I am 27!

Hi!

Today I got something fun in the mail!  The Birchbox Book Club book for December!  It's a cook book called Homemade Decadence by Joy Wilson, author of the blog Joy the Baker.

It's so cute and all the recipes sound sooo good!  I'm so excited to try them and I'll post all of them on here!

Yesterday was my birthday!

 Isn't this so cute?  My aunt Chris gave it to me a few birthdays ago!  I love it :)

It was a great day!  Alex had class until the evening and then we went to eat at Thai Landing for a yummy, spicy dinner.

We got Potbelly milkshakes for dessert :)

During the day I got an Etsy order ready for one of my closest friends!  She ordered lots of hair ties and sets for Christmas gifts!  I also got a few other packages ready to send.  I got to FaceTime with my parents which was fun!  I got some great presents and got to talk to/hear from so many friends and family!  Facebook is great :)

Today I mailed a few things at the post office.  I've been addressing lots of Christmas cards!  We had some made at Walgreens and I'm also going to make some, so we're sending out a combo of cards this year!  I've been hanging the ones we get in the mail on this Christmas card holder that I made!

I also made other sayings/words like Family, Fa La La, Joyful, Jingle, etc.  I had them for sale at the craft fair we did last weekend!

I have a few more Christmas crafts I'm planning to do in the next few days, so I'll post about them on here!

Thanks for reading!

Christmas Market Craft Fair

Hi!

I participated in my first craft fair on Saturday!  Thankfully I had Alex to help me with everything!!  I was invited to be part of the Christmas Market through my Etsy shop.  It was at The Church at Severn Run, which is 30-40 minutes away.  It's a big church in a cute area!  It was a rainy day so Alex went to get the car from our garage and pulled up behind our apt so we could load up the car!

Here's their flyer for the event!

We got to the church around 7:45am and we went in to start setting up our table.  There were probably 25 or 30 vendors total, with everything from homemade soap to scarves to Christmas cards to painted signs.  Everyone we met was very nice!  The fair went from 9am-2pm.  I had no idea what to expect as far as what we would sell or how many people would come!  





I had single hair ties, hair tie sets (some in clear ornaments, some on cards, some in grab bags), head band sets in small mason jars, and holiday card holders for sale.  I also had some examples of custom order that people can buy in my Etsy shop.

  

I think we did well for our first craft fair!  We sold a few hair tie-filled ornaments, lots of single hair ties, and even a head band set to a sweet five-week-old baby!

 

  

This picture was posted on the church's Facebook page!  I just found it :)  Our table is in the third row from the left at the second table from the top.  Can you see us??  :)

I didn't end up using it because everyone paid in cash, but I was excited to have my Etsy Card Reader there!  It's like a Square, but you use it along with the Sell on Etsy app.  What's nice is that you can sell items directly from your Etsy shop, or you can make a Quick Listing and just enter an amount for the customer to pay.  Either way, it counts as an Etsy sale in your shop, and if you email customers a receipt, they can leave feedback on your Etsy shop.  I could have done the cash transactions through the card reader and app too, but I didn't think of it!  Next time.

Do you like my decorated cigar box and my pretty Rifle Paper Co. phone case??  I just got it and I love it!  We used our pretty Fiestaware table cloth.

There were a bunch of great items for sale!  I bought a bar of  pumpkin lavender soap from Krista at Wash Ashore Soaps and Sundries (it smells sooo good!) and some homemade dishwasher (lemon scented) and laundry (lavender scented) detergent from Shelby at Wholistic Living.  I can't wait to try everything!

I am so glad I got the chance to do a craft fair!  It was a great experience and I'm excited to do more in the future!  I'm so glad I had Alex there to help me!!  I couldn't have done it without him :)

Thanks for reading!

Bye Bye Wedding Fans!

Hello!

The wedding fans are on their way to Australia!  Yay!  I'm so glad to have them on their way, and I'll be so glad when I hear that they made it there safely :)

The shipping was a bit over what I had estimated and charged for, but that's ok.  This was my first time shipping internationally so now I know a little more for next time!

I made some super fun and yummy treat tonight!!  I'll post the recipe on here soon.  Hint: pumpkin is an ingredient, but it's not pie!

We're spending Thanksgiving with Alex's aunt, uncle, and cousin in Philadelphia so we've been getting all ready tonight.  We're going to leave in the morning since the weather may not be great later on in the day.  We're excited to visit them again!!

