Marshalls Haul!

I've seen TONS of youtube videos and blog posts of people showing off all the cute stuff they buy. After I found out I got the job I've been wanting, I had to celebrate! Shopping trip, duh! Beth and I went to Marshall's while the boys were at a craft beer house nearby. I've been to this Marshall's twice since we've moved and each time I've spent about $85. I want all the things!

I ended up getting some super cute stuff. I didn't take pictures of the shampoo and gel I bought my Dad, so that's why the prices and end total don't add up. (in case anyone was counting)

• Steve Madden purse. ADORBS. I told myself I could buy a new purse when I found a job and I did. It's seriously the perfect size and I love the color combo. $29.99
  
• American Eagle shoes. I've always wanted a pair of shoes like this. They fit perfectly. Beth got a pair too! $9.99
  
• Red Velvet Cupcake coffee. OMG. We got this as a treat. It smelled too good not to buy! We brew a pot at night and refrigerate it for iced coffee the next morning. Paired with Sweet Cream creamer. Delish. If you ever see it, buy it!  $6.99
  
• Octopus Tentacle jewelry dish. My room is nautical themed. I love everything ocean related and I have lots of jewelry. Had to. $4.99
  
  
  
  
• Minty Picture Frame. I bought this because I wanted to make an earring holder out of it. I really liked the color. Found in the clearance section. $4.50
  
• Lilly Pulizter iPad case. This doesn't actually fit my iPad mini :( I found it in the clearance section for $2, so I'm not super upset. I plan on asking my bloggy friends if someone wants it. 
  
• Leather Catch-All dish for Jarad. It isn't really a dish, but I don't know what else to call it. I told him I would get him a present and this is totally his style! He always sets his watch places, so I wanted him to have somewhere nice to keep it. $9.99
  
  

I hope this post was somewhat exciting! Let me know if you like seeing things like this!

Lemme See Your Grill (Summer Cupcake Idea)

See what I did there? In honor of 4th of July / all your summer time BBQs, I thought I would share some cupcakes that I did awhile back! The pictures are from my old cupcake blog, so excuse the poor photography.

To make these extra easy, use your favorite brownie mix! Scoop the batter into cupcake liners instead of a baking dish.

You Will Need: 

• brownie mix + necessary ingredients
• frosting + black food coloring
• hot tamales 
• chewy caramels
• chewy colored candies - whichever you can find 
• red and yellow sprinkles
• toothpicks
  

What You Do:

• Bake the brownies per the directions on the box and cool
• Dye your frosting black - save a little white for later
• Make diagonal grill marks on each brownie using the black frosting
• Sprinkle red and yellow sprinkles on top of those fresh grill marks - like coals
• Dip a toothpick in black food coloring to make the grill marks on the hot tamales - now you have hot links!
  
• For the kabobs, cut your chewy  caramels and other colored candies into squares and slide them onto the toothpicks
  
• For the chicken, mold a chewy caramel in your hand to the desired shape. Use a toothpick to dab a little white frosting in the center.
  

Aren't these so cute and easy??? Debut these babies at your next BBQ! They're sure to be a hit.

Our Trip To St. Thomas!

Hello lovelies!!!! It's been awhile since I've written a legitimate post. I moved a couple weeks ago and then I left for a week long trip to the Caribbean!

It was a great trip, but I am happy to be back and getting settled in Monterey.

I wanted to share some pictures and fun stories from our trip in this post. I plan on doing a post full of tips for traveling to St. Thomas or anywhere in the US Virgin Islands next week.

Trip Highlights:

• The boys climbed coconut trees and got coconuts for us! We found sharp rocks and got to enjoy the delicious coconut water from inside. 
  
  
• The beach resort we stayed at had GIANT Iguanas everywhere. They were mostly friendly and would eat straight from your hand! 

  

  This is Linda.

  
  

  

  "Godzilla" loved watermelon.

