Summer is officially here!

 I know, summer officially started nearly a week ago now but today it feels real. Not only have we had more than one day of gorgeous weather in a row but today was Ella's last day of kindergarten, and all the after school lessons and clubs are done until the fall. It feels very freeing to be schedule free and I am REALLY looking forward to our summer trips, we have many fun adventures planned. :)

Speaking of Ella, here is a picture of her with her 1st place ribbon in running at her school Sports Day. She has had great(and fast!) running form pretty much since she was up on her feet, and she could always go for a long time on our walks too. Even when she was only two she would run along beside me when I would take the dogs out running and never tire. I can see marathons in her future. :)

I tried yet another recipe from Skinnytaste.com last night and seriously, this website has yet to let me down. Every single dish I have made so far has been a hit, and this one was no exception. Cajun Chicken Pasta was a hit for everyone, although Marshall did pick out the veggies of course(I'm going to have to wrap the veggies in chocolate at this rate :S).

Here are a couple of new songs for you. :)

Katy Perry - Wide Awake 

Hedley - Kiss You Inside Out

I am very excited to be doing a GIVEAWAY with my next post so stay tuned!!

Soooo......

 It's been a few days since my last post and it's because I went off the rails pretty bad as far as my healthy eating/exercising is concerned. I got taken over by the PMS monster big time and it's almost like I woke up this morning going "what the...?? where am I??". Seriously bad. I ate whatever I wanted which if we are doing full disclosure here included two trips to DQ, popcorn at the movie theater, drinks and Cheezies(my weakness.. *sigh*) on Sat night and a few other indiscretions I am trying to block from my memory. I didn't exercise this weekend either, I just watched a lot of movies and sat on my a**. I hate how hormones can take over like that, we ladies have it pretty rough for a couple of days each month(if you are fans of Modern Family, have you seen the episode where Luke thinks the girls are "monstrating"? It's pretty funny) and I am very thankful to have a loving and devoted husband who tends to dote on me in this time of "need". It makes the whole miserable experience a little more bearable. Today I feel like I have made it through the darkness and come out on the other side a new woman, full of hope again...haha.

 I ate very well today and put in 12km of power walking(7 this morning and 5 this evening) and I am feeling SO back on track. Yes, there is a niggling little voice in the back of my head going..."think where you would be if you had kept it up all weekend", but I'm ignoring that because I can't undo it and I'm sure it won't be the only time it happens. Letting it go...moving on..

Tonight was Meatless Monday and I tried out a new recipe. This Asian Edamame Fried Rice was so good and will definitely be staying in the vegetarian recipe box to make again. It was really easy and straight forward to make and is a great way to use up leftover rice. The recipe calls for brown rice but I only had white so that's what I used.

Marshall wasn't a huge fan. He ate some but most of it ended up on the table(chair, floor - much to the dogs delight, his lap..pretty much wherever he could flick it).

The weather has been so nice the last two days but I think we are in for a change if tonight's walk was any indication. Look at these dark clouds rolling in:

I felt a few rain drops and there was some wind so we'll see what tomorrow ends up like.

Since I managed to watch so many movies this weekend I thought I would do a little review of them. ;)

The first movie I watched was Contraband, a movie starring Mark Wahlberg as a retired smuggler who gets pulled back into the crime world when his wife's brother has a deal that goes sideways. It was ok. I'm not a huge fan of "Marky Mark", I think his acting is a little weak, although this was probably one of his better roles. I think it's worth watching, although not an award winner. I would give it a 6 out of 10.

On Saturday I took Ella to see Brave in 3D. This movie was about a young scottish princess who wants to make her own way in the world and not be told how she has to live her life. Then she has to live with the consequences. I thought this movie was great, lots of funny parts and my very favourite style of cartoon animation. I would give it an 8 out of 10. Definitely go see it. :)

On Sunday while my boys were napping I watched DEAR JOHN. It's a love story about a soldier who meets a girl while he's on leave and they stay in touch with letters. It might have been the hormones but this one made me cry. I loved it and it made made me a full on Channing Tatum fan. I give it a 9 out of 10. If you haven't seen it yet check it out, it's on Netflicks for those of you who have it.

