Holiday Lush Haul

Not too long ago I found myself at Lush.  They had their holiday items out, and there was no way I was walking out of the mall without at least buying one...or two items! 

I've heard some great things about their holiday products, so I decided it was time for me to give them a shot.

Gold Wonder is a monster.  It's a huge bath bomb covered with shimmer!  I was warned by the representative at the store that this particular bath bomb held a surprise.  However, I am cheap and I was determined to get two uses out of one bomb.  So, I cut it in half and ruined the surprised.  I strongly don't recommend doing this!  This bomb gets super crumbly.

 

 

I got a small sliver of Angels Delight soap.

This smells so fun, fresh and fruity.  I love it.  The color is also a bright pink and includes stars, which is a bonus.

 

 

 

Snow Cake soap is by far my favorite holiday soap.  It features a very sparkly gold dust on the top, but a milky white body.  It smells like milk and almonds.  It's a soapy drug for me.  I love it!

 

 

I also picked up Shoot for the Stars bath bomb.  I enjoyed this bath bomb, it's perfect for a bath right before bedtime.  It smells of like Lush's popular soap, Honey I Washed the Kids.  The bath water turned a really pretty purple blue with this one.

 

 

My skin has declared a war, so I decided to try a Lush face product on it.  This is my first face product from Lush, and I really love the smell.  It's hard to see from the photo, but it has Lavender in it.  This is perfect for Lavender addicts.

 

 

This bubble bar was great to use on Christmas night.  It helped to unwind the hype of the holidays.  It smelled very relaxing and made loads of bubbles.

 

 

Cinders is a smaller bath bomb, but it was one of my favorites I purchased.  It has a spicy aroma which is perfect for the season.  What I really liked, is that during the bath you may hear crinkling or crackling.  The bath bomb is packed with what it appears to be, pop candy.  While laying in the bath, the pop candy will pop.  It's very fun.  I really don't think it's pop candy in this bath bomb, but it's the best description for it.

 

I hope you enjoyed my haul.  Lush is currently holding a buy one, get one free sale.  You can bet that I placed another order!

 

Until next time,

 

Guild Wars 2: Mesmer Makeover

Don't feel bad, I have been neglecting not only my blog but also my gaming.

I play an MMO Guild Wars 2 (GW2).  In this game I play my vixen Mesmer. Mesmers are a supporting spell caster class, that utilize illusions and clones to confuse the enemy.

I have played my character since the beta and she has maintained the same look, same class and same character name.  I was getting bored of the pig tails.


I figured after 1 year of game play, my character deserved a make over.  Don't ask why my character is in a bikini in the above picture.  I don't have a good excuse. 

So, I purchased a makeover kit in the black lion trading post and gave my sexy little Mesmer a new look.  Meet my sexy little Mesmer now.

 

Her hair is short, pulled back and a reddish hue.

 

If you play GW2, leave me a comment with your account name.  I would love to connect in game with you!

 

Until next time,

The Great Pumpkin Wreath

I have been busy crafting.  My fingers are dry and tired of all the hot glue gun abuse.  It's all worth it because I have made some great creations.

My new creation, The Great Pumpkin ribbon wreath, can be found on my etsy shop.

Take a peek!

Until next time,

Recent Bath & Body Works Haul

Hello my name is Alexandra and I have an addiction to pumpkin everything.

It's weird for me to admit that because it was only a few years ago that I didn't even like pumpkin pie!  I know, what was wrong with me?  How dare I not like pumpkin pie?  I like to blame my foreignness for this. 

One day I felt adventurous and tried pumpkin pie and instantly loved it.  From there I soon became in love with anything with pumpkin in the name. 

 On a side note, if you know me...you know that I have love/hate relationship with certain foods and I have a hard time trying new things.  So for me to try pumpkin pie was a big step.  I know.  I am weird!

My recent haul from Bath & Body works can simply be put into the following words: pumpkin overload.

Naturally, I had to purchase a regular size of Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin for myself.  I also took advantage of the 5 for $5 sale on the hand bacterial gel and went a little crazy with the pumpkin selection.

I ended up purchasing a total of six because I can't count.  I got:
Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin
Georgia Peach
I Love Pumpkin
Creamy Pumpkin
Sweet Clementine
Pumpkin Cupcake

I also picked up the travel size of the Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin and Napa Autumn Blackberry lotion and spray sets.  While I am currenly still using up my lotion and spray stock, I will actually be giving this set out as a gift to some friends.  It is very tempting to keep them because they smell so good!

