Photo Worthy Mascara

Thanks to Influenster, I had the opportunity to try Rimmel London's new Scandaleyes Retro Glam mascara. 

hits stores this month!

I don't usually use black because I am so fair, but because we had our engagement session scheduled, and I've heard that it's good to go a little heavier on your makeup for photos, I decided to give it a try. 

This is a picture without any other eye makeup on at all. You can see the awesome definition! I did curl my lashes beforehand like I always do.

Here's a sneak peek of the mascara in action! A sample from our session! I couldn't be happier with how the pics came out, and I can't wait to see the rest of them!

Vintage Love

If you have not heard about the photo editing app Rhonna Designs yet, this here is a bandwagon you need to be jumping on. Yes it is a couple bucks, and I hate spending money on apps too, but this one is so fun! Here are a couple things that I made yesterday and today:

This is seriously my jam right now. I told Jeffry if we owned this van I would sing this song every day. I am seriously thinking of making this my new ringtone. No brainer, right??

Upstate Tavern - Restaurant Review

Last week sometime, a new restaurant opened up near us, at our local casino, Turning Stone Resort & Casino. Jeffry and I usually east out on Mondays, his only day off and the day I work late, so we decided to go. It's a little bit of a drive, but it was worth it. So worth it that I decided to do my first restaurant review!

The name of the restaurant is Upstate Tavern, and I'm a sucker for anywhere touting local food and a homemade brew. 

Right away I was loving the design of the place. It's reminiscent of the inside of an old factory, with exposed brick, reclaimed wood and what looks like old factory windows, a common sight in the Syracuse area.

Honestly, I think the place could do without the TVs. It's not a sports bar. If you want to watch the game go to Tully's.

Here's a pretty good view of the windows. Ain't he handsome? :)

Hex tile on the floors

Can you tell I was digging the atmosphere? The wait staff's "uniforms" were a little strange I do have to admit. Jeans, black and white plaid shirts, and every single one of them wearing black Chuck Taylors. Cute concept, I don't know about you but I wouldn't want to be on my feet all day in a pair of Chucks. Maybe they get free foot massages at Ska:na: after their shifts? If that's the case, where can I apply?

Oh and seriously, I'm getting myself a set of these:

Are they seriously not the cutest things you've ever seen?! If they wouldn't have spilled I might have just put them right in my purse. #JKJK

Now lets talk about the food!! They have what we would think of in New York as New York style food. Spiedies, salt potatoes, beef on weck, and Hoffman hot dogs. Typical every day eats around this neck of the woods. I want to try every single thing. Of course I can only base my opinions on what Jeffry and I ordered but it was so good!!

My pot roast. I do wish the carrots weren't so al dente. A little too crunchy for me.

Jeffry's wings and salt potatoes. The wings were perfectly crispy!

So some final thoughts: The food was delish, the atmosphere quaint and the prices not so bad! One thing I did not take a picture of you might notice is the bathroom. From a design stand point, boooooring!!!! I had high expectations for it and it let me down. Could have been a fast food place bathroom it was so dull. Oh, and I ordered the Upstate Lager and that was yummy too! I can't wait to go back and try something else, this might be my new favorite place!

Grace Adele & What's In My Purse!

So you guys got a sneak peek of the purses that I got from a Grace Adele party. And since I was switching to my new bag anyway, I thought I would let you guys in on all the junk necessities I take everywhere...

I don't buy purses often, since I usually only switch them seasonally. But the one I've been using was about 30 bucks from Target and it was starting to fall apart. You get what you pay for amiright?

One of the biggest things that sold me on the Grace Adele were the pockets. Inside and outside, major amounts of storage. Sold! Because I really need to be carrying around more stuff obviously...

Another super cool factor, the clutches fit inside the front pocket of the bag, and they totally change up the look! How cool is that?!

Photo bomb alert!
I would also like to point out my sweet little hunter poised to attack. Please note he proceeded to attack me. 