I'm going to try to get a few blog posts ready ahead of time so I can keep posting one everyday!  We'll see if that works :)

Thanks for reading and Happy Early Thanksgiving!

Wedding Fan Factory

Hi!

I just realized that some ink cartridges that we thought were done are actually brand new so now I can print out the wedding fans! I was thinking I'd have to go to Target to get more ink first, then make the fans, then go to the post office, which is back where Target it.  Not very convenient!  So this post won't be very long :)  That makes tomorrow a lot simpler!  I'm planning on taking them to the post office as soon as I finish them in the AM.  Shipping will be interesting...I don't think I have a box here that will fit them without being too huge and having a super high shipping cost (they're going to Australia!).

I have a little assembly line going right now (print, score, cut, fold, round the corners, tape in the sticks/tape closed).  I love it!  My own little factory :)

If you or anyone you know wants customized paper goods for a special occasion, here's my Etsy shop!  

I went to my second Pop Physique class this morning.  It was great and it was 40 degrees warmer today during my walk there/back than it was when I went on Friday!  There were a lot more people there today, and maybe all different people, too.  It was a different teacher and I really liked her too.  The classes were similar but not exactly the same, which is nice.  My legs were shaking like crazy again!

I might be able to finish a lot of the fan work tonight, so I'm going to go work on that!

Thanks for reading!

Golden West Cafe

Hi!

The other night before my improv show, Alex and I had dinner at Golden West Cafe.  It's right by Zissimo's, which is where Charm City Comedy Project has shows.  It's a really cute restaurant!  Their menus are inside record cases and I like how it's decorated :)

We both got tomato, mozzarella, and pesto sandwiches with garlic fries and it was all SO delish!!  

They gave us York Peppermint Patties for dessert, too.  So that was a huge plus.

This afternoon I finished the final draft of the custom order wedding fans I've been working on!  Here's a sneak peek!

As soon as I hear back whether the bride wants the fans on white or ivory paper, I'll finish making them and ship them to Australia!  If you or anyone you know wants something customized for their wedding, baby shower, birthday, etc., visit my Etsy shop!

I am taking two different workshops this week and I'm sooo excited for both of them!!  I will write all about them here!

Thanks for reading!

Cute Shop I Found Today

Hi!

Today I took Alex to school on my way to mail an Etsy order at the post office.  Since I found free 2-hour parking, I decided to walk around a little bit after I mailed the package.  I saw a store called Maja that looked cute so I went inside.  It had so many pretty things!  A lot of the items were labeled Fair Trade and pretty much everything was made in another country.  There were tons of African things from drums and wall hangings to jewelry and clothes.

The woman working there, who also happens to be the owner, is named Mary.  We started talking and I ended up staying there for almost an hour!  She is so nice!  We talked about the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show (she has never been to it but she's heard of it and wants to go), my musical background, when she's gone to different countries in Africa and when I went to Ghana.  She goes to Mali a lot!  She told me about a show she's going to do in her shop some time next year and asked if maybe Alex and I would like to play our djembes for it!  She played a CD for me with lots of really great drumming music and she told me about different drumming things she goes to in DC.

There were so many pretty things there.  I need to go back soon!  I bought a few little things, but they're presents so I won't post what I got!  :)  I'm so glad I walked into that store today!  Mary is so so nice and it's fun to meet new people here!

I had a phone interview tonight with Charm City Yoga for a (potential) work-study position!  They interview people occasionally and they decide whether or not to add you to their waiting list for when there are openings.  I hope I get a chance to do it someday!  You work at the desk and/or clean up the studio in exchange for free, unlimited yoga classes.  There are several locations and I said I'd prefer to work at the one that is right around the corner from us.  We'll see!!  :)

Tomorrow I need to finish up the design for my custom order wedding fans!  The girl loves the picture I sent her of the half-finished design, so that's good!

Here's a picture of the elastic I used to make a polka dot set of hair ties yesterday!

Thanks for reading!

Dr. Jart Giveaway Prize!

Hello!

Last week I won a giveaway that Birchbox was doing on Facebook with Dr. Jart!  I had never won a giveaway from Birchbox before last week and then I won two!!  This one and the Toni & Guy one that I wrote about here a few days ago.  

My prize came tonight!  I wasn't sure exactly what I would get and I was so surprised with how much there was!!

Love the note from Team Birchbox!  I want to work there!!  Maybe if we ever live in NYC :)

Here's everything I got:

Two masks, a Brightening Infusion one and a Pore Minimalist one. 

