Hot Man Parade + PEOPLE Magazine’s Annual Sexiest Man Alive issue Giveaway Winner!

The giveaway winner for PEOPLE Magazine’s Annual Sexiest Man Alive issue is #11!

Congrats to Miranda of Miranda's Makeup and More! Yay! 

I'll email you today for your info! Thank you to everyone for reading and entering!

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When we went out before Thanksgiving, the restaurant had their entire ceiling COVERED in candy canes! It looked so neat! I felt like I was in the game Candy Land.

The spread at my family's Thanksgiving feast. I made the cherry cheesecake and grean bean caserole and my sister brought the most delicious caprese with a balsamic glaze on top. Mmmmmmmm 

The loot from my Black Friday extravaganza! 

On Sunday, I gave myself a mani using my new Essie polish I got from Black Friday and found a new cuticle miracle! Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover is amazing! You put the gel on your cuticles for 15 seconds, push them back, then rinse off with warm soapy water. My cuticles have been getting kind of haggard recently, so this saved them. I'll do a full review with pics soon!

The outcome! I'm not sure how I feel about the color combos, but I really love them individually. This silver glitter polish is amazeballs! Definitely a must have for all polish addicts!

Giving thanks for what you have and choosing to be happy can make all the difference in life. 

I still can't stop eating pomegranates! They're so delicious! I even found chocolate covered pomegranate seeds at Trader Joes. 

My new favorite outfit! I found the flannel at Old Navy on black Friday and want to wear it everyday. It's longer than other flannels I have from there, so it's perfect with leggings. I also love, love, love the color pattern. Especially for the season!

Go link up and share your IG shots!

My Holiday Weekend + Black Friday

In past posts, I've shared with you all how excited I am for this year's holidays! This past weekend has been awesome! First, I had Wednesday- Friday off, my sister came up Tuesday night, and then it was fun filled since!

Wednesday I finally had my eye appointment and picked up some new contacts and Ray Ban glasses (I guess I can cross that off my Need Wishlist now!). I'm really excited for my glasses, they're super cute too. It was the first time I saw this doctor and I really couldn't be happier with him. I've never had a doctor take so much time with me. He explained a lot about my eyes and the tests we were taking (I have astigmatism), then I tried on 6 different types of contacts. He made sure they fit me correctly, asked for my opinion on how they felt, explained the differences, pros and cons of each brand, etc. In the past my doctors have just kind of given me new contacts and sent me on my merry way. I'm so so happy I found this doctor and that he's up the street from me! Plus, he's an Eagle Scout, which made me smile.

Then, that night we went out with some friends and my cousin. It used to be a tradition to go out on the night before Thanksgiving and Christmas, but we haven't done it in a while. It was fun to catch up. I also wore my liquid leggings and actually did my make-up. Since I wake up so early in the morning for work, I kind of just do the basics. I haven't busted out a smoky eye in a long, long time. I wish I had a better pic of my make-up to show you guys.

Thanksgiving was such an awesome day! Matt and I woke up early to drive out to his parents who go camping each year. We had breakfast with them, his sister and her fiance, and some close family friends who are on their trip with them. Then back home to get ready for my side's celebration. I made the above cherry cheesecake (easiest recipe ever!! and it's DELICIOUS, not too sweet or heavy) and green bean casserole. I don't eat casseroles (I don't like my food to touch), but this is a family favorite and I was tasked with it this year. My in-laws add soy sauce to the recipe (just 1 tsp) and apparently it makes it yummy. My uncle and my father in law both don't care for the dish, but ate it right up when the soy sauce is added. I considered it a success. I also like to take pictures of anything I cook or bake for proof.

Then that night, the Black Friday shopping began! I met up with my girlfriend and some friends at 9pm at Kohls. We weren't the first in line like last year, but the 3rd group there. They have the best deals, $$ off coupons, % off coupons, both of which can be combined together, AND they give you Kohls cash back. After we went to the mall, but crashed around 4am. I slept for a bit, then headed out to Target. Came home showered, and then my gf and I headed back out to the mall and Old Navy. I finally got home around 4pm. I was pooped!

