Another 5k down and oozy gloves

Last night was my third 5k of the year, the Glow Run 5k.  It was fun to go with Julie and her kids.  The weather was great.  Not sure I had a stellar run since the guy at the finish line handing me water asked me if I was ok...but that's what happens when you make the last half of the run full of uphills I guess.  

I ordered a new type of mask from Sephora...a hand mask.  I thought it sounded intriguing and fun to try.

I bought two.  Today I tried out the Avocado mask.

Here is what was in the package...gloves big enough to fit a pro basketball player's hands.

When you put them on it's like sticking your hand in a jar full of something that you know you don't really want to touch because you don't really know what it is but you just embrace it anyways as it oozes all over your fingers.  I sat there watching Scandal for 15 minutes while the mask worked its magic.  Wasn't sad to take the gloves off.  I could probably get another use out of them based on how much is actually in the glove.  Once I took them off I rubbed the stuff into my hands and was actually pretty impressed with how great my hands felt!  I would completely do this again!  Which is good since I have another one.

When your house is too hot but it's not hot enough and too early in the season to turn on the ac...

It's been pretty busy lately.  Finally bought the kid a car...which was a phenomenal experience.  More on that later.  Been doing my own yard work this year, feeling like a real adult about it too.  Turns out yard work takes some time and once I get out there doing the yard work I find other homeowner stuff that I need to do like clean out gutters, fix my fence posts here and there, kill wasps.  Nothing at all fun but kind of fun at the same time in that "hey, look at me being an adult" way.  I'm feeling pretty accomplished lately but got a lot more to get done.  Also, does it mean you are getting old when you get excited to buy bird food and a new bird feeder so you can feed the birds and see a backyard full of Cardinals?

Flashback to the 80's and foam rolling for the win

Last weekend Julie and I did the 80's/90's run and had a great time!  

 Here is an obviously uncropped screen shot I snagged from facebook from the photobooth at the run.

 We had a lot of fun putting our outfits together and piling on blue eyeshadow.  Somehow I had quite the selection of blue eyeshadow but I guess that happens when you love makeup.  We grabbed lunch after the race and got a few weird glances but we didn't care!  The kid told me she would pay me to wear my outfit to her graduation.  She figured that would make a long ceremony more interesting I guess.

 It was a good event with great music.

 And E.T.

I finally purchased a foam roller after years of hearing about how great they are. I love it. Love. It.  It hurts in a good, deep tissue massage way.  I've mostly been using it for my neck and shoulders but started using it on my legs and IT band today.  Who knew a piece of foam could work out so many knots.  I am so glad I finally purchased one.  The dog is quite confused when I use it and thinks it is play time.  So sometimes I'm rolling with her half on my stomach.  But it works. I think I will be using it daily on my neck and shoulders and I'll see if I notice a reduction in my usual aches in those areas.  I would rather foam roll daily than have my daily pains to deal with!

Trash talk and another cleaning hack (a freakin awesome one)

It's 6:03 am on Sunday morning and I've been awake since 4.  Why is it not like this during the week?   I would love to bounce out of bed at 4am every weekday!  

So I have to talk about the cleaning hack that you have to know.  Maybe you already know about this but I just discovered it and it has changed my life.  So a little backstory...my co-worker's roommate had accidentally transferred some Sharpie marker onto his granite countertop.  When researching how to get it off the granite he said Google said something about sodium bicarbonate and he didn't know what that was let alone have any on hand.  So we took to the Googs and turns out sodium bicarbonate is a fancy name for baking soda.  Surprise, he did have it on hand.  As most of us do.  So that night he went home to make a paste out of baking soda and sure enough, it took the marker out of the granite.  Another co-worker decided to make a baking soda paste and use it to clean her oven.  So she sprayed water down on her oven, sprinkled baking soda over it, sprayed more water then let it sit for a bit.  She said it was the easiest oven cleaning she had ever done.  Everything scraped right out. 

So...I wondered if this baking soda miracle paste may do the trick on that weird soap scum stuff that accumulates on the shower wall.  The stuff nobody really notices but you but you know it's there.  I've tried to use magic eraser, every darn shower and tub cleaner imaginable and nothing will get that layer of yuck off the tub.  Yesterday I grabbed my box of baking soda and went to town tossing it against the shower wall Jackson Pollack style then sprayed a bit of water on it and let it sit.  I grabbed a sponge and sure enough that stuff started coming right off.  I still had to put some bicep action into it but it is the ONLY thing that has ever worked for me.  Now I will use baking soda paste for anything and everything that needs a good cleaning.  I have it down in the bottom of my oven right now.  It is also supposed to work great on glass stove tops.  What I love most about this is it doesn't involve vinegar like most Pinterest suggestions do.  I loathe vinegar.  

On to my trash!  I used up three lotions. A Mango Temptation per usual.  ($5)  A Vanilla Bean Noel from Christmas from Bath and Body Works.  ($3)  The Gold Bond was part of a sample box but I really loved this!  It was a very nice cream to use at night.  (about 70 cents given the full size is $9.01 on Amazon)  Total:  $8.70

Vitamins and Supplements:  My usual Spark ($38.97) and O2 Gold from Advocare ($31.16).  I finished the gummy vitamins just as I got back the mail in rebate for $4.88.  Also finished another bottle of the Equate Ibuprofen.  ($2)  I need to go repurchase this.  It's a must to keep by my bed at night.  Total:  $77.01

Hair Care:  I sadly finished the Loreal Sleek It Iron Straight Heatspray.  I really, really loved this stuff and haven't been able to find it again on the store shelves.  I believe it was about $5 and it lasted me a really long time.  I would absolutely buy it again.  I finished the Suave Black Raspberry and White Tea shampoo which I had won in a 5k last year but retails pretty inexpensive around $1.99.  I don't really love the smell of this stuff, however, it was free so I got over it.  I also finished the Dove Daily Moisture Conditioner ($5) which I love how this one smells.  I already had another one and am using it now.  Total:  $11.99

