And Lauren has the mic.

Hey everyone! Name's Lauren, I run "The How To Blog" (link here) which is a blog about personal style, a few delicious recipes, some beauty tips, and lots of ridiculous newlywed stories because the hubs and I have a blast together. 

And this is us:

My hubster Josh and I 

Like I said, we have a blast together. 

My posts usually have an outfit and I'll say where I got everything, then I have a section where I post quirky stories that happened and awesome moments. And of course, there is a post theme song which I listen to on repeat while I write the post.

Quirkiness 
I'm a germ freak. I don't share silverware with people, not even my husband. When we started dating he could NOT believe that I was so grossed out by germs. Every single day, without fail, he would ask "Is today the day that you'll share a spoon with me?!" Then one day I finally said, "Yes, today is your magical day." I shared my spoon with him. And didn't do it again.

Random tangent, I know. But this story has to deal with my extreme OCD towards germs, especially mouth germs. 

In the bathroom we have a toothbrush holder with 3 holes because Josh has 2 toothbrushes. Don't ask me why, it boggles my mind too. Anyway, my toothbrush is always in the middle. Makes sense, right?

Well, the other night I was very sleepy. And slightly grumpy, but that's besides the point. I mean, come on, who doesn't get a wittle (yep, that spelling error was on purpose, in case you were wondering) bit grumpy when they're sleepy? 

So I reached for the toothbrush in the middle, I lathered it up with toothpaste, and started brushing. I looked around the bathroom,brush brush brush, looked at the clock, brush brush brush, looked at the toothbrush holder, brush brush-stopped.... Noticed my toothbrush was on the far right, and was most definitely NOT being used. 

Oh my heavens, the gagging came full force. I started heaving into the sink, and may or may not have threw up a little on Josh's toothbrush, and may or may not have (yeah, definitely did not) tell him that happened...Holy cow, sickest experience. I then rinsed with the kind of mouthwash that burns and makes your eyes water for like 5 minutes, put our toothbrushes in the CORRECT places, and brushed my teeth again. 

Awesomeness

-Reading The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis with my Mom, and discussing the deeper meanings of the novel, and trying to figure out what it all means. 

-Waking up from a bad dream in the middle of the night, and having my best friend cuddle me until I fall back asleep. 

I'd just like to thank Brani for sharing her blog with me today! She's wondering if she should continue blogging or give it up. Everyone show her a little love and tell her how much you enjoy her blog so she decides to stay. :) 

XO,

PS. Note from Brani: I am sooo glad I asked Lauren to guest post. LO-Ren, as I call her, is a friend that I really want to meet someday in person. We're just meant to be great friends. It'll happen eventually. She is a total sweetheart who obviously has great taste in fashion. You should definitely make it a point to go visit her blog. Her followers are growing so quickly, it's blowing my mind (I "met" her when she pretty much had just started her blog and had maybe 20 followers), yet I am not surprised. You can see why. She's hilarious and adorable. My sister might be guest posting next, and then I might be back to blogging. I dunno. We'll see. What do you all think? If you read my blog on a regular basis, I'd really love to know. Because as she mentioned above, I'm not sure whether I want to continue or not. A big part of me does, but part of me is stuck. :-/ Take care, lovelies! xo

Cat eyes, appetize, then say goodbyes.

 Have you ladies ever tried cat eyes? It is an amazing look to try out, especially for nights out on the town or New Year's Eve! To me, cat eyes and a nice red lipstick (or gloss, if you prefer that instead) scream BOLD! or FIERCE! I truly believe it gives an instant confidence boost. Well, if you have tried it, congratulations! You're a member of the cat eye club already. If you have not tried it yet, I found an awesome video tutorial of Lauren Conrad's makeup artist, Amy Nadine, on that show I don't EVER watch (haha)--just watch, you'll see why,) explaining how to do it. Even though it looks tough, it's not! She also goes into detail about how to actually get your (I hope you choose red) lipstick to stay on for a LONG time. It's an insane trick! So be bold, loves--give it a shot! Here's the vid:

 

 

Let me know if you try it! And how it made you feel.

