Saturday Snapshot: Easter

It's the day before Easter, and a busy day it has been. I got up early to cook breakfast for the family before J had to leave for work. Then Ivy, JJ, and I got dressed and went out to visit my job[1. I go back on April 22.] and the grocery store. We came back home and played a little while the eggs were boiling.

JJ colored the eggs all by himself. He had such a great time! He even asked if I'd boil more eggs for him...

Now that he's asleep, I have time to give myself a pedicure!

Happy Easter!

Miss Ivy: 8 Weeks

My baby girl is 8 weeks old! Time is really flying these days. It seems as if I was pregnant forever. We had a little photo shoot today...and yesterday, too! I'm working on getting sharp images in low natural light. Here are my favorites:

ISO too high - Shutter Speed to low

This shot is edited.

I love CM[1. Clickin' Moms]! I was able to acheive this almost perfect[2. As far as sharpness goes...] shot. I'm definitely getting a lifetime subscription when my current one ends.

In other news...JJ is fully potty trained after three months! He's only had 2 night time accidents and those were my fault[3. Reminder to not give him anything to drink before bed...]. He's so good now, that he actually gets up and goes in the middle of the night! I'm proud of my baby. He started training when he was ready, and he's amazing!

Julep Maven

I've never been big on doing my own manicures and pedicures. I've always been more of a salon girl, but having a newborn and a toddler, I've been trying to find other alternatives. Recently, I've been hearing a lot of talk about Julep Maven. Julep is a company that is powered by girlfriends[1. According to their About Julep page.]. They are based out of Washington, and they also make nail colors that are all named after women who inspire them.

The Julep Maven program is a subscription beauty box. During the signup process, you are required to complete a quiz, which will determine your style profile. There are five profiles: one that focuses on beauty products; one that focuses on nail colors; and three that are a mixture of beauty products and nail colors. On the 20th of each month, they send out a box preview. During the preview period, you have the option to not receive a box; or to try another style and/or order add-ons for your box.

I tried a subscription box service in the past, and it was a pretty bad experience[2. Wittlebee...]. I was a little hesitant about trying another, but so far, I've heard zero negative things about Julep. Besides... it's a nice way to build up my nail color selection for when Ivy gets old enough to have her nails painted.

I received my first box at no cost. It was received within a week of ordering, which was awesome processing time for cross country delivery. The contents in the box were very neatly packaged.

I received Barbara[3. A glittery purple...], Meryl[4. A grey...], and cuticle oil.

I love the look of Julep nail colors. It's just the right consistency that polish should be. I was able to achieve a great look with just one coat, and a perfect look with two. My manicure held up for over a week[5. Until I started spring cleaning with no gloves.]. When I redo it, I'll take pictures to add to the post. I'm definitely excited for my next box.

If you're in the market for some nail colors to add to your collection, I definitely recommend Julep.

P.S. This is not a paid post and I was not asked to formally review this product. All opinions are my own.

Goodbye Google Reader

I've used Google Reader for as long as I can remember. Imagine my shock when I saw the news that it is shutting down in July. It has been a while since I've used the web interface of Reader, though. I viewed my feed through Pulse. I still love Pulse, but I decided that maybe it was time for a full change.

Enter Feedly. Feedly was recommended to me by Brit. I have to admit that I have zero regrets about installing it. I love that Feedly has extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. The app looks beautiful on Android and iOS.

I didn't have my Reader feeds organized, but Feedly makes it easy on both the phone and the web. I was able to set categories easily. If you have categories already [in Reader], they sync over to Feedly. Feedly was originally based solely on Reader[1. Yes I do my research...], but they had a feeling that Google would shut the service down and started working on their own backend solution. With that being said, Feedly should still work perfectly after July 1st.

My other choice[2. I only use it for personal blogs that I comment on.] is Bloglovin'. They have a web version that looks great on Internet Explorer, as well as other browsers. It is also available on Android and iOS. They are not based on Reader at all, but are offering a way to import your feeds.

So there you have it. Two options to check out. What app/site did you decide to use to read your feeds?