What Not To Watch: Movie Edition

Today we are switchin' it up... don't worry, I have a lot to say about lipstick and hair mousse, but today we are going to discuss a little issue I am having.

I LOVE  a good movie. Love it. Going to movies is one of my favorite things to do. I enjoy arriving right on time so that I can see every preview, smuggling in various food items (I've managed several difficult feats including Valentino's and frozen yogurt), and the overall atmosphere and excitement of what is to come.

Unfortunately, I can't recall the last time I walked out of a theater just THRILLED and excited and amazed by a great movie. What is going on? Am I becoming a harsh critic or have the recent movie releases just really, really....sucked?

Sunday evening equaled date night in my little world and we browsed the movie selection prior, carefully critiquing and viewing several different trailers. I am typically up for a comedy and on this particular night, we chose Tammy (starring Melissa McCarthy) expecting her to deliver something hilarious (I am thinking Bridesmaids style).

Well gang, (as my Dad would say) let's just cut to the chase: don't waste your time. If you saw the previews, commercials and movie trailers, turns out you saw everything funny about the movie. There were a few parts (seen in the previews) that I genuinely laughed out loud at, but for the other 80% of the movie I was just wishing it would get over with. The movie takes several weird turns for the serious side as well. Whatever happened to your good, old fashioned, straight up comedy? A few parts of the movie became so serious that I started drifting off into a candy coma. Just kidding, I didn't even smuggle candy in...AKA horrible decision. I couldn't even eat my sorrow away with this one. 

Anywho, long story short, save yourself the money and time and make a better selection than we did. 

This is an I'm-bored-on-a-Friday night-and-am-going-to-hit-the-Redbox selection...maybe. Honestly, you could probably do better. 

The Covert Affair

I am a die hard Naked 1 & 2 palette fan. I don’t have 3, or else I would probably rave about that, too. I love them and encourage everyone I know to purchase them.

I say all of this because I think I am feeling a little guilty about my recent betrayal. I haven’t purchased an eye shadow (aside from when I bought #2 last year) in several years. I just haven’t felt the need…

So,  I was in Bare Escentuals getting a routine color match on my foundation, and the next thing I know the sales associate is doing my eyes, lips and a full face of makeup. I wasn’t really complaining of course, but she thought it would be a fun idea to try purple eye shadow. I told her to go for it because I had plans to work out and I knew it wouldn’t matter if I looked like a toddler who got into the makeup drawer afterwards.

I’m sure you can guess what happened… I’ll save you the long drawn out story… I really liked the purple. It is a Bare Escentuals palate called “The Covert Affair” featuring Air (a satin taupe) and Catch Me If… (a rich mauve shade). 

 

Since I felt bad about not purchasing the foundation ( I already had the one she matched me with at home) I felt some sort of obligation to make a purchase after all of her hard work. After leaving I was very annoyed with myself for spending $20 on two little colors that I probably would never wear. In an effort to make myself feel better, I decided I WOULD wear it. All the time. And I just have to say...this stuff is pretty awesome! I usually wear it to work, and so I don’t bother with a primer, and I am FULLY impressed with its stay power! At the end of a work day, I rarely have any creasing and its still looking nice and shimmery. I would say that’s quite a feat when its 100 degrees with 90% humidity in Nebraska these days.

So… bottom line, big fan! If you are looking for some fun new colors, venture out and have them sample a few shades until you find one you like. They are pretty good at picking a flattering shade particular to you!  And what better way to wrap up a Monday after a holiday weekend than a new eye shadow? That’s what I thought….

Favorites (june) Edition

Oh no... a month has gone by and I've neglected this little corner of my world.

So much has been going on and it's been hard to keep up with normal life, however, I'm finally settling down and excited to share a few (random) things I am currently loving. 

1. Wet brush

Looks like a normal brush, right? Wrong. Look for that little "the Wet brush" logo. 

So when I went to Lark for my Blowout, the stylist used a Wet brush to comb my hair out post wash. If you have long hair, I feel like it's Hair 101 to know that combing it out with a brush is often a disaster. Maybe I am speaking for myself, but it creates more tangles and much more time. For that reason, when I saw her coming at me with a brush, I assumed disaster. Imagine my surprise when she effortlessly detangled my hair with this magical "Wet brush" device. I bought one shortly after and am still (confused) and amazed at how well it works. I have almost completely ditched my hair pick at this point. I don't know what their secret is.. it looks like a normal brush...but I'm telling you. I see these everywhere... I got mine at Beauty First. I've also seen them at Sally and they are on Amazon for a few dollars cheaper. Try it!

