OOTDs from the weekend!

This past weekend was pretty busy. All of Saturday was spent running errands and shopping. Sunday was spent at a cookout for my SIL's birthday. It was supposed to rain the whole time, but it held off! Yay, because no one likes a cookout in the rain. ;)

^ Saturday's OOTD.
Cardigan: Old Navy
Tank and v-neck: Target
Scarf: A&G Rock Scarves (ordered on HauteLook about two years ago!)
Jeggings: Paris Blues
Shoes: Havaianas flip-flops

^ Sunday's party OOTD.
Cardigan: Old Navy
Dress: Target
Shoes: I think I found them at Payless about two years ago.
Bag: blush pink Coach bag

Instagram randoms from the past week!

I am so addicted to Instagram! It's seriously my favorite app and probably the one I spend the most time on. If you have an Instagram, let's add each other! I'm "wendybanner" on there. :)

^ A night of pampering! Lush's Sex Bomb bath bomb, Korres Jasmine lip butter, and Philosophy's Purity facial cleanser.

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Teen Choice Awards 2012- Best Dressed

Here are my top three choices of best dressed last night. There were so many lovely looks on the carpet that it was hard to choose!

Lucy Hale in a Wes Gordon dress. Definitely my favorite of the night!

Lea Michele in Versace. So girly and feminine!

Nina Dobrev in J. Mendel. This color is fabulous on her!

And well, I just thought I'd end the post with a little eye candy. ;)

Sephora Beauty Insider Birthday Gift 2012

The freebie this year is a lip balm duo from Fresh. Honestly, I feel like they get better each year with their birthday gifts. This is tied right up their with the Philosophy bath gel gift from last year! Below shows the swatches and a size comparison to a full-sized Fresh Sugar lip balm.



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Birthday Haul Pt. 3- Random Goodies

This is the part of my birthday gifts that just don't fit into the other categories. :) I had a lovely birthday this year, one of the better ones in a long while. I certainly can't complain about it...except maybe for the fact that it's over already (and that I'm another year older)!

At Bath and Body Works, I grabbed some more anti-bacterial gels because I'm always giving them away as gifts and I go through them pretty quickly with my own personal use! I grabbed a candle sleeve, a Pink Chiffon spray, some summery Wallflower refills, and two small Caribbean Escape candles. I couldn't resist the adorable panda PocketBac holder! Now, if they'd just create a polar bear one!

I got my first ever pair of Converse sneakers. I'm in love already. And I see an addiction starting! I already want a pair of pink ones!

From my friend Daniel, I got some K-Cups. My Keurig is my best friend. If you're debating on getting one, the answer is YES! The cost is well worth it.

As for other gifts, I got some gift cards to Old Navy, The Bay (Canada's version of Macy's, basically), and a local dessert shop. One of our friends picked out a lovely vase that matches our home decor perfectly! And money...which I have never complained about as a gift. I love being able to pick out my own gift, so gift certificates and money are A-OK in my book!

Thank you to all of those that wished me happy birthday on here, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. I really appreciate it!

Birthday OOTD and Giveaway Winner!

So yesterday was my birthday! I'm sorry for not having the time to update. It completely escaped my mind. I'll continue with the rest of what I got for my birthday on Monday. Today, I'm going to share with you what I wore to my birthday dinner with the family yesterday and announce the winner of my latest giveaway!

First off, I thought I'd show off my pretty in pink iPhone decorations. It made me happy every time I looked at my phone for the past week. I almost didn't want to change my lock screen today. How come birthdays and Christmas go by so fast?! Anyway, my friend Kerri wants me to do the "What's on my iPhone" tag. Look for that post soon!

Here's my birthday OOTD! Striped dress and white cardigan - Old Navy. Shoes - Converse. Ring - Torrid. Two beaded bracelets - Target. Evil eye bracelet - ordered from Beyond the Rack last year. Nails - Essie's Buy Me a Cameo as base color with Sephora by OPI's Traffic-Stopper Copper as the glitter topcoat. Made a perfect rose gold nail!

