Cyber Monday Haulage

I did almost all of my Christmas shopping on the Monday following Thanksgiving, also known as Cyber Monday. I shopped through Ebates. If you guys don't know about it, oh boy, you should TOTALLY join up. The following link will take you to Ebates and, if you sign up and shop, gives me AND you $5 :-) You could go to Ebates on your own but wouldn't a free $5 be cool?


Ebates referral


Ebates is a website for online shopping which has a TON of stores on it. You sign up and then just log in to your Ebates account and click on your favorite store links through Ebates and go online shopping. Ebates gives you a percentage of your spent money back via check. For example, elf (eyeslipsface) cosmetics has several coupons going right now including 50% off all Studio makeup with a $25+ order using the code BCGSTU50 and through Ebates you get 4.0% of your total back!


I spent $150 on Monday and got a check for $11.15 :-) Pretty cool. Now you can watch the percentages and shop when they are highest and get MORE money back. Okay, on to my purchases.


I bought several of these Dickies Pocket Tees for my Grandfather, they are his favorite things to wear to work. I bought some last year as well and they have held up really well. Old Navy has some great t-shirts too but I like these better :-)


Dickies Pocket Tee


For my father I bought the Croft & Barrow Full Zip Sweater in Charcoal Heather. My Dad looks awesome in black but I thought a dark grey would look a little more fashionable/sophisticated :-) Also, I got this because it's more jacket than sweater really and he has a really heinous faux leather bomber thing that he always wears. Hopefully he'll trade it in for this!


Croft & Barrow Full-Zip Sweater


I got one thing for myself because I have just one purse... it's also from Kohl's. I got the Nine and Co. Zip To It Satchel in Black. I can't find a picture of it on the website anymore but there are pictures of it in pink and silver. I LOVE this purse. It is huge and I think pretty trendy without being over the top. However, my other purse has two compartments.... one on the side like for change or lipsticks and one in the middle where I put my receipts and stuff. This new purse only has the small zippered compartment in the side and the rest is just a big empty space. Hahah. I love that it has tons of space but I want to figure something out to get in there to be more organized. Any ideas? Perhaps a big wallet... not sure.  Here's the link to the photo anyway.


Nine and Co. Zip To It Satchel


I got some of those faux Ugg boots for my Aunt in the beginning of December that she said was all she wanted for Christmas but I know she likes jewelry so I got a couple of bracelets I think she may like. I got one that's silver and blingin' and another that's pretty simple and gold.


Trifari Silver-Tone Stretch Bracelet


Daisy Fuentes Stretch Bracelet in Gold


Now all of this cost me $130, pretty spanky huh? I also got free shipping. Now, there's about one full day before Christmas and I've realized I am missing presents for like 4 people. Hahah. I will be running around like a chicken with its head cut off tonight getting last minute presents. Bottle of wine anyone? LOL


How have you all done with your Christmas shopping? Get anything awesome for yourselves? :-) Thanks for reading and HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Be safe

Mini Drugstore Haul

Hi ladies! (and gents? haha) There was a Revlon buy one get one 50% off at my Walgreens and I'd been wanting to try Revlon's Colorstay foundation so I got it! I also got a couple of lipsticks to try. All four things ended up costing me $33, not too shabby.


Here are some photos of what I got but I haven't tried any of it out yet so I will put up another post with a review. I am also working on my Black Friday/Cyber Monday haul post. Hopefully none of my family members read my blog ;-)




Here is the entire haul photo (only 6 items but after not buying ANY cosmetics that's a big haul, lol)

I am not a huge lipstick wearer but to get 2 for the price of one was too tempting. I've also been working on whitening my teeth (boo for not being able to drink much coffee) so I want to highlight that with new lip colors! These two lipsticks are, as I said, Revlon... Fabulous Fig (009) is a dark wine/plum color and it is a matte finish. Kiss Me Coral is a really lovely bright, well, coral! Haha. It is part of Revlon's super lustrous lipstick and it is a creme finish.

Next I got the Revlon Colorstay foundation as I'd been seeing a lot of videos featuring it and giving it RAVE reviews. I've ALWAYS had the problem of looking white/washed out in photographs and everyone has said that this foundation works great with photos. I couldn't find any translucent Revlon colorstay powder so I got the Photoready powder to set the foundation.

