52 Weeks of Snail Mail with A Beautiful Mess

A Beautiful Mess Happy Mail subscription 

It's actually 53 weeks..but that sounded weird.

I'm bringing snail mail back...yup!

I've decided that the world needs more snail mail! My dad is always saying how nothing good comes in the mail, only bills. Well he obviously doesn't subscribe to any monthly boxes. :)

I loooove stationary, pretty cards, washi tape, etc. I have a collection actually. I don't use most of it because I love it so much. Surprise!

So, I've challenged myself this year, to hand write a letter to one person a week! It's been fun and I've actually done 6 so far in January. :) I'm ahead of the game.

I recently signed up for the monthly Happy Mail subscription box through A Beautiful Mess and I AM IN LOVE. This gives me even more of a reason to get my mail on. It's $15 a month (if you sign up for 12 months) for $50 worth of happy mail stuff. Picture shown above!

Random, but I did the math for postage and it'll cost me $25 for the whole year in postage to send a card every week. What an inexpensive cost. So worth it to make people happy!

I'm really excited to do this. I saved all the cards that I would receive when I was younger and I hope my nieces do the same thing with mine.

SO! If you want a pen pal, or just pretty happy mail...let's be pen pals! Email me at miranduh007@yahoo and we can chat :)  I would love to brighten your day.

My 2 Favorite Lush Products

If you were expecting a post about bath bombs, I'm sorry to disappoint. ;)

I recently had the pleasure of visiting a Lush store. Um hi, yes. Queue all the happy music. To say I was slightly overwhelmed is an understatement. What are all these products? What do they do? Why does everything look like food??? (those were just a few of my thoughts)

After a god send of an employee offered to show me the ropes. I told her what kind of things I was interested in. I told her that I have black heads on my nose, which I HATE. I also told her I don't suffer from break outs, I just usually get one pimple randomly at a time. She suggested the two products below. She was right. And now I love her.

The first is the Mask of Mangaminty. It's super weird looking, but I love it! It smells minty (surprise) and tingles your face. I put it all over my face in the shower and rinse it off after 3-5 minutes. When I get out of the shower, I use a nose strip. Best combo ever. 

It comes in a pretty big "pot". Totally worth it.

The second item is Grease Lighting! It works as a spot treatment for pimples. It's the bomb. Seriously. I put it on after I wash my face at night and the pimples are basically non existent in the morning. I'll put more on after my shower in the morning if I need to. The employee had me look at the consistency before I bought it because some people think its weird. It didn't bother me though. It's sort of gelly? I don't know how to describe it. You have to rub it in. That's a weird explanation. Anyway, it's totally fine!

What are you favorite lush products? Pleeeease share below! I'm looking to broaden my Lush horizons!

$50 Amazon Giveaway!

I have recently fallen in love with Amazon, you guys. Specifically Amazon Prime. My dad has an account, so I didn't even have to pay for my own!

I've teamed up with a lovely group of bloggers, thanks to Oh My Gosh Beck! to bring you this giveaway!!!

$50 bucks to Amazon!

Are you a blogger who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your blog? Click here to find out how you can join a totally awesome group of bloggers!”



a Rafflecopter giveaway

#YearOfHappy - January

I was so excited to read about the #YearOfHappy that Lizzie and Allison put together. It's a year long series (obviously, I guess) and each month there is a different activity.

This month we were supposed to write a love letter to ourselves. I actually haaaaate writing letters to myself. I just feel weird doing it. This will me more of collection of lists. I promise I won't be this negative sounding all the time. :)

Highlights of 2014: (in no specific order because I have a terrible memory)

- moved to Monterey with my boyfriend to live with our 2 best friends. (eek)
- took a Caribbean vacation with the little darlings mentioned above.
- sold my cupcakes in multiple REAL LIFE locations
- become a manager of a coffee shop (for a short amount of time)
- quit the above coffee shop and went back to a better job at the office I worked at before my move
- my baby niece Hanaly was born <3
- my aunt fully adopted two foster children into our family <3 <3
- celebrated one year with J!
- I actually let myself out of my comfort zone a few times this year ;) 

Goals for 2015: 
- be more intentional

- get my spark back
- be more active
- read more books
- take better care of myself/love myself
- save money
- work hard at my job and hopefully reap benefits from that
- get back into baking
- learn new things whenever possible
- travel as much as I can
- fear less

There's nothing like the start of a new year to make you feel refreshed and motivated. Am I right?

