Fun Friday: Playing With Black Lipstick/Vegan Makeup Review

Hey guys! Happy Friday, I hope that you are all well. Before I get into the fun part of this fun Friday post I do just want to mention that I am completely sick with worry about the people affected by Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Harvey and the fires. I can't believe what is happening. It feels apocalyptic to be honest with you. I'm hoping with all of my heart that Vegan in The VI (aka Shen) and her crew are safe. I'm terrified for what is to come for Florida and knowing that I most likely won't be able to find out if people that I love are safe. If anyone knows of any way to help besides donations (that will be done, of course, but I'm looking for a way to do something more) please let me know.

OK. That is a heavy way to start off Fun Friday but let's have a little fun too. I mentioned last week that I ordered a few of the Kat Von D Everlasting Glimmer Veil Liquid Lipsticks. I received them on Friday actually and couldn't wait to try them out. Of course I was most intrigued by the black shade, Wizard. I've always wanted black lipstick but never thought I could pull it off and I absolutely do not have the confidence to wear it outside of my house. I decided to play with that one first and did a full face with it. I still didn't leave the house with it but I do LOVE it. Maybe one day I'll have the confidence to rock it out in the world.

So here it is. My first black lipstick makeup look. Just as a quick product review, I love this liquid lipstick. I'm a sucker for all things metallic and the finish on this is beautiful. Add glitter and I'm automatically a fan. The glitter is not gritty and the formula is nice and light. Please excuse my absolutely horrific eyeliner application. I just can never seem to get it right.

I also tried out the new Wet n Wild Mermaid highlighter that I shared last week. It's hard to really capture it in a photograph but you can really see it on my nose (the last place I'd want the highlight to be prominent but oh well). You can also see it on my cupids bow and on my forehead just above my nose. You can't really see it on the tops of my cheekbones but it is there. This highlight is gorgeous, I just don't think it suits my skin tone well. I have cooler undertones and this is a warmer highlight so it kind of makes me look a little dirty I think. But, if you have warmer undertones this highlight will be stunning on you and the price is definitely right!

I decided to go with a purple eye makeup look with the dark black lipstick. The lipstick has gold and purple glitter in it so I decided to pull out the purple. I really like the look. One day I will leave my house in it. I'm thinking about easing into it with Halloween and taking it from there.

Just as a side note, has anyone ever gone their whole lives thinking their eye color was one color but it's actually another? My whole life I've just thought my eyes were a bluish gray, leaning more towards blue. Nope. Straight up gray. It only took me 30+ years to figure it out. So ridiculous.

So there you go! Do you guys like makeup reviews? I know it always helps me to watch or read reviews before purchasing something, especially at a higher price point. Let me know if you'd like to see more! Also, if you have holy grail vegan makeup products let me know what they are! I'm always interested in trying new things.

I hope that you all have a good weekend. If you are in Irma's path, have had to deal with Harvey or are being affected by the fires please know that you are in my thoughts and if there is ANYTHING I can do to help please let me know in the comments below.

<3 Stay safe everyone.

Stuff I Ate

Hey everyone! I hope all is well! Sorry for missing Sunday. As I mentioned in my last post I haven't been feeling great this past week so meals haven't been all that inspired or plentiful. I managed to take a few pictures to show you though.

In the beginning of the week I was just kind feeling a little snacky every once in a while so I brought some tortilla chips to graze on and a primal strip.

Some refreshing watermelon for breakfast one day. I'm going to miss this when the summer is over.

We had some leftover Turkish Bread from when I bought some hummus so I made a little pizza out of it (that is a salad plate it is on). It was really delicious.

Of course I had to make sure I got some Bubble Tea in! I'm just now noticing the cigarette butt in the background of this photo and I'm bummed I didn't see it when I was there so I could get rid of it.

Last night I attempted to make an actual meal. For some reason I decided to pick up some Trader Joe's Meatless Meatballs. I've literally had meatballs once in my life and I hated them so I don't know what possessed me to get them but I did. I made some pasta with sauce and TJs meatless meatballs and a little shredded vegan mozz and it was so good! If you've been here a while you know I don't eat a lot of pasta because it is just so heavy for me but I thoroughly enjoyed this! Next time I will cut down on the meatballs (the serving size is 6, I was fine with 4) and add some veggies in.

