Recent Wax Reviews

Can-Do Candles Coconut Milk & Lavender: this was a wonderful blend! Slightly sweet lavender with creamy coconut. Strong throw and lasted about 8-10 hours which was really impressive since this tart was well over a year old. Overall grade: A. Would repurchase.

Cleanse Your Soul Rose Water Sugar Cookie: a wonderfully sweet and creamy blend of fresh rose and vanilla sugar cookies. Fairly strong to moderate throw for about 8 hours. An enjoyable fragrance. Overall grade: A-. Might repurchase.

Hayden Rowe Rainbows & Lollipops: a yummy sweet candy fruit type scent. Reminds me of cherry jolly ranchers or slushees. Fairly strong throw for about 8 hours. Overall grade: A. Would repurchase.

Pink Mermaid Blue Sugar Shave Cream: this is a fabulous blend! Fresh and clean but also musky and cologne-y. Not artificial. Strong throw for about 8-9 hours. Overall grade: A+. Would repurchase.

Hayden Rowe Zucchini Bread: a traditional warm bakery zucchini bread aroma, very yummy and inviting. Fairly strong throw for about 8 hours. Overall grade: A. Would repurchase.

Kitty's Konfections The Tasting Room (lavender blueberry lemonade.) I really like this blend! It's unique and smells fabulous; all the notes are pleasant and blend harmoniously together. Since KK is no longer in business, I would love to do a similar custom blend from another vendor. Fairly strong throw for about 8 hours. Overall grade: A.

Hayden Rowe Apricot Chamomile: a very strong and sweet apricot scent. No other notes really detected; the apricot was almost overwhelming at first but calmed down after an hour or so. Strong throw for about 10 hours. Overall grade: A. Might repurchase.

Kitty's Konfections Uggs & Yoga Pants (cinnamon brown sugar pumpkin cheesecake): this scent was a bit of a disappointment. Instead of the nice creamy, sweet pumpkin aroma I was hoping for, I got mainly only a weak cinnamon spice that quickly started to smell burnt. Moderate throw for about 6 hours. Overall grade: D. Would not repurchase.

Destination Wax Sea Salt & Cocoa Truffle: love this one! A rich dark chocolate cocoa powder aroma with a sprinkling of sea salt. Fairly strong throw for about 7-8 hours. Overall grade: A. Would repurchase.

Wilma's White Chocolate Macadamia: a yummy blend. It really did smell like the cookie. I wish it were a bit stronger; it had moderate throw for about 7-8 hours. Overall grade: B+. Might repurchase.

Destination Wax Fresh Lettuce: I bought this one on a whim because I had read several rave reviews on it. Sometimes I do like green/fresh type scents but this one was a miss for me. It was a bit too herbal and had a strong bitter note to my nose. Honestly it reminded me of a citronella bug spray. Not for me but not intolerable either. It had pretty strong throw for about 6-8 hours. Overall grade: B. Would not repurchase.

The Scented Squirrel Fairies (jasmine, cassias, ozone, musk, rare woods and vanilla.) This was a very pretty spring floral, slightly sweet about fresh. I really enjoyed the fragrance but it only had moderate to light throw for about 6 hours. I have noticed my Scented Squirrel Wax tends to have less throw as it gets older so because I have so much wax I have slowed down on buying it. I would recommend melting this brand in the first few months after receiving it. Overall grade: B. Might repurchase.

Two Weddings & A Wax Haul

It's been a busy weekend in my neck of the woods. Aside from Mother's Day today, the hubby and I were invited to two weddings this weekend, one on Friday and one on Saturday. I'm exhausted but thoroughly enjoyed myself at all the special events. Weddings make me really sappy; I love the sentiment of celebrating love between two people.

