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Ellie and Addison
08.27.12

Prepped for the first day

First day of school tomorrow!  
The backpacks are ready and lunches are packed.  
 Outfits for the week have been carefully selected by two excited and slightly nervous little girls.
(I’ll share my new system for organizing them soon!)

The freezer is organized!  Yes.  I realize this has nothing to do with back to school, but it made me feel good to announce it nonetheless.

School supplies are loaded in the car (along with a box of tissues for me), kids are getting a good night’s sleep and I’m off bed myself.  Waking up extra early tomorrow so I can see my babies start 1st and 3rd grade.  What!?  Maybe I should snag a few of those tissues now.

Goodbye summer!  Goodbye to carefree mornings in pajamas.  
You will be missed most of all.

xoxo, Erin
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New House
08.23.12

More house decisions made

Hello friends!  Another slooow week on the blog.  Kenny and I have been consumed with new house stuff (what’s new, right!?).  We have been finalizing so many things.  I’m such a mix of excited and exhausted which pretty much sums up the way I’ve felt ever since we started this building roller coaster.  I still have some sketches I have to go through tonight before another meeting tomorrow so this will be quick, but I wanted to pop in and say hello and share a few of the decisions we’ve been making this week.  
Some good news is that we are almost done picking out kitchen and bathroom fixtures.  Hooray!  I went through and changed half of what I had picked out earlier and now I feel better about fixtures.    The bad news is that my “hey let’s remake decisions we’ve already made and change things up again” attitude is happening more and more and Kenny is seriously about to kill me.   My poor husband.  I know I’m driving him crazy but I can’t help it.  I just feel like this is my one chance to do this and I have to do it right!  I keep reminding him that after this house is built he will remember why he loves me.   Ok… after the house is decorated.  Then he will remember.  :)
More good news – we’ve ordered my farmhouse sinks!  Let’s all just hold our breath and have a moment of silence for the beauty that is the farmhouse sink.
Ahhhhhh.  Breathe out.  K.  Now we can continue.  My love for them is indescribable.  Whenever I see pictures of farmhouse sinks  my heart starts to race much like it does when I see pictures of dutch doors.  Do any of you share my passion?  I know I’m not alone.  :)  I ordered the sink in the picture above for my food-prep island and a double farmhouse sink for in front of my kitchen window.  I gave Kenny my sweetest smile and managed to talk him into getting one more for my downstairs laundry room.  Quite a surprise since he was already about to kill me at that point.  Good to know that after 15 years my “sugary sweet please can I have something” smile still does the job.  I tried to pull off one more for the upstairs laundry room and that is where Kenny drew the line and my smile lost all its magic.  That’s ok.  I really would have been over the moon with just one so to say I am flying high about my sinks right now is a serious understatement.   
I have been ironing out lots of kitchen cabinet details this week and I’m so excited about the organization that will be taking place in my kitchen everyday!  I’ll share more of those details at some point.  Right now we need to order our kitchen appliances and I am so torn.  We have decided to go with Thermador  and we were going to just get the cook top and do cabinets below like the picture above (with ovens on another wall).  Now I’m debating the full oven again…  
This is what we would get if we decide to go with the full oven.  It might make more sense to do this because of some issues with the way I want my cabinets.  I love the look of this oven, but also love the cooktop because then I can use the drawers below for pot/pan storage.  Any opinions on a cook top vs. a full oven?  Would love to hear your thoughts!
Want to see something really beautiful?  

This is Thermador’s top of the line 48 inch Professional series oven.  When we very first started looking at appliances I walked into the store, marched right over to it and said “I want this one!”  Then the sales man said “that’s the most expensive oven made” and then Kenny said “of course it is” and then I said “ok – never mind.”  :) The sales man said “this has an exclusive built-in steamer, a titanium griddle and grill, a large capacity convection oven, and a top of the line warming drawer.  Then I smiled and said “I just wanted it for that cool white vintage looking dial on the front.”  Then  Kenny rolled his eyes (in that oh so familiar way) and said to the salesman “this is what I’m dealing with.” 
And that pretty much sums up the way most of our house discussions have gone thus far.  :)
Ok –  I’m off to look at my sketches.  Lots to post next week when more of these decisions and meetings are behind us.  We are finishing up windows Friday (I swear – windows are going to be the death of me!) and then I think house meetings will slow down for a few weeks.  
Enjoy your day everyone!  
P.S.  I found this picture on Pinterest last week (couldn’t find the correct source) — 

and it made me SO excited to decorate my new house for the holidays!   Is anyone else getting excited for Christmas!?  It’s a bit early, but I can’t help it.  I’m counting down to November when I can start celebrating.  It will be here before we know it!

xoxo, Erin
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Mom Adventures
08.21.12

Tips on Traveling with Kids

Traveling with kids.  Do you feel tired just hearing that sentence?  :)  If you’ve read my blog for a while you know that Kenny and I travel often with our kids.  Especially to our home town in southern Utah to visit family.  The drive is exactly 6 1/2 hours from our doorstep to our favorite retreat (my moms house) if there is no traffic.  We have made that trip with our kids so many times in the last ten years (and many other trips) that I feel like I’ve learned a lot about how to make traveling with little ones as pleasant as possible.  I’ve had several people ask if I have any tips on traveling with kids and I do!  Here are just a few things that we do to make our road trips go as smooth as possible.

