I'm Loving...

Happy Monday, friends!  I always keep a note in my phone of things I want to blog about, and recently, it's been a running list of everything I'm loving.  To be honest, it's a fun little piece of positively every day to intentionally write down something that makes my day a little brighter.  You'll see, there's definitely a variety from snacks I think you'll enjoy to

These dried apple chips have been my sweet snack of choice recently.  You can buy giant bags at Costco, and admittedly, they only last a few days.  If I'm looking for something salty, I love these vegetable chips (also in giant bags from Costco). 

The weather has been perfect for tennis recently, and I am obsessed with this awesome Panthers vibration dampener Mike got me!

Did you see that you'll be able to shop online soon with Loft Outlet?!  Just take all. my. money.

My favorite makeup staple recently has been the TooFaced Little Black Book of Bronzers that I've been hoarding since they stopped making them a couple of years ago.  It has so many of their best colors in one place: Chocolate Soleil, Pink Leopard, and Sun Bunny.  I love this palette this time of year because I'm definitely not tan yet and love getting a little extra color. 

I still haven't tried a full charcoal mask yet, but I have been loving these Biore charcoal nose strips.  I use them on my chin, too, and they work wonders!

My absolute favorite app right now is 1 Second Everyday.  At the beginning of year, I started recording one second of video each day, and hopefully I'll remember all year.  So far I'm 140 for 140! 

Did you see the sunnies that I highlighted in this post last week?  I absolutely love the tortoise shell, and they go with everything: workout gear to anything dressed up.

And, because it's a Monday, a couple of funnies to start your week on the right foot...

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Friday Threes

I am loving all these "retro" blog post topics floating around, so while I spend my Thursday night boarding up our house and prepping for Hurricane Irma, I thought this would be a fun way to waste a little time (while watching FOOTBALL!!!)...

Three favorite foods
Kraft white cheddar mac & cheese
veal parmesan
any type of dip and chips

Three things I'd never give up
golf
cable
snapchat

Three favorite cocktails
Vodka cranberry - my go to
Pineapple Habanero Margarita from Mex 1
Sweet Tea Mojito from the Ryder Cup Bar

Three favorite movies
13 Going on 30
You've Got Mail
Star Wars

Three favorite simple pleasures in life
cat videos
my cats
sleep

Three things that are always in my car 
Home Team dry rub... weird, I know, but we go there every week and I hate asking for extra spice everytime
nail polish
about 10 empty water bottles

Three things I always have with me
phone
sunglasses
...and Mike says my self-confidence haha!

Three things I regret doing / not doing
Hmmm... Googled this one and love this Buzzfeed article

Three most recent places I traveled to
Rhode Island
Cleveland
Cooperstown, NY

Three most often used makeup products
Maybelline Instant Rewind Eraser
Maybelline MegaPlush Mascara
Covergirl Contouring Blush

Three things that make me cry
engagement videos
watching other people cry
military homecoming videos

Three things that make me smile / laugh
cat videos
Mike laughing at 30 Rock... even when watching the same episode for the 101st time
SNL

Three places I want to visit inside the US
Palm Springs
Miami
Seattle

Three places I want to visit outside the US
Cuba
Thailand
Iceland

Three blessings in my life
My husband
My parents
My sight

Five Posts I Never Wrote

Anyone else have a whole bunch of "drafts" sitting in their Blogger or Wordpress account that they look at occasionally, but never finish?  Both of my hands are raised for sure.  The worst part for me, is that for many of them, I even have the photos - I just never got around to writing the posts for one reason or another.  I still use 2010 iPhoto on my Mac Book and create folders for all of my photos.  My most pulled from is "future blog" where I drop everything I think I'll use for blog posts.  I also have CHS Restaurants, House Updates, Food Photos, etc.  Right after the new year, I decided to clean out these folders, and I found photos from years ago.  It was pretty funny, actually.  Here's what I never got around to:

Charleston restaurants: While there are tons of amazing, popular restaurants in the city, there are also those spaces constantly rotating.  We love trying new places, and unfortunately, a couple like Leaf and Lee Lee's Hot Kitchen shut down before I got the chance to hit publish.  Sadly, even a couple of places I have written about, Parlor Deluxe and DeSano have closed recently, too.

Girl Crack: When Mike and I took our bridal party to Maine for a bonding trip before our wedding (summer of 2014 - haha), we learned one of Mike's groomsmen's secret talent: he can bake!  He brought up this delicious dessert that we deemed "girl crack."  Imagine rice krispie treats but made with golden grahams and way more delicious.  So good.  We went at that mountain of crack all weekend (in addition to the tons of other food on our "snack table").  I've been meaning to put up the recipe, but I know that if I make it to take more photos, I will eat the whole thing!