Here are swatches of both the lipstick and the foundation (I took these with my iPhone). The color of the lipstick doesn't really look true to life, sorry about that. The Fig is not THAT dark.. neither is the coral. I swatched these on the inside of my arm which is a little bit more pale than my face but I am confident the foundation should work! Stinks that you can't swatch things in the drugstore :-(

I am so excited to add to my collection of Sonia Kashuk rushes. I have a crease brush (the bristles are black) and I think it is the regular eye shadow brush (with brown bristles.) These (and my other brushes) are SO SOFT! I cannot wait to use this little smudge brush as all my other brushes are too large to get a nice line of color along my bottom lash line... I always end up having to clean it up with a qtip.

If any on you have a Target in your area I highly recommend getting yourself some Sonia Kashuk brushes! I think these were between $6-$7 so they are very affordable.

An Autumn Stroll in My Neighborhood (picture heavy)

Hey girls and guys!


Fall/Autumn and Winter are my absolute favorite seasons and I've been out and about a lot lately enjoying the weather and (ooo aaaaah) the changing leaves. I live in downtown Salem, MA so we get a lot of tourist action around these times and have something called "Haunted Happenings." Saturday I went up the street to the Salem Commons to walk around and then went further downtown around where the Pirate and Wax Museums are and, low and behold, there was a ferris wheel and other assorted carnival rides!


However, it was a little too crowded for my tastes so I didn't take too many pictures. I did get some apple crisp though, mmmm. Here are some of the photos I snapped while I was out :-)  I hope you guys are all enjoying this time of year as well!

My babe hunched against the cold breeze!

Pretty corny, I know, but I love the changing leaves!

One of the yummy food stands that'd been set up in the Commons

The "Salem Witch Village" pumping smoke everywhere

The "carnival" that popped up overnight in an abandoned lot downtown

This lady was just standing in the middle of downtown and when people tipped her she'd blow them a kiss

This guy was super creepy, wouldn't talk!

Infinity by Conair straightener = AWESOME!

The link to this awesome project is here: http://www.conair.com/infiniti-by-conair-i-series-ceramic-straightener-pink-p-824.html




My friend bought this straightener because we had a surprise night together and while we were getting ready my straightener broke. We both got it at Target (targeyyy). I bought mine after curling her hair and seeing her THREE days later with her hair STILL curly, still soft and bouncy, and still looking great if not BETTER than when I first curled her hair. 


I cannot even tell you guys how LONG I have been trying and searching for products to curl my hair. It's a classic case of the grass is always greener because all my friends claim they'd kill to have my wavy, thick, long hair but I would and have done ANYTHING to get purposeful, flirty curls. Well, I've never gotten a perm but I've tried all kinds of other chemicals from mouses to pomades to sleeping in curlers. Nothing has ever worked!


I was skeptical that this straightener would work on my hair simply because it is so small and weighs like nothing. I was like "this is not powerful enough to curl my hair" or if it did curl my hair it wouldn't even last through the night. IT WORKED!!


It is day 4 and my hair is still lovely. The curl is not as pronounced but now they have that sexy toussled beach wave thing going on. I don't have pictures for you but I will definitely take pictures next time to show you guys real evidence that this totally works! Girls, if you have unmanageable THICK hair that's like a horse's tail... this will work for you!! The price tag at target said 27.95 but at the register (Oct. 9) it was $17! I was so excited.


I bought this straightener with my own money for those worrying about FTC guidelines and I'd buy it again!! There's also a green one that I saw. I know it's been forever since I posted but I had to share this.


Hope some of you will get this and be as happy with it as me.

MAC Haul; In the Groove and Misc.

 

Here are my goodies! I bought one thing from the In The Groove collection that came out and then four things that are permanent items with MAC Cosmetics.

This is what I bought from the In The Groove collection and it's called Blue My Mind. I LOVE it! I did a quick swatch of the colors there on the right.. my first time swatching, heheh. This is dry and without a primer. I did a couple swipes so the pigmentation is nice. This is also my first mineralized eyeshadow. I'm glad I got it because I don't have many blue eyeshadows and I LOVE blues. Blues, Greens, and Purples are my new obsessions.

