Goodbye 2013! I'm so ready for 2014!

My, my it has been such a long time since I've blogged.  I want to apologize for the absence but it has been hard finding the time to blog now that my new job is so busy.  When I am off work, I turn my brain off and the last thing I want to do is be in front of a computer.  I get all these ideas where I'm like man I want to write about this, but then when the time comes where I can sit down in front of a computer, my mojo is gone.

My fiance got me a laptop for Christmas.  It's the first time in a long time where I've had my own.  I have a little break right now where the boys are taking a nap (at least I think they are) so I wanted to sum up my year.  2013 was definitely a year of change. I'm kind of ready for it to be over and maybe settle down in my life.  I want some stability.  This year; I've had two new jobs,  left San Diego, permanently ( I no longer commute there on a daily basis), got a different car, have re-decorated my home (sort of), all of my neighborly friends are gone, started playing volleyball again, dyed my hair for the first time in over 5 years and most of all I had an epiphany of where my life is, and where I want it to go.

2014, I'm ready to grow up.  I'm ready to stop this whirlwind of craziness and drama.   My kids are getting older but I feel like my relationship isn't.  I feel like I'm not.  I've decided to be very honest in my blog about things because, what's the point in sugar coating shit.  People that are reading this are either genuinely interested in my life, or they are just reading it to be nosy.  I feel like my relationship is still on the rocks like it's been for a very long time.  Things that I thought maybe new parents and new serious relationships endure, but through time will resolve itself.  I don't know if that's going to happen.  This is the longest relationship I've had, so I really don't know what it's suppose to be like. I just feel like maybe we shouldn't be arguing over the same things we've argued about since the first year.

I've decided to write my new year resolution down and set it as the background of my phone's wallpaper.  Maybe if I see it everyday, several times a day it will actually remind me and motivate me to keep at it.  I have some pretty generic resolutions of course.  Most of them are just about being positive.  I feel like I need to get back in touch with my inner self.  The old me.  When I say that, I don't mean partying and my old LIFE.  I mean my old ME.  Prior to having negativity, relationship issues and just stress affect my personality and attitude.  I think for the most part I've done a pretty good job of just being who I am.  Somewhere along the way, I've lost that spark of playfulness.  Maybe I've just lost that in my relationship.  When other people meet me, they see me as playful and lighthearted.  I'm goofy, childish, fun and easy going. I wish I was that way all the time again.  2014 is going to be all about maintenance on me improving my quality of life.  I realized that if I don't pursue my own happiness, then I can't make those around me happy as well.  I can't be the mom I want to be and show them to truly be themselves and to give them happiness.  I've come to terms with myself that in order to do that, I have to let go.  I have to let go of things and feelings that has impacted me negatively so I can really move on.  If that doesn't work, then I have to let go of the negative things in my life.  I dwell on things sometimes if I'm hurt.  It makes it hard for me to accept and forgive because I haven't forgotten.  I don't think anyone can really FORGIVE without forgetting.  You're always going to have that negative memory in your head that just resurfaces at the slightest sign of anger.

I'm sorry, maybe this turned out to be more of a deep emotional vent.  I write to soothe because there's no one I can talk to.  It's my therapy.

Here are my resolutions for 2014!

Now, I also have some other GOALS like blog at least once a month.  Now that I have my laptop, I can bring it to work and blog on my lunch (if I even take one.)  I also plan on redoing the kids room which I will be posting, add finishing touches to our place with new furniture, maybe even redo our closet.  We have made a lot of changes already to our place but our kitchen is the only room left, well that and the closet. Alright that's it for now folks. See you in the new year!

E-Z Beef Stroganoff - Slow-cooker Recipe!

Finally, I have some time to blog. It has been a long time and it's mainly because I started my new job 3 weeks ago and it's CRAZY BUSY. My schedule is so thrown off that I now have to dust off the old slow-cooker just to stop from eating out every night. 

So Brandon HATES mushrooms, but I love them. I hate the fact that it limits me to certain recipes because it contains mushroom. The other day I asked him if I used a recipe that had cream of mushroom soup in it would he be open to trying and he said sure. Made this recipe for the first time and even he said it wasn't bad. Probably by far one of my favorite and easiest slow-cooker recipes.

Beef Stroganoff

• 1 lb cubed stew meat
• 1 (10.75 oz) can condensed golden mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup of water
• 4 oz cream cheese (soften)

1. Combine meat, onion, soup and Worcestershire sauce and water in slow-cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours or 5 hrs on high.
2. Stir in cream cheese just before serving. 

I suggest to soften the cream cheese because it's really hard for it to mix. You still do get little bits and chunks of it. Personally, I don't mind.

