Hey there, friend. How’s it going? My week has been cray-cray. Yet despite this, I’ve somehow still managed to hit up the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. LOL!

Ya know, I didn’t really buy anything beauty related. I spent my lunch money on rebuilding my closet! I did a serious purge a while back and since then have been saving up for wardrobe basics. I bought tops in neutral colors (including this white lace top), jackets (a black blazer and a denim moto) and some bralettes. The sale’s still going on, so if you find something you like, grab it before July 31, which is when the sale ends.

Anywho, did you know that when you buy online from the Nordstrom website, you can have your items shipped to a Nordstrom Rack (which is Nordstrom’s chain of “discount” sister stores)? Oh, and did you also know you can return items you buy at Nordstrom to Nordstrom Rack? I only realized this recently.

The advantage of this is that if you live close to a Nordstrom Rack (there’s one in my town about 10 minutes away from my house), it allows you to make Nordstrom purchases and returns easily. This is both wonderful and dangerous for me!

While I was at Nordstrom Rack yesterday to pick up my Anniversary Sale loot, I came across a display for recycling beauty products. Nordstrom now has a program called Nordstrom BEAUTYCYCLE, and they accept several different types of beauty packaging for recycling. Very cool!

Let’s see, what else has been going on? I’ve been making a yummy, quick dish for dinner lately — Thai basil shrimp. I got the idea from this recipe I found on Laura in the Kitchen. The original recipe calls for chicken but I just swap it out for shrimp. I also substitute the chili for bell pepper because I don’t like a lot of heat.

I love this meal because it’s fast! If I start making rice right before prepping all the ingredients, I can get an entire meal done in about 30 minutes.

One thing of note: shrimp cooks faster than chicken, so I adjust the time down to avoid overcooking the shrimp. Also, since we eat gluten-free food at our house because of El Hub’s wheat allergy, I use gluten-free soy sauce, oyster sauce and fish sauce, which I buy at Whole Foods.

Before I go, this little habit has been saving me lately! I set alarms all throughout my day to remind me to stop and take 10 deep breaths. I’ve been feeling overwhelmed lately and taking the time to breathe and reset definitely helps maintain my sanity.

Anywho, miss ya. Hope things on your end of the keyboard are steady and calm.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen