September Favorites

In the most cliche blog post ever (a 'monthly favorites' post), let me take a few moments to write about my favorite items during the month that has been September 2013.

1) The Balm's Mary-Lou Manizer: Although I switched to Glossybox quite some time ago, I still have several items left over from my days as a Birchbox subscriber. While I was going through those items, I stumbled across this sample and fell in love with it immediately upon the first use. Just a teeny, tiny bit of this goes a long way, but it's the perfect highlighter for my fair skin. I have applied this with both my fingers and brushes, and both work fine. (PS - Another reason to love fall? It's not as humid, so our skin isn't as shiny and we can actually use highlighters for that desirable dewy look!)

2) Data Usage app: Due to some policy changes at work, I had to turn my cell phone into a personal account. I was a bit apprehensive about which data plan to use, and the AT&T customer service rep suggested downloading this app to track my usage and make sure I don't go over my limits. It's a free app, and a great way to keep your cellular data usage in check.

3) John Frieda Full Repair Flyaway Tamer: You can read my post about this here. I love this stuff and use it daily. I hope John Frieda never quits making it.

4) Fuchsia Stone Stretch Bracelet Bunch bracelets: These spoke to me during a recent visit at Ann Taylor Loft. I went in to return some mail order items, and these were near the checkout and marked down to $12.99. On top of that, they were an additional 60% off. Score!

5) Phillip Lim for Target purse: I've received so many compliments on this bag. It's great for fall, and large enough to serve as both a purse and travel bag for my many work trips this time of year. IIRC, it was $54.99. Unfortunately, Target has sold out of these, but if you really want one of your own, you can track these down on eBay for anywhere from $70-100.

High Five For Friday #H54F

Is it already the last weekend of September? Seriously ... how is this possible and where in the h-e-double hockey sticks did the month go???

I'll be back Monday morning with my September favorites, but to tide you over until then, here's this week's PBT highlights ...

Link up at thelaurenelizabeth.com

1) I don't know what I'm going to do when Breaking Bad ends Sunday night. You've heard me rave about this show several times before, but this week's episode is the series finale. I don't know what to expect. The only theory I have is that Marie kills Walt ... I've felt that way for a few weeks. All I'm sure of is that we're in for a great 75 minutes and I have no doubts that Vince Gilligan will blow our minds one last time.

2) I finally made time to have my roots taken care of ... it had been more than a minute since my last touch up, and it was nice to take some time for myself last night.

3) A new Facebook page named "WIU Confessions" popped up on my feed more than once this week. I've wasted so much time reading these anonymous confessions from current and former Western Illinois University students alike, but I've also laughed hysterically. For any of my college friends out there, please check this out and spend some moments reminiscing about the shenanigans in Macomb, Ill. BTW - words cannot express how much I miss college.

4) Ran out of my Folgers this week and broke open a bag of coffee I toted home from Hawaii last month. I have no idea how I'll go back to Folgers when this bad is donezo. I'm screwed.

5) Yes, please. Gwyneth Paltrow comes off as a mostly pretentious bia, IMHO, so I can't say I've spent much time browsing GOOP. However, I'm looking forward to Blake Lively's site ... I mean, if she snagged Ryan Reynolds, she must be doing something right and it would behoove all of us to follow her advice, right? Plus, if anything is Serena van der Woodsen approved, I'm all in.

Happy Friday, y'all!!!

Netflix Recommendations of the Mindless Variety

The best $7.99 I spend every month is on my Netflix subscription. Not only do Mr. Cush and I get our money's worth from it, but so does a certain friend of ours that lives about 100 miles way and is without cable.

I'll admit I'm a "binge watcher," too. I'll eagerly start a new series and binge watch it for nights and nights in a row until I'm out of episodes. It's such an amazing guilty pleasure ... I can't even tell you how many times a day I fantasize about curling up in bed and watching whatever series I'm into during that given week.

Anyway, I want to share with you my four favorite television shows that I never once watched during their television runs, but took an extreme liking to via Netflix ...

1) "Lipstick Jungle" - This series was based on a book by Candace Bushnell, the author behind "Sex and the City." Being a huge SATC fan, I thought this would be equally smart and funny with Candace involved. I was so wrong. First of all, Brooke Shields plays one of the female leads and I just can't take her seriously. It's probably because I saw the movie "Furry Vengeance" starring her and Brendan Fraser with my cable-less friend mentioned above, and it's impossible for me to ever take her seriously again. However, the plot is pretty juicy in a very unbelievable way and it keeps me coming back for more. It's worth checking out if you haven't seen it before.