And the winner of the giveaway is Grace! Congratulations! I'll be emailing you shortly to get your details. :)

Don't worry if you missed out. I'm not far from 500 followers and you'll have another chance at winning! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. ♥

Buffalo Haul Pt. 2- Clothing & Accessories

This would be the area of shopping that I went the most crazy on, but I found some really great deals! It's probably a good thing that we only cross the border about three times a year. ;) Without further ado, here's the clothes and accessories that I purchased.

I fell in love with the floral dress. It has a detailed zipper on the back! I have mentioned them before, but I live in the Mossimo long tanks and pocket v-necks. They are perfect in every way and come in so many colors. I get some every time I'm in Target!

The dresses, shorts, and sandals are from Old Navy. The belts and ring sets are from Torrid. With Torrid, it was buy one get 50% off the entire store and I had a $10 credit for my birthday. Yay!

I grabbed all of these bracelets at Target for $4 each! They are perfect for layering.

And these would be my favorite new goodies that I got! I got the blush pink Coach bag for 50% off and then an additional 30% off on top of that. All in all, it was just around $56. Besides perfume, this is my first Michael Kors purchase- a pretty white/gold wallet. The gray satchel with rose gold hardware is from H&M. And I'm addicted to iPhone cases now, so I got another Kate Spade one.

Pink and polkadots. If this phone case doesn't scream that it belongs on my phone, then I don't know what does! Love it!

Again, don't forget that I do have a small giveaway open until tomorrow night. I'll let the cat out of the bag now and mention that I do indeed have a little something else put together to give with the magazine! :D My birthday is tomorrow, so I'm not sure if I'll have time to update or not. I'll try, though. ♥

Giveaway Reminder! Closes tomorrow night!

My giveaway for the Storage magazine is still open until tomorrow night at 11:59 EST! This magazine is one of my favorites to read and it gives so many organization ideas. It's perfect for those of you who want more space in your bedroom, dorm room, or house. It has given me so many ideas to use in my own home!

Click here to go to the post.

Buffalo Haul Pt. 1- Beauty Items

I am pretty proud of myself. I didn't go product crazy while away, though I certainly was tempted. I got things that I knew that I would use. So here is the beauty part of my haul from this past weekend!

Target- I repurchased my Aveeno facial pads (these are fabulous!) and a new tube of LashBlast. I love the special edition white tube! I also picked up Essie's Navigate Her nail polish, because I kept contemplating buying it for the past few months so I bit the bullet. The ELF products are for giveaways! ;)

Bare Escentuals- I picked up the Renew & Reveal cleanser. It's a powder formula that you mix with water, so I'm excited to see what it's like!
CCO- I was a bit disappointed with the CCO this time and only walked away with one item. That's a first for me! I grabbed the Origins Spot Remover.
Sephora- I got my birthday gift, which is really nice this year. The Traffic-Stopper Copper polish is unlike anything I own and it really caught my attention. And my big purchase at Sephora was the Naked 2 palette. I love my original Naked palette so much and I kept telling myself that I didn't really need to have both. That logic worked for months and months, but I caved. I'm just a sucker for the Urban Decay Naked line! I'm really happy that I did give in, because it's a beautiful arrangement of colors.

I'll definitely review most of these items soon!

Weekend Pictures (Instagram)

So sadly at the last minute, Miranda Lambert got sick and cancelled her concert. Total bummer! We still went over the border to Buffalo to shop and have some good food, though. I'll be posting pictures of my haul from my trip during the week. I think it'll be easier to break it into categories like I've done in the past. This upcoming haul doubles as my birthday gifts since my birthday is Thursday. :)

I thought I'd share a few random snapshots from this weekend that are from my Instagram account. Even though the event was cancelled, we still made the most of the trip by going to The Cheesecake Factory, Olive Garden, Walden Galleria mall, and the Fashion Outlets of Niagara. It was just an overnight trip, but we had a good time!

I packed light...not because it was a short trip, but because it would allow me more space to put some of the goodies I bought. ;) Pictured are my plaid PJ bottoms, leopard print scarf, burgandy v-neck, hair straightener, jeans, makeup bag, and toiletry bag!

I packed the essentials I'd need. I didn't want to overdo it because it was so hot and it would all just melt off anyway. The only other thing I took that is not pictured is my NARS eyeshadow duo in Bellissima. The makeup bag is by Cath Kidston.

Downtown Toronto!