I've heard a lot of good things about their masks and I've seen so many people sampling them on Instagram so I'm really excited to try these!

I got a Ceremidin Starter Kit, which sounds super fun!

It has a liquid and a cream that it says to use one after the other and it's good for dry skin.  This will be perfect because the cold weather here is making my skin drier!

I also got The Original BB Cream Set!

As soon as I finish the BB cream I'm currently using (Ideal Flawless BB Cream from Avon that I love!) I will start trying all of these!

What a fun, exciting prize to win!  Wow!!  Thanks again, Birchbox and Dr. Jart :)

I just got another Etsy order for some holiday hair ties so I'm getting that ready to mail tomorrow!

I spent my late afternoon/evening making about six dozen mini caramel apple cupcakes!

I used a Pillsbury mix that I got at Target.  I used my mini cupcake maker so it took a while (you can make 7 at a time) but I love using that!  So fun :)  There's no way we can or should eat all of them so I'm going to take some to the front office of our apartment tomorrow!

Thanks for reading!

Early Evenings

Hi!

I went to Michael's today and got some fun stuff!  I have a good idea for selling hair ties at the Christmas Market craft fair where I'm going to be a vendor.  Once I make some I'll post a picture!  All of the Halloween and "fall" stuff is 80% off so I got some more of the cork stuff (like the clothes pins I got last week!), too.  

I have another custom order on Etsy for wedding fans that I'm going to work on tomorrow!  The couple has a cat that they want to be on there somewhere so that will be fun to work on :)  Their wedding sounds like it's going to be so cute!!

My aunt and uncle (whose wedding we went to at the beginning of last month) went to Italy for their honeymoon!  Yesterday I got this bracelet in the mail that they got for me while they were there!

I love it!!!  That was so nice of them!  We actually get to see them this Friday!  They're going to be in Virginia visiting my uncle's daughter and her family so we're driving there to visit :)

Now that Daylight Savings has ended, it gets dark at 5pm!  It's so weird!!  I don't think I like that very much haha.  When I picked Alex up after school yesterday around 5:20pm, I realized I haven't driven in the dark in probably three months!  Definitely not since we've been in Baltimore.  Weird!

Speaking of driving, yesterday I found out that I won an Uber gift card from an Instagram contest that Strangers with Style and Uber-Maryland were doing!  I started following Strangers with Style, which is a website that posts about all kinds of fashion, arts, etc. things around Baltimore, after I went to CreativeMornings.  So that's exciting!  We've never used Uber before so now we have another reason to try it (the first reason being that we've heard so many great things about it from so many people)!

Thanks for reading!

Crafty Fun Things

Hello!

Yesterday I was invited to sell my hair ties and crafts at a craft fair in December!  I'm so excited!!  Today I worked on making a bunch of Holiday hair tie sets and I'm going to make some headbands next.  I also want to make cards, tags, and anything else I can think of so I have lots of stuff to sell!!

Yesterday I was near this outdoor mall so I looked around and I found a fun store called Becket Hitch.  They have so many cute things like paper goods, cute jewelry, things to hang on the walls, blankets, baby toys, lotion, candles, etc.  I didn't buy anything (it was all pretty expensive) but I got some good ideas of things I want to make for my Etsy shop!  

Alex and I were going to go to the American Visionary Art Museum tonight because they had free admission from 4-7pm and they were also doing a lantern-making workshop that sounded fun!  At 7pm they started showing Ghostbusters outside.  We figured parking may have been kind of hard and I'm a wimp so I thought it might be too cold to watch a movie outside :)

Somebody in one of the restaurants in our building apparently was mad and pulled the fire alarm that set off alarms on the entire block.  Thanks a lot!  This was about an hour ago and luckily we didn't have to be outside very long at all.  We never see anybody in our apartment so it was weird seeing how many people live here, especially on our floor!  Funny.  We got inside in time to watch Scandal now and How to Get Away with Murder next!

Tomorrow is Halloween and my first Moonbot improv show with Charm City Comedy Project!  That should be very fun!

Thanks for reading!

Broke College Beauty Blog!

Hi!

I think I've mentioned once or twice that I'm in the Birchbox group called Birchbloggers.  If you have a blog and you get Birchbox, you can sign up to be part of it!  There is a private Facebook group that you become a member of and there are also special things that you might hear about that you wouldn't otherwise.  It's a really fun group to be a part of because everyone reads each other's blogs, gives feedback, and likes to talk about makeup/beauty/hair/whatever!  Tons of my blog views have been from people in this group :)

About a month ago I wrote a post mentioning Naomi, a super-nice, fellow curly-headed girl I know through the Birchbloggers group.  She is the author of the blog Broke College Beauty and you should definitely check it out!  She posts about tons of different products (beauty and otherwise), writes reviews, and she's even doing a giveaway now!  She had written a really nice blog post after just looking at my Etsy shop and now she has ordered hair ties and headbands from me TWICE!!

