Review: September Birchbox

Well, ladies, this month is my last month reviewing Birchbox.

My year long subscription Cory gifted me is up, and lucky for me,

 it ended on a good note with their "September Issue."

Here's the goods:

The Brush Guard | Variety Kit

I think this is very clever. Half the time I just throw my makeup brushes in my bag without a second glance. 

This way, they can keep their shape and stay clean while I'm traveling.

La Fresh | Instant Body Soother

I wish I had these while I was traveling back and forth to Houston..waking up for two  6:30 am flight seriously wiped me out. The cloths are infused with six different oils to relax and refresh.

Dr. Jart+ | Water Fuse Beauty Balm SPF 25+
I really wish I was a beauty balm fan, but they just do not give me enough coverage to my liking. 

twistband | Birchbox Custom Lace Hair Tie

Y'all already know from my love of their first twistband they gave me, that I was thankful for another. 

These are the only hair ties I use now. 

boscia | Purifying Cleansing Gel

I'm so happy I got to try this since I'm in love with boscia's Black Mask Peel.
This reminded me of all those sulfate free cleansers. Really soft, doesn't lather.
But not very good for removing my layer of makeup everyday. I'll still stick to my Dove bar.

Color Club | Birchbox Custom Polish "Put a Pin In It"

Inspired by the Fall 2012 collections, the polish color was the first thing that caught my eye. 

I really love the shade. I would call it almost a mix between champagne and rose gold.

My Overall Review of Birchbox

Besides the annoying amount of hand creams I have received over the past year, I really did enjoy my Birchbox subscription, and I am more than likely going to be jealous when I see another box review on some of y'all blogs next month. 

Would I suggest it? 

Completely! I've spent $10 on worse things. But I will warn you if you are hesitant. Not every month is going to be this amazing month of amazing goods. Take it from me..you will get a few too many hand creams. And that's ok. Things like a $14 amazing razor and your new favorite lip balm will make up the difference. 

xoxo,

Review: August Birchbox

Wow, I'm kind of late on posting this, right? 

Just gave me more time to review the products, of course!

Schick | Hydro Silk Razor
This is seriously the best razor I have ever used. Looked up the price and realized it was $14. Huge bonus!

Miss Jessie's Original | Pillow Soft Curls
Still haven't used the Pillow Soft Curl cream, but I'm interested in seeing how my coarse hair will handle it.

Whish | Three Wishes Body Butter
Another month, another body butter, hand cream, whatever. I'm over my shocked phase.

DDF | Brightening Cleanser
Finally, a cleanser that lathers. Still doesn't sway me to cheat on beloved Dove bar though.

Juicy Couture | Viva la Juicy La Fleur

I wasn't planning on liking the Juicy Couture perfume, but I surprisingly enjoyed the light floral scent.


One of the things I love about Birchbox is their packaging, and they have really been stepping up their game in the past few months. This month, dedicated to back-to-school, came with a little Beauty School booklet full of tips and tricks. Clever, Birchbox. :)

xoxo,

Wedding DIY: Getaway Ribbon Wands

My original dream of a wedding getaway was running through a aisle of friends holding sparklers, but that vision was crushed when the Woodruff-Fontaine House notified me that it has a huge fire hazard. 
Well, the house is nearly 150 years old, after all. 
So I had to come up with something to please both the venue and myself. 
And trust me, I adamantly refuse to be pelted by bird seed...ouch.

What You Need:

- 12 inch dowels 

- 18 mm jingle bells

- jewelry wire

- hot glue

- various colored ribbon

1. I used the jewelry wire to string and tightly wrap each jingle bell on the ends of the dowels and secured it with a drop of hot glue. The glue is just to make sure the wire doesn't slide around. 

2. For the wands, I chose coral, grey, and champagne gold ribbon and cut them into roughly 15 inch strips. *Helpful Hint: By unrolling my ribbon, folding it in half over and over, and then snipping the looped ends, I was able to make sure none of my ribbon was wasted. 