The first wedding we attended brought back a ton of happy memories from my own wedding because it was hosted at the same venue as mine; a beautiful stone clubhouse in a large park by the meandering river. In our super small hometown it's a very popular wedding venue, so it was lovely to see my husband's high school friend and his significant other of nearly 10 years get married. They arrived a lovely couple with two young sons that we've become very close to and go on fun outings with. I admire their parenting skills and also their love for one another. The ceremony was full of happy tears and laughter and hearts were full of joy. Here is the lovely bride and groom. The bride's dress was a stunning Grecian style with a tulle skirt and her hair was in beautiful romantic braids. The groom wore a classic black and white tux.

The bride organized most of the wedding details herself and is super crafty and meticulously made much of the decor. The theme was sort of shabby chic and rustic, fitting really well with the wood, stone and greenery of the venue. The walls and tables were adorned with handcrafted paper flowers, fans and pompoms in silver, gold and other warm metallic tones. There were also pretty touches of lace, tulle and burlap.

Hubby and I couldn't resist taking some romantic selfies in front of the river where we had taken our own wedding photos!

I wore a floral kimono jackets and pink fit & flare dress with a lace slip to compliments the naturally beautiful locale and perfect spring weather.

It was an intimate wedding, only about 50 or less guests and the intimate vibe of family and close friends was so enjoyable. The dinner was catered summer barbecue fare: pulled pork sandwiches, chicken and hotdogs for the kids. Potato salad and grilled corn along with tea, lemonade, wine and beer rounded out the menu nicely. The pulled pork and potato salad were delicious but the corn was rather dry and my piece of chicken looked undercooked so I passed on that. The cake was exceptional though, a nice moist white cake with creamy frosting and raspberry and caramel filling. 

My husband and several other guests gave touching speeches and the whole evening was really wonderful.

For round two, my husband and I prepared the next day to go to the wedding of another of his childhood friends. This one was slightly awkward for us because it was the second wedding of this particular groom's that we had been to in the spam of about four years. We had many fun memories with him and his former wife and really liked her, so it was sad when we heard of their split, and quite surprising that he was getting remarried only a year later. We had never met the new bride until the wedding and though she seems like a lovely lady, it was an odd experience. It's certainly not our place to judge, despite our skepticism of this couple's union, so we did go and were supportive. The venue was a cool outdoor historic ranch with wooden facade buildings, old farmhouses and a rustic barn dance hall. The ceremony took place on a lush lawn and was punctual and brief but pretty and fun loving. The bride and groom were wisked away after the "I do's" by a beautiful western horse and carriage. The bride wore a stunning a line lace gown with long sleeves, a v neck and elegant crystal beading. The groom and wedding party wore a fun, less traditional palette of all black with accents of leopard print ties and belts. I thought that was a very unique and cool idea that I hadn't seen at a wedding before and it managed to look tasteful.

The other decor was outdoor country chic with little touches of leopard. Many of the guests also wore some black, as did I, without even knowing that color scheme.

I failed to get a photo my full outfit, but I wore a cobalt 3/4 sleeved cardigan, a white lace top and a black tulle skirt with a gold belt and wristlet and black lace up flats.

We managed to take a quick selfie in the dance barn, although this wedding was much more fast paced.

This wedding seemed to have been professionally planned and the staff did a great job of ushering the guests from one event to the next in a timely manner. After the ceremony while the wedding party took tons of photos, there was a cocktail hour with beer, wine and popcorn. Then there was a quick and efficiently served dinner of barbecue chicken, green salad, baked potatoes and rolls. There were several funny and heartfelt toasts given and then the couple cut a cute cheese wedge shapes groom's cake and had a leopard print bride's cake to save, while the guests enjoyed yummy chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting. There was then a few hours of lively dancing and conversation. We aren't much for dancing so we did a couple of the romantic slow songs and mingled with the handful of guests we did know. Despite my reservations, it was a really fun evening.

In advent of how busy we knew we'd be this weekend, I spent some time with my mother and showered her with a potted azalea and some beautifully wrapped chocolates, as well as a card and some beauty samples.

I did have my parents over briefly today as well for tea and pastries and it was great to spend time with them.

