chewy Ropes:

(Received from Smiley360)

We might have eaten these in record time, hence the empty package before I could get a picture.
SweeTARTS Soft and Chewy Ropes

Adam LOVES chewy and/or gummy candies, AND he loves SweeTARTS, so I was excited to get this and have him try it! I handed it to him to try first, since he's the connoisseur, and he approves! I tried them too, of course, and they are so yummy! I love the flavor and the soft texture, they didn't stick to my teeth as badly as some other gummy candy I've tried. These would be a perfect movie snack.

Arnott's Tim Tam:

(Received from BzzAgent)

OMG. You guys. Do not buy these. Or, ok do buy them. But just be warned, they are addictive and you will eat the whole package in one sitting. When I first received these I was like "Hmmm, what's a Tim Tam?" and wasn't sure what to expect. Just think chocolaty and crunchy and creamy and delicious, that's a Tim Tam. I ate my last one this past weekend and I has a sads.

Tim Tams are from Australia, and before now you couldn't get them Stateside, but they have come to the USA and you can find them at our favorite place, Target (And oh my I just realized they have caramel Tim Tams too). So pretty much if you need me this weekend I'll be wandering around the aisles of Target drinking Starbucks and eating Tim Tams.

Suja Essentials:

(Received from BzzAgent)

Suja is a new all natural juice, 100% fruit, no added sugar or other weird ingredients! It's GMO free, organic, and cold-pressured, which apparently means you get a lot more of the good stuff with your juice than when they use heat to pasteurize it. And they are delicious! They're similar to Naked juices, but they really are all natural and I definitely preferred the taste and texture of Suja. With Naked and some other brands I've tried, the flavor was kind of weird and I honestly felt like I was drinking fruit sludge or something, they're so thick. Suja has a much smoother texture and the flavor is not cloyingly sweet like some juices.

Ok, now that I've typed a small novel, I will be done now. Have you tried any of these products? What did you think?

If you would like to sign up with any of these sites and receive some awesome free samples to try, I would love if you could sign up under my link! Thank you! 

Influenster

BzzAgent

Smiley360

Sisterhood of the World Blogger Award

Thanks so much to the lovely Kasey for nominating me! If you haven't read her blog yet, what is wrong with you?? No just kidding, but seriously get over there and read 'cause she is hilarious! 

What is the weirdest question you've ever been asked in an interview (job or otherwise, it can't be this question)? 

Oh gosh, this is a hard one! Ummmm...I'm pretty sure I got asked the "what kind of animal would you be and why?" question at an interview once, which I know is actually fairly common but I always thought it was weird because like what do they expect you to say exactly? "I would be a dog because they are cute and cuddly?" Doesn't seem like something you want to tell a potential employer but IDK. 

If you could only read one book for the rest of ever, what book would you pick?

There are so many books I love and could read over and over, but I'm going to have to go with The Shack- such an amazing book, it totally rocked my world and made me think about God and life and all of it from a different perspective. Plus I've read it a few times and every time I do I get something more or different out of it. 

What is your favorite ever summer memory? 

Oh wow. SO many. But one that sticks out in my mind at the moment is the summer my BFF and I were about 18 and one day we were hanging out at her house and we were like "You know what we haven't done in FOREVER?? The Slip n' Slide!" So we proceeded to drag it out and lay it across a very hard, very tree root infested part of the ground, took a running leap and flung ourselves down on it. We soon learned that it's a lot more fun when you're little and don't have as far to fall to the ground. We were in so much pain but laughing hysterically. 

Describe yourself using only song titles. (I know that's not a question, just, okay? just be cool. just once.)

SIGH, OK! I'll be cool, once. ;) Hmmm....Brown-Eyed Girl, Too Shy, Your Grace is Enough

If you had $1,000,000 but had to spend it all in one week, what would you do with it?

Oooo, one week? That's tough! First I would give to our church, then pay of ALL of our debt (hallelujah that would be awesome!), then put a huge chunk of it in investments and savings, then I would probably buy us a new car and maybe some fun stuff!

What is your favorite holiday (religious, birthday, or otherwise) + why? 

Gotta go with Christmas on this one. I love Thanksgiving too, but with Christmas I have so many happy memories of Christmas as a kid and how special my parents made it for me. Even when we didn't have a lot of money to spend on presents they made it really special and memorable. 

What is one interesting thing that people who read your blog probably don't know about you? 

I didn't learn to ride a bike until I was about 25 years old. Yes, that would be twenty and five. 

Who is your biggest role model + why?

My daddy. Cliche I know, but true. He was seriously the most selfless, loving, genuine, and devoted person I've ever met. 

