I hope all of you had a wonderful (and safe!) New Year’s Eve!
I’m sure you’ve noticed that I haven’t been here much. I’ve been working on a new website! While this blog will always have a special place in my heart, I realized that I have outgrown it. I decided to start fresh, with a new focus that I’m super excited about! I’m not deleting this blog right now, but I won’t be posting here anymore.
I hope you’ll all join me at my brand-new site, AshleeFit.com. I have so many things planned!
For now, it’s still under construction…But my first post is up, and I’d love it if you would take a look!
Thank you to my wonderful readers…This blog has been so much fun, and was the perfect learning experience. I hope to see you all soon at AshleeFit.com!
Are you ready to find out who has won the E.L.F. lip exfoliator?
*Insert trumpets and drums and other fanfare*
Mari from Living in Mommywood, you’re the winner! Hooray!
Now, once your excitement calms a bit, please send your full name and mailing address to willfullydisobedientblog (at) gmail (dot) com.
We’re expecting a bit of a winter storm this afternoon and evening, so it may take a couple of days for me to get to the post office…but rest assured! As soon as the roads clear you prize will be on the way to you!
By the way…I picked the winner using my super-scientific method of writing names on slips of paper and then having my mom draw one from a hat.
Congrats to Mari!
Wasn’t that fun? If you didn’t win, you’ll have another opportunity soon…I’m doing another fun beauty giveaway that involves fun nail art. Wheeeeeee!
So I don’t wear a lot of makeup… and when I do decide to slap a coat of paint on my face, I don’t want to fuss with it much. I am also a major tightwad, so any products I actually pay for need to be inexpensive or I’m not buying.
That’s why I love, love E.L.F (eyes lips face). This brand is super cheap and the products are awesome!
My first experience with the brand was their daily brush cleaner. It was in my Christmas stocking after I had casually mentioned that I wanted to try it. I tried it the next day and couldn’t believe how well it worked… After air-drying, my brushes were soft, clean, and had a pleasant smell.
I was ordering something for O on drugstore.com a few days ago when I noticed a sale on E.L.F. products. After the success I had with the brush cleaner, I thought it would be silly not to take advantage of the even cheaper prices… I ended up ordering 4 things to try, plus a bar of African black soap that I’m way excited about.
The FedEx guy came today, and I was so excited to get my goodies that I ran outside in my jammies to meet him. I’m sure he was impressed by my wild hair and the streak of peanut butter on my cheek.
I have a toddler, ok?
So I immediately ripped the box open to examine my goodies. I ended up with a shimmer eye pencil, lip primer and plumper, an eyeshadow quad, and lip exfoliator.
And yes, the soap…which smells strongly of bubble gum. I know this because the very first thing I did upon opening the box was to peel the soap wrapper back a bit and stick my nose in it.
And then I went ahead and sniffed everything else.
Once O was down for a nap I took my new lovlies into the bathroom because there was no way I was waiting to try everything.
First up was the lip exfoliator. I ignored the package directions and massaged it into my lips straight from the tube. It was gritty, but not unpleasant, and it tasted like candy. Plus, my lips felt pretty smooth after!
Once they were exfoliated, I applied the primer and plumper. The primer seemed to smooth out my lips and I think would really make a lip color pop…but I couldn’t find my favorite lipstick. The plumper? Well, I’m not sure if it made them any bigger, but my lips did sting for a bit. It tasted like the cinnamon candy my grandma used make, so I’ll keep using it.
I tried the shimmer eyeliner next…
Pretty cool of them to put the sharpener in the lid, I think!
I was a little disappointed in this one, because I didn’t see much shimmer. Still, it went on smoothly and so far it hasn’t smuged. Also? That Pinterest trick where you draw a hashtag with liner and smudge to make a smokey eye? It actually works pretty well.
I should mention that I had no additional eye makeup/primer/mascara on in the pic… Only the E.L.F. liner.
I didn’t have a chance to try my eyeshadow quad.
I have pretty high hopes for it, though.
So there you have it. Proof that you don’t have to spend a ton of money to get quality beauty products.
One other thing…
I accidentally ordered two of the lip exfoliator. I’ve decided to send it to one lucky reader…All you have to do to enter is leave a comment telling me what your absolute favorite beauty product is. I’ll randomly select a winner on Monday. Pretty easy, huh?*
Don’t be stingy, share this post so your friends have an opportunity to enter!
