A while ago, I received a few rewards and a handful of coupons from Victoria’s Secret. I didn’t need anything but felt like not using my gift cards would be a waste so I went into a store to browse. I have plenty of intimates and my pajama drawer looks like it is going to explode at any minute. Since I didn’t need any new lounge wear, I wandered over to the beauty section and started spraying. It’s been years since I purchased a perfume at Victoria’s Secret. Their marketing lately has been working because I wanted to see if there was anything I could buy with my gift card. After I sprayed the perfume LOVE, I immediately fell in love (ha!). It’s hard to describe but it’s a classic scent that feels light and airy. With the fruity and cotton combination, it’s a great fragrance for everyday. I already have so many perfumes for special occasions, but I am always looking for a fresh and clean fragrance to wear everyday.
I also need to admit that I may have purchased this perfume because of how pretty the bottle was! It looks so pretty on my dresser next to my other perfumes. Now before leaving the apartment, I love to do a quick spritz on my way out. I may not look like an Angel in a bra, but I guess I can enjoy pizza while smelling like one!
Have you tried any Victoria’s Secret Beauty items lately? I remember stocking up on sprays in high school and then trading them with my friends. For as long as I can remember, I have been obsessed with scents and smelling good. I’m sure I’ll be back soon so I can pick up another perfume!
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I love trying new skincare products and I reallly love trying products that work! I’ve been using Peter Thomas Roth skincare products lately and I’m already seeing results. The new Peptide 21 collection has 21 peptides, neuropeptides and 2 gamma proteins (lots of collagen and proteins that help with anti aging!) The Peptide 21 Collection helps prevent wrinkles, keep your skin firm and moisturized and exfoliate leaving your skin looking radiant!
Peptides are chains of amino acids that are the building blocks of proteins in the skin. Over time, our body stops producing collagen and this is what causes our skin to age. When peptides are applied to the skin, the skin working with the peptides to produce new collagen. Applying skincare products with peptides helps get rid of wrinkles naturally and daily slows down the loss of collagen in your skin.
I use the Peptide 21 Wrinkle Resist Serum on my face and neck at night because it dramatically reduces the look of fine lines and wrinkles.
The Lift & Firm moisturizer does just that! I like to use it under my makeup because it makes my skin feel bouncy, firm with lots of hydration.
The Amino Acid Exfoliating Peel Pads reduce the look of pokes and uneven skin tone. It’s an easy way to exfoliate your skin once or twice a week and it does an amazing job at making your skin feel really smooth!
My favorite part is that it takes just 2 minutes to apply a serum at night and put on a moisturizer in the morning. I love easy skincare that works right away and doesn’t take too much time out of my day! My skin loves every single one of these products and I know that you will to! If you take some time now to invest in your skin. I can promise that you won’t regret it ten years from now!
A big thank you to Influenster and Peter Thomas Roth for supporting today’s blog post. Products were received complimentary for review purposes but as always, all thoughts are my own.
Jake always rolls his eyes when I say that my apartment is a mess. There will be a few things on my floor and a bowl on my coffee table and I think my apartment is a disaster. It usually takes us like 5 minutes to straighten up my apartment before bed and everything is back to being clean again. One trick that makes cleaning up super easy is that I am very insistent on having clear counter tops. Sure, I have decor on my coffee table and end tables, but I try really hard to keep it very minimal. Even really pretty home decor can look like clutter when there is too much of it.
My kitchen is tiny so clean counter space is a must! I try to keep only the appliances I use daily on my counters and everything else is in the cabinets. All of my spices and cooking tools are in a cabinet so they are out of sight until I need to use them which is rare. Pots and pans should have a home in a cabinet so they are not taking up valuable counter top space. . At night before bed, I will put all of my dirty dishes in the dishwasher, wipe down everything and put any food back in their right place. Just having a kitchen with nothing on it makes it look so clean!