And the last movie I saw(I know...a lot of movies...I told you..I sat on my butt) was Haywire. This one was about a woman gun for hire type who gets turned on by the people she is working for. This movie was TERRIBLE. Don't waste your time or money on this one. It gets a 1 out of 10 from me. The editing was bad, story was jerky and made no sense, and the acting was mediocre at best. Two big thumbs down.

I have a couple new songs for you before I sign off:

Flo Rida - Let It Roll - Flo Rida is always great for running tunes, great beat.

3OH!3 - Double Vision - this one is another good running song

And for my country fans :) 

Florida Georgia Line - Cruise

Something About A Truck by Kip Moore

Springsteen - Eric Church

Hope you enjoy them! 

Feeling frustrated...

 I've been working so hard this week with absolutely no results. Yes, Father's Day weekend had some indulgence but I have really put my nose to the grindstone since then. I've been eating carefully, and exercising a lot(yesterday I put in 12km...6 and a 1/2 alternating running and walking in the morning and 5km walking in the evening as well as push ups and squats at home) everyday. The last two mornings I have been two pounds heavier. Now I know that I tend to retain water a lot in the morning(even though I have been drinking lots of water to keep things flushing), but it's such a bummer to see the numbers go up instead of down. :S I was really hoping to hit 10lbs lost by the end of this week and 12 by the end of this month and things are not heading in that direction. I am desperately trying to find motivation but all I'm finding is anger. Being hungry probably isn't helping my mood, but when the weight goes down suddenly you don't care about being hungry and it feels worth it. None of this feels worth it right now. :S
 Ok, enough of my "dear diary" grumpiness. No wallowing, I'm moving on! I WILL be down 12lbs by the end of the month! Just watch me! Grrrrr...... ;)

Product reviews: mascaras and liquid liners

  When I was younger I didn't wear liquid liner, always pencil and it was mostly because I was worried it would be too hard to use. With the pencil I would always put it on and then smudge it a bit to cover up any spots where the liner wasn't perfect and I would end up with a slightly smokey effect. I still do use pencil on occasion on my upper lash line and quite frequently on my waterline(along the inside of your bottom lid), but for a good long lasting liner nothing beats liquid. You can put it on in the morning and it still looks the same at the end of the day and doesn't end up underneath your eyes. With a little bit of practice I'm sure you'll be a convert too.

 I have a couple of different types to talk about and the first one is Maybelline's new one called Master Precise in Black. I hate this liner, so if you have seen it in store and were considering buying it than I would give it a pass. The package advertises that the sponge tip is only .4 wide and you will be able to get a very fine line, but what you don't find out until you try it is that the tip is very weak and just bends as soon as you touch it to your eye. It also doesn't continually put out product and I was constantly shaking the end so I could continue lining...very frusterating. Two thumbs down for this one. :(

The next isn't actually a liquid liner, it's a gel liner but I thought I would include it anyway. The lid has a little brush inside that you can just pull out and use which is nice and I was very happy with this gel liner overall. The colour was 004 Charcoal and is easy to use and very long lasting. The only drawback for me with using gel is you have to clean the brush every time you use it which is a pain. That isn't specific to this product, just gels in general. I do like this one a lot and would recommend it.

I've saved the best for last here and that is Wet n Wild's Mega Liner 861(the colour isn't actually written on the bottle but it's black). I LOVE this liner. It is very easy to use and get an extremely precise line, either very small(the brush tip is very fine) or build it up large. It is also very quick to dry which is nice and lasts all day long. Quite a bit of product comes out so be sure to wipe the excess off on the bottle before using it to line your eyes. Another bonus with this product is it's also the cheapest(the most expensive was the Maybelline which I liked the least...figures. :S ) at less than $5.

