Meeting the Family...

You guys….I am meeting C’s whole family next week!!!

Eeeek!

I am so excited….and a little scared.

Little College aged C....how cute is he?

Since I didn’t get to meet them in Philadelphia for his game in May as planned we are flying to his hometown in Maryland for a week to visit them. 

He has a huge family.  Seriously. Giant.  His grandmother had 18 children….meaning C has 60 FIRST cousins alone. He has 4 immediate siblings which I know we will be spending a lot of time with, but I know I will be meeting a lot of the other family members too!  They are planning a surprise party for an aunt while we are there as well as a huge barbeque at Grandma’s!

To put it in perspective….I have 5 cousins. Total. That’s a big difference yes?

I can’t wait to see where C grew up. He plans on taking me crabbing and to explore an island near where he lived as well as barbequing an ENTIRE pig with his family. This city girl might have a bit of a culture shock!

Also, my brother is going to come by for a day or two as well.  He has to drive from upstate New York to Phoenix and Maryland it right on the way.  It will be an invasion of my family.  2 people. That’s half my family!

Finally, we just got tickets to the Redskins vs. Eagles game!  If you’ve been reading long enough, you know I have a goal in life to see a game at every NFL stadium.  This is one I will be able to check off my list.

Wish me luck!!

 

Calling All Beauty Lovers! (Oh and a Giveaway)

Calling All Beauty Lovers! 
I am so excited to be able to finally reveal something that Chelsee and I are working together to host. A while back I had an idea of doing a beauty swap and did a little post about it. I really wanted to make it awesome....but I had no clue how. After I posted I talked with Chelsee and she said she'd love to co-host!  
Now we know that there are a few programs with this concept in existence, but this one is unique in that it focuses on Beauty Products alone. How many of you have some Ipsy stuff laying around that you do not use? Well I for one love most of the products that I get in the mail, but sometimes I have some that I just do not use. 
What would you say if I told you that you could pass these along to someone, along with some more of your Beauty Favorites? Well I am happy to introduce you to a new program that will give you the opportunity to try some new beauty products.    Of course I am talking about the Pretty Little Beauty Swap! Basically, this is a program where you will be matched up with another beauty lover and you will exchange a box full of goodies. Sounds fun right? 
We thought long and hard about this program and decided that due to our own experience with other box swaps that we would hold this every other month. This will give you the opportunity to collect some real goodies for your partner, as well as get to know them better. I think the best part of this program is that beauty lovers will unite! I am so excited to meet other beauty enthusiast and learn what products they recommend, as well as make some new friends!

Do you love getting beauty boxes?  Or maybe just trying new beauty products in general?

What about making new friends or receiving packages in the mail full of goodies?

If any of these things sounds awesome to you, then the Pretty Little Beauty Swap is for you!

 

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Hosted by Justine of Sleepy Single Girl and Chelsee of Southern Beauty Guide, Pretty Little Beauty Swap is a bi-monthly swap between ladies who love makeup and meeting new friends!

Every other month, ladies will be paired up with another woman that they will have a chance to get to know and then get to send each other a gift of beauty products.

Swap boxes can be filled with beauty samples from past boxes that just weren’t your thing or purchased items you just know your partner will love!

Signups for the first swap will be September 1st -10th. Partners will be announced by September 15th. You will have a month to get to know your partner and then packages must be sent by October 15th.

At the end of the month we will all link up to share what we’ve received!! Who’s in for some new pretty little beauty products and some even better new friends?

*All of the rules listed below are mandatory. If you can’t complete them, you won’t be able to participate in future swaps.*

Rules:

1) We would love for you to follow both Southern Beauty Guide & Sleepy Single Girl!

2) Email your partner within 72 hours of receiving your match. If you haven’t heard from your partner after

3 days are up, please let us know and we will pair you up with someone else!

3) Spend the month getting to know your partner. Learn her makeup likes and dislikes and colors she tends to use or steer clear of.

4) Each box should be a minimum of $15. If you’d like to spend more, great! I am sure your partner will love you for it. You can include items you’ve received in past beauty boxes or even go out and purchase things you know your partner will love.

