Favorite Bath and Beauty Products

Ok, so I know that I promised an organizing the korner post, but I haven't gotten to that one yet.  Instead, I am just going to do a quick post today and do the organizing one tomorrow.  Tonight I got my nails done!  :) Gotta to love that!  I go every four weeks or so and have my nails Shellaced (not really sure if that is even a word).  If you haven't tried it you have to, it will change your life.  Ok, maybe not your life, but you will love what it does to your nails.  In honor of my beauty regiment tonight I thought that I would share some of my favorite bath and beauty products with you. 

Up first of course is Shellac for your nails.  Today I had my nails done in the color Wildfire.

I love it!  They look a little pink in the picture but trust me they are bright red! 


Next up on my favorite products list is Equate Cocoa Butter Body Lotion.  I love this stuff, I put it on my legs everyday.  The best part of this lotion is that it is only $.97!  Yup only less than a dollar!

It smells great and it's moisture lasts all day long.

For my favorite perfumes I usually alternate between three:
Victoria Secret Dream Angel Halo
Dolca & Gabbana Light Blue
Jessica Simpson Fancy Love

For make up my favs are:

Equate Ultra Hydrating Beauty Lotion.  This is just like Olay but only half of the price.  This is also the only thing that keeps my face hydrated.

Laura Geller Balance & Brighten Power in Regular.  This really helps to even out my skin tone and doesn't get all flaky with my dry skin.  Plus, I hate using liquid foundation.

For my eyes my favs are:
Clinique Lash Building Primer
Clinique High Impact Mascara
Clinique Cream Shaper for Eyes in Deep Cobalt

For my hair my favorite Hair Spray is Sebastian Re-Shaper.  It is a bit expensive but well worth the money.  When it is so humid here it is the only thing that keeps my hair in check.

My favorite shower gel is Nivea Cream Oil Body Wash.  I like all of the scents that this one comes in.

These are just some of my favorite bath and beauty products. 

Please excuse the bathroom shots.  They were the best place in my house for lighting to take these. 

One other product that I just recently fell in love with doesn't really fall into either of these categories.  It is by Glade, and it is there new Autumn Harvest candle.  I just love how it smells, they describe it as, "smoky, woodsy, mellow".  I will definitely be getting some stock in these for the fall.

I will be back tomorrow with the organizing post and my wish list of Krafty items!

Friday Night Crazy

HI Friends.  Last night as I told you I went to German Fest with some friends.  While we didn't have as much fun there as I had hoped, we had lots of fun before and after the fest.  On the way home I stuck my head out the window and was screaming, "Only Three Years Until I am 30!!"  I have no idea what got into me. (at this point of the evening I only had a Diet Pepsi and a Root Beer)

To start the evening we met at my house since I am the closest one to downtown where German Fest is.  We of course chatted for awhile and then headed out for our night on the big town. 

We went to Panera for dinner, it is always so good.  I had my normal entree when I eat there, which is the Grilled Chicken Cesar salad.  Love it!

I think that Amanda had the same thing that I did, Aly had soup and sandwich, and Kate had the cobb salad with avocados.  She was quite excited about how large the avocados were in the salad and that there was lots of them.  Oh, she also got a free Mango smoothie and she was so happy about it that when they called her name to go get it she danced all the way up there.  This is why I love Kate!

Then we were off to German Fest.  When we got there we headed right for the beer tent and the polka music.  Aly got a beer and I had a rootbeer!  Big drinkers!

We found a picnic table and listened to some country style polka.  Yikers!  Good thing their set was just about over when we got there.  When the next band started they played some seriously good polka.  Aly, Kate, and I decided that it was time to get our polka on.  Of course we picked the never ending polka.  It is quite a work out to polka.  I was surprised that the there was so many older people out on the floor.  It made me think that I was a loser when the three of us gave up. 

After we got our polka on, we headed back to my house for more chit chat and some shots.  One palinka and one of this bison grass flavored vodka from Poland that M.Kramlik likes.  Needless to say after those two shots plus the half of a white russian that I drank I was finished.  Yup, lightweight right over here.  I think that it was about 12:30 when they left.  I went right up to bed and slept until 8:30!  I felt like I had been hit by a truck.  I guess I don't get out enough. 

We decided that we can't let it be another 8 months before we got together again. 

Ladies here is to more fun nights, preferably with out me hanging my head out the window! 

No blog post tomorrow as I am working on the post that I am going to be sharing with you on Monday.  The re-organizing of the Korner.  I will give you a sneak peak though....

There was a lot of cleaning out and organizing going on.  I love how these are organized by color now.

She tried to help me, but decided that sleeping was the better option.

