A Few of My Favorite Things

Gizmos and gadgets and whatnot-- these are a few of my favorite things! From home items, to beauty must-haves, I'm giving a shout-out to some of my best-kept "secrets".

Home

Since I typically share home decor, it makes the most sense that I share with you some of my current fave home products!

First off- my KitchenAid Mixer! My Mom handed this down to me quite awhile ago, but I finally used it over Christmas to make treats and OH.MY.WORD. I was kicking myself for not using it sooner! This thing is a beast! It has so many attachments and can do so much more than just mix. My sister has the ice-cream maker attachment and she uses it all.the.time. definitely worth the cost, but if you can get yourself a hand-me-down, then consider it your lucky day!

Up next is something I have had in my Amazon cart for probably 4 months..... this adjustable ClosetMaid door organizer! It's not even expensive, so I'm not sure why I haven't taken the plunge to buy it yet. Well, now that I think about it, I probably haven't bought it because as soon as it arrives it means I have to organize the pantry. HA. (Note: the pic below is NOT my pantry.... see second pic for my actual pantry).

This is my pantry...... the smallish-awkward-Harry Potter's Bedroom Pantry hidden under the stairs. We can barely even use the top shelf because everything hits the slanted ceiling! So I think this ClosetMaid thing will definitely do the trick in helping organize this catastrophe. And yes. That large box hiding behind Hank's food container is from when we moved in. No shame.

The last thing I'll mention as my favorite home item is the Ziploc Vacuum Food Saver that we got from my in-laws for Christmas! I recently tried it out and it took me only 2 tries to get the hang of it. I finally have a better solution than double-bagging leftovers and have zero excuses to not label the frozen meat! Woohoo!!

Beauty

Trying new beauty products is something I'm not afraid to do, as I usually do not need much convincing from a friend to try the latest-and-greatest, so I'll be brief. If you have additional questions, please feel free to ask or leave a comment!

BEST. FOUNDATION. EVER. and I've tried a TON of foundations (i.e.- Instagram Story Foundation Fiasco of January 2018) and I finally bought this Tarte Matte Shape Tape Foundation a few weeks ago out of curiosity. I AM OBSESSED. I won't buy anything else from now on, I promise....LOL. The color matches/blends with my skin, it's not overly pricey (still a pretty penny for make-up), but it covers EVERYTHING, and it lasts ALL DAY. Can you tell by all the CAPS that I LOVE IT??

BEST. MASCARA. EVER. (I'm very passionate about great beauty finds, if you couldn't tell...haha).

If you're a fan of Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara (yes that's what the mascara is called), well I'll let you in on a secret- this stuff is the EXACT same thing, only 100% cheaper (I think that would mean it's free- it's not free- it's just dramatically cheaper is what I'm trying to say). Try it. Love it. Thank me later.

BEST. DRY. SHAMPOO. EVER. (ok, I'll stop). But really, sometimes I spray this stuff in my hair even if I don't need it because it smells.so.good. I'm a PRO at using dry shampoo wayyyy beyond the recommended usage of days and trust me- this stuff does it's job and then some. I see you, reading this, and secretly agreeing that you never wash your hair either. It's fine, I'll say it for you. Dry shampoo is a non-hairwasher's DREAM COME TRUE. Plus, not washing your hair helps the environment, I assume....

Gizmos & Gadgets

On to the gizmos & gadgets (please tell me you get the Little Mermaid reference???)

I'm loving my new Fitbit Alta-HR! I've been slowly, but steadily meeting my 2018 goals and one of them was to become motivated to work-out and stay active and this thing seems to do the trick! I'm not much of a bracelet wearer, but this isn't overly chunky and it's not super noticeable on your wrist. The app that goes with it has fun challenges and graphs your sleep, heart rate, and lets you connect with friends and compete with them (my two teacher friends both have one and things can get pretty intense-LOL). Highly recommend! And if you're not fond of the black, there are other inexpensive bands that you can easily switch-out! I got a fake leather band to wear when I'm dressed-up!

Of course you're not surprised that I'm mentioning my Cricut Maker! I had been eyeing these gadgets for quite awhile, and finally met my teacher-friend Katie who has one and uses hers all the time for everything! Although, I'm not quite at that level of use, it still is a handy-dandy machine to have around. The only two differences between the Maker and the Air is that the Maker can cut fabric and leather, and has a "fast mode" (which unless you've used the Air, I'm not really sure how fast it is in comparison, so to me that feature isn't really necessary). I haven't used it to cut fabric yet, but I'm sure it will be great for quilts and all things baby once it comes time for that (no this is not a pregnancy announcement). Besides that, they do the same exact things. I mostly use my Cricut to cut vinyl to make shirts or decals. The Air is also over $100 less than the Maker- so it really all depends on what you need to use it for!

Last, but not least, is the YouVersion app. This might not seem like an obvious "favorite thing", but this app has drastically changed my Quiet Time this year!

I have been like any other "Christian" and have had this app on my phone forever (unless I ran out of storage on my old iPhones, then let's be honest, this app was the first to go). Now, it would be the last app I deleted. My top goal for 2018, besides fitness goals or money goals, was to have a daily quiet time with Jesus. My goal wasn't "five days a week for 30 minutes a day", it was simply to be purposeful and regular. WOW! This APP-THE BIBLE- and MY CHURCH-has changed so much for me this year. The app has so many plans for whatever you're wanting to study and you can add friends on there to do the studies with! I was recently in a plan with my younger sister and my cousins and it was AWESOME! Sharing Jesus with those you love is truly inspiring, motivating, and up lifting. Search my name and add me!

#Cricut #beauty #fitness #crafting #kitchen