The Fault in our Stars by John Green / Book Review

** Disclaimer: If you have not read this book, then you may not want to read this post as I will probably give too much away and would hate to ruin it for you!!**

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I am pretty sure I am the last person in the world to have actually gotten my hands on that book and although many people have reviewed it I honestly didn't know how the book would end. I have been dying to read this book for months and last week when we were at BJ's I took notice of it in the book section and I had to have it! Now that I have read it I'm not sure I actually needed to do so...

You can read an overview of the book HERE on Goodreads.com along with reviews of the book and such. 

Honestly I was up half the night last night (two nights ago now, I meant to post this yesterday) thinking about what I was going write about this book and debating what it was that I actually thought about it, and truthfully I am still not sure. 

I had coffee with Tanya in the park yesterday (really yesterday, I only wrote half this post yesterday) and tried to tell her about the book and I did a lot of stammering and stuttering and I still feel like that's how this post may come out. 

Would I recommend this book?

I would absolutely recommend this book, I think I would recommend any book that causes me to fall in love with a character, that has lines that when read gives me shivers and that leaves me a hysterical sobbing mess in bed because something happened that I never expected and at the same time made my heart hurt. 

The characters in this book reminded me of all the things I have to be thankful for, they make you want to be a better person and appreciate every moment of everyday.. you wanted to be friends with them. Oddly. Sometimes its really easy to get wrapped up in the little things and truly make them bigger then they are without taking a step back and remembering just how lucky you really are. Now don't get me wrong I am not that person that when listening to your problems would tell you to suck it up because someone else in the world is dying of cancer, I hate when people do that.. but sometimes it doesn't hurt to consider just how fortunate you are. 

This book gives you perspective. The characters are profound and quirky and everyone has a story. Although there are obvious main characters while reading I felt like every character had a place and although they weren't center stage they were always in my thoughts. 

I feel like the book was extremely well written and having said that and that I enjoyed it so much I still cant seem to find words. 

I want to say that the book made me sad that bad things happen to good people, that its unthinkable that parents watch their children die to a disease they have no control over.. they give up their lives to be full time care givers more then willingly and lose that child and then have to figure out how to live again, no longer as a parent and its just not fair. Its sad to think that not all kids get to be kids, they don't get to worry about who is going to be allowed to play that night, who they will ride bikes with but they worry about cancer doctors and PET scans, in what world is that fair?

Read this book. Read this book because I think it will change the way you look at life, if even for just a minute. Read this book because it is by no means a waste of time. 

READ THIS BOOK BEFORE YOU WATCH THE MOVIE!! 

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On a quick other note - HAPPY FRIDAY! Do you believe today is the first day of August? WHERE DID SUMMER GO?? I won't lie I am cherishing every moment of summer but I am a little excited for fall. Not to mention we get to go home again this month.. HOORAY FOR THAT!

I'm hoping by tonight there is a change in weather because we have some outdoor plans for this weekend and I will be really disappointed if it rains on my tubing parade!

I hope y'all had a great week, have a safe and happy weekend!!

Hoboken Walking Tour Part One

Good Afternoon,

I wasn't sure I would make it here today because it was my intent to come here and tell you my thoughts on The Fault in our Stars but honestly I just cant talk about it right now! I finished reading it last night while Kim Kardashian ugly crying and I just cant put my thoughts together yet to make a sensible book review. I will get my act together for tomorrow though, I promise!

So on Tuesday Tanya and I headed to Hoboken bright and early with the intent to take on the Hoboken walking tour. We may have bit off more then we could chew because we only got half way through the tour and had already walked about 10 miles, literally! So we decided that we would finish it next week as its suppose to rain continuously for the rest of this week.

It was my intention to take pictures of all the stops and then correspond them with information from the tour. That's not going to happen.. because as I mentioned, the tour is LONG! So you can view the tour HERE and I will post the pictures I took! I will say there are tons of walking tours available for Hoboken, food tours, etc! If you are heading to New Jersey for a vacation it would definitely be worth checking out as you can upload the map and do them all on your own!

So lets get started shall we? Some of the buildings in the city are absolutely gorgeous so if you are a architecture buff I think you would be pleasantly surprised.

