April Birchbox!

If you have read my blog before, you know that I am a Birchbox subscriber! Every month this lovely little box arrives in my mailbox full of goodies, and I am continuously impressed! 

In this month's box I received:

- Cynthia Rowley's Brightening Illuminator Highlighting Cream

- Pop Beauty Eyeshadow Palette - actually colors I would use

- Temple Spa Peace Be Still Calming Face and Body Balm

- WEI Manuka Bee Venom Mask - SO EXCITED TO TRY!

- Whish Shave Cream in Blueberry (smells amazing)

If you are not currently a Birchbox subscriber I highly encourage it! & Please let me know if you have other subscriptions that you love as well! 

XO.

Zoominations!

I have mentioned a couple times before that I love finding new and exciting things to do for date night! This was no exception!

Lowry Park's Zoominations: A Chinese Lantern Festival! 

We were fortunate enough to get the Groupon for this, it is normally $24.95 per person but Groupon is still currently running a promotion on a BOGO! This event is still going on for one more weekend so make sure to stop by Groupon and get your tickets for the perfect date night!

If you don't have a chance to go, have no fear, because I have you covered and took a billion pictures of all the beauty! 

Tried to get a picture, it was just way to dark to see anything! 

Crazy lighting is the perfect selfie opportunity! 

Not to mention, if you do go, make sure to catch the Chinese Acrobats show! It is incredible! I wasn't expecting much and was literally closing my eyes at some points with the crazy things these people could do!

Hope you guys got some date inspiration from this post and I hope you get a chance to make it out to ZOOminations before it is over for the year! It was interesting and beautiful to learn so much about the Chinese culture!

XO. 

Rumba & Bill Burr Date Night

So I thought it might be fun to share some of our date night ideas because I know for me, I am always looking for something new and exciting to do with Phil! 

For Valentines Day this year, I surprised Phil with 2 tickets to go see Bill Burr - his favorite comedian - at Ruth Eckerd Hall! 

We love going to see stand up comedy acts and you really can't beat it when it's one of your favorites! 

We started the night out with one of the most important factors to a good night, good food! 

Rumba Island Bar & Grill! 

We are blessed with this local restaurant, with two locations, one right by my job, and one right by our house! It is safe to say I am a frequent flyer! 

Every meal starts off with Mamma's Muffins which are like these heavenly cheddar muffins that are bite size and the perfect thing to hold you over while you wait for your food. 

Most meals also come with their "Fiesta Salad" which is basically the definition of light and tropical! I mean come on, Mango slices and plantain chips, SOLD! 

Phil went with the ultimate man's meal, and had a mixer that came with steak, a mahi kabob, over a bed of rice, steamed veggies, and mashed Potatoes. 

I had the Coconut Encrusted Mahi Mahi, with a jalepeno aioli, with a side of mashed sweet potato and cole slaw! It was delicious!! 

We normally aren't big dessert eaters but we thought, what the heck, tonight was a big night! So we had the smore brownie! Heavenly! 

Would you be surprised if I told you all that food, plus 3 beers cost us $41!?! We were shocked when we saw the tab, such a good deal for all that food! 

Then it was on our way to see the man of the hour, Mr. Bill Burr! 

Check out the awesome photo bomber in the back! 

I have to start by saying, I adored Ruth Eckerd Hall and there really was not a bad seat in the house! I mean, you can't beat that view! 

All in all, the night was amazing, the food was great, the stand up was hilarious! While Bill Burr's tour has ended here in Clearwater, there are always awesome events going on from stand up comedy to concerts to plays, etc. We are so fortunate to have places that make this possible for us locally like Ruth Eckerd!  

XO.

Happy Easter, Part Two!

If it wasn't evident before hand, I am pretty sure it is now. I have met my match! There is no doubt about it! 

I ended up getting surprised with... 

The Ultimate Woman's Basket!

haha

Fully equipped with:

- A bottle of wine

- Bath Salts

- Body Wash 

- My favorite candle in a jumbo size (Bali Sunrise from Target)

- 3 Face Masks

- My favorite sweets - Chocolate Covered Raspberries! 

- Exfoliating Shower Gloves

- A TJMaxx Gift Card! 

I guess great minds think alike?! 

Hope you and your family are having a Happy Easter! and a great weekend! 

XO.

Happy Easter!

Happy (early) Easter! 

First things first, I love and understand what this Holiday is actually about. I am of Christian faith and believe that we are celebrating Easter to celebrate the fact that Jesus rose from the dead after he died for our sins and gave us all the gift of eternal life. 

On the flip side, I do also love the other traditions that come along with Easter. As a kid, my parents did everything in their power to make Easter so much fun! There was nothing like waking up Easter morning to find that the Easter Bunny left a basket full of treasures. After scouring through my basket, I would take that said empty basket and go outside and hunt for my eggs that I colored the night before! I cannot wait to one day do the same for my children. 

