tuesday treasures

I am here today to give you my opinion on some new products that are hitting shelves, and some that are tried and true favorites in the beauty world. 

Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water / Living Proof: Perfect Hair Day / Nivea Men's Post Shave Balm / Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette

I got this micellar water a few weeks ago and I am loving it! It removes ALL of my makeup-including my water-proof mascara. The best part of this product is that it removes all the products from my face with just one cotton round. I use one side for eye makeup and the other side for foundation and concealer. I also love that it has no oil, no alcohol, and no fragrance. Most of the time eye makeup removers burn/irritate my eyes and this product from Garnier is amazing!

My most recent purchase is the Living Proof 5-in-1 styling treatment. I hate splurging on air products when I'm not sure if they will work. I have some crazy frizzy/curly hair so some products work and some are a total bust. I bought the travel size of the living proof 5-in-1 to give it a try on my hair. Ulta is great in that they offer travel sizes of most products so I stopped by over the weekend and picked one up. I have only used it twice-but so far I am loving it. I will mention that this product is a bit pricey, even the travel size. 

Another new product that I have recently discovered is the Nivea Post Shave Balm. This product hit the YouTube and social media world and all the beauty gurus are raving about it-and now I know why. This product works great as a makeup primer and moisturizer. The main ingredient in the post shave balm is glycerin-which is why it works great as a makeup primer. As soon as the product starts to get tacky you apply your foundation and other products. The best part of this product is that it is available at the drugstore! CHA-CHING!!

The final product is the Urban Decay Naked 3 eye shadow palette. I got this for Christmas and have been using it every day since. I already own the original Naked palette, but I had my eye on the rose gold tones of the Naked 3. This is a palette that you can use every single day, whether you are going for a more natural look or a glam look for a night out. 

Hope you enjoy my review of some of the new products I bought/received over the last month or so!

currently || february

cooking || I tried a new recipe recently called chicken poppy-seed casserole. I will have more information about the recipe and photos up soon!

watching || I have recently been binge watching season 10 and 11 of Bones on Netflix and iTunes. I haven't quite finished season 11, so this month that's what I'll be watching.

tracking || I pulled my Fitbit out of a moving box late last month and have been tracking my exercise, steps and water intake. My goal is to rink enough water and get enough steps. the calorie count will come later, but for now I am starting with a smaller goal so I don't get overwhelmed.

reading || I just finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, so I have started on the next book in the series- Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. The books are outstanding and I can't wait to see how the series ends.

planning || restaurant week in our town is at the end of this month and I am excited to try some new places. I need to take a look at the menus of participating restaurants soon and make reservations!

winter storm jonas

Since I live in the wonderful state of Virginia, winter storm Jonas wreaked havoc on us this weekend. I left the office early on Friday afternoon because I didn't want to be stuck in it. Once the snow started coming down and sticking to the roads I packed up my stuff and headed home. It snowed all afternoon and night Friday and continued into Saturday and finally decided to quit at about eight o' clock on Saturday night. The best way to describe it is the photos.

These were taken on Saturday morning/afternoon. The dog didn't realize the snow was above his face until he jumped in.

Major snow drift in our driveway. This is taller than me...and I'm about 65 inches tall. 

That is my poor car you can see buried out there in the street. This was taken later in the day on Saturday-probably about 4 pm. 

I think only one resident of the D.C. area enjoyed this massive snow storm. Check him out here

thursday thoughts

Making this short and sweet.

1. It's never a good day when the weather forecast for the weekend looks like this.

I am siting in that area of light pink...which is code for more than 24 inches of snowfall... Which also means good luck at the grocery store this week. I went on Tuesday night and there was no milk, bread, or eggs in sight. It seriously looks like the apocalypse is coming to town. Oh, and I also have hockey tickets for Sunday afternoon in D.C. Stay tuned for more on how this weekend will unfold. 

2. I have been dying to try the new Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water, but as you can see from #1 I probably won't be venturing out to my grocery or drug store any time soon. If I can get my hands on a bottle I will let you know my thoughts. 

3. I am finally getting over this cough/headache/cold thing that I have had for over a week now, but with the weekend weather I will probably be in bed/on the couch all weekend anyways. 

