Think of it Thursday.

So there of course comes a time in life where we just sit around and think about things that we WANT, but simply cannot justify the price tag.  I mean to be honest, that happens to me on the daily.  I love shopping and I love buying things but it's not always practical.  Whats better than actually purchasing?  Thinking about things we love and want to buy, so welcome to Think of it Thursday.  I was inspired by Damsel in Dior (Jacey Duprie) to do this series because she does one called "What I want Wednesday," and I absolutely love it.

So to start, I absolutely love this purse.  The style is so practical and it's not that big.  There is a strap to carry the bag in the crook of your arm as well as over the shoulder or cross body.  The color is perfect too, remember when mint was all the rage last spring?  This year, black and white is on mega trend so this combination is great.  Kate Spade never disappoints.  

I think I have talked about this candle before, Eucalyptus Spearmint from Bath and Body Works.  This is one of my all time favorites because the scent is so relaxing.  I have a couple of back-ups at home now, but you can never have enough of a great thing! ;)

Now Revlon is not an expensive brand, it's from the drugstore!  If I was to randomly get one thing on this list today, it would probably be the Nearly Naked line from Revlon.  When it first came out, I wanted to try them and I have heard nothing but great things about the line.

The new Mac Mineralize Rich Lipsticks look so awesome.  I love the color range but the price is a little ridiculous.  I can't wait to try them out because I already love the normal lipsticks from Mac that I have a thousand of (unhealthy I know).

Look at those Steve Madden sandals.....:O.  I just LOVE them.  Just a little tip when searching for a great pair of Steve Maddens in general: Check your local DSW or the DSW website.  Sometimes, you can find the shoes you are looking for at a fraction of the cost.  Marshalls, too!

The Forever 21 embroidered dress is super adorable and great for spring and summer.  I think I'd be rocking this as a cover-up on the beach or just to relax and kick back around the house.  I can definitely see myself just laying outside wearing this dress on my back deck, lol.

I have always been a fan of patterned pants but these from J. Crew just about push the envelope and I think I am in LOVE.  Not saying that I would pair the two, but this collared eyelet tee is cute for spring.  Peach is subtle and great for someone who wants to try color and normally doesn't wear it.

I love DailyLook so much.  I first heard about it on YouTube and have found myself going back to the website a ton to see what they have paired together.  If you are looking for some fashion inspiration, this is the perfect place to go.  This look is perfect for spring.  White and a corall-y pink are spring chic.

Last but not least is this great Peter Pan collar from Forever 21.  I only have one of these in my collection but I love this one.  These collars always have the ability to amp up anything you are wearing and add a statement to something that was once considered plain.

Send me a tweet or leave something awesome in the comments!  I hope you all enjoyed this post.  I was super inspired by Damsel in Dior and I want to do these every week!  All the photo's here belong to the respective sites.   Thank you for reading.

Xoxo-Brit.

Relaxing fashion.

When I get home from work and the majority of my day is over, I want to do nothing more than sit at my computer and read blogs for the rest of the day.  I absolutely love dressing up and looking great, but  loungewear is perfection in my eyes.

I was in Forever 21 last month and I picked up this great cream colored sweater.  Now this isn't your normal cable knit sweater, the fit is loose and relaxed with an open knit, diagonal pattern.  I love the simplicity and comfort it provides for just relaxing at home with some coffee or tea on a rainy afternoon just like today.  Don't get me wrong, you can absolutely throw a denim button up underneath this sweater and wear it with jeans and boots for a shopping day with the girls, but I love it for relaxing.

To go with the sweater is a classic pear of yoga pants from Victoria's Secret Pink.  Who doesn't love them, right?  These are just so comfortable and always make me feel relaxed but not sloppy.  Sometimes when you're chilling at home you want to feel relaxed but not like a bum, and I love these pants for that reason.

On the feet are my absolutely adorable booties that I got for Christmas from Judy, I love her so much!  These are by Rocket Dog and exactly what I was looking for but couldn't seem to find, thats why I was thrilled to receive them.  The booties are so comfortable and warm.  In this case they even go with my sweater, in love!

I hope you guys liked this quick little post on fashion for relaxation.  I love feeling calm, cool and collected and this outfit is exactly what I need some days after work.  Okay, every single day after work.  What do you all wear when you get home from work?  Share it in the comments or send me a tweet!  Thank you for reading.

Xoxo-Brit.

M is for Monday.

So everyone seems to hate Monday's but recently I have been loving them.  I think I have touched on this once here before, but the reason why is since I graduated from school, I have been looking for a job.  On the week days, HR managers are more prone to look at applications while on the weekend they obviously aren't.  With that being said, there is a certain amount of gloom that comes with a Monday simply due to the fact that the weekend is so far away.

