Laneige Lip Mask Dupe

This was all by accident!  I was never on the lookout for a dupe for this lip mask.  I never even though one existed due to its popularity, but I found one.

Here is ths1966258-main-zoome original very famous Laneige Lip mask.  I was super excited to try it.  I really enjoy it.  It has a slightly rose/berry scent and is not to think.  Many women not only use it as a lip mask but as a gloss or even to make a matte lipstick shiny.  It has so many uses.  Can’t say anything bad about it.  it retails for around $20.

Here comes the part I was so surprised to find that I love just as much, maybe even more when you find out the cost difference.

Here is the Vaseline lip therapy rose lips.  It has a super nice rose smell, but not61r7YMklaBL._AC_UL640_QL65_hing super strong.  The lip therapy is a great consistency, making your lips super soft.  Even though it looks like it has a tint to it, there is none.  You can get 12 of these bad boys for $18 on Amazon. Such a deal!!  I bought mine as a two pack at Target.  I now have one in every purse and every car.

I feel like the biggest difference is that the Laneige comes with a applicator and a sleeve for the applicator.  For the price difference you just have to go old school with the Vaseline and use your finger.

I wish the bags under my eyes were Chanel

I love a good bag.  Chanel, Louis Vuitton….even Thirty one, but I hate the puffy black bags I usually wake up with in the morning under my eyes.  Chalk it up to being a teacher, Mom, taxi driver, chef, etc…  All of us overachieving moms who are up late making memories for our kids.  We all give up sleep creating magic. Waking up with puffy dark circles under our eyes.

I have found an amazing product that in 10-15 minutes makes me feel whole again and makes the puffy go away.  Not only did I find a product, I found a half price dupe from Target that works just as well.

https://www.sephora.com/product/puffy-under-eye-patches-P433613

The first one I found at the check out line at Sephora.  They always sucker me in like candy for toddlers at the grocery checkout.  This time I hit the skin care lottery!  The product is called Peace out puffy eyes.  The product says it all and does it all.  Peel, stick and peace out!  It’s seriously that easy.

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When I saw the Elf Hydrogel Under Eye Mask at Target I though yeah right, but I gave them a try.  Holy Moly!  It’s the same result.  I even checked the ingredients and it is very similar.  I’m not a scientist, but I tried to read all of those big words and its close.  The Peace out brand is a more natural pick.  But the ELF brand are half the price.

You can’t go wrong with either product.  So until I wake up with LV embossed Speedy’s under my eyes, I’m breaking out these eye masks.

 

Galentines party for Girls

I think my daughter thought I was insane when I suggested a Galentines Day party for her and her friends to celebrate.  Once I explained what Galentines Day was she was 100% on board.  Girls are pretty easy to please.  It’s a simple formula: Food.Sugar.Crafts.Movie.

The food was an easy choice.  Custom made english muffin pizzas.  You can never go wrong with a make your own pizza station.

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While resting from dinner they worked on a Valentine craft making little pom pom guys.  They had a blast making these.  It definitely does not have to be anything super complicated.  The girls are 13 and 14 and still had fun.  I think a stray eye may even have been glued on a forehead.

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The sweets are always my favorite part.  Large cupcakes, cookies, M&M’s and ice cream sundaes.  I let the kids make the sundaes.

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Decor is  super easy.  A few pretty flowers, some candles and treats.  Lots of hearts of course. It was very easy and I had most items on hand.  The girls had a great time and can’t wait to have another party next year.

I hope all of you celebrating Galentines this year have a blast!

Here are a few items you can pickup!

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Mom Car Detailing

As most moms are aware…we could all survive the apocalypse eating what has fallen under our childs seats in the car.  I wish I had the will power to just say no to food and drinks in the car, but let’s be honest…I like eating and drinking in the car as well and how fair would that be?  I have recently tried a few things that have made my car feel brand new inside without having to give up snacks on the go.

I told my son the other day how I wish it would stop raining so we could go by the car was.  Not to get the car washed but to have it vacuumed out.  It always amazes me there are not rodents living in my car, just small children.