Yesterday she wrote another awesome review about the hair accessories she has ordered from me!  What a great blog post!  I'm so glad to hear that she loves them and I love to read her feedback.  It is so fun to be part of a group of people that like Birchbox and blogging!  Since I am so new to blogging, it's nice to be able to see how everybody else is doing it :)

I just got a custom order for some wedding fans similar to the ones I have posted in my shop!!  Yay!

Thanks for reading!

Gone Girl the Movie

Hello!

Alex and I have been wanting to see Gone Girl and since I finished reading the book the other day, we went today!  The theater we went to, which we've been to one other time, is Landmark Theaters - Harbor East.  It's really nice!

I liked the movie!  I thought it was really similar to the book.  After the movie I was trying to think of differences between the two to tell Alex about and I could hardly think of any major ones!

Some of the characters in the movie were a lot like I pictured them in my head while I was reading it and some not so much.  I pictured Amy (played by Rosamund Pike) to be less...creepy that I thought she was in the movie (like when they first met, while things were still good, etc.)!  In the movie, she just seemed a little crazy from the beginning.  But that was probably the point!  Also, I thought it was hard to think of Ben Affleck, who plays Nick, as a mean guy!  But I think that's just because I pictured him being a lot worse.  In the book you hear a lot more of what's going on in his head, and it's not so nice.  I really liked Carrie Coon, who plays Margo.  I thought she was really good and she was just how I pictured her.  Kim Dickens, who is Detective Boney, was also really good.  You can really see how she tries so hard to be on Nick's side, but when she finds out things he's kept from them, she's so disappointed in/mad at him.  I can't believe she's the same person who's in Treme, which Alex and I started watching about a month ago!!  I thought Neil Patrick Harris did a good job being creepy, overbearing, Desi!  That's not how I pictured Desi at all, but he nailed it!

I liked how the movie was shown in the same way that the book was written - going back and forth between present time with Nick and the past with Amy writing in her journal.  Every time it switches, it shows the number of days gone on the bottom of the screen.

If you haven't read or seen it, I think I'd recommend reading it first.  The book is of course much more detailed, which is nice for any parts they might skip over in the movie, but also since they're so similar to each other, reading the book second would be so much less suspenseful!  Anyway, I think both are really good!

I started reading Sharp Objects last night!  This is the first novel Gillian Flynn wrote.  I'm not very far in but so far I like it!  Suspenseful already.

I got another Etsy order today.  Didn't she pick out such pretty colors?  I love them :)  I'll put it in the mail tomorrow!

The green looks a lot brighter in this pic!  At least on my computer screen.  It's actually olive.

This one is my favorite, on that cute cardstock!!  But they all turned out pretty darn cute I must say!  :)

Tomorrow I'll write about this really cute restaurant that Alex and I had dinner at last night!

Thanks for reading!

Baltimore Inner Harbor - Last Week and Today

Hello!

With our company last week (my parents!) and this week (Alex's mom and one of his sisters!) we have had a lot of fun showing people around Baltimore!

We went to the Inner Harbor last week and today and both days were so fun!  The weather has been really nice.  Perfect for walking around outside!

Here are a few pics from last week:

And here are some from today!

Today we had lunch at Miss Shirley's.  We have only been there one other time.  Both times have been delish!  Today I got grits (the small portion, not the shrimp and grits, which also looked good!) and hash browns.  

Everybody liked what they ordered!

We just finished watching How to Get Away with Murder.  We watched last week's and then tonight's episode.  It's good!  I really like Viola Davis.  I need to rewatch last week's Scandal before we watch the new one!  I fell asleep :)

My Etsy shop got 97 views today!  That's a record for me!  

Tomorrow Grace and I are doing something exciting and fun!  Here's a sneak peek :)

Thanks for reading!

Etsy Fun

Hi!

I've been having so much fun working on my Etsy shop!  I've gotten 4 orders so far, including a custom order for a bachelorette party!  

