Once Upon a time...

James and I have been together for almost 6 years now and we have NEVER been on a vacation alone. WHY? I have no idea! Well last week we went on out very first romantic getaway together. Boy was it a special one!! 

(This is the first night, we took a beautiful carriage ride.. Prince Charming and Cinderella)

WE GOT ENGAGED... and here is the beautiful story.

Once upon a time...

We went to Jekyll Island and stayed at the Jekyll Island club hotel in the beautiful Crane Cottage. I have been going to this amazing place since I was a little girl and I have always dreamed of getting married here.

The room we stayed in was a deluxe king suite... So yeah the room was pretty amazing. We had 2 beautiful balconies overlooking the ocean river. They both opened with beautiful french doors. One was in the bathroom, so you know I took a bath with the doors open while looking at the ocean! It was pretty amazing! The other one was a beautiful porch with a table and 2 chairs that we used quite a few times.

(The Crane Cottage... The circle shows our room. The tree was trimmed back when we were there so you could see the balcony.)

Ok! So now that I have some what set the scene for you... let`s start with the engagement day! 

It was a Monday morning and we rolled out of bed, threw on some clothes and walked to the cafe to get some AMAZING coffee. We sat on e a HUGE porch for a while soaking in all the beauty around us. While we were sitting there we were watching people ride bikes and so we wanted to ride them also. So as soon as we finished out coffee we walked down to the bellmen and asked them about renting bikes for the whole day. Well to our surprise they let us ride for free ALL DAY! SCORE! So we rode bikes for seriously like 5 hours straight.  We had so much fun... we found trails that lead to alligator ponds. We wanted to see one so bad but... we did not! 

When we were done riding bikes we went to the Pool Bar, ordered a strawberry daiquiri and laid on a blanket in front of the ocean for about an hour or so. It was so peaceful! 

THEN IT WAS TIME TO GET READY FOR OUR BIG DINER! 

We went back to the room and got all dolled up and went to diner. There is this beautiful restaurant in the hotel called the Grand Dining Room. We ate here on a closed in porch and watched the sun go down. After diner we walked the paths in front of the ocean and sat on a bench for a while while he held me. Talking and soaking in all of nature`s beautiful wonders.

The Grand Dining Rom

The red Circle is where we sat!

We decided to get up and go walking and talking lol. We walked over to the Court Yard at the Crane and talked about how amazing it would be to get married there. I told him how I had always pictured it since I was a little girl. Well grabbed my shoulders and easily placed me in the spot where we would say I DO. He hugged me and said "You are my very best friend in the whole world, you know that? and I love you more than anything." I told him he was mine and I loved him too. AT this point her got down on one knee and said... I know this has always been your dream and I want to make your dream come true... that`s why I am proposing here. I want this to be a promise that I will come back to this very spot and marry you here. I love you more than anything and I cannot imagine my life without you. WILL YOU MARRY ME? Oh my goodness I was crying and I said yes, yes, of course! We hugged and cried and kissed and laughed! It was so meaningful... he wants to make my childhood dream come true. I am so thankful for that! 

The circle shows where he proposed!! 

Another view of the beautiful court yard and where he proposed!

My ring

We went up to our room to change and go out walking again... well while we were in our room her hands me a ring box. I looked at him with a puzzled look and said... what? I opened the box and there was his grandmother`s and his mother`s engagement ring. His grandmother passed away the first year we were together and he has been heartbroken ever since. His mom gave him the ring before he graduated... in hopes he would one day give it to me. Well he has put it in a drawer for years and would not let me see it or touch it. So when I opened the box and seen the ring tears immediately started to fall. I had totally forgotten all about this ring. I was speechless all I could do was cry and hug him. 

The crazy thing is... my grandmother passed away last year and I received her wedding band. The band was my great grandmothers before it was hers.  THE WEDDING BAND AND THE RING GO TOGETHER AS A SET!! It is meant to be... we are meant to be and this first vacation with him could not have been better! 

Our grandmothers Rings (what girl gets 2 engagement rings and one that means so much more than money could ever buy?)

I am so sorry it was so long but I wanted to share our amazing day with you! I am so excited and I hope you enjoyed our amazing story. I look forward to telling you all about our up coming events like engagement photos and the wedding! 

