Liar Liar, Pants on Fire!

Hello all of my wonderful internet friends! Did you miss me? So sorry my life has been under construction for the past like month and a half, it’s fine.  I have a really good story out of it, so that makes it all worth it, right?

For those of you who have been with me since I was @perfect_belle on twitter, you should know that that great app lead me to a guy for whom I uprooted my whole life and moved south for.  It has been 2…almost 3 years now since that has happened, but things change..and they did. 

Could you imagine living with someone for 2 and a half years, and then finding out that the whole entire time they were lying to you? Like just try to imagine. That’s what happened to me.  The man boy I was living with had been telling me he was a professor at a pretty elite school, when in fact..he was working at FedEx.  Yeah, I can’t make this shit up.

Let’s back track to when it kind of started:  In February he had told me he lost his job (the one at the college) and that he had to move back to Louisiana where he’s from. Since apparently there was no room for me at his grandparents house where he was going, I decided to stay here and just keep working until he found a new job. Fast forward to October….it’s been 8 months since I have seen the guy. At this point I was already so checked out that I didn’t even care anymore..like if I’m not worth a 7 hour drive every couple of weekends, I’m obviously not worth much to you. I think he could tell that I was on the verge of leaving anyway, so one night I get a text saying that he actually worked at FedEx. Yada yada yada, there was a long conversation after that which eventually ended up in me dumping him.  Like I can’t be with someone who is going to lie about something so insignificant.  And it made me realize that a lot of other stuff he probably told me was a lie as well.  I’m like 110% sure he’s cheated on me before (shout out to @sportsbar_belle for bringing it to my attention, and sorry for not listening to ya then girl!), although he swears up and down that nothing ever happened. But yeah. Now y’all know. Let this be a lesson to just not date anyone from twitter ever.

So after all of this went down I decided it was time for a change in my life.  My friend and coworker Lauren and I got an apartment together, and we have been having the time of our lives. Single Summer, and Drunk Summer are most definitely my two favorite Summers, and they’ve been gone for a long time.  I’m fun again, so if you live close or want to come to Memphis for the weekend just let me know and we will have a great time. 

Meal Prep

So my meal prepping is probably the most basic in the whole world.  I am not a serious hard core muscle builder, so I'm not taking time measuring any nutrients out or anything like that.  This is the most simple way that I know how to do it, and it helps a lot when I'm running around and have seconds to pack a whole days worth of meals in the morning.
If you read my last post you saw everything I got on my grocery list, so I will just hop right in to what I prepare!

• Cucumbers and celery- I was and cut these up so that they're in ready to eat pieces.  They make a great addition to a lunch, or they're great for snacking in the middle of the day! If they're ready to eat I will be more likely to eat them and they will be less likely to sit in the back of my fridge and rot!
• Brown rice- I find that 2 cups of rice normally lasts me the longest without going bad or anything, so I boil that and put it in one big Tupperware.  I'll spoon it out and warm it up as I need it.  I think it saves more space rather than putting it out in separate containers. 
• Chicken- I normally do 4 chicken breasts at once.  This time I did two of them with my famous seasoning and the other two I just used low sodium teriyaki sauce. I cut the cooked pieces into littler pieces and put them into containers.  This way it's easier to just throw them over rice or over a salad or however I want to eat them. 

And that's basically all I do.  If I need to make a batch of granola for the week I usually would do that too, but I had plenty to last me for the week.  There are things that I eat throughout the week that don't get prepared on meal prep days.  Since the chicken sausage I buy is already pre cooked I will just cut that up the day I want to have it and warm it up with my rice.  I also use the steam fresh veggies, just because it's easier to me, so I will steam those on a daily basis too.  I make sweet potato fries basically almost every day (I'm beyond obsessed with them) but I have found that they taste better when they're cut fresh, so I cut those up on the day that I cook them as well. 

I hoped this helped some of you who are looking to start meal prepping! Like I said in the beginning this is totally just a basic routine, and just what I normally do on a weekly basis. 

xoxo, 

Summer

Grocery Haul!

