A Product Review, Acne, A Trip To Target, and Dry Hair.

Hello, Hello,

You can probably tell by the title of this post that it has nothing to do with baking. I mean, I am just as excited about baking everything pumpkin as the next girl but this girl has been busy. The past two days I have been super super deep cleaning my house. Honestly, I want my house so clean that I could eat off of the floor if I wanted to. Not that I would ever want to.

Colin worked today so of course I took a break from cleaning for my normal walk to Target and let me tell you, the weather could not have been more perfect. It was the kind of weather that makes me think that moving to Chicago was completely worth it. It as the kind of weather that we would have for 3 days in Mississippi. Sweater weather = Perfection.

Okay, since I promised a lot of things in the title, let's get started. A product review:

I feel pretty strongly about not buying cheap nail polish. In fact, if you look at my nail polish collection you will only find OPI and Essie... And this bottle. I'm not a snob, I am just willing to spend $8 on a bottle of polish because the quality is so superior. I only bought this brand because OPI and Essie were pretty cleared out at my Target for some reason and I desperately wanted a bright red nail polish. I have been wearing this a lot recently. Of course, you get what you pay for and since I only paid $3 for this polish it only lasts about 3 days before it starts chipping. However, I do like the color and I also like the brush. I didn't take a picture of the brush but the corners/ edges of it are rounded, making application easier.

I also promised that we would talk about acne so I guess we can dive into that now. I have been breaking out for the last few months and it is really getting on my nerves. I thought my face was to get better when I grew out of my teenage years. Instead, it is steadily getting worse. I have tried a few face cleansers but none of them are really delivering like I need them too. I know that I am going to have to break down and buy Purity by Philosophy again but I really want a drug store product to work. It is so much more convenient and inexpensive. I guess I should take my own advice from the paragraph above "you get what you pay for" huh?

This is what I bought tonight at Target. I have had my eye on the blending sponge ever since I saw it in a youtube beauty guru's video. I want to try it out and see if I waste half of my make up in the process. I also got Cover Girl TruBlend make up. I have never tried their foundation before so I hope it is pretty good quality. I am also going to give Neutrogena's Acne Stress Control Cleanser a try. I know several people that use this cleanser and like it so it is definitely my last resort before I go back to Purity or even Proactive. The container all of the way to the left is a Pantene hair treatment. My hair has been really dry lately so I am trying to kick that dryness to the curb!

Speaking of hair, I am going on a trip home next month and get to visit my genius of a hair stylist who I miss so so much.

Okay, I think that about wraps up this already really long post. I promise that I am going to bake soon but I hope you don't mind these types of posts either. I enjoy writing blog posts just to write blog posts and ever since my revelation, I feel like I can do it a lot more. :)

An Adventure: Learning to Cut/Use Coupons

I have been interested in couponing for awhile now but it always felt so overwhelming. Like, what stores accept what coupons and which coupons can be used together? The list of questions went on and on. Last Tuesday my boss and I somehow got on the subject of budgets. Now, my boss is a whiz when it comes to saving money and his wife cuts coupons every week- something I have always been jealous of. I was telling him how much money Colin and I have saved since we limited the amount of times that we eat out every week.

I am going to be very honest with you guys here... Thanks to Mint.com (if you don't have that app on your phone, GET IT, seriously) we realized that in 30 days we had spent just under a thousand dollars on fast food and eating out. I know, I know, that is ridiculous, I could feed a third world country for that amount, I have heard it all.

When I told my boss that, his mouth dropped and he called me names that aren't appropriate for my mother to read :) Just kidding, but he did say that was ridiculous and dumb. Agreed boss man, agreed.

When he told me that he feeds his family of four (Wife, Daughter (3) and Son (12 weeks) for about $50 every two weeks, I thought I had misheard him. That is impossible... right? I couldn't fathom how they could get diapers and formula for their son, pull ups for their daughter, and enough food to feed two adults and a toddler for two weeks for only $50.

His answer was simple: Coupons.

Now, I'm not looking for miracles and I know that it will probably take a lot of time to build up enough coupons to start seeing huge savings but if I can save even ten dollars, I should do it.. Right?

Today, I read tons of articles about how to coupon and they all pretty much say that same thing: Save your manufactures coupons until you can find a store coupon to go with it- or until it is about to expire. So basically all I was looking for today was a store coupon and a manufactures coupon that I could use together.

Here is what I found:

Jack's Pizza (Colin loves these for some reason)
Jewel-Osco- Save $2 when you buy 5
Manufactures- Save $1 when you buy 3
- Hoping that I can use the two together to get $3 off of 5 pizzas.

AquaFresh Toothpaste:
J-O- Save $1.30
Manufacture - $1.00 off any AF toothpaste
-Using the two together to get $2.30 off of 1 toothpaste.

Poise Feminine Pads:
J-O- $3.00 off 27-72 count Poise product
M- $1.00 off any Poise product
-Using the two together to get $4.00 off of one pack of Poise pads.

