Pink Ritas and Lip Gloss

Wow!  I am completely blown away with this product.  As you know I have been looking for the perfect mascara for almost a year now.  One of my biggest complaints has been falling eyelashes (won’t stay curled) and then too difficult to remove and thus I remove lashes with the mascara.  Well a few months ago I was complaining in Sephora while buying yet another brand of mascara and the girl recommended Make Up Forever’s Sens’Eyes eye makeup remover.  I wasn’t completely out with my sephora brand remover and wasn’t really thinking all that much of it since let’s face it I am not familiar with that brand at all.

Well the day finally came when I ran out of my Sephora eye makeup remover and I was  going to try the Stila brand since I had some luck with the free sample not too long ago.  Unfortunately, Sephora didn’t have this in stock so I went over and grabbed the Make Up Forever Sens’Eyes.  Can I just tell you I am in love with this product!!!  I have only used it once but I don’t think I’ll be switching to something else any time soon.

To use it you squirt just a little onto a cotton pad.  Then you smooth it out over the cotton pad and apply to your eye lid by just gently placing on the eye lid and holding for a few minutes.  While you are holding the remover is dissolving the makeup and picking it up on the pad!  No rubbing involved.  I did the same thing with my lash lines and everything came off.  I had no eyeliner or mascara left over after I finished applying the remover and I didn’t lose a single lash.  This product is totally worth the $23 selling price.  Only thing you have to remember is not to press on the pump too hard or too much of the product will come out.

I am super excited.  I finally earned enough Discover cash back bonus awards to cash out again.  Normally, I cash out for a payment towards my balance but this time around I decided to let my bonus work for me and I cashed out my $20 for $25 at Sephora.com.  You know what that means right???

Shopping spree and new products to try out except I don’t know what to spend it on.  I’m not sure if I want a new Philosophy 3-in-1 since I finally used up the last of my Crumble Berry Pie scent (so not my favorite) or if I want to splurge on a new She Uerma eyelash curler since I have had no luck lately with my quest for new mascara.  But then there is always those products I always think about trying but never buy because they are a little pricey or the latest trends in makeup.  Tough decisions.  I might just splurge and try the new trend -> teal eyeshadow over a shimmery brown.  I figure I already have Stila Kitten which is the perfect light, shimmery brown maybe I should just splurge and pick up the Urban Decay eyeshadow Peace as shown below.  I’ll report back what I decide on and how much I like it.

A few years ago I was at my local Foley’s (ok maybe it was 5 years ago since they are now Macy’s) Benefit counter and the girl working the counter suggested I try using a liquid eyeliner instead of a pencil eyeliner.  I can’t remember why I was there or what I was there for but it definitely was not about eyeliner.  So after much pondering I decided to give it a try and order a brush and liner from sephora and I have yet to go back to pencils since!

Since buying my eyeliner brush I have learned that by adding a tiny bit of water to any eyeshadow you can have instant eyeliner.  The only down-side is that if you use too much water you can end up with a complete mess in your compact or hard spots from adding the water.  Too Faced actually has a promising tool - Liquif-Eye which is a stiff brush with a pot of solution that you rub across any eyeshadow and create instant eyeliner.  While this isn’t really new from what I was doing before I thought it would be good for traveling or keeping my eyeshadow clean (ie not drenched).  So here it is:

As you can see its rather compact.  I would say the whole thing is about as tall as a pencil liner.  It is not any thicker than a tube of mascara so great for traveling.  I have tried this out twice so far and well I’m rather disappointed in the product.  Yes it stays true to its word in that it is not messy and it can turn any eyeshadow into a liner but… it doesn’t really work unless you are using a dark shadow as the liner on top of a really light shadow on your lid.  In other words, eyeshadow as a liner and not a shadow just isn’t dark enough without trying to cake it on.  I can see this coming handy with the Benefit Bebe Cakes which are dry liners that you add water too.  I think I’ll dig one of those out this weekend and give this a try with it.  I quit using the Bebe cakes because they are very dark and one off stroke can leave you with Cleopatra eyes instead of subtle eyes for work.

