June Favorites

I can not believe June is already over. When did this happen?! I still haven't been experimenting too much, but I have some new favorite products that I've been loving this month.

My MAC Eyeshadow Palette
I went more in depth in a recent post that you can find here. I've been using this every day and I'm so happy that I invested in this!

Simple Makeup Remover Wipes
These makeup remover wipes are great. I wanted to try these because I heard that they are good for sensitive skin; which I have. I really did like using my Neutregena wipes, but they burned my eyes and these don't at all. They feel really nice on my skin and don't leave me feeling dry or irritated at all. I just repurchased these today so they are definitely my new favorite!

Lush Shower Smoothie
I have been really enjoying this shower smoothie in Dreamwash. It has calamine in it so it's great for sunburn and eczema. I get sunburn all the time so this is nice to help soothe the burn and I also get eczema - especially in the winter. I love that I can use this year-round and it has so many other benefits as well. I also think it smells really nice.. which is what you would expect from Lush!

Lush Karma Bubble Bar
Bubble bars were the first Lush products I ever tried and they are also my absolute favorite. I love taking baths and can't take one without using a Lush bubble bar. This one that I've been loving this month is the Karma bubble bar. It smells so lovely. It's their signature scent and I don't even know how to describe it, but it's the best smell. All you need is a quarter size of the bar you get and you just drop it under running water and bubbles fill your entire tub. Just like in the movies.

Lush Celestial Facial Moisturizer
I also wrote more about this in my Chicago Haul post, but I really like this moisturizer. I didn't even use one before I bought this because I was afraid that everything would irritate my sensitive skin. I did try a NARS facial moisturizer and absolutely loved it, but it is way too expensive. I think it was about $60 for a small jar. This one doesn't irritate me or anything, so I'm very pleased with it!

MAC Painterly Paint Pot
Every YouTuber it seems has this. I wanted to see what the hype was all about and I wanted to buy one thing from MAC one day, so I picked this out. I didn't like it at first, but now I love it, especially when I use my MAC eyeshadows on top. It keeps my eyeshadow on all day and gives a good base to work with. I kind of wish I picked the champagne colored one, but I think I'll pick that up next.

OPI Nail Polish in You're Such A Budapest
Sometimes I don't even realize how much I like a certain nail polish until I rediscover it in my collection and then the next day I'm like whoa how could I forget about this color?? I love this purple nail polish. It's the perfect shade of purple and it looks really pretty in the summer.

That's it for my June favorites! I have some new food favorites, but I think I want to devote a whole post to food soon. :) Happy July!

My New Edition

Meet Walle, my new kitten!! I was actually not planning on getting a cat while staying at this apartment in Chicago just because I don't know what is going to happen.. who knows what I will be doing one year from now. But I just can't live without any type of pet.. it doesn't feel "right" and I wanted to make it feel a little more like home. Especially because it is still lonely here for me. I adopted this sweet little 5 week old boy from PAWS Chicago, a no-kill cat and dog shelter. They were having their 36 Hour adoptathon and there were so many kittens to choose from, but he stole my heart right away! I named him Walle after Wall-E, the Pixar movie, to go with my other orange kitty, Eva - who I miss terribly. :( Hopefully I will have her back one day and these two will go together perfectly! He is the sweetest little kitten ever.. he sleeps with me all night and is curled up right next to me. And he has the loudest purr! It reminds me of my first cat we had named Ceara. She used to sit next to me and purr until I fell asleep and then she would go sleep next to my mom. Anyways, I'm in love with this little guy. He's already brought me so much joy! Here are some more pictures:

he loves to sleep on me!

this was right after we finalized the adoption! He wouldn't stay put.. and this is probably one of my signature looks. Whoops.

***

I am 100% positive that I am indeed allergic to cats. This is just so ironic. I've had cats basically my whole life and we have 6 (yes, you did read that right) at my parent's house. I remember my friends could never sleep over at my house because they were allergic to cats and I used to think that was so sad! How could you not be able to pet a cat?! Well, here I am allergic to my sweet baby kitten but I am determined to suffer through and find better allergy medicine. Tomorrow I am going to try a homeopathic allergy treatment, so I will let you all know how that goes! 

Have a great day! :)

Chicago Haul

I feel guilty even writing this post, but retail therapy is the best kind of therapy andd Chicago has the best shopping. Whoops. This is a collection of shopping trips since I've been in Chicago, so roughly over a month's span.

