I’m BACK! For good reason too… it’s time for the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale aka NSale! This sale is seriously like Christmas in July 🎄. My boyfriend asked me a couple of years ago when the sale started, what the big deal was? I answered, this sale is like the Super Bowl of sales.🏈 The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale preview released last week and the official shop dates start in tiers. Okay for those of you who think that I’m being ~dramatic~ thats fine, but let me explain to you why this is the sale of all sale.
What’s the hype around the NSALE?
When most people (including myself) hear the words sales, the first thought is whatever season you are in is about to end. Usually most sales are supposed to get rid of the clothes on the shelf in order to make room for the next season of clothes. What sets the NSale apart is that the incoming fashion items are on sale before the season officially begins. It may get a little toasty while trying on clothes, but the largest advantage to shopping the NSALE is that you can stock up on great fall basics before summer ends, and at a discounted price. There are some styles that are completely new to this season and then there are some tried and true items that come back every year for the Anniversary sale. Once the sale ends, all pieces will go back to full price and will be *currently in season. This is basically unheard of, except for when it comes to Nordstrom. 🛍
Let’s get down to the nitty gritty now. The NSale has several tiers that it opens up in. All Nordstrom credit card holders automatically get early access. It begins with early access on July 9th with subsequent phases of cardholder statuses. The sale then opens up to the public on July 15th where anyone and everyone can take advantage of the sale prices for the upcoming seasons. The following schedule is how the 2024 NSale is operating and when every tiered status can begin shopping:
Icon status: July 9, 2024
Ambassador status: July 10, 2024
Influencer status: July 11, 2024
NSale opens up to the public on July 15, 2024
The sale will be in-store during open hours and will begin online at 12:01 EST (11pm CST and 9pm PST) on the first day you’re eligible to shop and will run until August 4.
This sounds confusing, where do I start?
There is a lot of information out there when it comes to the NSale. Right now, the preview is open so you can easily make a wishlist if you sign up/in to your Nordstrom account so that whenever you are eligible to shop, you already know what you are going for. PRO TIP: creating a wishlist is helpful when shopping so that you are fully aware of what you are looking for and tracking for restocks. If an item is on your wishlist, you will be notified when it is restocked in the size/colour you wanted. Be sure to keep an eye out for restocks and new items they sometimes throw into the sale when it opens to the public.
What should I do in the meantime while I wait until my access opens?
I have been shopping the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale for many years friends, even when I was too little to shop, I would walk through the department store hand in hand with my mom while she shopped it. There is a bit of nostalgia associated with the sale for me but more than anything I find it the most practical time for me to jump ahead of the fall fashion trends before the season starts and add to my wardrobe with the must-haves. Before I think about shopping or even making my wishlist, I go through my closet and do a major clean out of the items that I don’t wear anymore or don’t fit anymore. This way, I am not duplicating efforts when I am shopping and accidentally buy something that I already have something similar. I would strongly encourage you to do the same so that you can be focused during the shopping event. This is also the best way for me to stick to my budget 🙂 Which leads us into the next question…
How do I budget for the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale?
I received this question quite a few times over the years when I shop the Anniversary Sale it so I figured I would go ahead and throw it in the pre-sale blog post to address it. Anyone who knows me for any length of time knows that Nordstrom has been a go-to store for me for many years. I wait and plan for this sale all year which is how I budget for it. I usually save a portion of my paycheck once a month for 6 months and that will usually get me in a good spot to be able to buy the items on my wishlist. Again, I stick to my list of items needed from my wardrobe as well to make sure I don’t go overboard. Most of the items I buy are shoes and fall/winter staples that I can reuse year after year such as jeans and jackets. These pieces are great investment pieces that can be used throughout the year and will keep the quality of the item long after the year is over.
I hope this information has provided some helpful tips on how to shop the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale this year. I’m so pumped for this year’s sale, lets get shoppin’!
It’s Super Bowl time!!! I mean… Sephora Sale time!! To all my beauty-lovers out there, our time has finally come in 2024, the Sephora Spring Savings Event has arrived! 🛍 This event runs from April 5- 15, 2024 and opens to shoppers based on Sephora status, the same as years past. Can you believe this is the fifth year I’m covering the sale?! Fun fact about my blog, the first sale I covered was the Sephora Spring Sale back in 2020 before I re-branded in 2021. Many of y’all have been around since then so you know the drill! Just leaning into my Type A tendencies here …in preparation for the sale, I start saving several months before each savings event. As you may know, there are 2 sales, the first is now in the spring and then there is a holiday sale. The reason why I look forward to this sale is because it is a great time to restock on favourite products that you’ve been loving. Some of the items in my cart are tried and true products that either I repurchase every year or that I found last year and love it enough to restock. Another reason why this sale is such a good time to place an order is because with the discounts, it makes snagging more luxurious or high-ticket items at a better price.