My 24th Birthday

So my 24th birthday just passed and I am feeling pretty old right about now!! I keep thinking " I am only 6 years away from 30". People keep telling me "Oh be quiet your still young...You`re in your 20`s, the best time of your life". I would be quiet and take their advice, if I didn't have a problem with living in the future! My brain tends to live for the future not for the now. Which is a horrible...I must change this!

(Birthday Head-shot!)
Ear rings: Charlotte Russe, here are similar ones
Shirt: Papaya, here is a similar one

Anyways lets get back on topic!

This year my birthday was pretty amazing! I had the day off of work to go get my license re-dun and to get my tag. I was at the DMV, and believe me when I say this, for only 30 minutes! That is a miracle seriously. I was expecting like 3 hours but I was in and out. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

Then I did some very well needed spring/summer clothes shopping! I went to Papaya and Charlotte Russe and came out with some pretty good stuff!

After the I finished with the DMV, Shopping and Tag my boyfriend and I went to meet my step mom and my dad at Carrabbas for my birthday dinner. I have never been able to spend my birthday night with them so this was a pretty big deal. When I got there my step mom was already there waiting on us while my dad diminished up at work. She had 24 beautiful Pink roses and a pink and white birthday cake sitting on the table waiting on me. I have never had someone surprise me like that before. I was so excited and so surprised that I cannot believe I did not cry.

So when I sat down in my set... First things first! I order me a pink birthday drink! My dad finally arrived and we had such a good time. At the end of the meal they game me 3 birthday cards and some birthday money! Which was amazing, so I did some more clothes shopping on Lulu`s when I got home.

(Me with my pink drink, pink cake, pink roses, pink shoes and pink shirt!! I guess it was a very pink birthday!)
Shoes: Charlotte Russe, here are similar ones

Then on Saturday night my mom took me too eat and bought me a tanning membership! We had a lot of fun and I was so thankful for the tanning!! SCORE!!

So all in all this years birthday was pretty awesome! I hope you enjoyed my birthday story and I will post all of the clothes and shoes I bought in a separate post!

HAPPY FRIDAY AND I HOPE YOU HAVE A VERY AWESOME WEEKEND!!

Gone for far too long

Hey guys!! I have missed you all so much and I am so sorry I have been gone for far too long. I have been dealing with a lot of personal issues in my life and I promise to do better. You all make me smile and I need to start focusing on the positive in my life. 

So a lot has been going on since I have posted last and I want to fill you guys in so we can catch up. 

First off back in January I found out my precious little Oliver (my dog) had advanced periodontal disease. These problems are extremely common in small breed dogs. It is basically a SEVER case of gingivitis. So we took him to Pet Smart and put him on a wellness plan...which is amazing. He had to get 8 teeth pulled so he no longer has front teeth but one little one on the bottom. On a side note... he is pretty stinkin cute with one bottom tooth. He reminds me of a Gerber baby! hahaha 

Anyways I was very worried about him when we were going through this process because if you know me... you know he is like my child. However I am so glad we had this done for him. He is no longer in pain and is a very happy healthy baby!!

My little fur baby!

Another update... My boyfriend of 5 1/2 years is going to enlist into the Air Force. He has mentioned going in before but this time he is very serious. I am very nervous because I do not know what the future will bring but I know we are about to start a journey that will be full of ups and downs. We have never been apart before and that is going to take A LOT of getting use too. I will admit it... I am very spoiled when it comes to his time. Every minute he has extra he gives it to me. Which I am very thankful for. However, If there is one thing I know about the military it`s the fact that they are gone all the time. This I am scared of but at the same time I am excited to start putting all of my time into what I love... which is fashion, interior design, makeup and hair. 

My Boyfriend James and I 

Speaking of which I am thinking about buying old furniture and re-vamping it. Is that something you guys would be interested in? If so let me know. It may take a while to get this started because all of the transitions I am about to go through but it will definitely happen in the future. 

Anyways guys I wanted to let you all know where I have been and that I am back to stay. I am so sorry I left for so long but sometimes I just have to take a step back and breathe. 

