Rocksbox Set #2

In case you don't know what Rocksbox is, it's a jewelry subscription box. It's $19 a month. You create a wishlist and your designer sends you pretty jewelry pieces to borrow and/or buy. If you hate everything in your box, you can send it right back and get another one sent out once they receive the original! If you want to keep a piece or two or three, you simply pay online and keep the pieces you wish. Also! Every month you get $10 of Shine Spend that can be used toward your jewelry purchase. How cool is that?

I recently became a Rocksbox ItGirl and it has been so much fun to try jewelry pieces that I may not usually choose for myself. You can use code "meranneduh1xoxo" for your first month free! You won't regret it!

Piece #1: Loren Hope Blythe Necklace in Neon Pink : $75

I looooooved this necklace. I'm pretty I wore it every other day while I had it. It was just so cute. Unfortunately, I cannot justify spending $75 (or $65 with my Shine Spend) on a necklace. :/

Piece #2: Gorjana Aurora Large Stud Earrings : $40

I thought these were so cute! Different and sparkly, just how I like it! I'm always stalking Gorjana's website, so I was super excited to see these in my box!

Piece #3: Sophie Harper Double Bar Ring in Gold : $24

I loved the simplicity of this ring, however, I found it to be nothing special. I didn't purchase it for that reason.

Overall, that necklace was my favorite piece. I'm really loving hot pink right now and I got so many compliments when I wore it! I can't wait to see what comes next.

VIP at a Kelly Clarkson Concert!?

All my middle school dreams came true on Sunday night, you guys. I was given VIP tickets to a Kelly Clarkson concert at Shoreline Amphitheatre. (why does that word look SO weird?) Anyway! I didn't get to go back stage or anything, but we really did get special treatment!

I took my mom, my sisters and myself. We got VIP parking right next to the amphitheatre. We got to eat in the "VIP Terrace" before the show. Free food? Sign me up! We got to sit in box seats. They're about 20 rows from the stage. So awesome. There was even waiters that would come take your food and drink order, so you only had to leave your seat to pee! Haha!

First up was Abi Ann. She's the cutest 18 year old girl that sings a song called "My Future Ex-Boyfriend" and I loved it. I hadn't heard of her before the show. Second up was Eric Hutchinson. I had never heard of him either, but he was so fun! He wore a light blue suit and actually came into the crowd!

Third was Pentatonix. Um hi. They made my life. I knew they did the A Capella version of Cheerleader and I loved that.  They were seriously amazing. I had goosebumps the whole time. The crowd was SCREAMING for them. There were more Pentatonix shirts than Kelly Clarkson shirts! We followed all of them on social media right after their set finished.

Last but certainly not least, Kelly came on. Barefoot in all her prego glory. She is adorable. She had a sequins jacket on. AND (in case you haven't seen her recently) the side of her head is shaved. She had it glittered, you guys. It was fantastic. She was so sweet and so funny. AND. She can belt those songs out. She was so good! I was kind of joking about how I didn't know much of her new stuff, but she played all the classics and she absolutely blew us away.

If I could relive the concert, I would. The whole evening went flawlessly and the show was AMAZING!

I stole this from Nikki's snap chat. (me, Maddie, Nikki)

5 Layer Twix Cake!

Say whaaaat? You read that right.

This last weekend, my family and I celebrated my Dad's birthday. In case you know absolutely nothing about me, I bake. Mostly cupcakes, sometimes other random things. But I don't make cakes.

I wanted to do something  special for my Dad's birthday, so I figured I would surprise everyone and whip up a super awesome cake. And I did. (Modesty was never my best quality.)

My dad loves Twix. So, I obviously had to make the most ridiculous Twix cake any of us have ever seen. I've actually never seen a Twix cake, so it wasn't that hard to beat. :)

I used these super awesome Wilton Easy Layer pans that my BFF got me for my birthday last year. 5 come in the pack and they are really shallow. Perfect for this. The cake only had to cook 10 minutes at 350.

I did a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting as my base. I bought shortbread cookies and caramel sauce and went to town. I wanted to be a little more creative than just throwing Twix on top. To save my family from diabetes, I only added the shortbread and caramel to every other layer. ;)

First things first, put a glob of frosting on your plate or cake board and push the first layer of cake down on top of it. That's your base. then spread a layer of chocolate frosting. Crumble up a short break cookie and drizzle with caramel. Add your second layer of cake. Spread the frosting. Skip the cookies and caramel. Add your third layer of cake. Add the cookies and caramel. The fourth layer is just cake and frosting. And finish off with your fifth layer and all the cookie and caramel goodness you can handle. If you add too much caramel, it will be a sticky mess. So maybe go easy.  I just did a little swirl.

I made this quick cake topper with wooden skewers and a piece of craft garland that I had. I hot glued each end to a skewer and voila! I got the candle at True Value. I figured my Dad would love it.

I do realize that this cake is ridiculous, but it's only 6 inches in diameter and 9 of us were sharing it and we still had left overs! We cut the cake into quarters and then each took a couple layers. We decided that would be the best way to tackle the beast.