These are permanent eyeshadows from MAC Cosmetics - the brown is MULCH and the green is HUMID. Humid is a frost shadow and mulch is a velvet. I now own 9 MAC eyeshadows... the others I have include Trax, Mythology, Amber Lights, Saddle, Honey Lust, Nylon, and Retrospect. I have to say Trax is my favorite but I haven't experimented with humid or mulch yet. :-)

The other things I got from MAC are Fix+ and their Brush Cleaner. This will probably be my last makeup purchase for a while because ..well, if you read my blog you know I'm unemployed. Haha. I have to keep trying to save as much money as I can. Thanks so much for reading I hope you all enjoy my blog! Have a great day!

Major HAULAGE!!

I know it has been SOOO long since I've updated this blog and I've promised to do hauls and makeup looks and things like this but I haven't. I lost the cable to my camera, in addition to always forgetting to take pictures... but I found it!! This will be a PICTURE LOADED post with a combo of things I've bought in the past few months. There's not too much because I can't be spending too much with the not having a job thing but I have bought some stuff.




These are some drugstore items that I have "hauled." I'd heard a lot of good things about the hard candy brand so I wanted to try a BUNCH of stuff... but had to reel myself in because I can't spend a lot so I decided to try some of their lip stuff.. I got their plexi gloss but there's no name on it, I think it was on the plastic packaging that I took off to open the lip gloss. I also got one of their lipsticks, number 194 in "crush." To be honest... I dislike the lipstick.. it goes on rather dry and there are shimmers in it that you can feel and seem rough to me. I do like the gloss though. It's not really sticky but it's thick and has a pleasant sort of cocoa smell to it. The dream mousse blush from Maybelline is... interesting. It is exactly like it's depicted, very moussey.. haha. It is very sheer and very shimmery. I got number 25 in "rose petal" and I do like it.. it gives a subtle flush paired with a flirty kind of sparkle.

I haven't experimented too much with false lashes but these really caught my eye. I haven't tried them on yet though, haha. These Sally Hansen HD colors, Cyber (purple) and Lite (yellow) are AWESOME! The yellow is actually a really awesome gold color and I'm just obsessed with purple right now :-)

This was a recent haul from the Walgreens up the street. I got 2 things from L'Oreal.. their true match powder in W5 "sand beige." I decided to get a new foundation because I've been in the sun a lot recently and have gotten too dark for my other foundations... I chose a powder because I get really sweaty in the heat and maybe a powder would be best. I saw the L'Oreal studio secrets anti-redness corrector in a video of Dulcecandy's and had to get it because I have annoying redness in my cheeks that often shows through under my foundation. It totally works! It's amazing!! The Maybelline pure makeup was on sale for like $3 so I grabbed one in medium beige. I got two of the new Wet'n'Wild lipsticks in 906D and 901B. I was scared the 906D would either be too dark or would blend in with my lips but on my lips it is this amazing red that I LOVE! The pink is just that... totally pink but if you just do one coat it is wearable and flattering. I had to try the Mayelline Lash Stiletto too just from hearing a bunch about it via blogs... I DO like it. It lengthens my lashes a lot but does not add any thickness. I don't mind this though because my lashes are rather thick just short.. so I like the length. From sccastaneda's videos I wanted the hard candy walk the line liquid eyeliner so I got this in asphalt and it is awesome! I am new with liquid eyeliner but this works like a charm! It is easy to control and very black. Woo! The clear polish which I wanted to use as a top coat kind of stinks.. it doesn't add any extra wear for my polish...

I got these loose pigments and lip gloss from the HauteLook sale... the lipgloss is in deep and I LOVE it.. it's a pretty sheer red. The loose pigments are yeyo (white), gunmetal (grey), and rockstar (purple). I tried to do a look with rockstar but I haven't figured out how to rock these yet... 


















On to some clothes I got.. Forever 21.. I got these because they kept having the $20 and below sale so these were all like under $15 actually which is awesome.

