It's Friday

1. Loss: This week was a difficult one.  This world lost three beautiful ladies: Mike's grandmother, my childhood best friend's grandmother, and my great aunt - all within 4 days of each other.  Each woman lived a long life, and was blessed with a big, loving family.
2. Sweetheart Swap: Did you see that Kristin and I are hosting a swap?  Sign ups close Monday, so don't miss out on getting a blogger sweetheart this Valentine's Day!
3. Kitchen Mix Up: Amanda and I are super excited for this month's ingredients.  Plus, we came up with 5 awesome reasons that you should join in this month - check them out!
4. Zoya: It's that time again!! Zoya is coloring the world for 2014!! Until Monday, you can get three bottles of Zoya nail polish for just the cost of shipping!! You KNOW I am buying my polish today after how much I loved it last year!
5. Healthy Eating: Okay, we're one week into 2014 and I'm still enjoying my healthy eating - especially smoothies!  I've been buying tons of frozen fruit and loving it, but now I'm looking for something extra to add to it: protein powder, nutrition supplement, any ideas?
Linking up with H54F, Friday Five, and Insta Friday!

Holiday Gift Giving: Diamond Candles

Next on my holiday gift giving ideas list is a gift great for any lady in your life: Diamond Candles!  I heard about this site recently and fell in love with it.  Mike and I have a slight candle obsession... more about that in another blog post.
And, on top of that, who doesn't like surprises?  About 15 hours into burning your Diamond Candle, you'll find a little gold foil pouch hidden in the soy wax.  After you pull it out with tweezers and unwrap it, you have a beautiful ring to wear!  Make sure to check the band - if it has '14k' written on the side, it's worth $100 or more!
Now I've got you hooked right?  Onto the important part: how to buy.  Use this special link to enter the site, select your favorite scent, and enter DEAL3J45 you get $10 off your first candle at checkout!  Order today and you can have your candle by Christmas!
What's also really fun is that their scents are changing constantly, so scoop one you like up now, or check back regularly for additional scents.  Here's the one I chose:

Cinnamon pinecone

2013 Holiday Gift Giving:

Ebates

Hairbands and bows

American Girl Doll Gifts

My wish list

Holiday Gift Giving: Ebates

In case you didn't see last Wednesday's intro post about my December series on Holiday Gift Giving, you can check that out here.  There's also a giveaway ending later today in that post - don't miss out!
Today's post is all about cash.  If one giveaway isn't enough for you, check out this one FOR CASH that I'm hosting with my fellow Northeast Blogger reps.
Now onto today's thought: Have you heard of Ebates before?  I had, but only in the background as I checked my Twitter feed during tv commercials.  How did I not pay attention in the past?  I guess I'm a pessimistic person and assumed all "free money" is a scam, but I swear, this one is not!  You really can get cash back just by shopping online like you normally do.  All you have to do is sign up and search for your favorite website through the Ebates website.  The shopping websites [I've used The Knot and American Eagle], look exactly the same - so much so that I wasn't sure if I was doing it right!  I received my first check for $16 last week in the mail - holiday spending money right there!
One awesome bonus is that in addition to cash back, when you create an account, you are asked what you want for your introductory gift card.  About a week after making my first purchase, I got this $10 Target gift card in the mail!

If you would like to join Ebates, comment below and I will send you an invite!  Once you make your first purchase, you will receive your $10 bonus and have the option to invite friends to make even more cash!

Handmade Love From Etsy

I have a slight Etsy obsession.  When I get my daily Etsy emails around 11:28 each morning, I look forward to checking out what the theme of the day is, and what new store owners will be featured.  What I love most about Etsy is the personalization and ability to really talk to the shop owners.  I've had conversations with each of these owners, and they've been able to make me more amazing pieces than I ever could have imagined!  Check out my recent purchases:
Makeup Bags from Life's A Stitch When looking on Pinterest for fun ways to ask my bridesmaids to be in my wedding, I loved the idea of giving them something as a keepsake.  I went searching on Etsy, and not only were Amanda and Jeff so easy to work with, but their items were so affordable and even customizable!
Headbands from C Sister Bands

I was actually introduced to C Sister Bands when my bloggy friend Ashley had a giveaway to their store.  Unfortunately, I didn't win, but I did start following them on Facebook.  Jennie has had these great grab bags recently, and my little golfing girls just love them!  I also just ordered a headband for myself for my upcoming Disney half marathon, and I can't wait to share that soon, too!