In the meantime though, since it is just Philip and I... I still LOVE to get into the holiday spirit and have fun with it. I decided this year I was going to make Phil the ultimate Man Basket! Filled with all things manly, rugged, and fill in the blank with any other masculine adjective you can think of! 

I thought I would share it with you all, in case any of my lady friends are planning on doing something special for their man friends! 

The key ingredients to the perfect man basket!!!

What we have here is:

- A six pack of his favorite beer! 

- Slim Jims & Beef Jerky 

- A magazine that would fit his liking (I went with Car and Driver) 

-Air Fresheners for the car, you can never go wrong with "New Car" smell.

- Some Mens Body Wash and Facial Shave Lotion

- A new shirt to wear (I went with a pastel blue polo to stick with the Easter theme)

- A car cup pack of gum! 

- A set of beer tumblers (I only put one in the basket because I couldn't fit all 4, and I filled it with mini peanut butter cups!)

I also scattered some Easter Eggs around filled with sweet little notes! 

Just another quick tip - rather than picking up a basket that he will never use again I got a plastic organizer crate from Target that he is more likely to reuse!

There you have it! I will have this sitting on the counter tomorrow morning when he wakes up! 

Let me know if you have any other ideas or suggestions or something you have in mind for your significant other for Easter! Adults can have fun too!

XO.

TV Recommendations from a Netflix Junkie!

Hello my name is Nicole.

& I am a Netflix Junkie! 

("Hi Nicole")

Yes! I admit it! I have a problem! But I will tell you that problem is not going anywhere! There is nothing better to me than kicking up my feet on a Sunday and spending the day lounging around and catching up on my shows! I actually don't have cable so I rely on Netflix and Hulu to feed my addiction and occasionally will buy a season via iTunes. 

I thought I would share my current and previous obsessions in case you were looking for a new show to watch and would absolutely love if people could recommend me some new ones that I have not tried! I am always up for new things! 

For starters, nothing will ever beat...

Yes, I know it is completed and off air, but the entire series is on Netflix! I get made fun of at work by my coworkers with how much I quote this show! Philip and I have watched and rewatched all of the episodes probably three times each minimum! If you are looking for a good show, with an amazing story line, with tons of whit and humor, trust me on this one. This show never fails to make me laugh! This is also a great show to watch with your significant other! 

Onto another great show that is no longer on air but on Netflix for your viewing pleasure...

This show has it all. From hilarious episodes to complete tear jerkers! NALEY4EVER! I loved watching the seasons and had so much fun visiting Wilmington, NC where it was filmed and seeing all the places in real life! 

Bear with me on this next one! Yes, it is once again off the air - and it is not yet available on Netflix or Hulu, but I was able to find the box set, all 3 seasons for only $30!!! Talk about a steal!   We have a local movie store here, MovieStop over in the Citrus Park area that ALWAYS has crazy deals on movies! I would go there before buying a movie/tv show from anywhere else! 

This is a show that Philip and I are currently watching and it's the perfect mix so that we both enjoy it! I love shows with a strong female lead. Don't hate, appreciate! Philip on the other hand likes the action and not much drama. We are currently in the middle of Season 2 and I am pretty sad there is only 3 seasons! So far, I think it's great! 

Next on the list I thought I would give you something a little more current for my cable tv people out there! 

Pretty Little Liars has just rapped up it's 5th season on ABC Family. This is the one show that I do still watch that is currently playing episodes on TV. I am so hooked! I have to find out who A is! & Please don't tell me about the big A reveal because I am a couple episodes away people! I have to order them on apple tv and they are not cheap!

There are no words for this next one. Just watch it. You will love it!

And I cannot forget the quack pack! 

Let's not forget - the great ones! Though you may be off air, I will forever watch you! (sounded so creepy)! 

Boy Meets World! The show that shaped my childhood! 

Of course!

"Where you lead, I will follow!"

So sad that it is over, but if you have not seen it! Start now! 

A couple other greats that you should really check out!!!

Because who seriously does not love Ron Swanson! 

This is a newer show that they play on HULU, only a couple episodes so far but I adore it!

One of the funnies shows I have ever seen! It's only on Season 1 but I cry laughing each episode!

Last but definitely not least! 

The best show in the world! I am not kidding when I say that Philip and I order cable over the summer while this airs, and then cancel it as soon as the show is over! I am OBSESSED with Big Brother and would love to try out one day! 

So seriously! Feed my addiction! Please let me know of some suggestions you have of shows you've watched and loved, or shows you currently are obsessed with! I need more!

ALSO! If you have a significant other, please let me know shows you guys watch together! Philip and I are always trying to find shows that we both like! 

XO.