Strength

"Never forget who you are, for surely the world won’t. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you."
-Tyrion Lannister from A Song of Ice and Fire

Like moths that fly into the flame it always ends up so

Hello everyone! I hope everybody had a good week. I've been feeling a little under the weather. :[ And I've really been craving some good soup, so I'm currently making a sweet potato squash soup, and listening to Streetlight. The combination of cuddling on the couch, movies, and soup is my cure-all, so I'll probably do that tonight - I like lazy Saturday nights sometimes. Still, despite my congestion, I went shopping yesterday for a few things that I've been wanting for a month now.


Um, finally? It took me long enough.
I also really wanted a neutral nail polish, this stuff is really nice.

This one's called Leotard-Optional. Nails are still a little messy in this picture, but once I cleaned it up it was lovely. $9.50



Covergirl Lipstick - Hot Passion - $6.99
I bought this little thing for the upcoming Navy Ball, I haven't tried it yet. But the color looks promising.


Papaya Blazer - $24


Agaci feather earrings - $4.50

So as I'm writing this post my Mary Kay consultant showed up with the stuff I ordered from her. She just started selling Mary Kay, so I figured I'd buy something to support her. I just took a quick picture.


Foundation primer and eye primer - $29 combined
Can't wait to try it.

Well, I should go finish cooking my soup. I think I'll watch a scary movie too, I'm so in the mood for one. And thank you to all of my followers. It puts a smile on my face every day to see comments and followers increase. I appreciate all of you! :)

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My Free People Wishlist

I want them alll.

Free People long sleeve bodycon dress, $198
Free People floral dress, $168
Free People kimono top, $128
Free People lace top, $88
Free People leopard shorts, $278
Free people boots, $198
Free People slip on shoes, $70
Free People long bag, $388
Free People chain jewelry, $218
Tamira Jeweled Turban, $88

Four day weekend

Hello everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend. Jim had a four day weekend off for Columbus Day, (I should get a government job!) so we took advantage. Thursday night we went out to this awesome Italian restaurant downtown called Perricone's. They have $10 pasta on Thursdays, and a bunch of friends came with. It was yummy! I just wish I took some pictures of my dish. I did get a few pictures heading downtown though.



Heading down I95 with the sun setting :D

I need to go downtown more. It's just the traffic is so bad and I'm one of those people who doesn't really like the city much. I like visiting on occasion, but unless I have plans, then I'm not one to just go adventuring in the city. Actually, that might be a slight lie. The only city I'll do that in is New York, because who doesn't love New York City? :)


This is a picture of the Freedom Tower, designed by Schultze and Weaver. It was originally the headquarters for the Miami News newspaper. Now it serves as a memorial for Cuban Immigration to the US, since back in the 1960s the government used the building to process and document those Cuban refugees who fled Castro's communist regime. Now it is owned by Miami Dade College, and they hold lots of art exhibitions there. It's a really cool building when you first see it, and if you're into art and architecture, its Mediterranean Revival style. They light it up different colors at night. Thursday night it was this color.

Onto some more fun, I baked homemade brownies this weekend. I've never done so before, and I was really excited. Jim loves brownies, so of course he'll eat them even if I don't! I was pleasantly surprised how they turned out, and very proud! My first attempt, hehe.


Melting the baking chocolate and butter


Looks kinda icky, right?




The finished goods! In case you couldn't tell, I suck at cutting in a straight line. They were pretty yummy for my first attempt. Here's the recipe if you're interested, but since Jim requested regular brownies, I ditched the chocolate chips on top. I also used a 7x11 baking dish.

Double Chocolate Brownies

3 1oz. squares unsweetened baking chocolate
6 tbsp butter
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
1&1/3 cup sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Melt together unsweetened chocolate and butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until smooth; remove from heat and let cool slightly. Stir together flour and salt; set aside. Gradually stir sugar into cooled chocolate mixture. Add eggs and vanilla; stir just to combine. Fold in flour mixture. Spread in an 8x8 baking pan sprayed with non-stick vegetable spray. Sprinkle with chocolate chips; bake at 325 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Use a knife to spread melted chips over surface. Let cool; cut into squares and serve!

Nom noms.

One more thing before I go. Since I've lost weight(32 pounds!), I haven't been wearing any jeans because...well I have none. I have two pairs of VS yoga pants and two pairs of jean shorts that fit me. It's been pretty depressing. That being said, I decided to head to Target and grab at least one pair of pants to hold me over. I'm happy where I am. And even though I do want to lose a little more weight, I'm tired of not having anything to go out it. With my limited income, I managed to get a few good items.


A pair of green skinny jeans, because they were $15!



And these two sweaters because I've been dying for some fall clothing, even though its still getting up to 88 degrees here. Sigh. I just want seasons back!

Anyways, take care gals. <3

A couple new things

I wanted to mention these a few days ago. I finally got shoes for the upcoming Navy Ball. They're from Payless, and they were only 24.99. And they are surprisingly comfortable. Although I'm sure I'll have to buy those Dr. Scholls to-go flats for that night as well. :X



My dress is a deep navy blue, and these shoes go perfect with it. :)

On another note, Paula over at http://polaberry.blogspot.com had a post about her favorite drugstore makeup, and she mentioned Rimmel London Lasting Finish 25HR Foundation, so I decided to try it.



I bought the Ivory 100 shade. My skin is pretty fair, and I was afraid this shade might have been to dark, because it honestly looks darker than my skin. I was pleasantly surprised though, because it matched perfectly once blended in. And this stuff is great, it really covers everything, and for a heavier foundation it sure didn't feel it. Very lightweight. I love this stuff already.

