thoughts of the day...

- i'm just really ready to be tan.. i need to be out in the sun like, right meow.

- nothing is worse than a weak three hole puncher! i hate a hole punch!

- steeldrivers >

- how old does one have to be to be able to say, "back in my day, we didn't have bobby pins!" ??

- why is cold coke in a can exponentially better than any other coke?

that's all. :)

vanity overhaul...

Alright, so I've had several different "makeup vanity" set ups.. from sitting on the floor in front of a full length mirror, to countless plastic Sterilite five and six drawer carts, to finally, some variation of my current setup.  Over the past few years I've used a few different cheap writing desks, first from WalMart, then graduating to my current desk from Target.  Eventually, I tossed the plastic drawer carts for a black "wood" (cheap as crap MDF) 5 drawer cart.  While I was able to store more, it's still just not enough.. that's probably a very bad thing!!  So anyway, I thought I'd document and share my vanity transformation, my current situation, plans for the new setup and the fun bits in between! :) 

This post will be all about my current makeup vanity setup.  So this is what we've got goin' on.  Let's note that I didn't clean everything all up, this is just the way things are on a daily basis! ha! --

Okay, so you see I've got a basic writing desk, a few lamps, a two sided/lighted/magnified mirror, the 5 drawer cart, bench seat, and of course the "big" main mirror.  Here are some of the links --

Avington Desk from Target

Halifax 5-Drawer from WalMart 

Conair Round Mirror

Cortesi Kayla "X" Bench

I've had these two lamps for ages, I'm pretty sure their either from Target or Walmart.  On to some smaller details and my hangups --

Okay, here we have the jumble of hair products, perfumes, lotions and some jewelry on one side; and my janky solution for my curling wand "storage" on the other (which consists of a command hook and a knot in the curling wand cord.. I'm not proud of it.)  The cords over here really annoy me, it's all an eyesore and I'm not crazy about my trash can being there for all to see.  I don't really mind having the hair products, perfumes, jewelry and all that out on display, because it's easy to get to that way, but I do want a little more space to have things more spread out so it's not so cluttered.

As for the display trays, etc., I don't have any links to offer =/  I know I got the 3 tiered jewelry stand from UrbanOutfitters.com, but it's no longer available.  I'm thinking I ordered the perfume tray from amazon or Urban Outfitters as well.  The tin bucket and wrought iron stand are random finds from who knows where!

So this is my biggest gripe, and it's totally my fault.. The terrible eyesore in the middle of my desk where I spilled damn near a whole bottle of nail polish remover!  I did this literally like a week after I got the desk.. yeah, I was pissed.  So it's sat there annoying me day in and day out; yes, I could sand/paint the desktop or come up with some clever way to cover it all, but I have other ideas :)  Just a few details - a small square glass "vase" I got from dollar tree filled with q-tips and the old WalMart desk lamp.  For brushes I've got two glass (used to be) candles from Target that I've burned down and cleaned out, so they're basically small glass cups.  I also have one little brush holder that I use for eye-shadow brushes.

 Here I've got a random metal basket filled with eye-shadow palettes (due to lack of drawer storage).  I've also got a little clear acrylic set of 3 drawers with randoms and samples inside.  On top, I have two 3-wick candle glasses from Bath & Body Works that I've burned all the way down and cleaned out ...stocked full of lip products, again, due to lack of storage. Bleh..

Clear Acrylic Drawer Set

Lastly, here's a peek into my hot mess drawers.. I could SO do better to organize these things, I just gave up when more and more things started piling in with no room.  This is only three of my five drawers in my cart, and the top drawer of my desk.  Basically, I want to double my drawer space so I can spread out some of this junk and separate things a little better ( foundation/concealer drawer, blush/bronzer drawer, eye liner/brows/mascara drawer, etc. etc.)

Whew!  All in all, I want more makeup storage space, and a little nicer/classier set up ;)  Next post, I'll try to go into more detail of my plans for the new vanity, but my basic image is white and rose gold.  So I've got some Ikea hell to go through, some DIY projects and a few swap outs in the lamp/mirror department!  I'll get into all that next, thanks for reading! :D

Christmas Wishlist 2013!

"it's the most wonderful time of the year!" yay!! to me, it really is the best time of year! cold weather, cardigans and scarves, family time, food time and poker on new year's eve time! :) Christmas is just over a month away and that means it's time for a Christmas wishlist!!

1. "Few of My Favorite Things" palette by Too Faced
this palette is a Sephora exclusive for $56! omg! it comes with lots of shadows, two blushes, two bronzers, a mini mascara AND one of the lip injection color bomb sticks! (which i've been wanting to try!) i've done my research and heard lots of great things about all of the products, and i believe it even comes with a cute pink and gold chevron patterned make up bag!

2. Buxom Shimmer & Shake Show Stopping Gloss Collection
this set of 15 lip polishes and lip creams from Buxom is $59 at Sephora! i die! the set includes several lip glosses i've wanted to purchase, including the "Katie" gloss! which, obviously, is a must have for me! :) i love the scent and feel of these glosses, minty and plumping! you'll never run out of choices, and with 15 of these babies, you'll never run out of product either! ha!

3. Monogram Keychain from Swoozies
yeah.. this is just precious, and my key chain is missing it, so i pretty much need it! ;) of course, i'd have to get the "hot pink" color option!

4. Acrylic State Pendant Necklace
okay, i can't even!! bauble bar has me pretty much obsessed with any and everything on their website! at this point, it's basically a necessity that i show some love to my home state while living in tennessee! while i do love living in chattanooga, i also love being a georgia girl, and i love letting everyone know it, too! ha! :) i think i'd have to go with the rose gold chain on this necklace, and the "frost" color for the little state of georgia!