So overall - I think its an easy product to use and helps keep eyeliner from going on too thick or ruining shadows by adding too much water, I just don’t think it delivers what it is marketed to do.  So my recommendation is to stick with a brush and your Stila Smudge Pots and forget the Liquif-Eye (or at least return it before you lose out on the $18).

Love handles - Who wants those? I know I don’t! So in my ongoing effort to improve my boring workouts I have found another fun exercise to do with my exercise ball. This time the focus is on getting rid of those pesky love handles. This exercise is fairly simple and easy to do in the comfort of your home. You just need an exercise ball and a wall. Sounds simple. There is one move you do for both sides of your body and because you are balancing between the ball and the wall there shouldn’t be any worries of rolling off the ball either!

Ab Exercises from earlier in the series:

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

I made the trip home this past weekend without a hitch Friday night. Unfortunately, the main bridge between Baton Rouge and Houston was shut down for most of Sunday so Mike and I had to take the scenic route to Opelouses to catch I-10 again. I think if we would have known the extent of the closure we would have left sooner than 6pm. It made for a very rough drive home and an even rougher day at work. Luckily we arrived safe and sound and will just catch back up on rest/sleep next weekend.

We ended up heading home for a couple of reasons. The main one was for my cousin’s wedding shower. She is “getting married” at the end of May. I put it in quotes as she and her fiance/husband jumped the gun and got married privately in February and are still having the big wedding next month. Its all rather interesting.

I am not a huge fan of wedding festivities such as the bridal shower and even less of a fan of those lingerie showers. I am rather picky about my undies and find it a pretty private matter and not one I’d want to share with my friends. I’m also a brand/label snob even when it comes to undies and chemises
and I would hate to ask my friends to not only buy this stuff for me but to spend the money on the brands I prefer. So luckily I just had to sit through the standard pots, pans, towels, linens, etc. before what turned out to be a very looong drive home. Not sure if I could have handled a lingerie shower and then a long drive home.

Growing up I was always a coupon clipper. I remember sitting at the table on Sunday mornings and cutting out coupons for my favorite foods and then those I *thought* I might try and slip into the basket Somewhere along the lines coupons started dwindling and my usage of them stopped. It probably was when I went off to college and decided I was too cool to read a newspaper other than the student paper. But now that I am on my own and paying for groceries myself I’ve started to pay attention to prices and wondering about coupons to cut down my expenses. I’ve read on a budget message board about how much people have been saving at CVS and Target so I’ve been scouring the internet. I did find a few Target coupons that are quick and easy to print out and redeem. I’ve never used an internet coupon so I’m a tad nervous but I figure the worst that will happen is they will tell me no. It doesn’t hurt to try. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

I hate this time of year: benefits renewal at work. We run on a July 1 - June 30 fiscal year so the changes to our benefits are going out now so we can adjust coverages, add coverages, or opt out. I get the general concept of things like dental insurance, health insurance, 401(k) Plans, and life insurance but I don’t know enough about any to make solid decisions which frustrates me. I’ve tried a few different books to understand the basics of these items but in the end, once I get that package from work every spring my eyes glaze over and I get confused. I know enough to ensure I have coverage for everything I need and that I don’t get more than I possibly need or not enough. I also make sure coverages are with reputable firms but other than that I just don’t know if there is something I’m missing. Anyone have some tips on how to navigate benefit packages and insurance?

We’ve had Mexican & Italian crockpot recipes so far so let’s throw a little Cajun in the mix because you can never go wrong with a little Cajun cooking every now and then. This is a great recipe for when you are hosting friends or relatives. I think this is the most requested recipe my friends ask me to make for them as none of them cook but like home cooked meals. I really need to introduce them to crockpots but I think we gotta start with how to work a kitchen first. This is one of those recipes where adding the complete “Cajun Trinity” would work best even though the recipe calls for just 2/3 of it. As a reminder the Trinity is - Onions, Celery, and Green Bell Pepper. My local Kroger sells the Kroger Brand frozen vegetables mix with these three combined so I just defrost and throw in!

