Giveaway Day Hooray!

Do you like the title of this post?  I do too.

Here it is!  I promised to post pictures of the giveaway and considering I keep about as many promises as politicians do...I figured I should actually keep this one!

Items included:

7 Day Scrub - Clinique

Fantastic exfoliating product that I happen to love

Take the Day Off - Clinique

Eye/Lip make up remover

Dual ended Lip Gloss/Stick - Clinique

The shades are Shy and Mystic

Compact with 2 shadows and a blush - Clinique

Eyeshadow shades are: Twilight Mauve and Brandied Plum
Blush shade is: Smoldering Plum

Lash Doubling Mascara - Clinique

Genefique - Lancome

Award winning serum for ALL AGE AND SKIN TYPES to give VISIBLY YOUNGER LOOKING SKIN in SEVEN days.  It's seriously the best thing I've ever used in my life.  It helps with texture, evening out the skin tone and gives a nice bounce to the skin.  I absolutely LOVE this product.

Hypnose Drama Mascara - Lancome

My absolute favorite mascara of all time.  Creates full volumized lashes in one stroke.  Obsessed.

Juicy Tube - Lancome

Shade is Raspberry Ice and is one of my favorites.  I own 3 of them and have 1 at home, one in my purse, and one at work.

Both the cosmetics bags are by Clinique and super super cute.

So here's the way you win...
Leave me a comment with your Top 5 favorite songs of ALL TIME...because no body likes boring comments and (ulterior motive alert!) I need new music.  Giveaway winner will be announced on MONDAY and will be chosen at random.  Good Luck!!!

for future reference

You can file these under the "things that have dramatically altered Vanessa's life" category.

Also....I'm sad to say the love affair with Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper has ended.  Diet Coke has been restored to it's rightful place as the only carbonated beverage in my heart....love really does prevail.

Speaking of love that isn't real has anyone been watching The Bachelorette?  I'm so not into Ashley but I've ALWAYS blogged about the Bachelor/Bachelorette so I'm kind of having a moral dilemma...
We'll just have to wait and see I guess.

And speaking of waiting (ahh you see what I did there?!) your wait for the giveaway announcement is almost over!  Pics of the giveaway happening tomorrow!!!
If you want to up your chances of winning I mentioned 2 things in this blog you can send me...

Hint: It's not a venereal disease like the ones the contestants on the Bachelorette get.

1. Neon Trees - Your Surrender
2. Ingrid Michaelson - Be Ok
3. Tegan and Sara - Back In Your Head
4. Beyonce - 1+1
5. The Tragically Hip - Long Time Running
6. Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks
7. Christina Perri - Arms
8. Adele - Rolling in the Deep
9. Hugo - 99 Problems
10. Drake - Fancy
11. Eliza Doolittle - Rollerblades
12. The Temper Trap - Love Lost
13. Augustana - Just Stay Here Tonight

Apology...

So I know I said I'd be posting about the giveaway yesterday BUT I have come down with what can only be described as the plague...ok the flu but in my book it's the same thing. So sit tight and take your vitamin C (the actual vitamin not the 90's pop singer) and I'll be back soon!
(hopefully)

sometimes....

Sometimes I am very tired after being at work for an unreasonable amount of time.

Sometimes some idiot says it's going to be the end of the world.

Sometimes this means that we eat "end of the world fudge" at work.  And it's delicious.

Sometimes I also confess my long suppressed feelings for Vanilla Ice because hey...if it's going to be the end of the world...I may as well come clean.



Sometimes I haven't shaved my legs in a week

Sometimes my diet consists of soft pretzels from Pretzelmaker and Diet Coke.

Sometimes I drink 5 Diet Cokes in 1 day (ok a lot of the time...but what else am I supposed to drink...water?)

Sometimes I listen to the song "arms" by Christina Perri about a billion times.

Sometimes I get stuck in traffic on the interstate for a good hour.  And we're talking literally parked...as in no moving.  As in...it's 12:30 AM and I'm on the interstate instead of in my bed.

Sometimes I bawl my eyes out while watching
1. Oprah
2. Season Finale of One Tree Hill
3. Pretty much every episode of Glee

Sometimes I'm overly emotional.

