Guest Post: Kristen!!

Hi everyone! I'm Kristen and I blog over at Joyful Ramblings. 

I'm a Kansas native/Newlywed (kind of anyway)/Dog Mother/Student who loves to blog about a variety of things such as fashion, books, cooking, beauty, reviews etc. I thought today I'd share some of my reviews on luminizers!

I did a Foundation Primer review a while back, and like those, I've also gotten quite the collection of Luminizer samples.

So....here are these reviews.

And I should say that I mix it with my foundation before I apply it on my face.

{Lancome Eclat Miracle}

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Honestly, not such a big fan.

It's too liquidly, I had to shake it so it wouldn't be as watery.

And it comes in white, which I also really don't like.

{Stila Illuminating Tinted Moisturizer}

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It's thick, which I like.

But I honestly couldn't tell that much more of a difference with it on then without it.

Maybe you need to use more, but I don't like to use a whole lot.

 Maybe I needed to use the darker shade (there are two shades, which is nice).

I really wanted to like this, and would've if I could tell a difference. But like I said, maybe I would be able to in the darker shade.

{Clinique Up-Lighting Liquid Illuminator}

Via.

This is the only full sized one I've ever bought.

And that may have been two years ago...

I honestly haven't used it every day though. Partly because when I first bought it, I hardly used it. Then I did start using it, and then I got all these samples!

But I really like it. 

You can buy it in two shades (I bought mine in Bronze). I love that you can buy it as a skin tone shade.

And I can definitely tell a difference when I use versus not.

{Brite Prep FX}

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This one didn't wow me at all. It was of a medium thickness and I just could not tell a difference at all. It was a fast no for me on this product.

Thanks for hosting me Allison! :)

Guest Post: Jenn!!

Hi!

I'm Jenn and I blog over at Bliss to Bean.

I am a SAHW and am always in the kitchen!
I'm all about trying different recipes, 

from easy to complex.

When I'm making 3 meals a day, I need a few simple

recipes to keep in my back pocket.

Here's one of my husband's favorites:

Level: EASY

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Ingredients:

3 slices of deli ham

3 slices of good quality Swiss cheese

3 organic chicken breasts

Panko breadcrumbs

salt/pepper

{You can adapt for however many pieces you need,

the organic chicken comes in the 3, so that's what I use}

Instructions:
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees

Cover a baking sheet with tinfoil for easy clean up

You'll need a mallet to pound the chicken out

and I use a ziploc bag to put the chicken in while I do so

{Put on a cutting board or towel, don't ruin your counter tops!}

Pound each breast until they're about 1/4 inch thick

Season with salt and pepper

Place the ham and cheese on chicken and roll up 

Secure with 2 or 3 toothpicks

Sprinkle Panko breadcrumbs on top for a crunch

and bake for 30-35 minutes

{cheese will ooze out}

You can add a little extra cheese and 

melt for 2 minutes when finished as well

I adapted the recipe from here

Serve with a salad and some crusty bread!

My husband says it tastes like lobster--not 

so sure about that, but it is quite tasty!
You can play around with the flavors; try a sweet honey ham or smoked ham

You could switch up the cheese for an earthier Gruyere or sweeter kind.

It's not hard to make healthy affordable meals, just build a good library of reliable recipes.

See here for some more of mine!
Let me know if you try it, I'd love to hear!

Guest Post: Lia Joy!!

Hi ya'll! I'm Lia Joy from life is aMAYESing! I'm so happy to be here guest posting for Allison while she's away!

I'm here to talk about something very important....

St. Patty's Day!

As you know, Saturday is St. Patty's Day! I'm going to share some fun {and green} St. Patty's Day recipes and ideas! It's a great excuse to have a party or just a small get-together of friends!

Green Velvet Cupcakes

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Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Mint Shamrock Shaped Cheesecakes

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Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cake

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Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

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If you're planning to have a party, you have to have some decorations!

Do you have big plans for St. Patty's Day?

Come say hi over at life is aMAYESing! And don't forget to wear your green!

Guest post: Sarah!!

Hi Everyone, it's Sarah here from Shorelines and Sunshine. I'm thrilled to be guest posting on Allison's blog because I love reading her posts and I think she's wonderful.

As the winter months wind down, and the temperature creeps up, I thought I'd share with you all some of my favorite things about winter that I'll miss. I know, you all probably think I'm crazy for missing winter, but really, this year we didn't having much of one, and I didn't spend nearly enough time in sweaters or drinking tea. Here we go!

1. Cozy sweaters. Being warm in the winter months is really important to me because I'm one of those people who are always cold. A good chunky cable knit is one of my favorite things, and I love the look of wool sweaters with jewelry.

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2. Hot coffee. It seems like one of the simplest things, but hot coffee isn't really all that great in the middle of summer. That's generally when I crazy iced coffee, but that's a whole other story. Hot coffee really warms me up from head to toe, and I can't think of a happier and friendlier place to meet than a coffee house - not Starbucks.

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3. Cotton socks. They're under appreciated. My favorite have to be the camp socks from J.Crew, and yes, they're mens. I know when I get back from a long and stressful day, putting on my camp socks make everything better. I know I'm not going out for the night, and I plan on staying in and relaxing. You can really only have good associations with these socks.

4. Dark nail polish. I'm going to miss this trend come summer time, I can already feel it. Just this past winter alone, I stocked up on my dark colors and I loved them, maybe even a little too much. I think wintertime is the perfect time to try new nail colors, especially since the weather is so gross, you need something to cheer you up.

5. Circle scarves. These were another trend of the season that I didn't miss out on. I love this one from AVintageObsession from Etsy. The color would go with nearly any coat, and they're so easy and versatile to wear. If you haven't already picked one out this winter, do so at the sales coming up.

I hope you all enjoyed my post about what I'm going to miss come springtime. What are you going to miss the most about winter, or nothing at all?