Minty Emerald Ombre Nails

Happy Valentine's Day, bitchessssssssssss!!

Today's mani uses 3 nail polishes that have each been showcased on my blog in the last month or so. I showed you the Sally Hansen Jade Jump and Revlon Parfumerie Balsam Fir polishes in my Drugstore Madness blog, and Revlon Orchid polish was the first radiant orchid polish that I showed you in January. I was immediately interested in doing an ombre look using Jade Jump and Balsam Fir, and only by coincidence did it occur to me that I liked the look of Orchid being thrown into that mix as well. The 3 polishes just happened to be sitting near each other on my desk the other day, and I thought, "Well DAY-UM you three look like one hot ticket."

So yesterday I set out my little makeup sponge, my three polishes, my dotting tool, and some Scotch tape, and got to work on this little look:

I think my ombre is improving - this is just the third time I've done it. You can see the other two ombre looks here and here.

After applying two coats of Jade Jump to all of my nails (it was streaky after the first coat, but evened out much better after the second coat), I taped up my fingers with the tape. This ensures that less polish will get all over your fingers, and makes clean-up easier later...

Then I sponged on my ombre...

Here they are after I removed the tape - still some clean-up to do, but not nearly as much as there would have been if there'd been no tape!

You may be able to tell in that above picture that I also added a Revlon matte top coat over the ombre, because. Just because.

Finally I added my orchid heart accent using my dotting tool, and gave the heart a quick pop of top coat to make the shiny heart stand out more from the matte ombre.

What do you think of these Valentine-y ombre nails? It's definitely a bit more work to give yourself a sponged ombre mani, but it's worth it every once in awhile. Treat yo self.

Do you have any big, sexy plans tonight?

Do you exchange gifts with your lover? If so, what'd you get your S.O.?

And happy birthday to my baby sister, Markie - she turns 22 today! #MyLittleValentineAngelBaby!

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{Linking up with What I'm Loving Fridays, The Nail Files, and Friday's Fab Favorites}

All products were purchased by me!

Drugstore Madness. Just Madness.

Alright, it's not really madness. Just a few new things!! These were all going to be a part of the "Beauty Products" blog I posted on Monday, but it was just getting so long that I decided to split it up into two posts. Hopefully you checked out the LUSH blog with the first half of this bundle of goodies! Now onto the drugstores.

Shoppers Drug Mart:

Soap & Glory Hand Food - $10 for 125 mL / 4.2 fl oz

I mentioned in my LUSH blog how busted my hands have been and that I've been scooping up some new hand creams to try to remedy the problem. This Soap & Glory hand cream is like a wonderful, non-greasy whipped cream for your hands. It seriously comes out of the tube like a whipped little dollop of sweet-looking goodness - like you're squeezing a tube of soft, white marshmallow. Hand Food actually does contain marshmallow, as well as shea butter, macadamia oil, and a whole slew of other weird shit. I'm so happy I bought it. I'm actually kind of flying through this tube - maybe I should pace myself!

I always browse the Essence section at my local Shoppers Drug Mart because there's often something new in their "nail art" line, and it's always inexpensive. This time was no diffffff.

Essence Nail Art Stickers - $1.99

I'll likely use these as striping tape, rather than as actual stickers. I've only attempted taped stripes on my nails once before, but since the strips of tape were a total DIY on my part, they weren't that uniform... and the stripes overall didn't turn out that great once the tape strips were removed. Hopefully these strips of nail stickers (which I will trim down and use as needed) will make my stripes look like a big girl made them, rather than a first grader. At $1.99, it doesn't hurt to try them out!

Essence Effect Nails 3D Glitter (in black and silver) - $2.49

So you may remember that several months back, I tried out the Essence 3D Effect nail art pearls. (Actually it's one of my most popular blogs!) The success of those cute little pearls gave me high hopes for the Essence 3D Glitter in the same line of products.

Guys, I can't stress enough how bad of an idea this glitter product is.  I immediately regretted using it, but still I pressed on to try to make it work. I even removed it all and tried again, I was so willing to make it work. But no.

