Crazy Nails with Hard Candy Beetle!

Hey everyone! So it seems whenever Tyler has the Rams football game on TV, I can't just sit here and watch it. I mean I like football and all, but I have to have something else to keep myself occupied. Like my laptop, or in this case, my nails. Yesterday I picked up a couple of new nail polishes from Hard Candy (available at Wal-Mart). I have to admit, the brand has been sort of hit and miss for me... probably more hits than misses though. This nail polish in "Beetle" is the first polish I've tried from the brand... but for me, it's definitely a hit!

As you can see, this is a very multi-dimensional nail polish. (Don't you love how I've photographed this fantastic nail polish atop my dull grey sweatpants? LOL). Depending on how the polish catches the light, it can look green, gold, purple, or pink. In these pictures I'm wearing 2 coats, and hadn't yet applied a top coat. The first coat went on surprisingly thick, and looked more greenish. (could've stopped at one coat) Then with the second coat, the purple came out more. I love how smoothly it went on, and how dense the sparkle is. It's not a big chunky glitter, but rather, a fine shimmer that is so pretty. It didn't try super fast... pretty average in terms of drying time.

♥

Hard Candy polishes also come with cute heart-shaped rings!

Will the quality of a creamy shade be just as good as this sparkly one?

Next time I do my nails, I'll try "Sky"- pictured below.

DAILY NUGGETS

• Cupcake is laying on her back, arms outstretched, on my lap- as I type this.
• Cupcake fell into the bathtub today. I don't think she's as excited about water as she once was!
• I spent most of yesterday evening/night trying to upload my latest YouTube video. Turns out there were issues with my Macbook Pro & our old wireless router. Got a new one today & it's all good now!
• The Rams are going to lose the football game.
• Had a blast with the twins (Tyler's sisters) when they stayed the night Friday. Going to attempt a "twin tutorial" over Thanksgiving weekend if there's time.
• I'm pretty awesome at Wal-Mart's self checkout
• I plan to leave my fall/Thanksgiving decor up until Thanksgiving is over. That's just how I roll.

Have a great week everyone & thanks for stopping by!

♥

Em

Festive Fall Snacks!

Hello friends! Hope you've been having a relaxing weekend! I've been getting lots of questions lately about what I like to cook or snack on. I'm considering some sort of video that would address all that, but in the meantime, I've been sort of inspired to make some things I've never attempted before. Last year, my sister Kelly gave my this cookbook- Hungry Girl 200 under 200... it includes lots of recipes that are low calorie, and many of them don't require a lot of ingredients. Right up my alley!

So in this blog, I wanted to share a couple of recipes from this book that I just tried this weekend. I thought they might be fun to work into upcoming Thanksgiving or Christmas celebrations. Both would work well as snacks or desserts! Tyler and I both give them 2 thumbs up! :)

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Red Hot Apple Pie in a Cup

per serving: 140 calories... double the recipe below for 2

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 medium Fuji apple, cored and cubed
• 15 Red Hots (cinnamon flavored candies)
• 1/2 sheet of cinnamon graham crackers, crushed
• 2 tablespoons Fat Free Reddi-wip
• Dash of cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

• Place apple cubes in a microwavable cup or mug & top with Red Hots. Cover and microwave for 2 minutes. Stir it up, and Microwave for an extra 30 to 60 seconds if the apples aren't soft. (Em's note: as the apples cook, they shrink. So fill your cup to the top!)
• Allow the cup of apples to cool for 10 minutes (Em's note: or just 3 to 5 minutes. I like mine warm/hot)
• Top with half of the crushed graham crackers, followed by the Reddi-wip. Sprinkle with remaining grahams and a little cinnamon.
• Em's note: Tyler likes to keep the Reddi-wip handy so he can continue to top it off as he eats. This is SO yummy and when those grahams get warm & saturated with the cinnamon/apple juice- it's indescribably delightful.

