Lets make New Year Goals: Planning for the New Year

I don’t know about all of you but how many years do I start out the New Year with the following resolutions:

Be more frugal.  Spend less money

Pay off more debt

Lose weight and tone up

Travel lots

How many times have I accomplished any of these things?

ZERO.

Every year thousands of people make false resolutions and empty promises to themselves about how they want to be without any way of becoming that way.  Its not easy to lose 20 pounds and tone up so you look like a model.  It takes a lot more than wishful thinking which is all we do.  So this year instead of New Year Resolutions; I’m going to have New Year Goals.  

The thing about goals is that goals take planning.  But it doesn’t need to be hard.  You can still goof off and binge watch your favorite shows (like me and my obsession with Parks and Rec) but you need to get things done otherwise you will never afford that trip to Cancun no matter how affordable it is.  

I have made several goals for this year.  

Lose enough weight to be a size 8.  That’s about 3 sizes down.  Which is doable in 12 months.

Get my own place no matter how tiny.

Purge and declutter my life.  Live a more minimalistic life.  

Balance my social life with my own personal time.  AKA don’t go out everyday of the week like usual.

Learn beginners Spanish.

Save money for debts/future trips

Take one small trip on my own

The ways I want to accomplish this is by creating multiple lists to help keep me on target.  Adulting can be very hard.  You have so many things to do even as a single girl I seem so busy.  I can’t imagine how the Moms out there do it.  Because they manage many peoples lives.  Little people who need them.  

So doing what I normally do, I watched a lot of YouTube videos about planning and goals.  They all seem to have many things in common.  

Have measurable goals

Have realistic goals

Have a plan

Have rewards for completing your goals.

My father always says, “If you don’t know where you are going, how will you know when you get there.”  And as much as I hated hearing that sentence as a teenager, as an adult, it makes heaps of good common sense.  

You need a plan.  You can’t just flounder from one thing to another and expect to get what you want.  That amazing job won’t magically appear.  Your love handles won’t magically disappear and unfortunately there isn’t a credit fairy to pay off all your credit cards.  (Though I really wish that one was real!!)

The one thing I noticed about all these big YouTubers was how flipping expensive their planners were.  Most of them cost at least 50-65 dollars and that was without all the cool add-ons.  Maybe YouTubers with thousands to tens of thousands of viewers can afford that.  But I’m a middle class girl doing what she loves for not a whole lot of pay.  There wasn’t any way I could afford an Erin Condren Life Planner.  At least not until I meet my rich Prince Charming (I know I know they don’t exist either!  Kill all my dreams why don’t you?!)

Luckily middle class America has Walgreens, WalMart and CVS.  Heck even an office supply store would do the trick.

Things I bought at my local store:

A cheap daily planner (I think mine cost 5 dollars.  Its one of those mini’s you can keep in your purse)

Lots of paper, scissors, pretty pens and staples. Or Binders if you prefer.  I like to keep things in my purse so I can plan while I am on the go.

My System:

Make a list of things you want to accomplish by the end of the year.  I split my own personal list into options: Professional, Friends & Family, Finances, Fitness and Other.  Make sure you write down measurable goals. Goals that you can ACTUALLY accomplish.  No more look like a supermodel okay ladies?!

Use your daily planner to plan out your meals, important days and social calendar.  This way you can make sure you have time to go out but also that you aren’t overlapping an important family event with your new hot date.  I use the monthly calendar to write down my dates and paydays etc.  Then on the daily I write my daily goals, workouts and meals.  

Make your own booklets for goals.  Use construction paper or any paper that you like.  Cut it in half, fold it and staple it.  Volia!  You now have your own little booklet you can designs with pens, stickers or doodles.  I like sharpie markers myself.  

I have two.  One is for my weekly goals.  I use a page for each week and plan out my week such as blog posts, cleaning chores, random errands and other things I want to get done that week.  Only write about special one-time things or one big project instead of your meals or etc.  

