Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Favorite Moments of 2013!

Today's post is going to revisit some of my favorite blogged about moments from 2013. This might include personal moments in my life, as well as blogged-about projects.

January

February
March
April
May
July
August
  • I went to France! (Tons of posts on this!)
  • I saw Hanson in concert, a childhood dream come true =)
October
December
What were your favorite moments from 2013? 

Happy New Years everyone, please be safe tonight!

Monday, December 30, 2013

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy birthday to my dad, who is now my favorite number… 57!





Love you daddy! Enjoy your day!

Friday, December 27, 2013

Holiday Chocolate Fudge!

This is an easy recipe that would be great to bring to any holiday party (or any kind of party) you have going on! My mom taught me to make this, and we shared it with everyone on Christmas Eve- it was a hit! My favorite part? That it's super easy!

Here's what you will need:

A baking pan  (and tinfoil)
A mixing bowl
14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
12 oz bag of semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup of milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup of butter
1 tsp of vanilla


First, take a baking pan and cover it with tin foil.


Next, gather your ingredients, and a bowl to mix everything in.


Take your sweetened condensed milk and pour all of the can into your mixing bowl.


Take your 12 oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips and one cup of milk chocolate chips and put them in the same mixing bowl as your condensed milk.


Microwave on high for one and a half minutes. When you take it out of the microwave you should be able to mix up the chocolate chips and condensed milk nicely into a thick but melted concoction.


Once it is completely mixed (make sure you mix it REALLY well) you can add the vanilla. At this time if you wanted to add nuts you could as well. I don't like nuts in my fudge, so I just stick with plain chocolate fudge!



Smooth all of the fudge into your tin foil-covered pan until it is smooth across the top and everything is even.


Let your fudge chill in the fridge for at least two hours.


Finally it's time to taste test and cut everything up!


Then store it in the fridge until you're ready to serve!

This is really delicious fudge, my dad said that it tastes like a chocolate bar and I can't help but to agree! If you're looking for a seriously easy fudge recipe then this is definitely it!

Now a couple tips…

~Use Ghiradelli chocolate chips because they are the best! They truly make it a million times better.
~Mix everything really well- and if you need to put the chocolate chip/milk mixture back in the microwave that will okay, just don't put it in for too long!

If you make this recipe, let me know how it goes! =)

Have a great weekend everybody!

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

I hope this post finds you after a wonderful holiday with your family and friends. Personally, my Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were full of relaxing, fun times with my family and friends. 


and of course with one little grumpy reindeer!



Yes, Roxy wore her little reindeer costume on Christmas Eve and was cute all night long!


I also received a visit from Rachel and Ant!

My family arrived and after having dinner we settled in to watch A Christmas Story.





We had a pretty early evening, and settled in for a good nights sleep!


Roxy loves Christmas morning. She received a new bed, a bunch of toys, some pupperonis, and dad even shared beef jerky with her!




I also made monkey bread for the family. I thought it turned out pretty well, it was my first time making it! I found the recipe here   if you are interested in making it yourself!

Overall, it was a wonderful day and I received so many wonderful things! I am a lucky girl!


How was your holiday? What was the best gift you received?

My favorite gift this year was my FitBit! I'm so excited for it!

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Merry Christmas!!!


Merry Christmas everyone!!!

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas Day spending time with your loved ones. I will see you guys tomorrow when I will be sharing my Christmas holiday!

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Christmas Coasters!

My mom and I did a little project and finished it up yesterday so I thought I would share it here!

We made some adorable Christmas coasters, and it wasn't that difficult of a project. The materials we used were; small paper napkins, tiles, cork, hot glue/hot glue gun, mod podge, and clear glossy finish spray.


First we each took four coasters and laid them out on top of saran wrap- in order to keep the desk clean.


Next we picked out some Christmasy napkins. My mom chose holly leaf napkins, and I chose ones with snowmen on them.





Using the mod podge and a small brush we completely covered the tiles and then carefully smoothed out the napkin. They tend to get a little wrinkled, so it may be better to use something with more of a pattern and less of an actual picture.


My moms turned out really nice!

We let them dry out for a few days, and then sprayed them with a clear finishing spray outside….

Then after waiting for a few more days, it was time to add cork to the bottom!



We cut out small squares of cork and then used the hot glue gun to attach them to the bottom of the tiles.


Cute! I'm excited that now I know how to make these little coasters and wanted to share this because they would make an adorable gift for someone, no matter the occasion!

I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas Eve and are spending time with family and friends!

Monday, December 23, 2013

December Birchbox Review

When I opened the December Sparkle and Shine Birchbox I was very excited about the products that I found inside….



Now, I'm back to share my thoughts on these products with you!