First, I'll show you what it looks like...

Doesn't it look really cool - like it wouldn't suck at all? Yeah, that's what I thought, too.

Here are the problems:

1. The glitter adheres to your wet base coat but it leaves stubborn patches, so it was terribly impossible to achieve uniform density of the glitter across my entire nail.

2. Loose glitter makes a huge mess, in general. I don't know what I was thinking! On top of the normal surface area that gets dusted with glitter, there's also the "after" effects of dealing with glitter - you know, when you discover a rogue speck of it next to your eyeball three days later. #IKnowYouKnowWhatIMean. #DontFront.

Those two problems were pretty killer. I almost wish I hadn't bought it at all. Almost.

As a final note about this glitter - if you DO buy it, do not try to roll your wet nail into it, the way you would with the Essence 3D Pearls. That will result in a weird, chunky, smooshed, goopy glitter application. And whatever you do - don't add a top coat. You will feel like a total chump if you do that. Go ahead and try it if you don't believe me. I dare you to see how it looks with top coat. Hint:  It's not attractive.

The Doctor's Night Guard - $36.99 (ON SALE. FML. This thing costs $20 in the States!)

I didn't take a picture of my new night guard before I molded it and started using it, but you can see what a new one looks like here. I wear a night guard every night while I sleep because otherwise I will grind the bejesus out of my teeth. This night guard needs to be replaced every once in awhile, and I was due for my replacement... even though the price tag almost made me want to barf. It's definitely more affordable in the US! Anyone else grind their teeth? You better take care of that shit! You'll regret it, if you don't!

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Jade Jump - $6.49

I saw this nail polish and was all, "Whaaaa?!" and then I snatched it off the shelf before anyone else could beat me to it. It comes off a bit minty in this picture, but in real life it's got more of a jade-mint quality to it. I hadn't seen this color before from the Insta-Dri line... it's new to me! I'm a sucker for anything jade OR minty, so this was a double-whammy. I haven't used it yet but it swatches beautifully - super, super opaque... and potentially non-streaky. We'll see.

London Drugs:

London Drugs is the other "big" drug store in Vancouver that I was introduced to after moving to Canada. There's a sizeable one down the street from my gym, so there always seems to be a good (enough) reason to juuuust pop inside to see what they've got. Some of the beauty blogs I'd been reading while I was home in Massachusetts were the catalyst for these next two purchases...

Baby Lips Dr. Rescue Medicated Balm in Berry Soft - on sale for $3.99

With a handful of Baby Lips balms already in my stash, it's safe to say I am a fannnn of these inexpensive little guys. When they come out with new flavors or new varieties, I am - how you say? - all about that shit. I heard about the new Dr. Rescue medicated balms and scooped one up as soon as I could! These balms are medicated with menthol, which gives them a eucalyptus smell and creates a cooling sensation on your lips. Dr. Rescue comes in 6 different shades; I chose Berry Soft, which definitely goes on lighter than it looks.

Maybelline claims that Dr. Rescue balms do the following:  "In 1 minute, lips feel soothed. In 1 day, lips look more smooth. In 1 week, lips are renewed." That's probably not all 100% accurate, but the product actually has made a difference for me.  My lips felt noticeably smoother after about 3 days of use. Note that the package says not to use this balm more than 4x per day - it doesn't say that anywhere on the tube itself, so it's possibly important to note this before you throw the package away. Not sure what will happen if you go ahead and use it that 5th time... Maybe your lips turn into MJ's werewolf character at the beginning of Thriller? I'm not going to risk it.

Revlon Parfumerie nail polish in Balsam Fir - $6.95 for 0.4oz

These are a scented line of polishes from Revlon. Throwback to the 90s, you say? Maybe. And that's fine with me! This polish actually does smell like some sort of a fir tree - I will give them that. I love this color, and it would have been helpful if I'd found it when Emerald was the Color of the Year. If all goes as planned, you'll see this polish in a mani on Friday.

