Category: Style & Beauty

Amazon & Target Lately v. II

Before we get to todayā€™s post, I wanted to share a family that Iā€™ve been praying for lately, and want to ask that you pray for them as well. I donā€™t know this family personally, but for some reason was drawn to them. First, her beautiful pictures and writing, and then eventually, I followed along long enough to know a small bit of their story. Little Luna, Lindsayā€™s daughter, has undergone a bone marrow transfusion from her sister in hopes of her body reprogramming itself from slipping into leukemia. Lindsay, her mama, explains Lunaā€™s health situation much more eloquently and completely on her Instagram page, but while things were looking good and her numbers were increasing as expected for a long while, about a week ago, her numbers started slipping. The doctors didnā€™t know why, and while they were talking not that long ago about discharge from the hospital to go home, they slipped so far that she had to be moved to the ICU and intubated. I donā€™t know why but I feel so connected to this family and little Luna. I feel like this is not the end the story even though they are at such a low point right now. And Iā€™d just ask you to send some prayers for little Luna. And her mama. And daddy + sister. Hereā€™s her Instagram:

In lighter topics, I thought Iā€™d share some of my Amazon and Target purchases lately! You know, just after Prime Day, so perfect timing. šŸ˜†. Oh well. Prime Day overwhelms me, quite frankly. Anyone else? I bought nothing on Prime Day, and I feel totally ok about it.

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My Summer Beauty Staples

I donā€™t talk ā€œbeautyā€ very often on here. Iā€™ve shared a little bit about my curly hair, and what products I use for curls. But beauty…well, I donā€™t like change often. Iā€™m not keen to try out new products every time I run out of one. I tend to stick to the same products over and over and over again. Most of these are tried and true. A few are new this year. And when I go to look for a new product or to try something different, having a friend recommend something is my favorite way to find something new I’ll love!

Our summers in KC are hot and humid. They are strings of days of chasing around little boys outside at the pool or through the backyard, so most summer days, I keep make-up light and quick, knowing that Iā€™ll look downright glowy thanks to the sweat by mid-day.

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Friday Favorites {06.18.21}

Thankfully, work was a little slower this week. Which was helpful given that I ended up at the doctor with a double ear infection and sinus infection. šŸ™„ I thought adults didnā€™t get ear infections anymore. But somehow, I was able to achieve it. Two times over. Hereā€™s to antibiotics and the weekend ahead celebrating our favorite Dada! Hope you all have a wonderful one!

This is the face of the bravest little boy I know, who is super excited to have started swim lessons! He went head first into jumping off the side and the biggest splashes of his whole class. (The girls in his class were less than impressed with being splashed. I can relate, because I was totally that girl growing up. Boys, amiright?). I am so proud of him, and I love watching him learn to swim! I have yet to brave the pool with both little boys by myself, though. Not sure Iā€™m ready for that.

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Whatā€™s Up Wednesday {05.26.21}

If youā€™re new to here, once a month, I link up with Shay and Sheaffer to share with you whatā€™s going on in our life! Itā€™s a little a bit of everything. What weā€™re eating, what Iā€™m wearing, what Iā€™m looking forward to, what Iā€™m dreading. A little life update in one post…

1: WHAT WEā€™RE EATING THIS WEEK: Did you see my Trader Joeā€™s haul yesterday? Iā€™m eating all the snacks from my TJā€™s. Itā€™s a blessing and a curse the week after a Trader Joeā€™s run, because I find myself at the pantry trying a different snack VERY FREQUENTLY.

As far as what weā€™re making this week, Iā€™m making a BBQ shrimp boil in the Instant Pot, Pork Fried Rice, and my grandmaā€™s sloppy joeā€™s recipe.

2: WHAT Iā€™M REMINISCING ABOUT:

Remember back when we took vacations? Iā€™ve got a serious itch to get out of KC for a little bit. Our very last family vacation was our trip to visit my parents in South Dakota in 2019

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Spring House Tour 2021

It’s HOME TOUR day! It seems like every season I declare on my blog that it’s my favorite home decor of all for that particular season. There’s something about the fresh re-set of home decorations for the season that lightens the heart and makes me fall more in love with that season. Over the past year, I’ve shared our house decorated for Christmas

Christmas Home Tour 2020

And our house decorated for fall..

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Allbirds Love: The Best Shoe Iā€™ve Ever Owned

Todayā€™s post is all about my love of a pair of shoes. Yes, an entire post. For a person who is not a shoe person, I have an undying love for my Allbirds.

It all started when I noticed a coworker wearing a pair of wool loungers, and they were raving about how comfortable they were and washable, that I decided to give them a shot. It was almost summer, so I bought a pair of the slip-on tree loungers, and it was love at first wear. Friends, I am telling you that I have not owned a more comfortable or practical shoe my entire life. I wore them everywhere. They became the fastest shoe I could put on before walking out there, and they were soooo comfy. They went to the park…

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The Curly Girl Rules I Break

We were on vacation with Nathan’s family in August of 2019. I was sitting at our beach condo while Harrison was napping that afternoon, scrolling Instagram, and noticed one of my friends talking about switching to the Curly Girl Method. Before I knew it, I was a deep down the rabbit hole of Curly Girl Method research on the ‘gram. I had for well over a decade switched between straightening my hair and letting it naturally be wavy, but this Curly Girl Method of hair sounded intriguing. So that very afternoon, I added loads of different hair products to my Amazon cart, and after coming home from vacation, switched to using the Curly Girl Method on my wavy hair.

For the most part, Iā€™ve loved doing my hair this way. For one, I wash my hair so much less. It saves me LOADS of time during an already busy week washing and drying my hair. Yes, I tend to dread wash day. I try to plan my wash days on days that I have the time to completely dry my hair before scrunching it out and going to sleep. But every non-wash day, itā€™s a quick shower with a shower cap on, and Iā€™m done for the day.

But the Curly Girl Method (#CGM), has a LOT of rules. When I was first learning about it, and even now when I consider trying a new product, it can be super overwhelming. No drying alcohols, no sulfates, no parabens, no heat. There are a lot of people who follow the rules perfectly. While I try to stay pretty close to them, there are some that I break, and Iā€™m sharing those with you today.

-1- The biggest curly rule I break is that I sometimes blow dry my hair straight and curl it. For at least a year when I was first doing the CGM, I didnā€™t dare straighten my hair. The fear of undoing all of the work to get my curls to come back and thrive was just. Too. Much. Seriously. I know this sounds crazy to non-CGM peeps, but I was scared that I would ruin all of my time and effort spent in reviving and taking care of my curly hair by using really hot heat.

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My Home Office

Around mid-March last year, our home office became one of the most important rooms in our house. Iā€™m sure that many of you can relate. All of sudden I was spending 8, 9, sometimes 12 hours a day in my home office. Iā€™ve made a few upgrades over that time to make things a little more comfortable.

For so long I had a plastic folding table as my desk. We upgraded to a regular desk after looking EVERYWHERE for a good fit. This desk is from World Market. Itā€™s been nice to move up to a real desk, but I wish the drawer in the desk was a little bit larger.

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