Who's attending that imaginary dinner party people always ask about? 

Hmm, well how many can I invite? I've seen some of these say 5 people, others 10, others 8. We'll say 5, because my brain already hurts from thinking about these questions. ;) 

1. Mother Teresa

2. Dave Grohl

3. Jane Austen

4. Paul (As in the one in the Bible)

5. Abraham Lincoln

What is your favorite cocktail?

Umm, I don't drink alcohol because I can't stand the taste *womp womp*- but I did try a drink of Adam's one time that was delicious (mainly because there was so much other stuff in it that I couldn't taste the alcohol). It was called a Captain America (at Planet Hollywood) and I think it had a lot of fruity stuff and some rum? Or something. 

Phew I made it! I nominate: 

Taylor at A Cup of Tay
Meagan at All The Joys
Meagan at Beautiful Things
Lauren at Genuinely Lauren
Joey at Hodges Podges
Jana at Jana Says
Kristen at See You In A Porridge

And All Y'all! 

And your questions are: 

1. What is your all-time favorite vacation spot and why? 

2. Who do you most admire? 

3. If you had to choose somewhere else in the world to live other than the U.S., where would it be? 

4. Who is your favorite author and why? 

5. What is your dream job? 

6. And now for the heavy hitter: What is your favorite flavor of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream? 
7. Describe your perfect day off. 
8. What is your favorite season? 
9. Do you watch sports? If so, which ones? 
10. If you had to listen to one genre of music forevermore, what would it be? 

This is kind of confess-y, so I'm linking up with Melissa for Hump-Day Confessions! 

Random Thoughts: Again!

I wasn't going to write today but then all of these random thoughts kept popping up in my head, and I know it's just SO crucial for everyone to hear my random thoughts right?? You're welcome.

+ I reserved like 5 Kindle books with my local library, plus I just downloaded two other books to read because I thought it would be a while before I got the ones I reserved. Well, 2 of the reserved ones became available in the last two days so now I have "Where'd You Go Bernadette" and "The Husband's Secret" and I have 12 days to read them before they disappear from my Kindle. It's go time.

+ I have a nagging sinus headache today and all I want to do is sleep, but instead I am here at work. Yay.

+ I heard on the radio this morning that they're saying this year is going to be really bad for allergies. Which is just so awesome to hear when you already have a sinus headache.

+ It's been SO dreary here the past couple of days, and the rest of this week is supposed to be more of the same. I start to get really antsy when I haven't seen the sun much. Hence why I live in The Sunshine State. Get it together, Florida.

+ Dry shampoo is my new best friend. The end.

+ I have a lot of great blog post ideas (Well at least I think they're great) but I seem to lack in the actual execution of said blog posts. I'm thinking I may need to take a week off from blogging to work on blogging. 'Cause that makes sense.

+ I've really been in a baking mood which is weird, considering I did those cupcakes this past weekend. But I want to bake something for fun, something bright and sunny like Lemon cake with Lemon Curd and Whipped Blueberry Filling. Or something decadent like Fudge Brownies with Chocolate Fudge Icing. Does anyone want to come eat this stuff so I don't?

+ This had me geeking out yesterday. Adam and I have been watching the original X-Files on Amazon Prime, (I didn't actually watch it when it was on TV so I haven't seen the whole series, we're on Season 4 right now) and I had heard rumors of a reboot but seriously never thought it would really happen.

(Yes, I like the X-Files. Judge away)

+ Ok, now I'm trying to come up with a thought to add here and I'm drawing a blank, so I guess I'm out of random thoughts for the day. Peace.

Weekend Recap

Happy Monday! I enjoyed my weekend and it was mostly very relaxing. For being the first weekend of Spring the weather was kind of blah with lots of fog and overcast-ness, but we did see some sunshine. 

On Friday I finally decided to just buy the shoes so I went to buy them online (because they didn't have my size when I had looked in the store) and they were sold out of my size online! The horror! So I formulated a plan to go to another Target close to work on my lunch break and see if they had my size (Once I decide to buy something I want, nothing can stand in my way).

Obviously they did. I proceeded to wear them all weekend and I luuurve them! 

I survived the cupcake baking and delivery on Saturday and all was well. The most stressful part was driving around St. Augustine for 20 minutes trying to find a place to park that wouldn't require me to carry 9 boxes of cupcakes 3 blocks. I ended up parking in the very narrow street behind the venue and praying my car wouldn't get towed. 

After the delivery I decided I deserved Dunkin' Donuts so I stopped there for a Butter Pecan Iced Coffee. So, so good. 

