Instant Gratification {including January's Birchbox}

After the tote that took me a week to make... today I was in the mood for a little instant gratification.  So... I took the pack of Mason jars that I had bought for future hostess gifts and spray painted them a pretty blue... {I believe it is Robin's Egg blue, which is one of my favorite colors}  This is after one coat.  I plan to add another coat but wanted to avoid the blue fingers for tomorrow.  

Did you know spray paint is really hard to get off your hands!?  Especially when spray painting glass jars -- it can be a bit tricky to get an even coat!  The key is to spray in one direction from about 8 inches away and allow to dry between coats.  Painting too close just blows the paint all around the jar.

Sidenote:  I always blog at night, since I am typically not home during the day... so sorry for all the dark unprofessional looking pictures!  Mastering our DSLR for indoor nighttime photography is one of my goals this year!  In the meantime, I love the Instagram iPhone app... I used the Amaro filter for the above photo.  And because I am already ready for spring, I brought my little birds back out for my window sill.  This post is all over the place tonight... sorry, but I am SO tired!  Can't. Focus.

Anyway... I am attempting to bring some color into our living areas after falling in love with THIS door from House of Smith's.  See below for a dark picture of our Roman Shades in the kitchen.  I am trying to bring that blue out (which looks more green in the photo) some more (hence the pining after their blue pantry door).

Any other ideas people have would be appreciated! :)

Just when I was happy to set out my new mason jar vases...

My other instant gratification came in the mail today!  My January Birchbox.  I forgot to cancel it last month after the kind of blah box... and I am glad I did because this one is right up my alley!  I was just thinking how I wanted a new eye cream, and wallah!  Here I got a really nice sample size in the mail.  The Re-Everything Eye Serum looks like it has some pretty winning ingredients to keep the wrinkles at bay.  I am also happy about my new night cream from Befine.  I bet tomorrow I will look like I am 18 again and people will think I got work done.  The Stila liner is really nice, and glides on smoothly AND it is about the size of a full-sized product!  The other items are a Juicy Couture perfume (which is closer to a scent I like-- but more of a "night time" scent to me), and a small packet of an unknown illegal substance.  Seriously... I think they sent me a packet of marijuana.  I better throw it away.  It is even called Witchcraft.  You can't tell from the photo above so I even took another just so you can see... its actually Granola packaged in green tinted wrapping.

I need a manicure.

And with that, I am off to bed!  I found some new sewing inspiration today that I am excited to share tomorrow :)

Busy Bee and my December Birchbox

Whew! It has been a busy day... I am in the middle of my pillow project after crying about cutting Ava's baby outfits.  I suddenly regretted cutting her coming home outfit, even though it was stained in the front.  Plus it made me think about how little she was, and how much she has grown this past year.  Oh how I adore her and everything about her!

I also started a pantry renovation project that I will share soon... but for the next few days, I have a little girl that deserves her mama's attention... right now her job is to be my baby, and my job is to be her mama.  Only a few more days till I go back to work, so I need to soak up all my Ava to last me until Spring Break!


In the meantime... here is my December Birchbox for the fellow product lovers out there.   I love to stalk in a non-creepy way follow the advice of Kate at The Small Things, so when she recommended that the product junkies out there try Birchbox... I was in like Flynn.  Whoever Flynn is.  So I got the November Birch Box, and enjoyed the concealer and the face wash (though it is a bit drying)... but then cancelled because I decided I didn't need a bunch of samples.

Then December rolled in, and Joe (aka my Jack, Mr. Sprat) and I decided no gifts to each other for Christmas.  So of course I re-enrolled.  Long story short, the shipment was delayed due to a snafu with Birchbox's suppliers, so I just got my December box...  here is what I got this month:

I now have this cute lip gloss from Jouer (it does not look that pink when on) which is a pretty little pop of color.  And I LOVE Oscar Blandi's dry shampoo.  I have the powder form, which works wonders for Day 2 hair... and am really excited for this spray form.

The next time I am in 'da clubs, I can use the Show Stoppers.  Just kidding, actually I think for us busty ladies, it would be great for button down shirts, to stop that peekaboo gap, or I have a dress with ruffles in the front that reveals a bit too much when I am sitting down.

I already drank the Boost, and it is sort of like Emergen-C... meh, I liked it but wouldn't need a box for $28 bucks when Emergen-C is $9.99.

The Ambre Nue is not my scent... and actually Joe and I were having trouble deciding if it was a men's fragrance since they call it cologne.  But no, it just is a stronger smell that is not quite my scent personality.

Finally, the bronze shimmery dry oil, for face OR hair.  Hmmm... I guess when I am clubbin' I could glisten.  But I forgot again I don't club anymore (uh, or ever?).  Because I am now a coug... or at least a panther. Rawr.  But really, I think I will give it a try and see if it makes my hair shiny, and then give it a whirl next time I go to the movies in case it looks scary.

Ok... time to stop messing around in blog-land, and go read an actual book!  I have to finish it by Saturday in order to accomplish my Goodreads goal of 52 books this year!  I better giddy-up! (I don't know what is with my awesome slang tonight... I think I am tired.)

Night on the town.

Tonight we went out to a nice dinner at Grand Geneva resort for my mother in law's birthday. I had been thinking, "I hope my Birchbox comes today, and I hope it has a nice berry lip gloss in it to wear tonight.". Of course it didn't come. BUT I did find my old (and I mean OLD) Smashbox lip stain. I think it is from like 4 years ago. Now that I confessed that, I think that sounds gross.

Photo taken with Instagram- while riding in the car.

I was happy with my face (well at least my makeup), and was even rocking a sweater dress with a belt and some boots. I was even good with my appearance until I looked in the full length mirror when I got there. You see, usually I wear my tall Uggs with the outfit... But to be fancy, I wore my leather boots that are more lower calf length (which got my husband's approval).

So picture this... Slouchy leather boots up to lower calf, tights, tunic length sweater, belt... I looked like freaking Peter Pan. So I kept calling out, "Peetah" like Wendy in Hook. Then my hubs asked me where Rufio was. Grrr.

At least my lips looked nice.