Urban Decay Family & Friends Sale-20% Off!

code: ffholiday13

First off, if you guys follow my blog you'll know that I LOVE UD. I love their sales & most of all their products. So, when I got this email that they're having a 20% off sale on all of their products I got so excited! I'm kind of tight on money right now so I don't know if I will be able to get anything.

What I recommend:

Eyeshadow Primer Potion. I got it as a sample and I refuse to use anything else. It's great if you have greasy lids. There are days when it still smudges but for the most part it has outlasted any other type of eyeshadow primer I've used. It is the only hope for Asian lids.

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Pencil. I have it in ZERO and another vintage color. This is another liner that I've fallen in love with. I refuse to use anything else because this DOES NOT BUDGE! It's my go-to bottom liner if I'm not using my gel liner.

Super Saturated High Gloss Lip Color. I have not personally tried this, but I want to try this sooo bad!


There are a couple items that I've fallen in love with from them but I don't see it available anymore. Boohoo!

One weekend, two milestones!

Okay, it's been a while since I've blogged because I've started my new job. I really don't have time to do much of anything but there are so many things I want to blog about.

As of October 5th...

Milestone #1 Chase is officially potty trained! Can we say HALLELUJAH! This is a MAJOR milestone for parents of toddlers. At the age of 3 years and 3 1/2 months old. He now tells me when he needs to go poop and pee! NO MORE DIAPERS! NO MORE CHANGING GROSS POOPIE DIAPERS! Yes, he still wears pull-ups at night and nap time but this has been such a long journey. I've done the stickers, in fact his chart is full with no more space. It wasn't that he wouldn't go on the potty, he just wouldn't tell me. So it's just me reminding him for months and months, like a broken record. Poop was also the hardest to overcome. I mean, it's like you're asking him for blood. I'm so excited and proud of my boy. It's also just a reminder of how much he's not a baby anymore. The only thing that sucks is that we have a very high toilet. Every time he needs to go, we still need to help him get on the potty.

Milestone #2 Trent CAN WALK!! At the age of 1 years and 1 1/2 month he's a walker!! It started off with just a couple steps here and there, gradually more throughout the week. Then, last weekend he just started walking where ever. Mind you, he still walks like a sloppy drunken zombie. But, walking is his preference. It's so much fun watching him. He also seems to love it even more himself! It's amazing how all of this can just happen over a weekend.

Things has been kind of crazy with my new schedule at work. It's been very hard to get things done. I now work from 8:30-5pm. It's the same distance, but I commute during rush hour. So instead of taking me the 25 minutes to get home, it's bumper to bumper. It takes me about 40 minutes to get home. So now, I don't get home until close to 6 which leaves me no time to prepare dinner. I've been experimenting with different ways to manage my time. When Brandon was dropping off the kids in the morning, it freed up my time to prepare or cook dinner in the morning, do the dishes, clean the house, get the kids clothes and school things ready. The downside is, when I have to pick up the kids after work I don't get home until about 6 and it sucks having the kids stuck at school so late. So now, I've been dropping the kids off in the morning and I don't have as much time to accomplish as much housework and it's still just a 15 minute different coming home.

I guess everything will just work out once we get a good schedule going. It'll all take work.

Trent is just the cutest thing ever. He's such much fun and such a goofy kid. He's so dramatic with his emotions and I can tell that he's going to be a handful when he gets older. Right now, he's just silly but so mischievous. I remember when Chase was his age, he was so mild mannered. If we told him not to do something, he wouldn't do it. Trent will stare you down and cry then throw himself on the ground or continue doing it. But, he's twice as affectionate as Chase was at that age. I don't want him to grow up!

Bench Window Seating Pleaseee!

I'm starting a new job next week and all I can think about is window seating! I've been totally obsessed with the idea for a very long time. Currently, we have this corner of the living room that is dominated by the boys toys.

It's actually even worse now, but when I first moved in there I just saw it as this perfect opportunity for a little nook. Natural light, a chair, reading a book, maybe drinking a cup of coffee. So every time I see pictures of window seating it just makes me want it more and more! PLUS, we always have to move the toys into another part of the room when it's Christmas time because that corner is where our tree goes.

Doesn't that just look so relaxing? The only negative thing I see happening is that we live on a second story and maybe window seating isn't a great idea. I don't care, I've put my mind to it. Originally I wanted to use to STUVA Bench system and hide the kids toys in there. Now that I think about it, we're in a little bit over our heads. I just don't really like the idea of having toys in the kid's room. Maybe it's the way I was brought up. Bedrooms are for sleeping. But, we don't have a playroom right now so I am actually thinking about moving the kids toys in there. It just sucks because I have to pick and choose since their room is so small. So, with that said I think even if we got the STUVA system and we decide to put the kids toys in there, we could use it for blankets and pillows. God knows we need that. We have zero storage especially for big things like blankets. To me, it's kind of a hefty price because it's pretty much $160 for STUVA's. So I've been Googling other DIY ideas. I want it to look legit.

