Swappers Gonna Swap

Last month when Crystal announced another round of her Beauty Swap, I totally forgot to sign up and then went into panic mode thinking I was too late!  Thankfully when I remembered there was still a few days to get signed up.

I don't know if it was because Ashley and I both signed up late or what, but I got another GREAT swap partner this time around!  Crystal literally works some serious skills matching us all up!

Ashley lives and works on a dairy farm in Michigan and has a flare for home renovation, agvocating as a FarmHer and enjoys good country music!  We've even talked about actually converging on Chicago at some point to meet up and enjoy some good food and libations!!  Keeping my fingers crossed that we can pull that off.

Okay, so back to the Beauty Swap!  Ashley and I sent countless emails discussing what sort of make-up/skin care items we use on a daily basis and then went from there.  I had told her that I was needing a good bronzer and wanted to add to my lipstick collection.  For Ashley I was on the hunt for some exciting skin care products, since she works on the farm everyday she mentioned wanting some things along that line instead of make-up make-up.  You can check out Ashley's post to see what I sent and her thoughts on each item!

As for me... Ashley sent me some really rad goodies that I'm pretty much in love with!

The Kat Von D lipstick (Lovecraft) is literally like butter on my lips!  It's like the perfect no color, color!  I'm certain Ashley selected Lovecraft for me because I had told her that I prefer to accentuate my eyes when I do a 'full face'.  She totally nailed this item.  The sample of shower oil went right into my shower and is fantastic.  I also received a sample of First Aid Beauty (FAB) face cleanser.  While I haven't used this one yet, the five star reviews are plentiful!  Ashley had previous reviewed the L'Oreal Paris Pro-Last lipstick on her blog and I was so excited to see she'd included it in my box of goodies!  I used this lipstick over weekend and it literally lasted ALL day... just like she said it would!  The UD Naked Flushed palette which features a bronzer, highlight and blush is on point!  This little ditty has definitely gotten the most use out of everything Ashley sent.  And you can't forget the Lindor egg truffles!  They're chilling in the freezer for a rainy day!!!

I'll leave you today with a picture of the handsome pony and myself this past weekend at our horse show!  We're all clear I like love the color purple, right?!?!

Just One Blister

Holy productive weekend, Batman!

I couldn't tell you the last time I've spent the bulk of Saturday and Sunday at home, but this past weekend was different!  And I made darn good use of the time too!  Knowing that the weeks are going to really start flying by now that horse show season kicks off this weekend, I knew I had to get cracking on my list of projects. 

Hosting a baby shower at your house will, none the less, light a fire under ya!

The project of redoing our very formal dining room chairs has been in the works for, oh six years or so!  Obviously they weren't too high up the list.  Since the new floors went in (hand-scraped engineered hardwood) the chairs were really sticking out like sore thumbs and something needed to be done!  Here's the before...

A fine chair, but far too stuffy and formal for our house's "style".  I knew I was going to take them in the 'farmhouse' direction by painting them white-ish and then roughing them up to make them look worn and well loved!

Friday afternoon I made collected all the necessary supplies and started by first reupholstering the seats with a new 'farmhouse style' fabric.  Learning from past mistakes, I measured twice and cut once, that part was smooth sailing!  I finished up the seats just as Matt walked in the door, he did stop to say how nice they looked before he ushered me out the door to meet friends for supper.  Bonus points, husband.  Bonus points.

Saturday morning I started off by using flat black spray paint and spraying all six chairs.  Living on the prairie, I lucked out with an almost windless day!  While the paint was drying, I took the dogs for a run and then came back and did a second coat.  The weather was so gorgeous that I left the chairs out in the yard while I drove down and rode Louie. 

After getting back that afternoon, I busted out the paint.  I went with Glidden's Antique Beige, which coordinated nicely with the cream in the fabric.  By the end of Saturday, I had three of the six chairs painted!  Makin' progress.

Sunday morning after my workout, I went back to painting the rest of chairs.  For whatever reason it took an extra coat of the beige paint to cover the black?  Who knows why?  I had to stop occasionally for snacks and to play with the dogs, but by 8:30pm Sunday all six chairs were painted, distressed, reassembled and back in the dining room! 

And despite the one blister, I'm so stinking thrilled with the end product!

Did anyone else work on projects this weekend? 

Linking up with B Loved Boston

Five Faves

To round out National Ag Week, I wanted to highlight five of my personal favorite agricultural products and link up with some of my favorite Friday characters!

ONE
Wine, sweet wine!  Actually I'm a dry wine kinda girl, but "wine, sweet wine" rolls off the tongue a little easier.  Anywho.  Without vitaculture, which is the science, production and study of grapes wines aren't nearly as tasty!  Wineries are becoming one of the largest and most visited Agri-Tourism locations here in Illinois.  All you wine drinkers out there, remember to #thankafarmer!

 TWO
Meat eater's unite.  Having grown up on a farm that raised cattle to put food on our table, as well as others in our community, I know first hand the respect that farmers have for the animals they care for and raise.  It's a luxury that I'm able to go to our freezer and pick out a package of steaks or a pound of hamburger and have no concerns about what we're eating for supper that night.  Don't forget to #thankafarmer the next time you're standing at the meat counter or grabbing a quick burger at your local pub and grub!

 THREE
If you're not aware of my obsession with all things 'fall', you can bring yourself up to speed with a few past posts (here, here, here).  It's true!  From harvest to bonfires and everything in between I'm a fan, pumpkins and gourds are some of may favorite ways to decorate our house!  But someone is growing and tending all the mums, gourds and pumpkins that adorn my house each year... #thankafarmer

FOUR
Who remembers their first sip of beer?  Where you a little kiddo sitting next to grandpa on the swing on a warm July day or maybe it was a stealthy swig at your first college house party?  Mine was somewhere in between.  I've wised up since college and prefer (and can easily afford) "good" beer.  Matt and I both enjoy a good round of craft beer, but without barley, hops and wheat we'd be sunk.  Beer drinkers, #thankafarmer before your next swig!

FIVE
From my head down to my legs, I love eggs!  Just about anyway you can eat 'em... over-easy, hard-boiled, poached, I love 'em.  When I can get them from the 4-Her down the road, farm-fresh are my go-to and I buy them from her two dozen at a time.  Although I've broached the idea of getting our own chickens, to which I was shot down... I support and always #thankafarmer for my eggs whether they come from the store or just down the road.

What are some of your favorite agricultural products?

Linking up with Five on Friday, Friday Favorites and Oh, Hey Friday!

Celebrating National Ag Day

As part of National Ag Week, I'm doing radio and television spots in our local media to spread the message about how our lives are impacted daily by agriculture.  This morning I'm appearing on an hour long program to talk about National Ag Day, which is TODAY, the Ag in the Classroom program and also how farmers are gearing up for the Spring planting season. 

These media bits are just a small part of the deal though!  Last week I worked with our local community college to get fun, fact-based information printed and distributed to each 3rd grade teacher and administrator in our county.

In addition to the flyer, they also received some really cool AgMags that tell about all different aspects of agriculture and commodities (pumpkins, soybeans, dairy, soil, energy, etc.) that are kid-friendly and can be used in classrooms to teach math, science and language arts!