The Basics
For those of you who have been following along with me since the beginning of my blog, this is the same spiel with all of the basic info that anyone needs to know in order to shop the event. First, you must have an account with Sephora. If you don’t have an account with Sephora, you can sign up for free here. If you are Rouge status, you will be able to shop first with early access with 20% off from April 5- 15th If you are VIB status, you can start shopping with 15% off from April 5- 15th. If you are an Insider, you will be able to shop with 10% off from April 5- 15th Make sure to use the code YAYSAVE when you are checking out to receive your spring savings! All these discounts are multi-use and can be used in-store of course, as well. ✨
I have split this post into two sections so it is easier to plan your shopping strategy (and yes I take this sale that seriously). The sections include daily makeup items and on my wishlist. If at any time, you need a more comprehensive review of a particular product or have additional questions, please reach out to me ~ I’m happy to help!
Daily Makeup Favs
First up are my go to daily makeup items or my holy grail products. These are the items that I reach for the most on my vanity. I only put products in this category if it is truly what I wear most of the week and that if I didn’t have another, I would need to immediately repurchase.
Lancome Idole Ultra-Precise Felt Tip Liquid Eyeliner – $25 This was a recent purchase this year and I was so happy that I tried it out because it surpassed all of my expectations. It is jet black, ultra fine so that it can be easily maneuvered, and long staying power. I would definitely repurchase if I didn’t already have a restock.
NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer (shade: ginger, medium with warm undertones and a golden tone)- $32 This concealer is the one of the best concealers I’ve used before. It doesn’t settle into my fine lines and it actually conceals redness and my dark circles under my eyes. When I first tried it, I got the mini-size and it lasted such a long time. Ever since then, I’ve repurchasing a full size bottle and always keep it on my vanity.
Patrick Ta Major Beauty Headlines Double-Take Creme & Powder Blush (shade: She’s a Doll) – $38 This blush is the perfect shade for that pop of pink on your cheeks. I use the creme blush first using the Sephora #99 brush above and then I put the powder on top for a very youthful look. The brighter the pink, the better.
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Waterproof Eyeliner Pencil (shade: bourbon, glimmering dark brown)- $23 This eyeliner is a beautiful brown with slight shimmer in it which I love to use on an everyday look. I line my top lid and smudge it with with a brush so it creates a soft glow look. I also wear this liner without eyeshadow if I just want a subtle outline to make my eyes shine a bit more.
Sephora Collection PRO Concealer Brush #71 – $22 30% off the Sephora Collection during the sale, you can’t beat that for the quality of the PRO brushes. This concealer brush is dense but softly bristled so it doesn’t irritate your under eye while blending concealer seamlessly. I switch back and forth between using makeup sponges and makeup brushes under my eyes but if I use a brush it will definitely be this one.
Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer (shade: Hot Chocalit AND Fu$$Y)- $21 This was one of my favourite purchases from the fall sale because of course, Fenty glosses lived up to the hype. Ultra shiny and glossy but does not feel sticky or artificial on the lips at all. This shade was absolutely stunning for the colder months. Now I have my eye on Fu$$y for the summer.
Sephora Collection PRO BLUSH BRUSH #99– $30 My biggest advice for the sale? Don’t sleep on the Sephora Collection items! I bought this brush for my cream blushes last year and it’s the only brush I use now. Plus all of Sephora Collection is 30% off.
Lancome Cils Booster XL Super-Enhancing Mascara Primer– $30 The absolute best eyelash primer that has ever graced this planet. No, I don’t say this lightly either. Every sale, I buy in bulk because I just can never run out of it. I have three in my restock drawer already. The trick is to let it sit for about 30 seconds so it gets a bit tacky and then apply the mascara of your choice for a beautiful wispy and full effect.
HUDA BEAUTY Easy Bake Loose Baking & Setting Powder (shade: banana bread- light, medium, and tan skin tones)- $38 The best loose setting powder on the market! This was a recent find from the Sephora Holiday Sale and I am so glad I picked it up because I don’t go a day without using it. The powder is so finely milled and it applies beautifully on the skin. Doesn’t crease at all and it brightens the area applied. I don’t need a restock because I still have plenty, but I will definitely make sure I don’t ever run out of it.
Yves Saint Laurent All Hours Luminous Matte Foundation 24H Longer (shade: MN6 medium shade with neutral undertones 6) – $62 The title alone luminous matte sounds too good to be true but I am here to tell you that it is truly that good. I picked it up this past spring sale and fell in love with the coverage and the wear. It feels like velvet on the skin and wears beautifully throughout the day. The shade range is also quite large which I appreciated so I can have both my summer and winter shade available in the formula.