2) "Ally McBeal" - I think I was in late middle school/early high school when this came out, but I don't remember watching it even though everyone was talking about it. If my memory serves correctly, Mommabear thought it was too risqué. That, or she was terrified by the holographic dancing baby, which is equally possible. Either way, I can now say I understand the hype that surrounded this show. It was hysterical during the first few seasons, and it picked back up when Robert Downey, Jr., joined the cast later on.

3) "Dawson's Creek" - Since we didn't have a satellite dish growing up, we weren't privy to the WB network. I'm certain my teen years would've been vastly different with Dawson, Joey, Pacey and Jen in my life, but that's in the past and can't be undone. At least they finally entered my life ... better late than never, right?

4) "Drop Dead Diva" - If there was an Emmy for the most ridiculous show of all time, this would win by a landslide. The premise is that a cranky, plus-sized lawyer dies the same day as a perky model, but something goes awry at the gates of heaven and the model ends up in the lawyer lady's body back on earth. And Rosie O'Donnell and Paula Abdul have recurring roles as judges.  If this last sentence alone doesn't make you want to check out the show, then I simply don't know how else I could convince you.

Do you have a favorite show to binge watch on a streaming service? Let me know in the comments below!

Milestones

My car and I crossed one of life's many milestones together Monday morning ... the 100,000 mile mark. After the rather anticlimactic event, I spent the rest of my commute pondering some other milestones in my life that have involved significant numbers.

Instagram makes me feel like a talented photographer.

16: Of all my birthdays, this is probably the one I most looked forward to. Is there a bigger moment in a teenager's life other than legally obtaining their drivers license? I remember my parents making me take pictures next to my first car and Mommabear "wrapped" it with a large red bow. As an added bonus, my birthday was during finals week and it meant that I could drive my group of friends across the river to Taco Bell during our extended lunch break. It was a glorious time of my life.

18: I don't really remember that much about my 18th birthday. I think I was probably pretty excited to legally purchase R-rated movie tickets and lottery tickets, but that's as eventful as it got for me.

21: I remember having big expectations for my 21st birthday. Unfortunately, it was one of the biggest birthday letdowns ever. Most of my friends had terrific 21st birthdays that they'd probably like to forget - or have already forgotten years ago - but my birthday falls around Christmas and I was in my small hometown nearly five hours away from my closest college friends. Instead of a raucous 21st birthday, my then boyfriend took me across the river to Applebee's where I legally ordered my first drink - a chocolate martini - and I wasn't even carded. Epic fail.

25: I can't remember if I had a quarter-life crisis or not. Mr. Cush will have to recall that for you and me. We were living in Gainesville, Fla., and in all honesty, I probably spent my 25th birthday working.

30: After my 21st birthday, I pretty much stopped "caring" about my birthday. I don't mean that I don't look forward to my birthday - because all of the Facebook messages and Hallmark cards do make me feel good - but I gave up on expectations. For me, 30 was a little daunting. It felt like I was supposed to really grow up and be responsible, even though I'd been working professionally for seven or eight years and Mr. Cush and I had already done the responsible thing in buying a home. So for 30, I took matters into my own hands and organized a little soirée with my bestest of friends at a local bar in Austin. For the first time since our wedding (and excluding all family events), I was surrounded by only people that meant something to me ... friends that had somehow become family to me here in Austin. We had a good time, and I'm glad I rung in my dirty 30s with people I love.

As I look back on these past milestone numbers in my life, I can't help but think about how each one would've been different if I knew then what I know now.

And, many new friends have entered my life since each milestone. Wouldn't it be fun to have a few do-overs with the friends you meet along this journey of life?

What's been the biggest numerical milestone of your life so far? Let me know in the comments below!!!

Lena Dunham's Emmy Dress

For the first time since the turn of the century, I missed 90% of the Emmy Awards Sunday evening. If you know me at all, you know that I simply live for any awards show pertaining to the arts of the TV and silver screens.

Recently, I've taken to 'live tweeting' these shows - particularly the Emmys, Golden Globes and Academy Awards. I like to think some people eagerly anticipate my Twitter feed on these evenings, but that's just my ego talking.