 Moving on to mascaras I'll start with one of my old ones and it's actually time to throw this one out as it's pretty much done, as you can probably tell by the fading of the word express under volum'. This mascara is The Colossal Volum' express, and the colour I have is Glam Black. In mascara I only use black as I like the impact a good black mascara has. I also don't use waterproof mascara unless I am going somewhere I may cry. It's just too hard to get off even with good make up remover and I don't like pulling at the skin around my eyes(can you say wrinkles!?).

 I like this mascara a lot as it's easy to build up big lashes and the clumping factor isn't too bad. I've bought this one more than once and it's easy to remove with soap and water too(always a bonus). I would recommend this one. There is a bit of flaking by the end of the day.

The next one is also a Maybelline mascara and it's one that just came out called Mega Plush and the colour I got is Blackest Black. The selling feature with this one is they claim it has 40% less hard waxes in the formula than regular mascara and so you don't end up with stiff or brittle lashes, instead they stay supple and bendy. It also has a flexible wand but I didn't find that made any difference and was really just a gimmick. I did like the formula as far as keeping lashes soft and supple, it definitely did what it said and I didn't find it did much flaking by the end of the day. It also comes off easily with soap and water. I didn't find it made great big lashes though(the above colossal mascara is better) and I put on three coats every time I have used it so far. Usually I don't do more than two coats or I end up with major clumping but this formula you can continue to build on(although without much success. :S). I would say this one is a good basic everyday mascara(and I love the colour of the tube. :P).

The last mascara has been out for a little while and I actually found this one in the sales bin at London Drugs for about $5. This is Loreal's Telescopic Explosion in 975 Blackest Black. The feature of this one is the unique brush(you can see it in the picture on the tube) that is in the shape of a ball on the end of the wand rather than a long brush. This one is easy to use as you can come from any angle and it can reach all those little lashes in the corners of your eyes that can sometimes be hard to get to. This is another easy to wash off formula and the flaking wasn't too bad by the end of the day. 

 I have talked about the They're Real mascara I have from Benefit in another post and it is one of my favourites for building big lashes and for lasting all day without flaking. The only drawback for me is that it's really hard to remove(probably why it doesn't flake!). It didn't say anywhere on the package that it was waterproof, but it is hard to get off even with make up remover.

So that's the beginning of my product reviews, still lots more to come as I talk about things I've been using for awhile as well as things that are new to me. Hope you enjoyed it and feel free to leave a comment if there is anything you would like to have reviewed. :)

On another note I have started running again, only just but I definitely intend to keep at it. I had to do major penance after an indulgent Father's Day weekend and I still haven't managed to get beyond the nine lb loss. I know I have to kick my diet/exercise up a notch so running is a great way to do that. I'm hoping tomorrow brings me my first milestone goal and I will be at 10lbs lost. Fingers crossed!

 Here's a couple of new songs for you:

Can't Say No - Conor Maynard - this ones on my running playlist. The MmMmmmMmmmMmm in the background is so catchy.

Ed Sheeran - The A Team - this one was a freebie on iTunes and I love it! Hopefully it's still on there and you can get it too. :)

Meatless Monday

 In an effort to reduce our carbon footprint and also give our digestion a break we have incorporated Meatless Monday into our weekly routine. It's pretty much exactly as it sounds...one night a week where we eat a completely vegetarian meal. Chris was lukewarm about the idea to start with but has really gotten on board as I have worked hard to come up with interesting and tasty alternatives to our regular protein sources.

 Tonight's meal was Arroz Congri which was very easy and very very good. It is a rice and black bean dish with peppers, onion, garlic and spices....very filling and satisfying. Of course, I often joke that as long as you put cumin(love it!) on something than I'll eat it and this meal fit that bill. :P

 Our salad along with this vegetarian main course was spring mix greens with beets, goat cheese and a homemade vinaigrette made from olive oil, balsamic vinegar and honey. This was so tasty! I love beets even though they are time consuming and messy to prepare, and the soft creamy goat cheese and sweet vinaigrette took it to the next level.