{TIPS ON TRAVELING WITH KIDS}
 
Tip 1)  Don’t travel with kids if you can at all avoid it.  
Kidding.
Kind of.
Tip 1 for real)  If you’re driving to your destination, do a bit of homework ahead of time to make sure that you aren’t going to be on the road during heavy traffic times.  If possible, avoid traveling on Fridays and Sundays if you are driving in areas with heavy traffic.  It’s hard to do, but by leaving really early on a Saturday morning vs. a Friday afternoon can save hours of time on the road.  There is nothing worse than being stuck in traffic with small children!  You don’t want to make an already long trip even longer.  We usually leave early on a Saturday morning and if Kenny has to be back to work Monday, we wake up super early Monday morning to drive home and Kenny goes straight into work.  Often he will take Monday off as a travel day so we don’t have to drive on Sunday in all of the traffic.
Tip 2) Pack the car the night before and leave early in the morning when kids are in their calmest state.  I mentioned we leave early in the morning to avoid traffic.  We also do this because kids (at least our kids!) travel best in the morning.  We pack the car the night before and as soon as everyone rolls out of bed we hit the road.  The morning hours are always calmer times when everyone is rested and the kids are more content to relax in the car.  Parents often think “let’s leave in the evening so the kids will sleep on the drive…”  This usually backfires.  I know because I’ve done it.  And it usually backfires.  Because kids are so excited about the trip and are out of their normal routine they don’t sleep and instead are overly tired and hyper and much harder to travel with.

Tip 3)  Allow plenty of time for stops along the way.  You really have to learn to “enjoy the journey” when traveling with little ones.  Knowing you will make more stops and planning that extra time into your trip will make for a more stress free travel day.

Tip 4)  Pack each child his/her own little bag of snacks and fun things to do on the drive.  

I always pack my girls their own bag full of snacks and things to do on the trip.  This way I’m not handing stuff back to the them and they are always excited to see what I’ve put in their bag.  (They also get to pick out a few favorite toys to play with that go in their bags.)
Because Kole is still little, I keep a small bag next to me of things to occupy him on the drive.  A few of his favorite books, his favorite train, snacks, water, etc.

This is a fun little book that we took along with us whenever we traveled this summer.  Kole uses it in therapy and he LOVES it.  It’s a simple matching book/game for Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?  It would be so easy to make your own if you have a toddler who enjoys this book.  Just download matching pictures of the animals in the book and attach velcro so your child can match the pictures.

Kole finds the small animal that matches and places it on the big animal.  He “reads” the book while he does it and it’s the cutest thing.  He’ll say “bear..  what you see!?”  :)

A homemade matching book like this is perfect for traveling because it keeps little ones busy for a while.  It would be so easy to make a matching book with all sorts of pictures that little ones recognize.  I’d love to make similar books like this for Kole.  If only I didn’t need to sleep!  :)

Here are a few things I load the girls’ bags with:  coloring books, word searches, crayons, clip boards with blank paper so they can write letters or draw pictures….

Sometimes I toss in some homemade flashcards of whatever I’ve been working on with them.  For this trip Addison was working on adding doubles and Ellie was working on her three times tables.  Practicing their math facts isn’t their favorite travel activity, but sometimes I can get them to quiz each other and make it into a fun game.

I also toss in their Boogie Board Pads.  Same concept as an etch-a-sketch.  A fun writing tablet that you use a certain pen for and erase with the touch of a button.

Music is always fun for a long trip so we make sure to bring the kids’ favorite songs along.  This Wicked CD has been a staple in our car for a while now.  :)

I always pack the girls a few snacks of their own and just tell them when they can eat them along the way.  Wet wipes are a staple for dirty hands or spills and the black case holds our DVD’s – the ultimate survival tool for a successful long trip!  We are so grateful for our DVD player in the van.  We usually try to go as long as we can without a movie and then toss one on when the kids start getting restless and are tired of doing other things.  They aren’t a necessity but boy do they make traveling with kids (especially our two year old!) much easier.

Tip 5)  Don’t swear at the other cars on the road because your kids will hear and they won’t forget and they will remind you over and over that you said a bad word.  (This tip was brought to you by my husband.  Thanks to my girls he is working on his road rage.)  

:)
Happy Traveling!

 

xoxo, Erin
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New House
08.17.12

Let there be concrete!

