beauty tips & tricks

I don't have many tricks up my sleeve, but of the ones I do, I thought to share. :)
// face wash as brush cleaner Back in the day, I used to shell out $$ to buy MAC's brush cleanser, which was a very thin liquid that subsequently could be used up very, very quickly. Everyone knows Purity wash is my holy grail for the face, and I've been using it to also cleanse my makeup brushes for a couple of years now. It's thicker consistency works it's magic on clearing out my Sigma foundation brushes back to their former glory, and it lasts a whole lot longer.
// lanolin for dry lips Now I'm not going to say I haven't spent $15 on some pretty ridiculous things, but Dr. Lipp's Lip Balm for chapped lips isn't one of them. If you do some research, you'll find that it's 100% lanolin. Ya know...the same stuff you can find for nursing mothers in the baby aisle of any grocery store. So ladies, save half your money and buy over three times the product while you pick up some milk and eggs. I got mine at Target. Yes, it's not a travel friendly, cute tube of lanolin like Dr. Lipp's, but I only put this stuff on in the morning while getting ready and right before bed. I'm good to go every time in between. And I guess it goes without saying that this stuff works like a dream. 
// atomizers & perfume rollers as a cheaper fragrance alternative I absolutely love Viktor & Rolf's Flowerbomb. I love the packaging. I love the fragrance. I loathe the price tag. It's a shame something so nice has to be forfeited because of that, so instead I purchase a $35 roller ball, a $5 atomizer, and decant the sucker for a win-win situation. I know many already know this trick, and some even ask me why not just use the roller ball. It's silly, but I prefer a even spray of fragrance over rolling. I told you..silly. 
And there you have it! Y'all have any nifty tips and tricks I could find useful? Let me know!

9. get bangs | 101 in 1001

This is a part of my 101 in 1001 challenge. You can read about my other goals here. :)

  Bangs..  I've wanted them since I began girl crushing on Zooey Deschanel a la 500 Days of Summer. The funny thing about them though..you don't really know what you are going to look like until you are completely stuck with them. And for goodness' sake, it's just hair.   

 

Do I love them? Mehh. I'm really too lazy with my hair to have them, and I don't care how cute Zooey looks when waking up on the New Girl...they are not a lazy gal feature. Looking back, I should have stuck with my long layers like my savvy hair gal suggested, but hey, at least now I know. ((Tip: if your hair gal has been doing your hair for seven plus years and she suggests you stick with what ya got..listen to her. She knows your habits and your hair better than yourself sometimes. ha))
 

 

this weekend

As someone who usually finds herself spending nearly every weekend charming a basket of laundry and chasing away a never ending amount of dog hair, it was refreshing to have a couple of days filled with getting together with some of my friends. The only downside is that it made me greet Monday sooner than I thought.

Starting on Saturday morning, I got to venture out with a visiting Amelia and watched her photograph one of her family sessions. Let me tell you, these three were such troopers for her since the temps decided to dip from a crisp 67 to a chilly 47 degrees within the matter of minutes. The weather has been abnormally unkind lately, and I think I'm with the majority when I say I'm ready to complain about summer now. 

After her session, we ventured over to Anthropologie where they were having a pop-up farmers market event. (With enough excitement that I forgot to take a photo..) There we picked up some of my favorite cupcakes, munched on macaroons, and found some fresh flowers to brighten up my house. Cory and I then ended the night with a last minute dinner reservation with some dear friends, Erica and David, at Local Midtown. It had been quite an embarrassing amount of time since I've last seen the girl, but luckily our friendship is one that we can easily pick up where we left off.

And lastly, I had finally decided on some of my favorite wedding day shots to mat and frame and was eagerly waiting on Shutterfly to deliver the goods. The white wash wooden frames I found for a steal at Home Goods for $9 a pop. Now to just hang the dang things...

How was your weekend? 

101 in 1001

My daily life is consistently filled with lists. Lists that are both easy to achieve and lists that seem they might never be accomplished. But still, I continue to make them, jotting in notebooks filled with my daily to dos, notes, reminders, and goals. And after reading this gal's amazing list, I took to heart her 101 in 1001 challenge and wanted to give it a go myself. If you are unfamiliar, it's a challenge of accomplishing 101 things in 1001 days. So as of today, that means I have until December 21, 2016 to complete my list, and I'm totally geeking out just thinking about it.

Now as an unofficial pro list maker, I must say that no great list is ever written without a couple of things already accomplished. Hence number one..make a 101 in 1001 list. :) We can all admit we love the satisfaction that comes from crossing things off. 

 

1. make a 100 in 1001 list (completed March 26, 2014)

