The OC

I have a little bit on an obsession...

If you've never watched the OC, let me give you a quick rundown
ITS THE MOST AWESOME SHOW EVERRRRRR

i watch all 4 seasons on the original dates they were aired, every year

i am a fan-girl by all stretchs of the definition

It began in 2004, when i was just a youngin'

I didnt watch it at first, but as soon as i did i was hooked

Sadly, it ended 4 years later in 2007, on my 19th birthday

I will never forget the OC, & i will continue to watch it & talk about it & pretend its still on TV lol

I plan on getting a signed cast photo

Cause thats just how i roll

lol

dont judge too harshly

I just had to get that off my chest co now i can talk about it freely
:) 

Post Marissa - Circa 2007

The Beauty Blogger Tag

I found this tag from Ker Ker over at Beauty & Things

Rules:

State that the tag was created by The Beau Bow
Tag as many beauty bloggers as you would like
Title this post the ‘Beauty Blogger Tag’

Questions & Answers: 

1. Name a beauty routine you barely do.

This is so bad ! I very rarely follow a nightly skin care routine. I know, i know its a sin, & I have all the products i need i just don't use them. Sigh, it's definitely time to stop slacking 

2. Is washing your brushes something that you regularly do?
Yep, usually weekly ! I get a kick out of seeing my blush / foundation brushes transform colours once their clean, plus i got some amazing brush cleaner from Daiso. 

3. How long do you last with chipped nail varnish?
Only a day or so. I just can't ignore it once i've noticed it start to chip...so i take it off

4. How often do you put off buying/replacing a beauty item or nail polish, even if you need it? 
A week or so, however with some things i will just wait until there is sale (like 40% off at priceline)

5. What is your worst beauty habit? 
Not plucking my eyebrows often enough & then regretting it as soon as i put highlighter under my eyebrows 

6. Name something non-beauty related that you tend to put off all the time.
Getting my car serviced, bad Lauren !

7. When going out somewhere do you leave getting ready until the last-minute or not? 
Not really. I find that if i am super excited about the event, say it's a friends wedding, i will get ready wayyyyy in advance & turn it into a little event of it's own. It usually includes a bath, wine & Katy Perry music 

8. Can you commit to spending bans?
Yep. I guess i'm kind of on a ban now. If i have a goal i am working towards then i am pretty focused & don't mind not being able to buy things 

9. How organised is your make up and nail polish collection?
Actually a little too organised. It's all put away in the closet of my spare room. Which is good, but i feel like i dont go through my collection often enough & alot of things get left unused 

10. What is the longest time you have gone without writing a blog post?
Months. It's a habit i have broken now, but i am still trying to become more consistent 

So there you go :)
Hope you enjoyed learning a little more about me, i LOVE reading posts like this so if you're keen to participate in this tag, i tag you !!

Let me know if you do cause i'd love to read it
xx

Lifes little luxuries

This is a post i've been wanting to do for a while now !
I guess its a bit of a habit i want to start

Not long ago on the Vogue forums i was reading a thread of a similar name where girls were writing about little things around their home / office that bring a bit of luxury to everyday ! It's such a great idea, it really made me appreciate how many beautiful things we come into contact with daily !

Each Sunday i'm planning to put up a post about the little things from my week that made life just a little bit sweeter !

The photos below are a mash up of things from the past few weeks but from here on out i'm going to be doing it each Sunday based on photos from the week before :)

L. a delicious country chicken pie we made for dinner one night, notice my failed 'arrows'

R. really really enjoying these decadent chocolate chip cookies, sigh clean eating starts tomorrow 

 L. my new favorite celestial seasonings tea

R. super yummy beef stroganoff made in my new slow cooker

L. a beautiful rose given to me from our ceremony venue

R. a new burger place we ate at with mason jar lights & hanging baskets ! Cute 

Hope you guys enjoy !

Life has been rather hectic !

I feel like this year just will NOT slow down
How is it June already, and not just June...the very last week of June !
My beginning to 2014 was supercharged to say the least;

January
- we planned our engagement party for the end of January (this got pushed back to march as the venue was not ready in time & would have only had 40 chairs available for our 100+ guests)
- we viewed about 8+ wedding reception venues & more or less hated them all

February 
- i had my birthday in February

March
- we both applied for new jobs in early March, which were located 5+ hours away. This meant a fair bit of driving back & forth to interviews & home inspections
- we re-planned our engagement party, which went pretty smoothly on March 15th
- we never heard back about the jobs we applied for & so applied for more new jobs

April
- we decided to buy an investment property

May 
- we booked a venue for our ceremony (yay !) & kept looking for reception places

June 
- we helped out with our brother & sister in-laws engagement, which we are both in the bridal party for (squee !)
 - we settled on our investment property
 - we visited the property & spent 3 days doing a 'spring clean'
 - i began applying for another new job


Phew & that brings us to today !
Seriously, even writing this is tiring ! i feel like i'm getting swept up in the day-to-day happenings so it's important to reflect on what we have achieved!

Which brings me to my list of things i wanted to achieve from this year, you may remember this  post about how i wanted 2014 to pan out, to break it down for you, in 2014 i wanted to:
 - loose another 4 kilos - fail ! I have gained about 4 rather than lost 
 - keep eating clean(ish) - another fail ! I bounce between weeks of clean & weeks of 'omg did i really eat a whole box of oreos 
 - blog at least every second day - mega fail ! This one makes me sad 
 - have an amazing engagement party - sort of ! I had really high expectations for our party & it was good but i focused on the wrong things, you can read more about that here (link to engagement post) 
- start saving money towards our wedding - yes we did ! - but then bought an investment poperty, oops ! 
- live in the moment & live the best life i can - yes ! I feel like out of everything this one is being acheived

So that is what has been keeping me busy (and away from blogging) i am SO looking forward to the next 6 months being a little less hectic

How have the first 6 months of your year been ?

Plans for June !

We're halfway through the year. Already.

Can you believe that ! When i think that the year is already half gone, i think two things;
1. OMG time is going so fast, where has 6 months gone
2. OMG Only 6 and a half months to Christmas, yayy ! 

Hahaha ! And that is some major insight into how my mind works 

But seriously, i can't believe it's already so far though the year, i have accomplished alot but still have so much more i want to do before the year is out ? For me things slow down in winter, i feel so in my element when the weather cools down that all i want to do is just enjoy it ! This usually means weekends full of slow cooking, reading, snuggling with my dogs, coffee and blogging ! 

In amongst that, the '6 month mark' has also lead me to re-evaluate the goals i wanted to achieve this year, i've decided to break them up into small monthly milestones, and for the month of June i choose: 

- to drink 3 litres of water each day 
- to stick to a daily skin care routine 
- to organise our study
- to fix up our front garden / porch 

To keep me accountable (because that seems to work for me) i have some inspirational photos of the garden i want to achieve

Garden :

All photos from Pinterest

Hopefully by breaking it down into small monthly goals i can achieve everything i want to for June 

What are some of your goals this month ? I already have big plans for July 

x