Urban Decay Mini Original Eyeshadow Primer Potion – $18 I chose to buy the mini because I wanted make sure I loved it before I bought the full size. I actually used to use this product when I was in high school and really liked it. All these years later, I went back to it and it still works like a charm. This is a creaseproof primer for even my most complex eyeshadow looks.
Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Lipstick (shade: Pillow Talk)- $35 First I use the lip liner then I use the lipstick and to top it off you can use either the lip gloss or the collagen lip bath. The colour is universally flattering which is a major plus because it is a true nude and not only is soft on the lips but I find it hydrating too.
Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush (shade: happy, dewy cool pink)- $23 This blush is absolutely stunning. The formula, the colour, and the pigment are top tier. I thought this colour might’ve been too bright for me however just a dab on my cheek is all I needed, and blending it out made it look like I had just naturally blushing cheeks. I liked wearing it in the summer because of the naturalness of it but I also am liking it during the colder months because of how nourishing it feels on my face.
Fenty Beauty Diamond Bomb All-Over Diamond Veil (shade: How Many Carats?! – pure platinum sparkle) $42 Another item I was so pleased with after purchasing from the fall sale. It is absolutely stunning as a highlighter, all over body shimmer, or an eye shadow topper! Truly one of the best and looks like you’ve been dipped in diamonds. It’s a little pricey but it will last you a lifetime and it’s the perfect time to grab it if you’ve been eyeing since it’s on sale.
Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz Ultra-Slim Precision Brow Pencil (shade: ebony) – $25 If you watched my videos from the spring sale, you already know that brow products have never been a priority for me. I got a couple of recommendations on using a very low-key brow pencil so I decided to try this one out and love it now. I have very dark brown almost black coloured hair so the shade ebony was a perfect match for me.
What’s On My Wishlist?
I have made the below graphic with all the items that I have been wishing for. A couple are restocks but I admit that there are quite a a few new products that I can’t wait to try.
Lots of information in this post but I wanted to make sure that you had as many details on my staples available to you right when the sale opens, no matter which tier you shop in. I am also always available to answer any questions you might have or share my thoughts/experiences with certain products. Clearly, I’m so excited for this sale and I hope y’all are too. It only comes around twice a year, after all. Happy shopping! Can’t wait to chat all about the goodies purchased! Thanks for reading🤍
Today is a very good day because it is my blog anniversary!!✨ Today marks three years since I brought my blog back to life. On January 25th, 2021, Sara Elise Blog was born and I can’t believe that it has continued to grow into what it is today both through my home website and on Instagram/TikTok. I am so happy to write this post and talk to you about how my blog has not only grown but has served as a positive outlet for me. As a bit of background, I originally started my blog in early 2020 however I shut it down shortly after because I had some intense health issues that I had to sort out first. I had to dedicate my time and energy into first healing and strengthening my body. So when 2021 rolled around, I was terrified of starting my blog up because I had tried before and “failed”. After a few days of reflecting, I thought to myself that I hadn’t necessarily failed but rather was redirected for that specific time in my life. I decided that since I hadn’t given myself a real go at this new hobby, then it would be short sighted to not even try and see where it led. I also had an amazing support system around me who encouraged me to begin again. My caring family, my loving boyfriend, my supportive best friends, they all had faith in me when candidly, I didn’t have a lot of faith in myself. Though i trusted them all deeply, so I went for it.
Well that was a huge leap of faith and looking back, I am so proud of myself that I took it. Those types of leaps especially the ones where you put yourself out there in a world of uncomfortable, may just be the leap you needed to take to realize how much you are actually capable of. I remember when I hit my first blog anniversary and even last year’s second anniversary, I was genuinely surprised that I hadn’t given up yet because of the work it took to continue a blog. Both backend work and front facing can be draining but when it is a passion or a creative outlet, like it is for me, the work doesn’t bother you because you know that the experience is a rewarding one.
Now let’s be realistic, there are always ups and downs of any given year, but for me I know that 2023 was a very hard year for me to get through. However during the lows, I knew I had not only my blog but my community that I’ve been slowly building up to turn to. Sara Elise Blog has been a small beacon of hope for me during a trying time and I hope you, as my readers, have also found a positive and fun light from my posts. ⭐️
I wanted to pull together a THREE of my best posts from 2023 to look back on in honor of THREE years. These blog posts and pictures above are the highlights of the year: Reflecting on 22, His and Hers Outfit Inspo for Valentines, and SAVE or SPLURGE? While there were other posts published between all of these, these three were my most creative and some of my favourites to write.
I want to express my sincerest gratitude to all of you, my readers and supporters. I am so very thankful for all of you.💗 I have received so much love, encouragement, and genuine interest from this past year. Connecting with each of you on an individual basis is definitely a highlight of my days. Thank you for believing in me and challenging me to keep going even when life got a little tough and busy. In 2024, I hope to bring more fashion, beauty, travel and lifestyle content to y’all in whatever way I can. If there is anything specific that you would like to see this year, send your suggestions my way!
