The Pet Eraser!

My kitties are my babies. I love them dearly despite the fact that they make my house smell like poo, often wake me up an hour before I actually have to be up, and claw the shit out of my love seat even though they have a large scratching post/cat tree. The one thing that has been driving me bananas is the shedding...Jubey isn't shedding too badly but ANGUS FUR IS EVERYWHERE. Or..at least it was!

Before I used to vacuum about once a week. I would use a large bagless vacuum.  It does a pretty decent job with the rugs. I was finding that the vacuum was not able to get at some of the hair in the tight spaces and corners of our home.  It was also unable to do much for the hair inhabiting the couch, futon, and our bedding.

I ventured to Walmart in search of a handheld vacuum.  I assumed this would be a pretty boring purchase. I was wrong! This purchase ended up being quite thrilling!...no really!

I purchased a handheld cordless vacuum which Bissel has dubbed the "Pet Eraser". I was intrigued by its name and the paw prints on the packaging. The price was decent as well at $49.  There was a $25 option as well but it had way less voltage and I figured it wouldn't last very long. Sometimes it is best to invest in better quality appliances.  Instead of researching reviews of the "Pet Eraser" I made an impulse decision and purchased it. 

I would like to introduce you to the best invention for pet hair EVER. So here is this dandy device. Notice that it doesn't need a cord. This is great! When the battery dies you simply put it in its charging dock.

Like so...
A little light will come on and that is how you know it is charging. This dock can also be mounted to the wall for easy storage.  I have chosen to leave mine on the floor in the spare bedroom in plain sight because I like to admire it. Don't act like you aren't admiring it too...

The end of the vacuum pulls out so that you have an extended wand like device. This is handy for getting deep into the depths of the couch. You know..where all those popcorn kernels are that you know are there, but are too lazy to deal with. This wand is also handy for vacuuming the CATS. Yes. That's right. You can actually use this to vacuum the cats.  I will be the first to admit that many cats will likely NOT like this or be willing to put up with it. Before PETA comes to take away my kitties I assure you that this is perfectly safe to use on animals.  You can even order an entire grooming kit for this vacuum which includes various grooming heads for this vacuum.  Jubey (my female) ran away from me when I tried to vacuum her and didn't appreciate it at all.  Angus, however, really enjoyed the experience. I vacuumed his back first and then he rolled over and exposed his belly for me. When I shut off the vacuum, he chased me to the garbage where I was emptying the fur into the trash. Please keep the vacuum away from their ears, eyes, and mouth though. I just used it on his belly and back where the hair really tends to build up.

This vacuum really does a great job of sucking up cat hair, dirt and cat litter! It is really handy for when you have some cat hair or cat litter to clean up, but don't really have the gumption to bring out the heavy, clunky vacuum.  It is not silent by any means, but it doesn't make a deafening noise either. Both cats did not seem to care about the noise. They tend to be fearful of my large vacuum. 

I would definitely recommend this vacuum to anyone who wants to make cleaning around the home much easier.  I would HIGHLY recommend this vacuum to pet owners.

And before you judge me...vacuuming a cat in a safe manner is not cruel. If you do not get rid of this fur, your cats will start throwing up cat hair balls on your freshly vacuumed rug. They can also choke on their fur balls as well.

I hope this post was useful to you fellow pet owners and neurotic house cleaners. If it wasn't helpful, then I am just a crazy cat lady excited about a vacuum.

xoxox

Nicole

Bananarama!

Nicole's in the kitchen messin with the pots n pans! Today I thought I would share an INSANELY good muffin recipe. Again, another fool proof recipe that seems like it would turn out just like any other muffin recipe. These are the most moist, delicious muffins I have ever made. My boyfriend tends to eat the entire dozen muffins in one evening and asks me to make them often.

Banana chocolate chip muffins! In the photo you will see what appears to be a typical muffin. This is no typical muffin. I am not sure why these muffins are so awesome but they are truly amazing and are a good excuse to use up those 457 frozen bananas in the freezer that you can't bring yourself to throw away. You know those bananas. The ones you tell yourself you will bake with. Or is that just me? I've been known to have a problem with throwing away things....

Here is the finished muffin with a bite out of it. Notice the wonderful texture. So how do you make them?

