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 :)

our 2013 Christmas card

Mailing out Christmas cards has always been one of my favorite things to do this time of year. Even before I was married, I would search for the card to mail to all my friends and relatives. You can leave it to my 89 year old Gran to teach me the love of a written letter. She's still to this day one of the few people I know who likes to share correspondence back and forth through notecards rather than always picking up the phone. 
This year's Christmas card is simply perfect. My dear friend and wedding photographer, Amelia, certainly knows her stuff when it comes to design. And luckily for us, she was able to use a couple of our engagement photos since things were just too hectic this year to bring Cory and me together for another photo shoot.

Cheers to you and yours this holiday season! 

big, excited news

And here we are again, the beginning to another week. However, I must admit, last week was completely nuts. No other way to describe it. N U T S. But it was also one of the best weeks. Let me explain..
You remember that little tale I've probably mentioned one too many times about me traveling out of town Monday through Friday for my work gig? Well, that is now no more. Yep. Hard to believe it. And it all happened because the Memphis rep for my company was given an incredible opportunity that she couldn't pass up...and I was offered to take up her territory. Simply put, I am officially OFFICIALLY home, y'all!! I decided to celebrate by waking up next to Cory every day this past week (hardy har har)..well, with the exception of when he was out fixing planes into the wee hours of the night/morning, but you get my drift. I still get to see him on a more regular basis now, and that, y'all, that's the best feeling everrr. 

But back to my nutso week though: I spent it transitioning into my new territory, meeting with a handful of my new customers, and getting two car full loads of stuff the old rep wanted to get rid of (but I am oh so appreciative to receive). So needless to say, I've been down on my knees thanking God every night for this incredible change of events. It feels amazing to know that all the risks and changes we've made these past six months ended with us coming back home and better yet, me coming back home with my career still in tact. But then again, the Big Man upstairs already knew all of this was going to happen. God is good, y'all, God is g o o d. :)

hits & misses | Marc Jacobs beauty

If you've strolled into a Sephora lately, you've more than likely noticed the not so new shiny display of Marc Jacob's beauty. Past the glossy packaging and bright colors, I thought I would give you a more in depth review of what I found to be my new holy grail item and a few things I would suggest you stay clear of in the line. 

The Lolita eyeshadow palette | Lash Lifter mascara in Blacquer | Magic Marc'er Precision Pen in Blacquer | Highliner Gel Crayon in Ro(Cocoa) | Shameless Bold Blush in Obsessed

Lolita palette | I have a very huge love/hate relationship with this palette. I swatched this half a dozen times before I purchased it, and it was easily my favorite out of the four selections. However, when I got it home, I realized that the shadows are very dupable, and wasn't really a necessity to have in my collection. Also given the fact that the color pay off isn't that great. I will continue using it, but if you are looking for something half the price and ten times better pigmentation, go find Stila's In The Light palette. (But on the other hand, I have read awesome reviews on the other funky color palettes, so I would also suggest giving them a try.)

Blacquer mascara | Don't. JUST DON'T. I can't tell you why the heck I bought this (maybe it was someone raving it on Instagram?), but ohhh emmm geeee, this mascara sucks. Separates the lashes, sure. But that's it. That's all, folks. NOTHING else. I might as well have kept my lash tinting mascara from the 90's..

Blacquer liquid eyeliner | This greatly reminds me of my beloved Stila Waterproof eyeliner, with the exception that it has a slight shiny, lacquer finish (hence blacquer being the name). If I had the choice between the two, I would still stick with Stila's version, simply for it being a little less expensive. 

Ro(Cocoa) eyeliner | If you could only buy one thing from this collection, please make sure it's one of the eyeliners. Holy crap, y'all. This stuff does.not.budge. I picked Ro(Cocoa), because it's a great golden brown for putting on my waterline. I swatched it at Sephora, and it took me forever to get this stuff off my hand. It's not marketed as waterproof, but it certainly should be. And thank you makeup gods, it doesn't require you to sharpen it. I think all crayons or pencils should be required to come in this format. But please let me reiterate..it does.not.budge. Once it's on, it's on. 

