Friday, January 31, 2014

Organizing My Jewelry Armoire

I know I have shared this before, but I thought I would show an updated look at my organized jewelry armoire. 

The Hayworth Jewelry armoire was the first piece of furniture that I purchased all on my own. This item can be found here at Pier 1. It is an extremely sturdy piece of furniture and holds a TON inside! Here is a peek inside my jewelry armoire and how I organize it.



The top of the Hayworth jewelry armoire opens up and inside I like to keep all of my rings and stud earrings. I don't wear a ton of rings, but I have a few fun costume jewelry rings- including a light up ring Rachel gave me when she asked me to be her maid of honor. I also have a few rings from my grandma and other rings I have purchased- however nothing too fancy!

My stud earrings are my most-worn earrings due to my job. Since I'm flipping kids around in gymnastics and dancing around like a crazy person while I teach dance I can't wear dangly earrings. Therefore my studs allow me to change my earrings on a daily basis. I try to keep these as organized as possible- although often I have to tidy this section of my jewelry armoire up!


This is what the front looks like when the doors are open.



I keep my longer, bigger necklaces on the left side, and my smaller, delicate necklaces on the right side. I keep my necklaces to a minimum since I only wear them when I go out, and I honestly choose necklaces last- I tend to go for earrings and bracelets instead. I do enjoy having some statement necklaces to wear with certain outfits. I also have quite a few delicate necklaces with single charms that I have either received as gifts, or I purchased for a special occasion.


The top drawer contains the majority of my silver dangly earrings. This is the drawer I tend to pick from if I plan on wearing bigger earrings that day. I am totally a silver girl and I never realized why until I learned that your skin tone can have a huge part of why either gold or silver looks better on you. After taking a quick look at the color of my veins, I learned that indeed silver is the better color for my skin. Therefore my silver collection is growing! =)



The second drawer is full of my colorful earrings. I don't keep a ton of these around- but I do have quite a few colors to choose from if I need something to match my outfit!


My third drawer  holds my fun, colorful bracelets. I could definitely fit a ton more bracelets in this drawer but I like everything laid out individually. These bracelets are ones for charities and beaded bracelets.


The fourth drawer holds my nicer bracelets. I have a few fake pearl bracelets, some more delicate ones, my charm bracelet, and some bangles.


My fifth drawer holds some plain silver chains, fake pearl necklaces, my Alex and Ani bracelets and a few things from my great-grandparents. I love my Alex and Ani bracelets so I am in this drawer almost every day!


The sixth drawer is a huge one and holds all of my hair bands, hair clips, and a few curling irons.


The bottom drawer holds all of my nail polish and nail supplies. I love painting my nails and have quite the collection of nail polish.

How do you store your jewelry?

Have a great weekend everybody!

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Project 365: Week 4

It's time for Project 365, Week 4! We're at the tail end of January- 11 months in Project 365 left.

It's started to become a habit to post a picture every day and I'm trying so hard to make each day a little bit different.

Here we go with week 4…..


Day 23: Brr! It was cold at work, and I sure felt chilly looking out at those icicles!


Day 24: Took some of my dance students to the Providence Bruins so they could perform!


Day 25: A sleepover with my college roomie Megan! A night complete with delicious dinner, movies to see Frozen, and a low-key girls night in to round out the night!


Day 26: Dinner with two of my best friends, Kristin and Megan!


Day 27: Loving my new Otterbox phone case!



Day 28: Obsessed with the Frozen Soundtrack!



Day 29: Check out my friend Brittni's new bling! She's engaged!

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

January Birchbox Review

Today I'm sharing my thoughts on my January Birchbox with you! I enjoyed trying the items in my January Birchbox way more than I initially thought I would, so I am thrilled to tell you what I thought of each item.



I'm not starting off great by telling you that I did not try these teas. I was slightly tempted to try them because the Birchbox card stated something about the royal family loving this tea. I may try the mint tea eventually, but I really doubt I will try the peach and passion fruit. My friend Megan (who I gifted Birchbox to for her birthday) said that she received three teas in different flavors. She hasn't yet used hers either- so I really have no review for you on this, but I will let you know if I change my mind and try either one out!


I wasn't sure about this Serge Normant dry conditioner- but I am so glad I had the opportunity to test it out. Over the past week on days where I don't wash my hair I spray a bit of my Klorane dry shampoo in my hair, brush through it and then spray this dry conditioner in and brush through my hair again. It has been making my hair really soft and giving me even nicer second day hair! I'm not sure I would repurchase this because I don't feel that it's a necessity, however it is definitely a nice product to have around!


I absolutely loved this Midnight Monarch lotion. This lotion is so creamy and thick and  I mostly used it on my super dry skin (my feet) and my hands several times a day. When I start getting through the lotions that I already have, I may take a look at this and pick up a full size- but I need to use up the insane amount of lotions I have first!