Sometimes I take sad face pictures with my bestie Jenna in the stock room at work.

Sometimes it's Gift With Purchase time at the Lancome counter and I'm exhausted, irritable, emotional, and malnourished.

So sometimes I have a boring blog post because SOMETIMES all I want to do is sleep.

Sometimes.

p.s. had a great response on the giveaway.  I'm putting it together.  Will take pic and post tomorrow!  Get excited.....

Happy Birthday Mam

Today is my Mam's birthday.  She would have been 68.  I just wanted to acknowledge her on this day.  I miss her every day.  I miss her when I'm sad and I miss her when I'm happy.  I really miss her when I'm having any type of disagreement with my parents because she had a way of talking to me that was completely unpatronizing but helped me see others point of view.  She treated me like a adult but she loved me with the kind of true and unconditional love that only a grandma can give.  I miss her laugh.  She had the best laugh.  The last time I saw her she spent some time with us in the summer.  We spent an entire day while the family was gone just watching movies (Connie and Carla was her favorite....it was hilarious to her) and eating Chex Mix.  She made her potato salad which is still to this day the best potato salad I've ever had.  No one has ever been able to make her same recipe the same way she did.  She fought for the people she loved.  She stuck up for my Mom to us kids and she stuck up for me to my parents.  It makes me the most sad when I think of how my future children will never get to have her in their lives.  Will never know the power of her hug or the contagious sound of her laughter or hear her wise advice and grow stronger from her perfect words of encouragement.  She was still to this day, the best friend I've ever had.  She was gone from my life far too soon.  I just live hoping to make her proud.

Happy Birthday Mam
I love you and miss you.

A Jon Hamm Moment

We interrupt your regularly scheduled blog viewing for another Jon Hamm  moment...

Congratulations on your face.

A Giveaway!

Hello my beautiful blog readers!  So I've been thinking and I've decided to do my very first giveaway...how does that sound?  Awesome right?  YES!  So I've put together a cosmetic bag and I'm filling it with some of my favorite products from different lines....mostly Clinique and of course Lancome.  It will have some shadows, a dual ended lipgloss/stick, 2 mascaras, 2 eye make up removers, Lancome juicy tube (also a lipgloss), plus a smaller size cosmetics bag.  I'll be putting it completely together and then I'll take a picture and post it so you can see.  A lot of giveaways are just "leave a comment and I'll randomly pick" but I think that's too easy...and boring.  So I'm thinking up some ideas as to what type of comment you have to leave me.  I'm thinking either a fill in the blank or leave me a playlist of your top 5 favorite songs or something of that sort.  I'll still choose randomly so that it's fair.  I wouldn't want anyone to accuse me of nepotism since my Mom is maybe the only one who reads my blog anyway.....(hopefully that's not true....because that would just be sad).
So what I need from you are ideas and comments.
1 Do you like this idea?
2.Do you have a fun idea for how we should do this giveaway?

The more feedback I get, the more apt I'll be to actually do the giveaway.  If all I hear are crickets then I'll scratch the idea.  So make sure you're heard!

Happy Friday!

Weekend Playlist

• Fleetwood Mac - The Chain
• Lady Antebellum - Just A Kiss
• Tony Lucca - Make You Mine
• Christina Perri - Arms
• Matt & Kim - Daylight
• Augustana - On the Other Side
• Bonnie Dune - Haunting
• Wye Oak - Civilian
• Tommy & The High Pilots - Where to Start
• The Naked and Famous - All of This
• Tom Waits - Gun Street Girl
• Priscilla Ahn - When You Grow Up
• Passion Pit - Sleepyhead
• The Animals - House of the Rising Sun
• Kate Voegele - Say You're Mine

star ratings (it's new)

guys!  I've been like...the lamest blogger of all time lately I know!  But mostly it's because of work.  We are gearing up for our summer gift with purchase over at good ol Lancome and I'm busy!  Most days I feel like a factory worker in pre-revolutionary Russia.  It's just been insane.
But fear not because I am here to give you some REVIEWS on some things I've purchased recently.  I'm doing this for the following reasons:
1. I have bought a lot of new stuff lately
2. It saves you from having to spend money (aren't I the greatest?)
3. I needed something to post about and I figured y'all were sick of my playlists

So here we go!