2. Batiste

I know I have already mentioned Batiste dry shampoo (and yes, it is still my current favorite) but last week I ventured out of my comfort zone and bought the "blonde" edition. As you can see, they have several shades to accommodate different hair colors. I am LOVING the blonde type, even more so than the original. It smells really good and it's nice to not worry about any white powder traces in your hair. 

I snapped this at Beauty First so you can see the options

3. Banhwich Cafe

AHHH. Sometimes it seems like if I am not talking about products, I am talking about food. And maybe it seems that way because it is that way. Guys, you have to go here. HAVE TO. If you haven't already. It is a north Lincoln spot that opened a few years ago. I went a couple times at random, and then quickly became addicted. Then I kind of forgot about it, then I went back and became re addicted to the point that I can hardly drive by without going there. This isn't a great review for the overall cafe because I always get the same thing... this delightfully spicy and full of flavor chicken sandwich. And bubble tea. Ohhh bubble tea. So much going on while drinking that stuff. It's just overwhelmingly great. My standard Banhwich meal featured below. And now my mouth is watering. 

Strawberry Bubble Tea 

4. Concerts

Easily one of my favorite parts about Summer is  the massive increase in outdoor concerts. It's overwhelming to the point that I have a concert listed nearly every weekend until September. Whether I will actually attend all of these is somewhat up in the air.. but I want to. The combination of country music and a Summer night is so hard to beat. 

David Nail 

Zac Brown Band 

Alright, thus ends just (a few) of my current favorites. We'll chat again soon!

Love, 

simply(FIT)

Hi everybody!

Just a quick post for my Lincoln people (or if you want to travel!) ... simply(FIT) is offering FREE Pilates classes this week. Yes, FREE. I don't think that happens too often!!

For those of you that missed "Winelates" last week.... it's just that. You missed out! Look how much fun we had..

This week will be just as wonderful, sans wine. Pilates is a phenomenal core workout and Roxanne is an excellent instructor. If you haven't tried Pilates and have always been curious, this is the perfect opportunity.

The location will be different this week and the schedule is below! You have nothing to lose....

And, while you're at it, check out simply(FIT) blog for fun exercise tips and good reads in general! 

Happy Monday,

eShakti

I've been sitting on this post for a couple months now, so I am super excited to share!

eShakti.com contacted Sweet & Modern back in March. Prior to that, I had no idea what eShakti.com was, so I'm going to do my readers a favor and assume none of you do either. So, to get you up to speed.... this is an excerpt from their website:

A fresh concept in fashion - customization

eShakti believes that all women have the right to wear affordable fashion that is made for them and makes them look their absolute best.

Our Story: eShakti began as a small website offering basic cottons and modestly embellished pieces. As we grew, we were tasked with providing design and fit solutions to meet our customers' needs. Today, we are an international fashion design company making custom clothing. Offering both style and fit customization for women size 0 through 36 is the heart of our business.

How do we stack up?
To simply put it, custom clothing does not have to be expensive. By keeping up with technology as it is advancing, we are able to provide customization at a modest cost. Our design teams are based in New York, California and India which gives us a diverse fashion perspective. Our clothing is made in India in our own factories and in local factories that produce some of the leading brands at retail. We do not stock any sizes. Since each style - whether standard sized, custom styled or custom sized - is cut to order, we do not have to warehouse our merchandise. Therefore, you will notice that every style requires your height measurement, whether you are customizing or not. This ensures you a "truer" fit. We ship directly to you. That helps us to keep our fashion affordable.

Our Customer Service teams are based on both the east and west coasts in the US. You can reach us between 8 AM and 4 PM PST, Monday through Friday, by calling our toll free number 1-855-374-2584 (1-855-ESH-AKTI). If our lines are busy, kindly leave a message and we will return your call within a day.