So that's the sad list of things I've been consuming this week. My appetite is still kind of messed up so I haven't really been too interested in being in the kitchen. Hopefully everything will get sorted out soon and things will start to get back to normal.

I hope that you all had a nice Labor Day weekend! I'll see you here for Fun Friday!

Fun Friday: New Vegan Products!

Hi you guys! I hope that you are all doing well and hopefully gearing up for a long weekend! I'll be living vicariously through you since my weekend stays the same but I'm definitely hoping for some quality rest and relaxation since I haven't been feeling great this week. I didn't think that today's post was even going to happen but I managed to pull myself together and I am excited for what I have to share with you today!

I thought it would be fun to check out some fun new vegan things I've found around town. They may not be new to the market but they are new to me and I'm happy to be trying them. I have a few food items and a few makeup items! There's a lot of pictures so stick with me :)

So up first I was SO FREAKING EXCITED to make this discovery! I personally think 7-11 coffee is way better than Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts (who were the ones with vegan milk options) so I'd get my coffee black and add my own creamer later. Well. Not anymore!!! My 7-11 started carrying Silk Almond Creamer! What the what?! I was so excited to not have to carry my own damn creamer since I'm apparently not even capable of picking up the proper container from the store. Check your local 

7-11 if you like their coffee best!

As I showed in my last Whole Foods haul, I grabbed the Kite Hill Strawberry Banana yogurt tubes to try out. Strawberry banana yogurt is my favorite so I was excited to give it a try. It's ok, I just wish there was more banana flavor. You can definitely taste the almonds. I found that the almond and also just straight up sweetness to be the strongest flavors. I think it will be perfect squeezed on top of a banana though. I am not in love with it but I don't hate it. I'll finish them but probably won't buy it again.

I'd been hearing about how this is the BEST vegan macaroni and cheese around town so when I saw it in my store I figured I'd give it a try.

I added some broccoli and cauliflower to mine to add some sort of nutrition and gave it a try. Honestly, I don't really like it. There is no cheesy taste at all and I get that vegan mac n cheese isn't going to taste super cheesy but this is just bland. It was definitely disappointing, especially because it was so hyped to begin with. I have another serving left that I will eat because I'm not about wasting food but definitely disappointing.

Ok let's move on to some makeup!!

I love Wet n Wild as a brand. They are super affordable, their products are nice quality, you can find it almost anywhere and they are completely cruelty free and mostly vegan. My highlighter game is severely lacking and I had heard about the limited edition Mermaid Highlighting Bar in Midnight Moon in the new  Wet n Wild Midnight Mermaid collection and figured I'd see if I could get my hands on it. Clearly I did and you guys... how fucking stunning is this product?! It looks like a mermaid imprint in the sand and the color and pigmentation are absolutely phenomenal. And it's HUGE. You get 8.5 grams of highlighter for $6.99. That's amazing. 

And they are awesome and clearly label their vegan products with "Vegan." I thought that was worth sharing so if you are not sure, try taking a look at the product and most likely it will say it. If not check online, they are very good about being clear about which products are vegan.

I really want to try their foundation and concealer but haven't found it in stores yet. I get worried about trying to match my face color when I order online because I'm just terrible at it. Have you guys seen them anywhere?

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this on here before but I really love Kat Von D. I love her style, her aesthetic, her taste, her talent and the way she is fearless in expressing exactly who she is. I think she is amazing and I love her beauty line. Her brand is also completely cruelty free and is moving toward making her whole line Vegan but for now you can check which products of hers are vegan on her website.

You guys know I'm a sucker for lipstick. Especially bold lipsticks. That have glitter and are metallic. I've been waiting for these matte metallic lipsticks to come out for about a year I think and they are finally here and they are STUNNING. These are the Kat Von D Everlasting Glimmer Veil Liquid Lipsticks and I could not wait to get my grubby paws on them.

I decided to go for it and splurge on an early birthday give for myself and I ordered three colors. They are scheduled to be delivered today and I can't freaking wait!

