Gel Manicure at home

Do you ever wish that you could have gel nails all the time without breaking the bank or spending the time to head to the salon every 10 days? I sure did. Don't get me wrong I love to get a manicure at the salon every now and then. But I never seem to set time aside for myself to do that. So when a friend mentioned to me that she did her own at home, I couldn't help but have to try it out for myself. So after watching a few You Tube videos and ordering some supplies I was ready to go.

I ordered this uv light from Amazon for $54.99

and this Shellac base and top coat from Amazon for $31.45

along with this Shellac color coat in Wildfire for $12.65

As for the manicure supplies, I already had most of that at home. I watched this YouTube video for some guidance and away I went. I typically stick with one brand per application. I tried using a regular nail polish as my color coat and the results were…let's just say…not ideal. I'm thinking it's because the polish has to be bone dry before you put on the top coat. Don't think mine was dry enough. It started to bubble after one day :( Maybe one day I'll attempt that again. Gelish also has a base and top coat for their polishes. I purchased that as well for when I use their colors  The results were great. It takes a little practice but I'm happy with my purchase. It saves me time and money. I like to buy a new color every few weeks, typically as the seasons change.

My favourite color during the holidays was good gossip by Gelish. It is so sparkly and pretty. I got so many compliments on it.

For our upcoming vacation to Florida and for summer, I'm ordering flip flop fantasy by Gelaze. A friend recommended it to me and after looking it up, I'm thinking this color looks so nice. It's probably amazing against sun kissed skin. I'm ordering it like right now. I'll let you all know how I like it.

Thanks for reading,

Amanda <3

Cute and Clean Spring Look….

Top- Jane Norman open front peplum top $23 janemorman.co.uk

Jeans- Joe's ankle length straight jeans in coral mist $99.99 sacksoff5th.com

Blazer- white striped print cropped blazer $43 newlook.com

Bag- Market tote $57.50 (on sale now) jcrew.com
Sandals- Gianni Bini crowne jeweled flat sandal $89.99 Dillards.com

Chain- Stella and Dot Fortuna stone pendant $70.00 stellaanddot.com

Cuff- Becker cuff $79 stellanddot.com

Nail polish- Back in the limo $8.50 essie.com

I am so in love with this set! It's so classy yet casual and fresh looking. So great for a spring shopping day. 

Amanda <3

Sweet Summer Scents

I LOVE candles. I am so excited that I found these fresh spring and summer scents at the mall. Bath & Body works has their line of spring scents out and I couldn't be more thrilled. I am so sick of winter! I got a coupon for 20% off in my inbox plus they were on sale. Great deal. Make sure you sign up for emails to be notified  when they have sales.

Don't these look so pretty. They smell just as good as they look. I couldn't help but light Strawberry Rhubarb Marmalade.

A spring market favorite – scrumptious marmalade made from handpicked garden strawberries and rhubarb

My house smells so amazing right now, you don't even understand…lol

I don't see Tequila lime cupcake online but I picked it up in the store. If you see it, get it. It smells like fresh cupcakes with a hint of lime. The perfect blend of bakery scent and fresh scent.

I can not wait to try this one. The perfect spring bakery style scent.

The intoxicating scent of sunny mandarin, sweet mango and juicy plum with a freshly salted rim.

I LOVE this one. I had this one in a wallflower and my bathroom smelled so pretty and fresh all of the time. You know how some scents that mix with smelly places like trash and bathrooms start to smell yucky because it just reminds you of trash?…lol. Well this one didn't. With four little boys in the house our bathrooms gets a lot of use and there are quite a few….shall I say….misfired shots…haha. This one is a good scent for basically anywhere in the house.

Don't their descriptions sound so good? 

I was eyeing up the new soaps too. They all look so pretty and the names of the scents are so good. I'll have to head there to pick some of those up soon too.

Amanda <3

Salted Butter Cream Icing

Salted Buttercream Icing

1 cup of salted butter (or unsalted, your choice)
3  teaspoons of vanilla
4 cups of icing sugar
4-5 tablespoons of  coffee cream (18% and up)

1 jar of salted caramel sauce

You can use your favourite buttercream icing for this and just add a little salted caramel at a time. I used this buttercream recipe from The Kitchen Magpie and this recipe for salted caramel  from I Heart Eating.

Once you've made your buttercream, add your pre made and pre cooled salted caramel sauce (link below) to your buttercream a little bit at a time. Start at 1/3 of a cup. Once you've done that whip it up and give it a taste test. If you want more of a caramel flavour add some more. I did. It was soooo delicious. Like I'm talking melt in your mouth delicious. I might have added most of the jar.  Once you get your desired flavour pipe the icing onto your cake or cupcakes drizzle with some of the salted caramel sauce over the cupcakes and finish off with a few sprinkles of crushed sea salt.

