Kennedy's Talent Show!

Hey, y'all! Happy Saturday! I hope you get a chance to relax after your crazy week. Yesterday was my little sister's talent show, so I thought I would show y'all some pictures. Their talents shows are always really professional and full of, you guessed it, talent. I really wish I could have taped some of the other acts, but I didn't want to hunt them down to get their permission. So, all I have are the acts that Kennedy was in: her choir songs. Also, some pictures of the family preparing for the event.

Tommy, being goofy and pensive

Normie, begging for food as always

Momma, putting together her puzzle. 

Daddy and Grandma went too, but I couldn't sneak pictures of them. Just a disclaimer: The school does not own either of these songs and do not claim to. There is no profit made from these songs specifically. Now that we all know they are not stealing and committing copyright infringement, we're all good. So, Without further ado, Conner High School Women's Choir and Combined Choirs. 

Royals-- Women's Choir

With a little help from my friends--Combined Choirs

Courtnie's World...

... I'm eating GFS chicken salad. Soooo good

... We're watching Duck Dynasty

... Everyone in my parent's house is sick. I keep telling them not to get too close. I better not get sick, school is getting into crunch time. 

Xoxo, Courtnie 

Makeup Storage

Hey, y'all!! Happy Halloween! What did y'all dress up as? I was a pin up girl, kind of, really just the makeup and hair. Whatever. I had school today, so I wasn't going all out. Anyway! Today I just wanted to show you my makeup organization. 

So, everything I have is on my vanity table. It's not very big, but it does the job. Plus, I love this vanity and my apartment is too small for it to just sit somewhere unused. 

Also, all my hair tools are in a crumble on the floor. This is right beside my vanity. I need to put something there to organize it, but that's going to have to wait

Anyway, back to the vanity

Alrighty, so all my hair product stuff is on the left side of the vanity top. Then I keep all my headbands, buns, brushed, etc. in the drawer right below it. My fake eyelashes are in here too, but that's just because they don't fit anywhere else. 

These two containers have my hair ties, bobby pins, and pin curl holders. My makeup removing pens are also in here because they need to be stored upside down. 

The third container have the brushes I use most often. I made all the these containers myself. I can do a DIY blog on those later if y'all want me to. They are super easy and only cost like 3 bucks each. Anyway, I store my brushes like this so they don't touch (sanitary) and for easy access.

This black drawer storage thing is what all my makeup goes into. As you can see, not everything fits in there, so some stuff is on the side. I'll probably be buying another one of these in the near future

The top has my eyeliners and some q-tips.

The top has a lid that opens up. This contains most of my foundations, concealers, and face powders. I do have a few things that don't fit in here, but that will be fixed when I buy another storage unit.

The first drawer is all lip products. Can you tell I like red lips? Haha, I really need to start branching out into different colors. 

The second drawer has my smaller eyeshadows and my eyeshadow primers. My large palettes are in the drawer under the right side of the vanity and on the end of my desk. 

The third drawer has my mascaras, blushes, and bronzers. 

And, here are the things I use most often that cannot fit into the little storage thingy. 

Also, this is where I usually film my stuff. Really advaced set up, right?

So, that's about it. How do y'all store your makeup?

Courtnie's World

... Tommy and I cheated and got little ceaser's for dinner. Yum!

... I'm going to start walking to school. Only a couple miles!

... I'm still trying to figure my classes out for next semester. Ugh.

Xoxo, Courtnie

Quick, easy fix for broken makeup

Hey, y'all! Today I wanted to tell you about a super easy way to fix your broken power makeup. This works for anything that comes in a powder or pressed form (blush, bronzer, eyeshadow, foundation, etc.). I have even used this for loose powder eyeshadows and turned them into pressed eyeshadows. So, let's break it down.
Here's what you need to fix up that makeup!

Ingredients:
1. Rubbing alcohol
2. Something to mix it with (I used the end of a pen, when I mean anything, I mean anything!)
  Two things, y'all, both of which I'm sure you already have somewhere in your house. If you don't, you can get rubbing alcohol for a dollar. Can you handle it? 1$ to fix all the powdered makeups you'll ever own? I think yes.

Directions:
1. Pour alcohol into container a tiny bit at a time
2. Stir gently, make sure to break up the chunks
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 until you have a completely smooth and creamy product
4. Let it dry over night
   Super duper easy! Just remember that you can always add more alcohol, but it's very hard to take it away if you add too much (Just like in cooking!). So, when I say add the alcohol a tiny bit at a time, I mean as small as you can at a time. I poured some into the cap first and then added about a 1/4 of a cap-full until I was satisfied. I'm pretty sure all the alcohol just evaporates, but better safe than sorry, right?