2. take a calligraphy class

3. go back to school with my job's furthering education initiative

4. create a gallery wall for the living room

5. run a 5k

6. organize my office into a space I love

7. host a party for friends

8. go on a gym date with my husband

9. get bangs...I've always wanted them ((completed April 2014))
10. seven days of red lipstick
11. create something you are proud of
12. go on a honeymoon with Cory...yeah, we still haven't done that
13. take new family photos
14. celebrate our second anniversary
15. try a different hairstyle, something out of your comfort zone
16. learn how to cook
17. start a Bible study
18. volunteer as a Phi Mu alum
19. find another tv show that Cory and I both can enjoy watching together
20. write more snail mail
21. write more "thankful" notes
22. paint the living room and fix the holes in the walls 
23. find a dinning room table
24. learn how to garden
25. find flowers you love for potted plants
26. learn to play one of Cory's video games with him
27. complete our wedding album
28. repurpose something
29. babysit for someone who desperately needs a break
30. surprise someone
31. invest in taking better care of my skin
32. delete unused apps on my iPhone (23 email services GONE & I still have ten+ delivered to me each day...)
33. bake something for someone else (I tested Southern Living's Strawberry Lemonade Layer Cake for my mom & mother-in-law as an early Mother's Day happy...it was equally delicious as it was time consuming)
34. paint and organize the guest room
35. host an out-of-towner in my home
36. celebrate my dear Gran
37. practice yoga more regularly
38. grow past my fear of flights
39. take Aspen for a walk everyday for a week
40. go to the ballet (my dear husband took me to go see The Nutcracker for Christmas 2015...& promptly asked me the entire duration what was going on)
41. visit a friend in a different city
42. go on a staycation and tour Memphis
43. learn how to swim..yeah, about that..
44. go on a cruise
45. stick with a strict budget for a month (January 2015, while not planned, had proved to be the most strictly budgeted month Cory and I have ever had in our lives, ever...will have to go in detail why in the future)
46. learn how to drive stick shift
47. revamp my work clothes
48. only drink water for a week
49. go out of the country again
50. spend some quality time with my sister
51. find a rug for my living room (Joss & Main for the win!)
52. invest in a custom piece of artwork
53. host a dinner party
54. host a holiday dinner party
55. clean out the clutter to donate
56. buy a nice camera
57. frame something from my Gran
58. pay it forward
59. sponsor and support someone else's blog
60. help Aspen lose some weight (down five pounds & we are keeping it off this time!)
61. donate to a local cause
62. workout three times a week for a month..no excuses (January 2015 found me going to the gym FIVE times a week!)
63. find a great pair of compression leggings for workouts (you would be surprised the deals you can find at TJ Maxx!)
64. find the perfect little black dress
65. pair it with the perfect pair of heels
66. go a day without my beloved winged eyeliner
67. share the secrets of a great winged liner with someone else
68. invest in a second stackable wedding band that's out of the norm
69. write a letter for Ava for when she turns 18
70. write a letter for Autumn for when she turns 18
71. send flowers to someone out of the blue
72. learn how to shoot and load a gun
73. successfully unsubscribe from all unnecessary emails (completed May 2014..goodbye 22 useless subscriptions!)
74. invite someone to visit my church with me
75. join a book club (my dear friend, Meg, and I love having a nice glass (or two) of wine and chat via Google Chat all of our current reads. If you want to join, you can find this month's selection @bloglandbookclub on instagram.
76. find old Domino magazines to add to my collection
77. bring in fresh flowers for a month
78. cheer for my husband's sports team
79. watch a completed tv series that I never watched while it was on air (Veronica Mars peeked my interest when the movie came out this year...oh man, why was that show ever cancelled?!? Three seasons and a movie was not enough.)
80. go to the National Civil Rights Museum
81. go on a trip northeast of Washington D.C. (I've never ventured to that part of the states!)
82. read 30 books (6/30 completed)
83. hit a hard earned job achievement
84. pay for my sister to have a pre-baby massage...now a post baby massage
85. babysit Ava and Autumn so my sister and brother-in-law can go on a date
86. go back to tour the Woodruff Fontaine House where Cory and I got married
87. go to a Memphis Grizzlies game (we beat the Houston Rockets by 32 points! GRIT & GRIND!)
88. take a road trip out west
89. figure out my second anniversary gift for Cory (and low and behold, Cory found a gem for us!)
90. and figure out my third anniversary gift for Cory
91. visit my best friend, Jenna, in North Carolina
92. donate money to teachers to help with school supplies
93. finish Ava's first year scrapbook
94. purchase a more work friendly vehicle (didn't plan on my car's transmission going out before I purchase said car, however, I'm now the owner of an icy blue Rouge named Pearl.)
95. have a father/daughter day
96. find the perfect planner for 2015 (oh, Day Designer, you never do me wrong)
97. go to a Memphis Tigers basketball game
98. try five new restaurants (1. The Second Line, 2. Babalu, 3. Oshi Burger Bar)
99. go on a couples' trip
100. drink tea vs. coffee for a month
101. save $10 for every goal accomplished (23/101)

So as you can see, some of the items listed are little puffs that can be done in a day, while others are striving to push myself into trying something new. I'd love to see if any of y'all made a list yourselves! Let me know so I can follow along. :)

    top image via here

new year. new (permanent) home.

Today marks two full weeks since Cory and I moved into our new home. Lets be honest, house hunting can be such a drab game, one in which we have "lost" a handful of times. So with that being said, I never really filled anyone in with our hopes of finding a home, so much so I even forgot to tell people when we finally did! 
In these two weeks we have doubled our furniture inventory (no big fuss..we only had a couch, an ottoman, and a bed to our name in the first place), unpacked our stuff, and connected a tv. Obviously there is so, so much more to do. One being to patch up all the anchor holes the previous owners left. Seriously though...who uses an anchor to hang..well, everything?! 
Holes and honey-do lists aside, I really think Cory and I are going to love it here. I can't wait to see the evolution of these walls as the house becomes a home. 

And in the meantime, it goes without saying that Aspen has enjoyed her new napping spot. Silly pup :)