I’m BACK! For good reason too… it’s time for the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale aka NSale! This sale is seriously like Christmas in July 🎄. My boyfriend asked me a couple of years ago when the sale started, what the big deal was? I answered, this sale is like the Super Bowl of sales.🏈 The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale preview released last week and the official shop dates start in tiers. Okay for those of you who think that I’m being ~dramatic~ thats fine, but let me explain to you why this is the sale of all sales.
What’s the hype around the NSALE?
When most people (including myself) hear the words sales, the first thought is whatever season you are in is about to end. Usually most sales are supposed to get rid of the clothes on the shelf in order to make room for the next season of clothes. What sets the NSale apart is that the incoming fashion items are on sale before the season officially begins. It may get a little toasty while trying on clothes, but the largest advantage to shopping the NSALE is that you can stock up on great fall basics before summer ends, and at a discounted price. There are some styles that are completely new to this season and then there are some tried and true items that come back every year for the Anniversary sale. Once the sale ends, all pieces will go back to full price and will be *currently in season. This is basically unheard of, except for when it comes to Nordstrom. 🛍
When does the sale start?
Let’s get down to the nitty gritty now. The NSale has several tiers that it opens up in. All Nordstrom credit card holders automatically get early access. It begins with early access on July 11th with subsequent phases of cardholder statuses. The sale then opens up to the public on July 17th where anyone and everyone can take advantage of the sale prices for the upcoming seasons. The following schedule is how the 2023 NSale is operating and when every tiered status can begin shopping:
Icon status: July 11, 2023
Ambassador status: July 12, 2023
Influencer status: July 13, 2023
NSale opens up to the public on July 17, 2023
The sale will be in-store during open hours and will begin online at 12:01 EST (11pm CST and 9pm PST) on the first day you’re eligible to shop.
This sounds confusing, where do I start?
There is a lot of information out there when it comes to the NSale. Right now, the preview is open so you can easily make a wishlist if you sign up/in to your Nordstrom account so that whenever you are eligible to shop, you already know what you are going for. PRO TIP: creating a wishlist is helpful when shopping so that you are fully aware of what you are looking for and tracking for restocks. If an item is on your wishlist, you will be notified when it is restocked in the size/colour you wanted. Be sure to keep an eye out for restocks and new items they sometimes throw into the sale when it opens to the public.
What should I do in the meantime while I wait until my access opens?
I have been shopping the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale for many years friends, even when I was too little to shop, I would walk through the department store hand in hand with my mom while she shopped it. There is a bit of nostalgia associated with the sale for me but more than anything I find it the most practical time for me to jump ahead of the fall fashion trends before the season starts and add to my wardrobe with the must-haves. Before I think about shopping or even making my wishlist, I go through my closet and do a major clean out of the items that I don’t wear anymore or don’t fit anymore. This way, I am not duplicating efforts when I am shopping and accidentally buy something that I already have something similar. I would strongly encourage you to do the same so that you can be focused during the shopping event. This is also the best way for me to stick to my budget 🙂 Which leads us into the next question…
How do I budget for the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale?
I received this question quite a few times over the years when I shop the Anniversary Sale it so I figured I would go ahead and throw it in the pre-sale blog post to address it. Anyone who knows me for any length of time knows that Nordstrom has been a go-to store for me for many years. I wait and plan for this sale all year which is how I budget for it. I usually save a portion of my paycheck once a month for 6 months and that will usually get me in a good spot to be able to buy the items on my wishlist. Again, I stick to my list of items needed from my wardrobe as well to make sure I don’t go overboard. Most of the items I buy are shoes and fall/winter staples that I can reuse year after year such as jeans and jackets. Many of the items with the sale prices are under $100 which is what I anticipate. These pieces are great investment pieces that can be used throughout the year and will keep the quality of the item long after the year is over.
I hope this information has provided some helpful tips on how to shop the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale this year. I’m so pumped for this year’s sale, lets get shoppin’!
What screams spring more than cherry blossoms in Washington D.C.?
It’s Super Bowl time!!! I mean… Sephora Sale time!! To all my beauty-lovers out there, our time has finally come in 2023, the Sephora Spring Savings Event has arrived! 🛍 This event runs from April 14- 24, 2023 and opens to shoppers based on Sephora status, the same as years past. I couldn’t be more excited to cover this sale for the fourth year for all of you. Fun fact about my blog, the first sale I covered was the Sephora Spring Sale back in 2020 before I re-branded in 2021. Many of y’all have been around since then so you know the drill! Just leaning into my Type A tendencies here …in preparation for the sale, I start saving several months before each savings event. As you may know, there are 2 sales, the first is now in the spring and then there is a holiday sale. The reason why I look forward to this sale is because it is a great time to restock on favourite products that you’ve been loving. Some of the items in my cart are tried and true products that either I repurchase every year or that I found last year and love it enough to restock. Another reason why this sale is such a good time to place an order is because with the discounts, it makes snagging more luxurious or high-ticket items at a better price.