Sally Hansen Strengthening Fast & Gentle Nail Polish Remover - $3.99

I haaated the smell of my last polish remover. I had to wash my hands 3 times before the smell of it would start to fade from my fingers. The end of that bottle was finally near, and I couldn't wait to get a replacement. Once this Sally Hansen remover came home with me and I realized how much more pleasant it smelled than my Quo remover, I literally dumped the last half-inch of my other remover down the drain. I wanted nothing else to do with it!

Well thanks for making it through another obnoxiously long blog post about new beauty products. I didn't realize that it was going to turn into several mini-reviews! Hope you found some of it useful in your own beauty product endeavors.

Have you tried any of these products?

How is your week going?

Whatcha wearin'? ;)
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All products were purchased by me!

New Beauty Products from LUSH

Something about staying in the guest bedroom at my sister's house in Massachusetts turns me into a late-night web browsing fiend.  When I was visiting the East coast in January, my nights were spent propped up in bed in the dark basement guest room trying my damnedest to catch up on all of the blogs that I've been slacking on reading. Between my two jobs (my full time job and the side job I took in September), I don't get nearly enough time to read all the blogs that I'd love to read.

So being in Massachusetts affords me two things:  suddenly-free nights when I can lay in bed surfing zee net (something I don't normally do when I'm with Dave), and a time zone difference that allows me to begin work at a luxurious 8 or 9 AM, rather than the normal 7 AM that I work when I'm home on the West coast. In short: If you need me I'll be surfing the web till midnight because I don't have to wake up till 8 the next day! #Holla.

Naturally, after catching up on a ton of beauty blogs, the next step is to want everything that I just read about... And let me tell you, I read a LOT of blogs about new LUSH products. SO HERE WE ARE. Now just sit back and picture me with a huge, virtual bag of LUSH goodies, and then also picture me grabbing you by the collar and yelling, "LOOK AT ALL OF THE PRETTY THINGS (MOST OF WHICH ALSO SMELL GOOD)" while giving you a good shake.

Or don't do that last part. Your choice.

So yous guys know I love me some LUSH. Well, the Valentine goodies are here! And some of them are only here for a little while, so if I were you I'd hop on that shittttt!

Prince Charming shower gel (limited edition):  This is a hot pink shower gel with a bright, sweet, citrusy smell. It smells most like sugary sweet grapefruit and pomegranate. I don't notice anything really fabulous that it does for my skin necessarily, but the gel does lather up nicely. At $9.99 for a 100mL bottle of it, this is only something that I'd buy as a special treat for myself. The smell really is lovely, so I'm not upset that I spent the money on it... but seeing how quickly I've been going through it and realizing that it doesn't do anything spectacular for my actual skin, I just know that this isn't something I'd repurchase. Which is fine, since this is a limited edition shower gel and that won't have it anymore after this holiday!

From the LUSH site:

Lather up in our brand new, limited edition shower gel! Fresh pomegranate juice and grapefruit oil cleanse the skin while their bright, energetic scents help wake you up on early mornings. Add to that a blend of Fair Trade vanilla pod infusion, skin-softening marshmallow root and almond oil, and you’re in for royally soft, moisturized skin all over. The fragrance was made especially for this product and we think it’s an instant classic. Prince Charming is bound to sweep you off your feet!

Neon Love soap (limited edition):  Another limited edition for Valentine's Day! This bar of soap was one of the first things I saw in the store because it was part of their front window display. It was really difficult to accurately depict the color of this product in a photo (same with the Prince Charming shower gel). For some reason the pictures show up a bit... yellower? Or something? In real life, this soap is a neon pink/orange color, with white heart-shaped chunks inside of it. I haven't used it yet (because I've been using the shower gel instead), but it's been sitting in its wrapping in my bathroom since last week and it has made the whole room smell quite LUSHy. The scent of this soap (which is quite strong in the room, so it may also be quite strong on the body) is made up of things that I simply do not recognize. It's sorta spicy, sorta floral... but mostly I'm at a loss. I will let LUSH describe it for you:

We’re excited to introduce a brand new soap made especially for Valentine’s Day. With fresh passion fruit juice to cleanse and soya yogurt to nourish, Neon Love is one we want to use all over our bodies in the bath and shower. A new perfume was blended for this bar, and includes citrusy bergamot, rosewood and spicy cinnamon leaf oil. Hiding inside the huge heart-shaped soap are little white hearts to ensure every slice looks just as beautiful as it smells.