I have been searching for a color like this for YEARS. A cherry red metallic lipstick that reminds me of Dorothy's ruby slippers in the Wizard of Oz. It has not existed until now. You better believe I ordered this beauty.

I know this is similar to the one above but that intense copper shift is what won me over. Copper is an amazing color for ladies with blue eyes (that color wheel stuff works guys!) and copper lipstick is one of my favorites. Pair it with a brick red base color and I'm sold.

I know. This one is probably very surprising. I surprised myself too but I REALLY wanted it. I've wanted a black lipstick for a really long time but could never really justify it. Then I saw this one with its purple and silver glitter and as much as I tried to talk myself out of it I just couldn't. It's so pretty. And maybe I'll only wear it on Halloween or contained in my own house but I just really wanted it in my collection. Maybe I'll do a look to share with you guys here.

So that's what I have for you guys today! Have you seen any new products out there that you've wanted to try? Do you have any recommendations for things I should look out for? Let me know in the comments below!

Thank you all so much for reading and I will see you back here on Sunday! Happy Friday!

Whole Foods Haul & Bonus Meals

Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed your weekend and that your Monday went well. My weekend flew by as usual. I'm back with another haul, this time from Whole Foods. I rarely go to Whole Foods now but since the prices will apparently be dropping a bit maybe I'll see myself over there a little more often! I had one thing on my list (which of course they didn't have - the new Kite Hill Greek Yogurt) but of course I still left with stuff. Here is my haul.

So I thought I had grabbed a large Silk Soy Creamer but apparently I grabbed protein soy milk. That's kind of a bummer. I didn't even realize that until right now. I grabbed Chocolate Almond Breeze for smoothies (because why not), Kite Hill strawberry banana yogurt tubes (strawberry banana is my favorite yogurt flavor), Dolma of course and some Popcorn Soy Nuggets.

I also grabbed some Maca Powder to try in smoothies, cotton candy grapes (SO WEIRD!!), tofutti, Justin's PB Cups (bc reasons) and of course my beloved primal strips.

My Whole Foods is right next to a Starbucks and I grabbed a lightly sweetened passion tea lemonade to try and it was really good! I love that color.

I decided to be all frugal and re-use the Starbucks cup for my smoothie this morning. This is a peanut butter banana smoothie and here's what's in it: 3 bananas, 1.25 cups Chocolate Almond Milk, 1 heaping TBSP of Peanut Butter, cinnamon and 1 tsp of Maca Powder. It's so good but also really filling. I'm about a third of the way down and so full so I'll be sipping it all morning.

If I am hungry for lunch I made this bento box with Dolma, tomatoes, lots of carrots and some of the grapes. I can't find the white container  that goes in my bento for now so I had to use this dressing cup for my hummus.

That's all for today! I'll be back Friday with a Fun Friday post! Have a great week!

Grocery Haul

Hey everyone! I hope that all is well and that you are all enjoying your weekend. I woke up this morning and headed over to Trader Joe's and probably grabbed the most random groceries ever but I'm pretty excited about my haul. I figured I'd share it with you along with an amazing Farmers Market purchase that I made yesterday.

I grabbed some sprouted tofu, sparkling limeade, grape tomatoes, bok choy, one GIANT potato, baby carrots and some romaine hearts.

There was also Inner Peas, Everything Pretzel Slims, Soy Cherry Chocolate Ice Cream, Fat Free Refried Beans, Slivered Almonds (for salad) and some Lavash.

I follow Macaron 5 Chic on social media (a local Macaron baker who sells at farmers markets) because she always makes one vegan flavor to sell at the market. I wasn't really planning on getting any this week (I just finished the chocolate mint ones that I froze from a few weeks/month ago) but when I saw the new flavor was Peanut Butter Chocolate I got in my car and ran over before work.

I got there just in time to grab the last 5 she had left! I was there around 8:30 and she had already sold out of the vegan flavor! That's amazing!

They are beautiful and she let me try one of the minis that she brings as samples and you guys. It is her best flavor yet!! So freaking good.

I was waiting for an appointment on Monday and used my phone's backward camera to make sure my makeup hadn't melted off of my face and decided to randomly take a picture of myself. As you know I don't take a whole lot of pictures of myself so I figured that's progress. My gray hair seems to be multiplying dramatically nowadays but it's looking kind of cool and highlighty. So here I am waiting for an appointment on a hot day (and my makeup had miraculously not melted, ha!).

