My Huge Inventory Sale!

I have the following Mary Kay items for sale:

I am sharing this link as I go. Right now, everything I have in my inventory is on this list. Quantities available are on the left, and on the right, marked out, are the suggested retail prices. The new sale prices are in red to the right of each item!

If you see something you're interested in- let me know! 

TimeWise® Anti-Aging Skin Care
(1) TimeWise® Trial Miracle Set® (normal to dry) $44 Now $25!
(1) TimeWise® Trial Miracle Set® (combination to oily) $44 Now $25!
(2) (1) TimeWise® 3-In-1 Cleanser (combination to oily) $18 Now $13.50!
(2) TimeWise® Age-Fighting Moisturizer (normal to dry) $22 Now $16.50!
(2) (1) TimeWise® Age-Fighting Moisturizer (combination to oily) $22 Now $16.50!
(1) TimeWise® Age-Fighting Moisturizer (normal to dry) $22 Now $16.50!
(3) TimeWise® Day Solution Sunscreen SPF 25 $30 Now $22.50!
(1) TimeWise® Night Solution $30 Now $22.50!

Skin Care:
(1) Velocity® Facial Cleanser $10 Now $7.50!

Full-Size Makeup Brushes: 
(2) (1) Mary Kay® Mineral Foundation Brush $10 Now $7.50! 
(1) Mary Kay® Liquid Foundation Brush $10 Now $7.50!


Compacts:
(1) Mary Kay® Compact Mini (unfilled) $16 Now $12!
(1) Mary Kay® Compact (unfilled) $18 Now $13.50!

Makeup Brushes for Your Mary Kay® Compact (any size!)
(2) Compact Cheek Brush $2.50 Now $1.88!
(1) Compact Powder Brush $4 Now $3!
(2) Eye Applicators $2.50 Now $1.88!

Cheeks:
(1) Mary Kay® Mineral Cheek Color - Citrus Bloom $10 Now $7.50!



Foundations:
(1) Mary Kay® Mineral Powder Foundation - Ivory 0.5 $18 Now $13.50! 
(3) (2) Mary Kay® Mineral Powder Foundation - Ivory 2 $18 Now $13.50!
(4) (2) Mary Kay® Mineral Powder Foundation - Beige 0.5 $18 Now $13.50!
(2) Mary Kay® Mineral Powder Foundation - Beige 1 $18 Now $13.50!
(1) Mary Kay® Mineral Powder Foundation - Beige 2 $18 Now $13.50!
(1) Mary Kay® Mineral Powder Foundation - Bronze 3 $18 Now $13.50!
(1) Mary Kay® Mineral Powder Foundation - Bronze 5 $18 Now $13.50!
***Click here to get a preview of all the shades of Mary Kay® Mineral Powder Foundation

Lips
(2) Mary Kay® Liquid Lip Color - Malted$13 Now $9.75!
(1) Mary Kay® Liquid Lip Color - Cherry Coffee $13 Now $9.75!
(2) Mary Kay® Creme Lipstick - Shell $13 Now $9.75!
(1) Mary Kay® Creme Lipstick - Red$13 Now $9.75!
(7) Mary Kay® NouriShine® Lip Gloss - Fancy Nancy $13 Now $9.75!
(2) Mary Kay® NouriShine® Lip Gloss - Berry Sparkle $13 Now $9.75!
(1) Mary Kay® NouriShine® Lip Gloss - Starry $13 Now $9.75!
(1) Mary Kay® NouriShine® Lip Gloss - Cream & Sugar  $13 Now $9.75!
(1) Mary Kay® Lip Liner - Neutral $10 Now $7.50!
(5) Satin Lips® Lip Balm** $9.50 Now $7!
(5) Satin Lips® Lip Mask** $9.50 Now $7!
**I recommend the Satin Lips® Set $18 Now $13.50! (the mask & the balm together). They were made to go together!