My other one is my budget.  I planned out what I wanted my budget to look like and decided which subscriptions I wanted to get rid of.  Then all my bills are written down in one place so I always know what is coming.  And also I can plan for large purchases or money goals for saving.  I’m hoping to go to Cancun in 2017!

The last thing I like to do and its totally optional is my journal.  I love to keep journals.  And I don’t write in it every day because seriously who has time for that.  But a couple times a week keeps me focused, centered and feeling light.  Also it helps my moods too.  I can write down how I feel if I have a hard day.  I also like to use podcasts to really reflect and just use it as a chance to write and grow as a person.  Please look forward to a blog post about journaling.  I’ve been in love with it since 2007!

I hope this helps you all be more productive and be the person you want to in 2016!  Look forward to updates on how my goals are doing.  Please let me know how your goals are for this upcoming year!

A Pouch of Beauty Wonder (November Ipsy Bag)

I have been an Ipsy subscriber on and off for a while now. Ipsy is a subscription service that every month will send you high end products you can try for only 10 dollars a month. It comes out automatically and comes in a beautiful pink foil shipping bag.

Through Ipsy you can take a test and they will send you beauty products (both sample and full sized) based on how you answer your questions. Ipsy was originally called glam bag and was started by the YouTube beauty guru, Michelle Phan.

If you interested in watching any of her videos please go here https://www.youtube.com/user/MichellePhan

Personally I love getting my Ipsy bag. Sometimes there isn’t something you like in it but it’s a fun way to try new products.


Here is what I got this month:
The bag we got this month is a pretty purple and pink and looks like the Milky Way. A girl at my work liked it so much I gave it to her because I have so many little bags from Ipsy.


If you would like to see other Ipsy bag designs. Go to https://www.ipsy.com/glambag


In my bag I received:

Inspr Eyeshadow in Carnival

Jelly Pong Pong Liquid Gossamer (not pictured here. See a description of it here http://jellypongpong.com/face/35-liquid-gossamer-48-water-based-78-natural.html)

TrèStique matte lip color in Chile Red


Smashbox full exposure in Jet black


Tucker Ashley Perfecting Moisturizer

After I received my bag I of course swatched out my products to see what they looked like. I gave away the liquid gossamer because I have oily skin and it was way too illuminating for my skin.

One of my friends at work also has an Ipsy bag so we traded my gossamer for her black eye liner which was by Be a Bombshell Cosmetics in Wild Child. 


 
Inspr Eyeshadow in Carnival:

This slightly shimmery taupe eye shadow is the perfect color for my blue eyes and I’m excited to use it. It isn’t as pigmented as I generally like but it’s a nice shade that I should get a lot of use out of. I've used it as a base eye shadow and in the crease and its a really nice shade. I do really like this shadow. 

Its size is .05 oz. This is a full size product. An eye shadow of this size sells on their website for 13 dollars. 

For more make up by inspr go to http://www.insprbeauty.com/?src=gr



TrèStique matte lip color in Chile Red:

I love the packaging of this brand so much. It looks like a crayon and then bam! makeup. It’s super cute and rolls up easily. The color is a very vibrant chili red color. I don’t often wear red on my lips but it will be a fun color for this holiday season. I love the color its a beautiful red color and its matte. For me, even with drinking and eating I'd say it lasted about 3-4 hours which is pretty good. I liked it quite a bit.  

Its size is .02 oz. This is a sample size but the real lip crayon also comes with a balm on the bottom of the crayon. It’s regularly priced at 28 dollars. I’m actually really interested in this product and might buy a full size to try it out. I think the balm in the bottom is a cool idea.

For more from TrèStique go to https://trestique.com/

Smashbox full exposure in Jet black:

Now for the real fun stuff. A smash box mascara. I am so excited about smash box. I love their primers and I always hear amazing things about smash box but to be honest it’s not something I can really afford right now. Which is why I LOVE Ipsy. A great chance to find great products. 

The brush is huge btw like the size of my eye. It is a nice mascara and I quite like it. I definitely can't afford to regularly buy this mascara but I do like it a lot. 

