Favorite Moments: Five years ago today, I made the easiest decision of my life saying I do to Chris. Sometimes I can’t believe it has already been five years, and other times I can’t believe it has only been five years. The year we got married; we purchased a house, each got new cars, both changed jobs and were married. Talk about all the life changes. In our fifth year of marriage, we are still in the same house but driving different cars, both have different jobs, and most importantly, we have Zoe. This fifth year of marriage has been my favorite. Seeing Chris as a dad moves my heart in ways that I can’t even describe. I am seriously so lucky to get to do life with this guy.
We have plans to grab lunch together today, just the two of us. It will be our first outing together alone since becoming parents.
Speaking of lunches, Laura and I grabbed lunch together yesterday at CommonHouse. It is a weekly must for us!
And I met up with two of my old Friday lunch club girls on Wednesday. Salads were my jam this week.
One of my absolute favorite times of the year!!! The Sephora VIB Sale!!!! It isn’t often that you can get a deal at Sephora, and so when they offer 20% off you buy all the things you need! I thought I would share with you today what I have in my cart, and some recommendations on my favorite things if you are looking to try something new. You all know I am honest with you, and I don’t spend my money on anything unless it is worth it!
What’s In My Cart
I am obsessed with Clinique’s Moisture Surge Intense Moisturizer. I have purchased it several times. Thing thing is, I need a little something something for my aging skin. And I would love to have some SPF, you feel me? I think I am going to try out the Even Better Moisturizer this time. It says it’s a brightening, exfoliating, and clarifying hydrator. Sign me up! I still recommend The Moisture Surge Intense all day every day and will probably keep it as my nighttime moisturizer.
I have heard great things about the FarsÁLi Unicorn Essence, so I think I might try the small one and see if I notice a difference. It says it is an innovative, water-based, dual purpose serum, which helps protect the skin from free radical damage, while preparing it for longer-lasting makeup application. It has a lot of antioxidants in it that help with anti-aging too. I haven’t found a primer that I love, so maybe this is the route to go? Have you used it?
I am in love with L’Occitane hand cream. Seriously the best stuff ever. How awesome are their holiday kits?? Keep a few for you, give a few as gifts. Perfect!
What I Recommend
My two favorite foundations are the Estee Lauder Double Wear and the Too Faced Peach Perfect Comfort Matte. They are the only two that I can recommend without any hesitation. Double Wear has been a long time favorite of mine, and Peach Perfect is a new discovery…since it just came out. Both give medium to full coverage, and last allllllllll day long in the Alabama heat and humidity. Trust me, I put them to the test! The Peach Perfect is slightly less expensive, and you get a lot in the bottle!!! Most foundations are 1.0ML and this is 1.6ML!!! The only thing I will say about Peach Perfect is that there aren’t as many shades to chose from, and you might want to go lighter than you think you are.
It is rare for me to stick to one product and never try anything else. That is the case for me and Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion. If you aren’t using an eye shadow primer, I am not sure what you are doing with your life?? I like the original and anti-aging ones best. This stuff is worth every penny and lasts forever and ever.
I reach for one of three eye shadow palettes nearly every day. The Too Faced Sweet Peach has a great mix of fun and natural colors, matte and shimmery. And it smells AMAZING!!!
The Urban Decay Naked Basics Ultimate gives you so many looks, and they are all matte! There is a row of cool colors and a row of warm colors, and they all blend great.
And the third I use all the time is actually not found at Sephora, but you can steal it from QVC for half of what I paid right now. It is the IT Cosmetics Pretty In Summer Shadow Trio. Love it!
The Kat Von D liquid lipstick is seriously the best, most long lasting lip stuff out there. And I have tried SO MANY. The set looks like fun! If you only want to try one, Love Sick is my absolute favorite color. It is so pretty and the one I get complimented on most!!!!
The Murad Time Release Acne Cleanser is the best thing I have ever done for my skin. If you struggle with acne and aging skin all at once, this stuff is for you! Chris even uses it.
Kate Somerville Anti-Bac Attack is hands down the best spot treatment out there. One bottle of this stuff lasts me several months, I can’t say enough good things about it. Clears the inevitable stuff up, prevents other things from popping up and never dries my skin.
NARS Orgasm is a cult favorite for a reason. It looks amazing on everyone. Just do it.
Chris has been moving stuff from one server to another, and my blog link didn’t work there for a few days but I think everything is back. All that tech stuff is over my head. Anyways, we didn’t really do much this past weekend. We spend Saturday with Chris’s family and Sunday at home just hanging out. I did want to share Zoe’s Halloween/Fall photo shoot we did on our front porch! The pictures are too cute to not make it here on the blog.
And now for some of my recommendations for the month!
L’Occitane -I placed an order with Sephora last week and they had a VIB offer for a delux L’Occitane sample. You got a body oil, the Shea Butter Hand cream and Immortelle Divine. I have used the Immortelle Divine yet, but the body oil and hand cream are amazing. The hand cream is actually the best I have ever used. It makes my skin immediately soft and silky and isn’t greasy in the slightest bit. My first love was Body Shop Vitamin E butter, but L’Occtane has them beat. The scent is a pleasant smell, sort of clean powder if I had to give it a name. My hands have never felt better and when this one is gone, I plan to stock up!!! I had already been using their shower oil, and love that too. I love it for after shaving, and it’s in the shower so I don’t feel like it is an extra step.