This past Sunday night, I was too busy watching the next-to-last Breaking Bad to fully devote my attention to the red carpet shows and the actual show itself. (If you need any reason to watch Breaking Bad, use this as the final piece of motivation ... Ashley. Skipped. The. Emmys. For. Breaking. Bad. ... I'll likely never do that for another show in my entire lifetime.)

In the very brief few minutes I had to spare yesterday, I scanned a few sites and scouted the best and worst dressed lists - one of my favorite aspects of any awards show. Lena Dunham and her Prada dress pictured below showed up countless times on every list I scoured ...

Call me crazy (and you probably will), but I love this dress. It's young. It's fresh. It's modern. For God's sakes, it's PRADA. I think the elephant in the room that no one wants to address (<- no pun intended) is Lena's body type. 

Love her or hate her, Lena actually does have a great sense of fashion. One of her best friends is designer Zac Posen - they went to high school together and he's dressed her in the past for major awards shows. Lena isn't afraid to be a 'normal' sized woman in a size 0 industry, and major fashion houses (like Prada) are willing to dress her.

Picture this dress on someone like January Jones who often pushes the envelope and wears less-traditional gowns on the red carpet ... I'm convinced there'd be a different reaction to the dress if someone of her ilk walked the carpet in this ensemble.

Lena also has a great sense of humor. Check out this great story on USmagazine.com about Lena's younger sister teasing her for wearing a dELiA*s dress. (Remember dELiA*s, fellow 90s high schoolers? It was fetch back in the day.)

So, tell me below in the comments what you thought of Lena's Emmys dress, and who you thought were the best-dressed stars of the night.

Purple Craze

Nothing makes me feel like a traitor more than deserting my beloved shades of pink for a more purple hue. It actually hurts my soul.

But there's something about fall that draws me to purple hues. Nail polish. Lipstick. Eye shadow. Clothes. Accessories. You name it, and I want it in purple this time of year.

I knew the purple craze was coming when I ventured off the highway to Nordstrom on a day home from work last week. Now, I've never been pregnant or anything, but if I had to imagine what a pregnancy craving would be like, it was at that moment … come hell or high water, I needed a plum-shaded lipstick right then and there. 

Upon stepping up to the MAC counter, I was immediately drawn to a lovely plum shade with some subtle pink tones. After swatching it on the top of my hand and deciding it was the lipstick I was daydreaming of while on the interstate, I flipped over the bullet-shaped tube and found it was called Plumful. That, friends, is the very definition of serendipity.

MAC Plumful

Other purple-ish items that have begun working their way into my daily routine are two of my favorite MAC eyeshadows: Quarry and Shale. Quarry is perfect for working into the crease of my eye, and then I top it with the shimmery Shale. When I use this combo - which is a bit darker than my usual Malt/Jest combo - I switch from a black to gray eyeliner. It's much-less harsh.

What shades are you drawn to this fall season?

High Five For Friday #H54F

Happy Friday, friends! 

Where did the week go? Seriously, I feel like I blinked and it was suddenly Friday. It'd be especially wonderful if we could time warp back to Tuesday so I could finish a few more tasks on my to-do list for both my professional and personal lives, but unfortunately no one has come up with that ability just yet. (Which leads me to believe man might never have actually stepped foot on the moon ... I mean, if we can't go BACK in time, how can anyone expect me to believe we ever landed on the moon??!!)

Here's this week's edition of #H54F ...

Link up at thelaurenelizabeth.com

1) iOS7 became available Wednesday and it's pretty epic. It took me a few hours to get acclimated, but I'm already in love. There are plenty of people still on the fence about upgrading their phones, but I'm telling you, it's worth it. Once you get past the biggest changes (closing apps, new look to iMessages, the new command center), it's pretty spectacular.

2) Yep. These happened. Nine West heels for $20.99 and free shipping. Mr. Cush won't be thrilled about another pair of shoes in the house, but for $20.99, it wasn't worth fighting my self-control.

3) Our friend Thomas visited Wednesday evening and crashed at our place for an early-morning flight yesterday. We went down the road to the Alamo Drafthouse and saw "We're the Millers," a late-summer comedy starring Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis. I was a bit hesitant to see it because I figured it was one of those movies where all of the funniest moments were shown in the previews, but I was proven wrong. All three of us laughed out loud quite a bit and were well-entertained for a few hours. It won't win any Academy Awards, but it's good for more than a few laughs.