The Basics
For those of you who have been following along with me since the beginning of my blog, this is the same spiel with all of the basic info that anyone needs to know in order to shop the event. First, you must have an account with Sephora. If you don’t have an account with Sephora, you can sign up for free here. If you are Rouge status, you will be able to shop first with early access with 20% off from April 14-24. If you are VIB status, you can start shopping with 15% off from April 18-24. If you are an Insider, you will be able to shop with 10% off from April 18-24. Make sure to use the code SAVENOW when you are checking out to receive your extra savings! All these discounts are multi-use and can be used in-store of course, as well. ✨
I have split this post into several sections so it is easier to plan your shopping strategy (and yes I take this sale that seriously). The sections include makeup must-haves, other holy grails, and currently in cart. If at any time, you need a more comprehensive review of a particular product or have additional questions, please reach out to me ~ I’m happy to help!
Daily Makeup Favs
First up are my go to daily makeup items or my holy grail products. These are the items that I reach for the most on my vanity. I only put products in this category if it is truly what I wear most of the week and that if I didn’t have another, I would need to immediately repurchase.
Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Instant Eyeshadow Palette, $75 This palette has four different sets of looks with three different shades in each. I really like how CT separates her eyeshadow palettes because it gives the user direction on where to use them and what to use them for each occasion. There is a holiday collection that comes out every year and I use last year’s quite a bit as well.
Lancome Idole Ultra-Precise Felt Tip Liquid Eyeliner – $22 This was a recent purchase this year and I was so happy that I tried it out because it surpassed all of my expectations. It is jet black, ultra fine so that it can be easily maneuvered, and long staying power. I would definitely repurchase if I didn’t already have a restock.
NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer (shade: ginger, medium with warm undertones and a golden tone)- $31 This concealer is the one of the best concealers I’ve used before. It doesn’t settle into my fine lines and it actually conceals redness and my dark circles under my eyes. When I first tried it, I got the mini-size and it lasted such a long time. Ever since then, I’ve repurchasing a full size bottle and always keep it on my vanity.
Patrick Ta Major Beauty Headlines Double-Take Creme & Powder Blush (shade: She’s a Doll) – $34 This blush is the perfect shade for that pop of pink on your cheeks. I use the creme blush first using the Sephora #99 brush above and then I put the powder on top for a very youthful look. The brighter the pink, the better.
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Waterproof Eyeliner Pencil (shade: bourbon, glimmering dark brown)- $22 This eyeliner is a beautiful brown with slight shimmer in it which I love to use on an everyday look. I line my top lid and smudge it with with a brush so it creates a soft glow look. I also wear this liner without eyeshadow if I just want a subtle outline to make my eyes shine a bit more.
Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer (shade: Hot Chocalit, shimmering rich brown)- $21 This was one of my favourite purchases from the fall sale because of course, Fenty glosses lived up to the hype. Ultra shiny and glossy but does not feel sticky or artificial on the lips at all. This shade was absolutely stunning for the colder months. Now I have my eye on Fu$$y for the summer.
Sephora Collection PRO BLUSH BRUSH #99– $30 My biggest advice for the sale? Don’t sleep on the Sephora Collection items! I bought this brush for my cream blushes last year and it’s the only brush I use now. Plus all of Sephora Collection is 30% off.
Lancome Cils Booster XL Super-Enhancing Mascara Primer– $28 The absolute best eyelash primer that has ever graced this planet. No, I don’t say this lightly either. Every sale, I buy in bulk because I just can never run out of it. I have three in my restock drawer already. The trick is to let it sit for about 30 seconds so it gets a bit tacky and then apply the mascara of your choice for a beautiful wispy and full effect.
HUDA BEAUTY Easy Bake Loose Baking & Setting Powder (shade: banana bread- light, medium, and tan skin tones)- $35 The best loose setting powder on the market! This was a recent find from the Sephora Holiday Sale and I am so glad I picked it up because I don’t go a day without using it. The powder is so finely milled and it applies beautifully on the skin. Doesn’t crease at all and it brightens the area applied. I don’t need a restock because I still have plenty, but I will definitely make sure I don’t ever run out of it.
Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Lipstick (shade: Pillow Talk)- $34 First I use the lip liner then I use the lipstick and to top it off you can use either the lip gloss or the collagen lip bath. The colour is universally flattering which is a major plus because it is a true nude and not only is soft on the lips but I find it hydrating too.
