March 2012 Favorites

Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer - Perfect for those "5 Minute" makeup days.
Maybelline Color Tattoo eyeshadow in Bad to the Bronze - Swatch is here.
OPI Tickle My France-y nail polish - a perfect blush pink nude!
MUFE Full Cover concealer - I haven't come across anything this doesn't cover.
Maybelline Baby Lips in Cherry Me Baby - It smells divine.
Hunger Games trilogy - Just finished the first book and can't wait to dive in to the second!

I'll continue my posts on my anniversary trip on Monday. I posted twice today! There are adorable animals in the post below this one. :) Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Detroit Zoo/Sorta OOTD

Before heading home to Toronto, we visited the Detroit Zoo. It was massive and I absolutely loved it. The Toronto Zoo has a lot of hills to walk up and down and is really spread out, but Detroit's was nice and flat with animals closer in proximity to each other. I much prefer that layout. Though both zoos do have a lot to offer! With my love of animals, I've been to many zoos and my favorite has always been Riverbanks in Columbia, SC, but Detroit Zoo is definitely getting a high rank on my list now.

Anyway, I thought I'd share a few of my pictures, because who doesn't like looking at cute animals?! :)



^ The meerkats were so precious and funny. I especially liked this one!

^ The zoo has three brown bear cubs that are 15 months old. This is one of them. They were so playful and adorable to watch!

^ They are trying to have these two mate together. It might just be working because they were really close and loving with each other. :D

We all know my love of polar bears, so there is no way I was going to just walk past this awesome statue and not get a picture with it! Now...I wonder where I can get one of these for my home...

Bay City: Clothes Haul

I didn't get a lot of things while on our trip, but I'm going to break everything into different posts and categories as to not have a picture overload. Today, I'll show what I picked up clothes-wise at Target and Old Navy. I didn't really go in anywhere else that sold clothes, but I was thinking of spring and picked up a few necessities while at these two stores! Stock photos will have to suffice, but these might pop up in any possible future OOTDs.

Floral Sundress- Big and bold prints are really big right now.
Long & Lean Tank- I'm obsessed with these and own almost every color. They are a long longer than normal tanks and work perfectly for layering.
Boyfriend tees- I picked up a light green and peach one. I own so many of these, because they are the most comfortable t-shirts I have come across. I wanted some pastel shades in my wardrobe, since they are everywhere right now!
Bright maxi dress- I did not own a maxi dress and I was really attracted to this shade of blue.

Pointelle sweater- I really love the delicate patterns that are on trend right now.
Chevron print dress- Again, I was going with the bold patterns trend. Not sure how much wear I'll get out of this, but at only $15 I couldn't pass it up.
Raglan tee- I own several of these in different colors and patterns. They are very comfortable and can be worn on or off the shoulder.
Raglan terry pullover- This is a bit like a thin sweatshirt material that I thought I'd use when I'm working out. It's got a nice baggy fit, perfect for layering over a tank top.
Dolman tab-sleeved blouse- I fell in love with this at first sight. It's sheer and loose in fit and just seems like it will be easy to dress up or down.

So those are the clothes I picked up this weekend! Now to find good excuses to leave the house and wear them. ;) Have you done any shopping for spring and summer yet?

Bay City: Historic Webster House B&B

I'm back from our trip and time went by way too fast. As I sometimes like to do after we have traveled, I'm going to take a moment to talk about where we stayed. To produce plenty of added stress to my life, I seem to always wait until last minute to plan where we are going for our anniversary each year. The tradition that we started is to always go somewhere that is new to at least one of us, so that we can continually see new places and share new experiences.

I spend a week or two before searching for deals and sometimes base where go completely on the best deal that I find. This year I came across a fantastic deal on Living Social for the Historic Webster House. Now, I never thought that I was the type of person to enjoy a bed and breakfast. As a matter of fact, an episode of Gilmore Girls come to mind when Rory and Lorelai spent the night in a B&B.

I'm happy to say that the Webster House changed my views about what I suppose that I assumed bed and breakfasts were like. You can make it as private as you like and the service is much more customized to your needs. Frank and Gail, the innkeepers, were very helpful in meeting our needs, answering any questions, and providing little extras along the way. They go out of their way to help their guests. At night, our bedsheets were turned down and homemade desserts were left to enjoy when we'd return for the evening. Breakfast every morning consisted of homemade baked goods and a generous plate of items like quiche, bacon, and hash browns. They even have complimentary beverages on every floor.

^ Breakfast area.

^ Game room.

^ The Magistrate room. This was taken in the morning so...the bed looks slept in for a reason. ;) And it's a really comfortable bed!

^ The Magistrate's seating area with two additional skylights.

The Living Social deal was great. We chose the Magistrate room and it has skylights over the bed, so we literally slept under the stars. We also had the spa and sauna room for one night, which was amazing. There is a jacuzzi for two, a double shower, and a sauna. You just lock the door and escape from reality for a while. It was easily my favorite room and my husband practically had to pry me out to go back up to our room afterward.