Today was an exciting day for our project “new house.”  
We have concrete!  
 Kenny and I went up to the lot right after breakfast and it was so fun to see it buzzing with activity!  

 I have been so excited to finally get the foundation poured.  Now things should really start moving!

 Framing for the porch pillars.  :)

Kenny and our framers discussing the location of said porch pillars.
 We let the girls come up to see what all the excitement was about.  
 They won the crew over by hugging each one of them.  
My girls always hug new people they meet.  
It’s so sweet. 
Except for when it’s scary.    
But it was sweet today.  We have the NICEST men ever working on our house.  
They have all requested more banana bread muffins.  I will be busy baking this weekend.  :)

 Poor Kole had to wait in the van.  Can you imagine letting him loose on this scene!?  :) 
 Luckily there were lots of big trucks passing by to keep him entertained.  

 Kenny and I met back at the lot at 5:30 in the afternoon and this is what it looked like.  
YEA!  Foundation is set.  We can now officially walk on the floor of our new house.  

Exciting stuff!
Aside from everything happening with the concrete, this week we have also been plugging away at windows, design for all the built-ins, and the kitchen cabinet layout.  This stuff is fun, but SO time consuming.  It was great meeting Kenny at the lot today because that is the only time I have spent with him lately.  It’s well after midnight and he is still at work.  Whenever it’s IPO time I have to take a deep breath and gear up.  It doesn’t stand for Initial Public Offering to me.  It stands for time to be a single mom again.  I’m not complaining.  After 10 years I’m pretty used to the hours that come with my husband’s job.  Plus it is after all the reason we can afford this house.  (Maybe my blogging contribution can pay for the kitchen bar stools.)  HA!  ;)  It has just been a long, busy week and I miss my husband. 
But the weekend is here!  And we have concrete!  There is always something to smile about.  :)
One more week of summer for my girls!  
I want to PLAY with them as much as possible.  
Then school will start and hopefully I can finish some of the projects I’ve started around here.
Or at least be able to keep the house picked up for longer than 20 seconds.
Nah.  Who am I kidding!?
:)
Enjoy your weekend everyone!  
xoxo, Erin
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Addison
08.15.12

Top three pics this week

Three pics from this week that make me smile:    

The feeling’s mutual buddy.  

Do you ever wonder why Kole is always running around pantless?  (This isn’t a knock knock joke by the way).  He’s too fast for me.  It takes every ounce of will and strength I have to hold him down long enough to change his diaper.  By the time the diaper is securely fastened, the two of us are equally over it.

Kenny will give me a hard time for posting the ironing picture because it may give off a false impression that I iron his shirts often so let me clear that little misunderstanding up real quick.  I don’t iron.  His work clothes go to the dry cleaners and if my clothes or the kids’ clothes wrinkle often I get rid of them or we wear them wrinkled.  We have a “buy clothes that won’t need to be ironed” policy in this house.  But that husband of mine has been so busy.  Meetings in San Francisco last week, working round the clock on an IPO (initial public offering) this week.  Plus in his spare time he’s building me a house.  So I decided to iron a few new shirts he bought while Kole was napping.  El was swimming at a friends house and I told Addie she could either iron with me or we could invite one of her friends over.  She chose ironing and a movie with mom.  Love that girl.  We popped popcorn and called it an “ironing movie popcorn party” (I know – major originality points for that title are in order).

Speaking of popcorn.  Kenny came home late tonight and I decided to pop some more.  I must have set the microwave to 2 hours and 20 minutes instead of 2 minutes and 20 seconds.  Oops.  Didn’t notice until smoke was coming out of the microwave and the smell was so bad we could hardly breathe.  We’ve been airing the house out all night.  I really shouldn’t be trusted in the kitchen.  Or with an iron.  Today was a dangerous day for me.  

Short post tonight because I spent most of my blogging time scrapbooking!  WHAT!?  Crazy right.  I have so much stuff on my to-do list right now that I should have been doing instead.  But designing my scrapbook room has made me miss my hobby that I never have time for anymore.  So I made some time for it.  Simple Project Life layouts for Kole’s book – nothing fancy at all and it felt so good!

K – I’m off to bed.  As soon as I close the 15 windows that are open and turn off all the ceiling fans.

Clock just turned 12:01 so I guess I can officially say Happy Wednesday everyone!
:)
xoxo, Erin
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Ramblings
08.14.12

New Shoes

New shoes for my crew.  The girls were crazy about Sketchers Twinkle Toes.  They weren’t my first choice.  They girls begged and pleaded and I gave in.  Even though these shoes light up so much with each step they remind me of Times Square.  At least I’ll always see them coming!

I wasn’t the only one who wasn’t crazy about a pair of shoes.  When Addison saw the shoes Kenny bought she said “Dad!  You can’t wear those!  You’ll look like a teenager!  Like Troy on High School Musical!  People will think you’re my brother instead of my dad!”