3. Because the grey was twice as thick as the gold and coral ribbon, I used 1 part grey to two parts gold and coral on each wand. I read many a tutorial that suggested hot gluing the ribbon to the dowel, but I looped a knot at the end and it was secure, so to each his own.

Although I ran out of ribbon before I could finish all of my wands, I went back to the craft store and bought a roll of lace to add into the fold. I adore the vintage look. :)

Now I'm curious! How did you make your wedding getaway?

xoxo,

Hello Fall

I love when September 22 rolls around. It means just the beginning of...

wearing leggings with boots

sipping pumpkin spice lattes

burning mulled wine candles

burgundy, navy, and gray manicured nails

decorating pumpkins with glitter

planting orange and yellow mums

eating bags and bags of candy corn

 welcoming my favorite TV shows back into my DVR

and celebrating my birthday. :) 

xoxo,

OOTD...yeah, right.

I always wanted to take all of these cute little Outfit of the Day posts like how some of my favorite bloggers do virtually everyday, but one thing has always gotten in my way..

I'm truggin' 95% of the time.

Level 99 boyfriend trousers, Eloise camisole, Target cardigan, and the smirk of not having a care in the world

The problem is when I look halfway decent, I feel like too much a goofball to ask someone to take my photo.

Anyone else have the problem too?

xoxo,

five things about my fiance', Cory

Lets talk about Cory. 

You know, you would think that after dating someone for six years, getting engaged, and all that jazz would have rendered me into mentioning Cory a lot more on my blog. I don't know why he's been hidden in the background for all this time, and sure, he's been in photos and I've mentioned him on here, but I've finally come to realize he deserves a little spotlight put on him every once in awhile. 

I'll become Mrs. B in three weeks. (woah.)

Here's what I'm getting myself into... ;) 

1. He has a twin, and his name is John Krasinski.

Now, am I really the only one who sees this? 
C thinks I'm crazy to say he looks like Jim from the Office. 
And I may have told our hair stylist (yes, I got him to go to the same girl as me!) to not cut too much of his hair so he can achieve that John K messy do...ok, ok, maybe it is just me.

2. He's an aircraft mechanic. 
Some may have already know this, but in a nut shell, my dude went to school to work on airplanes. 
He is extremely knowledgeable about all kinds of planes, how the operate, and he's steadily pointing out different models as they're flying about. I find myself in awe when I get him to tell me what he did for work that day. 

3. Cory is a good ole southern boy.
Because you know, a southern gal like me has to have her gun toting man's man by her side...who on occasion blows things up in the backyard as you can tell...and still manages to clean himself up nicely for when we go out on dates. Seriously, he sometimes puts more thought and attention to his clothing than I do. ha  

And for those who were curious about the photo, those are haystacks ravished by his AK47..

4. He can make this girl laugh. 
And yes, he really wants our first dance to be to Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is."

and lastly...

5. Cory has taken a job in Mobile, Alabama, and come October (or sooner!), we will officially start our newlywed status together in a different state.

Did not see that one coming, did you? Well, to be honest, neither did we. 
Bring on the adventure!!

xoxo,
 

If You Really Knew Me..

..you would know:

I rather have people find me funny than pretty.

I never leave the house without makeup on. Never ever.

I'm jealous of the girls who have the self confidence to leave the house without makeup on.

I'm a cat lover who instead owns a dog.

My sister (who was nine at the time) named me after Whitney Houston. 

My middle name, Erin, she picked after Elvis Aaron Presley.

I loathe talking on the phone. I'm much more involved in face to face conversation.

I'm really stressed out about wedding planning, although I've been told I am the most calm bride they know.

I have ten posts on here that I cannot seem to click "publish" yet..so this one will have to do. ;)

xoxo,

Wedding: what I've been up to lately

Y'all.

I'm getting married in less than 55 days. 

Craziness, I tell you. 

Let's chat about what's been going down. 

Cory and I have chosen our wedding bands.