Then it hit me while I was pumping my gas during a lull in the rain.  I saw a vacuum at the gas station!  It was on like donkey kong.  I had to be quick and stealthy because if not I would be late picking up my daughter from school.  I told my son the plan and he said, “Game on Mom!”

He picked up all the floor mats in the back and threw everything in the very back seat.  It was amazing!  For $1 it vacuumed my whole suburban.

Now the depressing part…MY DIRTY FLOOR MATS!  GROSS!!!!  I didn’t have time to scrub them and wasn’t even interested if I did.  I heard somewhere you can throw them in the washing machine.  I thought what the heck…Lets give it a try.

The results are amazing!  They turned out super clean.  I did the cycle on low spin, but next time I think the regular one would be just fine.

Here is the way to clean and get your car smelling amazing at the same time.

https://www.amazon.com/Clorox-Scentiva-Disinfecting-Pacific-Coconut/dp/B078LDFBKM/ref=asc_df_B078LDFBKM/?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid={creative}&hvpos={adposition}&hvnetw=o&hvrand={random}&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl={devicemodel}&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584138857974494&psc=1

The kids had spilled soda and god only knows what else all over the door panels so I grabbed what smelled best to clean it.  When I was done it looked amazing and smelled great!  But the best part was the next morning when I went to go to school…It still smelled AMAZING!!!  Who needs cheap air fresheners when you have an amazing clean smell you love.

meyers clean

These are just a few tips for keeping your Mom ride so fresh and so clean.  If you have any tips let me know.  I would love to add some more,

 

My Childs Journey

I want to start by saying my journey is by far not as serious as many other parents out there.  As I sit in Dillon’s speech therapy office I pray for strength for some parents in there…what they have been through seems much worse.  Someone close to me told me I should write about our journey.  I wish I would have found the keys that have helped to unlock Dillons progress 5 years ago, but it’s never that easy.

Our journey started from age 2.  Dillon could only use a handful of words and couldn’t be understood.  After seeing First 5 and his doctor Dillon was diagnosed with a minor speech delay.  That was it!  So minor I couldnt get help from anyone!  The school district wanted him in group speech, but I though one on one would be better.  I did my research and found SmallTalk.  A super great service that includes OT (occupational therapy).  After 2 years he was on track.  SmallTalk told me he was good to go and we could re-evaluate in a year.

When he was in his last year of preschool he had little focus.  Only focusing on what he was interested in.  I was not really worried and figured it was just maturity.  Myself being a preschool teacher I see this all the time.  His weakness was pencil grip and grounding his hand.  He wanted to write on paper like he was using an I-Pad.  It’s very difficult!  With the help from his teachers, it became better over his final yeart of preschool.

He was age appropriate to head to kindergarten, but I knew he was not ready.  With his writing skills lacking and not even knowing the alphabet yet, I choose to hold him back and put him in TK. (Transitional Kindergarden)

His first year was a good one.  Working on writing was a large focus.  I didn’t see any red flags yet.

Moving on to kindergarten was a wakeup call.  Lot’s of words to learn and reading.  Neither was his strong suit.  I was watching all of the other kids in his class excel…and he stayed the same.  I stayed in constant contact with his teacher who assured me he would grow out of his slump and catch up.  He never did.

First grade…Judegment day.  This was the year.  The year when all of the pieces started falling into place.  This was the year Dillon started coming home from school crying everyday telling me he was stupid…STUPID!!  I couldn’t believe it!  Seems to be every parents nightmare to hear your child say that.

My first course of action was to check in with his new teacher.  She is amazing!!  She informed me his reading, math and writing were a grade level behind…HUH?!?  I thought how could this be.  He seemed to be doing ok, not as bad as a grade level behind.  She had an amazing plan.  The most amazing retired teacher names Sally was going to tutor him every morning before school.  What an amazing gift.

I was now all guns blazing, a mom on a mission to help my boy.

