Best "new" lip balm in the world! The Great Wax bee

I stumbled upon the most amazing little lip balm  and felt the need to share.  Made in Vermont, you can find and purchase at the local general store but alas, you don't have to drive yourself over here you can order on-line too! 

My Jewelry Box or MJB Marketing is the worst company to try to deal with, don't buy from them!

My son has been dating the most lovely of girls for over a year now.  For their 1 year anniversary he wanted to get her something meaningful and decided on a delicate and beautiful ring.  With my help, he purchased the ring and it came in, she loved it but weirdly enough was way to big even though we ordered the right size.  We sent it back using the instructions provided along with a copy of the invoice and instructions for them to send the same type ring in the size we ordered, simple enough.  8 weeks later and still no ring, no refund and no response from them.  Their website is no longer operational, their customer service phone # is busy all the time and they do not respond to e-mails.  So, please share that this company is not the kind of company you want to deal with.  They should be ashamed of themselves for the horrible customer service and understand that this act of stealing is NOT OK!! please share this post with everyone you know and DO NOT order from them!
and if you'd like to send them an e-mail about this post, customerservice@myjewelerybox.com 

Best Lip Balm I've found so far... and it's available on-line

If you are shopping around for a great little lip balm during these cold dreary months.  Look no further than The Great Wax Bee.  While you can pick this up at our Local general store in Vermont, if you don't want to take the drive, it's ok! you can order on-line. 

VERIZON WIRELESS STOLE MY MONEY!

Hey:


Open letter to anyone who cares to hear about the pain I've been put through the past 4 months by Verizon Wireless.  My husband had us signed up with Verizon Wireless.  We have been with them for 14 years as our cell phone provider.  As some of you know, My husband is no longer in any capacity to assist in anyway with anything.  If you don't know the details, it's not part of this blog, maybe later.  ANYWAY, I have durable power of attorney and our "story" is a painful, upsetting one that requires a great deal of courage and persistence on my part to get things taken care of when I am not listed on an account.  I provided to Verizon Wireless over 4 months ago our "story" and the power of attorney.  I was "added" to the account to make changes etc and have been working with them to clear up the accounts.  I called to have his phone shut off and was told that the early termination fee would be waived - while on the line with them my phone shut off...LOL they shut my line down instead of his.  I had to call back and explain to yet another customer service person what just happened and what was supposed to happen.  This customer service person said he would take care of it...reinstated my line and "shut off" my husbands.  Then I got a bill, The bill was for both of our lines to be shut off and they were charging me for both lines to have the early termination fee.  I called back, explained why I was shutting off my husbands line, that my line was shut off in error and was told that they would put a "ticket" in to make sure my account wasn't charged and was told in fact I had a credit once they updated the bill.  I checked the following week and nothing had changed on-line and I was set to be charged, I called again.  This time I had to explain from the beginning, our story, durable power of attorney, explain what durable power of attorney meant, that my phone was not actually shut off (I was calling from my phone) AND that both early termination fees should be waived. I was told specifically that my account would not be charged, and guess what.  I had $559.51 stolen from my account by Verizon Wireless.  I have been on the phone with them for the past (2) weeks a total of 5 phone calls where I am assured they will correct the issue.  My last phone call Thursday I was told the funds would be returned to my account the following day.  I called again this morning and spoke with (2) Customer service representatives that stated that they had to speak to my husband before they could provide me with any information.  When I explained to them our "situation" I was told there was "nothing they could do"  I needed to get the password from my husband.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME???  It's okay for you to take $$ out of my account but I don't have any access to service?  My bank, Service Credit Union is now working to have the funds returned to my account.  I love my bank, if you are looking for a bank, I strongly suggest Service Credit Union.  If you are looking for a cell phone provider, Don't use Verizon, the customer service people in the stores are really good but over the phone they can't even help themselves never mind any issue you have. 


Do you have a Verizon Horror story you'd like to share?  Please comment below   

Finding financial aid to pay for college

Your student is preparing to go off to college in the Fall, has the school picked out and acceptance in hand.  Now the questions looms, how to pay for it??

