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Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Do you Mary Kay? {A Review + Giveaway}

I've been a long time user of Mary Kay products; I've been ordering certain products for the last 12 years actually (um, wow.) I've always been a fan of Mary Kay cosmetics, especially the full coverage foundation (discontinued), so when I received the opportunity to review these products (and, give some away!) I was ecstatic!

I received two mineral eye shadows and one NouriShine Plus lip gloss to glam myself up a bit!


 For my eye shadow shades I chose espresso & honey spice. I was really satisfied with the actual color of the shadows vs. the swatch that I saw online.  The swatch was very true to the real color. I was however surprised and a little disappointed at the size of the shadow; at $6.50 each I was afraid that the value wasn't going to be there for me. With that being said, I've been using the shadows daily for about 2 weeks and you can barely tell that they've been used at all. It appears as though they will last me for quite awhile.

Photo Credit
Photo Credit




When I opened my NouriShine Plus lip gloss in Pink Parfait, I was really concerned. I'm very very picky about my lip gloss and this gloss is thick. I can't stand thick lip gloss - it's my #1 lip gloss pet peeve! I gave it a try though - and wouldn't you know it - the lip gloss goes on smooth and light instead of gloopy and thick. I was pretty surprised on that one! It was still slightly thicker than what I would normally wear, but it also lasted a lot longer which I think is a fair trade! I loved the color of this gloss also. I tend to wear makeup that is subtle and the pink parfait was a good match for me.

Photo Credit

...And the moment you've all been waiting for! The Giveaway! This giveaway is sponsored by Crystal Farris - Independent Beauty Consultant with Mary Kay. Crystal is offering up two eye shadows and one lip gloss of choice to one lucky reader! I know y'all love that! Enter below and good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Do you Mary Kay?
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Disclosure: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. All thoughts and opinions in this post are 100% my own.

Lazy Bones + A Weekend Recap

Hey y'all! I don't know what is up with me, but here lately I am so.tired.all.the.time.  I thought I was just recovering from our busy weekend, but even today, I'm still exhausted. I just hope I"m not coming down with something! Anyway I know it's Wednesday morning but I still wanted to tell y'all all about my weekend because it was a lot of fun!

stillbeingmolly

If you follow me on instagram you may have seen some of these pictures as I posted them over the weekend. If you aren't following me, um, what are you waiting for? ;) So our main objective for this weekend was to get little man's bedroom painted. When we bought this house 3 years ago, this is what his room looked like:



This is also what his room looked like on Friday. I hate this green. I've hated it from the moment I laid eyes on it. Why did it take us 3 years to change it? I have no clue - especially now that it looks like this -


I can't believe we waited so long. I'm in love with his room now. It took us all.day.long. on Saturday to get this done but it was so worth it. I have big plans for the decor and that will be happening very soon!

Saturday night my neighbor came over and asked me to do her makeup for a Halloween party she was going to. I was so exhausted and didn't want to even do it but I am so glad that I did! She ended up winning first prize for the scariest Halloween costume!! I had never done Halloween makeup like this before so I was super excited for her and proud of myself!




That's my neighbor posing with my hubby up there. Isn't she scary looking?

On Sunday I spent time with the family and time in the kitchen! I made my very first ever pumpkin pie from SCRATCH. I'm talking straight from the pumpkin y'all! I've made pumpkin pie before, but it was always out of the can. I've been wanting to try it this way for a long time but I was very intimidated. Thanks to my girl Lindsay and her fabulous recipe & how to I finally decided to go for it. Guess what? It turned out fabulous! The crust was perfect and flaky. The filling had the perfect hint of pumpkin & sweetness. I was so excited!



Somebody likes Momma's pumpkin pie :)

Here are some more pictures from our weekend:
Hubby brought home my favorite for dinner Friday night!

They painted pumpkins while we painted walls!
Sunday Night Dinner
Homemade Cinnamon Raisin Bread! 
...and since it's Wednesday already...here's how my Monday ended:

I got this in the mail!

