AMAZON PRIME DAY IS HERE!!

Amazon Prime Day is here and there are SOOO many great things on sale! You can find anything from electronics, appliances, clothes, furniture, and even food!

My husband sucked me into the Amazon World as he had Amazon Prime before we got married and now I find myself using it all the time! Getting free next day shipping on things I find myself needing last minute has been a huge lifesaver! There are also a ton of different TV shows and Movies that we like to wind down and watch every now and then- many of them are included in the membership! I rounded up a few random items I have and love and a few other items that I ordered! What are your Amazon favorites?

SILK PILLOWCASE $24.99 $19.99

This one comes in pretty much any color you an think of. I have been sleeping on silk  

Nursing & NP School Q&A;

SUNGLASSES || SCRUB TOP & SCRUB BOTTOMS (by far my favorite scrubs & sold pretty much anywhere scrubs are sold-I wear XXS top and bottom for reference!) || TOTE BAG (completely customizable from the color of the handles, print, band, letters, etc- makes a great gift & comes in a ton of other styles! I tagged the exact style of this bag which comes with pockets on the inside where I keep my pens, personal stuff, etc. || SHOES

This post is finally here! I have gotten a ton of nursing and nurse practitioner related questions over the last few months, so I'm super excited to finally have them all in one place for you all! Grab a cup or tea or coffee because I wrote most of this in talk-text and had so much to say haha! These are in no particular order and basically spilled every little detail I can think of beyond the question asked, so enjoy and let me know if you have anymore questions :)

My New Workout Routine- BBG

I first heard about Bikini Body Guide (BBG) by Kayla Itsines a few years ago which was actually how I started

2017- Year In Review

HIGHLIGHTS OF 2017

2017 was one for the books! Here are a few of my favorite memories (in no particular order)! But first, here are 15 of YOUR favorite purchases of 2017:

My Flocked Christmas Tree Reveal

IT'S OFFICIALLY CHRISTMASTIME!!

And I finally get to reveal "our" tree...yes! Mine AND yours because you all helped me pick it out! :)

Top 10 Chick-Flicks & Cozy Robe

What's better than a cozy pajama party on the couch with your favorite chick-flick and some popcorn!?

Pink Leather Jacket

I'm usually a girly girl, but this leather jacket is giving me all the edgy feels! It's

5 Ways to Have a Relaxing Night In & Giveaway

With such a busy schedule, I always look forward to having a relaxing night in & want to spoil one of you with one too! 

5 Apps You Need For School

It's August! How crazy fast is time flying?! August, in school lingo, basically means summer is wrapping up and school is starting again. When I styled this outfit I realized that this is probably what I would wear to the first day of school- fashionable yet still comfortable. So, I decided to dedicate this post for some back-to-school guidance and share five apps you need to help survive this school year and really just life in general!

How To Survive Night Shift & NSale Home

I love nightshift... said no one ever! JK I have a few friends that love nightshift; I wish I did! For me, it has been a struggle! I love the pace, the atmosphere, the people, my job, but I just can't stand the zombie feeling on my days off when all I want to do is sleep!

I did nights on and off years ago and started again this Spring. Through the years, I learned a few tips and tricks that help me "function" a little bit better and I want to share them with you all! 

T3 Mini Miracles Set Review

I am the queen of overpacking, so when something comes in a mini version, I'm all about it!

One Year of Blogging Q&A;

 I decided to feature my favorite outfit to date to highlight today's Blogging Q&A!

I reached one year of blogging this past Sunday! I cannot believe how quickly it has passed by and how much has changed since I first started! I am forever grateful for those of you that have encouraged me since day one and for those of you that have followed my little hobby along the way. Your sweet emails, messages, comments, and encouragement means more to me than I could ever express! Thank you!

As promised, I will dedicate this post to answering all the questions you all have been

Five Ways To Decrease Stress

Happy FRIYAY Everyone!!

This week was honestly such a blur and oh. so. stressful. Because of that, I thought I would end the workweek with a post on ways to decrease stress.

21 Questions About Us

HAPPIEST VALENTINE'S DAY!!I'm so very thankful for you all! XO!

In honor of Valentine's Day, I wanted to share 21 fun questions that I mixed from HERE & HERE to share a little bit about us! ENJOY!!

My Christmas Home Tour

I can't believe how fast this Christmas season has been flying by! Please, slow down! It has been such a busy past few weeks that I need to remind myself to slow down and enjoy the holidays. 

 I was planning on getting this post up earlier this week, but I have been so sick. I'm feeling a lot better (thanks to everyone for your sweet comments on Instagram), but still pretty weak and still can't eat much so I've been saving my energy to get through the day lol! 

