🎃Halloween Festivities🎃

I🎃Happy Halloween Everyone! I hope all of you had a fantastic night!🎃

(Not my photo, but this couldn't be more wonderfully true!)

Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love the decorations, the movies, the costumes, and just how light-hearted and fun it can be. There is no pressure or drama with Halloween, unlike some larger holidays, so I find it the most enjoyable. We had such a fun Halloween tonight! I wanted to share a few pictures of the festivities.🎃👻

We had a large number of Trick or Treaters this year. We gave out so much candy! We started out with three bags of what Nick calls, "the good candy" (kit kat minis), and by the end of the night I was passing out organic suckers. By the time those ran out, I had opened a bag of starbursts (not what we had intended to pass out) and was handing them out individually just so each kid could get something lol. Six bags of candy later, we wound up having to turn our porch light out for the night because we had absolutely no candy left for the kids, and there were more down the street just waiting. Next year we will have to buy candy in bulk! We had such a great turn out, and loved seeing all of the creative costumes, and happy faces! Nearly every child was exceptionally polite and said, "thank you" as well; gotta love those Southern manners! 

After we handed out candy, we watched "Casper, and "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown". I adore Halloween movies, and it definitely shows! This is our collection. What are your favorites?

Halloween was such a blast, but it has been an incredibly long week! We hosted two parties: a moving party for a loved one, and a birthday party for another family member. It was so nice getting to share those special moments with them.  We were planning to also host a Halloween party this year, but those plans were changed, so we will hopefully host one next year instead. I'm still not 100% recovered from my two recent trips to the ER this month, so a little rest this weekend is definitely in order! Nothing mellows me out better than a little yoga, and a relaxing bubble bath. I'm planning to end the night with a Lush-themed bubble bath before I crash. I recently placed an order, and there was a bubble bar that caught my eye, "The Wizard". It is the perfect treat for Halloween night! You just crumble it under running bath water and it creates amazing, scented bubbles. (I will post a little Lush haul sometime soon with pictures of my order and mini reviews.)

Earlier tonight, the kitties took turns greeting our Trick-or-Treaters at the door. I thought it was so cute! One little girl was especially excited to see a black cat on Halloween, and wanted to pet Lucky. He is such a wonderful, tolerant boy! Isabella also kept watch over the door too; it amazes me how much she has come out of her shell with age. (Kojak couldn't be bothered to watch the door, and was cat napping on the couch, typical.)

We also took a few pictures of the Aussies in their costumes this year. This was the fourth year we put the same costumes on them, so some new ones are definitely I order for next year! I'm hoping the pet stores put out some on clearance after Halloween so we can find a great deal!

Mykelti clearly was not thrilled with her costume lol.🐝

Trying out the Halloween jingle collars. Mykelti had on an orange tutu, and Ranger's shirt said, "Trick or Treat".

My nails got a little festive too 🎃 (the accent nail polish is a clear, glow-in-the-dark polish.) Ignore the sloppy paint job, I didn't get a chance to clean them up before I snapped this photo.

The skelington earrings made a reappearance again this year too!

Earlier in October, we went to the pumpkin patch for our date night. 

These were the Autumn treasures we came home with! We carved up the large one last night, and left the rest untouched so we can use them through Thanksgiving.

I soaked them in bleach water when we first brought them home, and they've held up extremely well so far! 

Our pumpkin theme this year was, Oogie Boogie from,"The Nightmare Before Christmas".

We have an arrangement when it comes to pumpkin carving: I carve and design, and he "guts" the pumpkin. :)

This pumpkin has a lot of seeds, so I cleaned them and sautéed them. They were delicious! 

I free-handed the design on there after picking out one I liked online. I used a black chalk marker so I could easily fix any errors, and wipe lines away after it was carved.

Carved out with the lights on

Oogie Boogie all aglow!

We put the pumpkin outside earlier in the night when we had trick or treaters coming by. Once that ended, we brought the pumpkin inside to enjoy for the rest of Halloween night. Unfortunately, I forgot to take into account how much the Aussies love to eat pumpkin! Fresh pumpkin, canned pumpkin, pumpkin cookies, etc., they love it! When we went out of the room to change for the night, Ranger decided to turn into a little pumpkin cannibal. He never gets into things, but I guess he thought it was his since we placed it at his level on the floor, and he eats pumpkin on occasion. Long story short, our fluffy pumpkin ate the real pumpkin! Poor Oogie Boogie, Ranger ate the face right off! It was a pretty hilarious sight to walk into the room and see that. I couldn't stop laughing at their antics! 

It's a Pumpkin eat Pumpkin world

Om Nom Nom 

Mykelti helped too! (Bottom left corner). Once I was able to stop laughing long enough to call Nick into the room, we had a good laugh at them, then we took the pumpkin away. It was completely our fault for forgetting to give them the "Leave It" command, but it was a pretty funny ending to our night. 

I hope you all had a fun Halloween!

👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻

Since I didn't have a chance to post it before Halloween rolled around, I will try to take some photos of our home decor to share before I store it all away. 