Neon Love Soap goes for $6.95/100g. I got a big 190g chunk of it for $13.21.

Charity Pot: This was sort of an impulse buy, but LUSH matches 100% of the price and donates it to charity, so I impulsed away. My hand-health has been going to shit lately because of the wintery air. Anyone else? My cuticles have been really angry and my hands have been dry and alligator-y. I was in need of some new hand creams, fo sho. Charity Pot is a hand and body lotion made with almond oil, cocoa butter, and ylang ylang, and it retails for $5.95 for a 45g pot. A little goes a long way with this lotion, plus I only intend to use it on my hands, so the smaller 45g pot seemed like just the right amount to me. You can also buy the larger 225g pot for $22.95.

From the LUSH site:

Inside every black pot of Charity Pot is a whole lot more than a creamy body lotion to hydrate parched, dry skin. Of course, it’s filled with the finest ingredients, including Fair Trade organic cocoa butter, and made by hand with love. Not to mention the gorgeous fresh, ylang ylang floral fragrance. What makes it so special? Every penny (yes, every single penny) that you pay for a pot, excluding the tax, goes to fund and support grassroots charities all around the world. You end up with softer, floral-scented skin AND you’re doing a world of good with every pot purchased.

When I take care to really rub this stuff into my hands and cuticles for awhile, it does a lovely job of softening my skin. You definitely do have to work it into your skin for a little while though - otherwise you may feel like it's too greasy. I promise if you work through it, there's a light on the other end of the tunnel.  My favorite part about this vegan lotion is that it smells distinctly like a chocolate Tootsie Roll. Mmm...

Lemony Flutter: This cuticle cream has been popping up a lot in other people's blogs, so it was on my radar. I was about to buy some at LUSH this time when I noticed that it cost $17! Whaaaa? For some freaking cuticle cream? Granted it was a huge container, as far as cuticle creams go (this was a 45g pot, compared to the 11.3g "pot" of the Sally Hansen cuticle cream I'd been using), but good lord. $17?? As a solution, I asked the employee for a sample of the cream, which she was happy to give me:

From the LUSH site:

We made Lemony Flutter to soften your dry, cracked cuticles and nourish your nails; it’s our thickest, zestiest cream yet. In fact, it’s so good at softening, our customers have been using it on other rough body parts, like feet, elbows and knees too. Fresh lemons infusion is lovingly blended in our rich butter base to brighten skin and lighten nails. Each batch contains twenty-two pounds of beeswax and cold-pressed avocado oil to moisturize and soften your skin. There are so many nutritious butters and oils in each pot, it’s no wonder that such a little amount can go such a long way.

I've barely tried this yet because I've been going HAM on my Charity Pot hand cream (as well as another hand cream which you'll read about later this week). But I will say that the smell of Lemony Flutter is basically like lemon-scented PineSol - it kiiind of reminds me of a public bathroom in that respect. Like a freshly cleaned public bathroom, but a public bathroom nonetheless. The texture is also much creamier than the Sally Hansen cream I'd been using (that was more of a waxy texture) and reminds me a bit of cream used on diaper rashes. Wow, I am really selling this product - public bathrooms and diaper rash cream. Two things you never want to associate with your beauty routine? YOU DECIDE.

Catastrophe Cosmetic fresh face mask:  Whoohoo! Another LUSH fresh face mask! (I've written about Oatifix and Cupcake in the past.) I'd heard phenomenal things about Catastrophe Cosmetic, especially that it is good for troublesome, sensitive skin. That's meeee! It contains things like blueberries, chamomile, and almond oil. I will do a whole post about this one when I eventually use it. It retails for $6.95/60g pot.