4) Britney's back. I'm elated. And in my humble opinion, she's never ever ever ever looked better. Ever.

5) As soon as I landed in Austin late Sunday afternoon, I buzzed straight to my neighborhood Target to see if anything from the Philip Lim collection was still available. To my delight, the purse I'd been eyeballing was waiting for me to arrive. It looked sad and lonely on the rack all by itself, so I did what any kind-hearted shopper would do ... immediately purchased it and brought it home to a safe and loving environment.

Wishing everyone has a safe and wonderful weekend! 

Easy and Healthy Taco Soup Recipe

With the 'ember' spirit kicking in, Mr. Cush and I decided it was time to make our favorite soup for the first time this fall. Taco Soup is the perfect dish to share with everyone because it fits my main requirement for an Ashley-approved recipe: dumping ingredients into a pan.

(Mr. Cush kindly pointed out that this violates my five-ingredient rule, but when all you're doing is running the electronic can opener over the rims of cans, it's an easy exception.)

Ingredients
1 lb ground turkey breast
1 large onion (chopped, but I use the frozen kind)
1 (1 1/4 ounce) package ranch dressing mix
1 (1 1/4 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans
1 (15 ounce) can hot chili beans
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn
1 (15 ounce) can stewed tomatoes (Mexican flavor)
1 (15 ounce) can stewed tomatoes (any flavor)

Directions
1. Brown the meat and onions and drain.
2. Mix ranch dressing mix and taco seasoning mix into the meat.
3. Without draining, add all other ingredients.
4. Simmer 1 one hour.

To be completely honest with you, I don't even brown the turkey with the seasonings and onions. I just mix those right into the pan and add the cooked turkey. Yep … I'm that dysfunctional (maybe lazy is a better word choice) in the kitchen.

It's not the prettiest of soups, but the taste makes up for the looks!

Pretty easy recipe, huh? Mr. Cush likes to add a side of cornbread whenever we make this, and between the soup and cornbread, we actually have meals for a few days!

PS - don't forget to top your bowl off with a few slices of avocado! It's the only condiment you'll need!

What Would You Do If ...

... you found yourself in the window seat on a long flight and the person next to you in the middle seat busted this out?

If you've ever seen someone use this device on a plane, please let me know in the comments below!

Thankfully, this has never happened to me, but two things occurred yesterday that made me think about this: 1) Mr. Cush's comment on my blog, and 2) I tried to figure out how I'd take a nap at my desk if I ever became that desperate.

Mr. Cush commented that numerous things "grind my gears," and while that may be true, I think the scenario I outlined above would top all previous grindings I've experienced in my lifetime. 

Secondly, when I do sleep on planes I tend to rest my forehead on the seat in front of me, but I could never pull that off at my desk. It dawned on me that this would be the perfect desk napping apparatus.

But, back to how annoying this would be on a plane ...

What if you were on a long flight, trapped in the window seat and in need of a bathroom break but this clown was seated next to you? Can you imagine how chaotic it would be to first wake up the user, and then next have to maneuver past said user and this device? 

And then, how is this inflated? Does it come with an air pump? Or does the owner have to blow it up themselves?! I sat next to a woman once that blew up her own neck pillow and I found that pretty darn annoying. I can't imagine having to suffer through my seat mate puffing this bad boy up.

So this all leads up to a few questions. 1) How does this company make a profit? I fly quite a bit and I have NEVER seen anyone use a SkyRest. 2) What kind of person would actually purchase a SkyRest?

If you have an answer for either of those questions, or if you've ever seen someone use a SkyRest in flight, let me know in the comments below. Or, let me know the strangest thing that's ever happened to you while 30,000 feet above the surface of the earth.

Happy Hump Day!

Let's Talk About Flyaways

Two things really grind my gears - chips in my manicure and flyaways around my face. 

With the first, there's a pretty easy remedy to restore the integrity of one's nails … remove all of the polish. Regarding the latter, well, this has been a bit more difficult for me to solve.

I've mentioned a time or two that my coif has some damage. Between near daily heat styling (I'm trying to get better, doing my best to use dry shampoo to style 'second day hair' and give my locks a break) and large amounts of bleach, my hair hasn't been treated as well as it deserves.