This giveaway has ended…Check back soon to see who won!
*One entry per person. Open to residents of the continental United States only. Sorry, family members are not eligible to win.
**This is NOT a sponsored post. ELF cosmetics has no idea who I am and I paid for all products myself.
I can’t believe it’s been four years. Holy crap, where has the time gone? Since starting this blog I met the BF, had a kid, left corporate America to do the SAHM thing…
I actually had no idea this was my blog’s birthday until I got the notification this morning. Were I a good little blogger, I’d mark the occasion with a giveaway or something. Sorry guys.
I think to celebrate this glorious occasion I will instead gift you all with links to some of my favorite posts.
The Time Fred Became Famous on Twitter (duh)
Ok, so there’s my poorly – planned happy birthday to my blog celebration. Truth be told, this was kind of a life saver today because I’m frantically working on another project (that I started way too late, of course) and had no idea what to write about. Hooray!
Thanks for reading!
Well it seems a bit odd that a curmudgeon like me would be nominated for something called The Sunshine Award…But it happened! Sweet Jennifer from My Sweet Sanity was kind enough to nominate me. You should totally go spend some time on her blog…The good news is, pictures are calorie-free!
According to Jennifer, the rules are as follows:
Acknowledge the nominating blogger.Share 11 random facts about yourself.Answer 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.List 11 bloggers. They should be bloggers you believe deserve some recognition and a little blogging love!Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer & let all the bloggers know they’ve been nominated. You cannot nominate the blogger that nominated you.
Last week was pretty exciting around here. Fred the fibroid became famous on Twitter, and the lovely Niki from Hello Stripes nominated me for the Liebster Award (you should definitely check her blog out!). I’ll let her explain what the award is all about:
Thank you Niki!
Now for the fun stuff:
1. Thank the person that nominated you and link to her blog.
2. Answer your nominator’s ten questions!
3. Share the love and nominate 10 other bloggers.
4. Think up ten questions for your nominees.
5. Let everyone know you’ve nominated them!
Ten questions from Hello Stripes (and my answers):
1. Why do you blog?
I have loved writing since I figured out how to do it…I can remember locking myself in the bathroom at my grandma’s house to write a song about reading books when I was little. It was only natural that I pick up blogging eventually. Also? Yes, I was a nerd. I still am a nerd. I wear my nerd badge with pride.
2. What is your favorite part about blogging?
Unlike conversation, I can’t be interrupted in a blog post! That’s a big ol’ pet peeve of mine. Also, I’m a huge introvert and blogging (along with Twitter, texting, and Facebook) gives me a way to communicate comfortably.
3. What is your least favorite part about blogging?
I never know how something will be received. Sometimes I can come off as a little abrasive and I sometimes wonder if I’ve gone too far. I have yet to receive any hate mail, so I guess I’m ok.
4. What are your 3 favorite blogs and why?
Only three? Crap. I love a lot of blogs but here are the top three that come to mind:
The Bloggess… I just adore her. I can identify with her, she makes me laugh until I’m in danger of peeing on myself, and she seems to be a genuinely kind person.
Hyperbole and a Half… Another person that makes me laugh hysterically. I wish my crappy MSPaint drawings were half as cool as her illustrations.
Smitten Kitchen… The food this woman comes up with looks amazing. I’ve used a couple of her recipes to great success, so she definitely knows what’s up. If I could ever purchase a replacement for my super awesome camera that got broken, I would hope to photograph my food as beautifully as she does.
5. What is your favorite social media outlet and why?
At the moment, Twitter is my favorite. This isn’t going to sound very nice, but Facebook is just so full of ‘OMG, SELFIE!’ and ‘baking soda cures cancer!’ junk anymore that I don’t get much enjoyment out of it. I like Twitter because…Well, my reason doesn’t sound very nice, so we’ll just say I like Twitter.
6. Have you or will you ever vlog?
I have not…and I’m not sure if I will. I like the idea, but I kind of hate the way my recorded voice sounds. Plus, it seems like that would require looking presentable and I typically like to walk around my house with bedhead and no makeup. Ok, sometimes I go out in public that way, too…Hey, at least I put on pants.
7. What is one word that you would want people to describe your blog as being?
AWESOMESTBLOGEVER
What? That’s one word.
8. If you could (or have) work with one brand, which one would it be and why?
Oh, this one is tough…Can I say something like Procter & Gamble so I could test all of their new stuff? If not…I think Pampers would be a good company to work with. Gimme some free diapers, y’all!