Let's get bakin'

Ingredients:

3 or 4 Large bananas, mashed (the more bananas the better. I ususally use 4 large ones)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup melted margarine or butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups flour

Optional: Chocolate chips...wait did I say those were optional? Technically they are I suppose, but let's face it. Everything is better with chocolate. I have used both semi sweet and milk chocolate. Both are great in these muffins.
Any type of nuts you want. I don't put nuts in them, but you definitely could.

Mix em all up!

Mix the mashed banana, sugar, egg and margarine together. Then add baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour into the wet mixture. Pour into greased muffin tins, and bake in 350 degrees F oven for approximately 20 minutes. The time is VERY crucial for these muffins. I have found that different ovens have produced different results for these muffins. My old oven in my old apartment needed the full 20 minutes. The oven in my new place needs only 17 minutes. It seems fussy to worry about 3 minutes but it makes a huge difference. You may need to experiment and find the perfect amount of time for your oven.  Take them out when they have JUST turned lightly brown...they may look like they slighty need more baking but do not keep them in the oven. They will continue to bake as they cool.  This is what keeps them super moist!

I found this recipe on a blog called "Cat Can Cook". The recipe can be found at http://www.catcancook.com/awesome-banana-muffin-recipe/

Naturally I was drawn to her love of food and kitties.

Enjoy!

Trash Talk

Why is throwing away beauty products SO DIFFICULT? I don't know if anyone else struggles to throw away beauty products, but I find it very difficult.  It feels like parting with a long time friend.  It is absolute insanity that I am so unable to let go of old makeup.  I figure it largely has to do with the fact that makeup is so costly and I begin to evaluate how much the items cost me, as well as the fact that I see my makeup as part of my collection and I don't want to give up some of my collection.  I will even throw things away and then proceed to stare at them in the trash, often considering retrieving them out of the trash. I know...I need help.

My makeup collection is quite substantial and I need to get rid of the things that have either spoiled, dried up or I no longer use. I also hold on to items even though I don't like the product.What's up with that? I have no intentions of using them, in yet I hold on to them. WHY???? I actually have to think about if I am ready to throw away the product for SEVERAL days.

It is often said that if you have no worn an outfit in six months, you are unlikely to ever wear it again.  I have been trying to apply this rule when considering what to throw away.  I am forcing myself to throw away one beauty product for every product that I purchase at the drugstore.

So what am I throwing away? Let's take out the trash!

The ELF Zit Zapper! I had high hopes for this product.  Obviously we should expect miracles from a tube of alcohol claiming to zap away zits for $1. I used this product many times and even convinced myself that it really was working to clear up my blemishes.  Once I finally decided to be honest with myself and realized it wasn't really working...it lived in my bathroom cupboard for months. Goodbye Zit Zapper.

Next up we have my Hard Candy lip liner in the colour "blush". I held on to this for almost a year because the colour is quite nice- or at least that's what I tried to tell myself so that I wouldn't have to throw it away. This liner BLOWS. It is just awful. Flaw 1: It is REALLY dry. You really have to press hard to get a decent amount of pigment. Flaw 2: It looks decent when swatched but is really difficult to apply to the actual lips and again..you REALLY have to press to get the colour to apply properly. Flaw 3 (and most obvious reason I should not still have this): I DON'T WEAR LIP LINER. In my defence, I got this in a Hard Candy kit, but still....TRASH.

Delux sample of Urban Decay Primer Potion! I have absolutely no excuse for still having this. It is completely dried out and half the paint is missing on it. A sane person would properly assess this as being trash purely based on how badly chipped off the paint is...for me, however, IT MUST BE HOARDED. I have many other primers that need to used. I did use this as much as possible and it provided an astonishing number of applications. Dumpster time!

Skincare samples! UGHHHH I have so many skin care samples that I am never going to use and I know it. What is particularly shameful about the Olay samples pictured here is that I've kept TWO samples of the same thing that I won't use. WHY? WHY? WHY? The product is called Olay Regenerist and it is a wrinkle cream...if I keep these products around until I have wrinkles PLEASE LOCK ME UP. The second product pictured here is a face and neck toning gel. I don't even really know what that is but man I better hoard it- Geez. I shouldn't even feel bad about throwing away these since I didn't even buy them. They can live with Oscar the Grouch now!