Charlotte Tilbury Jewel Lip Gloss (shade: Pillow Talk)- $32 Unfortunately, pillow talk is sold out so I linked it up to Rose Jewel which looks so beautiful and is the same formula as pillow talk with a bit more gold to it. Absolutely obsessed with the packaging on this one!
IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream with SPF 50+ (shade: neutral tan, light brown shade with neutral undertones)- $44 This CC cream is very buildable and I love it because of the good coverage it provides. I wear this everyday for work and I used to wear it in the office when I would work in-person. I also always use this cream to the pool, to the beach, or any outdoor events specifically during the summer because of the amazing SPF coverage. In the depth of winter, I transition to the shade of neutral medium.
Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush (shade: happy, dewy cool pink)- $20 This blush is absolutely stunning. The formula, the colour, and the pigment are top tier. I thought this colour might’ve been too bright for me however just a dab on my cheek is all I needed, and blending it out made it look like I had just naturally blushing cheeks. I liked wearing it in the summer because of the naturalness of it but I also am liking it during the colder months because of how nourishing it feels on my face.
Gucci Mascara L’Obscur (shaded: eve black)- $35 I fell in love with this mascara last spring sale and I haven’t looked back. I think for a designer brand, it is a reasonable price especially now during the sale. It is a great everyday mascara that lengthens the lashes and gives a beautiful rich and flattering look to the eyes. Plus the packaging is dead set a winner to me.
Fenty Beauty Diamond Bomb All-Over Diamond Veil (shade: How Many Carats?! – pure platinum sparkle) $42 Another item I was so pleased with after purchasing from the fall sale. It is absolutely stunning as a highlighter, all over body shimmer, or an eye shadow topper! Truly one of the best and looks like you’ve been dipped in diamonds. It’s a little pricey but it will last you a lifetime and it’s the perfect time to grab it if you’ve been eyeing since it’s on sale.
Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz Ultra-Slim Precision Brow Pencil (shade: ebony) – $25 If you watched my videos from the spring sale, you already know that brow products have never been a priority for me. I got a couple of recommendations on using a very low-key brow pencil so I decided to try this one out and love it now. I have very dark brown almost black coloured hair so the shade ebony was a perfect match for me.
What’s In My Cart?
I have made the below graphic with all the items that I have in my basket. Most of them are new products to me that I haven’t tried before or at least in that particular shade. For the ones that I haven’t tried before, I don’t have reviews on them yet but I will soon! That will have to be my next blog post!
Top Picks
I have made a few graphics below to showcase all of the items in certain sections. However, I want to make sure that it is clear that I will absolutely not recommend products to you if I don’t actually use it myself. All the products that are on my graphics (unless it is a wishlist item) are all products that I currently use or have been using in the past that I would recommend to grab during the sale. With that being said, feel free to message me if there are any specific questions you might have about any of the items.
I know I just threw a lot of information at you but I wanted to make sure that you had as much information available to you right when the sale opens, no matter which tier you shop in. I am also always available to answer any questions you might have or share my thoughts/experiences with certain products. Clearly, I’m so excited for this sale and I hope y’all are too. It only comes around twice a year, after all. Happy shopping! Can’t wait to chat all about the goodies purchased! Thanks for reading🤍
*All thoughts and opinions are my own. I do not own the rights to the images provided unless the picture is of myself. All other pictures have website links tied to them through the item name. I do not make any commission off any of these items.
I am so excited to bring you this blog post as this has been one of my most requested blog topics over the past year. Last year, I had found some cute sandals while scrolling through my favourite sites and I realized I had seen something similar from other designer sites. I realized shortly after, that they were great lookalikes that I wanted to share with everyone. Since late February and early March are around the time that the spring and summer trends are released I have been busy spotting trends for the year. ✨While I don’t only shop trends but instead lean towards classic re-wear items, shoes definitely are the item that I look forward to seeing what’s trending. After looking through Target’s website, I realized that so many of the new arrivals, I had seen before but the most importantly at a better price point. The look-alike items are only a fraction of the price and still look like great quality. In this post I have compiled several versions for “save or splurge” and I’m excited to share them with you. 🛍
A mixture of neutral shoes to compliment your wardrobe in the warmer months
1.2.3.
I’ll have one of every neutral shoe, please and thank you!
I actually bought the splurge option last summer of these platform heels and fell in love with them. I am usually hesitant on buying anything in a neutral/tan colour because it usually doesn’t look right with my skin tone but the version I bought which is pictured in the graphic is the ‘dark nude’ and it worked perfectly. I can’t believe Target has a look for less now available but it’s great to know.
I hope you found a look for less that you could see either adding to your closet or adding to your style inspo mental notes. Please let me know if these are helpful for you and if there are other categories you would like to be featured for “Save or Splurge”. Thanks for reading along! Have a great week, friends. ❤️
All thoughts and opinions are my own. I own the rights of all pictures of me in them. Any picture that is not of me has a link attached where you can find corresponding items. I do not make commission off of these links.
