Julep Maven Review

I've been contemplating for months now on whether or not to get a Julep Box, and I finally decided to purchase one a few weeks ago. It's a monthly box of mainly nail polish, but you can also receive hand, foot and body creams, hair care products, makeup and lip gloss. I signed up for their Welcome It-Girl Box, which consisted of 3 nail polishes. I don't have many nail polishes to begin with, and these colors looked awesome for summer time. You can't beat that I got all 3 nail polishes for 2.99$ either! Use the code FREEBOX at checkout, and all you have to do is pay s&h! Or, use the code SHIPSHAPE for this Nautical 5 Piece Welcome Box. Once you receive your box, and don't want to continue the subscription, you call and cancel.

What the box looked like when it arrived

The It-Girl consisted of Margaret, Kam, and Princess Grace (a periwinkle creme, a vintage spearmint and a rich papaya).. sounds amazing right? They also claim that their nail polishes have a breakthrough oxygen technology, that's fast drying, long lasting, and makes your nails healthier at the same time!

I've been wearing the polishes for a few weeks now, and really impressed with how nice it looks, and how long it lasts. After a few touch ups here and there, my nail polish lasted almost 2 weeks (with 2 coats of paint). I decided to re-paint my nails, and this is what it looks like after 2 days:

Margaret with an accent nail of Princess Grace

Rachel Anne

The Hazards of Button Batteries

I stumbled across this link about a few weeks ago, and was compelled to write about it since I know a lot about batteries.
http://www.emmettsfight.com/

Before I had Miss Claire, I was an Assistant Scientist at a company who specialized in making batteries for the DOD and DOE (Dept. of Defense and Dept. Of Energy). One of the many tasks I had was to create lithium ion and lithium batteries. Some of which were button batteries, also called "coin batteries". Button batteries are just as hazardous as regular batteries (AA or AAA’s), and have the same corrosive and toxic substances in them.

Background Information:
In order to make a battery, you need an anode and cathode, a separator (we won’t get into it, but its basically a thin material that’s put in between the cathode and anode so it doesn't overcharge and kill itself), and an electrolyte. A cathode and anode are 2 materials that are “positive” and “negative” so electrons can be exchanged. The cathode material can consist of carbons and other compounds like Silver Oxide, and Manganese Dioxide. All of these could potentially be toxic to anyone. Here’s the link for the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) of Silver Oxide. It clearly states that if you get it on your skin, it causes irritation and potentially ulcerations. 

Batteries can include Zinc or Lithium for an anode material. From my experience, Lithium is highly volatile. Whenever I made batteries, it had to be in an air sealed box, filled with Argon. If Lithium is exposed to air, it will ignite and if the Lithium is in a battery, it can explode. 

The last substance that I wanted to talk about is the electrolyte. These are nasty, and probably cause the most harm. The 2 main electrolytes for button or coin batteries are Potassium Hydroxide and Sodium Hydroxide. These are very corrosive and are strong base solutions. Sodium Hydroxide is one of the main ingredients in drain cleaner! Check out the MSDS for Potassium Hydroxide.

Now, lets talk about how you put a button battery together. You would think its pretty technical- maybe they use a air sealing technology, welding, or an adhesive so it doesn't break open? That’s sadly not the case. It just snaps together. In some cases, I would use something to add a little pressure, like a clench wrench. But, that’s it. I can’t tell you how many times some of these batteries actually leaked all over the place and started corroding while putting them together.

A photo of a corroding coin battery.
Nasty, right? 

My main reason for writing this is to give parents more knowledge on one of the many common “hidden” items in the house. Hopefully this article can prevent a child from getting hurt. Always check your electronics, and if you think your child could potentially get to it; either store it in a place they can’t, or make sure it’s sealed with heavy duty tape.

Rachel Anne

Claire's new room!