Birchbox has a group called Birchbloggers that you can be part of if you have a blog.  I have just started posting things in the group and I have read lots of great blog posts written by other girls in the group,  I've gotten lots of new Instagram friends, too!  Naomi, who is the author of Broke College Beauty, wrote such a great feature on her blog yesterday about my Etsy shop!  That was so nice of her!  She also just started blogging like me, and she has a really cute blog with lots of great posts and reviews on Birchbox products.  She ordered some hair ties from me, too!  I mailed her order yesterday and I hope she loves them!

This morning my parents and I explored a little bit more near our neighborhood.  I have been wanting to go to a place called Antique Row where there are lots of antique shops.  I couldn't find much information about it online so we just walked over there.  Turns out, most of the shops are closed on Tuesday!  But we had fun walking over there and looking at some really old buildings on the way!  We also found another really great art supplies store, Blick, that is close to our apartment.  So fun!

This church was built in 1761!

Alex is home from class now so we're going to go to the Inner Harbor for lunch!

Thanks for reading!

I Love Harvey Prince

Hi!

I've talked about the perfume brand Harvey Prince before.  I learned about them through Birchbox.  I love every one of their scents that I've tried (and I've tried about six of them!).  Recently they had a giveaway on their Instagram.  They're always doing fun contests and giveaways!  This time, all you had to do was write a review on their website for a perfume that you've tried, send them your address, and they'd send you a mini-roller of any scent you wanted!  Normally their mini rollers are $21!!  I did it, because I want as much of their perfume as possible, and I chose Temptress for my free perfume.  I love it!  It smells soo good.  It says it has notes of lavender, pumpkin pie, and lots of other yummy-smelling things!

I love their brand anyway, plus they use eco-friendly ingredients which is always a good thing!

Today I mailed my second (yay!) Etsy order!  I found a post office that is easier to get to than the one I tried last week, so that was much less stress.

I also watercolored/drew/stamped a sign for for my aunt and soon-to-be-uncle's wedding for their guest "book"!  I'll post a full picture after the wedding so I don't give away the whole thing :)

New Modern Family tonight!  Thanks for reading!

September Birchbox Review #1

Hello!

As I've mentioned before, I love and am obsessed with Birchbox!  My September box was amazing (as usual) and I really like everything I've tried so far!

Here are reviews for two of the products!

First I'll talk about the sample that I got to choose for this month's box.  For the past few months, Birchbox has had the option to choose one of your samples, which is fun!  I chose the Macadamia Professional Healing Oil Spray.

I love it!  It smells so good and I love that it's a spray.  I've tried other kinds of hair oil and when it's not a spray, it's harder to evenly distribute it in my hair.  Plus I don't like having oil on my hands!  I spray it on the middle/ends of my hair and it makes it shiny and less frizzy.  It's a great sized sample, too!

Sometimes, you'll get an extra sample in addition to the normal 4-5 samples called a Birchbox Find.  This month, I got a ChapStick Dual-Ended Hydration Lock Moisturize and Renew.

I love it!  Both sides smell really good and make my lips feel...well, moisturized and renewed!  :)  I am so used to wearing C.O. Bigelow's Rose Salve (all the time, always, forever) and it's fun to use something with a totally different texture sometimes!  I will definitely use this a ton!

I did a ton of work in my Etsy shop today!  That was fun.  I've realized that for both Etsy and Blogger, it's easiest to put up new listings and blog posts using a mixture of the apps on my phone and websites on my computer.  Uploading pictures is much easier on the apps but writing the descriptions/posts is much easier to type on a regular keyboard, of course!  So that's helpful!  Alex and I went to a nice yoga class tonight.  Time for bed now!

Thanks for reading!  

P.S. I almost always type "Kind Regards," at the end because that's how I signed my catering emails at the Arizona Inn!  Silly :)

Car Inspection Fun

Hi!

We're in the process of getting our car situation all figured out now that we've moved to a new state.  Alex and I dropped the car off today to get a safety inspection and we learned that Maryland is the most strict state when it comes to car inspections.  Who knew?  Anyway, luckily we found a place very close to our apartment so I could walk there and back a few times today with no problem!  

In between car things I came home and made lots of hair ties!  I got a bunch of really cute patterned elastic so I made about 20 different sets of three, each with two solid-colored and one patterned elastic.  I put each one on a card that matched/looked cute with the set.  I'm going to put them up in my Etsy shop tomorrow!

I made some Halloween and Holiday/Christmas sets, too!

Hopefully tomorrow we can get our plates, etc. for the car.  We'll see!  I'll be posting some reviews about my most recent Birchbox samples, too!

Thanks for reading!