The 100% Pure Mascara I was so excited to try initially. I love the idea of having pure products that don't have a ton of chemicals in them. This mascara didn't do anything for my lashes. It separated them so much that they looked horrible- I was not a fan. However, I started layering this with other mascaras and it was a little better.



Oh La Fresh nail polish remover pads. I wanted these to work so badly.



One pad took four fingers of my nail polish- not all ten like it promised. Fail. Back to regular nail polish remover for me!

Have you tried any new products lately?!

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Congrats Brittni and Stephen!

Today I am sharing some exciting news! One of my best friends, Brittni is engaged!!!

I feel like I just wrote this post- about how Rachel got engaged, and now another one of my best friends is heading down the aisle! It's going to be a crazy, busy year and I am so excited to be a part of these special events!


I have been friends with Brittni since first grade and am so glad we have been friends all of this time. I am so happy for her, and can't believe she's turning into a grownup!

Congrats Brittni and Stephen!!!

Monday, January 27, 2014

Friends, Food and Frozen

Well, it's Monday again! How does that always seem to happen so quickly?! 

This weekend was all about friends, food, and frozen! 

Friday night I spent technically "working".  I took a group of dancers to perform at the Providence Bruins game! They did an amazing job and I was so proud of my two groups of girls on their performances!

 



I'm not a HUGE hockey fan, but I definitely enjoyed watching the game. Especially the fighting- which I found extremely amusing. I even got a free hat =)

On Saturday afternoon, my college roommate Megan arrived to spend the weekend! Originally Megan and I had planned on heading to Hartford to visit our other college roommate Laura- but unfortunately Laura wasn't feeling great, so we had to change plans a little bit. I wasn't quite sure what we were going to do- since Rhode Island in the winter is a little dull…so first we headed to a late lunch at the Mews!

The Mews Tavern in Wakefield is one of my all time favorite restaurants. Neither of us had been there recently, and when we arrived we discovered that they had revamped the building a bit, and had a whole new menu. 



Despite being a little upset that the famous Mews Tree had been repainted (meaning all the signed names are now gone!), I was thrilled by what I tried off of their new menu! I have had their buffalo chicken dip in the past, but was absolutely thrilled when I tried it! The Mews had changed up their buffalo chicken dip- it now includes smoked chicken, cream cheese, buffalo sauce, roasted garlic, roasted red bell peppers, bleu cheese crumbles, and green peppers. It was absolutely delicious! 

Megan and I decided to drive through URI's campus (where we went to college) and were amazed at how different it truly looks. There are a few new buildings and several changes that have happened since we went to school there. Then we decided to go to the movies….

Neither of us had seen Frozen and we are both huge Disney fans! I was thrilled to finally be seeing it, and honestly it was one of the best Disney movies I've ever seen- if you are on the fence about seeing it- go check it out! After seeing Frozen, we walked outside to see it was snowing- so we headed home and had a low-key sleepover, watching movies and hanging out.



On Sunday morning I decided to take Megan to a local restaurant for brunch. Hungry Haven is my ultimate favorite place to have breakfast. I enjoyed my favorite breakfast platter of toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, and my all-time favorite home fries. Yum!

Megan and I spent the day hanging out, and then met up with one of my other best friends Kristin for dinner at Applebees. Both Kristin and I opted for the Three Cheese Chicken Penne which I HIGHLY recommend. Gotta love a good pasta meal!


It was so nice to spend dinner with two of my best friends, who i normally wouldn't spend time with at the same time. I truly had a wonderful weekend with great friends. Which was capped off by watching Sean and Catherine's wedding last night- what a beautiful ceremony! I loved watching the wedding, although I was a little bummed to see Sean be officially taken off the market.  =)

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well! Enjoy your Monday!



Friday, January 24, 2014

New Purse (and what I keep in my purse)

I have always been known by my friends to carry a Mary Poppins bag. I love a huge bag that I can just shove my life into and have everything I need anytime, anywhere!

On Wednesday, I bought a brand new designer bag which was a HUGE splurge for me!




Isn't it beautiful!

Since I was switching items out of one purse and into a new one, I dumped everything out and wanted to share what I keep in my purse. I know it seems like a lot- but I swear everything is in there for a reason!

  1. Wallet 
  2. Glasses
  3. Keys
  4. Hairbrush
  5. Planner
  6. Tylenol
  7. Granola bars
  8. Medicine
  9. Chapstick
  10. Phone Charger
  11. Lotion
  12. Hand sanitizer
  13. iPod
  14. iPhone
  15. Sunglasses
  16. Headphones
  17. Elastics & Bobbypins
  18. Pens
I managed to find a way to organize it all in my new purse, and am thrilled to have so many inside pockets!

What do you keep in your purse? What purse are you currently carrying?!

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Project 365: Week 3

It's week 3 of Project 365! Here we go...



On Thursday January 16th, day 16 I got my Birchbox in the mail! I love seeing that inside my mailbox.


On Day 27, I was seriously hoping that a large coffee would keep me up while I worked on Friday night!


