Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Christmas 2015

I'm back to recap my Christmas with you guys! First off, Happy Birthday to my dad! We spent a nice night having dinner at the Matunuck Oyster Bar (where I had pasta of course- no seafood for me!) 

So here we go with the recap!




Tim and I had a busy busy Christmas! I worked Christmas Eve so as soon as I got out of work at 2 I headed straight home to my parents house where Tim met me for our family Christmas dinner. We has a nice ham dinner and spent some time playing Heads Up which my cousin Annabel loved. After a few hours everyone began to head home for Christmas Eve and we headed to Tim's parents house!



We had fun at Tim's parents house where we had a yummy dinner and played around with a selfie stick that was received during their Yankee Swamp. I participated and ended up with a $20 bill, which was pretty sweet!




Selfies in front of the tree. Just wait for the picture of just the tree- it's coming I promise!



Then it was time to head back to my parents house to go to sleep and get ready for Christmas Day!

In the morning we opened gifts with my parents and brother. I received so many nice things and enjoyed watching my family open the gifts I had chosen for them as well! I love Christmas morning and seeing what everyone opens up.


We headed to Tim's parents to open gifts there and have breakfast. It was fun watching his nephews Kason and Callan open their gifts, they were so excited about everything they received!


Tim was gifted with tickets to the Bruins Winter Classic on New Years Day so we have some exciting plans for this weekend!


Tim's family tree was hilarious. His brother Matt picked it out and brought it home. We all got some great laughs seeing that.


Tim showing off his new Greenbriar Electric t-shirt my dad gave him.


Blue was happy to have us back cuddling with her after Christmas!


Tim and I spent the weekend coloring in our new coloring books. It was a nice relaxing activity after the whirlwind of a holiday we had! I never thought I would be a coloring book kind of girl, but I really enjoyed spending some time just coloring away!


Ready for the Patriots game in my new ugly sweater t-shirt!


I received the two outside bracelets from my papa's girlfriend Vivian. The center bracelet is tri-metal bracelet that came in my new Popsugar Must Have Box! Tim got me a three month subscription and I'm so excited because there are so many cool things inside!

So that's how my Christmas was! How was yours?

Sunday, December 20, 2015

An A-Team Christmas Party


Tonight was the second annual A-Team Christmas party!

(Almost) Every Wednesday I play trivia at a local bar, Wood River Inn with friends and we go by the name the A-Team. We actually do pretty well and win quite a bit which is fun. There are six of us on the team and last year we all exchanged gifts, but of course that gets pretty pricey. This year we decided to do secret santa and it was a ton of fun!


We watched some football and ate before exchanging gifts. Funny enough, it was all back and forth.
I had Brittni, Brittni had me.
Blythe had Jenna. Jenna had Blythe.
Stephen had Amy. Amy had Stephen.

Weird how it ended up like that!

Anyways, my present to Brit hasn't exactly arrived yet, so she will get it handed to her at work this week.



Thanks to Julie over at Peanut Butter Fingers, I discovered this awesome shirt! Brit is giving birth to her first daughter Emma at the beginning of February and I thought this was a hilarious shirt from ThugLifeShirts.com. I also gave her the cutest, fluffiest ornament from Pier 1. 

Feather Snowman Ornament

How cute is he?!


I absolutely loved my gifts from Brittni. She knows me so well and got me things that I will use and love!

New England Ugly Sweater T-Shirt - chowdaheadz
 - 1

This Patriots ugly sweater t-shirt is awesome! I have been talking about wanting a Patriots ugly sweater for some time but they are super expensive so this t-shirt is perfect! She purchased it on chowdaheadz.com which I've been browsing around seems like an awesome website to buy gifts on for any Boston sports fans!

Brit also got me a candle from Bath and Body Works called Dashing Through The Snow.  I have to say that although it is not a scent I would've picked out at the store for myself- I'm absolutely loving it. I'm burning it right now in sync with my Diamond Candle in gingerbread and the scents are so complimentary to each other! The scent description is green balsam, wintry musk, and the jingle of sparkling citrus. It definitely gives off that Christmas pine tree scent that I miss when we have an artificial tree!

