September Birchbox

As a self-proclaimed beauty junkie, when I heard about Birchbox I thought it was a FABULOUS idea! If you haven't heard of it, Birchbox is a $10 monthly subscription service where each month you receive a box of beauty goodies, and more often then not your box retail value exceeds your $10 purchase price. 

I began subscribing to Birchbox a couple months ago after watching so many Youtube videos and being jealous of all the awesome samples everyone was getting. It's a great way expose yourself to new brands and products of skincare, makeup, haircare, and other fun things.

So without further adieu, here is what I received in this month's box. 

Here is how the box typically looks every month

Each box also comes with a card with a note from the Birchbox girls as well as a list of the all the products your box contains.

Box contents 

**things were packaged a little neater, but I took a sneak peak before this photo!**

*not sure why this pic flipped??*

Incoco Nail Polish Applique

Description on info card: We all have a wild side. Eye-catching nail strips are the latest trends - try them on your fingers or toes.

Size I received: 12 strips

Full size: 16 strips for $7.99

Retail value: $5.99

Initial Thoughts: Every month I get on Birchbox's facebook page and *somewhat stalk* what people have already gotten in their boxes, so I knew these were coming. People who had already received their boxes had gotten zebra and weird leopard color patterns, so I wasn't looking forward to these. But when I saw that I had gotten blue glitter ones, I was thrilled! I have had a slight obsession with glitter nail polish recently, so I am much more inclined to try these out!

*again apologize for the wonky photo*

Jouer Lip Enhancer

Description on info card: Why settle for plain 'ol lip balm when you can hydrate, plump, and condition all in one go? Right, we thought so.

Size I received: 0.07 fluid ounces

Full size: $14 for 0.33 fluid ounces

Retail value: $2.97

Initial Thoughts: I am OBSESSED with Jack Black Intense Therapy Lip Balm (@ Sephora) so I'm not really in the market for a new lip balm. However, I have only used this once and like it as well! I only used the Jack Black lip balm at night because it is rather thick. This once is lighter and smoother and could potentially be a go-to lip balm for the day. And you only need the tiniest bit!

LIV GRN Earth Eau de Parfum

Description on info card: Made from sustainable ingredients, this sultry scent is laced with jasmine and sandalwood. Plus, ten percent of sales go directly to Global Green, an environmental non-profit.

Size I received: No sized listed, but I compared it to a typically perfume sample which is 1.5 ml or 0.05 fluid ounces

Full size: 3.4 fluid ounces for $60

Retail value: $0.88

Initial Thoughts: Is it weird to say that this smells like a green perfume? My initial reaction is that it smells kinda soapy and not a scent that I would naturally gravitate towards. 

Pangea Organics Facial Cream for Normal to Combination Skin

Description on info card: An all-natural moisturizer, with antioxidant-rich grape extracts and essential oils, keeps skin both hydrated and shine-free.

Size I received: 1.0 fluid ounces

Full size: 2.0 fluid ounces for $36

Retail value: $18.00

Initial Thoughts: I got so excited when I saw this in my box! I am a big skincare junkie and am always looking for the next best thing to get rid of acne and help cleanse my skin. Surprisingly I've never tried any natural skincare, so I am very excited to see how this works. I have heard a lot of good things about the Pangea brand, so hopefully I will have luck with this. And this is a VERY generous sample size!

Treat: Birchbox Friendship Bracelet

Retail value: unknown

Thoughts: While it is a nice gesture, I highly doubt I will actually wear this bracelet. Someone said it reminded them of a kabbalah bracelet, and now thats all I can think of when I look at it. Nevertheless, it is nice that the girls at Birchbox thought of us on their birthday :)

Total Box Value: $27.84!

Are you subscribed to Birchbox?? If so what did you get in your box this month??

Please let me know if you liked this post. Hopefully I'll get around to posting my Birchbox every month!

**I purchased my Birchbox subscription with my own money. I was not "gifted" anything and not compensated for my opinion.**

Day in Athens

This past Saturday Dad and I made the trip down to Athens to see the Gamecocks take on the Georgia Bulldogs. Dad got his undergraduate degree at UGA and his masters at USC so I've always harped him about going down to Athens and "reliving his college days." Needless to say the whole time we were down there all he could say was that it looked almost NOTHING like he remembered and the trees were much bigger than he remembered (to which I promptly told him that the trees had 30 years to grow! They don't stay the same size!)

Lemme just say though...Athens is NOT an easy town to get around!! If you've every been to Williams-Brice stadium, you know it's not on USC's campus, but about a mile down the road by our fairgrounds. Therefore, there is PLENTY of parking and you don't have to be afraid if you car is gonna get towed or not. So needless to say, after the parking/traffic situation, we were MORE than ready to get into the stadium and mix ourselves a little cocktail (hey Dad wanted to relive the good ole days, I was only happy to oblige!)

Our first view of Sanford Stadium and the back of the scoreboard

Full view of the stadium our way up the stairs

First time back at his Alma Mater in 30 years!!

My first visit to another SEC stadium!

As you can see our seats were pretty awesome! Yea we were in the 600-section, BUT we were on the 50 yard line and surrounded by fellow Gamecock fans!

View of the campus

Halfta say Sanford's scoreboard is really nice! 

Hopefully when ours is updated it'll be similar to this

(Notice the final score!)

All the Georgia fans leaving early when they thought it was over.

It was easily the CRAZIEST game, let alone 4th quarter I have EVER seen!

Field after we WON!

Carolina flag waving in all its glory!!

Sea of people going across the bridge after the game

Sea of people to the left. 20 minutes after the game is over.

So the game ended at 8:15. We hung out in the stadium till around 8:30 then began making our way down and out towards our car. Since the parking was SO atrocious, we FINALLY got to our car around 9:15. THEN we sat in MORE traffic with the non-working traffic lights. Fortunately, the route we chose took us through sorority row so we at least had some nice scenery. 

Sorry for the major blurriness but this was the Kappa Kappa Gamma house! 

So glad I got to see it. 

Gamma Phi Beta 

Apologies for another bad pic but this is the Chi Omega house.

My dad got super excited when he saw this because all throughout college he was the Chi O house boy!! He said the house looks exactly the same as he remembered and was just stunned it was still the same house!

Another pic of Chi O. 

Once we turned off sorority row we thought we were home free, but O NOOO!!! There was even MORE traffic! We FINALLY made it out of athens around 10:30pm...TWO HOURS after the game ended!! 

Overall it was an AWESOME weekend!! I got to spend an entire day with my dad watching the Gamecock on a beautiful Saturday. What more could a girl ask for???

Accent Tag!! + mini haul

Accent Tag + mini haul from natalie hames on Vimeo.

 I recorded this yesterday but only posted it to twitter so I wanted to make sure to share it with all my readers who aren't on twitter (which you should be!) I've been watching these accent vlogs all last night and tonight and they are hilarious! It's also cool to be able to put a face/voice to some favorite bloggers/twitter friends! Make sure to leave a comment below if you decide to record one!
Directions are as follows: The instructions are to say these words:
Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught

And answer these questions:
What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
What do you call gym shoes?
What do you say to address a group of people?
What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
What do you call your grandparents?
What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
What is the thing you use to change the TV channel?