Things I am currently loving!

1. John Frieda Sheer Blonde Go Blonder Controlled Lightening Spray

$8, drugstore.com

This stuff is amazing! When I was in college I would get my hair highlighted about four times a year (that was when my mom was paying for the cut & highlight!), but now that I'm out of college and paying for my own haircuts & highlights, I have to try to stretch them out longer. It's not the best for my hair, but my wallet isn't big enough for frequent visits to the salon!

This spray can be used for all over lightening, highlights, or covering up roots! I tend to use it for covering up my roots, but because of the way it's used, it really ends up lightening all over as well. All you do is spray it on towel-dried damp hair, directly on your roots in 1-inch segments around your head. Then you will want to dry it with a hair dryer and use a flat iron if that's the look you're going for. The more heat you use, the better it will work, so I don't usually use this product if I'm not planning on drying and/or straightening my hair.

2. Anastasia Brow Wiz Eyebrow Pencil in Ash Blonde

$20, anastasia.net

Recently, I decided I wanted to get my eyebrows waxed. I have done this dozens of times in the past, usually at nail places or hair salons. When they ask what I want, I say to just "clean them up a little," or "even them out," and I always say, "I don't want them too thin." The day I decided to get them done was exactly a week ago. There was a new salon in the suburb that I am currently living and they specialize in waxing! That's all they do. What could go wrong? Oh, everything.

DO NOT go to Wax It! Spa in Avon, Indiana!!! They will mess everything up!! Long story short, the lady completely jacked up my eyebrows. They are not even, they are SO thin, and they just look horrible! SO. Right after I got my horrible eyebrow waxing I went across the street to Meijer and bought 4 eyebrow products because I didn't know what else to do. None of them were the right thing to buy, but I didn't know that at the time.

After I came home and got to chat with my friend Emily about it, she suggested that I go to Sephora and get some advice/help from the ladies that work there. I did that and they advised me to get this eyebrow pencil by Anastasia. All of her stuff is amazing. I saw her on Dr. Oz and she really is an eyebrow queen. Without her, I would be lost and looking very silly. I am still pretty self-conscious about the brows, but every day I get better at using that stupid pencil and I just keep getting closer and closer to being back to normal. And I am never getting my eyebrows waxed again.

3. Charlie St. Cloud

I'm 24 years old and I love Zac Efron. I don't really think it's that big of a deal, though, because he's only 69 days younger than me AND he's really cute. This movie really surprised me, though. Maybe because I didn't really know what it was about before I started watching it, and maybe because I was really glad it wasn't a normal romantic comedy. Actually, it wasn't a romantic comedy at all, which I loved.

It's a really interesting movie about Charlie, played by my beautiful Zac, who was in a car crash with his younger brother, Sam. Sam died and Charlie almost died, but he came back and was then able to still see Sam even though he was dead. Then Charlie meets a love interest and he is forced to choose between Sam and his possible love, Tess. It's such a good movie! You have to watch it. It's worth it! Especially if you rent it for $1 at Redbox or in the $1 section of Family Video (that's what I did, and I got to keep it for 5 nights!).

4. OPI Shatter Nail Polish

I know this has been available for a while now, but I just got it less than a month ago and I love it! It's so easy to use and a fun way to change up regular nail polish. I have two colors, black and blue, which were part of a birthday gift from my lovely boyfriend's parents! They asked what I wanted for my birthday and this is all I could come up with (although they got me something really cool in addition to the polish!!), but it really was something I really wanted!

5. Millers Ink!

This is my boyfriend's mom's blog and I love it! Her name is Lynn and she is pretty much the queen of all things crafting, at least according to me! She has her own craft room that is filled with everything you could possibly want or need! She makes her own cards, gift bags, gift card holders, tissue paper, the list goes on and on. It really is amazing to see all of the super cute things she comes up with!

The picture is a Halloween treat bag that she made for her most recent blog post, which was part of the craft's meow blog hop. I followed the hop from the beginning and it was great! I love going to Lynn's blog every few days and catching up on what she's been making!

That's about all I have right now! Hope you enjoyed reading about the things I'm currently loving!

SURPRISE!

Last night was the night I have been planning for over three months. It was my best friend and roommate's Surprise Lingerie Shower! Sarah was completely surprised and had no idea this was going on, which was perfect! She did notice her co-workers acting kind of strange during this past week and I was acting really weird yesterday during the day, but somehow I was able to lure her to a hotel about 15 minutes away and still she was completely surprised when two co-workers and two friends from home were waiting for her!

We had the party in a meeting room at a Comfort Suites that my co-worker's step-dad owns, so after some last-minute favor shopping, I headed over to the hotel to set up and decorate!

I also decorated plastic martini glasses for everyone!

As we sipped on Lemon Drop martinis, we played the first game! Everyone brought a pair of undies for Sarah and she had to guess who brought which pair. Some people, such as myself, brought gag undies (mine was a leopard-print thong that I found at Wal-Mart for $1.98!) and some brought cute undies!

I also made a Sarah Jeopardy game, which everyone loved! It was so much fun and I think we all learned a lot about Sarah! (and YES, those are zebra striped streamers!)

I got off work the night before the shower at 8:30pm and right when I got home I began baking lingerie-shaped sugar cookies using dough I had put in the refrigerator 9 hours earlier!

I found this great recipe for rolled sugar cookies on allrecipes.com. The only modification I made was using powdered sugar to roll out the dough instead of flour--it worked just like flour but added a little more flavor!

 After I baked them and let them cool, it was time to decorate! I think they turned out pretty well.

 To make the "butt cookies," you can use a heart-shaped cookie cutter and then just cut off the point. You can use that same shape for a boob/bra cookie if you'd like and you can even keep the point of the heart as the chest/neck part. There are lots of images online of "lingerie sugar cookies," which is where I got the inspiration for my cookies.

The night was a complete success and everyone had a lot of fun! I'm so glad Sarah was surprised and enjoyed herself! :) I am so honored to be the MOH for the best bride!

Fast forward 9 months, 2 weeks, and 1 day...

...and we are in the present! This is absolutely ridiculous. I have fallen off the blogging wagon for the past 9 months, but I am back! So much has happened in the past 3/4 of a year, and I can't wait to share it with anyone who cares (which I know is all 4 of my followers)!

First, my very best friend, and current roommate, got engaged!

She and her love got engaged in November just a few days after my last blog post. They couldn't be happier together and I know they are both looking forward to their wedding on October 1 of this year! I am so excited for their wedding, because Sarah asked me to be her MOH! I was honored to accept and I have the very best bride. She hasn't had any Bridezilla moments whatsoever, and has made this probably the easiest MOH job in the history of MOHes. MOHs? MOH's? I have no idea. Maids of Honor. WhatEV. (side note: "whatEV" is in my phone's dictionary and I love it.) The one thing that I am just a little skeptical about is the toast that I will have to give at Sarah and Chris' wedding reception. I know it will all turn out great, but getting to that point will be a challenge for me!


Next topic--my boyfriend!

Soon after my last blog post (about a week after Sarah and Chris got engaged), I started dating a boy named Ryan. He is super cute, funny, and just a really great guy! We met at work (I am a pharmacy technician at CVS and he is a shift supervisor for the front store) and at first we didn't really talk much, but because we were both going to a bonfire at one of our co-workers' houses, I had an excuse to ask our co-worker for his number! At the bonfire, I was a-lookin' and I was a-likin'! After that night we texted for a couple of days and then met up at a Buffalo Wild Wings in between our houses. (Obviously I love Buffalo Wild Wings, as my last blog post features a photo of Amy Gene and myself standing in front of one.) We ended up staying there and talking for four hours! What was crazy was it felt like just an hour had gone by. It was so much fun and about a week after that we started "officially" dating. November 29, our first anniversary, will be here before we know it and I am so looking forward to it!

My family has never been one to settle into a single city and stay there. At least not longer than 8 years at a time. When I was born, my parents and older brother were living in Vestal, NY. At some point we moved to Somers, NY and then to Rockville, MD. By my 6th birthday we had moved to San Jose, CA, where we lived for 4 years, then on my 10th birthday, the day before I began 5th grade, we moved to Austin, TX. We lived in Austin for 8 years, and it is the city I call home. When I graduated from high school, my parents moved up north to Minneapolis, MN, while I began college in the midwest at Hanover. Upon graduation at Hanover, I made my way to Louisville, KY byway of Petersburg, KY, and then after a year in Loo-uh-vuhl, I came up to where I find myself now: Indianapolis.

(In case you're like me and not so great with geography, I have included a US map with major cities on it--all of our cities are listed except the small ones in upstate NY and technically Rockville isn't on there, but Baltimore is. Close enough.)

Needless to say, I have moved around a lot. Currently my parents are still in Minneapolis, but in the next 6 months or so they will be making the very, very far move to Portland, OR! My dad has recently began a new job as CTO & SVP RSM at Grass Valley (if you want to know what all of those letters stand for, don't ask me--try to look them up or something). I am extremely happy for him and my mom! Moving really, really sucks, but the end result will be good! Also, my brother has now traveled down to Boulder, CO and is going to school and working down there. The Schuberts are all over everywhere!

Last, but certainly not least, I'm in grad school!

I am beginning a masters program in School Counseling on August 27! It is very exciting and I am especially looking forward to the first night of class because we're having a pitch-in! Since my last name begins with an S, I fall under the category of desserts. That is not a problem for me, because I bake like it's my job. I have decided to bring in some delicious brownies with Oreos baked into the top and icing drizzled on top of that. Delish! So looking forward to Monday night.

YUMMY.

That's about all I have for right now. I am going to try to remember to post more, but I can't make any promises.