After exchanging gifts we played a few rounds of Heads Up which is the super awesome Ellen Degeneres game. Amy pulled it up on her phone and we had fun seeing how good everyones acting skills were as we attempted to act out each word that popped up!

I hope you had an amazing weekend and if you attended any Christmas parties you had a great time. Have a great week and get excited...we are almost to Christmas!

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Declutter Before Christmas!

It's complicated.:

It's that time of year again ya'll, the time when new items will enter your house quickly. From cards to gifts to food, the holidays have no mercy. With everything new coming into your house where will it go? Do you have room for all your new things amongst all of the old? My best suggestion is to declutter before you bring the new items in!

This past weekend I spent some time working on decluttering before new items entered my home for Christmas time. Here are some areas to focus on in the next week before Christmas!

Clothes 

I like to go through my closet pretty regularly but especially before Christmas when I know I'll be getting some new items. I find that it's easier for me to get rid of an older pair of worn out jeans when I know I'll be receiving a new pair soon. This is also a great time to evaluate what you might need for your wardrobe. If you are going to be receiving gift cards or money for Christmas you'll know what clothing items you are looking for and not bring in a bunch of new things you don't need or really want. 

Food Storage

Go through your fridge! With all the holiday leftovers and treats make sure that you don't have any expired items in that fridge. Do the same with your freezer and pantry and know what you have.

Toys

I don't have kids of my own but I have heard the horror stories of trying to get kids to donate items. One of my favorite bloggers, Shay, says that after her kids see all their Christmas presents she locks them up and then has them each fill a bag with old toys to get rid of before they can have access to their new toys. I'm sure that works awesome but if you're looking to get rid of a few things before Santa brings those mounds of toys I would pack up the toys that your kids don't play with and hide them for a little while. Anything they haven't missed will be safe to donate!

Makeup/ Products

I just went through all of my products and it was great to get rid of things I don't use. There were so many makeup products that I had gotten for free couponing that I knew I would never use, I managed to get those cleared out which gives me a clutter-free feeling!

Decor Items

When I pull out Christmas decor I like to go through all of it and get rid of anything I don't absolutely love anymore. I try not to be super sentimental because anything that you don't enjoy looking at you shouldn't feel forced to keep! I go through other decor regularly too, if you aren't using and loving it- get rid of it!

Paper and Sentimental Items

It's almost time to start a new year so get rid of those files you no longer need so you can start the year off with a blank slate. I recently went through all my old greeting cards and found so many that didn't have anything other then signed names inside. I don't need to hold onto every single card I have, just the ones that are really important to me! 

So there you go, get decluttering! I'm going to go through everything one more time before Christmas to make sure I don't have anything that I don't need, so get on it!

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Christmas Gift Ideas!










Every year I like to put together a little gift guide for Christmas so I thought I would share all my previous gift guides in one post as well as show you a few things that are on my Christmas list/ Wish list this year!

My 2014 Gift Guide

My 2013 Gift Guide

My 2012 Gift Guide

One of the main gifts I always recommend (as you can see at the links above) is candles! I absolutely adore a good smelling candle. I can highly recommend Bath and Body Works candles because I have used them for years.
Bath & Body Works, 'Tis The Season

Tis the Season is an amazing scent! It's great for a Christmas gift for anyone!

Other favorites I would recommend are:

Leaves (not a winter scent I know!)
Vanilla Snowflake
Vanilla Bean Noel


Other candle companies that are awesome:

Diamond Candles
Yankee Candle




This year a gift I may give myself is a Dyson vacuum!




Isn't she beautiful?!


I'm sure you already know based on my blog that I enjoy a clean and organized home and I've been dreaming of owning a Dyson for years. There is no vacuum on the market that performs like a Dyson and after using my moms for years- I think it may be time to splurge on one for myself. I got a new job and a raise so I think I might have earned it right???










The nutribullet is something I have asked my parents to gift me this year. I will be using this to make my Shakeology each day which I'm super excited about. I am not a huge fan of the blender here so I can't wait to have my own to use each day.

This would be a great gift for anyone who does Beachbody or a similar program!









