Category: Check It Out

sunday renditions

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I’m a lover of music. Who isn’t though? Your just strange if you don’t enjoy music. I love to find new music. New artists. New unheard songs by my favorites.

Now, anyone that knows me also knows that I’m a lover of Grey’s Anatomy. Not only is it a FANTASTIC show, it has one of the best scores out there. I would love to meet the people in charge of picking their music for each episode. Lately, most of the music has been renditions of older songs. New music is always exciting, but when an artist takes a spin on a older song, it’s gold to me.

Which leads me to this list. These episodes had me thinking of all my favorite musical renditions. Here you have a compilation of my top 5 song covers I’ve been crushing on.

1. Vancouver Sleep Clinic featuring GXNXVS- Hold On We’re Going Home ( Drake cover)

I love Drake and I love this song. This version is slow and sultry and I just can’t get enough. It’s on BIRP!’s March Playlist, clink on the link to take a listen. BIRP! puts out a HUGE playlist of songs every month. You can download it or just listen to the playlist online. This is such an easy way to discover up and coming artists.

2. Young Summer- Don’t You Want Me (The Human League cover)

Young Summer is one of the current bands that I have been crushing on a lot. Check out their album Fever Dream on ITunes. This song is not part of the album, but no worries, you can download the single.

3. Jimmy Fallon As Neil Young- The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air  (You should all know what this song is from. C’mon)

If I could choose one person, no matter how famous, to be my forever best friend, it would be Jimmy Fallon. He’s the best. Ever. He does hilarious covers and this is one of the best. You can get it when you download his album Blow Your Pants Off, which you should do. Right meow.

4. Maxence Cyrin- No Cars Go  (Arcade Fire cover)

Arcade Fire is a spectacular group and if you haven’t heard any of their music, I strongly urge you to check them out. No Cars Go is at the top of my list of all time favorite songs. This cover of the song is instrumental, just piano to be specific, and is just magical. I can listen to it over and over. You can get the album or just the single on ITunes. This album also covers the Pixies song “Where is my Mind”. Bliss, pure bliss.

5. J2- The Man in the Mirror ( Michael Jackson cover)

I’m a Michael Jackson fan. Musically, that is. A few of his songs are also on my list of all time favorites. This one though, does not make the cut. The message is great, the music, not so much. Which makes this cover the ultimate. It’s so dark and twisted and nothing like the original. James Morrison also covered this song. So if you like the original and just want something a little more modern, check out this version. Or if you want something totally different and unique, be sure you get an earful of J2’s take on it, it won’t disappoint.

a beautiful mess

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We each have our own daily rituals of social media. Mine include only a few things. Email first. Then Instagram. Post Secret is new every Sunday. Each day I check on a few of my favorite blogs. Some are updated with new posts a few times a week, others less. My all time favorite has several new posts a day and is included in my morning, not even out of bed, barely on speaking terms, ritual.

A BEAUTIFUL MESS

It’s everything I can only dream my blog would be one day. Most of the blogs I follow are from a single writer, which I actually really love. This is my “fancy” blog though. They have a staff of writers, because they are super cool like that, and seriously write about EVERYTHING! Well everything that I love anyway. Like food, fashion, DIY projects, product reviews, and beauty tips. If you don’t need help or ideas with any of these subjects, well then your obviously perfect. But if your like me, you need a little assistance with your life.

All their recipes look so marvelous. So far I’ve tried out the Gummy Bear Cookies. They barely made it into the bag because I basically ate majority of the batch. I just picked up the ingredients to try out the Broccoli Pasta Salad, and the Blueberry Bagels. Bagels are a god send, and if I can manage to find a good recipe, I’ll probably make them a part of every single one of my meals, daily.

I’ve been on a craft kick lately. ABM has been my inspiration. Easter is fast approaching and I told myself I would try and make majority of my décor and Hayden’s basket fixings myself. I’d like you all to meet Sandra.

doll

She’s quiet and down to earth. Is a great listener, and just really wants to be your friend.

The reality of this project is that it was a real *bleep*. Doll making is not my calling. Of course the instructions made it seem like a breeze. I almost don’t want to show you the link to what she’s really supposed to look like. Plus this was actually my second attempt. Projects this small are time consuming. I’m assuming the woman who gave the tutorial has nimble ninja fingers also, because it took my Vienna Sausages a few weeks to finally get this accomplished. But at least I can say I finished and Hayden will hopefully have a memory of her first homemade doll. Sandra most likely will only be a memory as I’m predicting she will be annihilated by the end of the day.

Want to see what she’s supposed to look like? Fine, here.