Thank you for being the positive light that shines in my life. Even if you only read my blog and follow me… you make me smile! 

February Ipsy Bag

I just received my February Ipsy bag this past Saturday. I have to say I am pretty excited about this one. January was pretty much a bummer… from the bag to the products. I would say they made up pretty well!

Here is a look into my February Ipsy bag and the contents inside! 

  The bag is much cuter this time and it did not smell like a plastic pool toy.

Here is a peak inside. Don`t you just love the leopard print on the inside? Agh so cute!

 I love this blush so much. Not only is it an amazing color but it has a lot of pigment. I can not believe how big it is... It`s a full size product not a sample. WHICH IS AMAZING! I can not believe I got this blush... I have been meaning to swing by MAC and pick up a new one but now... Thanks to my Ipsy bag... I do not have too.

 This is a FULL SIZE eye liner pencil made by MOLLY. I love this pencil so much. This product also has a lot of pigment and goes on very easy. When I went to the bathroom to wash my metallic dot off I couldn't get it off. I had to literately scrub it. This lets me know it stays on and will not run.

Beautiful FULL SIZE bottle of nail polish that I can add to my small but growing collection. 

I have not used this lip gloss yet but it seems to be really good. I love the color and it is very thick. This is the only sample bottle I received this go around. 

EYELASHES! A girl can never have enough pairs of false lashes. I do not wear them on a day to day basis at all but they are always good for custom parties and what not! (The lighting change makes my blanket look yellow... YIKES!)  

 So all in all I LOVED my February bag. Every product was full size except for the lip glass. I would say they definitely made up for the January bag and I am excited for more bags in the future. I can not wait to show you guys what March brings!! 

All natural hair wash

I am the kind of girl that is always up to try home remedies and all natural challenge. So when I read a blog post about washing your hair in baking soda and vinegar I had to try it.

The girl writing the post said that she had not washed her hair with regular shampoo in 6 weeks. Hearing this made me say, WHAT?? I have to wash my hair every single day because it is so oily! If I did not have to wash my hair for just two days, that would be a miracle within its self. I can`t even imagine 6 weeks.

I did a little more research after reading the blog post and found that the vinegar can strip hair die out of your hair. Since I have a light ombre I was a little worried but I proceeded to try this anyways.

This is what I used:

1/3 cup of baking soda mixed with a whole bottle of water

1 tablespoon of vinegar mixed with a small bottle of water

After I grabbed these items out of the cabinet and mixed them up... I went straight to the shower!

OK! Lets gets this started!! You will not be needing your hair cap for this one! 

First I poured the whole bottle of baking soda and water over my head trying not getting it in my eyes and screaming at the same time. Why was I screaming you ask? Well because my crazy self, filled the bottle up with cold water. Let me tell you, there is no surprise like cold water running down your back and not expecting it. So REMEMBER when trying this PUT HOT WATER INTO THE BOTTLE. Bahahaha

After putting the baking soda all in my hair, I gave my scalp a good scrub (my scalp felt like I had my head in the sand at the beach all day). I then Let this sit for about 5 minutes then rinse it out.

After I washed all of the baking soda out, I poured the vinegar mix over my head. Guess what? This bottle also had cold water. Thank goodness I was expecting it this go-around! I let the vinegar mix sit for about 2 minutes and then I rinsed it out.

I finished up my shower and got out see and smell the results.

OK, so my concerns were:

 1. Would my hair smell like vinegar?

2. Would my color come out?  

3. Would my hair be dry and brittle?

To my surprise my hair did not smell like vinegar at all. The amount of water was way greater than the amount of vinegar so it definitely diluted the smell. Rests assure ladies and gents your hair will not smell like nastiness!

All of my hair color came out. There is no longer any ombre. However, when I got my hair dyed about 1 year ago my hair dresser did not put any bleach on my hair. She only used light brown. So with that being said maybe that’s why it took everything out. I think this will pull out a lot of color no matter what hair you have. It will either take it out completely or make the color super dull.

OK! So these are before and after pictures. The top: before the all natural wash. The bottom: after the wash. I guess I do have a little color left but in person you can not tell at all.

