Dressing for a new job

Now that I've started my new job, I've had to get used to a more lax dress code. I was used to a business casual/business professional environment and now I'm working somewhere where attire ranges from business casual to shorts and t-shirts.. I kid you not! It's great to see people more relaxed as a whole at my new company.

I've definitely toned down my work wardrobe a bit, but not all the way. Some days are more casual than they were at my last job, but other days I still wear outfits I would have worn before. I like the freedom to dress more comfortable/casual, but I'm not going to just stop wearing some of my business casual outfits and I'll mix some of those pieces in with more casual pieces as well.

Dress and shoes are from Target | Necklace is Tiffany & Co.| Watch is Michael Kors

Top is from Kohls | Skirt is ON | Necklace is F21 | Watch is Michael Kors

Top and Skirt are new from Banana Republic | Necklace and shoes are from Kohls

Top is from Target | Capris are from ON | Necklace is F21 | Sandals are Body Central

Top is ON | Skirt is A&F | Necklace is F21 | Wedges are from Target

Top is Express | Skirt and Necklace are F21 | Heels are from Target

Dress and wedges are from Victorias Secret | Necklace is F21

Top and pants are from Express | Necklace is from Kohls | Heels are from Target

Top is from Kohls | Skirt is from Express | Sandals are from Victorias Secret

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Marc Jacobs Sunglasses

I posted my favorites from the Nordstrom Anniversary sale last week, and as much as I loved the Marc Jacobs watch I posted, I got a new Michael Kors watch for my birthday last year so I wanted to go with something different. I decided to order the Marc by Marc Jacobs sunglasses. They arrived on Friday (super fast shipping!) and I absolutely love them.

Marc by Marc Jacobs 59mm Aviator Sunglasses

Have you taken advantage of the anniversary sale yet this year? If not, you better hurry! A lot of items are already selling out!

Loving my new shades :)

Marc Jacobs

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Weekend Shopping Shenanigans

August is going to be a crazy busy month so I've been enjoying lower key weekends and lots of shopping :)

Next weekend will bring on some downtown fun and lazy river shenanigans, can't wait!

~ New doggy treat jar for Roxy

~ Orange cinnamon rolls for breakfast Saturday morning

~ Breakfast on the patio.. a weekend favorite

~ Someone is waiting for a bite

~ She finally got a piece, but was teased first by H of course

~ Tried on the Merona Shirt Dress which was on sale at Target for only $15 (ended up buying it in blue). I'm thinking it'll be cute for work.

~ Caaaaaaanonball!

~ Picked up a new top and skirt at the Banana Republic outlet

~ New flippies from Kohls

~ Went for drinks with Emily and K before heading to the outlets

~ We mowed the lawn and cleaned the pool at H's parent's new house for the last time since they'll be officially moving down from CT this week. Yay!

~ Love ducks!

~ OOTD for drinks and shopping with my new flippies

~ Lazy Sunday-Funday in the pool with the bobber full of beer. No need to get up to get another one... perfection!

Linkin' up with Sami for Weekend Shenanigans, hop on over and join us!

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Take me out to the ballgame

One of my favorite things about the summer is going to baseball games. Minor league.. major league it doesn't matter, I just love going to the games. I love the warm summer air, the beer and hot dogs, and the crack of the bat as it hits the ball....

We went to a minor league game the other night which means free parking, cheap admission, cheap beer, cheap food, and close seats.. what's not to love?

~ 16 and 32 oz. beers for much less than a regular beer at a major league game

~ Enjoying a Bud Light Lime while watching the game

~ I loved that the stadium was on the water, pretty views!

~ Me and H enjoying the game

~ A 32 oz. Mich Ultra for $6 YES PLEASE!

~ The boys and their giant beers

~ Beautiful night for a game

~ Cheers to awesome neighbors who are also great friends

~ Girls statue pic after the game

We had so much fun and can't wait to go back for another game. Now, we're looking forward to driving down to Miami for the weekend to see the Marlins play H's Rockies. Best part is the stadium has The Clevelander we'll just have to hit that up as well as the one in South Beach :)

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Beauty products that last

Do you ever get frustrated when you spend a lot of money on beauty products and they don't last very long?

Here are some of my favs that do last....

