Monday, January 30, 2017

Welcome To The World Tilly Elizabeth

One of my best friends had a baby!!


My friend Rachel, who if you've been reading awhile know from her wedding i was MOH in back a few years ago had a baby last week! Tilly Elizabeth was born on January 25th exactly one year to the day that Miss Emma Elizabeth was born on. My two nieces born on the same day just one year apart! I told them they were making it really easy for me to remember birthdays!


Tim and I raced up to the hospital after work to meet this little cutie!


She slept the entire time we were there just crying out without opening her eyes a couple of times but when we jiggled her a little bit she fell right back to sleep!


I can't wait to see what adventures life brings her on!


I'm so proud of my BFFL! She's going to be an amazing mom!

Sunday, January 22, 2017

An Organized Room For A Princess

On Saturday night Tim and I headed over to Brittni and Stephen's to see our favorite almost one year old! Brittni had asked me to help organize Emma's closet because things had gotten a little out of control.  Although Emma isn't walking yet she sure gets around awful fast and create quite the path of destruction. We learned quickly that "reading" involves pulling as many books as possible off her bookshelf. 










Brittni had purchased two six cube organizers and bins from Amazon and we knew we wanted to put at least one in her closet. So the first step was to build the cube shelving. 

I also took some before pictures of Emma's closet...





So the problems in the closet were..
1. The plastic store hangers were taking up room and needed to be trashed.
2. There were still newborn items in the closet that were taking up valuable real estate.
3. There was no system inside the closet for when items were too small.

So with those three problems in mind we took the plastic store hangers out of the closet entirely and got rid of them. Brit went through all of Emma's clothes in the closet and organized them by items that are in her current size and those that will be her next size. 

We also got rid of all the diaper boxes and organized both diapers and wipes into the bins in the 6 cube shelving. This way they aren't visual clutter but they are still easily accessible.

Another area of Emma's room that needed some changing was her toy box. She has a TON of toys! It's amazing what someone can accumulate in one year (even a baby!) so Brit picked some toys that were gross and worn out from Emma eating them. She also picked some out to pass on to family members that may get more use out of them. As she also mentioned; Emma doesn't particularly like to play with toys. She's more into anything that's not actually a toy.


Although that doesn't stop her from having a toy box full!


Tim helped us by organizing all the stuffed animals. Think she has enough?!


Once we were done the room looked so much better!


The cube organizer keeps like items together and also holds some breakable items they don't want Emma to get her hands on such as her piggy banks and jewelry. The baskets up top hold blankets and bedding so they are nearby but out of the way.


All her clothes are neatly hung and toys she's not quite big enough for yet like puzzles are up top out of reach. See that basket on the bottom? That's full of clothes Emma has grown out of which Brit packs away in totes for family members and future kids! Now as she notices things are too small she can just toss them in and then when she has time to sort them she knows where to find them.



Hard at work!



When we left last night it was looking pretty good!



 Then this morning Brit sent me a few pictures of when she finished up her drawers.







Looks great right?! This was such a fun project because how often do you get to hang out with a cute almost one year old, organize adorable clothes and come up with a great solution for their closet? It really motivated me to organize everything in our apartment as well!

Hope you guys enjoyed this project! Now it's time to grab some lunch and tonight I will be cheering on my favorite team!


GO PATS!

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Getting Organized in 2017: Our Closet Revamp

Our closet was completely packed, completely packed. I decided it was time to go through my clothing and get rid of anything I haven't worn in awhile and anything I knew I wouldn't wear soon. I decided that while I was planning this project I would pick up some Huggable Hangers to create two to three times as much room in my closet! Since buying all new hangers is a little pricey I know this project will take me awhile to complete.


I ended up buying six packs of Huggable Hangers and man did they go quickly!


Here's where I started off, I had a few things in the wash but for the most part this is my closet. There were many items in here that I just didn't feel good wearing and I knew I needed to just get rid of them.


Look how many items I was able to fit more comfortably with the Huggable Hangers! I also donated a ton of items along the way which was great.


I still have quite a few items that need to be transferred onto new hangers, I just need to save up for my next set of hangers!



Although I didn't take pictures of Tim's side of the closet once he realized I was cleaning out my wardrobe he decided to do the same! (I love when he gets motivated to clean up!) We ended up with a ton of hangers between the clothes we got rid of and the clothes we moved onto the new hangers. 



