Versatile Blogger Award

I know what you guys are thinking, two posts in one day! I had to post this though, how awesome is it to wake up on a Monday morning to an email from Jennifer at Party of One saying she nominated me for a blogger award!! This is exciting because it's my very first award and Jennifer is a fave blogger of mine so thanks for nominating me! If you don't already, you should definitely check her blog out, now!!

So I got nominated for the Versatile Blogger award and this is such a sweet thing because I've only been blogging for a little while now and to already have some amazing ladies reading my blog and commenting is such a great thing.

So here are the rules for this award:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you

2. Include a link to their site

3. Include the award image (above) in your post

4. Give 7 random facts about yourself

5. Nominate 15 other bloggers for the award

6. When nominating, include a link to their site

7. Let the bloggers know they have been nominated (email,twitter, etc)

7 random facts about me:

1. I don't function in the morning without my daily Starbucks

2. I hate hate hate creepy crawly things, especially spiders!!!

3. I have over 50 cousins (that I've actually met, I'm sure there are way more)

4. I am 100% of Indian origin, but can hardly speak the language

5. I am a huge basketball (Chicago Bulls) & football (Chicago Bears) fan!

6. I can't leave my house without some sort of makeup (foundation, tinted moisturizer, etc)

7. I have 2 tattoos and am already planning on some more (they are totally addictive)

15 nominated bloggers:

Vicki @ My Vickilicious Life

Alyssa @ Never a Dull Moment

Nichole @ Life as a Newlywed

Lyzz @ Defying Gravity

Lauran @ The Real Young Housewife of Southern VA

Meg @ More from Meg

Anne @ Hell on Heels

Kate @ Green Fashionista

Bronwyn @ Our Beautiful Blessings

Leslyn @ Leslyn's Lovely Life

Holly @ Running in Stilettos

Laura @ Under the Suburban Sun

Lauren @ Pink on the Cheek

Amber @ Brunch with Amber

Tiffany @ Austin Family Diary

If you haven't already, please check these ladies blogs out, they are daily reads for me and amazing "versatile" bloggers!!

Panda Cupcakes

Morning everyone! I wanted to do a post on some pretty delicious cupcakes I made with my sister and friend. They were for a bake sale and I have to admit they turned out better than we expected. Now I make a LOT of cupcakes, but never really do any fun designs or themes, just stick some frosting on there and maybe some glitter, sprinkles, that type of thing. Well this time we aimed high, and attempted to make panda cupcakes. We were going to do a pop-out cupcake, but quickly realized it would take us much longer than we expected. So we just drew the face onto the cupcakes and added some ears. 


-I started with making the cupcakes, and to save time we just bought a box and baked it that way. I used Betty Crocker Milk Chocolate. 

-Once those were all done baking and cooled down, we started with the frosting. Now I just used vanilla frosting and covered the entire cupcake with a nice thick, smooth layer.

-I also cut mini oreo's 3/4 of the way to use as ears. 

-Once I got a good outline of the face with a toothpick, I then used black writing gel frosting to make the eyes, nose and mouth. 

-Once that was done I took mini chocolate chips and put them in as the eyes and used a white writing gel frosting to make a pupil. 

This was honestly so simple to do and it looks really cute, my suggestion is to place more frosting where the ears go or they will start sliding. Also, stick these bad boys in the fridge as soon as your done because the summer heat will make those ears start sliding off. 

Have you guys made any cupcakes lately?

Let me know what you have tried & you can send me a pic of it too!!

Sunday Social Week {3}

Happy Sunday Funday everyone!! I'm once again linking up with {Ashley} and {Neely} for Sunday social and this week it is all about music!! I'm very excited because I love all types of music, my pandora stations range from 90's pop to Rihanna, Adele, Jay-Z, Country, John Mayer, & Usher. I know, all over the place. Well hopefully I can answer these questions (some of them were hard to really think of).


