Tuesday, April 30, 2013

The Host Book VS Movie

I recently reviewed the book, The Host by Stephenie Meyer and thought since I just watched the movie I would come back and let you know what I thought about it.

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I'm going to start out by saying that I am a huge critic of movies once I have read the book. Especially if the novel is fresh in my memory and I remember specific details. I freaked out during nearly every Harry Potter movie because they didn't follow important details from the books. I am a little obsessive about my books =)

I realllllly wanted to watch The Host, by the time I was ready to go to the movies and see it, it was out of theaters. That forced me to find it online so I could see it- I know I'm a bad girl, but I seriously couldn't wait any longer. I went into the movie with an open mind, really excited to see what they had done with this story.

I was a little upset that they changed the storyline of Wanderer and Melanie on the run from the beginning- it wasn't a huge deal but it did bug me that Melanie took over Wanderer's body and crashed the car. In the novel Melanie never had that kind of control over her own body- Wanderer always had the control to stop her from intervening at the beginning.

I was okay with all of that, until they started excluding characters. Characters were dying when they weren't supposed to be dying, characters who had a pretty big role didn't even exist. It was frustrating.

I was happy that the movie ended the same way as the book for the most part- except that Wanderer is now in a completely different body than was described in the book. I guess that's not a huge deal- but it did bother me because I'm weird like that. 

Overall, the movie followed the general plotline of the novel but I would say that the book is a million times better. I will probably not be purchasing the movie to watch again in the future- but I would recommend seeing it, especially if you have read the book- it is definitely a great extension of the novel. Just be prepared that everything you read in the book will not be covered in the movie- and I suppose that's okay seeing as the book was so long =)

Monday, April 29, 2013

Spring Product Empties!


As I did a month ago, I'm here to share my product empties with you. 

I love watching product empty videos on youtube, and while I prefer to express myself in writing rather than through video I love to participate in a subject such as this. I love beauty products and trying out different products and seeing what works best for me. I also love hearing reviews on products and knowing what works for specific skin types and would love to share my experiences with products with you as well.

After this review, I will begin doing these reviews every other month so there will hopefully be a ton of products each time.  


This Carried Away lotion by Bath and Body Works was one of my favorite scents! I am still working through my shower gel of this same scent. It is a light scent and has a bit of a floral scent to it, but not too much. I love the Bath and Body Works lotions because they really moisturize my skin.



I always keep a lotion in my purse, and had been slowly using up Country Chic by Bath and Body Works. I got the lotion for free with a coupon, but definitely liked it. It was a stronger scent, not something I would repurchase first out of all the other scents that they have but definitely worth checking out!


This Diamond Candle in the scent watermelon was AMAZING. I find that Diamond Candles are always very potent and the smell truly travels through your house. I can't recommend them enough. This scent in particular just carried and smelt like watermelon bubble gum- yum! =)


I also love this Bath and Body Works Palm Beach Cooler candle. I purchased two more of them after finishing this one, if that explains anything!



I reviewed this Macademia Deep Repair Masque in my March Birchbox Review. I love this masque and will be repurchasing it again and again and again and was so happy to have a free sample of it!


I also reviewed this Whish shave cream in blueberry in my March Birchbox Review. I loved this scent and thought this shave cream was amazing. I would be purchasing this in full size if I wasn't able to get other shave gels for free with couponing!


I had received this Embryoisse moisturizing cream in a Birchbox last year and thought it was pretty good, but I didn't continue using it. Recently, I decided to whip it back out and finish the tube and I loved it! It was a little thicker then the celestial moisturizer I usually use. I was really enjoying it and it disappeared far too quickly!


I received these nail polish remover pads in my stocking and really enjoyed being able to remove my nail polish without the awful smell or remover! These were vanilla scented and although they didn't smell quite like vanilla they weren't wretched smelling! They worked fine as well!


This viva la juicy perfume was just okay, I definitely don't need to purchase a larger size of it. It was too strongly fragranced for me!


I loved this Sispa lotion! I kept it in my purse for about a week and then it was all gone! This lotion was so creamy and moisturizing! If I knew where to find it, I would definitely purchase a larger size. I really don't need anymore lotion though...it'll take me years to go through all I have!