I got a tutor for him.  Megan is a friend of the families daughter who just graduated with a degree in education. (How lucky is that!)  After the first session with his I asked her what she thought.  Her answer was definetly some sort of processing disorder.  Holy cow!  I was in disbeleif that I never thought of any of this before, having an eduction background myself.

On to finding my next resource, which happened to be one of my past students moms.  She is an OT Therapist herself and has been through a journey of her own with her daughter.  I thought she would be an excellent resource.  after a quick text message I had 2 referrals.  One being super duper expensive and the other middle of the road.  Even though I did call and check out super duper expensive, I though trying middle of the road first would be a good first option.

This is when we first went to D&D optomentry.  Dillon spent over an hour being tested with his eyes.  At times crying because he just couldn’t do what they were asking of him.  At the end I looked at her and said,”Well??  What do you think?”  The most amazing words came out of her mouth…”Youre in the right place.  I kNOW we can help him.”  I started crying!  All we want is for the best for our children, and having someone offer light when your all alone in the dark is the greatest.

We learned many things about Dillon from the tests.  He couldn’t scan words on a paper from left to right and the words were jumping around when he tried to focus on them.  It’s no wonder the boy could read.  We immediately started therapy which consist of weekly hour long car ride for an hours worth of treatment.  He does a weekly therapy and then spends time on a light bed.  It might be the craziest thing ever, but I swear it has helped.  He lays on the bed in the dark wearing head phones listening to music while the bed rotating ion a circular motion. Weird right?!?

The eye doctors recommended speaking to the school about possibly getting an IEP so if he needed extra time or a special writing board there would be no issues.  I spoke with the Principal and set up a meeting with the resource teachers at Dillons school.  The meeting was a joke!  They flat out told me they could help him because he was not two grade levels behind and his last two years of report card showed no signs of problems.  Are you kidding me???  Apparently our children have to be left way behind before they can receive any help.  That is crazy to me.  I voiced that to the principal after…Hope that policy changes soon.  Thank God he has the best teacher ever because she was 100% on board for whatever his therapists recommended.

Between his ocular therapy and tutors Dillon finished first grade behind, but on the road to catching up.

Second grade:  My Oprah AH HA moment.  Same pattern of therapy and tutors and a steady improvement, but still behind. His Ocular therapist checks him quarterly to see where he is at and his improvement.  While he was being tested I noticed he couldnt skip and didn’t know his left from his right.  That concerned me and made me think why is his bi-lateral system not connected and communicating with each other.

In comes my angel…Anne Marie Sheappard.  She is one of the owners of Sheappard spine and sports clinic in Del Mar.  She practices a special chiropractics called NUCCA.  I was in for a treatment and told her all about Dillon as she has known him since birth.  She said,”Oh my.  Lets do x rays and see whats going on.”  The next week he has his x rays and the results were amazing.  He weighed 7 pounds more on his right than his left, his one leg was 3/4 of an inch longer than the other and his body was off 6 degrees. The results made us wonder why he was not in a ton of pain.  Treatment was started immediately.

Over the course of a few appointments with Anne Marie I was telling her about his meningitis he had as an infant and a giant light bulb went off.  What if all of this he has been struggling with is from his Menangitus??  She agreed being in the brain and all, it was a possibility.  She gave me some oil pills (Something like fish oil pills) to start him on.  I learned when taking oil pills you have to eat something oily to have it distribute to your body properly,  Bacon every morning is rough!

It’s now been about 3 or 4 weeks.  The results from everything has been life changing.  He got his first double 100% on spelling and math tests.  His tutor can’t believe he is the same kid, as well as his ocular therapist.  I feel like Clark Grizwald when he finally got all those lights to light up.

My journey will be on going.  Constant tutors and constant work, but at least now it’s a little easier for him.  I wrote this because I wish I would have found something like this.  If this makes one parent say, “Oh my gosh!!  That’s my situation!”  It would make it all worth wild.  I always say what I have been through is a tool to help other parents and kids.

 

 

Chanel Dupes

I had a friend message me looking for a purse that looks like my Chanel boy bag.  Considering you could take a Vacay to Hawaii for what that bag costs, finding an alternative is a great choice.