The first thing you need to do is complete the Free application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at www.fafsa.ed.gov The application for the 2015-2016 year became available starting January 1st.  The application is the Department of Education's site and has a nifty tool to pull your IRS tax information into the application.  You need to have already filed your taxes for it to work, but you can use estimates based on last year and once you file your taxes go back onto the site and update.  

The next thing you need to do it find out what additional steps need to be completed at the school your student is going to.  Check with the aid office, they typically have a website dedicated to spelling out the steps or you can always call.

Once you know what additional forms need to be completed, DO IT.  Don't wait on submitting, you could miss out on some opportunities if your student isn't "complete".  

Check with your local librarian, guidance counselor or State website (I suggest all 3) to find private scholarship sources to apply for.  If your student writes a really strong essay, they can use it again and again to apply for scholarships if it fits what they are asking for.

Check a search engine for scholarships like www.fastweb.com cast your net wide to find obscure little scholarships that your student would be eligible for.  I received in my undergraduate program a scholarship for Brown Eyed girls ~ legitimate scholarship that provided $500 a year that added up to a whole lot of books by the end of my degree!

Make sure that your student applied for any scholarship available through the school of choice and look over all paperwork that comes in for deadlines.

Once you have your award offer in hand, remember ~ it's not a bill, it's an award and not all awards are equal. 

If your student is applying to more than 1 school and you are deciding which school offered the "best" $$ you have to look at total cost for the year and then scholarship offered.  What looks like a huge scholarship may only cover 10% while a small offer and a low cost school could be covering 75%.  You also have to take into consideration Fit.  If the school is not right for your student and is not going to offer the degree they want, services they need or climate they are used too (climate can be cultural, size of school and Temperature) then sending them off because they offered more scholarship funds is spending good money after bad.  You want your students’ college experience to be a positive one.  If you pay out of pocket even $500 a semester to find out after a year it's not a good fit and your student is going to transfer you have just wasted your money. 

All things to keep in mind when navigating the financial aid waters ~  

Smooth Sailing, TRESemme Keratin Smooth review

Hello My beautiful friends:

I've recently picked up the Tresemme 7 day Keratin smooth shampoo, conditioner and serum to see if it would help with my frizzy hair.  This is the third day in and I am loving it!! The first day, I didn't follow the directions so well and hated the results.  My hair felt like I had way to much product in it and was frizzy by the end of the day.  I realized that night my mistakes, I didn't use enough of the serum product and you are supposed to completely dry your hair before straightening. (oops)  Day 2, I followed the directions and my hair looked really good, like I had just come from a salon good!

Day 3: This morning all I had to do was wash and dry and my hair and it is still silky smooth with no frizz at all! Because I didn't have to do much to it, I was able to play around with the part and such and my hair looks even better than yesterday.  

I just snapped this picture and its been a long day already and my hair is smooth, untangled and not frizzy (ignore the wrinkled shirt) which by now on a normal day I would have thrown it up into a ponytail. 

I did find a great Youtube video of Zoella using the products and she liked them as well.

So, if interested in using these products I strongly suggest finding a coupon to reduce the out of pocket expense and read the directions before beginning.  Do you  have a product that you use to keep the frizz at bay? ~ comment in the comment section. 

Have a wonderful day my beautiful friends!  

Easy Hair, Don't care work up-do

Hello My Beautiful Friends:

I have been trying new things with my hair lately as the layers grow out and have been using YouTube for inspiration.  My most recent do was copied from this Video.  It was really easy to follow along and I got my hair up and out the door in record time this morning.  My assumption is that the more I do this particular style it will be easier and come out nicer.  That being said I just got to work and have already received a compliment on how it looks by every female in the office so far, so that's good Right?

Some other great hair style ideas I've tried have come from Luxy Hair like a messy bun Or Zoella Messy Bun tutorials.  I cannot believe what you can learn how to do on YouTube!  Have you found a favorite YouTuber you follow, please comment and share below.

