I've been doing a lot of hauls lately, from makeup to skincare to jewelry, in stores and online. I've done more hauls, but there are just too many pictures to post, so here are just a few, which will be used for some giveaways I will be hosting in Instagram, be sure to stay tuned to my account @sweetgemsociety for when that goes live and what items will be given.

Big Walmart and dd's haul with an acrylic organizer, makeup, jewelry and skincare. Some of which will be in the future giveaways.

Purchase with many samples from Sephora.

Close up of the blue lipstick with the tow major samples un boxed.

The weekend festival palette from bh cosmetics.

Eyeshadow and blush palette from bh cosmetics.

Some more items from Sephora.

Big haul from Miss A, some for me, some for my mother, some for gifts and some for the giveaway.

Some great deals at one of my jobs, couldn't beat it anywhere else.

Some more.

Some looks I've created!

I was tired of the blonde and one of my employers doesn't allow blue hair, so I went for the next best thing...gray hair. To showcase it more, I went for blue accessories including my makeup and I have to say, it's been my best so far.

Bongo skinny jeans from Sears, tank top underneath from Forever 21, black lace top was a gift and blue sandals from Rainbow.

Earrings from Walmart, necklace from Miss A as well as the pearl bracelets, watch from Amazon and blue gemstone bracelet from DD's Discount.

I was in process.

It did not come out as I wanted, since I wanted a whole even color, but it wasn't that bad. I've been told I need to get my hair white in order to pick up the gray color, I don't know how that is going to happen, but I will keep trying. To tie this loom together, I paired it with blue jewelry, my Anastasia Beverly Hills liquid lipstick in requiem and my Morphe Brushes Jaclyn Hill palette with a blue color on lower lash line.

I had a day off and was going to see my grandparents who were in the country visiting. I wanted to try something different with my hair, I had seen crowns on a high bun and I had a peacock hairpiece my husband had given me a while back, but I had never worn. This was my moment and it worked out perfectly, with an all jean look and new makeup look.

  Jean shirt from Target, Bongo jeans from Sears as well as the booties and handbag from dd's discount.

 

  Peacock crown was part of a set that included necklace and earrings from Wish, earrings were a gift from Colombia, pearl necklaces from Miss A and if you can see the Swarovski and pearl bracelet from Burlington Coat Factory.

 

  The new makeup look was doing simple and natural eyeshadow with a winged liner and a red lip, but the one thing that made the biggest difference to my complexion was adding Tarte Radiance Drops, my skin has never looked so smooth and amazing. Sadly I only have a sample size I got with Sephora points. I'm going to have to do some saving to get the full size, for now it has only been used for special occasions, though all I do is work these days.

This was for my birthday lunch with the girls, some of which I hadn't seen in over a year. It was five days before my birthday and I wanted to show off my new skirt I had ordered online, now that I'm getting older, I'm liking the more lady-like look with longer skirts, a-line shape, pearls and more covered up. I am a married woman now, something I'd never thought I'd say if you knew me.

New a line black skirt from light in the box, black cami from Forever 21, blue handbag from DD's Discount and sandals from Rainbow. 

Freshwater pearls necklace from no more rack, which no longer exists, but similar can be found on Groupon, freshwater pearl and Swarovski crystals bracelet from Burlington Coat Factory, pearl and green bead bracelet Zetram Designs made by  me, Payless earrings and Amazon watch.

Engagement ring from Zales and wedding band from Piercing Pagoda.

My husband and I have have had plans to move away from Florida, I've actually been trying most of my life. My brother and his family moved to Wake Forest, NC and I had gone a few times to visit since they moved and I was definitely in love with the place. I had spoken to my husband about the state and potentially moving there and he was more than happy with the idea, in fact he was the one who actually suggested Charlotte. Since there are many Publix there, we could just ask for a transfer and have job security.

 

  My oil change was due just before the trip, which was a good thing since we would be traveling a few thousands miles. I had my husband do the dirty work after I bought the oil and the filter.

 

 Since my brother lives in NC, we had decided we would stop by and see everyone. Naturally that meant getting gifts for my niece and nephew. I headed to one of my favorite stores, DD's Discount to see what I could pick up for them. I found a complete outfit for my nephew, checkered shirt, belted cargo shorts and maroon colored shoes, which he loved. For my niece I found two flowy top, a cupcake skirt like the ones I own to match her fashionable aunt and the cutest little purse!

