10 Reasons Trader Joes ROCKS

**This is NOT a sponsored post, I just really love Trader Joe's this much!!

Getcho self to Trader Joe's and buy ALL these things!

1) 19 cent bananas! 

I started visiting Trader Joe's almost religiously when I discovered there was one across the street from the middle school where I teach flute lessons, and would you know- they have pretty much the cheapest produce all around in the area! All good things :)

2) 4 avocados for $2.99!!!

Thats a good price for anywhere in the country! I think they went up to $3.29 when they were out of season for a couple months (gasp), but still super cheap especially for the NOVA area. Oh! and if you shop purely organic, you can get 4 for only $3.99! Still a great price.

3) Kale. Sprouts.

Seriously y'all! Its an actual hybrid between brussel sprouts and kale and (correct me if I'm wrong) they are currently available only at Trader Joe's and Whole Paycheck. They're cute, if veggies can be cute, and the combination completely takes away the potential bitterness of brussel sprouts. 

4) Peach Salsa

Its sweet, its zippy, and that's pretty much all you need to know! Oh, and you can buy it on Amazon for around $15. LOL (it will only cost you a few bucks at the store)

5) Gorgonzola Gnocchi

Now head on over to that middle frozen food aisle- there are SO many fun new products to try! One I keep going back to is the Gorgonzola Gnocchi. The serving size is totally a lie, because lets be honest, you're going to eat a lot of it. So just know that it will serve two people instead of four, and you won't be disappointed! Hah. Who doesn't love gnocchi?! Best way to describe this: grown up mac and cheese. 

6) Roasted Gorgonzola flavored oven crisp crackers

-Buy them way overpriced on Amazon-

Lets just stick with the gorgonzola because it's somehow mild and strong at the same time (is that possible? I'm not a food connoisseur...) and completely delicious. This is the perfect not boring party cracker. You'll be shoveling them in all night so go ahead and buy two boxes! 

7) 2 Buck Chuck

Technically not $2 anymore ($3.29, to be exact), but still a steal! Charles Shaw is the man. OH! And if you didn't know, we're talking about wine ;) I can't say I love ALL of the Charles Shaw wines, but the Chardonnay is one of our all time faves and we keep going back to the Cab Sav and Shiraz as well.

8) Green Fin

This Green Fin wine (particularly the "white table wine"...sounds fancy, I know) is my current absolute faaaavorite! Its organic (does that really affect the taste? I donno!), its under $4, and its delicious. 

9) Light Champagne Vinaigrette 

This dressing is low cal and low fat and high in all the tart tastiness you could ever want in a dressing, especially in this heat! My current favorite way to use this dressing is with dark greens, chicken, crushed almonds, and strawberries. You need to try this dressing AND that simple salad....might actually be in my top 10 meals ever. A SALAD....in my top 10 meals. Its that good!

10) Flowers.

Gorgeous stems ranging from $2.99-6.99 as well as potted cuties and pre-arranged floral bouquets. Theres always something different and always something worth the $! I've heard (and witnessed) that this is a go to destination for your affordable summer peonies as well ;) Bloggers/everyone LOVES peonies.

*All flowers photographs are my own and were purchased at Trader Joe's!

Happy Shopping, friends!! What are your Trader Joe's must haves?

July Glam Bag

If you are a fellow ipster, you know that glam bag day is one of the highlights of each month! Only $10 (which includes shipping) for a fresh themed make-up bag and 5 new products- its practically a steal! I love trying new products, but I'd rather not dish out the $$ for full-sizes that I may or may not end up liking! Cue Ipsy! They claim to send you samples, but honestly I receive more full sizes that I do trials! And the trials are usually more like travel sizes that trial sizes. Anywaayyyy....This month was a good one! Not only did I get my 5 normal products, but I received two really great extras with points that I've been hoarding!

[clockwise starting top center!]

Buxom Bar Single Eyeshadow in Metallic Gold

This beautiful eyeshadow is infused with primer, highly pigmented, and has hardly any fallout- which I find most shimmery shadows do.  Pretty cool! Honestly I don't put eyeshadow on without Urban Decay primer potion anymore so I'm not really sure how to value the "infused with primer" claim...I guess I should try it out! BUT I really love this product! The pigment is highly buildable, so you can have as sheer or as bold of a summery gold shimmer as you want! Each shadow single is values at $12 and you can buy a refillable (empty) 6 shadow compact for $13 at Sephora.