 

From LUSH:

Prevent disasters by taking regular care of your skin with our deep-cleansing, nutrient-rich blueberry mask. The little blue bulbs are packed with vitamins, and blended into calamine, rose absolute and chamomile blue oil to soothe redness, irritation and cleanse the skin without stripping it of its natural oils. This one is wonderfully soothing on sensitive skin. Treat your face to Catastrophe Cosmetic as often as you can to keep your skin looking its best.

Have you tried any of these products? I'd love to hear your thoughts, if so!

As I mentioned, some of these Valentine's items are limited edition, so don't be mad at ME if you slack and miss them! You can browse their other Valentine's items here.

And hey, today marks my 250th blog post. That's something to celebrate right? I'm patting myself on the back right now. How will you celebrate?

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All items were purchased by me.

{Linking with Monday Must Haves}

Workouts of the Week

First things first: I haven't done a "Sweat Round Up" post in like.... months. And months. That's because I was working out like... once a week, if that. It's time to get my shit together and get back into the habit of going to the gym, so I'm hoooping to sort of start up this series again. Hoping.

Secondly, I don't want to call it a "Sweat Round Up" anymore because, frankly, no one wants to think about other people "sweating." It's like that part of exercising that no one wants to talk about, but here I was broadcasting it in the title of my blogs. WHAT WAS MY PROBLEM??? UGH.

So henceforth I'll just go with the more colloquial (and LET'S FACE IT, more Google-friendly) "Workouts of the Week" title. I hope that doesn't ruffle too many feathers. (Did you pick up on my sarcasm there? Because I was laying it on pretttty thick.)

Right. So. On to the workouts! Here's what I did at the gym this past week:

2/2 (lower body and core)

5 mins biking

40 deadlifts, 15 lbs each hand

20 weighted v-sit twists, holding 15 lbs

40 calf raises, 15 lbs each hand

50 Brazilian crunches

60 straight leg raises each leg

30 Russian get ups, holding 5 lbs

60 bridges

60 alternating heel raises from bridge position

20 lying overhead raise + double crunch, holding 5 lbs

60 alternating lunges

1:25 plank

20 squats, holding 15 lbs

20 Russian get ups, holding 5 lbs each hand

15 lat pulldowns, 20 lbs

14 lat pulldowns, 30 lbs

13 lat pulldowns, 40 lbs

12 lat pulldowns, 50 lbs

2/3 (upper body)

15 mins biking

15 lat pulldowns, 30 lbs

15 chest press on exercise ball, 12.5 lbs each hand

15 bent over rows each arm, 12.5 lbs

15 close grip chest press on exercise ball, 12.5 lbs each hand

15 overhead press, 10 lbs each hand

15 tricep extensions on exercise ball, 10 lbs each hand

15 lat pulldowns, 40 lbs

2/4 (lower body and core)

10 mins biking

15 deadlifts, 15 lbs each hand

20 weighted v-sit twists, holding 15 lbs

15 squats, holding 15 lbs

60 Brazilian crunches

60 bridges

60 alternating heel raises from bridge position

20 Russian get ups, holding 8 lbs

40 calf raises, 15 lbs each hand

20 lying overhead raise + double crunch, holding 8 lbs

30 jump squats, alternating wide and close stance

40 reverse crunch + leg raise

1:15 plank

15 lat pulldowns, 30 lbs

15 lat pulldowns, 40 lbs

15 lat pulldowns, 50 lbs

2/6 (upper body and core)

1:00 plank

15 overhead press, 10 lbs each hand

30 weighted crunches on exercise ball, holding 10 lbs

15 chest press on exercise ball, 10 lbs each hand

30 lying overhead raise + double crunch, holding 5 lbs

15 close grip chest press on exercise ball, 10 lbs each hand

30 Russian get ups, holding 8 lbs

15 deltoid raises, 5 lbs each hand

60 Brazilian crunches

15 deltoid flys, 5 lbs each hand

40 reverse crunch + leg raise

1:00 plank

15 lat pulldowns, 30 lbs

15 lat pulldowns, 40 lbs

15 lat pulldowns, 50 lbs

40 calf raises

Ooh, hey here's something else that's fun and workout-related: I walked into downtown Vancouver on Friday afternoon after work and popped into Forever21 for a few minutes (or 30). I ended up buying a new sports bra (I've mentioned before how much I love their inexpensive sports bras - they're perfect for the smaller-chested yet fashion-savvy young woman) and a new tank top for my workouts:

