Currently 05.25.16

Reading

I've been a little slow this month with the reading. I'm only part way through my book at work, and I've read a few things on the Kobo.

Listen to the Squawking Chicken - Elaine Lui
I've been meaning to read Lainey's book since it came out. I quite enjoy her humour on The Social. Her book was LOL funny in some parts! She has a very unique relationship with her mom, and she shares it all with her readers.

The Grown Up - Gillian Flynn
So I thought this was a book. Turns out, it's a 37 page story. Oh well! It was a quick and interesting read, although the end definitely left me wanting to know what happened next.

All the Bright Places- Jennifer Niven
Another YA book (my latest craze). This was a lovely little read about two teens who are trying to save each other. Funny and heartbreaking - keep the tissues handy.

Writing

I finally made myself a cleaning schedule. I sort of always followed a loose one in my head anyway, but this time I actually put it down on paper. What has to be cleaned and how often. I've only been following at since Sunday, but I think I'm going to like it. I had a bad habit of letting stuff pile up sometimes and then having to spend hours doing stuff that wouldn't take long if I kept up with it properly.

Clicking

I've been watching a ton of You Tube videos lately. My favourite are make up and skin care routines. Do you have any You Tubers you love to watch?

Watching

Can you believe I haven't watched the premiere of The Bachelorette yet? That's on deck for tonight. Recently I've been catching up on Grey's Anatomy, Season 3 of Hart of Dixie, Keeping up with the Kardashians (blame that one on I Am Cait...)

Eating & Drinking

A new category for my Currently posts! I've been lucky to have had some tasty meals lately. Most recently, I had La Frasca (pizza and Bulwarks Blush) and 2 Doors Down (awesome fish tacos, wine, and rhubarb trifle). I've been experimenting with a few new recipes in my slow cooker - success! Gotta love a good slow cooker feast. I made Caesars the other night for the first time in forever. They were ok, but I think I needed more spice. I took advantage of Starbucks Frapp Happy Hour this year.... four times a think... oops.

Despite the bad angle on this photo, my rhubarb trifle was delish!

Seeing

Sun set over the golf course. I always seem to write these posts in the same spot!

Hearing

A motorcycle driving by. It's a nice night for that sort of thing!

Smelling

Peach Bellini candle from Bath & Body Works

Wearing

Yoga pants, a tank top and slippers

Feeling

A bit tired and headachy to be honest. I'm wishing I had've bought the headache relief stuff I tried the other day at the new Saje store at HSC. It smelled so good, but I didn't have a headache at the time so I couldn't tell if it worked.

Anticipating

The weekend! Four day weeks are fabulous! I think we need to get our deck furniture out. I feel like we've already missed some time in the sun.

My Caesar! Next time I'l make sure I have an extreme bean.

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

Benefit Brow Bar

When Benefit opened their Brow Bar in Sephora at Halifax Shopping Centre, I was intrigued. I lurked around a few times, seeing what it was all about. Then when I saw the sign that said all the proceeds from the brow wax services in May go towards womens' charities, I knew it was time to act!

You can make an appointment if you want, but I just walked in and was served right away. They have a dedicated spot near the back of the store. All the tools they need are right there, including a ton of Benefit brow products and concealers.

This was the "after" shot. It was spotless before she started on me!

Perched on my pretty stool, I let Madison go about her meticulous work of "mapping" my brows. She used various landmarks on my face to determine where my brows should start, end, and arch. Luckily, my brows are the right length naturally and generally well-behaved.

All mapped out!

Once my face was sufficiently drawn upon, it was time for the wax. Truthfully, it was almost painless, and my brows hadn't been waxed in many months (oops). Once my brows were shaped, it was time to conceal the redness and fill them in to perfection. The whole process took about a half an hour, which sounds long, but I MUCH prefer a precise brow wax rather than a five minute paint and rip routine. It's $24, tax and tip included.

The finished look

Benefit is coming out with a bunch of new brow products in June to add to their already extensive collection. If you want to get some great brows and help empower women as well, get your brows done this month with Benefit! Thanks Madison!

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

A Surprise Hit

Will the $4 skirt look okay, or will it look like I'm auditioning for a part on Little House on the Prairie? It was a win (or else everyone was doing a good job of lying). Who says petites can't wear long skirts?