Eyes:
(3) Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover $15 Now $11.25!
(8) Mary Kay® Eyeliner - Black $10 Now $7.50!
(2) Mary Kay® Eyeliner - Deep Brown $10 Now $7.50!
(1) Mary Kay® Eyeliner - Olive $10 Now $7.50!
(1) Mary Kay® Cream Eye Color - Beach Blonde $13 Now $9.75!
(1) Indulge® Soothing Eye Gel With Calming Influence™ Botanical Blend $15 Now $11.25!
(2) (1) Mary Kay® Lash Love™ Mascara - i ♥ black $15 Now $11.25!
(1) Mary Kay® Waterproof Mascara - Black $15 Now $11.25!
(4) Mary Kay® Ultimate Mascara™ - Black $15 Now $11.25!
(3) Mary Kay® Mineral Eye Color - Precious Pink $6.50 Now $5!
(1) Mary Kay® Mineral Eye Color - Lavender Fog $6.50 Now $5!
(1) Mary Kay® Mineral Eye Color - Black Pearl $6.50 Now $5!
(1) Mary Kay® Mineral Eye Color - Sienna $6.50 Now $5!
(1) Mary Kay® Mineral Eye Color - Midnight Star $6.50 Now $5!
(1) Mary Kay® Mineral Eye Color - Crystalline $6.50 Now $5!
(1) Mary Kay® Mineral Eye Color - Blue Metal $6.50 Now $5!
(1) Mary Kay® Mineral Eye Color - Iris $6.50 Now $5!
(1) Mary Kay® Mineral Eye Color - Lemongrass $6.50 Now $5!
***Click here to see a preview of what all the mineral eye colors look like. 

For the Face:
(1) Mary Kay® Concealer - Beige 1 $10 Now $7.50!
(4) (3) Mary Kay® Foundation Primer $16 Now $12!
(3) Beauty Blotters® Oil-Absorbing Tissues (pack of 75) $6 Now $4.50!
(3) (2) Acne Treatment Gel $7 Now $5.25!


Etc.
(1) Mary Kay® Subtle Tanning Lotion $16 Now $12! 

Limited Edition/Discontinued Products:
(1) Mary Kay Weekender Lip Pencil with Sharpener - Pink Sand
(1) Mary Kay Weekender Eye Pencil with Sharpener - Classic Navy
(1) Mary Kay Weekender Eye Pencil with Sharpener - White Wash
(1) Mary Kay Weekender Eye Pencil with Sharpener - Sage
(1) Mary Kay Weekender Eye Pencil with Sharpener - Turquoise Waters

Feel free to ask me any questions you have AND to browse my website and see if there's anything else you'd be interested in! I can order anything you want & give you 25% off whatever I don't have in my inventory!

Just let me know - nicolesykes@marykay.com!

Loving The Shack (again)

I am really enjoying re-reading The Shack. It's definitely better the second time around. For those of you who have not heard of it, find a copy as soon as possible & get to reading! It will totally challenge the way you put God in a box and think of the Trinity! Have you started to read it & quit because the beginning was tough to get through? Start over and just read the dang thing...it'll get good. I PROMISE!!!

I am highlighting quotes or passages that I feel like I want to remember, or share with others. The beginning doesn't have many highlights, but I'm about halfway through the book now and my highlighter ran out of ink last night if that tells you something!!

I want to start sharing these excerpts with you & my thoughts on them. Some of them are so thought-provoking, and I am about to retire for the night, so I want to leave you with this:

"Of course, God might be there even if you don't believe in him. That would be just like him. .... While some things may not be scientifically provable, they can still be true nonetheless."

I can't wait to share more with you!

In a morning funk & right back out....

This morning was not my morning. Nothing bad happened. But it was just "one of those mornings." And I will tell you EXactly why.

For the past two days, I have planned on going to the gym super early in the morning. Like 5:30-6:30 early. Going to the gym in the morning makes so much sense to me. I would start my day off with doing something positive. I would get my heart and my blood flowing. I would only have to take one shower a day. I have to be at work at 9:00 instead of 8:00, so that's another incentive. But more importantly, I wouldn't have to go when I get off work! I got in the routine of going and working out, then when I started working, I just don't want to anymore. I took a week off {big mistake} and for the past two days I've tried to get back in the habit of working out. It has to be a habit or else consider it not happening. Well, I get sleepy driving home after work and the last thing I want to do is spend an hour on the elliptical {or doing anything else at the gym for that matter}. But for the past two days, I've done it anyways. Trying to form that habit.  I get so sad though, thinking about driving half an hour home every day, then spending an hour at the gym, then by the time I go home, shower, and eat dinner, there's little time for quality time with the boy, cleaning, doing laundry, or, you know, catch up on DVR'd shows-- especially if I want to get to bed EARLY like I'll need to if I'm going to do this early morning workout thing.

