National Whatever Day

Ok, so all these "National ______ Day" things are a little out of hand. Every week seems to be some kind of day....sibling day, donut day, pizza day, hug day, etc...

Most of the time I don't participate at all, but today I decided to participate. It is "National Lipstick Day" - silly I know.  But it was an opportunity to talk about my favorite lipsticks!! And I love finding favorites and then trying to make everyone else agree that it is their favorite too. I'm not sure what to call that, but I'm sure it is some type of disorder.

This particular favorite is rather an "obscure" item - which makes me want to talk about it more. Where to begin... ok so, I try to use more natural products whenever I can. I know in general it is a good thing to do. About three years ago I went through a phase where I tried the "no-poo" shampoo craze (look it up, it is a thing) and I tried to eliminate as much unknown ingredients for use on my skin as I could. Then I decided I didn't have enough time or energy to devote to that movement, so I just tried to buy safer products in general.

A little after that my sister discovered the brand BeautyCounter and loved their products. She loved them so much she decided to sell them (mostly so she could get easy access to the products themselves, and not as much for extra income of any sort.)  She got us all to try their stuff and I have been extremely pleased with almost everything that I have tried. You can read more about their products on their website here.

Just this past Christmas my sister gave me one of their lipsticks though (called a Lip Sheer)...and I put it on and I was blown away. I am very picky about lip products...I have dry lips and I don't like anything too bold, but I put on my first swipe of lip sheer and was very impressed. So soft and smooth, wears away nice and evenly, no funky tastes, and is safe for my skin?! WINNER!

If you like super long lasting stuff or super pigmented this isn't for you, but I find those two things difficult to wear and rather uncomfortable. If you are like me and spent most of your life just wearing chapstick and then woke up in your 30's one day and realized your lips don't naturally have enough color for "just chapstick" then this product is for you my friend!

I have 4 beautiful colors now, and I enjoy all of them and look forward to more colors that may arrive in the future! Oh, and the packaging is so very luxurious, which if you didn't know can make you love a product even more!

Look at these beauties...

Oooo, pretty gold packaging! And they feel nice and heavy too :)

Like pretty little maids all in a row.... (anyone get that movie reference?!)

Colors from Left to Right: Twig (like lipstick that looks like you're not wearing lipstick beautifulness); Currant (a bit tawny and perfect for fall/winter weather looks); Coral (pinky spring/summer fanciness); and Rose (classic understated pink)

If you ever get the chance to try one of these babies I highly recommend it. I think you can find a consultant on their website if you want to try any of their stuff (I also swear by the Jasmine Face Oil and the Countertime Cleansing Balm).

And in case you were wondering, my other favorite "lipstick" brands are Fresh (their lip sugars are fantastic too) and Bite (I haven't tried too much from the brand, but what I have tried I really enjoy). Both are also of the sense that things should be natural and safe for use, and considering these items are on your lips and easily ingested, I say that is a pretty good standard to have!

Happy National Lipstick Day to you and yours!!

My "Vacation"

So, summer vacations are hard to fathom when you have a newborn. I love having warm weather babies, so many benefits of people not being sick, life being a little bit slower, and so on and so forth. But this year I have missed just enjoying summer as well. Noelle and I had so much fun at the pool last year, and it just isn't possible for me to do that this year with a 3 year old AND newborn.

But this week is my "vacation"! Noelle is with Mala and Pop-pop in Marietta. Josh, Louie and I are holding down the fort here in Lexington and it is glorious! Noelle isn't a difficult child at all, but toddlers in general like a lot of a attention and don't always want to go with the flow. I miss my little buddy, but am enjoying a little break.

That's right - I can watch whatever I want on tv...not having to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse every morning. I can easily get errands done with Louie in tow and don't have to manage wrangling a little girl into a shopping cart. I can even fly solo for a window of time and not feel guilty about leaving Josh with two crazy kids. He can totally handle one - which is awesome for me!

I had the thought before giving birth to Louie..."What was so hard about having an infant around?" I stand by that thought. The hardest thing is sleep deprivation of course, but I will say that Louie is not horrible at sleeping - and on top of that, once you have been sleep deprived as a parent once, it is like your body knows how to function more easily the second time it gets sleep deprived! Other than that, little babies are pretty awesome.

As much as I am tied down every 2-3 hours with this awesome chunk, he's a gem and thanks to him I get my little "vacation." I am still trying to enjoy these early days, because the other side of the coin is that I cannot wait for him to get big and see his personality. Kids just get so much fun just as they also become more "difficult"...

In the end, I love getting to love every stage of development. I'm sure I'll recant that statement in about 10 years when I have my first teenager in the home, but until then I will look forward to each and every precious age and stage.

First Stitch Fix!

First of all, I got my first stitch fix 2 days earlier than what I had "scheduled" for - so I was pretty pumped about that! It was a fun surprise to get it a bit early! My stylist's name is Chantal and she did a pretty good job on her first attempt. I had done some pinteresting to try and give her a better sense of my style taste, and I think she took what I posted and understood where I was coming from. She also made sure to make this first fix very versatile in terms of types of clothing. I think I was hoping for more tops only because that is what I am kind of lacking in right now. Don't get me wrong I have more than enough shirts to wear - but not many that make me feel cool and really awesome about myself. My favorite tops from last summer don't fit so great due to the breastfeeding that is happening this summer. Chances are they will fit better next summer - but that's a ways off! There aren't many days right now where I feel compelled to look super nice - but on the random day you want to, you want it to be pretty easy to pick something to wear. Anyway, let's get to what I got!

