Hello Friends!

    Hope your summer has been treating you well! It's been a bit chaotic and yet calm for my little family. First half was insane with our move across the United States! Yup, we handed over our Florida sunshine keys for some PNW mountains (and Seattle rain). We had an amazing road trip- I'll share another post about that and everything we did soon. Everyone should do a road trip once in their life...just saying.

I wanted to share a new product I found and have been loving!! Now, if you follow any of the amazing Instagram Fashion bloggers you have seen this handy dandy tool we (women) use all the time. I'm talking about the Billie Razor.  I fell into the hype and ordered my own.  I hate shaving and I hate every razor I have ever used. I even used my husbands disposable razors for a while, those actually seemed to work better then ones meant for us ladies. Go figure! 

I gave Billie a good solid month of use and I'm here to report my findings on this razor that has received so much hype from the Influencer world. And my friends, its good. Reeeaaaal good! And you can not beat the price and convince of this fab little tool! 

So, Billie...where do I begin. Billie is a "female first" razor company. 100% geard towards us women only. The razor has 5 blades that are encased in 360 degrees of charcoal shave soap (meaning you don't need shaving cream). All of their products are free of toxins and bad additives. They also currently donate 1% of all revenue to Women's causes around the world. Pretty good deal to get a good shave and feel good that part of your purchase is helping other women. Win-Win in my book!

 The starter kit is $9 and free shipping. Woohoo! You get the razor handle (a few colors to pick from- all super cute!), two razor heads and a magnet to stick to your wall to hold your razor. You can then add on shaving cream, body lotion, and body wash. I added on shaving cream, making it a whopping total of $18. Not to shabby to keep my lady parts hair free! And did I mention, shipping is always free?! 

Shipping for your starter kit does takes a little while. It took about 2 weeks for me to receive my order. Kind of annoying since I was so excited to try it out, but it is what it is. You are then automatically set up (depending on how you answered their questions) to receive your razor refills every month or other month for only $9! Now if you want the shaving cream or anything else to come with your razor replacement it will be more then $9. You can change your shipment dates at anytime and can cancel at any time. But I'm not sure you'll want to.  I'm set up for every 2 months and I'll receive 4 blades and a shaving cream. But I may skip the shaving cream this shipment. A little goes a long way, but I'll get more into that below.  

So my experience. Packaging is cute as can be, simple but colorful and happy. The razor it self is great quality and also super cute. I choose the two toned razor and I love the bright colors! The shaving cream is great! A little goes a very long way! I'm due to get a new bottle in September and I think I'm going to change it to my November shipment. I'm not even half way through the bottle! And the smell is great too! Not strong and very pleasant. I may try out the body wash and lotion next. 

So how was the shave? My first shave I thought "well it's like a regular razor". I wasn't overly impressed. I had to shave two days later, which was disappointing because I kept hearing women say they can go like three to four days without shaving. But after the 2nd shave I started to see a difference. I dont know how it's happening or why, but my hair is growing back slower, softer and less. I can no go about 3, maybe 4 days without shaving my legs. Its about the 3rd day I even realize I should probably thinking about shaving. What is this sorcery?! 

I dont know how Billie has done it, but they've made a great product. If you've been on the fence about trying it and thinking its all just Influencer hype, I'm here to tell you it's not. It really does work. And it's cheap and convenient! I never have to stand in the razor and shaving cream isle at Target again. YAS! 

I'm going to include a link to order yourself a razor. Click here. The link will bring you to the Pink Tax Rebate page and if you put in your email you also get a code that allows you to share with friends and family. The Pink Tax Rebate gives you money off towards your next purchases. You most certainly don't have to join the Pink Tax Rebate, but I'm betting you're going to love Billie as much as I do and want to share it with everyone too.

Let me know if you try it out and what your thoughts and experience are with Billie! Talk to you all soon! 

Xo,

 Nikki

Let me re-introduce myself...

Hi All!
 I'd like to re-intriduce myself to you. Why, you might ask. Well because I'm not the same person I was when I started this blog. I mean, I'm still Nikki: Military wife, Girl Mom x2, lover of all things fashion, makeup, and home decor. I still need my coffee daily and I'm still in a constant battle of fitness freak and eating all the food- the struggle is real.  But, I've changed SO much in the last 2 1/2 years. I've grown: as a women, a wife, a mother, a friend. I'm in a completely different season/chapter of my life. And I feel like I need to start this blog over, in a sense, to show that. I've tried countless times to write a blog post. But every time I come on here my mind goes blank.  I'm hoping with reintroducing myself to you, I can start my blog over. Maybe I can find the direction I want this blog to actually go in. A fresh start with the Nikki that I am now. So here it goes...