The size of this product is .14 oz. This is a sample size. The full size of this mascara costs 20 dollars. 

For more from Smashbox go to http://www.smashbox.com

Tucker Ashley Perfecting Moisturizer:

I also got a moisturizer which is oil free and is a face lotion. The website says it can be used as a serum for a treatment at night. I have tried it a few times it is a nice moisturizing lotion but I'm still looking for my holy grail moisturizer.  I like something that leaves me a little matte.  If you know of a product please let me know. 

It feels like a nice moisturizer and not greasy.

Its size is 1 oz. and this is a full size. The cost for this is 19.95, which is too much for me to spend for just one ounce of product.

Tucker Ashley has many skin lines so if you are interested in more information go to http://www.tuckerashley.com/

Be a Bombshell Cosmetics in Wild Child:

I am an eye liner junkie so this product was really put to the test. It’s a black eyeliner. It seems pretty basic though and the pigmentation in this isn’t as dark as some other drugstore ones or the urban decay 24 hour eyeliner which is a favorite of mine. But since using it I find that it pulls at my eye and is hard to get on.  Not only that but its not very dark and the pigmentation only lasted 3 hours.  I need my eyeliner to last all day!  I won't be reusing this product because for me it just doesn't work. 

Its size is .25 oz. and I believe this is full size. It’s hard to tell because this item is not for sale on their webpage. Other eye liners run about 14 dollars.

If you are interested in this brand go to http://beabombshellcosmetics.com/



Overall: I received 3 full sized items. It would have cost me 94 dollars to buy all this in full size. But instead I got it all for 10 dollars! So if I don’t like it who cares! At that price, it was fun just to see what was in my bag.

If you receive the Ipsy bag let me know how you found your November bag!



BTW: I did receive my new bag but once I’ve tried out those products I will let you know and post my thoughts sometime late January. That way I have enough time to test them out!

Please stay tuned over the next week for all of my cookie and fudge recipes. I will be baking quite a bit. I hope you all enjoy my posts!

The Other Side of the Story: A writer’s and publisher’s tale

Lately I’ve been really into reading again.  I’ve reread a lot of my ultimate favorite authors.  Marian Keyes would definitely be one.  I adore her books and have read a many of them.  If you ever get a chance my favorites are Watermelon, Angels and Sushi for Beginners but most of them are great, engaging and fun reads.  But there are still a few of her books that I have either not bought or not gotten a chance to read yet.  The Other Side of the Story is one of those books. 

 

I bought this book years ago when it first came out and it sat on my shelf unloved.  As any avid reader knows sometimes we overbuy on books and never actually read them.  During one of my collegiate purges I gave away this book to my parish flea market.  And then more recently I’ve joined a website called https://www.scribd.com/ which is a monthly pay service that lets you read as many books as you want.  Its only 9 bucks and they are literally at your fingertips.  So now I read off of my iPhone, Kindle and laptop anywhere I am.  I read every day on my break at work.  It’s a good way to spend an office break if the weather isn’t particularly inviting. 

 

This is a story about three women who are somehow connected.  They all become involved in the publishing world and there is a bit of back story on each one.  Marian does a great job bouncing from character to character to build up the story.  So onto the main players on this book:

 

 

Gemma Hogan

Gemma Hogan is an Irish party planner but not any party planner. She plans epic events!  Often her career life is full of designers, castles and bolts of fabric every shade of gold.  But her personal life is definitely less glittering.  Her ex-best friend stole her ex and the love of her life.  Her father left her mother for someone near her age.  And her mother is completely dependent on her to give up everything to live with her and help her deal with her depression. 

Jojo Harvey:

Jojo Harvey is an American (they don’t often get main appearences in Marian’s predominately British and Irish literature).  She is an ex cop and comes from one of those large boisterious families.  She also just so happens to be Jessica Rabbit’s look alike which can cause her more trouble than its worth.  She is now a top agent at a British publishing agency working her way to partner.  Oh and the last thing I forgot to tell you is that she is sleeping with her married hunk of a boss, who just so happens to be a partner at the agency. 