My manicure for this Monday is Cajun Shrimp by OPI.  I have been using OPI polishes lately because my nails have been feeling brittle and broken, which normally they don't.  As soon as I feel this happening, I always gravitate towards an OPI polish because the hardeners in it work wonders on my nails.  Not only this, but the polish dries extremely quickly and works alongside other measures I am taking to keep my nails growing and healthy.  Not to mention the color is absolutely adorable and I am just craving spring and summer.

My mug for Monday is full of coconut tea, it's absolutely wonderful.  Making it more wonderful?  It's in my #1 Grad mug ;).  I always drink this tea because it makes me think that im on an island somewhere when in reality I am smack dead in the middle of winter.  Well, maybe not too far away, 22 days!

Mangoes are on sale this week at Shoprite and you can bet that I stocked up.  I absolutely love them.  If you don't see a theme here, I love everything thats seen as tropical.  I don't know why but if I was asked, I could probably live in a hut on the beach somewhere.  The mango that I had today was phenomenal.  I don't know when they are supposed to be the best (the most ripe?) but the one I ate today was so fresh, naturally sweet and surprisingly easy to peel.  I normally eat my mangoes like an apple (but I peel them first of course).  Peeling them always annoys me so much though, I can't stand how long it takes, but its always worth it in the end.  The taste is so good and so healthy!  Apparently mango intake lowers cholesterol, can help clear your skin and boost your immune                   system due to antioxidants found inside, yummmm.

My music for Monday is the song "I Love It" by Icona Pop.  This song is my jam lately.  I love to run to it, sing it, share it with my friends and everything.  The song is so catchy and really funny if you listen to the words, check it out.

I hope you liked this "M is for Monday" post!  I thought about just uploading my "Manicure Monday" but I figured why not talk about things that start for M that were a part of my Monday?  Leave a comment or tweet me and let me know you read it!  Thank you for reading.

Xoxo-Brit.

Ways to relieve stress, motivate yourself and stay positive!

I have recently been doing a lot of thinking about a lot of things.  I know what you're thinking, oh boy... here she goes.  Go ahead and think that, but I know that some of these things are probably on your mind also.  I know that things can easily get stressful in anyones life, no matter where you are.  There are some things that are out of our control.  At times, we get this feeling that we can't take it anymore and that we want to give up.  Do you ever have this feeling?  Well today, I want to talk about some ways that you can briefly escape that feeling.  Sense I have been having those feelings lately, I figured I would let you know how I slip out of them and how I give myself some remedies for the blues.

Why do we tend to feel this way?

At least for me, I like to think that I can fix any problem.  I always tell myself that there is nothing that I cant handle and it's true, there isn't.  Sense in the past I have conquered everything that was thrown in my lap, I know that there isn't anything that I can't handle.  While this is valid, there are circumstances when things are out of your control.  There are mistakes that are not caused by you, but they impact you.  If this ever happens, its hard to, but you have to make sure you stop and constantly remind yourself that it isn't your fault.  If you know that you have done everything in your power to stop a mistake from happening and it happens anyway, then you should be content with yourself.  Do not let someone else's mistake, burden you... even if it impacts you.  I know this is hard to picture, but let me make it simple for you.  If it's not okay, its not the end because truly, everything is going to be okay in the end.  Take a deep breath and understand that you obviously took whatever control over the situation that was possible, and as long as you know in your heart that you gave it 100%, thats all that matters.

What are some temporary fixes?

Loving yourself is very important and I truly believe this in every way, shape and form.  Part of being able to effectively deal with problems in life and bumps in the road, is believing in the power of you.  This may sound cliche, but there are some things that can make you feel a little bit better about yourself on a daily basis; one of these things is setting goals for yourself.  By setting goals of any kind for yourself, you have something to look forward to.  Maintaining a positive attitude is possible in your life just got a little bit easier because knowing that you have a goal to accomplish, motivates you and brings you positivity daily.  If you don't think you can set a long term goal, that's fine.  Set a short term goal.  Daily goals are absolutely amazing, you can even set the goal to clean a room of your house daily or make sure you are eating at least three pieces of fruit daily, something of the like.  These goals are amazing and a morale booster for sure.  The best part about goals?  Seeing the results.  This will push you even further and encourage you to keep setting realistic goals that you can achieve.  

Pampering  yourself is another temporary fix.  Now when I say this, I don't mean "OMG!  Spa day with the girlssss!"  I know that it's not in the budget to go out and spend a ton of money on spoiling yourself, rightfully so.  With that being said, I truly believe that purchasing yourself something when you feel upset is a great idea.  This may sound a bit contradictory/controversial, but I am a 100% believer in retail therapy.  This isn't just because I love shopping, but its because introducing something new in your life gives you something to be excited about.  Set a budget for yourself and make it a small budget.  I am not saying that going out and buying expensive electronics, cars and jewelry is what you should do.  If there was a movie you wanted that came out on DVD recently, a new shirt you saw, a new set of towels for the bathroom or that new pair of headphones that you saw earlier in the week; go out and get one of them!  Let's face it, you absolutely deserve it and satisfying that craving is something that has a lot of potential to lead you in the right direction to becoming a more positive person.