This is a beautiful park outside of Josh and Tanya's apartment! I was a little early to meet Tanya so I sat down in this little park waiting for her and it was beautiful. Mornings in places like this don't make mornings seem so bad. 

The beautiful walk on the way to Hoboken from Jersey City. 

This is actually the first stop on the tour.. or the last stop I suppose depending on which end you choose to start. The Hoboken Train station is small but pretty impressive in what it offers. This particular room is beautiful like most train stations! 

This is not part of the tour but it looked historic. The building beneath it it now completely modern and redone but the sign remains. 

The Hoboken Land Building is right outside the train station and also apart of the tour. It is no longer the land building although the sign remains, it is now a child daycare. 

This World War I memorial is on the Hoboken Boardwalk (that spans through Jersey City) and is apart of the tour as well. If you are at all interested New York has quite a lengthy and interesting history in the roll is played in many wars, its really worth checking out. And yes I know this is New Jersey. 

I can't remember if this was on the tour or I just liked the building. This is why I didn't want to do a blog on the whole tour with all the information because I knew I wouldn't remember, my memory is complete crap.. and we only did half the tour. Either way this building is absolutely gorgeous, some great time and thought went into constructing this beauty.

This was the original City Hall and is still stands in all its glory. Here is an excerpt from the walking tour... 94 Washington Street, 1883. Francis George Himpler, architect. Second Empire modified to Beaux Arts Classicism. 

This square block, donated by Colonel John Stevens, was originally a public marketplace. The design was modified in 1911 to include two projecting bays and an enlarged third floor. The original entrance remains the same. The two patriotic gold-leafed copper eagles were named Hobo and Ken in a survey conducted by the Hoboken Historical Museum.

Excerpt From Tour: 213 Bloomfield Street, circa 1864. Francis George Himpler, architect. Italianate/Second Empire.

This early example of Himpler’s work is one of two architecturally intact Hoboken firehouses; the other is at 212 Park Avenue. The second floor features a plaster ceiling rondel of working firemen with the room’s gas line interpreted as a fire hose. Exempt Firemen were excused from public duty after seven years of volunteer service. Today the building serves as a  museum of Hoboken firefighters’ memorabilia. 

This is a beautiful Synagogue that is on the tour and appears to hold a daycare currently. Here is an excerpt from the tour... 115 Park Avenue.

Modeled after the Great Synagogue of Frankfort-am-Main, Germany, this building was dedicated in 1915.  With arched entranceways and windows, third-floor portal windows, and two copper domes, its style combines the Moorish and Gothic Revival architecture popular before World War I. 

Excerpt From Tour: 313-315 First Street, 1912. Architect unknown. Classical Revival.

The Trust was founded in 1905 by a diverse group of Hoboken businessmen who chose the name torepresent their democratic and community-service ideals. The bank prospered as the town assimilated successive groups of immigrants. By 1912 the Trust was in this impressive granite and brick building of monumental scale. The coffered ceiling borders a flat-domed, leaded-glass skylight, and the richly detailed plaster interior remains practically unaltered. After the bank failed during the Great Depression, the property changed hands many times before its present owners undertook its restoration and adaptive reuse.

Grimaldi's is not part of the tour.. but I NEED to go there!! This is famous pizza, I believe the original on is in Brooklyn, NY. 

This is where I trailed off and started taking pictures of buildings that I just liked. We walked all the way down Washington St. further then we had walked before and not only are there TONS of restaurants but there are tons of interesting buildings. Doesn't the top make it look like a castle? This may be on the second half of the tour because I am sure there is some historical significance, for now I believe it is being used as an apartment. 

Again just a building I thought was interesting and dated back so quite aways. I believe this was once a girls school although I don't know what it is used for now, possibly a girls school. I do know that Tanya and I discussed how awful it would have been to go to a girls school. 

  

I wish the Library wasn't surrounded by scaffold because the building itself is gorgeous. This is a free to the public library. Here is a little excerpt from the tour. 

Bordered by Fourth, Fifth, Garden, and Willow.