Your opinion matters to us
When a customer writes to tell us that she is unhappy, we take it seriously, and we set the processes in motion so that it does not happen again. Some things can be fixed quickly while others require more time. You can be certain that we address every concern.

eShakti.com so generously gave me the opportunity to preview some of their items to share with all of you! The cool thing about eShakti.com is the customizable clothing option. If you check out their website, you will notice each piece (upon ordering) can be customized to your height, size and style. I love that! 

Anyways, I picked this cute, classic-looking red dress from the website and it arrived within 14 days. Unfortunately, I didn't actually measure myself, so it didn't quite fit me how I would prefer. eShakti.com's customer service was AWESOME and was willing to accommodate the return and have a new item sent. However, in the meantime, my gorgeous and model-like cousin tried the dress on, and it fit her perfectly. And, coincidentally, she had an event that week that she could wear it to! 

Here she is, so sweetly (and stunningly) modeling the dress for me!

And again, at her event!

Granted, she does any piece of clothing she wears a favor, however, this dress is SO cute. I'm a little obsessed! And that's why I'm SUPER excited to tell all of you that eShakti is offering all of my readers a discount!

Head over to eShakti.com and customize a piece today! When you check out, enter "sweetgines" to receive 10% off of your order, valid 5-7-14 through 6-7-14. 

Thanks for reading! 

Lark

If you follow along with the blog then you know I'm a little bit obsessed with Blow Bars (or blow dry studios or blow salons... or whatever you want to call them!) I documented a few of my blow out experiences in the last year here and here.

Of course when I heard that they were opening a blow dry studio in Omaha, I was pretty excited. Granted, it's not Lincoln, but seeing as how I don't think there are any others in the state of Nebraska, Omaha is a pretty great place for it to go. And... subsequently I started working in Omaha a few weeks ago, so I knew an appointment was in my near future.

I have to start by saying Lark was fantastic! I actually was able to schedule my appointment on their website (extremely convenient) and I received a confirmation email right away. Also, I had a few questions that I asked via email and they responded immediately with the details. Not that I needed any more reason to be excited, but their customer service was fantastic!

So I scheduled my appointment the morning of (coincidentally also my birthday...highly recommend giving yourself a salon treat for your birthday!) and got in with no problem at all.

First of all, Lark is darling. I loved the decor and atmosphere and I was so excited to be there! Lark uses all Bumble and bumble products, which I had no experience with previously. The wonderful Lark stylist washed my hair (the shampoo smells SO good by the way.. always a bonus)  and was very intentional about finding out what kind of style I was going for (which I really appreciated!). The whole blowout lasted a little over an hour from wash to finish and it was so relaxing. There is something pretty wonderful about someone else doing your hair!

I'm slightly disappointed in myself, because after all of my previous blow outs I took a picture, and for some reason I didn't this time. So, trust me in saying I had some wonderful volume, shine and soft waves. I loved the Bumble and bumble products, the end result, and the kind and friendly staff ...and basically my whole experience at Lark.

Lark offers blowouts for $40 across the board... which is a great price for the experience and result. Your hair will feel so amazing... if you haven't tried it yet.. try Lark!

Check out their website here. You can browse various styles AND book an appointment! Next time you have a big event (or just feel like getting pampered!) and are in the Omaha area... I highly recommend booking with Lark- you will not be disappointed!

Butter

I have some pretty fantastic friends. And they sure do know me well.
Remember Kate?

Kate & I pre wedding waiting around. Her makeup=flawless. In the word's of Kate... "Obsessed." 

And while we are at it, the happy couple post nuptials. Have you seen a more gorgeous duo? Ashley was a stunning bride! 

Yes, the same Kate who so graciously handed over her NARS blush? Well... I got to see Kate at a bridesmaid lunch last weekend and she surprised me with my (first) Butter polish!

My new polish in "Primrose Hill Picnic"

Lauren from Lauren Elizabeth always references her love for Butter polish and I have actually been dying to try it. I just...haven't. It's not surprising that Kate picked this up for me. We roll on the same product obsessed wave length and I was absolutely thrilled.

But nothing can top how excited I was AFTER using this product! Kate's (and others) rave reviews are definitely legitimate. This polish goes on (literally) like butter! So smooth and easy to apply. And DRY in minutes. Minutes!!!! As in 2-3.  I didn't even use a top coat.

I might as well not delay the inevitable... going to need this in every shade of pink, stat.

Thanks Kate! ;)

PS- If you haven't tried butter... it's about that time!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!