What is your all-time favorite song? So just like last week, I need to have a list, because naming one thing is quite impossible for me...here a few faves:
-Billie Jean by Michael Jackson

-Yesterday by The Beatles

-Wonderwall by Oasis

-Crash into me by Dave Matthews Band

-Waterfalls by TLC

-Paradise by Coldplay

-Snow (Hey oh) by The Red Hot Chili Peppers

Wow that was quite a list, I promise I will try and shorten the rest of them :).
What is your favorite singer/band? I like a lot, you can include all the above in this list and a few more,-Carrie Underwood -Taylor Swift -Jason Mraz -Lupe Fiasco-Katy Perry -Kid Cudi-Jack Johnson-Luke Bryan-OneRepublic-Maroon 5-The ScriptHonestly my list can go on and on, but I'll stop it there! 
What is your theme song/song that best describes your life?-Good Life by OneRepublic

-The Show Goes on by Lupe Fiasco*

What songs put you in a good mood?

-Imagine by John Lennon 

-Pocketful of Sunshine by Natasha Bedingfield 

What is your favorite road-trip music? 
I think anything by RHCP, DMB, The Beatles, The Fray in a mix-tape!!

What song are you embarrassed to admit you love? 

-Call me maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen (unfortunately I'm loving this song)

-Pieces of me by Ashlee Simpson

Basically anything from the 90's pop era, I loved it, but it's embarrassing looking back on it all now (e.g. Backstreet Boys, N'sync, 98 Degrees, Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears, etc)

Well I know I have quite a lot written for all these answers, but I would love to hear yours, so go and link up!!

Nail Files {6/22/12}

Happy Friday everyone! Today I am excited to do my 3rd week of the link up Nail Files with {Vicki} and {Tara}!! I went to f21 and went pretty crazy and bought like 7 different polishes, but at $2.80 can you really feel bad. I sure didn't. Since I was home today I decided to really spend some time on my nails, really cleaning them up, doing the whole cuticle thing, and even learned some cool tricks {thanks to pinterest}. Nothing real fancy just a way to quick dry your nails and I'd say it works pretty well, not perfect, but it'll do until I go to Target and buy this little guy: 

It's supposed to dry your nails within 1-2 mins and it's top coat is anti-chip! Once I get it I will make sure to do a review on it. The trick I learned is after painting your nails to submerge them in ice cold water for a minute or two. Maybe you knew about it, maybe not, try it I think it worked pretty well!! Well anywho, onto my nails...

So this week I went a little bit darker, but it's still bright enough for summer. I used f21's love & beauty in purple.

I thought it was too plain and boring with just the purple so I did a little bling bling sparkle on my ring finger again with f21's love & beauty in purple/multi sparkle. I'm not sure why in the picture it is coming up on the blue side, but it really is a vibrant purple. I took about 30 pictures and it kept coming up blue-ish so I just said forget it and went with the best pic out of them all. 

What color are you guys wearing this week? Link up!!

It's 'OK' Thursday

Happy Thursday (my Friday) everyone! I am excited because today is the start of my weekend! Yay!! I haven't had a Friday off from work in like forever, so this is a nice treat, especially after the hell-ish day at work today. Well anywho, I am linking up again with the beautiful {Neely} and {Amber} for it's OK Thursdays! I really enjoy this link up because it makes you think about what is going on in your life and this is a way you can come out and say "you know what, it's ok." Well let's get to it...






...it's ok that I am already in vacation mode for my Vegas trip that isn't until August.


...it's ok that even after 9 years your best friends can disappoint you, but you can't do anything about it.


...it's ok that all day at work I rubbed it in all my coworkers face that I am off tomorrow :)

it's my Friday at least :)

...it's ok that when asked what exciting plans you have for your day off you answer "sleep until I can't sleep anymore!"

...it's ok that no matter how long I try to sleep, my body is so used to waking up early that it simply won't let me sleep in.

...it's ok to have bought 4 new swim suits for my upcoming Vegas trip, I still need to buy some new outfits and not be broke by the end of it all.