4. My hands have been feeling extra dry in this weather, so I am on the hunt for a super moisturizing lotion or hand cream. I don't know if the air is also really dry in my office or what, but my hands have never been so dry in my life. They are starting to look like alligators. 

on the go omelettes

I know that I have a bad habit of not eating breakfast when I wake up, because I'm just not that hungry in the morning. I am trying to get better about eating within an hour of waking up-which will be quite difficult since I'm not a morning person at all! I found a recipe for omelettes made in a muffin pan and gave it a try. I will caution you that this is not a true "recipe" more than it's eyeballing the ingredients and measurements.

Ingredients:
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
diced ham (pre-cooked)
cheese
chopped spinach leaves
about 8 eggs
milk


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375°
2. Grease the bottom and sides of each muffin tin on the pan. This is an important step!
3. Chop/dice all your "inside" ingredients for your omelette. Again, this is preference on what you prefer to use for your eggs.
4. Place equal amounts of "inside" ingredients into each muffin spot- including the cheese.
5. Crack all your eggs into a bowl or measuring cup with spout. This will come in handy when it comes time to pour into the muffin pan
6. Add some milk to make the eggs stretch a bit further when pouring. If you don't want to add milk you will need a few extra eggs. The eggbeaters that come in a container will work as well.
7. Whisk your egg/milk mixture.
8. Once mixed, gently pour over the "inside" ingredients.
9. Be careful not to over fill the tins, as the eggs tend to rise when cooking.

10. Bake for 20-25 minutes, depending on how full your tins are.

no-bake grasshopper pies

These turned out to be quite easy to make. The recipe I used said it would only fill five jars, but I managed to have it fill all dozen of my Ball jars. I did use the smaller ones since that was closer to the serving size, so if you use bigger ones you may need to double the recipe. They turned out great and were a big hit at the lunch I made them for! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1½ cups coarsely chopped oreo cookies (remove the icing centers first) See instructions.

3 cups mini marshmallows

½ cup milk

¼ cup Creme de Menthe (see notes)

1½ cups whipping cream

chocolate shavings

5 mini mason jars

Directions:

• First, remove all the icing centers of your Oreo cookies (about ½ a package), and using a food processor, coarsely grind the chocolate cookie parts up. Or if you are feeling really adventurous, keep the icing in! It will just make your dessert more sweet...maybe too sweet? (is that even possible?!

• In a saucepan, melt the marshmallows with the milk over low heat. Then chill the mixture, stirring it occasionally, until mixture begins to set.

• Once the marshmallow mix has cooled and set, stir in the Creme de Menthe. Set aside.

• Using a mixer, whip the whipping cream until soft peaks form. Then fold the whipped cream into the mint mixture. Set aside.

Now it's time to put the pies together!

• For the crust, evenly spread the cookie mixture into the bottoms of your mason jars, then pack it down. 

• Add the mint mixture on top of the cookie mixture, evenly spreading it out between the 5 jars.

• If you like, top the mini pies with a little dollop of whip cream, and some chocolate shavings. I just grated some semi-sweet chocolate, and sprinkled it on.

• Chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

currently || january

baking || well technically they are No-Bake Grasshopper Pies, but I'm still taking the time to make them for a party later this month. What a cute idea of putting them in small mason jars so each person gets their own individual dessert.

watching || nothing to terribly exciting....unless you count THE BEST TEAM IN THE NHL! The Caps have been on a roll lately and they are sitting at the top of the league right now. I am hoping this momentum will carry them through all-star weekend and into the Spring. Here's hoping I can cross of an item on my 30x30 list.

organizing || the kitchen. I got some new gadgets for the kitchen this Christmas, which means it's time to clear out the old stuff. I am going through my tupper-ware cabinet and getting rid of the old/stained ones and replacing them with my new Snap Ware set I got for the holidays!

reading || I am about half way through Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Once I finish this current
book I may either start Go Set a Watchman, or continue reading in the Harry Potter series. Either way I will be starting a new book sometime in January. My goal for the year is to read 15 books

decorating || more like un-decorating...if that's even a word. Christmas decorations are coming down slowly but surely. They will be replaced with a little bit of Valentine's decorations next month.