9. What’s your favorite thing to blog about?
Life in general, especially when I have something funny to write about. I do enjoy food posts because they pretty much write themselves, but I love when I can bang out a good humor post.
10. Who’s your favorite housewife? (yes, I’m totally serious!)
ME! Can I say that? I don’t watch much tv so I can’t really make an informed decision about which of the Real Housewives is the best…
Without further ado, here are my ten nominees (in no particular order):
And here are my questions:
1. What inspired you to blog for the first time?
2. Who is your biggest blog supporter?
3. How do you make time to blog?
4. Is there a topic that you absolutely WILL NOT blog about? Why?
5. What is your favorite comfort food, ever?
6. You have exactly one hour of childless, significant other-less, obligation-less free time. How do you spend that time (anything your heart desires). What if you had a whole day?
7. What is one thing you would do for your blog if you had unlimited resources?
8. What is your goal for your blog?
9. Please link to your 3 absolute favorite blogs (yes, I’m stealing this question from my nominator!).
10. When you’re following (or subscribed to) a blog, what is an absolute deal breaker that makes you quit reading immediately?
I can’t wait to hear the responses from my nominees!
****
I’m still accepting emails for a future Q&A post… Ask me anything you want to know! Send questions to willfullydisobedientblog (at) gmail (dot) com
Last night I started trying to get O to bed around 7:00 and he just wasn’t having it. I knew he was sleepy, but he’s also got another tooth trying to bust through. Add to that some wicked gas (from what, I don’t know) and you get a pretty grumpy boy.
So there I was, feeling frustrated because nothing seemed to be comforting my sweet boy and starting to get pretty tired and grumpy myself… but at one point he seemed to finally be sleeping for real. I plopped down on the couch and opened my Twitter app.
I noticed a conversation going on between Allie from Hyperbole and a Half and The Bloggess about having body parts removed. I thought, “Hey, I had something removed… maybe I can be one of the cool kids too!”
Imagine my surprise when this happened:
And then this happened:
I remembered that I had a pic of me holding Fred that never got posted because I look like a creep… But I thought, “Oh, what the hell!” and attempted to tweet it. Of course my Twitter app would pick that moment to refuse to work.
That’s how the creepy picture of me holding my tumor ended up on Instagram.
I’m sorry, Instagram.
Finally I was able to get the picture on Twitter. Just as I finished the Tweet, O woke up again. I abandoned my phone on the couch and headed up the stairs to my grumpy baby. While I rocked I could hear my phone just blowing up… I told myself that I really needed to unsubscribe from all of those damned email lists because the amount of junk I get is astounding.
When O was asleep (again) I went down to check my phone. And then I almost died.
HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS.
What followed was an insane amount of tweets and replies and I was trying so hard to keep up that I thought my thumbs might fall off. I just could not believe the enormous response… and I was so touched and humbled by all of the kind things that complete strangers were saying that I almost cried right in the middle of all of it.
When The BF came home…my dear, internet-phobe BF that would sooner eat mountain oysters than sign up for Twitter… I must have looked like a puppy, because I was practically vibrating with excitement. What came out of my mouth probably sounded a lot like this:
“OHMYGAAAAAHHHHHHHITWEETEDAPICOFMYTUMORTOTHEBLOGGESSANDSHESAIDIWAS
COOLANDNOWTHEWHOLEINTERNETTHINKSI’MAWESOMEFORHAVINGATUMORINABUCKET!”
At that moment, it occurred to me that I should check my blog stats…and I almost died again.
“THEWHOLEINTERNETISREADINGMYBLOG!”
The BF, bless his heart, was excited for me…even though he doesn’t really get into the internet. To really illustrate my excitement, I ran to the bookshelf and grabbed my copy of Let’s Pretend This Never Happened and then shook it at him.
He really puts up with a lot.
At any rate, with all of the excitement plus my grumpy, teething baby…I didn’t sleep much last night. For once, I really didn’t care…because who else can say that their giant fibroid was Twitter-famous for a night?
Marcy of Live Life Successfully (go check her out!) has nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award! Thank you, Marcy!
There are a lot of exclamation points up there. Sheesh.
