i promise i didn't die or anything...

...just been really busy.
I want to make it up to you, though.
How does 40% off everything at the shop sound? Good? Good.

Visit BAUBLEHEADZ now to take advantage of this HUGE discount!!! 

Birchbox Review January 2014

Heyy blogworld! Sorry my posts have been so sporadic lately. I've been doing a lot of behind-the-scenes work on the shop, etc. and dealing with some personal stuff.
I received my January Birchbox awhile ago, but don't let this late post make you think I disliked it at all! This was my favorite Bbox to date, it was jam-packed with things that I absolutely love and now use regularly. Here we go!

Burt's Bees Intense Hydration Day Lotion w/ Clary Sage

I think this may have been added to my box by accident, or it is a bonus extra, because it isn't listed on the card in the box. Definitely not complaining, because I love Burt's Bees skincare products. In fact, I have been searching everywhere for the Burt's Bee's toner I fell in love with years ago, with no luck. Anywho, This lotion is great, especially during the winter. It's light, and definitely hydrates my skin, I can feel the difference in seconds. Still doesn't hold a candle to the Laura Mercier moisturizer I love so much, but it's a close second, tying maybe with Clinique.

Nail Rock Nail Caviar (Full size $6.99)

I am so excited about this stuff! My best friend had given my my first bottle of nail "studs" or "caviar", (whatever you want to call it) for Christmas, and I fell in love. I haven't mastered the art of applying them yet, but once I do, prepare yourself for some crazy awesome nail photos. I love the sheer gold nail polish that came with this too. I don't know if it was meant to be that sheer or not, but I honestly like it that way. I have another gold polish that I'm happy with, so this stuff is great over another color to give your nails sort of a patina look. 

Serge Normant Dry Conditioner (Full Size $25)

I loveeee this stuff! I used it with my dry conditioner on a no-shower day last week and absolutely love it! (Although I do need to find a better dry shampoo). I never realized there WERE dry conditioners available until I received this, and it is amazing. You just spray this onto the ends of your hair (not scalp) after dry shampooing your hair, and it makes your hair softer and silkier. LOVE!

Dr. Lipp Original Nipple Balm for Lips (Full-size $14.50) 

I keep hearing about nipple balm and had been wanting to try some, with all the rave reviews. So glad I got a sample! I love the feeling of this stuff on my lips, doesn't feel slick or shiny or greasy, which i love. It sinks right into my lips and sorta makes them look glossy. A little bit goes a LONG way.

Juicy Couture Juicy Couture Original Perfume (Full-size $19-$70)

Not a huge fan of this scent, This was the only disappointing thing in the whole box this month, so I'm not too upset about it. The description says it is layers of passionfruit and mandarin over a base of rose and caramel. It just reminds me of cheap kid perfumes, I am not a fan at all.

(late) birchbox december 2013

Ahhhh I received my January BBox today, and realized I had completely forgotten to post December's box! Here's a quick recap of what I received for my final box of 2013.

different box! cute.

"Hello" perfume by Harvey Prince. I LOVE this perfume, and wear it all the time since I received it in this box. Very citrusy, but light and a little floral as well. 

Color Club nail polish. The name of this one escapes me at the moment, but it is a nice dark, deep teal and looks great on the nail!

I have always been pretty "meh" about these hairties.  I don't understand what's so special about them. Maybe someone can explain? 

Embrolisse Lait-Creme Concentre Nourishing Moisturizer. I have been using this a lot as an eye primer, and for that it works GREAT. It makes my eyelids silky and smooth, but not greasy or shiny looking. I haven't tried to use it as a moisturizer yet, though.

Jour d'automne Non-Aerosol Hairspray. This one is kind of 50/50 for me. It really just depends on what I want out of the hairspray for the specific style I'm going for. If I just want to have natural looking volume and leave my hair down, this works just fine. It gives a really light lift, and doesn't make your hair all crunchy like some other non aerosol hairsprays. If i want more hold, however, this doesn't quite do the trick, and I have to use an aerosol hairspray. Granted, I don't use hairspray all that often to begin with, so it's not a huge loss, and I have used it several times since I received it.