I ended up with two bags of clothes and accessories and Tim ended up with thee bags of his clothes (unpictured). We ended up donating them last weekend and it feels so freeing to have all of those gone! I will keep you updated as out whole closet gets changed over to our new hangers and we gain more room. I will also keep you updated as I organize other areas of our apartment this year!

Monday, January 16, 2017

January Birchbox

What do ya know, I'm actually getting to my Birchbox post on time this month! It actually just arrived in my mailbox on Saturday and I thought I would get everything out and put away while I was on a cleaning and organizing spree.

The box itself was a little strange this month..


I get the new year- new you idea but I'm a bigger fan of plain boxes!


First up is this Oribe Dry Shampoo. I do use dry shampoo once in awhile since my hair is so dry I don't wash it every day and sometimes dry shampoo is the perfect perk up. This is a cute bottle as well and I am definitely a sucker for packaging!


This is the reason it may be time to end my subscription to Birchbox. This number 4 shampoo and conditioner I have received before. I've been a member for years so I don't know how long ago it was, but I know I've received and used this before. I think it was just okay but I honestly don't remember the product itself, just the boring packaging.



I'm very interested in this mascara and I love trying new kinds! I can always use a good water resistant mascara with my watery, contact eyes. This will definitely be used up quickly!


Prescriptives Camouflage Cream looks very cool but a little dark for my skin tone. I will have to check it out, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be too dark for me.



Lastly these Nuface Prep-N-Glow cloths look very cool! If it really cleanses, exfoliates, and hydrates then it would be great to use to wipe my face down before bed when I don't feel like going through a full washing routine. This will be gone quickly!

What new products have you added to your collection? I think this might be one of my last Birchboxes. I am planning on trying to gain enough points to get a free item and then being done!

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Recent Empties

It's been awhile since I've shared an empties post and my bin was about to start overflowing!


I have been saving beauty empties and household empties so you can see the kinds of stuff I have finished up recently and I can give you reviews on them!


When I laid all of the products out I was surprised by how much was actually inside the bin. As I mentioned in my last post one of my goals this year is to use up the products I already have and not to buy new items unless I need a replacement. I'll let you know in this post if it's something  I would consider purchasing again in the future or if it's something I don't feel the need to ever repurchase.


First up: perfume. Perfume is a difficult category to get through. I have an insane amount of perfume in my collection and quite honestly there are only a few I would pick out to wear each day. This is one of them. Taylor by Taylor Swift is one of my favorite  perfumes and I have already repurchased it when I saw a set on sale over the holidays. I am avoiding using it for now however because I want to get through some of my other perfumes. It doesn't make sense to use up products I like quickly so I will take my time with this one in the future.


I hope I don't need to purchase Airborne again anytime soon. I was super sick in December and was trying to get as many vitamins as possible in my system. I did enjoy the gummy version pictured because I generally hate the taste of airborne and the gummies helped quite a bit.





Once again I finished up a TON of Chapstick! I actually finished up quite a few cake batter but also finished up some candy cane and pumpkin pie. I love the cake batter and candy cane but the pumpkin pie was horrible. The Cetaphil wipes were just okay, nothing special. I will definitely not buy those again in the future. I used Benefit Roller Lash Mascara which is definitely one of my favorite mascaras. They're Real Mascara  was also great and I would purchase this again as well. I never use lip color but I did finish a Nars Lipstick and enjoyed wearing it on special occasions.


I used up two shower gels recently. The first is Not Soap Radio which was a beautiful blue color and was a nice fresh scent. I did enjoy it but don't feel the need to purchase shower gels from them in the future because I really do enjoy Bath and Body Works shower gels and will probably stick with them. I do have quite a few more samples from Not Soap Radio to use up. The second full size shower gel is from Bath and Body Works  and is in the scent Waikiki Beach Coconut. This is from their Hawaiian line and I absolutely love it. I would consider purchasing it again in the future since it's a sweet coconut scent which I really do enjoy however I will be working on finishing up the shower gels I already have for now. 



I did not like the Sensodyne Whitening Toothpaste and I actually wasn't able to finish it, but I did like the Pronamel version so I will definitely buy that again in the future. I also used up a BioTrue Contact Solution which I absolutely love and will continue using for all my contact solution in the future.