Hi! I'm Nikki! I'm a 32 year old...military wife and SAHM of 2 little girls- L who is 8 and Z who is 4. I'm also a dog mom. Her name is Cali, she's a mutt and a ripe old pain in my you know what, but she's so dang cute! I have a love for makeup, fashion, home decor, coffee, and Rea Dunn (who doesn't?!?). I also have a love/hate relationship with health and fitness. I try not to take myself too seriously. Something I've learned to do over the past year and half. In person I have a sailors mouth, but I'll never drop curse words here. Well, never say never... I ramble. A lot. I write like I tell my stores in person, so my posts will most likely be on the long side. #thatsjustme

I had an extremely rough 2016-2017 and learned so much about myself. So much so that I feel like I need to share what I've learned. First, because I know it will be somewhat therapeutic for me to put it out there. Second, because I want you, my fellow timeouter, to know crazy life things happen to us all. I am no expert on life-Lord knows that! I get it wrong daily...hourly if I'm being truly honest. But with the help of some amazing people in my life, my own soul searching and self empowerment searching these past few months I've learned the power of finding comfort in knowing I'm not alone. Feeling alone is horrible. Feeling like your losing yourself, like your drowning above water is down right scary. And if me sharing my life helps you not feel at least one of those things, makes you feel like you can relate to me. My heart will be so happy.

 So, what have I learned that I want to share with you? I learned how true it is to have seasonal friends, how to live a life with a constantly deployable spouse, the importance of knowing your own worth, that putting positive vibes out into the universe is a real thing-seriously it is, how to survive a hurricane that could have wiped out your whole state (damn you Hurricane Irma) and so much more. I'm here to ramble about nonsense that happens in my life and add pictures to that nonsense. I'm here to share new things I've found and love. I'm here to be held accountable for the goals I want to accomplish. I'm here to give you a laugh. I'm here to be me...unapologetically me.

My hope is that you'll take a timeout with me every now and then. That you'll leave my little space feeling better, happier, more positive about your day, and maybe a little inspired by something. Nothing more, nothing less. Thanks for taking a timeout with me and letting me reintroduce myself and my blog to you. I'll talk to you soon!

Xo,
 Nikki

How life changes....

Hi! It's been a little while since I've visited my little corner here. I hope you are all well! There have been so many changes in our lives over the past year. We've been through 2 hurricanes now (Matthew and Irma). I took on a business adventure that might have sucked the life and sanity out of me. A lot of growing pains from the move and a rough school year. I've made amazing new friends here in South Florida. People I know were put in my life for a reason and I'll forever be grateful for that. And I've lost a few. But things happen right? When one door closes, another opens...

I've mostly come back because a dear friend of mine got wind (my big mouth that is) that I had a blog, read it, and asked me why I stopped. And to be honest, I don't have any an answer for that. I guess Life...? I felt like I had nothing important to say anymore. I think I get into my own head and started down playing everything I did. We can be our own worst enemies... I would think, who really wants to read about what I have to say? Do people really care that L and Z had an amazing day or a bad one? Does anyone care that I didn't do well with all the adjusting to all the changes? Do people really care to read with my horrible spelling and grammar? I know it's not the best guys! lol! But after my friend read my blog, I came back and read it too. And you know what? It brought back so many great memories. Things I completely forgot happened. It brought back really happy times.

So I guess, weather or not anyone else really cares about what I have to say I'm glad I wrote those posts and have them for me to look back on. It also reminded me that I enjoyed this. It made me think, be creative, and just maybe I actually helped someone out. And you know what, I was actually kind of good at it. At least I think I was. Yes I'm patting myself on the back. We really all should pat ourselves on the back from time to time. We work damn hard at life and we have enough people who judge us. We shouldn't judge ourselves! I think if I had stayed connected to my timeout I would have had an easier time adjusting to all the changes. At the very least, maybe I could have received some encouraging comments or helped another person threw a hard time in their life.

