Sephora Overload.

As most of you probably are aware, we are in the middle of one of the most important weeks of the year-- the Sephora Friends and Family sale, where EVERYTHING is 20% off.  And I may have gone slightly overboard this year.  But, in my defense, I cut out more than half of the stuff I wanted to get.

So, here's what I narrowed it down to:

bareMinerals Mineral Veil-- I love this stuff and had run out.  I was waiting on the FF sale to re-purchase.

Benefit Watt's Up-- I am so excited about this.  I've read about it on several beauty blogs.  I think I'm going to like it better than High Beam, which is my current highlighter, because this is not a liquid.  It's more like the NARS multiple except it comes with a built-in blender sponge.

NARS Orgasm-- It is a travesty that I do not already own this.  So, I'm rectifying that right now.  I LOVE my Benefit Bella Bamba blush, but it's a little too bright and pink for winter IMO.  

NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil-- This has been on my to-purchase list for months, so I'm taking advantage of the 20% off to get one.  

Ouidad shampoo and conditioner--  If you don't have curly hair, you probably haven't heard of Ouidad.  They make products specifically for us curly-headed gals.  It's not anywhere as expensive as, say, Bumble and Bumble, but more than I normally spend on hair products.  But, again, with 20% off, now is the time to try it!

Urban Decay eyeshadow in Sin-- My favorite and most-used shade from my NAKED palette.  The one in the palette was starting to run low, so I bought a single.  Thank goodness this was one color that is not exclusive to the palette, or I'd be very sad.

UD Primer Potion Professional Size-- Is an explanation really necessary for this one??  The professional size is already an amazing deal, but take off another 20%, and it's a steal. 

Smashbox Photo Finish Hydrating Primer-- My skin gets SO DRY in the winter, and most primers just make it worse (I'm looking at you, MUFE & MAC).  I was so glad to see that Smashbox came out with a hydrating primer this year.  Hopefully it will be fantastic.

As always, one of the best things about Sephora is their return policy.  If you don't like a product after trying it, you can return it for a full refund-- even if you purchased online.  I love risk-free purchases!  :)

Any of you ladies take advantage of the sale??  Do share!  

Pumpkins, Sunrises, and Airplanes.

I cannot believe it's been over two weeks since I last posted!  I think things are starting to calm down at work (or maybe the chaos is just becoming normal to me).  So, more regular posting should be around the corner.  

Since I last updated y'all, I've been up to all sorts of things.  Two weeks ago, my girls and I got together for a fall fest with pumpkin carving!   

April, me, Sarah, Kacey, Pirate Emily, and Ashlee

We had all sorts of delicious items!  I made this Pumpkin Fluff, which was AMAZING.  Seriously, y'all should make it.  It's quick & easy, can be made sugarless, and is heavenly.

Recipe and photo from here

Then we got down to the main event of the evening-- pumpkin carving.  My pumpkin is the baby one.  

I decided that I didn't want to get dirty cleaning out my pumpkin (yes, apparently I am that girl), so I painted mine.  Given my horrible crafting/art skills, I was pretty pleased at how my pumpkin turned out!  It was a super fun night (even though I missed almost the entire ALCS game that night-- boo).

Also, I finally found an apothecary jar for the dried rose petals from the flowers Donny sent me almost two months ago.  I had looked everywhere for one that I liked and finally found this one at probably the fourth Michael's I went to.  Love it.

And that brings us up to last week.  Thursday I left my office at 1pm, and I was off Friday, yet I still worked a 40 hour work week.  It was crazy busy.  This was my view when I got into work before 7am last Thursday. I got to watch the sunrise, and it was awesome.  

Thursday evening, I was on my way to Dallas to spend the weekend with Donny! 

To be continued...

Weekend Recap and Random Updates.

I'm taking a much needed break from work to write this post and update you guys.  There really hasn't been much excitement going on-- just hours and hours of work (much of which should not be mine).  But, I don't want to be a Debbie Downer, so on to happier things!

I actually had a great weekend.  Friday night, my mom, grandma, aunt, and I all went out to dinner together. We hardly ever do that, and it was so nice to hang out with them.  My grandma and aunt hadn't been in my house since I moved in over two years ago, so they came by to see all I've done to the place (new paint, furniture, decor, etc).  

Then, later that night, I went out with my girls April and Emily.  It was a MUCH needed night to let loose a little and forget about all my stress.  No pictures were taken, so this one of the three of us from NYE will have to do.  I love these girls so much!

And, the lovely April owns Newsies on DVD, so of course we had to watch it at 3am.  

 My fave line of the movie-- "Never fear, Brooklyn is here!"

Then on Saturday, my co-worker Al got married.  It was a beautiful wedding.  I had never been to a Catholic ceremony before, so it was a little longer than I had anticipated.  But gorgeous nonetheless.  The Al and his new wife, Chrissy, were so happy.  It was so cute to see.

Their colors were navy blue and a bright green.  Gorgeous combo.

Love the centerpieces!!  So creative to do some with the apples and some with flowers.  The whole thing was pulled together beautifully.

The happy couple!

As most of you are probably aware, my beloved Yankees lost in the ALDS last week.  However, Donny's Rangers won.  So, I'm being a good girlfriend and cheering on his team.  Even though I'm still kind of sad about my guys.

Speaking of Donny...  I'll spare y'all the sappy details, but he's amazing.  These last few weeks have been so stressful and frustrating.  So, while I'm sure that I have been woefully short of delightful, he's been nothing but fantastic.  :)

Nine more days...

Some Whining, Serious Talk, and a Funny Video.

These last few weeks have been totally insane at work.  My firm is fairly small-- only four attorneys (well five if you count the 82 year old who is rarely in the office).  But last month, one of the attorneys up and left the firm with practically no notice.  There was a lot of drama surrounding his departure, which I will spare you.  But, within 48 hours, I suddenly had 37 new cases from him on top of my already huge caseload.

Now, I try not to complain about a heavy workload because if I'm not busy, I'm not making money.  Lots of firms are struggling to get clients and keep their doors open, and we somehow have an abundance.  So, I'm grateful for that.  But, I've just been SOOOO overwhelmed these last few weeks.

So, we're down to three attorneys now.  My boss, who leaves for a two week vacation tomorrow, and an associate junior to me, who is getting married on Saturday and will be off at the same time.  So, not only  do I have a crazy workload at the moment, but for 8 days during the next two weeks, I'll be the ONLY attorney in the office.

As you can see, my stress-o-meter is about maxed out.  And I am not generally a person who gets stressed.  I'm usually great at letting stuff roll off my back and not freaking out about them.  So, how am I coping?

Being totally serious for a second-- I'm praying and studying Scripture so much.  I literally cannot handle things on my own right now, and God is so faithful to take care of me.  In fact, this morning I was walking into my office building already starting to stress out about my day, and Philippians 4:19 popped in my head: "And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus."  It's not even a verse I had been studying recently, but it's exactly what I needed to hear this morning.  Sometimes, I'm just totally in awe of how God works and how he reveals himself to me.

And then I curl up with a Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino and giggle at funny videos like this one.  (You'll have to excuse the cat due to some copyright issues-- I promise it's worth watching if you haven't seen it.)