Ok, so here’s how the Versatile Blogger Award works:
1. Display the award certificate. (Check!)
2. Announce your award with a post. Thank the blogger who nominated you. (Double Check!)
3. Nominate 15 bloggers. (Check, check, check, check…uh, you get the idea.)
4. Link to your nominees and let them know they’ve been nominated.
5. Include 7 interesting things about yourself in the post.
The blogs I would like to nominate are as follows:
1. A Mix of 6
8. Lady Blogger
9. Life – Where’s the Handbook?
11. My Thoughts – Uninterrupted
14. All She Cooks
Interesting things about me!
1. I just had a three pound tumor removed from my uterus…Six months after having a baby removed from my uterus. I said uterus a lot. Uterus.
2. I still (yes, still) have two baby teeth.
3. I was a first soprano in high school. Prrrrrrrroooooobably not so much now. I haven’t tried to hit notes like that in a very long time and I don’t think I will be attempting to any time soon. You’re welcome.
4. I have a beautiful Alvarez acoustic guitar that my parents got me one year for Christmas. I took lessons from a guy that had an alcohol problem (I had to move beer bottles off of his coffee table for my Saturday morning lessons) and I vaguely remember a few songs but I probably can’t play anything all the way through anymore. I also have a pink electric bass that I bought off a friend when I was drunk. I have no idea how to play the bass.
5. As a little girl, I played with He-Man figures and my trusty Tonka dump truck in favor of Barbie dolls. Oh sure, I had Barbies…But lots of them ended up with buzz cuts or without heads.
6. Farts are, and always will be, hilarious. O let a loud one loose the other night (I heard it over the monitor) and I was trying to be quiet but I laughed so hard that the bed shook and woke the BF up. I actually had to get up and go to the bathroom because I was in danger of peeing in the bed…Navigating the stairs while snorting and trying to keep my legs crossed was a little difficult.
7. I have been told I look like: Catherine Zeta Jones (Hooray!), Rachael Ray (Eh…), Kelly Clarkson (Eh…), Mila Kunis (Hooray!), Zooey Deschanel (I don’t even see that one), and a handful of other celebrities. I’m not sure I believe any of them, but whatevs.
Thanks again to the lovely Marcy of Live Life Successfully for the nomination!
Becoming a parent for the first time is a bit overwhelming… You’ve got so many things to think about and (try to) plan for, plenty to worry about, and to top it off you have a lot of stuff to buy. Well, that’s what everyone tells you, anyway. I had a lot of people telling me that I just had to have a wipe warmer, or that I wouldn’t be able to live without a changing table. It turns out that you don’t really need a lot to take care of a baby.
Here are 15 products that made my life a little easier during this almost eight-month (whaaaaa?! I can hardly believe it either) sink-or-swim introduction to parenting:
1. Gerber First Essentials Bottles
These come in both 5oz and 9oz sizes. They’re inexpensive and work better than the pricier bottles we tried…And believe me, we tried a lot of bottles! Dr. Brown, Tommee Tippee, Playtex… Plus, it’s no big deal if you have to replace a couple that you’ve misplaced. Bonus: They fit my pump, so less stuff to wash. Hooray!
2. Boon drying rack
I love this thing. It’ll hold just about anything you want to let air-dry…Spoons, toys, pump parts… It isn’t dishwasher safe, but all you have to do is wash it in hot soapy water. There are two sizes, Grass and Lawn. If you’re limited on counter space, go for Grass. Munchkin also makes a good drying rack that’s a bit cheaper.
3. The Boppy Pillow
If you’re breastfeeding, this is wonderful! In the early days of trying to get O on the boob, I used this thing to keep him off of my c-section incision. Once I started pumping, I would occasionally set O down in the pillow next to me and feed him while I pumped (I still held the bottle, I just couldn’t hold O). Now, it’s O’s napping pillow. When he’s sleepy, he’ll crawl up to it and put himself to sleep snuggling his blanket. I love this pillow. You can find less expensive versions but I can’t vouch for them. I would consider getting the water-proof cover, also.
4. Ameda Purely Yours breast pump
Speaking of breast feeding…As I mentioned in this post, I had to start pumping exclusively when O wouldn’t latch. If you have to pump at all, do yourself a favor and go the double electric route.
5. The Bumbo Seat
I loved the Bumbo seat…as long as you SUPERVISE YOUR CHILD and don’t put him or her on a high surface while using it, you will too. O’s legs got too chunky to fit into the leg holes, but by then he’d figured out how to sit up so all was well.
