Love Ash's Day Off

It's been said that 'you are a product of the people you surround yourself with'. 

Truly I am so proud to say, I have the most hard-working group of friends out there. If there's one thing I'm certain of, it's that Miami kids sure do hustle HARD. With that being said, I've been juggling two jobs and going to school every day since August of 2015. While happy with the work ethic that I've established throughout my first years of "adulting", I have decided to make some changes and give myself somewhat of a break before my move to Orlando this summer.

Being in my 20s, living at home, and not paying many bills, I was living the good life but struggled to find a balance with everything that I had on my plate. So I put in a two-weeks notice at one of my jobs giving myself a more flexible schedule. While picking up more hours at my other job, I still managed to find time for myself to enjoy my last few weeks with my friends and family.

Here's what I did on my first REAL day off:

I scooped up a friend I hadn't seen in a really long while and we made our way to the beach. Somehow, even living in Miami, I managed to have a Vitamin D deficiency due to lack of sunlight [aka too much work]. So we grabbed a few coronas, laid out a towel on the sand and caught up with each other. It was such an amazing feeling to be back on the beach. Catching some rays and swimming amongst my sea critter friends sure helps get me regain my sanity.

Later on that day, we met up with two other friends and took a trip to the Food Trucks at North Bay Village. I got myself a "Big Daddy Sandwich" with pulled pork, mac n' cheese, and brisket [it was bomb]. For dessert I had a Birthday Cake flavored shaved ice [super yummy!] from the Bahama Bucks truck and they gave us complementary snowballs. SNOWBALLS. I even paid an extra dollar for two more snowballs and we were at war. Those dodgeball skills sure did come in handy, like they say "If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a (snow?) ball". Then we ate by the bay with the most beautiful, relaxing view of Downtown Miami at sundown.

But the night wasn't over. Towards the end of the day, we met up with even more friends at the Awa Kava Lounge to wind down [or turn up, depending on who you ask]. We had some rounds of Kava and sat on the front porch. We all met some pretty eccentric characters that night [which made for interesting conversations]. And then played some competitive card games of "21" and "B.S".

Spending that entire day doing whatever I wanted, not worrying about school or work or being late to anything -- just simply going with the flow of the day, made me realize how much I really needed a day off. I had time to reflect on the little things in life that we don't appreciate on a daily basis. It's so important to get as much quality time with great friends and enjoy the dope hang out joints your city has to offer before getting too caught up in life.

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
- Ferris Bueller, 1986

xoxo. 

Love, Ash.

Kylie Lip Kit: Review

As many of you dolls are already aware, Kylie Jenner's Lip Kit has been one of the hottest and most talked about cosmetic lines of 2016. Since the lip kit's release, it has sold out on her website, kyliecosmetics.com, each time within seconds. Sorry Kim, but it was Kylie who actually broke the internet. [fine, maybe just her own website.] Makeup-loving ladies (and fellas) have been scrimmaging on her website attempting to buy Kylie's fab matte lipstick line -- many have succeeded, while many more have failed. Most people have several tabs on their computers open just to get a hold of these lippies. Maybe there's a tactic, or maybe it's just pure luck in hopes that your computer doesn't crash, but nevertheless, it's become quite the mission.

For a while I've been trying to get my hands on one of these liner/lipstick combos but I never really dedicated the time to go on her website. With work and school and all, I didn't necessarily have the most time to spare fighting online over Kylie Jenner lipstick. But one day I decided to do what I do best and that's find gems on eBay.

**Now, you've gotta be careful when shopping on eBay, always verify the authenticity of the item, ask the seller as many questions as you'd like, make sure you read the fine print on any product you purchase, and personally, I always use PayPal for security purposes.**

So I was at one of my many jobs and I decided to go on eBay and see what I can do. So I started bidding on some of the lip kits. While on the kyliecosmetic.com website, each lip kit goes about $29, I was willing to spend the extra money to not deal with the mess she has going on her website. I won True Brown K ($32), Dolce K ($45), and Mary Jo K ($37). Some may say I overspent but I'm absolutely obsessed with my lip kits that came in perfect condition and look great!

The next purchases I'm looking into are Candy K, for another neutral everyday look, and Kourt K because to me, nothing's sexier than a dark purple lip for a night out. Recently Kylie also released her Gloss collection "Like Literally So Cute". Know what the glosses names are? You guessed it! Like. Literally. & So Cute... Maybe it's the valley girl in me, but I think those names are adorable. I wanna get the darkest shade of the glosses, 'Like', so I'll add that to my "I NEED IT" list.

**I just had an entire revelation and realized THIS is exactly what the Kylie Jenner Lip Kit smells like.**

As for my review on the lip kit, I think Kylie was right on the money when choosing her colors. The tones are absolutely gorgeous for each one and I can't wait to get the rest of the collection. The lip liner goes on really easy. The matte lipstick? It goes on as a liquid, which I love. [and it smells like meanest girl in 7th grade.] It doesn't come off as easily as MAC Matte Lipstick and lasts a decent amount even while eating or drinking. My only concern is that the lipstick does indeed dry up your lips, so I'd suggest putting on a lip balm prior to use. Also, since it dries up, reapplying has an annoying texture on your lips and feels as though it clumps up. Overall, I'd rate the Kylie Lip Kit an 8.5 out of 10. Now what she needs to do is add some lip-plumping formula to her kits to really give us the Kylie Jenner look. LOL. Well, thanks for reading! Till next time!

xoxo.

Love, Ash.