At home gel nails for CHEEP. And some other recent favorites for under $10

I love a good manicure. When I was single,living at home and working a decent job...I got manicures fairly regularly. Life changes,now I'm married and that's just not in the budget currently. When I did get manicures.I really liked splurging for gel because they lasted substantially longer. A few days before my wedding I got a gel mani and it looked flawless for a good two weeks, last through our honeymoon. Since then I've been on the hunt for a good at home gel manicure kit. The light systems aren't always cheep so I started out with just a two step polish hunt. I tested some products sent to me that were gel and also bought a few different kinds at target.

My overall absolute favorite is Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Duo. It's around $15 for the kit but once you buy the kit, you can use the gel topcoat with any other color in the line. My box came with a $2 off coupon inside..and it was on clearance at target for $7. STEAL OF A DEAL.
This one doesn't need a special light....so no further investment than the polish.

Day 5

On the same topic of nails I spotted these at DOLLAR TREE (take your jaw off the floor please).

The exact same product sells for $10.25 at Walgreens!

http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/essie-sleek-stick-nail-applique/ID=prod6177354-product

I will warn you, they're not at every Dollar Tree. I found the above at a hugeee Dollar Tree in Tennessee but locally at the newer and bigger stores they do typically have a small selection. 

Moving from nails to face..

The Maybelline Fit Me line is just a hidden gem... buy it at Walmart for the best deal.

Walmart tends to have it for just under $6 and the concealer priced about the same.

It has replaced my Mac foundation. That how much I am in love with it.

The concealer comes in a wide variety of shades and works great for contouring as well.

I have not heard a single negative review about this foundation....and I've watched alot of YouTubers review it. And I mean a lot.

Side note: I've heard if you have an older bottle it can start to do some weird things color wise. I've had mine for a bit now and I am starting to noticing some orange-ing as the day goes on. For under $6 a bottle I don't mind replacing it, and foundation shouldn't be kept forever anyways. So if that does happen to you, you're not the only one.

While I was on the hunt for the new Maybelline Dream Velvet foundation I found THIS crazy clearance at Target... Maybe Dream Velvet is replacing it??

I really hope not because I am loving this!! 

The weird wand applicator means you don't use to much at one time.

When you swatch it in the store it looks crazy dark..like hello, there is no way I'm lighter than #40 Nude. But after application and blending it was impressively close to my natural color. Even got the husband seal of approval for color match!! 

The same day I was browsing for something new and exciting I picked up this palate after hearing surprising good reviews.

The packaging feels like more than $3

I've been using this for a good two weeks and you can't even tell. So this is gonna last me a very long time. ELF can be a super win or a super disappointment. This was a $3 SUPER win. Contouring is a new and scary thing to me but I am easing into it with this super simple palate.

In case you were wondering,I am still keeping up with the "anti cleanser" challenge!

I've had ZERO breakouts and my husband said my face has never looked better!

Still working on finding a make up remover wipe I really love...so coconut oil is doing the job until then. And just maybe,It will stay that way.

~Emily~

Knoxville on points! And our first official experience with IHG points.

Minor backtrack to a time a couple of months ago....

Hubby had surgery scheduled. Thank goodness for good insurance. Minus not the best out patient coverage. Cheep doctor co-pays had me fooled.
So I thought, we're gonna make the best out of this and take advantage of a good sign-on bonus. IHG won. 80,000 points later...here we are. A long weekend in Knoxville booked via the point breaks list.
Total of 15,000 points spent. (Possible chance of getting 11,000 points back via the Accelerate program...waiting on confirmation on that.)

My targeted offers

We picked the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Oak Ridge from the point breaks list.
http://www.ihg.com/holidayinnexpress/hotels/us/en/oak-ridge/okrit/hoteldetail

We were really impressed with the cleanliness of this hotel and the staff. We stayed in some Holiday Inn Suites in Alaska and this was just as nice,if not even nicer.

Thanks to our platinum elite status, we got a free suite upgrade. (And early check in...an amazing thing after driving all night and getting there at 10:30 am) If you really wanted to, you could share this room with two other people and get even BETTER value for the 5,000 points a night. Maybe even book half the night on their points and half on yours.


The hotel was just over 20 minutes from Knoxville and and hour and a half from Gatlinburg.
Knoxville had a fair amount of things to do, but if Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge comes up on the list next time,I would recommend them over Knoxville. Unless the Holiday Inn that sits in downtown Knoxville was on the list. It was surprisingly huge. And has two room suites.
There is also Candlewood Suites that goes for 10,000 points a night that is a little closer to downtown Knoxville than our hotel was.

Gatlinburg and PF are both more "tourist friendly" in my opinion.
In general, there is more to do and see.
They're also a lot closer to the mountains.













Our Knoxville Highlights?

Babalu Tacos and Tapas

Ijams Nature Center

Who knew a marble quarry would be so cool?

The end verdict was that we got a great trip for an amazing value. I think I'm obsessed with vacationing based of the point breaks list!! That does means you can't plan a trip to far in advance,but I think despite that, it's most definitely worth it. Especially I we get 11,000 points back from this trip.

2016. The year of the shopping game changer.

Ladies. Take a seat. We have a problem. We shop. A lot. We get it on sale,we justify it. We buy it online and justify it while it takes 4 days do show up at our door. I'm guilty too. We all are. 
What if we could be more environmentally friendly about HOW we shop. (Notice I didn't say shop less.) That is my 2016 game changer. From January 1st on I have made a pact with myself that I will try to not buy any clothing or shoes unless it's second hand,thrift,resale,etc....
I tried this out at the end of 2015 with ThredUp ,Yerdle and Poshmark and was extremely happy with the results. About 40% of what I bought on these sites were still new with the tag on them.
Not to mention all the money you save buying second hand!! 
According to ThredUp
https://www.thredup.com/resale

With this pact I've made, I've also decided to clean out my closet. For every new thing that goes in,one old has to come out. Some things will be donated,others will be sold online in second hand clothing apps and then a few will be mailed to ThredUp.

Sounds like a good challenge right? Nothing more than window shopping at malls. No more Eshakti orders...and my JustFab membership will be canceled.
Care to join me?! I thought so. Here are the referral link to my favorite sites to get started. I have personally bought from each of these and had fantastic experiences!

http://www.thredup.com/r/MWNI1A


https://poshmark.com/   Referral Code when you sign up VIA THE APP  JPHVZ



https://yerdle.com/i/emily-flemer

I am new to Schoola so come join me over there!

https://www.schoola.com/stitch?ref=cp-3X8srwW6N
In conjunction with this,I've been using Ebates when I shop ThredUp. Absolutely genius! Why didn't I do this ages ago.... and the browser plugin makes it effortless.

http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=Swmtd4dxfMnW5WaBBbObjA%3D%3D&eeid=28187