Friday, March 24, 2017

Spice Cabinet Before And After

Just wanted to quickly share my before and after pictures of my Spice Cabinet.

Here is the before....


And the after.....


Simplified, organized and beautiful! :)

Happy Friday everyone!

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

The Pantry Project

So our pantry has been a source of frustration for me for quite some time. The pantry is rather small and only has four shelves. I was finding that we didn't know what we had because there was so much shoved into those shelves. We we would end up buying more boxes of pasta, more sugar, etc because we didn't know we had a ton in the back hiding. 

So I had a plan...and off to the Container Store we went!



The Container Store is my favorite store because there are so many options! We spent a great deal of time wandering around but we were able to decide on getting an Elfa system for the inside of our door very quickly. 


Here is a picture of everything we picked up at The Container Store. I picked up the Elfa system pieces including two large baskets and two medium baskets. I also bought a Lazy Susan and a jewelry polishing cloth.

Before I show you our pantry let's go back to my spice cabinet where the Lazy Susan ended up.


Look how nice it looks! I think I will have to post a before and after of this in an additional post so you guys can see the difference. I love it!

Now on to the pantry...


This was the before where everything was just shoved into the shelves. When we brought the Elfa system home the first thing I did was clean out the entire pantry. Unfortunately the piece that was supposed to fit our closet was too long so we actually brought it back to the store the following day. I was shocked to learn that they actually would cut it down for us! They did this for free and it was amazing!


Here's our pantry emptied onto the floor. Putting everything back is always the most fun.


This is not a complete after picture because I still have plans to buy more clear containers and make the shelves look even better.  I am excited for this project because I think that this will help us live in a  more organized and simple way!

I will keep you updated on this project as I go forward. How is your pantry organized?

Monday, March 20, 2017

"Snow" Day Healthy Banana Muffins

Last week we were all prepared to have a huge blizzard here in Rhody. I actually started my day off at work but the roads started to look really bad so I headed home in the late morning. About an hour after I got home it turned to rain....therefore it was my "snow" day.

Since I was already home and hanging out I decided to whip up some healthy banana muffins. My mom always would bake banana nut muffins and I would devour them in twos or threes. Since Tim and I are trying to lose weight, eat healthy, and work out at least 4-5 times a week I decided to try a healthy recipe I found on Pinterest.


I found this recipe on ifoodreal.com and the muffins turned out pretty well. I do have to tell you they are nothing like those muffins that my mom used to make but since they are a healthy version I didn't expect them to be. I did love when I got a banana bite because that was by far the sweetest part of the muffin. Tim reviewed them as good and I was pretty impressed that I made them from scratch.

So if you want to re-create this recipe this is what you need:

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of bananas. (I used three bananas and the original recipe called for them to be very ripe, but I just used the ones I had bought the day before at the grocery store. I think you could honestly include a fourth banana if you wanted)

1 Egg

1/2 cup  Unsweetened Applesauce

1/4 cup  Maple Syrup or Raw Honey (I used maple syrup)

1 tsp Baking Powder, aluminum free

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp Salt

1 tsp Vanilla Extract, pure

1 1/3 cups Whole Wheat Flour

3 tbsp Olive Oil

Cooking Spray (I didn't use cooking spray because I used cupcake liners instead)

Directions

- Preheat oven to 375 and either spray your muffin tin (12 muffins) or put cupcake liners inside.

- Beat your egg in a mixing bowl

-Add bananas to bowl and mash well

-Add all remaining ingredients except for the flour and mix everything together.

-Add the flour and stir all ingredients.

-Fill each tin (or cupcake liner) with batter and bake for 22 minutes.

- Take out muffins, allow to cool and then enjoy!

If you are looking for a healthier version of a banana muffin then this is it, just remember there is no sugar to taste...it will taste healthy! I am enjoying trying new healthy foods but I do miss my sugar! :)

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Life Lately

Today I'm sharing some photos of life lately! Life is good around here and we've been keeping busy.


Occasionally I get to have lunch with this little lady! Emma joins us for lunch during work every once in awhile and seeing her just makes my day. She is hilarious and takes my mind off of whatever is happening in my office!


My college roommates Megan and Laura visited and we were able to enjoy drinks, dinner and bowling which was a blast. It's always great to see my two college best friends!


Last weekend we went on a brewery tour on Saturday which started at The Tilted Barn Brewery in Exeter. I don't drink beer because I don't care for the taste of it but I went along for the fun!


Although I can't judge based on the taste of the beer I can tell you that the place was packed! This brewery is a barn that a local man decided to turn into a brewery. The inside is pretty small and was extremely packed but there is a loft upstairs that is fun to hang out in. Tim just piped in that he had the porter at this brewery and thought it was delicious.

Since it's so small inside there tends to be a line to get in. I recommend going on day where it isn't freezing so you don't have to turn into an icicle while you wait to get in!