Lily Wright:

Lily Wright is your average good girl with a guilt complex.  One thing different about her is she unmeaningfully fell in love with her best friend’s ex thus estranging herself from her friend forever.  If that’s not a reason to have a guilty complex she isn’t sure what else is.  She is a new mom to a beautiful daughter and author to a best selling book with a cult following.  Despite her success she seems to be forever waiting for her luck to run out. 

 

Without giving away all of Marian Keyes sercrets in this book, I want you to know that this isn’t my favorite book by her nor is it a book I want back in my collection.  I am not upset that I read it but it was definitely lacking that spark that a lot of Marian’s books have.  I felt myself saying ‘so what?’ after reading this book.  Her book was engaging and interesting but it lead up to a point where I was so done with the characters and what they were gonna do.  Instead of having her characters make a choice, this time things just sort of happened to them.  They ignored the problem until the inevitable happened. 

 

Also my other really big problem with this book was character growth.  Usually Marian’s characters go through some sort of problem or issue and it helps them grow and become a better version of themselves.  More strong, independent, more ready to love, more accepting of their past, working through addiction, death and/or abandonment.  This book had none of that.  I felt that all these characters were more monochromoatic than usual.  They did not grow, in fact, I spent most of the book being annoyed with the way they talked, acted and treated everyone around them.  They just didn’t seem real. 

 

As a teen, I loved writing and would often write short stories for fun.  This book reminded me of my first story.  The characters were simple and talked in a way that I didn’t find believable. 

 

I would have improved on this book by having one of the following happening. Gemma really reflect on her parents relationship and the relationships she was involving herself in.  She would have had a moment of clairty about Lily and her ex.  Jojo would have done something.  How could such a strong character become so weak because of one man.  And how would she put her career either on hold for him or just be happy with whatever she was given.  She would have fought and she would have won.  Or at least she would have tried.  She would have really thought more about the moral implication of separating a married man from his family.  Lily would have grown up a little and stopped being so ungrateful for what she had.  She would have moved forward because her love was strong. 

 

BUT . . . what I really loved about this book was its insight to the publishing world and what its really like to be a writer.  I’ve always wanted to write a book and get it published but its easy to forget that its not easy.  There are stressful deadlines and problems with getting your book bought to being “out in the public’s eye” enough.  And then there is the problems associated with the public as far as reviews and what were to happen if the book were to not do well. 

 

It was interesting watching a book go from someone’s computer to a reader to an agent to a publishing house. 

 

 

 

Overall, this book is a good engaging read.  Its good for a vacation or a beach because you can pick it up and stop without dying to know what is going on.  But to me, that only makes it an average book.  I enjoyed reading it but the characters just aren’t as developed or as good as in her other books.  If you have ever thought of getting published though I would recommend you read this book.  It will both inspire you to write more and to moan that you suck at writing.  (It somewhat inspired my blog).  But otherwise I would recommend the following:

Watermelon

Angels

Rachel’s Holiday

Sushi for Beginniners

Last Chance Saloon

Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married

If anyone would like to hear a review on any of these books please comment below.  And I’ll be happy to write one for those books.  Its always a good reason to reread a favorite. 

US Men’s Soccer Team Plays in St Louis

Lately, every year come November Busch Stadium has been hosting a soccer match in the baseball crazy town of St Louis.  I went to one of these games over 2 years ago; Bosnia and Herzegovina versus Argentina.  It made my youngest sister a Messi and Argentina fan all in one night.  And since St Louis is home to nearly 70000 Bosnians it made a lot of sense.  I must be honest I was surprised to start seeing so many soccer matches around town.  It was around the time of this game that I first was interested by soccer.  

When I was living in France, it was rugby that was popular not soccer.  Toulouse has a decent soccer team but a fantastic rugby team.  So it wasn’t until a few years ago I started watching professional soccer.  