Makeup finds:  A couple years ago, I bought these great spring 2015 e.l.f. products at Target.  I still use (what's left), but alas, more photos I took and never posted. Apparently, the line must be popular because you can still buy a similar eye kit here and lots of shadow colors here.

Home updates: Before we left our house in Connecticut, we had plans for a lot of remodeling.  We even signed a contract for new windows literally days before I was offered my job in Charleston.  Same with the apartment: before we decided to build our home, we had ideas to make our apartment feel more like home with little updates.  I took some before pictures...then we moved.

Shrimp scampi: This recipe will probably still get posted, but I thought it was a funny story.  Working with Sutter Home, I totally misread the instructions.  I had applied for campaigns for both a DIY and a recipe, and I thought I was accepted for the recipe campaign.  I made my scampi, photographed it... then looked at my email again... I was supposed to do the DIY.  At least now I have another post I can put together pretty easily!

Five on Friday

Happy Friday, y'all!  I hope everyone had a great first week of the new year.  I have to admit, I'm happy it's almost the weekend.  This one got me.  While it started out warm (record-breaking 80 on Tuesday!), it's dropped every day, and there's a chance it might even snow here tomorrow.  I know what I'll be doing: watching football, Netflix, and definitely not helping those New Year's resolutions.  Here's what I've been up to:

Lilly Overload: Did anyone else shop the After Party Sale (eventually) yesterday?  What a mess the morning was, but I was pleasantly surprised with how much Lilly made up for it with TONS of inventory.  There are a few more hours, and if you're looking for some fun pieces, here are my favorites:

Essie sleeveless in Multi Roar of the Seas ||| Ellie shorts in Gypsy Jungle ||| Amberly swingy dress in Iris Blue Casa Azul ||| tassel necklace ||| Lilah romper ||| Kelly ankle pant in Indigo Sunken Treasure ||| boxed soap set ||| Egret top in Multi Tile Wave 

Healthy eating: Like I said this week, getting healthy is one of my resolutions this year.  I've started looking up healthy recipes using my Crockpot on Pinterest.  Typically, we always make really heavy, saucy dishes - but if I can combine good food with easy cooking, what's not to love?

Giveaway: Have you checked out my Sephora Instagram giveaway yet?  Today is the last day to enter, so make sure you do: @megd_taylor

Hawaii: Mike and I are making our first trip to Hawaii later this winter.  We are staying at Ko Olina and are looking for suggestions on Oahu!  All we know so far is that we will be golfing, checking out all the beaches, and visiting Pearl Harbor but any restaurant, beach, or fun things to do would be awesome!

Charleston Blog Society: Last night was our January event at the cutest little fabric and sewing class shop in Charleston, Five Eighth Seams.  They taught us how to sew our own infinity scarves and Liz from @charlestonweekender gave a fantastic Instagram talk!  Thanks to @aloadofcraft for the first two photos!

Linking up for Oh hey, Friday, Five on Friday, High Five for Friday, and two doses of Friday Favorites

And A Look Forward...

New year, new goals.

Time for those resolutions.  The last two years (2016, 2015) have been about bettering myself (healthy eating, exercise, and makeup), blogging, and family, and this year looks like it will be much of the same with one additional: travel.  We are looking forward to using our Southwest Companion Pass (every time Mike flies, I fly for free) in 2017!

1. Visit 3 new-to-us cities: combining that pass with our baseball bucket list is going to make for an awesome summer.  Our dream is to see a game at every MLB park together, and so far, we've done San Francisco, NYC (Yankees), Atlanta, Denver, and this year we're looking at Dallas, Chicago, Seattle, St. Louis, or Kansas City - any suggestions?

2. Style my hair everyday: Okay, don't laugh.  Last year, I really did well with my "wear makeup everyday" resolution.  While it might only be mascara, concealer, and blush, I really did feel more put together walking out of the house every morning.  This year, I need to stop leaving for work with wet hair.  I think if I spend 5 minutes blow drying it each morning, I will have even more confidence throughout the day.

3. Improve my health: Here is my vague, perpetual resolution.  This year, my ideas are: vitamins, more salads for lunch, consistent eating, and finding more outdoor activities I enjoy.  We'll see how it goes!

