All About Eyes

The Foundation

MAC Fast Response Eye Cream

This stuff has caffeine in it to help a girl out with the puffiness!

MAC Select Cover-Up
I am loving the way this covers and hides my dark circles!

MAC Paint Pot in Painterly

The perfect base for eyeshadow ... stays put, won't allow creasing, and helps shadows last longer.

The Shadows

Blues, brown and purples are my basics for everyday. I love smoky eyes when going out at night! Here are a few of the colors I have in my make-up bag.

MAC Brulee

MAC Contrast

Urban Decay Freakshow

Urban Decay Twice Baked

Liners

Cover Girl Perfect Point Plus in Espresso
The best eyeliner I have ever used. Self-sharpening tip, easy to blend, smooth application.

MAC Greasestick in V

Just bought this, haven't tried just yet on my eyes, but love this purple color on the back of my hand!

Mascara

Rimmel Lycra Lash Extender in Black
My current fave. Anything that makes my lashes look longer and fuller, I am game.

Clean-Up

These little pads are awesome! Almay knows how to remove eye make-up and moisturize at the same time!

And there you have it, girls! A look into my daily make-up routine. My eyes are the only thing I spend time on each day ... this momma has got to look alive!! I do not use an all over concealer or powder, and the only thing that goes on my lips when I am running out the door is good old Medicated Chapstick (the only lip balm that doesn't dry out my lips or give them a nasty waxy feel). I keep my routine simple and under 10 minutes.

What is your daily routine like? What are some of your favorite colors and brands? What is a MUST-HAVE that every girl should have in her cosmetic bag?

Cherry Chill

These are yummy.

Did y'all miss me?

Yep, that's me ... blogging on vacation. I so wish I could have posted more last week, but between my kiddos having high fevers for half the trip (boo!) and the sunny, hot weather (yay!), I had to step away for a bit. We spent the week in southern California, hittin' up DisneyLand for a couple days and spending the rest of our time out in the desert cities of Indio and Palm Desert. I shopped my little heart out at the Desert Hills Premium Outlets (just about any designer you can think of has an outlet store at this mecca of all outlets!!), and I soaked up all the sunshine and heat (105 degrees!!) that I could.

We ate great food (including at In-N-Out, which we don't have here in Oregon), and I loved being with my 3 boys, relaxing and having a good time. I also started (and almost finished) New Moon ... I just couldn't help myself! I was going to try to wait to see the movie first (like I did with Twilight), but I needed an Edward and Bella fix.

While I am definitely missing the sunshine, it is always good to be home! I am loving Oregon's fall weather ... so beautiful!! ♥

And now back to my regularly scheduled blogging ... Happy Monday!!

While I Am Away ...

I am loving this song right now ... don't be scuured to dance around the room. You know I am!!

.

Please excuse me.

Not a lot of blogging this week, as I am enjoying sunny California with my fam. Be back soon with lots of fun pics!! Have an awesome week!! xoxo

I need ...

... a new ringtone for my BlackBerry.

I am officially sick of Boom Boom Pow.

What are you rockin' on your phone?

Party Time

My little guy turns 3 this month (although he will tell you he is 10), and he wanted to have a costume party with our close friends and family. Months ago, Sean became enamored with Batman and Robin. So I started shopping around for themed items for his party. Then, a few weeks ago, we learned that the most awesome guy in the world, Robin, was a part of a superhero group called the Teen Titans. This is when the obsession started. Everything in this little boy's life is so much cooler now that the Teen Titans are involved. Of course, with my luck, these guys are the hardest to find in stores. Good old eBay was my magic ticket to finding the few gifts that I did, and being that Teen Titans are so rare and hard to find, some of the prices I have seen for action figures and such are unbelievably ridiculous! Needless to say, I scored a few decent deals and made my little man's heart jump for joy.

I still incorporated Batman into the mix with the decorations I had already purchased, and also made a few custom order requests for the big event. Has anyone heard of A Dozen Eggs cookies? Who out there loves sugar cookies? Oh my goodness ... these cookies are A.MAZE.ING!! I have seen random bloggers raving about this company, and thought I'd give them a try. I contacted Dave and discussed the birthday theme, and was so pleased at the awesome communication and enthusiasm for my request. The cookies all arrived safely, none broken, and tasted fresh and oh-so-yummy!! They were a huge hit with all our guests, and looked great displayed out on the tables. Check out A Dozen Eggs' blog to see how they went about making our cookies!

I also found a cute little shop on Etsy called Sweet Lollipop Shop that made me cotton candy flavored Batman lollipops! They were so cute, arrived safely as well, and the seller was very nice to work with. I highly recommend these two shops for your next event!!

The party was a hit, and we had so much fun celebrating!!
Happy Birthday, Little Man!!

Wordless Wednesday

i ♥ my boys.

Fall Decor

So not a fan of the theme of Halloween, but I love the harvest season! Here's a few things I have come across that I would love to decorate with ....