I see a lot of people are using the EXPEDIT bookcase on it's side and adding a foam seating on it. Which would be much cheaper. However, if I was to do it, I'd do it with the drawer inserts and like it wouldn't be as practical. I could use it for books but we really don't have that many and we already have a bookcase in our room. For the EXPEDIT bookcase and drawer inserts, it would pretty much turn out to be the same cost as the two STUVA's.

So the THIRD option, so far, is using IKEA kitchen cabinets. If you walk through IKEA they do have a bench seating type thing in their showroom and I believe it's made of IKEA cabinets. They also use it in the kitchen. So after some browsing I decided that MAYBE this one would work that fits my budget. The AKURUM series. The only thing is the measurements come out kind of weird. The space I have is about 69". I could probably push a little more than that and just move the couch over. The cabinets are about 30" or an option of 39" for one. So either way, it'll be too short or too long.

So torn right?!? Look how amazing this looks though with the kitchen cabinets. 

*SIGH*  With all of this said, it's something I'm been looking into for over a year. I think I might stick with the STUVA bench because it's more practical. The kids could use it in their room for toys if we ever move into a bigger place and they have a play room. ALSO, you can pull out the drawer and it doubles into a table! That way I could have Chase color and draw in the living room while I'm cleaning. I think I just persuaded myself. 

What do you guys think I should do?!? STUVA, EXPEDIT or Cabinets? 

Amazing Pot Roast Recipe (Slowcooker)

Okay, so the other morning I was prepping dinner in my slowcooker and for some reason I felt like getting a little crazy. I ended up adding 2/3 can of Budlight to my recipe and crossed my fingers. It turned out delicious and even Brandon liked it. This is the first time I forgot to take a picture of the finished product!

Kitty's Simply Crazy Pot Roast Recipe
3 lb Chuck Pot Roast Boneless
1   1 oz. Package Dry Ranch Salad Dressing
1  .87 oz Dry Brown Gravy Mix
1   0.6 oz Dry Italian Dressing Mix
1/4 Cup of water
8 oz of beer
Baby Carrots (Approx. 2 cups)
Broccoli & Cauliflower (Approx 2 cups)
Egg Pasta Noodles or Elbows (I used elbows)

Place the roast in the slow cooker. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and sprinkle on the roast. Add the carrots and broccoli around the roast. Pour the beer and water around the roast. Let it cook on low for about 8 hours.

I cooked and drained the elbows and served with the roast and it's juices. It was delicious!

Fancy Box

Okay, so I found this new subscription thing that I am totally wanting to try out! Except, it's $39 dollars and to me it's kind of hefty. Although, I think I could try it and cancel it. I doubt that it will happen any time soon, plus realistically it's just cool little gadgets I think. I wonder if anyone I know have a subscription to it.

It's called the Fancy Box. They have different types of boxes available and it's $39 a month. So far the reviews for the Jennifer Love Hewitt box has GREAT reviews. They received over $100 worth of merchandise which is totally worth it right? The items from this box is handpicked form JLove. They even have one handpick from Pink

I've looked at some of the photos of the stuff people got and one of them was this face changing mug that I've seen before (that's what got me) and a couple of other items.

Here are some photos of things that people got from their September Fancy Box. I found this on subscriptionmaven.com.

These are some pictures of the items from her July box!

I mean really though, how cute are these things?!? UGHHH! 

Ready To Wear Line from HSN & Mini Sephora Haul

For the first time ever, I bought something off the TV. I LOVE infomercials. I'm a sucker I know. To me, if I'm watching it and it works then it must really! Even though I love infomercials, I've never really bought anything from it. Yes, I fought the urge. But,the other night Brandon and I were watching TV (I was watching TV and he was playing on his phone) and they were showing this Ready To Wear make-up line on HSN.com. I was just amazed. They were doing brows and eyes which to me are something I cannot live without.

Here's a little background..I have no eyebrows, nor do I have any eyelashes. I shade in my eyebrows everyday and I don't even bother with mascara because there are no eyelashes to actually coat. I always fall for the "volume" mascara and it's really NOT REAL. They're doing it celebrities and people that's already got on false lashes so of course it looks dramatic. I mean trying to coat my 5 eyelashes is not going to add more. It's just going to look like I have 5 really thick eyelashes.

I'm watching the HSN presentation and the guy that created this line worked for MAC for a very long time and is a make-up artist to the stars. But, what I saw was just unbelievable. Yes, these people he's trying the products on HAVE eyelashes unlike me, but it really just was a DRASTIC difference. They did this eyebrow product on a lady that barely had any (like me) and it looked so natural. I gave in, ordered it for $29.95. It was actually a pretty good deal because I got 3 products for that price. I thought it was kind of inexpensive for lash extension, brow extension and a precision liquid liner. I don't think I was ever more excited to try a new product.