I'm currently flopped on the couch with heavy eyelids as I write this, but I did want to share something else before I sign off: my recent wax purchases!

One of my favorite vendors is Sassy Girl Aroma and she has such a wide variety of unique blends that I often want to binge on wax on her website, but my budget holds me back. In her last opening on April 29th I ordered only 2 chunk bags in scents I was very excited about. One of my most favorite BBW scents is called Beach Nights. It was released last year and is a gooey toasted marshmallow and graham cracker s'mores type scent with whisps of bonfire smoke and salty sea breeze. I love it in body cream and mist, so when I saw SGA made it in wax form, I knew I had to have it! It did not disappoint; on cold sniff it is a dead on dupe for the BBW fragrance and smells so strong and wonderful!

I was a bit late to the site opening, so a few of the other items I wanted had sold out but I did pick out another unusual and decadent blend of Cake Batter Fudge, Popcorn, Strawberry Noel and Cotton Candy. It too smells scrumptious on cold; and is very sweet but does a good job of allowing all the scent notes to come through. I'm so excited to melt these! I also received a free sample of Gingerbread Brûlée; a pleasant gingerbread scent. I received my order in just over two weeks and was impressed with the speedy shipping and customer service, despite this being SGA's largest restock to date. There are are several more SGA scents I hope to order in the future. Do you like SGA wax? What are your favorite scents?

One last thing before I go: another set of coupons and another round of BBW candles. The 3-wicks were buy one get one free for Mother's Day weekend and with 20% off couple it came out to a fairly reasonable $10 per candle. After sniffing nearly every candle in the store I chose a couple nice warm weather scents. Today I lit up Toasted Coconut which is a bit different to me than BBW's many other coconut scent offerings. Many of their coconut blends are more warm and creamy, but this one is more sweet and dessert like, as with sugared coconut shavings atop a cake. I like it a lot and it has had a fairly strong to moderate throw and burned well so far. I haven't tried my Lemon Mint Leaf candle scent but I am excited to do so as I've read many glowing reviews on it. On cold it is a wonderfully strong and bright lemon aroma with a lighty sweet mint note. So fresh and pretty!

I hope you enjoyed my long and meandering weekend lifestyle post! So what do you think? Do you like any of these scents/products? Have you attended any weddings or other fun events recently? Did any of the decor or other details stand out to you?

NOTD: Summer Fun

Three coats Color Club Bundle of Joy with fun summer themed nail decals from Vino Vinyls. I love the way this turned out!

NOTD: Drag Marble Nail Art

Like basically every polish lover I've always liked the way watermarbles looked but the process seems so tedious and messy so I always shied away from it.

I don't know why drag marble wasn't really on my radar, but it is now and it looks so cool! It took me a few minutes to get the hang of it and use the right technique and tool, but once I did it was quite easy.

What worked for me:

I applied base coat, 2 layers of white polish and top coat and let it dry mostly before I started on the art.

Step 1: 

Dotting tool- no.

Orangewood stick- no.

Tiny damp paintbrush- yes!

 I found the hard tools to be too sharp and they left deep grooves in the polish that I had to paint over. It was frustrating at first because I had seen both used in tutorials I had watched. The fine tipped brush glided through the polish making the proper swirl design.

Step 2: paint thick stripes of colored polish down and don't worry about mess. I did a white stripe down the middle and then 2 colored stripes on either side. Speed and thickness of polish are key here. You want to use a fairly generous amount of smooth formula polishes and you will get a little flooding in the cuticles but you can clean it up later.

Step 3: immediately after applying polish stripes, drag the brush back and forth down the whole nail using a very light touch. If you're too heavy handed it carves into the polish and looks bad. 

That's it! The actual marbling part probably only took 10-15 minutes for all once I figured out the technique. Super easy and fun; I will definitely be trying it again with different dragging techniques to create different patterns.