 Details

Cardigan: Forever 21

Tank: H&M

Skirt: Banana Republic Factory Store

Necklace and shoes: Aldo

Sunnies: Coach

 I wore this outfit to Mothers' Day brunch and managed not to spill anything on it - win! Excuse the weird hair. I obviously need way more practice with using my new flat iron to curl. The curls came out strange, so then I tried to straighten them a bit. I promise I didn't roll out of bed and out the door!

Shortly after this photo was taken, I changed out of this and into my gardening gear. My mom was kind enough to help me regain control of my little shrub garden out front. Always helping, even on Mothers' Day - that's my momma.

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

Spa Luxury at Home

Some days (and entire weeks) are hard on a girl! Whether it's family demands, a crazy spell at work, or pushing yourself to the limit in your workouts, you need to dedicate some time to pamper yourself.  You deserve it!

I was lucky enough to get to try a few products from BVspa* ahead of their launch this month at Shopper's Drug Mart. BVspa (by massage therapists' preferred brand Bon Vital') is a spa-quality line for consumers. Let me tell you, the half hour I set aside to take a long shower and try out these products was food for the soul!  

There are three scents to choose from: lavender and rosemary (relaxing), pomegranate and acai berry (rejuvenating), and pink grapefruit (energizing). I'm not a big fan of lavender, so I tried out the other two scents.

As a frequenter of sunless tanners, I always appreciate a good scrub in my shower. I enjoyed both the sugar (more gentle) and the salt scrubs, especially this time of year when there is still dry old winter skin trying to hang on. I admit, I'm lazy with lotion as I hate taking the time to rub it in properly. The lotion was really easy to blend. and dried quickly.   The body butter was for a more deep moisturizing experience. Both scents (pomegranate and acai and pink grapefruit) were really nice and clung to the skin, lasting hours. My workplace is scent free however (a constant sadness with me), so I will only be able to indulge in these lovelies on the weekend.

The sugar scrubs, salt scrubs, body butters, and body lotions are paraben, sulfate, and phthalate free and are available this month at Shopper's Drug Mart for $11.99.

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

*products were gifted to me, but opinions are always my own

My Monthly Purchases: April 2016

Every month, I break down my clothing expenses and share them. My quarterly budget is $500. This amount can be rolled into the next quarter if it's not all spent. My goal is to keep my out of pocket expenses within $2000 a year. Gifts and gift cards don't count towards my budget. Since I've been keeping a budget, I'm much more careful with what I buy, and I will return stuff at the end of the month if I'm not crazy about it after hanging it in my closet.

Pants: Banana Republic
Reg $110, on sale for $33
I have no idea why I got these in store for such  deal. They are still way more expensive on-line. I wore them to dinner last week and they were really comfortable and short enough to show off my ankle booties.

Sweater: Banana Republic (no longer available on-line)
Reg $95, on sale for $31
I bought this on-line, knowing that it'll be put away for next season. It's a great classic stripe in a cashmere blend.

Skirt: Gap
Reg $55, on sale for $24
Last year, I bought a long black skirt and really liked wearing it. I scooped up this blue one and will probably try it out soon. It's that annoying time of year when I refuse to wear tights, but would freeze in bare legs.

Sweater: American Eagle Outfitters
Reg $45, on sale for $16
I will never own enough grey sweaters! This will look so great with cut-offs in the summer.

Skirt: Banana Republic Factory Store
Reg $90, on sale for $4
I was hesitant on this one as it's pretty voluminous at the bottom, but even if I only wear it once, I'll be fine with that for the price of it! Who knows, maybe I'll love it! It's hard to tell from the photo, but it's navy base with white and red pattern.

Jeans: Banana Republic Factory Store
Reg $90, on sale for $19
I wore these to work today. They were so comfortable and exactly the right length. I have good luck with Banana jeans! They are called wide-leg but I'd classify them more like a trouser jean.

Earrings: Banana Republic Factory Store
Reg $25, on sale for $9
I like earrings that are interesting. These are like an oval hoop but not attached in the back.

Thrift sale spends: $4
I bought a few things at the Brilliant charity sale - a cardigan and a tank top. Both are in the wash so no photos.

Original value of items (not including thrifted): $510
Price I paid: $140
I saved: 73%


I rolled ahead $52 from last quarter. Add that to $500 and take away what I spent this month.... that leaves $412 to spend in May and June. My goal is to have at least $300 squirrelled away to spend in June - the month when you see a lot of summer stuff on sale. Our summer doesn't start til June anyway!

XOXO
Glitterary Girl