This year I was so excited because the Men’s US team was going to come to St Louis!  That is just the kind of thing that doesn’t happen often.  I was even more excited when I saw that the tickets could be bought at a reasonable price.  The cheaper tickets went from about 50 to 100 dollars.  Just enough for me and my baby sister, Becca, who really isn’t a baby anymore, to go.  

We were definitely high up in the stands but in my own opinion I like being farther away in soccer so I can see the whole field.  I must say it was an amazing game.  We started by giving away a goal but dominated the rest of the game.  

St Louis is really a beautiful place with the Arch and our newly done Busch Stadium.  We saw a lot of good plays and the excitement that is at a soccer game is really unmatched to any other game I’ve ever been too excepting maybe rugby.  Between the chanting, the screaming, the drums and the excitement.  When you are at a soccer game everyone is friendly and like family.  You all scream together at a big goal, you chant together, you stand together when the excitement becomes to much and you groan at the errors and bad calls.  And like all good soccer games there was at least one injury escorted off of the field.

St Louis is slowly becoming known as a great soccer town.  There were 43,333 people at the stadium that night.  The largest game in the state of Missouri ever!  

It was a great game.  And as we left I took a couple of great shots of downtown St Louis at night which is quite beautiful.  

The night ended by us going to Insomnia Cookies, which is you ever have a sweet tooth they have the most amazing, huge, perfect cookies ever!  

I hope St Louis starts hosting more and more of these events.  To end I have a video of the American Outlaws chanting near the field. The drums, chanting and cheering always remind me of a heartbeat. Everyone working together as one unit.

French Solidarity Manicure

It’s been two weeks since the attacks in Paris which I believe has brought many questions about ISIS, the western world, the media, terrorism and immigration.  Not only did many terrible things happen in the world that week but on a political level the G20 Summit and the Democratic Debate in Iowa.  (Note the manicure design in support of France is at the bottom of the page) 

I don’t often like talking about politics because I believe it is a personal choice but I see the world going in a direction that feels very WW2 to me at this moment.
 

I want to say that I know France isn’t the only place that has suffered this week from attacks or even this year.  I know about Kenya and Beirut.

 Is it unfair for it to get so much media? Yes I believe that is true but I believe in finding the silver lining and that at least some real attention is finally being shown on what has been happening in the world at large.  In America our news stations show us cutesy high school sports teams because you wouldn’t want to show something heavy to the American public but now is the time for us to educate ourselves.  Luckily with the internet we literally have the world at our fingertips.  If you don’t know what has been going on I will advocate reading the papers online and keeping ahead of current events both in our backyard and abroad.

 I feel very sorry for France.  I lived there for a whole year of my life.  I may be American through and through but having lived in another country, studied their language for half of my life and love their culture and lifestyle as I do; I am French at heart.  I get excited when I hear La Marseillaise, or when I see the French flag and I love watching the French march into a stadium for the Olympics, soccer or rugby games.

 I am sorry for Japan, Beirut, Kenya and other places that have suffered atrocities.  I will not comment on the religious aspect of what is going on just that for thousands of years humans have waged war in the name of God.  And for the next thousand I’m afraid that will always be the case.  Just because they are waging war for their God doesn’t mean that all Muslims feel that way.  I support the American ideal; the right to practice your own religion.

 I am also deeply saddened by my own countrymen who are against letting the poor Syrian refugees come to America to stay.  America is a rich, huge and resourceful country and I believe it is our duty to help those countries and people who are displaced and possibly in danger.  Lately, it seems both sides think it is better to not welcome the Syrian population with open arms.  I'm not saying to let them through without clearance but America has a very intense program for letting refugees in.  Let's use our program the way it was meant to be handled.  Its that program that protects us from dangerous people.  But often refugees do not want violence.  They want to escape it.

 At the same time America is not perfect.  We may have very well made matters worse in the Middle East by our presence.  Who is to say that we may not be some part responsible for what is now happening there.

 I hope that America’s politicians will see this as an opportunity to change our current trajectory and to move beyond prejudice and racism and towards humility and generosity.