Sweet Husband surprises! I love those :)

Then he makes me this. Think he is sucking up for something?
Happy Halloween y'all - what is everyone doing tonight? Are you dressing up? I can't wait to read about everyone's night!

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Friday, October 26, 2012

Five Question Friday

Helloooo Friday!! Girl, am I glad to see you!! It has just been one of those weeks around here. Hubs has had an awful week at work - he is stressed out, pissed off, and just down right grumpy. Please Lord, let next week be better!

This weekend we have plans to do a whole lot of staying at home! YAY! That's my favorite! Unfortunately, we've decided to paint the little man's room. Painting is not my favorite. When we moved into this house three years ago (wow - time flies!) the walls in his room were already this dark grungy green color. It's kind of awful, like wet grass. How lazy are we to have not changed it yet? Anyway, lets not focus on that! Little man's birthday is coming up and since he is getting to be a big boy (3!) we are going to redo his room. A fresh coat of paint, and lots of fun decor! Yay! I get to spend money and decorate! My poor husband...

Today I am linking up again with Mama M. for Five Question Friday. I really enjoy this link up because the questions are always a lot of fun. Let's do it!


1) Who wakes up with the kids in the mornings, you or the hubby?
Ha! Are you serious? Yea, that would be me 99.9999% of the time. To be fair the hubs has to get up at 6 a.m. and leave the house by 630 to be at work by 7. However, that has only been his schedule for a few months now. I've always been the one to get up with the kids the majority of the time, and I probably always will be the one. That's okay - rising early is my excuse to take the occasional afternoon nap on the weekends ;)

2) Do you watch the world series even if your team isn't on it?
I don't do baseball y'all. Like, at all. Now, if it's the superbowl and my team isn't playing? Yes, of course I still watch!

3) What is the best compliment that you have received?
The best compliment that I have ever received was from my parents. In the past 5 years, on more than one occasion and at separate times my parents have told me "I'm proud of you. You are a good mom." That just makes my heart swell with pride and joy. Even though I'm far from perfect, I am a good mom.

4) Do/Did you dress up to take your kid trick or treating?
I've never dressed up with my kids for Halloween. Not that I haven't wanted to - I have. It just hasn't happened yet!

5) Do you have a favorite bible verse and why?
While it isn't a bible verse - the Lord's prayer is my favorite. I went to a private school as a child and we had to memorize bible verses and recite them aloud from memory. The Lord's Prayer is the first one I remember learning and I've always held it close to my heart.

Also linking up with:

That Friday Blog Hop
Fun Friday Blog Hop

Happy Friday y'all - make it a great weekend!
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The Dinnertime Review

Last weekend my family and I were offered the opportunity to taste test Honey Baked Ham's new recipe turkey breast along with two sides and a dessert of our choice. Free food? Yes please.

So, let's talk turkey shall we? I'm not a HUGE fan of the bird. I like it deep fried and I like it in turducken form, but that's about it. Leave it to me to be picky about a turkey. Anyhow, I love Honey Baked's ham, so I figured what the heck? Let's give it a try!

Here are the goods I picked up Saturday afternoon:


I'd never ordered nor picked up from Honey Baked Ham before so I was really impressed when I got there and they had everything ready to go for me in a box already. The young man working the counter pulled everything out and showed it to me to make sure the order was correctly filled and off I went. Good customer service here folks. I like that. I ordered the new recipe roasted turkey breast, garlic mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and the carrot cake (hubby's choice!).

So, apparently Honey Baked Ham has been making and selling turkey for 20 years. Did y'all know that? I didn't. I don't know about their old recipe turkey, but the new recipe turkey is uh-maz-ing! I couldn't keep my fingers out of it! The turkey was already pre-sliced (thank you for saving me the trouble of having to do it!) so of course I was getting into it the moment I unpacked the box.