The border at the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie, ON.

A preview of some of my haul!

My OOTD from Sunday. I met a friend to go to the Katy Perry movie and then went grocery shopping. Cardigan and striped tank- Old Navy. Long gray tank- Target. Jeggings- Paris Blues. Bag- H&M. Heart-shaped sunglasses- Urban Outfitters.

While at the movie, I had to take advantage of the Yogen Fruz! So good!

I hope you all had a great weekend. ♥

Storage Magazine Giveaway!- CLOSED

So I made the mistake and purchased the summer edition of Storage magazine without realizing that it is a reprint of last year's summer issue. I'm such a loser! But my loss is your gain, because obviously I don't need two issues that are the same. This is my favorite home magazine as it has so many wonderful organizing and decorating tips! I save every issue I get.

This is the current issue that's out until the beginning of September. It is a $8.99 value. However, I am known for sometimes throwing in an extra gift or two with my giveaway packages. ;)

I know this is such a small giveaway and not really in the realm of beauty, but why not?! If you want to enter, just leave a comment with your email or blog link so that I can contact you if you win. Also, you must be a follower of this blog. The giveaway will end next Thursday, July 12th (which just happens to be my birthday!) at 11:59PM EST. I'll choose the winner by using random.org.

Project 5 Empties

I guess I can't really call this one Project 5 Pan, since there was nothing to really hit pan on. I put myself on a product buying ban, which covered anything like skincare and makeup until I finished some of the products I already owned. It also kept my mind on saving up for my birthday trip. Originally, Chicago was planned but my friend got me the ticket for the Miranda Lambert concert in New York this weekend. So we're going away this weekend instead! I'll definitely be shopping in the mall and outlets, though. :)

This go-around of Project 5, I actually focused more on the items in my bathroom. Cleaning out my shower the other day made me realize that I really need to start using more of my products up! I'm so bad about buying things and liking them for a few weeks and then go out and buy other things that makes me forget about them. I'd really like to get out of that habit, which might mean avoiding The Body Shop and Bath & Body Works for awhile! That's why I like these projects because they can help you put things into perspective.

Anyway, I've rambled enough. Here's what I was able to finish from early April until now. I am thisclose to finishing five other products, but there's still enough in them for a few other uses. I'm proud, though! And I actually finished six!

This is probably the first tube of toothpaste I have ever finished. I know that sounds horrible, but I get bored of them mid-tube or some new kind catches my eye. That doesn't mean I waste them- they just usually find their way into my husband's bathroom! This shaving cream is a smaller size, but it took me forever to use simply because of the smell. I only tolerate some raspberry scents and this was not one of them. I'm happy that's it done!

I loved this Urban Decay makeup remover and I don't think they make it anymore or I'd repurchase it. Aveeno Daily Cleansing pads are amazing! I'll definitely be repurchasing those. The Body Shop Vitamin E mist was ok. It felt good on the skin for awhile, but then it just made my face feel too dry and tight. The Josie Maran makeup remover wipes were really good. The smell reminds me of a creamsicle! And since they help my favorite animal (polar bears), I'm all for them. They worked well and I love the baby pink packaging. I might repurchase these this weekend at Sephora!

So there we have it. I finished my goal! I'm looking forward to finishing some more of my products. I might just do another one of these this summer. It keeps me on the ball! So...are you a product hoarder and junkie? Do you finish a lot of the products you buy?

I'll be gone tomorrow for my trip. I hope you all have a fabulous rest of the week!

Happy Independence Day! + NOTD

I may not live in the good ol' USA right now, but that doesn't mean I'm not celebrating today, my beautiful country, our history, and our freedom! I hope all of my American readers have a safe and wonderful holiday. ♥ ♥

On my Instagram, I shared my NOTD so I'd thought I'd put it on here. I'm planning on keeping this on through the weekend for when I go to Buffalo to see a Miranda Lambert concert. :) I'm by no means a nail pro. I finally was able to kick the habit of biting my nails just a few months ago, so my love of nail polish is new...but I sure am having fun!

Blue: Essie's Aruba Blue
Red: Nicole by OPI's I Stop for Nicole!
Accent Nail: Revlon's Metallic topped with Essie's Set in Stones