Found Here

Found Here

Found Here

My Hours

I think I have (un)officially decided that my blog times are gonna be Mondays through Thursdays. Unless I can get enough convincing, I will just keep these days for new posts. It seems as though comments are down lately (back to school?), and almost no-one ever comments on the weekends. I get the busy-ness of weekends, so I am totally cool with that. What do you all think? Do you notice slower blog traffic on the weekends, too?

Tweet Tweet

I Twitter, although I am not quite sure why. It feels as if I am talking to myself. No one ever responds to my status updates, and I really don't know if anyone really cares what I am doing at random moments in the day. But I tweet anyways ... for those of my followers who wanna know what I am up to. I am definitely not up on the lingo and proper re-posting guidelines, but for those of you on Twitter and wanna follow me, here's my link ... just click on the funny picture I found through Google Images.

Copycat

Browsing through an older issue of People, I came across a book review that made my mouth water! America's Most Wanted Recipes by Ron Douglas is on my Barnes and Noble wish list! Apparently this guy and his wife have tried to crack the secret recipes of famous restaurants and food chains, and have come pretty darn close (if not, exact) to mastering them. Taco Bell Burritos, Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Buscuits, and even KFC's top secret recipe ... all included in this tell-all recipe book. If I come across it, I'll give my yay or nay review ... has anyone else seen this yet?

All The Single Babies ...

See more funny videos and TBT Videos at Today's Big Thing.

Giveaway Winner!!!

Thanks so much to all who entered the Home Sweet Walls Giveaway!! Your kind comments are so much appreciated, especially to Home Sweet Walls who has peeked in on the entries!
The lucky winner is ...

#3 Betsy

Betsy said...
I really love these decals! So cute! The chalkboard decals are such a great idea! Don't ya just love Etsy!

Yay!! Congrats!!

If you would like to order your favorite wall art, I have set up a link in my sidebar that will take you directly to the Etsy shop of Home Sweet Walls.
Thanks again to all my followers ... the next giveaway is in just a few weeks!!

Nursing the Wounds

I love dressing up. Getting all girly and rockin' the heels is one thing I highly look forward to. These last two weekends, I celebrated a bachelorette party, 3 weddings, and a girls night out! All perfect events to get dressed up for! So exciting and fun!! However, every pair of stillettos that I wear for longer than an hour result in P.A.I.N!!! I have yet to find a comfortable pair of hot pumps over 3 inches tall. Blisters and throbbing feet are not fun to deal with by the end of the night and throughout the following days.

So, let's hear it girls ... what is your favorite, most comfortable brand of high heel shoes? I am talkin' sexy, perfect for dancing the night away, oh-so-drool worthy, makes a girl wanna smile, lovelies! If I don't find some new heels, I'll be wearing flip flops to my next outing!!

Picture courtesy of The Devil Wears Prada

T.G.I.F.

Be sure to enter the giveaway that ends on Monday, and ask me a question, or two, or three!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend ... I have a wedding tonight, and Girls Night Out on Saturday night - woot woot!! Hubby is so awesome to be entertaining our boys while I go out and play!!

Yo Quiero

Yeah. I can't help but love this place. Tacos, mexican pizzas, nachos, and bean burritos. So not good when you are counting calories, but so.my.weakness!

And perfect for this time of the month. LOL!

Wordless Wednesday

Don't forget to enter the giveaway!!

Lucky Girl

The oh-so-sweet R. Wallis over at True Beauty ... Inside and Out hosted a fun giveaway event on her blog, and I was a winner!! Yay!! As soon as I can peel away from my vampire love affair, this book is next up on my reading list! It looks very inspirational, and I'll be sure to give my review when I read it. How hot is that bookmark going to look in my Twilight books? Thank you so much R. Wallis for your generosity ... I love checking in on your blog each day!! ♥

Home Sweet Walls ... a Giveaway!

I am a big Etsy fan. Whenever I am looking for a unique gift, or something special for my home, I look to Etsy first. I bookmark favorite sellers, and drool over their stores as I debate on what to purchase.

As in past giveaways, I contacted a very sweet seller who responded kindly to my giveaway request. Home Sweet Walls is a shop that offers high-quality vinyl wall art for your home to add special touches throughout. This wonderful company will also work with you for special orders, so please don't hesitate to contact them for your own ideas. Fun, easy, and mess free, you will be thrilled with these designs!! They come complete with easy-to-follow directions and can be easily removed if need be (perfect for temporary residences or for you gals who like frequent change!).

Up for giveaway from Home Sweet Walls is the perfect-for-fall Branch with Birdhouse (small) design. What a sweet accent in your entryway, or family room even! To enter, you gotta be a follower of my blog! Second, please visit Home Sweet Walls on Etsy and tell me what your absolute fave design is and where you would put it in your home. Then come back here and leave a comment. If you wanna post on facebook or twitter, you get extra entries! Just let me know you did so. Giveaway ends Monday, September 28th and winners will be announced that evening!

