a summer beauty look. what summer means to me.

happy friday, loves!

this week i participated in a blog series, what summer means to me, with a group of pretty cool girls.  of course when i think of summer, i think of all the usual things that it brings like vacations, sunblock, sand, watermelon, and sunshine, but the first thing that pops into my head is beauty!

i wanted to feature a pretty, summer look that's easy to pull off and looks good on just about any skin color.  during the summer, i like to keep my face pretty free of foundation because it can be heavy so all i typically use is tinted moisturizer with some bronzer. 

a glowy look is something i like to go for, so matte is a look i don't try to achieve in the summertime.  luckily i have pretty normal to dry skin, so i can pull this off without having to use a powder. as for the eyes, any color will do, but for this look here i did a brown/bronze look.  i used brown satin shadow topped with a champagne color, brown pot liner, white in the waterline, and black mascara.  lips are a medium pink color, which is not something i normally wear.  i would have typically worn a nude color with this, but i felt it needed a bit of added color and i liked this color pretty well.

all in all, this look can be worn in a ton of different ways by changing just a few things: a nude lip instead of pink, less eyeshadow and more of a naked eye with bold lips, or even a natural look with only mascara and gloss.

what did you think of this look? 

 

 

Products you would need to complete this look:
- first and foremost, always start out with spf - mine is in my serum and moisturizer
- tinted moisturizer
- light colored bronzer (for the whole face)
- regular bronzer (for contour or apples)
- shimmer powder for highlight
- bronze shadow
- champagne shadow
- espresso gel liner
- black mascara
- white liner (for waterline)
- pink lipstick
- pink lipliner
- gloss if you want

no worries on this saturday.

too much good & fun happening today to have my usual worries.

ootd: a coral wedding

last weekend i attended one of my friend's weddings at a beautiful cathedral in downtown st. louis.  it was also pride weekend so the church and neighborhood were decked out in a variety of rainbow things, but unfortunately i forgot to put my card in my camera so i have nothing. zilch. no pics of the beautiful bride, church, or festivities, but i did stop and grab the card before the reception. 

luckily i was able to snap a few pics of the dress i was wearing because i loved it.  like most of my clothes, it was a solid color, but it was so summery and lightweight that i did not want to remove it at the end of the nite.  so glad i purchased it and the sticker price of eighteen bucks made it a hundred times more likeable. 

if they say rain on a wedding day is luck, those two are going to have a great marriage.  it was sunny for some of the day and proceeded to pour and storm the rest of the evening.  in between the wedding and reception, the mr and i went to houlihans for wine {blue moon for him} and some apps. it was a great day.

dress: h&m // wedges: aerosoles // jewelry: by me  {sorry, couldn't find dress or wedges online}

i love friday!

it's ok that i'll be spending all day inside nursing the sick because the weekend is near, peeps! 

ahh, that is such a refreshing feeling.

enjoy the day.

pretty polish for a wedding. ♥

today one of my best friends from nursing school is getting married.  it's going to be a beautiful outdoor setting at a countryside winery. 

i figured i needed to spruce up my hands a bit and give them a coat of polish.  if you remember this post, i have way too much polish, but as i was sifting through it this morning, i found a polish buried at the bottom that i bought almost 10 years ago i would say.  the paint job itself doesn't look so spectacular, but the color sure is.

the color is so pretty, somewhat like a dark pinkish-red. i used to buy mac's polishes on occasion and always loved this one.  even after almost 10 years, it was like brand new.  there was no gooeyness and i only had to apply one coat. 

i'm sure i'll be using this one a few times over the course of the spring and summer, but i'm still planning on keeping my toes sans polish!

life lately, thru photos.

it's been a pretty nice last week, or so.  i had a mini-vacation, where i just stayed around here, but i had a lot of fun. 

there were a couple celebrated birthdays, book club gatherings, hockey games, concrete cake, movies, having fun, walking, and nice weather.

here is some of what was captured.

 

 

my week's favorite things.

thank god it's friday, although i've been off since wednesday and don't have to go back to work until monday so i've had a mini-vacation, but still.  fridays are always a good thing!  here are some of my favorite highlights from this past week. enjoy!

1.  today is the mr.'s birthday.  good ol' ripe age of 42, but sure doesn't look it, does he?  i can't believe this is the seventh birthday i've spent with him.  holy hell, where has time gone?!

2.  so, to celebrate his birthday, we are going to the blues game tonite.  hockey is one of our favorite things and what better what to celebrate his birthday.  can't wait!

3.  i've been sooooo addicted to these arbonne smoothies.  i mix the powder with water and then add a variety of fruit and spinach.  so far my favorite is the mixed berries with a frozen banana.  heaven. plus they keep me full for hours!

4.  making jewelry has been keeping me super busy.  here is one of my latest creations that i made for my grandma's birthday.