Relax at home once in a while.  I am 23, I know that most kids my age are constantly out every single night hitting the clubs and bars at my home on the Jersey Shore.  Now normally I am not one to "party hardy," but I do go out every once in a while and yes, it is fun.  With that being said, staying home feels absolutely amazing.  When you are tired and feeling withdrawn from the day, there is nothing better than chilling at home.  If you like, take a bubble bath, light some candles.  I always have a candle going in my house and my favorite one for relaxation is Bath and Body Works Eucalyptus Mint, absolutely phenomenal and calms your right down.  Snuggle up with a great book or a movie.  Turn on that heated blanket and have a cup of tea.  Make yourself that box of brownies that you've had in the cabinet, it's okay to have a "free day" on the weekend (or substitute it for a day that you need it during the week)!  Do an at home pedicure and repaint your nails, do your hair and makeup for no reason, dance and sing around the house, there are countless ways to let out the steam and calm yourself down.

I hope this helped with some ways to de-stress.  If you would like, I can talk more about de-stressing and making life a little bit easier.  It doesn't have to be that hard, guys.  If anyone knows about stress, it's me but the best thing to do is believe in the power of you and positive thinking because if you don't have yourself then who do you really have, right?  The only person you are ever going to have even when you're alone, is you, that's why you need to take care of yourself!  Send me a tweet and let me know what you think!

Xoxo-Brit.

5 Outfits For The Work Week!

It's really easy to get carried away when you wake in the morning.  Thinking about all of the things you need to get done is just enough to drive you insane before you leave your bed and your feet hit the floor.  You race downstairs and you turn on the coffee (if you still aren't with the times and don't have a Keurig yet), you make sure all your ducks are in a row and then you start getting ready.  There is your skincare routine, your hair, your makeup and of course your outfit.

These outfits are a couple of simple ways that you can turn your drab feelings, into fab feelings in the morning.  Don't worry about freaking out and keep these simple ideas in the back of your head for when you're feeling over the top stressed and like theres nothing you can do.  You will end up walking out of the house with your head held high, looking professional and confident.

Outfit #1

This first outfit is amazingly cute.  I love this dress that I got from Forever 21.  The dress has adorable lace detailing on the wrists and the back (which is not pictured because we are trying to keep this as professional as possible) and pleats in the front.  I layered a black blazer over the top of the dress to cover the lace detail in the back and for a more polished look.  I cuffed the sleeves of the blazer to show the lace on the wrists because I love this detail and its acceptable at the office!  I have my Michael Kors gold watch on and my Forever 21 hair band that I just never took off but absolutely love.  Now I must admit, the shoes I have pictured (My Prabal Gurung's) may not be incredibly professional for the office but I absolutely love the pop of color amongst the black.  If you don't think you'll be rocking this in the office, try a classic  black heel with just the right amount of height.  A great thing about this outfit is that you can ditch the blazer and take it from day to night in two seconds!  If you'd like me to style it on the blog for night, let me know.

Outfit #2

This second outfit is great, its a lot of fun and professional at the same time.  I love the tweed skirt so much, it's from H&M.  The top is from Forever 2, a simple sheer black top that you can just layer a black tank top underneath.  If you must, you can always put a blazer on with this, but it really doesn't need it.  The single pleat in the front of the skirt is super cute.  The shoes are neutral sense we have so much color in the skirt.  I like that the nude shoes (from Aldo) make the legs look a little longer and don't take the attention away from the outfit.  If you wanted to, you could always opt for the classic black heel at an appropriate height for the office.

Outfit #3

For this outfit I decided to give two different options.  The skirt is absolutely perfect for spring with a blue floral pattern, it's from H&M.  The peplum top is a cream color from Forever 21 and the blazer on the left is a blush color that pairs great with the skirt's lighter colors, while the blazer on the right is just plain black.  There is just something about these shoes that I love with the outfit.  For some reason I am obsessed with the brown and blue combination and for some OTHER reason I love the brown shoes with the black blazer, this is normally a no-no for me and generally for anyone.  The shoes are from Aldo, they are so incredibly comfortable, perfect for the entire day at work.  

