A Few Black Friday Purchases

I did not venture out for Black Friday shopping for a couple of reasons:

I was tired

I didn’t need to be spending money

 

I love when Black Friday falls on my night shift.  There is nothing better than stores being open all night long.  But, I was exhausted and just wasn’t going to go out in it.  Oh…I still managed to spend money though!

I caught wind of the Built Bars Black Friday Deal where all boxes of bars were $10 off.  They advertise this is their biggest sale every but my last order was in October and it was 2 boxes for the price of 1.  Now that, was a killer deal.  Since my last order, I’ve been dying to try the peanut butter and almond coconut and was just waiting for the next sale.  I guess I had better keep eating on the last two boxes I ordered.

 

This was a freebie and wasn't too bad but I wouldn't order a box

Before I left work for my overtime shift on Tuesday night, I was reading Shay’s blog on her recent stay on the Norwegian Cruise Line Encore ship.  The Encore is brand new and recently came to NYC on a trans-Atlantic itinerary.  Passengers are being offered to board while it is at port and spend a night or two checking it out.  Oh man…wouldn’t that be sweet!  Well, thanks to Shay, I learned that Encore has A STARBUCKS ON BOARD!!!!  WHAT?!?  My dreams have come true.  And, I knew I must try and get on this ship ASAP.

It just so happens that NCL was running a 30% off Black Friday Deal plus you had the options of all four “free at sea” offers AND you only had to pay $100 deposit.  Guess who booked a cruise?

 

I found a repositioning cruise on the Pacific Coast that was a great deal and also included the option of an aft balcony.  We have always wanted to cruise on an aft balcony.  We will board in Los Angeles, make stops in San Francisco, Seattle, Victoria, BC, and end in Vancouver, BC.  We also have a couple at-sea days.  The cruise isn’t until April of 2021, so we have a full year to save up the money and/or make payments along the way.  Yeeehaaaw!

And lastly, I needed some nail base/top coat gel for my Jamberry nail wraps.  Their Black Friday deals included free shipping.  I ordered some adorable holiday wraps along with the gel.

Not your traditional Black Friday shopping but somehow, I managed to spend plenty of money this weekend.

Yummy New Food Dishes & A Fall Mani

Good Morning.

I wanted to share with you the amazing meal idea I found on Instagram.  

Introducing: Pepperoni Pizza Cauliflower Rice

This was EPIC and when I finished the last bite, I thought I should have added more riced cauliflower so my portion lasted longer.  Here is what I added to my bowl (also added tomato sauce seasoned with garlic and basil that I didn’t track because it is 0 SPV).

I cooked the frozen riced cauliflower in the microwave for 5 minutes first.  Then, I weighed out my turkey pepperoni and cut it into small bites.  I measured out 1 oz of both mozzarella and fat free mozzarella which gave me more cheesy taste but less points.  And finally, mixed all that along with tomato sauce and olives in a bowl and threw it back into the microwave for about 1 minutes to it all got melty and warm.

Oh man. I am tell you…this is amzing!

Also earlier this week I had some leftover corned beef from Sunday dinner at Mom & Dad’s house that I made into corned beef hash for my breakfast.

I cooked my frozen potatoes in olive oil first and when they were done added in 2 oz of corned beef and cut it up in the pan while it crisped up and mixed with the potatoes.  Oh man, this was a treat for breakfast.

I have been enjoying 1 pump of Pumpkin Spice in my espresso for a nice taste of Fall.  It was a really rainy day earlier this week which went well with my new Fall Jamberry manicure.

Have a great day.

Weekly WI: The Downs After The Ups

I had a great WI yesterday, as I had expected.  I was also really happy with how my week shaped out.

My vacation/eating out weight is gone and I am weighing 12 pounds less this October than last October.  To me, that is fantastic!  October can be a hard month for social situation, especially when it followed a vacation in September.

I had my chicken salad at Café Rio and also popped into the Apple Store, Zurchers Party Store, and the Halloween Store.  When I got home I had a few hours before my overtime shift.  The weather is perfect…sunny and warm for the thick of Fall.  I love it!  And, I took advantage of it by taking a walk.  It has been forever since I’ve exercised.  It wasn’t anything strenuous and I looked at the new houses that have been built in the back of our neighborhood.  Do you want to be my neighbor?  There are lots of available houses that are move-in ready.