Ha ha!  What she doesn’t know is that Kenny and I are teenagers.  Our kids keep getting older, but we haven’t aged a bit.

We’re still 15 and 17.  Same as the day we met.  We’re just playing house.  
Go ahead.  Call us Troy and Gabriela.  (Don’t we look the part?)  
And now we have kids who make fun of the things we wear.  
Which is terribly wrong.  
Since that is what I do to my parents.  
Because they are the ones who are aging.  
But not us.  
Kenny – you keep those shoes!  And I’m getting a perm.  
We’ll live on forever.
 And celebrate with a big box of Froot Loops.  
:)
xoxo, Erin
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New House
08.13.12

Weekend wrap-up

 Saturday morning we went to the beach.  

 Addie hunted sand crabs.  
Ellie hit the waves.  

 All three kids played in the sand and enjoyed a snack.  

 I soaked in the sunshine and took lots of pictures.  

 Kenny spent time in the ocean with the girls.  
Grins on all three faces for well over an hour.  

The little dude lounged in some shade.  
For a whopping 2.2 seconds.
Not long enough to give mom much of a break.  
But long enough to try on dad’s sunglasses giving mom a pretty adorable photo opp. so all was forgiven.  
Saturday afternoon included a shopping trip with the girls for new school clothes.  
Kenny and Ellie were good sports.
Addison and I could have shopped all night!
The two of us are positively giddy about our purchases. 
Church on Sunday.  
No pics because getting my crew ready and out the door on time Sunday morning is an unbelievable feat. And after church we are all in a race to see who can change out of dress clothes and into pajama’s first. 
It’s close, but I’m usually the winner.  
Then it’s afternoon nap time for Kole…
followed by a trip to the lot (everything is always followed by a trip to the lot).  :)
 And then some time at the park.

 Because the girls need space to ride.  (Safety first!) 

 And this boy needs space to run.  
LOTS and LOTS of space to run.
Two weeks of summer left!
We are cramming a lot in.
I say BRING IT ON!
And then LET IT END!
:)    
Happy Monday everyone! 
xoxo, Erin
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New House
08.10.12

Home Decor Binder re-do!

Last May Once upon a time while we were still house hunting I created this “home decor binder” to hold all of my magazine pages for inspiration.  I gave it a cute cover.

I added some “thickers” to make the inside cute.  Because if you are a scrapbooker you know that thickers make everything cute.

Then I created tabs for each category to file my inspiration pages.  Categories like mudrooms, kitchens, laundry rooms, etc.  Everything was wonderfully organized.  

Except it wasn’t.  This binder has driven me crazy for the past year and because I am now using it almost daily, I knew it was time for a better system.  The problem was that it was too much work for me to keep punching holes in the pages.  Seems like such a little thing, but when you are constantly putting pages in and pulling pages out it becomes a pain and before long, my binder looked like this…

with all of the pages clumped together at the front and spilling out all over the place because I kept thinking I’d punch and categorize them later.

Problem with that thinking is that I have no time right now for laters.

Then (as I mentioned yesterday) I went back to Staples to bask in Martha’s office supplies once again and what did I find!?  ANOTHER aqua accordion file!?  Only LARGE!  How did I miss that the first time!?  I knew in an instant it was the perfect solution to update my home decor binder and make it more user friendly (ok – more Erin friendly).  :)

I dashed home and the second Kole was down for a nap I pulled all of my magazine clippings out of my old home decor binder and got to work re-organizing everything in piles.

 A pile for pantries and paint.    

 A pile for built-ins and laundry rooms.  

And a pile for everything else I could come up with that I need to remember for the new house.  Whenever I categorize things in piles like this whether it’s magazine clippings, photos for an album, kids’ school work, toys … whatever it is… I always tear apart sticky notes to quickly label each pile.  Then everything is in order out in front of me and I can start on the next step.

The for real labels!  My favorite!  :)
 This file has 12 pockets!  It’s huge!  

 It easily fit all of my magazine clippings with room to spare.  And I have a lot of magazine clippings!

Then it folds up nice and snug with the grey band that goes around the bottom.  Which is another huge bonus.  Much thinner and easier to store than that bulky binder.  Now I don’t have to worry about punching holes to keep things organized.  And it’s a breeze to find any inspiration picture I need in a snap.  Win Win.  I’ll take it!  :)

So now you know why I’ve been smiling lately.  My new built-in binder and home decor file are working like magic!  In fact, I have another idea of something else that needs organizing around here.  And it just so happens that once again, this large accordion file would make a fabulous solution!