I got three v-neck t shirts with some rouching along the bust. I got these in large and they fit great. I got black, white, and orange.. trying to add some color to my wardrobe, hehe. I also got two pairs of their fab finds leggings, a pair of black and a pair of white. I also got a cardigan... a long sleeved open cardigan in grey and navy, I LOVE IT... I wore it to the fireworks in my town and it was the perfect summer night coverup, not heavy or anything. 

I also got these accessories because I only have 1 gold piece ...I love hearts so I went a little hearts crazy. I wore the thin hearts the other day and they irritated my ears so I didn't wear them long.. maybe I'll give them another shot. The two smaller necklaces are so short... I was very disappointed, they barely reach my collar bone.






Well ladies (and gents if there are any) that's it for this post. I apologize for how wishy washy I am with the blog. I DO want to devote more time to this.... I've been doing the Insanity workout (I hate/love you Shaun T!) and.. well, I haven't lost any weight aside from like 2 lbs but my endurance is up (I run 3 miles easy peasy) and my muscle tone has improved visibly. I'm nearly to the end now but I think I will continue with it over again when the three months are up. I hope you all have been wonderful... that you had a great Independence Day, and the long weekend that comes with it :-)


I will post up some looks I've done soon. I still have to figure out a better way to take pictures of them because you often can't see too well the colors I use. :-)

End of May

Oh boy ladies (and gents?) I am now 25-years-old, ew. I turned 25 on May 18 and had a real fun time out to dinner with my bf and my Aunt and her bf. Then my bf took me out to dinner again... and I went out for a fun night with several of my friends.


All in all it was a great birthday. I know I posted that I would have pictures of my friend's photoshoot as I did her makeup but she hasn't given them to me yet, lol. Booo. I did a rather dramatic silvery smoky eye on her so it could go with several different outfits without having to change the makeup. We may be doing another photoshoot tomorrow (Thursday) but we'll see. It has been really hot here the past couple of days and I went out yesterday to get some color (might as well take advantage of not having a job huh!?) and I got burned!! 


It hurts, lol, and makes the heat even worse but oh well. I'm glad I got some color because I've been soooo white lately. Yesterday was also day 1 of the Insanity workout for me. I took some pictures so that I can better see the transition my body makes (hopefully) during the 60 days. I also went to the gym with my friend earlier in the day so I was beat. I went to bed at like 9:30pm, haha. I'm super excited to be doing this workout and am only a little sore as I've been running pretty regularly and going to the gym with my friend Nicole. Oh! I am going swimming today for the first time in like... years! I'm really excited, lol. Swimming is such great exercise without a ton of impact on your joints and my knees tend to start hurting me (thanks softball!).


I hope everyone is doing well and I will work on my friend more to get some shots and maaaaaybe post my before pictures for the Insanity workout. :-) Thanks so much for reading!

Another Update

Hi Ladies,


I just wanted to jot out a quick post to update you guys on what's going on in my life. I did not get the job I was talking about last time but, as they do, they told me they'd keep my resume, yadda yadda. I'm really trying hard not to go the retail route because I want something that can become a career and something that won't make me want to shoot myself everyday, haha.


I am still cooking but, alas, tried to take photos of my last meal only to discover my battery was dead. I am all charged up now (as is my flip cam!) and I am definitely going to start taking pictures and the like to show you guys. 


I got my hair done by my friend Jaymi Griffin; she's all trained and such. It is now a deep auburn and is cut to brush my shoulders in the front while being a bit shorter in the back and I kept my side-swept bangs. I am excited to show you guys, been looking through my photos for good before hair pictures but suffice to say my hair was multi-colored (had old caramel highlights and whatnot) and super long. 


Tonight and tomorrow night I am helping out a friend who is taking photos for a biker calendar that one of her friends is making - I will be doing her makeup (and maybe hair). I'm super excited! I've only ever done someone else's makeup like... once, hahha, but I am most assuredly passionate and excited to maybe start some kind of "business" with doing peoples' makeup. I'm hopeless with my own hair but we'll see what comes out :-)


I want to thank all of you for following and hope you guys are having a great start to the summer!

Another Random Update

Hey ladies (and gents?) 


I know it's been another long while since my last post. I'm still unemployed and have been trucking my butt around passing out my resume and filling out applications rather than simply sticking with online applications through CareerBuilder, Craigslist, and JobQuest. 