There are a couple combo deals that you can choose from, along with purchasing pieces separately. Probably the most popular is the bag/clutch/wallet combo, but since I got a flashy coach wristlet for by birthday from the BF, the last thing I needed was a new wallet. So the combo I went for was the bag + 2 clutches. I knew I wanted this tan clutch as soon as I saw it:

It came with the long strap. I think this will be a great bag for summer outings like concerts or the State Fair.

Then I also got this purple studded clutch, which I'm envisioning as a great night out bag.

You can't really read the deep purple from this pic, but you can see it against my black bag above

And of course both straps detach so you could also carry them as actual clutches.

Grace Adele has some great spring colors, but as you may have guessed, bright pink and orange aren't really my scene. So I stuck with the darks/neutrals. You can check out their whole line here. You can virtually mix and match all the pieces too to see how they look, which is super helpful when trying to decide.

Oh! And did I mention that Grace Adele is a division of Scentsy?! Who doesn't love Scentsy? :)

So as for what's in my purse, it's actually pretty clean since I'm switching bags. If you really want to envision what the inside of my bag looks like on most days, add about 10 crumpled receipts, some crumbs and some loose change. But here's the low-down...

This picture makes my purse look so empty!! I swear there must be more in there than that. Well there is, because I forgot to include my hand sanitizer and my keys, as well as the virtual pharmacy that I lug around with me. I didn't think that would be very exciting to see.

Anyway, here's the deets:

1. Sunnies. Don't go anywhere with out them. I get teased for wearing them on cloudy days.

2. Misc. beauty products. (BTW all Grace Adele purses come with this clear zippered makeup pouch! Mine holds hand lotion, blotting papers, eleventy-hundred chapsticks, and a nail file.

Because if I don't file a broken nail right away I will pick/chew it down to a nub.

3. Planner, notepad and pen. These barely get used. 

Because I forget to write down the things I want to remember. And then forget those things too.

4. Coach wristlet that was a birthday gift from my boo. I wish I could say there was money in there.

So there's the lowdown, folks. Pretty fab right? Disclaimer: Please excuse my workout clothes from the pictures above. He. Btw, it's Thursday! And that's the day before Friday!! And Friday is the day before the weekend!!! (Gimme a break I'm trying to be optimistic here)

BB Cream Review

Happy Monday everybody! Last week I received a tube of Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector Oil-Free BB Cream courtesy of BzzAgent. I've been waiting for the chance to use it since BB creams are the new thing nowadays. I was even more excited since it's oil-free and I tend to have super oily and acne prone skin. (Boo) 

Here's what the tube looked like: 

  The tube is pretty good size so I bet it will last a long time. 

The BB cream itself was a thinner consistency than I expected, but it went on smooth and blended pretty well. It comes in three shades. Light/Medium, Medium/Dark and Dark. I was sent the Light/Medium. The color is a little dark for me just coming out of winter, but I'm paler than most on a good day #gingersunite

I'll probably wait a few months to see how it matches with my skin tone, and if it's still too dark I'll give it to a friend. It's really not a drastic difference though so it might just end up being my summer BB cream.

As far as how it wore, it did make my skin feel nice and smooth. Having a not so great complexion to being with, I definitely need the shine control and pore minimizing that this BB cream provides. It hydrates just like most BBs without feeling heavy or sticky, and has SPF 20, which is a plus since it cuts out a step from my routine. (Insert redhead joke here)  

Here's a before & after:

I look super excited to be posting a pic with no makeup don't I? But you can see it does even out the redness in my face.

And please let's not even talk about my haircut. I made a super last minute appointment last week and went to whoever was available. She never used scissors only a razor to cut it and I pretty much hate it. Who knew you could mess up long layers? I feel like it looks so ratty :(

Overall I think the Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector Oil-Free BB Cream worked out really well. I usually use a mattifier under my foundation and I didn't with this just to test it and it really did keep my skin pretty shine free. The tube is a good size value for the suggested price of $12.99 as well.

So any of you oily skin gals who are still trying to decide what kind of BB cream is right for you, I recommend the Garnier!