Hey guys! So I don't know about you, but I'm OBSESSED with grocery shopping.  It's one of my favorite past times.  No idea why, but something about it is just so relaxing to me..please tell me I'm not the only one.  Tonight I went on a much needed grocery trip.  I literally was out of EVERYTHING. I had been snacking on a pack of club crackers for the past 2 days (so sad, I know) anyway, I thought I'd share with you the things that I picked up.  I know back to school is starting, and once school time comes around it's so easier to just grab fast food on your way home, or go out for late night snacks while studying.  My plan is to post some easy recipes on here for y'all that can help curb your cravings, and still not completely ruining your diet! I have some great breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner ideas that I think everyone can enjoy! As a disclaimer I am by no meas a nutritionist, and I know only what I've read about health. I just eat what makes ME feel my best.  I know that not everything I eat or buy at the grocery store is healthy either..but I just do what works for ME.  Hopefully this will inspire you guys to clean up your cart a little, if one person gets inspired than my job here is done.

• steamed veggies packs
• frozen berries
• sweet potatoes
• lettuce
• celery
• cucumber
• yogurt
• almond milk
• sharp cheddar cheese
• deli turkey
• deli provolone cheese
• coffee drinks
• chicken sausage
• balance bars
• raisin bran crunch
• skinny pop
• pita bread
• caramel corn rice cakes

This grocery haul cost about $73 and should last me about 2 - 2 1/2 weeks.  I didn't need to buy chicken this time around because I have a bunch from the last time.  I will be posting my meal prep routine in the very near future....I PROMISE!! And I'll be posting snack recipes and lunch on the go ideas as well! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and I will talk to you soon! 

xoxo

June Favorites!

I seriously can't believe it's already July! The summer is basically over and I feel like it hasn't even really started yet! Anyway, June has been a CRAZY month for me.  I have just been working like crazy, and to add to the chaos I have decided to venture out and get ANOTHER job! It's at American Eagle (you know I love my retail) doing the floorsets.  It's only 3 nights a month and we work over night..nothing too exciting, but I figure it would give me at least another $100 a month and I can't complain about that! Anyway I hope all of you are having a great rest of your summer break! I will leave you now with all of the things I have been loving for the month of June!

Ocean Potion Ever Glow

I LOVE this lotion! It's so moisturizing, and it has self tanner in it- win/win. I know when I think of self tanner my first thought is turning myself orange and smelling disgusting, but this stuff smells so good (like a beach, with a little bit of coconut) and it doesn't leave me streaky or orange, it just already enhances your summer glow!

Boscia Luminous Black Mask

I've raved about this product on my instagram already, and it really is my holy grail product.  Whenever I feel like my skin isn't as smooth as it should be I just put this mask on and when I peel it off it's like a baby's butt! And the fact that it's a peel-off makes it better...nothing satisfies me more than peeling off layers of dead skin..weird? No. 

Josie Maran Tinted Moisturizer with Argon Oil

So since it's summer time and I've been working out a TON outside, I've found myself not really wanting to wear much, if any makeup.  I was so so happy when I found this gem in my Sephora.  It leaves my skin with a dewy finish, and surprisingly has pretty great coverage for just being a tinted moisturizer.  Normally for the summer time I will just throw some of this on with a translucent powder over it, put on some mascara and I'm good to go.  I hate over doing my makeup in the summer time, especially since moving to the south because it's so hot and humid. I would not recommend this product for someone who has oily skin, just because it is super moisturizing and it does leave me with that dewy look. My skin is super dry, so it's perfect for me, but be warned..a little goes a LONG way!

Workout Gear

This tank top is just so appropriate for my life it's not even funny.  I work at Victoria's Secret as most of you know and when I saw this baby I just HAD to get it. 