I have been crushing on these boots ever since I saw them on Sam's instagram. Sam from SimplyOrganized showed these off on her things I love post and I am a huge fan! I can't justify the splurge on these right now but I might have to before they disappear because they are adorable! You can find them over at Nordstrom (they are called Leandra) and would look adorable with any outfit!






Other items I love gifting?

I am a sucker for gift cards. I know, super lame, however I think that gift cards allow the gift recipient to pick up something they will actually use and love. I know that I'm particularly picky when it comes to decor for my house, clothes that I wear, and pretty much everything so I would prefer someone just give me a gift card so I can pick out something I actually like.

A good bath and body set is always appropriate for any women in your life. I have an abundance of lotion and shower gel and am actually going on a product no-buy in the new year but I know it's something women always appreciate getting!

I love experience type gifts as well. Anything that you can do together such as a sporting event, a vacation, etc is great because it will be a super memorable gift. I'm super excited to be giving a gift to Tim this year that we will get to enjoy in March! (He already knows what it is- if he reads this then it won't ruin a surprise)

The last thing I love to gift is ornaments. I think it's an awesome gift to give to anyone in your life. There's always something memorable about the year- whether it's a movie that you loved or a trip you took- there's always something you can add to your tree. I love picking out ornaments for friends and family and seeing them on their tree year after year!

What are you gifting for Christmas? What's on your wish list?

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Life Lately: URI Basketball, 21st Birthdays, Patriots Game and Thanksgiving!

Life lately has consisted of a lot of fun!



Tim and I joined Brittni and Stephen for the first URI basketball game of the year. It was a pre-season game but was super fun! I used to attend quite a few basketball games back in college so it was nice to be back again. (Plus Rhody won!)


Our friend Marissa turned 21 and it was great to go to the casino and celebrate her 21st birthday! We had a fun dinner and then went to a club for some dancing and drinks. It was a super late night for an old person like me- but I had a great time!


Tim surprised me with Patriots tickets! I was so excited that I cried when he gave them to me :)






I had a blast seeing Brady and Gronk on the field and still cannot believe that it wasn't a dream that I was there in real life! It was super cold and windy but totally worth it! GO PATS!




Thanksgiving was nice as well- Tim came to my parents house in the early afternoon and then we went to his parents house for the rest of the day. The rest of the weekend was nice and relaxing following Thanksgiving and it was so nice to veg out and just relax!

Have you done anything exciting lately?

Monday, November 30, 2015

No Buy 2016!

Happy Monday everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and are ready to take on the week! As we enter December I started really thinking about the amount of clutter I have and how even more will come in during the holiday. I am not a fan of clutter but it is inevitable with gifts coming in from family and friends. Not all clutter is bad, a lot of what I consider "clutter" is stuff I actually like and use, but some of it is just in the way! 

You all know I love organization and cleaning and am constantly struggling to keep my space up to date. I have found that even though I am pretty good about clearing out the clutter in other areas of my space, my beauty products tend to be hoarded. I don't want to be a hoarder. I have a serious problem. I can't leave Bath and Body Works without new lotion and candles. I can't walk past a Sephora and not sneak in to make a purchase.  I have ended up with a huge collection and it makes me feel sick! I don't use even half of it because every time I finish a product I buy three more to replace it!

I have made a decision that in 2016 I will be on a no buy. This means I will not purchase any beauty items in the year 2016. I will use up what I have and try to keep my empties bag full as I finish up products I already have. 

I have a few exceptions.

1. If I run out of a "type" of item entirely I will be purchasing it. For example if I run out of mascara, I am allowed to purchase a new one. 

2. Items not included are ones that are considered personal care: toothpaste, deodorant, mouthwash.

3. Gifts are not included. If I am gifted a beauty item that is okay. This is simply to keep me from spending my OWN money on them.

4. If I have a free item coupon- I will be allowed to use it. I can bring items in if they are free. The purpose is to keep me from spending money so if I do get a free item I will be allowed to keep it. I however want to limit this and not be constantly bringing in free items.

5. My Birchbox doesn't count :) I'm not ready to give that up yet!

I thought I would take a few pictures to share why I am planning on completing this project...