I just looooove Lauren Conrad! Style icon? Yes!

 

I am going to start doing my OWN makeup tutorials soon, but I don't own everything I need to do that right now. So until then, I'll be posting youtube tutorials. ;) Now all I have for you are some random pictures of life lately. Oh yeah, super exciting, I know! Are...youuuuu...ready?!?! Hahaha. Oh my gosh; thank goodness my boyfriend loves me or I'd be screwed. Here are some good ones!

 

I got a bath fizzie from Beach Bum Bath & Body, and it was amazing! Soooo relazing. I had a bunch of candles lit and some soft music playing. The only thing missing was a bath pillow. Oh well. I will take what I can get. I loved this product, as I love all of her products. I've tried a few, but I'll go into more details about those once Julie receives her giveaway box worth $60 of product! You will hear me talk a lot on this blog about these products. I am lucky that I have a store right down from my mom's house, but that's what the website is for! You can still order SOME things. :)

Moving right along... Christmas is no joke to Brandon, myself, or Slater (our cat). I wish you could see ALL the decorations in our apartment set up for Christmas, but oh well. On to the picture. One night about a week ago, we had a dinner of ALL really awesome appetizers and it was amazing! We had cheese & crackers, homemade bruschetta (gotta love men that love to cook!) and these crackers with dip and olives on top recipe I found in...Women's Health, I believe? Good! And then vegetarian weiners for me and regular weiners for him haha. I love that he supports my decision on being a vegetarian so much, because not many guys would unless they really loved you. I had Arizona Rx Stress tea (ever tried it? Get some at your local grocery store! I hope they have it for you. It's amazing & I have turned all of my friends on it. Well, some former friends, but that's irrelevant) and Brandon made some manly concoction over there to the right. Uhhh--yuckeee!

 

 

A wonderful boyfriend also causes a girl to smile, as seen in the picture above that was sent to him. Let's see if I have any other pictures in my folder I can whip out for ya.

 

 

Sometimes it gets a little chilly in FL, but nothing crazy. I want to move to the mountains some day. I'd loooove to live in Colorado. Speaking of...ooooh, I have NEWS for you all when the new year comes! This will probably be my last post until after New Year's Eve. Then I have much to tell you! Merry Christmas to all that celebrate. xo

 

 

 

 

Yo, I'll tell you what I want...what I really, really want!

I wanna zigga-zig-uhhhh!

 

 

Hi ladies! Yep, I'm still here. Talk about making some major life changes. (Hence the thoughtful picture below). I am beginning to take better care of myself (exercising 5 days a week, eating healthy foods in small portions, taking vitamins [my goal is to lose 15 lbs]), weed bad "friends" out of my life, and try and grasp an overall plan of where I want to be in 5 years. It's not that I have bad friends that party too much and do drugs or anything crazy like that, it's just...I feel like I am a really amazing friend to some girls I'm close with, and they don't seem to reciprocate. Some have, but not as many as I'd thought would have. That's okay, life is about changes and meeting new people. My big question lately is, "How do I meet new people?" All this thinking is the explanation of the picture below.

 

 

Unfortunately, the job I ended up landing didn't work out. It truly is unfortunate, because I loved the actual job part of it, but there were circumstances that I just wasn't going to tolerate and don't feel I should have to explain that to anyone but my best friend/boyfriend, for financial reasons. Possibly my brother, as well. Management wasn't doing anything about it, and that's when you know it's time to move on, even if I don't know how long it will take to land a job I love. I do know, however, that I want a job working at a small beauty or clothing boutique, and then to possibly go back to school later in life and open up my own business. My friend Spring, that has the store Beach Bum Bath & Body, is the inspiration behind that. She sponsored the giveaway that Miss Julie did end up winning (and I promise I am shipping that out soon)! I feel like that would make me happiest. Doing what she does. Here's the thing...