A popular park for young and old, Church Square Park,  in the heart of Hoboken, is sited on land given to the city by Colonel John Stevens in 1804. The park plan dates from 1873. Near Willow Avenue is the 1891 Firefighters' Monument with Taps, a mascot, buried at its base. Across the park, the Four Chaplains Monument honors clergy of differing faiths who died while attending the crew of the torpedoed USS Dorchester in World War II. A pedestal commemorates Marconi, the inventor of the wireless.

Excerpt from Tour: 400 Willow Avenue, circa 1878. Francis George  Himpler, Architect. German Gothic.

Once the largest Roman Catholic Church in New Jersey, Our Lady of Grace Church was constructed after a design by Himpler, who also designed City Hall. Gifts of paintings and ceremonial vessels were sent by Victor Emmanuel, Emperor Napoleon III, and other Italian and French royalty when the church was dedicated. These and the lavish interior decorations by George Ashdown Audsley (1839-1925) are gone, but Audsley’s pipe organ, circa 1899 and designed especially for the chuch, plays on.

This I believe was on the tour, the whole street actually. These homes are original war time homes and were beautiful. The street was private therefore it was extremely quiet, the homes were so quaint. It was a beautiful little touch of serenity in the middle of the city. 

These last few pictures have been just because of their beauty! Sometimes I feel the need to express my creativity in photographs and I found a lot of places to do so here. 

This building would never stand out, you would never know of any historical significance unless you happened to stop and take notice of the plaque. Excerpt from Tour: 601 Bloomfield Street. 

The composer (1826-1864) lived here in 1854 when “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair” was published.  “Hoboken” is penned on the original manuscript. This typical pre-Civil War brick dwelling is Foster’s only known intact residence. Some other compositions by Foster are “Camptown Races,” “Oh! Susanna,” and “Beautiful Dreamer.”

Beautiful Building on Washington Street. 

I may not remember half the tour (shoot me, its not like my memory sucking is a big secret! What did you expect?) but I do have a whole new appreciation for Hoboken, its beauty and historical significance. Although the next half of the tour will be blogged about and will probably suck as bad as this I do plan to do it! If it makes you feel better when Tanya does her blog on it I will provide a link over here so you can hop over there and get some real info... trust me I wont be offended! 

So that's that.. I think I have covered most of what I intended. Jason should be home anytime so I am off to make some dinner. The next few days its suppose to rain like cats and dogs, I'm hoping its a farce like the weather channel usually is but its not looking very good. We have outdoor weekend plans and I would appreciate if they weren't screwed with but I guess we will wait and see. 

Hope you guys are having a fantastic week, as always I love that you take time out of your day to stop in to my little corner of the world! 

My Summer Bucket List

Good Morning!

I figured since this week July will come to an end and that means summer is almost over (shall we all cry now?) I wold examine my summer bucket list and see what I could check off and see what we need to get on to fulfill my summer dreams. Having said that even if I checked it all off I will be horribly upset to see summer end, although I love fall and my fall bucket list is already extremely long it does mean winter will soon arrive and I hate winter.

Naturally with being in New Jersey in an apartment in the city it changes what we are able to really do, or rather limits the summer activities that I would like to take part in. I really wish we were at home grilling on the deck every night and having dinner, heading up to the mountains to hike to different waterfalls and just enjoying the outdoors a little more but that's just not the case.

Now having said all that we are extremely lucky with our location in the city, we are right on the Hudson River giving us the luxury of a beautiful board walk for miles and let me tell you we take advantage of it daily. A huge selling feature of the apartment was the wonderful outdoor pool that we also take advantage of and grilling stations that allow us to take part in one of the most amazing time honored traditions of summer, barbecues!

So shall we see what I have been able to check off and what I need to work on?

1. Swimming - As I mentioned we have covered that, I tend to lay out a little more then I actually get in the pool and swim but I have definitely been in the pool! Its fantastic to have this option to cool off on the humid summer days we have had, or just to lay out with a cocktail and enjoy the sun! I will say I am rocking a fantastic tan this year!