I was actually called on Thursday (April 29) to attend a "pre-screening" for an administrative assistant position I'd applied for around the end of January. Took them long enough eh?? I'm super excited though. I have also given my resume to two of my friends who have openings where they work. AND I JUST got a call from Nordstroms in Peabody about a position (hoping I won't take that) but this has definitely been a HUGE turn around in the job search department and I could not be happier. Went three months without so much as a rejection e-mail and now I could have 4 jobs, haha. 


My last post, or posts? were cooking related and I have still been trying out some recipes from online and whatnot but haven't really kept track. I did a round steak recipe with onions that came out alright, a little dry. I also had a potluck with my girlfriends this past sunday that was a huuuge hit! I took some video with my flipcam so if anyone is interested I may post that up on my youtube channel. 


I've also been experimenting with my makeup and pondering posting up some pictures or a video related to makeup. Trying to get my buds to let me work on them, haha. They aren't really interested on being on youtube.


I know I've posted on here complaining about my lack of lady friends as well and there's been a turn around there as well. I think depression over my lack of a job drove me to go out and drink a bunch whereas I used to not go out much... and I met several lovely ladies at the bars and we've hit it off (one of them is actually a licensed beautician!) So, that's another good change in my life.


My boyfriend and I had a fight, nothing really spectacular, but for me the fight sort of clicked something in my head (or heart?) that's allowed me to feel really content in my relationship. It's an odd thing to realize after being in this relationship for nearly 3 years. I was carrying around a lot of baggage from my last relationship and, though I realized it, I couldn't help but feel certain things.... however, after the latest fight I think I was finally able to let go of that baggage and realize... hey! This bf is NOT anything like the last one... I'm taking our life together one step at a time and not letting little things bug me. I am really happy about it :-)




I hope all you lovely ladies (and gents? hahha) are doing great. I will hopefully be back around on this semi-reliably. Thanks for sticking with me and enjoying my blog! (got another follower since I was here last I believe!)


Oh, I went and saw Gogol Bordello again on Wednesday with Brandon (he bought me the tickets for Valentine's Day) and it was spectacular. I wish I had realized before we headed out that I would be standing around for four hours. I wore these high boots (thinking only about my short height) and my feet were killing me. I wish now that I had tied my hair back and wore some comfy sneakers so that I could've joined in on the intense moshing (I wore my hair down and had dangly earrings on which I was afraid would get pulled out!)


Alright, that's all I can think to update you all on. Things in the world of LaDonna are great, despite still being jobless after three months. For those of you that are also on the unemployed train... don't get down on yourself, your stop is coming!! (heheh)

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Ask me anything http://formspring.me/LaDonnaF


Feel free to post any questions or comments you have for me/about me/anything either on the blog or on my formspring :-)

Poached Eggs!

Oh my goodness! I poached eggs yesterday to make eggs benedict for my bf and I for dinner (in the way of needing groceries but he's been at night school and I've been too tired in the mornings to drive him to work so I can have the car to use during the day, heh). 


I've never poached an egg before or attempted eggs benedict, didn't really even have the stuff for it but hey, you make do right? 


We had some powdered hollandaise sauce stuff so I didn't have to worry about attempting to make that from scratch. 


I used a video from Food Wishes to learn about poaching eggs and then, bam, took the plunge. My eggs weren't as fresh as they probably should have been but they worked! I brought my water up to a simmer and added some white vinegar before dropping the eggs in. Before hand I cracked the eggs into a little bowl so I could make sure the yolk didn't break. This was so awesome!!! It worked. The hollandaise from the packet was a little  salty and came out thicker than I wanted but all in all it was really great. Also, I used ham instead of Canadian bacon (but isn't ham sort of like Canadian bacon?) I also just toasted up some bread in the frying pan versus using an english muffin or bagel because we didn't have either... AND our toaster oven AND toaster broke! How funny is that? Haha.


I should have taken some photos or something but I wasn't really thinking too much about blogging, hehe. So, that was my new meal. I've been putting some recipes together that I want to try but still haven't been able to get to the grocery store, booo, hopefully tomorrow I will be picking up some groceries and then more cooking will begin!! 


Anyone have ideas/requests for me to try? I will try to get photos up next time.