Urban Decay Primer Potion

I picked up this tube over a year and a half ago! And I use it every.single.day! A little goes a long way and it is hands down my favorite product ever! I'm only just now about to run out and I lucked out by cashing in my 500 point reward the other day and got a free refill :-D

Benefit's Erase Paste

It takes me about a year to go through this little jar. I use a concealer brush to dab it under my eyes to cover up those unsitely undereye circles. 

Suave's Moroccan Oil *purchased at Target*

I use this Moroccan Oil every time I blow dry my hair and again a little goes a long way. I've had this bottle for a few months and still have a majority of the bottle left. Bonus points that it's cheap and can be found at Target.

Sephora Bronzer Sun Disk *currently sold out so unable to link*

I've been wearing Sephora's bronzer for a while so when the sale associate suggested I go bigger and get the sun disk for only a couple dollars more I of course went for it. She couldn't have been more right. This has lasted me a lot longer than the regular sized compact. I've had this disk since February!

NARS Albatross

I use this as a highlighter, and this has lasted since December. I don't use this every day, but a few times a week. Great lasting power! I haven't even hit the pan yet, which surprises me considering I hit the pan so quickly with NARS Orgasm.

Naked Palettes

Naked Palette

Naked 2

Naked Basics

I got the original Naked Palette in January of 2011, the Naked 2 palette for Christmas 2011, and the Naked Basics palette in December 2012. The only shade I've hit the pan on so far is Sidecar in the original palette. And I use colors from at least one of these palettes every day. Love that these shades are great for day and/or night.

Benefit Eye Bright

I've had this pencil for almost 2 years, but to be fair I use it only in the inner corners of my eyes to brighten them up during the week since I'm usually tired. 

Maybelline BB Cream *purchased at Target*

I picked up this BB cream for summer days out in the sun. I wanted something that would provide me coverage without feeling heavy or "looking like makeup". Another bonus is that it contains SPF 30 in it so I love using it for beach or pool days. 

What are some of your fav products that have lasted much longer than you thought?

Naked Palette NARS Sephora Suave Urban Decay

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Sephora Goodies

I'm not one to make resolutions, but this year I promised myself that I wouldn't shop at Sephora so much. My spending there got a little out of hand the past couple of years so I decided to scale back and use the money towards stuff around the house and our favorite passion which is travel.

So far I've done great, I'm unfortunately no where near renewing my VIB status for next year, and I have to keep telling myself that's ok. I've only been ordering or picking up items that I need to restock instead of feeling like I have to try out all the new hot items.

The other day I ran out of foundation, so I went to Sephora on my lunch break to pick up a new one. I ended up getting the same shade I always get, but I got the mattifiying compact since I have such oily skin especially in the summer. Hope it helps!

When I got to the register I saw that the 500 point reward was an Urban Decay kit with an eyeliner, primer potion *my fav UD product EVER*, and makeup setting spray. This was HUGE since I am almost out of both my primer potion and the setting spray. I was excited to say the least to cash in 500 points for this kit.

Sephora

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Summer Weekend Shenanigans

I started my new job last week so it was nice to have a relaxing weekend. We ate a lot of fried food, went to the beach, shopped, and relaxed by the pool on Sunday and did some work around the house.

~ Happy Hour fried goodness

~ Margaritas.. my fav!

~ 1st bag of Sephora goodies in a while

~ Ready for the beach in my new $5 cover up top from JC Penney

~ Relaxing on the beach

~ Doggy birthday gifts

~ Birthday girl with her new collar... she's blingin!

~ Ready for happy hour and shopping with H. Top is from ON and skirt is from Express

~ Finally trying out EOS lip balm to see what all the fuss is about :)

Linkin' up with Sami for Weekend Shenanigans, hop on over and join us!

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Nordstrom Anniversary Goodies

Other than the VS semi annual sale, there aren't many big sales that I really look forward to except for the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. If you haven't checked out the sale yet, I highly suggest hopping over to their site before all the good stuff is gone ;)

I've been sooooo good about not shopping too much lately, but I think I'm overdue to splurge just a little and if I do it'll be on one of these items from the sale:

Marc by Marc Jacobs 59mm aviator sunglasses

Tory Burch Brita Riding Boot

Kate Spade le pavillion iPhone case

Marc by Marc Jacobs 'Amy' Mother of Pearl Dial Watch

Nordstrom Face & Body Brush

Happy Shopping!