The brunt of the damage has been done to my top layers. When I go in for highlights, it's usually just a 'partial' and that means my colorist focuses on the area above the occipital bone. Also, I tend to run a flat iron AND a curling iron over those same areas to tame my naturally (and VERY) curly strands.

I've tried almost everything to tame the broken and damaged hairs around my face that lead to flyaways - silicone products, hairspray, etc. You name it, I've probably tried it.

However, my days of trial and error seem to have come to a close ever since I purchased John Frieda's Full Repair Touch-Up Flyaway Tamer a few weeks ago. This product offers a really light hold that isn't stiff and doesn't seem to add too much build-up. This little miracle tube is slightly larger than a mascara tube and has the exact same applicator. After I've styled my hair (the blow drier, flat iron, curling iron gauntlet), I run just a few strokes of this over my front section and it smoothes everything into place. Check out this before-and-after below to see for yourself …

Top: before. Bottom: after. Please excuse the towels in the background ... I was too lazy to remove them for the sake of the photos. Also, I need to do something about those lines in my forehead. Woof.

For $9.99, I think it's a pretty worthwhile investment and I give this product two hearty thumbs up!

Hairspiration

After four days spent in fall-like temperatures last week, my '-ember' spirit has officially kicked in. It's funny how wearing your favorite jeans and a long-sleeved shirt can do that to you.

Unfortunately, I'm back in Austin and temperatures are still averaging 90+ degrees. It will be another month or so before that cooler air I felt in Illinois reaches central Texas, but the taste I had is enough to keep me in an autumn state of mind.

One of the things I'm really looking forward to this fall is darkening my 'do a bit. I've tried going brunette a few times in my life and they've all been horrendous attempts (not to mention hella damaging to my locks when I went back to blonde), and I'm taking a different route this year. This time around, I want to add some heavy low lights. 

I tend to take screenshots and bookmark links and print out pictures of what I'm leaning towards to show my stylist. She's great at listening and gives the best consultations, but I'm bad at explaining what I want ... thus, I show.

How would y'all describe the below pictures that have piqued my interest and made my 'look book' for this week's appointment? Honey lowlights? Buttery? Caramel-ly?

High Five for Friday #H54F

Another really solid week is in the books and that means its time for another edition of #H54F!

Link up at thelaurenelizabeth.com

1) Work took me home to Illinois this week and I was finally able to meet my niece, Emme. Mommabear took me to my sister's house Thursday evening and we had a full night playing with my nieces (lots of pictures on Instagram). Thank you to Mommabear, my sister and brother-in-law and Mr. Cush's sister (I didn't want to say 'in-law' again ... could've been confusing, but she's the best sister-in-law on the planet!!!) for a great night spent with family. I'm a very lucky girl!

2) Have you seen Buzzfeed's version of the Obama administration's view of the crisis in Syria as told by The Hills (yes, the MTV show)? It's awesome. Check it out right now.

3) I'm wearing my Illinois necklace in Illinois. Life doesn't get much sweeter than this!

4) While perusing my arsenal of hair products I came across this old favorite - Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum. I used this for years and can't really remember why I put it aside, but it's back in the regular morning routine. This really helps my hair resist humidity and keeps my blowout sleek - not to mention, it smells like green apples. I need to slap myself for forgetting about this gem.

5) Mommabear pointed out this shelf in my sister's pantry ... GENIUS!!! Mr. Cush doesn't know it yet, but I have two closets in mind where I want him to install similar shelves at Casa de Cushman. New-found storage tactics make me giddy.

Tell me about five highlights from your week in the comments below!

Where the Heart Is

By the time this post hits the blogoshpere, I'll be on my way to the Austin airport for an early-morning flight to ... Champaign, Ill. 

Necklace by jomariejewelry.

They say 'home is where the heart is,' and mine is certainly within the proximity of Champaign. My hometown in southeastern Illinois is just a few hours away, and Mommabear and Ol' Rodney will be meeting there while I'm close to home for work. In fact, Mommabear is going to zoom up to Champaign Thursday morning to meet me upon arrival. If you know Mommabear, you know there's always a journey-within-a-journey ... after she gets me strapped in the front seat of whatever vehicle she's driving this week, we're off to Peoria to meet my youngest sister. 

More importantly than seeing her, though, is I'll get to meet my newest niece for the first time. Emme was born early this summer and I'm excited to see her while she's only a few months old! Emme's older sister, Violet, is about one-and-a-half now, and I'm looking forward to seeing how her personality has developed since the last time I saw her in March.