Darn!  Guess I’ll have to head back to Staples.  
A woman’s work is never done.
:)
Maybe I’ll see you there!?
xoxo, Erin
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New House
08.09.12

New House Update/Organized Binder

This week has flown by as fast as the rest of this summer!  I can’t believe school is going to start in a couple of weeks – I know some of you have started already.  Didn’t kids just get out of school!?  Crazy how fast the days fly by.  Anyway!  Popping in to share a new house update.  We’ve been busy this week trying to figure out furniture placement in a few rooms because we had to tell our builder where floor plug outlets should be located.  Kenny and I may have had a fight minor disagreement over said plug outlets which amused us greatly the next day.  Seriously!?  We were arguing over plug outlets?  Yes my friends.  That is what building a house does to you.  It certainly won’t be the last time we disagree about something concerning this house.  The good news is that we have become champs at getting over disagreements in record speed.  That is what being married for 15 years does to you.  :)
I took the framing crew some banana bread muffins yesterday.  They loved them!  Those muffins are always a hit.  Which is a good thing since that’s pretty much the only thing I know how to bake.  We declared it our first breakfast in the new house.  :)  Can’t wait to have the crew over when the house is finished.  For banana bread muffins again of course.  Here are some pics I took of the lot last week…

Lots of trenches and underground pipes for plumbing!  Is anyone asleep yet?  
No?  Well then here’s a few more pics that I just took today…
This is the left side of the house and the pop out in front is Kenny’s office.  It will be a happy day when he doesn’t have to take a client call in our car in the garage.  :)  To the right of Kenny’s office is where our front door will be.  We have a porch with a front door and two doors coming off the sides of the porch – one into Kenny’s office and one into the mudroom (by way of my beloved dutch door!). 

A view from the left side of the house.  
A view from the back left corner which is our master bedroom.

Left side of the house again (guess I was too lazy to walk around and take any of the right side).  

View from the right corner of the house in front of the garages.  We have a gas trench inspection tomorrow and then hopefully by the end of next week they will be laying the foundation!  YEA.

 Ok.  So now you’re asleep.

:)
Let me wake you up with this fun binder I just bought.  You’ll never guess where I got it.  

That’s right my friends.  I had to go back to Staples!  Those office supplies by Martha Stewart have been calling my name ever since I bought my purse organizer.  It’s hard to see in this picture, but the binder has such a cool texture.  I also picked up some fun tabs and something else I’ll share in another post.  :)

I love this binder.  I love the color.  I love the thick side pocket… 
 I love the easy to open/close latch at the bottom of the rings. 
But I didn’t buy this binder just because it was so fabulous (although that is totally something I would do).  I actually really needed something to hold all of my ever-changing sketches for the built-ins for the new house.  It was getting too hard to view them all on my computer.  Plus I wanted to make notes directly onto the paper.  My cabinet guy and I are e-mailing back and forth almost daily making tweaks and changes to things and I needed a better way to organize everything.  
This binder is perfect!  

I used the yellow tabs for all of the closets, blue for all of the bathrooms, and green for everything else. Now when I need to find the sketches for a certain room it is so much easier to locate them!  This binder takes me to a really happy place.  :)

The pocket on the left has been perfect for holding miscellaneous papers/notes of things I want to remember.  There is so much to remember!

And here’s a peak of one of my favorite sketches…

This is a bird’s eye view of my scrapbook room/office.  I keep tweaking things in this room and it still isn’t finalized.  Can’t wait to move in and organize this space!  I’ll share more pics of these sketches at some point.  Unless the majority of you are more drowsy now than you were during the dirt pics.  Kenny has a funny way of instantly falling asleep whenever I bring up our built-ins.  Such a multi-talented man I married.

:)

Happy Thursday everyone!  
xoxo, Erin
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Kole
08.07.12

Trick #347

The ol’ blog is off to a slow start this week my friends.  You see, lately my organized spaces aren’t looking so organized…

And I am feeling a bit… hmm… how should I put it?
Oh yes.
 Exhausted.    
 It seems a certain someone…

 has been up to his usual tricks.  

 And is wearing his mommy OUT.  
All I can say is it’s a good thing he has learned to say “love you” and blow kisses my way at bedtime.
[Trick #347 – act sweet to mom at night before bed in an attempt to make up for the complete and utter chaos and destruction I created throughout the day.]
If I don’t post again until this boy of mine starts Kindergarten, (or if I die from exhaustion before we get to that point) you’ll know why.  
I have a feeling a few of you out there can relate.  
Enjoy your day!

And with the help of some extra strength tylenol, I’ll enjoy mine.

:)

xoxo, Erin
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fashion2
08.03.12

Fashion Friday – favorite make-up!

