Makeup Haul - Mall of America!

YAY!
That's all I have to say about my recent trip to Mall of America this past weekend. Seriously, such a blast. A girl's paradise.

I will have another post shortly about the trip in general and what other stuff I got, but for makeup Monday I am going to share all of the makeup I got! Yay!

Sigma Flat Top Kabuki brush F80

Are Sigma stores everywhere? Or just here? I got my Sigma stuff online, I didn't even know they had a store... Either way, it was awesome. I already have the Make Me Cool Essential kit, so I didn't really need anything else. But I really liked this one. I use it to put on the blush I got....

This one! The Josie Maran Coconut Watercolor Cheek Gelee in Getaway Red 
I got this from Sephora. I knew I wanted a different cream blush because I haven't had the best experiences with those, so I asked a lady working there and she showed me this one and put it on me and it was gorgeous. I love it so far.

Also from Sephora I got the Urban Decay Naked Skin BB cream, but this was just a replacement of an empty one. I love this stuff also.

Bare Minerals Pretty Amazing Lip Color in Bravado

I got this in a sample at Sephora last year and I was obsessed with it, I always forgot to buy one so I was using every last bit of the sample. But there were two Bare Minerals stores in Mall of America, so I finally decided to buy a full sized one of my own. I love it, such a good fall color.

And last, but not least, the MAC lipsticks I got. I have never bought a MAC product before, so I decided to go there at the mall. At first I went to just look around, and decided to get a red lipstick because I was wearing it that day and haven't had luck liking any of the brands of red lips I have, so I tried on a bunch (thanks to the lovely salespeople there) and got RubyWoo. After wearing it for the day I don't know why I ever bought a different brand of lipstick, so I went back and got the color Media for fall. 

I am super happy with all of the makeup I purchased! Yayy!!

More to come soon :)

XOXO 

-Monica 

Let's Get Started

Alright...

It's time to get this blog together.

Clearly, as you can see, the lack of posting has been quite real since I've started the blog. Granted, I probably shouldn't have decided to start a blog just before back to school season started, clearly that was not going to work out. But this blog is something I was, and still am, excited about, and I'm not going to let my busy schedules get in the way of that excitement!

So, as I am finally getting used to this routine, I decided to make another routine for the blog. 

When I thought of the schedule I thought about what I like to read on other blogs. I'm sure that things will change as I continue to write and receive feedback. But for now this is what I've come up with. Let me know if you have any suggestions!

Here it is:

Makeup Monday: I love makeup, seriously. Every Monday I will be here with a post on beauty products: reviews, look of the day, hauls, recent purchases; it'll all be coming here at some point. :)

What's Up Wednesday: I don't know about you, but my favorite blogs are the ones that give me an insight on their life and personality. So I thought I'd share mine with you! On Wednesdays you can expect posts that just reflect me. What's going on in my life, things I've seen lately that I'm liking, iPhone photos, comments on everything in general. Just me :)

Fashion Friday: Basically, instead of an OOTD post on various days, I am going to share with you all my outfits from the week on Fridays. I'm talking alllll seven days here people. Even the bum days. Not going to pretend those days don't exist. :)

These are the days I am scheduling the blog posts. I am not guaranteeing they will ALWAYS be on time, but I am going to do my very best to keep up with it. On the day in between expect posts about food (cooking and baking and such), parties, and a little bit extra.

Let me know whacha think.

XOXO

- Monica 

S'mores party

So I realized it was August..
Seriously, it's August?! Where did the summer go?!

Then there was another thing I realized: It's August, and I haven't had S'mores yet... Really. Am I in America?
So I had to share my first S'more of the summer with some special people.
So this is what we did:

We included marshmallows, marshmallow cream, peanut butter, graham crackers, chocolate graham crackers, Fudge Stripe cookies, Hershey's chocolate, Reese's cups, and Kit Kats.

 My favorite combo was chocolate graham crackers, marshmallows and a Reese cup. YUM.

We made the sign out of card stock by punching holes into the corners of the triangles, and stringing the rope through it. My mom used her Cricut machine to cut out the letters and triangles, but hand cutting and writing them can look just as cute. 

These cups are so freaking cute. I just want to cuddle with them..

...Seriously though. 

We just got a pack of 12 mason jars from target, and put cupcake liners around it. Then poke a paper straw through it. Seriously you can make these with any colors for any occasion ever. So cute.

Yes, I know. The artistic abilities displayed on this sign are phenomenal. (PS that word took me way long to figure out how to spell)

We just filled this with hand sanitizer, bug spray, paper towels, and baby wipes. Because seriously my hands get way too messy when attempting to eat S'mores.

Who doesn't love snuggling by the fire? 

We already had this chest in the house. And my mom once again used her Cricut to cut out the letters, but writing it on top of colored paper can look just as cute!

That's pretty much all of our decorations! It wasn't really a party for anything specific. But who says it has to be a birthday or shower to be cute?! Not me. Me and my mom collaborated on coming up with the ideas and she is so crafty and is always more than willing to make all the decorations. So great.

Thanks for reading!

P.S. Here's some other stuff from the night...

These marshmallows are square to fit the graham crackers... YES.

Lacey wants outside. :(

Giant Jenga. It's pretty great.

Monster Cookies

Cookies. They are so fun and easy to make, they are so cute, and everyone loves them (don't lie to yourself, there is some type of cookie out there you enjoy)....Basically I could write a whole essay about all the reasons why I love cookies.
Especially these monster cookies, They have the perfect combination of different textures and they are such a great change from plain chocolate chip cookies. And the M&M's make them so pretty and colorful.
And the oatmeal completely justifies eating as many as you want anytime of the day... Right?


(I will put the recipe below)

(Yayyy ingredients!)

               
The dough is soo creamy even once the oatmeal has been added and everything. By the time I am baking the last of it I am left with all chocolate chips and M&M's because it's slid through the dough.

I like my cookies small... I see most people make these cookies super huge (monster sized...) but that's just not how I prefer it.

It is so hard to tell when oatmeal cookies are done! I always end up overcooking them just a tad. I just looked at the recipe. It clearly says "do not over bake." I guess that was my first clue...

These cookies are delicious. Yum yum yum. I need to make more. Make some for me? ;)

Recipe:
Ingredients...
1 1/2 cups peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated white sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) softened, unsalted butter
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup M&M's plain chocolate candies

Directions...
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray cooking pans with nonstick spray, or line with parchment paper.
2. Combine the peanut butter, sugars, and butter with an electric mixer until well combined. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Mix in the oats and baking soda. Then stir in the chocolate chips and M&M's.
3. Drop cookies onto the cooking pans.
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Do not over bake. Transfer to wire racks and cool completely before storing in airtight container.







(Recipe credit goes to http://www.recipegirl.com, http://www.recipegirl.com/2012/05/07/monster-cookies/)