Doesn't it look divine? That's because it is! The turkey is slow roasted and is so moist and tender. My husband asked me, "Are you sure this isn't ham?" "If this is turkey, then it is the best turkey I have ever had." Y'all, my husband doesn't say stuff like that, but he did after eating this turkey. I think he was genuinely excited about it. He doesn't get excited. Oh, and do you see that beautiful brown glaze on the top of the turkey? That would be Honey Baked Ham's signature sweet and crunchy glaze that you get on their hams. It.is.so.good!


Our entire dinner was absolutely delicious. I was a little concerned with the sides at first. They are frozen when you receive them and you just pull back the foil and pop them in the oven for a bit. At first the consistency didn't look right and I was worried that they would taste like typical frozen meals do. I was wrong. Once the sides were fully cooked, they looked and tasted perfect. Hubs didn't like the green bean casserole much, but it was his personal preference. He is spoiled to my homemade snap green beans.

Oh, and then we had dessert!



The husband's favorite dessert is carrot cake; it's one of the few sweets he will eat. He avoided going back for seconds on the turkey to save room for it. This cake did not disappoint. We aren't used to having so many nuts in our carrot cake but I loved it. There were large chunks of walnuts and raisins on the inside of the cake and nut slivers on the outside. It was a nice change to what we are used to, plus the cake was so moist. I wish I had another slice of it now but we've already eaten it all!

Later that evening I came into the kitchen and found my husband making a turkey sandwich. Apparently he was still hungry ;) We even had turkey with our breakfast the next morning!

When I think of Honey Baked Ham, I tend to think of quick, no fuss holiday meals. Now that I realize what a wide variety of food they carry and how delicious it is, we will be eating their food at home more often.

Also worth noting - this meal was supposed to be enough for just 4 people. Now my clan likes to eat but y'all, I could have fed 6-8 with what we received!

Just for you, my readers, Honey Baked Ham is offering you a $3 off coupon. Enjoy!
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Disclosure: My family received a complimentary meal in exchange for this review post. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own. 

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Suck Your Stomach In & Put Some Color On {+ a Giveaway!}

EDITORS NOTE: You guys!!! I did not intend for this post to become a giveaway but it did!! I reached out to the author to say hello & to let her know that I loved her book and that I wrote a post about it. What do you know, she is a doll and offered to give one of y'all a copy of this here book! How awesome is that? Y'all be sure to thank Shellie, k?

Hey y'all!! Did y'all know that I'm a book worm? Well, I am. I'm always reading something. I check out too many books from the library at one time and I peruse Goodwill and other local thrift stores for books that I'd love to read or own.

So if you follow me on instagram you may have seen me post about this book already, but I liked it so much that I decided I needed to share it here also. I found this book at Goodwill a few weeks ago for just $.99 (my apologies to the author, that might sting a bit?) and the title caught my eye. I knew I had to read it.


I began reading this book almost immediately and it had me just rolling in fits of laughter. Not because the topics of conversation are necessarily funny - but because I could relate to Shellie (the author, and yes, I feel like we are friends now and we can be on a first name basis). Shellie tells is straight like any proper Southern lady would do; I was nodding my head in agreement the entire time.

If you are from the South you will enjoy and appreciate this book. It is full of life lessons that, if you are lucky enough, you've already learned from your Mamma or your Grandmama. It will also serve as a gentle reminder of some things you may have forgotten. If you aren't from the South, this book will teach you a thing or two you need to know.

Ladies, read this book. Gift this book. Then, join Shellie over on All Things Southern for more.


a Rafflecopter giveaway



This is not a sponsored post. I loved everything about this book and I felt compelled to share it with you.