5) Please include at least 2 full size items. No one wants to receive a bunch of itty bitty lotion samples!

6) Items must be new, unless you’ve discussed with your partner beforehand and she is comfortable accepting gently used items that you have tried and didn’t like.

7) Ship your packages by the 15th of month two, which in this case is October 15th. Make sure to get a tracking number so we can confirm you sent a package if it gets lost.

8) Once you receive your package, create a reveal post and link up with us at the end of October.

The most important rule of them all…..Have fun!

------------

Speaking of Chelsee, I want to share an awesome giveaway that I am taking part in over at Southern Beauty Guide. Who doesn't love winning things?? 

You can enter below!

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Getting to the Big Game - Arena Bowl 2013

Ahhhhh….I’ve finally had the chance to really catch up on life after dropping everything and heading to Orlando.

You know what stinks?  Having to plan a trip last minute!

Since it was impossible to know if C’s team would win their last playoff game (on a Saturday) and make it to the Championship game (the following Saturday) we couldn’t really book flights in advance.  Yes, we could have done Southwest with no change fees….but their flights were over $800!

A few days before the playoff game I asked C to talk to his Director of Player Personnel and find out which hotel they would be staying at “if they won.” We were able to book their same hotel about a week in advance and would have no cancellation fees if they didn’t end up winning. Boy am I glad I did that!  Minutes after the final playoff game was over, the 1500 room hotel was completely booked up. We were really lucky we had secured a room beforehand!  The Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando was gorgeous.  I would definitely recommend it.

For a few weeks leading up to the big game I periodically checked on flights.  Watching prices go up and down for weeks knowing you can do nothing about it really sucks!  For some reason it was a TON (like $300+) cheaper to fly into Tampa from Phoenix, rather than flying straight into Orlando. Since Tampa is about an hour and a half away from Orlando we decided we would fly into Tampa and drive the rest of the way.  Huge money saver!  Plus, there are beaches in Tampa.  You better believe we stopped!

The day of C’s playoff game I watched flights go from $353 up to $415.  Not a huge change, but still, cheaper is definitely better. After the game and the mini celebration we got straight to work.  Me, my mom and two other player girlfriends called Travelocity to book our flights together.  When we got on the phone with the rep, our flights were $415.  This man seriously took forever to research the flights and secure the one we wanted.  He even apologized for how long he was taking.  Then after he was done he told us our flights (the SAME flights we originally called about) were now $525 each. What?!?  I was livid. I immediately asked to speak to a manager.  Guess what they did? They put me on hold and never came back (on purpose obviously).  I even called on another phone and they answered right away and put me on hold again. We waited on hold for over 50 minutes and no one ever came back to the line. Travelocity has the worst customer service I have ever, EVER experienced!  Hello!  We were trying to book 4 flights…that’s a lot of revenue they could have received!

Anyways…back to my story. Sorry about my angry tangent.

As we were on hold we began to look at other options on our cell phones.  We ended up booking straight through United.  The flights were $500 each though, which was hard to swallow.  But, we were officially headed to Orlando!

Since we knew we were going to fly into Tampa we also booked a car rental early that we could easily cancel.  We got a car for $10 a day! Man on man Florida is way cheaper than Arizona.  A car rental here is $40+ a day! 

Do you want to know what the bad news is about getting the cheapest flight available??  We had to 

leave phoenix at 1am and fly through the night.  Then, we also had a 4 hour layover in Charlotte, which is the coldest airport known to man.

I think that enough for today….and all I’ve talked about is setting up the trip!

Next time I’ll tell you all about what we did in Florida (red carpets included) and of course the game!

 

Ipsy Bag Review - August

Ipsy bag time!  Yay!

I knew that I’d get this box when I was in Orlando, so it was a nice little bonus to my Monday back from vacation.  Anything helps to brighten a day like that, am I right?

Anyways, as you know this box is $10 a month and it’s my absolute favorite!  I always love pretty much everything in the bag.

The theme of this month’s bag is Glamour Academy.

So here we go….July’s Ispy bag! 