I don’t get much mail so I can easily sort it or toss it as soon as I walk in the door. I have a little entry table with a mail sorter so anything important goes there so I know exactly where it is. Paper accumulates quickly so I try to prevent it from happening as much as possible. One thing I like to keep is coupons because I always use them when I shop! There is an envelope in my junk drawer that has all of them so I can easily grab them when I go shopping.
At night, I will do a quick walk around and put items back where they belong. It takes like five minutes but really helps keeping the place look clean all week long. My inspiration is hotel rooms because there is nothing on the counters and the rooms are always relaxing. Am I the only one who can’t go to bed when their home is a mess? My closet can have clothes on the floor, my hamper can be overflowing with laundry, but as long as all of the surfaces in my apartment don’t have clutter, my apartment looks clean!
With a cup of coffee in my hand and my planner in front of me, I am ready to plan this week. Errands, the gym, trying a new face product and meal prep all are added to my planner so I can see what needs to be done this week. If it is not in my planner there is a good chance I will completely forget about it. Oops! Here I put a few ways to plan a productive week together for you. Have a good week everyone!
Plan Something Fun First Thing in the Morning I hate waking up early on the weekends and will avoid it as much as I can. However, I have found that planning something in the morning with a friend is a good reason to get out of bed before noon. Plan to get brunch or make a date with yourself and try a new coffee shop in town. Find a reason to get out of your apartment so you don’t feel like you got nothing done all day. And while you are out, now is the best time to get those errands done!
Get the Errands out of the Way Throughout the week, I keep a post it in my planner that has a list of everything I need to purchase. In my planner, I keep a list of places and errands I need to run on the weekend so I can see ahead of time what the best day is to get everything done. On Fridays, I will order as much as I can on Target.com so it can be shipped to my apartment and then I can just shop for produce and other items that cannot be shipped. My goal is to get everything done as soon as possible on Saturday so I can enjoy my Sundays.
Do Laundry and Immediately Put it Away I have never hated laundry and I really don’t mind doing it. However, I find that I am always getting distracted and never find time to actually put it away. My new goal is to fold and put away as soon as it comes out of the dryer so I don’t have to stare at a pile of clean laundry on my bed!
Wash Your Sheets & Make Your Bed Get in the habit of cleaning your sheets every weekend. My preference is to do them on Sunday evenings so I can crawl into a nice warm bed! My bed will never be made in the morning because I am too lazy but I do like making it on Sunday nights. It makes me a lot more eager to get into bed.
Get Snacks & Lunches Ready for the Week While I cook dinner on Sunday, I like to cut up veggies and put them in tupperware and organize my fridge so I can easily grab food in the morning before i leave for work. I started to buy snack size containers of apple sauce and fruit cups that I can keep at my desk. I’ll also make popcorn and put handfuls in plastic bags so I can have easy snacks. I try to make everything easy to grab and go on Sunday nights so I don’t have to worry about lunches during the week.
Clean Your Apartment Now that I clean my apartment every single week, it makes this weekly task much more manageable. I talk a little bit about it more here, but I basically take a few minutes to walk around and collect dishes before running the dishwasher, throwing in a load of laundry, wiping down counters and then quickly vacuuming all before I sit down to have breakfast. It seems like a long list, but once I made a routine, it became super manageable.
Write a To Do List for the Week I would be lost without my planner! On Sundays, I like to look at what I have going on during the week so then I can make a to do list for each day. This way I can plan ahead to make sure I don’t forget anything and plan days to go to the gym. This is also a perfect time to text friends to plan coffee and dinner plans for the week.
Catch Up on Sleep But Don’t Sleep All Day I love to sleep late on the weekends, but I found that I get so much more done when I wake up and immediately get moving! Another perk is that you will be able to go to bed early or at a reasonable time instead of staying up late because you slept all day.
Go To Bed Early I actually have a few timers that go off to let me know when to go to bed. Even if I am not asleep by the second alarm, I know that I should be in bed by this time. It holds me accountable and I know that I am the worst when I don’t get enough sleep at night.