 

I started this blog out as a fashion & beauty (mostly beauty blog) and it's turned into more of a lifestyle blog lately, and that's because I have not felt good about myself or the fact that even for an instant I was letting the real me start to slip away. Yes, I absolutely want to continue to blog about fashion & beauty. However, I won't really be posting pictures of myself until I'm close to my weight goal (call it insecurity; it is) but I would hope that my readers are supportive more than anything. I just have a lot of planning to do; and excuse my language, but I need to get my ass in gear and start doing the things that are going to get me places! There's no excuse on waiting for tomorrow. Waiting, we all know, gets you nowhere. So, I really hope my readers plan to stick with me throughout this journey!

 

I also just wanted to show you the warm indoor booties I got from Kohl's that I am obessed with! Obsessed. I wear them anytime I'm out of bed. So comfy! I just want you ladies to know how beautiful you are, and remember to never sacrifice your happiness or settle for less than you deserve. It's so not worth it in the end. I do have a couple of great friends, and you betcha I'm keeping them close. I'll search for others. I'll continue to better myself, both physically and mentally. I will cherish every moment with my boyfriend (the absolute love of my life, even if he has been booby trapping my presents and stalking...as if I'm actually going to take a peek--haha)! I will also cherish time spent with family. I will continue to discover things about myself and what I want in this wonderful gift I have been given--LIFE! Do the same, won't you? ;)

 

 

Not all is meant to be understood...

 

Before I get started with rambling about nothing, I wanted to share how badly my heart aches for anyone that has been affected by the Sandy Hook shooting massacre. It's terrible. It's just awful. And like so many of you, I will never understand how a human being can do something this evil & cruel, and I'm not sure if we're supposed to. All we can do is pray for these families who have lost loved ones, or at least send them positive vibes. It is a great reminder to live our lives each day as if they are our lasts; for some day, it will be. And the majority of us will never see it coming. Life is so precious. Let's not forget that, and let these poor, innocent children who will never get to grow up and experience so much that we have been given the priviledge of, remind us to LIVE!  It's sort of difficult to segue into this next part of my post, aftering sharing my emotions on that topic...but it looks like there might be a NEW winner for that giveaway I just finished a few days ago. I'm giving Miss Julie a few more days (so I hope you got my emails and are reading this! I really do! I need you to please respond asap if you still want those goodies [which are uhhh-may-zing]) until I move on to the next winner. In other news, I've had a really odd week. It's been very stressful, but before I even get into any of that, I'd love to just share a bunch of pictures with you all. How does that sound? Good? I thought it might! Pictures are far more interesting than my every day life. Brandon's best friend (since middle school) is moving away with his girlfriend, Christie, whom I consider a pretty good friend. She's a sweetie. I know how sad B is about it, and it makes me really sad to see him like that. I remember feeling the same way when Amanda moved away to New York City. But, her life is awesome now, and I'm happy for her. Here are some pics from our last outing (at least in Jacksonville...for now):

 

 

 

 

Oh, Ryan. That face... and of course I had to throw in some lover pics!

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes I like to make silly faces...

 

"So Brani, is this all you're going to post? Pictures?"

 

Why, yes, actually. What did you expect? I just told you I had

an extremely stressful week. Haha. I'll write an actual post tomorrow.

These pictures are just to tide you over. You know, just so you can

get your fix. Hahaha! :P I can't wait to write an actual post with

actual content tomorrow or Monday. Be prepared! You're in for a lot.

And Julie, please email me! I don't want you to miss out on winning

that giveaway that you won...but someone else just might be in for

some really awesome goodies. Just sayin'...eeeeeek! xo

 

 

Tea on Tuesday Blog Hop!