My hair was more shiny, silky and light weight than it has ever been. It really took out all the wax and oils shampoo and conditioner puts in. It is really amazing how good your whole head will feel.  I did not have to repeat this again until 3 DAYS LATER!! This ended up being a miracle within its self and subtracting my time to my morning routine! WHOOP WHOOP!!

So I totally recommend everyone try this, unless you have hair dye. If you do stay on this all natural remedy I do recommend an all-natural hair mask once a week to moisturize the hair. I noticed the ends of my hair did get a bit dry but not too bad.  

When I get a chance I will do an all natural hair mask moisturizer and let you all know how it turns out.

Until then if you try this at home leave me a comment and let me know what you think! How did this work for you?

First Ipsy bag

I received my very first Ipsy bag yesterday!! I was totally excited but then I actually got it. I was a little disappointed. Thankfully earlier that day I had already logged onto my Ipsy profile and read all the reviews of the January bag. It seems that I am not the only one disappointed.

Here is a look inside my first Ipsy bag! 

 So I thought the bag was going to be super cute but it`s not. The bag is a big thing for me because I have a bag obsession. It also smelled like a pool float with a very strong plastic smell.

I actually like this smooth shadow creamy eye pencil. It is the only thing out of the WHOLE bag I use on a daily now. 

I tried the deep conditioning mask and honestly I already have pretty awesome shampoo and conditioner so it really did not make a difference. 

This lip balm ended up being a lip stain. I actually love the color and I loved that it would not come off. Even when I gave the boyfriend some smooches it did not come off... on him or me! hehe

This lotion smells so yummy but unfortunately my face is so sensitive I cannot use it all the time. 

Did not like this product at all. I tried it on my problem spots and it burned. It continued to burn for a couple of days. Not constantly but every time I would wash my face or put on my daily moisturizer it would burn.  It also dried my face out for a couple of days. 

So all in all I honestly did not like my products this time. I have heard it is a hit and miss kind of thing but since it is February I will be getting my next bag in a week or so and i will be giving you guys an update. 

Since it is February and it is Valentines month I have my hope up pretty high. There is so much cuteness that could go into this month. Lets hope its a hit!! 

WCW: Kandee Johnson

Typically people do not post why they have chosen their Woman crush for Wednesday. It is always pretty evident why they have chosen that person. It`s always their beauty or their personality. 

We see these people on TV and we see the characters they play but who knows if they are as good as they seem. For instance I watched an Interview once with Carrie Underwood and she said “That person up there on that stage is not me; my real person is too shy to do anything like that.” People tend to put on personas to play the part and make their career work.  Which is totally fine and I completely understand. I might even alter my person if I was in front of the cameras all the time.

My woman crush is Kandee Johnson!! 

You may look at my woman crush and think yeah she is beautiful, no wonder you picked her. Yes, she is beautiful but the truth is I didn't pick her because she is gorgeous. I picked her because of her heart. Kandee Johnson is a total inspiration.  I feel that God put her on this earth not only to teach us how to do our makeup and DIY`s but to also be that light in the darkness. She makes me strive to be a better person and to be a truly happy person. When I am feeling down and upset I go to her channel and just watch her videos over and over. Her happiness, smile, laugh, and love are just so contagious.

She does not show a persona that is fake. She stays true to herself and that allows her followers to relate to her. I feel like I honestly know this amazing person. She puts her life, her religion and her family out there to share with the world. Kandee adds a little sparkle to my heart and I am sure if you give her a chance you will feel the same. 

   

I could go on and on about how amazing she is but I think I will end it here and leave you to find out for yourself.

If you do not know who this truly amazing woman is you should check her out. She has 2 blogs, 2 YouTube Channels, an Instagram and a twitter account.  I know you will love her as much I as I do.

Do you have a blogger who helps you through your days and your troubles in life? If so tell me who they are I would love to follow also!!

Hugs and kisses to all my followers out there! I love you all very much!

YouTube Channels: Kandee Johnson 

The  Kandee Johnson Show

Blogs: http://kandeelandkandeeland.blogspot.com/

    http://www.kandeej.com/

Intagram: @kandeejohnson

Twitter: @kandeejohnson