On Day 18, I worked and then had a rather low key afternoon and ended up falling asleep before 6! I definitely was relaxed after this cup of tea..


Day 19 was full of errands, and then watching the Patriots game- which they lost. Then I started cheering for the 49ers during the second game and they lost too! =(


I know I shared my Day 20 HUGE project with you on the blog earlier this week- I am transferring all of my VHS tapes onto DVD which is a huge undertaking but I'm hoping to have it done at some point this year!


On Day 21, I enjoyed a half day at work thanks to the snow. I am not a huge fan of the snow thought!


Day 22, I spent the day with my BFFL Rachel, and helped her at her accessories appointment! So much fun to look at earrings, veils, and other jewelry all day! =)

How was your week?!

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

I tried Grammarly's plagiarism checker online free of charge because no one wants to get caught cheating like Shia Lebeouf!



On Sunday afternoon between plays on the football field, I finished reading Linger by Maggie Stiefvater. I had previously finished the first novel in this series, Shiver, in only a couple of days, however this novel took far longer for me to complete. It wasn't the length of Linger that slowed me down, I simply wasn't as IN to it, as I was with the first book.

Linger picks up where Shiver left off. Sam and Grace are blissfully happy that they have finally found a cure for Sam and they are free to be together forever. Grace gifts Sam a chance to record his own demo at a nearby music studio and he is thrilled to have both an opportunity and a future. In addition to reading Grace and Sam's story, as readers we also start hearing Isabel's story and the story of a new wolf named Cole. 

As the novel progresses, Grace finds a dead wolf in the woods and soon after gets sick. Isabel notes that she has never seen Grace sick, not even with a simple headache. Grace continues to get even worse as the pages turn. One night after crying out in pain from her sickness, Grace's parents enter her room to discover Sam lying next to her in bed. Angry, as normal parents of teenagers would be, they kick Sam out of the house and ground Grace.

Grace, even after hospital treatment continues to get worse each day and smells like sick wolf. Cole and Isabel both notice it as well, but wonder how they can help her. Meanwhile Isabel and Cole are both attracted to each other, and soon all the characters learn about Cole's backstory. He apparently had quite the famous past before choosing a life as a wolf. 

SPOILERS AHEAD.

Grace eventually gets sick of her parents keeping her from Sam, and sneaks off with him for the day. After arriving home her father tells her that she isn't to see him again until she is 18. Grace runs away to stay with Sam but unfortunately her sickness overcomes her and she ends up vomiting blood. Cole and Sam bring Grace to the hospital where it is clear that Grace will die during the night if they don't do anything.

Cole is surprisingly, a genius, and figures out that it has been about a decade since Grace was bitten and cured of being a wolf. She needs to be bitten again, and turn into a wolf in order to stay alive. The wolf she had seen dead in the woods had been through the same thing, since the wolf hadn't changed into a human in so long, it died after a decade. 

Since Cole is still a wolf, transforming back and forth to a human, he is able to bite Grace and turn her into a wolf to save her life. When Grace has changed, Cole offers to change Sam as well, since Sam will have only a dozen years in his human form before he gets sick too. Sam declines, since he loves being human and Cole offers to help Grace get to the woods. Sam is left in the hospital room, Grace's parents angry because they think their daughter has run away. 

I think this book dragged quite a bit which is why I couldn't get through it as fast as the first one. It felt like Grace was just sick the entire book and that was all that was happening. We did learn quite a bit about Cole's backstory as well as some more information on why they became wolves. Some of the characters from the first book were left out of this book entirely, despite the role they played in the first novel. I just didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I do want to read the third novel in this trilogy but think I might read something else first since I am a little bored with this storyline- we will see!

Have you read this series? What did you think of the first two novels? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Also if you have any book recommendations I would love to hear them, I'm always looking for a new read!





This is a sponsored post, written by me on behalf of Grammarly. All opinions are 100% my own.


Tuesday, January 21, 2014

My Current HUGE project...

One of the projects I've been meaning to get to for the past few years awhile is changing over all my VHS tapes into DVDs. 

A ton of my home videos were filmed on this Sony Handycam (circa 2002)….



This little baby holds some of my dearest memories throughout high school and college. I don't want these memories trapped on here forever- so I'm slowly transferring them over one at a time. (And by slowly I mean it took me two days to get one video done…)

I also have TONS of VHS tapes...


Underneath my TV, there are years of VHS's, from dance recitals to special events. There is also a whole other collection of VHS's that have family memories from when I was young. I would like to transfer all of these to DVD so I get get rid of the bulky VHS tapes, and be able to watch all of the memories!

How am I doing this you ask? I'm using a Roxio VHS to DVD converter. I have the mac version of the software and although it takes quite a bit of time, I'm pleased with the results so far. I will keep you updated on my process and how I feel about the program as I continue working on this project.

My goal is to have this entire project done by the end of the year! Ambitious? yes. Attainable? I hope so!

Has anyone ever done this before? What was your experience like? What program did you use?

Have a great day everybody!