1. Michael Todd True Organics  Pumpkin Face Mask– 1 oz. (travel size)

Oh my goodness does this smell good!  Seriously, it smells just like pumpkins.  I can’t wait to go home and try this! It’s supposed to be moisturizing and nourishing which sounds great.  I really can’t get over the smell…yum!

           Full Size: $34.00 3.4 oz. My Value:$10.00

2. Mica Beauty Cosmetics Shimmer Powder in Bronze– .1 oz. (FULL SIZE)

This is such a pretty color!  I had to double check the site just to make sure this was an eye shadow….it wasn’t totally clear.  I am glad I did though because this sounds like an awesome product.  You can mix it with clear nail polish, mascara or lip gloss to make a completely different product.  A perfect use for the clear lipgloss I got last month!

Full Size: $14.95 My Value: $14.95

3)  Pixi Lash Booster Mascara - .105 oz.

Meh, just another mascara sample. I have so many of these.  It will be good for a vacation at least. 

Full Size: $17.00 .25oz My Value:$7.14

4)   Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in 69 – .03 oz.

You know me and my love of lipsticks!  This color is basically a bright red, but I’m excited about it.  I’ve been wanting to try out some reds lately, since they seem to be trendy right now. It’s the perfect tiny size to carry around too! The official slogan for this lipstick is “Creamy, badass luxery” which makes me giggle.

Full Size: $22.00 .09 oz. My Value:$7.33

5)  Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer – .25 oz.

I am so excited for this product!  I have heard so many good things about it, but I’ve never tried it. This is the exact reason I get these beauty boxes, to try things just like this! 

Full Size: $36.00 1 oz. My Value:$9.00

Final Cost: $10.00

Final Value: $48.42

Ah!  What a great deal!  Last month’s value was $24….this month is double that!  Plus, I love almost every single item (I could leave or take the mascara), so it’s really not a waste. I really can’t say enough about Ipsy.

If you’d like to give it a try…..use my referral link? Pretty please?  :)

(Also, I swear I’m not a review blog….I just like sharing these things in hopes that other people will get to have the same fun that I do!  I am not compensated in any way.)

Guess Who's Back?

Ahhh…you guys I am so sorry that I have been MIA so long!  Last week I checked out because I was headed to Orlando to watch C and his team play in the Arena Bowl.

Guess what???  They won!!!! Yay!  Back to Back Champions :)

I am so proud and C and happy for him and his team.  They really deserved it.  The league really hates that their team has been in the bowl game for the last three years in a row so the team (along with their friends and family) were not treated very well this past week.  It was pretty bummed.  I will write all about it soon though so you know what I am talking about.

I got back late Sunday night and had to work early Monday morning.  I have been working to catch up on everything I missed. I swear, going to vacation is amazing, but sometimes I’m not sure it’s worth the double load of work when you return!

Hopefully I will be back to regular posts soon! That is...after I figure out how to steal this trophy!

 

Beauty Swap?

As you have seen if you have been reading for any length of time, I love beauty boxes. Usually I get about 3 different ones a month. That’s a lot of beauty products and samples!

That being said, it’s pretty much guaranteed that I won’t like every single thing I get. And I haven’t. Sometimes things just aren’t the right color for me or I just find no use for them or I just have too many of that kind of product already.

So……I propose a swap! Does anyone else have beauty products they just don’t want or think they will use? I’d love to swap with you!

I think it would be fun to get several girls in on this and maybe do it once every couple of months.
If you’d like to swap, just comment below and I will get it set up!
 
We can decide on a specified amount of items (so someone doesn’t get slighted) and also discuss if you are cool with them being slightly used (as in I tried this on and I hated the color – not l used this every day for two months and there is barely anything left!).

I think this will be fun!

Orlando!!!

So...C's team won their playoff game and they are headed to the Arena Bowl!

That being said I am currently sitting on a plane in the Charlotte airport after flying 4 hours through the middle of the night. It's 4:45am Arizona time, yuck!

I am going to take a bit of a break from blogging the rest of this week. I'll update you all on their (hopefully) big win next week!