So, I was really looking forward for Miss C to get her new room. I've been getting ideas from Pinterest, etc. to figure out exactly what I wanted for her room. We decided to not paint her room, which everyone was asking us. We figured we could decorate it in other ways by not using something so permanent. Its pretty annoying how apartments have all these rules, but I'm happy we didn't spend hours painting!

Here are photos of her room, and details on where I purchased some items (for a bargain):

Part of Claire's closet. The bin below her clothes is where the majority of her toys go.
I bought it at Target for 4$! You can purchase it here: Room Essentials Milk Crate

Part of her decorations from her party are used for wall and hanging decorations.
The lamp was purchased through my local yard sale site for 5$!
9 Cube Storage Cubby
Personalized Paris Theme Blocks 

Her crib rail and crib skirt were made by me.
Fabric is a pink damask with flowers, from Joann Fabrics.
Letter Blocks were painted in a light pink, and put up with Command Strips.  

Of course, I had to add a photo of Claire Bear. She's just growing up so much.

Rachel Anne

Happy Father's Day!

This is my husbands 2nd year for Father's Day...hard to believe right?

This year Miss Claire picked out his card (a brightly colored kitty cat card that says "#1 Dad")- Super cute. (Plus Skittles, his favorite candy). I ordered a mug from Shutterfly, and added photos of Claire and our family to it. Pampers had a code and I got it for free, plus s&h. Totally worth it, in my opinion! It turned out great. For breakfast, I made him his favorite- turkey bacon with homemade Potatoes O'Brien, with coffee.

In the afternoon we went to the pool, and then for dinner I made burgers and once Claire was asleep, we shared a bottle of  Yellow Tail Riesling.

How did everyone spend their Father's Day?

Rachel Anne

Mama's gotta new hair-do!

I scheduled my babysitter to come by this morning and watch Claire for a few hours while I got my hair done. My old hairstylist stopped doing hair months ago (think back November), and since then I've only had a trim. I haven't had my hair dyed or highlighted in almost a year! I went to my local Hair Cuttery, signed in, then walked around the shopping center. I was able to buy an iced coffee and new hair brush- BY MYSELF! It feels like I always have Claire with me, wherever I go. I don't have much time to go anywhere after Jared gets home, because I tutor, and then I don't get home until 8:30 at night. It felt nice to take time out of the day for me. I really needed it, and I feel pretty, beautiful and attractive again. I haven't been the best with my body image, especially since I still have some baby weight on me.

I am proud to announce I have a new hairstylist, named Dana, and she's awesome! She took 2.5 inches off, made the front angles a little longer, and put highlights throughout.

My new hair-do!

Rachel Anne

Claire's BIG Weekend

For Claire's birthday we ended up going to Sesame Place for the day. It took her a little while to warm up to the water, but she eventually loved the splash area and wading pool for the little kids.

She even got to meet Ernie

And ride on the carousel!

We ended up staying at my mother-in-laws since
that's where her party was going to be the next day. I was scatter brained half the day- picking up last minute things for the party (that I forgot at home). But, everything turned out good, and everyone came for her big day.
I'm really impressed by my skills, and how beautiful it turned out to be. The weather was perfect, and everything looked magical. I'm definitely posting these photos on Pinterest to give ideas to other people. Her theme was "Paris in Springtime", with a little bit of Marie from the Aristocats mixed in. Claire loves cats, and was her first word, so I figured why not throw it in. We had the surround system hooked up, and was playing cool Jazz throughout outside and inside. It was like stepping into Paris during the 20's.

My mother-in-laws front yard on the lake with all of the decorations

centerpieces- Iberis in "pink ice" with cut outs on sticks.

The allergy-free candy bar with cookies

The food table

Our first family photo

It's a bitter sweet moment that my baby isn't a baby anymore, but I know that this is a new chapter in my life, and in hers. I cant believe she's walking and starting to talk, it's really unbelievable how time is so quick. This time last year, this is what she looked like- a tiny, helpless little newborn, barely over 7 lbs. Now she's a 30 inch, 21 lb toddler.

Rachel Anne