I've said it before but I'm saying it again: I'm going to try and keep up with this timeout. Give myself the mental timeout that I know I need. Some place to be creative and get my thoughts out there. If you continue to follow along, I truly thank you. If you don't, thats okay too. We all have busy lives and I'm not expecting anyone to find my life anymore interesting then theres. But, maybe my timeout will become yours too. A moment to escape your own life, a moment to find a review on new product you want to try, a moment to think deep about what you might have done in my shoes, a moment to think about you and your feelings.

With that all said, welcome back to my timeout! I hope you can find what you need from our timeout together. And from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for joining me!

See you in my next timeout!

XO,
 Nikki

Long time no talk...

Well hello there my pretty little space on this here inter-webs! I've missed this place and this outlet for me so much. Its crazy how life can just take over and you can easily change your priorities. It's been months (I'm sure you've noticed) since I last posted and oh how has my world changed...

For starters, we sold our house and are no longer New Englanders. We are now South Floridians as of the end of June.

packing up and heading south!

My heart misses New England (wicked bad), but I feel like we've made Florida our home in the 3 months we've been here. I could use a heat break though! But from what I'm told it will stay like this for the next few months. My happy days of Fall = jeans, boots, sweaters, and leaves changing is apparently out of the picture now that we are here. That honestly makes me sad, as Fall is my favorite season. But I guess I get to wear shorts and flip flops a little longer. My PSL's however will not be iced. I just can't do it, doesn't feel right...

Florida living....

Both the girls have had birthdays (as have I, ugh!!). I now have a 6 1/2 year old and a 3 year old. And they both give me a run for my money!! The sass and drama that runs threw this house could give The Real Housewives a run for their money. L has stated school here and seems to love it. Little miss social butterfly has already made friends with a bunch of people. Thank goodness for her outgoing personality and warm heart! And Z is in a pre-school speech program. She is challenging in the morning to drop off, but when I pick her up she is all smiles and tells me "I had a great day!" She has been doing amazing in the 2 months she has been in school. She says so much more now and says words much clearer. I'm so proud of her!! And the few hours I get to myself have been pretty darn awesome... 

I feel like with the girls back in school and us finally settling in, it's time to get back to my "work". I have so much to share about our move, our summer, selling our house, moving into a rental, our trip to Disney (yay!!), becoming a Girl Scout Troop leader (oh yes, you read that one correctly...I think I've gone off the deep end) and life in general. I can't wait to get started! 

See you in the next post! 

Xo,

  Nikki

Happy New Year!!!...A couple weeks late...

Hi!

  Happy New Year!!! I can't believe we are heading in to the third week of January already. I hope your holidays and start of the New Year have been great! It's been crazy town in my house since Christmas. We decided at the last minute that we would not be staying home for Christmas. So on Christmas Morning we packed up everything and headed to NY and PA, only to be back the day before New Years and have my brother, his wife and my nephew come visit. The following weekend Lilly turned 6 (sigh. She's growing up too fast) and we went to CT to an indoor water park with my Mom, Step-Dad and little brother. And now, here I sit at my kitchen island with a friend of ours still asleep in the spare room. Don't get me wrong, I have loved visiting and having people visit, but I'm tired! haha! I will say though, there is nothing better then ending a year and beginning one with family and friends.

   On top of all that, we sit and wait for orders to our new location. Our picks could lead us to Florida, California, South Carolina, Michigan, or Oregon. Hubby gets to make a "dream sheet", as they call it, but in the end its not up to us. But once we find out, you will know too. :) Plus once we find out the true craziness of moving kicks in.

   I've made a few New Years resolutions and I'm trying to stick with them. So far I've failed at my blog resolution, but I'm going to keep trying. I am trying to stick to a "dont spend more then $40 a month on none essentials" budget. Meaning, I'm trying not to buy an over abundance of make-up and clothes. I'm really trying to work on my "needs vs wants' attitude. I want everything, but do I need it, no. And there are more important things in my life then needing that $30 lipstick. I guess I'm just trying to be more humble and grounded. It's very easy to get caught up in wanting to be on top of the latest trends. I don't think it's a bad thing, but I'm at a point in my life where I just need to take a step back and sort out whats most important. Does that make sense? I hope so...