Water

I have been trying to drink at least 4 of these a day full of water.  I have felt so much better, and I can actually tell a difference. If I don't have at least one before noon now I get the worlds worst headache.  My skin has been loving it, and so has my body.  Drinking a ton of water is the best- and easiest- way to get all of those nasty toxins out of your body.  You can get bottles like these any where.  I got mine for free on Black Friday (VS associate perks).  They're great for taking on the go, and super easy to drink out of...is that weird..I just think it's easier to drink out of fun bottles rather than a glass or just a plastic bottle, I don't know, I'm weird. 

Yummy Flatbread Pizza!

I thought I'd keep this post short and sweet, so here is the recipe and I hope you enjoy! 

Ingredients:

• Any type of whole grain tortilla or wrap
• 1/2 of a small red onion-chopped
• 1/2 of a small green pepper-chopped
• 2-3 thin slices of mozzarella cheese (you can also do shredded, but I like the way the slices melt better)
• turkey pepperoni (or any meat that you prefer, I just like to have substance)
• about a handful of fresh basil leaves
• optional- some type of tomato sauce- I don't really like tomatoes or tomato sauce on these types of pizza, so I skip out on that, but you are more than welcome to add some.

Directions

• Preheat oven to 300
• Set out your wrap on a foil lined baking sheet
• Layer on all toppings
• Pop in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until your cheese is completely melted

Super easy, and super delicious! Be sure to let me know if you make this on your own, and tag me in your instagram photos! 

Also- if you aren't following me on instagram you should be! My username there is also @perfect_belle. 

I hope y'all are having a wonderful, amazing day! 

Workout Play List!

Hey y'all!

So keeping up with the whole fitness thing, I thought I'd share with you the songs that are currently on my workout play list! I'm one of those gym people who HAS to have music playing, or else I feel like nothing gets done! Now I must say my mix of music is a little odd, haha it ranges far and wide-as you will soon see, but it's what I like to listen to.  It gets me pumped up and it inspires me to keep going.  I hope some of you can find this helpful! I know I always love a good music suggestion, and if you know of any songs I should add then please comment!

• I Hold On- Dierks Bently
• Skinny Love- Bon Iver
• I Need A Doctor- Eminem
• Follow Your Arrow- Kacey Musgraves
• Erase Me- Kid Cudi
• Just Breathe- Pearl Jam
• Save All Your Love- Great White (all time most favorite song EVER)
• House Carpenter- Hurt
• Lose Yourself- Eminem
• Super Bass- Nicki Minaj
• Wagon Wheel- Old Crow Medicine Show
• Body Party- Ciara
• From Yesterday- 30 Seconds To Mars
• Cleaning Out My Closet- Eminem
• Easy- Paula Deanda
• Hurricane- 30 Seconds To Mars feat. Kanye West
• Hey Girl- Billy Currington
• Comin Up- Sammy Adams
• Feel That Fire- Dierks Bentley
• 90210- Wale
• American Boy- Estelle feat. Kanye West
• How He Loves- David Crowder Band (always my cool down song)
• I'm Into You- Jennifer Lopez feat. Lil Wayne
• Check It Out- Nicki Minaj feat. Will. I. Am
• Wasted- Cartel
• I Just Wanna Run- The Downtown Fiction
• Despicable- Eminem (can you tell I'm obsessed with him?)
• Stay Stay Stay- Taylor Swift
• The Spins- Mac Miller
• Check On It- Beyonce
• Sorority Girls- Luke Bryan
• I Love You- The Black Eyed Peas
• Could It Be You- H*Wood
• We Can't Stop- Miley Cyrus
• Dead and Gone- T.I. feat. Justin Timberlake
• Find Your Love- Drake
• Beep- Pussycat Dolls
• Empire State of Mind- Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys
• Circles- Hollywood Undead (my second favorite song of all time)
• Bottoms Up- Trey Songz feat. Nicki Minaj
• All of the Lights- Kanye West feat. Rihanna
• So Rich, So Pretty- Micky Avalon
• I Caught Fire- The Used
• Lonesome Road Blues- Old Crow Medicine Show

There you go! Like I said, so random.  I was typing this list out and just thinking wow I'm weird. Haha it reminded me of high school.. I'd always pick my friend up on our way to school, and she'd bring her own CD because she always thought I had shitty taste in music.  Anyway! If any of these songs are your favorite, then congratulations- we can be best friends! I hope you're all having just the most fabulous day ever, and if not, you'll get another go at it tomorrow- so no worries! 