I wear perfume every single day, but nobody needs quite this much! In addition to the perfumes above I also have Victoria's Secret PINK warm and cozy and another Victoria's Secret spray in Love Spell. I will do a full post on my perfume collection soon where I show you each bottle individually since you can't see all of them in the photo above, but I think we can all agree that I will never be able to use up all of these in my lifetime.
Is it terrible that I have my sights set on Viktor and Rolf's Flowerbomb perfume?! Yes, yes it is. I don't need it...but I want it so badly! Maybe in 2017 :)


I try not to crowd my dresser top, only keeping a few items here. I have my Lavanilla Coconut Vanilla deodorant, my new Pink Sugar hair perfume, and my Covergirl foundation and concealer. In with my makeup brushes you can just see my NYX mascara, Diorshow Maximizer Mascara Primer, and my Wet and Wild eyeliner.


On top of my Alex nine drawer I keep a Macademia leave in conditioner, a Sephora eye makeup remover,  and a few moisturizers. I have super dry skin so I like to keep moisturizer out and ready for when I get out of the shower.


In the top drawer I hold all my face products. I have cleansers, face masks, sunscreen, and a few sample size concealers. With the exception of a few full size products most of these came as samples in the mail or in my Birchbox.


Speaking of my perfume addiction- these are all my perfume samples in the first bin! Then I have concealers and BB and CC creams in the other two bins. For the most part they are all samples, I usually don't wear a ton of face products because my skin is so dry and sensitive.


Here is another problem area- eyeshadow. See the the little eye shadow at the bottom of the photo? The one that has hit some major pan? I have made it my mission to finish it, meaning I've been ignoring all my other eye shadows. I have made a small dent in my Naked palettes and used a few other random eye shadows- but for the most part this drawer just keeps getting filled and I don't touch most of it.
Despite not needing any more eyeshadow, I still lust over the Naked 3 palette anytime I'm in Sephora :)


This drawer houses all makeup removers, unused mascaras, eyeliners, and brow products. I don't hoard mascaras because I know how fast they get gross so this section isn't a problem area. Mascara is probably one of the few things I will need to repurchase in 2016 because I don't have a ton and generally only use one for about three months.


Lip products, bronzers, highlighters, and blushes. I use my Nars Laguna bronzer almost daily and often use Nars Orgasm blush as well. I have quite a few Cake Batter Chapsticks lined up to use, but most of the lipsticks and glosses don't get used very often. I am going to try to make an effort to use these during nights out or special events because I would like to see my collection paired down a bit.


I only have four hand sanitizers! Woohoo for a small collection in this area. I also have one that I'm working on in my purse.


This is my nail polish drawer and it is definitely smaller then it used to be. I want to make an effort to paint my nails and toenails more often in order to use some of the older colors up. I definitely don't need to purchase any nail polish because I think I have pretty much every color under the sun!


Just a drawer with q-tips and an extra deodorant. Don't worry, I combined some of these drawers together after these pictures :)


I had all my sample lotions and sample shower gels in this one drawer, but I decided to try to put all my lotions in one drawer and all my shower gels in another.


You know what I don't need more of? Lotions. This drawer is stuffed...and oh guess what, that's not all of them...


Yes, this bin has more! I have more lotion then I could use in my lifetime. I have a serious problem. I don't need another bottle, ever. So if you happen to see me in Bath and Body Works with my arms loaded with lotion please please please tell me no. Then you can take me to a lotion buyers anonymous support group, please and thank you.


Shower gels? Also a slight problem. Not quite as bad as lotion and honestly I've gotten quite a few from couponing but it's still pretty terrible. No more shopping for me!


Last but not least hair products. No these aren't shampoo and conditioner. This is just simply hair products such as hairspray, dry shampoo, dry conditioner, hair masks, and other products that I rarely use on my hair. Well I say rarely, however that Macademia mask in the back is my favorite thing ever and I use it almost every time I wash my hair. Most of the other products were freebies or Birchbox samples I tried once and never used again.

This post didn't include my shampoo and conditioner (which I am really really low on right now) or my candles and room sprays. However those will be included as well. I will be buying shampoo and conditioner as I go, but I already have far too many candles so I will just be using up what I have and not purchasing anything new until I have nothing left or the year is up!

Anyone want to join me on this No Buy 2016? I'm ready for a year of using up what I already have instead of constantly buying new things!