Octavio La Playa Sea Salt Spray

This sea salt spray is infused with algae extract and encourages your natural curl pattern along with creating texture and volume! So far I have only used this product while air drying my hair, but according to the instructions it should add quite a bit of extra "oomph" with a diffuser. I. Love. This. Product. I'm no stranger to sea salt sprays, and I've in the past settled on "Not Your Mother's" Sea Salt Spray which is readily available at Walmart, Target, and Ulta for under $6. The thing about Octavio La Playa is that is doesn't smell like you have the sea still in your hair at all (even though you technically do...) like other brands that I've tried. While the smell in itself is a big plus, I've also found that Octavio La Playa leaves my hair more consistently curly and less frizzy! And less frizz is always a good thing. I received a perfectly good travel size in my Ipsy bag that I'm going to use right up! The full size is valued around $15.

Jelly Pong Pong 2-in-1 in Bronze

At first I was totally bummed at receiving yet another eyeliner from Ipsy, but I really like this product! Its cruelty free (which means they don't test on animals) and has a natural beeswax base. This thick liner has a beautiful deep color and can double as an eyeshadow if you do enough blending. The durability is great (although I always use a primer), and the color stays brilliant without creasing all day long! Priced at $16, I doubt I will purchase the Jelly Pong Pong liner again, but if you're into dishing out the $$ on makeup, I'd say go for it!

IT Cosmetics Brow Power Universal Eyebrow Pencil

I'll just quote the Ulta website for you on this one, because the description is on fleek AND it's absolutely all true! So about this amazing IT brown pencil: it is a "universal, transforming long-wear eyebrow pencil infused with cutting-edge brow enhancing ingredients and technology. The oval shaped tip is perfect for both thin and thick brows. The spooly end brush gives a natural polished look. Brow Power Universal Eyebrow Pencil matches all hair colors and covers gray perfectly. Full brow lift guide included with each pencil." This pretty stinkin awesome product was created by plastic surgeons specifically to look like real hair! Valued at $26 (the travel size I received is worth $12), this stuff is the real deal, so I'd say its up to your wallet whether you run out to purchase or not ;)

Crown Tweezers 

I wasn't too thrilled to receive tweezers in my ipsy bag, because who wants tweezers with you can get bright red lipstick or something shiny, AmIRight? But really, on a definitive scale of how tweezers can be, these aren't the best. Sorry Crown! But, if you want to give them a try, these $17.50 tweezers are currently on sale for $6.99!

Tarte Amazonian Clay Waterproof Bronzer in Park Ave Princess

We were so lucky this month to get to sample Tarte's best selling bronzer! Ironically, I already own this product (the one I would normally be the most pumped about!) so I was actually a little bummed. BUT I'm going to be doing a cutie little instagram giveaway here in the near future, so one of you lucky ducks will be getting this pretty baby for free! Tarte's special amazonian clay formula is waterproof for up to 12 hours and works to improve your complexion! Win win! I'm already a huge fan of this brand. Their blush is my #1 go to! So, go get it ladies! Full size is valued at $30 and available on Tarte's website, at Ulta, and Sephora. We received a really great sized sample worth around $10.

Ole Henriksen The Clean Truth Cleansing Cloths

These face cleansing, make-up removing towelettes claim the benefits of Vitamin C, micro algae, CoQ10 (uhhhh whatever that is), and green tea- brightening, lightening, tightening, boosted collagen production (hey- all us pour souls over 25 could use some help with that!), skin repair, anti-oxidant, and even prevents collagen breakdown! Wow, now that sounds like quite the miracle product, yeah?! It smells like black currant...a little too much if you ask me, but it's nice and the scent doesn't linger on your skin too much. My complain is that my skin felt like sandpaper after using these! Sad. Day. Now, I will definitely continue to use the rest of my $10 10 towelettes to see if I can reap any of those age defying benefits, but since I had to slather on the moisturizer to feel human again, I definitely won't repurchase. 

Overall, with help from my extra points, I'd say that this month was a roaring success! This specific bag can be valued around $70! And I paid a whopping $10!!! So basically you need an Ipsy subscription, and you should use my referral link to join so I can get even more points and more free things ;)

Y'all are the best! Thanks for reading. This is my very first product review. so I'm very open to any and all constructive criticism!

<3 Paige

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Oh Hi There, Blog! :)

Oh hi, guys!! I'm back! Again... lets see if it sticks this time, huh?