 

Hello lovelies! I'm Brani, and I am soooo stoked to be hosting this week's Tea on Tuesday Social Hop! It's by far one of my favorites. :) To be honest, I've been anticipating this day for awhile. So, yes!!! Here I am, co-hosting with two very lovely gals. Do yourself a favor and sign up for this hop -- it's so much fun & you get to meet so many great people! Before you leave, don't forget to enter my giveaway...I believe today is the last day! There are wonderful all natural bath & beauty products in that pretty box. Oh, I suppose I should tell you, I mostly blog about beauty. Then some fashion posts or pics of what I wore sometimes, but a lot of random life ramblings, as well. I look forward to meeting you! Happy Tuesday! Enjoy the hop! xo

The Tea on Tuesday Social Hop is hosted by Jessica at Boys Oh Boys and Haley at Team Ibrahim, with this week's special co-host Brani from That's Just Lovely! The Tea on Tuesday Social Hop, is a multiple social link-up for everyone to meet new people, make new friends,  and grow your audience! There are 4 social link-ups for you to join, including: Your Blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!

There are just a few simple rules:

1. Follow the hosts via GFC (if you can) or RSS, Facebook, and Twitter. Jessica: Blog - Facebook - Twitter Haley: Blog - Facebook - Twitter Brani: Blog - Facebook - Twitter

2. For every social link-up you enter, visit at least 3 others from that link-up and follow them.

3. HAVE FUN!

(*Note: When liking on Facebook, you MUST do this from your personal page. It does not count as a "like" if you like from you blog Facebook page.)

In case ya forgot...

This is what you look like staying up all night wrapping Christmas presents. I'm so ready to jump in bed with my boys! [And yeh, that's tape on my favorite glasses. Don't hate! I'm a dork and I'm proud!]

 

Now about this GIVEAWAY!

 

 

(Read on...)

 

 

 

It has come to my attention that A LOT of you are entering the giveaway and you are not following my blog via Google Friend Connect (aka GFC)! Please make sure you do that, otherwise, if you win & you're not following...I have to move on to the next person as a winner, and that'd make me feel pretty awful. But, rules are rules type thing. Ughhhh...I sound like a school teacher! Here is the Rafflecopter again. Definitely ENTER IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY! If you have and just need to fix the GFC thing, that's simple. With your gmail email address (if you don't have one, go grab one. They take just a few minutes to make, and with this giveaway, it's totally worth it!) just click that "Join this site" button on my sidebar. You'll see where it says the number of others following via GFC, and then their pictures. Super easy!

 

Only a few days left! I'm SUPER STOKED about finding out who wins, I'm sure you all are, too...and Spring, who was the lovely lady that provided me with the giftbox, is excited, as well! She will most likely want to know your thoughts on her products. I'll be doing a review on them for a post after this contest is over, but ummm...her stuff is UHMAYZING!

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

CONGRATULATIONS, JULIE! I just sent you an email, so I can get these goodies sent your way! ;) I really hope you enjoy them & Happy Holidays!

I've got more coming for you soon! I promise. Especially a lot more pictures and reviews! Gosh, there is so much excitement with this blog coming up all at once...I really have to take a deep breath & brace myself. Have a lovely rest of the weekend, ladies! xo

 

 

It's here! THE GIVEAWAY IS HERE!

I am SO excited to announce that my very first giveaway is finally here! It's a beautiful magnetic box full of all natural bath & body products that I promise you will just adore. Please go ahead and sign up (there are several ways to get multiple entries) and let your friends and other blogger buddies know about it! The entire box is worth $60 normally. Keep that in mind! ;) I want to give a big shout-out and thank you to Spring from Beach Bum for helping out with this! xo

 

 

 

Also, please note: This giveaway is taking place in the US only. I'm sorry to any overseas visitors! :-/ Perhaps next time! Oh, and PLEASE make SURE that you are following my blog via GFC. You cannot win the giveaway without doing this! Thank you in advance. <3

a Rafflecopter giveaway