My monthly love, Birchbox- try higher end beauty products without the higher end price tag

I'm not sure if you are anything like me, but I love beauty products. I worked at a beauty supply store and felt completely at home. It was one of the jobs that I felt very capable and fulfilled. It my sound weird but I felt as though I was helping people to feel better about themselves. It also helped that I believed in the product that I was selling. They helped people around the world and fought for different charities it was great. But I also could try products without having to buy them.

Well I have found something that allows me to try the newest thing that is out there without breaking the bank. This company allows you to try samples of the newest and greatest products for only $10 a month. It is fantastic. You want to try that new bb cream but don't want to spend $25, you can. Then if you like it you can purchase it right on the site. This company is called Birchbox. You are able to create a profile where you rate certain items and they look at your profile when they are creating a box for you. You receive about 5-6 items such as, makeup, skin care, hair products, and some snacks or chocolates.

When the little pink box comes I am always very excited. You open it and this is what you see.

 

 

Inside the pink box is another box, don't worry it doesn't get smaller and smaller, but I do keep these boxes to use for gifts.

 

This is what was in the box this month

 

 



 

 



 

Starting at the top is Nexus shampoo and conditioner for color treated hair. Going clockwise is a black eye liner from Noir. The little container with TEE -HEE had a few of the other items in it. Then there is a Supergoop hand cream. Next is a great bronzer from ModelCo. Lastly there is a detoxing face wash from Vasanti.

 

The items that I really like from this box are the eye liner, it goes on so smooth, the bronzer which creates a natural looking glow, and the hand cream that is thick but not greasy and smells great almost like a tea or clean sort of smell. I have not used the shampoo or face wash. I do not really use face wash because I use a Norwex face cloth that does not require soap or a cleanser of any kind. It is naturally antibacterial and removes all of my make up no joke.

 

 

I absolutely love Birchbox. It is cheaper than most other monthly subscriptions that I know of. I have used Julep but it was $20 and mostly nail polish and it did not seem as worth it, but I did love Julep as well, when I was trying to build up my nail polish stash.

 

Birchbox also provides you with great travel sized toiletries I have used them on most of the trips I have taken in the last few years. It was great for those people that want to expand their beauty regimen and try higher end products without the higher end cost. 

One last hurrah! Then school begins!

So I went on one last hurrah before school starts. My mother and I, because we know where I live, went into Chicago. We planned it all on Tuesday, the day we left, because we are so decisive and pre planned. Not at all.

We went on Booking.com to find a hotel to stay at that was reasonably priced. We found one for $132 taxes not included. Inn at Lincoln Park. And then I used the best app to find tickets to sporting events Gametime. My friend used this when we were in Boston and it was terrific. It shows you the view from the seats and the tickets go right to your phone, no printer needed. This is very nice for purchasing tickets the day of or practically at the gate, like we did in Boston. They are also very reasonably priced.



These were our seats. They were pretty good! And the Cubs won. That is a big deal.

The hotel was very cute. It was very old but updated while still keeping its character. The rooms with the two double beds had two bathrooms they were so cute. I could tell that back in the day they used to be two very small rooms that they renovated into one room and kept the two bathrooms. I loved the history of it all.

I also wanted to do something that was not so much touristy. So taking a note from my Friend who finds the greatest little shops wherever we go, I took to Yelp. This app has been my favorite go to where ever I am to find good places to eat or unique, quaint, local shops.

The first place we ate at was a Mediterranean/ Turkish restaurant called Troy. It was delicious. We ordered Falafel, you gotta a Turkish joint, spanakopita, and a kebab platter. The best part of the meal was the bread and lentil ezme, so good.

Then, with the help of Yelp, we headed to a few little shops. The first one was surprisingly right across the street, Inkling
 

This store was everything that I love in these unique, local hole in the walls. I picked up a dainty necklace with a compass on it. Everything was very reasonably priced. That is one of my complaints with these shops is that they are too expensive, but this one was perfectly priced.

Then we went into Foursided which was kind of on accident. On Yelp it says it does custom framing and I am not in the market for that right now, but as we walked by they had cards and stationary, and small trinkets. I had to go in.
Side note, while in Boston we went to a shop called Magpie, I bought many things there and made two trips, but what really hooked me was their mystery bags. You spend five dollars and you get five random cards. I could have bought the entire stash.
Well Foursided had these mystery bags but they did not just have cards they also had flashcards, mini notebooks, candy and other miscellaneous items. It is like Christmas morning when you get these bags and I love that feeling, Its dangerous that feeling because I could spend a lot of money. But they are only $5!