-Oh haaaaai, hubby approves of my re-entry into the blogging world-

Its funny because once upon a time I made a facebook page for this trusty space, and every once in a while I get a prodding email from the old facebook telling me that my readers want to hear from me (LOL!) and I should post something. So if there really is someone out there who has been missing me....errr, this blog... my sincerest apologies, and I will try to be more loyal this time around ;)

For some reason my dear old blog popped into my head and I decided that I missed my outlet for snark, weekend updates, and horrible mirror reflection outfit selfies.

Life and interests have changed so why don't I start out with a quick little "about me" update?

Hello! Again again. I'm a professional flutist and flute teacher, and an amateur of many interests. You probably won't catch me talking about the flute and classical music very much around these parts, although if the mood strikes, who knows! I'm sure the general population finds it fascinating. And I will talk about things like politics when I get paid a million for blogging.

-insert trendy aztec rug mixed with classical non-trendy life-long interest-

My hobbies on the other hand...well, they are plentiful and thrilling, let me tell you.

I enjoy:

1. Tiny pup (Winston, yorkiepoo, 6 years old and still looks like a baby)
2. Cooking
3. Makeup
4. iPhone photography (aka instagram)
5. Working out (TIU youtube channel is my fav)

Great, yeah? I know, I know.

I probably won't write any great tutorials. I definitely won't write one of those magnet title posts that makes a million people click/read/mix up some huge controversy. I might not even be relatively interesting to anyone other than myself....but if you do decide to stick around please say hello so I can say hello back in enthusiastic thanks :) Oh! and I like publishing without proof reading.

Maybe I'll grow out of that.

Happy Monday!

#fremdersforever: Portraits

Happy Monday everyone!!

I'm up at 5am because Drew is up at 5am.

Now, I am NOT a morning person. Actually, I will go right back to sleep after I write this. Buuuuut if I get up and help Drew with his breakfast and lunch while he gets ready for work, then he is a happy husband which makes me a happy wife! And I get to zombie write this Bridal post for you- yay!

Theres not much to say actually, I mean I'm just posting a ton of pictures of myself and thats kind of weird to start with soooooo- Daniel Colvin Photography, ladies and gents! Yay!

I mean, everyone wants a bridal portrait like this, yeah? ;)

oh heeeeey there fancy man!!

Now, maybe you noticed, but I threw some pictures of my handsome groom in there. I tell ya, whew! I'm a lucky girl.

So there you have it, lots of cheesin and happiness on our wedding day!!

#fremdersforever was the hashtag we chose for our wedding....and we're still using it today! Follow us on instagram for life updates :) We are @paigebrownflute and @drewsefer

If you love Daniel's work as much as we do, be sure to follow him on Facebook!

Next time I'll be sharing a little bit about our "bridal party" along with some others :)

#fremdersforever: Pre-wedding

Thanks to Daniel Colvin at Daniel Colvin Photography we have exactly 800 spectacular photos to help us remember our wedding day! Luckily for you, I won't be sharing all of them. Unless you actually want to look at 800 wedding photos....if thats the case, I'm sorry. And you're crazy ;)

I have so many faithful friends and followers who have stuck with us on this blog through every stage of our relationship- from dating, to finishing masters degrees, to Army BCT, to England/Virginia long distance, to engagement, and now marriage! I hope you enjoy this little series of mine that will take you on a journey through our wedding day :) Love to you all!

First things first- This was a completely DIY wedding. My vision was for a quaint and whimsy people centered environment- something simple and happy. 

I'm SO thankful for my previous flute students, Rosie and Callan, who curled my hair for me! What a blessing :) And Christina, my former roommate and dear dear friend helped to style my hair.

Now,I know not all brides out there agree with me, but I was all for the idea of borrowing and re-using whatever I could!! 

My hair piece was especially fun to me because it was made out of the hair clips attached to my mom's veil! I loved the flower child look and tried to find a halo or headband off of Etsy (breaking news: Etsy is NOT cheap anymore!!! Silly competitive prices...) but what I ended up realizing is that I had all the tools in front of me! So thanks mom for letting me cut up your wedding hair piece to make mine :) It was perfect and exactly what I wanted!

pretty happy mom :)

Finishing touches on my bouquet. And yes, we were crazy enough to do our own flowers!! I went to a florist and told her what I had in mind. We asked how many bunches she would order for X amount of vases and X amount of bouquets, placed a bulk order, picked them up the day before and arranged away!

