Thursday, February 26, 2015

Mommy's Favorites

I'm pretty smitten by some products I've recently tried and figured I should share them with you all so you can get in on the greatness ;)
I've been using Philosophy products since my first year of college (holy shit that was 8 years ago) and recently I noticed my skin isn't reacting as favorably to it as it use to.  So when I saw a few of my favorite IGers post about the Osea line, I jumped on it.  I decided to try the hydrating oil roll first and my skin loves it!  It's not oily despite the fact its blended essential oils and it leaves my skin so soft and hydrated.  I can't wait to try more products from their line over the next few months :)

We love Lush!  Lately, any time we go to the mall our first stop is to pick out a new bath bomb to try!  Over the holidays I picked up their lip scrub while checking out and decided to give it a try.  Best lip scrub, ever.  EVER.  I use it every night and personally favor the popcorn flavor!

I've tried an abundance of BB creams.  They all leave my skin looking dry even if I put on lotion before hand.  Dr. Jart is the only bb cream i've ever used that blends with my skin and looks natural :)


I'm a huge Benefit fan.  I've been using the Hoola bronzing powder since high school and have since acquired some new favs!

This mascara is one of the few that gives my lashes length without making them clumpy or gross.

I use the Dallas bronzer to add a bit more color to my cheeks and the lip tint has become my most recent favorite!  I got it as a sample months ago and still haven't used it all up.  Since I'm not lipstick fan, this is the next best thing :) put a few drops on, add some chapstick (because my lips are perma chapped) and I'm good to go!



I think the next product I'd like to try is the clarisonic.  
I'm hoping the MR. will get it for my birthday this summer! 
If you've tried it, I'd love to hear what you think about it :) 



What are some of your favorite beauty products?

Monday, February 23, 2015

Spring Dreaming

Spring sales have officially flooded my email and I was pretty much drooling while scrolling through all the new kid clothing at Jcrew.  If only my wallet was as loaded as my email.  Since it's not, I'll share my fav's with you lovely people!





I'm pretty smitten by everything tutu du monde.  I just need to find a way to convince the MR that Ellia absolutely cannot go on without a $150 dress.  I'm no phsycic, but I'm sensing it's not going to go over well... ;)

& that haltered romper?  I just can't.  I'm determined to find one similar on etsy!

I'm clearly also all over neon coral, but who isn't this time of year?!

And for the little mister:



I'm a sucker for skinny jeans and I think toddlers are the absolute cutest in them! Beckett's also really into adding accessories to his outfits.  Whether it be a stellar pair of shades or a baseball cap, he likes to pick his own outfit accents.  Which is why I added those suspenders... B doesn't have any and I think he would love them!

I'm also loving all the prints I've seen on boys button downs.  I LOVE pairing a collared button down with a graphic tee.  So basically what I'm saying is, you can never have too many graphic tees or button downs, because the options are endless (and really frickin cute).

And that's about it!  Happy Monday everybody!

Monday, February 2, 2015

Building your own home: Paint



Some of you know, some of you don't, my husband is a builder.  We started building our first home about 2 years ago and moved in October 2013.  We learned very quickly that there's nothing easy about building your own home.  There. are. so. many. options.

Michael and I spent 3 full days picking out our paint colors and at 8 months pregnant, I shed more tears over it than I'd care to admit.  Who knew picking paint could be so damn stressful.

Did you know there's like 1 million different shades of grey?!  Grey with blue tint, grey with purple tint, grey with brown tint & when you line all those greys up they don't even look fricken grey anymore.

Advice #1: Don't bring home 20 samples like we did.  Narrow it down ahead of time.  Choose 3 colors and when you bring them home, don't do it with the idea that you can go get more samples if you're not satisfied.

Truth be told, we probably sampled around 30 different colors.  & guess which ones we picked?  Our first pick, from our first round of samples.  Don't make things more difficult than you need to!

Advice #2: Access how much natural light enters your home.  If you have tons of natural light, you can pull off a darker color.  If you don't, stick with lighter shades... You know, so your house doesn't feel like a dungeon.

Advice #3: We worked with the sweetest designer at Restoration Hardware.  She helped us pick all our big furniture pieces for our home and after doing so, was kind enough to offer paint color advice.  She advised we paint the trim darker than the walls.  We were a little skeptical, but decided to go for it in the end.

My advice?  Only do this with lighter colors UNLESS you have a great deal of natural light.  I love how Beckett and Ellia's rooms turned out.  The walls are such a light grey they look white & their trim is just one shade darker on the color swatch. The darker trim blends beautifully with their rooms.  (Not to mention, both rooms have a great deal of natural light)



We did one shade darker throughout the rest of the house.  Meaning, what we used on the kids trim, we used on the walls on the remainder of the home and then used the next shade darker on the color swatch for the trim.  In some rooms it looks wonderful, in other rooms it's a bit dark.  (it goes back to accessing the amount of natural light before choosing medium-dark colors.)


On our next build, our current plan is to use the colors we used for the kids rooms for the whole house.

#4:  Keep it neutral.  Colorful decorative pieces go a long way!  AND you can always paint a room a different color later.  Paint isn't permanent, but f you go bold with your colors all over your home and decide you don't like it, it could be a pricey fix.  We kept our entire house neutral and then last month my husband decided to paint the underside of our stairs purple.  I wasn't thrilled at first, but I have to admit it's starting to grow on me :)



You could also add pops of color by painting a door, a statement wall (like the chalkboard wall I ever so cleverly opened this post with) and if you want something less permeant than paint, you can always use wall decals (which is what we did in Beckett's room).


I'd like to note that I am not by any means a designer.  I've never taken any classes & my expertise goes no further than helping my husband with projects and watching HGTV.

That said, I hope my little bit of advice helps you on your next home painting venture!

Until next time, Molly