I was also able to re-apply my Jamberry before heading into work.  I’m now off through Saturday.  I’m looking forward to the downtime.

Anybody watching the World Series?  I’m not really a baseball person but I do get sucked into championship games.  I’m rooting for the Red Socks.

Extra Day Off

I had an extra day off this week and was able to squeeze the most out of my weekend for sure. As usual, I'm not ready to go back to work later tonight (it is currently 3:30am). That is for sure a sign of a good weekend.

I rented some Redbox movies this weekend. I really liked Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle. OMG it as hilarious! I loved how the adult characters channeled their teenage characters. And Jack Black playing the femine roll was spot on. The scene where he/she realizes she now has the male anatomy is priceless! I was laughing out loud the entire time. Daddy's Home 2 was just okay. As far as sequels go, I liked Bad Mom's Christmas better. The last movie I saw was Downsizing and is not recommended. We saw the reviews were not good and about 20 minutes in, you could tell it was a very slow movie. But I still liked the concept enough to keep going and I just had to know how it ended. Well, it ended. I hate movies that just end with no actual ending. Ugh. I do not recommend seeing Downsizing.

It was a pretty low key weekend and last night I hosted a SpringJamberry Party. It was a small group of just five of us. My niece Hailey came over and spent the night, but she didn't do her nails with us. Teenagers!

I changed out the Scentsy warmers to my Spring ones

After the party Hailey and I attempted to see the third installment of Maze Runner, however, not seeing the first two movies left us really confused. So, we gave up after 20 minutes and just left the theater. Hey, the popcorn was yummy. We came home and played a few rounds of “Shout About Movies” and then I sent her to bed at 1am. I was trying to get her to pull an all-nighter with me.

I have my last three graveyard shifts at work and then hopefully I am on day shift for the next six months. Let's do this!

I Tested Out Jamberry's New Lip Color Products

I had the opportunity to be a tester for Jamberry's new lip color from their Jambeauty line. My consultant sent me four colors to try along with the lip scrub and some throw away applicators. 

The test was to run for four days and we had to document what we did in our day along with a rating score (1=Dislike 2=It was okay 3=Like it 4=Love it 5=It's the bomb). We were also encourage to take some photos.

The lip color comes in two different box set options, one in Neutral (Coy and Charming) and one in Bold (Dare Devil and Cheeky). It retails for $65 (in my area) and includes two lip colors (already pre-packaged by color), one lip scrub, and one sheet of exclusive Jamberry wraps.

Here are my results and some photos.

Day One: Coy

I started with the lightest color and worked my way up to the bolder colors.  This day I was at an all day conference for 10 hours.

Applied color at 5:30am (two coats, although first day I think went on thicker than the other days)

Removed at 8am (after eating breakfast, I felt the color had pretty much removed itself due to being the lightest color

I did not re-apply throughout my day.  This was not my favorite color as it is too light and I prefer lipstick to show if I'm putting forth the effort to wear.

Color Rating: 2       Durability Rating: 1   Total Experience Rating: 2  

Day Two: Charming

I was at work fro 10 hours

Applied color at 4:30am and re-applied later in the day at 1:30pm

Removed: first application approximately 6:30 am (again after I ate/drank) and later in the day approximately 6pm (due to the lighter pigment, I felt this mostly rubbed off on its own)

Color Rating: 3     Durability Rating: 1       Total Experience Rating: 2  

Day Three: Dare Devil

I was at work for 10 hours.  This color got the most compliments.  The lip color transferred onto my coffee cup once it got wet.

Applied color at 5am

Removed at 9am (I rubbed the color off as it has mostly come off the water line/corners and I had somebody sitting in with me at work.  I thought it looked funny being mostly left on my upper lip)

Color Rating: 3      Durability Rating: 1     Total Experience Rating: 2

Day Four: Cheeky

I was at home and had a brunch/Jamberry party.  I am not a fan of red lip color and felt my first application had me looking like Ronald McDonald.  I removed the color and tried again with less on the applicator and tried starting the color in the center of the lip and moved outward.  I thought that looked better on the second application.