I don't know what in the world I'm gonna do once all my favorite shows return.

{You can tell I have my priorities lined up.}

But anyways, for the second morning in a row I have not  gotten up to workout. Correction: I get up, then I go RIGHT back to sleep. Then when I wake up and get ready, having to pack my clothes for the gym after work, I get SO mad at myself for not getting up and going earlier that morning. Then I just get thrown in a funk the rest of the day, mad at myself, feeling lazy and guilty for not doing what I know I should have done.

That may sound silly to you, because really- who gets up at 5:15 in the morning when they don't absolutely have to? But it makes sense to me, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who kicks themselves when they don't do what they know they should have.

Here's some of my relatable Pinterest finds:

But to help me get out of my funk this morning, I have Bits of Truth to thank, for this:

Amen! I really should just be quiet and try again tomorrow. I have nothing I {should} complain about!

I Love NYC

I have a serious problem. My problem is that I have a strong urge to want to pack my bags and move to New York City. Ok, maybe not that, yet, but! I want to visit there- SO bad!!!

My grandmother was infatuated with all things England. I mean all things England. She is so darn cute!

Do you see the British flag & the airplane in the corner of her "birthday card?" I'm telling you....OBSESSED!

Well, it took her about 70 years, but she finally got to take her trip to English {and other places in Europe}. She waited her entire life, but finally did something fabulous for herself and went to the place she had dreamed about her entire life. First, I am SO extremely happy that she had that opportunity. I knew it broke her heart that my grandfather wasn't healthy enough to go with her and she regretted waited so long, but I am so so so glad that she got to take that trip!

Now, she is a travelin' lady & goes somewhere cool about every year. She deserves EVERY bit of it. She's the most amazing woman I know.

BUT! My point is that I do not want to wait my entire life to go to New York City. I want to visit the place every year! I want it to be my little "home away from home." I want a lot of things, but visiting NYC is something I want BADLY!

There are so many things I want to witness and places I want to visit in NYC...If tropical beaches weren't so beautiful, I'd want to go to NYC on my honeymoon!!

That is all.

Let Us Not Forget September 11th, 2001

Today is September 11th, 2011. I think we all know what happened ten years ago on this day. The sad thing is, is that today's youth might not know exactly what happened ten years ago today. They may hear words and terms such as: September 11th, the war on terror, terrorism, World Trade Centers, Ground Zero, etc. but not really have a clue as to what it all means. I really pray that today's parents and educators take time to stop the busyness, stop the cramming for End of Grade tests, and take the time this event deserves to be respected, remembered, and honored. We need to not forget about the victims that lost their lives that day, the family members and loved ones who lost someone they cared for, the children without parents, the heroes of that day, and the volunteers who have sacrificed their future health to help those in desperate need.

I can tell you exactly what I was doing {sitting in 1st period}, what classroom I was in {9th grade English}, what I was feeling {fear, worry, confusion}, and what I thought {World War III is going to start}. Seriously, that's what I thought. Our teachers and administrators thought it would be best to "help us not panic," or "not cause chaos" or whatever they thought, and turned the TVs off so we couldn't see anymore news. We all saw newscasts of what had just happened, and then had to go to school the remainder of the day not having a clue what in the world the world was coming to! I'm not gonna lie, that was a super scary experience for us adolescents and for the record: I don't think it was the best idea ever. Back then I had nightmares anyways, nightmares about the world ending and things of the sort. WWIII was one of my biggest fears. So, you can imagine my torment throughout the day, as I waited to turn on the TV when I got home to see any updates. Watching bombings on Baghdad and worrying how they would retaliate seriously filled my days. It was horrible.

But not nearly as horrible as the experiences of the actual bystanders, the experiences of the people not being able to get ahold of their loved ones in NYC, or be able to get on a flight back home to their families. I can not even begin to imagine what that felt like. No experience in my life would ever be able to hold a candle to that amount of fear, worry, and torment those victims endured.