  We headed out Friday night July 21st after working and packing to let the traffic die down some, In Miami, there is never light traffic, which is one of the reasons we are dying to move away. We were driving all night and we were able to enjoy the sunrise along the way, great view.

  It was a 12 hour trip to my brother's house in Wake Forest, which was a good decision to make since my husband had been driving all night with no sleep and straight to Charlotte was 15 hours. We had some breakfast and took a nap for a few hours, later that day my brother took us out on a little supermarket tour and the one we got out of the car to see was of course Publix. This is the one that was still under construction the last time I was there, so it was nice to actually see it finished. We actually saw the one in Wake Forest, Charlotte, which is the one we called and Concord. The one in Charlotte I was told later on would be the one I would be transferring to and Concord would be the one my husband would be going to, again since Publix doesn't allow marriages in the same department, shame since we work so great together, though I might be trained as a baker apprentice soon and the position I was going to be transferred as is bakery clerk, which is what they need.

  We looked at the bakery and there are actually different products that are not sold in the south Florida stores, I had never seen them, but my husband had since he's been doing this for many many years. Also at these stores the hot case doesn't exist, which are the croquetas, empanadas, pastries, etc. Looking at the desserts counter picture now, I see that these are the desserts that are just coming new to our stores, funny since Publix is a Florida supermarket.

  We spent that first night at my brother's and headed to Charlotte the following morning, Saturday, to check out those other two stores and meeting with bakery managers and store managers. After that we explored the city and neighboring ones, I had taken multiple snapchats instead of pictures, so I had to screenshot my snaps to get them on here. We drove by the Charlotte motor speedway on our way back from exploring Concord.

 

  At Home was a store I had fallen in love with on one of my past trips and told my husband we definitely needed to go there, it's a home store that sells decor, furniture, household needs amongst other things. My husband definitely loved it as well, we ended up purchasing a few things. In the parking lot, just before heading in, we caught a few geese flying by.

 

  We hadn't taken any pictures together during the trip and I thought it was time, right outside of the store.

  We also had plans to see some houses and neighborhoods, we drove into one really nice one with many beautiful homes, but those would definitely be expensive.

 

  We started driving back a day earlier to make a pit stop in Kissimmee to see my husband's daughter. This time we left early morning and got quite a bit of fog along the way, here it was in South Carolina. All in all it was a great trip, a nice getaway and an informative trip.

It was April of last year when I was only working for Publix and a family friend who was working at UM Hospital informed me that one of the doctor's office she was working in was looking to hire someone and I was eager to set up an interview. This was a private billing office for a psychiatrist at this hospital, a bit far from my home, but thought I would give it a shot, since I had worked for an orthopedic office dealing with insurance companies and authorizations. I had emailed the office manager and had set up the interview for a weekday I was off at about 10am, which was a mistake given the amount of traffic I encountered on the way there, took me about an hour to get there.

Pencil skirt from Goodwill, peplum top from Rainbow, booties from Sears and handbag from DD's Discount.

Multi-strand pearl necklace from Miss A, pearl earrings were a gift, Zales engagement ring and white watch was an Amazon gift from my then fiance.

Thevinterview went well and I was called to start a training day sooner than expected, since I already had my Publix schedule. I went on a Tuesday where I had to close with my shift starting at 5pm, so I had the morning and early afternoon available for the training. I put on some of the scrubs I had from the orthopedic job, but since it had been a while, they were tight. As before I had dropped way too much and was on my way to gaining a healthy weight back. It went pretty great and it is the job I continue to do now along with some added responsibilities, which is better for my resume when searching for this kind of employment in North Carolina when we move. The scrubs I buy are from DD's Discount, the pearl necklace from Miss A and earrings from Forever 21.

Last winter it was a chilly day in Miami and a day off from work. Put on my 3/4 sleeve jean shirt with my leggings and my favorite booties along with my pearls. 

Jean button up shirt from Target, leggings, booties from Sears and blue handbag from DD's Discount.

Target watch, bracelets from Miss A, earrings from Forever 21 and pearl necklace from no more rack, which no longer exists, but I've seen similar deals on Groupon.