POPSUGAR Must Have Box March 2014

POPSUGAR Must Have Box is a new to me subscription box. I've seen reviews before but I was never interested enough to try it. 

Then I saw the spoiler for this scarf and a discount code and I pulled the trigger.

And I'm so glad I did. I love this scarf. It's beautiful and very soft. I have to dress modestly for work so I'm always looking for scarves of different fabrics and this is lightweight so I can wear it in Spring and Summer.

Next up is this ADORABLE elephant ring holder. (Don't mind my dirty rings...it's been a while since I've cleaned them.)

While I love this...my cat does not. She sends the Elephant tumbling off my nightstand every night.

This mini opalescent pink exercise ball has not been used...yet. But my goal is to print off some exercise pictures so I know what to do with it!!

The Jurlique serum I now use every night. Now sure if it's actually doing anything but it smells nice and my combination skin appreciates the extra moisture at night.

This Strawberry Fig Bar was edible...but nothing I would purchase myself.

The necklace is cute but not my style. It's a charm that you wear until the string breaks. Ill probably pass this off to a neighbor.

There was one more item that I didn't photograph...because I ate it right away! Oops! They were freeze dried/fried (?!?) snap peas that tasted like potato chips! 

All in all this was a fun subscription box and if your interested in signing up here is the link (use code REFER5 for 5$ off). I had cancelled my account after this month but they released another awesome coupon code and spoiler (a too faced natural eyes palette!) so I obviously resubscribed. I will blog about it as soon as I get it in the mail.

Birchbox April 2014

I just got my birchbox in the mail today and I'm so excited to share it with you. Birchbox is a monthly subscription box company. They curate beauty and lifestyle items and ship them to your door for only $10 a box. (You can sign up for a yearly subscription and you get one box free!) 

The best part about Birchbox is their points program. You can review each product in your box for 10 points. 100 points = $10 to shop at there website. For example right now I have 105 points, after I try all the products in my box if I want to purchase the full size version I have a 10$ discount. You can combine points and discount codes to create a really awesome deal! 

Now let's start talking about what I got in my April Birchbox:

The first thing I noticed was my blush from The Balm. Its called How 'Bout Them Apples and it is in the color in 'pie'. It is a lip and cheek stain and is a beautiful just flushed color. The packaging is so cute! 

Next was this nice sample size of peppermint and macadamia shampoo from Keims. I've never heard of this brand and can't wait to try it. 

I was thrilled to receive the Sumita eyeliner in Jamun, a deep purple that does not budge!! 

Also included is a pretty Color Club polish in Aquamarine Azulino, an exclusive to Birchbox shade that's perfect for spring. 

My lifestyle item this month was a KIND Healthy Grains Bar in Maple Pumpkin Seeds with Sea Salt. I've heard a lot of awesome things about these bars but never tried them. After sneaking a bit its the perfect combo of chewy and crunchy and is lightly sweetened. This would be the perfect snack to keep in your purse.

This box was a huge hit for me and I cant wait to use all of my items. You can still sign up for this months birchbox using this link. Use code SFBB100 to skip the waitlist and get 100 extra points (worth $10 in the birchbox shop!!!) 

And don't forget to review your products for points!

3 Easy Pallet Furniture Ideas

My husband and I are looking into making furniture for our sun room. Ideally we are looking for a sofa-like seating arrangement with a coffee table and a small patio table for outdoor dining. We just moved into our home and our budget is a little tight and pallet furniture is right in our price range. A friend recently dropped off some pallets from his work and it's my job to come up with the design. Here are the images that peeked my interest, and also appear relatively easy...hopefully our final versions wont end up on Pinterest Fail's website. Especially because it's easy to find pallet ideas online- but hard to find any directions!

This L-shaped sofa would fit nicely in the corner of our sun room. I'm imagining bringing my coffee there in the mornings with a book or a magazine and enjoying the breeze. The one change I might make would be to stain the wood instead of paint and maybe cover the fabric in a black and white stripe with some bright pillows.

(can't find the original link for this one)

This dining table made from pallets looks to be easy enough to make. My favorite part about this image is the colorful outdoor chairs to brighten it up. 

Lastly, I found this unbelievable gorgeous coffee table. So pretty  I would consider putting this in my home. Except that I know most pallets are chemically treated which is why I'm only considering these ideas for outdoor furniture. 

I'd love to know if anyone has attempted a pallet project...if you have any advice or to share the links to your final projects in the comments please!

