Monday, May 30, 2011

Green Apple Paperie Giveaway Winner!



I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day with your families and friends!

A big thank you to Katie from Green Apple Paperie for sponsoring this giveaway! Please make sure you like her on Facebook, heart her Etsy Shop, and follow her Blog. Katie is so talented, and I know you will LOVE her products! I’m so excited to feature some of her work in my upcoming wedding.

And the winner is…


# 19, which is Maddie from spark!

Congratulations, Maddie. You’ll be receiving a $20 gift certificate to Green Apple Paperie!

Thanks again to Katie at Green Apple Paperie as well as everyone who entered!


Sunday, May 29, 2011

May Favorites + Giveaway Reminder


No matter how many brands I try, I keep going back to this hairspray. It's super cheap, and it does an amazing job at controlling fly-aways and frizz without weighing your hair down or making it hard/sticky. I don't think this hairspray completely blocks the effects of humidity, but it definitely helps a lot! Love it.

I'm pretty sure this polish is going to be my go-to summer shade. Fancy Fuchsia is the most amazing, creamy blue-toned hot pink. The picture above absolutely does not do the color any justice, so I'll have to do a swatch for you guys soon! It's kind of the perfect balance between a normal pastel pink and in-your-face neon hot pink. Barbie would definitely wear this polish 24/7, and so do I. 

Oh my goodness. I know that I've put this primer in a previous favorites posts, but I've been loving this product lately. It is a water-based primer, which is perfect for hot summer days. It keeps your makeup from melting off your face in the hot summer sun without being oily at all. This primer is lightweight and feels more like a gel moisturizer than a regular primer. I'm in love.

I can't believe this product is only three dollars. Both products are gorgeous colors with great pigmentation. The packaging is surprisingly nice for such a cheap product, and it comes with a huge mirror! I just love how convenient this duo is, and they're the perfect summer colors. I've been wearing the pinky-peach blush almost every day. The bronzer is good too, but I still prefer my Tarte Park A5. ve Princess waterproof bronzer.

I received this nail polish in my May Birchbox, and I'm been wearing it almost every day since! It's a really beautiful metallic dark champagne color, and it looks amazing with a summer tan. The application was so easy- two coats for opaque color, and the polish doesn't chip for at least four days. This polish is my first Zoya experience, and I will definitely be buying a lot more of their colors!

I received this lip balm in my March Birchbox, and it's saved my lips for the last few months. My lips are always extremely chapped, and this balm has really helped to keep my lips moisturized. The scent is really unique- citrus-based with a slight licorice note. It sounds strange, but it smells really amazing.

I received this product from BzzAgent a few months ago, and I'm so glad I did. This medium-coverage foundation goes on so smoothly, and you literally feel like you're almost not wearing makeup. It's such a lightweight feel for providing a medium level of coverage. The only thing I'm not really crazy about is the packaging. I really prefer liquid foundations to have a pump, but I think that this foundation is great for hot summer months. It helps to cover blemishes and even out your skin tone without the heavy feeling of normal foundation. 

I've been a Hard Candy fan for years, so I was thrilled when they moved their product line to Walmart. This concealer is AMAZING. This full-coverage is an exact dupe of Kat Von D's Tattoo Concealer for a less than one third of the price. I'm addicted to this stuff. The concealer goes on perfectly, and it's ridiculously pigmented. I'm not sure how I lived without this product for so long!


Also, please don't forget to enter the 
Green Apple Paperie $20 gift certificate giveaway here
It ends Monday night!


Disclaimer: I received the Covergirl NatureLuxe foundation from BzzAgent for review; however, my review was not influenced by this association. As always, my opinions are 100% genuine and honest.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Giveaway! Wedding Wednesday: Green Apple Paperie {closed}

With less than two months until my wedding, I am in full-on, obsessive wedding planning mode! All of the major things are finished, so right now I'm focusing on the little details- table numbers, place cards, favors, etc.

I'm SO excited to show you all my adorable customized water bottles for our Welcome Bag favors! We're having our wedding in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, so we're filling each family's welcome bag with beach essentials. Thanks to the wonderful Katie at Green Apple Paperie, these water bottles were so easy to finish.


How cute are they? These water bottle labels can be customized in different patterns and colors for your wedding or party.


The PDF file prints five labels to a page. I used full-page mailing labels to print the design on, then I simply cut the strips apart and adhered them to generic water bottles. So easy.

Close-up of my labels. I'm a little obsessed.

Katie was so easy to work with, and I am thrilled with the finished product. Here's a list of the other things that I plan on buying from Green Apple Paperie for my wedding!


I'm going to order these super cute menus in bright pink!


Signs for my Candy Bar!



...and custom labels for the candy!

Katie from the Green Apple Paperie has graciously offered all of my followers a chance to win a 
$20 gift certificate to Green Apple Paperie!

Requirements:
 Leave me a comment with your email address letting me know you follow my blog and liked Green Apple Paperie's Facebook Fan Page! If you don't have a Facebook, then head over to Green Apple Paperie's shop and  let me know which items you'd spend your $20.00 gift certificate on if you won!

