Unboxing- Sephora & Etsy

Hello all!

I recently got some stuff in the mail, and I thought I would share it with you!

First off, I made Dean's List at my university this past semester! For those of you who don't know what that is, it just means that I got straight As!  As a present, my parents got me a pendant to hold my Fitbit.  A Fitbit is one of the many calorie/exercise/sleep trackers out there, and it usually comes with a variety of brightly colored plastic bracelets to choose from.

However, these bracelets are not the prettiest.  This generally means that one either has to suck it up and wear the ugly plastic things out on the town, or one has to forgo recording all of the calories burned on the dance floor!

It seems I am not the only one who has noticed this particular discrepancy in design.  Fitbit recently partnered up with Tory Burch to design a line of chic gold/rose gold/silver jewelry to fix this issue.  However, I wasn't really a big enough fan of any of the designs to drop $175 on one.

Enter Etsy!  It was my mother's idea to look there, and I found a plethora of gorgeous designs! I picked a sterling silver pendant from the fitjewelsSF shop.  I love it!

 The other box that I got was from Sephora.  Yes, I know I have a problem.  In my defense, I was replacing two items that I had just run out of!  However, the best part about Sephora, is the free samples that I can get!  I think I got more samples than paid items!

 I got two fragrance samples that I'm super excited about! I like to change my fragrance a LOT, but I don't necessarily like dropping the big bucks on a full-sized bottle.  I got the Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet, which I am so in love with! I just might be getting the full-sized version for the springtime!  It has notes of peony and rose with white musk.  The other is lovely as well, the Elizabeth and James Nirvana Black by Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen.  I have had a sample of this before, and I loved it.  It is an oriental fragrance, with vanilla, sandalwood, and violet. The other sample pictured below is the Josie Maran Argan Matchmaker Serum Foundation.

 I just finished off my Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask, so I was in the market for a new evening moisturizer.  I have loved everything that I have ever tried from First Aid Beauty, so I decided to try their Facial Radiance Overnight Mask.  Maybe you will see it in a favorites post soon!

I am nearly out of my lovely Touche Éclat Radiant Touch, so I replaced it.  I have the color 1 Luminous Radiance.  I have used the 2.5 Luminous Vanilla in the past.

My rewards points got me these lovely deluxe samples!  I am most excited to try the First Aid Beauty Skin Rescue Deep Cleanser with red clay.  I have heard rave reviews about it!  I also got the Boscia Tsubaki Cleansing Oil-Gel, and a Sephora brand waterproof eyeliner in the color 29 My boyfriend's jeans.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog! Have you recently gone and made any exciting purchases? Let me know in the comments!

-Fly high, little birds!

Battling that Sweet Tooth

Nothing satisfies me like a good Diet Coke.  I know that the stuff is awful for you, but there is nothing like that aspartame aftertaste that just is so delicious.  Ironically, I enjoy it way more than normal Coca Cola!

I'm also a huuuuuuuuuge fan of anything sweet!  Chocolate, ice cream, candy, pie, cake, you name it, I love it!  I'm not just into normal sweets.  I like weird sweets too, like salted black licorice.  This means that I usually don't have an excuse like, "Oh, I don't really like chocolate," or "Pie really isn't my thing."

This means that I have to find other way to satisfy my sweet cravings.  For a while, I tried using artificial sweeteners like Splenda.  I figured it was way better than aspartame, and it was made from sugar, so it couldn't be all that bad! Little did I know that these artificial sweeteners actually have shown to cause weight gain and they mess with the super lovely bacteria in our guts.

So, in an effort to create the best me I can be, I have cut out all sugar except that which comes from fruits.  I know. Terrifying, isn't it?

However, what I have found is the less sugar I eat, the less sugar I want to eat!  Not going to lie, it has been really hard!  Especially when the food delivery system here in Manhattan is so amazing! A lovely slice of lemon meringue pie is just a click away...

Fruit infused water has probably been my biggest savior.  As many of you know, what we confuse as hunger signals in our bodies are often just misunderstood thirst signals.  With the flavor of strawberries or cucumber and lemon, I am satisfying my thirst and the unwanted cravings that usually accompany it!

It's certainly not a perfect system, and I still have a long way to go.  I know that many of you probably have new years resolutions about being healthier, and I thought I would put my two cents in about what has been helping me!

Do you have any tips or tricks for me?  Tell me in the comments below!

-Fly high, little birds!

xxx

Soup Du Jour: Curried Zucchini

As some of you may be aware, this blog is dedicated to a whole jumble of random things.  I am not a beauty guru, but I do enjoy makeup.  I am not a professional photographer, but I do enjoy photography.  I am not a chef, but I do enjoy spending time in the kitchen.  In fact, the only thing I can speak on with much authority is classical ballet!

However, that's not going to stop me from sharing some bits and bops that I enjoy in my everyday life.  With that having been said, here is a delicious soup recipe that I threw together yesterday!

Ingredients:

• Zucchini
• Small onion
• Fresh garlic
• Olive oil
• Chicken broth (or whatever type of broth you would like)
• Spices- For this I used thyme and a curry blend, however I have used many other combinations with the same soup.  It is entirely up to you how to spice the soup!
• Coconut milk- optional (any milk would work, including unsweetened condensed milk or cream

Chop onion and one clove of garlic.  Don't worry about how fine you get these, everything will be blended together at the end.  Throw into pot with one shot of oil, and let sweat on medium heat.

 

While onions and garlic are cooking, shred the zucchini with a food processor or a cheese grater.  The idea it to get the pieces small enough where the cooking time is cut down dramatically.

Throw shredded zucchini into the pot with the onions and garlic and sauté on medium-high heat for about three minutes.

Pour enough broth into pot to barely cover the vegetables and add spices.  Let simmer for about an hour.  To reduce cooking time, add less broth.

Add coconut milk, and let simmer for another 10-15 minutes.

Blend together with hand blender or regular blender.

Enjoy!

The thing that I love most about this recipe is that it can be changed to create practically any kind of soup.  For example, instead of zucchini, one could use carrots! Instead of curry, one could use basil and oregano!  The milk is entirely optional as well!  The amount per serving is easily changed; one could adjust it for 12 people or 2!

Do you enjoy cooking?

-Fly high, little birds!