Obsessed blush | I really love this blush. It's soft. It's pigmented. It's really easy to layer it on the cheeks. Sure at the end of the day, I could find a dupe for this warm pink shade, but for the most part, I'm enjoying it for an everyday look. 

married life | the first year

Wow. Has it really been a whole 365 days? As cliche as it sounds, it doesn't feel like Cory and I have been married for a year, but lets be real, we were kind of busy to say the least. Lets have a little refresher course, shall we?

As many of y'all already know, Cory took a job in Alabama just a couple of months shy of our wedding day, and frankly, I freaked out.

It was after a very intense search and a rather bittersweet goodbye to my dear friends at ARP, I found a new job the Tuesday before the wedding.

We were married on October 6, 2012, and it was absolutely lovely. :)

The next day I moved 6 and a half hours away to my new Alabama coast home.

The next day I flew out to Los Angeles to start training on my new job. 

From there on out, I trained for work, I flew a lot of planes, I drove a lot of miles, and I worked a lot of hours.

Cory himself trained for work, flew a lot of planes, worked countless hours.

Among the craziness, we found time to come home for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

(I may have bawled like a baby leaving both times...)

I continued my training, flying, driving, and working schedule.

Cory, as well, continued his training, flying, driving, and working pattern.

Then wife of the year went overseas for work during her husband's birthday week.

(Although he assured me he would have done the same thing should he have had the chance during my birthday week...)

Every other day (or sometimes after three full weeks!) we would randomly run into each other in the apartment and say hello, and our phone bills fattened with each catch up call. 

Then out of nowhere Cory received an opportunity to come home along with a promotion.

We totally said yes.

We moved back home to Mississippi.

(cue to the hallelujah chorus) 

Cory continued to fly and work, work, work.

I continued to travel as an interim rep for my job and commute Monday through Friday every week.

We found a little time during the weekends to spend with family, friends, and more importantly, each other, and our phone bills started to skinny themselves up a bit.

We luckily spent my birthday together after Cory had spent 18 straight days and over 290 hours at work. (Honestly. I don't know how he does it..and I don't know if he knows either!)

Hello, one year anniversary!!! You have come way too soon!!

As I sit here reflecting (and full from wedding cake), I've come to realize something. God has grown our relationship by simply separating us the first year. Sure, it was hard. Sometimes completely unbearable. But after seven years with the same dude, I would be lying if I didn't say things weren't a little bit comfortable for a lack of a better word. God knew what he was doing. He wanted me to appreciate Cory more, wanted me to truly comprehend the reasons Cory was in my life, and essentially, fall in love with the man I married every. single. day. I feel like our first year apart has grown us even closer than we were before. I've find myself relishing the quiet moments with Cory. Just being near him. No pomp and circumstance. No fancy dinners or lavish gifts. Just having him. Cory is what I get in this marriage. And he is the only thing I want.

And truly at the end of the day, that's what it is all about. Here's to the next 365, honey. I love you.

my travel necessities

Before I started traveling for a living, I simply sought out a hotel for a clean bed, a fridge, and a nice shower. Now, while I still acquire all three of these things, I've found it a little necessary to bring along a handful of items in order to make the space my own. Because after all, this hotel has quite literally become my home away from home.  
a candle | It sounds simple, but as someone who would prefer to burn candles on a daily basis, this is a must. Plus, it makes my room cozy and I'm especially a fan of the holiday scents they have out now. 
a ring holder | I had a not so minor freak out in my hotel when I misplaced a very old and very special heirloom my Gran gave me on my wedding day. (see also: her 75+ year old diamond wedding ring) Even thought it later turned up in a lone pocket of my bag, that whole night I could not sleep. It didn't take me long to purchase a ring holder to keep all my baubles together at the end of the day, and that way, I know exactly where I left them.
a photo of Cory | Duh. (still looking for the perfect frame to put this in..)
a slew of face masks | If I'm going to be cooped up in a hotel room for a week, I'm going to use every possible chance to make it into a pamper night. I'm heard some rave and rant reviews on the Glam Glow mask, so I picked up a sample from Sephora, and I'm eager to try it out. 
a bottle of Caudalie's Beauty Elixir | This thing is ridiculously priced, but somehow, I can stop purchasing the small travel bottle of it. The smell of eucalyptus is refreshing before I hop into bed, and I try to use this stuff sparingly.