December Birchbox

This week my December Birchbox came! It was my last one gifted to me so I've been trying to decide if I should continue ordering it for $10 a month or if I should save that money. However it is super fun to get a new box of things to try every month!

Do you have any beauty box subscriptions?

Here are all my products laid out in my box..

The first thing I saw when I opened it up was this gift card for RentTheRunway.com. My friend Rachel recently rented a dress from this program and wore it out for her anniversary dinner. She loved it, I'm not quite sure it's worth the money-especially since I'm trying to budget and save a little bit so I can move out and get my own place. But if I have a place to go to wear a fancy dress I definitely will be renting one! =)

I also got the Amika Nourishing Mask which I am excited to try since my hair is always so dry and damaged- it will be nice to give my hair a little treat and moisturize it a little bit!

The Mary-Lou Manizer looks really cool- I did dab it on a little bit but haven't had too much of a chance to try it out yet...

This salted chocolate crunch bar I am going to be sending to my penpal in Madagascar- she is there working for the Peace Corps and doesn't have access to a lot of things so I thought sending her a few samples would be nice. 

This fragrance sample is called Shimmer and it's by Aerie. I honestly have SO many fragrance samples that I haven't used yet because my perfume collection is pretty expansive and I haven't even made a dent in it yet! I haven't even smelled it yet so I will let you know when I do....

My last item in my box is a Lashem Lash Serum. It states that it can be used on eyebrows or eyelashes so I will be interested to see what it does...

I will be posting a review on the items I got in my November Birchbox in the next couple of weeks so stay tuned for that one.

What are your favorite makeup and beauty products lately?

Lately I've been LOVING my Naked Palette. I wear it almost every day. I also love my LUSH Celestial face lotion- it helps my skin to stay soft and not dry out!

A little survey

A little survey- I saw that Toronto Runner  answered these questions on her blog the other day and decided it would be fun to give my own answers!!

1.) Do you sleep with your closet door closed/open?

Open- always. My closet is huge and does not get heated if I don't leave the door open and who wants to go into a cold closet? Not me!

2.) Do you take the shampoos/conditioner from hotels? 

Always! I love freebies! I take everything every hotel provides. I usually put it in my suitcase during my first night stay and if they put more in the next day I will keep throwing them in my suitcase! 

3.) When you brush your teeth, do you keep the tap running?

Not usually.

4.) What size is your bed?

It is a queen and I'm with Toronto Runner on this one- I curl up in the fetal position on one side of the bed. However I usually end up wrapped in my blankets like a cocoon!

5.) What do you dip chicken nuggets in?

Nothing! I like to eat them without any sauce. I'm not a sauce kind of girl!

6.) Ever gotten a speeding ticket?

Yes. Two. Both on the same road- almost 5 years apart. To be fair- it's a road I know quite well because I've been working at the same place for YEARS and that's the road it's on. I've learned my lesson though.

7.) Occupations you wanted to be as a child?

A writer. A teacher. A dancer. A spy.

8.) DJ or band at a wedding? 

I would want a DJ just for the variety they provide!

9.) Do you play any instruments?

I used to play the trumpet in middle school- I also know a song on the piano!

Feel free to share your own answers in the comments or your own blog!

A Day in Dayville, CT

Yesterday my mom and I headed off for a little day trip to visit my papa and his girlfriend, Vivian. Vivian lives in Dayville CT and was excited to show us around her town. We visited one of her favorite little stores called Heart and Home. It was an adorable little gift shop with so many unique items to buy.

Even their window displays were absolutely adorable! 

They sold so many different things- yankee candles, vera bradley purses, and hundreds of other items displayed all over! One of my favorites was this sign:

So cute! They also had a ton of Disney items I would've loved to have gotten my hands on....

After shopping we headed over to the 99 Restaurant. I had their broccoli, chicken, macaroni and cheese. It was delicious! I ate every single bite- ohmygoodness. delicious. so delicious.

Overall it was a lovely afternoon....and then I was forced to go to work for the evening! Oh well, good thing I love my job. I am definitely counting down the days until Christmas vacation though =)

Celebrating with best friends

Last night was the annual Christmas celebration I have with my two best friends, Rachel and Brittni. We always have a great time getting together, catching up and exchanging gifts. I was thrilled to spend time with both of them at the same time because that so rarely happens!

Rachel hosted our celebration at her apartment which was nice because we also got to see her boyfriend Ant who is such a nice guy! He joined right in with our chatting but then headed into another room to play video games so we could have some girl time =)

It's always interesting to shop for one another because we all have different interests and it's funny to see what we all buy for each other. I gave each of them some of the treats my mom and I made yesterday. I also gave them each a keychain wristlet that I bought at the Douglas Paquette sale this summer.  Then for Brittni I gave her a Barnes and Noble gift card for her nook, and Rachel got the UCONN Alex and Ani.