Democracy Jeans– I purchased my first pair of these a few months before I got pregnant with Zoe. They are so comfortable and forgiving, that I was able to wear them for a few months into my pregnancy. Postpartum, I wasn’t sure how I was going to go back to real pants after months of maternity leggings, so I went back to Nordstrom Rack and got a new pair. I have literally been living in them ever since. They are so comfortable and they feel more like jeggings with the look and material of actual jeans. They come in all sizes and you can usually find them for around $40 at Nordstrom Rack at any given time.
Late July Chips – Chris picked up the Late July Chia & Quinoa chips at Publix one time and they are seriously the best tortilla chips ever!!! We have had a few different kinds from the brand and you can’t go wrong, but this kind is the absolute best! Plus they have to be healthier with chia and quinoa, right???
Cat and Jack – I have picked up clothes from several different places for Zoe over the last year, and the Cat and Jack brand from Target is among my favorite for sure. Everything is reasonably priced, so cute without being cheesy and fits like a dream. I have the hardest time finding her pants that don’t stretch out during the day, and their leggings really hold up. Especially now that she is crawling. If you are pregnant or looking for a gift, be sure to check them out!
Favorite Moments: Laura and I hit up Babalu on Tuesday for lunch. Usually I am lured by their enchilada of the day or their Taco Truesday deals, but I decided that I would go back to an old favorite…the Satay Chicken. It did not disappoint! And of course we had guac. That should be a given! Lunch with Laura is pretty much the highlight of every work week.
Zoe snuggles!!!! My little angel hasn’t been feeling 100% this week. In fact, she caught a virus on top of the one that she was already trying to fight. Dirty daycare baby strikes again!!! I decided to keep her home Wednesday and took her to the doctor to make sure she didn’t have an ear infection or anything. She was all kinds of snuggly that day and preferred sleeping on me. Here I am with my “you jealous bro” face and our movie during nap time. So glad to see Rugrats on Netflix!
Zoe’s school had Iron Bowl themed pictures on Tuesday. We dressed Zoe in her Alabama best, but she decided she didn’t want to partake in the pictures and threw a fit. The photographer gave up on her and returned my check. I have a happy baby, don’t know what the girl did to upset her but it must have been bad! So I had to at least get one picture with her outfit/// Zoe loves her yogurt melts during snack time///apparently this is how we watch TV now, with things on our head
And here are Zoe’s thoughts on real food right now. She eats her baby purees like a champ, but isn’t feeling anything else.
Favorite Purchase: I was running low on foundation, so I placed an order with Sephora. I decided to try the new Too Faced Peach Perfect Comfort Matte Foundation after watching about 20 reviews on YouTube. I am only on my second day of it, but I have to say…I am impressed so far!! I chose the shade “Snow” and it is a perfect match for my pale skin, without having any weird yellow undertones. My skin is very neutral and most stuff oxidizes yellow on me. The coverage is medium to full and it looked so pretty after applying it with my Real Techniques beauty blender.
I also cashed in some Shopkicks for a gift card so I could try out Elizabeth and James Nirvana Bourbon perfume. I ordered the roller ball before committing to the full size bottle. I am LOVING it!!! I smelled it several weeks ago and was impressed, and then Steph recommended it recently and that sealed the deal.
Favorite Funnies:
Pretty much going to be my life. Zoe’s favorite song right now is Uptown Funk, but she is no stranger to Lil Wayne…
Me yesterday….
Linking up with Amanda. Hope you all have a great weekend! Last one of October!!!
Oh, hey there fall weather!!! Nice to finally see you! That’s right folks. We had a few mornings here in Alabama where it dipped down to the 40’s and I was in absolute heaven. There is nothing better than a crisp fall morning. I could even smell fall in the air just a little! I think Zoe is going to be a fall girl too, as every morning this week when we go down in the garage to get in the car…she points outside and makes me take her out there for a minute. She looks all around and takes everything in and has the biggest smile on her face. So do I!
Favorite Moments: When I picked Zoe up on Monday, I noticed something sitting in her cubby at school. When I got closer, I realized it was a pumpkin that she painted!!! A few weeks ago there was a picture of her waiting for me in there when I picked her up with her hand prints, and now this pumpkin. These things are so precious to me! I love that her teachers work on this stuff with her and I guess I need to start a box for school keepsakes already!
Seeing the sun rising over the mountains and the way the fog rises over the water every morning on my way in has been so wonderful.
Zoe loves to play ball with us now, and I love it too! It is so cute watching her throw and roll it to us. Sometimes she even rolls it around for herself to go get. She always holds it up like…wanna play??? Yes!!! Mommy always wants to play!
Favorite Link: I found this article on Astrology for Careers to be interesting. Do you find yourself relating to your sign?
Favorite Recipe: How amazing does this easy crockpot peanut butter chicken recipe sound?? I added all the ingredients to my shopping list for next week.
Favorite Lust:I was shopping at Target for some work pants yesterday. Their sweaters are buy one get one 50% off right now!!! I scooped up two to replace some very old ones that I have that have seen better days and are a little misshaped and literally falling apart. I tried on this bomber jacket, but didn’t end up getting it. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since and will probably go back to pick it up. For the price point, I was surprised by the quality.
I picked this sweater up in light gray and blush pink.
I also wanted to grab these mules in black and maybe silver…but they didn’t have my size in stores. I am giving in and jumping on the backless mule train. I think they would be perfect here because we all know that warm weather will creep in and out of the next two or three months, and these say fall without being too warm and restrictive.