 This was our third Meatless Monday week in a row and I can't imagine any reason why we would stop. I hope you'll be inspired to try it too. :)

Happy Father's Day

As you probably remember from previous posts, in our house we do extended celebrations(your birthday becomes birthday week for example) so Father's Day for us is actually Father's Day weekend and is turned into two days instead of just the one.

 First on the list is getting to sleep in on both Sat and Sun, and then being woken up by a sweet little boy who brings his blankies to bed with you and snuggles up into your back while quietly saying "night night". It's moments like that, they melt your heart. :)

Next on the list is to try out a new restaurant thats been on your list, so off we went to Victoria.

What a good Daddy. :)

More specifically we went to 1325 Blanshard St in Victoria to check out Pig BBQ Joint. I have read good reviews about this place online. If you haven't been to the website before you should check out Urbanspoon, it's a great place to read reviews etc on restaurants, as well as to get an idea of the atmosphere and price.

Chris loves a good BBQ place so Pig was definitely on the menu for Father's Day.

It was a small/medium sized place where you go up to the counter to order and when they call your number then you go and pick it up. The menu was fairly basic, but definitely covered all the basics(pulled pork, ribs, cornbread, beans, fried chicken etc..). I did see a couple of extras on the menu like lamb and chicken and waffles that I'm sure means we'll be going back to try them too.

Chris ordered the ribs and was very impressed with how many you got, about a rack and a half for $18, and he said the flavour was very good...more vinegary than sweet.

I had the pulled pork sandwich with a piece of cornbread. The sandwich was very good, nice and moist and the slaw was yummy, adding some nice crunch. The cornbread was also nice and moist but I would have preferred it sweeter(just my own personal preference).

The kids had some fried chicken which they seemed to like and Marshall was all over the cornbread, kid loves his bread.

After a quick trip to Costco where the line up for gas was IN-sane(gas is 111.9 a liter and people were lined up all around the parking lot. There was even an employee out directing traffic) we went to COBS Bread where they have the most delicious freshly baked cinnamon buns. They are always nice and soft and sooooo yummy. As you can see from the photo the weather was pretty dismal.

Drool......

For Father's Day I got an indoor grill with a panini press for my husband but we will all enjoy it of course. I'm really looking forward to being able to quickly grill vegetables and things like that for lunch.

The first use of the grill was to make panini's for dinner. First I grilled the asparagus and then I put together the paninis and grilled them too. These ones had the asparagus, garlic mayo(one minced clove of garlic mixed with two Tbls of mayo), prosciutto, and swiss cheese. They were REALLY good. I think the grill was a great investment and will get a lot of use in this house.

After this very indulging and decadent day I headed out for a blistering one hour power walk at 9pm. Thank goodness for summer days and light until 10!

I told you in the last post that Wal Mart has Revlon polish on sale right now for 3.96, which is over a dollar savings on their already cheap price...I think they are usually 4.98.

I picked up three new colours, from left to right: 092 Blue Lagoon(love this colour, it's Tiffany blue), 441 Radiant(makes a great glitter topcoat) and 85 Minted(exactly what is says, gorgeous mint green colour).

This is two coats of Blue Lagoon with one coat of Radiant on top. The staying power of this polish has really impressed me, still gets two thumbs up for sure, now go buy some before the sale is over! 

Today is actually Father's Day(although our day two of the weekend), so Chris is enjoying a sleep in before his pancake and sausage(by request) breakfast and then we'll all enjoy the rest of our lazy Sunday. Hope you are enjoying your Fathers Day as much as we are. :)

Product reviews to come, but first...we eat!