♥

Chewy S'mores Snack Mix

per serving: 109 calories... recipe below makes 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups popped 94% fat-free kettle corn microwave popcorn
• 1 cup Golden Grahams cereal
• 3/4 cup Cocoa Puffs cereal
• 3/4 cup mini marshmallows
• 10 Tootsie Roll Midgees

DIRECTIONS:

• Chop Tootsie Roll Midgees into very small pieces (Em's note: The texture of the tootsie rolls is amazing with this snack mix!)
• In a sealable plastic bag or airtight container with a lid, combine all the ingredients and shake it up.
• Em's note: This is SO tasty. I try to get a bite with a little of everything in it. If you're making this in advance of an event, don't pop & add the popcorn until you serve it. Otherwise it gets a little "chewy". The mildly salty flavor works great with the sweet stuff though. Perfect for a fall party!

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So there are a couple of my fall recipe ideas! I would really recommend that Hungry Girl book- there are many more recipes that I want to try. What are your favorite things to make as the weather turns cold? Let me know! :D Have a great day!

♥ Em

I Want *FAT-TASTIC* Hair

Hey everyone! So... you all know I don't necessarily like EVERY beauty product I try. But it's not usually hard to get me to try them! For example- look at the picture above. This is from the ad for the Got2b Fat-tastic hair products. When I saw this ad in a magazine not too long ago, I thought- I MUST have that hair. I'm not going to make any bones about it, I like big, voluminous hair! And with the weather turning colder and the humidity becoming less of a factor, I believe it's actually attainable with some decent products! And could a girl holding an adorable mini cupcake really steer you wrong?!?

Needless to say, over the past few weeks I've purchased ALL of the fat-tastic products (available in drugstores for $6 or so)... the mousse, non-aerosol hairspray, and root-boosting spray. All of these products claim to give your hair in "instant collagen infusion". And according to the website, they'll give you "scrumptious body". I have not tasted the product to be able to confirm or deny that claim. :) This is not really a full review, but more of a status update on how I'm liking these products....

• The non-aerosol hairspray was featured in my most recent Shopping List Ideas video. It's not so much a strong-hold hairspray, as something I just spritz on before styling to add some texture and lift. For that purpose, I'm still loving it!
• And the mousse... I've been putting a small amount (I've learned it only takes a little) in mostly dry hair (you could do it on wet hair too), and then blow drying upside down. I really do notice INSTANT body, and it makes my fine, often static-prone hair much easier to work with as I use a curling iron or other styling tools. And maybe it's just the lack of humidity in the air... but my hair has been holding a curl and staying "fat" -- with less teasing than usual!
• As for the root-boosting spray... I really haven't tried this enough to tell you anything for sure. It's very likely this is a product that you could use in place of the mousse (or vice versa)... the spray would be more lightweight, so if you felt the mousse was too much product- this may work. But, like I said, I need to try it more. Probably tomorrow!

I will keep you posted on my quest for "Fat-tastic" hair!

For now, a new blog feature that you'll find quite random.... my Daily Nuggets!

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Daily Nuggets...

• I've posted a blog, a video, and went grocery shopping today. And went to work. Feeling productive!
• I'm sure this phase will pass eventually, but I'm kind of obsessed with buying Cupcake the tastiest-sounding Fancy Feast cat food possible. Today she ate "White meat chicken and cheddar cheese souffle with garden greens." Sounds better than anything I've had lately!
• Been feeling extra grateful for Tyler. He's been super supportive of my online beauty endeavors & jokes that he'll one day be my "manager" LOL
• Healthy Choice Chicken & Rice soup is one of the few really healthy soups that is actually delicious.
• I think fall is becoming my favorite season.
• With an array of different shampoos at my fingertips, I've been reaching for Tyler's giant bottle of Green Apple Suave, of all things. It smells good!! Do I need to justify this further?
• It's always hard to leave a warm bed with Tyler & Cupcake in it at 1:30 freakin' AM... but this week it's been tougher than usual. Not sure why.
• I have a major urge to go shopping this weekend.

♥

Have a great day & thanks for stopping by!!

Em