Update

Ugh. I haven't been writing lately because I lost my job. At first I was excited to blog because now I'd really have time to devote to it and I'd make it super awesome, however, every time I sat down to start to write it all sounded boo-hooey and I just didn't want to burden you all with that (woo, 18 followers!). Anyways, I was laid off in January and it's now been almost 2 months and I haven't even been able to get an interview. Stiiinks! Mostly I've been applying for office work and the like but everyone that HAS replied has said I just don't have the experience, boo. I know I'm not the only one that's going through this so I'm not going to cry about it anymore but it has been getting me down. So ridiculous to discover that, while you were told having a college degree will get you a great job above a lot of others, I have no qualifications for like... any jobs besides teaching little kids or something. Heh. Thanks UNH.


In light of my unemployment I have not been buying... well anything let alone clothes or makeup. I also haven't really been reading blogs but I want to get back into it. Starting to go crazy watching daytime television.


I have been experimenting with cooking though. Anyone that reads me interested in that? I've made popovers, corn muffins, and stuffed chicken. I'm not that great yet, hehe. anyway, just wanted to touch base and let you all know I will hopefully be back but there may be a new gear for my blog - food!

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2010 update :-(

Wow - an update is way overdue. So, I was laid off from my job so I've been very MIA from blogger, devoting my time to looking for a job. It has been a pretty fruitless search so far. I was laid off January 26, 2010 and it's now February 24, 2010. Ugh. I just hooked up with a staffing agency though for part-time/temporary work so I am hoping I can at least get something part time while I search for that "right" full-time job.

It's depressing to realize there's very little you are qualified to do despite having gone to college, lol. I'm starting to go rather stir crazy in the house though so I may be getting back onto here... possibly finally starting some videos on youtube. The lighting in my house is pretty horrible but I DID get a flip cam for Christmas so I could take that out into the kitchen or something. Hehe.

Well I hope all of you lovely ladies are doing well!

Giveaway entry!!

The adorable Holly at DollyMix184 writes is having a giveaway! It's her first and looks like great prizes. How cool to get some UK stuff eh?

She's super stylish, lovely, and funny so you should follow her blog regardless... and enter her giveaway!

The giveaway is open to everyone, internationally, in the UK, and in Ireland you just have to post a comment on her blog post saying "enter me" and you can also get additional entries for linking to her giveaway in your own blog and/or through Twitter.

Good luck everyone!!

New Year! An Award

Happy 2010! Hope everyone's NYE was safe and fun... or at least relaxing :-)

I just discovered I was given a blogger award by the lovely Cake Girl! However, there are RULES for this award, hehe. Here they are (in no particular order!) and my bloggers I'm passing it on to as well!

These are the rules to this blog award...

"Post 10 things that make you happy, try to do at least one of them today, link back to the person who awarded you and pass along for up to ten people."

1) Sleeping!

2) Hardcore workout session where I feel like I might pass out but 10 minutes later I'm so energized and feeling great about myself and life, haha.

3) Cooking and eating dinner with by bf, like a little family.

4) Hanging out with my best girlfriends, doesn't matter what we do, they're great.

5) Putting together a fun outfit/makeup look that looks great

6)Watching a great movie

7) Reading an awesome book

8) Date night with the bf

9) Really great smells be it from candles, incense, or perfume

10) Family

Passing it on to:

Stephanie of Aquahearts Makeup Obsession - Really fun blog and girl

Rosamond of Beari's Beauties - Doesn't post much but those she does are great!

Tennille of Cupcakes and Rainbow Dust - Such a cute, fun girl! Follow her blog

Denysia of Hello Denysia - Really lovely girl! Fashion and beauty posts!

Lollipop26 of lollipop26writes.com - One of my favorite youtube "gurus"

Ash of Memoirs from My Kitchen - Fun lady with some great recipes!

Ok, it says UP TO ten, LOL! I don't have too much time today to blog but I was SO surprised about the award I had to post. Hehe. Thanks Cake Girl!!

There will be some more blog posts upcoming - I think I will do a little Christmas present post and I might be getting an apartment! I'm going to look at it tonight, the bf has said he will go with me but has not committed to moving with me, lol. We shall see. WISH ME LUCK!