{ Tank top here, sports bra here }

When heading to the gym, my go-to outfit is a pair of black leggings (nothing fancy, just regular black capri leggings), a long bright tank top (90% of which are these $5.80 ones from Forever21), and a cute sports bra (100% of which are F21). (Promise they're not paying me, but damn am I a walking advertisement for the late-20s Forever21-clinger-onner.) (Sawry I'm not sawry.) And of course I also rock my Nike In-Season TR2s. 

What do you normally wear to the gym? Do you tend to wear the same kind of thing every time?

What's your favorite online resource for finding new workout ideas?

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Valentine's Day Nails: Hearts & Dots!

I kind of freaked out this week when I realized we were into the first week of February and there weren't any Valentine's Day nails posted on my blog. WERE YOU FREAKING OUT, TOO? Oh, what's that? There are a million other nail polish blogs posting Valentine-themed nails all over the internet, and you're totally all set with all your V-Day nails this year and you don't even need my ideas at all?

Oh.

Well, tough shit. I've got one for you anyway!

I used Essie's A List (red), Sinful Colors' Snow Me White, and Revlon's Stiletto (black).

It's been quite awhile since the last time I did any hearts on my nails, so there were some serious practice rounds on paper before I even brought my dotting tool to my nail. And even with the practice rounds, I still ended up mucking it up and needing to wipe it off twice!

I did several Valentine's nails last year, if you want to check out any of those:  

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 

OH, by the way. Congratulations to Joey for winning my *first ever* giveaway! I'll be sending her a bottle of Revlon Orchid and a bottle of ORLY Preamp! HOOZAH FOR THAT!

What do you have planned for the weekend? Anything fun? I've got a fun brunch to go to tomorrow morning with a few other Vancouver bloggers. I love brunch and having blogging buddies, so it should be a great combo tomorrow!

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{Linking up with The Nail Files, What I'm Loving Fridays, and Friday's Fab Favorites} 

A Good Pair of Kicks

I've always been a "sneakers" kind of girl.  I love a good pair of kicks. When Miley sang, "Who's that chick that's rockin' kicks? She gotta be from outta town," I was all, "Yeah, totally!" While by no means a "sneakerhead," I know what I like when it comes to sneaks 'n kicks. Here are some of my old school favorites and some new kick picks that have caught my eye recently!

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8

Nike Backboard II (#1) 
I've always loved the way these look on guys, but I also really want to own them myself. They're classic!

Converse All-Stars/Chuck Taylors (#s 2, 4, 6) 
Chucks are my homeboy. When it comes to Chucks, high-tops are my top choice. I like the black, brown and blue versions, especialllllllly when they're really nice and worn in and a bit faded. (See below for my "Design Your Own Chucks" creation!)

K-Swiss Classic Luxury (#3)
I just love the shape of these ones, plus the fact that you can get them in lots of different colors!

Nike Cortez (#s 5 and 8) 
This style of Nikes is seriously one of my all-time favorites. This is another style that I think looks really good on both men and women.

Adidas Shell Toes (#7)
I rocked the all-white shell toes back in college and I want another pair so badly. I can't find any of the all-whites in the stores right now, though I've been looking. Dave makes fun of me and tells me that it's because it's not the 90s anymore... But I think everyone is just so wrong on this. IF shell toes ever went "out" of style in the first place, they're definitely due for a comeback. Just don't say I didn't warn you or that you didn't hear it here first!

So like I mentioned, I was fiddling around with the "Design Your Own Chucks" feature on the Converse website. Using their little interactive tool, you can choose every detail of your chucks - starting with the base style, then selecting the color/print of everything from the sides to the seams to the laces to the soles. Every detail of the shoe is controlled/selected by you, and they cost $70 per pair. (This isn't sponsored, I just thought you might like to know!) Here's the peppermint and cream pair I designed:

You like?! WELL I DO.