We’re hosting dinner this year also, so I thought this fantastic paper flower centerpiece would be perfect. This project went a lot smoother than the doll.

flowers

I found that the smaller flowers turned out looking better, and were easier to assemble. The tutorial video goes by fast so I just kept it handy and referenced it through my crafting session. Make up a bunch of these and you can do a fancy wreath, make a darling present for a friend, or just use them to spruce up your home décor without having to worry about a vase of dead flowers in a few days.

side

My current project is the most adorable felt garden box I have ever seen. If you have little ones, and have any trace of sewing capabilities you totally need to make one of these.

All these projects have helped kick start our creativity and our weekend was also filled with making our own tutus. We of course needed some new head garb too. bubb;e

Posing for pictures didn’t really seem to suit her today. This was the best we could come up with.

liom

 Care Bear was much easier to work with after being adorned with her new tutu. She didn’t even complain once.

care bear

Hayden’s deal for the morning was that she would put the skirt and headband back on for pictures as long as she could wear them outside. Without socks. All while blowing bubbles. I caved.

outisde

So be sure to check out ABM on the reg and hopefully it will help make yourself, your home and your life a little sweeter.

smile

your welcome, ladies

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Anyone that has met my sister knows that she’s the cats meow. For those of you that don’t, here’s the scoop. She’s probably the coolest feline I’ve ever met. I don’t just say that because she’s my sister. She is creative. Like to the max. Always way ahead of the curve with fashion. She can rock the most insane outfit and it’s flawless. One of the best things about her: she is always in the know with the coolest stuff, and then fills me in. Like this:

birchbox

If you aren’t up to speed about Birchbox, your missing out. Truly.

Here’s the low down. It’s $10 a month. No joke. This includes shipping. Even to Alaska! That is unheard of. For $10 a month, you get 4-5 samples of various products. Each one can vary depending on what you set your preferences to. Mine for instance, always includes a fragrance. Because that shiz is expensive and I never buy it. Don’t really wear makeup? No sweat. You can get yummy treats. Lotions. Face cream. Nail polish. Assorted teas. Hair products.

I just got my March box today. Here, take a peek.

march box

They have the cutest packaging. I love it. I re use the boxes too. Perfect when making your friends a little treat box of your own. The samples in my opinion are pretty good size. The perfume sample lasts until I get my next box. The hair products are good for 2-3 washes. The lotions and lip products are perfect for throwing in your purse or car.

You also get an adorable card with each box, that has descriptions of each product on the back, and what the full size pricing is, if you choose to ever order it.

card

My march box included : lotion, curl keeper hair cream, eyeliner, anti aging serum with sunscreen which can be used as primer under makeup, and a sample of Juliette Has A Gun perfume.

Ready to sign up yet? You should be. In case you need some more convincing here are a few more reasons this product is the bees knees.

They have a box for your man! So for just $20, both you and your guy can have snazzy goods each month.

Even better, they have fantastic customer service. February’s box came and my shampoo and conditioner sample had exploded. Everywhere. My friend who lives up here as well had the same problem. Obviously an issue when you live in the arctic. I emailed them explaining the problem and they were super prompt to email me back and let me know they’d send me a replacement. What’s stellar about this is, the shampoo really made a mess of things, yes, but didn’t actually ruin any of the other samples. Instead of just getting another sample of shampoo, I got a whole new box, and to my delight, with all different products!

feb box

This go around I got: Two samples of delicious tea, protective oil for my hair, pore refining cream (YES PAAALEASE), another perfume sample, and tinted top coat.

A fun fact for you. Two of my biggest pet peeves. Wearing wrinkly clothes and chipped nail polish. I despise chipped nail polish. Yet, nice nails are a must. Especially now that I’m growing larger each day and am a lovely shade of pale white, a good looking manicure is a quick fix. Which is why I looooove the nail polish sample I got. Violet tinted top coat. Shiny top coat is one of my favorite beauty secrets. In a hurry, I can give my nails a quick file, throw on some top coat, and in a few minutes I have town worthy nails.

hand

In the process of this picture, I realized just how awkward hand selfies are. Sorry about that.

Love a sample you got? Their website is super easy to use and you can order a full size version of any product you sampled. With every purchase you’ll acquire points that you can save up for a discount off of a future purchase. Save them up and you can even get a free full size product!

Need a killer gift idea for your fabulous friend? You can gift a Birchbox subscription for $30. Your friend will get 3 months worth of goodies to try. Awesome sauce.

I am in no way affiliated with Birchbox, though I should be. Maybe they’ll see this and hire me. Here’s to wishful thinking.

Now hurry and sign up for April!

BIRCHBOX