She's So Crafty, Scarf Hanging DIY Organization

If you are a scarf girl like me, you may have found yourself drowning in baskets of scarfs.  Every day, pouring through the baskets looking for one to go with your outfit or the perfect pashmina to go with your evening dress.  I was given a scarf organizer from my sister in-law from IKEA but because of how many scarfs I have, it wasn't cutting the mustard.   I used (2) command hooks and a pressure rod that I already had on hand and measured out on my wall where I wanted the scarfs to hang.

As you can see I then organized the scarfs by color and have them draped over the rod.  This is only about 1/3 of my scarfs but they are the ones I use most often.  Also, this doesn't work as well with Infinity scarf's and regular scarfs mixed in because they end at different lengths.  That being said, you can hang 2 rods up one above the other on your wall if you have the room.  

What do you do to keep yourself organized? 

She's So Crafty DIY Wine Glass Project

This past week I was on a Stay-cation and did many silly things to keep me occupied.  One awesome project was hand painting wine glasses.  The glasses were $1.00 each as the Dollar store and the Paint I picked up at Michael's with a gift card I had.

You need to look for the wine glass on the label - see above.  These bottles cost about $1.50 to $2.00 each.

Use a surface you don't mind getting paint on ~ I used a Pizza box ( I seem to have alot of those in my house..don't judge).

Paint as desired and wait for the color's to dry before moving on to a new color on the glass unless you want to encourage "bleeding" from color to color.  

Once you have painted your glasses put them on a shallow cookie sheet and place in a Cold Oven, set the temp for 350 degrees and timer for 30 minutes.  The color will lighten a bit.

Once the 30 minutes are up, take them out of the oven and let them cool completely before handling.  You can add additional color and "re-cook" for layers but try to keep the paint thinner so it doesn't just chunk off.

I love my new glasses and have been using them for everything under the sun like Juice for breakfast, soda and water etc.  Do you have any crafts that you would like to share? please comment or link below.

#Ipsy April 2014 Glam Bag

Wow was I excited to receive my glam bag for April smack dab in the middle of my stay-cation.  And of course I wasn't able to blog about it until now because I was too busy enjoying my down time with me new Glam goodies.

This months bag was full of yummy new things for me to try like the St. Tropez cream that not only had a pigment to slowly "tan" my white as a ghost face but also had anti aging properties.  I tried it and I liked it alot!.  The eye liner was the perfect color and the lip stain was also really good but a bit to bright against my pale skin..alas after using the St. Tropez lotion ... it soon began to work for me.  The cream eye shadow works great as a highlight and I used it to also highlight my cheek bones as well as brows.  I pretty much loved all the products but the eyelashes.  I have thick lashes already and have never used false eye lashes before so am not prepared to try them out just yet.  I am keeping them in my stash of yummy to save for an event.

The bag itself is smaller but works really well for just the basics for a day look to stash in your purse.  Do you subscribe to Ipsy?  If so, let me know how you liked this months bag.  Don't subscribe but want too?  http://www.ipsy.com/r/6rdb

Unfortunate incident at Wal-Mart, Never shopping there again!

Over this past weekend we celebrated my Husbands 40th Birthday! At the last minute I had to scoot out to the store to pick up some things. Because my son is learning to drive, he came along for practice along with his girlfriend.  I picked up several items including some glassware, Ice Cream emergency birthday card, soda etc.  Included with the purchases  I picked up a six pack of Angry Orchard Cider.  In the checkout line with several other customers behind me, the cashier asked me how old my children were.  I answered and she stated "then I'm going to have take this" and took the six pack off the conveyer belt and set it aside.  She then went on to explain that because the Policy clearly states she has the right to refuse purchases "because you are buying this for them".  In front of several customers and my son and girlfriend she stated very plainly that she felt I was going to provide alcohol to minors and she would not allow me to make the purchase. 


