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!

My Favorite Chicken Dish

This post should probably be titled 'One of my Favorite Chicken Dishes' because I am basically obsessed with chicken. But this is one of the top ones, and boyfriend and I have been eating it a lot lately, so I decided to share!

Ingredients:

• sweet peppers (red, orange, yellow)
• 2 chicken breasts (or 4 chicken tenders)
• taco seasoning
• brown rice
• queso

Obviously from the ingredients you can tell that this recipe has a LOT of room to make it your own, and that's one of the reasons I love it so much. I tweek it a little each time and it always comes out different. By the way I got this idea from the dish that my boyfriend always gets at our favorite local Mexican restaurant. (a true hidden Memphis gem...seriously, someone's even been shot there!) But anyway, I highly encourage you to make it your own and add new stuff each time! Let me know if you try it and hash tag your pics with #perfectbelleblog. I'd love to try new ideas! 

How To Make! 

• First you want to start your rice, because cooking rice literally takes FOREVER. Brown rice is my all time favorite, but we have had it with Spanish rice as well, and it's just as good. 
• Next, cut up your peppers. I use the sweet mini peppers you can buy at the store in a big bag.  I'm obsessed with these because they cut into the perfect little pepper rings, and I love to snack on them. I find that the perfect balance is about 4 red ones, 3 orange, and 2 yellow. 
• Add the peppers to a preheated pan (medium heat) with a little water and put the lid on.  Only let it sit like this for about 2 minutes before adding the chicken because it WILL BURN. 
• Add the chicken.  You can cut it up or leave it whole.  I like to cut it up while it's cooking, cause that's the easiest way for me to tell if the chicken is done or not. (I have a horrible fear of eating raw or under-cooked anything). 
• Once the chicken has browned up a little sprinkle in your taco seasoning.  I use probably less than a table spoon, but really I just eyeball it until it looks like enough. 

• Let your chicken finish cooking and sample the peppers to make sure they're not crunchy anymore.  Turn the heat off and add in your queso.  You can honestly pour as much as your little heart desires.  I mean...it's queso, so go all out.  Let the cheese warm up a little bit and then serve the mixture over rice! 

I hope y'all get a chance to try this out, because it seriously is so yummy!! 

In other totally unrelated news, IT'S CHRISTMAS BREAK! Although I still have to work, I have a TON more free time, so expect more blog posts! yay! I'm so excited, and I have some good idea!! 

Stay Sweet!

xoxo, 

Summer

Words of Encouragement

Hey y'all!!
I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families, and stuffed yourselves until you passed out!! I totally wish I could have, but unfortunately I'm a retail slave and had to be at work at 7 on Thanksgiving night!!! It sucked, but making time and a half is totally worth it. Who doesn't love a little extra cash around the holidays, am I right or am I right?!
Anyway, I am like WIPED OUT. I am thinking it must be still from the Black Friday madness, but I literally have not been able to pull myself out of bed in the morning or ANYTHING.  I am thanking God that I have not gotten sick yet! (crossing my fingers) Because that would be the WORST!
I wanted to take some time and give y'all some words of encouragement.  I know finals are coming up and just want you to remember that means you are another semester down and another step closer to your goal! Study hard these next 2 weeks and it will all pay off in the end!
Make sure you TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF FIRST! You could pull about a dozen all nighters, but the only thing that will leave you with is a groggy mind, and you'll feel awful during finals. Make sure you get plenty of sleep, and keep eating healthy! No late night trips to Sonic when you have the study munchies!!
Some of my favorite study snacks are carrots and wheat thins! I swear I live off of them when it gets to be this time of year.
And yeah, that's pretty much all I have. haha I have no idea where I was going with this post, but surprise, surprise, I'm procrastinating.

OOOH and I'm convinced my boyfriend have a little elf in our house that steals our things. My iPod is missing and we've lost 2 forks!! How do you lose a FORK? Whatever it's beyond me.  I'm sure we will find them soon.

Oh and one other thing, I have some really good news, so stay tuned if you want to hear it.  It's life changing for me, and NO. I'm not pregnant.

Stay Sweet!
xoxo,
Summer