Thank you Facebook for now showing me past Facebook statuses "on this day" in the past two years. It reminded me of this fabulous quote/reminder:

"Freedom isn't free. Somebody paid."

Let us not forget! 

Disrespecting September 11th

So, yesterday I did a co-worker a favor & subbed for a school worker. I was basically supposed to monitor this client who is on the autism spectrum and prompt him when he becomes distracted. Well, in his last class of the day, his English teacher wanted to show the class some videos of 9/11 that included visuals, audio recordings, timelines, etc. It was pretty educational to those who cared to listen because these "kids" were 4-6 years old on September 11, 2011.

Now, onto the part that INFURIATED me...

While watching the video(s), there were two class clowns complete A-holes who thought it would be cool or funny or whatever the heck their peanut brains thought to snicker, laugh, and make dumb comments. A conversation between one of them and the teacher went a little something like this:

Idiot Boy: "They should have never got their license."

Teacher: "Who?"

Idiot Boy: "The people driving the planes. They can't drive!"

Teacher: "They FLY the planes, and yes they could fly planes, they had their PILOT'S license."

Idiot Boy: "Well obviously they couldn't fly the planes. They should have never gotten their license. This was all their fault."

You see where I'm going here? COMPLETE idiot. Idiot's not even the word.

So they kept laughing, making fun of the videos, laughing out loud at the audio tapes of victims right before they died on the flights they were on, etc. ...SERIOUSLY.

So, there was a Deaf and Hard of Hearing interpreter in the room. She was obviously getting visibly upset and finally said, "WHY are you laughing? This is nothing to laugh about! I lost my son to a suicide bomber in Afghanistan because of this, and you are laughing!" She then preceded to remove herself from the classroom.

While she was gone, the teacher {who is still not on my favorite persons list} half-serious asked the student(s) why they were laughing and "informed them" that they had hurt her feelings. Uh, duh! The lead idiot then talked about how he shouldn't have to apologize to her, because it wasn't his fault that she was crying and that the videos were obviously humorous and wanted to know why they had to watch them.

I am being serious! This kid was serious!

That's when I politely interjected, saying, "Your teacher is trying to educate you on the events of that day because it's obvious you have no idea what happened."

At this time, I went with my student to this special break students could go on, so I was out of the room for most of the rest of the presentation. When we returned, the two A-holes were sitting in the hallway, together, laughing and cutting up.

"So, I guess you got kicked out of class."
"Yeah, she kicked us out."
"GOOD" was my response.

We caught the last five minutes of the presentation, while we had to keep the door open to "keep an eye on" the two in the hallway, whom we could still hear. Um, I don't know but about being an actual teacher, but I can guarantee you one thing- if those students were in MY classroom they sure would not be rewarded for completely offending everyone in the room.

I will give the teacher a little credit. When the idiots were instructed back into the classroom, she told them that if they said one more thing or laughed one more time that they were going to have to write down the names of every single victim of 9/11. I thought that was a great idea.

Now, I won't get really into the rest of my thoughts on the rest of what happened, but let's just say that this kid is a SUPER Obama fan. He can't tell you that you FLY instead of DRIVE a plane, and believes that 9/11 is at the fault of the pilots who lost their lives,  but he can tell you that Obama is the best President ever.
He can't tell you what Obama believes in, has attempted to do or succeeded in doing during his Presidency, or whether he's a Republican or a Democrat, but he can tell you that he's the best President ever. I'm sure he thought of that idea all on his own too.

Okay, {morals of the story is} parents of this generation:

• First of all, PLEASE for all of our sakes, educate your child on the events of September 11th because we are still witnessing the ramifications of this event. Yes, it happened 10 years ago, but it's still very relevant.
• Next, it would be nice to teach these kids some R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Seriously, this child was obviously not raised to know what the word even means. I wouldn't be surprised if he's not a contributing, upstanding citizen of our society one day. He needed the absolute crap beat out of him.
• If you want to sway your children on who which political member to support, please please please give them at least one political reason to support them and not because of the color of their skin. If you don't, they'll just look like a complete ignorant idiot.

Can you believe I even had to witness this crap?! What a SHAME!

I need blog help!

