Meltproof Makeup

I recently went to Arizona for a family reunion. It was a toasty 118 degrees on one of the days! I'll write about the trip later. I brought waterproof eyeliner, highlighter, and makeup setting spray. All of that melted off. I also brought along 2 holy grail products that stayed put all day. This post is dedicated to them!

If you're looking for meltproof makeup, I recommend the following products:

Brow Colour by ColourPop $6

This stuff did not budge at all! The best part is that it's only $6. I used to be a faithful Benefit Ka-Brow user, but not anymore.

Lipsense $25 (Color) + Gloss

You can't purchase LipSense through Senegence directly, you have to go through a distributor (or are they called consultants?! I can't keep up). I was honestly really hesitant about LipSense. First off, their website looks ancient and desperately needs an overhaul. Second, the product packaging themselves look like they are stuck in the 90s. You know why there's a bunch of these Facebook groups selling this shit? BECAUSE IT ACTUALLY WORKS. And it works really well, too!

The downside is that they're expensive ($25 for JUST the color and you have to buy their branded gloss to keep the color going throughout the day). They narrowed their color list to just 36, which I think is a good and bad thing. The application of the product is tedious and feels like an eternity to put on, however once it's on it's stays forever until you remove it with glycerin soap.

My LipSense color lasts through cups of coffee, lasts through eating, and lasts against the heat. All the hype around the product is indeed worth it.

I've tried multiple "long lasting" lip products and none of them come close to LipSense.

What waterproof/meltproof makeup do you recommend?! I just recently bought an eyeliner by Kat Von D that a girlfriend recommended, but I haven't tried it yet. I'll be seeing how well it lasts in the California sun soon!

With love,

-Lin

IKEA Shopping Spree

We got to go to IKEA on one of our "free" days in Orlando! I was so excited, especially since it was my sister's first time. I wanted her to understand and relate to my obsession, haha. We ate lunch at the cafeteria and then we began our journey through the intricate maze. Seeing her reaction to everything was awesome! Sean needed to go find new swim trunks, so he walked to Nordstrom Rack while Jenn & I were browsing. I was totally okay with it since I get "in the zone" while I'm shopping. Haha.

I was a little bummed that I didn't really find a lot that we really needed or wanted, but honestly that was good on my wallet! Haha. It's probably because we just went on a big shopping spree at the Las Vegas IKEA just a few months ago. Not pictured below: another LED light strip for an upstairs closet, a new hook for Lucy's leashes, and more napkins for our napkin holder.

I couldn't decide between two different place mats, so I ended up buying a set of both:

ORDENTLIG, $2.99 x4

STILFULL, $1.99 x4

I fell in love with how soft this blanket is. I also liked the fringed ends of it too. You can't beat the price! I'm going to buy another one, maybe in white, when we go to Arizona in June.

POLARVIDE, $3.99 (I purchased this in gray) x1

Ikea Part 2

One of my girlfriend's husbands went to the L48 to pick up their new RV. She told me that he was going to make a pit stop at IKEA and asked me if I wanted anything. They were going to fill up the RV and barge it all up here. I could not hold in my excitement, haha! Especially since I had some regrets of not picking up a few more items. I was so happy that he was able to find everything on my wish list!

DINERA light pink mug, $1.99 x 6.

LACK white coffee table, $44.99.

LACK white side table. $7.99 x 4.

I kid you not, I searched all over Anchorage for a simple coffee table/side table set. I found sets at Scan Home and Scan Basics that I really liked, but they're too pricey for my budget. I also found some that I liked on Amazon with Prime shipping, only to find out that they don't ship to Alaska due to the dimensions of the products. I found some on Target.com that I thought were okay, but I wasn't in love with them. As the saying goes, everything happens for a reason! I'm 100% happy and confident with these purchases.

I also asked for another full dinnerware set, 5 more cushion pillows, covers for them, and 2 more LED sensor light strips. The barge left on Thursday and is expected to be here on Tuesday. Once everything comes in I'm going to sell our old coffee table and side tables set. I am really impressed with how fast everything is going to arrive. 

My girlfriend and I talked about going to Seattle sometime next year for a girls shopping trip. We daydream of shopping at IKEA and Hobby Lobby and then barging up our treasure! Haha. Aside from layovers at the Seattle airport, I've NEVER explored Seattle. Hopefully we can make it happen! 

Lularoe

On Halloween I wore a red with white polka dots Irma. It was the perfect Disney bounding outfit!

I never expected to get sucked into the LulaRoe craze. Oh my goodness - it's so addicting. Finding the print you want, in the size you need, in the style you want it is exhilarating! Haha. I think my addiction is ceasing to an end since I've found the exact styles I've been hunting for and my wallet can no longer support this craze.

I LOVE polka dots (it's the Minnie Mouse and I Love Lucy fan inside me) and it's hard to find anything that has polka dots on it that's flattering. It's even harder when you're plus size (or TC - Tall & Curvy, as LulaRoe lovingly terms it). So polka dots is basically what started my LulaRoe craze.