I was so horrified and embarrassed I didn't do anything but pay my bill and run out of the store.  I am now making a vow to NEVER purchase a single item from ANY Wal-Mart anywhere. I've sent a letter to the store where the "incident occurred" as well as copied the corporate office.  I provided them a copy of the receipt as well as a copy of my monthly checking account statement that clearly shows how much money I spend at that store so they get the full impact of what that misuse of power has done.  I want to clearly state that at no time was I planning on, intending to, or any other scenario this cashier came up with in her head to provide Alcohol to my son or his girlfriend.  I also want to again state, a six-pack of Angry Orchard? Really??? 


The cashier motioned to a policy that was posted about purchase of alcohol and in the posting it did not include any language that stated adults with children were not allowed to purchase alcohol.  I wonder, If they were 6 years old would she have done the same thing?  and if I was purchasing for them, why then all the birthday stuff along with groceries totaling over $80.00??  If I was purchasing for them, wouldn't I have left them in the Car?  Stating in front of other customers, that I was clearly purchasing for them ~ isn't that slander? ...now some of you may come to the defense of the cashier about her doing her job etc, she was making a judgment call based on my appearance perhaps?  Well, I was dresses in typical Mom gear and would have been considered "business casual".  My hair was done, makeup on and presentable to any person I may have run into that day including my husbands family I was hosting.  I am a reputable member of my community of which this cashier is also a member and we have seen each other in the store and about town ~  I am not a stranger to her.  I do not have any type of reputation of being a "party house", I have never been arrested for providing alcohol to minors, my child does not run the streets, gets good grades, athlete


I am offended! but more than that, I am angry at myself for allowing this women to shame me in front of my child and strangers as if I was doing something wrong.  The whole experience left me upset for the remainder of the day and I am still clearly rattled by it.  I wish I had asked to talk with the manager, refused to purchase any of the other items I picked out, left without any items etc.  Many scenarios that always include being dignified and true to my nature while pointing out the inappropriate use of power by the cashier.  Her judgment of me based on something other than her actual knowledge of my nature clearly has left me feeling I need to "prove" myself?  Frustrating!  How would you have handled the situation?  I would love some constructive advice on ways to improve my ability to stick up for myself in the moment.


Love you all my beautiful friends!       

#Nicole by OPI Backstage Pass review

I picked up this color from Wal-Mart on my way home last night from work.  The polish coated my nails in two coats perfectly and was a snap to apply.  The color is a dark rich color but still office appropriate and worked well with my outfit today.  I can see using this color often and have had really good luck with the Nicole by OPI brand.

What Nail color/brand do you love, comment and share

Thank you for stopping and reading this brief post my beautiful friends!

L'oreal YouthCode Pore Vanisher Review

Flipping though my Marie Claire Mag for April and I spotted this sample from L'oreal.  Well I love L'oreal products in general and my pores are as big as saucers so I thought "what the heck" and tried it out this morning.

I used this instead of my usual primer and at first application I though "this ain't going to work" it was smooth in application but felt really oily but by the time I made it to the sink to wash it off it was dry and matte finish. It's now 3:00 p.m. (I put this on at 5:30 a.m.) and I am still not shiny or oily feeling.  The sample came with a coupon for $2.00 off and I am planning on picking it up on my way home tonight.

 Do you use any L'oreal products? if so, what are some of your most favorite items?

Spring OOTD, Plaid, Purple and clearance finds

While wondering the isles at Wal-mart I found my self in the boy's section at a clearance rack and found the most amazing plaid shirt with beautiful spring colors of Blue's, Gray's and Purples with flecks of Silver.  Perfect for Spring/Summer Pairings as well as impromptu rodeo's for only $3.00.

I tried this little beauty over my turtleneck...A bit snug but all the buttons done up I could still breathe so I bought it.

Today I used my find to put together a Spring outfit.  

The colors don't look so good in the picture, the sweater is not as Pink as showing ~ is more of a deep lavender and matches perfectly with the purple in the shirt.  The Skirt is also not showing in the picture its true color, its more of a dark purple.  

