What I'm Loving Wednesday!

Linking up at http://www.littledaisymay.blogspot.com/ on this last Wednesday of March.

Here's what I'm loving today:

My running shoes (Asics Cumulus 12)

I bought them at the Rhode Runner store in Providence - the staff there was very friendly and helpful! I will definitely go back in the future when it's time to upgrade these shoes!

This lip gloss from Urban Decay

It came with my Naked 2 palette and it's the perfect little size to take anywhere.

These frozen veggie blends from Green Giant:

I mix them with some brown rice and voila - a quick, healthy dinner. They say there's 2 servings in there, but it's pretty small, and I have no problem eating the whole package by myself. 

That's what I'm loving today!

Mad Men

No, this isn't a spoiler post about last night's episode - I haven't even seen the premiere of Season 5 yet (we gave up cable a year and a half ago)

However, in anticipation of the upcoming season I rewatched the first episode of Season 1 and the last episode of Season 4. I forgot how much I love Don Draper!! It was really interesting to see how much the cast has changed in the past 5 years, too.

Anyone else a Mad Men fan??

Great mascara, but not for me :(

So I recently purchased Cover Girl's latest mascara - Lash Blast 24 Hour

The first time I used it - I loved it! Great volume, separation, etc. I thought to myself "This is my new go-to mascara - yay!"

Until later on that day, when I noticed my eyes were itchy, irritated and painful.

Now, at first, I didn't make the connection that it was the mascara. I thought my contacts were the culprit. So I popped in a new pair a few days later.

My eyes were still feeling dry and itchy by the end of the day.

So I did an experiment and used my Maybelline one-by-one mascara instead.

Ta-da! No itchy eyes, no irritation!

But I'm so sad, because I really, really loved this CG stuff.... Has anyone else (contact lens users) tried this and had similar issues??

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Yes, I've been a bad blogger...life has been uber busy (when is it not??) Lots of stuff happening at school & home and just not enough time to blog :(

We've had some unseasonably warm weather up here in New England for the past few days - tomorrow is supposed to be in the 80s! Love it!

Ok, so onto today's topic. Here are some things I'm loving today!

John Freida Clear Shine Luminous Glaze

I'm pretty sure my friend Holly has blogged about this stuff before. Every time I see it in a store, I immediately think of the rave reviews she gave it. Well, it was onsale at Ulta few weeks ago so I snagged a bottle and have tried it twice. 

This stuff is amazing! It doesn't weigh down my hair, it makes blow drying/straightening SO much easier and it helps to brighten my blonde highlights too. I've only tried it in the shower on wet hair, but it says you can use it on dry hair (before you shower) as well.

Essie's "Go Overboard" is what I'm wearing on my nails today. It's definitely a little more blue than the picture above. A really fun blue-teal color!

Love my Camelbak! I have it in the purple shown and it really has helped me drink more water (as the sticker says on the side!) I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the straw contraption, but after the first couple of sips, I was hooked! So much more convenient than having to unscrew the whole cap to take a drink.

I've been in love with this salad dressing for almost 2 years now and as soon as the weather starts to warm up, I bust out a bottle for my salads because it's such a refreshing taste! I've also had their ranch dressing which is pretty tasty!

Ok, that's it for today - gotta ease back into this whole blog thing :)

Naked Palette 2

Just ordered this from Sephora (Thanks Sooze for the giftcard!) I've heard mixed reviews about the colors/packaging, but I have the first Naked palette and love it so much, I just had to get the 2nd one, too!

I can't wait to try out the brush - I love that it's dual ended. And the lip gloss looks very cute!

New Year, New Resolutions

And one of them is to update this blog more often!!!

Ugh, between the holidays and a relaxing vacation, I just had no desire to blog..

Here's what's on my mind today:

- I love our new sectional! We bought it over vacation and it just makes the room feel so much more inviting!

It was delivered on my husband's birthday, so of course I had to take a picture of him lounging on it :)

-I've been watching "The Wonder Years" on Netflix and I'm on the last season - so sad for it to end :( Such a great show - I never watched it back in the day because I was a little too young to get all the subject matter

- I was at Ulta over vacation and picked up this new cleanser and I love it!!

I was using Proactiv for the past month, but it's just not cutting it for me, so on a whim I picked up this Enzyme Cleansing Gel (the trial size for $7). You only need a little bit for it to work, so I'm hoping this bottle will last me a long time. The scent is very fresh, too.

- I'm also loving the latest Essie color I picked up:

Note: That is not my hand!

It's called Master Plan and it's a really nice, cool grey - perfect for winter!

Ok, that's it for now - here's a cute picture of my dog - I can't believe he's almost 8 months old!!

Post-Thanksgiving Food/Shopping Coma

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!

We enjoyed a lovely meal, just the 2 of us - it was much needed! - at a lovely little restaurant in downtown Providence, Mill's Tavern

The Thanksgiving menu was fantastic and we enjoyed a lovely turkey dinner along with some yummy appetizers/dessert:

Vermont Cheddar and Harpoon “Octoberfest” bisque with house smoked kurabota ham hock and poached quail egg

Point Judith Calamari crusted in Kenyon's white cornmeal with spinach, aged balsamic vinaigrette and quince chutney 

(I had to google quince because it tasted like apple but not exactly)

 

Herb Roasted Turkey Roulades 
with giblet gravy, Kenyon's white cornbread, house-made sausage stuffing, pineapple-cranberry relish, buttered green beans, red bliss mashed
and carrot-sweet potato mashed

 Vermont Maple Crème Brûlée
Fig-pear butter, vanilla crème fraiche,
oatmeal pecan shortbread


Loved this little pewter creamer!

I didn't realize how popular it was to dine out on Thanksgiving! We had 2:30 reservations and didn't get seated until about 3 because it was so busy. So we grabbed drinks at the bar and enjoyed the atmosphere. It was well worth the wait!

Later that evening/the next morning, I ventured out with a good friend to see what this Black Friday madness was all about. Um, definitely not something I will ever partake in again! I did grab a few things on sale at Old Navy, Target, and Best Buy, but honestly it wasn't worth staying out til 6 AM! One of the Targets we went to was ridiculous: lines wrapped around the inside of the store, customers navigating multiple carts overflowing with TVs and other electronics, policemen dealing with all of the chaos both inside and out of the store.  We drove to the next town's Target which was considerably less crowded and grabbed a few things before our next top - Old Navy.  We were probably some of the first 100 people in line, but unfortunately did not get to the doors early enough (thanks to some confusion about what time the mall was opening!) to snag a free digital camera. Oh well! I did get a great deal on this coat, tho:

It's just the right length and has a nice fit - I love the cuffs too!

I spent the rest of the weekend catching up on sleep and being lazy on the couch with my laptop watching episodes of "The Wonder Years" - it was perfect!

Now, back to the daily grind, counting down the days til Christmas vacation! (20 - ugh!) 

Oh - I almost forgot! I tried this recipe from SkinnyTaste over the weekend and it was a big hit with my husband:

 

I probably should have remembered to serve it with sour cream/Greek yogurt - oops! It was still yummy tho and very easy to make. Can't wait to use my Crock Pot again.