Here's what I'm keeping:

This chevron wrap shirt was the biggest surprise and biggest win of my fix. I'm not traditionally a huge wrap shirt kind of person...they tend to make me feel old and they also tend to be too revealing for my bust line. However, this shirt was the opposite...the length made it feel so much more comfortable and stylish, and the wrap was not at all revealing. HUGE BONUS - super easy breast feeding access. #WINNING

Although I will probably not wear this shirt frequently until September rolls around, I couldn't bear to pass it up. It is super soft, super wearable, and super cute! I can wear it in the fall, winter, and spring and it's length means I can wear it with leggings too! I'm very very excited about that leggings part. It's also very neutral so I can change it up with different bottoms and accessories easily.

Here's what I'm sending back:

The jeans I am wearing in these photos are amazing. I have never put on such a nice pair of jeans in my life. However - my bottom half is in the state of fluctuation right now. I didn't stop losing weight after having Noelle until about 7-8 months into the game. Louie is not yet 2 months old. At the same time, a few months after I stopped breastfeeding Noelle, I gained a few pounds back and pretty much adjusted to my body's "happy weight". Because I started smaller with Louie, and am already one pound under where I started with him, I don't really know how this is all going to pan out this time. I can fudge weight fluctuation with my shirts pretty easily, but that is harder to do with such PERFECT fitting jeans. Bottom line, if I wasn't in uncertain "fit" territory I would have kept these for sure! They were a great fit, great color and super comfortable.

This cardigan was also very nice. Great quality and color, and very stylish. I'm just not in the market for a cardigan right now, and it isn't anything that I feel I couldn't find somewhere else.


This dress I was very excited about when I saw it come out of the box. Very cute and different from most things I own and have seen these days. There was just something about the fit that didn't thrill me, it just seemed to hang a bit funny on me. It also felt really fancy (I know it doesn't look it, but the quality of the fabric was so great, it just FELT fancier). I don't have many fancy places to go to right now, especially since Josh and I haven't resumed normal date nights yet because of Louie. Even so, for the price of the dress I needed to love it and I didn't LOVE it.

So there you have it!  My first fix. I really enjoyed the whole process of it. I like being surprised, I like shopping in the comfort of my own home, and I like someone sending me stuff that I wouldn't normally never try on in a store. Overall I say "two thumbs up" and I hope to schedule another one to see how Chantal learns and adapts from my initial comments so that she can get even more skilled at suggesting some clothing for me!

If you are interested in trying out your first stitch fix, use my referral link: Sign up for Stitch Fix!
It's true, I get a credit if you sign up and order your first box - which is awesome!

Life with Louie: 1 Month

Louie Watkins is officially 1 month old!

Josh and I both talk about how it feels like it went so quickly and yet it has been forever all at the same time. I think that is the general sentiment most people have when reflecting on life with a newborn.

There is so much to treasure about these snuggly days, but we cannot wait to see more of his personality and who he will be in the days ahead.

Here's some fun facts about Louie at one month old:

Louie is most likely a whopping 12 lbs at one month old. He loves to eat...usually every 2-3 hours during the day, and on nights that I am lucky he goes 3-4 hours, but lately his trend has stayed in the 2-3.5 hours during the night. As you can tell by his amazing weight gain, the kid loves to eat.

He tolerates tummy time very well, loves to just lay on his back and look around, and has a tendency to give his sister a few smiles when she comes over to talk to him. He also love to look out our living room window whenever he gets the chance.

He likes car rides and baths (both of which his big sis hated at this age), and my newest discovery is that I think he likes to get out and see the world. I'm going to test that theory this week and see just how right I am, but he tends to do very well when we are out in the world.

He's very strong and loves to jerk his head around and is starting to kick his legs and wants to "stand" on me a lot.  He has not mastered the use of the pacifier but I am convinced we are a few weeks away from him loving it. He has a tendency to go for sucking on his hand, so I'm trying to keep him away from becoming a thumb sucker if I can help it.

Here are some photos of Lou at one month old...what a chunk of hunk! And fun fact...the grover is Josh's from his childhood. It was his favorite and his parents lovingly kept it safe all these years and during my pregnancy they took the time to lovingly and painstakingly clean and restore it just in time for Louie.

Newborn Days

As we round the corner to Louie's one month birthday, I am finally getting around to posting some of our newborn photos! We took some family shots and then just some of the little man when he was one week old. We didn't really do anything quite like this with Noelle, but we have some beautiful shots that Josh took and that my father in law took for her (so I don't feel like a photo failure).

It is quite challenging to get some good family photos with a one week old and a three year old, but we got a few good ones. I hope you all enjoy and as much as I treasure these snuggly newborn days, I am so excited to watch Louie grow and grow (and BOY is he growing...)