Happy Friday and most importantly Happy Spring! One of my goals for 2019 is to explore more of Philly and I think I definitely did that this week. I’m slowly working on making Blonde Rosie a source for affordable styles, beauty and a guide to Philly. There is so much to do in this city so I am constantly doing my research to find out where to go and what to see. Hopefully with this warmer weather I will have the opportunity to see it all and share on the blog. I would also like to know what you would like to see more of on Blonde Rosie. Send me a message or leave a comment on some topics you would like to see on my blog. Hope you all have something fun and exciting planned this weekend!
What I’m Watching
One of my favorite things to do is to go to the movies. It’s something I grew up doing a lot with my parents and my dad would spoil me with my own Coke and popcorn. Luckily, it’s something Jake and I both enjoy doing together. Do you know how nice it is to find someone who enjoys going to the movies? Over the weekend, Jake and I saw Captain Marvel. I am so behind on this superhero series but it is something that Jake follows so we saw it and I promised to catch up on the other movies asap. It was actually really good and since it was an origin story, you don’t need to watch the other movies to understand what is happening. Good mix of humor and story.
Since Jake and I had a very busy Saturday, we decided to finally watch the 2 Fyre Festival Documentaries that night. Not sure what took me so long to watch them because they are really good at explaining how this con snowballed into this failed festival. It also was a great reminder to not hire your friend instead of an event planner.
What I’m Listening To
I have an easy commute to work, about 30 minutes each way and I use this time to catch up on my Podcasts. Right now, I am really into the Goop podcasts because they have a mix of science, health and some upbeat knowledge. My usual go to podcasts are The New York Times The Daily and Pod Save America, but lately I have been wanting something to motivate me and the news does no good for my mood. Also the Captain Marvel soundtrack was amazing. It is full of hits that you completely forgot about it and makes you feel realllyyy old. You can find it on Spotify.
What I’m Loving
About once a month I use my car to do a big grocery run and this trunk organizer would be super helpful!
I really want to get a wagon for groceries to make it easier to transport items especially living in the city where I rarely use my car.
I just ordered these fridge bins after getting fridge envy on Instagram.
I did some spending this week. Oops! Loft is having a sale so I made a few purchases for my work wardrobe : a pink blazer, pants with a tie waist, and a top that went to clearance!
It was a very fun filled weekend and I am still trying to recover from it! On Friday, I was up late cleaning my apartment because I knew I wouldn’t have any free time on Saturday or Sunday. Fridays have turned into my new favorite day to be productive around the apartment because I never have the motivation to go out and I can still get into bed late because I don’t have to set an alarm the next day. One of my favorite things to do is to not have to set an alarm on a Saturday morning. My friend Lola and I had brunch plans but were both flexible on what time we would meet up. Then I started to feel something and it was my cat standing over me hitting me and meowing. I didn’t have a digital alarm go off that morning but my own personal alarm clock was not okay with me sleeping past 9am! We ended up going to Sabrina’s and even with checking in line on Yelp before we left my apartment, we still had an hour wait! It was actually good though because we had plenty of time to catch up and talk.
After brunch, I got a few of Jake’s friends to go to Philly Barcade for his birthday. I had never been but it looked really cool on Google! Our plan was to spend a little time there and then head on over to Frankford Hall for a drink. We ended up staying at the barcade for 3+ hours and it was the perfect environment for us. The games were like 25 cents to play and we had fun trying the different beers on tap. Highly recommend if you are looking for something to do with a group of friends!
One of the perks of waking up early on a Saturday is that there are so many hours in the day! We got back to my place around 7 and were shocked on how it was still light outside. I needed a minute to sober up and then we were on our way to dinner. We keep a list of restaurants that we want to try and we have been rescheduling a taco date night for forever! We went to Rosy’s Taco Barand ate so much food! It was comical walking home because everyone was out for St. Patrick’s Day. We saw people throwing up in bushes, running out into the street and girls in short dresses wearing uncomfortable heels. Jake and I laughed and got so excited to put on our pajamas when we got home. There was a time in my life that I would have been that girl, but a night on the couch with Jake sounds a lot better these days! We watched bothFyre documentariesthat night and we made a list of vacations we could go on with the amount of money they spend on the festival!