Now to this post. When my husband and I designed our apartment before we got married, we stuck to grey tones & silver accents. The first Christmas we had we added pops of red to our Christmas decor, but it seemed out of place. Since then I have been adding on to the silver, gold, and glitter color scheme and love it more every year! Most of our Christmas decor is from Hobby Lobby & Target. I tend to reuse the ornaments every year while adding new details to keep it different. This year, I changed the center table decor and added the tall Christmas trees, traded the star on top of the tree for glittery swirl sticks and the ornament sticks (both from Hobby Lobby). The tree was too tall for the star and I didn't want to but any of the branches because the tip was perfect, so this was a great alternative. I also added ribbon to my tree this year. I just cut short pieces and stuck them in empty places. It changed the whole look of the tree! I loved it!

If you want to know where anything specific is from, let me know in the comments below :) 

Smile Brilliant Teeth Whitening Kit Review

Hey guys! You all know I love trying and reviewing new products for you all. There is nothing worse  than spending money on a product just to use it once, hate it and let it collect dust. That's what I'm here for :)

Smile Brilliant reached out to me a few months ago to partner with them to review their whitening kit and give one of you a kit for free (more on that at the end of this post). At first I was honestly skeptical because I have tried several whitening products (including ones from the dentist) and they caused so much teeth sensitivity, so I used them very rarely. Now before I go any further, I want to make it clear that these opinions are my own and I said from the get-go that if I were going to review their products I would be honest to you all. I feel like since I have tried other whitening products, it was a good platform to see how well this kit compares to them. 

So, included in the teeth whitening kit is a tray creation kit, whitening gel and desensitizing gel. This caught my eye, because I bought all of this at my dentist (different whitening gels) I think last year and just the tray cost me as much as this whole kit. (I ended up not going through with the gel from my dentist because my gums burned the minute I put my trays in. Ouch!)

So first, you make your imprints and send them out. I read the instructions and I was like oh, boy I'm going to mess this up haha! but I promise it was so easy! Just make sure to read and understand all the instructions before making your imprints because it hardens so fast. Once those are done, put them in the prepaid envelope and ship them off. You will get your finished trays in just a few days and you're ready to start the process

The first session I did was a 45 minute whitening followed by 20 minutes desensitizing session. The first session was the most shocking to me:

BEFORE FIRST SESSION

AFTER 45 MINUTES OF WHITENING

My total whitening process was 22 days. In that period I did 5 periods of whitening ranging from (45 minutes to 2 hours) and 10 rounds of desensitizing (from 20-45 minutes) One time did 2 hours of the desensitizing gel by accident because I thought it was the whitening treatment haha! But I followed that with two 2 hour periods of whitening within a couple of days. I experienced very little sensitivity throughout the whole process which I was happy about because that was the main issue I had with whitening in the past.  

Although I will continue the whitening treatments, I wanted to share my whitening process this far:

BEFORE AND AFTER

I have noticed a huge difference in my teeth especially when I look at old pictures or even just glancing in the mirror. Sometimes I have to stop and just smile in the mirror to check out my pearly whites haha! #noshame I am definitely not done with my whitening process. This is just the beginning for me. I continue to see improvement with each time I whiten, so I will keep doing frequent whitening treatments until my teeth reach their natural white color and then just maintain my teeth whiteness from there.

I would love to answer any questions you have in the comments below. CLICK HERE for more info on what to know before buying.

Also, I love THIS VIDEO in explaining the process. 

TIPS FOR USING SMILE BRILLIANT

If you suffer from teeth sensitivity with whitening like I do, I recommend using the desensitizing gel a few times before starting the actual whitening process and the days between whitening. This will help SO much with sensitivity.

DON'T overfill your trays. 

Wipe your gums with a wet q-tip after inserting trays to wipe any gel that may have overflowed. This prevents gum irritation.

Rub Vaseline on your gums before putting your whitening trays in if you do experience gum sensitivity.

Drink coffee, coke, and anything that can stain your teeth with a straw! I usually drink my morning coffee with a straw anyway, but I highly recommend this during your whitening sessions. You don't want coffee stained teeth but also don't want to waste all that hard work by restaining your teeth again. 

Of course, total disclaimer, but make sure you talk to your dentist before starting any whitening process. I talked to mine and learned so much from just a five minute convo :)

Now for the fun part!! I am giving away a Smile Brilliant Teeth Whitening Kit to one of you lovely followers! This will include $139.95 credit to get 1 tray creation kit & 6 gel syringes (your choice of whitening and/or desensitizing gels). 
To ENTER THE GIVEAWAY CLICK HERE.

Lastly, SMILE! After all, it is your best accessory!

Thank you Smile Brilliant for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own.

Professional Teeth Whitening

IT'S a 10 Product Review

I was so honored when It's a 10 reached out to me to review their new Miracle Dry Shampoo & Conditioner in One. They also sent me some of their other popular products so I decided to put them to the test the past few weeks. I love reading product reviews from other bloggers because it helps me decide if a product will work for me without paying the pretty penny. I hope you guys enjoy this post. Let me know if you would like to see more "product review posts" in the comments below. Maybe we can make this a monthly thing :) Now for my honest review:

MIRACLE LEAVE-IN PLUS KERATIN

The miracle leave-in has been in my hair routine for almost a year, and it's not going anywhere anytime soon. It makes my hair so soft and tamed. I spray it evenly in my damp hair and brush it through with my fingers. I usually keep it away from the top roots of my hair so it doesn't get too product heavy/greasy look. My husband uses it too and I always have to get on him because he gets carried away! I'm like, it works perfectly fine it you spray it on your hair five times instead of ten, just saying" haha! I used the one without the Keratin when I first tried this product, and honestly didn't see much of a difference. I do prefer this one just because I heard Keratin was really good for strengthening and taming hair. 