Outfit #4

This outfit is great.  I love the mixture of the bold pattern in the blouse and the peplum style in the skirt.  The top is from Forever 21 and has a great blue floral pattern with subtle button details.  The peplum pencil skirt is from Forever 21 as well.  The gray and blue go excellent together and the gray in the skirt brings out a small amount of gray in the top.  The shoes are the brown heels from Aldo.  This seems to me like a great outfit to wear on a Friday for some reason! ;)

Outfit #5

This outfit is adorable and seemingly more fitting for the spring/summer.  The white lace dress I have on is from Francesca's.  This is a great piece for layering, just as I do here.  Over the dress I have a black blazer and on the bottom, my most amazing pair of heels I will ever own, ORANGE HEELS,  Ugh, can we all just take a second to adore them..... Okay.  I love this outfit because it is super playful and fun at the same time.  Take this look from day tonight also by ditching the blazer and heading out!  I love this look.  The blazer is from H&M and the shoes are from Aldo.

I hope you all loved these five outfits that are professional and fun at the same time.  I wanted to also show how versatile some of the pieces in your closet can be.  There is no need to have a billion different black blazers and a million different pairs of heels.  As you can im sure realize by now, I don't have my black heels pictured.  I wore them the other day and couldn't find them, great.  Haha!  Let me know what you think in the comments below.  Am I forgetting something that is essential to your professional work outfits?  Granted, there are other more simple things that I often wear but these outfits were styled to show you how you can stop being so bored during the work week.  Hope you enjoyed!  Send me a tweet and let me know what you think or leave a comment below!

Xoxo-Brit. 

How to strengthen dry, dead hair!

Hi everyone!  How are you all today?  I have been waiting forever to post this and I don't know why but I want to talk to you all about how I nursed my hair back to health.  

The reason for this, is because my hair has been through a whole lot.  I never used to be the person that wanted to dye her hair but I got the strongest urge to do so when I was graduating from high school, so when i was 18.  At that time, I just wanted something about me to change, I was tired of being the same old me.  With that thought, I dyed my hair a little bit lighter (from my dirty blonde color) and it ended up looking strawberry blonde.  I didn't really like it so I dyed it lighter and pretty soon it was almost bleach blonde.  I loved it this way for a while but it got so difficult to maintain.  

A couple of years later I got tired of dying my hair so much and decided not to keep dying it and here I am today with a natural ombre.  I really love it, to be honest.  I like the way my hair looks right now but because of it being dyed so many times, it is very distressed and limp.  I also used to not take very care of my hair over the summers.  I just went in the ocean and never put conditioner in.  THIS IS VERY BAD.  

My #1 tip to you is if you are an avid swimmer like me (I swim in the ocean every day in the summer) make sure you use some leave-in conditioner when you come out.  If you swim a couple of times per day (like I do), just use a very little bit each time you come out of the water.  I use the Aveeno Leave-In Conditioner.  I love this because its pretty affordable from Target and it really keeps my hair extremely soft and detangled.  When my hair finally dries, you can tell that the Aveeno DS really worked because it dries amazingly soft unlike other DS's that satisfy the hair while it's wet but don't last until its dry.

Tip #2 to you is to invest in Moroccan Oil.  Now I know what you're thinking, it's expensive.  While this is true it is SO INCREDIBLY WORTH IT.  Can you tell by the caps?  Also, you may spend a lot of money on one bottle but it will last you a year, if not more.  It is definitely worth the investment.  I got my Moroccan Oil from the local beauty supply store at $42 for 3.4 oz, it's phenomenal.  Oils can be dangerous in the hair but if you just use one or two pumps of the oil and apply it to the ends and a little bit further up (make believe you are forming your hair into a ponytail and apply the oil from there down), the hair will be left feeling treated, soft and stronger.  Be careful not to put the oil on the top of your head or anywhere near your scalp, this will make your hair look and feel incredibly oily even when it dries.  There are antioxidants in the oil that literally make your hair feel like it is fortifying, strengthening and growing.  I never believed it when I read it online, but this is a miracle product and one I can't live without.

Now while leave-in conditioners and treatments from oil are great, they aren't for everyone.  With this being said, you absolutely cannot beat a great shampoo and conditioner.  Don't get me wrong, there are amazing high-end S&C's but I truly believe that the drugstore is where its at for amazing options.  Recently I wrote a post about a phenomenal shampoo and conditioner from Herbal Essence with honey in it and I do love that, but this one I love even more.  

Low and behold the Garnier Fructis Fall Fight Shampoo and Conditioner.  This system is absolutely amazing and the only reason why I picked it up from Target was because I was running out of the Herbal Essence and they didn't have it, it was on sale at the time also!  Caffeine, biotin and fruit vitamins are to thank because they are all inside of this variety of Garnier Fructis.  Now the shampoo and conditioner are suppose to stop hair from falling out of your head but I believe it does a lot more than that.  After using it for two weeks I have noticeably softer, stronger and shinier hair.  I notice also that my hair feels thicker.  Now normally I have always had thick hair but when i recently changed my diet and started eating a lot healthier I was loosing some hair and this shampoo and conditioner came to my rescue.  The formulation is phenomenal and you only need a small little bit.  I picked it up from Target for $2.50 for the shampoo and $2.50 for the conditioner!  You are basically stealing it (which I don't recommend you actually do)!

