Less Stuff, Less Stress: Donating Books

I'm still working on getting rid of all the clutter in my life! When a local art store announced a book sale to support Planned Parenthood I immediately decided I would be cleaning out my books.

I was tougher then I've ever been before when cleaning out my books because my dream was to someday have a library like Beauty and the Beast so I tended to hoard my books. This time I was very honest because there were plenty of books I never planned on reading again...

As you can see a couple of books from my childhood made the donation pile. Mostly are books I absolutely love however I will never read again. PS I Love You was an amazing book that I read twice and sobbed both times but I haven't read it in years and someone else will get more use out of it. I also really enjoyed the Shopaholic books but I will probably never read them again. The greatest part about having my kindle is that if I ever feel the need to read any of these again I can simply download them!

Seventeen books donated and I feel lighter already! What have you donated lately?

#LessStuffLessStress

February Birchbox

Today I'm sharing my February Birchbox. I'm still trying to decide if this will be my final one or not.

Right now I just feel I have too many products. My IKEA Alex 9 drawer is packed with products I have yet to try and adding samples to it every month just seems a little ridiculous.

So this may be the last Birchbox unboxing you see from me...

February's box was cute it had a nice design to reflect Valentines day. I ended up saving this box to organize products into.

I was a little underwhelmed when I opened the box as well.

This PBJ Smoothie Stick is a creamy lip crayon and the idea of it is cute, the packaging is cute and I love the name...however I don't wear a lot of lip products and this color looks pretty dark to me. I'm not sure I'll get any use out of it.

New up is Living Proof Restore Perfecting Spray which is for detangling your hair. I can get use out of this because my hair tends to get pretty tangly however I have tons of hair products to use up! I still have so much to get through!

Dr Lipp Miracle Balm can be used on your lips or skin. I will most likely use this as a lotion.

Not sure why this picture is upside down and I can't get it to turn but this is Living Proof restore shampoo and conditioner. I will certainly use these but I often can't get a full use out of these kind of conditioner packets. It's always an issue having so much hair ;)

I will try this Balance Me Congested Skin Serum because I've been trying out a ton of skin products lately trying to figure out what works best with my skin. This seems like an interesting product and I'm excited to give it a try.

I'm always a little bummed when I receive perfume samples because I don't use them as quickly as they come in and I have so many full perfume bottles already!

So that's what came in my February Birchbox! What did you get in your subscription box this month?

Just A Stay-Cation

Oh hey friends! I've been a little absent here on the blog lately but this past week I took a little stay-cation from work! I had decided to take a five day vacation from work and didn't make a single plan which is very unlike me. I always have a plan for my vacation time but it was SO nice to just hang out! Well... that was the plan.

Before vacation there was of course the Super Bowl....

Which of course had the greatest result of all time! Another ring for the Pats!

Also I thought I would show you the plant I have actually succeeded in growing! I mean, it takes very little maintenance but I have managed to keep it alive.

A second blossom has emerged since this picture and another will be appearing soon too!

Tim and I have been doing a lot of shopping lately...which has been a little dangerous. This is one of my favorite moments...Tim sitting on the floor of Marshalls....

We spent the day with Brittni, Stephen and Emma over the weekend. We had lunch at Newport Creamery and always have the best time watching Emma enjoy different types of foods. 

We also got the chance to visit with Rachel, Ant and Tilly. I soaked in some newborn snuggles while the boys played video games.

Tim did enjoy some newborn snuggles too!

We also have been doing really well at going to the gym! I even started riding the bike and did four miles the other day!

Unfortunately my grandmother passed away at the end of last week so we spent our Valentines Day at a funeral. We were able to sneak in dinner and tons of quality time together which is the best! I am so lucky <3

I hope you guys had a wonderful Valentines Day and I am off to enjoy one last day of vacation tomorrow before I head back to work on Thursday....boo!

4 Beauty Items I'm Testing Now

As you all know I am technically on a no-buy. I am trying to not buy new products this year until I use up some of what I already have. Technically all four items I purchased are things I don't have an overwhelming amount of. If I was purchasing lotions or shower gels I would tell you to come over and slap me...however I am buying a few things to test out that catch my eye.

I stopped in Marshall's last night and picked up a few things...

I have never been a huge dry shampoo girl but I actually have heard amazing things about Baptiste.  I picked out this tropical scent and I may be becoming a convert! I used it last night and again this morning just to try it out and love it so far. I love the prices at Marshall's- great for trying new things!

I love a good makeup wipe and I figured the Alba Botanica Hawaiian wipes would be great to try. There are also only 10 inside so if I don't care for them they will be used up quickly! I tried one last night before bed and really liked it! Also a small package for only $1.99? I love Marshalls!

The last item I picked up from Marshalls is this beauty blender. I believe the brand was Precision Beauty and so far it has been great for applying my BB cream in the morning! I am planning on purchasing a new foundation in the near future so I am looking forward to being able to apply it with an airbrush finish that this beauty blender will provide.

Last up is a Sephora splurge. I was in the mall and couldn't help myself when I made this purchase! (insert guilty face here) This is the Laura Mercier Secret Concealer in 0.5. I had planned on purchasing the Laura Mercier silk cream foundation when I walked in that day but I couldn't find a shade in my color. I think I will be Rose ivory (the lightest shade) but they didn't have it in stock. Instead since I was ready to make a purchase I decided to grab the secret concealer which I only use on my under-eye area.  So far it's awesome and seems like my perfect color! I can't wait to pick up the foundation and complete the look!

What products have you been trying out lately?

Life Lately: A Busy Weekend

This past weekend seemed to revolve around kids...despite Tim and I not having any children of our own. It was a fun but busy weekend and I didn't complete any of the errands I wanted to, but that's okay there's always next weekend!

On Saturday we had a very special event to attend...Emma's First Birthday Party! The theme was Emma's Winter One-derland and when we walked in the soundtrack from Frozen was playing. Emma is currently loving the Frozen Soundtrack and I will continue to hope that someday she will be a Disney Princess girl like me! :)

When we first arrived we luckily were handed the princess herself fairly quickly. She definitely was more interested in the balloons then us and wanted freedom since she is so fiercely independent. 

Brittni did an awesome job planning with Calvittos Pizza and a donut cake from Allie's. It was all Rhode Island favorites! Of course we all loved watching Emma smash her cake (or delicately eat frosting as she did) but I personally loved watching her open her gifts! She was less interested in the actual gift then she was in the boxes, tissue paper, bags, etc...

I can't believe this little girl is a year old! 

On Saturday night Tim and I had a nice dinner at one of our favorite restaurants Richards Pub (they have amazing french onion soup) and then had a nice quiet night at home where I kicked his butt at Madden. (Not true- he kicked my butt, but doesn't me winning make it a better story? I think so too)

On Sunday we headed to the football banquet for the football team Tim coaches. I unfortunately had to leave before his team had their presentation but I was able to see one little guy get his first trophy! 

Tim's nephew Callan played flag football this year and he received his first trophy which was so exciting!

I had to leave early because the dance team I coach was performing during halftime at the Dunkin Donuts Center! I headed all the way down to the high school to catch the bus and then we took off to perform.

The girls had a great time even though there was a brief moment where we weren't sure we were going to have music. We were a little panicky for a few minutes but it all worked out in the end!

Overall it was a great weekend! Did you do anything special this weekend?