This year we did so good! I knocked 6 people off my list and found some great things for the hubs and I, and a few things for our future home.

Finally, I did pretty good at only buying a few items for myself, I'm pretty proud. Every Christmas, I feel like for every one gift I find, I get two things for myself. I just love all the glitz, glamour, and deals you can find at this time of year.

Brave on DVD, you can't beat $10! I also picked up Cinderella for $15. 

Essie Razzle Dazzle Manicure In Beige. It comes with Glamour Purse, Set In Stones and First Base Base Coat. I figured I was getting the base coat for free! I've been wanting/needing some silver glitter polish. 

New flats for work. They come in a tan/nude I want to get as well, but the Steve Madden I have are still in good shape. At least I know they're available at Kohls. I believe they carry them year round. 

Another plaid flannel from Old Navy. They're so easy to wear! I loved the Christmas colors in this one too. This one is really long, so it's perfect for leggings and I plan on layering my puff vest too with it.

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and great weekend! Did you go black Friday shopping? Did you find good deals?

Would you be interested in the cheesecake recipe?

PS My Sister-in-law and her fiance made it on ESPN for the USC and Notre Dame game! Aren't their signs HILARIOUS???

Pinterest things I need to do ASAP

Pinterest is one of my favorite sites. It's where to get the best ideas and inspirations for outfits, make-up, hair, home ideas, food, etc. I use it for everything. However, I've fallen behind on some of my Pinterest goals. Here's what I plan on doing this next month. Hopefully, I'll get some photos for ya'll too!

Recreate these outfits:

Get my hair to look like this:

Decide how I want to color my hair for my next appointment:

Paint my nails to be pretty and festive:

Then do my face to match:

Then make these to enjoy:

I should be busy this next month, wish me luck on my Pinterest goals! Maybe I'll even get to link up with the beauties Katie and Stephanie!

Have you entered my Scientific Skincare giveaway?? There's still time!

Hot Man Parade

Happy Black Friday! I'm sure at this time I'm a crazy Target lady zombie. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and have a wonderful weekend!

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I finally found the VS eyeshadow I talked about last week in Undiscover! I've been using it on my eyes and then brushed it on the tops of my cheeks too.

Standard lunch in CA. You have to get extra spread though for your fries! For those of you who may not know, spread is like fry sauce (50/50 mayo + ketchup) with some relish. It's delish.

Groopdealz was featuring the infamous bubble necklaces. I like how they look, but they're so trendy I've avoided them, but for $10 I didn't want to pass them up. I was between yellow and blue and thought to buy both, but chose only one color. Then I picked one up for my sister too.

Proof I can bake from scratch! Hubs was really craving some banana nut bread and I made this all by myself without hazard. It was delicious too! The hubs' exact words were "amazing". Kudos to me!

I'm still in love with braids in your hair. I'm totally not over this trend and I hope it never goes away. I'm also wearing the VS shadow here on both my eyelids and cheeks.

This Savina gold polish is one of my favorites and an easy go-to for me. I topped my ring/thumb with the Sephora by OPI Gold glitter, but it wasn't really showing up like I thought it might so I put on some OPI Glitter to make it pop.

This weekend I met up with a good friend for lunch. It was so great to see her and spend hours catching up. I'm wearing Old Navy's quilted vest and I love it. I have a yellow one from college and have been wanting a black one for over a year. I haven't taken it off since it was delivered. It's so cozy!

I ordered our Christmas cards this week and they arrived so fast! I really love the service and quality at Shutterfly. We buy our cards there every year. This year's card is super cute and I'm forcing myself to wait until December to mail them out. Last year, I had them sent out before Thanksgiving! LOL.

Pomegranates are one of my season's favorite fruits! My mom used to get them for my sister and I every year and we always had one in our stockings. I couldn't wait to dive into this beauty. It tasted like childhood.