Rachel gave me three candles, two ornaments, and a princess pen while Brittni gave me a candle and an ornament that she handmade (which I proceeded to break before we left Rachel's house....no I'm not kidding- I suck). Can you tell I like ornaments and candles?! =)

Yesterday was a rough day for me breaking things wise. Brittni and I went to the mall on the way to Rachel's apartment and while there- my purse handle snapped leaving me with only one handle to carry it with- annoying. Then when we got to Rachel's I noticed that one of my boot heels was gone- had clearly snapped right off. I then broke the ornament Brittni made me. Then after I dropped her off and was driving home I ran over a possum. What a day.

Hopefully today is better! Cross your fingers for me that I will not break anything else!

Oh we need a little Christmas....

Not that much longer till Christmas- I keep thinking that I only have to make it through 2 more weeks of work and then I will have some time off- I can't wait!!

You were probably wondering what I bought all of those hershey kisses and m&ms for during my coupon haul the other day... well I was making Christmas treats of course!

I've talked about these lovely treats before- my mom and I love making them because they are so easy! Simply buy pretzels, m&ms and hershey kisses. Place a hershey kiss on top of a pretzel on your baking tray and then place in the oven for 3 minutes at 225*. Immediately after taking them out of the oven, place your m&m on top of each creation. Then put them in the fridge so they firm up and then enjoy! Or give them to friends to enjoy!

They are easy to make and are going to be a great addition to my gifts for friends and co-workers!

My mom and I spent the greater part of yesterday afternoon making tray after tray of these (and eating a few along the way of course!) It is a fun thing to do with my mom and we always manage to get laughing as we try to put the m&ms as quick as possible and then are forced to eat the ones we mess up on. 

I also did a bit of coupon shopping at Rite Aid yesterday on my way home. Here's the haul:

Look how long that receipt is! I also placed in the envelope that I used to store my coupons while shopping- you can see how I had everything figured out in order for my transaction to work out like I planned! 

Here's what I did...

The carefree and OB products were $2.50 each and when you bought 2 you received 2 rewards dollars. I used $3 in coupons to bring my out of pocket total to $7. With the $4 in rewards I received- I really only spent $3 all on all four items- making them $0.75 each.

The windex was 2/$7. I used a $1 coupon which brought my price to $6. I got $3 in rewards back making each windex $1.50 each.

The scunci hair elastics were $2.79 but I had the in-ad coupon for $2 off. So they were $0.79.

That is all I planned on buying...but I saw the activity pads in the clearance bin and thought they would be perfect for the adopt-a-family. Guess how much they were each.... $0.50 each

So I spent $17.32 on my order out of pocket- but $1.53 of that was tax (which is 0.07% where I live) and I got $7 in register rewards- making my actual spending for all the items I bought $8.79.

Crazy right?!

If I hadn't purchased the activity pads on impulse- it would have been $6.79- but they were a good deal and well worth it to make a little kids Christmas!

Hope you all are having a great weekend! What have you been up to this weekend? Any exciting plans for today?

I am off to celebrate Christmas with one (possibly two) of my best friends tonight!

Opinion Outpost

Have you ever heard or used the website Opinion Outpost?

I just recently opened an account and this site will actually pay you for your opinions!

They send you surveys to your e-mail and for each one you collect points and once your reach 100 points you earn $10. Don't worry about it taking long to get to 100 points- I managed to get there in only 2 days of answering surveys. Each survey is worth anywhere from 5-15 points and they don't take a ton of time. It's definitely one of those things you can do while watching tv.

Any time I can earn money for doing something easy- I'm in! =)

I promise they're not paying for me to say this- I wish they were! But this is just my own opinion...I think their website it awesome and you should check it out!

Couponing Attempt!

Well. Today I did my first attempt at extreme couponing and here's what I got!




So all of this was purchased at CVS and I took advantage of their Extra Bucks Rewards program and have some extra care bucks to use on my next shopping trip!

Here's how it all worked out:

Listerene- buy $10 worth get $5 ECB + coupon for $1 off
M&Ms- buy 4/$10 get $3 ECB  + coupon for $1 off any 2
Hershey Kisses- buy 4/$10 get $3 ECB + 2 coupons for $1.10 off any 2
Halls- on sale for $1.50 each + coupon for $1 off any 2
Vitamins- I didn't end up getting the BOGO deal I thought I was going to get on it and I'm not sure why... but I used a $2 off coupon!

Overall- not exactly what I was hoping for but I did okay for my first trip- I can't wait to try again!!! =)