  
  
• I went snorkeling for the first time! My first time was a little rough,  but we went to St. John and I had the BEST time snorkeling there. Warm water, white sandy beaches, and pretty fish! Oh and I almost stepped on a String Ray. Eeeeek.

Trip Lowlights:

• Bug bites. Sweet baby Jesus, mosquitos and "can't see em's" bit me everywhereeeeee.
• Traveling there and back. SUCKED. Looooong flights, delayed flights, missed flights, lost luggage. Anything that could've happened, did. 
• I got the most ridiculous "cold". I had cold like symptoms, but one of the resort employees was saying that their was a ton of dust from the Sahara blowing over and that it could've been an allergic reaction. Who knew???

the view from our resort

fish tacos!

This was my first vacation with J and we were super excited about it. This was actually my first legitimate vacation with a boyfriend and I loved it! It felt so grown up.

Beth was playing paparazzi

My First Ipsy Glam Bag!

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen that I cancelled Birchbox last month. I kept getting weird things and found the samples piling up in a corner of my room, instead of actually being used.  I heard about Ipsy and HAD to try it.  I was reading promises of great, name brand samples AND a cute bag every month for $10??? Sign me up!!! I was only on the wait list for a month or so before I got the email saying my first bag would be arriving in June!

The bag was REBECCA MINKOFF. That alone is worth the $10 to me.

The mascara is "be a bombshell brand". I honestly didn't try it because the smell is TERRIBLE. It smells like burnt rubber!!!!

The perfume is Realtree "for her". It smells so good! I like that this is a little larger than most sample sizes. The lovely people at Ipsy sent the perfume in a little plastic bag to avoid leaking! I thought that was brilliant. I've had countless perfumes break in my Birchbox boxes.

The eyebrow pencil is OFRA. I don't really do much to my eyebrows because I'm always afraid of messing them up. I plan on trying it and then giving it to my best friend, if she wants it!

Ahhhh Nyx Butter Gloss in Creme Brulee. YES PLEASE. I am most excited about this. The color is so pretty! Not too pigmented. Subtle and perf!

Marc Anthony's Dream Waves Beach Spray was the last item in the bag. It smells like coconuts! Perfect for the summer months.  My hair has a slight wave to it already and this helps define them a little better!



Overall, I am happy with Ipsy! I like that there are some full sized products. I'm a little bummed about the way the mascara smells, but everything else made up for it for sure!

If you're interested in trying Ipsy for yourself, click here!

My #1 Man

I am currently soaking up the Caribbean sun, wishing I could be celebrating my Dad. Well actually, I wish he was here celebrating, but whatever!

For those of you that know me in real life, you know that my Dad is my BFF. I look just like him. I act a lot like him. I get my striking good looks and my killer legs from him. (I am 5'9" you know!) (LOL)

To my Dahny. You kill all the spiders. You watch Pretty Little Liars with me. You let me pick out all my presents. You told me if boys didn't like me, they must like boys. You scare me by turning off the lights when I'm walking upstairs. You took me Formal and Prom dress shopping countless times. You're my #1 man and you always will be.

I call him Dahny. It's a form of Daddy I guess. Years ago, my friend and I were obnoxiously yelling at him from the first floor of our house and it came out as DAAAAAAHHHHNY. It's stuck ever since.

Happy Father's Day, Dahny! I'll bring you home some awesome souvenirs!

Save The Undies!

Thank you Kotex for sponsoring this post and helping me #savetheundies!

I'm leaving in t-minus 4 hours for my Caribbean vacation! Traveling is stressful enough. The last thing a girl needs to worry about is whether our periods will start while traveling or if we are definitely going to "be on it" while traveling. U by Kotex has introduced a new line of Ultra Thin Pads with a 3D Capture Core! The 3D Capture Core prevents leak and stops wetness! Uhhhh yes please.