Tip #3 is to make sure that you are drinking water.  This helps not only your body stay hydrated but your hair to stay hydrated as well.  Water only does the body good!

Tip #4 is to take a hair, skin, nail vitamin!  I love these from Nature's Bounty and think they are pretty inexpensive, I picked mine up from Costco.  I have noticed that my dead ends are less plentiful and my hairs strength generally is consistant rather than feeling dead and limp one day and strong the next.

A lot of people used to tell me that you need to be getting hair cuts regularly to make sure that your hair stays as healthy as possible.  I don't really agree with this.  The reason I don't believe this is because your hair grows from your scalp, not your dead ends.

I hope you guys enjoyed this post.  I literally swear by all of these products and absolutely love them.  I would recommend them to any hair type to revive your broken hair.  My hair was in absolutely horrible shape and now it looks better than it ever did before, all thanks to products like these.  Do you guys have hair products that you can't live without?  Share them with me in the comments or send me a tweet!  Thanks for reading.

Xoxo-Brit.

Prabal Gurung for Target!

Okay everyone, I need you to please prepare yourself for how amazing this post is going to be.  The Prabal Gurung collection for Target came out in stores today and I was absolutely thrilled.  I went online to see what they were offering and instantly wanted like, 90% of the stuff.  I was off today so I literally ran to my Target and oogled over everything.  I instantly loved all of the clothes but the first two things that caught my eye were two pairs of shoes.

The first pair was the Pointy-Toe Pump Nolita Print.  These are absolutely stunning.  Not only is the color and print amazing on these but the shape is perfection.  When you think about a heel, this is exactly what you think of.  I absolutely love the 4" heel and walking in it (as I have done minimally so far) is an absolute dream.  

The second pair I unfortunately was unable to get but I will be ordering them online immediately.  There was just something about the Lace-up Pump Meet the Parents Print that I was lusting over.  Normally I don't prefer something like this but that was the reason why I was head over heals for it (see what I did there?).  The lace-up detail is darling and the floral print on the heel section is so cute.  These shoes are amazingly comfortable, it's scary.  When I tried them on in the store (a size too small) they were even comfortable.  The look is something so much different than I normally go for but I am dying for these.

The best thing about these shoes is that they were $39.99 each.  This is so affordable for a high end designers collection.  Now you may be saying that, "Brittany, duh its in Target it has to be affordable" but actually the Neiman Marcus collection was terribly overpriced.  I know some of the designers were huge, but regardless.

That's all I have for you guys today.  I was so excited to be able to pick up the one pair of shoes from the collection and I can't wait to get the others online.  When they come in I will have to share them with you!  I also think I might go back and buy one of the dresses from the collection as well, not sure which one yet.  Do you guys want to buy anything from the collection?  Did you already?  Do you like it?  Leave a discussion in the comments!  You can also send me a tweet.  Thank you for reading!

Xoxo-Brit.

PS-  I'm going to be a bit sneaky here and post this adorable little video that I made on my day off today.  Do you guys like Ed Sheeran?  I absolutely love him and made my own little stop motion music video to "Gold Rush."  Tweet it to Ed if you want.  Check it out and enjoy!

Fab finds Friday!

Hi everyone!  Taking a bit of a break from the massive overload of DIY's that I have been posting lately to bring you "Fab Finds Friday."  I figured thats fun and I wanted to show and tell some of the amazing things I found while shopping today.

First, I wanted to go to the mall so bad because I feel like it's been a century since I have been to the mall that I normally go to.  I have caught myself at places like Target, Old Navy and other things near my house that don't require the mall recently, I don't know why.  I'm not complaining and neither is my wallet.  For my birthday in January, my dad got me a gift card to H&M which was absolutely amazing!  I used some of the gift card in January when they had a big sale and I was looking forward to using it again.

I had my brother in tow because he wanted to get a few things, so that was almost like an added stress because he needs validation on every single outfit that he picks out, but I am not complaining.  Love him!  So the first place we went ended up being H&M.  I saw that they were having another sale where they had tons of things out priced between $10 and $30.  There were dresses, tops, pants, blazers and a ton of other things.  As I was glancing at stuff and rummaging through the racks, I wasn't really impressed with what they had on sale so I started to move on.  Sometimes I feel like H&M is a zoo or something.  There is so much great stuff everywhere, but you can't seem to stay focused because you are always distracted.  

After not being amused at the stuff in the sale section, I moved on and saw that all of their spring stuff is out and I was loving it.  There were great sweaters for $10 that felt really nice and they were adorable colors.  I didn't want to get myself another sweater though because I have so many of them that I already picked up from Old Navy and Forever 21 when I was shopping in the fall.  I quickly gravitated over to this amazing oxblood colored dress with a peter pan collar.  Holy cannoli, I am in LOVE.  The dress is absolutely amazing and there are so many things that I love about it.  