I have been cooking some really great meals lately, so good in fact that Marshall is even eating them. That either means he likes them or the more likely reason is he's finally given up and decided to join us at dinner. You can only eat bananas and peanut butter sandwiches for so long. This next meal in particular was a big hit for him. Thai Coconut Curry Shrimp served over jasmine rice(I'm such a big fan of jasmine rice). What's not to like?? I know..the curry right? I was thinking the same thing, these are little kids eating along with the adults after all and while my sweet adventurous Ella will try anything once(or twice or three times..) I really have to be careful not to turn Marshall off of something or he won't even look at it a second time. Instead of the red curry paste that it calls for(which is a very hot curry) I opted for yellow curry paste instead and cut the amount to a little more than half. The coconut milk is very good for mellowing out spiciness but I didn't want to take any chances. In the end I could have used the entire amount the recipe called for as the curry flavour was very subtle, but it still turned out delicious.

Hard to believe this recipe is on the lower calorie end as it just tastes so good and seems decadent. The only thing that could really up the calories is the coconut milk but using the lite coconut milk keeps it low.

I finally managed to budge another pound for a nine pound total loss, which makes me so happy! I am almost at my first 10lb goal. 

 I have actually gone down in clothing sizes too. In the picture below you can see the super cute stretchy denim shorts I am wearing, which I loved but after wearing them around the house for an hour they were falling off my butt and had to be returned. A bittersweet moment...smaller size but when it comes to shopping at Winners you often can't get something you like in a different size(which was the case with the shorts). That's part of the thrill of shopping there of course...the find!

Of course when I  returned them I had to do a little browse and came home with my first pair of skinny jeans, coloured skinnies no less! I know....it was a big step for me, but I love them. Will post a pic in my next post.

Product reviews to come in the next post. I did go out and get a few other Revlon polishes and I am still really happy with them. A heads up for those of you who might like to try them out, Wal Mart has them on sale right now for $3.96, a great deal and they have a pretty good colour selection.

Some product reviews

 I have so many product reviews I can't wait to share with you! I LOVE doing product reviews on anything beauty related...it would be my dream job. :)

 Today I just have a couple of polish reviews and a creme eyeshadow review. So many more to come, I just have to take some pictures. I should start getting them really going in the next day or two.

 The first polish review is for Revlon, and I have two that I used together. I put on two coats of #271 Extravagant and one coat of #271 Sparkling over top. The Extravagant is a gorgeous mauve pink colour with a pearl finish and the Sparkling is a close colour match glitter polish. I am really impressed with the Revlon polish. Extremely good colour, with equally as good coverage and staying power. I am a big OPI fan but if all the Revlon polishes are as good as this one than I would say they are definitely give OPI a run for it's money. And speaking of money these polishes are less than $5 so it's a real savings over OPI. I will be trying out some more colours shortly and will keep you posted.

The next polish is another first for me. It's Quo by Orly and the colour is Femme Fatale. This is an awesome neon pink colour that really pops and is great for cashing in on the current neon trend. I have used Orly polishes before and have liked them but this is the first time I have used the Quo by Orly. Quo is the Shoppers Drug Mart cosmetics brand. The description on the bottle says: "A fast drying, long lasting, high gloss nail polish". I will definitely vouch for the fast drying. I did two coats and by the time I was done my second hand the first hand was completely dry, not mostly dry, but completely dry. I was impressed. It is definitely not high gloss though, it tried to a matte finish as you can see in the picture. I will be putting a top coat on it for the nice glossy effect. They had some good neon colours that I haven't seen in the other brands which was nice. The price point was just over $10 so a little higher thanks to the Orly name I'm sure.

My next review is for Maybelline's Color Tattoo creme eyeshadow. I have two fairly basic colours that you can see in the pictures here. The colour on the right is 45 Bold Gold and the colour on the left is 15 Audacious Asphalt.

I've done a colour swatch here on my arm so you can see how they look when applied. Remember you can click on any pictures on this blog to make them bigger.

I am really impressed with this creme shadow. Creme shadow typically doesn't last that long and end up creasing very quickly but this has some good staying power and with a little primer underneath it really lasts. The packaging says 24hr but of course who wears their shadow for that long. 

 They had some really good bold colours that I may go back and get, purples, turquoise, blue etc... Shoppers Drug Mart is actually having a sale right now and while these shadows are usually $9, they are on for $5 so if you like them than I would get in quick. They get a big thumbs up from me!