Mama’s Losin’ It


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Free Blogger Event ~ #MYGiftGuide Giveaway Event #1 – BUNN Coffee Machine


We have a huge #MyGiftGuide Giveaway Event planned to  launch our 2012 Gift Guide.    Gift guide Giveways and Features are being hosted on MommaYoung at HomeCandypoloozaClutteredGenius and AriesMommy.
Here is the first of several…
PRIZE: BUNN My Cafe single cup Multi-Use Brewer
RETAIL VALUE: $159.00.
EVENT DATES: 11/1 – 11/15
OPEN TO: US & CANADA ONLY
Please fill out the form and share…  The blogger with the most referrals will have their choice of a $50 Visa Gift Card OR $50 Paypal Cash OR $50 Amazon Gift Card.  Good Luck and thank you for helping to spread the word :)
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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

A Visit To The Farm

So on Sunday we made the trek to Brookshire, Texas (about an hour and a half!) to visit Dewberry Farm. I've been excited to tell y'all about our trip because this place is so much fun! Hubs and I took Addison to the farm three years ago, but Sunday was the first time we'd been back since then and it was also James' first  visit to the farm. There were a lot of new things to do but some of our favorite things from our first visit still remained!

Dewberry Farm is famous for their 8 acre pumpkin patch. Going out into the "patch" is so much fun and you get there via a tractor pulled covered wagon ride.





After the kids tired of rolling pumpkins and mom taking endless pictures (didn't take long I assure you) we headed back to the main area of the farm for lots more fun. There were pig races, pony rides, more photo ops (yay!), slides, a corn maze, a flower patch, a cow barrel train, and more! I can't help but to let my pictures do the majority of the talking for me.








Y'all this place is like Heaven for kids of all ages. There is so much for them to do and they can just run and play like the crazy wild animals they are like to pretend to be. Know this: the farm gets crowded. I recommend purchasing your tickets in advance in order to avoid long lines. We got there right at opening on Sunday and there was already a line wrapped around the very large parking lot. It was nuts! Don't worry, once you are inside it doesn't feel quite as crowded since the farm is so large.

We had such a great time on Sunday that we've already made plans to go back in December when Dewberry opens up for their Christmas season. The majority of the Fall season activities will be open and you can also pick and cut down your own Christmas tree. The 2012 Christmas season opens on November 23.

Have you ever been to Dewberry Farm? 
Do you have something similar in your hometown?
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Disclosure: My family was given complimentary admission to Dewberry Farm in exchange for a review on this blog. All opinions are 100% my own.

Let's Take a Trip

A little stroll down 'Memory Lane' can be fun, but sometimes it can also be painful. Memory Lane can also be bittersweet or therapeutic...it just depends on what I'm reminiscing about. I know one thing is for sure...memories tend to really creep up on me from out of no where.

The smallest things can trigger memories. A song on the radio, an old object that I just can't seem to let go of, a season or an annual event. A series of memories began flooding my brain on Friday morning that had me running down memory lane all weekend long.

First, it was this song on the radio:


Funny how I only hear this song when I"m alone.

Then there is this whole season of Fall. It's my favorite season for so many reasons and the memories that come back to me this time of year are a part of that. While I always look forward to this time of year for the crisper cooler weather, apple cider, pumpkins, and the wonderful food - there are memories that haunt me here.

An annual event, The Texas Renaissance Festival, holds a special place in my heart also. I got my guest passes in the mail yesterday.


For six years I've chosen not to attend this festival because I wasn't sure that I'd be able to handle being in this place where it became real. I'm anxious about going this year still. I don't want to face the memories that I know will overwhelm me there.

And then there are these:


Tokens from my last Ren Fest 6 years ago that were buried deep down in my jewelry chest. Yet, somehow, my daughter found them yesterday while nosing through my things. Ironic, being that my tickets for this year's festival had just arrived earlier that morning right?

All of these things are bittersweet memories of what my life was like more than 6 years ago. I would never want to forget them...but sometimes I wish they'd go into hiding.

It's okay to walk down memory lane now and then, just make sure you leave a bread crumb trail to find your way back.

I'm pouring my heart out.
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