Jergens Natural Glow Foaming Daily Moisturizer

I am white.  Like...super white.  So I've always needed these but dreaded using them at the same time to avoid the "hey why do you look like Snooki" questions.  I must say I really really like this one.  It goes on very easily and a little goes a LONG way so don't get excited like I did and then have to spend a good 20 minutes trying to find an area to apply the excess....(y'all would die if you saw the streaks on my upper thighs right now....) I will say that it says you'll get "gradual color" and then full results in a week.  I saw full results in one day.  To quote my Mom when I told her of this phenomena "maybe you're like...missing something in your DNA".  Thanks Mom.
Star Rating: 4.5
(I guess my scale is out of a 5...just made that up this second)

Banana Nut Cheerios

I LOVE Cheerios.  I always put cut up fruit in my Cheerios like strawberries, blueberries, and yes BANANAS.  So I was excited to see that this might save me a step.  Yes it was pretty good but still no where near as good as fresh bananas...to quote my Mom: "fruit doesn't even really belong in cereal"
Star Rating: 3

Troop Beverly Hills

Who remembers this movie!?  (jen I'm talking to you here....)  Such a classic.  Bought on Amazon.com for $5.49.  To quote my Mom again "it's not even worth that much"
Star Rating: 5

lovestrong: Christina Perri

Stop what  you are doing right now and go download this album.  It is beautiful.  I would put it up there with Adele's 21 as being one of the best albums released this year. To quote my Mom: "Isn't she the girl who sang that song that they did a dance to on So You Think You Can Dance?"
Star Rating: 7

Last but not least I'd like to rate one more thing.
My Mom

Happy late Mother's Day to the woman who has been staying up until 1 AM every night for the last week trying to beat my score in Bejeweled Blitz.  Better luck next week
Star Rating: 10
Side Note: this picture was taken circa 1991....hence the....everything.

Top 5

I recently received the question "Vanessa...what are your Top 5 favorite albums of all time?".  Yes I received this question from an actual person....not my dog or my mother so.....be proud.  I've been thinking for a very long time about this one but I think I finally came up with my answer...so without further adieu (are you on the edge of your seat??) I present you with

Vanessa's Top 5 Favorite Albums of ALL Time:
1.) Michael Jackson - Thriller
2.) Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
3.) Ray LaMontage - Trouble
4.) John Mayer - Continuum
5.) Patty Griffin - Living With Ghosts

I could go on and on about amazing albums and let's not forget my Honorable Mentions: Adele - 21 and Florence + The Machine - Lungs

*Side Note: I WILL be posting my vlog about the Royal Wedding soon I promise!  Just...calm down.  I promise ok?

An answer for your question...

I received a question from a reader today about what the font is for my blog title etc...so to answer you kind reader, it is from this website that does special fonts for blogs but you can import them into your Microsoft Word or whatever other program  you use too.  Really easy to download, really easy to use...they give instructions the entire way.

The name of the font I'm using is called "Pea Bhea" and can be found in this download pack.

I hope that answers your question!  Good luck!

patience is a virtue

be patient with me guys....I'm trying to edit my video blog I did about the Royal Wedding.  It's.....special.  I have learned that a FlipCam is not something that I should have possession of past midnight...among other things.  Until I finally get it put together I will leave you with this....

I just....love them.

• Kanye West - All of the Lights
• Mumford & Sons - I Gave You All
• Cake - Long Time
• Stars - Your Ex Lover Is Dead
• Brett Dennen - Ain't Gonna Lose You
• Augustana - Steal Your Heart
• The Black Keys - Howlin For You
• Edith Blacklund - Sincerely Hope It's You
• Sufjan Stevans - To Be Alone With You
• A Fine Frenzy - Happier
• Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Home
• Priscilla Ahn - Leave the Light On
• Cat Power - Sea of Love
• Damien Rice - Cannonball
• Lenka - Maybe I Love You
• The Bird and the Bee - Into Something Good

The Royal Wedding: A Love Story....