Toothpaste:  I don't plan on traveling anytime soon so I went ahead and used up the mini tubes the dentist gave me recently.  My mission to declutter has me wanting to get rid of things including the small things taking up space.  So I'll call these 2 tubes $1 each.  Then the Crest Radiant Mint White toothpaste was something my mom passed on to me...I'm not sure why, if she didn't like it, it just ended up on my counter so sure, I'll use it.  I'm not really picky on toothpaste as long as it makes me feel minty and clean, which this one did.  I just don't want to spend a lot on toothpaste so I usually pay $1 for mine at the Dollar Store.  This one probably costs a bit more.  I'll say $3 on the low guess.
Total:  $5

Here I have a Stila Stay All Day Liquid Liner ($19) which is an everyday must have.  I haven't found anything else I like better for lining my top lashes.  Then there is a Secret gel deodorant that was part of a Wal-Mart box (thanks for passing on Erin :) )  and I believe this is probably $4-5ish.  I also finished up another Murad Rapid Age Spot and Pigment Lightening Serum.  This was valued at $15 and I still didn't see much change from it.  I wouldn't buy the full size.
Total:  $38  

Facial cleansers:  I finished a Body Shop Tea Tree Anti-Blemish Facial Cleanser.  I use this daily morning and night and I love it.  The bottle lasted probably well over a year and costs about $14.  I am using a new bottle now.  I had the Clinique Liquid Face Soap as a sample so used that in the mornings until it was gone. As you can see I cut it open to get every drop out.  I probably got 5 more uses after cutting it open.  A full size is $17.  This was probably about $7.  I used the Bobbi Brown eye makeup remover which was a sample from Sephora.  I love samples of eye makeup remover because for some reason I just hate to spend money on this.  I'd rather be buying the eye makeup.  This is worth a whopping $8.23 which is ridiculous for this 1 oz. size but it was free luckily.
Total:  $29.23

Trash total  04/10/16 $169.93
Trash total 3/14/16   $180.62
Trash total 2/7/16     $311.07
Trash total 2/17/16   $251.02
Grand total YTD:     $912.64

New bag

I am slightly obsessed with my new handbag! The best part was finding it on Charming Charlie's website.  I had been browsing totes around 200 bucks and just couldn't justify the cost.  This was just what I was looking for and only 40 bucks.

It's got a nice big, removable, inner bag/pocket.

It is super soft!  The packaging was awesome.  It was boxed up but inside a bag and tissue paper wrapped just like it would be had you bought it in a store.

Kinda want to cuddle with it like a teddy bear.  Exactly what I had in mind.  Love it when you find just what you wanted at a reasonable price!

March Faves

Kinda can't believe it's April already!  Here's what I've been obsessed with this month...

I've been combining Bare Essentials Lash Domination with Guerlain mascara and it's an awesome combination!  I love how my lashes look with these.  The Guerlain is just a sample and on its own is not exciting.  However, it provides just the perfect finishing touch with the Lash Domination.

I know I've mentioned this before but I just can't get enough of the Blueberry and Cranberry Steel Cut Oatmeal.  It is perfection.

I discovered the Hyvee Cheese and Garlic croutons and immediately was hooked.  So good!  I've been eating a ton of salad but these are good just to eat kind of like chips.

Then there is Barkbox.  I signed up for a buy one month, get one free.  The box was a hit with the dog.

It comes with 2 dog toys, a bone of some sort and 2 packs of gourmet dog treats.  She really didn't know what to think about the gourmet dog treats since she is used to eating the cheap treats.  She tossed the treats around back and forth a bit before finally eating it.  Duck and pomegranate treats to be exact.  She gets Canine Carry Outs from Wal-Mart usually.  So duck is a slight upgrade.  She is digging out the lamb ear from the box first in the photo above.  That may have been her favorite item.

The theme of the box was "Peace, Ruv, and Happiness."  So cute!  It included a rolling bones record dog toy and a pair of jeans (in the pic above) dog toy.  She was quite pleased with her surprise package.  The kid couldn't believe I bought the dog a subscription box and haven't ever bought the kid a subscription box, LOL.  The dog is pretty spoiled.  I'm not sure I will continue after the 2 months but maybe it'll make a good Christmas gift this year for the doggie gift.

I didn't include a picture but I bought the Breyer's Mrs. Field's Cookie Dough ice cream this month.  I very rarely step outside my typical ice cream brands and my usual cookie dough is the Edy's.  For some reason, the Breyer's called my name.  At first, I didn't love it.  Then when I really got past the top layer I realized...this stuff is the cookie dough bomb.  It was delicious!  Luckily, I also find the Edy's 1/2 fat cookie dough delicious.

Target does it again

I kind of have a thing with buying new bedding.  Although, when I find one I love I tend to keep it for quite awhile.  I loved my last bedding I purchased but my washer did not.  The washer got quite angry with how large the comforter is and didn't get it very clean.  So I decided I would go for the quilt look and it would be easier to wash.  Target to the rescue...again.  Really when would I not find something I like at Target?

The bedding I found matches my wood art from Hobby Lobby perfectly.  It's weird sleeping with bedding so thin.  I love a fluffy comforter.  I found a great sheet set at Wal-Mart for twelve bucks.  I had been looking at sets that were forty and fifty dollars and just couldn't shell out the money for those.  I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the sheets from Wal-Mart feel.  

The dog approves.

I found these curtains from Brylane home.  They really lighten up the room compared to the dark brown I had before and I love the ruffles.  Overall I'm loving the new purchases!