i have moved!!

you click on one of the cute little buttons that i tried to make below and find the new blog there!!

 


 

im moving

you can find me here  

xoxo, lauren 

"Sun-Kissed" Glow

i'm pale. super pale. this isn't a new thing for me. i was pale before twilight made it cool. i can't even hold a tan. i just don't have pigment (or whatever it is that you need) in my skin. and honestly, i don't mind. i don't wear dark colors much, so it's not like i have to worry about looking faded out. i do have to worry about burning though, because 20 minutes outside and i'm turning crispier than a piece of bacon and more red than a strawberry tomatoe.

one thing that is difficult is finding make up to match my skin tone. the lightest shades in most brands are usually about a shade or two darker. if i want blush or bronzer, i usually end up looking like a clown with giant red patches on my cheeks. i blush easily, and often, which gives me a natural pink tint, but it doesn't last.

my point of this post is to inform you all about a wonderful product. i kid you not, it completes me. i'm in love, and not with a man. it's actually an elf. what? oh, sorry, i meant E.L.F., the Eyes Lips Face brand found at target. i would like to introduce you all the the E.L.F. All Over Color Stick. Available in 5 shades, and for only a dollar, it's the perfect match for me.

How we met: i was once again wandering the make up department in my local target, feeling hopeless about ever finding the perfect make up match for my pale, lonely skin. i headed towards the E.L.F. section, a favorite of mine because of their cheap prices and good quality (not perfect, but considering you can get most of their stuff for under $5.00, it's really good). i wasn't expecting to find anything, but a new little product in the corner caught my eye. i looked at it for a minute, then decided at $1.00, it was worth a try.

i got home and tried it out. it's perfect. amazing. i love it. it has a light citrus scent, but nothing too fancy or powerful. you rub it anywhere (i usually just do a little dab along my cheekbones, nothing fancy), maybe blend it in a bit with your fingers, and there ya go. i've used it over a light foundation, over my regular moisturizer, and on my skin alone and it still looks good. it gives me a light dose of shimmery color that looks more like a sun-kissed glow than make up. i personally am a fan of the "golden peach" (shown above), but i'd like to try "pink lemonade", with just a bit more pink than gold, next.

(NOTE: i am not doing this for anyone other than myself, and for you guys. i wish E.L.F. would shower me with make up for telling you about this, but alas, i doubt that they will)

what make up supplies are you totally loving??

xoxo, lauren

groovy smoothie

i'm a fan of anything sweet and fruity. make it healthy and that's just an added bonus. while i was in georgia, my mom and i were shopping in jcpenny when we found these super cool "magic bullet" blenders. you can make dips, soups, mousse, fruit juices, smoothies, ect. i'd actually seen it on another blogger's page, but hadn't found one in person. as i'm sure you can guess, i was super excited. even more exciting, they were 50% off!!!!!! **happy dance** of course, my mom bought me a red one (sadly there was no pink) and got my sister a blue one (hope you like it jessie).

(there's a smoothie in the making...)

i decided to try making a strawberry bananna smoothie for the first try. i cut up a ton of fresh strawberries and froze them. (hint- when freezing fruit, you may want to put in on a tray instead of just in a bowl like i did. that way it won't freeze into  a giant lump.) i then added a bananna and some vanilla yogurt. at first it was a little thick but i fixed that w- the addition of some milk. i like my smoothies really creamy so i was happy with it.

(mhmmm...freshly frozen strawberries) 

i plan to experiment a ton with different flavor combinations. i'll try to post a few recipes when i find something really yummy. and if you have any smoothie suggestions, leave them in the comments!!

xoxo, lauren

my new roommate

i got back to virginia recently. and my once broken computer was finally fixed, thanks to the lovely people at toshiba. (of course, if it hadn't been made wrong in the first place...but whatever) even cooler is that my friend taylor moved in with me on the 23rd of may... (yes, i know that was almost 2 weeks ago but i've been busy). the fun's already started. ya know, just a bit.

being goofballs at target

i have a ton of blogs in the making. i've included a DIY or two, and some silly fun posts all around. i've written up a few of them but i'm waiting to post them. i really feel like i can keep it up this time. i'm not just saying it for once. but we'll see. now i'm off to the grocery store.

xoxo, lauren

happy mother's day

today is mother's day. as is tradition, the day was spent with my mom. there was actually a craft fair going on in the area, and it's one of our favorite things to do together, so it was the perfect way to spend the day with my mom. :)

(my mom and me at the aquarium. don't we look super similar??)

i'm so glad to have such an amazing mom. we have our differences, sure. we get mad, we yell, we fight, blah blah blah. but at the end of the day she's my mom, and she's amazing. she may not always say the right thing, but i know she's always there for me and she always has my back, no matter what happens. no matter what we do we have an amazing time. it's a little scary how alike we are (seriously, it creeps my dad out sometimes) but it just adds to how close we are. so many of my friends tell me they wish they were closer to their moms, and i just get to smile and offer advice as to how to get closer.

(my mom and me at my graduation last year)

to my mom, and all the other mommies out there (to my "adopted" moms, friend's mom, and any other mom out there) happy mother's day. thanks for being amazing in all the ways that you are. without you, we (literally) wouldn't be where we are today.

xoxo, lauren

catching up

i haven't posted since march. i'm not going to even try and explain everything that's gone on recently, but i can say that i have finished my freshman year of college (yay!!) and it's summertime now. i've stopped doing yoga and i really need to pick it up again. i miss it. but with summer i think things will calm down a lot and i can have some fun. i have a (rather crazy) living plan set up for the summer, but more importantly i have many recipes, crafts, and fun activities planned that i intend to blog about.