I made a Hobby Lobby run too.  I did good.

New paper cutter, cardstock, Smash Book dater for a new project, and some new markers.

Stay tuned.....

Trip Re-Kap - The Wedding

The wedding was on the weekend right before we were coming home. We (meaning M.Kramlik) of course needed to be there for the bachelor party as well, which was the weekend before. Since the wedding was in another city the groom's family rented a coach bus for us to take from the village to the wedding.

 

 

Let’s just say that the Hungarians know how to throw a great party. We all had to meet at the Groom’s parents’ house at 10 am for pre-wedding celebrations and to get on the bus. We ate some cookies, drank some shots, and then packed onto the bus. Where the partying continued!

 

 

The wedding was divided into three parts. First we went to the hotel where the reception would be for a pre-church service meal. Appetizers were served along with drinks. This gave all of the guests a chance to mingle. Which for me meant a chance to take lots of group photos!

 

 

 

 

 

Then we walked over to the church which was literally right outside the hotel's door.

 

They had a traditional Catholic service which lasted about an hour. I tried paying attention but I was so overwhelmed by the beautiful church. It was one of the prettiest churches I have ever seen.

 

 

 

Tamas and Linda looked beautiful and I of course cried when they said their vows. Even though I couldn’t understand all of it, I knew what they were promising to one another and it made me think of my own wedding. After the service it was time to eat and party!  We ate like Kings and danced like fools.  Ok, I danced like a fool and M.Kramlik drank it up. 

 

A good time was had by all.  This next morning however, was a bit rough for some of us.  I think by the time that we walked back to where we were staying it was about 5AM!!

 

 

 

 

Yikers M.Kramlik...looking real rough.  And because nothing says "Good Morning" like a shot of warm palinka...bottoms up!

I have no idea how he managed to do that shot, I would have thrown up!  After this it was time to say good-bye to our friends and get back on the bus and head for home.

Little did we know that we were in for a really big surprise when we got to the airport the next day!  

The next night we headed to the airport.  We purposely booked these tickets because 1- they were cheap and 2- we could leave at night which just about never happens.  It is always in the morning.  We arrive to the airport with plenty of time, wait in line forever, and finally make it to the ticket counter.  It turned out that because our flights on the way over were screwed up, it affected our return flights.  They couldn't find us in the computer system and I swear the lady at the counter made six different phone calls and then with just about no time to spare handed us our tickets.  We were the last two on the plane with seats at the back! 

Now the lady at the ticket counter was only able to issue us our boarding passes from Budapest to Helsinki and Helsinki to Manchester.  She told us that when we got to Helsinki that they should be able to get us the last one from Manchester to Chicago.  When we arrived in Helsinki it was 10:45pm, so needless to say no one was around to help us out!  Ok, we will find our place to camp out for the night and talk to someone in the morning. 

We started out in these lounge chairs, but M.Kramlik couldn't get comfortable.  So we moved over to these rows of chairs.

In this large section of the airport it was only M.Kramlik, myself and one other person.  I slept as best as I could be every little noise would wake me up and I wasn't warm enough either.  We were going to try to find a hotel room, but we got turned around in the airport and couldn't find it.  The next morning we both had agreed that we were glad we didn't spend the money.

When we got up the next morning we headed out to find someone who could help us get our tickets.  We found the American Airlines agent who proceeded to tell us that they can't issue our tickets.  When we get to Manchester they will have to do it there.  Alright, so off to find some breakfast.  We found this little cafe.  I showed you the pictures of us earlier but here is one of the cafe itself.

 

 

We got on the plane and headed to Manchester.  When we arrived there we go through security and headed to the American Airlines desk again for our boarding passes.  This time they tell me that there is a group of passengers who are in the same position as us and they will help us directly at the boarding gate.  Alright, so off we go.  When we got to the boarding gate, they tell us that we are not listed on the flight manifest and the flight is full.  Ok, first of all this is not something that you tell someone who has just spent the last 9 hours "trying" to sleep on airport chairs.  I tried to stay calm at this point, but I think that the steward helping us is realizing quickly that I am losing all of my patients.  He told us that he is going to speak to one of his colleagues and would be back for us in a little while if we could just have a seat and wait.  So back to waiting, it seems like all of the other passengers that were in the same boat as us, are all going through and boarding the plane.  Oh, did I forget to mention that detail.  Yup, this was all happening while our flight was boarding!   The steward finally came back and told us that they found seats for us but that they aren't together..ok felt a little better but who wants to sit next to a stranger for 7 hours when they could be sitting next to M.Kramlik! 