Bay City is not far from some great shopping either (which you know is my weakness)! About 35 minutes away are the Birch Run Outlets and it is about 1.5 hours to Detroit and The Somerset Collection. I'll be showing the bits and bobs that I bought soon! We had a lovely sixth anniversary here and we'd happily return to stay at the Webster House again someday, as I have nothing negative to say about it!

Short Hiatus Until Wednesday!

Hey guys! Just a quick notice to say that I won't be updating until Wednesday. We leave this weekend for our anniversary trip. We've booked a couple of nights at a bed and breakfast in northern Michigan and then we are traveling a short way to visit the Detroit Zoo. I'm super excited to see their amazing polar bear exhibit!

With going to Target, Birch Run Outlets, and the Somerset Collection, I know I'll have a haul to share with you once I'm back. I mean, let's face it...there isn't any way that I'm going to be near all of that great shopping and not take a little advantage of it.

I look forward to sharing pictures from our trip with you next week. I hope you all have a great weekend! ♥

Clinique Airbrush Concealer in Fair

I've heard some negative things about this product, but I personally love it. I think where people are going wrong is that they expect it to be a full-coverage concealer. It's a bit of a misnomer on Clinique's part, because it does not provide a lot of coverage but it illuminates beautifully. If you have very dark circles, you need to be using a concealer with a salmon base. My favorite one is Eve Pearl's Salmon Concealer.

Because this is light-reflecting, you really don't want to use a large amount of it. It won't look natural in real life or pictures. I use my salmon concealer first to cancel out any dark circles and then lightly layer this on top. It does not settle into fine lines and works on other areas that you may want to highlight on your face. I don't use this on blemishes or anything of the like.

I consider this to be an alternative to the YSL Touche Eclat though it is limited with its shades, only offering three. If you want something like this, it may still be in your interest to look into YSL since they offer a handful of shades. The Airbrush Concealer has lasted me a really long time making it a real value at $19.50 US/$25.50 CA.

You will have to rotate the bottom a few times extra the first time to get product to come out. After that, it only takes once or twice but it does get a little messy around the applicator area. I apply it with the included brush, but blend it with a MAC 224. It layers beautifully over other concealers and does not look caked on. For me, it works like a charm.

Note: I have not tried Maybelline's Dream Lumi concealer, but it looks like a similar product. If you've tried it, let me know what you think!

NYX Lipsticks in Summer in Hampton, Heiress, & Bling

I own three NYX Black Label Lipsticks, so I thought I would swatch them for you. These are my favorite lipsticks by NYX. Their other lipsticks are decent, but I love the glossy finish of these. They are very smooth and creamy and go on like a dream. They feather easily, so I'd suggest lining your lips first. They remind me of YSL's Rouge Volupte. As a matter of fact now that I look at it, Heiress is similar to Rouge Volupte #1 (swatch here), only a little darker.

I buy mine at IMATS, but I've never seen these priced higher than $7 anywhere. If I could only recommend one shade to you, I'd say Summer in Hampton. It is a beautiful pink and I have never heard anyone say a negative thing about it. If you've tried the Black Label Lipsticks, I'd love to hear your opinion on them and what shades you own!

Ikea Vika Alex

I've seen quite a few people with the Alex units from Ikea and I really like the look of them. I grabbed the Vika Alex, which is the smaller model. I looked at the measurements online and it seemed that it would fit under the Malm Occasional Table (that I use as my vanity), but that was a no go as the Alex is too tall. So I've put the unit to the side in front of my window.

If any of you own this, do you have an issue with the drawers? Mine get stuck and I really have to tug and push to get them to open and close. We followed the directions closely, so I was wondering if this might just be a normal issue. Regardless, I do love how it looks and it holds a lot!

Maybelline Color Tattoo Eyeshadow in Bad to the Bronze

After buying Tough as Taupe (my swatch/review), I only had one other color in the collection that I was interested in and after being urged to buy it...Well, I just had to! I'm not sure that I have much interest in the other shades as they don't seem like shades I'd wear often enough to justify buying them. I'm very happy with these two that I own and I think they are worth checking out.





Which shades of these do you own (or want!)? I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Drugstore Haul

I apologize for not updating Monday or Tuesday. I had a horrible migraine on Monday and yesterday was spent at a doctor's office and taking it easy at home. So today is my first "normal" day of the week, if you will. I thought I'd share my small drugstore haul with you. It's nothing exciting, as I'm trying to save money for our anniversary trip at the end of this month.

^ Everything together. I love the extra thick issues that usually come out in the spring and fall! Jennifer looks gorgeous on the cover of In Style. People Style Watch is one of my absolute favorite magazines to get! Adele on the cover of Vogue...the woman is perfection. And Nylon is a guilty pleasure of mine.

^ This is the only other one that I wanted from the colors available. I already own Tough as Taupe and love it. My review of that is here.

I don't care much for the Kardashians, though I don't mind Khloe. However, the nail polishes in their collection that they did with Nicole by OPI are pretty. Some of them I already had dupes for, but I don't have a polish anything like this one. It's a charcoal glitter and it makes me swoon!

Share your latest haul with me! What's the last thing you bought? :)