Blog Spotlight: Valentine's Day Tea Party

As promised, this is a little feature post that is spotlighting my friend Erin and her annual Valentine's Day Tea Party that she throws. It is always such a creative endeavor and she works really hard to make it fun, special, and cute! This year was my second time to attend. This party was something straight off of a Pinterest board-- Erin did an amazing job with the decorations! She also provides tons of different kinds of tea to enjoy plus amazing (and beautiful) food! It's always a sweet time of gathering to celebrate not only romantic love but also sister-ly love. Speaking of love, Erin has a blog herself on all things marriage and love. It is her passion, and her blog is rich with advice from personal experience and from her Master's degree in counseling! Make sure and pay it a little visit! Enjoy the following visual aids to help you see the fun that was the V-Day Tea Party 2012 :)

Precious Mantle Display...I love flags!

The spread...YUM!

"Carnation" Center Piece- made completely from cupcake wrappers!

Handmade tissue paper ceiling flowers...so cute

Heart-shaped fruit skewers!!

She collects vintage tea cups for, of course, the tea!

Hope you enjoyed this little look inside the Valentine's Day Tea Party!

Next time, I talk mascara...my favorite beauty product!!

Makeup: The BeautyBlender

Ok, so I know I promised a feature blog-post about my dear friend's Valentine's Tea Party but I promise this is coming in a couple of days-- I actually got a request to do a tutorial on using the BeautyBlender and I thought I'd do it tonight before I go out of town on a little visit to see my little brother!

If you subscribe to Birchbox (a monthly box filled with deluxe samples delivered to your door...aka FUN) then there is a chance you received a BeautyBlender sponge in your box. I was SO excited to get one because I'd been wanting to try it but wasn't sure about it since they are slightly pricey. However, now that I have one, I think I would be willing to invest....

pink spongy fun!

Here are some quick tips for using your BeautyBlender:

1. Wet the sponge. This makes application easier and also helps to avoid the sponge soaking up a lot of your product. Make sure you ring it out until it is just damp.

2. Dot or swipe your foundation on the main spots of your face with your finger: on your cheeks, sides of nose, middle forehead, sides of forehead, lower jaw line, and chin.

3. Take your BeautyBlender and start to lightly and quickly dab it all over using the bottom fuller rounded side of the sponge, spreading out the foundation with "spackle-type" dabs. *Yes, it will look at first like your foundation will look spotty and like it isn't going to cover your face but trust me it will!

4. Every so often, you can "swipe" the BeautyBlender to even out the coverage. Try to avoid swiping too much or too hard as it might wipe off what you've done, and you want a really natural, pressed finished.

5. The pointed side of the BeautyBlender can be used to blend under the eyes, the sides of the nose (close to your nostrils) and in other parts of your face that you need to be more precise.

6. Blend until you get the coverage you need!

I LOVE the way using this sponge feels...it's soft and actually kind of fun to use! Plus, you can just rinse it out once a week like you do your makeup brushes (see a tutorial for washing those here). Hope you enjoy using your BeautyBlender! If you don't have one but want one, you can purchase from Sephora (the two for 25$ is a good deal as this basically replaces your use of a foundation brush). Happy Blending!

Cooking Adventures: Portobello Pizza

Cooking is not exactly my favorite thing to do, but every once in a while I get inspired. I figured I'd try a recipe and then share my experience with you all! I have wanted to try this recipe for a long time, but my husband doesn't like mushrooms much so I waited until he was out of town on a trip to experiment! As far as ease goes, this recipe takes the cake. It took NO time to put together and there was hardly any cleanup. LOVE. Also, for those of you watching your gluten, this is completely gluten-free!

recipe adapted from www.tenleymolzahn.com


Preheat your oven to 350 degrees so it's ready to go when you're done prepping the pizza :).

Pick yourself out a lovely medium/large portobello mushroom, and then remove the stems and the "gills" (this is the dark fan-looking part on the underside of the mushroom). You might want to run a damp paper towel over the outside of the mushroom to clean it.

Before stem/gills removed

Cleaned and stem/gills removed

Now, you're ready to add your toppings. I chose onions, bell peppers and mozzarella. Add a layer of tomato sauce before you add your other toppings (Side note: I used Prego pasta sauce but I think next time I would go for PIZZA sauce...the pasta sauce turned out a little watery). 

Now you're ready to put the pizza in! I put mine on a layer of foil on a baking sheet to cook--- even EASIER clean-up! I cooked mine for about 12 minutes, but I think next time I would go a bit longer (maybe up to 15-17 minutes) to "crisp" the cheese a little. Ovens can vary on their cooking speed, so it's good to check and cook it just like you like it! 

finished product :)

RECIPE REVIEW:

Like I said, as far as ease goes....SO EASY. I loved how fast I could put this together (very important to me!!!). Now, also like I said, I think I would choose an actual "pizza" sauce next time because the pasta sauce did make it slightly watery. I also think I would add some seasonings- italian seasoning, pizza seasoning, I don't know...just something to boost the flavor a little! That said, I absolutely loved the texture of the mushroom and the idea of eating pizza without feeling super full from thick pizza crust! I will definitely make this again, and hopefully you will like it if you try it! Let me know in the comments what you think. 

Next time, I spotlight my friend's annual Valentine's Day Tea Party! Very exciting things coming up...stay tuned! :) 

Makeup Brushes Pt 2: How I clean my brushes

Hello everyone! Today's topic of discussion is how I wash my makeup brushes. There are lots of different ways that you can do this, but I find this to be extremely easy- requires no mixing of any ingredients and costs about 99 cents! 

I use Johnson&Johnson Baby Shampoo to clean my makeup brushes. It is mild, and washes out really nicely. You can get one for 99 cents or less in the travel-size item aisle at Wal-mart or Target. I put a very tiny amount in the palm of my hand and run the brush that I'm cleaning under some lukewarm water. I swirl it around and wash until the water runs clean. I do this with each brush I need to clean. Obviously, depending on the size it takes more or less soap/water. 

I generally clean my brushes once a week to once every two weeks (depends on how much I use them during that time). Face brushes need to be cleaned more often because dirty brushes can cause breakouts-- I learned this the hard way. 

I just got this product a few weeks ago from Sephora. It is a daily brush cleaner that you can spray on your brushes to sanitize them and clean off the most recent bit of producy. I really like this spray. It can prolong the amount of time you go between major washes as well as give you a clean surface for working with each day. I bought this in a small size to try it for only 6$. You need 1-2 sprays per brush, depending on the size.

Now, this is a product that is totally not necessary for drying your brushes, but I got it just for the fun of it. Normally, you can just lay down your brushes on their side on a towel or paper towel (never dry them straight up and down since excess water can settle and cause mildew...emphasis on the "ew"). This product called the "Dry 'n Shape" from Sigma Beauty not only dries your brushes faster (4-6 hrs, normally they will take all night to dry) but it also dries them so that your nice big fluffy brushes don't lose their shape. Like I said, not necessary, but cool if you're interested :) 

These are some of my tips and tricks...hopefully you will find some of them helpful! Do you have any that you use on a regular basis for cleaning your makeup brushes? Share in the comments! Next time, I try out a recipe for Portabello Mushroom Pizza!