What I Love About Vacation

Although I didn't travel, having several days off of work to unwind and catch up on things really felt great. Here are a few highlights of my days away from the office:

a mini sephora haul, compliments of christmas gift cards :)
Reviews will be up soon!

With all of the hype of the upcoming new year and resolutions consistently being made, this quote I came across last night really inspired me, and kind of wrapped all of my resolutions into one big bow.
Do you have any new, challenging resolutions for the new year? Or are yours something that you didn't quite stick to last year?

Friday Favorite

revlon colorburst in shameless

one way to dress up the messy bun look

cannot get enough of this face! friend's new puppy.

creative table top and a glass of vino.

Thursday Song

I was watching the VS Fashion Show on Tuesday and they premiered their holiday commercial; while I was thinking about how much more I should work out, I was also really loving the song they used.

What I Love About Sunday

Sunday was the start of a tradition (hopefully) with my friends and I. We bravely took on the task of having a cookie day; baking homemade Christmas cookies. All day. We slaved in the kitchen for hours, making dough and icing from scratch, followed by an intense icing competition. And while our "red" food coloring turned out to be a bright hue of pink, we made it work. Because we're clearly professionals.

the final results..

Friday Favorite

getting festive 'round these parts.

a festive green & gold mani

attempting homemade christmas cards this year

cookies I made. just kidding - my best friends and I are having a cookie day on Sunday
and I clearly have high, high hopes on the decorating portion.

Thursday Song

hope you're having a great week! xoxo

What I Love About Sunday

More like: what I love about a long break, getting together with family, shopping, cozy mornings that include coffee in bed and long walks with my pal, Brutus.

winter walks with brutus aren't so bad when you have this view

a local brewery, fireside and holiday decor. pretty perfect.

shopping local;  check out FarmTeam Apparel

new specs! pretty excited about the great finds on warby parker. 

late night cuddle session with this guy.

Friday Favorite

it's been a busy week, so:

 brutus and a great quote. that's all i got for ya.

Thursday Song

an upbeat tune for this dreary friday.

The List

One thing that's wonderful about Pinterest, is pinning all of these items that you swear you'll purchase; or you make a commitment with yourself to be more crafty, or come the holidays you'll be making snowman cupcakes, reindeer cookies and anything else that you can convert into a Christmas themed food.

So by the end of the day Friday, I was pretty friggen bored at work all done with my work, and decided I'd start pinning: my Christmas list, of course. Just because you're 25, doesn't mean you're too old for a list.

I started pinning these staple items that I'll obviously need for winter, key winter beauty trends, and of course unique gift wrapping ideas that I really, really want to stick to!

The problem is, I'm an old fashion write-it-down kind of gal, and I always forget what I pinned. Does this happen to you? No? Well, look at you.

I thought, maybe if I blog about my list, it'd help to remember. And if anyone else has a system that works for them besides like I don't know, just remembering?? let me know. Below are some looks I'm currently obsessing over.

What I Love About Sunday

crew watching the bills game.

guys, were you aware that great lakes' christmas ale was back?
the most wonderful time of the year :)

this guy has my heart. even B is getting in the holiday spirit with his toy reindeer.

Thursday Song

her talent is beyond this world.

Getting Unready

each night, after i've finally finished my after work errands, i look forward to getting unready. as a beauty lover at heart - getting ready is one of my favorite things to do. but to be honest, sometimes it sucks and it can be the last thing you want to do.
getting unready kind of caps of the day for me, you know, like the last step before getting into bed and sinking into full relaxation mode. i cannot completely relax until i know my skin is taken care of for the night.
below i captured my getting unready products/process. while i sometimes will swap out certain products, it usually stays the same.
how do you get unready?

clarisonic mia

maybelline's clean express eye makeup remover

nivea creme; to moisturize hands

blistex lip medex; love to use this right before bed

benefit's it's potent! eye cream

korres quercetin & oak anti-aging and anti-wrinkle night cream

neutrogena's pore refining toner

and floss, of course.

not pictured (but usually changes): cetaphil daily cleanser

Thursday Song

one good thing about streaming listening to music at work, is discovering new artists.

ang low - life goes down

Velour Lashes

ONE coat of mascara underneath whispie sweet nothings

I first learned about Velour Lashes from watching one of my absolute favorite beauty guru's;

Jaclyn Hill. Not only do I think in real life we'd probably be best friends, but I've agreed with

each product review she's given [for the ones that I have - others just get added to the list :) ]

So, when I watched her 'how to apply false lashes' video and saw she was using a lash brand I had never heard of, I naturally had to do a little research.

Can I just say, that these lashes are 1) so so amazing 2) made with 100% mink fur and 3) everything you've

ever wanted in false lashes. They instantly added volume and gave the complete final touch of my makeup look that night. You're able to use these lashes up to 25 times - what other lashes can do that?! I also found that they were much easier to apply than the other brands I've had in the past. 

I did have to trim them on the ends a bit, as they were a bit too long for my lids. One coat of mascara under these babies and I was set. I always apply a little of mascara first because false lashes are usually very dark. It's easier to see the separation of your real lashes and your falsies without that coat of mascara.

The quality is honestly outstanding - as soon as you purchase these, I promise that you won't be let down, or want to buy flimsy lashes ever again!

What I Love About Sunday

hard cider; so good but so sweet.

a wonderful quote I came across; starting to practice as of late

the start of the layers; bundling up is a must in Buffalo

Friday Favorite

It's November already! Can anyone else believe this? I hate to admit that I'm one of those 'loves everything about Christmas and shamefully forgets about Thanksgiving' people. I'm not sure why, because I'm a big lover of food. I have my traditions with Thanksgiving as well, like watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in pajamas, accompanied by a hot cup of coffee. But Christmas? Nothing beats it.
Here I am talking about Thanksgiving and Christmas as Halloween was just yesterday.
Here are some highlights:

as embarrassing as this is, you have to appreciate the childhood homemade costumes

homemade costumes now

i finally had the chance to carve a pumpkin!

Drugstore Gems

Hello and welcome to this weeks edition of Krystin Can't Just Buy What She's Supposed to at Target.

But really; I've seen so.many.reviews. on the two products above and finally caved.
I honestly didn't have high expectations for either one. What could be THAT different about this foundation and shampoo?

I used the shampoo this morning and my hair is definitely softer. If I was a morning person and didn't hit snooze 5 times, I would've had more time to actually do my hair and I bet it would've look great. Instead, I just used a round brush and blow dried it - I'm still pretty happy with how much lighter my hair feels. I definitely have to keep this shampoo to 1x a week, since I dye my hair. I also usually don't wash my hair every single day; I keep it to every other.

The foundation might be my favorite out of all of the drugstore foundations I have. I still want to use it a little longer before I jump to that conclusion, though. It was really easy to blend, was a perfect match for my skin and feels weightless. I've heard of others blending it with a MAC foundation, or others that they have laying around so I will definitely be trying that as well!

What I Love About Sunday

old whiskey bottle at my grandparents

a nice reminder to start your day with positive thoughts

the most amazing lashes I ever did see; obsessed. review coming soon

a stop on a recent haunted pub crawl. creepy.

Thursday Song

What I Love About Sunday

colorful beauty blenders to add to the collection

lazy sunday with this guy

always good to get together with longtime friends

love the look of this antler chandelier