2. Camp Fire - Negative. I don't care to camp, its just not me but I do love to sit outside at the camp fire! There is just something about shorts and sweaters, roasting marshmallows with good friends and chatting away. I wish I could say I have checked this one off, and sadly its one I'm not sure I will.. but the hope is definitely there.

3. Sunset Walks - This is something I am fortunate enough to say we do almost every night and boy do we have a great view for it! Our location is great and with the beautiful summer weather being out near dark is probably the best time! With Jason's hours we are loving getting out every night for the extra exercise and touring the boardwalk, its the best part of living here I would say!

Freedom Tower & Financial district of Manhattan.

To the left, Hoboken train station and the Empire State Building.

4. Grilling - As I mentioned, another perk of the apartment.. grilling stations! For each building there is 3 grilling sections and therefore 6 grills to be shared amongst tenants. Generally on the weekend they are extremely busy and most people who select one do so early in the day and grill lunch and dinner. At this point we generally don't try to grill on weekends or we go to another building. Our building has the pool and park so it tends to fill up quicker. We make the time to grill during the week when its a little more quiet and its wonderful! There really isn't anything like chicken on the grill, grilled pineapple, baked potatoes, corn on the cob.. need I go on? I'm sure you're mouth is officially watering and you are planning what you're going to grill tonight, right? 

5. Beach - We have actually managed to check this baby off a few times as well. We spent some time at the beach when we went over to Staten Island to visit Fort Wadsworth, which you can read about HERE. We didn't lay out or really enjoy the beaches there as they were kind of dirty but it is really nice to get out and walk with your toes in the sand. Two weeks ago we visited Chris & Samantha in Long Island and spent a sunset at the beach and a full day.. it was WONDERFUL! Drinks on the beach, your feet in the sand.. I just love it! I am not convinced we wont make it to the beach again before the summer is out, truthfully I have high hopes. A fear of mine coming here for the summer months was that we wouldn't get to the beach, being at home it seemed like a much better likelihood we would make it, so I am thrilled to say we have checked this one off. 

6. Boating - CHECK!! I didn't think this would happen as it definitely doesn't happen every summer! We don't own a boat, although I think Jason may have convinced me now that we actually need one! When we visited Long Island (read about HERE) Chris and Samantha took us out on their boat and it was FANTASTIC! Nothing screams summer like a boat in the water!

7. Picnic in the Park - This one has not been checked off yet but I am working on it! There is a pretty extravagant children's park in Newport and right behind it is a huge grass area that I have decided would be perfect for a picnic! Last week when Mel, Lindsey the kiddos and I were over there I suggested a picnic in the park one afternoon and everyone seemed for it! Big picnic blankets, finger foods.. it all just sounds fantastic! I don't know where they stand on picnics that include wine in this city and that might be a date more for Jason and I but I plan to look into that too.

8. Patio Beers - This is a staple. Seriously if I hadn't accomplished this at this point in the summer I would feel really bad about myself. I love nothing more about summer than patio beers! We are lucky here, there are endless patios for us to enjoy the many beers out there and I love to make the most of it any chance we get! Generally at home in the summer Jason doesn't care to utilize the patios for meals because it is just too hot! So bring on the breeze from the Hudson and patio beers until it too cold to sit outside and enjoy them.. I kid you not I will wear a jacket and boots until the very end!

 9. Fireworks - I say we cover this baby weekly! As I have mentioned many times before Jason LOVES fireworks and therefore anytime he can see them we go! Just last week we saw the show that I believe the Marriott put on just off of Ellis Island! We have seen fireworks displays at least 5 times this summer alone!

10. Cottage - I had high hopes but low expectations that we may actually get at least a long weekend at the cottage this summer but with being away from home and Jason working it is definitely not going to work out that way. I look back fondly at the beginning of mine and Jason's relationship when we would rent this amazing cottage on Gull lake for long weekends or weeks in the summer and our time there! I so loved the time just the two of us, morning coffee watching the sun come up on the lake, canoeing in the afternoon, camp fires, grilling, everything about it.. I loved out time there! Its not going to happen this year but it is definitely going to make my list again next year... in high hopes.