Proclamation Brewery was our second stop and far less crowded but no less obscure. This one is located in Kingston and was in a warehouse which was super strange but they did a great job at making it feel like you were in a small bar in a city. Tim also tried a porter at this stop and said it was also delicious. I just enjoyed the atmosphere and company! I have to say that this was my least favorite of the four places we visited, but it was worth a visit!



Our third stop was Sons of Liberty in Wakefield which was the only place I drank because they also brew whiskey!  I had a coffee flavored whiskey drink which was delicious. In addition to drinking there are a ton of games set up to play including pool, darts, foosball, and corn hole. There was so much to do and they had a band setting up as well. There are flights of whiskey and beer offered too which is great if you want to sample a bit of everything. I think this may have been my favorite stop of the day!



After hanging around there for a few hours we made our final stop of our brewery tour located in Wakefield....


Whalers Brewery was also very cool and set up with lots of games to play including huge Jenga set. They only have beer here but the atmosphere was awesome. I would definitely go back here in the future. The inside was huge which means there is a lot of room to hang out. 

Overall it was an awesome day and I'm so glad I got to see all these new places in my home state!


We also babysat sick Emma one day lately. She was so tired and feverish she just cuddled us the entire day. I felt bad for her since she was sick but soaked in all the cuddle time I could.



Lok at those rosy cheeks! Such a sweet little girl!


I also was able to have dinner lately with this little sweetie and her mom! Rachel and Tilly passed by to visit and have dinner at Applebees. I can't believe she's already been alive for almost two months! Time is flying by...

That is what has been happening in my life lately, thanks for coming along!

Sunday, March 12, 2017

Spice Cabinet Organization

I recently watched a video on Youtube that involved pantry organization and I immediately knew that I needed to get my spices organized. This cabinet drove me crazy and I honestly didn't go into it much at all. I decided that it was time to get all of our spices into the same containers.


Here is where we started. I know that many of you would be un-concerned with the state it was in but disorganization like this drives me insane! I hated seeing all the different containers.


If you've been reading along for any length of time you know that the first step to every project is to empty out the space and that's exactly what I did. I also wiped down the cupboard so it would all be nice and clean.


Now as I was cleaning this space out I found a few items that I was ready to part ways with. Did we really need our souvenir cups from a Pawsox game and from Six Flags? No, we didn't! I also had a bistro set that I had an emotionally hard time parting with, but I've never opened it so why was I still holding onto it?! This made quite a difference in the amount of space I had to work with.


When I pulled everything out I made sure to take inventory on what exactly we had so I could consider organization options.


I ended up purchasing these containers from World Market. For $6 you get 6 containers which makes them very affordable. I purchased four sets of them and it ended up being the exact perfect amount I needed!

As you can see above I started off just using my label maker but didn't like the way it looked. So I ended up finding free chalkboard label printable online and creating some labels of my own!



I'm obsessed with how good they look! I love the look of chalkboard labels but this way I was able to get that look but not have to handwrite everything myself. I think the typing looks so much better and is definitely easier to read.


My last purchase was this Expand-A-Shelf which I think ties it all in! Now my spices are all lined up beautifully and I can see every single one!  I am still working on a plan for the other side of the cabinet, I am thinking a lazy susan will be purchased for that side! I will let you see the end result when I have one,

Enjoy the res t of your weekend everyone!

Monday, March 6, 2017

Recent Empties

Hey everyone! It's time to share some empties again and I have a whole mess of products that I finished up recently.


This bin sits in my closet and every time I finish up a product I throw it up there to share my thoughts with you guys.

Here we go!




I finished up three candles and all of them were from Bath and Body Works. The first was Dashing Through The Snow which I received as a gift last year. I wasn't a huge fan of this honestly because I'm not a huge pine scent girl. I only had half of the candle leftover from last year so I figured I would just use it up. I absolutely loved Fresh Sparkling Snow it was such a sweet scent and is now one of my favorite winter scents and I have a soap and body lotion currently being used. So good! The last candle I used up was Marshmallow Fireside which is technically a fall scent but we enjoyed it just as much this winter! I would definitely repurchase this in the future because it has a nice smokey scent that Tim and I both really enjoyed.


I finished three Palmolive dish soaps each in a different color. I'm honestly not too picky with my dish soaps and just use whatever I happen to get during couponing. These were all just fine, worked great and I will repurchase.


I used up two household products. The Lysol disinfecting wipes are great to use around the house to wipe up quick messes and especially in the bathroom where you want to keep things clean. I also used up a bag of Tide pods with Febreeze. I love these!  I will continue purchasing pods because they are so much easier when you are hauling clothes back and forth from the laundromat. Much easier to haul a small baggy of pods then a container of liquid soap.