It’s Friday!  And we’re talking make-up today!  Can I get a WOOT WOOT!!  So.  I’ve had these pictures ready to post for months now.  And I kept putting off posting them because I was going to try to take some pictures of what this make-up actually looks like on my face.  But I have been wearing very little make-up this summer and on the days that I am getting completely ready, I’m too busy getting everyone in this house ready to stop and take pictures.  But by now you’ve seen enough pictures of me on this blog to get an idea of what my make-up looks like anyway.  :)  And really it’s nothing that special.  I’m not an expert on this subject, but I do like to try out new make-up.  After years of sampling lots of different brands and colors, these are my favorites!  My go-to’s that I wear every day.  Every day that I actually venture out of my gym clothes and get ready that is.  :)
**Quick tip before we start:  Make-up can be really expensive once you leave places like Target and Wal-Mart.  If you want to splurge on some nice make-up but don’t know where to start or what to buy, the best thing to do is to make an appointment to get a makeover.  The makeover is usually free as long as you buy some make-up so if I know I need some new make-up anyway, I love to get a makeover to try out new products.  (I’ve always done this at Nordstroms but you can get makeovers at most big department stores.)  And DO NOT feel like you need to buy everything the make-up artist tries on you.  They work pretty hard to sell you as much as possible, so hold your ground and only purchase the stuff you really love and know you will use.  One thing I’ve gotten really good at over the years when it comes to make-up is learning to say “thanks, but no thanks.”  :)  I’ve linked to most of my favorite products if you’re interested in checking them out.   So here we go!
My two favorite brands of make-up are MAC and BOBBI BROWN.  I’m slightly partial to BOBBI BROWN, but love both brands and would absolutely recommend their products.

My make-up brushes are a mix of both brands.  It’s a pain to pay for make-up brushes, but I would highly recommend buying some nice ones.  They make a big difference when you are applying your make-up and as long as you take care of them, they will last for years.  (Post on washing make-up brushes here.)

First thing I apply on my face everyday is sunscreen (I’ll share my favorite sunscreen at some point!  I forget to take a picture of it).  Next is foundation.  I LOVE Bobbi Brown foundation.  I’ve tried lots of different brands and this one is my absolute favorite.  Aside from great coverage, it just seems to give my face a nice even glow.  “Sand 2” is the shade that looks the best on me.  I have very fair skin, so obviously find the shade that matches your complexion.  This stuff isn’t cheap, but a little bit goes a long way and this bottle lasts quite a while.  I once made the mistake of asking Kenny to pick me up some new foundation on his lunch hour because I didn’t have time.  He came home that night and said “ERIN!  Is that how much you’re paying for this stuff!!?”  So now I ask for new make-up a lot for my birthday, Christmas, etc. Takes the sting out if it’s a gift.  ;)

I also really like Bobbi Brown’s tinted moisturizer.  It’s a lighter foundation (not as good of coverage as the foundation above) but it still gives your skin a glow and offers a little sun protection.  I use this the most in the summertime.  (For some reason the Amazon price was a lot higher than I paid for this in Nordstroms so check out your department store first if you want to try this.)

Switching over to MAC, this is their Strobe Cream.  I got this in my stocking last Christmas and have really enjoyed it.  It’s a cream you apply over your foundation and it sort of brightens your skin giving it a little extra pizazz.  I don’t wear this every day, but it’s fun to apply for special occasions/date nights.

This is probably my favorite product hands down.  It’s Bobbi Brown’s eye concealer and it’s FABULOUS.  You have probably noticed from my blog post times that I’m a bit of a night owl.  You also know that I’ve had a baby or toddler for the past eight years.  Sleep deprivation has become my norm.  I have learned how to function on little sleep (it’s the only way I get anything done!) but my eyes have paid the price.  I wake up to terrible, dark circles under my eyes every morning.  Bobbi Brown concealer to the rescue!  I just apply a bit of the cream under my eyes and then cover it with the powder and wa-la!  I suddenly look like my pre-kid self!

If you decide to try this I would totally recommend getting the touch-up brush that goes with it.  It applies the cream so evenly.  I love it!

In my last Favorites on Friday post I shared my love for “Painterly” by Mac.  Foundation for your eyelids.

Just use your finger to rub a little on your eyelid and it keeps your eyeshadow looking great all day long.  No more creases!

This is Bobbi Brown’s “Graphite Shimmer Ink” gel eyeliner.  It is dark black and I wear this under my eyes and on my top eye lid. I would have never bought this on my own, but the last time I got a makeover at Bobbi Brown they put it on me and I was surprised by how much I liked it.  It has more of a dramatic effect so I don’t wear it everyday.  Just for special occasions when I’m really trying to clean up.  You have to have a small, thin brush to apply it.  It goes on so smoothly and it’s easy to create a thin or thick line (whatever you prefer).  I think this would look good on everyone!

For everyday eyeliner, I use either “Prunella” by Mac (it’s a dark brownish purple color) OR I just apply some of my eyeshadow in a really thin line below my eye with a special “eye definer” brush.  I tend to use the Prunella the most often because I can put it on so fast.  I love the way my shadow looks, but it takes more time to apply.  I usually have 5 minutes or less to put my make-up on so I tend to stay away from anything that slows me down!