(my "roomies" and myself)

the past couple weeks were nuts. finals were happening and my stress and problems were getting the best of me. i can't believe i'm finally done with my freshman year though!! there were moments i didn't think i'd survive. but overall it was amazing and i wouldn't change it for anything. it was so weird seeing the rooms i called "home" for almost a year emptied, but i'm crazy excited for next year!!

with all the extra time i have now that it's summer, i am jumping full force into my etsy shop. i added a few new items the other day, and more are coming this week. think some cute tote bags, hair accessories (like the customizable college barrette above), key chains, and play felt food for kids. this past week i also gave the shop a makeover when i redid my policies, about me, sections, welcome, even descriptions. let's hope it helps get me some sales!!
the next few days i'll be trying to jump back into blogging. it may take me a bit at first, especially because my computer isn't working at all and it's currently being sent back to toshiba to be fixed so i'm using my moms, but i'll make it work. summer 2011 is going to be amazing. i can feel it!! :)

xoxo, lauren

the bachelor finale

i'll admit it. i like to watch reality tv sometimes. usually its the cute type stuff, dealing with fashion (project runway or ANTM), food (cupcake wars, anyone??), but usually romance. the millionaire matchmaker is my absolute favorite, but the bachelor is my a close second. i started watching it with my mom when i was still in high school and i somehow became addicted. the season with allie, i'd even discuss it with my environmental science teacher the morning after. it's silly, over dramatic, and it doesn't always work out for the people, but there's that chance for 2 people to fall in love (and wear amzing clothes and go on fabulous, romantic dates, and travel all over as well), and get the happily-ever-after, everyone is (sometimes secretly) searching for.

last night was the finale. (there are spoilers below. i am warning you now) brad had to choose between chantal and emily.

personally, i loved them both. even with emily's sad past, i still wanted him to choose chantal just a little bit. but i think we all kinda knew that he was going to pick emily. and when he sent chantal home like i knew he would, i felt really bad. teared up along with her. and when he proposed to emily i was super happy for the both of them and smiled at their obvious happiness.

then came the "after the rose" segment. i'm not sure what y'all though, but a lot of the stuff they said sounded like little red warning flags. how they fought, how they broke up at a point, them talking about their tempers. i wish them the best and i think they are totally darling together but i worry it won't work out for them and it makes me sad. however, it was nice to see some of the past couples there and they gave really good advice i hope brad and emily take. (and weren't allie and roberto just too freaking cute and adorable?? i love them!!)

what did you think of the finale last night??
xoxo, Lauren

hockey and dancing

hope you all had a great weekend and a sweet valentine's day. my valentine's day was very chill and the weather made it nice enough for me to actually enjoy the day a little. a very relaxing yogalaties class and watching the movie bride wars with my girlfriends helped too.

my weekend, however, was even more awesome. friday my friend taylor and i went back home for a night. our hockey team was playing at an away game so we took her little sister and went to cheer on our boys. there were only about 15 fans from the other team, and we were the only 3 from our school (minus the parents). to make up for the lack of fans, we decided to go crazy every time they scored a goal. this was supposed to be a super hard team that crushed us last time, but we ended up winning 7 to 4!! and everytime they scored a goal, taylor, her little sister madison, and i went totally crazy. screaming, waving our arms, everything. it got to the point where even the other team was complimenting our cheering skills. i personally would like to think they won because of all our cheering, but maybe i'm a little biased. either way, i totally loved cheering them on and being noticed, especially by one of the guys i'm crushing on. ;)

taylor and myself

our hockey team

saturday we came home and decided to go to a local club. it's gay-friendly, but tons of students (guys and girls alike) go and dance. i wasn't sure what it would be like but i got ready with a few girlfriends and we headed down to the club. we were a little nervous at first (well, except for my wild child friend erica), but once this weirdo kept trying to dance with us and we had to keep avoiding him, it made us loosen up. once we were chilled out we started having way more fun. it was just what i needed too. we danced, sang along, and laughed for over 2 hours. and when we left, i realized that i hadn't thought about stressing, school, guys, anything. i had so much fun just letting go and letting the music take over,and kinda feeling beautiful. i was so glad i got to share the experience with my girlfriends. by the time we got home at around 3am, i was exhausted and couldn't wait to fall into bed.

 my gorgeous girls

they marked up our hands to make sure we didn't drink

my weekend was so much fun. probably one of the best yet, although that's a hard call. what did your weekend bring?? xoxo, lauren

must have mondays

this weekend was great. i had so much fun with my friends. however, last night and today?? the week is starting off sucky. dealing with minor drama, overslept this morning and missed my first class, my bank account was frozen, the list continues. it's also a week till valentine's day so that doesn't make me much happier. therefore, i decided to do my "must have mondays" in an anti-valentine's day style. next monday will be all for valentine's day, but until then here are some interesting things i found.

1. you must give these cards to all your single friends

hey, us single folk gotta get the word out!! plus, they're totally cute. who doesn't like ice cream?? :)

2. you must use this mirror

of course, i am morally opposed to voodoo. it's kinda weird, a little harsh, and a lot creepy. however, this picture of a voodoo doll is kinda funny.

3, you must wear this brooch

broken hearted?? don't hide it!! show people you're sad and that you're proud by wearing this adorable little brooch on your sleeve (or shirt)

4. you must listen to this song (the glee version of 'forget you')

(sorry it's tiny)

got an ex?? send them this subtle message of what you truly think of them, and then remember just how much better off without them you are.

5. you must eat some of these candy hearts

i can't find where you buy these, but i think they're kinda funny. i love sweet tart hearts and the cute little messages, but for someone bitter these could be better (like the alliteration there??)

hope you enjoyed this week's bitter take on valentine's day. i'll be back later with some more posts and an update about my week. let's hope it improves!!

xoxo, Lauren