I made this using the Rhonna Designs app.

Ever since I moved away from my family, I've felt weird. Like something was missing. I wasn't myself. I still can't really explain it. I'm happy and I'm sad. This growing up stuff is hard. Feeling like I'm missing out on so many things back home is hard. I want to get myself back. I want my spark back. I want my energy back. I want my positive attitude back. I feel so drained all the time. Nothing really sounds fun anymore. Everything is suuuuuch a hassle. Getting dressed, driving somewhere, hanging out with people. Even baking (which I used to do almost every day) is too much work. Like what? I don't even understand that. I have literally become no fun. 

So, ramble over. I'm so ready to take my life back. 2015, you don't stand a chance.

A huge thank you to Lizzie and Allison. This link-up may be exactly what I need :) 

Walmart Beauty Box

Oh look....another subscription box! In my defense, I only subscribe to ipsy and this Walmart box.

I first heard about the Walmart Beauty Box from some rando lady on insta. She was showing what she got and I immediately googled/signed up.

It's a quarterly box, meaning it comes out 4 times a year. 4 times a year - 4 seasons. Coincidence? I think not. The boxes are said to be catered toward the season that they come out in.

Would you like to know the best part? It's only $5! Holla for 5 dolla!

It's a reoccurring subscription, so you only have to sign up once. Your card is charged once your box ships. It's all automatic! I love looking at my account and seeing that withdrawal. Good things are coming!!!!


So far, I've received 2 boxes. Loooooove.

My first box looked like this. See that full size clinical strength deo? That thing costs $7+ alone! I'm pretty sure this was the Fall box.

Annnddd this is my second box. This one is winter.

I've been very pleased with my goodies so far. I like that the products are a little more practical than other subscription boxes. This stuff is practically all necessities! ;) There's also those card stock type samples with coupons! (some are not shown, because they've been used) Woot woot!


You can sign up here! (This isn't sponsored or anything. I'm just sharing the love."

Sugar Rush - Blogging for Books

You guuuuuuuys!

If you like to read and you have a blog, go sign up for Blogging for Books.

You get FREE books (all different kinds) and all you have to do is review them!

For my first book, I chose a cookbook called Sugar Rush by Johnny Iuzzini.

It is faaaan-freaking-tastic. It's a hard back book, with incredible recipes and amazing instructions! The pictures are great quality and some recipes even have step by step picture instructions. I really like that the recipes are split up by types. For example, all yeast recipes are together or all tart recipes are together.

I unfortunately haven't been able to make anything from this book yet, but I will definitely in the near future! There's a recipe for french macarons that I am dying to try.

Are you drooling yet? Have I convinced you to sign up? If not, that's just more books for me ;)


What are some of your favorite books?



Thank you, Blogging for Books. I loved Sugar Rush! :)

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Turn 12 Bar and Grill // Monterey, CA

Woo hoo another restaurant review! This one is for Turn 12 in Monterey, CA.

My roommates and I have wanted to try this place out for awhile. We always walk by it late at night when we are heading back to our car from an evening downtown. We always forget about it and ALWAYS say we'll try it some time soon.

Well, we did! We went for lunch this week and we were totally impressed!

The atmosphere was fun. The prices were fine. The service was good. The food was delicious!

This place is totally decked out in racing things inspired by Laguna Seca Raceways. Lots of pictures on the walls. There's even a racing game set up in the middle!

Fun Fact #1: There is 11 turns at the Laguna Seca track. Turn 12...get it?
Fun Fact #2: their bar is the longest in Monterey.

We started out with the truffle fries. Yummmmm! They were crispy and delicious and didn't taste too oily.

I had the tomato basil soup with sour cream and croutons. I loved the sour cream and croutons. I wasn't a big fan of the soup. I didn't really know why until Jarad pointed out that it was kind of sweet. So maybe that was it?

For lunch, I ordered the beef short ribs with mashed potatoes and vegetables. My favorites! I loved it!

The boys each ordered the breakfast pizza. It was huge! It is totally share-able. There was eggs right in the center of the pizza. They cut around the eggs, which is a brilliant idea because the eggs didn't make the whole thing soggy. I'm a little too picky for everything that was on it, but it was really good. The crust was my favorite!

They also offer brunch and dinner! I definitely want to go for both.

If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend stopping into Turn 12.


Turn 12 Bar and Grill
400 Tyler Street, Monterey, CA 93940
http://www.turn12barandgrill.com/

*This post was not sponsored in any way. I just love good food.*