I stopped by the house to change into shorts and the shoes and grab Hurley and headed out to the RC Club to hang with Adam and the gang for a bit. They were doing a special event out there this weekend so Adam was out there all day on Saturday. 

Hurley thoroughly enjoyed himself with all of the new people (and a new pup friend!) to say hi to and all of the new smells. 

Sunday morning I spent at home cleaning and doing laundry and all that fun stuff. We went out to lunch at Hurricane and I had my favorite there, the Grouper Tacos: 

After lunch we drove down to take a quick walk on the beach. It was really overcast and grey, and a little chilly, but still nice to be on the beach! 

Then, because we hadn't consumed enough calories at lunch, we stopped by the new frozen custard place at the beach. Well, new to us, it's been there since May of last year. It takes us a while to try new things. 

So yummy! 

'Twas a very nice weekend! But I'm ready to tackle Monday and kick it's butt! 

Friday Favorites

Happy FRIDAY!!! 

Let's get right to the favorites of the week, shall we? 

Favorite Song: 

Outside- Calvin Harris ft. Ellie Goulding

Love the beat and melody of this song, so catchy! And I'm just in general loving Ellie Goulding right now, her voice is kind of hypnotic. 

Favorite Workout: 

Pilates felt really good this week In Fix Extreme the Pilates workout is with resistance bands so it's definitely more of a challenge than the regular Pilates Fix. I've used bands before with other types of exercise but never Pilates. It's taken me some time to get used to it but I really felt like I was on top of it this week and that's a good feeling! Not to say I don't still HATE The Hundred because I so do. 

Favorite Links: 

This recipe for Death By Mocha Poke Cake by The Crumby Cupcake: 

Oh. My. I really think I have to make this soon. 

This DIY Heart Art from September Farm: 

How adorable is this?? And there are so many possibilities, you could do pretty much any shape and colors! I think I definitely need to do this for my gallery wall! 

This post about Blog Spring Cleaning on Love in the Here and Now by The Rachael Way: 

So much goodness, can't wait to tackle this list! 

Favorite Blogging Moment: 

I've gotta give a shout-out to Biana and Amanda! I had a newbie blogging question this week and they totally came to the rescue with great advice and they were so helpful! Thanks so much ladies!!

Favorite Funnies: 

I woke up like this: 

This made me laugh SO hard when I saw it on Pinterest and I'm not even sure why except that I totally identify with it. I mean look at his little face, I'm pretty sure that's my exact expression in the mornings. 

Up in the club like: 

Just kidding I don't go to clubs I stay home and binge-watch TV. 

Is it so much to ask? 

Me when I want ice cream: 

Link it up and share your favorites! 

Hump Day Confessions

I have 100 cupcakes to bake this weekend and I am so not feeling ready for this. Every time I have a cake job these days I get this "Ugh I haven't done this in a while, I feel off my game" feeling before I start, but then I get going and it's like second nature to me and I pretty much breeze through it. I guess when you spend 2 years baking and icing a case full of cupcakes (among other things) 5 days a week you get efficient at it and when you go back to it, it's like riding a bike.  #icingfordayzzz

I think I found the perfect printable for my kitchen, you guys

Y'all. These shoes that are on my Spring Must-Haves list are on sale at Target, this week only,(because they like to torture me) and I'm supposed to be done with any clothes spending this month. Can I get a rain check on that sale until April 1st? Pwetty pwease? #budget

I feel like I should clarify something- none of these links to clothes and all that I post are affiliate links. I was reading recently about how apparently some bloggers who use affiliate links aren't very clear about it (although all the blogs I read are very clear about it and have disclaimers on every post, so IDK?) but none of mine are at this point. Not that it's at all a problem for bloggers to do affiliate links, I think it's awesome! But I actually have no idea how to even do the affiliate link thing and I don't think I'm cool enough yet. Maybe someday I will but if I do, I promise I will always let you know! #babyblogger

Have you ever had your quads get so sore and tight during a workout that you literally can't keep going? Like, if I do one more of these squats or jumps I'm going to land on my face? That was definitely not me on Monday during Plyo Fix #lies

I get irrationally angry and want to throw things at the TV screen when I get to that point and can't complete a set. It just makes me so mad because I want to be able to do it but my body is like "Girl, please." I may growl at the people on the workout DVD a little but no one can prove it. #Adamcouldtotallyproveit

The "Check Engine" light has been on in our car for longer than I would like to admit. We should really probably get that checked... #oops

I just created a snack consisting of chocolate graham crackers + cookie butter + bittersweet chocolate chips and it's my new favorite snack. I would post a picture but I ate it too quickly and it's gone now. #imayhaveaproblem

What do you need to get off your chest today?