First of all, there is a peter pan collar (!!!).  Not only this, but high-lo hemlines are my weakness.  While this is true, I haven't found anything that I have been dying to own, until this dress.  I love the color, the collar and the hemline.  Also, check out the back!  I love that the collar doesn't just stop in the front like some dresses do.  This one goes all the way to the back of the neck and then fastens with a button and  a little mini slit so that the back is exposed just a litttttle bit!  If you want to wear a normal bra with this, just stick a bandeau on underneath and you are good to go.  I absolutely love it, it's perfection.  

Another great thing about this is the price tag: $24.95. 

My second amazing H&M find was a blazer.  Now anyone that really knows my style, knows that I LOVE blazers.  I have written about them on here before, but I just love the sleek look, the relaxed look and the professional look of a blazer.  I have a couple of them but I have recently been looking for a black one that is worthy of entering my collection.  Welcome to my life black divided blazer from H&M, I have finally found you!  Like you can see in the photo, there is nothing special about this blazer but it's just perfect.  The fit is a little boxy, but that is what I was looking for.  The reason I like this style and prefer it is because its professional and comfortable without sacrificing one or the other.  Amazing, amazing, amazing price tag on this of $15!  As you can see on the tag that I also have pictured, that is down from $24.95, AHHH!

My third finds at the mall was at Bath and Body Works.  Now I absolutely love this store and it's a store that I can't leave the mall without going to, if that makes any sense at all.  The candles are 2/$22 right now and that makes me soooooo happy.  The sale used to be 2/$20 but it hasn't been that way in a really long time, and I don't know if they'll end up bringing that price back.  With all that being said, I actually ended up not picking up my candles today, I plan on going and getting them tomorrow.  While I was in the store, I picked up these amazing Scentportables.  I LOVE these things, they are so adorable.  I remember when Bath and Body Works first launched them there were a couple of different shapes and they were a fun accessory to have in your car.  Now, they have a ton of different colors, shapes, animals, decorative things and more!  I got the scents pictured above for mine (which is currently a flamingo, my favorite animal ever!).  Usually the deal is buy three and get one free; today's deal was buy four and get two free, how can you pass that up?  The discs are $3 each!

My final stop of the evening was Target and it was here where I picked up a couple of things worth mentioning in this little haul of mine.  First of all, I needed two new toothbrushes!  One of course for my teeth, and one for my lips.  I hope I'm not the only weirdo that exfoliates by brushing her lips, but not with the same toothbrush I use for my teeth!  Secondly, I picked up more Crystal Light Liqud.  Now I know these things obviously aren't the best for you but they are a great way to add a little flavor to your water and spice it up a little.  The Dasani Drops are great too as you can see (I couldn't even wait to take photos, I had to open two of them!).  Finally, I got my absolute favorite trail mix, "A Handful of Everything," it has all of the amazing flavors listed on the packaging and is under 200 calories.  I like this for dessert on the weekend sometimes!

I hope you all enjoyed this little haul or Fabulous Finds Friday! :)  Is there anything you think I MUST try?  Have you guys just purchased anything interesting?  Send me a tweet and let me know!  Thank you for reading.

Xoxo-Brit.

DIY Pillowcases!

Hi everyone!  How are you all doing today?  As I said yesterday I have been feeling rather crafty lately and I like to grab that and run with it when it comes around so I have another installment of my DIY series for you all!  This one, DIY Pillowcases (!!!), is inspired by the amazing Hey Kayli on Youtube.  I absolutely love her and always watch all of her adorable videos and when I was watching one of her recent ones I said to myself, that is something that I can easily take on, you know, a challenge that's worth it.  With that thought, I ran to JoAnn's Fabrics and Crafts and got some fabric, liquid stitch, scissors and ribbon and got started right away!

The above sentence mentions everything that you are going to need but I will say it again: fabric, liquid stitch, scissors and ribbon.  The reason I decided to go with Liquid Stitch is because Kayli used it in her video.  Not only this, but it is way easier than sewing something.  If I wanted a real challenge I could sew it myself, but I have to be honest and tell you that it has been a while since I have sewed something, and I know I could if I really had to, but why try if I don't?  Maybe in my next batch!  This craft is absolutely adorable and super easy so lets get started!

The inside of the pillow.  The ribbons are the
open edge for the pillow to go in.

In Kayli's video, she uses napkins from target but I went to JoAnn's and got some really cool fabric.  I got a yard of each fabric cut for myself (three different fabrics- 1 yard of each).  I also bought two different spools of ribbon and they were enough to make all three different pillows.  There were a couple  of things that I learned while making the pillows and I will talk about them as I go.  