Silly as it may sound, I first fell in love with this Sydney Evan's love ring for it's uniqueness and simplicity, but I instead found a classic diamond band to go with my engagement ring, and let me tell you, I want to wear it, like, right now. (I'll still take the Sidney Evan's one too though!)

I found this Rope Vase DIY on Green Wedding Shoes Blog, and it gave me some more inspiration for what I already had in my mind for table decor. Although I'll be scrapping the neon for coral and grey, I really like the overall look of having clusters of wine bottles housing bundles of baby's breathe. 

Did I mention that I have one of the best friends/bridesmaids ever who is helping me with all of this?! 

I found my wedding earrings via Anthropologie. 
I love how delicate they look, and they didn't break the bank.

I have my wedding flowers booked and ready to go, and sent in this photo as my inspiration.
 I chose a blend of peaches, mango, and corals for my bridesmaids with more creams and peaches for myself. 
Flowers were never the number one thing on my wedding list, so I'm placing complete confidence in my florist and will not see them until the day of the wedding. Although I cannot wait to see the finished result! 

And the best thing I've accomplished for this wedding is changing my figure.
29 pounds and 15 inches are gone, people!!
I'm happier, healthier, and a stronger gal than I was 8 months ago.
Oh yeah, and the above photo was taken at my gym. They don't play around.

And that, my friends, has been some of the fun stuff going around here (well, besides my bridesmaids gifts which I LOVE, but one of my girls has a blog of her own - hi there, Erica! - so I can post their gifts just yet). I still have tons of more stuff to do, and I'm so thankful for the family and friends who have kept me level-headed through this whole thing. 

xoxo,

Recipe: Cake Batter Blondes

Thanks to following @southernsocial on Twitter, I now have a new recipe that makes my sweet tooth sing. (Well, it never takes much, but I digress.)

Now I will admit, I'm used to baking my stuff from scratch.

So when I followed the recipe by Girl Meets Life, and she said to use a box of cake mix,
 I freaked at how easy these were to make and how they were just wayyy too good. 

Ingredients:

one box of Pillsbury Funfetti cake mix

1/4 cup canola oil

1 egg, beaten

1/4 - 1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup white chocolate chips (not optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat your over to 350. Girl Meets Life's recipe called for mixing a yellow cake mix and 1/4 cup of sprinkles together, but I went with Funfetti, because, well...that's what it is already.

2. Pour cake mix into large bowl and make sure to break up any lumps.
3. Mix in oil and beaten egg.
4. Because this cake is suppose to be dense, I alternated adding in my milk and chocolate chips just so I wouldn't have such an arm workout mixing this sucker. (And I ended up using the full 1/2 cup of milk.)
4. Place batter in a greased 8x8 cake pan.
5. Bake for 25 minutes until the edges just turn a golden brown.
6. Cool for a full 20 minutes or more before you start cutting. The gooey center needs to set. You may think they are not done when you first take them out, but trust me, they are!
7. TRY NOT TO EAT THE ENTIRE THING.

I'll be trying this next with a box of dark chocolate cake mix. 

Yum.

xoxo,

Review: July Birchbox

kinda, really late with this review...whoops!

Birchbox, have you been reading my blog reviews?

I just feel like you have been listening. ;)

Because this month's box rocked..almost competes with my affection for my March BB. 

Let's get on with the goods.

stila | lip glaze
Jouer | Luminizing Moisture Tint
beautyblender | the original beautyblender sponge

Harvey Prince | Hello perfume
Tea Forte' | minteas
Birchbox Exclusive | earbuds

I have to say that I love every single thing in this box.
The perfume smelled amazing and fun.
The lip balm was a great neutral shade.
I finally received a BeautyBlender sponge! (Still waiting to use it since I don't use liquid foundation in the summer.)
Earbuds were a nice little perk.
 I love some tinted moisturizer and those mints were interesting to try to say the least.

Did you notice what was missing? 
A HAND CREAM.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!

xoxo,