What I Got For Christmas!

Hello Everyone!

I am going to be "that person" and share the wonderful things I received this Christmas!  I love seeing what other people received, so I thought why not share the special gifts my family and friends picked out for me!  These gifts range from beautiful jewels courtesy of Jonny, to bottle top shot glasses from a White Elephant gift exchange.  Either way they are all so fun and thoughtful and I am lucky to be surrounded by such great people!

Housewares

Top Shot Glasses
Vera Bradley Blanket

Wine

Pinot Noir Candle
Wine Enthusiast Nutcracker
Wine Glass
Pandora Wine Charm
2 Not Pictured Wine Bottles (sorry I'm not sorry I drank them)

Jewels

Diamond Necklace and Earrings from Jonny <3

Pretty Earrings from Jon's Family

Alex and Ani Bracelet from Packy and Sam :)

Festive Things

Dancing Grinch
Feliz Navidad Socks
Christmas Cupcake Candle
Alice in Wonderland Tray, Cup and Saucer, and Tin
Gnomeo and Juliet Ornament
Grinch Quote Picture Frame

Accessories

Francesca's Bag
Nine West Socks
Exercise Headband
Dunkin' Donuts Beanie
Home Alone Beanie
Infinity Scarf

Last But Not Least!

Tickets to see Kinky Boots in July with my mom!

What did you all receive for Christmas? I hope Santa and your family were good to you!  I had such a relaxing and fabulous Christmas at home and am already looking forward to next year ;)

- Courtney

Holiday Red Lipsticks

Hello Everyone!

With the holidays right around the corner, I thought I would share my favorite red lipsticks, like every other beauty blogger in the world (another post on this couldn't hurt though, right?).  Anyways, I have mentioned in other posts that lipstick is a new thing for me in the past 6 months, so I am very pleased that I have already graduated to REDS!  Below you will find all of the reds I own, and what they look like on my lips.  Before applying any lipstick (especially red) it is nice to use a lip scrub, so I recently picked up LUSH's Bubblegum lip scrub.  This stuff works wonders at removing all of the dead and chapped skin from your lips, which allows for a smoother more flawless finish.  After using the lip scrub, I line my lips with the NYX Cosmetics Slim Lip Pencil in Hot Red.  I have found that this helps my lipstick last longer, and avoids "you know what" lip.  Check out all of the colors below to see some different options for the holidays!

LUSH Bubblegum Lip Scrub - $9.95
NYX Cosmetics Slim Lip Pencil in Hot Red - $3.49
Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in F-Bomb - $22.00
Sephora Cream Lip Stain in Always Red - $13.00
Rimmel Show Off Lip Lacquer in Big Bang - $5.89
Revlon ColorBurst Matte Balm in Standout - $9.49
Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter in Candy Apple - $8.49
Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss in Kiss Me Coral - $8.49
Tanya Burr Lip Gloss in Vampire Kiss - $10.14

Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in F-Bomb

Sephora Cream Lip Stain in Always Red

Rimmel Show Off Lip Lacquer in Big Bang

Revlon ColorBurst Matte Balm in Standout

Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter in Candy Apple with Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss in Kiss Me Coral on top

Tanya Burr Lip Gloss in Vampire Kiss

I hope you all enjoyed this post and got some ideas for a red lipstick that can work for your skin tone. 

 

- Courtney

Courtney Cooks: Zucchini Pesto

Hello Everyone!

Welcome back to Courtney Cooks round 2.  Today I am going to share a simple Zucchini Pesto recipe that is not only healthy, but delicious!  This takes about 10 minutes total to make, and can be served hot or cold depending on your preference.

Ingredients:
Zucchini
Pesto
Chicken (optional, but yummy!)

Step 1:
Spiralize your zucchini(s)

Step 1 Completed

Step 2:
Saute zucchini in olive oil for 5-7 minutes

Step 3:
Add in Pesto and Chicken, then cover for a few minutes

Meal Complete!

 

This is a super easy meal, that delivers great flavor and nutrients.  Really tasty reheated, too!  I hope you all enjoy this recipe :)

 

- Courtney

Fitness Journey Update

Hello Everyone!

It has been almost 3 months since I last blogged about fitness, and I am back to update you on my progress and how I would like to "fit fitness" into this blog moving forward.  My last post on 9/22/14 along with many more before that went up each Monday and involved some sort of exercise of the week.  At the time I was really enjoying doing a weekly post about one specific exercise to encourage people to expand their normal workout routines.  I would like to continue doing something like this, but not an every week thing, or at least not something I encourage people to do multiple times in a week.  Personally, I have my own strength training routine that I adhere to, then on the other days I exercise I try to incorporate different methods of cardio, strength, and core work all in one.  I felt it wasn't fair of me to promote weekly exercises I was not even doing along with you.  This being said, moving forward I will still post exercises, but I would like to expand it more to tips, best practices, or just neat new moves I have learned or am loving.  Please let me know if you have any suggestions or any specific fitness post you would like to see.

