Friday Favorites!

As usual, I am linking up with Amanda and Karli to share my Friday Favorites!

+ Planners/Agendas

Since I am officially going to nursing school (though I am not quite sure where yet), I decided to treat myself to a planner. I have done a tone of research and was not aware that there were so many options (Plum Paper, Erin Condren, Limelife, etc.) - like holy cow! I spent most of my day yesterday comparing planners trying to figure out which one I like best. I think I have decided to go with a Limelife planner. Do any of you ladies have a favorite planner? Let me know!

+ Planner Accessories 

While researching planners, I noticed that there is a big trend in decorating/designing your planner - I had no idea this existed - but the OCD freak in me wants to have a pretty planner with pretty stickers to coordinate with what I have to do. So...for those of you who are into this whole planner design process - do you think it's worth it? Any tips/tricks?? Is it better to buy stickers or print your own??

+ Favorite Song

Enjoy

+ Food

Earlier this week I mentioned that I made jambalaya.

If you are interested in the recipe you can find it here.

I need to work on mine a bit but it did taste very good!

+ Funnies

When I found out that I got into my first nursing school and do indeed have a future.

When Nick said he wanted to eat the Jambalaya for dinner again the next night because it was that good...

How I've been spending my last few days since the weather has been horrible.

Happy Friday!

Thoughts On: Essence The Gel Nail Polish

It is no secret that I miss my shellac manicures. I bit the bullet about a year ago and stopped getting shellac and dedicated myself to doing my own nails. While I am never expecting to find a nail polish that lasts as long as shellac, I am always on the look out for nail polishes that can hold up to the gym, barn, and all my other daily activities.

I recently stumbled across Essence The Gel Nail Polish at my Ulta. 

My Ulta has limited colors but I was intrigued by the colors they did have and by the price point - did I mention they sell for $1.99??

I bought three colors: Indian Summer, Play With Mint, and Turn the Lights On.

Play With Mint on all nails except ring finger which has Turn the Lights On.

Essence Indian Summer on fingers and OPI on ring finger.

I am going to say that this polish lasts a solid two days on my fingers before I managed to chip them. While this is not amazing by any means, for $1.99 I am not complaining! I have OPI and Essie polishes that chip on the 2-3 day mark as well. 

So while longevity is not what you are going to get from these, you will have beautiful opaque coverage and it looks as if I paid for a gel manicure.

As long as you aren't expecting these polishes to last for a substantial amount of time - I say go buy a few! The finish of the polish and colors are beautiful. I plan on purchasing a few more - particularly a beautiful red called Fame Fatale and a gorgeous purple called Amazed By You.

I am going to note that there is a base coat and top coat that go with these polishes that claim to make the polish last 60% longer. At the time, I did not purchase their specific brand of base and top coat and used my CND Sticky Base Coat and Seche Vite Top Coat. When I purchase the other colors I am interested in, I am thinking that I may purchase the base and top coat and see if that makes a difference in longevitiy! 

If you have tried these polishes with the base and top coat, is it worth purchasing them to prolong the wearability of these polishes? 

Let me know!

Also, for those of you in the line of the strong storms, like I am, please stay safe. I am currently under a tornado warning while typing this.

"Is It Possible To Gain 20lbs From Dinner?" {Weekend Recap}

Those were the exact words I uttered after eating dinner with Nick at a new restaurant called The Rickhouse.

Between eating well all week and waiting for a solid 50 minutes in the restaurant (and this was after I put our name in and we drove around for 40 minutes to kill time), I was HUNGRY.

Before I get to the good stuff (aka the food pictures - side note: I didn't get pictures of the appetizer or my entree because I devoured both), I would like to take a moment to thank Nick for eating at 8:30PM with me after waiting for so long for food that he's indifferent about (he did like it though so it is safe to say we will be going back!) all because he knows that it makes me happy. 

Alright!

So I don't have a picture of the appetizer but I will tell you that it was a 3-cheese dip with tomatoes, onions, and homemade tortilla chips. 

I regret not taking a picture to share with you all but I do not regret how much of this I devoured. It was great.

True to Hanna form, I had to order a drink. I was impressed with their drink selection and will be going back to try others in the near future.

I ordered the Bulleit in a Buck and Nick had the Lynchburg Lemonade.

Mine was described as a mix between a sangria and bourbon drink. I believe they nicknamed it the 'mangria' and it was great. 

For my entree I had the Ginger and Bourbon chicken, which was to die for! While I was stuffed and ready to pop, I ordered dessert which was an ice cream sandwich with chocolate/peanut butter ice-cream. P.S. It didn't last long.