The first thing that you should do is make sure that your pillow will fit your fabric that you got from the store.  Before I went to the store, I measured my pillow to know how much fabric to get and that worked out well (obviously).  When I got home, I laid out the fabric so that the pattern was facing down and the inside of the fabric was facing up.  I cut the fabric in half so that there were two separate rectangle shapes of fabric.

The pillowcase regular way, with the ribbons
not tied yet.

At this point, take the liquid stitch and line the inside of the edges of the two pieces of fabric leaving one of the smaller edges open (to insert the pillow).  When you have given that a chance to dry, go ahead and fold the side that was left open down a little bit to ensure that the pillowcase will not be extra long.  If you like some extra length, you can leave that, but the edges look more finished and much nicer when they are folded over.  At this stage, you can glue the ribbons onto the inside edge of the open side where the pillow will be inserted.  Glue them on the inside because this will make for a seamless look and a perfected bow when tied.

Wait overnight for the pillowcase in it's entirety to dry completely.  By doing this, you will ensure that everything will be sealed into place and completely ready to be used.  You can do this with any size pillow and any different fabric/ribbon.  If you chose to recreate these please tweet me photos and leave a comment below if you have any questions!  Also be sure to check out the first, second and third installments of my DIY series!  Thanks for reading.
 Xoxo-Brit.

My favorite!  Blue and white polka dots.  I love the shape
and finish of this one!

When I left the fabric larger on the first one I made.
Love the colors!

DIY Dry erase calendar!

Hi everyone!  I hope you are having a great day.  I wanted to bring you the next installment of my DIY series!  Now I know I said originally that I was only going to have three things in my series, but I think I will be adding a couple of more things!  I really love doing this and normally I don't get that crafty so I have to grab onto that feeling when it comes!

Anyway!  Let's get cracking with the DIY tutorial.  There are several reasons why I made this calendar.  At the end of 2012, I started thinking about what I was going to do when my amazing high fashion Barbie calendar ended.  I must admit, I was really upset thinking that there was an end to it.  But like they always say, all good things come to an end.  As I started thinking about what type of calendar I was going to buy, I started also thinking about how I could make one of my own.  Now what does one do when they need inspiration to make something DIY or crafty?  Hi Pinterest, duh!  I immediately did just that but I began bumbling around and finding lots of calendars that were cute, but not what I wanted.

The fact that I couldn't find one that was exactly to my liking got me thinking, maybe I will just completely come up with my own idea!  I had always seen people making their own crafts with little paint samples that you can pick up at Home Depot.  There were name cards, organizational tools and more, so I figured why not try and use them as days for my calendar?  After thinking about that, I wanted to figure out how I can place the paint samples and make them look modern and sleek, while practical at the same time.  At this point I said to myself, I will wedge the paint samples in between two pieces of plexiglass, therefore making my calendar a dry erase calendar.   That is how my idea came about.

An overview.

The calendar is really cool because essentially it saves you money and can be used over and over again.  Because there is no paper involved (except for the paint samples) you can just keep cleaning the glass and re-writing on top with the dry erase markers.  At the end of 2013 you wont even have to get a new calendar, it's like the gift that keeps on giving.  If you get tired of the color of your paint samples,  you can always get new ones, that is why I left the edges fastened with acco clips rather than permanently.  If this bothers you, you can always use silicon or something else to seal the edges permanently and not worry about changing the colors if you don't feel you'll want to in the future.   

To make the calendar you are only going to need a couple of things: 4 acco clips, scotch tape, two pieces of glass (I will talk about why I used the glass rather than plexiglass later), tons of paint samples and dry erase markers.  

Up close and personal on the name of the month.

To get started, make sure that you lay out the pieces of paint sample that you have.  As you can see in the photo, I ended up cutting the samples that I had because they were all rather large and I didn't want my calendar to be that big.  As I laid them out, I cut it to a size that I liked and continued on.  Now as you can also see, the sizes of each day are not the same, most of them are different and they aren't perfect, I like this feel.  I think this is such a perfect way to customize your calendar, make it homey and more fun.  The look is not as structured, which is ironic because a calendar is quite the structured tool.  I love changing things up sometimes.  Once you have figured out where you want all of the pieces of your paint samples to go, simply apply tape to the back of them and tape them to one of the pieces of glass.

Now I have chosen to use glass instead of plexi for one reason only.  I thought that using plexiglass would be a great idea because its easier, safer, cheaper and everything else.  I was wrong in that the glass was actually less expensive at Home Depot.  I also chose the glass because in the long run, it will last longer.  The glass is going to be way easier to clean and keep nice for a longer amount of time.  Because of the use of glass you might be wondering if it is safe or not and the answer is yes.  What I did learn while making it is that you must be careful because I did cut myself a couple of times on my hand while holding the glass to fasten it together with the acco clips.  Make sure that you are extra careful if working with kids and glass.  Once the glass is together, you can lean it against a wall on top of a counter, or even add a fixture to the back that will allow it to hang on the wall.  This will ensure that the glass is out of the way and not in danger to the kids, you, or maybe any pets.