Tidy Cats Cat Litter:
J-O- $6.00 off of 27 lb box of cat litter
M- Save $1.00 on any Tidy Cats Litter purchase.
-Giving these to a friend who should be able to use the two together to get $7.00 off of a 27 lb box of cat litter.

Huggies Diapers
J-O- $1.50 off Huggies Big Pack Diapers, Pull ups, or Goodnights
M- $1.50 off of one package Huggies Diapers.
- I am giving these to my boss and his wife but they should be able to get $3.00 off of diapers when they use both of them.

Drugstore Deals: Walgreens


Colgate Optic White Toothpaste:
On sale for $3.99
$2.00 Register rewards good towards next purchase.
$1.50 Manufacture coupon
Like paying: $0.49

Scrubbing Bubbles One Step Toilet Bowl Cleaner Starter Kit
On sale for $8.99
$2.00 register rewards good on next purchase
$4.00 Manufacture coupon
Like paying: $2.99

I wonder if I split this into two transactions and used my $2 register rewards from the toothpaste for the Scrubbing Bubbles Kit, if it would be like paying $0.99... Hmmmm.. I may try that.

If you have any coupon advice or found some awesome deals lately, let me know in the comments!

A Revelation

My amazing life changing revelation is pretty simple:

I can blog about anything I want.

Yep. That's it. A few weeks ago I was in the blogging mood but hadn't baked in months weeks due to the fierce Chicago heat and no AC. All of the sudden, I realized that this is my blog and even though it is named "Southern Charm Treats", I don't have to bake something every time I write. I can write about whatever I want.

In a perfect world, I would have a baking post 5 times a week but let's be honest, this world ain't perfect.
Like how I used "ain't"? Just letting my southern roots show, y'all!

So today I have a couple things to throw out into the world:

1. I absolutely REFUSE to go running when Colin isn't home. Maybe I have watched too many episodes of Law & Order: SVU but whatever the reason, I am TERRIFIED of doing it. I will not do it. Even though he doesn't run with me, he knows how long I usually run and would come looking for me if I didn't come home. If he wasn't home, no one would know that I didn't come home when I supposed to... See? I am either paranoid or logical, not sure which one.

2. Colin is using my fear of running when he isn't home to try to talk me into getting a German Shepherd... In a one bedroom apartment. Yep. Really, Colin? He says that a German Shepherd would run with me and people are scared of them so they wouldn't mess with me. Boys that are desperate for a dog will try any excuse, I guess.... One bedroom apartment.... Really? No. I feel like a treadmill is much more logical in this situation. Just saying.

3. I found out last night that Katy Perry is going to be in Vegas on my birthday this year. My first thought was "if that isn't a sign from God, I don't know what is". I immediately texted all of my friends from back home and told them we are going and that they didn't have a choice. I then managed the huge feat of convincing Colin it was a good idea. Today, I looked up flight prices. Let me go ahead and tell you, it isn't a good idea. It is actually a horrible idea. Don't know if that will be happening or not. Horrible, horrible idea. Anyone know of better travel sites than Expedia? I always use Expedia, I am just hoping there is some magical site like FreeTripToVegas.com or something :)

4. Ever get that feeling like if you have to walk into your place of employment one more time your whole world is going to end and you will just cease to exist?.... No?... Maybe I am being a little dramatic but it is kind of how I feel right now.

That's all I want to write for now, folks. And, you know, its my blog and I can write whatever I want :)

Classic Peanut Butter Cookies

I have tried a lot of peanut butter cookies, honestly. I love them. I like how simple they are to make and how soft they are and of course, how perfectly they go with a glass of milk. Like I said, I have tried a lot of peanut butter cookies but my all time favorites come from the recipe on the back of the Jif Peanut Butter jar. Perfection. Before your mind gets carried away, I have no connection with Jif Peanut Butter other than I buy a lot of it. :) 

Now, this recipe makes three dozen cookies. Three dozen peanut butter cookies wouldn't last long around my house and since I am doing C25K (more on that later) I ate two, saved 6 for Colin, and loaded the rest up in ZipLock bags and sent them home with my brother. 

It was honestly painful to watch these cookies walk out of my house in my brother's backpack :)

Make some peanut butter cookies. Use your favorite recipe. Get a big glass of milk and watch The Closer, Rizzoli and Isles, and Law and Order SVU. Doesn't that just sound like a perfect night? It does to me, at least. 

C25K Update: Okay so I had my normal rest day after the first run on Monday and then on Wednesday I had a run. I only made it twenty minutes of that run instead of the full thirty because I was having some trouble breathing (I have a respiratory condition) and decided not to push it. On Friday, which would have been my normal run day, one of our good friends from Gulfport texted us to let us know that he was in Chicago! It isn't often that you have drop in visitors from Mississippi but between work and socializing, running was the last thing on my mind. I am going to restart from day one tomorrow after work.

Speaking of tomorrow, I am determined to at least make an effort to like Monday of this week. Usually I hate even speaking the M word, but this week, I am going to try to embrace it. I'll let you know how that works out for me later on in the week :)