Wall art from Paper Freckles

Seriously, bloggers are the best! This is another one I found from a friend, Kate.  She wrote about some fun ideas for graduation gifts this spring, and I couldn't help but follow her lead.  Coleen made this custom 8x10 for me to send to a college teammate for her graduation.  

Snow White tutu from Sunshine Memories

The first time I ran a Disney race, in 2012, I didn't dress up.  I felt sooo out of place!  I didn't even have a Disney shirt on.  In January, for the first leg of my Coast-to-Coast medal, I decided to head to Claire's and dress up a bit.  I was Tinker Bell themed, but nothing spectacular.  This time around, I'm going all out to be Snow White.  All I need now is a blue shirt and my red bow from C Sister, and I'll be good to go.  Tammy was great, the tutu was incredibly affordable, and it shipped in only a week! 

Princesses tutu from Trinkets and Tutus

This one didn't come from a blogger, but it did go to one!  I've been following T&T on Facebook forever, and when they decided to take a hiatus from selling, I swiped up this beauty for Adria's daughter's third birthday.  Unfortunately, their store is still down, but if you go to their Etsy shop, you can sign up to receive an email when they return!

Also, check out some of my other favorites from this summer here!

Products I'm Loving

Like I mentioned in my weekend update, on Friday, I got a fantastic email that I was officially approved as an LPGA-USGA Girls Golf Program Director!  Basically, I am doing the exact same job as before, but we will be creating more "Girls Only" projects/events for our female participants [which now are only about 28%, but we hope to get up to 50% soon!].

Well, I was VERY excited, so on my lunch break, I went to Target and bought myself a couple of things I've been looking at/for.  And bonus, I have a Target RedCard, so I get 5% off everything [woot woot!]. 

Everything kind of fit into two categories: beauty & food.

First the beauty products: OPI 'Are We There Yet" [and it was 50% off!!], Vaseline Spray & Go, Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Stress Control, Maybelline Dream Lumi Concealer

It's been less than a week, but so far, the nail polish is lovely, the Vaseline spray lotion isn't greasy and smells fresh, the face wash seems to really clean my skin, [remember that time I thought that great minty skin wash would work for my skin frustrations? well, I was wrong, but this one seems good and more thorough], and I actually bought the right concealer shade for my face - yay!

Food products: Mega Stuf Oreos, Freeze Dried Strawberry Slices, Milky Way Simply Caramel Bunnies, and a napkin holder [on clearance!!]

OH MY GOSH, THE OREOS ARE THE GREATEST THING EVER - the perfect amount of cookie and cream, you can see more about the strawberries here - which are amazing, I love caramel so they bunnies are delicious, and the napkin holder is a little short, but it was cheap!

the OPI polish and Oreo :)

Yummmmm

Speaking of things I'm loving, I thought I would throw in a couple of other things I've been loving - mostly videos: 
- Michelle Obama's Awesome Mom Dance with Jimmy Fallon
- The Real Models Behind the Archer Characters
- "We Saw Your Boobs" - Seth MacFarland at the Oscars, 
- I Want To Be Jennifer Lawrence's Best Friend and with Jack Nicholson!
- The Les Mis Cast Performance at the Oscars [I downloaded the soundtrack for my trip tomorrow!!]

Alright, I am off to Nashville!  I hope to update y'all with my travels when I get down there, but if not, I will talk to you next week!

Free Nail Polish!!

Seriously. From Zoya. 

My childhood friend and fellow blogger Leah tweeted this amazing link to me, and I HAD to jump on it!  All you have to pay is shipping and handling.  Mine cost $10, so I thought it was worth it to try a few new polishes.  

My nail polish collection is a little sad right now.

Did anyone else throw out all of their glitter nail polish before college because "Oh, I'll never, ever wear this again"??? Yeah, worst mistake ever!

These are the three polishes I chose, I am so excited to get them!