e.l.f.

I recently discovered e.l.f. (eyes-lips-face) makeup. They're a company that produces inexpensive cosmetics that are supposed to compete with the high end brands such as Urban Decay, Smashbox, MAC, etc. I didn't know anything about them until Groupon had a deal last week for $35 worth of makeup for $15. I decided to take a look at their website to see what they had, and I immediately wanted so many things! Their products range anywhere from $1 - $6 for individual items. They also have kits and packages you can purchase, that are more expensive, but I’ve noticed they’re not necessarily a better deal. They cost the same as buying the items individually, so if there’s something in the kit that you’re not very interested, search for the items and add them to your cart separately. Then you can still have all the items in the kit, but you at least have them in your choices of colors, styles, etc.

So, after discovering e.l.f., I called my mom and asked if my parents had any plans for my upcoming birthday gift yet. She said no, so I asked for money to buy their makeup. My current makeup collection is several years old and makeup can go bad, and I had been hoping to update/overhaul it anyway, so it all worked out! After signing up for e.l.f.’s mailing list, I was sent a code for 50% off their Studio line of products so I wanted to order before the code expired. 

I hear from a lot of different people  on their message boards and fb page that their basic shipping was pretty terrible. It’s $6.95, you have to wait approximately 5 days for processing, then another 5+ days for the item to ship to you. I paid and extra $4.95 ($11.90 total) for the 3 day shipping, which was 1 day processing time, then 3 days to ship FedEx Priority. Unfortunately, they won’t deliver on weekends, so this extended my ship time, but I think it was worth the extra money not to have to wait 2 weeks for my order to arrive. My shipment came in yesterday and this, ladies, is what you can get for $100 (plus shipping) and 50% off the Studio line from e.l.f.:

My dear boyfriend went down our apartment complex's office to pick up the package for me and he was very surprised by the size of the order also. He was expecting a small box, but nope! This is everything:

e.l.f. Studio Endless Eyes Pro Eyeshadow Palette – Limited Edition

e.l.f. Essential Professional Complete Set of 12 Brushes

e.l.f. Essential Nail Polish Sets (5 piece) in Hot

I wasn’t able to order everything I needed to revamp my makeup collection, so I went back and placed a much smaller order to pick up a few more things. That should be here on Tuesday. I also lucked out because e.l.f. also has a special coupon code for their facebook fans on their fb page that gives 52% off of the Studio line. The code expires Monday, June 27th, so if you’re interested, hurry on over there!

I’ve tried a few of the items and so far I’m in love! The foundation is fabulous. It doesn’t feel greasy or heavy on my skin. The e.l.f. Essential Super Glossy Lip Shine in Pink Kiss (#2806) is great. It’s a bit sticky, but it smells and tastes great. I’m wearing my e.l.f. Essential Waterproof Eyeliner Pen in Plum (#7307) and I found that it was easy to apply and have had no problems with it. The e.l.f. Studio Blush in Candid Coral (#83133) looks great with my complexion. I was iffy about this, thinking it would be too pink, but it’s not. I’m so excited for my other products to arrive! If there’s anything you would like me to review or take more photos of, just let me know!


Thank you mom and dad for helping me get all this! Great birthday present!

Free Glasses

So I managed to snag a pair of free glasses from Coastal Contacts this morning! They had a coupon code available on their Facebook page that was available at 9am, that when entered, zeroed out your order for the first 10,000 people to use the code. It was great! They announced the giveaway yesterday, so I had time to get my prescription and search around for a pair that I liked before trying to rush this morning.

I picked out this pair

I'm very excited. They're almost the complete opposite of the glasses I have now, so I'm excited to see how they look on me. AND, here's the best part, if I don't like them, I can return them free of charge as well. They even cover the shipping! The glasses will come with a cleaning kit and screwdriver also. Due to the expected volume of orders they will have, they glasses should arrive in about 10 days. Crossing my fingers they look great!

Also, if you haven't yet, check out my other blog here.