Pinsperation: #housegoals

So ever since hubby and I began discussing his career change and moving, I can't stop obsessing about where we might live and how I'd like to decorate our dream home. I've been cutting pictures of things I like and making inspiration collages since I was a little girl, so to have something that's a real possibility is so fun!

I'd like to share with you some of my home decor ideas and it will be exiting to see how these visions might come to life.

Living Room: I've always wanted to have something of a showpiece living room. I want a space where I can entertain and guests feel comfortable and welcomed, but also say "wow!" when they first enter the home. The following is my dream if could design it as I wanted; I'm not sure how much of it I can actually talk my hubby into. He's more of a furniture needs to be comfortable and practical type and doesn't like a lot of "useless" decorations. I like ALL the decorations, haha. I'm hoping we can find a happy compromise because he likes have an opinion about everything. I will probably be doing the majority of the decorating work but he'll need to be consulted for all major purchases. That could get interesting because if I like something and he doesn't and I ask for alternative suggestions, he'll say something like "I don't know what I want but I know what I don't want." Gah, so frustrating!

Anyway, onto the pretties!

Living Room coloe palette: shades of gray, teal/turquoise and plum/radiant orchid. These are some of my favorite colors and I think they could look so elegant but also unique and eclectic in a living area.

The vibes I want the living room to have are modern Victorian meets vintage bohemian.

Sofa: the couch is one of the most important living room pieces and our current one is very comfy but hideous. At the very least I'd like to reupholster it, but what I'd really like is a gray tufted sofa in a modern Victorian shape. I really love the tufted look and would accent it with pops of color with printed throw pillows.

Chairs: I also would like a pair of tuft armchairs and I like the idea of a damask chaise lounge and ottoman. I love cool vintage Victorian chairs as well and might want one or two in the living room and possibly as a vanity seat in the bedroom. I also absolutely need a cozy reading chair or nook; this will depend on the layout of the house but I definitely want to curate a place with bookshelves and a comfy chair or even a window seat.

Coffee table: I have to admit I have gone gaga for this amethyst geode glass coffee table that's been floating around the interwebz, but considering I think they're several grand I will probably have to settle. Our current coffee table is a faux wood monstrosity but it has decent bones so I may be able to repaint it; possibly a dusky teal.

Entertainment and side tables: hubby is going to want a giant flat screen and all the trimmings, which is fine with me, but I want to find a way to hide all the wires and such; I hate how messy that looks. I love the idea of framing the TV to make it look like it belongs and to have some pretty shelving around the unit.

I've also always wanted a grand chandelier and this baroque iridescent one really speaks to me. I'm not sure whether it would go best in an entryway, living room or dining room, but I WILL have one. I'm not too picky about end tables; I'll probably just go with whatever budget or thrifted finds will fit in with the rest of the decor. I do like this DIY idea I saw of spray painting a wire wastebasket a pretty color.

Decor Accents: I really want to add the finishing touches with some quirky, earthy and vintage pieces. I really want to use stones in decorating, especially amethyst, as well as other eclectic and shiny things that catch my fancy. I love multichrome finishes, candles, and I also would love to start collecting carnival glass.

Master Bedroom: Continuing the general color palette into the bedroom, but with slightly heavier influence on bohemian romance and exotic travel themes.

Bedding: I need a white down comforter to sink into, accented with paisley sheets and printed throw pillows. Also a chunky knit throw and a bench seat for the foot of the bed.

I want to do some sort of headboard/canopy with a tapestry, twinkle lights and tulle/lace. Should be pretty easy to DIY and so pretty and romantic!

Window treatments: vintage floral lace curtains with beaded tie backs and a branch curtain rod. I also want to incorporate some sort of hanging clothes rack to display special clothing items.

I really want all my treasures to be on display. The layout of the closet and vanity area will depend on the house, but I definitely need a space to display my jewelry and do my nails.

Lighting: lots of candles and soft lighting, very romantic and relaxing.

Mirrors and other decor: I definitely want a big painted vintage frame mirror above my vanity table, as well as some other small decorative mirrors around the room. I would love to have cute animal pieces here and there, like elephants, owls and cats.

