the Skimm

http://www.theskimm.com/?r=0a39ef2c

Love staying in the loop bug hate wasting time doing it? Try signing up for the Skimm for a daily email for what’s happening and stay in the know! I’ve been a Skimmer for YEARS and absolutely love looking like I spend hours watching the news when really it’s about 3 mins. Happy FRIDAY!!!

New Beauty Awards Box

OK so we allll know the pressure to keep up with the latest skincare, haircare, makeup whatever product. That internal need to BUY everything on every end cap at Walgreens. I too face this struggle.

Sometimes I’ve thought about signing up for a subscription service like BirchBox or Fab Fit Fun, but that extra $$$ flying out of my bank account every month always keeps me from committing.

SO recently I found out about the New Beauty Awards box. Every year, New Beauty puts out a box filled with the products that got their top awards for the year. Stocked with mostly full-size products and all for the low price of $59.95 plus tax, I thought it would be a real steal.

It was SO worth it ya’ll! Let me tell you how excited I was when I opened up my box to find this healing pile of goodies spilled out. Some of the highlights include Kate Somerville Acne Treatment, Sunday Riley Toner, and Brazilian Bum Bum cream!

Literally the only good decision I’ve made since April I swear.

Here’s another pic and the link to snag one yourself!!!

https://www.pubservice.com/PR/Product/OrderForm.aspx?CO=S0&PNO=TTAWARD18

Sheet mask Saturday

So recently I’ve been on a big self care challenge kick. In college you legit don’t have time or resources to keep up so I kinda gave up. So now I challenge myself everyday to do one self care thing. Whether it’s a face mask, a nap, or even just a cup of tea and a book. It’s easier then you think and makes SUCH a difference and plusss keeps me busy and from getting those adulthood blues.

Tonight’s were a Masque Bar gold foil sheet mask and a Biore self heating charcoal mask.

Low budget weekends

Ok SO I know we all get to the weekend and it’s part I wanna go on an adventure and part I wanna sleep for 15 hours. How about something in the middle

I always love going to new places but on a budget that’s hard to do. SOOO I always try to map out unique or interesting small towns within an hour of me.

This past weekend I visited Kenosha, Wi. It’s only 45 mins away from me and it’s a great small town right on Lake Michigan. Small towns are great because they usually have plenty of small business and I always try to support small businesses as much as possible! They also tend not to be super pricey unless you are in a very wealthy area.

We went to Coffee Pot Diner in downtown Kenosha, visited the local apothecary, and hit up the farmers market.

Adorable photo of a donut stand at the farmers market called “The Sweet Life”

Revamp your space on a budget

Ok soooo we all see the damn gorgeous interiors off of insta and we’re like “yeah I have no time, energy, or $$$” to achieve that. I am here to tell you it doesn’t take a zillionnn dollars to get there. You can achieve SO much for very few dollars.

Step 1: Create some kind of brainstorm for whatever your decor project is (I recommend Pinterest because it’s free!)

Step 2: Try to figure out what you already have laying around the house. Some things I always repurpose are Knick knacks & containers. Glass containers or the leftover containers after glass candles burn down are my favorite. You can easily fill them with something (like marbles or stones) or put votives at the bottom. Old/random side tables also can be easily repurposed.

Step 3: Just start rearranging! Block of one hour just to take all of the pieces you have and mix and match them. Below is an example.

Ex: I have always had tons and tons books but I really could never figure out how to place them without it looking like a cluttered mess. So I started with 4 old target bookcases ($15 a piece) , an old mirror form a thrift store ($10). I decided to organize books by color and got inspo off of Pinterest. I separated books by general color and then just started stacking them here and there and moving them around until they look good. I used random, leftover knick knacks I’ve had or received as fillers or bookends. After 30 mins I had a decently insta worthy bookshelf/living room!

Another key to keeping an insta worthy space is making sure clutter is isolated to one area and not all over the place. Even though I can’t keep up with it all the time, it’s clean and clutter free at least half the time!

Keeping It Real

So welcome to the newly revamped Sweetbriar Lane !!! This time around it’s about keeping it casual and keeping it real. So I’m recently graduated college, twenty-something, just trying to adjust to the “real” world and make everyday activities as exciting as possible. Everyone knows the transition to the adult world can bring a lot of boredom and quite honestly a lot of sadness. Day to day life can easily slip into a routine of work, workouts, Netflix, & sleep. But here at Sweetbriar we try to show just how fun and amazing life is, even if we don’t think it is! So stick around for inspo/recipes/pics/or just a reminder to keep doing yo best.

Morning Motivation

Although I have time to make this maybe one morning a week, it sure looks pretty when it all comes out! Good morning, good luck, and happy Friday. And if you to feel like you have been living like a glorified gypsy out of your car for the past week, don’t worry I’m right there with you!

Pink Pitaya Breakfast Bowl

-two frozen bananas, one cup frozen pinnaeapple, two tablespoons pitaya powder, one scoop protein powder, 1/2 cup almond milk or juice, toppings

YUM!