Lotion; as you saw in my previous post is my true weakness. I finished up four mini lotions. The first is Moroccanoil Body Souffle which I enjoyed so much! I love all moroccan oil products and this was certainly no exception. They do tend to be a little pricey so I probably would not purchase this again in the future unless I found a really great deal on it. I finished two nourishing hand creams from Bath and Body Works in the scents Turquoise Waters and Maui Mango Mai Tai.  I love the hand creams because they are perfect to put in my purse or desk and use all day long. I have been using them often lately. I liked both of these scents but do not think I would repurchase them over other scents. The last lotion pictured is a foot lotion I received in my Birchbox. Hey Honey Walk The Walk was a thick foot lotion that worked wonders on my dry, cracked feet. I really loved this and squeezed every last bit out of that tube! I usually just use whatever lotion I am using on my body on my feet as well but once I get my lotion collection under control I may pick up a foot-specific lotion and will keep this on my radar.


I love the EOS shave gel in tropical fruit. The packaging is what dragged me in, but the scent was great! I also love that EOS shave gels can be used wet or dry which is different then so many other shave gels. I will definitely repurchase this in the future. Unfortunately I cannot remember which Lush bath bomb I had in this bag! I used it so long ago and didn't write on the package what it was. I do remember  taking a bath and loving it and thinking that I needed to buy some more bath bombs :)
This Pier 1 Peppermint Bath Bomb has been around awhile but I did enjoy it. It wasn't as nice as the Lush Bath Bombs so I do not think I will purchase it again in the future.


Three mouthwashes used up! Two of them are Crest ProHealth which is my mouthwash of choice. I really think it has a great taste which makes me actually enjoy using it. The Colgate Total Mouthwash was okay, but I would much prefer to buy the Crest in the future.


Both candles I've finished are from Bath and Body Works. Tis The Season is my absolute favorite candle right now! I have been using the soap in our bathroom recently and the scent is amazing especially around the holidays. I will repurchase this again for next year definitely. Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin I received for my birthday and I loved it as well. Usually I go for Leaves candles and I still absolutely love that scent but now I'm loving this scent as well! I can't wait for the fall scents to come out again since they are some of my favorites and I love to use them all year long.



Home products are something I'm using up more then ever in our apartment. If you have been reading or know me personally you know that I love cleaning supplies. I have a ton of products I want to try and have been considering switching over to all natural products so I can't wait to finish up everything I have to try some new things. Clorox Bleach is a staple to get rid of stains on our white clothing. I use white rags that tend to get grease on them when I clean the kitchen so bleach does a great job of getting all that out. It also keeps our socks white #importantstuff
I have been using Tide Pods for our laundry which I have been liking so far. I grew up on Purex so Tide is a new thing for me and so far I like it because it seems to get our clothes super clean. I've used up three Palmolive Dish Soaps and one Dawn Dish Soap. It doesn't particularly matter to me because they both seem to get the job done. I finished two containers of Lysol Disinfecting Wipes which I primarily use in the bathroom. Sometimes you need a product that is tough and has disinfecting agents in it and the bathroom is definitely one of the places that it's necessary! I also use Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner because once again the bathroom is not a place you want to mess around with germs. Lastly my natural product Method All Purpose Cleaner in Pink Grapefruit  was fantastic. I have been using Method for all my cleaning and dusting. I use this in the kitchen, living room and bedroom and I think it works great!




I have a ton of hair products to get through and managed to get through a few lately. Macadamia Deep Repair Masque is one of my staples. I constantly repurchase it when I see a deal at my local TJ Maxx. I have another container in my shower now and I also received one in my stocking at Christmas so I am all set for a little while. My former hair brush was made by Sephora and I did enjoy it for quite a few years. I discovered that bristles were breaking and I decided to splurge on a new brush when I was at Target one day and said goodbye to my tattered friend. I would recommend Sephora brushes but I don't feel that they are any better then ones you can find at the drug store. I finished a hotel sample of Aqua Shampoo and Conditioner which was just okay. It lasted me two uses and didn't damage my hair at all but it certainly was not my favorite set by far. I think most hotel shampoo and conditioners just aren't that great! I also finished Pantene Expert Shampoo and Conditioner which I thought was fabulous. Pantene despite getting quite a bit of negativity actually seems to work great with my hair. I have super dry hair so I always appreciate the moisture it provides. Finally Loreal Power Mositure Shampoo and Conditioner were awesome! I would definitely repurchase these in the future since they worked great with my hair.