This past weekend, I went to afternoon tea at the Hay-Adams in Washington D.C. Here is a snap of me enjoying my tea!
Welcome to the month of love! Valentine’s Day is less than a week away and after talking with some of my friends, I had realized that I haven’t done a couples fashion blog post yet. While I would love to get my boyfriend involved with pictures, he is more interested in being behind the camera taking the pictures. Regardless, this blog post I have written below is for outfit inspiration for different date activities/ideas for Valentine’s Day or weekend. Shout out to my dear friends Meaghan and Katie for planting this seed in my head and inspiring me to think outside of my usual box for this post 💗 I wanted to provide a range of activities that you could do as a couple so for this posting I have included, netflix and chill, let’s get physical, and a night on the town.
Netflix & Chill
Pizza, chinese delivery, takeout food ordered, whatever it is… it will be for a night in. The Netflix and Chill look inspo is for the couples that plan on kicking back and not getting fussy with extra plans. Binging rom-com movies, playing card games, blasting music for a dance party and eating your fav cuisine in your comfy clothes is exactly what these looks are supposed to be for.
Hers:
His:
Let’s GetPhysical
To all my active couples, this one is for you. I am so inspired by the couples who love to go to the gym together or find some type of hobby to do that involves exercise to try out. All of those sporty spices out there who want to do a workout class together, play a ball game outside or walk/run/bike together, these outfit looks will suit you for your fun activities.
Hers:
His:
A Night on the Town
It’s a date night on the town type of weekend! If you have chosen to make a reservation at an all-time fav or a new place that has been on your list, we gotta break out a new outfit for your couple. I wanted to gather a few silhouettes, colours, and styles for you to browse through. If you aren’t keen on wearing pink or red, I love wearing black/white/cream and then throw on pink or red accessories to spice it up like heels, shoes, jewelry, or coats if it is going to be cold where you live.
Hers:
His:
V-Day Accessories
Every activity needs an accessory. I have rounded up some favourites to add to any of your outfits. Many of these outfits and accessories can also take you well into spring and summer so if you are on the hunt to add to your wardrobe there will be more uses than just for Valentine’s Day.
I hope these visualizations of outfit inspos for couples have helped you plan your style for the weekend. Some of these items can also pull inspiration from your current closet so if you don’t want to spend any more money, look through your wardrobe and see if there is anything that you can mix and match for the occasion. This blog post was a bit different of a style than my normal but I really enjoyed taking on the challenge and expanding my style inspiration looks. Whatever your Valentine’s Day plans are, I hope you enjoy the time together with your significant other, children, friends, family or even most importantly, yourself ❤️
Message me with your Valentine’s plans, would love to hear from you. Thanks for reading along and always supporting.
All thoughts and opinions are my own. I own the rights of all pictures of me in them. Any picture that is not of me has a link attached where you can find corresponding items. I do not make commission off of these links.
Now that is the end of January, I figured it was as good of a time as ever to share with you my thoughts from last year and what I’m looking ahead to in 2023. I reflected heavily on 2022 to bring me out of a lull I usually get myself into between Christmas and New Year’s. I decided to make a “2022 brag list” where I write down all of my goals I actually accomplished from 2022 and then I can see what was achieved and which goals I can continue to work on. In this blog post I have detailed 5 of my goals/accomplishments from last year. This gave me a great mindset on how to work on my vision board and future goals for the upcoming year. I have a few categories of goals that I focus on however the ones that I am going to share with you today are food/dietary needs, personal development, and travel. 🌎
Everyone conducts their goals/resolutions/words of the year a little bit differently so that’s important to keep in mind here. I will explain my system to y’all but please don’t feel like you automatically have to do the same. What works for me may not work for you but I know I like to span my 2023 visions through different levels to make it most productive for me. First, I don’t make big overarching goals because then I am unsure of how to actually achieve them. I instead split up my goals into categories and then write tangible smaller goals within those sections to focus my efforts in. If you are still trying to figure out your style, keep trying different methods because one size doesn’t fit all! 💗
While I was working on the brag list, I also realized that I had a few other goals that weren’t goals in the beginning of the year but were spur of the moment or things that just came up throughout the year that I hadn’t planned for. I highly recommend making a brag list for the year before because it helps bring the year into perspective and frames a good mindset to move forward. Below I will explain my five goals/accomplishments from 2022 and the corresponding category it belongs to.
