New Year, New Me!

hello everyone and welcome to 2013!

I hope all of you are having a wonderful start to your new year and welcome to my last semester of genetic counseling graduate school!

I have been doing a lot of thinking about what I want to do with this blog once I graduate and I think that I may start a new blog chronicling my life as a young professional. I am hoping with my graduation will come job offers (hopefully before graduation), an engagement (::fingers crossed::) and an overall new start in my life.  With all of those changes I think it seems fit to close this chapter and blog and begin with a new one....but we are getting ahead of ourselves! We still have 4 months of blogging and stress ahead before my new life of not being a student (which I have been for twenty years now) begins.

I am now back in Columbia with my tail between my knees and started my first week of rotation last week. Once again, being home for such a long time and having to return here is always hard, but the next time I will be going home for an extended time it will be for good....and I could not be more excited.

What lies in front of me is hours of work related to thesis, exams, rotations, and finishing up my education before being thrown out into the real world, where I can be a genetic counselor full time. The idea terrifies me and excites me all at the same time, I am so ready to work in the profession that I love but I am also worried about leaving the comforting life of being a student. Now that I am twenty six I guess it is time to get a move on....so here I go.

One thing I love about the start of the semester is the influx of loan money! Since my apartment is SO much cheaper than it was last year, that means I have a little extra to spend. Now don't worry, I didn't go overboard but with a new semester comes new things including a thing or twenty.

Now I have to blame Cassie a little bit for this (just kidding)....but we are very bad influences on each other. Plus, she went back to Atlanta this weekend which means I had to spend more money since I had no one to hang out with ( I am really terrible at being alone!).

There is something to be said for retail therapy so I thought I would show you what I bought!

Beauty

 So of course I bought some new beauty things. All of my youtube beauty bloggers have been talking about there 2012 favorites and I have also been seeing some new things popping up on Pintrest that I wanted to try.

The first thing is the Herbal Essences Shampoo in Long Term Relationship. I bought a small size of this conditioner while I was on my last rotation and it smells incredible. Plus it made my hair feel wonderful! I have been using Aussie products for about three years now because I like the price and the fact that I can buy large sizes of the shampoo and conditioner with pumps. But after many years of use, I thought I would give this a try. It is made for long hair to help keep it healthy. I used it today and I am loving it already!

Next I bought a detangler comb by Conair in a beautiful coral color. My baby sister got one of these in her stocking and I was super jealous. I keep this is the shower and use it to comb through my hair after I have added conditioner.

Along the same lines, I bought the Goody Quik Style hairbrush. I have heard good things about it and thought I would give it a shot. In addition to the bristles it has microfiber cloth pieces in it which help absorb some of the water in your hair after the shower allowing for your hair to dry faster. I tried it today and I did not notice too much of a difference but I am going to keep trying it.

I also bought a Revlon eyelash curler. All my beauty youtubers swear by curling there lashes. I have never done this and it kind of looks like a torture device, but it is worth a try!

I also bought another Stay Matte powder by Rimmel. This is by far the BEST powder I have ever used. I love love love it! My color is 003 Natural.

I then bought a new Infallible Eyeshadow from Loreal in Amber Rush. I have heard raves about this line of shadows and this color in particular. It is rose gold which is my newest obsession! Cannot wait to try it. 

I also bought the Revlon Colorstay Whipped foundation in 200 Sand Beige. I have also heard great things about this from my beauty youtubers and they all claim that it is nice and light which is perfect. I have worn it once and it evens out my skin nicely. I am still getting used to wearing it ( I never wear foundation) but I like it so far.

While I was at Target I explored their seasonal section which has turned into a mini Sam's Club and bought these cotton pads and shaving cream kit for $5 each which is a ridiculous deal!

I also bought some new clothes at Target including a jade green dress, a floral cardigan, a flowing black skirt and a fuchsia tank top! I am so excited to wear them all!

As a part of my new years resolution, I am going to try and work out at least three days a week which requires more sports bras. How cute are these?! I got the yellow one on sale for $5!

I also bought some prenatal vitamins. DON'T FREAK OUT! I am not pregnant nor am I trying to become pregnant but as a genetic counselor we always talk about the importance of being on a prenatal vitamin for the health of the mother and future children, plus it is excellent for hair and nail growth! It is just something else to help create a newer healthier me.

That is everything. I hope you are having a wonderful night and I will talk with you all again soon!

T-minus one week until Erin is here :)

its shopping week!
isn't  it always?

Birchbox

I finally joined the cult that is Birchbox, and I am so happy that I did. This is going to be a review of the three boxes that I have received so far and then I will review the rest of them individually each month.

For those of you who don't know much about Birchbox, it is a monthly service that costs $10 a month. Each month they send you between 4-5 deluxe size beauty samples in a box for you to try new products.

I received my first box in August after being on the wait list for 2 months!

August 2012:
The box was themed with Back to School which means it came with an extra surprise which was a Shick Hydrosilk razor.

August 2012

 I really liked my first box. In addition to the razor, it had a Viva la Juicy perfume (smells wonderful!),  Yu-Be moisture cream (still need to try), Eye Rock stick on eye liner, and "Stainiac" from The Balm.

Describtion Card

I have not tried these eyeliner stickers yet but they look very interesting  They have a bit of a strange texture, but I think I might use them for a costume or stage before wearing them out on the town.

The cheek stain from The Balm is amazing! It is a gel cheek stain which is a little weird at first, but once you get used to using it, it creates a really nice rosy effect...and because it is a gel, it lasts all day or night.

September 2012:

This box did not have a theme that I can remember. It did come with a Fall look book, but no special collaboration.

September 2012

Once again I was pleased with this box, although I have not tried much from this box. The nail color is an original color from Color Club called "Insta-This". Each of the colors are named after various social media. It is a pretty royal blue color.

I also received a shampoo/conditioner sample and volumizing spray from Liqwd. I have not tried the shampoo and conditioner but I have tried the volumizer. I am not sure how I feel about it, because I already have a lot of volume in my hair, but it was not heavy or sticky which I liked.

I also received Dr Jart++ BB Cream, which is actually an Asian BB Cream. I wore this on my anniversary dinner and it felt very lightweight. The only problem I have with it is that it is a little dark from my skin tone, but considering that I am as white as snow, it is not a surprise.

There was also a perfume sample in here but as soon as I smelled it, I instantly thought it would be something that my mom would wear....not that that is a bad thing, but I thought she would appreciate it more than I would.

Last in this box was a twistband which is a new hair tie. The goal of this hair tie is that it does not leave a crease in your hair after you have had it up for a while, which means you can more easily go from an up look to a down look without damaging the look of your hair. It came in an adorable lace blue color too :) I have not worn it (theme of this box) but I am planning on it very soon.

October 2012:

The last box I have to share is the October box which was with collaboration with goop. I am not sure who goop is, but I liked what they did with this box.

Essie: "Carry On"

My favorite part of this box is of course the Essie nail polish. The color is a dark burgundy wine color. On the nails it looks very dark, but when it hits the light you can really see the wine in it. Not only do I love the color, but I also love the fact that it is a full size polish!

Next favorite is the Luna bar. I love Luna bars already, so having one in my birchbox = awesome. 

There is a lip balm, which is more of a chapstick consistency which gives a pearly pink shine on the lips. 

The last two items are a body oil and a moisturizer. I have not used these yet, but I am looking forward to using them especially since winter is right around the corner. 

There are my boxes full of goodies! If you are interested in birchbox, please visit my link and sign up!

https://www.birchbox.com?raf=whgmd

....we'll provide the hair and makeup.