This one is actually quite painful for me to throw away. This is the Maybelline "The Colossal" mascara.  I have had this for well over a year. I do not typically follow the "3 month" rule for throwing away mascara. Mainly because I have a hard enough time throwing away things that have been around 12 months. This mascara was wonderful and I may purchase it again some day. My only complaint is that it smells horrible and always has. It is pretty much dried up now and what is coming out on the brush just goops on the end of the brush. In yet...I continued to use it for weeks and convinced myself that it was still performing like it did when it was new. I will have to actually put this one in the large garbage can outside because I fear I will pick it out of the indoor trash cans.

So that's it folks.  From now on I will be throwing away one product per product purchased.  I hope this post inspires others to look at their collection and determine what needs to be in the trash!

xoxoxo

Nicole

Nom nom nom nom nom.......

I thought I would share a lovely dinner that I made this week.  I find that some of the most simple meals are often the most delish. This is so classic...and SO SIMPLE. I made a.....




drum roll please.......................................................................................................

TUNA CASSEROLE!!!!!!!!

I know, I know...not very exciting or difficult.

I have made quite a few different tuna casserole recipes.  Many of them have been enjoyable but this one was truly out of this world.  I found the recipe on canadianliving.com.  The casserole was titled "Amazing Tuna Casserole", so I decided to see if it lived up to its name. I can tell you this much...IT DID. My boyfriend devoured nearly the entire pan in one sitting and commented several times on its yumtastic appeal.

So here's what you need.

1/2 cup diced onions

1/2 cup diced celery

3/4 red pepper, diced

1 can of white chunk tuna, drained

SAY WHAT?? TUNA? MEOWWWWWW MEOOWWWWWW MEOWWWWWW

I literally could not walk in my kitchen when I opened the tuna can. The can opening sound and the smell made Angus and Jubey think they were getting canned cat food. They were REALLY upset when they discovered it wasn't for them. Poor babies.

Back to whatcha need.

1 can of cream of mushroom soup (you could also use cream of celery)

3/4 cup of milk

1 cup shredded cheese (I used cheddar)

1/2 cup of mayonnaise

3/4 cup raw egg noodles (I think any pasta would be fine but I really liked the texture of the egg noodles for this recipe)

Here's whatcha do.

Mix the onions (after you have cut them...cried and have mascara running down your face), celery, red pepper, tuna and mayo in a bowl.

In a small sauce pan, heat the soup and milk.  Once this mixture is warm, toss in the cheese and stir until the cheese fully melts.

Meanwhile, cook the egg noodles in boiling water.

Pour the sauce into the tuna mixture bowl. Stir it up!

Now pour in the noodles!

Stir it up!

Oh...you were supposed to have the oven preheated to 350 degreess the whole time. I find it amusing that I forgot to mention that in this post as I nearly always forget to do it when actually cooking as well. So yea..do that.

Grease your 9 by 13 casserole dish

Pour mixture into the casserole dish. I kind of packed it in.  Then top with more shredded cheese...why just have cheese when you can have MORE cheese? Then season with salt and pepper.

Bake for 30 minutes! Voila!

So good. Takes hardly any time at all. Uses simple ingredients. My kind of meal!

Let me know if you try this out! :)

Nom nom nom nom....

Look of the Day (LOTD)

Enough monkey business...let's get to some serious blogging. I thought I would share my makeup look that I wore for today. My makeup held up well for the entire day despite being rained on during my lunch hour walk.  The rain let up just as I headed back inside...of course!

This is my take on classy office chic with some shimma! I like me some shimmer! This look features both drugstore and higher end products.
Products used:
Eyes:
Base: Esscence Cream shadow in 'Glammy Goes to...". Love this cream shadow. Long wearing and quite comparable to Maybelline Colour Tattoos, Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadows...and Makeup Forever Aquacreams.
Shadows: L'oreal Infallibles in 'Hourglass Beige', 'Sahara Treaure' and 'Burning Black'. Can't say enough good things about these shadows. They are a lovely hybrid of powder meets cream shadow. Super easy to blend, long wearing, wonderful sheen and they reflect the light like none other!
Liner: Maybelline Master Drama Eyeliner in 'Midnight Master'. Very long wearing liner that is very easy and smooth to apply. This liner smudges well and I quite enjoy it. I do notice that the product migrates below my eyes by the end of the night though...so not one of my holy grail liners.
Mascara: Maybelline Mega Plush. See my full review on this in a previous post. Love it!
Face: The Balm Liquid Concealer. Love this concealer. Covers well and actually feels as though it is healing blemishes. It has tea tree oil in it which is very soothing and smells quite nice.
Maybelline Mineral Power Face Powder. I have had this power for eternity and I still love it. It provides a decent amount of coverage, but never looks cakey or dry on the skin. I do not wear foundation and find that this is all I need when my face is blotchy or sunburnt.
Cheeks: NARS blush in 'Desire'. Love this bright pink blush. Very pigmented.
Lips: NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Golden Pink. Very nice medium pink.