 

Lastly, I also picked up some things on clearance.  I am currently using the Ocean Pearl soap and I have to admit that I am not the biggest fan of it.  It smells light but a little musky.  It claims to be pink grapefruit and freesia, but I am not really smelling those scents.

 

For the first time, I also bought a scentportable scent and charger.  While, I am not keeping this one for myself, I may be picking up another for my car. 

 

Does anyone know if these last for a long time in the car?

I hope you enjoyed seeing my recent B&BW haul.  Until next time!

Bluemont Fair

My favorite thing about fall is the endless fairs and festivals in the area.  This weekend, I attended for the first time, the Bluemont Fair. 

Bluemont is located at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains within Northern Virginia. It features beautiful sights of the nearby mountains and the local historic homes.  It was pretty neat to see the fog in the nearby distance at 2 in the afternoon that I just had to take a photo.


 Jeff and I started our hike to the fair by parking on a grass field past the village.  Although, it was a bit rainy, we were able to snap some cool photos on the walk over.  The entrance fee was only $5 to attend the 44th annual Bluemont Fair.

The fair had plenty of activities and vendors for everyone.  There was an interactive children's area with pony rides.  There were also other activities like giant bubbles.  The fair also had local product vendors, miniature train displays, historic home tours, pie and pickle contests, animals, music, wine and more. 

Oh yes, I almost forgot about the food!  There were plenty of food vendors for affordable prices.  We ended up getting our food from a local church for $9.  This included 2 hot dogs, 1 chicken sandwich, 2 waters and some cookies.  Not bad, for $9!

Alpacas!

 

There was a big section of the fair devoted to local sheep and alpaca wool vendors.  There were even live sheep and alpacas!  I found the alpacas adorable.  They were recently sheared so they reminded me of poodles.  Don't their heads resemble a lollipop? 

 

I'm still a kid at heart, so naturally I was quite fascinated with the giant bubbles.  I would like to point out that I was also not the only one lured by the bubbles!  I saw plenty of teenager boys chasing and popping bubbles.   

 

We also explored the local shops.  I was impressed with the old fashioned general store.  As soon as I walked in, it felt like I stepped back in time.  Inside there were large wooden counters, an old cash register, things hanging from the ceiling, and lots of baked goods for sale.  It felt pretty authentic.  

 

 

Inside, the general store, they also had the winning contest pies for sale by the slice.  I'm not a fan of fruit pies, so I passed on this.

Jeff was really digging the pickle and pie contest sign...not sure why.

 

Overall, I enjoyed going to the fair.  It was neat and affordable.  The only thing I didn't enjoy was the rain we encountered.  The fair is a good weekend attraction for the nearby locals.  It has pretty sights, history and local vendors.  Go check it out next year!

How I Became the Crazy Cat Lady

I'm pretty sure this is where it all goes down hill to kitty sweaters, and owning 20 cats.   

It all started with a plea from my local animal volunteer organization asking to foster kittens.  There are countless kill shelters in the country.  So, opening your home to a furry friend gives these innocent animals time, a temporary home (that isn't a cage), love and care. 

With that being said, meet Pinky!  Pinky came from a shelter in West Virginia, travelled to Maryland and eventually settled into my home in Virginia.  Quite a lot of miles for a little thing, huh?

I named this little bugger Pinky because she has 6 little toes on each paw.  She looks like she is wearing mittens. It's super cute!

 Pinky is a very pretty orange tabby.  She's roughly 2.5 months and maybe 2 pounds.  She is a ball of energy and quite the mischievous one.  Leave it to me to fall for the naughty bad cats.

She has really started to bond with one of cats.  Phoenix still believes he is small kitten so they play together.  The other cat, Cybele is not her biggest fan.  By that I mean she hisses but is always want to sniff her.  I don't get her.

 

 

The boyfriend and I are currently contemplating (or at least I am) about having Pinky join the cat family.  There are folks already interested in her but she is so unique and adorable that we may want to keep her!

Dilemma.  Dilemma.  I'm not sure what to do!

 

To be continued...

Meet the Kittehs!

I realized the other day that I hardly post any kitty photos on my blog...much less mention the little terrors. That is truly odd because I must take at least one photo per day of their crazy cat shenanigans.

So, allow me to introduce the kitty party.

Cybele joined our home last December.  She was adopted from a local non-profit organization.  Cybele was born to a feral mom and lived her first few months as a feral baby.  She is a sweet girl but she is very skittish around strangers and my boyfriend.  I don't think she likes males very much...I don't know why. 

 

Her nicknames include: raccoon princess, Cyby, Linda (which mean pretty in Portuguese).