They are super thin - no diaper butts here. You can throw them in your purse, suitcase, or your carry on! And best of all? You won't have to worry about ruining your favorite pair of undies!!! I have lost countless pairs of my cute undies to Mother Nature. I've set aside older pairs to serve as my time of the month undies. Not anymore!!! I can wear my cutest pairs any day of the month.

Are you ready to help Save the Undies? Visit the U by Kotex page, press get samples, fill out the mailing info and the samples will be all yours!

Ready for your samples? Click here!

Kotex also offers tampons and panty liners for every girl's need!

We Moved To Monterey!

I'm writing this post from my kitchen in Monterey. I can't even believe it. I actually did it! We actually did it! I'm a scaredy cat. Change freaks me out. I'm always wondering if I'm making the right decision. (insert other control freak qualities here) Buuuut, we moved. I love it here so far. We got here on Saturday and now it's Tuesday. Our room is set up, not very decorated though. A room tour will be up soon.

What have we been up to in the last four days?

• walked to the farmers market across the street. bought tons of fresh fruit and veggies. mini pies and ice mochas for everyone! 
• walked 2 miles to dinner along the beach. SO GOOD. 
• came home and had celebratory champagne
• shopping with my Best. I'm apart of the fitbit club now.
• went on a 4 mile walk/jog - there was a beautiful beach incentive
• made a yummy, healthy dinner and walked to get milkshakes after

We like to walk. and eat. a lot.

$1.50 mini pies. Yes please.

I like to call this champagne chillin'

To our families : We are still alive. We miss you and love you. Come visit us soon! 

June Goals

It's gonna be Juuuuuune! That just doesn't have the same ring to it, does it?

My May goals were :

• officially put in my notice at work
• find a place to live
• start packing!
• buy new bath towels
• take a trip to IKEA
• order checks from my bank
• save up $7,000 by June 1st.
• celebrate our ONE YEAR <3
• finish Jillian's 30 day shred
• keep up with no fast food! 

I put in my notice the very first day of May, so I got that out of the way quick! My boss was totally understanding and supportive. We lucked out on the place to live. My best friend's brother is moving back to our hometown, so Jarad and I are just taking his room! Eventually we want to find a bigger place, but for now, we aren't homeless! Packing is easy peasy. I'm leaving a lot of stuff at my Dad's since we don't really know what our living situation will be like in the near future. Storage is also limited at the place we will move into first.

I don't know why bath towels were such a big deal to me. I guess it's just the grown up thing to do. Moving out? Buy your own bath towels! Target was having a sale and my dad bought us a couple. Does that count as grown up?  Our IKEA trip was super successful. We got everything we needed for $390.

I ordered checks! Disney checks. Ariel, Lilo and Stich, The Lion King, and Mickey and Friends. I only bought them for Ariel. Let's be real.

I reached my goal of $7,000! Between my recent sponsored posts, my last pay check, and my left over time off being cashed out, I'm at about $7,500! What what! These past two months have been tough with budgeting because I've been having to actually spend money! Lol! Our one year anniversary was May 8th. We celebrated by going to our favorite Mexican restaurant. We kept it low key since we have so much going on the next couple weeks. Oh! And J sent me the prettiest tulips to work. <3

Oh Jillian. She kicks my butt. The fact that she talks crap to you the whole video really helps me out. I didn't do 30 days solid of Jillian. I mixed it up between Jillian, the Tone It Up Girls, and Casey from Blogilates - but I was active at least 30 minutes a day. I completed the 1800 minute challenge with more than 1800 minutes! Can that count?

Fast food? What's that? I've been fast food free for 78 days! I'm really impressed with myself.

• do a tour of our new room!
• do some form of exercise every day
• enjoy the heck out of our vacation
• post more recipes
• get outside! time to take advantage of my new surroundings
• get out of my comfort zone/stop being a scaredy cat 
• start job hunting/find a job 
• get financial aid sorted out 

Today is our first official day in Monterey! Eeeeek! I can't wait to see what life is going to be like here. 

What are your goals for June?