...it's ok that all I want to do is eat unhealthy stuff during the summer, but can't so I don't look like a whale in my  4 new swim suits in Vegas.

story of my life

...it's ok that there are multiple times during the day where I think to myself, I'm sure there is an ecard on someecards.com about this exact moment.

...it's ok to be super excited about Magic Mike coming out next week, who isn't?!?

umm yes, I'll have a scoop of each please :)

So what's OK with you guys today? Go link up!!

The Bachelorette Dish Week 6

Hey guys, I know I am getting this post out pretty late, and I am doing this link up 6 weeks late, but oh well. I have been watching The Bachelor/The Bachelorette for years now and as bad as it's gotten, I still watch. So this week I am linking up with {Anne} to do a little Bachelorette Dish.




So this week, they went to Croatia and I just want to put this out there, it is breathtaking there!!!

via

So the first 1 on 1 date went to Travis, this is the ostrich egg guy, and although he is sweet, I always thought he was a bit weird for doing that whole egg thing.

via

-On the date itself I thought he was a really sweet guy, but I see him as more of a friend for Emily. No real big sparks going on. Sad to see him go, but I hope he finds someone special for him and his egg friend!

On the group date: I thought it was so cute that they went to see the movie Brave before it came out. Sean in a kilt is the hottest thing ever, yum yum!!

-I thought it was sweet she gave the brave award to Chris even though he lost all rounds of the games.

-OH MY KISS. Oh Arie. That kiss was super romantic and couldn't have been more perfect timing. 

-I think Emily is falling more for Jef than he is for her and I agree with {Anne} and think he's a perfect fit for Ali.

-I think Sean or Arie should have gotten the rose, oh well.

via

Ok this little section here is going to talk mostly about the douchebag that is, Ryan. Here are my thoughts on him for this episode.

-That white tank top, what the heck was that?!? Did he get that at Baby Gap??

via

-Plus, his beard shape looks ridiculous, or is that just me who thinks that?!

-He admitted to having a "mean man" inside him, ummmm red flag??

-He is just soooo into himself and that is just obnoxious and disgusting!

-Honestly, I don't even think he is that good looking, please tell me I am not the only one who feels this way.

1 on 1 date: Unfortunately, Ryan got the second 1 on 1 date with Emily and so here are some of my thoughts on the date.

-Firstly, does he think those lame pick up lines are working for anyone??

-Second, what are those shoes he was wearing, turquoise blue dress shoes?!?! Those just SCREAM douchebag!!

-I also tried to keep count of how many times he brought up "trophy wife" on the date, I got 6.

-I cannot believe Ryan was trying to manipulate Emily into keeping him around and making her second guess her decision.

-Is it bad that I laughed when he thought he made some true "friendships" on the show all the while the guys are celebrating him going home??

-Annnnnd finally, I'm pretty sure an "arrogant ass" is NOT what you are, at all....yeah...RIGHT.

Moving onto the Cocktail Party:

-John's story was very touching and you could just tell it was a tough subject for him to talk about, and I think he surprised Emily too!

-Can we just talk about Emily's dress, I LOVED it!!

via

-Also, does anyone else think Doug is kind of creepy/awkward around Emily. Nice guy, but weird vibe.

Rose Ceremony:

-So she decided not to send anyone home during the rose ceremony since she sent home Travis & Ryan which I thought was nice because she was giving guys like John & Doug another chance to see if there was anything there.

So I can't wait until next Monday, I know a lot of exciting stuff is supposed to happen between Arie and an ex and am excited to see how that all plays out!!

June Birchbox

Happy Monday everyone! I'm excited today because after coming home from work I was greeted by my very first Birchbox for the month of June. This month's theme is Jet Set and I think this is a super cute and very appropriate theme. I am excited to get this because I am most likely going on a trip at the end of August {Vegas, baby!!} for my birthday! So I just wanted to do this post and do a review of all the products and basically an overview of what I thought of my very first Birchbox.


My initial reaction was oh how cute is this box!! Love the all pink and when you open the outer box the box that contains all the products is equally as adorable as well as clean, and simple.

