February 2021 Favorites

February was a good month. I feel like life really hit it’s stride. There were solid shows to watch on TV, great books to read, and I finally got back into a good routine. Now that we’re approaching Spring and the promise of warmer weather, I’m even more excited for what this year has in store.

Bed Bath & Beyond

Jesse got me the Cuisinart Extreme Brew 10 Cup Programmable Coffee Maker for my birthday in January and it has been life changing! We used to have a small 5 cup $20 coffee maker. I was totally content with it, but that’s only because I didn’t know what I was missing. This new coffee maker makes up to 10 cups at a time. It has a stainless steal carafe, so the coffee stays hot without needing a warming element, which eventually makes the coffee taste burnt.  And the best part, it’s programmable! I have no idea how I ever lived without a programmable coffee maker! It starts my coffee at 6:35 every morning, so by the time I come downstairs at 6:45 it is fresh and ready to go. It’s totally changed my entire morning routine for the better!

Sephora

I first tried the Slaai Makeup-Melting Butter Cleanser by Drunk Elephant in November 2019 and I’ve loved it ever since! It removes my makeup so well, and leaves my skin feeling clean. When I ran out over the summer I decided to switch and use makeup removing wipes with a separate cleanser. The wipes work fine, but they felt wasteful because I was constantly buying them. The butter is more expensive up front, but it lasts longer than the makeup removing wipes. And my skin feels better when I use it. Every week I also add just a little of the Bamboo Booster Exfoliant to get rid of any excess dead skin. I love the Drunk Elephant products. My skin has just been glowing lately.

ULTA

How has no one told me about the miracle that is brow mascara?! I’ve been manually filling in my eyebrows with a pencil and powder for years. The brow mascara works so much better and is SO MUCH FASTER! It takes me a few seconds to apply and my eyebrows look fuller, but still very natural. I already follow a simply less than 5 minute makeup routine, but now it takes even less time. I’ve been using the NYX Tinted Brow Mascara in the Chocolate shade. It’s only $7.50, so it’s very affordable and works amazing!

Amazon

Another life changing birthday gift from Jesse was the RALENO LED video/photography light. I’ve been working on improving my photography for the blog and this light as been a huge help! When shooting in certain rooms, it can be hard to achieve balanced lighting and this has been a fantastic help! I also using it for filming IGTV videos or Reels. I even use it for Zoom calls with friends! It’s compact, so it’s easy to move around and adjust. It’s made my life as a blogger/content creator SO much easier.

ASOS

I’ve had my eye on these Stan Smith floral Adidas sneakers since they dropped last year. I didn’t buy them because we were in the middle of moving and it seemed like a silly time to buy new shoes. After we moved I couldn’t find them in my size anywhere online. But! Instagram knew that I was looking for them and was constantly showing me ads. A few weeks an ASOS ad for them came up in my feed, so I swiped over. Lo and behold! They had them in my size! I ordered right away, sat by the window waiting for them to be delivered and haven’t taken them off since. I kind of like not having anywhere to where them because they will stay cleaner for longer!

Spotify

It was recently brought to my attention that the NOW! That’s What I Call Music albums were on Spotify as playlists, so I’ve been strolling down memory lane and listening to all of the throwbacks! I have a playlist of my favorite songs for every 5 years of my life. (That sounds confusing AF) So, I have one that is 1990-95, 1995-2000, 2000-2005, etc. The NOW playlists have been reminding me of songs that I’m missing. Plus, it’s just a lot of fun to listen to them while I’m cleaning or editing posts.