Marc Jacobs Nordstrom

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Cake Batter Blondies

I made cake batter blondies last weekend and they were AMAZING! Several of you asked me about the recipe and I promised I'd post it ;)

~ 1 box of yellow or funfetti cake mix
~ 1/4 cup of vegetable oil
~ 1 egg
~ 1/3-1/2 cup of milk
~ 1/4 cup of rainbow sprinkles (if you used yellow cake mix)
~ 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips
~ Sprinkles for the top
~ Frosting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine cake mix, oil, and egg in a large bowl.

Add milk slowly to batter so it stays as dense as possible.

Then mix in sprinkles and white chocolate chips.

Spray pan (8x11 or 9x9) I actually used a 9x13 which was fine, I just baked it for shorter than it says.

Pour batter into pan and bake for 25-30 minutes (20 if using a 9x13 pan like I did)

They will be soft in the middle, just let it sit and it will set.

Once cooled, add frosting and sprinkles :)

Enjoy!!

Recipe

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Making our staircase grand

Since our house was new construction, pretty much everything is white, tan, and cream until we decide to paint ourselves. So far, the only room we've painted is the kitchen and that was such a disaster that we ended up having to hire someone to come over and fix it. Needless to say we have been afraid to get back on the proverbial horse.

I have so many plans for different rooms, but the stairwell is too tall/high for us to ever consider painting so I knew if we were going to take it out of bland vanilla-ville then we'd have to paint the banisters. So, we were off to Lowes and looked at a bunch of swatches and ended up going with Dark Granite by Olympic.

Then we came home and got to work and were pleasantly surprised that it was coming out MUCH better than the kitchen disaster of 2012. 

Halfway through:

As we slaved away, someone snoozed in the corner:

*Rough life*

Before pic:

After pic:

I love how it came out and am so proud of us for not needing to hire someone to come over and fix it! Score one for us!

House

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Weekend Shenanigans

Yet another fabulous summer weekend bites the dust...

Friday we had a quiet night in. I baked some cake batter blondies and we had a movie night :)

Saturday was much busier. I made us some omelettes and turkey sausage for breakfast, worked out, and got ready for some of our neighbors to come over for the afternoon.

We enjoyed wings, buffalo dip, and corn on the cob while the boys enjoyed some beers and us girls sipped on wine spritzers and lounged around the pool. Perfect afternoon!

~ Yummy cake batter blondies.. DELISH

~ Silly boys 

~ All that was left of the white wine spritzer

~ Afternoon debauchery

~ Well balanced breakfast 

That evening, we went to a charity gala through H's work. I absolutely love getting dressed up! Other than weddings and formal nights on cruises I never have a good enough excuse to bring out my cocktail dresses.

Sunday was a relaxing day especially since I was gearing up for my 1st day at my new job. Yipes! Wish me luck!

We hung up a towel rack outside by the pool... no more draping wet towels over the patio furniture. 

I painted my nails Sunday Funday by Essie. My new fav summer color! :)

Linkin' up with Sami for Weekend Shenanigans. Hop on over and share your weekend with us!

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What I did on my week off

I have some very exciting news to share... I finally got a new job!!!! I'm so excited yet so nervous. Some of you know of my struggles and were super supportive of me trying to move on. Thank you so much!! :)

I was fortunate enough to have enough vacation time built up at my old job that I was able to take a week off inbetween jobs which is truly refreshing. I usually jump right into my new job which is exhausting and makes it harder to change gears.

What wasn't surprising to me at all was how fast my week off flew by...

I've never taken a week off to just stay at home and get stuff done, it's always because we're going on vacation. So, it was nice to have a week off at home to get things done around the house and go to a bunch of appointments.

~ Finishing up painting the stairs

~ Went to the dentist

~ Went to the eye doctor

~ All foiled up for my highlights

~ Went blonde again

~ Top of my head

~ Went for a pedicure with my favorite manicurist

~ OPI's Louvre Me Louvre Me Not with Divine Swine (from OPI's Muppet collection) on the big toe

~ Dinner with margs *my fav*

I also was very diligent about getting to the gym, cooking nice dinners for H to be ready when he got home from work, and I even plan on baking something yummy this afternoon. I'm no stepford wife, but I gave it a whirl this week and definitely enjoyed it. 

Hair

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