Gluten Free Vegetarian Junk Food Loves

Gluten Free Vegetarian Junk Food

If you would have told me ten years ago that I would be a gluten free vegetarian, I would have laughed at you. But here I am now. I have been gluten free for about a year due to allergy issues. I have been vegetarian about a year now as well. After watching a couple documentaries on Netflix about health, my husband and I both decided to give up meat. Since then we both have felt better and have clearer skin than ever before. We also have very limited dairy, which helps with clear skin.

Most people say to us, well what can you eat? It hasn’t been the most fun journey but we have discovered some really great food along the way.

Here are some of my favorite Gluten Free Vegetarian Unhealthy Food Loves

-1- Pizza

– I have finally found some delicious gluten free pizza, and trust me I’ve had to taste some pretty gross ones in the process. My recommendations are- Hungry Howie’s and Papa Murphy’s – both offer gluten free crust and you can put whatever you want on it. Sonoma is a good brand to buy at Meijer’s gluten free section as well.

-2- McAlister’s Grilled Cheese

-They offer it in some locations on gluten free bread… its delicious. You can also use gluten free bread on any sandwich there.

-3- Qdoba nachos and queso are a must! Plus you can get a burritos bowl with brown rice and it’s gluten free!

-4- Katz gluten free powdered donut holes at Meijer, so good! But don’t cook them too long!

-5- Ice cream – Freddy’s, Culvers, DQ, Sonic – all gluten free!

-6- Wendy’s French Fries

-Sometimes it’s fun to just get a large fry and pig out while watching a movie at home. 😉

 

So those are some of my favorite gluten free vegetarian junk foods. If y’all have anymore good ideas please leave them in the comments below! Yum, now I’m hungry. 😉

-Britt

 

 

 

Some Days You Just Need to Smell like Jimmy Choo

Jimmy Choo

I don’t know about y’all but here lately, I feel like I’m in a constant rush, that I will never catch a break. It’s not that I have one big thing I am working on.  But that I feel like I have 50 million other things going on at the same time. My job, family events, church responsibilities, being a wife, trying to keep my house looking nice, all while still trying to have a little fun out of life. It can all feel a little overwhelming at times. Throw kids in the mix and it makes it all seem almost impossible. I don’t know how moms keep sane; seriously I believe y’all have super hero powers or something. 😉

But as I was rushing out the door the other day to go run errands, I threw on a pair of Old Navy sweats. Right when I was rushing out of the room, I took a quick second and sprayed my most expensive perfume I own. Jimmy Choo L’eau. While I was spraying this, I thought what in the world am I doing. Here I look like a bum with my hair all a mess, but I’m wearing my nicest perfume.

Then it dawned on me. It’s okay, and it made me feel special. Just my few sprays of this made me feel more put together.

All of these thoughts came into my mind and a smile spread across my face. If I want to be a nice smelling bum that’s okay, if I want to be stylish and well put together, that’s okay. It’s okay to not be perfect.

Often times as women, we feel pressured to look a certain way when we leave. If we go out in sweat pants we almost feel a since of guilt, like we should have invested more time in our busy schedule to look better.

Why do we feel we should apologize for wearing sweats or looking a certain way? I know I’ve done it. When I arrive somewhere and I’m like “oh sorry, I was just in a rush.” Or when we text our friends to make sure they are going to join our sweat pant trend today.

One thing I am learning in life is that being imperfect is one of the best ways to show your true beauty. The Bible says

 

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” –Proverbs 31:30

 

Once again, and almost daily, I am having to remind myself that true beauty comes from the inside and shines out.

So if you want to wear sweatpants and spray your most fancy perfume to feel better, do it! If you want to wear a stylish outfit but don’t feel like wearing makeup, don’t feel that you have to wear makeup.

Lets start a new fashion and beauty trend of loving ourselves and dressing how we feel, not how the magazines or movie stars tell us to dress.

Be you and wear what makes you happy and comfortable.

Spray your Jimmy Choo and enjoy your day 😉

-Brittany

Favorite Ways to Unwind After Stressful Day

how to unwind after stressful day

I don’t know about y’all, but April always feels like such a busy month. Whether you’re in high school or college and preparing for the semester to end. Or even at work having to learn or do new things. I just feel like stress always builds up right before summer.

Some of us are counting down our days till we go on vacation and some of us are simply counting down our days till Friday. No matter what your countdown is for, we all look forward to having some time off to relax and unwind.

Here are my favorite ways to unwind after a stressful day:

-1- As soon as I get off or home I treat myself – whether that is buying some Starbucks on the way home or making coffee at my house. I treat myself before I even change into my pajamas.

