For months, I have wanted a new vacuum that actually worked so I read all the reviews and did my research. The final conclusion was that the Dyson cordless stick vacuum was the best on the market. As much as I didn’t want to spend the money, I knew it was just one of those adult purchases that I needed to make so I kept an eye out for the best price. During the Thanksgiving holiday, I noticed that Target was running an amazing deal on the Dyson cordless vacuum. On Black Friday, we hopped in the car and drove to a Target near my parents house and purchased the last vacuum on the shelf! As soon as we got home from North Carolina, I opened the box to start charging it!
With our cat and just usual foot traffic, we had a lot of dust bunnies and just the normal dirt that accumulates in a house. It took me 30 minutes to vacuum the entire house and I had to empty the canister 3 times because the amount of dirt it picked up! Because it weighs only 5 pounds, it is easy to do a quick vacuum whenever I see a mess or do a quick clean during the week. There is a bit of a price difference between the Motorhead Model and the Animal Model so we went with the standard Motorhead Model. So far we have had no issues with picking up Ed’s cat fur and I can use the handheld attachment to vacuum the couch with ease! I’m a little embarrassed to admit how excited I am to vacuum because that is how much I love it! At work, I am telling all of my coworkers to treat themselves for Christmas and buy a new vacuum because it makes cleaning a breeze! Dyson offers several options so you can find the best option that fits your home needs. So far, I have been really impressed with our vacuum and can’t imagine using anything else. I have found that with previous vacuums you have to go over back and forth to get up all of the dirt, but the Dyson picks up everything the first time. It makes cleaning easy and I don’t have to worry about a cord going from room to room. I hope Santa treats you to a new Dyson vacuum for Christmas!
I rounded up the items that I love and especially love to give my family and friends. I own most of these items or have given them as presents in the past so I know they are perfect for gifts for others or even yourself!
Daily Desk Calendar // I ask for one of these every year because it brings me so much joy! I especially love to have daily quotes, activities and fun trivia ones.
Google Home Mini and the Google Home Hub // This is the perfect present for your tech-savvy friend or the person who has everything. I purchased a few Google Home Mini’s when they were on sale and I have my eyes on the Google Hub for those who already have a Mini.
Earrings // A little something special for anyone on your list! These come in a variety of styles and a nice price point so they can be a nice gift for a coworker or a stocking stuffer.
Kate Spade Frame // The perfect gift for your friends who are accomplishing goals and successfully adulting. It’s such a lovely frame and you can put a nice photo in for a personalized gift.
Slippers // These are amazing. I cannot recommend them enough and I love to give them to all of my friends for Christmas.
Velvet Bow Hair Ties // Kate Middleton wore this hair bow last year and they sold out within hours! I’m so happy they are back this year because they look so cute and come in multiple colors. I talked all about them in this blog post here.
Monogram Mug// These coffee mugs were so popular that they sold out by December! Luckily they were restocked from A-Z so you can get anyone on your list a personalized gift that everyone will love.
Camp Socks // These are amazing and great stocking stuffers!
Perfume // I love getting a new perfume at Christmas time and I really like Love by Victoria Secret for every day. For a higher-end perfume, I really love La Vie Est Belle by Lancome for special occasions.
Bath and Body Works Candles // You can never have too many candles and you should definitely take advantage of the Christmas sales to stock up to give as gifts.
Now that Thanksgiving dinner has been eaten and I am snacking on pumpkin pie, we can start shopping the Black Friday Sales! There are so many amazing sales and deals right now so you can get started on your Christmas shopping or get a few things for yourself. I’m making it easy to shop and see where the sales are!
Abercrombie // 50% off everything & free shipping
Anthropologie // 30% off everything
Bath & Body Works // Buy 3 Get 3 Free, $4 Gingham Body Care, $30 Tote with $30 Order
I started off this week with a relaxing weekend with a good amount of cleaning and organizing. It’s amazing what a good nights rest on Sunday can do for your whole week! It’s been a busy few months with work and getting settled in the new house. Jake and I decided to make a dinner reservation on Monday night to start our week off right. It’s not something we normally do and while we were on our date we realized we haven’t been on an actual date since our anniversary trip in August. Geez, it’s been a crazy few months!
I’ve been making an effort to do more after work so my week doesn’t feel like a blur. We organized the basement, did our laundry and I worked on tidying up each room every day. These tasks may seem like the last thing I would want to do after work but it is so nice to come home to a clean house and not that much housework to do during the weekend. At work I am constantly on the go and can sometimes be a little too tempted to sit on the couch after work and not move for the night. I don’t talk about my job here on the job but each day is different and I’m always juggling multiple things at one time. Someone asked a few of my coworkers from my previous team what I did now and both of them were silent for a minute and then replied “everything” at the same time! It’s nice when the people around you see how much effort you put into a job. At times, it can feel like only the things we do wrong are seen by others and not the things we do right. This week I had a few different people thank me or say that they notice how much I do and it meant so much!
I’ve been watching The Crown this week and I’ll watch one episode at night before bed. I’ll straighten my hair at my vanity or flip through a magazine in bed while drinking tea. These new habits at night are definitely helping me unwind at night and more importantly get to bed at a more reasonable hour! At night I will get everything done quickly so I can crawl into bed and treat myself to an episode.