Next stop, Orlando :)

Glossy Box Review - July

I got my third Glossy Box :)

I’ve been carefully reviewing this one since I started getting it, mainly because it’s so pricey.  I want to make sure it is worth it to ME.  If you don’t remember, this box is $21 a month, which is a little more than the others. Yes, they are considered “high-end” beauty products, but still.  In the last review I wrote about how you can go to their site and do little reviews of their products and earn points.  I thought that if you do all of the reviews every month, your six or seventh box will be completely free. Well, lo and behold the second box only had one survey for me to do.  I definitely didn’t get to earn the same points as the first box, which was a bummer!

This month’s Glossy Box theme is le grande Bleu and has quite a beachy vibe to it.

So without further ado….July’s Glossy Box! 

1)    Brazilian Blowout Acai Deep Conditioning Masque– 30 ml

Ooo I like this!  I always try to use deep conditioning masks once a week or every other week.  I think it’s a bit pricey, but hopefully it will do awesome things for my hair!

Full Size: $40.00 240 ml My Value: $5.00

2)    Bvlgari Eau Parfumee au the Blanc Shampoo & Shower Gel– 1 oz.

This smells good.  I’m not sure I trust products that can be BOTH a shower gel and a shampoo though.  It seems like it would be pretty crappy shampoo to me!  I’ll probably just use it as a shower gel. Again, this is a pretty darn pricey product. Not something I would ever buy. 

Full Size: $42.00 6.8 oz. My Value: $6.17

3)  Dr. Brandt BB Matte with Signature Shinerase- .25 oz.

I like this too!  I’ve been wanting to try some different BB creams so I’m glad I got this.  Now I can compare cheap ones to this expensive one!  That’s really the only thing I like about it….I’d never pay full price for this.

Full Size: $39.00 1 oz. My Value: $9.75

4)   Figs & Rouge Cherry Blossom Tinted Lip Balm Tube – .42 oz. (FULL SIZE)

As I said in my last beauty box review, I love lip products, so I was excited to see this.  I am a little bummed that the color looks so bright in the tube but it so plain on my lips. You can barely tell it is there. It is 100% natural which is awesome.  The only weird thing is that if I were to describe how this feels I would totally say it feels like petroleum jelly. It’s kind of thick and sticky.  The packaging says its petroleum free. I’m not convinced!

Full Size: $9.00 My Value: $9.00

5)  Nails Inc. Baker Street Nail Polish – 4 ml

I will never wear this.  Way too bright for me.  I’m a classic kinda girl.  Bummer.  At least it goes with the “blue” theme??

Full Size: $9.50 10 ml My Value: $3.80

6)  Nicka K New York Absolute! Make-up Cleansing Tissues – 10 sheets

It says this is a bonus.  I’m not too enthused, but I guess you can never have enough of these towels, especially for travel. They are quite nice. I won’t complain about these.  My guess it they had to add these as a “bonus” because subscribers would be mad if these counted as one of their “high end” beauty products!

Full Size: $6.99 60 sheets My Value: $1.16

Final Cost: $21.00

Final Value: $34.88

Wow.  This is not a great value considering how great other boxes could be. Especially when you think about how high priced these items are just because of their “brand name.”

Whelp, I think I am going to cancel this box too.  Hopefully I can find a better beauty box to start getting!

(Also, I swear I’m not a review blog….I just like sharing these fun things! I have not been compensated for this review.)

Football Life

 

The Rattlers won their playoff game!!!! Yay! Only one more to go (which is tonight) until the Arena Bowl in Orlando. I am so darn nervous!!

I swear these games are one of the most stressful things ever! It’s hard to sit there and watch knowing how much this means to the guys. Plus, there is always a very real fear of them being hurt. You obviously never want that to happen!

Ok so now that you know a little about Arena Football, I thought I’d talk a little more about C and his involvement.

 

C did play in the NFL after college, but for several teams. He played with the St. Louis Rams, the Detroit Lions, and New Orleans Saints, but nothing really stuck. After deciding that he wasn’t getting enough playing time he left the league and decided to pursue other things.