I hope that you are all enjoying your weekend! Tonight we are going out for a birthday dinner for my brother (his actually birthday was yesterday) and hopefully tomorrow will be mellow. What did you guys do this weekend as the summer is winding down?

Fun Friday: Catching Up!

Hi everyone! I'm so sorry I took a longer break than expected. When I house sit my whole schedule and routine are thrown off - which is fine - but it just makes it hard for me to keep up with the blog. My transition from there back to my house happened on Tuesday so it just made it difficult to get a post up but I made sure to have some content for a post today. How has your week been? I've missed you guys!

So to catch up I have a few meals to share and some fur baby pictures as well. There aren't a ton of the fur babies because we weren't very cooperative this time around but I did the best I could!

I've been sticking to just having one or two small coffees a week and decided to go for a small hot coffee this time. The Silk Creamer is definitely my favorite. I prefer original but I've only been able to find Vanilla lately (which is fine, it's still delicious!).

Some really beautiful, fresh veggie rolls. So delicious.

Vegan Chick'n Caesar salad. Sadly no vegan croutons to be found lately.

I brought this salad with me for lunch and I'm quite excited about it! It's my fav with some cranberries, cashews, granny smith apple, romaine and the Asian Vinaigrette from Panera.

Jack still enjoys stalking the poor fish. Sometimes I'll walk in and she is sitting there with her leg wrapped around the tank. 

Sweet Tyler! Still neurotic as always.

Poor TJ and his sad little face. I think he's allergic to his food because he would get so red every time he ate. Poor guy has a vet appointment coming up so hopefully they'll figure it out. I have also decided that he looks exactly like Eeyore in dog form.

Tyler was the most cooperative out of everyone so he is featured twice. Eddie was not cooperative at all and would barely come out because he hates me (I'm super allergic to him so he's not allowed in the bedroom at all when I'm there) so I wasn't able to get a picture of him this time.

So that's what I have to share today. I hope that you have all been well! I've been trying to keep up with your blogs during the break. I should be back on Sunday with a grocery haul. Happy Friday to everyone, I hope you enjoy the weekend! Any fun plans? Let me know.

Stuff We Ate This Weekend

Hey everyone! Long time no speak! I've been really busy with caring for the herd and also spending some quality time with my friend last weekend. We had a really fun weekend but as always, it went way too quickly. We made sure to savor every moment and most importantly we appreciated the time together as we do not get it often.

I do not have fur baby pictures yet (maybe a fun friday post?) but I did take a few pictures of meals I made for us last weekend that I thought I'd share today!

The first night she was here I made this Vegan Chick'n Caesar Pasta Salad! I don't know why I thought it would be fun to add pasta to a chick'n caesar salad but I did and it was indeed fun. Basically all I did was cook 1/3 box of pasta (this is Gemelli shaped, how fun are they?!), cut one romaine heart, cook a package of Gardein Teriyaki Chick'n Strips (save the teriyaki for a stir fry later, just cook the strips with no sauce) and mixed it all with Just Caesar dressing. It was so easy and delicious. I'm sure it would also be delicious with tomatoes too!

For breakfast I attempted to make french toast but that was an epic fail so we ended up with macerated strawberries and granola and some toast. My toast had Earth Balance.

We also went out for bubble tea. I had my favorite Peach Pulp tea and it was delicious of course. She was not a huge fan of it (she tried the almond one) and I totally get that. A lot of people find it to be a strange experience.

This dinner was SO GOOD. We each had a salad (romaine, cashews, cranberries, granny smith apple and Asian Vinaigrette) and I made up some cheesy rosemary toasts that we dipped in pizza sauce for a fun deconstructed pizza type of thing. We shared this plate. I had some left over but it just didn't reheat well so just make what you need if you are making this :)

Here is a closeup of the salad.

And this gorgeousness is the cheesy toast and pizza sauce.

So all in all it was a really fun weekend and we ate really well :) I miss her already but luckily I have all of the puppy cuddles I could ever ask for.

I hope that you are all well and I will see you on Friday!