New Design...Again

So, my adventures in the digital world have led to my newest blog layout. I used pieces of the Lavender & Chicks Kit I downloaded and made the layout completely from scratch. I guess I can't say it's an original design since I used someone else's designs for the pieces, but the style is all mine. It took me quite a while to track down the right CSS code to make my margins fit correctly, and I won't tell you how many times I had to edit the size of my background photo (quite a few) to get it to be just right, but I DID IT!

I think what I'm most proud of is that I am self taught in all of this. I have never taken a class on html, css coding, digital photography/manipulation, and I have to use Microsoft PowerPoint to do all of my photo editing because I do not have Photoshop. Yes I do some website editing for work, but we use a program called Teamsite that has everything pre-templated for you, no real code editing involved. It's similar to Dreamweaver. BUT, now that I'm learning more and more, I can put this knowledge to use at work as well.

Thanks for taking the time to listen to me gloat :)

Digital Scrapbooking

I've decided that I'm going to learn how to scrapbook digitally as well as by paper. I keep seeing all these cute desktop backgrounds and photo pages and I want to be able to create some of my own. Even though I don't have photoshop, I'm going to learn how to do it. So I've spent a great deal of time going to different places online and downloading any free packs I can find to start being creative! Wish me luck!

******UPDATE******

Success! At least I hope so :) This is my first creation using some of the digital art pieces I downloaded and PowerPoint 2010

New Design

So, I've taken some time and am learning more and more about css and html code, and was able to maneuver my way through to create this design on my blog. Granted, I acquired the background from another site, but I was able to successfully manipulate the code, and the header to make it my own. This including downloading new fonts, using PowerPoint to edit my header photo, use code to edit the fonts of my post titles and sidebar titles, and much more. I didn't realize how time consuming it could be, but I have done it! I also started a new blog first to test out my skills, but now I think I will keep both. Not sure how different they will be or if I will  just switch over to the new one eventually, but for now, they both stay.

Yay for Thursday, because it's almost Friday, and almost a 3 day weekend! Can't wait! I'm exhausted.

This is for George

My New Desk Accessory

As you may or may not know, I work at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. My mom got me this cool pen that looks like a syringe for me desk. It even has red ink! Great prop. Thanks mom!

Finally back home

So our trip to Knoxville was a success! We were able to transfer all of George’s things to a location in Knoxville where they will be safe until we can manage to get them to California. It was a lot of work, and it was A LOT warmer than we had planned for on the days we moved, but we made it through!

We didn’t end up having much time or money to do a lot while out there, but we did manage to make it to the Knoxville Zoo! That was a lot of fun. They had a few exhibits that I haven’t seen in other places, like their Red Panda Village and Black Bear Falls. They had bald eagles, rhinos, gazelle, and more. Those little pandas were adorable! They were full of energy and never stopped moving (well except for the ONE that was asleep).

We didn't take many pictures because we didn’t do much, but I still had a good time! I’m very glad for the experience. I was very glad to be home. I missed my kitties and my own bed. Snickers and Spike were so happy to be home! They had been stressed out away from home, and it took Spike all of 10 minutes to realize he was home and he was back to his normal self. Snickers was even faster. 

It was right back to work the next day after getting home, so I'm glad it is already the weekend! In a few hours at least. I won't get to sleep in tomorrow though since I'm going to UC Davis's 97th Annual Picnic Day with George and my mom. I'm very excited about this. I haven't been in a few years and George has never, so it'll be a fun experience. I'm excited to see what the Cal Aggie Marching Band-uh! has in store for this year's performance. They choose a different theme every year to guide their song choice and performance. My freshman year at Davis, I believe Pirates of the Caribbean was the theme. Sadly I didn't get to participate due to illness, but I was still there to watch my fellow band-geeks perform and I'm glad to be going back this year. Hopefully we'll get to take lots of pictures!

Speaking of which, I used to hate pictures, but now I've come to find I love taking pictures if they're with people I love! I'm glad I've changed my mind about them. I want to have as many memories saved in photographic form as I possibly can :)

I'll try to update with pictures from the zoo as soon as I can.