MIRACLE DRY SHAMPOO & CONDITIONER IN ONE

I was most excited to try this product. I am a dry shampoo hair queen and honestly can't live without it! Aside from blogging, I am an ER nurse so sometimes I am just so exhausted and washing this weave is not a priority! I was a bit disappointed with the dry shampoo part of this product. First when you spray it, it makes your hair a little wet (negative) but without the white (total win!). It doesn't seem to stretch my "dirty" hair days though like other dry shampoo products I have tried. Now before you keep scrolling because "this product is not for me" hear me out. After I used this product a few times and decided it didn't take out the oils like I wanted it to, I went back to my go-to dry shampoo and oh my was there a difference. It had my hair SOOO dry, I couldn't believe I walked around like that for so long. It literally felt so dry and dehydrated. This product really has good conditioning properties so, I tried mixing the two products and let me tell you, it's amazing! You get the extra two-three days without a wash and your hair still feels so soft. #winning

SILK EXPRESS MIRACLE SILK SHAMPOO & SILK EXPRESS MIRACLE SILK CONDITIONER

Honestly, the first time I used these products I was like, oh boy. Not sure how this is going to work. I applied the shampoo to my wet hair and it felt silky, not soapy/bubbly like I am used to. So I had to use a few more pumps than I normally do to get it throughout my hair. The shampoo I used before I tried this smells so good, and this smell wasn't impressive. I noticed it the first time I used it but it didn't bother me after that. When I applied the conditioner, it felt like normal conditioner I always use, no change there. I didn't expect to feel a difference with my hair after I dried/styled it because I always use just regular drug store shampoos/conditioners (nothing super fancy and expensive) and they just work. This combo left my hair so soft and literally silky! I was kind of in denial so I went back to my regular shampoo and conditioner and was surprised to see the difference. My hair was softer, more tamed, and way less fly aways than with my normal routine. 

MIRACLE LEAVE-IN LIGHT

This is very similar to the first product I reviewed, but I think this is for someone who already has good hydrated hair that just needs a little bit of conditioning. Or maybe someone with thin hair that wants the extra conditioning without weighing it down too much. It definitely adds softness, but not as much as the regular version. It also smells devine!

Now I do know that not all products will work for everyone, but these are my honest reviews after trying them for a few weeks. I would really love to hear if you have tried any of these products or any other ones by this brand! 

SIDE NOTE: I have not heard back from everyone that won the ten days of giveaways. I will be picking new winners tonight if I don't hear from you! XO!!

Men, Student & Fitness Chic Gift Guides

flannel pajamas (more colors available) || BOSE noise canceling headphones || phone case/cardholder || backpack || duffle bag || art of shaving set || nike || sunglasses || red tie || fitbit || money clip/USB || scarf || sweater || slippers || BOSE headphones || snow boots || hat || socks (a ton of different colors/designs) || BOSE bluetooth speaker

Men's Gift Guide: The men in my life are probably the hardest people to shop for. Especially my husband! He is the type of person that buys something he likes when he sees it so he never has a list of stuff he wants. He actually helped me with this collage because I am lost when it comes to what they really want vs what they need. I'm glad he did because shopping for him has just become so much easier! haha! The whole time he's like, "oh, I want that!" and "oh, I love that!" Thanks babe, I know what you'll be getting for Christmas ;)

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I Am Very Busy 17 month agenda || confetti 17 month planner || 'rose buds' earbuds || striped insulated tumbler || Cluse watch || polka dot pencil case || black bow pencil case || rose gold paper tray || polka dot pen || iPhone case || keychain USB || But First Coffee thermal ||  Tory Burch tote | stripe USB charger 

Girly Student Gift Guide: If you know a girly student in your life, these gifts are perfect! Not only will she be super fashionable while she studies, but these are all gifts that will come in handy throughout the rest of the school year! I was inspired to do this gift guide because my sister is in nursing school and I will be starting school in January (eek!! more to come on that!) so I thought of things that would be useful. She is definitely less "girly-girl" than I am, so I made sure to link items that come in different colors or styles in case you run into the same issue. 

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Dri-FIT top (more colors available) || bluetooth headphones || headband || Nike shoes (lots of colors) || customizable water bottle || backpack (more colors) || leggings || S'well water bottle (pink, turquoise, gold) || smart fitness watch || gym bag || yoga mat

Fitness Chic Gift Guide: I love anything bright and colorful for working out! It makes it so much more enjoyable! Spoil your fitness friend or family member with something from this list like a customizable water bottle (I love the times on it to keep track of your water intake) or cute gym accessories. Any fitness lover will surely thank you!

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