Midnight Rodeo Going Away Party

Saturday we had our going away party at the Midnight Rodeo. It was such a memorable, fun, crazy night! Maybe a little too fun! Midnight Rodeo is such a trip. There were so many good dancers and it was amazing how many choreographed line dances the whole place new. Not only country dances, but line dances for hip hop songs and even a Katy Perry song. They had some hilarious little contests which were quite amusing (some kind of hula hoop thing and a lasso contest). Everyone seemed super friendly and the drinks were so cheap! A good time was had by all. We had packed all day Saturday, sold our couch on craigslist, and dealt with a ton of other moving stuff . I was pretty exhausted when it came time for the party. Seeing everyone there who supports and loves us when we walked in really meant the world to us. So many special people were there and I was really touched that so many made the effort to come due to their circumstances. One friend came after having a chemical peel the day before (her face was pretty red but it didn’t stop her from having a good time!), one of my best work friends came and told me later in the evening that she’s pregnant (yay!!!), my cousin and his beautiful new wife came in from Houston, and one of my best friends and her sweet boyfriend came in from Dallas. Later in the evening, we opened a beautiful card signed by some of our most special friends. They secretly conspired to buy us a very generous gift card to Bed, Bath, and Beyond for our new home in Scottsdale. It was so incredibly thoughtful and literally brought tears to my eyes. We felt so loved. I have said it before and I will say it again- we feel SO blessed. Friends like ours are so special and rare and they make our life so much more fun and meaningful. After having an amazing brunch the next morning with our friends, David and I both became a little emotional. It really hit us. It’s going to be hard to leave such wonderful people. Friendships take work, especially long distance, but we both plan to make an effort to continue to be a part of our friend’s lives here in Texas. That gift card is specifically going to decorating our guest room where our amazing friends will always be welcome!!!

Fanfreakingtastic Beauty Product Review: Sephora Instant Moisturizer and Phytophanere Fortifying Caplets

First off, I have to say that I adore Sephora! One of the best things that they have going for them is the fact that when you buy something they are so awesome about giving you free samples. When you go to Sephora ALWAYS ask for samples when you check out. Never, ever leave Sephora without samples! If they don’t have any pre-packaged goodies they’ll walk around the store and let you have free samples of pretty much anything! If you’re really nice and chat up the girls they’ll give you even more. Yessss!  I love trying moisturizers, eye creams, face masks, hair masks, and so much more. I like to read lots of reviews of beauty products online and try out samples before committing to pricy beauty products.

Sephora Instant Moisturizer: I have tried so many moisturizers lately (Shiseido, Oil of Olay Regenerist, Philosophy Hope in a Jar, and the list goes on). My favorite so far for the quality and value for the money has been Sephora’s very own Instant Moisturizer. At $20 for 1.69 fluid ounces it’s a good value for the money. This moisturizer is very light without feeling greasy and it smells really nice without being overpowering. You can almost immediately feel a difference when you put it on your skin. Out of all the moisturizers I’ve tried this one made my skin the softest when I woke up in the morning.  I’m going to need lots of this stuff in the dry Arizona heat! If you try it out let me know what you think.

Phytophanere Fortifying Caplets: These caplets are taken daily to strengthen hair and nails. If you don’t have problems with that consider yourself blessed! If your hair is processed and you do a lot to it, these pills are so wonderful. I have recommended them to so many people including a teacher friend whose hair was falling out due to stress. The fortifying caplets have a variety of different kinds of oils including sunflower oil, borage seed oil, soybean oil, fish oil, and wheat germ oil. It also has biotin, which is great for skin and nails. It takes a about a month to start seeing results but when you do- WOW! This stuff makes my hair grow so quickly. I have less hair falling out when I take a shower and there is way less hair in my brush. It really has worked wonders for me and I plan on continuing to use it for a long time. It is a little pricey at $50 for a 2 month supply but for me to have healthier, longer, shinier hair it’s worth every penny. The Phytophanere line has various other products including a nourishing hair mask I’ll be sampling tonight J Thanks for that, Sephora!

Moving to Arizona is the perfect reason to start blogging!

For years I have wanted to start blogging and here I am. I'm finally doing it! I think this is going to be a great outlet for me for so many reasons. A couple of years ago my Austin bestie and partner in crime, Marissa Alemany, and I crashed a blogger party at the Four Seasons. We heard there were free drinks and free food. Perfect for party crashing. I love Marissa for always being down for schmoozing and boozing at local events. So we came up with our respective "covers" in case people asked us what our blogs were about. I think we both said that we were both in the process of starting our own blogs and were attempting to do research. Haha! Well, we met some really cool people in the Austin blogging scene and had a great time. Our picture was taken and we ended up in the Austin American Statesman's Life & Style section. Definitely a fun and memorable time!

After talking to people we realized that you can really blog about anything you want. One girl we met had a blog specifically dedicated to queso! Yes, that delicious cheese dip that we Texans love and feel so guilty eating. This girl went to various restaurants in Austin and wrote reviews of their queso and margaritas. It was such an awesome idea and inspired me to start blogging. My fiance encouraged me over the years to start my blog but I just never got around to it. I made excuses and thought that nobody would want to read my blog anyway. Now that I moving, I hope this will help my friends and family stay connected to me and see what I'm up to in Arizona. I plan on sharing recipes I cook, reviews of beauty products/services, reviews of books, teacher ideas, and other totally random things I'm interested in!