Acco clip perfection!

Once the paint samples are laid out and taped to the back piece of glass, get the second piece of glass and lay it over the back piece.  Fasten together the two pieces with an acco clip on each corner and you are done!  Take a marker and label the days of the week and of course don't forget to number the days. Now like I said, you are more than welcome to make this bigger or smaller than I have it here.  I can assume that families with kids may want to write soccer practices or dance recitals or something on the calendar too, but I just use it for my work schedule right now and anything else that I happen to be doing.

This is just a basic idea of how to make the calendar, you can take this idea anywhere!  Get creative and decorate yours a little more and share photos with me.  Thank you for reading and make sure to send me a tweet and let me know what you think!

Xoxo-Brit.

Things I keep on my desk and how I organize!

Hi everyone!  How are you all today?  I must admit that it has been a really rough week.  Today I thought it would be interesting to talk about things that i always keep on my desk or "My desk essentials."  I thought this would be interesting because it's something that I don't think i've seen online before and maybe insight on what I keep on my desk at all times, will help you maybe organize your own.  So with all of that said, let's get started!

So the first thing that I have on my desk at all times is this pen/pencil organizer.  Now I have been thinking about what kind of new one I wanted to get for a really long time, but I finally decided against it.  The best part about this organizer is that there are a couple of compartments to store and differentiate between pens/pencils/markers/highlighters.  If you separate each different writing utensil, it tends to keep you much more organized and able to find what you need when you need it.  This also eliminates stress.

The pen/pencil organizer.

Some of the compartments.

 Aside from the smaller compartments for the pens/pencils and other writing utensils, there are places and compartments for other things, including tape.  In these extra compartments, I have a couple of things like batteries, extra macbook cord converters, acco clips, stuff for Back to Mac and one free section that is currently not occupied just incase I think of anything that I can't live without.  Also, as I previously mentioned and you can see in the photo, there is a tape dispenser built in, which is absolutely wonderful, so helpful.  You can probably find something like this at any office supply store like Staples.  Also, I am sure, Target.

Moving on to other things that I always keep on my desk; a water bottle.  Now you may think that this is slightly stupid to mention but I think that you'll agree with me on why I do so.  When I am working at my desk, I tend to get on a roll and not want to stop.  I hate having to get up and go downstairs to get water or something to drink (I know #firstworldproblems).  I tend to really be a victim of the "If I'm in the zone, don't bother me" mentality.  It can really help if you are on the brink of an idea, to not have to get up to "wet your whistle" if you know what I mean.

Yumm, crisp water.

Gotta love it!

Another thing that I always keep on my desk is a candle.  Now I know candles aren't for everyone, but I couldn't imagine what my desk would be without one.  I absolutely love having a candle on my desk for a couple of reasons.  The first reason is because it looks so nice.  If you feel stressed out, busy, upset or anything else, it's nice to have something to look at that is full of light and is pretty.  It's true, it's really nice to just take a second and look at one simple thing that can instantly make you a little happier.  Secondly, I absolutely love the way candles smell.  Obviously if you pick yourself out a nice, amazing smelling candle, it will make the whole room so much more pleasant and it will just put you in a great mood.  My favorite candle of all time is "Sun & Sand" by Yankee Candle.  I am so in love.  Try and get yourself a candle that smells like something you love, just to make you extra happy.  This candle smells like the beach and sunscreen, absolute bliss.  I like candles from Bath and Body Works as well, those two are my favorite brands.

Artistically "Instagrammed" photo of my favorite candle.

Now as funny and a little wierd as this next thing will sound, I always keep a small bottle of Advil on my desk.  Whether I like to admit this or not, I sometimes get excruciatingly horrible migraines and thats when I take them.  When I get smaller headaches, I always take care of them naturally with tons of water but when I am working and have a migraine, Advil ALWAYS helps me and right away at that.

Advil that I only take in the rarest of cases.

Finally, the last thing I will mention that I keep on my desk is a lotion by St. Ives called Coconut Milk & Orchid Extract.  In the winter especially, I get such dry hands.  It is really nice to have something at your beck and call that can help you cure that remedy, even if it just a little bit.  It will keep you focused on your work and not complaining to yourself about how much your hands hurt.  Although I wanted this lotion to smell like coconut and it doesn't, I am not mad at the way that it smells, it's very pleasant.

St. Ives love it!

Coconut Milk and Orchid Extract.

So that it is for things that I keep on my desk.  There are of course things that I keep in a drawer near my desk that I don't like to keep out because there isn't that much room and if you want to know about that I can tell you.  I hope that some of these things and my reasoning behind them have helped you maybe organize your desk a little bit more.  Let me know in the comments or in a tweet how you organize your desk.  Thank you for reading.
Xoxo-Brit.