My all time favorite eye shadows are the two to the right in this picture:  “Satin Taupe” and “Shroom” by Mac.  I have been wearing these colors for YEARS.  I try new colors all the time, but I keep coming back to these.  I put the Satin Taupe on my bottom eye lid and the Shroom on the top.  These are both really neutral colors that would look good on a lot of skin types.  I bought them for my mom and she has been wearing the same colors and loving them ever since too!  Mac eyeshadow has such a fun sparkle to it.  I was trying to find a picture of me that shows these colors and remembered I have a close up of my eyes closed in this scrapbook layout:

Not the best picture, but we’re all about the eyeshadow today.  :)  You can see how the Mac eyeshadow has a bit of a sparkle/shine in it.

My blush is “Cubic” by Mac.  I like it, but I’m not in love with it.  I want to try something new as soon as I use it all, but this stuff won’t go away!  I do love Mac’s blush brush though and have used it for years.

This is another fun Mac product that I LOVE.  It’s their clear brow set gel and it keeps your eyebrows nice and neat.  Crazy eyebrows drive me nuts!  I love applying a bit of this each morning.  My eyebrows stay looking perfect in place all day long!

 

Let’s talk Mascara!  YES!  Use an eyelash curler!  I know a lot of people don’t, but this makes the biggest difference for me and my eyelashes.  Just ten seconds on each eye with an eye lash curler and my eyelashes are curled up and SO long.  Sometimes if I’m really rushed, I just curl my lashes and don’t even put on the mascara and they still look so much better.  My favorite eye last curler is the top silver one by Mac.  You can buy one that looks the same and is cheaper in Target, but the Mac curler has more of a spring in it or something.  It works better and is totally worth the extra 10 bucks.  I also love this lash curler by Laura Mercier.  I read about it in a magazine (it was voted the best eye lash curler in a contest).  But again, it takes me a little longer to use so I find that I grab my silver Mac eyelash curler most days.

Ok.  I’m stepping out of department store make-up and into Target for my ALL TIME favorite mascara.  EVER.  I have tried SO many mascaras.  Seriously. I think I’ve tried them all!  And my go to LOVE is Maybelline Define-a-lash.  I love all Maybelline mascaras, but I think this one is the best.  It makes my lashes so long and I can easily apply more and more if I’m going out and want my lashes super dramatic.  No clumping.
Here are a few other mascaras I’ve recently tried.  They aren’t as good!  I haven’t found anything I like as much as my Define-A-Lash by Maybelline!  In my opinion, even the more expensive mascaras don’t compare.

I replace it about every three to four months (3-6 months is recommended for replacing mascara).  I kept putting my old mascara in my cupboard after I bought a new one thinking that I’d keep it just in case for a back up.  Last time I cleaned out that cupboard I realized how many I had stashed away!  HA!  I tossed them after taking this picture.  :)

As far as lipstick goes, I was on a quest for years to find a shade I loved.  I tried many Mac lipsticks and they were all fine.  But my favorite?

Bobbi Brown’s “Plumberry” lipstick with their “High Shimmer Lip Gloss” (Bellini 14) on top of it (pink bottle).  The Plumberry is dark, but with the lip gloss over it, it’s such a pretty color!  Also in the above picture is my Bobbi Brown “warm sand” touch up stick (foundation in a stick).  These three things (the touch up stick, lip stick and lip gloss) are what I keep in my purse.

This picture is from a couple of years ago, but this is the lipstick combo.  It’s a fun splash of color!

Bobbi Brown’s shimmer lip gloss is super expensive, so for day to day I substitute it with other lip gloss like these from Bath and Body Works.  I especially love “Brown Sugar.”

So there you go!  My favorites!  I know these colors won’t work on everyone (if you have fair skin and freckles, you’re hooked up!), but maybe this post gave some of you an idea of something new to try next time you’re shopping for make-up.  It’s always fun to discover new products so if you have a favorite when it comes to make-up please share in the comments!

Now go forth and look fabulous!
And while you’re at it, enjoy the weekend.
:)
**affiliate links used

 

xoxo, Erin
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organization2
08.01.12

Organizing Inspiration/Ideas!

 I’ve had so much fun dreaming up ways to organize everything in my new home!  My Pinterest “organizing” board is just brimming with fabulous ideas that I can’t wait to implement!  Here are a few of my organized spaces along with some “pinspiration” for my new home.  These are all great ideas that any of us can adapt to our homes to make life run a bit smoother.  And who doesn’t want that?

As far as my current garage goes, I’ve figured out a system to keep shoes/coats in check.

I’ve even found a way to organize all of those pesky loose nails and screws.

But. I’m loving this …

What a great way to store holiday decor and other miscellaneous items!  Plus those bikes!  Bikes take up so much room.  Hanging them like this is such a fabulous space saver.

My kids have a lot of bath toys so the best current solution for us is using clear bins that stay under the bathroom sink.

