Friday Favorites

It's Friday!! Woo Hoo and August 1st! Where did the summer go? It feels like yesterday I was writing about Memorial Day weekend. Luckily living in the south now our summers are longer than Boston! Here are a few of my favorites from this week that I discovered!

Urban Decay All Nighter Long-Lasting Makeup Setting Spray
Where have I been and how come I am just discovering this now? I am headed to the store tomorrow to buy this. I SO could have used this last year for all of my wedding showers and engagement photos. If it had to do with my wedding then the temperature and humidity was 100%! Definitely going to pick this up for the last few weeks of summer!

JCrew Factory Bow-Back Top
How adorable is this shirt? It says it is final sale so I am worried to order because I am not sure what size I am. I hate how they make everything final sale. I would totally buy more if I knew I could return. Regardless, the shirt is adorable and if I make it to the outlets I will definitely try it on!

Restoration Hardware Salvaged Wood Trestle Table
We are in the process of looking for a new home and of course my focus is not actually on finding the home, but finding the perfect dining room table! I have all my cooking tools so why not focus on a place for us to actually eat! What I love about this table is that it is casual and low maintenance!

Lovely People Custom Artwork
I have been slightly obsessed with this artist for a while and can't decide what I want to purchase! I think I might actually get one for my husband for our wedding anniversary, and then as we build our family start a collection! I love the watercolors and think they could also be cute in a nursery as well. Maybe use as a birth announcement in a nursery?

Little Baby Garvin Blog
This is one of my new favorite blogs. This week she had 2 posts that I sent to my friends just based on how funny they were! The first was Birthday Beer Olympics and then the second was Christmas Vacation Drinking game based on the movie! Both of these made me think of my friends in Boston and how we would always come up with Saturday Fun Day Drinking games. Definitely check out her blog!

Linking up with Karli, Lauren, Jennie, Rebecca, Tiffany, Chrissy, Cece, Nicole, and Amanda

Friday Favorites - Beauty Products

So I don't know how I manage to do it, but somehow I finish all my makeup at the same time! So I have been on the lookout for some new products to try! Do you have any favorites or recommendations that I should try? Here are a few of the items I have recently bought. Would love to hear your thoughts as well!!

Beauty Favorite 1.... BEAUTYCOUNTER Any Time Eye Cream 

I blogged a few weeks ago about Beautycounter's  Protect All Over Broad Spectrum Sunscreen which I absolutely love. (Read post here.)Not to mention it is not filled with harsh chemicals like most store brand sunscreens.  So I was so excited to try their eye cream as well! I purchased the Any Time Eye Cream and love it! It is super light and I use it both morning and night! I have been using it for the past week and definitely recommend. Not to mention since it is from Beautycounter I can guarantee that the products are healthy for my skin. I am also eyeing the Everyday AM and PM Hydrating creams but I have 2-3 moisturizers at home that  I have to finish first. If you haven't heard about Beautycounter you can read more about their story here. Definitely check it out!

Any Time Eye Cream

Beauty Favorite 2... Amazonian Clay Airbrush Foundation by Tarte

So I have been reading about this powder foundation for a while. Kate at The Small Things Blog did a post a few months ago and I have been thinking about the product ever since. So far all of the reviews I have read are extremely positive. I went to Ulta yesterday to see what color would match my skin tone the best and walked out with Fair Light Honey. They didn't have the brush I wanted (recommended by Kate at The Small Things Blog) so I went home and purchased the Airbrush Finish Bamboo Foundation Brush at Sephora.com. The brush is highly recommended over the traditional Kabuki brush from mineral makeup. However, I am not 100% sold so I am going to attempt to use my Laura Mercier Face Brush to see if I notice the difference. Would love to hear your thoughts if you have used Amazonian Tarte foundation and if you thought the brush was worth it!

TARTE Amazonian Clay Airbrush  Foundation

TARTE Airbrush Finish Bamboo Foundation  Brush

Beauty Favorite 3... Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush

This is actually the second time I have purchased this blush! The first time I purchased and had buyers remorse that I had spent too much money that day and returned it! However, yesterday I didn't have one problem purchasing!! This is another product that Kate at The Small Things Blog has recommended a few times for everything from minimal makeup, travel essentials, bridal, etc. it is a blush and a highlighter. I bought the Luminous Flush color because my skin is fair and it looks like the best match. I also bought this at Sephora.com so excited to have it arrive next week. 

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush

Beauty Favorite 4... Kiss My Face Early To Bed Body Wash

I was excited to find this body gel that smells great but also has calming scents that I found at Whole Foods. Perfect for those showers before bed. If you go to the Kiss My Face website you can see which retailers in your area carry the products. Not to mention Amazon sells them as well.

Kiss My Face Early to Bed Body Wash

Beauty Favorite 5... Free Samples at Sephora

I remember when Sephora first opened in Boston and started the Beauty Insider program. They always had the best samples in store to use your points. However, the past 1-2 years I have been so disappointed in the selection that I have been saving my points! Until I discovered the fact that you can use your points online!!! The point value ranges from 100-1000 but they and everything from YSL mascara to Marc Jacobs Beauty products! This is what I used my points for! I am so incredibly excited and luckily these are 3 things that I was looking to purchase too! SCORE!!

Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer Broad Spectrum SPF 15

Givenchy Le Rouge Lipstick

Yves St Laurent Mascara Volume Effet Faux Cils

Before I purchased I noticed a link on the website for Weekly Specials! If you enter in a promo code you get to pick samples!  I chose the Fresh Black Tea Instant Perfecting Mask deluxe sample.

The goodies didn't stop there either! With every purchase you can also pick out three free samples. I picked the Bumble and Bumble Hairdressers Invisible Oil Shampoo and Conditioner, Marula Cleansing Lotion, and Philosophy Time in a Bottle Eye cream.

Did I mention I also got free shipping? I am SO SO SO excited for all my purchases to get here next week!

Definitely let me know if you have tried any of these products, or if you have any recommendations on other products I should use!

Linking up with Karli, Amanda, Lauren, Jennie and Rebecca this week!!

Friday Favorites - Summer BBQ Recipes

Today I am joining a linkup from Meet @ the Barre!! So excited to be part of a new linkup!

This past weekend we had friends over for a lake day! Hanging out in the lake, boat rides and then a bbq. So I knew I had to make things in advance, or come together easily. I have to say the homemade BBQ sauce was soooooooo good! Here is a sample of the menu I made for us! These recipes are also perfect if you are attending a BBQ and want to bring something or you can even use the pickles or bbq sauce as a hostess gift. I apologize in advance for my pictures! I just took a few quick snaps with my iPhone!

one... Homemade BBQ Sauce
I found the recipe on epicurious.com and it is amazing. Most sauces are too sweet for my husband, so I was looking for something that had a little more kick. Did I mention how easy it was to make the homemade bbq sauce too? Basically you just put everything in a pot and let it simmer! Click here for the recipe, for a spice rub I used Penzey Spices Galena Street Rub. If you haven't checked out Penzey Spices definitely recommend. Perfect for grilling! Remember when you are grilling the chicken add the BBQ sauce later on in the process, otherwise it will scorch and look black!

two... Homemade Pickles
This recipe was originally found by our Miss Kate via The Dabble! She made this years ago for a party and since then all of us girls have been making it for every picnic and party. Homemade pickles are SO easy and not to mention it is fun to experiment with different kinds of veggies. Over the years we have used everything from traditional cucumbers, to white asparagus and green beans. The one thing we do change in this recipe is using ground coriander seeds and black pepper.  Reason being then you don't have to pick the seeds off your veggies as you eat.

three... Penne with Green Beans & Tomatoes with a Lemon-Shallot Vinaigrette
I was sitting in my mother-in-law's living room flipping through the July issue of Southern Living and saw a recipe for a lemon-shallot vinaigrette that looked delicious! And they used it with a penne with green bean and tomato salad. Don't get me wrong the pasta salad was delicious but the vinaigrette was SOOOOOO good! I am definitely adding this one of my go to salad dressing recipes. It would be great on a kale or arugula salad. I love the citrus kick along with the dijon mustard. I adapted the salad slightly and also added some red and orange peppers since I had them in my refrigerator and needed to use them!

four... Oven Baked Beans
When I first registered for the Le Creuset Heritage Bean Pot my husband thought I was insane and that I would never ever use it. I told him that I would use it all summer long. Then we actually received it and I couldn't wait to start using it. Le Creuset provided a bunch of recipes on ways to use it, and for our BBQ I decided to make the oven baked bean recipe. Let me tell you how floored my husband was when I put the pot on the table! Haha! The recipe is super easy and basically you just dump all the ingredients into the pot, give it a stir and bake covered for 1 hour. Voila you not only have oven baked beans but it is quite the serving dish to impress your guests with too! I couldn't find the recipe online so please see ingredients below!

• 15 oz Kidney Beans, 15 oz can Pinto Beans, 15oz can Great Northern Beans, 28 oz can Pork n Beans, 15 oz can lima beans (I used frozen), 1/2 cup onion chopped, 1T chile powder (I used cayenne pepper for a EXTRA kick), 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce, 1 cup brown sugar packed, 1/2 cup molasses, 1/4 cup mustard, and 1/2 cup hot BBQ sauce (I used the recipe above!)

Preheat oven to350 degrees. Drain beans and rinse, Combine all ingredients in bean pot. Bake covered for one hour.

five... Marinated Zucchini Salad
This recipe was found on Pinterest! Again, this is super simple to make. The recipe calls for 4 zucchini thinly sliced. However, I think they are referencing 4 extremely small zucchini! I think two zucchinis are more than enough, and I would double the recipe for the dressing. I followed the recipe exactly and then had to go back and make another batch of dressing since only a small portion of the zucchini was covered. What is great about this recipe is that you can make this ahead of time and the dressing needs to marinate on the zucchini for over an hour. So great if you have to travel someplace, or to prepare ahead.

And appetizers were kept super simple with salsa and chips, homemade guacamole, and veggies with dip. All of which were prepped/prepared beforehand so we could enjoy every minute of sunshine on the lake! Dessert was fresh watermelon!

Would love to hear what you are making for summer barbecues! I am always looking for new recipes to try out!