Chicken Jambalaya

1 lb. uncooked, boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed
3 c fat free chicken broth
3/4 c water
1.5 c uncooked brown rice
4 oz reduced fat smoked turkey sausage
1/2 c celery with leaves thinly sliced
1/2 c onion, chopped
1/2 c green bell pepper, chopped
2 tsp Cajun seasoning
2 cloves garlic minced
1/8 tsp hot pepper sauce
1 bay leaf
14.5 oz can no salt diced tomatoes, undrained

1. In a large nonstick skillet, saute chicken 2-3 minutes.
2. Stir together remaining ingredients in slow cooker.
3. Add sauteed chicken
4. Cover. Cook on high for 6 hours.

Per serving: 370 cals, 7gms fat, 42 gms carbs, 4 gms fiber, 34gms protein.

I tweeked this recipe a bit. I used 4 c of chicken broth instead of the 3 cups and 3/4 c of water. I also did 1/2 a package of turkey sausage (7oz) instead of just 4 oz. I also did 1 cup onion, bell pepper, and celery (since Kroger sells them prechopped). It ended up being 9 1-cup servings.

5 WW points.

I am not a clean freak. I actually prefer organized chaos over neatness and order. Cleaning has always been one of those things I do when absolutely necessary - like when things get a little too grimy or I can’t pass it off on someone else - but not something I keep up with on a daily or weekly basis. So last year I got the grand idea to hire a maid service to do my cleaning for me. I figured I was no longer paying for parking so I’ll just transfer the expenses from monthly parking to a once a month maid service. Things started out well in the beginning but somewhere along the lines I started noticing little things that kept adding up to bigger things. Like dust still on my shelves, mildew growing on my shower liner and tub walls that were never cleaned and so on. So after 3 months of noticing this I called it quits. No use in paying someone to do minimal cleaning since I can do that myself.

So now I’m working on devising a cleaning schedule to do 1-2 rooms a weekend so that my apartment stays clean, I don’t get overwhelmed nor bored, and I’m not spending the entire weekend cleaning. Last weekend was the bathrooms and it went well. I pulled out my windex wipes and quickly cleaned the large mirror, used the clorox wipes to do the doors, cabinets, counter tops, and around the toilet area, then I pulled out the soft scrub (the only non-wipe) and went to town on the bathtub area. I felt very accomplished and proud when it was all said and done. My only complaint is how fast everything gets dirtied up again - especially the bathroom faucets. OMG talk about a germ-y nightmare with toothpaste and soap scum. I need to find some wipes for those!

This weekend I’ll be out of town but I think before we leave tomorrow I’ll spend tonight shredding the junk mail I received this week, wipe down the kitchen, run the dishes, and vacuum the apartment.

After spending the past week evaluating my blog and the direction it has been heading in, I’ve decided to head back to my roots.  What does this mean?  Well it means I’m going back to writing about beauty products/reviews and cooking.  I got a tad wrapped up in clicking on sites, joining directories, and well writing paid posts that quite frankly my blog has become a mess and lost focus.  I really hate that it happened and how fast it happened.  What started as a small but fun blog sharing my makeup stories and favorite recipes soon got taken over with just about every topic under the sun which is not fair to my readers who come for recipes or makeup recommendations.  So for that I apologize.  I am turning my focus over to writing quality content and not worrying about who is digging or buzzing me or even the paid stuff.  I have a few more of those I’m under obligation to write but after Sunday that will be over as well. :)  It was just out of control and too stressful on top of work stress, family stress, and vacation planning and unplanning.

So with that I welcome you back to the new and improved Pink Ritas and Lip Gloss and will be posting my most favorite Crockpot (and WW friendly might I add) recipe for everyone to enjoy!