I was quite pleased with this look and it took no time at all. I love how shimmery it is, but it is still appropriate for my office job.

Hope you enjoyed the look!

Cheers!
xoxo
Nicole

Don't Monkey Around

What is this blog post about? Nothing. Why did I post this photo? Because I can. Isn't she pretty?

Maybelline Volum' Express the Mega Plush Mascara

Hi everyone!
I hope everyone is enjoying June so far. I know countless beauty bloggers have reviewed this product, but I wanted to give my two cents nonetheless. As the title of this post indicates, I will be reviewing Maybelline's new addition to their Volume Express mascara line: Mega Plush Mascara.  I was immediately drawn to this mascara's packaging...not gonna lie. I am very in to the teal/mint green/aqua colour trend and love the colour of the tube.

I am a sucker for cute packaging, but we all know that cute packaging doesn't mean anything unless the product performs. Maybelline markets this mascara as a revolutionary gel-mousse formula.  This mascara is supposed to keep your lashes soft. No flaky, brittle lashes? Get out of town...
Normally, I have very few opinions about a mascara when I apply it for the first time.  I didn't know how I felt in terms of the mascara's ability to volumize and lengthen my lashes, BUT I was pleasantly surprised when I brushed my finger over my lashes after application- soft soft soft lashes! I have very long lashes naturally and most mascaras make my lashes brittle and this tends to irritate my skin when the lashes come into contact with my skin. This mascara left my lashes feeling very soft all day long and I instantly loved this feature of the mascara.

This mascara features a brush which I quite enjoy. The brush head is large and the bristles are soft- not plastic.  I find this brush head to provide good volume and it lengthens my lashes nicely.

The brush wand of this mascara also exhibits a unique feature.  As you will see in this photo, this mascara has an incredibly flexible wand. This bendy wand is intended to help users wiggle the brush in between their lashes from the root to the tip of the lashes.  I don't normally have much of a problem applying normal wands and find this to be an unnecessary feature.  I also found it a bit awkward to use at first.  I felt I had to be more careful with the wand as I was worried it might bend and I might end up with product on my brow bone.  This feature of the mascara isn't a deal breaker by any means, and I have become used to using a more light hand when applying this mascara.

While I have thoroughly enjoyed many of the other mascaras in the Volume Express line, I was hesitant to purchase this mascara.  Volume Colossal and Maybelline Falsies smell HORRIBLE. The scent of these mascaras is VERY strong and quite overwhelming during application. I was worried that Mega Plush would also smell like a slightly soiled litter box. To my delight, the scent is much more tolerable. The scent is still reminiscent of their previous mascaras, but no where near as potent. I likey! Did I need to dedicate an entire paragraph to the scent of the mascara? Yes..Yes I did.

So what are my final thoughts on this mascara? I really love this mascara and would definitely purchase it again.  It gives my lashes volume and length, while keeping them soft.  It is also quite easy to remove with makeup wipes or makeup remover.  I imagine most face cleansers would remove this mascara quite easily. I purchased mine for $6.99 here in Canada at London Drugs. I really love this mascara...is it REVOLUTIONARY as Maybelline claims??? No it isn't a Magic Bullet or Oxi-Clean...but it is a pretty great mascara.

Cheers!

xoxo

Nicole

Welcome!!!

Welcome to my blog!

I doubt many people will read this, but I hope those that do enjoy the experience. This blog will mainly feature beauty products- I am a makeup junkie! I blame my sister for this addiction.  It is funny that just over a year ago, I thought her love of makeup was kind of weird...and now...here we are.
The name for this blog was inspired by my kitties- Angus and Jubey (They both have very white boots). I just wanted the name 'White Boots"...but of course that was taken....along with basically every other cool name.
This blog will feature makeup reviews, hauls and makeup looks that I wear, commonly known as "Looks of the Day" in the beauty blogger world. Don't worry. I won't post any shots of myself sporting that ANNOYING duck face.
I also plan to blog about my other interests as well. Want to learn about my yoga practice? Want to read endless posts about KITTIES? Well then be sure to follow my blog.

Cheers!