I made a little bit of a mess with mine, but I cannot do anything without making a mess out of it. I'm not really sure why I felt the need to swatch it, but I did. You can always use your makeup in this creamy form because it doesn't lose any pigmentation. In fact, when it is wet, it gains some pigmentation. It's your makeup, you do what you want.

So, here is what it looks like in the morning. I didn't get all of the clumps out, but hey, much better than before!

Ta Da! New makeup! Woohoo! I hope this was helpful to y'all. Let me know what you think, if you have tried this before, or if there are any other methods of fixing broken makeup.

Courtnie's World...
...I'm going to HR today to start on my paperwork for my new job! Exciting!
...Chili for dinner
... I got paid today, woo!

Xoxo, Courtnie

DIY No shave hair removal test

Hey, y'all! Sorry I didn't post all weekend, but it was a busy one! My Ma (Daddy's mom) was visiting from Texas. She stayed with me in Richmond for one night and then we drove up to see the rest of the family over the weekend. I'm glad she stayed with me because I worked ALL weekend. Between work and trying to study for this stupid exam, I've only gotten 10 hours of sleep over the last few days. I feel like a zombie!

There are lots of things I want to tell you, but they will have to wait until the end. For now, here comes another Beauty DIY test, specifically, this pin right here! I have a confession to make, so don't judge me. I haven't shaved my legs in about a month. Now, I could lie to you and say that I was growing my hair out so I could do this experiment, but I want to be 100% honest. I'm sure some of you don't shave everyday. Come on! Where is your No Shave November spirit??

Anyway! This pin just leads to a picture, so we are going to have to go off the directions on this one. Here is what the pin's description says:

"I'm so glad I heard about this miracle!!! 1Tbsp of iodine 2% 1Cup of baby oil Rub your hairy area with the mixture and let set for only 5 minutes. Then gently wipe away with a damp cloth. Viola!!!! NO MORE HAIR! WHAT?!? If this works...".

So, yeah, pretty straight forward. I'm really rooting for this one, because I really don't enjoy shaving my legs. Alrighty, let's break it down.

Ingredients:

1. 1 Tbsp iodine

2. 1 cup of baby oil

  Not bad, only two ingredients, y'all know I love simplicity! I bought this stuff at Walmart and it cost me $2.47 for the baby oil and $6.24 for the iodine. $9.23, which I think is sort of pricey for a "maybe" thing, but I'm super cheap. I'm trying to rationalize this by saying I would spend that money on razors, but this better work.

This is what it looks like mixed together. They really don't stay together very well, so mix well before using.

Directions:
1. Slather it on your manly, hairy legs
2. Let it set for 5 minutes
3. Wipe it off with a damp cloth

Now I am REALLY hoping this works. So easy!! I love it! I'm a little nervous though because things like Veet and Nair do not work for me at all. So, we shall see.

Here are my hairy legs. I know y'all are curious, but this picture really does not do a justice to the hairiness of my legs. The pin has a man's leg that is full of hair on it, so I'm thinking this shouldn't be a problem.

Slathering time. I really wanted to spray my hands with Pam so the color wouldn't stain, but I didn't want to do anything to mess up this whole process. Oh, well.

Now we play the waiting game.

5 minutes is up, let's wipe 'er down and check it out....

Nothing. Literally nothing changed, except my legs are now all greasy from the oil and my one hand is slightly orange. I'm so pissed out! 10 bucks wasted! Save yourselves the trouble and don't do this. Crud, I really wanted this to work. Oh well, back to shaving, I guess. 

Courtnie's World...

... I got that Writing Fellows job! Yay!! I can't wait to start next semester.

... Tommy's car completely stopped working on Thursday, so we are a one car family now. Maybe he can afford to get a car with his tax return and bonus money come March. 

... I'm choosing my classes for next semester. That much closer to graduation!

... My manager calls that my "old man grumpy face" Lol!!

Xoxo, Courtnie

Chocolate Chip Brownie Bars

Happy hump day, y'all! We are half way through the week. Tommy and I tried out something new tonight and it turned out awesome! It is super easy and yummy. Are you ready??