Be sure to follow me on Instagram for adorable baby girl pictures! And probably pictures of cornfields ... because there's lot of those in Illinois, too.

Happy Thursday everyone

Eye Must Have These

Eye makeup is one of those things that feels like I've been trying to master for the better part of the past few decades. It all started with mascara when I was a young girl, mostly because I discovered early on that blonde eyelashes do nothing to make eyes standout on a pale complexion. Later in life, sometime in the college years, I began to dabble in eyeliner. It definitely took awhile to get the hang of pointing a stick towards my eyeball and not jabbing the tender tissue that's pretty vital to my vision.

From there, I branched into the colorful world of eyeshadows and have built a vast collection that I'm rather proud of (Mr. Cush would just roll his eyes if I mentioned this in front of him). My daily go-to shadows are Mac's Malt and Jest (peachy tones), but as fall rolls in, I'm slowly alternating that pairing with Mac's Quarry and Shale (purple tones).

Although my eyeshadows might change depending on the time of year, I have found three staple items that are always in my cosmetic bag: creamy white shadow, black liner (pencil) and mascara.

I picked up the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk at ULTA and added it to my routine several months ago. The pencil is incredibly creamy and doesn't pull or tug at the delicate skin upon application. This is the first product I apply to my eyes, and I only use it in the inner corners. There's nothing really precise about this step, but I basically kind of blot it in using my pinky finger. The goal of this is to brighten the inner corners, and it makes your eyes seem just a bit farther apart. This is followed up with whatever eyeshadow you're using and it blends very naturally.

After I've applied my eyeshadow, I sharpen my eyeliner to begin with a fine point. This helps get the liner as close to my lashes as possible. (The goal of eyeliner is to make your lash line look fuller, so why wouldn't you want it touching your lashes?) The Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Perversion is my absolute favorite because it's pigmented and creamy. If you have oily eyelids, it might not be best suited for you because it could run a bit, but it stays put on me lids all day with the help of some Urban Decay Primer Potion.

(Another trick to 'pushing' the liner closer to your lashes is to use a MAC 212 brush and run it over your eyeliner right after you've applied it smooth it out and 'spread' it into your lash line.)

Finally, mascara can make or break any final look. As much as it pains me to shell out $$$ on mascara, it's been my experience that some higher-end mascaras are better at achieving my desires of long, thick, full and black lashes. I've been pretty hooked on YSL's Shocking for a few months (picked it up at Nordstrom during a buy-two-mascaras-get-one-free sale), and would say its worth the hefty price tag. My other favorite mascara is MAC's Haute and Naughty Too Black Lash, and I'd have no problem going back to that to save $10.

Glossybox

A few years ago, a new craze swept the internet … monthly home-delivery beauty boxes. Suddenly, everyone was talking about Birchbox and Ipsy and Glossybox. It didn't take more than a few seconds for me to signup for what was arguably the most talked about box, Birchbox. 

The idea behind these boxes is genius. The subscriber fills out a profile that matches your skin type, hair type, etc., with a box that will most suit your tastes. (Birchbox has several different boxes for each month, and the one you receive is based on your profile.) It's entirely possible that I hit a few wrong buttons when I submitted my profile because I never received a single box that absolutely blew me away. For $10 per month, I felt like I was getting the 'leftovers.' In fact, I even theorized that high-traffic bloggers were receiving specialty boxes because the ones they'd rave and fawn over never even slightly resembled my own box.

After about a year of this, I broke up with Birchbox. A girl can only receive so many Juicy Couture perfume samples before she's had enough, ya know?

Desperate for another (better) box, I stumbled upon Glossybox through a few reviews by lesser-known beauty bloggers. This box basically doubled in price, but the contents seemed  to double in quality, too. For $21 each month, Glossybox promises the subscriber 'five surprise luxury beauty products.' After almost a year of service, I can honestly say that I've never been disappointed by a single Glossybox and that even the worst day can be instantaneously turned around when I find my Glossybox in the mail box.

Here's a look at my September Glossybox, which is a $69.49 total value and full of goodies that I can't wait to try!

My five items included everything pictured above except the eyeshadow and Airelle Repair Complex.