Do you like sneaks as much as I do, or are you totally a heels girl?

What's your favorite style/brand of sneaker?

Today is the last day to enter my giveaway to win two bottles of Radiant Orchid nail polish!

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How to Clean a Peanut Butter Jar

Random blog post for me? Mayhaps. But I'll tell you what - I get most of my protein from peanut butter and this stuff is a big part of my daily routine. (I'm not a vegetarian, but meat is not my favorite thing to eat.) Between David and me, we probably consume one 16-oz jar of peanut butter every week - and that leaves us with a TON of used peanut butter jars.

Whether you need to clean out your peanut butter jars for recycling or for reusing, there's a way to do it that will leave your sponge much less... peanut buttery. Am I the only one who hates getting my sponge covered in wet, soapy peanut butter? Yuck.

Well have NO freakin' fear, y'all. I'm here to help you de-pee-bee (eh? eh?) your glass jars so you can use them for whatever your little heart desires. Massive disclaimer:  David is the one who taught me this trick! He's the most clever boy in the entire world. #DontArgue.

Step 1: Use your peanut butter. Like... all of it. Till the jar is as empty as it can be without you licking it clean. Because how would you get your tongue in there anyway? I mean, come on. If you could fit your tongue into every crevice of a peanut butter jar, there'd be no need for this instructional blog post to exist. You'd just clean it with your tongue. NEVER WASTE PEANUT BUTTER. EVER.

Step 2: Squirt one pump of dishwashing soap into your empty jar.

Step 3: Fill your jar halfway with hot water. You'll probably notice that the soap bubbles up and over the lid a bit. That's ok. Just make sure that it's only about half-full of water.

Step 4: This is the interesting step that you might not have thought of before... Place a small teaspoon into the jar and close the lid.

Step 5: SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE. SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE. SHAKE YOUR BOOTAAAY PEANUT BUTTER JAR. Like, seriously shake the shit out of that thing. Turn it into a dance or upper body exercise if you must.

The teaspoon acts like the tiny agitator ball inside a can of spray paint (or a nail polish bottle, if we're making it more relevant to my more typical blog posts). The spoon helps to mix up the soapy contents of the jar and scrapes along the sides of the container to remove the stubborn peanut butter remnants that normally you'd have to scrub off with your sponge. Your precious, precious sponge.

Once you've shaken your jar in every different direction (to get the spoon into as many crevices and crannies as possible), then you can either let it sit in the warm water for awhile and repeat, or unscrew your lid, dump out the contents and rinse it out.

I haven't even rinsed this one out yet and it's already pretty spotless:

So now that you have a clean glass jar - what are you going to do with it?

We usually move about once a year, on average, so I've learned a thing or two about packing up a house. One of the worst parts of a home to pack up is the kitchen. UGH. CITY. So many heavy/breaky things - none of which fit well into boxes. For that reason, we're notttt fans of buying a bunch of glassware from a store and then needing to "deal with it" come moving time. With all of the peanut butter we consume from glass jars, it occurred to us early on that we should just use these empty jars as our glassware. Not only does it save us from needing to purchase glasses, but we also a) don't have to worry when one of them breaks (since we basically acquire a new glass every week) and b) get to have handy screw-on lids for all of our glasses, in case we want to take our beverages to-go!

But that's not the only good reason to have a bunch of clean glass jars around. Here's another way I use glass jars AND holiday lights... which is especially relevant now that we're into February, hmm? Bet your husband/boyfriend is getting pretty close to fed up that your holiday decorations/Christmas trees are still up, eh ladies? Time to transition those lights from "holiday" lights to "BABE, let's leave these in our bedroom year-round!" lights:

Read all about that project here. It's a popular one!

Do you have the same issues that I do with soapy peanut butter sponges?

Do you have an exciting/creative use for your empty glass jars? I'd love to hear it!

Did you enter my nail polish giveaway? There are still a couple of days left!

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