For additional entries:
+1 entry Head over to Green Apple Paperie's shop and
 let me know which items you'd spend your $20.00 gift certificate on if you won!
+1 entry: Follow Green Apple Paperie's Blog
+1 entry: Tweet about this giveaway (please provide link)
+1 entry: Heart Green Apple Paperie's shop on Etsy
+2 entries: Post this giveaway on your sidebar
+3 entries: Write a blog post about this giveaway (please provide link)

That's a total of ten possible entries!

This giveaway will end on Monday, May 30th at 11:59pm and is open internationally!

Good luck, and I know you're going to love Green Apple Paperie!






Tuesday, May 24, 2011

May Birchbox

I cannot believe that I've forgotten to post my last three shipments from Birchbox! If you haven't heard of Birchbox, you've been missing out. It's my new favorite subscription service. For $10 a month, you get a cute little box filled with 4 deluxe, large-sized samples of extremely nice beauty products as well as a "treat" and some extra, regular-sized samples. Each month, one of the deluxe-sized samples is usually a full-size product, so I think that Birchbox is a really great deal. It's also SO much fun to receive an adorable present halfway through each month!

My beautiful Birchbox!

List of the products I received this month

All of the samples I received this month

Archipelago Pomegranate Soap

This soap smells so delicious- like a mixture of pomegranate and raspberries. I haven't tried it out yet, but I can't wait to. The packaging is so gorgeous that I don't want to open it up!

Oribe Beautiful Color Shampoo and Conditioner

Erno Laszlo Transphuse Night Serum

Full Size Stila Eyeshadow

Ok, first of all, this was a FULL SIZE product. This eyeshadow alone is worth more than the price of the entire Birchbox, so I was super excited to try it out. I'd never tried Stila eye products before, but they're amazing. The eyeshadow is the most beautiful bronzy brown, and it's smooth and extremely pigmented. LOVE this product, and I think it will look so beautiful during the summertime!

Tiny Prints Note Card

This card was my "treat" for the month, and it also included a 50% coupon for TinyPrints.com. I think the card is adorable, and I can't wait to check out Tiny Prints!

Overall, I'm a Birchbox fan. I've been a subscriber for three months, and I can't wait to receive my June box! If you'd like to learn more about Birchbox or start a subscription of your own, click here.

Check out my blog tomorrow for a GIVEAWAY!


Disclaimer: All of these products were purchased with my own money. I love Birchbox!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Giveaway Winner!


Thank you to everyone who entered my April Favorites Giveaway! There were 164 entries total!

And the winner is...


Congratulations! Email me at ashleyborysewich@gmail.com within 36 hours to claim your prize!




Sunday, May 15, 2011

My Bridal Shower!

I just got back to beautiful southern California after a little over a week in Florida. I am so happy that I was able to spend time with my friends and family in Orlando, and I can't wait to go back in June for the wedding!

While I was in Orlando, my beautiful mother and my best friend Stephanie threw me an AMAZING bridal shower! It was so much fun to get together with my friends and family, and the awesome food and presents didn't hurt either :)

My gorgeous cousin Michelle, Randi, Me, Stephanie, and my future sister-in-law Megan!

My beautiful mom, me, and my future mother-in-law! 

Brianna, Megan, me, Mrs. Nicholas, and Brooke

I have always wanted a sister, and I'm so excited that after July 9th, I'll have three! Brooke, Brianna, and Megan are the most amazing girls. They're all extremely smart, funny, and gorgeous! I can't wait to become part of their family!


My aunt made the most incredible food! Chicken salad sandwiches on croissants, fruit bouquets, chocolate-covered strawberries, brownies, cheesecake, and so much more!


In addition to the food and wonderful company, there were SO many presents! I am so blessed to have such a supportive and generous group of family and friends.


The presents were all wrapped in adorable bags and wrapping paper. Everything was so pretty that I didn't want to unwrap any of it, and I'll admit that I saved all the bags and ribbon. Way too cute to throw away!

Me and my future mother-in-law!

Michelle, Randi, me, Stephanie, and Megan!

Can we talk about how gorgeous my friends and bridesmaids are? I seriously have to step up my game every time we hang out because they're all drop dead gorgeous! Michelle, Stephanie, Megan, and Chelsea have been the most supportive and fun bridesmaids a bride could ask for! I was so sad that Chelsea couldn't make it to the shower, but I know that all of us will have such a great time planning the rest of the wedding and at the bachelorette party!

Drop dead gorgeous girls + me. Michelle, Randi, me, and the future Miss Florida Stephanie Ziajka!


I am so happy that I got to share the day with my favorite people in the world. My bridal shower was definitely a day that I won't ever forget!

I've been getting so many questions about my wedding, so I'll be starting a Wedding Wednesday feature on my blog this week! I'm so excited to show you all my save the dates and invitations this week from the lovely Laura at By Invitation Only. Also, make sure to enter my giveaway! It ends tomorrow night, and I can't wait to announce the winner!