But in my next house when Kole has his own bathroom, I want to copy this fun idea!  Hang a decorative bucket to hold bathroom supplies.  I think something like this would be perfect for a handful of bath toys!  You could hang it right by the tub.  Stylish and functional.

Currently I keep all of my cooking utensils corralled in a kitchen drawer.

But I’ve always loved the look and and simplicity of keeping them close to the stove.  Especially when they are grouped with similar utensils in fun jars/pitchers on a tray.  Lovely, useful kitchen decor!

You all know I love an organized closet, but there’s one thing that my closets are missing…

a bin to hold clothes that don’t fit!  What a smart idea!  Clothes that are a bit big I will just leave hanging up, but I love the idea of having a set place in each closet for clothes that are too small that need to be passed on to another child or donated.  That way when your child puts something on in the morning and it you realize it’s getting snug, you have a place to put it.  Every few months you can round up the “too small” items from each closet and head to Goodwill or give them to a friend.  Brilliant.

If you’ve read my time management binder post you know I’m a big fan of sticky notes.  Huge fan.  I use them every single day.  I love them.  I really do.  Here are a couple of similar ideas of ways to use sticky notes to stay organized. You know.  In case you are a fan too.

Keep your notebook/binder divided into two categories: things that are pressing (you need to do them immediately) and on the other side, things that can wait a week or two.  So easy to move the sticky’s from one section to the other and then toss them when you’ve completed the task!  Love it.

I also adore this idea of hanging days of the week tabs somewhere in a central location and then attaching a sticky note or piece of paper with your to-do list for the day.  Such a great way to see a week at a glance!  Is this making anyone else giddy!?  :)  Not yet?  Check out this idea:

A rotating goal or to-do list with… you guessed it!… sticky notes!  Oh the JOY!  I am so in love with this idea too.  Don’t be surprised if in my new house my scrapbook room/office is full of organized sticky notes!  I want to implement every one of these ideas!

I’ve also been thinking about how I will display my kids’ art work in my next house.  Nothing makes me happier than a wall full of artwork from my little ones.

Aside from the kitchen, I also display art in our upstairs playroom.  These boards from Pottery Barn are fun, especially for big, colorful art projects, but I want to have a place in my next house that we can rotate the daily school work my kids bring home.

This is a great idea I’m considering.  Using clipboards would make displaying and switching out school work a breeze!  A perfect way to hang that math quiz or spelling test.  I love that the clipboards make it easy to change the work weekly or even daily.  Moms know all about the insane amount of school work that comes home each day!  It would also be cool to have a clipboard for each child and he/she could decide what gets displayed and for how long.  Plus it would be a fun DIY project to spruce up the clipboards so that they coordinate with the room they are hanging in.  All sorts of ideas are popping up from this picture!

My girls’ bows and headbands are currently stored on this ribbon in their bathroom.  It’s working great except for one tiny problem…

These aren’t even half of my girls’ headbands.  Now one solution would be to get rid of some headbands and stop buying more.  But let’s not be silly.  As long as me and Addison are around that’s not going to happen.  :)  I’m hoping in my next house (which will thankfully have more storage space than my current one) I’ll have room to keep all the headbands in a drawer in the girls’ bathroom.  But if not, here’s another great solution…

CLEVER.  This is just an oatmeal container decorated in fabric.  Such a creative way to organize headbands!  Plus it would just look cute sitting on the bathroom counter.

Currently Kenny and I each have an “inbox” where I keep all of our time sensitive papers that we need to deal with.  I keep them on this shelf in a closet under our stairs.  I love that our paper mess is out of sight.  I also hate that our paper mess is out of sight!  It makes it too easy to forget about!  Here is a fun idea to keep mail and important papers in the kitchen without looking too clutter-y…

Paint the buckets or baskets to match the colors in your kitchen and now your papers are not only in sight, but you’ve also created a stylish addition to your decor!

Not long ago I shared my newly organized craft cupboard – love it!  It is working so well for us.  I’m also a fan of this system for organizing arts and crafts for kiddos…

The nice thing about setting up something like this is that you are able to keep certain items (paint comes to mind!) up high out of little ones’ hands until you can assist.  :)

Our star charts have been a fabulous way to keep behavior in check over the summer.  Once school starts, I’m going to change the goals.  They will include a lot of the same items on this fabulous back to school clipboard:

Things to complete after school!  Homework done, backpack/lunch ready for the next day, clothes laid out, bed on time.  Perfect!  What a great way to help kids be accountable for each day’s school prep.

Well!  I’m in a good mood!  First of all, this post makes me SO happy.  I love finding new, fun ways to organize my home and life.  I’m also thrilled that our darling American girl gymnasts just won the gold!  Oh my word!  I started to cry!  I’m so proud of them.

** Sidenote:  They won right about the time I was typing about sticky note organization so my tears may have been tears of joy for more than one reason.  :)

Happy Organizing!  
xoxo, Erin
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