-2- Relaxing bath or shower. I currently can only take a shower but if I had a big bathtub I would light some candles, and take my coffee and soak in the tub. I also enjoy playing a peaceful or spa like sound on my phone with Pandora or Spotify.

-3- After my bath, I would put on a face mask. It makes me feel better knowing I’m helping my skin after a long week of wearing make up. I enjoy the Clarisonic Detoxifying Clay Mask.

-4- Put on my robe and go snuggle on the couch. This is where I might catch up on Youtube or Netflix or explore Pinterest. One tip I must never forget and helps me so much, is to put my phone up or turn my ringer off. It is so nice to detach from the constant beeping of my phone.

Other ways I like to unwind are:

-Sunset walks

-Go eat at your favorite restaurant

– Mani/Pedi

-Stop at Redbox and get that movie you’ve wanted to see

– Have a stay at home date with your husband

 

how to unwind after a stressful day

While reading this, I hope you all plan an evening, a day, or just a couple hours to de-stress and unwind. Maybe even start a count down on your phone for motivation. 😉

What are ways y’all unwind? Please share your thoughts below!

Hugs,

~Brittany

My Personal Weekly Clothing Budget – For a girl who loves shopping!

personal shopping budget

Wouldn’t it be awesome to have an unlimited budget for clothes and Starbucks. Ahhhh… if only. 😉

My husband and I are Dave Ramsey followers and we are currently on baby step #3, which is saving 3-6 months expenses for an emergency fund. So that means, we are on a budget of throwing most extra cash at savings.

But even Dave Ramsey says you should still budget some money for fun. Now my husband and I do not have a clothing budget each month. Both of us do not plan on changing sizes any time soon, so all our clothes should work for us.

Now I understand families that have kids, definitely need a clothing budget. You don’t want your kids wearing high water jeans or shoes that don’t fit.

There are also special occasions when you need a clothing budget. Last year, my sister got married and we had to purchase my husband some dress clothes. We just adjusted our monthly budget for that month to afford the new shirt and tie he needed.

While I have explained, that we do not have a monthly clothing budget, we do have a Brittany and Tony budget for every week. Every week, each of us gets $20 dollars to spend on whatever we want. We get it out in cash at the ATM. As a shopping lover, all my money usually goes towards clothes.

personal shopping budget

Sometimes I spend my $20 right away on a cute Target shirt or a pair of Old Navy shorts. Other times, I save it up. One time, I saved all my $20s for over four months, I saved close to $350 dollars. I then spent it all on a Vera Bradley purse, as a gift to myself.

While it sounds awesome that I saved up and paid with cash for my purse, it wasn’t all fun. I had to constantly tell myself every week to not rush to the mall and get that dress I wanted.  Or I had to tell myself, ” just keep saving, I’ll eventually get there.” It was like I had to give myself a savings pep talk each week.

personal shopping budget

Check out my review of my $300 Vera Bradley bag I saved up for and paid with cash!

 

It takes discipline of telling your self no, but the reward is worth it. I currently have saved $80 dollars in my Brittany budget. I either plan on saving a couple hundred then going on a shopping spree, or saving up for a new Iphone, now that will take some dedication. 😉

The best thing about my budget is that I am paying with cash. I have no credit card bills and I don’t feel guilty at all about purchasing it. I know through my budget that all my bills are getting paid, I have a fridge full of food, and I have a little bit of money to have some fun with.

By budgeting $20 dollars a week, that is $80 dollars a month.

That is $160 in 2 months

$240 in 3 months

$480 in 6 months

$960 in a year! Just to spend on me!

I hope this encourages you to start saving a little money for yourself. Whether that is for a clothing budget like I enjoy or whatever hobby you might have. Also, if you can budget more than $20 bucks, go for it!

Working hard and saving for your purchase just makes it that much sweeter!

Hugs,

Brittany!

 

 

Why I Stopped Wearing SO much Makeup

Why I stopped Wearing so much makeup

I have always loved makeup. I remember growing up I’d watch my mother and nana apply their makeup on  Sunday mornings. I remember being thrilled when I was allowed to wear blush and lip-gloss.

I always loved looking through magazines and seeing the next great item to use. I still to this day enjoy browsing Ulta or looking for the one-hit-wonder makeup item.

In my teens and collage years, makeup would take me forever to apply. And some of this time was even before eyebrow gel was a thing. 😉 I had to apply a primer, then concealer, and next was foundation.  The type of foundation that was complete coverage was the goal.

