I won!

Thank you to LorieM Designs! I won a copy of  her Fun in the Sun kit! I haven't received it yet, but I'm super excited to get it and use it! This will really help my digital scrapbooking project along! Thank you again! Stop by her blog and check out her designs. She has a lot of great things available.

e.l.f.

I recently discovered e.l.f. (eyes-lips-face) makeup. They're a company that produces inexpensive cosmetics that are supposed to compete with the high end brands such as Urban Decay, Smashbox, MAC, etc. I didn't know anything about them until Groupon had a deal last week for $35 worth of makeup for $15. I decided to take a look at their website to see what they had, and I immediately wanted so many things! Their products range anywhere from $1 - $6 for individual items. They also have kits and packages you can purchase, that are more expensive, but I’ve noticed they’re not necessarily a better deal. They cost the same as buying the items individually, so if there’s something in the kit that you’re not very interested, search for the items and add them to your cart separately. Then you can still have all the items in the kit, but you at least have them in your choices of colors, styles, etc.

So, after discovering e.l.f., I called my mom and asked if my parents had any plans for my upcoming birthday gift yet. She said no, so I asked for money to buy their makeup. My current makeup collection is several years old and makeup can go bad, and I had been hoping to update/overhaul it anyway, so it all worked out! After signing up for e.l.f.’s mailing list, I was sent a code for 50% off their Studio line of products so I wanted to order before the code expired. 

I hear from a lot of different people  on their message boards and fb page that their basic shipping was pretty terrible. It’s $6.95, you have to wait approximately 5 days for processing, then another 5+ days for the item to ship to you. I paid and extra $4.95 ($11.90 total) for the 3 day shipping, which was 1 day processing time, then 3 days to ship FedEx Priority. Unfortunately, they won’t deliver on weekends, so this extended my ship time, but I think it was worth the extra money not to have to wait 2 weeks for my order to arrive. My shipment came in yesterday and this, ladies, is what you can get for $100 (plus shipping) and 50% off the Studio line from e.l.f.:

My dear boyfriend went down our apartment complex's office to pick up the package for me and he was very surprised by the size of the order also. He was expecting a small box, but nope! This is everything:

e.l.f. Studio Endless Eyes Pro Eyeshadow Palette – Limited Edition

e.l.f. Essential Professional Complete Set of 12 Brushes

e.l.f. Essential Nail Polish Sets (5 piece) in Hot

I wasn’t able to order everything I needed to revamp my makeup collection, so I went back and placed a much smaller order to pick up a few more things. That should be here on Tuesday. I also lucked out because e.l.f. also has a special coupon code for their facebook fans on their fb page that gives 52% off of the Studio line. The code expires Monday, June 27th, so if you’re interested, hurry on over there!

I’ve tried a few of the items and so far I’m in love! The foundation is fabulous. It doesn’t feel greasy or heavy on my skin. The e.l.f. Essential Super Glossy Lip Shine in Pink Kiss (#2806) is great. It’s a bit sticky, but it smells and tastes great. I’m wearing my e.l.f. Essential Waterproof Eyeliner Pen in Plum (#7307) and I found that it was easy to apply and have had no problems with it. The e.l.f. Studio Blush in Candid Coral (#83133) looks great with my complexion. I was iffy about this, thinking it would be too pink, but it’s not. I’m so excited for my other products to arrive! If there’s anything you would like me to review or take more photos of, just let me know!


Thank you mom and dad for helping me get all this! Great birthday present!

Free Glasses Update

My pair of free glasses from Coastal Contacts came in yesterday! I haven’t had a chance to take any photos yet, but they’re great! My boyfriend says they actually look better on me than my much more expensive Armani ones do. Ha! They also came in, what I think, is a better case. Although, I think I look extremely geeky in them, if the bf says he likes ‘em, they stay :) I’ll post some pictures as soon as I can.

ALSO, if you're interested, they're giving away more today! I believe their new coupon code is still active, so head on over to their facebook page and see if they have anything you'd like! All you have to do is pay for shipping and handling and any extras you'd like added to the glasses such as sunglass tint, etc.

***UPDATE*** June 24, 2011

~some of my pages so far~

Free Glasses

So I managed to snag a pair of free glasses from Coastal Contacts this morning! They had a coupon code available on their Facebook page that was available at 9am, that when entered, zeroed out your order for the first 10,000 people to use the code. It was great! They announced the giveaway yesterday, so I had time to get my prescription and search around for a pair that I liked before trying to rush this morning.

I picked out this pair

I'm very excited. They're almost the complete opposite of the glasses I have now, so I'm excited to see how they look on me. AND, here's the best part, if I don't like them, I can return them free of charge as well. They even cover the shipping! The glasses will come with a cleaning kit and screwdriver also. Due to the expected volume of orders they will have, they glasses should arrive in about 10 days. Crossing my fingers they look great!

Houseparty.com

I've recently joined a website called House Party. It's a website where you can sign up to host a party at your home for certain groups or companies, and they will send you all the supplies for that particular party. For example, I recently applied to host a Thai Kitchen® Deliciously Different BBQ House Party™. If selected to be a host, they group will send me FREE:

"If selected as a host, your FREE party pack will contain:

• Thai Kitchen^® Coconut Milk
• Thai Kitchen^® Roasted Red Chili & Red Curry Pastes
• Thai Kitchen^® Dipping & All Purpose Sauces
• Thai Kitchen^® Fish Sauce
• Thai Kitchen^® Peanut Satay Sauce
• Simply Asia^® Ginger Teriyaki & General Tso Stir-Fry Sauces
• Thai Kitchen^® & Simply Asia^® grilling recipes & coupons
• Thai Kitchen^® & Simply Asia^® potholder
• Thai Kitchen^® & Simply Asia^® chip clips"

They usually supply enough items for a party of approximately 15 guests. I don't believe I've ever tried any of their products, but I'm more than willing to host a party and promote them if selected! I won't find out until July 14 if I'm selected or not, but I want to be! Here's to hoping!

Digital Scrapbooking

I've decided that I'm going to learn how to scrapbook digitally as well as by paper. I keep seeing all these cute desktop backgrounds and photo pages and I want to be able to create some of my own. Even though I don't have photoshop, I'm going to learn how to do it. So I've spent a great deal of time going to different places online and downloading any free packs I can find to start being creative! Wish me luck!

******UPDATE******

Success! At least I hope so :) This is my first creation using some of the digital art pieces I downloaded and PowerPoint 2010

So much for that

I just realized I spent $340 and some change just on GAS last month. In 30 days, I spent $340 just on gas. I know I'm repeating myself here, but to me that's outrageous! It shouldn't be legal for companies to charge so much for a commodity that, I'm pretty sure 90% of people would agree with me, is a necessity. That is more than a third of my paycheck, just spent on gas. Unfortunately for me, there isn't much I can do about this. I have absolutely no control over the price of gas, and since there isn't a competitive market for it, I can't really "shop around" for the best price. Especially living in California, let alone the capital. I couldn't imagine living in L.A. or San Diego. Yikes!

So, this means that if I'm unavailable to do anything, be it going out to dinner, or pretty much anything that costs money, don't be mad at me. Be mad at the gas companies because that's where all that money is going.