6. Medela Quick Clean Micro-Steam bags
I think I got two boxes of these at my baby shower and I have yet to crack open the second box. You can use each bag up to 20 times, so they last for a long, long time.
7. Sophie la Giraffe
O LOVES his Sophie. You might want to get two, just in case you accidentally kill her squeaker by submerging her in water. Oops.
8. Summer Infant Day and Night Video Monitor
Seriously, best thing ever. It even has night vision. Night vision, y’all.
9. The First Years Take & Toss infant spoons
We’ve tried a number of different spoons and these are by far my favorite. The bright colors make them easy to find if one ends up at the bottom of your diaper bag, they’re sturdy, and O took to them better than the other spoons we tried. They’re really inexpensive, so if you lose one it’s really no big deal.
10. North States Superyard Play Yard
Also known as the Sanity Saver 5,000. Baby proofing done in one easy step. You can also buy a door panel if you don’t want to hike a leg to get over the thing… Nice for short people like me.
11. Eddie Bauer Wood High Chair
Ok, I feel a little pretentious even mentioning the high chair… But the thing is sturdy. My kid already thinks it’s hilarious to beat the hell out of it with his fists, and he really enjoys slamming his heels into it. I fear a cheaper high chair would’ve already been broken. If the boy would only contain his squash puree smears to the lift-out tray, life would be perfect.
12. Cloth Diapers
Before you ask, NO. These don’t go anywhere near my kid’s bottom… But they come in handy for just about everything else. Most of them are lint-free, so when you no longer need them for the baby you could use them as cleaning rags.
13. Munchkin Dishwasher Basket
If you have a dishwasher, these baskets are lifesavers. No more losing various bottle and sippy cup parts whenever you wash a load… They all stay neatly contained. I actually have two of the kind pictured because I needed more room, but you can find different sizes or expandable baskets.
14. Bouncy seat
I’m not sure what the proper term for this is…But I do know that my boy LOVES this thing. We have one similar to the Fisher-Price jumperoo pictured above. I don’t let him spend a lot of time in it, but he loves to bounce while I’m cooking dinner or cleaning.
Obviously this is not an exhaustive list. I’m sure I’ll continue to think of things that made life easier for me…So perhaps this post is of the To Be Continued… type.
To make it easy, clicking on each picture will take you to Amazon, where you can get an idea of the price or even order the items. I didn’t purchase any of these items from Amazon, but I think I found some of them at better prices for you. I’m a giver.
Did I forget anything? What baby products made your life easier?
***
I’m thinking of doing a Question and Answer post in the near future. A couple of readers emailed questions about pumping, so I’ll answer those as well as any other questions I get. If there’s anything you want to know about me, or if you desperately need advice on a topic, or if you can’t make up your mind between that cute pair of stilettos or a new purse… Shoot me an email at willfullydisobedientblog (at) gmail (.) com.
Once I get a handful of questions I’ll post the answers. I think it will be fun!
Yesterday I reached the summit of boredom when both the BF and O decided to nap. The house was alarmingly quiet and I couldn’t decide what to do with myself.
I realized it was time to take my meds and I’m supposed to take them with food. Chicken In A Biscuit and Easy Cheese? Don’t mind if I do!
In the middle of my feast, the BF wandered downstairs to pee…and almost caught me squirting the cheese directly into my mouth. I froze, using the Jurassic Park don’t-move-and-he-can’t-see-you logic. Good thing he was mostly still asleep, because I think it worked.
Once he’d made his way back upstairs, I put the Easy Cheese up and shuffled into the bathroom. I don’t know what I was looking for as I stood there poking through the medicine cabinet, but I managed to discover this:
I remembered buying it the week before my surgery, but I had completely forgotten about it. Excited to have something to do, I ripped it open and smeared it all over my face.
After scrubbing it off, I was surprised at how good my skin looked. This stuff was pretty cheap (around $2.00 and I had enough left over for another mask) and it worked like a dream. Next time I’m in CVS I’m buying a full size container for sure.
Of course, I can’t leave well enough alone so I immediately stuck a couple of pore strips on my face. They sucked even more gunk out of my face. I’m not surprised, since I’ve been fairly lazy about my skincare routine lately.
I managed to finish everything before the BF came back downstairs, so he still gets to have the illusion that I just naturally have beautiful skin.
He was a little sad that I’d polished off the rest of the Chicken in a Biscuit crackers. I tried to blame it on O, but I think he knew…
Willfully Disobedient 