Pinterest Pin Test: Brush Cleaning DIY

When I saw this Pin I knew I had to try it. Seemed really simple and so completely affordable that it is just to good to be true right?

Homemade brush cleaner:
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tsp of dawn soap (I just used my own face wash)
And warm water all in a cup-let sit/stir until all the nastiness has come out then
wash under the faucet until water runs clear, shape and dry laying down

As a makeup artist and skincare 'professional' as my day job now, I figured it was time to start taking my own advice to all my customer's and start cleaning my own brushes everyday to help reduce on bacteria transfer and put an end to acne breakouts.

Well the results were undeniably successful!

And now that I've started cleaning them after every use (soaking and soaping included) I've already started to notice less breakouts except for those monthly ones. Hallelujah right?!

On the move again...

I told you a couple days ago that I would explain why I've been so MIA and here it is. We are going to be moving in a little over a week. Our apartment changed the pet policy, and since we're the only tenants with pets we were asked to move within a month period or get rid of our dogs. Since we'll never be getting rid of our family members/children we decided to move on short notice.

While that seems like a bitter pill it actually works out really well so that we can start seriously saving money-more than we previously have-for a down payment on a house. Jared's mom has generously invited us to move into her house since she's rarely ever home and that way we can save the money that would have gone to rent and put it towards a down payment. We're definitely looking at this in a positive light because we've been wanting to move anyways and it will give us five to six months to save up.

Huge upsides of moving is that Adi and Aspen will have a whole backyard to play in and when it warms up they'll be able to stay outside instead of in their crate, and I'll have tons and tons of space to garden to my hearts content. We're also going to help Sherrie refinish the backyard slowly over the summer. I'm really looking forward to being back in North Salt Lake close to our parents and old stomping grounds.

Huge downside is that we are moving away from all our couple friends that we do double dates with, and that Jared is going to have to commute even farther for the rest of the semester. But he's got his Associate's degree so he's going to transfer up to the U for his Bachelors' so that commuting will only last for a little over a month.

Here's to packing, cleaning, and moving!

Our second D.I. pile just keeps getting larger and larger. We've already taken three full trash bags already, but I'm highly motivated to truly do some deep cleaning since I don't want to have to move all this crap!

p.s. packing up all your crap is time intensive and sucks

p.p.s. cleaning up after you've packed sucks even worse

p.p.p.s. fresh starts and change are always the bright lights at the end of the moving tunnel

First Day at Clinique

Here is what I wore:

Sorry I've been MIA for so long, it's been a busy transition and a couple things completely unexpected have come up on top of a new job so my stress level has been pretty high. I'll update you all in a day or so about the new changes happening for our little family. But in the meantime I'm loving life at Nordstrom and Clinique, I really think I've found my niche!

Come say hi if you're ever at City Creek!

p.s. please disregard the dirty laundry basket in the background...there's always more where that came from.

Why, oh why?

When I saw the ads for this movie I knew it was going to be hilarious!

And then when Jared told me that it was rated R I couldn't help but think, 'why does Hollywood have to ruin great story lines by making movies 'over the top' so it can be rated R?'

Bummer.

Nordies Promotion

Sorry for my February Funk...its been a busy couple of weeks and seasonal depression has definitely descended on our house, but I'm ready to get back into normal daily routines including blogging. I wanted to spill the beans on my big news and exciting opportunity as one of my many fresh starts.

After only seven months working for Nordstrom and one promotion within my department, I have been offered another promotion as a Clinique Specialist at the City Creek Nordstrom. I am completely head-over-heels over this new opportunity and challenge! It's definitely going to put me out of my comfort zone, but will be absolutely rewarding as I learn new concepts and tasks. My first day is the 20th of this month, which only gave me a little over a week to say goodbye to my team but it's a good goodbye.

Come see me at City Creek, for really anything if even to just say Hello!

Bonus: one more thing scratched off my Bucket List!

Target Practice

Jared is officially trying to get me ready for my carried concealed class that I probably will take sometime in March. He got the gun that I will carry as my CCW for me as a Christmas present and this was my first outing shooting it.

Jared was clearly a very proud husband.

Jared's 27th Surprise Party

Which I pathetically didn't take any photos of. Except for his sparkler candles which lit at different times so I only got a photo of one being lit. And he'd already blown out the other candles. Epic fail.

Additionally Jared came home a half hour earlier than I had planned so not all the guests had arrived yet to yell 'Surprise!' so it was more of, "Melissa, what are these people doing here?" and me yelling, "Surprise!" But the food was amazing, homemade green chili chicken enchiladas and peanut butter chocolate fudge cake both of which were huge hits!

Twenty seven is going to treat you great love!