4. Cook one recipe from every cookbook I own: Thank you, Christy for this one!  Mike and I have definitely been better about cooking for one another, but I have all of these cookbooks with pretty photos that I need to use.  I am going to go sticky note crazy this month and find delicious recipes to make all year!

5. Stay in touch: Two years ago, I sent birthday cards to friends and family.  I love the way it feels when I got a card, and while I fulfilled that resolution for most of the year in 2015, I didn't send a single one last year.  Unlike my makeup resolution that really created a lifestyle change, I think I need one more try to get the same to happen with this one.  This year, in addition to birthday cards, I want to try to make one call per week and be more purposeful about replying to messages (emails and texts) when I receive them.

Lastly, because we all want to start our year and resolutions on the right foot, I am hosting a giveaway over on my Instagram page: Tartelette palette, new brushes, and a $50 Sephora gift card to look good and "look ahead" to the new year!  Click here to check it out and enter!

Five on Friday: My Heart Is So Happy

This Friday is such a good one.  It has been the best week, and the weather is going to be perfect this weekend!  What are y'all up?  Here's my week:

1 ||| Halloween - My favorite holiday!  I hosted a Halloween party for my girls at work, like I do every year (I even wore the same costume as two years ago - whoops! Sidenote: apparently kids don't read Waldo books anymore, about half of them had no idea who I was...disappointing.).  Then, for real Halloween, Mike and I hung out on our porch, played cribbage, listened to Halloween Pandora, and passed out candy.  Since we didn't dress up last year, we decided to give it a run this year and came up with the BEST last-minute costume.  Can anyone guess it?  Here's your clue.  Any questions?

David Pumpkins! ...and the skeleton who's PART OF IT!

2 ||| CUBS - Even people who live under rocks probably know about this by now: the Cubs WON THE WORLD SERIES.  It had been 108 years, and they did it in probably the best Game 7 of a World Series ever.  Of course, it was the most stressful Game 7 ever, and boy, did Cleveland hang in there.  As I've said before, I've been a Cubs fan my whole life.  Mike is one now, too, and we've totally rocked Cubs gear all the way in San Fran!  You know I'll be ordering some World Series Champions gear tonight!

my shirt ||| Mike's (similar)

3 ||| Influenster & VIB - It's been forever since I reviewed anything from Influenster, but I was pretty excited to receive the Real Techniques VoxBox with the "Your Picks" brush set, a makeup sponge, and this setting brush.  While the sponge and setter have been around for a while, the brush set is pretty new.  It's a combination of all the favorite brushes voted on by fans.  As silly as it sounds, I love the weight of these brushes.  They are a little on the heavier side, and I feel like that really helps me control where my makeup is going.  While I have yet to try the setting brush (don't wear a lot of setting powder), I do like the sponge for both makeup blending and covering blemishes.  It's versatile and my makeup stays on evenly.  It'll be even more fun with some goodies from next weekend's VIB sale shopping (I have my eye on this and this).  I'll live vicariously through all the VIB Rouge members this weekend!

4 ||| Vote - THIS TUESDAY!  This election is so important, not just for the presidency but also those down ballot races for control of Congress.  I don't talk politics at all typically on this blog, but this election is different: progress is on the ballot.  You can find your polling place by clicking here.

5 ||| The Mac Off - My favorite event of the year is this weekend, and I am so excited to be partnering with them and to judge on the Critic's Choice panel.  This year, not only has it been expanded to two year, but they're even going to have a test kitchen - I cannot wait to sample the cheese and beer pairings!  You'll definitely find me snapchatting (megatronnn27) about this one all day tomorrow with their new snapchat filter!  If you're in the Charleston area, you should definitely add this to your weekend plans!  You can purchase tickets by clicking here.

Linking up for Oh hey, Friday, Five on Friday, High Five for Friday, and two doses of Friday Favorites

Five Last-Minute Halloween Costume Ideas

Alright, y'all - Halloween is in four days.  Did anyone else wait until the last minute to choose a costume, like me?

Since we're in a house, not an apartment, this will be the first year we get to pass out candy to a whole mess of kids.  Even when we lived in a house in Connecticut, I swear, there was always something crazy that prevented us from having a real Halloween (like this freak snowstorm).  We bought 200 pieces of candy and will be sitting on our porch to give it out - so excited to see all the little kids in their costumes!  Needless to say, we need to dress up.  Mike's always been the best at coming up with couple's costumes.  Our first year together, when my college roommates and I were the Ninja Turtles, he was Splinter, and a couple years ago, he even made our Mario and Luigi costumes.  Well, we don't have that much time left, but I have started brainstorming some easy costumes that we'll be able to put together in a day or two:

1. Character onesie: Target has the best collection of union suits right now.  You can be a Power Ranger, Minion, Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, or even do Big Bird and Cookie Monster as a couples' costume.  I bought this one last year, and am seriously thinking about wearing it.  Bonus - it's one of the warmest costumes ever, and you can wear these comfy pjs all winter!