So what is LulaRoe? LulaRoe is a clothing company that sells fun colors and prints in a variety of styles of clothing. The styles are consistent, but the colors and prints are constantly changing and they only make a certain number of items of each print. You can only buy the clothes through a consultant (or through eBay). You can host "parties" through consultants and receive incentives for doing it. I'm not personally into throwing those kinds of parties.

The styles are easy to remember by their names. I'll list a few examples - The Randy resembles a baseball T. The Irma is a loose "high low" tunic with fitted mid-length sleeves (this is my favorite style!). The Amelia is a short sleeved dress and has pockets (dresses with pockets? That's the best, right? Haha).

PROS

• They have a wide array of sizing, sizes to fit practically every body. Which is so refreshing. It sucks to miss out on cute clothes when they don't make your size.
• Not only do they have a wide array of sizing, everything they carry is flattering.
• They have an amazing array of colors and prints to pick from.

CONS

• They're expensive.
• If there's a popular print you want, you may have a hard time finding it.
• If you're shopping in multi-consultant groups, you have to pay shipping to each consultant you're shopping from.

I wanted to list some of my favorite multi-consultant Facebook groups... I got approved soon after requesting access to them. Browsing through these various groups made looking for the print and size (which LulaRoe terms hard to find prints as unicorns) I want quickly and efficiently. These groups list their albums by size and style, so it's easy to navigate. Often times the albums have hundreds to choose from! It's fairly easy to shop through as well. You usually just type SOLD and you're email address so the consultant can send you an invoice. Sometimes consultants have different instructions, so be sure to read the caption for the picture.

• LulaRoe Tropical Tuesday & Aloha Friday Mega Pop-Up
• LulaRoe "Unicorn Heaven" Boutique & Marketplace
• LulaRoe Multi Consultants Party Everyday!
• LulaMAZING Super Multi Consultant Sale
• Perfectly You

Are you a LulaRoe addict? What are your favorite styles? What is your "unicorn" print?

Ikea & Hobby Lobby Shopping Adventure

One of my favorite things about going on vacation is shopping! Sean and I brought down 4 luggage with us to Vegas... We each had our own that were half full and then 2 empty luggage. There were 4 stores I was really looking forward to shopping at on our last trip - Macy's, Kate Spade Outlet, IKEA, and Hobby Lobby. I wish we had these stores in Alaska!

• Macy's - at least Macy's includes Alaska with their free shipping promotions! I love a lot of the different clothing brands they carry, as well as many of their home decor and kitchenware options.
• Kate Spade Outlets - Unfortunately you can't shop Kate Spade Outlet merchandise online. However, sometimes KateSpade.com has really amazing deals and they include Alaska for free shipping. 
• IKEA - IKEA doesn't ship many of their items to Alaska OR they charge an insane amount for shipping. Example - The storage bench I bought at their physical store (pictured below) would have cost me $40 to ship up here.
• Hobby Lobby - Hobby Lobby has expensive shipping fees. Example - I bought $19.98 worth of merchandise (the big fork and the big spoon which are pictured down below) and it cost $16.95 to ship up here.

I want to share some of my favorite finds from IKEA and Hobby Lobby! Aside from celebrating our anniversary down in Vegas, we were also there to buy home goods for our new residence.

IKEA

I've only gone to IKEA once back in 2014. We only bought a few items since we were still at our condo and we didn't really need anything new. I always make a "Places to eat/Places to shop/Places to see" list and IKEA was at the top of all 3! Haha. Obviously we were only able to buy smaller items that would fit in our luggage. I eventually want to use Shop+Deliver by lulu for large pieces like couches and bed frames whenever we have extra money. I'm glad we went down to see everything in person so now we have a better idea of what to order through them.

DINERA 18-piece dinnerware set, $34.99. When we moved into our new house, I originally wanted to buy white square dinnerware sets. Then we went to IKEA and I saw this beautiful blush pink set and I had to have them! This set includes 6 10" plates, 6 8" side plates, and 6 bowls. For $34.99 it was a steal of a deal. My friend is getting me another set plus 6 mugs. I thought it would be perfect to have 2 full sets for entertaining, especially during holiday parties.

Sean has full control of decorating our kitchen (since I pretty much conquer everywhere else, haha), so I was really happy that he was fine with us getting this set. He has our kitchen mostly decorated with red, black, white, and some yellow... These colors are for Mickey and Minnie Mouse!

KNYC napkin holder, $4.99 + red napkins, $1.99. I thought this napkin holder was very stylish! We ended up buying 2 sets of red napkins to go with the napkin holder. I love how inexpensive the set was and how awesome they look in our kitchen and dining room.

MOLGER storage stool, $39.99. Even though it's "birch" I thought it would look great in our master bathroom. I'm going for a spa like feel in our master bathroom so I have a lot of bamboo pieces. I thought this storage stool would fit great in the space. I plan to put extra shampoos, lotions, and body wash in it. I'm glad that IKEA has how much items weigh on the box! I'm even happier that it fit in our luggage with no problems.