Sunday was a beautiful day so I went to the dog park with a friend and her puppy and Nick and I took the nuggets out for an afternoon stroll and snuggled up that night to watch The Martian.

 It was a pretty low key weekend. I did make an attempt at jambalaya, which turned out just fine. It had a little extra liquid (could be for a number of reasons - aka I bought the wrong size tomato's and used different rice), but it did taste really good! 

Wasn't done cooking yet in this picture so there wasn't that much liquid.

I would also like to say that on Friday I received my first notification from one of the nursing school's I applied to and I got in! I am happy to say that while I am looking forward to hearing back from the other three school's I applied to, I will now have a future as a nurse!

Overall, it was a very exciting weekend for me. How was yours?

Friday Favorites!

Welcome back to another Friday Favorites!

As always I am linking up with Karli and Amanda.

+ Favorite Workout

Because I'm all about that bass...

+ Favorite Song

I'm addicted.

+Recipe To Try Out Next Week 

We all know that I am a fan of easy but delicious dinners. I think I am going to give this a go this coming week!

You can view the recipe here.

+Currently Loving...

My JayBird X2 Wireless Earphones.

After trying out my dads Powerbeats2 Wireless Earphones over Christmas, I knew I had to get a pair of wireless earphones. I have always listened to music while doing cardio but I wanted something that was cord free when it came to lifting. After doing some research, I decided to purchase the Jaybird X2's and am in love. They stay in my ear, they are sweat proof, and I think the sound quality is great. I honestly don't know how I went so long without a pair!

+Funnies

How I feel when I see that bikini's are already out at Target

Vet Tech: "Both your dogs have gained weight...What are you feeding them?"

Me:

When the chiropractor asks how I'm feeling

When Nick tries to cuddle me at night..

Me: 

Happy Friday!

Crushing On...

On an array of websites I have stuff in shopping carts and I think that I will be buying it but usually opt out as, lets face it, stuff adds up quickly! 

+ This new S'well bottle. I am in love. Throw a cute print on a product I already love and I am sold. S'well, why do you keep coming out with more bottle designs that I feel like I must have?!

+ I have recently jumped on the liquid lipstick bandwagon and I am running at full speed trying to catch up to those who have already been enjoying the ride. What did I stumble across? Just this and this from Coloroupop. They are reasonably priced so that makes it better, yes?

+ These jeans. Jeans are such a pain, yes? When you find a holy grail pair then it is time to buy multiple pairs. Parker Smith jeans are designed with the real woman in mind. Unfortunately they do not currently have my size in stock in the particular style I want, but I will keep an eye out.

+I am ready for some warm weather and to hit the beach! Every year I look forward to the beach but dread trying to find a bikini. I don't know how it will look on, but I must say that I am loving the look of this Trina Turk bikini.

+YSL Rouge Voluptè Shine Lipstick. Do these not scream spring? The colors are beautiful and I want every single one.

What are some items that you are currently crushing on?

Valentine's Weekend {2016}

Forgive me for not posting for a week.

I promise I have a good excuse! My mom was in town for my horse show and because Nick was gone again.

Therefore, I was out to dinner every single night and then we did a little shopping (aka two stops at Great Outdoor Provision) to prepare for the frigid cold this weekend.

In order to prepare for the time spent freezing my butt off...I ate some great food

And I ate some more...

There was much more food than that but I was too ashamed to take pictures of all my food and have to relive the fact that I ate so much in a week.

The weekend comes and this is what we experienced at the horse show.

Yes, we horse showed while it snowed. Are we crazy? You bet.

I unfortunately didn't get to show as Remi came out a little funky on Saturday so we figured it was best to just let him rest. Hopefully everything will be worked out soon and we will be back in the show ring.

While I was bummed about my horse on Sunday - but I wasn't sad that I was missing out on the 17 degree weather at the show! - I spent the day running errands with Nick and relaxing.

This was our first Valentine's day and buying anything for Nick is hard. I would say that I was successful.

I got him some candy, a patagonia pullover, and this cute Cereal Killer spoon since he eats cereal all the time.

And just when I thought I had won (P.S. I know it's not about winning but he blew me out of the water at Christmas and since Valentine's day tends to be focused on the females, I wanted to have a nice gift for him) he decided to give me a run for my money.

Let's just say that I am set when it comes to chocolate for about half the year. He went and had pictures printed and put them in a frame, and he got me a Keurig.