Applied color at 9am

Removed color at 2pm (I allowed the color today to just rub off completely and didn't re-apply.  It was really noticeable when the color started to wear at this is a very bold color palate)

Color Rating: 1    Durability Rating: 1    Total Experience Rating: 2

Bonus Day: One layer of Dare Devil and one layer of Coy

I decided to layer the two colors as I wasn't sure I 100% loved any of these lip colors and wanted to mix.  I did feel the lip color blended well, however, I'd have to buy two different gift sets to be able to mix Dare Devil with another color since I don't like Cheeky.  

Color Rating: 3    Durability Rating: 1      Total Experience Rating: 2

Pros: 

The lip product smells really good and tastes good

It is very easy to take off

The bolder colors make my teeth look whiter

The product is semi-dry overall but not as dry as I was expecting

Unlike another long lasting lip product I've tried, you don't have to gloss all the time

Cons:

I would not classify this as a long lasting lip color and most days the majority of it came off by the time I ate/drank for the first time

It got on my teeth easily when applying

When it breaks down, I can tell the pieces flake into my mouth

Semi-dry lip product when I already feel I have dry lips most of the time

Overall thoughts:

At this time, I would not buy this product.  The cost point is pretty high when you can't pick the colors (i.e. I am not a fan of cheeky or coy and these two are paired along with the other colors in the gift pack).  It was pretty dry overall and came off too quickly.  I tend to prefer shinny to matte lip color.

At this point, I'll sick to my Jamberry wraps. I am very glad I had this opportunity to try this new lip product.

Jamberry Halloween Brunch Party

Yesterday, I invited six friends (and two littles) over for a Jamberry Haloween Brunch Party. We ordered our Halloween Jamberry wraps ahead of time so we could apply them at my house. With the release of the new Fall catalog, along with the release of the new Winter and Holiday Jamberry wraps, I was hoping not only would the party be fun but that I could also earn some free Jamberry products.

The party was a big success! The food was good and my friend had fun.

Mine glow-in-the-dark.  So fun!!!

I made two different breakfast casseroles and my friend Ashleigh made a third one. I found them all on Shay Shull's blog Mix And Match Momma. We made:

Sausage & Cornbread Casserole, which wasn't a huge success because of the addition to the green chiles. Kenyon loves green chiles so he gladly finished off the dish.

Bacon & Gouda Croissant Casserole, which was a huge hit. It was almost all gone.

Bacon & Tot Casserole, which I have made before and it was just as delicious as I remember. I love the addition of tater tots. This was also a big hit.

Along with our casseroles, we had fruit, homemade cinnamon rolls, and mini bacon, egg, and cheese quiches. My friend Kate brought some bacon and sausage for anybody that didn't want to do the casseroles, which was a great idea. We had an assortment of juices and come champagne for mimosas. And of course we had coffee! I had each of my friends bring something and it turned out to be a nice spread and a great early morning/afternoon.

I think this is the last of my social events as myself as the host for a while. I'm thinking I might set up a Christmas get together but perhaps suggest a nice restaurant where we can dress up a little. That sounds like fun. But, you all know I love hosting parties!

Jenny's Jamberry Launch Party

Before I came to work today, my sister Jenny had her Jamberry launch party at Lucky Perk Coffee.

 

She rented the back room and had a Mochas and Manis party, which sadly, wasn’t well attended.  I was bummed for her but still had a good time.  After all, I love coffee!

 

I have just gotten some new Jamberry wraps since I joined a club and was the rotating hostess last month.  I earned two free wraps and I bought one more using a half off credit.  I was hoping I could do a mixed mani with a plain wrap and a patterned wrap but I just didn’t have much that matched up color wise.  So, I went with a plain wrap called #fountainofyouth and I love it!

 

So far, I’ve not done just a plain wrap because I am all about fun patterns but this color of blue is fantastic.  I’ll have to add this to my list to re-order in the future.  I was going to make the tips of each finger silver but I just love this wrap too much to cover it up.  So, I added the accent ring finger with a tip of silver.  I don’t think I can stretch this all the way to our vacation but I am planning to put on #capecod for our upcoming cruise.