I think it's pretty safe to say that there is NO ONE on this planet that is more excited about the royal wedding than I am.
For so many years I had a super hard core crush on Prince William.
I used to cut out pictures of him from magazines and make collages...What?

I loved him for the following reasons:

1. He's super dreamy

2. He wears a uniform

3. He looks cute holding a baby

4. He rides a horse...like a boss.

So I think it's safe to say I have some mixed feelings because in my mind we were kind of destined to be married.  If you need more evidence just look at this picture I made once.

(*side note: at the time my friend Kelly was going to marry Prince Harry.  She has since married someone else so....I blame her.  She broke the sacred vow.  So now I'm screwed.)

So here's how it was supposed to go...
I'd be in Westminster Abbey just walking around and he'd be there just walking around.
And the light would be shining through the stain glassed windows and it would catch my blonde hair just perfectly
And then a soft light breeze would come out of nowhere...softly blowing my luscious hair and he'd look up.  And our eyes would lock.
Like....lock.  And we'd be in love.

So to Prince William I say this....
you are missing out.   We could have had a beautiful life together.  We could just...go to the mall and eat Pretzelmaker pretzels....and....we could....like....walk around....and....watch Jersey Shore together.   And our wedding announcements would look like this:

(the sepia tone adds EXTRA class)

But whatever you know....just marry that gorgeous and sweet and perfect Kate Middleton and live in a palace and have a chauffeur.  SEE IF I CARE. (*side note: spell check tried to change the word chauffeur to the word chaffer which seems...unfortunate).

I do actually like her and I'm so freaking excited for this wedding.  I'm already pre-gaming and gearing up for the coverage that starts on BBC America and 1 AM!!!!
And I may get scones....and....a hat....what?
So....there you have it.
I am thinking about doing a vlog (video blog oohh look at me getting all fancy!) while I watch the nuptials.  You'll just have to wait and seeeee.....muah ha ha ha ha ha ha
which is so not something I've ever said to the question "do you stalk prince william"

In other news but still relating to the royal wedding....I was at Wal-Mart the other day (ahhhh the horror) and they are CRAZY about the royal wedding.  We've got $5 movies about "Wills and Kate: a Royal Romance" and we've got $5 "In honor of Wills and Kate" wedding mixes.
And while browsing the internet I found THIS

aaahhhhhhhhh
nightmares.

That's all!  It's a love story baby just say.....Prince William are you surrrreeee about this?
*also if you ever ask me if I watched the Lifetime Original Movie "William and Kate" I will deny it and swear on my deathbed that I never even ever considered it.  Ever.  At all.  Let alone watched it....on demand.

WHAT?

I swear I'm not a stalker...

What's up readers???

I know...it's been a whole 3 days since I've blogged.  How have you been able to continue on with your lives?  You probably haven't.  You've probably been laying in bed incredibly morose with single tears falling occasionally from your eyes.

Well NO MORE!  Because I'm back!

Just a little update about my weekend last weekend (which I know you all care about a whole lot)

I went and saw Tyler Hilton again!  Yep you read that right.  For those counting at home this would be the FOURTH time.  I'm not a stalker though.  Really I'm not.......(if you want to read how I'm NOT a stalker you can just read here and here)

Anyway..he was awesome as usual.  He did a show with Sarah Darling (she sings country music...one of her music videos just entered the CMT Top 20 countdown...wow!) and wait for it.....EDWIN MCCAIN.    Yeah Edwin McCain as in "I wrote the most perfect song of all time called I'll Be" Edwin McCain.
It was a great concert and for those of you who couldn't be there (awwwwww) here is some video (yayyyy)!

In other news I was watching "16 and Pregnant" last night (because clearly I hate myself) and the girl's family kept calling her baby daddy "disrespectful" but I think they really meant "poor".
Then I kept watching and no...by disrespectful they meant "douchebag who is poor".

That's all folks!  Keep waiting because my feelings on the Royal Wedding are coming up soon.  And you don't want to miss that because my feelings are intense....