In 2008 the Tampa Bay Storm (an Arena Football team) called him up and asked him to play. He decided to give it a try. He played that year and really enjoyed it, but internal issues caused the entire league to shut down in 2009. Thankfully, that only lasted a season and C played in Tampa for the 2010 and 2011 season. In 2011 he was the Defensive Lineman of the year!

After the 2011 season C was treated unfairly in Tampa and demanded a trade. Since he was such a valued player, he was able to list his top three teams and demand to play at one of them. On February 7th, 2012 (my birthday!) he was traded from Tampa to a team not listed in his top three. He refused to play there, so they traded him to Arizona, which was on the list. He was traded from the second team on February 9th, 2012 (my mom’s birthday!).
 
I still love that he made his way to Arizona on both mine and my mother’s birthdays. Happy birthday to us!

 

He made it to Arizona on February 24th and I met him 4 days later on February 28th! I snatched that one up right away :)

Anywho, back to football.

 

As I said before, C is a defensive lineman, which means he’s a big dude. As you can tell from the many pictures I post, he towers over me. I am about 5’7 and he is 6’4! I love it. I always said I wanted to be with a tall guy so I could wear heels. Turns out I am really not a fan of heels since I wear them all day at work. I think I’ve worn them around him maybe 10 times in our year and a half together!

There are 4 other guys on the team that play the same position (well roughly – there are minor variations) and 4 of the 5 guys are out on the field at a time. That means there is one “backup.” Even with C’s arm being in a club they still have him play the entire game. I think that says a lot. The guy with one arm is better than the backup!

Speaking of the club, a few games ago the broadcasters called it his “hand cannon.” I could not stop laughing! I call it that all the time now. It’s basically a real cast that completely covers his hand so he
can’t bend his wrist at all. They saw the cast in half so he can get it on and off. During games it is wrapped in padding to make it softer, because really, that thing is quite the weapon!

 

So there you have it! Next time I will talk about the juicy stuff like crazy fans and football bimbos :)

Is there anything else you would like to know?!

Good luck to my love and the Arizona Rattlers tonight!  I know you will all kick butt!!

A Lovely Blog Hop!

Welcome to A Lovely Blog Hop, where each Thursday we have the grand opportunity to meet and connect with lovely new bloggers, such as myself! Now you have something to do and somewhere to go on Thursdays!

 Enjoy!

Rules (Not really rules but a guide):

1. Follow your host and any co-hosts (if it applies). Co-hosts will be the first 3 to 5 entries.

I am your host,  Rekita @ Her&Nicole and I am the first linky. 

Feel free to leave a comment and introduce yourself!

Sponsor Co-Hosts:

Cece @ Jayla Jolie Says...

2. Link it!

Link up your blog or anything else you find lovely. Share your family, fashion, food, crafts, or anything that you love this week. Please, please, please, share the love and include a link back to this blog hop.

3. Spread it!

This is a blog hop after all, so hop around! Visit other blogs and say Hi!

4. Grab it! 

<div align="center">

<a href="http://www.herandnicole.com/" title="Her & Nicole"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik2DhLkeb-HIYB-ZOQvZhuGGDuKmvkwuGRRu7FIN14PP5igXgo6ueWcQGKM2il1uQGAKoG2cryGhgkesuzprlTBVVlj5lnq0nuWbtCjL6bKd2xVDUCFJx60EYOCAuiAeSksjLApwK5rbE/s1600/new+blog+hop+button.png" alt="Her & Nicole" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Grab the button and place it somewhere in your blog or add just the link. Preferably in your blog post. 

This will help us promote this blog hop, believe me, the more the merrier! Or post the link somewhere in your blog. 

5. Tweet it!

Tweet

Please help me to promote this blog hop by sharing it to others. 

So tweet it to show everyone where you link up on Thursdays!

6. The most important rule of them all, HAVE FUN BLOG HOPPING!

Best Thing Ever - Le Tote Boxes #2 and #3

Remember when I told you all about Le Tote?!?

Well….I still love it!  Seriously…it’s amazing!