These cupcakes only lasted a few minutes in our house. I had to hide one to save for the hubby so he could try how deligood these were. I'm going to need to make another batch of these asap. Seriously delish! 

Amanda <3

Outfit Inspiration ~ Soft Whites & Chambray

Dress- bebe Chambray jacquard dress $129.00 bebe.com

Necklace- R.J Graziano faux pearl cluster necklace $55 Sacksoff5th.com

Blazer- Single button long sleeve slim-cut blazer $38.99 choies.com

Shoes- Joe's 'Pete' Toe Pump in off white leather $134.95

Handbag- Tori Burch cross body bag $432 farfetch.com

So I kicked off the evening with some time at the hockey rink again. Tough loss tonight of our Atom team. It was a close one. I had some spare time while waiting for the game to start and I came across this adorable dress. I started to put some pieces together and came up with this.

The pieces in this look are so versatile. The Chambray dress from bebe can be dressed up or down. I really love every piece in this outfit. Back at the rink tomorrow. I think I've got my eye on another piece I'd like to style :)

Puddles here I come...

Coat- H&M Trenchcoat $69.95

Scarf- Burberry silk scarf $395

Shirt- Tommy Hilfiger dainty dot shirt $50

Handbag- Michael Kors $358

Boots- Hunter Original adjustable gloss rain boots in navy $158

Jeans- Current/Elliott stiletto jeans in sunfade $198

Nailpolish- Nars nail polish in Paradiso $20

There's something about a trench coat and a scarf (not to mention adorable rainboots) that makes me look forward to rainy days. Staying dry and stylish never looked so cute. I am so looking forward to spring right now. It's like -99 degrees right now…lol, well not that cold but it still feels like it. And, there's like a ton of snow. Oh, those great Canadian winters…. (sigh).

Disney Cruise 2014 ~ Sailin' on the Dream

This salad looked and tasted seriously amazing

Oh my gosh, I never realized that Chandon was crying in this picture until now. Who cries on a Disney cruise right next to Mickey Mouse? right?

Our Disney cruise was so amazing. We sailed on the Dream for 4 nights and stopped in Nassau and Castaway Cay. I absolutely love Nassau because of Blue Lagoon Island. It's like a little tropical paradise away from it all. It's a 30 minute charter boat ride away from the city.  

Castaway Cay is wonderful too. I love that you can go to the beach for a day and then hop back on the ship and off to the dining room for dinner. Seriously carefree!

Pop of Soft Pink

1. H&M Textured woven coat $59.95

2. Princess bib necklace from Shop Bijous $34.00

3. H&M Airy blouse $19.95

4. Juicy Couture skinny jeans in grey $125

5. Jessica Simpson Carmody strappy bootie $65.98 (sale)

I have been having so much fun putting together some new looks for spring. I have a hard time doing it at the stores because there's too much to look at. But, if I do it in a collage like this it seems so much easier. This is seriously relaxing for me. And being in an all male household, this counts as therapy…lol. 

Make your own luxurious bath truffles {natural ingredients}

So it's been a while again. But I was feeling pretty motivated to get back at posting some stuff to my own blog after browsing through some pretty amazing and inspiring blogs. And there are so many things I want to blog about that I just don't know what to do…lol. I'm interested in trying everything. And I mean everything. I like cooking, fashion, beauty, interior design & home renovation, as well as crafts (especially knitting, even though I hardly get around to doing it). One of the many things I wanted to try was making bath products. So I got that in my head and picked up some supplies. Next thing you know, I've made some fabulous bath truffles.

These Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcake Bath Truffles were a cinch to make…..

So, first thing I did was search for a recipe (found on Soapqueen.com) and make a list of what I needed. I just ordered a couple of the ingredients from Amazon (Soap queen has them too). Easy peasy. 

I adapted the recipe just slightly to change the scent and add a little twist of my own to it.

Here it is….

Natural Bath Truffles

1 cup baking soda

1/2 cup citric acid

1/2 cup caolin clay

2 oz melted cocoa butter

1 oz melted shea butter

1 oz essential oil of your choice

optional: additive such as poppy seeds

mold or you can shape them by hand

Here is the link to where I found the recipe. They have a youtube video you can watch too to for more in depth directions.

http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/bath-fizzies/making-bath-truffles-on-soap-queen-tv/

These make your bath smell amazing! These little gems fizz away in your bath, adding moisturizers to the water. I used a lemon cake perfume oil for the scent. Poppy seeds are a natural moisturizer and they can be used to treat eczema. My skin was so soft and silky after using these. 

Wrap them up in a pretty little box with some tissue and they will make a lovely gift.

<3 Amanda