My first Birchbox is here!

As an anniversary gift, my husband bought me a 3 month subscription for Birchbox. Which, if you've never heard of it, is a cute little box of goodies and products based off a little survey of what you like and dislike that is sent to your house every month. You can then review them for points which can earn you free things. For my hubby's birthday earlier this year, I had bought him a men's 3 month subscription. It was filled with colognes, shaving products, lotions, etc. One month he even got a little speaker for his phone made out of olive tree wood.

We returned from our mini-vacay in Saugatuck yesterday (entry coming later) to find it waiting for me. I couldn't wait to open it! While on the weekends I'm not a huge makeup girl, I do love me some pampering and sample products. Plus, pretty things!

So this is what I got this month:

1. Ruby Wing Color Changing Nail Polish by Peony. I absolutely love this color! My photo doesn't do it justice. It's a bright neon type orange that changes to a pink-ish coral neon in the sun. 

2. Simple Sensitive Skin Experts Revitalizing Eye Roll-On. A full size roll-on of cucumber extract and some other vitamins to reduce that puffiness you get under your eyes. Plus, it feels really nice going on as the roller ball is metal, so it's pretty cold going on your skin. (This one was the extra not on the card).

3. Skin & Co Roma Sicilian Body Gel. I haven't used it yet but it smells great!

4. Shu Uemura Essence Absolue Nourishing Protective Leave-In Oil. Again, as I just got the box yesterday, I haven't used this yet but I'm excited to try it. My hair could use a little TLC.

5. Juicy Couture La La perfume. I'm not a huge fan of perfume samples, which I let them know, but as this is my welcome box I'm betting it was sent before I had the time to fill out the survey to make them aware.

And there you have it! I think it's a great little gift to give or receive. Now I'm off to finish the last layer on my nails.

Edit: Adding my referral link if you are interested! Please let me know if you have any questions. http://birch.ly/12jbiTa 

Summer Plans

Well you guys, summer is upon us. Or, will be soon. June seems like it should be summer to me. I feel like it should be at least 70 degrees in Michigan right now. I'm not even that far north. But alas, it's a whole whopping 65 out right now. I actually do prefer cooler weather, and my favorite season is fall, but I want at least a mini summer experience before fall is here again. 72-75 degrees would be nice. Warm enough so that I can shut off my desk heater at work at least. Tank tops and shorts and flip flop weather, ya know?

Speaking of summer, the hubby and I have some plans for the upcoming months and I thought I'd share our first planned trip with you all.

For our 7th anniversary, we are headed to Saugatuck Michigan to enjoy a long weekend at a nice little B&B. Neither of us have been there before, or Holland for that matter, but we both enjoy the little downtown areas of Michigan, Lake Michigan and that general hippie/artsy/sailor-ish vibe that those types of locations ooze.

Pure Michigan: Saugatuck - check it out!

We plan to get there bright and early to take a roasting class at Uncommon Grounds. They offer several different types of classes, all 2 hours and 20 bucks per person. As my other half is a bit of a coffee snob and I enjoy the beautiful brown liquid (with much creamer) myself, it sounded like a fun thing to do to start our first morning off there. I like to support little coffee shops like that vs. big brand name places and I think it's great that they try to visit and get to know their farmers as well.

Not Uncommon Grounds, but delicious coffee
goodness none the less. Also, foodie Instagram photos!

We also plan to visit several restaurants in the area. This is a common thread on all our vacations. I'd say we probably spend more money of food vs. entertainment and souvenirs whenever we travel. Yes, I am that hipster foodie picture taker person. I will inflict you with multiple Instagram photos of our meals. I'm sorry...maybe. A couple of locations on our list to dine at are Salt of the Earth and Everyday People Cafe. These were suggested to us by the B&B owner so I will trust their judgement.

I will be doing a fair bit of reading during our visit too. (Any suggestions I can add to my list?) Had I planned better, I would have rented a small B&B cabin (which seems to be pretty popular in the area) and read on a cute little porch all day. However, as those were all sold out and/or I'm not willing to throw down a thousand dollars for a few days, I will either be reading in a cute little (and I do mean little) B&B bedroom or perhaps will stake out a location that I can call my own for a few hours downtown. Either way, I will enjoy it.

The count down is on! What are you doing this summer?