Novex Brazilian Keratin Hair Care Treatment Cream ($4.99, full size)

Jelly Pong Pong Lip Blush ($18.00, full size)

Triple C-Weed Pressed Powder ($28.00, full size)

Anatomicals Spray Mist For Me Facial Spritz ($9.00, full size)

Pandora's Makeup Box Nail Polish ($9.50, full size)

A Super-sweet Guess? Jeans Cosmetics Pouch (this awesomeness is invaluable) 

Do you subscribe to any monthly services that you'd recommend? Let me know in the comments below!

Pati-oh no!

I've been a little busy this past weekend and Mr. Cush kindly agreed to handle today's post for me. He's the best. Hope y'all enjoy! ~Ashley

At some point a month or so ago, Mrs. Cush decided we needed to spruce up the back patio.  We previously had bare concrete, a grill, two lattice metal chairs and a small table.  We never spent any time out there because 1) it’s friggin’ too hot to lounge outside in the Texas summer heat, 2) the chairs were not lounge-worthy, 3) it was just not attractive.

Patio before.

We headed to Tar-jhey (French for Target) and bought some reclining patio chairs, a table big enough for a citronella candle and a few beers, some colorful pillows, several hanging flower baskets, some tasteful string party lights and a ceramic blue turtle (because why not?). This made a dramatic difference, but it still needed something else. 

Our patio was plain - bare concrete - and this provided the largest opportunity to change its look.  Mrs. Cush wanted to get an outdoor rug, but we could not find one that matched the dimensions of our patio.  The rugs that we looked at were either several feet too small or too big.  She wanted it to fill the entire patio, but did not want to cut the rug to fit even though I would have had to do the cutting (the thought of her getting her hands dirty measuring and cutting a rug amuses me).  We discussed possibly staining the concrete, so I did some research.  We were going for a dark-gray marbled look.  I bought the appropriate supplies and began the project.  I figured that since the stain was going to be dry enough to apply a glossy sealer after a few hours, I could finish the project in one day. 

We (yes, we) started the project by using blue painter’s tape to cover the edges and surfaces that we did not want to be stained.  After a grueling four minutes of this, Mrs. Cush had had enough of that grunt-work and decided to supervise from inside… on the couch…with the TV on…while socializing on her phone…with some of our Pink Pool Concoction.  I finished the other 97% of the taping, then cleaned the concrete with an acid etch, put down two thin layers of stain, and it looked pretty good.

This is before I applied the sealer. I could have stopped here, but the chairs would have chipped the outdoor stain if a sealer was not used.

I applied a thin layer of glossy sealer after the stain dried.  The sealer protects the stain and also adds a glossy ‘wet’ look.  It looked great at first, but then it began to bubble up like a fire-baked pizza crust.  I had followed the instructions to the ‘T’, so I was pretty pissed off.  I sought the advice of my best friend Google and found that a product called Xylene can melt the bubbling sealer, allowing me to use a paint roller and spread it again.  Another option was to just let the sealer fully dry, then allow it to ‘breathe’ by lightly sanding it and apply another thin layer of sealer.  I went with option #2 and it made the issue worse.  Along with the bubbling sealer, the whole patio developed a milky haze.  This was also very time and labor intensive. 

"Milky haze" was probably an understatement.

At this point, I was kicking myself for not vetoing the ‘no cutting the rug’ decree.  We could have been enjoying the patio by now if we had just plopped down a rug, but I digress.  I had no choice but to remove the sealer by melting it with some Xylene, a dangerous and possibly carcinogenic paint thinner (For some reason, the can stated that California considered it to be carcinogenic.  Why is there no input from the other 49 states on that?)  After several applications of Xylene, the bubbles were gone and the patio looked pretty glossy.  I found that the root cause of this nonsense was a combination of the outdoor humidity and the fact that our concrete had a rough finish (not smooth).  The Xylene allowed the sealer to be thinned and spread.  It also increased the dry time, which is good because it allowed any trapped water vapor to escape (the bubbling occurred because the sealer caused the moisture trapped in the concrete to not be able to evaporate).

Improvement.

The sealer is now dry and the patio is more or less a glossy onyx color now.  This should serve as a good base for adding colorful flowers and other decorations.  From start to finish, all of this took several weekends; hardly a one-day project.  The materials for this ended up being about 40% of the cost of a rug, but it was a lot more work.  All of this trouble could have been avoided if Mrs. Cush would have allowed an 8 inch cut in a rug. (I do like the way this eventually turned out, though).

Patio after.