I reviewed this yes to grapefruit last week in my Birchbox review so I will just say- YUCK!


I only use Sensodyne toothpaste and have been that way for a year or two. It controls my canker sore problem as well getting the job done in my mouth!


This Tocca lotion sample was AMAZING! The lotion was so creamy and thick and I really enjoy the cucumber scent that it had. If I needed lotion- this would on the top of my to-buy list!


This Origins anti-aging cream was something I was excited to try- but it didn't really do anything for me. I didn't notice any difference in my skin- but did notice that it stained my pillowcase! SO lame.


I received these Crest 3D White Whitestrips in a sample box I got in the mail from P&G. I thought these whitestrips weren't bad! I usually think that whitestrips taste awful but these didn't taste bad. If I can find a good deal for these I will definitely purchase a full size of them!


I thought I would really like this Rose Queen Bath Bomb from Lush but I HATED it! I will never repurchase this bath bomb. There were "roses" inside and I use quotations because to be quite honest the "roses" looked like little black bugs. I had to clean out my bathtub afterwards because there were so many little black pieces floating around. I didn't care for the scent too much either- I usually like rose scented items but after this I am a little repulsed by it.


I finished a Hello Hydration conditioner from Herbal Essences. It's amazing how much faster I go through conditioner than shampoo! I am still working on the shampoo, however I can tell you that I loved both the products in this set. I think they are a great product and really leave my hair moisturized and conditioned. I will definitely repurchase this again once I get through the many shampoos and conditioners I have lying around!


The last item I have this month is the I love shea foot cream from Bath and Body Works True Blue Spa. This is a luxurious foot cream that I think does wonders for my feet! I don't have another foot cream so I do need to repurchase this!

What products have you used up lately?

Friday, April 26, 2013

Weekly Couponing Wrapup!

Hey guys- not too much this week, but a few things I wanted to mention in the couponing department!

First of all, on Sunday I headed off to Target to get my free Earth Day bag!

There were a bunch of samples inside including: Annies Bunny grams, Method dish soap, Burts Bees lotion, and Seventh Generation natural dish soap. Also inside was a huge book of Target coupons- super exciting!!! I was glad I took the trip up there to get the free bag!





At CVS this week I picked up a few items- my first trip was to get two items:



Physicians Formula concealer stick @ $6.79
Kotex pantyliners @ $1.67

I used a $2 coupon off the Kotex, which made it a 33 cent money maker!
I used a $1 coupon off the Physicians Formula, which brought the total to $5.79.
I also used a $5 ECB

My total was $1.05 including tax- awesome!

Then I received a $7 ECB for purchasing Physicians Formula- even better!!


I headed back to CVS to nab a few other deals I was excited about.




2 Toms deodorants @ $4 each
2 Crest toothpastes @ $2.99 each

I had two coupons for $1 off crest, making each of them $1.99.
I used a $2 coupon off the Toms deodorant, making each one $3.
I also used a $7 ECB.

My total was $2.98- pretty good!

Then I received a $4 ECB for the Crest, and $2 ECB for the Toms. Amazing!


I also received a few free samples in the mail this week- applying for free samples is a great way to try out new things or get spares of items you already love. I apply to a ton of free samples everyday!


Thursday, April 25, 2013

Running/Exercise Update

Seeing that my 10K race is just a little over a week away, I figured I would pop on here and let you know how my running is going.

I officially made 4 miles on Sunday night, meaning that I am well on my way. I plan on doing another long run this Sunday followed by shorter runs as the week goes on.

I am super excited about my race next Saturday- but am really nervous as well.

I have been reading some 10K race tips lately and here are few great places I have found tips:

10K Race Tips

More 10K Race Tips

Tips from Active.Com


Does anyone have tips about running your first 10K???

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Laundry Room CleanUp

Last week, I completed another little project that was driving me mad.

Our laundry room is quite spacious and gets filled up with just extra junk really easily since it is located off our mudroom and garage. I went in there knowing I couldn't get rid of too much since it mostly does not belong to me- but I wanted to clean it up and organize it a little bit.




You'd never believe that all that junk was hidden behind those cabinet doors would you? Well I was sick of seeing all that stuff in there!