   I also did what millions of others did the first week of January, I joined the gym. I actually rejoined the YMCA because I truly missed working out at the gym. Working out at home just wasn't cutting it for me this time around. I'm going on my third week and I feel great. I keep reminding myself I wont see changes for about another 2 weeks and if I don't clean up my diet then I most certainly wont see any changes either. Starting February 1st Hubby and I will be doing a cut. Basically we will be meal prepping every Sunday for the week and making sure our diets stay within our macro count. We made some personal goals and I'm excited to see where we both end up. I have a passion for health and fitness, it gets put on the waist side sometimes, but its still there.

   Well, that's about all I have as far as catch up goes. There are a lot of changes going to be happening this year and I can't wait to bring you along with me. :)

   Talk to you soon!!

Xo,
  Nikki

Bite Beauty | Opal Lip Gloss

Hi!!

   I can't believe that its already the middle of December and Christmas is in just two weeks. There has been lots going on here, traveled for Thanksgiving, had my brother-in-law visiting for a week and the typical Holiday festivities taking place. I feel like I'm ahead of the game on Christmas prese.nts but at the same time I'm not done. Is Christmas shopping ever really done?? I did however buy myself a few new things from Sephora the other day (Merry Christmas to me!! HAHA!). One product, in particular that I wanted to share with you. (P.S. It would make a great stocking stuffer!)

   I was in Sephora the other day to return some things and use my VIB $20 off $50 coupon. I really wanted to get a lip gloss or lipstick. Mostly I wanted a Kat Von D Liquid Lipstick but the colors I wanted were sold out. So I headed over to the Marc Jacobs section because I remembered that I wanted to check out Moonglow (lip gloss. It's sold out but you can check it out here). I asked one of the workers if they had any in the back. He said no (of course), but that he could show me a great alternative if I was interested. Of course I said yes. He brought me over to Bite Beauty and showed me the Opal Lip Gloss.

   Is that not gorgeous?! This picture does not do it justice. But seriously, it's gorgeous.

He told me that this isn't getting a whole lot of love and he's not sure why. To be honest, I'm not sure why it isn't either. This gloss is gorg!! And on top of it looking gorgeous, it feels amazing on your lips. There's no smell, it's not a sticky gloss, and it can be worn by itself or over top of your favorite lip color.

 

 The top color is Buxom Bold Gel Lipstick in Sultry Mauve and the bottom is the same color with Opal over top. This picture really doesn't do Opal justice, but it does show you how it can transform the color and yet still give you what you want. It also works great over liquid lipsticks. I've worn it over Ofra's Laguna Beach and ColourPop's Trap. It gave both of them just a beautiful opalescent look without taking away from the actual color or the formulation of the liquid lip. Yes, it added a gloss but even when the gloss wore out the liquid lipstick stayed. But it made my lips look hydrated rather then the dry chapped looked that liquid lipstick can do sometimes.

   If you don't know a lot about Bite Beauty and need a little extra nudge to check them out, the major things you need to know are their products are made with natural and food-grade ingredients. It is also made without Parabens, Sulfates, and Phthalets. All great things to know since this product does go on your lips and you will no doubt be ingesting it. And whatever else is in this lip gloss has helped my lips to be softer and look healthier- if thats possible. I've been using a lip balm every night for well over a month and in just three days I've noticed a HUGE difference. Which I'm chalking up to this lip gloss because that's the only thing that's new. I know Bite Beauty makes a lip balm (Agave Lip Mask) and I've heard great things. But after using this, that balm is going into my shopping cart for my next purchase.

   I highly recommend this lip gloss! The gentleman that showed me this also said that he thinks it will be a big seller in 2016 because a lot of beauty products are going towards that opal/transformer shade/look. I have to agree with that 100%. Kat Von D has a transformer liquid lipstick (which I want to try out too) out. ColourPop, in collaboration with CoffeeBreakWithDani did an eye shadow quad called Metamorphosis, which has two transformer shades (you can watch my video here on the quad). I really think we might start seeing a trend here soon. And if not, I still think you should own this. Doesn't matter if you are a huge lipstick fan or someone who only wears nudes or lip balm. I swear you'll love this. Also, this shade is in a Creme Lipstick! I will be purchasing that next too. But if lip gloss isn't your thing you can still pick this up in the lipstick.