Now, back to my fitness journey.  I have mentioned before that over a 15 months ago (WOW time flies!) I was working my first post college job in a Corporate Fitness and Wellness Center.  During this time I became a Certified Personal Trainer and even a Certified Spinning Instructor.  I regularly participated in Group Exercise classes and did daily workouts.  During this time I became incredibly fit, and was loving how I looked and felt.  I was never out of shape before this, but it was nice to start my post-college life on a healthy note, in hopes I could maintain a great shape and lifestyle for my entire adult life.  Once I left this position (for the better in a career standpoint), I moved to a corporate job, but still in the health and wellness field.  The big difference was my work space.  I was no longer surrounded by people exercising and the constant reminder of fitness, but instead I was in a cubicle, at a computer most of the day, and dressed in corporate clothes.  Over the past 15 months I have struggled to balance work and fitness, but I think I am finally back in a good place and hope I can move forward with a healthy routine and lifestyle.

The week before Thanksgiving I finally made the change.  For the past 15 months I was still exercising and eating healthy, but it was not on a regular basis, so I never saw great results.  Instead of trying to change both my diet and exercise habits, I chose one to really focus on.  I made a goal to do 30 minutes or exercise for an entire week.  I was successful in my first mini challenge and have since maintained a 4 day a week average for working out.  I have been doing my three day strength training routine, with cardio and other types of workouts like: Insanity DVDs, Blogilates, Stretching, TABATA, and more.  I have lost 6-8 pounds and am feeling the difference!  I plan to continue my regular exercise, and once the holidays are over fully get back into my healthy eating habits.

I know this was a bit of a chat today, but sometimes it is nice to reflect on your goals and progress.  No one is perfect, but we can make differences in our lives, and sometimes it takes some failures to learn the best way to achieve success.

- Courtney

Jingle Bash!

Hello Everyone!

This past weekend we had our third annual Jingle Bash.  This is such a fun holiday party with family and friends that I look forward to each year.  Everyone is encouraged to dress in a Christmas costume or an ugly sweater, and this year I chose to be The Grinch!  My friend, Lauren, dressed as Cindy Lou-Who to complete the costume.  Unfortunately I was having too good of a time to get pictures of everyone, but below you can see some other guests (Pinocchio included!) in their holiday ensembles!  Enjoy :)

Do you have any silly holiday traditions?  List them in the comments below!

- Courtney

Top Fall/Winter Nail Polishes

Hello Everyone!

The nail polish addict in me has come out to play once again!  For the past few months I have been “treating” myself to no-chip manicures, so my nail polishes have sat collecting dust on their stand.  Now that I am less busy traveling for work I have decided to save some cash and start using my own nail polishes again.  I have acquired quite the collection over the years and Fall/Winter is definitely my favorite in regards to color choices, so I decided to give you a look at some classics, new discoveries, and must haves in a collection.

OPI Eiffel for This Color - $8.50

OPI I Knead Sour-Dough - $9.50
OPI Road House Blues - $7.50
OPI You Don’t Know Jacques! - $9.50

Revlon Vixen - $4.99

Nails Inc. St. James - $14.00

OPI Black Onyx - $9.50

Zoya Storm - $8.41

Deborah Lippman Cleopatra in New York - $20.00

OPI Peace Love and OPI - $9.50
OPI Up Front & Personal - $5.82
OPI DS Radiance - $9.50
Deborah Lippman 99 Luftballoons - $20.00
OPI Desperately Seeking Sequins - $8.07

My current favorite is Peace Love and OPI, but some of my other top picks are: Road House Blues, You Don't Know Jacques!, Vixen, St. James, and Storm.

Do you own any of these polishes?  Which ones are your favorites?  Any favorites I didn't mention?  Let me know in the comments below, as I love trying out new colors ;)

- Courtney

Throwback Thursday: NYC Girl's Trip!

Hello Everyone!

Just like last weeks Throwback Thursday post about me and Jon's trip to Colorado, I will be taking you back to August 2012 when I first visited New York City!  I went on this trip with: my mom, two aunts, and 3 cousins all on my dad's side of the family.  Back in 1999 we did a girl's trip to San Francisco, so we were overdue for another trip together.  We settled on the Big Apple, and book a long weekend away.  We stayed at my dad's cousin's condo in the Bronx, which was so nice and a huge money saver for us.  We used the subway like true New Yorkers and commuted into Manhattan to explore touristy things and to SHOP!  On our first day downtown, my mission was the original Tiffany's on 5th Avenue.  I had planned to treat myself to a new bracelet, so I purchased that an gawked at how amazing the building was.  That first evening we visited Times Square which reminded me of a mini Vegas strip (but less trashy), but it was pretty incredible to see.  The next day we all headed off to see the Statue of Liberty and tour Ellis Island.  I would definitely recommend the Statue of Liberty, as it was a very moving and emotional experience that I did not expect.  Later that evening we all went home and got dolled up to see Jesey Boys on Broadway!  This was by far the best part of the trip and the best Broadway musical I have seen to date.  "The costumes, the pageantry, WOW what a musical!" (Major props to anyone who knows what that is from)  After being completely blown away by the show we stopped in at Carnegie Deli and chowed down the biggest sandwiches ever.  The next day was our last day, so my mom and I skipped the MET and chose to shop and bum around the city together before flying back home.  This was such a wonderful trip and I would hightly recommend a trip to NYC.  NYC is very similar to Vegas in the sense that you only need a couple of days to have a great time, so do an extended week and make sure to check out a show on Broadway while you are in town.

Below are all of the pictures from our trip :)

Have you ever been to NYC? Broadway?  What was your favorite thing to do or your favorite show?

- Courtney