The last cutesy shop I went into, for about 10 minutes on the way to the cub game and then a bit longer the next day, was called Twosided. They claim to be the red-headed step sister of Foursided.
They had the grab bags too. They also had mystery boxes but those were $15 and I am too cheap for that. But I bought 4 of the grab bags so not sure what that says. I have opened one of them and I got some magnets which are 11 dollars by themselves. There was a card, a stone shaped like a heart, 2 jolly ranchers, and an odd picture. But that is what you get.

Oh also I changed my hair I had to get rid of the purple because I am a teacher and a semi-professional and they do not usually have purple hair. I also not like my kids to think that I am hip at all ha. So I did something a bit different. No I am not cross eyed I just do not know where to look when I take a picture apparently.

Oh my mind sometimes!

I always feel bad when I get into my car and there is some sort of bug on my windshield or simply hanging out on my car and then I have to drive somewhere. I always feel as though I am taking this creepy crawler (sorry for the stereotyping of bugs there) away from its home. And then it will never find its family and friends again. It will get lost and die alone. I wonder if it can find another family or community to fit in with, but I fear that it will always feel like an outsider and never be able to fully relate to this new environment because it was so rudely plucked from comfort. I do not even like bugs but from behind the glass I feel for those little guys. Now if the bug some how gets into my car my feelings change very quickly from pity to revenge. I feel revenge because it crossed the line and invaded my area of comfort and now it must die. Funny how quickly my feelings can change.

I wonder how I ever leave the house if I can feel sorry for a living thing that has a life span like my phone's battery, short.

There may be parallels that can be made between these bugs being ripped from their homes and my life right now? But I am not going to be creating those lines for you. If you would like to ponder those invisible coincidences go right ahead. (I do not believe in coincidences for the record, but these parallels may not actually exist.) 

move in the direction you want to be--writing

This is a work in progress. Keep that in mind. Thanks!

 

As a child I never thought that I was meant for something special. Not to be dramatic but I had many things stacked against me. Or so I thought. I was in a single parent household, and my father was not exactly present. I lived in a trailer (and I found this to be the hardest thing to overcome.) I am not sure why, but to me it was very embarrassing. I didn’t like to have people over who were not close friends. I especially didn’t like to have guys over. I would watch my brother have his girlfriends over and he was not fazed one bit. He didn’t seem to care. I always wondered why I cared so much.

Looking back I had many things going for me as well. One major thing was the fact that I had a mother that was everything I needed her to be. Now she had to provide for us and be both parents which is not easy and most likely not what she planned parenting to be, alone. But she is the reason that I am who I am today.

 I always kind of felt like I was in the way when I was young. In places where I felt uncomfortable I would not make a lot of noise and would try to stay out of everyone’s way as much as possible.  This was seen the most in places where I did not feel as though I could be myself. Where I was most insecure about who I was. I find that I still do this in new situations. I feel out the situation, the people, I observe and then I begin conversation with one or two people which helps to get me out of my shell.

At home I was by myself a lot. My mom worked, not like crazy hours or anything, but I just remember being home alone a lot. It may not have been the reality but it is interesting what we remember being the norm and what may have actually been happening.

My brother is five years older than me so we were not really play mates. We may have been until he was 10 and then I was annoying to him, which to be fair I was quite annoying. I would go and try to find incriminating things in his room and I wouldn’t tell my mom I would just leave it out so he knew I saw it or that someone saw it. I know very weird, but don’t judge me you did strange things for attention when you were young too. Back off.  For example I found the swisher sweets in his drawer and left them on the dresser, or the No Dose caffeine pills, which I thought he was doing drugs but found out that they are like a cup of coffee. Without the stained teeth and bad breath.  I want to state for record. That my brother and I are much closer now. Now that I do not snoop through his things!

I did have a lot of friends in my neighborhood when I was young. But they were mostly older than me and not always the nicest. I remember once leaving one of their houses crying and then she ran up to me and slapped me for I have no idea what reason anymore, but I was just shocked. That is one memory I have where I did not speak up for myself. I wonder if I thought I deserved it or something. All the people treating me poorly, like it was consequences or something. I would let people do what they wanted to me and I did not have a back bone. This has changed but it took years to realize that I was worth it. I do not deserve to have people walk all over me. I do deserve good friends, not only deserve but need good friends. People that I can disagree with and not have to worry if they will still be my friends. Peers that are not using me or friends with me because I am weak and they can overpower me.

Carpe Diem, YOLO, insert other live for today mottos

So being a teacher does have its perks and I know that many of you will be rolling your eyes at this because it is kind of obvious. But if you have read any of my previous posts you will also understand that it is not as easy as some may think. One of the perks is the fact that I have the summer off. Now because I worked at a school that was practically year round with out the longer breaks that a year round school normally gets, our break is not as long as most.

Anyways I just went on a two week vacation. I traveled to Washington DC, then up to New York, and then to Boston.