Cute right?! So these are the products that I got in my box. First up is the Eyeko London skinny liquid liner.

Eyeko London $15

I already know I will be loving this liquid liner! I used it just to show you guys how it looks on and it applies very easily, even for liquid liner novices like myself. The liner I use now is from elf and it's only $1 and so far I haven't had any issues with it, but this one was just so much smoother to apply and looks great!!

No other eye makeup besides the liner.

Moving right along, next up in the box is from Melvita and it's a rose floral water. I wasn't really sure how I felt about this at first because it kind of reminded me of the smell of my nasal spray {yuck!}, but surprisingly I think it is really light and airy. Not too much and it is explained on the card as a "delicate scent" and I completely agree. Plus I love the fact that this is 100% organic and natural. Working in the medical field I think it is important not to spray super strong scents while working because it isn't for everyone, but after my lunchtime walks I think this would be a great skin refresher.

Melvita $22

Next is theBalm cosmetics stainiac in beauty queen which is a two-in-one lip and cheek stain.

theBalm cosmetics $17

This product is actually pretty cool. I wasn't really sure what to expect because I have never used something like this. I have a picture below of the stain on my lips and cheek. When I first saw the color I was nervous because it was a pretty deep red. The stain on your lips kind of burns at first which I am thinking maybe because it is also a plumper?! 

Stainiac in Beauty Queen

I realize it doesn't come out great on my iPhone

The good thing about this product is that it comes on sheer. On your lips you have to apply 2-3 coats to get a pretty good red color {which isn't coming up in the pic, but I swear it is a really pretty red}. On your cheeks a couple of streaks on your cheek and then I used my ring finger to blend it on the apples of my cheeks. It doesn't come up a ridiculous red which is great and rather it creates a slight flush on your cheeks {again you can't totally tell in my pic above, I apologize}. The only thing I am not sure of with this product is spending $17 for the size, if the full-size is a decent size bigger I could justify that. 

Up next is Yu-Be moisturizing skin cream. 

Yu-Be $16

I kinda had a feeling I wasn't gonna use this product much and I think that's probably true. I really hate the smell of this product. It claims to be the bestselling Japanese cream that heals cracked hands, chapped lips, and other forms of dryness. I really think I can be ok with not using this mainly because of the smell. I may just try it out since I have the sample size on my heels to see if it helps that and I will report back. 

Next up is Band-Aid Cynthia Rowley dress up Band-Aids. I actually was like WTF when I got this because I couldn't believe they had designer Band-Aids, and they are charging $15 for a box of 20. No thanks, I will just use these because I got them in the box, but there is NO way I would spend that much on a box of Band-Aids that will get thrown out after they become ratty. I like my free ones from the hospital, thank you very much. 

Band-Aid $15

I was pretty upset with the Band-Aid item because although I use them I would have preferred a cute nail polish color or something more useful to me, not a $15 box of Band-Aids. Ridiculous.

Anyways, the final item is another bust. They sent me a sample size of John Varvatos star USA which is something that might be found in the Birchbox Men's box. This was kind of dumb to send to me along with the Band-Aids because I would have preferred something that I would have used and now a lucky guy will be getting this. I am sure it smells great, but obviously not for me to review. The card says it is a "blend of ginger, juniper berries, and vetiver." Not even sure if my dad would like this, but I am sure I can find someone to give it to.

John Varvatos $55-70

Well for the most part {besides the dumb Band-Aids and John Varvatos Men's cologne sample} I would say I am pretty satisfied with my Birchbox this month. I am pretty excited for next month's and hope they don't have bust items like this one. But again, very happy with my lip/cheek stain and liquid liner. If you guys don't have Birchbox or have been contemplating getting it I really do suggest it. It is only $10 a month and you don't have to commit to any long term contract. You can use this link to sign up for a monthly Birchbox, www.birchbox.com. 

Do you subscribe to Birchbox? Are you happy with your box this month, any bust products? 

Leave your thoughts in the comments below!!