Now I just have to master the Chai Tea Latte. We also bought some hot cider, which I actually really liked. 

How was your weekend? Did you get any snow or freezing rain?

Sometimes You Win And Sometimes You Don't {Weekending}

This weekend was a busy one.

Nick arrived home at 11:37 PM Friday night and most of Saturday was spent running errands.

Saturday night Nick, Ashley, and I at tented a year end awards banquet.

I've been riding since I was five and from an early age I learned that sometimes you win and sometimes you don't. 

Winning and losing can happen for a number of reasons.

I've won when I've deserved to and I've lost when I was having an off day or my horse was having an off day.

I will tell you that there were times where I had the most beautiful trip and didn't win. Why? There can be a combination of factors and I'm not going to lie. It's frustrating.

I've always won classes before that I never should have. For instance, there was one time when I picked up the wrong lead in a flat class and the judge happened to be looking at one of the other 15+ ponies and didn't see it so I ended up winning.

There was a time when I won a class even though I didn't complete the end of the course correctly - it's a long story but they basically changed the course after they already had one set and that is a no no - I did have a phenomenal round, though. 

Suffice to say, the Carolina Panthers may have not had the Super Bowl ending that they wanted but they won a lot this year and had a great season. 

I also won some this year and lost this year. Overall, I ended up 2nd (reserve) overall in my division. Remi was brand new, I switched divisions, and we had some fabulous days and some bad days. Overall, we improved throughout the season and I am excited to see what is in store this show season. I know there will be good days and bad days but I'm hoping there are a few more good ones than bad ones this season!

Nick was so kind to come support me even though he's been traveling recently.

Ashley and I with our awards. Ashley was champion in the division and I was reserve. 

Sunday consisted of gross weather, more errands, my mom coming to town, and the Super Bowl. 

It was a busy weekend but a good one. 

What did you do this weekend?

Fri-yay Favorites

Linking up with Amanda and Karli for another edition of Friday favorites!

+ Song Obsession

This song has been around for a bit and I don't know why I couldn't figure out who it was by or what it was called earlier. I know I have heard to before and when it popped up on my Pandora I was hooked again. I think it has a great beat to it and I enjoy listening to it while doing cardio - or when I'm performing in the car.

The Amplifetes - Blinded By the Moonlight

+ Super Bowl Ready 

I finally caved and bought this cute shirt for Sunday!

+Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Nick has been out of town all week and while I have missed him I did have some fun!

First up: Massage

Ah so relaxing!

Then I went out to celebrate a Birthday, have a beer, and eat some food!

+Funnies 

Anytime I heard a noise at night (Nick was out of town) then tried to pull myself together.

When I try and make new friends at the gym

How my massage went the other day

+New Favorites

I recently started watching Just Jillian earlier this week and I am hooked. I think Jillian is so funny and her family is adorable.

January {2016} Favorites

Well hello there February. You crept up on me and I was expecting your arrival so soon.

I had a pretty boring month when it comes to favorites. I found new loves and literally used them every single time that I put on makeup.

1/2/3/4/5

1//

Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso. I always revert back to this blush it gives you a gorgeous glow and some color to boot! It will forever be one of my loves.

2//

The Tarte Tartelette Pallete In Bloom is my newest eyeshadow obsession. It is currently my favorite palette. I reach for it all the time and think it is gorgeous. 

3//

Mac's Soft and Gentle Mineralize Skinfinish is an oldie but a goodie. This was one of my first higher end makeup purchases and one of my best purchases. The color is beautiful on my pale skin.

4//

I talked about this product in a first impression post not that long ago, but I love this product. It wears well, is comfortable to wear, and I love the color. 

5//

Another recent first impression product has made its way onto my favorites. Bite Beauty's Agave Lip Mask is fantastic. It hydrates my lips and leaves them so smooth and refreshed. 

What were your favorite beauty products in January? 

Food, Fun, And a See You Later (Weekending)

As per usual, the weekend went by way too fast. I swear it went by even faster because Nick had to go out of town so I was dreading Sunday. 

To ease my pain, I did eat good food and spend half the day with my mom on Saturday.

We had an early hair appointment and then we did some shopping and some eating - two of the best things!

We ate at PG Werth's, which we hadn't been to before and the brunch was pretty darn good.

Avocado Pimento Cheese Fritters 

Farmer's Benedict 

Cotton Club

After that I spent the evening with Nick before he had to leave early Sunday. 

After that I had a pretty quiet Sunday and enjoyed the beautiful 70 degree weather by going out to the barn and riding my goobers.

How was your weekend?