I had some fun times over the weekend that involved a couple of drinks and some chips and then I went to see Snow White and the Huntsman last night with my friend Dana from The Spotted Owl and indulged in popcorn so the weight loss hit a bit of a stall. In fact, when I got on the scale this morning I was up two pounds. I know it is just bloating from the salt(my rings were tight this morning), but still I do NOT like to see that. Today I got in a good one hour power walk and I have been drinking lots of water and eating watermelon to help flush the salt out of my system. I realize that this is just a part of life and while it's ok to indulge it's also important to get back on track so that is exactly what I'm doing.

I made a really yummy dinner last night, my first attempt at Shrimp Pad Thai and I was very happy with how it turned out. Chris is of course my gauge on how good things are and he had a second helping so a success all the way around. There is a bit of prep involved and then things go together quickly but I really recommend you try it, so delish. :)

Last but not least I leave you with a picture of my sweet Marshall. He was tired so went into his room and got his blankets, pulled the cushion off the couch, made himself a little bed and went to sleep. I didn't cover him up, he did that all by himself. He likes things cozy and always makes himself a little nest in his crib. Even as a little baby he would pull the covers up and over his head to go to sleep. He melts my heart this little guy. :)

Being a loser

 Ok, I have to start this entry off with this little piece of news....I am down 8, that's EIGHT lbs, and I'm thrilled!! It is currently dumping rain outside and it has been for the last few days off and on so I haven't had much chance to get outdoor exercise. This weight loss is strictly from diet and using the Nike Training Camp app on my iPhone(I am so sore under my arms right now...those planks are a killer!). So I'm down 8lbs of my 60lb loss goal, that's 52lbs to go. I try not to focus on how far I have to go, instead I'm focusing on how far I've come. Feeling very motivated today...nothing like seeing results. :)

Last night for dinner we had steak grilled on the BBQ and not one, but TWO salads. I know...how healthy are we?? The first was a beet and carrot salad that came from..yep, you guessed it... Skinnytaste. I'm totally addicted to that site. The recipes are fairly easy, delicious and best of all low calorie. Here's the recipe for the Red Beet Salad. Beets are so yummy, the only drawback of course is the stain factor, I recommend gloves.

Green romaine salad and beet salad..yum!

I've been planning out my week's meals very carefully as well as being very aware of snacking and that's helping me a lot. I have found for myself the worst thing I can do is tell myself I'm not allowed to eat something or be too diligent about calorie counting. If I do that I become obsessive and it's all I can think about, and then it becomes what I really want(cake? chips? NEED!). I just try to be very aware, but tell myself that if I really want it I can have it, nothing is forbidden, than it's like my body relaxes and thinks "it's always there if I want it". Another thing that happens if I tell myself something is forbidden is if I fail to resist and give in than I pretty much just say f*** it, the diet's ruined and I may as well eat the whole bag of chips and I gorge. Then I hate myself for doing that, plus I feel sick and it's just a bad scene. I have been feeling so much better these days that I don't even want to have anything yucky or processed for fear I'll feel all dragged down and blah. Of course having said that I did have a cupcake at Ella's school fun fair last night because I was starving which leads me to another point...never let yourself get to the point where you are starving! Have a back up plan. I'm good about packing snacks for the kids, but not good about packing anything for me when hunger strikes.That of course means a quick drive through trip to Tim Hortons for coffee and timbits...or a bagel...I don't know which is worse, but neither is good. :S If I pack myself a little something like an apple or banana that is just enough to stop me from making a bad decision based on my rumbling stomach. So that's my weight loss update for now. I'll continue to let you know about the recipes I try out and the hits and misses(so far we've had nothing but hits!).

I made up a couple of new jewelry pieces and so thought I would include some pics here. They will be on Etsy shortly.