Cybele is a closet trouble maker.  She doesn't like to cause mischief when we are watching...but she is a little devil.  I'm on to you, Cybele.  I know about your ways!

 

Roo, is my boyfriend's 2 year old guinea pig.  She is loud, piggy, and full of attitude. 

Phoenix joined our home last July.  Jeff wanted a cat of his own so he adopted a cat that looked exactly and behaves like my little Spotty.  Phoenix is a social cat but he is a bully.  He loves terrorizing Cybele but he also loves to bathe her and cries if they are ever separated for a few minutes.  Phoenix also has a little fox toy that he drags and "loves" around the house.  He is a little cat exhibitionist with his fox.  It's weird and awkward. 

 

Seeing doubles?  Spotty and Phoenix look just a like. 

 

Phoenix's nicknames include: Phoene, Fifi, the rat, Lindo (Pretty in Portuguese :D)

One of the many bathing/fighting sessions between Phoenix and Cybele.

 

I hope you enjoyed meeting my furry companions. 

New Hair Cut

After nearly 3 years of having long hair off and on, I decided to do something drastic.  I chopped it off!

I have never been very committed to my hair length, so it was not a big deal to cut if off.  I was just tired of the upkeep of the length.  Long hair requires time, care and too many hair products for my taste.

I'm a fan of quick and easy hair care which for long hair does not always work! 

What are your favorite hair lengths?  I think mine is medium length since it still allows plenty of styling options without the maintenance of longer hair.

Until next time!

New Blog Design and Haul

Surprise!  There is a new blog design!! Although some of the pages are still a work in progress, I have decided to kick off the new design.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. 

In celebration of the new blog design, I did some shopping.  ELF recently hosted their 50% site wide sale.  How could I not order?!  Then Zoya had an awesome promotional sale on their exclusive "Liberty" pixiedust polish. 

Here is what I got from both ELF and Zoya:

From ELF:
2 shine erasers (I swear by these, especially in the summer)
2 eye makeup remover pads
1 studio makeup remover cleansing cloth
1 toe separator
2 mineral lip tints (guava and blush)
1 maximum coverage concealer in porcelain
total order with 50% discount : $8.50

From Zoya
Kym
Edyta
Liberty pixiedust - FREE!
total order: $16.00

I also received a free Schick Quatro razor as part of a giveaway on Facebook. Woohoo for free!

I'm a fan of Zoya polishes because they are long wearing and are free of chemicals found in other polishes.  Plus, they have very unique colors and varieties. 

Kym - a burn red, cranberry burgundy.  This color is beautiful for the fall.
Liberty - is a textured polish that feels like smooth sugar on your fingernail.  It is a beautiful blue opaque glitter polish.
Edyta - is a unique black, green and gold shimmery opaque polish.  Out of the 3 that I ordered, Edyta is my favorite.

What are your recent beauty purchases?

Atalaya

I recently drove down to South Carolina for some beach fun.  While enjoying the splendors of Myrtle Beach, I decided to explore a nearby historical home.

Atalaya is the former winter home of philanthropist Archer Huntington and sculptor, Anna Huntington.  The history of the house is fascinating but I found the empty property chilling.

The view of the entrance of Atalaya.

In Spanish, atalaya means watchtower.  I found it amusing because in Portugal, there is a coastal city named Atalaia (pronounced the same way).  Random fact, but I just had to share.

The house resembles a Moorish castle and houses a beautiful courtyard.  Above is half of the courtyard.  In the top right, you can see part of the tower that is connected to covered walk ways.

There was also another sign that indicated that Mrs. Huntington was fond of bats. The tower also sheltered quite a few bats.

Above is a clear shot of the tower and the covered walkways.

A goofy pose under the covered walkways.  They were quite lovely to walk under...until you got under the tower, then it was slightly creepy.

Speaking of creepy...I found the shedding of a snake in the inner courtyard of the home.  I guess I should've known based on the first snake I saw.  My little Northern Virginia butt is not familiar with seeing snakes in trees...especially if that tree is above my parking spot!

Now back to the house.  The house itself is empty.  No furniture.  Nothing, just rooms which can feel a little creepy.  It is a very interesting home not only because of its unique architecture but the history behind it.  At one point, the Huntingtons vacated the home and turned it over to the government during WWII.  The house also features animals pens (nothing major...just BEARS...wtf!) for live models that Mrs. Huntington used as reference for her art.

Another goofy pose.

Did I mention the Atalaya is right by the beach?  After the tour, I headed to the beach for some fun.

I recommend if you are in Myrtle Beach, go checkout Huntington State Park for a tour of Atalaya castle.

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