I can't wait to style this shirt with my other Spring/summer staples that are still packed away because we still are getting snow.  

Do you have any ideas on what to pair my new plaid shirt with?  Share and comment below.

Thank you for reading my beautiful friends!

A shoe story, DIY shoe color

This weekend I was scrolling through YouTube and found a few DIY projects that included painting your old/older shoes to freshen them up.  Here  and Here and Here . I had a pair of shoes purchases a few years back from Target that had seen better days but they were still solid and perfectly fitting shoes.  The color had faded a bit and they had some staining from winter weather.  I decided to try to freshen them up with some craft paint.  I also have been on the hunt for a pair of Navy/blue shoes and weren't able to find a pair that I liked anywhere.  Me, always on the look out for a deal, and always looking for a quick DIY project I thought Why Not!

I purchased a bottle of Craft paint from Wal-Mart for .50 cents and a foam paint brush for .67 cents.  Went home, cleaned up my shoes and started painting.

They came out pretty good if I do say so myself.

Friday OOTD, Layering on color for Spring

Today's outfit consists of my husbands button up blue dress shirt, layered over it is my light weight teal sweater.  I am wearing my black skinny dress pants and silver flats. I have layered over top my 3/4 sleeve spring jacket and a blue coordinating scarf.

With the Jacket and Scarf

Without the Jacket and Scarf

Check out my nail color from my #ipsy Glam Bag from March

These colors are forcing spring even though its snowing out, again.  Happy Spring my beautiful friends!

#Ipsy Glam Bag OPI Nicole "On what Grounds Review"

In my Glam bag this month I received an OPI Nail color from Nicole.  The color is a beautiful green/blue perfect for spring/summer and I noticed it had flecks in the color and the wrapper said :rough".  The color looked so nice in the bottle I was excited to try it out.

The color is beautiful, applied evenly and dried matte that being said,  I don't like it at all on my finger nails. This is the first bottle of "rough" nail polish I've tried and honestly didn't know what to expect.  The texture is gritty and thus I spent all last night rubbing over them and completely distracted.  This color is going to be perfect in summer, on my toes.

Do you have a nail polish that you love but only use on your toes?  I have an actual box of color that I use only on my toes that has about 10-12 bottles that I won't dare wear on my fingers but love using on my toes.

Happy day my beautiful friends, don't forget to like, thumbs up and subscribe to my blog. 

#ipsy March 2014 Glam Bag!

Hey my beautiful friends ~ I finally caved and got the Ipsy Glam bag subscription.  My first glam bag arrived early last week but this is my first moment to update you on the goods.

The Glam bag arrives in a Pink bubble wrap pouch

I tore her open and pulled out the contents

I've already applied the Pixi Primer which went on really smooth and light and blended in to my skin = Perfection!

The Lipstick is actually fairly close to my natural (chapped) lips.  Went on smooth and felt really moisturizing.

They eye makeup and nail polish I will have to check out later when I have time to apply and let dry!

Anyone else have a monthly subscription to a Glam Box/Bag?  Tell me what you think about the subscription or products received. 

CHINA SKY - SO HERE"S THE STORY...

Friday OOTD : Dress Barn Clearance haul

Today's outfit was inspired by the Spring like weather weather coming soon and my need to not continue to dress like it's the middle of winter.  Actually, my outfit was purchased in its entirety last night at Dress Barn on my way home from work and was the last bit of money on my Dress Barn gift card.  The pants (similiar) are a pattern that I would normally never even attempt on my bottom half but for less than $10.00 I tried them on and fell in love.  Here is a close up of the pattern.

The top is a vibrant blue light weight sweater (similiar)with Silk back high low hem.  I layered the sweater over a light purple button down (similiar)for warmth more than anything but the color is actually in the pants.

I am wearing an arm full of bracelets from Lia Sophia and necklace also from Lia Sophia. 

Are you starting to wear your spring time colors? post comment below on how you add "spring" back into your step and wardrobe.

Thanks for reading my beautiful friends!