Another corner of the laundry room had a bunch of laundry samples that we've gotten free. Also in this little container was coins, nails, screws, and other things that fell out of peoples pockets in the wash. There were also other little things in this container as well- and they needed to get out of the laundry room!


All that's left now are the samples! Much better =)


This basket also drove me nuts! There are a few items in here for when we give Roxy a bath, an extra leash, some cleaning supplies- basically just needed to be reorganized.


Much better!


And this is one of the cabinets after getting reorganized... items are mostly just arranged differently, but still in a way that makes sense. I would like to go through this more and still need to go through the other side of the cabinet- but it looks better for now!

Quick Before and Afters!


Before                          After










Before                                     After














              Before                                After          

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

April Birchbox Review

I'm back with my April Birchbox review! I gave you my initial thoughts about this Birchbox last week and now I will go through and review each item...

The first item is the Beauty Protector


I used this item as a leave in conditioner and I definitely liked it. There wasn't a strong smell to it and it definitely did no damage to my hair. Will I purchase a full size of this item? No, I won't. Mostly because I didn't notice any huge difference. My hair didn't seem any healthier or softer after using this product. I definitely would use it if I was given a free sample again, but I don't need to use it on a daily basis.

Next, The juice beauty CC Cream


This is a tinted moisturizer essentially and it is okay. My skin is a little light for this cream and I don't think that it works particularly well for me. I will be finishing the tube, but it is not something I will purchase a full size of.

The yes to carrots lip butter...


You guys know me- I am obsessed with my Burts Bees. This lip butter tasted good enough, but it was not my Burts Bees...I placed it in my lip drawer with the rest of my lip products but I probably won't finish it...I'm so bad!

This Caudalie eye cream..


was actually a pretty good product! I liked it a lot, it didn't do anything negative to my eyes, that's for sure. It was a thicker cream then I had been using on my under eyes but I definitely liked it. I would consider purchasing this in full size depending on its price.

I did NOT like this yes to grapefruit facial scrub and correcting serum...


First of all, the smell was horrendous (at least to me), I thought it was awful and was not a fan of putting it on my face. I did lightly scrub my face with the daily facial scrub, and carefully rinsed it off. The I gently dabbed on the dark spot correcting serum. I went to bed shortly afterwards and my skin was lightly broken out. Yuck. Never purchasing this item.

Overall, this wasn't a wonderful Birchbox, last months was a million times better. I will continue to subscribe to Birchbox and can't wait to get next months!

Do you subscribe to any monthly beauty boxes? I have heard many things about Ipsy and Glossy Box and have considered subscribing to another box, but I'm not sure it they are worth the money! Let me know!

I will be posting a product empties before the end of the month and you may see a few of these products listed in there as well!

Monday, April 22, 2013

Painting The Bathroom..

Of course during my week off my parents decided to repaint several areas in my house... fun fun!

One of the areas was my bathroom, which desperately needed a fresh coat of paint. This also meant that despite deep cleaning the bathroom earlier this year, it was time to once again take everything out of the bathroom and clean everything! Knowing that even the walls and ceiling were scrubbed made the bathroom just seem even cleaner. I knew that everything that went back into that room needed to be scrubbed and sanitized. 

My dad taped the entire room and I helped him remove everything. Then my mom washed the walls, my dad sanded and painted...

Then it was time for me to put the room back together....

Before I placed ANYTHING back in the bathroom, I scrubbed down the entire bathtub, toilet, and sink area. I cleaned the floor, mirror, and trash can.

The first thing I took back into the bathroom was all my shower products, it was nice to get those back inside!


As I cleaned and put items away, I watched a little bit of the most recent Dance Moms episode =)


Putting the shower curtain back in makes it feel a little more finished off..


I cleaned the light fixtures as well, scrubbing them down until every speck of dust was gone!


Placed pictures back on the wall, and products back on my brothers side of the counter.


The wicker cabinet above the toilet had to be screwed back into the wall, and I placed everything back inside and on the shelves.


I even learned how to reattach the towel racks and other bathroom hardware. I'm not sure if my dad taught me for future knowledge or just so he didn't have to reattach all of them =)


Nicely folded towels always make everything better =)


Thankful that project is over!


Have a great day everyone!