2. Crazy Cat Lady: Here's another costume where you can buy something comfortable and wear it again.  Get yourself a bathrobe and some fuzzy slippers, and find that collection of old stuffed animals.  Carry around a couple of cats, and even put some in your pockets!

3. Snapchat filter: There are sooo many good ones for this costume category: the puppy dog, deer, rainbow tongue, and my personal favorite, the flower crown.  I made this one for my Halloween party at work!  I just took a photo of myself in the filter, removed the background, and printed it out on card stock.  I taped the crown to a headband and did a full face of makeup as light and bright as possible!  If you'd like me to email you this printable, just leave me a comment!

4. Superman: Going to a party after work?  Put a Superman or Superwoman tee shirt on under your clothes (make sure you wear a button-up shirt) before you leave.  Then, when you get to the party, unbutton the shirt to reveal your costume!

5. Beanie Baby: This last one is for your pet.  Take a piece of red card stock, write "TY" on it with white paint, and attach it to your pet's leash.  For extra points, put his/her name and birthday inside the tag!  Check out this tutorial to see how to make it in more detail.

Are you dressing up for Halloween this year?  Any fun weekend festivities planned?

Empties: Re-buy or Recycle

One of my New Year's Resolutions this year was to wear makeup everyday, and until last Wednesday, I had accomplished that.  Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to wear any makeup over the next couple of weeks as my eye heals, but I'm going to jump right back on it as soon as I can.  I have seen a few of these "empties" posts and videos from my favorite bloggers in the past, and now that I'm going through enough makeup, I wanted to share which products I'll be buying again or which ones I'll be looking for new alternatives to.

e.l.f Eyelid Primer: This primer works great and really sets a great base before I apply eyeshadow.  Especially for the price, I swear by this stuff.  Re-buy.

Maybelline Dream Pure BB: I don't wear foundation, like, ever, but when I'm going for a more full-face look, this is what I use.  I love how easy this cream is to apply, and it doesn't feel heavy at all.  I was surprised how far a little tube has gone, and I've only bought it two times in the last year.  Re-buy.

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser: If I don't have time for anything else in the morning, I make sure that this stuff and mascara make it on my face.  This concealer sets so quickly and covers amazingly.  Re-buy.

Maybelline Dream Lumi and Maybelline Fit Me concealers: I thought Dream Lumi was great until I bought Fit Me for the first time, now I will never go back to Dream Lumi.  The formula is good, but the blending power of Fit Me is unmatched. Dream Lumi: Recycle; Fit Me: Re-buy.

Maybelline Waterproof Mega Plush: I used to solely wear waterproof mascara, and this was my go-to.  The formula isn't too thick, compared to other waterproofs.  However, the regular formula (non-waterproof) is too thin for me, so I use this or this.  Re-buy.

Covergirl Instant Cheekbones in Sophisticated Sable: I love the perfect combination of blush and bronzer.  (I'm lazy in the morning and go for the fewest products as possible when getting ready.)  I only use the middle color, so I initially thought this product was a bit of a waste.  Instead, I've tried purchasing a couple different colors of Maybelline's Dream Wonder powder, but no color is the same, so I'll be going back to using my one color in the Covergirl palette.  Re-buy.

Urban Decay All Nighter setting spray: I received this spray as a sample when I made a Sephora order.  All-nighter was too oily, so I purchased Urban Decay De-slick and am happily using that one. Recycle.

Neutrogena Make-up Remover Towelettes: I've used these for years and swear by them.  They take off makeup (including waterproof mascara) with such ease, and don't leave your skin feeling dry.  Re-buy.

Neutrogena Oil-Free Pink Grapefruit Foaming Scrub: Here's another product I've used for years, but now with the outlaw on microbeads, I wonder what will happen to the formula.  If it stays even remotely similar, I'll be happy.  Re-buy.

Pumpkin Spice Latte Scrub: Since I made this in the fall, I've used this every couple of days throughout the winter to get rid of dead cells and keep my skin hydrated.  Now that it's springtime, I'm looking for a new scrub to make - any scent or ingredient suggestions?  Re-make.

There you have it!  What products are loving (or hating) recently?