Nailed It: Nails of the Day

For today's Nail of the Day post, I'm sharing a combo I've recently been loving: Zoya's "Mason" polish, with an accent nail of Julep's "Jane" glitter polish.  I'm very happy with both polishes. They both wore well, with minimal chipping. I was pleased with the opacity of Mason after two solid costs. I was also pleased with the ease of application of Jane polish for a glitter topcoat. I do prefer the brush on the Zoya polishes to the Julep ones as they are just a bit wider and easier to use, but both still applied easily. I especially love the rose gold hues of glitter in on the accent nails when paired with the jewel tone hues in Mason. 

Two coats of Zoya's "Mason" polish. Accent nail has Julep's "Jane" over it.

Two more shots of these polishes, top is in natural, outdoor lighting. Bottom photo was taken indoors in artificial lighting. 

Zoya can be purchased online from their website, or in stores like Ulta. Julep can be purchased from their website, or in stores like Sephora. I purchased both polishes online from the brand websites. 

 

Staycation

(This is a repost. Apparently I drafted it up back in August, but it didn't publish properly, so I wanted to share it now. :) )

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This week was our "Staycation Week", so I thought I'd share a little of that on my blog. Nick had some vacation time that needed to be used (use it or lose it hours), so he took the week off and we've enjoyed spending some extra time together. His work schedule can be hectic, so it's nice getting to enjoy a laid back week together. 

The last time I saw my GI specialist, he changed 6 of the medicines I was on in an attempt to end the current flair that I'm in, which keeps me at home a lot.  (That number is not a typo). Needless to say, adjusting to new medicine and changing out old things can be extremely taxing. Since I haven't felt well, we decided a Staycation was a good idea instead of going somewhere away from home. We thought it would be fun to watch movies, enjoy some restaurants as a nice treat, and just do the simple things we enjoy together. 

These are some of the things we enjoyed this week. Mostly wondering around local shops, and enjoying a few restaurants together. :)

-On Saturday, we went to Cracker Barrel for dinner. Of course, we got breakfast for dinner! We also had fun exploring their gift shop. All of their Halloween displays are out now, and they are adorable!

On Sunday, we celebrated my Mom's birthday with my mom, aunt, Nick, and I. We all had a good time! While we were there, my mom also gave me my birthday gift too since I hadn't seen her since before my birthday. It was a beautiful, vintage movie add for, "Breakfast at Tiffany's. "(One of my favorite movies!). I'm a bit gutted that I absolutely forgot to take birthday pictures with my mom while we were there. We were all to busy visiting and completely forgot, so I will have to remember to make up for it next time. 

Sunday night, we went to see, "Let's Be Cops". If you're looking for a funny movie to watch, definitely check that one out; it's hilarious! 

-On Monday, we mostly hung out at home and took it easy, just enjoying each other's company and watching a few movies with our furbabies.

-On Tuesday, I had a dentist appointment. Afterwards, we were in a different part of town than we normally hang out in, so we decided to grab lunch at Caio Bella, and then we we went to a nearby book store, The Booksellers. Their store was adorable! Not only do they have a wide range of books, they also have a full cafe, household goods, friendly staff, and even had a book signing while we were there. It was a neat place to explore. I also found all three books that I've had saved on my "book wish list" for a while, so I'm excited to read these! 

On Wednesday, we had dinner at Colton's, then roamed around Wal-Mart for a few things. We found a few movies we wanted to watch on clearance, so we we made a movie night out of things! 

(How adorable are the metal cowboys from Colton's)

On Thursday morning, we woke up early and had breakfast at Bryant's. (It's one of Memphis' best spots for breakfast!) After breakfast, we went to check out, At Home. It used to be called, Garden Ridge, but they've changed the name. Thankfully, everything else is still the same though. We found it amusing that the Halloween and Christmas displays were side by side. That night we were going to Dixon Art Gallery, but neither of us felt up to it. Instead, we stayed in and watched, "Love It Or List It". Gotta love HGTV!

Friday night, I made some homemade chicken soft tacos for us, and we watched, "We're the Millers" on DVD. Our simple our date nights in are some of my very favorite! After dinner, we got dessert to go from Firebirds.

Chicken soft tacos

Sometimes it's fun to just have dessert to go and eat it at home after you've already cooked dinner. This was our dessert from Firebirds (creme brûlée cheesecake).

💄 Bitch Perfect 💄

Today I have an exciting new review on Charlotte Tilbury's lipstick line. This is my first experience with this brand and so far, I think it is fantastic! I recently purchased some Charlotte Tilbury products after a fellow YouTuber spiked my interest in her line. I trust his reviews, so I was quite pleased when Ms. Tilbury's line was made available in the US, so I could test them out. I ordered this product from Beautylish. (I've ordered from their company several times and have always been very pleased with the quality of the products they carry, the customer service, and the fast shipping. I use the Beautylish app on my cell phone.) 

This is my first Charlotte Tilbury lipstick, and let me just say, I'm in love with it! This is the K.I.S.S.I.N.G lipstick in, "Bitch Perfect". Let's just be honest, I half got it for the clever name! 