But of course, because I find one good thing, I also found something totally not worth my money.
Lately the skin under my eyes has been bothering me. I don't really have dark circles, but I wear contacts and tug at the skin around my eye daily. I try to be gentle when trying to put in and take them out, but it seems I'm producing unwanted effects. It's not really inflamed, but dry. And not so dry that it flakes, but just tightens. And it looks kinda dull. Anyways, I didn't really remember to look for anything at the store until I was there, and so I didn't look any products up. However, I like Aveeno's products, so I gravitated towards that section and picked up Aveeno's Smart Essentials Anti-Fatigue Eye Treatment.





I bought it thinking maybe it might brighten me up a bit. Well, biggest waste of my money. It was nice for the first two days, it rolled on nice and smoothly and it smells really great. But then day three comes around and suddenly this stuff is burning my skin. I've only been using it for a week now, I can't honestly say if its working or not, but it doesn't seem to be. And it burns! I may keep using it, just because I bought it, but I won't be purchasing this again. At least it smells good though. Sigh.

Also, I need to do some research and find a mascara that won't irritate my eyes. I've tried SO MANY different ones and it seems like I can't find any that won't make me start wanting to itch my eyes after 10 minutes of wear. I must be allergic :[ Anyone have an ideas?

Take care gals
<3

My little discovery

I've only been blogging for about a month, and it's safe to say I'm not very up to date on what's hip and cool online. I may be 23, but I'm very old womanish. (No joke, I get in bed to read somewhere around 8 and fall asleep by 9:30. :B ) Soo I just discovered this little fancy site called Polyvore. I've been directed to that site a few times before, but I didn't realize I could actually sign up and let my little ounce of creativity flow! I feel so silly, seeing as I really love fashion, but I'm not all that into everything that goes on in the entirety of the fashion world. I will be honest - I do not have a whole lot of confidence when it comes to assembling outfits. I understand what fits my body; I know what looks good on me and what doesn't. But I cannot say that I'm good at it. That being said, I've been playing around on the site and creating lots of things, and I may consider using this for a weekly post or something. I've already said it, but if you couldn't tell, I have no confidence in this sort of thing! Here's what one I've made, and its sort of an outfit wishlist. And I'll tell you what I really need a new pair of jeans.

Outfit wishlist by jburke910 featuring skinny leg jeans

I will greatly appreciate comments and advice!

Take care guys,

xx Jessica

Blog award and weekend fun

There are a few things I wanted to post today, and this will be very pic heavy. First, I would just like to say thank you to all of you who follow me and read my blog. I am so grateful. I honestly didn't think anyone would know it existed, and I didn't expect anyone to read it. It's really encouraging. So thank you all. ♥

Next, Confetti_hearts over at http://lollipopsandstethoscopes.blogspot.com nominated me for another blog award! I'm so grateful to her. She's so quirky and cute and I love reading her blog. Thank you!


This award is to honor those who have written some good blogs about beauty products, inner beauty and showing their own beauty within their written words
The rules are that you have to pass it on to 10 other bloggers you feel deserve it.

Here are my nominations:
http://aspirationsofglam.blogspot.com/
http://dearnewkimi.blogspot.com/
http://angiesbeautytalk.blogspot.com/
http://jennaraexoxo.blogspot.com/
http://gabbysbeautybasics.blogspot.com/
http://lovefayexoxo.blogspot.com/
http://kitterz00.blogspot.com/
http://polaberry.blogspot.com/
http://krzteli.blogspot.com/
http://pinupcherrymakeup.blogspot.com/

Thanks again!

So onto my weekend...
I had an awesome, relaxing one with my boyfriend. James just got a new iphone a few weeks ago, and because I still have a crappy phone, I've been playing with his. I'm a little obsessed with the Hipstimatic app, so forgive me for all the photos. I can't say I know anything about photography, and I'm not very good at taking pictures, but I like experimenting anyway. Hehe. So Friday we just chilled at home and got drunk and danced around the apartment listening to music. I haven't drank in a while and proceeded to consume an entire bottle of Pinot Noir.




Jim being a goof ball.
I noticed that when I hit the flip button to reverse the iphone camera, so I can take pictures of Jim and I, that the pictures come out blurry. I'm not sure why. I talked to my sister's boyfriend, Brian, about this because he's super savvy on all things iphone related. But he said its as good as it gets. Maybe its the lightning in our apartment? Who knows. Guess I'll have to use the regular camera on the back.

Saturday we had to go grocery shopping. I love grocery shopping, but I hate unloading all the food we buy. Go figure. Afterwards, we took a walk around our apartment complex and played with the Hipstimatic app.













Sunday we took our doggie, Shadow, to the dog park up in Weston, FL. She ran around and played with lots of dogs, and most importantly, conked out for the remainder of the day once we got home. It was a gorgeous day. It's finally starting to cool down and feel slightly like fall here. *Laughs* Who am I kidding. It was 86 yesterday. But its better than 95.




It's cute. There's not a lot of shade at this particular dog park, so once Shadow gets tired and starts to get hot, she jumps from shade to shade that these tiny little trees provide.


She found a little beagle to play with.






This is a Great Dane puppy that was there. I should state that I'm in love with Great Danes and plan on owning one once we get a bigger apartment. Jim and I actually almost adopted one earlier this year, but the people who owned him decided to give him to someone else. Probably the best, considering we have a one bedroom apartment. It would have been disastrous.

Sunday evening we went to the Olive Garden. Jim was craving it.


Getting ready. Check out that messy bathroom! Shame on me.


I got Chicken and Gnocci soup. Yummm.


Jim noming away.


The last bread stick! Nooo!

Jim got their new pumpkin cheesecake to go too. I had a bite, it was sinfulllll. :)
Anyways. Weekend's over now, booo. Hope you survived the picture overload. And hope you all had a great weekend as well! :)

♥ Jessica