*P.S. I was under the influence of Easter candy and Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper while writing this.  So if you're reading it and thinking that it's coming off like I'm a crack head with ADD...that's pretty much exactly how it is.

Easter

"...may we ever reflect our gratitude for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  His glorious gospel provides answers to life's greatest questions.  Where did we come from?  Why are we here?  Where do our spirits go when we die?  That gospel brings to those who live in darkness the light of divine truth.

He taught us how to pray.  He taught us how to live.  He taught us how to die.  His life is a legacy of love.  The sick He healed, the downtrodden He lifted, the sinner He saved.

Ultimately, He stood alone.  Some Apostles doubted; one betrayed Him.  The Roman soldiers pierced His side.  The angry mob took His life.  There yet rings from Golgotha's hill His compassionate words: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

Who was this 'man of sorrows,... acquainted with grief?  Who is this King of glory, this Lord of lords? 

He is our Master.  He is our Savior.  He is the Son of God.  He is the Author of Our Salvation.  He beckons, 'Follow me.' He instructs 'Go, and do thou likewise."' He pleads, 'Keep my commandments.'

Let us follow Him.  Let us emulate His example.  Let us obey His words.  By doing so, we give Him the divine gift of gratitude."

-Thomas S. Monson

I hope we all remember the greatest act of love anyone has ever known today.

Happy Easter

a picture of twiggy and a playlist

• Josiah Leming - To Run
• Dion Roy - Ocean (I'm Sick Of Missing You)
• Blake Shelton - Honey Bee
• Britney Spears - I Wanna Go
• Mumford & Sons - Awake My Soul
• Mozella - Thank You
• Patty Griffin - Let Him Fly
• Matt Nathanson - I Saw
• The Naked and Famous - Girls Like You
• Alison Krauss & Union Station - Paper Airplane
• Brett Dennen - Make You Fall In Love With Me
• The Civil Wars - Tip Of My Tongue
• The Avett Brothers - Kick Drum Heart
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Free Fallin

where the magic happens

so for the last few months I've been working on plans to re-do my bedroom.  I needed something more grown-up and sophisticated because I myself am so grown-up and sophisticated (kindly disregard any previous blog posts about the jonas brothers, justin bieber, or hannah montana...that was a previous life.  I don't even know that person anymore).
So naturally I gravitated toward my old flame anthropologie...dear sweet anthropologie.  And there it was....this was not a fleeting romance.  This was the real thing.  This was true love.

*you can see multiple views here...and why wouldn't you?  that's like not looking at the mona lisa....

So because I have no impulse control I purchased it.  The bedding and the shams (because why just go into debt when you can go into full blown poverty?)

I decided to center my room around this print of Tennessee that I won in a contest last year (anyone remember that?  It was pre-Chinese curse days so you might not)

So I got my bedding in Ivory so it would be the perfect starting off point.

Then because decorative pillows are basically my form of crack cocaine...I purchased 3 from Pier 1 Imports.

I received all my purchases and immediately put them together but because my room looked like Aiden Quinn's loft in Desperately Seeking Susan (mattress on the floor and everything) I decided to re-arrange it and make it look like an actual human bedroom.  Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the before...just the afters.  So I'll use the dungeon on Saw II because I think it's pretty much the same thing...

Before

After

 (the coloring on this one sucks...it was taken on my cell phone...)

My eBay purchase of 1500 thread count 100% Egyptian Cotton sheets pretty much completed the transformation (it's like being hugged by a cloud every single night....seriously...best purchase of my life)There's still a few more things to do... I'm going to re-paint the stand that my TV/computer are on.  I'm also planning on moving my painting of the Eiffel Tower over the couch and then hanging my Tennessee print over my bed with 2 more prints.  I'm thinking this one

and this one (in my name of course and in a different color)....

*And contrary to the title of this post....nothing magical happens here. Unless you count my Harry Potter movie marathons.  Which may be the explanation as to why nothing else magical happens here.  What a Catch-22.

opossums

We can all pretty much agree that opossums are basically creatures of Satan right?

I rest my case.