Definitely more crystals, floor pillows, travel accents of maps, globes and suitcases.

Master Bath: this is one room that I know will be husband approved because he's described what he'd like before. The theme will be sort of a nature oasis; lots of stone, natural wood and plant accents.

We definitely want a waterfall shower head and pretty stone tile. I don't hold out much hope that I'll get the giant jacuzzi tub that I want, but I can at least make an ordinary tub more special with a stone tile DIY.

I definitely want a couple of hanging plants; not sure yet if we should go real or faux.

Decor accents will be be pops of green, leaves, wood, plants, bamboo. Anything that evokes lush and relaxing nature vibes.

Kitchen: I want to go with a cobalt, black and white color palette. Chic but still inviting. I'm not sure if I want to a large amount of cobalt such as painting the cabinets blue, or just to have small decor accents of cobalt.

I for sure want gray granite countertops, black wire edison style pendant lights and a distressed wood farmhouse dining table. I'd also like to do something different with the fridge; I thought this chalkboard paint was a cute idea.

I most especially want a coffee and tea area; so cute!

Guest Bedroom and Bath: would you like to be my first guest? If you do, you would be staying in these sunny yellow and aqua colored digs. Lots modern and trendy touches.

The color scheme would continue into the bathroom which would have pretty beach themes accents.

Well, these are the main concepts I have so far. Do you love it, hate it? Please share your thoughts! If you have any suggestions or spot any decor you think would fit in my dream home, please send photos and links!

NOTD: Picture Polish Blunder

I was all set to enter a Picture Polish contest with the theme of your favorite jeans. I had originally done PP Alice with an accent of Do You Wanna See My Peacock? I was all set to post my entry when I double checked the rules and
realized it was only supposed to be one polish color. D'oh! So I quickly painted over my accent nail and retook the photos. I was worried the ring nail would look oddly thick but it seems ok. Here's the photo and the other ones that didn't make the cut.

Real Talk About Dreams and Aspirations

No matter where you are in life, I imagine you have some dreams or goals that you really want to see come to fruition. I'm somewhere smack dab in the middle of adulthood: I've had a few life experiences, enough to not be completely naive anymore, but I'm still young enough that I like to believe my best years are still ahead of me.

I'll be turning 28 this year and as I edge closer to 30 I think more and more about what I'd like my "real adult" life to look like.

If I had to pick the number one thing I desperately want to come to pass, it would be that I want a house. This may seem like the most mundane, pedestrian dream ever; I mean really, it's pretty common in this society to own a home. However, I've literally never lived in an actual house and I've always, always longed to have a decenly sized, comfortable home that I can nestle into, make my own inviting space and make a ton of wonderful memories in. I want a living space I'm proud to entertain in, that's a loving environment for children and pets, and something I can own free and clear someday. I would love to be able to look at my husband and say "We worked so hard for this and now it's ours." Our biggest obstacle to this dream has always been finances, as I've discussed a bit in previous posts, but I think the hubby and I are finally formulating a plan to make a home a happy reality.

My sweet husband is incredibly hard working and has always worked since he was a teenager. He currently has a decently paying full time job as a truck driver and a side job as an Uber driver. Somehow in this day and age, we still have not found it to be an adequate living to afford us our dreams of a house, children and pets. Over the years he has felt a sense of failure and stagnation  that comes from being stuck in unfulfilling careers. However in the last couple of months I have seen the spark of excitement renewed in him because of a career direction he is looking to take that I am happy to share with you all. 