5.  we took dutch to a doggy easter egg hunt.  it was so much fun and he was such a hit there.  he collected the most eggs, which were filled with treats and gift certificates.  we won a BOGO day at doggy day care.  it's the cutest place!

HOPE YOU HAVE A HAPPY WEEKEND!

some things i'm looking forward to

1.  going out for st. patty's day.  have a few green beers, irish car bombs, wear green and have some fun. it only happens once a year so why not celebrate!

2.  i started a new medicine for my anxiety so i'm curious to see how well it works.  keeping my fingers crossed because the last med i was on seemed to wear off after a few years.

3.  spring.  when will it ever be here?  i'm so tired of the 40 degree, windy, sunless days.

4.  booking a trip to vegas for my sister's graduation celebration.  hopefully sometime in may or early june!

5. being part of a new book club.  my friend introduced me to a group that she belongs to and i'll be going to the first meeting next month.  we are going to read the paris wife. 

6.  spending our tax money.  we didn't get back nearly what we did last year, but it will be nice to apply what little we did to our ever increasing credit card balance.

7.  showering and using my mask.  as routine as it sounds, i'm ready to get this day started and feel refreshed.

have a great weekend!

a cheerful monday!

{source}

today i am cheerful.

after not having a job since september, E finally starts a new one today!  we are so thankful because it's been a pretty rough few months living on one income.

i worked all weekend so today is my saturday and i'm going to thoroughly enjoy it.  i've got the place to myself and a bit of sunshine, so i will definitely be taking advantage of the time.

happy monday, friends!

weekend inspiration!

source

enjoy your weekend!

life lately, thru photos.

 ::  my sister & me at the oyster bar celebrating the sunny, warm, winter day ::  peace tea. word.  ::  how cute is this canine hitch since the dogs weren't allowed in the shops & eateries ::  love ::  yummy blueberry muffins ::  dutch with his head out the window as we're driving down the road ::  e snapping photos of me ::  my favorite two angel ornaments {yes, our tree is still up} ::  peel and eat shrimp make me think of beach living ::

it can't be the end.

via

good lord, it's the friday before christmas already. 

i have a migraine going on day 3 now.  not fun, but i'm going to make the best of the day.

here i am last minute shopping again, with 3 people left to buy for.  i tell you - men are so hard to shop for.  us girls, we're easy.  anything to do with hair and makeup, clothes, crafts, food, gift cards...it comes so easy.  but men.  yeah, i'm not sure what i'll get the men in my life.  by that i mean the love, my dad, and bro-in-law.

tonite i've got a friend's birthday party to celebrate.  does this sound fun or what?  we're meeting at the casino/hotel, taking a bus, which will be stocked with drinks to a restaurant, and from there to a chocolate bar. then, back to the hotel to enjoy more drinks, play some board games, drink some more, and then hit up the slot machines. 

by the way, what time is the world supposed to end? 
i hope it's not before i get all my fun in for the day.  i watched a documentary the other nite on the history channel about 2012 apocalypse and if it goes down the way they talked, i'm just going to lay in bed under the covers while it happens.  it's not gonna happen tho.  remember they way everyone was freaked out about y2k? we're still here.

what are your evening plans? anything fun?

be safe and enjoy (:

dream more, complain less.

{source}

I figure I only have about 10 hours left in the day before it's time to hit the sack and get ready for a new work day tomorrow where another busy week begins.  Here's to hoping that I can accomplish every single one of these starting, now.  The list seems easy, but doing so is actually the hard part.

Ready, set, go.

my black friday was better than yours!

...if you went shopping.

Even if you didn't, mine was pretty much a blast.  I don't do crowds, rude people, or late nites, however I do love a good sale, especially when I know I can find a ton of stuff for my selfish self.  However, I just can't justify shopping on that day, not only for the reasons mentioned above, but it seems like it bring out the worst in people - anger, greed, hate, you name it.  Small-Business-Saturday is something that I enjoy a lot better and it supports all the hometown people, not huge corporations.

Our group of girls don't really care too much for the shopping either, so we decided to have a different kind of girl's day.  We went to a couple of our favorite bars in St. Louis while some of the guys did their annual hunting trip.

It started about noon and ended roughly around 10p.  There were lots of giggles, irish carbombs, dance music, too much money spent on the jukebox, cajun shrimp, toasted ravioli, beer, and honestly I can't remember what else.  I can tell you for the first time in my life, I actually used my debit card to play music on the jukebox.  What was I thinking?!  Since only a couple people in my group actually like trance it was my choice and I was in heaven (:  My mom even played a little Tiesto.

Great day for us all, however the next day was spent loving my headache pills, Vitamin Water, pepto, and eye mask.  It was worth it because I haven't had that much fun in a long time.