three flowers bath co // lip balm haul

While out visiting my mom for Christmas, we went out to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. I had never been and honestly it was waaaay too crowded for my taste. I'd give it a shot in the offseason, though. We stopped by Three Flowers Bath Co. and I snagged some lip balm! I have approximately 25,000 lip balms, but I picked these up because the first ingredient is shea butter. I have perpetually chapped lips it seems like, but shea butter helps tremendously. I snagged the Cupcake Frosting, Banana, and Vanilla Mint flavors.

I'm excited to start using these!


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lucky bandit is a for profit blog. I use affiliate links and paid advertisements. I may earn compensation for a click or purchase through a link. Paid (whether via product or monetary) reviews will be noted in the actual post. Though compensation may influence the type of posts, all opinions and reviews will be legitimate and honest.

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how to stay on top of your book collection

Being a bookworm is usually a positive thing - well-read, vocabulary is expanded, get to go on adventures while sitting on the couch... However, I am also a clutter bug. This is the current state of my coffee table - packed with books, magazines, and catalogs.

I tend to buy books secondhand, bring them home, then let them sit where they get put down until I'm ready to read them. Now that we live in a one-bedroom apartment, this isn't acceptable. Here are some ways to tackle and stay on top of your reading material!

Control what you do have // Assign a designated spot for magazines, catalogs, and books and only keep them in that spot without expanding it. Put away the new books you bring in, whether it's a bookshelf, a corner of the closet, or in a decorative box. I have some stacked and holding cosmetic organizers on my vanity.

Switch to eBooks // I know, I know. The feel of a physical book can't beat an eBook. But they take up so much less space and it's easy to always have a book on hand (especially when it's dark and you can't read via light!).

Avoid the book section // I'm always afraid of missing out on a book on my TBR for cheap at the thrift store, so I tend to buy more than I can feasibly read for our space constraints. I remedy this by not even looking at the book section when I thrift, and avoiding pricey retail bookstores.

Institute a 'read 2 before buying 1' rule // Instead of just not buying anything, vow to finish and get rid of two books before buying one. Drop off those books at the thrift store, sell them, or gift them to someone and then go get only one to replace them.

Read, read, read // Not carving out time to read can make those books sit there. I sometimes feel that reading isn't "productive" enough, so I bypass it. Reading is productive, as long as you aren't ignoring glaring tasks that need to be done. Take the time to sit and enjoy a book for a while!

How do you handle your books?

my currently-reading shelf:

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lucky bandit is a for profit blog. I use affiliate links and paid advertisements. I may earn compensation for a click or purchase through a link. Paid (whether via product or monetary) reviews will be noted in the actual post. Though compensation may influence the type of posts, all opinions and reviews will be legitimate and honest.

*All affiliate links will be marked with an asterick.*

recipe // ranch tortelloni salad

This is a quick and easy pasta salad recipe that I whipped up for Thanksgiving. Most of the ingredients were things I already had in my pantry and it's got a lot of flavor! I altered a pasta salad recipe I'd tasted at work and this was the result! I don't tend to measure accurately when I cook, so it's a lot of guesswork and working to your own tastes, but this is the gist!

Ingredients:
1 family size package of tortelloni or tortellini
1 packet of ranch dressing seasoning
1 package of cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters
3 tablespoons of olive oil
Large spoonful of mayo
Handful of shredded parmesan cheese
Splashes of red wine vinegar and lemon juice
Parsley, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
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Cook the tortelloni as the package suggests, then drain the water and toss the pasta with some olive oil so it doesn't stick to itself. I then spread mine on a cookie sheet and put it in the fridge to cool completely.

Once it was cool, I put it in a bowl and added the spoonful of mayo and mixed it all together. I added the ranch in stages - some seasoning, stir, more seasoning - until the package was empty. I didn't want it clumping into the crevices of the pasta. At this point I stirred in the parsley and black pepper, too.

I added the tomatoes next, along with the red wine vinegar and lemon juice. Use these sparingly at first - it's mainly to cut the salt of the seasoning packet! You can always add more to taste later.

The parmesan was the last thing I added, sprinkling it in and stirring for adequate distribution.

Store it in the fridge and enjoy!

This is super easy to customize - you can add cucumber, olives, different cheese, more spices, anything you want!


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lucky bandit is a for profit blog. I use affiliate links and paid advertisements. I may earn compensation for a click or purchase through a link. Paid (whether via product or monetary) reviews will be noted in the actual post. Though compensation may influence the type of posts, all opinions and reviews will be legitimate and honest.

*All affiliate links will be marked with an asterick.*

review // e.l.f. gentle peeling exfoliant

I recently used up all of my Skinfood Pineapple Peeling Gel and I was looking for something I could pick up locally. I had a 20% off Ulta coupon so I stopped in one day while running errands. I came across the Gentle Peeling Exfoliant from e.l.f. and thought I'd give it a try. At a $10 pricepoint with 20% off I snagged this for a song.

It has a nice creamy texture and it works great! I don't particularly like the residue and bits that seem to always be left behind with scrubs so this works perfectly for me. It takes almost no time at all. I just use it in the shower after I clean my face and it sloughs off dead skin almost instantly. I haven't encountered any redness or irritation and was quite surprised at how much dead skin it removed!

If you're looking for a cheap, easy to find chemical exfoliant, this one is a good bet.


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frugal bandit blog | my poshmark closet | shop leggings | shop my mercari
lucky bandit is a for profit blog. I use affiliate links and paid advertisements. I may earn compensation for a click or purchase through a link. Paid (whether via product or monetary) reviews will be noted in the actual post. Though compensation may influence the type of posts, all opinions and reviews will be legitimate and honest.

*All affiliate links will be marked with an asterick.*