11. Ice Cream Cones - Done and done! The ice cream truck lives two blocks from our apartment and what is summer without a cone with sprinkles? In trying to stay away from sweet treats I try to convince Jason often to walk the other way but I will say that once or twice and no more.. we have indulged.

12. Corn on the Cob - This basically goes hand in hand with grilling! Obviously corn on the cob is a summer thing but we tend to enjoy it best soaked in the husk and then grilled.. DELISH! We have had corn on the cob a few times now but let me tell you it is really hard to get good stuff in the city! The best ones we have had were when we were at home over the 4th of July, but I think they tend to be better in the south because the seasons are longer. We keep trying and I actually found some really good stuff today at Morton Williams so I might try and get some this week to grill one night!

13. Food Trucks - I was just going to tell you that I have failed to check this one off but that would be a lie.. I totally forgot that we enjoyed food trucks at home over the 4th of July!! We had a pulled pork sandwich (oh how I miss southern BBQ) and few other treats! Now every Wednesday they have live at Grove Square or something like that and its live music and food trucks, we have not indulged in the food trucks there but there is one that is all meatballs that people rave about and I feel like my life wont be complete until I try it! So I suppose a New Jersey food truck is still on my list.

14. Live Music - Check, check and check! We have enjoyed live music at Grove Square as mentioned above and we saw an AMAZING live band while we were at home downtown for the 4th! I wish I knew who they were because I would love to see them again but I wasn't exactly taking notes in my half dead state (if you don't recall I had a double ear infection and an upper respiratory infection). I love live music, they play at Grove Square every Wednesday night and I am told there is a market in another part of town I believe Thursday nights that also has live music that I would like to check out! I have seen live music in bars this summer as well but that doesn't count!

15. Pedicure - Sadly I can only say I have had one pedicure all summer long! My inner germaphobe is really anxious about just going anywhere because I am not sure if its clean and in the city I feel like its so much more expensive (like everything else) so I have been just doing them myself. I have all this nail polish that I only use on my toes so why not? I have no complaints, I do love a pedicure, mostly because I like the leg. foot rub.. but I would rather not catch Hep A... just sayin'.

So that is my summer bucket list and I don't think I am doing too bad at checking off the things that are important to me during this fabulous season! I'm also doing it all while getting a fantastic tan!! This summer has been a lot better then I had hoped or expected.. Coming here made me feel like the summer I so looked forward to would be a complete bust and we have made the most of it! Jason is working a lot less hours then usual and I couldn't love it anymore, we are out and about every chance we get and I am absolutely ecstatic about it!

I hope you are all checking the things off your summer bucket list and enjoying every minute of it! If not get a move on, sadly summer wont last forever!!

Why Animal Planet Makes me Cry

Good Tuesday Morning,

Am I wishing the week away, heck ya I am! Honestly I can't tell y'all enough how much I love having Jason home on weekends! Even though this weekend was a bust and we stayed inside all weekend I love it, I look forward to planning what the next weekend may hold and what day we will do what, I just love it! I know you shouldn't wish your life away.. and if you think its bad that I wish away the weeks until Jason has the weekend off you would think its terrible I am wishing this whole damn year away so I can go home.. but you probably already knew that.

Anyways lets talk about the animal channel shall we?

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This channel is awful! Do people watch this stuff? The circle of life, food chain, whatever you want to call it is depressing!! Over the weekend because we were stuck in the house Jason turned on some Animal Planet show about lord knows what and when I finished doing whatever I was doing when he turned it on and came out to join him in the front room I walked into a murder scene!! A buffalo and her baby being chased by two wolves, they were separated from their herd somehow and apparently when that happens the herd keeps going? Anyways these wolves were trying to get the baby buffalo and the Mama was trying to do everything she could to protect her baby but against two wolves she could only do so much! The wolves kept biting her baby, one would attack while she deflected the other.. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. 

Can you imagine being a mother and someone was trying to hurt your baby and you were helpless? Doing everything you could and yet someone knowing your efforts were fruitless, in the end someone would going to drag your baby off and there was nothing you could do? Cue hysterics! 

I was beyond horrified that this was on the television and more so that Jason had chosen to watch it! This wasn't educational it was horror! 