From the Nordstrom's Sale:

I got these Nikes that sooo many people have, but I saw one of my favorite YouTubers got these for Christmas and I've been wanting them ever since. They were on sale, so I had to grab them. In a 5.5.. what is wrong with my feet?! Also Nordstrom tweeted me and I almost died. :)

MAC:

I got my first ever eye shadows from MAC and I am seriously in love. I watched Jaclyn Hill's and Tanya Burr's YouTube videos on their favorite MAC eyeshadows and picked a few that I liked best. I wanted to start out with a quad palette because it's easy to keep in my makeup bag and I feel like it's a good size to start off with. I now know how much I love their eyeshadows so I think I'll expand to a pro palette at some point in my life. While I was in the store picking these out, I also thought I''d pick up a new bronzer since I feel like the NARS Laguna is a little too dark for my skin tone. The makeup artist who was helping me out chose Soft Sand from their new Rising Temperatures collections and I really like it. It does have shimmer in it, which I know not everyone likes, but it's not too Edward-esque  so I'm fine with it. While she was applying the bronzer, she said my eyelashes were amazing and asked what kind of mascara I used. Totally made my entire day. In case you were wondering, it was Covergirl Clump Crushers. My reasoning behind purchasing MAC products over my favorite, NARS, was that it is actually cheaper. The eyeshadow pans are $12 each and the palette itself is $9. I got to pick the colors I wanted and can change them out whenever I want to. The bronzer wasn't too expensive either and the packaging for this collection feels like NARS packaging, which I'm a sucker for.

From top left to right: All that Glitters, Expensive Pink

From bottom left to right: Soft Brown, Antiqued

LUSH:

I had the absolute best experience here the other day. They are always super friendly and helpful at Lush, but I was the only one in the store and I really got treated like a Princess. If you are ever in Chicago, I suggest going to the one on Armitage which is where I went. This is also where the MAC pro store is and a Benefit Cosmetics store (aka Heaven). Rachel helped me out and gave me a hand treatment and a facial on my hand. She also informed me of some products that would be beneficial for my type of skin. I ended up getting Ocean Salt scrub since I've heard so many good things about this stuff , a facial moisturizer and a bubble bar. I also got a sample of their toner and shaving cream. I need to go back for the body lotion she put on my hands because it lasted the entire day!

Victoria's Secret PINK:

Agh their semi annual sale gets me every single time. I actually haven't bought anything from here in a really long time since my credit card balance is wayy too high, but I couldn't resist with these prices. I got two pairs of sweatpants, a v-neck, tank top and a zip up hoodie. All for under $100. I went specifically for these sweatpants because these are my new obsession. I got a PINK gift card from my dear friend Anna and used it to buy a pair of these in gray. I have been wearing them almost everyday.. they are so perfect. I haven't been able to find any sweatpants from here in a while because they're usually too big but these actually fit me so I had to buy more. And they were half price! The v-necks are also my favorite and I was about to buy this green one the last time I was in the store and I'm glad I waited. Also got it for half off. I wish I could stock up on more but I will save it for the next semi annual sale!

Target:

I've made way too many trips here but it's ok. During my last trip, I got a little carried away but I needed these things! I got two tops, a dress and a pair of sandals. The sandals are from Sam & Libby for Target collection and these are seriously the most comfortable sandals I've had. And they were only $25 and look exactly like their ones they sell at Nordstrom. I almost got the leopard print ones but Grace picked these out and I actually liked them better, so we now have matching sandals :)

Urban Outfitters Surplus:
There's a surplus store in Lincoln Park and I don't know why this was my first time here. Maybe that's a good thing, because this can get dangerous. Everything is marked down and it's all the same stuff that you would find in a regular Urban Outfitters sale section but a whole store. I got two tops and this adorable red leopard print headband for under $50. They also have their brand of tights for only $3!! Their tights are seriously the best tights I've found. I love wearing them in the winter with skirts and dresses and boots - it's my favorite part about fall/winter. These are thick enough to keep you warm and don't get any runs or holes in them. They also come in a ton of different colors and patterns. I have so many of these but I'm so excited I discovered that they carry them at the surplus store.

Strange Occurrences

There have been several very odd things that have happened since I've been in Chicago. Let me just break them down for you guys..

Strange Occurrence 1: Another intern at my office actually goes to KSU right now and is studying marketing. He's from Marietta too.

Strange Occurrence 2: While on my way to the White Sox sports marketing career fair, I met a girl on the train who not only went to KSU, but also went to my high school! I found out that I actually know her brother too and that we both studied public relations. What a small world. I never just strike up conversations with strangers, but for some reason I felt compelled to talk to her and I'm glad I did!

Strange Occurrence 3: I popped into Chase Bank one day to ask a question about my new accounts and the banker that was helping me recognized my zip code and informed me that he was from East Cobb as well and he too went to Wheeler (my high school). Guys, this was just getting weird.

Strange Occurrence 4: Today as I was walking out of my apartment building on my way to my internship, I saw a red business card on the sidewalk and immediately recognized the logo to be Ogilvy and picked up the card. I loved Ogilvy when I visited the office in Atlanta on my PR study tour. So, I am taking this as a sign and had to write to this person!