For $49 a month you can get unlimited boxes of clothing shipped to you!  Each box comes with 3 articles of clothing and 2 pieces of jewelry.  You can wear them as much or as little as you want and when you are done, you just ship them back (you don’t even have to wash them) in the prepaid envelope and they send you another box!!  For $5 more you can even get insurance in case you rip or stain something. 

It’s totally Netflix for clothes J

What’s awesome is you can even go on their site and pick out things you like, so your boxes will be more your style or maybe thing you’d like to try, but would probably never buy.

C loves how excited I get when I get new box.  It’s so fun to make new outfits!

Anyways….I thought I’d share what I got in my second and third box this month.

Box #2

At first I thought the yellow top was pretty awesome because its not really a color I wear. When I put it on though, the color was terrible on my olive skin tone. It looked almost green-ish.  I was bummed, but wore it out on date night anyways! I didn't end up wearing this bracelt.  It was too matchy-matchy with everything else they sent and it felt a little circus-y to me.  I am kind of boring in the jewelry area.

The blue skirt was WAY too tight.  I couldn't even get it past my thighs.  My co-worker (who is teeny tiny) tried it on because she thought she might want to buy it but it was even too tight on her!  Bad sizing on that one. I LOVED the necklace!  It was so different from what I normally wear, but not too far out of the box for me.  I may be shopping for necklaces like this in the future!

This was my favorite item from the box. It was a racer back chiffon maxi dress.  I wore it several times before I shipped it back!

Box #3

I thought this bracelet was really cute.  It's not too big and clunky, but still fun.  I have a hard time wearing bracelets at work since I sit at a computer all day, but I did get to wear this for a little while.  This skirt was fun!  You can't actually tell in the picture but it was a lot brighter blue.  It was pretty sheer but had shorts underneath that matched.  It was a bit bold for me, but I took a chance and wore it out one night!

I actually wore these two together to work!  The picture is actually the back of the shirt, its just plain on the front. The zipper part had a black sheer fabric underneath (all the way to the top) so you could wear it a few different ways.  I really liked this necklace when I pulled it out of the package, but I wasn't in love with it on.  It just fell on my neckline wrong.  I'm sure it would look great on someone else! 

Obviously once again my favorite piece was a maxi dress!  I wasn't able to get the best picture of it, but you get the point. It was an ombre kind of look that turns into an even deeper purple on the very bottom.  Such pretty colors together! The center elastic was a tad tight, otherwise I would have bought this one!

See how amazing it is?!?!  What are you waiting for?  Go sign up!!  Let me know if you do, I'd love to see what you get in your boxes!

Food Across America

Speaking of my brother, he is moving soon! He has been stationed in upstate New York at a power plant (he is a Nuclear Engineer in the Navy) for years now.  He just got orders recently to go to Seattle. Yay! Seattle is so much closer to Arizona than New York!

That being said, he is planning on shipping all of his stuff straight from New York to Seattle.  Then, he is going to drive from New York to Arizona. 

He asked me to create what he calls….drum roll please….”The trip in which I will eat too much.”

Basically, he wants me to map out a path for him to hit up a ton of famous and tasty  food places along his route. There are a few routes he can go, so I want to find the one with the best food!

Here are some cities/states he could be driving through:

Trip One/Two

Syracuse/Rochester/Buffalo, New York

Erie, Indiana

Cleveland/Dayton, Ohio

Indianapolis, Indiana

Illinois

St. Louis/Springfield, Missouri

Kansas City, Wichita, Kansas

Tulsa/Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Amarillo, Texas

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Trip Three

New York City, NY

Trenton, New Jersey

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Wilmington, Delaware

Baltimore, Maryland

Richmond/Lexington, Virginia

Knoxville/Nashville/Memphis, Tennessee

Little Rock, Arkansas

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Amarillo, Texas

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Trip three is a little different because C and I will be in Maryland at the same time and I’d love for my brother to stop for a day and meet C’s family! It only adds 3 hours total on to the trip, so it’s not too far out of the way!

Does anyone know of any famous food places or must-eat restaurants near these cities? He’s not really worried about the fastest route, he wants the best food!

Oh yeah and today is his birthday!  Happy Birthday S!!!