Not going to lie, arranging flowers is much harder than I thought and took much longer that I expected, but I was very happy with the results. Plus we saved a lot of money that way!

Need I say that my mom made my garters as well? SUPER woman.

And one of the best pictures of the 800- the daddy first look :)

#fremdersforever was the hashtag we chose for our wedding....and we're still using it today! Follow us on instagram for life updates :) We are @paigebrownflute and @drewsefer

If you love Daniel's work as much as we do, be sure to follow him on Facebook!

Next time I'm sharing my favorite bridal shots from our wedding day- see you then!

Honeymoon Highlight

-this is not about what you think it could be about, get your minds out of the gutter people-

Finishing up our thank you cards from the wedding (holy moly, and are we thankful!!!) reminded me of one of the sweetest memories that Drew and I have shared so far, and I wanted to share it with you all!

this is actually not the memory, just a photo stolen from the Culbertsons, a wedding sneak peek if you will...

After we got to our hotel, completely exhausted, the first thing we did was sit down on our bed and read our wedding cards.

Before I go getting all sentimental.... instead of just blowing through cards, we sorted them into piles based on who they were addressed to: Paige and Drew, Drew and Paige, The Fremders, Mr. and Mrs. Fremder, etc.....it was a fun game. Yeah we're weirdos, I know. 

Anyway, we sat on the bed and read our cards out loud to each other, and this simple action has proven to be one of the most powerful emotional experiences we have had together. It seems cheesy when you're trying to pick a card for someone, but we want you to know that we read every word (printed and written), every quote, every verse, every bit of advice, and genuinely took it to heart.

Thats when the "this is it, we're REALLY married!" moment happened. All these people from all parts of your life, together and individually, are all in one place at one time and there is only one reason they are there: YOU. To say that the experience is overwhelming would be an understatement. 

We enjoyed every single card. We got to tell each other who "our" guests were and what role they played in our lives. Your messages made us beam, laugh, and cry. Altogether we feel so loved and supported!!! 

So to everyone who has blessed us in any way, AGAIN, we want to thank you, and we can never thank you enough!

God has surely given us the best people to journey through life with, and our wedding was the perfect reminder to reminisce of and be thankful for each and every one of you!

Hello, my name is...

I feel like I need to reintroduce myself...


Hi!!!

My name is Mrs. Fremder (say, whaaaaa?) and I live in Virginia.

Dinner a few nights before our wedding...probably looking at a picture of ourselves

-The last time we talked I was Ms. Brown and I lived in Texas....and England...and then kind of no where-



I'm currently a flute practicing, meal cooking housewife.

Ok, you're right, I didn't really cook this. But I have been cooking!!
But seriously, look how handsome my husband is.

-The last time we talked I was a student, studying the flute in England with Trevor Wye-


(Ok, so I'm watching Modern Family right now and this is taking me forever....)


I'm going to miss living in Texas a lot.
I'm going to miss being really close to my family and friends.
I'm seriously going to miss Baylor and my Baylor music family.

BUT

I get to live in beautiful Virginia.
I'm married to the man of my dreams.
I have a family of friends here that have welcomed me with open arms.

And I'm pretty sure this is what happily ever after looks like.

HOME (long winded but worth it)

HOWDY Y'ALL!

This post is almost three whole weeks delayed, but as you'll soon understand, life has been a bit of a whirlwind!!!

I can't tell you how good it feels to be on a laptop looking at blogger and being able to access all of its functions without a hitch....and having my photos right there just a click away! My iPad was NOT very kind to me when it came to blogging the past six months. But I also feel like the contents of the last six months weren't very blog friendly for me, but thats ok! I'm home and I'm back and I'm looking forward to probably starting my readership from scratch again. Oops...sorry guys and thanks so much for sticking with me if you're reading this!!!

I finished my flute course with Trevor Wye in England and flew home (USA home, not TX home) on March 31st. I didn't blog through most of my time in England because I was focusing on the flute, which is why I was there. Also being in the same tiny place all day er day for six months is not extremely stimulating for the creative brain juices. Anywhooooo I still have a trips to London, Canterbury, and Paris that I would like to share some very unprofessional photos of. They'll just be, you know, 4-6 months late! Oh. Well.

This is Trevor, super famous flute teacher, dropping us off at the airport! Byyyyye Trevor!!