So we went and visited Terry ( I should have known that only good things were going to happen at this point).  He asked us if his colleague had us in a panic, M.Kramlik replies with something like, "Yeah, she was freaking out."  To which Terry replied, "Imagine being married to that guy....not that I am."  At which point I knew that we were in good hands.  Terry made a phone to Helen and says, "Helen darling, I have two love birds on honeymoon can I take seats something and something (I don't remember the numbers and letters anymore).  He hung up and says no worries I am getting you on the flight!  I think I cried a little bit in relief.  He issued us our tickets and of course M.Kramlik has to go to the bathroom.  We walked across the way and M.Kramlik goes in and I sit down to wait for him.  While I am waiting Terry came over and says to me, "I need to take the tickets from you, but trust me you don't want to say no to this.  Because I am going to give you two First class tickets, they only bad thing is that you can't sit next to one another."  My response was something along the lines of "Who cares it's First Class!"  M.Kramlik came out of the bathroom and I tell him what happened with our tickets.  Terry came back over with our new tickets and told M.Kramlik that he owes me diamonds.  M.Kramlik told him that he will get him one too!

Terry then proceeded to board the plane with us and asked the guy sitting in M.Kramlik's seat if he would switch with him so that we could sit next to one another. 

While all of this was happening I was seriously thinking that I would never fly American Airlines again, but Terry really came to their rescue.  He so went the extra mile for us on everything. 

So there we were living it up in First Class.  We drank, ate, and got to lay down completely.  Living the high life!

There you have a little glimpse into our trip home.  Some highs and some lows.  But hey anytime I can fly First Class for free I am a happy camper!

Just a heads up no blog post tomorrow as I am going to the local German Fest with some friends, but I will be back on Saturday for a post all about it. 

Keep checking back here friends for all of the exciting posts I have planned.  Really I do, I promise.  Maybe if my hands aren't to tired from this post, I will quick post one of posts to come.

 

Trip Re-Kap

I think that most of you know that M.Kramlik and I recently went on a trip back to the homeland (Hungary).  Friends of ours were getting married and we wanted to be there.  We left the day before the 4th of July out of Chicago as we usually do.  However, this time since my parents were already overseas waiting for us to get there, we had to take the coach bus service to O'Hare.  We got on at the first stop that the bus picks up at.  Only problem was that it was late by about 20 minutes.  I think that we had about 6 other stops along the way before finally getting to O'Hare about 45 minutes behind schedule.  We checked in, ran through security and quickly grabbed a bite to eat.  While we waited for them to call us to board I thought we better have some photos taken.

M.Kramlik waving Bon Voyage!


 

 

When we were finally called to board and got on the plane we were told that we were going to be sitting in the row where the oxygen was stored.  This meant no overhead bin room, but ample leg room as the overhead compartments are bigger and so the seats are larger too.  AWESOME!!!  What happened next, not so awesome...we were just about to take off and the Captain came over the loudspeaker and said that there was a problem with one of our hydraulic cylinders and we had to go back to the gate.  Then a steward came over the loudspeaker to tell us that we have seven hydraulic cylinders on the plane and really only need one to fly it is required by the FAA that we have it checked out.  They weren't sure how long the fix was going to take but that the ground crew was already at the gate waiting for us.  It wasn't long after arriving at the gate that we were back under way and ready to take off for round 2.  Little did we know that we were going to get called back again by that pesky hydraulic cylinder.  This time we stayed at the gate what seemed like forever!  We had just about neared the two hour mark of sitting on the plane at the gate when we were finally good to go.  Ok, we take off.  Then I realized that we weren't going to make our connecting flight in London to Helsinki.  (NOTE: We purchased tickets from Chicago to London, London to Helsinki, Helsinki to Budapest and then the reverse coming home.  Only because summer is the peak time and this was what we could afford.)  So there we are flying along somewhere over the Atlantic when I start panicking over what we are going to do.  Know I very well knew that we weren't the only ones who were going to have this issue.  But, those of you that know me, I tend to panic when things are going just right.  :)  It is just one of my downfalls.  

 

Fast forward, eight hours later and we are going to land in London.  The steward comes back over the loudspeaker and tells us that we have to check in with the ground staff in London about our connecting flights and they can help us with what to do next.  This surprisingly worked out really well.  There were three people waiting for us with lists of the connecting flights that were missed and explained exactly what we needed to do.   This ended up working to our advantage.  They had a direct flight that was going to Budapest in about 4 hours so we were going to go directly there instead of to Helsinki first.  This sounded fantastic to me as I hate flying!  We got our new boarding passes and set off in search of a bathroom and some food.  This is where I got some sweet Olympic gear and a Starbucks Iced Grande Mocha.  They of course called it something else, now I don't remember what...I wished I would have written it down.  Then we paid the most ridiculous amount of money to call M.Kramlik's Mom and Dad so they and my parents knew what was going on.  I am told that they were all trying to track our flights and figure out where we were but it was a nightmare.