We have been planning this trip since what feels like forever. And then it comes and goes kind of quickly. It reminds me of so many things that we anticipate for months and then is over in a few hours, a day, a week, you get the idea. I am already thinking about my next big thing. Which is not until the end of August, a concert, which is over in a night. I sometimes wonder why we do this. Because I am assuming I am not alone. I know we should be excited for events that are, for lack of a better word, exciting, but it makes me feel as though I am not truly living day by day but major event by major event. This is not just going against how we are suppose to live as Christ followers, but also as the world would like you to live as well. Carpe Diem, YOLO, insert other live for today mottos. Now how Christ followers and the world view living for today may be quite different, they still understand that today is all we have control over, or impact in.

 I do not know what tomorrow will be, I may have plans, but they can be thwarted at any minute. I only can do something right now. I can only control how I react to something right now. I can only change right now, I can only act right now. I can only chose right now. Right now is all we have, all we are guaranteed to have, I may not have tomorrow, or an hour.

I am trying to live each day. Some days might not be crazy eventful, but sometimes you need the quiet, the rest to build you up for the next thing. I remember reading a book back when I was wrestling with waiting and understanding what I was doing right now. (which I am thinking about going back to that book) its called When the Heart Waits, by Sue Monk Kidd. I thought it had some good things to say. I may not have agreed with everything in it. But it mainly said that sometimes when you are not feeling useful or particularly active it may be because you are to be delving in and working on yourself for the next big thing that God has for you.

Back to the trip. It was really good. I have never been to New York or Boston. So it was nice to see those places.

My major take aways  from each place.
Washington DC-Many well dressed young men. No joke. Lots of them. All over the place.

New York-tons of bad smells. (I really did love New York, this is just the things I always thought about)

Boston- Brick. Brick everywhere. Sidewalks, buildings, streets. Loved that.


Here are some pictures of my trip.

Here is beloved Lincoln

Oh the view from Lincoln's house, as I like to call it

Got to see the one, the only, Ed Sheeran in New York at the Today Show

View of south Manhattan from the top the Empire State Building

Oh and did I mention that I dyed my hair purple. It was on my 27 things to do before 28 list.

Media month

So I have been slacking a bit. This month is Waste. So you are to be mindful of the things you throw away, recycle, re use etc. This month was suppose to start on the 16th of June. Oopps.

So I am beginning now. These are the seven things I am going to try and cut down on.

1. taking bags with me to the store
2. no plastic water bottles.
3. bringing my own coffee container to coffee shops ( I am blanking on what they are called so I am calling it a coffee container, lol)
4. recycling as much as possible
5. not eating out as much  eating the food in refrigerator
6.only buying thrift and second hand
7. buying local at the farmers market.

Now the hard thing about this is that I am going on a two week vacation for oh yeah two weeks, I already said that. SO I am going to bring a water bottle to reuse and a coffee container (see explanation above).

Anyway this is not going to be my best month, I can see it in my future.

I just want to be apart of something. no whiney voice necessary

As most of you know I went on a trip to Haiti at the end of March. I went with an uncertainty of my future and a restlessness about where I was currently. I came back with ideas and thoughts of where I could be, what I could get involved in and a faint idea of a purpose.

My purpose is still quite hazy. I have taken a job next year as a teacher in a very small private school which I believe will heal me where teaching is concerned.

I really wanted to get involved in the Haiti project that we went down there with but it is seeming to be impossible. I have emailed numerous times, I have given my phone number, I have given the times that I can be reached. There have been correspondences back through email but that has been few and far between. I know that people are busy, but because of this lack of interest on their part, my lack of interest is waning. I fear that I am in some ways losing my drive and passion that I had when I first returned. I was setting up meetings, contemplating what to do next and I still feel as though I am where I started. With no clear plan and no clear direction.

Do many people feel this way or just those that return to their hometown to live at home after university and nothing seems to be different except you. But then in some ways you feel as though you digress a bit because it is exhausting being the only difference in the unchanging landscape around you,.

I thought I came back a few months ago with a little less fogginess where my future is concerned but I, in this moment, feel as I did in Haiti, lost and confused.

I am trying to think of what God would have me do now and not simply months from now, but I do not sense a lot of nudging.  Maybe that means stay put and be patient but I feel as though that is exactly what I have been doing for the past three years. but if I am truly being honest maybe I have just started pursuing this "What's next?" attitude for the last few months.

I wrote in my journal a few weeks ago "I just want to be apart of something." It doesn't necessary have to be something big but something that is making a difference. I followed that up with "God please help me to find a place to be this year."

That is my hope and prayer for this school year. To be apart of something and to find a place to be.

A few things I have around my room to remind myself that He is in control and right now will not be the best time of my life, (hopefully) HA.