VIGDIS cushion cover, $7.00 + 20" x 20" cushion, $5.99. I bought 4 new cushions for our couch and 4 covers for them. I love how the cushions were packaged - nice and tight in a plastic wrap. I was kind of worried that they wouldn't be fluffy, but when I opened them at home they got so fat! It's been difficult for me to find large cushions in simple colors, so I was very happy when I found these at IKEA.

STOTTA LED light strip, $14.99. We needed lights for our pantry and our entryway closet since there aren't any light switches in them. We found similar strips elsewhere, but you have to plug them in. Our pantry and entryway closet doesn't have any electrical plugins either. I was so relieved when we found this at IKEA at a great price!

HOBBY LOBBY

It was my first time going to Hobby Lobby and oh my goodness - I was so overwhelmed with excitement to be there! I didn't really know what to expect. It's like Michael's but 10x better! Everything we bought was half off and I've listed the retail prices below.

Tan Vintage Minnie Mouse Canvas Art, $24.99

Tan Vintage, Mickey Mouse Canvas Art, $24.99

Vintage Mickey & Minnie Metal Wall Sign, $27.99

These art pieces are going behind our bed.

Kitchen Black Wood Wall Word, $11.99. We hung this up above our sink. 

Antique Red Fork Polyresin Wall Decor, $19.99

Antique Red Spoon Polyresin Wall Decor, $19.99

Red Eat Word MDF Wall Decor, $9.99

We bought the Eat sign while we were at Hobby Lobby. Sean found the big fork and the big spoon and we thought it would go great with our kitchen decor. As we were checking out we found out that they weren't on sale, so we regrettably decided not to buy them (I was already spending too much money!). We got home to Alaska and I kept thinking about them, so I looked them up online and found them on sale for half off + $16.95 for shipping. I decided to bite the bullet and order them. I figured the total was less than paying full price and we didn't have to pay tax for them! Haha. In hindsight, I don't think we would have had room for them anyway since our all our luggage was full and almost at the weight limit!

I really wanted the big fork and the big spoon because they're staples in Filipino homes, haha. Plus, there's an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond that revolves around a big fork and a big spoon. If you know us well, you know that Everybody Loves Raymond is one of our favorite shows! These are all going to go in our dining room.

Anchor Wood Wall Shelf, $29.99. We bought 2 of these to go into our half bathroom downstairs. We're going for a Disney Cruise theme in there and I love that these have shelves! We'll eventually spray paint them a different color. We have models of the Disney Cruise line ships that we'll put on the shelves.

Thank you for reading! I hope everyone is having a good week.

Target Haul

I just wanted to share one of my many recent Target hauls. I absolutely love the recent makeover of The One Spot at Target. It's more spacious and it's easier to maneuver a cart in the zone! Haha. You can find so many awesome random things there. It's like a treasure hunt for me. Since everything is priced between $1 - $5, I never feel too guilty about my little shopping sprees.

Black Friday/Cyber Monday Shopping List 2015

What's on your Black Friday and/or Cyber Monday 2015 Shopping List? Here is mine:

[   ] Free Disney Snow Globe from JCP (This is the last year they're handing them out!)
[   ] Cast Iron Skillets
[   ] Pressure Cooker
[   ] Electric Skillet
[   ] Towels
[   ] Pillows
[   ] Bed Sheets
[   ] 2016 Planner
[   ] Work Clothes

Disney Villains

 

  

Okay, I did good and only picked up a handful of items from the 2015 Disney Villains Makeup Collection at Walgreens. They had so many cute merchandise to pick from! I chose to buy things I knew I would use. I've been an avid collector of Walgreen's special Disney makeup editions, and as you probably can guess - I've ran out of room to store all my goodies. Hahaha. Happy buying!

Fall Scented Candles

✔️ another item off of my Fall Bucket List! I just bought some fall inspired scented candles from Bath and Body Works. ❤️ They had so many cute Halloween and fall goodies! They were all so tempting, but I decided to be good since I don't really need anything.

HM

 

Damnit, H&M got me good today!

Force Friday (09/04/15)

I was shopping at Target a couple of weeks ago and noticed the coolest design on their conveyor belt while checking out...

#ShareTheForce

How clever, right?! I was a little put off that it was an event that started on Thursday night since I work on weekdays and I need my 8 hours of sleep, but we could not pass up on this! Plus, it was Labor Day weekend. Sean and I got to Target at 11:30 pm and felt a little awkward because the parking lot was empty... We went inside and walked towards the back of the building and saw people lined up. Woohoo! We were 9 and 10. They gave us raffle tickets to win a Wookiee (We didn't win). There weren't a ton of people for the event while we were there (maybe 30-50??) and there wasn't a huge variety of merchandise to pick through. I looked on Instagram in other parts of the United States and it looked a bit chaotic! Even though our event was small, I'm glad we got what we came for. It was fun to be apart of something that was part of a bigger picture. :)

Hi, Chewie!

Fun photo opportunity

Our Star Wars Target Haul

From the event we got two free shopping bags, two lightsabers, Star Wars on Blu-Ray, a remote controlled BB-8, R2D2 keychain plush, and R2D2 retractable USB charger. I can't wait to get my hands on the CoverGirl Star Wars collection!