 As such I painted my nails in a French design to show my own solidarity to a country I love like my own.  So in the words of Charles De Gaulle, « Car la France n’est pas seule! Elle n’est pas seule ! Elle n’est pas seule ! Elle a un vaste Empire derrière elle. Elle peut faire bloc avec l’Empire britannique qui tient la mer et continue la lutte. Elle peut, comme l’Angleterre, utiliser sans limites l’immense industrie des États-Unis. »   France is not alone! She is not alone! She is not alone!  She has a huge empire behind her.   We are here for you. France has an empire behind her. With England that holds the sea, she can block and continue to fight.  She can, like England, use without limits the immense industry of the United States. (Please note this is my own personal translation of the quote.)

 And hopefully so does the rest of the world.  Enjoy my little manicure design. 

 You will need a base coat, blue, red and white nail polish.  I have a striper that I used in the different colors to make application easier. Also a top coat, nail file and nail polish remover. 

 First you will paint the base coat.  I got mine at the dollar general and I love it!

Then you will stripe a red curve

Followed by a blue curve

And lastly by a cross in white and there is the symbol so often seen to represent France during this time. 

I painted my pinky and thumb in this design

Then I painted my three middle fingers the colors of the French flag: blue first then white and lastly red. 

Finish with a top coat for a good shine and a lasting finish.

 

*{{Source|Charles de Gaulle, ''{{ws|Appel du 18 Juin|Appel du 18 Juin}}''}  https://fr.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=Appel_du_18_Juin&match=en  Accessed 11/24/2015.

 

The Ultimate Hybrid: The Pumpkin-Pecan Pie

As we all are aware.  It is that time of year.  Thanksgiving, Christmas, parties and carbs carbs and more carbs. 

I feel like for this time of year it is the time for pies.  Pumpkin pies, Pecan Pies and Sweet Potato Pies.  Two of my absolute favorite pies are Pumpkin and Pecan.  But Pecan is just so sugary.  Its delicious but ever since I was a little girl my Dad would make this Pumpkin-Pecan Pie recipe.  

One year it even resulted in one of the pies catching fire!  But no worries I have devised an easier way of cooking it so that you won't need a fire extinguisher in your kitchen!

I know this is not a new recipe to many people but it is my all time favorite pie.  And a classic family recipe.  So I wanted to share it with everyone.  I recently made this pie for my workgiving and it was thoroughly loved.  Be sure to have some whipped cream or cool whip as it is the perfect compliment!

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

You will need a pie shell, 4 eggs, Sugar, whipping cream (or half and half or milk), maple syrup, Pumpkin puree, pecans, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. 

In one bowl you will mix 

• 2 eggs
• 15 oz of pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup of maple syrup
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 1/3  cup of whipping cream
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

I always double the cinnamon because I love it but feel free to use less.  

Then mix well

Poor into prepared pie shell and then pinch the edges of the pie for a nice homemade effect.  You can use a fork to do this.  But I love the way it looks when I just pinch it shut!  Makes me feel like Snow White. LOL

Now lets prepare the filling:

Mix together 2 beaten eggs, 1 cup chopped pecans (again I did slightly more and mine was more of a rough chop because I love the big chucks on pecans.  It will look really nice!), 1/2 Cup of sugar (or brown sugar if you like a deeper richer flavor) and a 1/2 cup of maple syrup.  

Then taking a large spoon you will gently spoon the nut mixture over the pie.  DO NOT DUMP IT IN!  If you do that you will have all pecan in the middle and it won't look as nice or get that nice crust on the top of the pie.  Also your pie will dry out during the baking time.  

Then you will ever so gently take it to the oven.  I recommend putting a parchment lined cookie sheet underneath because your nut mixture bubbles over and spills.  And nobody has time for that!

Cook for 15 minutes at 425 degrees F and then for another 40 at 350 degrees F until done.  

Volia!  Your pie is done and bring it with you to your event or Thanksgiving.  It makes a great winter time pie.  I love it around Christmas time too!  

Please let me know what your favorite pie is in the comments.