5. Michael Kors Runway Logo Rose Gold Watch
omg! this thing is perfection! i've wanted an MK watch for years now, and it just so happens that my current rose gold oversized watch is changing color and looking more and more like stainless steel =/ ha! i'm pretty much obsessed with the big "MK" in the middle of all those sparkles!! i've found the best prices for this rose gold watch are all on eBay! ugh, i'm so in love with it!!

so there you have it! my typical wishlist of makeup and accessories! :) i've also come to the conclusion that i'm just going to need a Sephora gift card, too! i just have way too many little things in my online shopping cart in there! they kill me! lol.. sephora x polishes, clinique bottom lash mascara, urban decay lipsticks, plus lots more! :)

maybe you got some ideas for YOUR Christmas wishlist from me :) of course i don't expect everyone to run out looking to buy these items for me, but i do enjoy making these types of blogs, just to share things that i've been lusting over for quite some time! :) hope everyone has a fabulous thanksgiving and Christmas this year!! :)

puppy love :)

a basket of peaches?

okay, i haven't blogged in an insanely extended amount of time.. but i want to say something. it may be short, it may get wordy, we'll see how things go..

i just want to say that life my not be a basket of peaches, and it's not even a box of chocolates (sometimes you do know what you're gonna get, and it's that one filled with coconut!) ..anyway, life can be difficult, miserable, frustrating, heartbreaking, etc etc. but like someone said, those famous words (which i won't bother to google from whom they came right meow), "it goes on." it does go on, and sometimes that in itself is what makes life suck. and there are days, maybe a lot of days in a row, where you can't see any light, you don't feel any hope and you think you're stuck in the black hole forever ..that's simply not true. having a single good day out of 100 rotten days proves that untrue. having said that, i know, without a doubt, that telling yourself things 'will get better' when they're awful can, sometimes, literally do absolutely nothing to ease your pain. those are your damn near impossible days. but your run of the mill "bad" day will come along, and maybe you'll see a tiny speck of light, maybe you'll smile once that day and it'll feel comforting and familiar, let yourself embrace it, and know that one day there will be more. there will be more smiles and laughter, and more comfort and solace, and maybe just a bit of happiness...

this probably sounds like a jumble, and i should go back and find better ways of explaining those things, but that's what came out, so there you have it. have hope. take heart. even when you can't even begin to tell yourself those things, do it anyway. when thinking about better days doesn't make you feel any less hurt or miserable, just know that they'll be there. press forward through the impossible, because, whether you believe it or not, impossible is not as resilient, not as strong as you are. impossible can't last forever. it'll give up and shrivel away and bite the dust, leaving you far ahead.

"I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. in this world you will have trouble. but take heart! I have overcome the world."
-john 16:33

happy 2012!

"Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the people."
Psalm 105:1

i've been thinking of what kind of post i wanted to start this year off with.. and i thought about complaining/ranting about what you're supposed to do when you just can't seem to please someone, i thought about posting a Christmas haul with all of my wonderful presents, and then of course, i thought about posting some of my new year's resolutions... maybe i'll get to those, but lately i've been feeling pretty thankful, so i figured i'd jot it down somewhere to share and remember for myself :)

firstly, i'm definitely thankful for this past holiday season, my awesome Christmas gifts, and the time i got to spend with my family :) ..thanksgiving was great, as always! good food and good family! dad and connie were able to visit and spend that friday with us! we went to "ruby tuesday's", which was the first time i had been to a sit down restaurant in almost a whole year! i was pretty excited about that, and then we even got dad and connie to play a few rounds of "just dance 3"! that's always a good time!! ha! Christmas was more than i could have wished for! i got everything i wanted and more! anthony was able to spend the weekend with us and play santa with brandi for chasity.. i think that was the best part of Christmas for me. seeing chasity so happy to have her daddy here, and so happy to get all kinds of gifts she had on her wishlist!

writing this out, i think of all of the little things i'm SO thankful for that kind of interlace like silent side notes to those words... i was thankful to be able to spend many hours on thanksgiving day with my family at my aunt's house. thankful to be able to go to a sit down restaurant with dad, connie, brandi and chas. thankful to be able to go to chasity's Christmas play at her school with jake. i was thankful to spend Christmas weekend seeing chasity so happy with anthony and brandi. i was thankful to be able to spend a little bit of new year's eve with lots of friends and family at the poker party, and then watch the ball drop with bailey jane :) haha..

all of these things i was able to accomplish with no severe anxiety or panic attacks.. i thank God everyday for that blessing. for a full day with no disaster. i spend so much time worrying about these elaborate irrational fears and tragedies, and then it's kind of crazy to me when things just go off without a hitch.. it's nice to make it through a day when nothing bad takes anything good away from me. and i've had a lot of those good days :) trust me, i don't take them for granted..

so essentially, i'm thankful for making it through 2011. it was a rough year for me. it started off pretty bad, got better, and got worse, but now it's over.. i'm thankful for the new year, and i'm thankful that it started off perfectly fine :) i'm thankful for my good health and that of my family. and super thankful for many many blessings that it might take me forever to write. mostly, i'm thankful for all of my answered prayers. it's truly amazing to see God blessing me, my family and my friends every day...

how i made my t-shirt fringe scarf! :)

i saw this tutorial on youtube and figured it was easy enough to try! super cute and only about 4$! i bought the same t-shirt she used, a fruit of the loom shirt with no side seams from wal-mart!

*she doesn't say to do so in the video, but i cut under the arms AND just above the seam at the bottom of the shirt!

hope you enjoyed! :)