I was wanting to make a new header for my blog. I just can not stay content! However, I have a problem. I completely forgot how on Earth to do it! What I am having a problem with is how to get the pics in a frame-type picture (like my header above). If any of y'all devoted readers know how to do that, please let me know or send me a link with a dummy version how-to list. I'd sure appreciate it! ;) Thank you!!

Bits of Truth

I found an awesome blog, Bits of Truth. I'm a quote-lovin' girl & these just make me happy to see/read/share. Here's some ones I love that I found browsing the site while Alex and my mom watched Football Friday Night:

I know because I tried.

Unproductive Blogging Evening

Basically I just spent over an hour looking at blog layout sites, searching for the perfect Fall blog background.. just to realize that I was so anal about my blog in the past that NO blog layout will look right with the way I've set up my margins, etc. Everything's all jacked up if I change the background so, I guess I'm just going to leave my muted zebra background from Cutest Blog on the Block.  I still love it, but wanted something different for Fall!! I will have to do what I can with what I was given... Alex would be so proud!! ;) Haha

Speaking of ol' Al.. I saw this blog entry on Shabby Blogs' blog {during my major search}  and it explained EXACTLY how I feel about him/us right now in this very moment, so I'll quote her for you:

I believe in never giving up and always giving more.  I believe in always.  I believe in us...him and me...me and him.

EXactly. ♥

Free Vi Shakes!!

Tonight I had a Vi Shake party! I do not sell Vi Shakes {right now} but I obviously promote them. Not nearly the amount of people that told me they were going to come came, but I am *so* thankful for the ladies that did come and thanks to them {and their want for a better them!} I now will get my next month of Vi Shakes for FREE! That's right!

If you sell three times the amount of Vi Shake mix that you originally bought, you get yours free the next month! That's awesome! I got the shape kit, which is a great kit to start out with, and, really, keep using! And that's what I intend to do. I invested $100 in Vi Shakes by buying my first month of shake mix, so why would I not stick it out the full 90 days?! I can not wait to see what progress I have made at the end of the 90 days! Hopefully I can sell 3 more Shape Kits next month to get the next month free too!!

Free things make me smile! :)

PS: The Shape Kit is enough shake mix for two shakes a day for a month, or, 60 meals! {in case you didn't know!} :)

Tonight I tried the infamous Butterfinger Vi Shake and the EVER-so-delicious strawberry cheesecake Vi Shake!! I'm not a fan of butterscotch, but that strawberry cheesecake Vi Shake was BANGIN'!!

I went to Wally World tonight to get some cheesecake pudding mix, Oreo pudding mix, and Reese's cups. I think I am going to try to make a Reese's Vi Shake tomorrow by making a vanilla shake & blending a Reese's cups into it instead of doing a peanut butter & chocolate Vi Shake & calling it a Reese's shake. I liked it but they end up always being too peanut buttery for my liking, even with just one teaspoon of natural peanut butter, but any of you out there who like peanut butter flavor would LOVE it!!

I will have to keep y'all posted  on how those turn out.

Until then, check out the site & see what all the hype is about!

My First Yarn Wreath!!

I saw another pretty yarn wreath:

Decor Chick's Yarn Wreath Tutorial

So I tried to make my own today on my last day not working! All the fabulous bloggers who have posted tutorials on yarn wreaths were right. You wrap yarn for a while! I so should have watched a movie while I did this. 

First, my friend Ale got me an 18" straw wreath from Michael's {Hobby Lobby didn't have straw wreaths!}. As you can see from this picture, straw got everywhere! To say me and the floor were covered in straw is an understatement, but I can see why you'd want to use straw vs. styrofoam- You pull pretty hard to make sure the yarn's tight, so the styrofoam might break!

I marked sections off with a marker to show me where to start & stop colors, then kind of just winged it!

I had no idea what the end result was going to look like, I just knew I wanted more yellow than any color. 

Ale was there to help me in the beginning, you know, to turn my yarn "ovals" into cute little balls of yarn. :) 

Hours later, I was done wrapping yarn!

Now I need to figure out some embellishments to add to it and figure out a place to hang it!

 Any ideas?

Next time I do this {and there will be a next time!} I am going to leave the plastic on the straw wreath to not make a complete mess!! 