So, yesterday I got it in the mail and I was very eager to try it this morning. I started with the brow extension and.....I'm not happy with it. I mean, it's good but I still had to shade in parts of my eyebrows and it leaves a really fuzzy look. 

It's quite interesting, they keep saying it's microfibers and I'm like yeah yeah..IT REALLY IS. It's literally little fibers, it looks like lint in a bottle.

READY TO WEAR Brown Extension in "Medium"

So, next up is the lash extension. They make it a point to tell you THIS IS NOT A MASCARA and it's not to be worn alone. What you do, is you coat your lashes with mascara, then you coat your lashes with this fiber and you finish it off with another coat of mascara that kind of seals it in place. I have to say...it does work. I mean, my results were not as dramatic as the ones on television but it's definitely longer and more voluminous as it's ever been. The only downside is that I feel like it's kind of hard to apply. I feel like a million fibers fall INTO my eyes. It' been bugging me up until maybe 30 minutes ago. I felt like there was something in my eyes.

The left eye is with the Ready To Wear Lash extension and the right is just regular mascara.

(This picture makes me look like an alien) This is on both eyes and as you can see, it really works! If I have no eyelashes and it has this result on me, imagine what it could do for people with more lashes to begin with! I'm also using the precision liner. I really like it. It's very pigmented and easy to apply.

** Sephora Mini-Haul!! **

Okay, so I decided to get some stuff online from Sephora after I found an old gift card (with value) inside along with the $5 for $10 Groupon deal. Plus, Sephora kept emailing me about claiming my birthday gift! I got all of this for $33! 

Buxom Lashliner in "Leatherette" $16

Get it here!

First on my list was the Buxom Lashliner. I've RAVED about this product before and sadly I ran out a while ago. I started using this MICA gel liner that I got from my Ipsy subscription, but it just doesn't cut it. It dried out super quick and it's time for a new one. For those that haven't read my previous review on this product, this liner actually helps condition and thicken your lashes! I'm ready to have some healthier lashes again! This was the ONLY thing I paid full price for. 

Urban Decay Vintage 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencil in "1999" orig $19.00

Permanently out of stock at Sephora

I don't usually wear anything but black liner. However, I LOVE the Urban Decay liner so much that I couldn't pass up the chance of getting it for $6. I'm totally obsessed with this plum color right now!

Sephora for OPI Jewelry Topcoat in "Spark-tacular" orig $9.50

Get it here!

Need I say more? A girl cannot have enough nail polish! 

TARTE Maracuja Miracle Foundation 12-Hour Broad Spectrum SPF 15 in "Ivory" -Orig $42

Permanently out of stock at Sephora

"Awaken your complexion with this multitasking full-coverage liquid foundation. Maracuja has been known to reduce redness, irritation, and inflammation of the skin, making this foundation perfect for all skin types and ideal for sensitive, dehydrated, dry, or aging skin. The combination of Vitamins A, E, and mineral pigments hydrates and preserves skin."

Okay, I've never worn foundation before but I've always wanted to try a TARTE product. I noticed lately more and more redness in my skin and maybe it is something I should start wearing. At least have available for when I feel like I need it? After reading this and seeing that it's free of all the negative things for your skin and could actually help I decided to take a chance. Plus I got it for over 50% off! It's always hard trying to guess your skin tone. I always pick ivory for everything. My face for some reason is always lighter than the rest of my body naturally.

When I blended the foundation onto the back of my hand it felt weightless. I still have it on my hand and I've even washed it with soap and I can still see that it's there. It doesn't feel heavy and there was no scent. I'm excited to try it!

Look at how well that blended in!

TARTE Vitamin Infused Lipgloss in "Om" - Orig $21

permanently out of stock at Sephora

Another thing I really wanted to try was TARTE's lipgloss. I've heard such great things about them and as much as I HATE lipgloss (because it's so darn sticky) I also love it. I went with a safe color and to my surprise. It's practically sheer with a hint of barely there pink. I couldn't resist since I got it for 1/3 of the price!

The rest of the things I got are samples..

Look how tiny this thing is! I thought I'd get a bigger size. 

Really excited to try F-Bomb since I've always wanted a darker lipstick and Obsessed. I'm TOTALLY OBSESSED with finding the perfect bubblegum pink!

My Benefit Birthday Gift

I'm pretty excited to see this. Since my other fav mascara is the BADgal. 

I'm guessing this is some sort of highlighting stick? It says to appy to your brow gone and cheeks for a glow. 

Overall, I'm really excited to try these out. That's the splurge for my birthday month. Well, make up and of course my Swiffer Steam mop thing :)

Stay beautiful, inside&out