My Makeup Essentials

Hey y'all! Tonight I want to talk about the things that I put on my face everyday!
Makeup literally has to be one of my most favorite things in the whole entire world.  I just love it. My pink Caboodle has been my bff since the 4th grade, and while the products inside have matured and changed over the years, my love for the dang thing will never ever change. Let's get started!

• Clinique Even Better foundation (03 Ivory)
• This stuff is AMAZING! I used to use MACs Studio Fix in NW20, but after having used it for like 4 straight years I decided I wanted something different.  I went around to all of the counters in the department stores, and all of the brands in Sephora and got samples of EVERY. SINGLE. FOUNDATION. I'm not going to drop $70 bucks on the stuff if it's no good, and this stuff out shined ALL of the other brands that I tried.  It took me a good 6 months to get through all of them, but I always found myself going back to Clinique.  Now I've been using this for about a solid month or so now, and I love it.  I see a drastic difference in my skin tone, and I couldn't be more happy.  It does have an SPF of 15 in it, but it doesn't cause a white cast in pictures which is a major plus. If you haven't tried it I highly suggest going to Sephora or a Clinique counter and asking for a sample to try it out yourself.  It retails for $28.

• Maybeline Instant Age Rewind Treatment Concealer (50 Neutralizer)
• This is my current favorite concealer. It has super great coverage, and although I don't have dark circles (thank you skin gods), I still use it around my nose and on my forehead, or wherever I have a little bit of redness and it evens my color right out! It blends in perfectly, and I don't have to reapply it throughout the day. Lets be honest, anything I don't have to touch up on the regular wins an A+ in my book. It retails for $7.94

• Tarte Clean Slate Eye Primer
• At first I did not like this stuff at all.  It was a huge change from what I used to use, which was Benefit's stay don't stray, but after using it a few times I developed a bond for this baby.  It goes on an soaks right into my eyelids. I can put any type of eyeshadow over top and it will not crease! This product will pretty much speak for itself. It reatials for $19

• Naked 2 Palette
• This has been my go to palette since the day that I bought it.  I literally use it every single day. Most of you probably have it, so I'll skip the details, but I will say my go-to everyday eye routine is Tease on the lid, Bootycall for my brow bone, Pistol in my crease, and then I use either Suspect or MACs color Honesty over top of all of it to give it an extra something and blend everything out.  On days where I want to do something a little less noticeable, I will do Bootycall on the whole lid and brow bone, Suspect in the crease, and YDK on the outer corner.  The only thing that I dislike about this palette is that Bootycall doesn't come in a single pot. I dropped my palette and that was the only color that busted, and I spent hours in Sephora trying to match the color and the closest thing I came up with was Urban Decay's Virgin. It retails for $54.

• Benefit Porefessional Primer
• Not a whole lot to say on this one either.  It's amazing, fills in my pores, and makes my skin feel baby bottom smooth. It's matte too, so it doesn't leave me looking oily at all, but it also doesn't irritate my dry skin. It retials for $31. 
• Benefit Hoola Bronzer
• I like this bronzer because it's matte.  I'm not for the super shiny bronzy look at all.  I like to keep things subtle, especially when it comes to bronzer, because it is a hard product to wear.  This one blends super nice and just gives my face the dimension it needs. It retails for $28. 

• MACs Blush in Breath of Plum
• This is the perfect color for my skin tone.  I'm not much of a blush wearer at all; especially in the summertime, but when fall comes around this stuff gives me the perfect amount of rosy color without making me look like I just ran a marathon. It retails for $21.