We had a slow Sunday and enjoyed breakfast on the couch while watching The Office. Then we took a train to Jake’s apartment in the suburbs to pick up his roommate so we could all see a movie. It wasn’t my first choice, but I really did enjoy Captain Marvel. I’m so behind on this movie series and I was afraid I would have no clue what was going on , but luckily it was an origin story so you don’t need to watch the other ones first. After the movie, I took a train back to my apartment so I could shower and meal prep for the upcoming week. I was so behind on personal to do list that I stayed up until 3am just so I could wash my sheets and get everything prepped for the upcoming week.
On Monday, I was really proud of myself for waking up earlier than I normally do on a weekday. My goal is to give myself two hours in the morning before work so I am not rushing out the door first thing in my day. Last summer, I used to be so good at this early morning thing! I would eat breakfast, watch an episode of something, take my time getting ready and feel energized going to work. I blame the cold and lack of sun during the winter for turning into a horrible morning person!
Luckily this week flew by really quickly. Work has been busy and I am speaking up to take on more work. Nothing all that exciting happened this week but I needed an easy week after a fun filled weekend. I got a haircut after work on Wednesday and got a few things done around the apartment after work during the week. After seeing everyone rave about this cleaner from Target on Instagram, I finally picked it up while I was running errands. Guys, it is soooo good! It smells like the Anthropologie Capri Blue candle so I couldn’t stop myself from cleaning every surface in my apartment with it! This gloomy weather hasn’t been that good for my energy levels lately so I am hoping we get some sunshine soon!
I know I am not alone when I say that adjusting to Daylight Savings was a little bit of a struggle. A few coworkers and I joked about how difficult it was to get out of bed in the morning just because of that one lost hour. This week was amazing for me because of the extra hour of daylight after work. For months, I have left the office when it was dark and cold with zero motivation to do anything. I cannot even begin to count how many plans I cancelled last minute just because I just wasn’t feeling it. Now with this extra sunshine after work and the temperatures are slowly starting to warm up, I am filling my planner with plans again. It’s comical how excited I am about 50-60 degree weather right now after months of single digits!
This weekend, we are celebrating Jake’s birthday and I put together a fun adult version of a birthday party for him. I’m also really excited because one of my really close friends from college just moved back to Philly so it’s nice to have another friend to hang out with. There is a post it in my planner that has a list of all of the restaurants I want to try and this helps take out the hard part of planning where to go. This has been so helpful whenever I find a friend who is free to grab brunch/lunch/coffee
This week, my car has officially been registered to Pennsylvania. It was very bittersweet to take my Jersey plates off, but this girl will always be a Jersey Girl! Yes, I have lived here for a year but this is a lot harder than I thought it would be. So much paperwork and waiting on lines.
What I’m Watching
The biggest TV event this week was the season finale of The Bachelor. Definitely did not see that coming! A few people have said it was a bad season, but I kinda liked how it didn’t go to plan at all. In my head, I kept comparing to how previous seasons are done and this one ended a lot shorter than it was supposed to. It was refreshing to not have the same formula that every single season plays out. Hannah B. will be a new take on the Bachelorette since she will be representing all of us awkward girls who cannot form complete sentences. I say this as someone who does this daily!
What I’m Loving
Obsessed with the heels Taylor Swift wore to the iheart radio music awards last night.
For some reason, I still don’t own cups after almost a year of moving into my apartment. I have my eyes on these for obvious reasons ha!
I have no purpose for this adorable elephant basket, but I need it anyway!
These tie waist pants are so so cute and will finally be purchasing them this weekend. I have a gift card that has been waiting to be used since Christmas.
This skirt is also a must have to transition into spring and can be worn through the summer.
The Lilly Pulitzer x Pottery Barn collection launch is here! For those who don’t want to add to much print to their home, Lilly sheets or little accessories are the perfect addition to your space.
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