I had never tried a polisher before, so I wasn't quite sure how to use this product. After showering and washing my face, I took a small amount of this and rubbed it all over my face. Then I followed it up with my regular moisturizer. I didn't notice a huge difference in how my skin felt, but it didn't harm my skin in any way. It was a nice little sample to use, but definitely not something I find to be a necessity!


This Toni and Guy hair product was meant to give beachy waves. I didn't get amazing results from this product, it left a bit of product in my hair (drying it into clumps…) I need to test it out some more to get better results I think. I am not planning on giving up on this product, but it was definitely not my favorite in this Birchbox!


This hair band is my new favorite hair elastic! It is a lot gentler on my hair then a regular elastic is, but it still holds everything in place. I have been using this pretty much every day. It still leaves a little bit of a wave in my hair after having it up, but not quite as extreme as a normal elastic does. This was definitely my favorite item in this months Birchbox.


Ugh it's so frustrating when something you think will be so good turns out to be awful! I don't know if this mascara was old or something was wrong with the formula, but nothing would come out! I was so irritated as I tried to apply it to my lashes and it wouldn't work. It was completely dried out. I know I said I liked dry mascara, but this just didn't work for me! Bummer because I love getting mascara in my boxes...


The last product I was not a fan of from the beginning, but I decided to give it a try anyways. Dr. Lipp's nipple balm for lips was basically like putting vaseline on my lips. I was pretty grossed out, but wanted to try it for the sake of this review. I put it on my lips before going to bed so I wouldn't notice it for long however when I woke up in the morning my lips were completely dried out!
I did not want to try it again because I'm sticking to my Burts Bees. I've said it a million times but I'm addicted to Burts Bees and don't want to try any other lip products! Maybe Birchbox will listen this time =)


So overall, I was not a huge a fan of this particular Birchbox and hope that I get a better box next month!

Saturday, December 21, 2013

The Night Circus










I just finished a novel that had been highly recommended to me ten times over. This novel is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I have a huge to-read list, so I kept pushing this particular novel down my list but I'm so glad I am finally able to check it off!

I had no clue what to expect when starting this novel and at first was a little confused because the storyline jumps around so much in different times and different characters. By the end of the novel, everything was tied together and finally made sense.

The setting of this story is the mysterious Le Cirque de Reves, a circus that suddenly appears all over the world, and disappears just as suddenly. There are numerous tents inside the circus, all containing acts that no one has ever seen before. The Night Circus is truly magical, because it is the setting of a    competition between two great illusionists. These illusionist, Celia and Marco were locked in to this competition before they became grown adults by their teachers and now must battle until only one is left standing. 

There are so many great characters in this novel, my favorites were the twins who were born the circus's opening night. However, every character has their own distinct personality and I thought each of them were thoroughly entertaining. 

One tips I would give to anyone reading The Night Circus, which I wish had been given to me is pay attention to the dates at the beginning of each chapter. The story changes timelines quite a bit, bouncing back and forth from one storyline to another, all dealing with the circus but the timelines don't meet up until the end of the book. At first I was confused by this, but I think if I had paid better attention to the dates it would have been far easier to understand what happened when.

I highly recommend this book! =)

As for what's on my to-read list…here's a sneak peek!

  • The Wolves of Mercy Falls Series ( Shiver, Linger and Forever) by Maggie Stiefvater
  • Panic by Lauren Oliver
  • Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
  • The Siren by Kiera Cass
  • The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
  • Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
  • The Kill Order by James Dashner
  • The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting
  • Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
  • The Fault in our Stars by John Green
Any recommendations? What is on your to-read list?!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Friday, December 20, 2013

Hershey Kiss Christmas Treats!

Today, I'm sharing with you one of my favorite holiday treats!

My mom and I always team up to make these treats, and I love when we take the time to make them! They are so delicious- so of course I always "mess" a couple up so I can eat them!

Here's what you need:

Hershey Kisses
Red and Green M&M's
Square Pretzels

Here's the process:



Unwrap all of your hershey kisses.


Place the pretzels on a cookie tray and put a hershey kiss on top of each one.

Then place this in the oven at 200* for 10 minutes.


While you  wait you can pour out M&Ms onto a plate for quick access.


You can also unwrap some more hershey kisses if you are planning on making another batch.


When you take the pretzel hershey kisses out of the oven they should be shiny.


Carefully place an M&M onto each one.


Put them to cool on the counter, and then after a few minutes move them to the refrigerator for a few hours to cool down.


You can also do the same thing with Rolos! They are a little bit harder to put the M&Ms on because they are messier. But they taste just as good!

This year I made bags of these for co-workers. I personally would love to get a bag of these because they are so delicious! So get going into your kitchen and make these up for a special treat! Yum!

Have a great weekend!