• Benefit Bad Gal Lash
• If you know me at all, you know that I already have super long, voluminous lashes (so blessed, thanks dad), so finding a good mascara is hard, because most of them just clump my lashes together, or make them way more extreme than I need them to be...I literally can't wear glasses without them touching the lenses...But this mascara is the BEST. Fun fact though, I have yet to buy myself a full sized tube of this.  I feel like it's the freebie mascara. Literally anytime I buy something from Benefit at my Ulta they will give me a mini tube for free...so score on that one! It retails for $19. 

And that's pretty much all of the makeup that I use on a daily basis.  My tried and trusted favorites.  I hope this helped any of you who are looking to go out and get you some new goodies.  My birthday is coming up, and all I asked for is Sephora gift cards, so I'm excited and I will be sure to do a haul of what I get! 

Fitness Routine!

Well hello everyone! It has been a long time-as always-what other way would I start out a blog post?!

Today I'm going to share with you my fitness routine and what I eat!
I always love these types of blog posts and watching these videos on YouTube, and I'm feeling very inspired today, so I thought why not?! Let me add in a disclaimer that I have no idea what I'm talking about.  This is just what I do to keep myself in shape, and it works for ME! Everyone is different, so if these things don't work for you, or I don't do things how I should please keep in mind that I'm just a normal person who lives this lifestyle.

We will start off with exercise:
The types of workouts I do depend on my work schedule.  On days that I do have to work, I go to the gym.  I'll normally do 30 minutes of treadmill, followed by 30 minutes of the elliptical.  On the treadmill I don't do anything too special.  It really just depends on how I feel that day. Sometimes I just walk, sometimes I jog, sometimes I run on an incline, so you get the picture.  After I finish those I will go over to the free weights, and just do all different kinds of workouts with those.  I really just make things up as I go.  If I do the same thing over and over again, I just get bored, so I like to switch it up a lot.  Then after I get my arms burning I will go and do 2 circuits around the weight machines that my gym has. I also love the fitness classes that my gym has to offer, and when I get time I like to attend those.  I think working out in a class setting can get you more motivated.  I try to do a pilates and yoga class once a week, and then a lifting or kettle bells class twice a week.
On days that I don't have to go to work I like to spend my time outside! I'll go to my local park and I usually jog/walk any where from 6-8 miles.  I use the Nike Running app to track my distance, and I listen to various stations on the Songza app.  My favorite one at the moment is the Get Pumped: Pop Anthems play list..literally amazing. It's got everything from Britney to N*Sync to Rhianna and Katy Perry.  I need that upbeat music when I work out or I would go crazy.
Anyway..I do this 6 times a week, whether it's in the gym or outside.  Sundays are my rest days only because I normally have to work open-close, and am exhausted afterwards.

My Food:
Now I just recently got into prepping my meals, and I don't know why on earth I didn't start doing this earlier.  It is a blessing! Here is an example of what I'll eat on a daily basis:

Breakfast- scrambled egg whites on whole wheat toast
After I finish my workout - Smoothie- one banana, strawberries, blueberries, peaches, spinach, yogurt, water (I really just keep adding things until it tastes good, it keeps me full for most of the day)
Lunch- I eat one of my premade meals- ground beef with tomatoes, onions, green onions, green peppers, and spinach...It's basically like amazing taco filling that doesn't have taco seasoning on it..and brown rice.
Dinner- Chicken breast and veggies- I make mine beforehand, I just cook it in a pan with olive oil, lemon juice, and dill weed. For vegetables I really just eat what I have on hand; broccoli, mixed veggies, brussel sprouts, whatever.

And that's basically it.  Now I'm not all healthy all the time, I still like to go out and eat restaurant food...I am obsessed with chocolate, and I ALWAYS have some type of chocolate on hand, and I like alcohol.  The trick is to not deprive yourself.  I'm in no way unhappy...ever..I eat what I want, when I want, but pre-making my meals makes it so easy for me to just grab something and heat it up..especially since I don't have a normal set schedule.

This is what works for me, and I've lost about 10 lbs and went down a whole size since really kicking this routine into gear! I hope it has inspired you to get your booty up and moving!