I found here a few cute choices.

https://www.aldoshoes.com/us/en_US/women/handbags/crossbody/Greenwald/p/46255746-97minkoff bagforevor 21 bag

So Fresh & So Clean

Laundry is definitely a chore in my household.  The collecting and the sorting and the washing and the folding and the hanging up…IN NEVER ENDS!!

Oil Spots????  I had these weird oil spots on our clothes that I couldn’t get out.  I have learned that these are from the soap (Which is for the HE Frontloader).  The soaps are oil based and when they fall onto dry clothing, they create these spots.  You can get the spots out my rubbing dish soap on the spots and then washing.  Now instead of using the recommended amount of soap I use about 2 tablespoons.  Works Great!

I have found a few items that have changed my life of laundry!

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https://www.target.com/p/method-174-fragrance-boosters-ginger-mango-17oz/-/A-51952562

This is my favorite product.  I add half of what they recommend and love the light smell it adds to the clean laundry.  It comes in 3 scents at target and right now if you buy 3 you get a $10 gift card.

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B0ADMP8?aaxitk=izrO-TauNOusLWZEPzvhFg&pd_rd_i=B01B0ADMP8&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=54dc821a-0937-4e6f-9da9-f8dd5443145d&pf_rd_s=desktop-sx-top-slot&pf_rd_t=301&pf_rd_i=shout+catchers&hsa_cr_id=3049658520301&sb-ci-n=asinImage&sb-ci-v=https%3A%2F%2Fimages-na.ssl-images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F91PJgdxbBHL.jpg&sb-ci-a=B01B0ADMP8

These have changed my life.  I used to have striped clothing run colors, now they all stay put.  I usually buy at the grocery store or target but I found them on Amazon.   GUEST_aafda66f-6fc4-4347-a72b-a80a35bc201cThey catch-all of the colors that bleed out in the laundry on these little sheets.  You only have to use one.  Very helpful with the whites.  I can now safely wash a red and white striped shirt with no fear!

These products have made washing much easier!!

Bling on the Ring

Liz, My Bestie,  had been in the jewelry business since I met her almost 20 years ago.  She has bounced around to a few jewelry stores, but has now opened her OWN store.  Presley & Co. Fine Jewelers!  It’s on 30th Street in San Diego in North Park.

When is comes to having the pulse of what’s new and trendy, it’s Liz.  She has everything from stacking bands to watches made of wood.  Many of the designers she carries are local artists.  If you’re visiting what a great way to bring a piece of San Diego home with you.  She even has a designer that uses parts of fish to make the most amazing jewelry I have ever seen. image1(1)

Another perk of the store is they offer specialized services including custome jewelry design and repairs on site.

The customer service is amazing as well as the location.  There is a variety of choices for every sized wallet as well.  Not only is she super friendly, but she is the most knowledgeable around.

Go and visit Liz and tell her Tracy said Hi!

 

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https://presleyandcofinejewelers.com/

Louis Vuitton Hawaii Style

Here we go…The new addition to my closet.  It was a tough decision, but when faced with a 12% discount it’s Louis Vuitton all the way.  That’s right…12% discount!!  Thank you Hawaii for you are the ONLY place that discounts Louis Vuitton. YES!

Large Tote 

Not only is the tote spacious, it come with a detachable zipper wallet for FREE!.  The Hawaii accents are such a special touch.

 

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This Purse was the largest of two sizes.  I came in maybe three colors, but this was the one for me.  The key chain was extra, but when in Rome…I mean Hawaii.

Best Surf Lessons in Hawaii

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My kids aren’t always excited to try something new, but they LOVE Ty Gurney surf school.  These guys are legit!  We have surfed with them many times and it’s always a success.

The best part is they take video and photos…edited!  As parents I don’t have to stress out about getting that perfect shot.  They get it every time.
Give them a try next time your in Oahu…We are going twice this trip.

They also rent boards and provide rash guards if needed.  Friendliest guys around!

http://tygurneysurfschool.com/