Then blush and bronzer was next. Bronzer was something I never was good at. Next you had to do your eyes, which involved 3-5 shades of eye shadow. To this day, I still am not good at eye liner, so I always skipped that step. Lastly, was to curl the lashes and add mascara.

Later on, you had to add more steps like coloring in your eyebrows or using a gel on them. Also highlight on the top of your cheeks and setting spray was a must.

While at times, this was fun to explore and play with makeup, I absolutely dreaded having to take it off. I wish they would make a product that took it all off in one swipe. 😉 Also it was getting time consuming.

Since I have been married, I feel like my makeup routine has completely changed. Partly, because my husband would always say, “Why does it take you so long to get ready?” 😉 But also because I feel like I have grown more as a person.

Now I can actually do all of my makeup in about 5 minutes, and I love it. I love being able to just get up and go.

Why I stopped wearing so much makeup

Check out my Fresh in Fifteen video!  Get ready with me skincare, hair care, and makeup all in 15 minutes!

My makeup now just includes:

-Sometimes primer, sometimes not – depends on my mood 😉

-Cover FX Mineral Powder Foundation – works well with my skin, super easy to apply – not messy like liquid foundation

-Blush – I enjoy Tarte or Milani

– Maybelline eyebrow gel – I don’t always use it, depends on my mood. Sometimes I feel life was simpler when I didn’t have to fill in my brows. 😉

– Eye shadow – one color sometimes two – also depends on the occasion

-Mascara – I enjoy Tarte Lights Camera Lashes, or Maybelline Rocket

– Chap stick or lipstick – I have been loving Burt’s Bees lip shimmers

That’s it! And I love it! Simple! Sometimes I use setting spray and sometimes I don’t.

One thing that really helped me learn to accept my natural beauty, was to embrace my natural beauty. Changing my diet helped me gain more confidence for that.

Over the past year, I have given up gluten due to allergy issues as well as really limiting my dairy intake. My skin has never been clearer in my life. I now only get the occasional monthly breakout around my chin. But even then, they are not as bad of a breakout as they use to be.

I don’t feel like I have to cover up my skin anymore with foundation or hide my pimples with concealer. I now feel more beautiful when someone tells me I’m pretty, because I know I’m not hiding anything with my mask of makeup.

My point I am trying to get here, is that I hope for everyone, makeup is a fun hobby, not something you feel you have to apply perfectly everyday. There are some days now I go run errands without makeup and feel perfectly fine and pretty. I did not use to be like that.

My hope and prayers is that as women, we learn to take care of ourselves with our diets, habits, and taking time for ourselves. That through that, our true inner beauty shines out and we realize that makeup is just an accessory.

gluten free, dairy free, skin care

No makeup – just natural

Remember:

“You are altogether beautiful, my darling, beautiful in every way.” -Song of Solomon 4:7

 

3 Favorite Spring 2018 Outfit Inspiration!

3 spring outfit inspirations

Spring always makes me feel like I need a whole new wardrobe.   Which is a challenging feeling, because while I want one, my wallet says no. However, I did try to budget in these 3 outfits I want to share with y’all.

3 spring outfit inspirations

-1- This Meijer dress I fell in love with when I first saw it. I love the solid color mixed with the pattern.   It’s perfect for this time of year, the long sleeve Kimono provides some warmth for the chilly mornings but the material is thin enough that you are not burning up by afternoon. It was only $30 at Meijer! I purchased this with some of my weekly money I keep back for myself to spend on anything I want to.

3 spring outfit inspirations

-2- This flower hoodie from Meijer is now one of my favorite things I own. It is so comfy and provides a cute sporty look. The jeans I wear with this almost feel as soft as Pjs. I love them! They are from New York & Company. While they are out of my price range, they had an awesome deal going on that day. I got two pairs of capris for $69! The deal was still going on when I was there last week! Also the Meijer shirt is now on clearance!

3 spring outfit inspirations

-3- I had been eyeing these shorts on Old Navy’s website. Once again, they looked super cute and comfy. I’ve never owned any green shorts before so I thought this would be a great neutral color to add to my spring wardrobe. These shorts were 15% off last weekend, and thankfully I have a great Nana that still loves taking her grand daughters shopping. Thanks Nana! 😉 The top I paired this with I already owned, from Target. Pair it with a cardigan and your good to go! Love the flexibility of combined neutrals.

I plan on wearing these 3 outfits over and over again this spring and transitioning into summer. It seems that here in Indiana we have another week full of cool temps and chances for snow (seriously I am so over this snow, #southerngirlstuckinIN). Until then, I’ll just keep dreaming about wearing these and pinning my spring time looks on Pinterest. Check out my Pinterest page for more looks!

Happy Spring!