Open Book - Part 2

A few months back, I opened up an opportunity for all my awesome friends and readers who wanted to get to know me better to ask me questions to answer here on my blog. This was so much fun for me, and being I have more followers since then (yay!!), I'd like to do it again!!

So here's your chance ... ask away! I am a very open and honest person, so any and all questions will be answered ... fun, crazy, personal, whatever!! I'll leave this open for a few days, then will re-post with my answers. What do you wanna know??

Stay Tuned ...

Next giveaway starts on Monday!!!

Be sure you are a follower!! ♥

Triple the Fun!!

Calling all Nordstrom shoppers ... starting today, September 16th through September 20th is the Fall Fashion Week Event, which earns all you Nordstrom Visa and MOD cardholders TRIPLE REWARDS!! Yep, triple the points for your purchases made during these 5 days!!

You'll know where to find me. Just don't tell my hubby. Ha, ha!!

A Classic Never Dies ...

My absolute favorite movie ... Rest in Peace, Patrick Swayze.

Catching Up

Sorry for the late post today ... I wish I could say that I was out at a 5-star resort being pampered all day in the luxurious spa, sippin' on martinis and laughing it up with the girls, but I was not. Boo! I have been cleaning house ... no, not fun, but long overdue!! It feels good at the end of the day, when the house sparkles and smells sun-shiny fresh! Bedding is clean, everything dusted and vacuumed, bathrooms are bleached, and the carpets are all spot cleaned! Whew!

My friend today was this cleaner that became a miracle worker on the carpets ... Spot Shot. I got it at the grocery store. It claims no scrubbing necessary, but with kids and a dog, I was scrubbing out all the mysterious spots that no one could identify or remember how they got there (of course). The stains are now gone and I got a great arm work-out in the process - double score!!

Hope you all enjoyed your Monday ... that martini idea sounds a bit tempting now!

We Will Never Forget 9/11

In my thoughts and prayers today.

God Bless

My Big Boy!!

My 5-year-old, Maddox, started kindergarten today!!! He was so excited for his big day!!

I love you, Bubba!! ♥

Paid to Shop!

I know I have mentioned this company a time or two already here on my blog, but for those of you who shop online, please take advantage of this site that PAYS YOU TO SHOP!!! Seriously! Ebates is an online site that works with hundreds of companies, many of which I know you shop, and pays you cash (in a big fat check sent right to your house!) for shopping through their site. Sign up is super simple and quick. In fact, you can earn bonus cash by adding my email address aprilbaker23@yahoo.com as your referral! Go sign up, add my email address, and start earning your cash while you shop!!

Here's how it works ... log-in to your Ebates account, find the store you wanna shop and click on it. Ebates will then open up a tracking ticket and connect you directly to the desired store. Shop as you normally would, and after you check out (within a day or two) cash is deposited into our Ebates account. Cash back values are listed next to each store and are rewarded according to your purchase total. For example, if you were to shop at Victoria's Secret through ebates, the current cash back rate is 2%, Sephora is at 4%, and American Eagle is at 3%. Just about any store is on their list, and the rates go up all the time (especially during the holiday season). I shopped for most of my Christmas gifts through Ebates last year and earned over $70! No joke! Ebates sends their checks every 3 months, and you simply cash them out. No annoying 'you can only use your credit here' mumbo jumbo ... CASH, PEOPLE!!

Go check it out and don't forget to add my email address as your referral ... we will both benefit from it!! We will both get $5 each after you sign-up and make your first purchase!

Newbies

New shows this season ... I'll be checking out the premieres. Not sure if they will spark an interest, but you never know!

Melrose Place. Tuesdays. 9pm. Starts 9/8 on CW. I didn't watch this one in it's original series, but I am really enjoying the new 90210, so why not give this one a chance?

The Vampire Diaries. Thursdays. 8pm. Starts 9/10 on CW. Being the Twilight fan that I am, why not divulge into another vampy love story?

Eastwick. Wednesdays. 10pm. Starts 9/23 on ABC. First vampires, now witches? Looking a little like Charmed, only more light-hearted maybe? To be honest, I really just wanna see one of my fave actresses, Lindsay Price. I miss her so terribly much since the oh-so-fabulous Lipstick Jungle was cancelled (yeah. I am still bitter over that one).

What new shows are you going to be checking out? Do share, I may need to tune in!!

Returning Faves

Another great perk of the new season? Returning TV favorites!! So exciting!!

90210 . Tuesdays . 8pm . CW

The Hills . Tuesdays . 10pm . MTV

The Office . Thursdays . 9pm . NBC

Ghost Whisperer . Fridays . 8pm . CBS

Dollhouse . Fridays . 9pm . Fox

What are your returning faves?

Facebook Funny

Wanna Shop?

Head on over to Jackie's blog to enter to win one of her Carter's and Osh Kosh B'Gosh giveaways!! We shopped the outlets at the beach this last weekend and stocked up on some fall clothes for our kids! Her contest runs until the 11th, so hurry and enter!!