Tim finished up four items that he let me steal to share. The Dial Greek Yogurt was a shower gel I had picked up while couponing and Tim needed a shower gel so I gave him this one since it's pretty neutral. His response, "It was good I guess" leaves quite a bit to the imagination but he used it up so we'll take it as it being a good product. When I continued to ask him about the other products above he gave me some vague answers like "it was probably good" and "I'm not complaining about any of them so..."
I don't know why I bother =)


For scented items I used up the Glade Hawaiian Spray which was nice, not super overwhelming. I really like the Febreeze Gain vent clip which I used in my car. I always like to keep my car smelling nice. The last item was an air freshener but I honestly am not sure what it was since it has no packaging.


This is kind of a random category of treatments.  I received this Dior Dream Cream and it was amazing and silky and I would use it every day on my skin however I'm not sure I want to spend a ton of money on a face cream. It was amazing though I would pick another sample of it up if I could. The Real Chemistry Body Mask was okay, not my favorite I don't feel like it's something I particularly need. I was happy to try the sample though. The REN face mask was okay. It was a peel off mask that I did like but I don't think it did anything too spectacular for my skin. The Argan hair mask was really nice, I definitely enjoyed using this for a change since I so often choose my Macademia hair mask, but it was nice to try something different. Lastly the Prep and Glow was okay, nothing too great! I would not purchase a full size of it because I didn't feel like it did much for me at all.



I finished up a shampoo and conditioner from Morroccanoil that I received for Christmas and absolutely loved them. I would definitely purchase them again in the future. I love that they are natural and worked great on my hair. I also used a three-step sample of Loreal Smooth Intense and thought it was great as well. I would definitely purchase a full size of this as well because it definitely smoothed out my crazy hair.


The Neutrogena Deep Clean Cleanser was okay but took me forever to finish so I was so sick of it! I don't think it did anything to help my super dry skin though so I would not repurchase it in the future. I would however repurchase the Bath and Body Works Tis The Season hand soap. This is my favorite winter scent of all time. I buy this in candles as well and always get so much use out it!


I unfortunately finished up Canker medication due to some awful canker sores this past month. This Canker-x was minty but I was not impressed. It didn't numb my sore or make it better, not great at all. The Biotrue contact solution works great at cleaning my contacts and doesn't hurt my eyes so that is definitely a win. I also used up Crest mouthwash which is my favorite type of mouthwash since it is super gentle. I also ate a whole container of Minion tic tacs. They were amazing and banana flavored.


This Lovespell body spray from Victoria's Secret I kept in my car forever so I decided to finally just toss it. This is not my favorite scent it's just too floral or something so I definitely would not repurchase it in the future. I also have far too many scents to work my way through right now!


This Marc Jacobs eyeliner in black was part of a Sephora birthday gift and I am so sad to see this go! It was amazing and I can't believe it's gone. I think I may have to buy more in the near future because it is probably my favorite eyeliner I've ever owned.


I have three mini lotions that were in the bin. Victoria's Secret Vanilla Lace lotion sat in my desk drawer at work and I really did like it. I'm not a huge fan of Victoria's Secret lotion because I feel it's a little greasy but I did really like the scent. The Tocca Grapfruit and Cucumber lotion I have to toss because it was just so gross. The smell was terrible and the lotion made my hands sticky...I just couldn't handle it. The last one is a mini sample of LUSH Dream Cream which is one of the best lotions ever. I really enjoy it because it's so simple and I love LUSH products just for their brand- pretty much everything they make is great.


Two mini shower gels are complete. The first is the Soap No Glory from a set I received last year, it was the purple colored one and I really liked it. The lavender scent was very relaxing and I enjoyed it. Bath and Body Works Secret Wonderland is a great shower gel and I would 100% purchase a full size in the future. I thought the scent was great and I always love Bath and Body Works shower gels.


Lastly I have five Cake Batter Chapsticks and a Soothing Vanilla Chapstick. Love the cake batter and the vanilla was a nice backup!

That's all the products that I've finished up lately and I am slowly working my way through all my products! What have you used up lately?

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Sephora Haul

Recently I placed an order with Sephora so I could purchase something that I've been eyeing for quite some time! When ordering I also was able to pick up a few samples so I just wanted to share what I received.


I have been wanting to try Laura Mercier silk creme foundation forever! I have been playing it with a little bit and so far I absolutely love it. It has great coverage and feels so light on my skin. I am officially a Laura Mercier convert and this will be my go-to foundation!


For my first sample I picked up a Flowerbomb perfume sample. I already have it in a full size but it's always good to have a sample to take while traveling!


This Clinque Moisturizing Gel looks interesting and I have heard such great things about Clinque products that I definitely am interested in giving it a try. 


I already own a Porefessional small sample but I always am game for getting another one! If I am going out for the night I always put this on before foundation just to even out my skin. It works great!



This Ole Hendriksen 3 little wonders is a new product for me. I am excited to try it!



Lastly is a BareMinerals foundation. I know that I purchased a foundation but I thought it would be nice to also try another one as well!

So that's all I ended up with in my Sephora haul but I am excited to play some more with my new products! Now that I have some new things it must be about time for some empties right?!