Chicago just keeps surprising me and I just had to share stories like these with you all!

xoxo,

Cait

Allied Chicago Update

It has been a few weeks since I started my internship at the Allied office here in Chicago and I've waited a while to write about it for a few reasons. It's so so so different from the Atlanta office in so many ways, so it's been difficult to not compare my experiences with each other. My feelings about this internship change every day.. Some days I love it and some days I'd rather be back in Atlanta. I'm on two different teams again funnily enough. (Again the only intern on more than one team.. Odd huh?) I am working with Sony Pictures and A24 Films on one team and Universal Studios and 20th Century Fox on the other team. Most interns are only dealing with one studio, so I am lucky to be working with so many! The best part of this deal? I get to work on Moxy, which is Allied's African American outreach program. In Chicago they don't have a separate team for Moxy like they do in Atlanta, so each studio here adds in Moxy directives as they feel necessary for this market. However, it has been such a huge challenge for me! This is also the part where it gets really hard to explain.. In Atlanta, it's pretty diverse but easy to target the African American audience; whereas in Chicago, it is segregated geographically within the city and not easy to target directly to the proper audience we are looking for. It's definitely tough, especially since I'm not as familiar with Chicago yet. It's definitely exciting for me that I get to help with Moxy. Tomorrow I get to work a Monsters University advance screening and my brother and Grace will get to see it with me! I can't wait to hear what they think of it.

The picture above was from yesterday when I went to the Lincoln Park Zoo by myself. It was such a beautiful summer day!

Colors of the Rainbow Tag

This tag has been going around YouTube so I thought I would do my version of the tag right here! If you haven't seen any, it's just a tag where you pick your favorite beauty products for each color of the rainbow plus pink.

Red

I chose this body lotion from Bath & Body Works, appropriately called Red. My friend, Anna introduced me to this and I am absolutely in love with this stuff. It smells so good and lasts all day. I want to get the body spray as soon as I come across a Bath & Body Works store here in Chicago.

Orange

For Orange I picked two nail polish colors by Essie. The one on the left is called Chubby Cheeks and the one on the right is called Tart Deco and is perfect for summer!

Yellow

My Daisy perfume is my choice for yellow. I got the summertime version and I loveee it. I went 2 weeks without it since I didn't pack it to take along with me right away but I missed it! I've been using it every day since it's been back in my possession.

Green 

For green, I picked my absolute favorite mascara. It's Clump Crusher by Covergirl. I've heard that you're either a Covergirl or a Maybelline mascara girl and I am definitely Covergirl. I don't know what it is but all the Maybelline mascaras that YouTubers rave about are awful on me. This clump crusher mascara has topped the Exact Eye-Brightening mascara for me and I really want to try their newest one, Flamed Out.

Blue

This body wash by Dove is my new favorite! I've been really liking Olay body washes lately, but this is so much better. I tried it once while I was staying with Corey & Grace and was hooked! It's blue fig & orange blossom which honestly didn't sound too good to me, but it smells really nice and clean. Love this stuff.

Violet

Also while I was staying with Corey & Grace, I got my own Body Shop loofah. They each had their own and I needed a new one anyways so I popped into the store one day to get one and I have to say it's the best loofah I've had (except for my ginormous one from VS Pink I had for ages!).

Pink

At first I didn't like the Real Techniques brushes.. I don't know why. They are seriously hyped up but I do like this blush brush. It applies my new NARS Gilda blush beautifully. And it's pink!

xoxo,

cait

June Birchbox

I was so excited for this month's Birchbox to arrive for two reasons. One, it was my first piece of mail I received at my new home and two, because they rebranded themselves! At first, I was hesitant on their new look and logo, but I have to admit I'm really feeling it. They are growing fast and just expanded into 3 countries- including France- and even have a subscription service for men too. They also got a new website and integrated Birchbox Man to be on the same site, so everything is all in one place. It's much easier to navigate and looks much nicer than before. I am really liking this new Birchbox!

This month's box is by far my favorite I've ever gotten! I absolutely love the new packaging and the products I received are just what I have been looking for. 

What I got:

- Davines 3-Step System 

This is the same brand that the salon I went to in Atlanta used for my color.. While I didn't love the actual color as much, it aged very well? Hm my red color just didn't turn blonde and coppery and gross as it faded like other color brands do. I'm really pleased I got their hair care system because I have been looking for a new shampoo and conditioner.

- Suki Exfoliate Foaming Cleanser

This stuff smells so good. I can't wait to try this tomorrow morning! 

- Color Club Wanderlust Collection (Birchbox Exclusive)

I think I got the worst color of the four, but hey you can't win it all. This is their "New York" mod color.

- Oscar de la Renta Something Blue

My New Home

I finally unpacked my last Monsters University box, so I'm officially all moved into my new apartment! It is gorgeous.. so much better than I could've imagined. My next place has a lot to live up to now.

My room is in the basement along with two other rooms and a bathroom. The upstairs has one bedroom, a bathroom, the living room and the kitchen. We also have a deck off the kitchen that is pretty large. Not everything is finished since two of my roommates won't be moving in until a couple more weeks, but I'll post more pictures once everything is set up. For now, here are some photos of the place so far.

My bedding is from Anthropologie and the garland is from Etsy

 This is my little window :)

I also wanted to share some food pics from when my dad was here to move me in. I am so grateful for him and for all of his help this past weekend.. moving is not easy - especially in the city with no car!

We went to this authentic mexican restaurant in Pilsen

This is a massive brownie sundae from Fat Willy's, a BBQ restaurant with the best ribs in America.

I guess that's not very many food pics, but that brownie sundae had to mentioned here. :)