Apparently I had landed in the front room near the end of the show, thank the lord! So as I saw Jason start to flip through the shows I was incredibly relieved! Turns out he was on Netflix and chose another show not to far off from the last one. 

We started watching about bears, brown bears in particular and truthfully as you all know Alaska has the largest population of brown bears and so I figured the show would be more about Alaska than anything else. NEGATIVE! This time it wasn't about things killing bears it was about bears dying because there wasn't enough to sustain them.. WHAT? The fish runs were bad that year and the bears were so hungry they made bad decisions.. they lead their cubs into the open and therefore they were killed (I swear I absolutely hate wolves), they became more brazen out of hunger and put themselves in dangerous situation on other bears territory which naturally lead to a fight, to the death. Seriously, bears are so smart but when times get rough god forbid they work together, they kill each other! 

At this point I was in tears! WHO WATCHES THIS SHIT! 

I love to learn about wildlife and the circle of life and all that jazz but good lord is it depressing!! Do you know that tigers kill elephants in the night while they migrate to find water! Who would have thought anything could take down an elephant! But in all fairness if they aren't killed by a tiger they may be too young or too old to make the trek for water anyways so they just lay down and die and then the tiger gets them.  

I avoid watching the news, I prefer to read the paper because then I can choose what I read and what I don't... not that much in the paper is any less depressing than whats in the news but you don't have to hear someone talk about what a terrible place this world is becoming. No seriously, I'm not jaded at all. 

Who would have freakin' thought that watching ANIMAL PLANET would be more depressing than the news!!! Am I alone in this? Do you guys actually turn this on to watch for fun? I know its educational, I learn a lot too but I learn things from the news too, most of it stuff I don't want to know.. ditto for Animal Planet. 

So after show number two and tears it had to go away! I insisted Jason turn it off and I think he was happy to do it on account that he was questioning my sanity and my sniffling was a little irritating. Consider this your warning, Animal Planet is depressing.. its sad and it will make you cry. Besides that I encourage you to go out and adopt and elephant and keep it away from tigers.. or get a bear and keep fish on hand so it will be nice to you and not die. You know what they say, don't bite the hand that feeds you (or something like that).. bears must know that too, they are apparently really smart when well fed. 

If you were thinking about curling up with popcorn and Animal Planet tonight, you're welcome! Now you might actually sleep tonight!

Products I'm Crushing On.. 01

Good Afternoon!

After a boring weekend due to crumby weather I really wanted to stop by and chit chat about something exciting! I gave it a lot of thought and truthfully what could be more exciting then NEW PRODUCTS! I have an ongoing list on my cell phone notepad of all the products I feel are a must try, that list is about 1000 items long... I kid you not! So today I thought I would stop by and share a few with you that I feel may soon enter my cabinet of goods (literally I have a cabinet in my bedroom full of goods, and a basket in my closet.. and some things that have made their way under the bathroom sink... basically I have shit everywhere!).

So where shall we start...

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Bobbi Brown Long Lasting Eye Shadow - Sunlight Gold

This product is available in a pot I believe and in the form of a crayon like pen! I feel like the color is so warm and cozy and in my experience with my skin tone and eye color these types or warm colors work really well. I have fallen in love with cream shadows, they seem to be longer lasting and thus far in my experimenting I have been lucky that I haven't encountered one that creases. Cream shadows also work extremely well as a base color that you can use with a powder shadow over top that works to set it. I have been swooning over this perfect champagne color for quite some time, it has been easier to avoid on account that we don't have a Bobbi Brown here but we do have a Sephora. I really love Bobbi Brown products, their under eye concealer is a life saver! 

If you are interested in checking out this product you can view it on the Bobbi Brown website HERE, it runs you about $28.00 which is pricey for eye shadow but like anything else you get what you pay for! 

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Lime Crime Lipstick - Coquette

Who doesn't need the perfect nude lipstick? I would have thought originally that nudes would make me look extremely washed out because of my skin tone but I was completely wrong. Not only do I love to rock a nude lip but when I find a lipstick that I love but might be a shade too dark, a swipe of a nude lipstick over it can be a perfect way to balance it out. As I have mentioned before I watch a lot of beauty vlogs and this lipstick is raved about! This is an opaque lipstick which not all nudes are and with fall coming up I feel like a warm color would be great. 