:Weeknight Dinner: Balsamic Veggies with Sun-Dried Tomato Sausage & Rice

I have a recipe so fast and easy to share with you, it really shouldn't be considered a recipe. Even the pickiest adults have loved this. Not sure what small children would think since I currently don't have any.

Ingredients:
1 package of Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Sausage from Trader Joes
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 bags of Fire Roasted Vegetables with Balsamic Butter Sauce also from Trader Joes
1/4 cup of water
brown rice to serve on the side

Prepare:
Slice the sausage into bite sized pieces. Brown them in a large sized pan with a tablespoon of olive oil. Add 2 bags of vegetables. Add a 1/4 cup of water and cover pan with lid. Stir occasionally, it is done when the veggies are hot.

Serve:
On a cup or a plate put about 1/3 cup of brown rice. Scoop sausage and vegetable mixture over top. Don't forgot to add a spoonful of sauce! I usually serve this with a side salad and would guess this makes about 4-6 servings depending on how hungry every one is.

Couldn't be easier or quicker. To make things extra easy on me - I will cook a large amount of brown rice and freeze them in dinner sized portions. This way whenever I need brown rice I can just quickly have some without needing to cook some for 45 minutes EACH time!

:Beauty Essentials: Hair

Beauty products are taking over my bathroom. While I am currently cleaning and organizing the rest of my house this summer I am also slowly working on reducing the amount of beauty products taking over my bathroom closet. While going through all my beauty products I plan on sharing my favorites with you!


Lets start off in the shower. I now only have one shampoo, conditioner and deep conditioner! After finishing off a couple of bottles I'm ready to share what has been working for me.

First I have been coating the ends of my hair with this Suave Moroccan Infusion Conditioner to protect the ends while I scrub my scalp with the Suave Moroccan Infusion Conditioner. I have really dry ends that have been highlighted one too many times. I find this helps prevent my hair from drying out and gets the ends ready for their actual conditioning treatment! Plus it's Suave so you know this is affordable!

Sidenote: Since I love the smell of the shampoo and conditioner I decided to try out the styling oil from the same line. I've only used it a couple days so I haven't tried it enough to decide if it's worth it. Quick review- it smells great, but doesn't have enough power to keep my hair styled or frizz free in this summer humidity. However this might be wonderful to use during dry winters.

After I rinse out the shampoo/conditioner combo I break out the big guns, Amika Nourishing Mask. There's so many things I LOVE about this.

1. It works! My hair has never felt softer or healthier. I truly think this helps prevent split ends from from happening and also reduces the appearances of frizzy, fried ends.

2. The smell- it is a light floral almost fruity smell. I wasn't sure if I would like it since I normally like lighter fragrances (like light blue by Dolce and Gabbana for reference) but I just get this happy feeling every time I smell it on my hair.

3. The packaging- It's so cute and colorful. A tiny piece of happiness in my shower!

Now I just bought the trial size from Birchbox and I can already tell a difference. I will be ordering the large size soon so I don't run out. I really can't say enough about this. I highly recommend it! It isn't the cheapest of hair products but I think the low cost of my Suave shampoo/conditioner routine help even it out :)

I'd love to hear what your current hair products are! Let me know if you've tried either of these or if there is something else I need to try in the comments below.

Organization- the bane of my exisistance

I'm not sure why I dread organizing so much since I'm actually decent (once I finally start). The hardest part for me is the pre-organizing purging. I'm always afraid "Hey- maybe I will like that again" or more realistically "In the future this might come in handy". When actually that's only happened once or twice.

Recently viewing YouTube videos on organizing and seeing different organizational pins on Pinterest has motivated me to try again. I was able to get rid of two FULL grocery store size bags from my bathroom closet! I'm also working on re-organizing the kitchen cabinets to make most sense of the space.

Also being attacked is our home office. With three separate areas in our house being purged and re-organized, no wonder my type A husband is so grumpy when he comes home to the mess. Hopefully he believes my promise that soon it will be perfection!

Here are two of my inspirational organization pins. These are two things that I can easily do to make my home seem a little prettier (to make me happy) while being nicely organized (to make my husband happy).

What I love about this image is I already have a plain wooden box that once held a wedding gift that I can paint. The only difference is mine is bigger and I will need to put dividers to organize the cold meds versus band aids. But my point is to look around your house first to see if you can re-use something you already have instead of going out and buying them.

BEAUTIFULLY organized pantry with nicely labeled items. I also adore the stenciled wall and coordinating side wall colors. Click the picture to head over to her blog to see how she did it all!

These are my plans for the next week. How about you? I'd love to hear (and see) what you plan on doing for your abode this summer!