 

We made our connection no problem and were to Hungary a whole 20 minutes early!  We were both so happy to finally be there.

The street sign for the road that my In-Laws live on.

 



I know that M.Kramlik was just so happy to be home, but I was so happy because this was the first time that my parents have been back in Hungary since our wedding there 4 years ago! We ate, drank, ate some more and of course drank some more too!  I guess that is what happens when 1- you go on vacation and 2- when your in-laws own a bar!

 

 

 

This picture is one of my absolute favorites of the whole trip.  My three favorite guys (minus my brother...mmm maybe I will have to figure out how to Photoshop him in there!)

Oh I almost forgot we did a lot this too....

I swear this swing is a miracle worker!  You can be have a rough day or stressing about something and this swing takes away all of your worries and cares.  We actually fight over who is going to sit in it.  It also is an excellent place to take naps!  I have taken many in it.  Especially when it is raining because there is a roof over the porch.

Ipolyvece has the cutest train station.  I am not sure if anyone mans it but after going to the village for over 11 years now, this trip was the first time that I saw it.  Isn't it just so cute?

It reminds me of something you would see in a movie, doesn't it??

I think that I am going to have to break the trip re-cap into two posts.  I honestly didn't think that I was going to be this long winded.  The next post I will do will be about the wedding and our travels home.  If you thought me getting there was something else, just wait for the return to the USA story!  Let's just say that Sarah was a very unhappy traveler!


I will leave you with two more quick pictures.  The first one was taken at M.Kramlik's other Grandparents house in a village about 30 minutes away.  We went there one day for lunch. 

The second picture is my favorite one of M.Kramlik by himself at the bar.  This is his "traditional" bar pose and I think that on it he looks so happy, relaxed and just his natural self.

Diet Breakdown

Now that I am back!  :) I thought that I would do a quick post on my diet.  First I need to give a major shout out to my Mom!  With out her none of this weight loss would have been possible! 

Since everyone likes stats here they are:

Start: February 6, 2012
End: ? So far it has been 29 weeks. I don't think that there really is an end.  You always hear people saying that you really shouldn't diet, that it should be more of a lifestyle change.  I am proud to say that I do believe that I have succeeded and my lifestyle has changed.  I will continue to eat better and lose the last remaining pounds that I want, but then it will be about maintaining.  Maintaining I think is the hardest part, but I have made it this far so I refuse to let the weight bring me down again.

As of today, this moment, I am down 40 pounds!  It is a wonderful feeling, not to mention how much fun I am having buying clothes. 

Everyone loves a good before and after picture so I am going to share mine.  Please be gentle, I was aware that I was on the hefty side!

This picture was last Christmas, it is hard to believe that my Gram is gone now.  I hate that this is the way that I looked but I can't change it.  It think she was part of the reason that I wanted to really buckle down and lose the weight.  This picture was taken just short of two months before I started my diet.  My Gram passed away on January 23, 2012, and my diet started on February 6th.  I think from above she gave me the kicks in the pants I needed.

This picture was taken just last month when I was in Hungary.  We were in Budapest for the day and I just had to have a Starbucks date with my Husband and Father-in-Law.  I am pretty sure that there is a law somewhere that says that when you see a Starbucks in another country you must stop. (I think that this was my first full blown Starbucks - whip cream and full fat milk...it was heaven!) I also visited the one in the Heathrow Airport on our way to Hungary.  The trip was so much fun and I have so many photos to share so I am pretty sure that will be a blog post soon too.

This picture has nothing to do with the diet at all or really anything, but I just love this picture of Teddy.  It is so freakin' cute!  Teddy was my Gram's dog, but when she passed away my parents took him.  They bought him for her last February, when he was just a baby.  She loved him so much even though he is quite the trouble maker! 

I am going to leave you with his incredibly ridiculously cute face.  Until tomorrow.....

Get Ready - Cause Here I Come!

Get ready blog friends because a change is a comin' to the korner.  That's right friends, more blog posts are in our very near future.  I changed the look of the blog to give a fresh start, a few more updates are yet to come. I promise you won't be disappointed.  So strap in and hang on because this spot is about to get used a lot!

This is what we looked like after being up for 9 hours in the Helisinki Airport on our way home from our vacation in July.  Pretty awesome if you ask me.  Well honestly, I think that I look pretty good, M.Kramlik on the other hand looks a little rough.  Still dreamy and handsome but a little rough.

 P.S. That drink in my hand was the best Mocha Latte I have ever had...and the biggest too!