My pictures do not do the packaging justice. In the photos, it appears gold, but the case is actually a beautiful rose gold color. It feels heavy in the hand and very well made. These lipsticks are made in Italy. They are paraben-free, and is available in the US through Beautylish. This shade I ordered is the perfect, classy pink nude. It will not make you look washed out. Although I have fair skin, I do feel that this shade will flatter multiple skin tones. The formula is a bit reminiscent of some MAC creme sheen lipsticks, but with a much better quality to it. There is a bit more slip, so it applies smoothly to the lip without tugging the delicate skin. It also has less grittiness to it as well, and more staying power without being overly drying. It has a faint hint of vanilla, yet not enough scent to offend anyone who prefers an unscented product. On my lips, the formula feels hydrating. (I always exfoliate my lips and moisturize before applying any lipstick.)

The price is $32. It is a bit steep if you're on a budget, but it is a solid quality product that should give you many uses, so I feel it's a good investment in a very wearable color. On occasion, the skin around my mouth can be sensitive, but this product did not irritate me, so even though it's not advertised, I do think this would be safe for someone with sensitive skin/lips to use as well. It also provides UV protection.

"Bitch Perfect" has nice staying power as well and does not bleed or feather outside of the lipline. One application with a lip brush has lasted through a meal and several glasses of water without showing signs of wear. When it eventually does wear down throughout the day, it is uniform on the lips, without making you look splotchy or leaving behind a ring. 

        (Swatched on the hand.)

Overall, this is a quality product, and is worth the investment. I'd highly recommend Ms. Tilbury's K.I.S.S.I.N.G lipstick line. If you're looking to invest in a great, pink neutral that you can wear during the day, or use to compliment a smokey eye at night, "Bitch Perfect" is a lovely shade. It can also be layered for a more intense look. The light-diffusing pigments in it give off a beautiful, multi-dimensional sheen to the lips, and make your teeth look whiter as well.  (I applied it with a lip brush, Wayne Goss no. 2. I will do a separate review on his brushes; they are lovely!)

It is recommended that you apply this lipstick with a brush for a more precise application. However, I tested the product by applying it both from the bullet, and also with a brush. Both methods worked well, if you favor one over the other or find yourself in a time crunch.

(A bit of a side note. It's been a while since my last post, apologies! It was necessary to allow myself to rest as I've been very sick. Long story short, I've had two trips to the hospital this month, and I'm still not 100% just yet.Hopefully my posts will become more frequent as my health begins to improve though.) 

Thursday Thought

Wigglebutt Wednesday!

Greetings from the Wigglebutts!

-Ranger-

Frame 1: "Sorry I chewed up the cats toy, Mom."

Frame 2: "Haha j/k! It was delicious!" 

My little sous chef is feeling much better after a week of her medicine. :) 

"What's a handsome boy gotta do to get a refill around here?"

Ranger and his gecko

Isabella thinks Lucky is her pillow haha

"Muhahwh I've caught you, evil tail!" -Kojak

Sharing his bed with Isabella❤️

I covered her up, and then went to get a drink. She followed me into the kitchen still covered in the blanket lol.

Ranger with all of his "babies"

Tea Time Tuesday: Lemon and Ginger from TeaPigs

For Tea Time today, I thought I'd share what I'm drinking at the moment, which is, "Lemon and Ginger" from TeaPigs. This is my first cup of tea in nearly a week, and it is delicious! I had to go on a bit of a tea hiatus when my doctors adjusted and changed some of the medication recently. (On that note, please excuse the lack of recent posts, I've been quite sick.) 

Onto the tea though! This is a delicious herbal infusion of lemon and ginger. It's not too tart from the lemon, nor is it too spicy from the ginger. The balance of both form the perfect flavor combination. This is a light enough tea to enjoy any time of the day. Since it's herbal and caffeine-free, I'm enjoying this one at 4:00am, hoping it will lull me back to sleep soon. ;) 

I let this steep for approximately 8 minutes before drinking. I like to steep my herbals a bit longer for more kick. The ingredient list includes whole forms of: ginger, lemongrass, lemon peel, and licorice root. 

The little box you see included in the picture is a mini sample. I purchased a sampler set from their website several months ago when I wanted to try out the brand. TeaPigs teas come in tea temples (pyramids) and contain whole leaf vs ground, for more flavor. Although I can see the convince in the tea temples if you don't want to fuss over loose-leaf, I do however wish they would also offer their blends in loose-leaf tins as well for those of us who prefer loose-leaf. (I will dedicate a future Tea Time post to the reasons I prefer loose-leaf, vs bags or temples.) 

If you're looking for a well balanced, flavorful herbal blend though, and enjoy the convince of tea pyramids/temples, then I'd really recommend, "Lemon and Ginger" from TeaPigs. Also, I had a very good experience with both shipping and the company in general, so I find them to be an excellent company! Some, not all of their teas are also available in Fresh Market, if you have one near you. 

Items mentioned in this post:

-Tea is from TeaPigs (I ordered from their US website.)

-Frog mug is from Pier 1 imports 

-Tea bag holder is from DLpottery's Etsy page