And last but not least(you know I love my tunes) I have some new music for you. :)

Scream by Usher....sooooo stuck in my head yesterday:

Usher - Scream 

Paris Carney -Let me in Again. This is a great little song but I couldn't find a YouTube link for it. I do recommend you check it out on iTunes though. It's sort of folksy.

Current Swell - Cursed  great song with really good guitar playing.

                              K'naan - Mecca  this song is from the upcoming movie Cosmopolis

                                                            Emeli Sandé - Next To Me

                                                             Emeli Sandé - Wonder

I see some sun!! I'm out!

Fun updo

 I've been trying out some new hairstyles recently and one(of many) that I like is this cute and very easy one which you may have seen me upload to Instagram(@mariah0882)/Twitter(Mariah Dupuy).

For this great little summer 'do all you need to do is section a large portion of the front of your hair out and clip the rest up in a big jaw clip(or whatever you use to quickly put it up). Once you've done this you just french braid your hair across the front and down the side and attach with a small elastic. Next, lightly backcomb the crown of your hair to get a bit of lift and gently brush over it so everything looks smooth. Then take your hair to the side and twist into a low chignon and secure with a small jaw clip. A few hairpins would work as well and if you have really fine hair(which I do not) than you may be able to get away with bobby pins. This is a great style for day two or three(which is what I'm on) hair when you want to get it up and off your face. Easy peasy and so cute!

I'm wearing a new lip colour in the picture from Revlon. It's their Lip Butter lipstick in Berry Smoothie and I just love this colour. Lately I've either been wearing this or Loreal's Colour Riche lipstick in Peach Fuzz, both great summer colours.  I kept my eye make up really simple with black liner and mascara and I'm wearing a new blush that I was trying for the first time from Wet n Wild called Mellow Wine(COLOR ICON™ BLUSHER). I have heard good things about Wet n Wild products and I do have an eye make up palette by them. I've been happy with the few things I have from them, all very highly pigmented which is nice to find in a really cost effective drugstore product(seriously...I don't think any of their products are above $5). I did have to blend the blush a little with my pressed powder as a little really does go a long way with this stuff and it really did look like I had just had a glass of wine(am I the only who who flushes so easily when drinking alcohol??). It turned out well though and I'm happy with the product and would buy it again.

The foundation I use is MAC Studio Sculpt(LOVE this foundation), and the pressed powder and concealer are from MAC as well and the bronzer is Rimmel.

It has finally stopped raining here, hope you're getting more sunshine than me wherever you are!

Random Wednesday thoughts and updates

I'll start with a random photo I took while stopped at a stop light. Isn't is amazing where flowers can grow? California poppies are so beautiful and dang...they can grow anywhere. The pioneers of the plant land.

Here's a partially updated pic of our bedroom. Nothing on the walls yet and it's still not quite done but I wanted to show you how awesome the colour looks. I probably should have used my regular camera instead of my phone...probably would have showcased it a little better but I can assure you, it looks awesome. The colour is Granite Grey and I think it might be from BEHR, but I'm not 100% certain.

There were some really great deals at our local grocery store this week(if you are from the area I hope you got into Thrifty Food for dollar daze!) with many things being offered for just a dollar(strawberries, cucumbers, cans of tuna, avocados and a ton more..we took full advantage in this house) and one of those things was African Violet plants. I bought four for only $4 and now have them lining my window. So pretty and such a great deal. I know they can be a little finicky so we'll see how things go, but in the meantime I get a great pop of colour.

Shoe Warehouse is having some good sales right now with buy one get the second at half off if you are in the clearance section or $5-$25 off in the rest of the store. I found these ones in the clearance section and I love them. This picture doesn't show them that well, they have great gold stud detailing and are quite a bit higher than they look here. They are super comfy and only $35. I wasn't able to take advantage of the buy one get one half off because as I've stated before shopping with a little boy means you're on a time limit. The good thing though is they keep your receipt in the computer and as long as they promo is going on I can always go back and get the second pair. Of course I think the promo is supposed to be ending anytime so I probably won't get back. Ah well, loving these ones and that's enough. :)

I tried a little something different in the bracelet department, this is a double half chain slip on bracelet in coral. These ones can come in just about any colour you can think of. Thoughts?