Lime Crime is not overly advertised from what I can see but having heard such great things about the products I really don't think I would be disappointed with this product! You can order online HERE for $18.00, and peruse the other colors they offer and I also believe you can purchase their products at certain Sephora locations. 

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Caudalie Deep Cleansing Exfoliator

I have extremely sensitive skin and therefore choose an exfoliator that works can be a tough task! I use Lush's Mask of Magnaminty which technically isn't an exfoliator but works as such if when removing it you use a warm wash cloth and massage your skin with it. Exfoliating is important but finding a good one can be a challenge for anyone. I have heard rave reviews about this beauty and let me tell you I swoon over most of their products on account that they smell FANTASTIC! This has been highly recommended for sensitive skin as it is that of a light exfoliator. With a change of season around the corner (really its almost August, wtf?) it is that much more important to spend a little extra time on your skin because if it is anything like mine a change in weather can make it act out! 

You can purchase this product HERE at Sephora for $35.00 which yes is quite pricey! I swear I never know if these products are truly worth the money we spend but the fact that everyone raves about it makes me believe there must be something to it! If you have it or have tried it, please let me know!

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Lorac - Unzipped Eye Shadow Palette 

So here's the thing, palettes are expensive and most likely you don't like all the colors and therefore won't use them! I am generally not much for sparkly eye shadows but in all of my beauty vlogger watching I have seem some really amazing looks done with this palette. I only wear warm earth tone colors on my eyes because that is what works best with my skin tone, you will never see me with blue eye shadow or anything of the sort, it just isn't me. I have been swooning over the Naked 2 Palette by Urban Decay for a long time but didn't want to spend the money and this is a really great alternative. 

I don't own a palette at all and I feel like its time I get with the times and I feel like this is the one to get. This guy is going to run you $40.00 on the Lorac website HERE and I do believe it is in select Sephora locations. 

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Fresh - Lotus Youth Preserve Face Cream with Super 7 Complex

This is my current must have! People say often that you can never start too young with anti aging cream and let me tell you I agree with this! Right now whenever anyone talks about face cream this is the beauty they rave about and naturally that leaves me feeling its a must have! I have read so many reviews and watched so many videos on this I honestly cant wait to try it. Here's the thing, believe it or not I am a little cheap.. a little and spending $42.00 on this little jar makes me a little anxious! I have been assured that it truly lasts forever and let me just say, I should hope so! 

I am currently finishing up my current face cream and I do believe this will be next on my list! Once I find something I like I usually stick with it but I swear sometimes I cant help but wonder if there is something better out there. If there is, I am convinced this is it and it will change my life! Notice how I did that? Made it irresistible to make it easier to spend the money!

If you haven't already tried this bad boy then you can purchase at your local Sephora or HERE online. 

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KMS California - Free Shape Quick Blow Dry

Who doesn't want something that is going to cut down your blow dry time? I DO! Honestly I have a lot of crazy, wild, curly hair and although I will admit I have a crappy blow dryer to dry my hair completely after getting out of the shower it takes me a good hair hour! That's without straightening it, products, make up or anything else! And you wonder why I don't wash my hair every single day? Anything that will speed that up is a hit in my book! 

I have looked at a million products like this and none really get fantastic reviews, but let me tell you when I heard KMS California had an option I knew it would be aces! I use their Anti Humidity Seal Spray and I swear by it, their products are extremely reasonably priced compared to how much some people pay for products and best of all they actually do what they say they are suppose to! WINNING! 

My trip to Ulta will have this babe in my bag! If you don't have an Utla near you.. well then I am sad for you, but I suppose you could order it online HERE as well for $19.99. DO IT!

So that's a peak into my must have product list, if you have products you are swooning about please do tell, I love to try new things! I think I will make this a regular post here on the blog because truth be told I crush on A LOT more products then I actually buy! 

I hope you are all having a fabulous Monday, the weather seems to finally be looking up around here so I am going to go and take advantage!