On Thursday, Jake got us tickets to see Frozen II and seeing a movie during the week is something we rarely do. At first I was dreading it because I knew it would be a long night but I am so happy that we went! Frozen II was SO good and I want to say that it may be better than the first one. It was a late night but so worth it because it was fun to make plans during the week. It can get difficult to do things in the winter because of how dark and cold it is when I get out of work.
I definitely treated myself to a coffee on my way into work on Friday. I knew it was going to be a long day and I needed all of the caffeine I could get. Even though we have a nice long weekend coming up because of Thanksgiving, it just means that I have an entire week’s worth of work to get done in a few short days. I worked on charts, emails, confirmed details for next week’s meetings and organized my calendar. After work I rushed home to shower and put on cozy pajamas so Jake and I could order dinner and watch The Mandalorian together. I’m looking forward to a productive weekend with lots of coffee and sleeping late.
A while ago, I binge watched all 4 seasons of Outlander and immediately became obsessed after the first episode. The first two seasons are on Netflix and when I got through them in one weekend, we added Starz to our Hulu account so we could keep watching the show. I was really torn what to do with my life after we finished the show so I needed something good to watch. Luckily The Crown just released another season so it’s been my nightly treat this week. Has anyone else been watching all of the movies on Disney+? I keep saying I will just watch one movie and then I keep finding another classic to watch.
I talked about my new night cream and a new eyeshadow palette I’ve been loving recently! If you didn’t read my blog post about natural deodorant I highly encourage that you do because it’s an easy product to swap out for a cleaner version. I just made another Target order which I’m excited to share but for now, you can see what I recently purchased for fall. Every time I wear one of the pieces to work I get so many compliments and I get so excited to say “thanks, I got it at Target!”
It’s no surprise that I am a big fan of Olay skincare products. So when I wanted to purchase a good night cream and didn’t know where to start, I knew that Olay would have affordable options that show results. I was looking for an easy product that I could easily add into my nighttime routine which consists of a quick shower, pajamas and like five minutes before my head hits the pillow! The Olay Total Effects 7 In One Night Cream is lightweight and doesn’t feel heavy on my skin. It’s the worst when I put on a product for bed and just feel sticky and dirty. My skin immediately absorbs the cream and feels hydrated right away.
SO why do you need a night cream? A night cream is specially formulated to hydrate your skin while you sleep. When you sleep, this is when your skin is able to hit the reset button and repair. While day creams are light weight and have SPF, night creams are thicker and work while you sleep. Night creams are also great for anti-aging because your skin cells turnover while you sleep so when you use the right products at night, it can help your skin look brighter and more even when you wake up. Instead of using makeup to hide the imperfections, you can use a moisturizer that heals your skin while you sleep so you can wake up looking refreshed.
The Olay Total Effects 7 In One line has seven benefits which is why I wanted to get this moisturizer in a night cream. Not only does it replenish moisture in the skin but it also restores skin firmness over night. My favorite feature is that it smooths and evens skin texture which is important for me because by the end of the week after a lot of caffeine comsumption and not enough sleep, my skin starts to show it! Like no one wears makeup to work so for those days that I don’t wear a full face of makeup, I get a little self conscious about my skin tone appearance. Now when I use this night cream nightly I don’t have to worry about my skin because the moisturizer instances reduces the look of dark spots while brightening my skin.
The price is nice, under $30, and it easily fits into my lazy skincare routine. I am excited to share this product with you all and hope you love it as much as I do!
I’m back today to share another room in our house that is kinda unpacked and decorated. It’s been a long journey, but I like forcing myself to finish a room so I can share it on the blog. Sometimes you need that extra boost of motivation! I’m trying to spend a block of time unpacking a box or decorating a space each day, but boy is it exhausting!
Honestly, one of the big selling points for this house was the half bath on the first floor. It was recently redone and the perfect size for guests. When my parents visited me while I was at my old apartment, it was a challenge to get ready in the morning because we were all fighting over the bathroom to get ready! Now we have two bathrooms so there is no longer a line for the only bathroom and it’s been useful having a two story house – less steps! There was also enough room to add the small cabinet that I used in my old bedroom to store accessories. Now it has products for guests to use and can hide cleaning supplies so they are out of sight. I am not a fan of clutter so with the little amount of counter space and the size of the room , it actually helps limit how much stuff I can put in there so it’s not too crowded.
I’m sure I will decorate this bathroom some more in the coming months but it is so nice to have a room in our house that feels finished. I added some fall decor for now; the llama soap and hand towel were a must have because of Jake’s love for all things llamas! Both of these were TJ Maxx finds! My plan is to swap out fun decorative hand soaps and hand towels for each season. Easy updates to make to the bathroom and I’m sure our guests will enjoy them too! Next step is to go through the artwork I have in the basement and decide if I can use it or if I need to buy some new frames for the space.
Oh! And I have to point out our towel hook because the bathroom didn’t originally have one. The sink just looked so sloppy with a hand towel on it and I didn’t want to put any holes in the walls. One night I was browsing on Amazon and did a quick search to see what I could find. On a whim, I bought this adhesive towel ring and had to share it because it’s really good quality!
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