So there's December! I'll be taking photos of my January box tomorrow to show all of you, because I am SO EXCITED ABOUT IT!!! 

xoxo

Meagan

Holidaze

Hey blog world!
Christmas was a blast! Shane and I road-tripped it to Iowa for a brief Christmas vacation. We spent 4 days there, laughing, drinking, exchanging gifts and spending time with friends and family. I wouldn't have had it any other way!

For our first day there, we had sort of a triple-date dinner party/except not dinner/basically dips and jenga. It was everything I needed and more. Jenga nights are sort of a tradition with us, so we had to keep it real and now Shane is officially a Jenga night participant! haha.
Here are some hilarious pics of Jen and Kasjen.

The next day, we had plans to go get Indian food with Cassie for lunch, but all decided we were too zombified from the night before, so instead we hung out, watched some Doctor Who and ordered Chinese. Not disappointed in the least. Once we left there, we had Christmas Eve with my family, opened gifts, and had a great dinner made by my sister. Here are some pics of the kids opening gifts...

nieces ayanna & mackenzie

jake opening one of his gifts

niece madyson (soon-to-be baubleheadz jewelry model!)

mackenzie opening a super glitter package!

ayanna and mackenzie being dorks :)

nephew, jake. the mustache and eyebrows moved up and down! hilarious.

my brother-in-law steve wearing the incognito glasses

caught him changing into the sweater we gave him, hahaha. 

asia and her art box!

bunch of goofballs

steve with his "#1 Everything" mug. hahah.

Christmas Day, Shane and I (but mostly Shane) made a ham and some sides for dinner with my dad and sisters and two of my nieces. We had a nice lazy day, lounging around playing with gifts, looking through REALLY REALLY old pictures (I'll scan and share some soon!)  It was a nice day, and when everyone left, Shane and I went out to the bar to meet up with a bunch of friends. Here are some pics of that...event. :)

NYE was last night, and a few days ago on Buzzfeed, I saw a post about making tiny party hats for your cats. I was immediately hooked on the idea, so I crafted a couple cute party hats. I could only (BARELY) get one of the cats to cooperate, and this is what I came up with.

It was every bit as hilarious as you might expect. She would not stop glaring at me, and she couldn't get the hat off on her own, so she started running in circles underneath the Christmas tree, attempting to knock it off with the low branches. Still unsuccessful, she plopped down underneath it in defeat, and glared at me until we got it off her and let her take out her revenge on it. She has since forgiven us, and no cats were harmed in the making of this photo. haha. :)

I have a lot of reviews and such to catch up on (including the holiday birchbox and several other makeup reviews, yay!!

Hope everyone's holiday was as satisfying as ours! Happy new year!

Create Your Own Band!

I stumbled upon a Buzzfeed Article from 2009 about a Wikipedia band name generator. For some reason I couldn't figure out what they were using to generate these names and covers. I now realize it's most likely because the post was from nearly 5 years ago, and the websites in use have changed since then. I changed it up slightly, and came up with some hilarious fake albums.

(Photo Credit: flickr)

Look out for Ameca River's debut album, "You're Behaving Like The Best Friend", due out in March 2014!
This Seattle-based folk-pop band is lyrically brilliant and brings to light the issues of our generation.

(Photo Credit: flickr)

Equally amazing, Bratsk Reservoir, a Russian acapella trio is releasing their first album, "I'm Still Waiting For Aliens to Come". Each track is masterly crafted using only their voices as recorded atop the peak of a mountain in the harsh Russian winter.



and last, but definitely not least...

(Photo Credit: flickr)

An up-and-coming Russian metal band, Mezhdusopochny drops their new album, "588" this winter!
As told by the lead screamer, "588" was named after "the number of bodies we dumped...wait, are we recording this conversation?"

Here's how to do it yourself...

1) Go to Wikipedia & click "Random Article". The title of the first page that pops up is the name of your band.
2) Go to WikiQuotes & click "Random Page". The last line or 5/6 words of the VERY LAST quote on the page is your debut album title.
3) Go to Flickr & click "Explore". From the drop-down menu, select "Recent Photos". Close your eyes and use your up/down arrow keys to scroll up and down the page at random. Click anywhere on the page, then open your eyes. That is the cover photo. (Please remember, if you are planning on posting these in your own blog posts, credit the photographer!)

Put them all together using My Banner Maker, come up with the genre and a backstory, then go out and get yourself a record deal!