We have been discussing the prospect of him leaving his main job and becoming a full time Uber and Lyft driver. This may sound unusual or even risky, but throughout much discussion and response I have become optimistic and even excited along with him about this profession's prospects to increase our income. I am not sure when this transition will take place; it could be as soon as next month or as late as next year. It depends on when all the research and planning answers our questions satisfactorily and when the pieces fall into place. The general idea is that my husband has a two week paid vacation coming up in a few months. He will either see if he can have that money paid out  and then give notice, or else stay on until after that vacation. Then he will spend the next few months commuting from our home to San Francisco to earn extra money to help us begin to save up. San Francisco is one of the best markets for rideshare companies in the world, so there is a lot of income to be made there, and we we will be wanting it to help finance the next stage of our plan: moving. That's right; these lifelong native Californians are looking to exit. It's not that we don't adore the state; we do. It's an incredibly beautiful place to live and I wouldn't have wanted to grow up anywhere else, but the political climate, cost of living and taxes are such that we've come to the sad conclusion that we can't afford our dreams here. I will be terribly sad and nostalgic to leave my family, friends and familiar stomping grounds behind, but I am also quite excited to embark upon a new adventure with my husband/best friend. This really speaks to the unfulfilled wanderlust in my soul. Of course I am also quite trepidatious about the prospect of setting stakes somewhere unknown and starting completely over, so this begs the question where are we going? 

That part has yet to be determined. I have to say that we are leaning heavily towards the Atlanta, GA area for several reasons. It's about as different from our current home state as I can possibly imagine, but I have visited the area and found it not unpleasant. The main reason is that it is one of the top three locations for high Uber earnings in the United States, plus from our research the cost of housing seems quite low. We could rent a comparable apartment for hundreds less than we could in our area and I literally found dozens of decent house prospects for under 100k; I was blown away by that. We would probably rent at first while we get settled and hubby gets into the swing of Atlanta Ubering, but we are definitely looking forward to house hunting!

Other prospects for cites we could move for Uber include Salt Lake City, Carson City, NV, Las Vegas, and Austin, TX Or Dallas/FT Worth. I do think we may end up somewhere in a quiet suburb of Atlanta though, because it seems like nothing else is competing in terms of earning potential and low cost of living.

Dear readers, I don't want you to think this plan is half cocked! We are not jumping into this blindly; we really are attempting to research important elements such as having to pay for our own health insurance and saving for taxes and retirement.  We also want to have some idea of the place we will end up setting and how much it will affect our earnings. Everything from weather and climate to local laws and regulations to features of the city such as colleges, airports and age demographics can affect Uber earnings. Hubby has been researching the ins and outs of Uber entrepreneurship online and is taking steps to maximize his profit, including working on business cards, a website to refer customers to for information and eventually even a YouTube channel Uber related topics. I have never seen him throw himself into a project so fervently and I'm proud of him. This type of career really seems like a good fit for him; he enjoys it and it utilizes his best skills of driving and customer service that he has honed from previous jobs. He's a real people person and enjoys meeting new people as well as driving (it doesn't appeal to me at all; I could never do it.). Plus since he has many wonderful qualities but the bane of his existence is time management, this career will allow him to be his own boss and make his own schedule. 

He can work as much as he wants while still allowing leisure time and it will be flexible wi whatever I may end up doing in the future. If I get a job outside the home he could drive me and if I end up staying at home, possibly with children, he would be able to be available when needed. 

Overall I am generally optimistic and excited about this idea for the future, but the unknown always leaves me with some anxiety butterflies in my chest as well. Career changes of the past haven't exactly gone swimmingly, and I would hate for this endeavor to not work out as we hope, despite our best laid plans. I am concerned, but I truly feel it's almost time to take this leap. 

Please wish us luck, pray for us, or do whatever else you can think of that may help us on our journey! If you have any information about any of the cities I've mentioned in this post, other cities you think we should consider, or any information about Uber as a career in general, please do share it in the comments below or via message. I want as much information about this process as I can get! 

I will be keeping y'all updated on any developments in this plan, but I can't say how soon that will be. Please stick with me because I have a feeling that my life and this blog are about to get a lot more exciting.

Until then, I'd like to go off on a humorous tangent and say that I will miss so many things about California, but the delicious, authentic Mexican food will be high up on the list.