And FYI- those specks in the brown yarn are creme-colored yarn pieces, not straw sticking out! I tried very hard to cover all the wreath with yarn! ;) 

Send me your {easy to do} embellishment suggestions!!

Fantasic Blog Finds!

I am finding some SUPER cute ideas searching blogs. In the past literal five minutes, look at these goodies:

144 Clothespin Wreath for Laundry Room

Yarn Wreath

Foyer Makeover ~ SUPER cute!

Gotta run but I am SO gonna search My Blessed Life for more ideas later...and possibly try some! I still need someone to come help me try to paint my first piece of furniture!! Any takers?! :)

Saturday Morning Randomness

Here's some random, bullet-pointed things I wanted to share this Saturday with you! 

• I am loving these strawberry, banana, and pineapple Vi Shakes!! It's a great fruity morning shake...and I'm digging plain-jane chocolate for lunch! I keep forgetting I have peaches in the 'fridge... so I will have to make a peach one for lunch today. And when I say lunch, I mean mid-afternoon... this sleeping-in thing has RUINED me!
• I didn't go to the gym yesterday. I'm not to the point where I miss going on days I don't go, but I'm to the point now where I can say, "Nicole, you need to go work off that Reese's Blizzard." Now you know what my Friday night included. :) I blame North Lincoln for canceling their football game just because of a little lightning storm.
• Alex & I couldn't find a movie we wanted to rent, so we started watching How I Met Your Mother Season 1. I've gotta admit, I didn't like all the re-runs at first, but they grew on me, and I was doing some LOL-ing watching Season 1. 
• So I've drank my Vi Shake for the "morning," watched DVR'd episodes of Khloe & Lamar and am gonna head to the gym. I found an awesome Pandora station to get me through an hour on the elliptical! The "Party Rock Anthem" Station! Haha! It is just fun, get-you-pumpin' music! Sounds like something we'd listen to in Spin class. :-D

Have a happy weekend!! 

Happy September!!

Well, it's here! The beginning of my two favorite months of the year, September & October! They both tie for first place in my eyes. :) They begin the month of FALL, which is my absolute FAVORITE, and I look forward to September & October all. year. long! Unfortunately, football season has started...but I won't let that get me down!! ;) September brings back sooo many fond memories for me. September is a romantic month, didn't you know?! It's also a fun month AND it includes *M*Y*  *B*I*R*T*H*D*A*Y*!* Yep, that's right! This girl will be the BIG 2-4 this year & I am looking forward to it!

I'm gonna take a stroll down memory lane for a second if you don't mind. ;) September 2010 was good to me.

My best friend got MARRIED! Wasn't she GORGEOUS?!

Jodi & I spent long nights in class, surviving off Cheetos & Mountain Dew

The boyfriend took me to Gaffney for some $hopping & Outback for my birthday

My sweet residents decorated my door for my birthday

Maria, Tori, Me & Jonathan {The LR Resident Directors} celebrating!

"Panther's Game" in the rain with Alex...we never even made it in but we got this cute pic! :)

Now I look forward to this September SO much!! I start my new job & will get my first real paycheck!! I will celebrate my 24th birthday. I will feel the weather cool down and I will break out my cardigans! I will spend my Friday nights at hometown football games cheering on my baby cousin! I will keep exercising, drinking my Vi Shakes & losing weight! And I will see friends get married & others prepare for their upcoming big day! I am excited already! {Can't you tell?!}

OH! And I will definitely be thanking God for the day He made whoever invented the DVR. ALL MY SHOWS RETURN this month!!! The week of my birthday {September 21st by the way} is a big TV week. All the good shows return that week!!
Modern Family
Grey's Anatomy
The Office
Two & a Half Men - gonna check my man Ashton out on there...
How I Met Your Mother
The Big Bang Theory
...and others I am sure!! Makes it look like I watch a lot of TV, doesn't it? :/ Unfortunately most of my shows come on on Thursday nights, so I am again thanking God for creating whoever invented the DVR!

I am about to break out my FALL decorations! I have more Fall decorations than I have Christmas decorations...maybe, well, I don't know after last year's Christmas clearance sales. :)

Let the fabulous September begin!!!