So now we're getting to the fun stuff. Hiiiii. I'm back!!! Mexican food and pizza please!

***Necessary background story***

I was completely convinced that Drew would NOT be picking me up from the airport. He plays in the Annapolis Symphony and had rehearsals all that week (I got in on a Monday) and since he isn't a tenured member he wasn't allowed to take a rehearsal off without giving up playing on the whole concert.  SO, we were sad. I mean, six months, and then an extra 5 grueling hours before we could see each other?? Mega bummer. BUT our super amazing friends Manny and Sarah (who live in Annapolis) agreed to pick me up, which was totally awesome, and take me to Annapolis to see Drew ASAP.....

fast forward

Airport. US soil after six months in England. Anticipation is CRAZY. It took AGES to get to baggage claim.

I told my roommate Katie (who lives in the Washington DC area) that I was looking for a tall dude probs wearing a button up shirt and awesome Warby's and a tiny adorbs curly haired girl jumping up and down.

When I found Manny and Sarah, they were exactly as described....jumping up and down and all, so I dropped my suitcases in excitement and started giving hugs and all that stuff

*sidenote, my heart is beating out my chest in anticipation like I'm reliving this crazy moment all over again*

and then mid catch-up chat (Sarah was telling me this awesome joke about "how was your clarinet class?" or something like that) I get tapped on the shoulder, only to turn around and see DREW just in time to pretty much have a heart attack. Photo evidence coming up...not my most flattering moment, but totally worth it.

Are you kidding me?!?!?!

And then this happened.

I promise you SO MUCH sobbing was going on in ^that picture. And all the following pictures. 

Drew had ditched the concert cycle so he could be at the airport to pick me up. Manny and Sarah drove all the way from Annapolis to pull off the surprise, which went without a hitch. Patrick Morgan drove my nervous wreck of a fiance to the airport and took these incredible photos for us. EJ and Amanda (and their precious son, Will) were there, incognito and adorable, to greet me and to capture the whole thing on film. I mean, I'm STILL complete blown away. Almost speechless. 

OH! If you were wondering, I said yes! Actually if you ask Drew, I blubbered and nodded my head a lot and hugged him five times before I actually even looked at the ring....

But hooooly moly. Just blown away. They whisked me off to a texmex restaurant where we were all met by Patrick's wife Emily and MORE friends, Joe and Yarina. I couldn't have asked for a better welcome home party. So again, thank you so much to everyone involved, and enjoy a few more of Patrick's photos and the video that EJ took!!!

Watch our proposal video here!

I spent a wonderful, and necessary, two weeks in Virginia with Drew. Now I'm in Texas with my family (another wonderful reunion!!!) and my sweet puppy dog and we are whirlwind wedding planning up a storm!

To be continued......

if I were home...

With barely more than a month left in England, "if I were at home" runs through my head quite often....

 

• If I were home, I would head to the nearest gas station/grocery store/px to buy some Cheetos ASAP. Crunchy, puffs, both, I don't care!!

• If I were home, I would most difinitely eat Mexican food, also ASAP. Probably Chuy's, but honestly at this point anything would do!

• If I were home I would cook for Drew a lot. (I'm sensing a theme here...) but I really do have a list going! Three of us share a mini fridge and a tiny kitchen, and we only get one grocery trip a week so planning and cooking has become a strength of mine!

• If I were at home, I would go to Target, buy an icee, and wander around for at least an hour. And I'd probably buy stuff.

Actually, I'd buy these!!

• If I were home, my phone connection would frustrate me sooooo much that I want to chunk the thing across the room. I mean, thank the dear Lord for giving people the brains to invent things like viber and facetime, but relying on just that for a super long distance connection gets old.

Now that I type that out, I feel like I should delete it because I'm SO thankful for how much I get to talk to Drew, my family, and my friends

• If I were home, I would be all caught up on Grey's, Modern Family, Once Upon A Time, and Pretty Little Liars. I only have an ipad here so I can't stream anything, and Netflix UK is a force to be reconned with....I COULD however watch every episode of Dr. Who ever if I so desired. But no, not Sherlock. Hmph.

• If I were home I would never ever ever EVER make instant coffee again.

• If I were home I would hug EVERYONE. For awkwardly long amounts of time. And cry.

• If I were home, I wouldn't be holding on to some pretty exciting news!! How's that for a cliff hanger? Now you have to wait 30+ days too. Wahahahaha ;)

 

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