All it is is brownies on the bottom and chocolate chip cookies on top. We had a fatty moment and wanted both, so we put them together. We just made some brownies out of the box, poured the mixture into the pan, and popped them in the oven for 20 minutes. Then, we took the brownies out, which were only baked half-way. We put a pre-made cookie dough in little clumps on top. Back in the oven for 10 minutes and bam! this is what came out. Omg, y'all, if you are looking for a chocolate fix, just take one bite of this. Soooo gooey and chocolaty and warm and delicious and just YUM! 

That's all I really have for today. It's just been a day of studying and cleaning for me. Try this out if y'all are feeling adventurous and can forget about the fat/calorie intake for just a moment. 

Courtnie's World...

... I actually organized my office room and I feel so much better

... It went from summer to fall overnight in Kentucky, y'all! I almost froze to death this morning. 

... I'm sippin' on some cherry crystal light. Nothin' like the original. 

Xoxo, Courtnie

Pin Curl How to/Review

Hey, y'all! How has your Tuesday been? Today, I wanted to give y'all a little how to/review on pin curling. In case y'all don't already know, pin curling is basically just curling your hair without any heating products. Your grandma or great-grandma's probably did this in the past. It can be time consuming, but I 100% think it is worth it. It seems to work with all kinds of hair, so that's wonderful. Let's get started!

All you need for this is some of bobby's pins or some pin curler holders. I have both. By the way, I used every single one of those bobby pins for this. If you have long, thick hair, just prepare yourself. 

I start with damp hair, so this is hair that has air dried for a couple hours and then brushed. 

Take a small section of hair. Now, obviously the bigger piece of hair, the looser the curl. However, when your hair is as long and thick as mine, you really need to be taking sections that are about half the size that I have there. If you have shorter, finer hair, I'm sure you can do whatever you want. Just keep in mind that the whole curl needs to be held by one bobby pin. 

Once you have your section of hair, take two fingers and place them on the hair close to your scalp. 

Then just take the hair below and wrap it around your fingers. You're gonna have to get those fingers out of there, so don't wrap it too tight. 

 Pull your fingers out very gently and you should end up with a little circle of hair. Roll that piece the rest of the way up to your scalp. 

Then, pin that to your head with a bobby pin. You're gonna want to use as few bobby pins as possible because it can leave weird creases in your hair. 

So, just do that to your whole head. This is the part where it becomes time consuming. It took me about 30 minutes to do this and my arms were exhausted. I reasoned with myself by reminding myself that it would take me that long, if not longer, to curl my hair with a curling iron. When I curl my hair with a curling iron, it will stay for maybe 30 minutes. Totally not worth it, but I digress! When you're done, you'll probably look about has hot as me in these pictures. Who cares! No one is going to see you at home that you need to impress. I'm certainly not judging your granny hair. 

Once you do this, just carry on with your evening. You're going to be sleeping in this, so don't do anything too crazy or have a dance party. I use bobby pins instead of the pin curler holder thingys because it is more comfortable to sleep without those bad boys all over my head. Have a good sleep and get ready for nice hair in the morning!

 Good morning! This is me right when I woke up. So, obviously, some things shifted, but for the most part all the curls stayed in place. All you need to do is take all the bobby pins out. Even though I had about a billion of them in there, it only took me about 5 minutes. 

This was the result: no fluffing, arranging, or adding product. Pretty freakin' awesome, right?!? I mean the curls are not perfect, but I don't want it to look super uniform. This hair is pretty much ready to walk out of the door. I would run fingers through and add some hairspray, but that's it! Yes! Ladies and gents, I am so happy this worked out. I can see this being a part of my daily routine now. Before I get too excited, we nee to see if it stands the test of time. I took this picture at 9am. 

This was taken at 1:30, right before I started to get ready for class. Still very pretty and curly.

 Finally, these were taken at 8pm. Still fairly curly, although it is very apparent that they are not anywhere near as curly 12 hrs ago. I have told y'all before that I play with my hair constantly, so this is hair that has been pulled up, taken down, pushed around, etc. all day. I still think this looks awesome, especially since curls made with curling irons would last all of 30 minutes if I was lucky. I am so excited for this! I think this was a wonderful success!!

Well, I'll talk to y'all tomorrow! 

Courtnie's World...

... Tommy and I started watching Breaking Bad. I'm really trying to get into it.

... Tommy tried to make pancakes tonight, but they turned out more like biscuits.

... I'm about to dive into my mountain of homework. Wish me luck, y'all!

Xoxo, Courtnie