Charlotte Russe's Fleece Leggings - HOT Leggings for Cold Weather

Ok, I'll admit - I am a leggings junkie; I live in them. They go with everything, you can dress them up or down and are super comfy. What woman doesn't love a nice pair of soft leggings? It's getting super chilly and wearing my regular leggings wasn't cutting it for me. I was in Charlotte Russe (one of my favorite clothing stores) and I ran across a pair of fleece leggings. I had never heard of them before - when you hear of "fleece leggings", you might think of the outside of the leggings being fleece. But as I was looking at them, they looked the same as regular leggings, so I didn't know where the "fleece" part came in. I took 2 pairs to the dressing room (black and grey) to try them on. They were amazing! First of all, they're bit thicker than regular leggings and the outside of them is not made of fleece; it's the regular legging cotton material. The fleece is lined on the inside of these and it's sooooo soft and warm. I was immediately addicted. I bought both pairs, headed home, washed them and slipped on a pair after my shower. I can't explain to you how soft (I know I keep repeating that word) these feel. I was cozy and warm the whole night. Now, it's like I live in them. If I could wear them all day long, I would! Please do yourselves a favor and try a pair of these on. If you love leggings like I do, you'll love these!

Cookies for Santa!!

I remember when I was a little girl ~ on Christmas Eve in my Christmas pajamas baking sugar cookies from scratch, flour in my hair and on my nose, putting every ounce of my love for Santa into his cookies. And don't forget the carrots for the reindeer! ;) There's nothing like making Christmas cookies from scratch; sure, it's easy to buy the ready made ones from the store, but where's the fun in that?? Santa prefers homemade cookies as a thank you for his tireless hours of house hoppin' and present droppin'! Here's a recipe that my daughter and I have perfected - we make these cookies every Christmas Eve, super easy and scrumptiously delicious. Santa will be sure to eat every last one! ;)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

holiday cookie sprinkles

Directions:

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Top with your favorite holiday sprinkles. Cool completely.

It's in a TUBE!!!

OMG It's in a tube!!! It's in a tube!!! I went to Sephora last weekend and saw that my FAVORITE lip balm now comes in a handy dandy squeezable tube! I bought three! One for my nightstand, one for my purse and one for my coat pocket. Why didn't anyone tell me?? Where have I been?? This stuff is the business - if you didn't know, you'd better ask somebody!!!

Redken - Smooth Down Butter Treat

Back with more amazing products - I'm so excited to share! This is Redken's Smooth Down Butter Treat and it is unbelievable. It's sort of like a hair masque, a deep deep conditioner that puts all other deep conditioners to shame. It is specifically for dry and damaged hair, which I suffer from, and I'm always looking for moisturizing products that improve my hair's quality. This was recommended to me by a friend and it has changed my hair drastically. Since I've been using this, people notice that my hair looks so silky, shiny and bouncy and often ask me what I'm doing differently!

I use this about once a week - after shampooing my hair, I apply this conditioner and leave it on for about 30 minutes, then rinse it out. Sometimes on the weekends, I'll even sleep with the conditioner in my hair and rinse it out in the morning. The results are ridiculous. I can immediately tell a difference in the strength and texture of my hair. It's super easy to comb through and so silky, soft and glossy! I still love my Feria conditioner as my regular conditioner, but as a weekly treatment, this is a staple. I normally flat iron my hair because I don't really like the curls I have when I wash and go, but with this stuff, I can rock my curls proudly! I add some Mixed Chicks Leave-In Conditioner and I am good to go! When I decide to flat iron it, it is super easy, takes about 30 minutes and looks soooo healthy. I am in love with this stuff. All of you ladies have to try it. I guarantee it will improve the quality of your hair. I love, love, love it!

The Best Coffee Cake. Ever.

This recipe needs no words ... well maybe except heavenly, scrumptious, moist, warm, sinful, decadent. Try this recipe and you'll go straight to heaven. Figuratively speaking of course. ;)

Ingredients:

FOR THE CAKE:

1-½ stick Butter, Softened
2 cups Sugar
3 cups Flour, Sifted
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1-¼ cup Whole Milk
3 whole Egg Whites, Beaten Until Stiff
_____
FOR THE TOPPING:

1-½ stick Butter, Softened
¾ cups Flour
1-½ cup Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Cinnamon
1-½ cup Pecans, Chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat egg whites and set aside.
Cream butter and sugar. Add flour mixture and milk alternately until combined. Don’t over beat. Fold in beaten egg whites with a rubber spatula. Spread in a well-greased 9 x 13 (or LARGER!) baking pan. A cake pan with higher sides would be best.
In a separate bowl, combine topping ingredients with a pastry cutter until crumbly. Sprinkle all over the top.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until no longer jiggly. Serve warm—delicious!

MAC Eyebrow Pencil in Stud

I am obsessed with my eyebrows. I think they are the single most important feature of the face (and often underrated). A perfect brow is a perfect face frame. Every two weeks, like clockwork, I religiously get my eyebrows threaded, which is the best grooming method, in my opinion. Nothing beats the look and precision of a threaded brow. My brow inspirations are Kim Kardashian and Megan Fox, my all-time fave. Her eyebrows are sickeningly perfect. Eyebrow threading gives me that same look, which I love. I have tried to use powders before to fill in any tiny spaces where they are sparse, but it never really gave me the natural look that I was searching for. I went to a MAC counter years ago and one of the consultants tried MAC's Eyebrow Pencil in Stud on me - the rest is history. This pencil is really thin and only the very tip sticks out the top, which is always sharpened. The color has no reds tones to it at all, just a deep brown that can get darker when pressed, or lighter when using light strokes. I mainly use this as a light line right at the bottom of my brows, to give it a neat, clean, precisioned look. Sometimes I fill in tiny little areas or imperfections, but I keep it very light. The more pencil or powder that you have on your brows, the more unnatural it looks. It's just supposed to enhance the brows in a natural way. This pencil is so amazing, it keeps my brows looking perfect all day, doesn't smear or melt. It's also so easy to apply; most pencils take many strokes to appear, you often have to press too hard or tug at your skin, which is not only annoying, but horrible for your skin. This is, hands down, the best eyebrow pencil that I have ever used. And for someone who is obsessed about their brows like I am, that's saying a lot!

Mary Kay Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover

I am in l-o-v-e with this stuff. I don't know what I would do without it. I wear mascara and sometimes eyeshadow and eyeliner, and it's such a pain to try to remove eye makeup without being too harsh on my eyelashes or ending up looking like a raccoon. I have tried so many products from plain old Vaseline, cold creams, eye makeup removers and have had no luck. I have never found something that takes such little effort and is so gentle on my eyes and eyelashes - that is ... before using "Mary Kay's Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover. When I used this stuff for the first time, I saw the sky part and the angels descend down upon me playing their little harps. I was that impressed. All it takes is a drop or two on a cotton ball and I hold it on my eye for a couple of seconds, then wipe away. It's SO easy and gentle on my eyes that even with contacts in, I can open my eyes and use it on my waterline to take off any eyeliner that is left behind and it's like I'm using water, it's so gentle. It is oil-free, so it doesn't leave an oily residue, which I found with some of the other removers out there. This is one of those little products that mean so much to have in your bathroom cabinet. It's trusty, will never let you down and does its job perfectly. And a product that saves my lashes is a product I'm a fan of! Try it! ;)