Absolutely glorious day here today so I'm going to head out and enjoy it. Ciao!

Quotes

 Anyone who knows me knows that I love my quotes, so seeing as it's Monday and sometimes the beginning of the week can be rough getting back to work after the weekend I wanted to share a few of my favourites with you. Hopefully it boosts you up for the rest of the week. :)

"Never give up on a dream just because of the length of time it will take to achieve it. The time will pass anyway".

"You have brains in your heard and feet in your shoes, you can steer yourself any direction you choose" - Dr Seuss

"Be who you are and say how you feel because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind" - Dr Seuss

"I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well" - Diane Ackerman

"The grass is greener where you water it".

"Dreams don't work unless you do".

"You only live once, but if you do it right once is enough" Mae West

"Whatever you are, be a good one" - Abraham Lincoln

"There is no key to happiness, the door is always open".

"When your heart speaks take good notes" - Judith Campbell

"Why not go out on a limb? That's where the fruit is". - Mark Twain

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbour, catch the trade wins in your sails, explore, dream, discover" - Mark Twain

"We are what we repeatedly do, excellence therefore is not an act but a habit"- Aristotle

"Follow your heart but take your head with you".

"Some people dream of success while others wake up and work hard at it".

"A goal without a plan is just a wish".


 This is only a small taste, there are so many I like. Sometimes just reading through a few quotes like these is the push I need to get going, whether it's as simple as getting a workout in or as big as taking that first(second, third, fourth........) step towards following a dream.

 I hope one or two(or all) inspire you today. Happy Monday, go get 'em tiger! :)

Happy Saturday

 It's been a slower day today and I'm not really sure why....perhaps because I slept in this morning? Usually on a day were I sleep in I don't go any later than nine at the maximum but today I opened my eyes at 9:45 and I didn't even go to bed that late last night. I obviously had some kind of sleep debt going on and needed it. I did feel refreshed though, so refreshed in fact that I had Ella take a picture of me. :) 

 Still really loving my new hair colour and decided to rock it with some soft curls today. I also love this new Calvin Klein top I got courtesy of Costco. You can't really see it in the picture but it's a great colour for spring and doesn't fit too tight which is just what I like during my weight loss journey. :P It was a good price at just $16.99.

 I finally used one of the darker polishes I got at the Shoppers Drug Mart Glam night awhile back. The weather has been back and forth lately and yesterday was kind of dreary so it called for a grey polish. This one is called Miss Grey and it's made by Gosh Cosmetics. I couldn't find the exact colour on their website and I think when I bought it I got it from the discount section, so it's probably discontinued. It's a very fall/winter colour so it wouldn't surprise me. I like it though and I'm happy with the polish itself, good coverage and an ok brush.

 Another product I wanted to share with you is a hand cream I found at Wal Mart. Between kids and dogs and life in general I am constantly washing my hands and I wanted something that was fast absorbing, effective in combating the dryness in my hands on and on my elbows and was also small enough to fit in my bag so I can take it with me. The one I found was Kaloderma Anti Age Hand Serum. Aging shows up quickly in your hands so it's very important to remember to take good care of them and moisturize regularly. I haven't had anything by Kaloderma before, but I tried a bit on my hand in the store along with a few others and was very impressed. I continue to be impressed at home too. It's very fast absorbing which I love as I don't want it to be rubbing off on my clothes, kids, hair etc... The smell is ok, reminds me of Aveeno, so if you like that scent you will like this a lot. 

 I tried to find this exact product on the Kaloderma site so I could link it for you but for whatever reason it wasn't there, although the two other hand creams I saw when I purchased it were Kaloderma - Hand Care. Might have to look into that as I really like this product and hope it isn't going anywhere(like my Tetley Park..boo hoo).

Only four "likes" short of 100 on the EllaMarsh FB page. Thanks so much every one! :)