What's your favorite candy bar? Maybe I'll turn it into a 5 layer cake ;) 

Rocksbox Rocks My Socks

hehehehe. I'm sure that line has been used soooo many times, but I don't care.

In case you don't know what Rocksbox is, it's a jewelry subscription box. It's $19 a month. You create a wishlist and your designer sends you pretty jewelry pieces to borrow and/or buy. If you hate everything in your box, you can send it right back and get another one sent out once they receive the original! If you want to keep a piece or two or three, you simply pay online and keep the pieces you wish. Also! Every month you get $10 of Shine Spend that can be used toward your jewelry purchase. How cool is that?

Rocksbox is my new favorite thing. Straight up. I took the style quiz and added a bunch of stuff to my wishlist and a few days later, my first box arrived!

The one thing they sent me that was on my wishlist : these Kendra Scott earrings. HELLO, BEAUTIFUL. $52.00

Second, was this gem-tastic statement necklace. I have a similar necklace, so I won't be purchasing this one, but I received so many compliments. $44.00

Third, was this edgy, fun statement necklace. I liked this necklace, but wearing it drove me nuts. The little shapes kept flipping up and it just wasn't that comfortable. I was aware of it all day long. I won't be purchasing this one. $60.00

The jewels I received are a little pricey, but it's so fun to borrow them and style outfits in new ways. I got multiple compliments on every piece! I can't wait to see what's in my next box!

For your first month free, use code meranneduh1xoxo at checkout and then let me know what you get! 

Avoiding Awkward with U by Kotex

I can happily say that I can count my embarrassing stories on one hand. The stories I do have, aren't even thaaaat embarrassing and they were all many years ago, so who cares! That's what I tell myself any way.

Update: (That was the preface of this post that I typed up yesterday...before I got home...and added another embarrassing story to my count.)  This one might take the cake.

So, let me tell you a little story. It was a fine Thursday evening when I arrived home. Jarad had gone to get pizza and I was all by myself. Obviously, the first thing I did was take off my pants. I hate pants. I went to the bathroom (door closed). When I opened the door, I was pantsless and saw a group of TEN firemen standing outside of our sliding glass door. (Our main living room wall is all windows and 2 sliding glass doors and our blinds were open.) Uhhhhh ohhhhhhh. I hurried back into the bathroom and came up with a game plan. "Okay, you can do this. They won't see you. Just open the door and duck into your room. You got this." (Mind you, I always keep my lounge clothes in the bathroom and that morning I was responsible and put them where they belong.) I opened the door, started to walk out of the bathroom and right as I turned to enter our room, one of the firefighters turned around. And stared at me. In my cute pink thong. He nodded politely as I stood there mortified. I ducked into our room, put on shorts and tried to act as natural as possible, as I waltzed back into the living room. (I couldn't hide forever. They were there for hours.)

When I was telling this story to my mom, she said "At least you were wearing cute undies." I responded with, "You're right! They could've been my period undies."

And that got me thinking. We shouldn't have to worry about ruining our undies and dubbing them "period undies". We should be able to live comfortably and confidently!

I recently picked up U by Kotex Lightday Liners and they are perf. The packaging is fun and compact. The liners are comfortable and allow me to sit back and relax without worrying about ruining another pair of cute undies! I love not being aware of "them". I've always been a liner lover and I'm even more of a fan now!

COUPON TIME! Click here and get a $1 off coupon for U by Kotex liners!

You can also enter the #BringBackComfy Contest at www.bringcomfyback.com and submit your LOL worthy uncomfortable face. Each month a winner will be chosen to receive a $200 Urban Outfitters gift card, a Go Pro Hero 3 white camera, a $100 Sephora gift card AND U by Kotex products.

Whaddya say? You wouldn't want to get caught in your period undies, now would you?

August Goals

Hi, July. Bye, July. So much for those goals!

I'M SERIOUS THIS TIME, YOU GUYS. This will be my month!

Quick life update: we are all moved into our new apartment. We killed our move on Friday thanks to our bffs, Beth and Evan. They were such a huge help and the move was flawless...well except for when our dresser fell over in the trailer. It's only a little unstable now :)

I'm ready to complete some goals! Something about a new month and a new apartment has me feeling all kinds of motivated.

• go to the gym! we have one in our complex now!
• meal prep lunches
• celebrate my step dad's birthday
• celebrate my dad's birthday
• host a housewarming party
• find cute, inexpensive ways to decorate our new place
• start planning my niece's first birthday
• start planning my sister's sweet sixteen!
• plan our HallowDisney trip. eeeeeeek!

This month actually sounds like a lot of fun! We have a lot of family stuff coming up, which I always love. We want to start eating healthier/at home as much as possible. I also plan to use the gym at our complex. My three biggest excuses for not going to the gym are : 1) I don't want to drive 2) I don't want to pay the extra money 3) I don't have time. Well, I can't say any of those anymore, unfortunately. Maybe this will actually be the month that I stick to my plans!

What are some of you goals for August? I would love to encourage you!