  I have a video up talking about this lip gloss and a few of the other things I picked up at Sephora that day. If you care to watch its down below. :)
                  

                   


   Thanks so much for taking a timeout with me! I'll talk to you soon!!

Xo,
  Nikki

Play! by Sephora November

Hi!
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends! We drove to Pennsylvanian to be with my in laws for the holiday. As always, it was a great time with amazing food. My mother-in-law and I did our annual Black Friday shopping. We were in no rush so we didn't leave the house till about 10:30 (btw, I do not support these 6pm openings on Thursday, it should stick to Friday mornings- thats the whole point of Black Friday) which caused us to miss some of the great deals we wanted to pick up, but it wasn't the end of the world. We had a great time as always. But now it's time for my favorite holiday of the year and I CAN NOT wait to get all of my decorations out. And pick up some new ones- I die for Targets selection this year!

Since I still have one day of November left, I wanted to tell you about what I received in my November Play! by Sephora subscription box. If you haven't heard about this yet I'll give you a quick run down. Sephora started their own monthly subscription box. It's $10 a month (plus tax), you also receive 10 BI/VIB/Rouge points with ever box purchase. They have a waiting list right now but click here and you can put in your email address. Once a spot becomes open they'll let you know and you can sign up.

I will say, this beauty subscription box might just be my most favorite subscription box and I love this month! It's called The Exclusives. Everything they included can only be purchased at Sephora. As always, everything was a deluxe size sample- but I'm totally okay with that.  

I posted an unboxing video and you can watch that below for my thoughts and opinions on everything. But I'll go over everything briefly below.

The first product I received was Make Up For Ever Step 1 Skin Equalizer (here). I've heard great things about this primer (and the other steps too) and I'm so happy I now get the chance to try it out. I've been using it for a about a week and I have to say, I really love it. My foundation has been going on great and staying on for hours. I'd totally recommend this primer if you are looking for something to hydrate your skin while not letting your foundation to seep into your pours and fine lines.

Next up is Bite Beauty High Pigment Pencil in Rhubarb (here). I have only owned one product from Bite Beauty and it's a lip gloss. I like it, but I have a hard time getting past the smell. Thankfully this lip pencil has no scent and the color is gorgeous. It is a perfect dusty rose mauve that would look great on anyone.

Following one lip product with another is BUXOM Full-On Lip Cream in Dolly (here). This might possible be my most favorite lip gloss. It is a plumper, but it doesn't hurt like some lip plumper's do. This actually feels like that cooling sensation you get when you have chapped lips and you use Carmex lip balm. No what I'm talking about? No? Yes? Maybe? ;) I don't know that it actaully plumped my lips but the color is a beautiful neutral that just adds a nice shine to your lips or over a lipstick. I highly recommend the Full-On Lip Creams.

Next is Sephora Collection Contour Eye Pencil in 29 Boyfriend's Jeans (here). This is an electric blue and is waterproof. Really waterproof. This is a great color to just have on hand for a day you feel like adding a pop of color on your eye. It's great on the waterline or put some on your eyelid and smudge it out. Adding a pop of color seems to be on trend at the moment and this really is a pretty blue. I won't be wearing it every day, but I'm glad to have it in my collection now.

Second to last is Josie Maran 100% Pure Argan Oil (here). If you ever have to have one beauty product, it really needs to be this. I have used Josie Maran on and off for about 2 years. Every time I start using it again I wonder why I ever stopped. The uses for this oil are endless, but I use it mostly in replacement of a night time cream. It hydrates and balances out any skin issues I might be having. This is a holy grail skin care product for me. I really can not say enough good things about this oil.

And lastly, is Stella McCartney in Stella Parfum (here). Umm, yea... I don't like this. It has a rose scent and I'm not a fan of rose scented things. I truly believe you can not go by what other people's opinions are on perfumes because everyone has their own favorite scents. When you think you might not like it by their description you might surprise yourself and really enjoy it. I personally, do not like this. But you might, so if you get the chance to smell it I would. 

And that is it. Here is my YouTube video:

                    

I loved everything I received for November (minus the perfume). I recommend getting your name on this list and trying it out for a few months. Let me know if you have every tried any of these products and what you think about them. I'm definitely adding a few of these to my shopping cart for my next purchase at Sephora.

 Thanks for taking a timeout with me! I hope you have a wonderful week and I'll talk to you soon!!

  XO,
  Nikki