Re-introduced gluten, dairy, and alcohol back into my diet (Food/Dietary Needs)
As many of you know, I had some very intense medical issues that happened during 2020. All throughout 2021, I was focused on healing. In 2022, I really wanted to focus my energy on re-introducing certain items back into my diet that I had to temporarily eliminate/reduce. I successfully, added all three (in small doses) back into my regular lifestyle all within moderation. I usually limit myself to 1-2 drinks a week and 2-3 times a week having some sort of gluten. As for dairy, I try to have lactose-free cheese when I can and then I opt for non-dairy alternatives such as almond and oat for everyday use. All of these things took time for me to get accustomed to which is why it took a full year to feel successful. It will continue to be a daily choice this year but I finally feel like I’m moving in the right direction.
Read 17 books (Personal Development)
I picked back up my love of reading when the pandemic hit…. i know *shocking*. I set quite a large goal for myself and I was pleasantly surprised when I hit it in October! By the time the end of the year came around, I had read 26 books and felt so accomplished. I was prioritizing time 30 minutes before I went to bed so that I could get a few chapters in every night. Some of my fav authors are Taylor Jenkins Reid, Christina Lauren, and Julia Quinn. Don’t forget, I have a book highlight on my instagram of all my ratings and book recs.
1 holiday with my boyfriend (Travel)
Anthony and I have been planning at least one trip a year just the two of us to go explore a different state and in 2022, there wasn’t an exception. In 2020, we travelled to the mountains (to socially distance) in the blissful Highlands, NC. In 2021, we went to the Great Smoky Mountains, TN. In 2022, I was itching to go to the beach and I figured we could go together since we had never been to the beach together. We settled on going to the panhandle in Florida, specially 30A. We stayed for 6 days there and explored so many beach towns it was absolutely stunning there. I wrote a blog post here “Travel Guide: 30A, Florida” if you would like to read further details about it.
10 yr Friendaversary trip with my best friend (Travel)
You may be asking… gee Sara where is the blog post about this trip? I confess that the end of the year caught up with me and I wasn’t able to sit down and regurgitate everything. I will give spark notes here: My best friend Gabby and I had been planning on going on a big friendaversary trip (we made that word up to celebrate) to mark 10 years of us being besties. She came into my life in high school in 2012 and has been one of the biggest blessings of my life. Fast forward 10 years, in 2022 we wanted to choose a location that we both hadn’t been to before, that wasn’t too far form VA, and that would have a bit of everything for us to do. Enter, NASHVILLE. We went on a 4 day trip to Nashville, TN and when I say it was one of the most fun trips I’d been on, I am not exaggerating. We truly did a bit of everything… museums, tours, customizing our own cowboy hats, bar-hopping, restaurant-tasting, dancing/singing in honky tonks, even took a chocolate tasting class! Somehow, we fit it all in and it truly was an amazing experience. Nashville…. we will be back for you.
Expand blog to better serve my online community (Blog)
Since I already had a year under my belt of having my blog, I was searching for ways to expand. In the fall, I got my first discount code for Electric Picks which was truly a pinch me moment. I was so excited to be able to offer an exclusive code for my followers to get their hands on some beautiful pieces at a discounted price. Electric Picks is a top notch jewelry brand who I have been a loyal customer of for a couple of years now. I am in the works of getting another discount code soon as well so I am hoping that I can continue to provide better tools and rewards for my blog community.
It means so much to me that you guys take the time out of your day to read and consume my content. You absolutely have a choice on who you follow and I really appreciate your support while I have embarked on my incredibly exciting blog passion project. Thanks for reading along and I look forward to creating more content for you in 2023✨
P.S. I have recently started posting more on TikTok as well… my username is sara_elise0, follow along over there if you haven’t already.
Today is my blog anniversary!!✨ Today marks two years since I brought my blog back to life. On January 25th, 2021, Sara Elise Blog was born and I can’t believe that it has continued to grow into what it is today both through my home website and on Instagram. I am so happy to write this post and talk to you about how my blog has not only grown but has served as a positive outlet for me. As a bit of background, I originally started my blog in early 2020 however I shut it down shortly after because I had some intense health issues that I had to sort out first. I had to dedicate my time and energy into first healing and strengthening my body. So when 2021 rolled around, I was terrified of starting my blog up because I had tried before and “failed”. After a few days of reflecting, I thought to myself that I hadn’t necessarily failed but rather was redirected for that specific time in my life. I decided that since I hadn’t given myself a real go at this new hobby, then it would be short sighted to not even try and see where it led.
Well that was a huge leap of faith and looking back, I am proud of myself that I took it. Those types of leaps especially the ones where you put yourself out there in a world of uncomfortable, may just be the leap you needed to take to realize how much you are actually capable of. I remember when I hit my first blog anniversary last year, I was genuinely surprised that I hadn’t given up yet because of the work it took to continue a blog. Both backend work and front facing can be draining but when it is a passion or a creative outlet, like it is for me, the work doesn’t bother you because you know that the experience is a rewarding one.
Now let’s be realistic, there are always ups and downs of any given year, but for me I know that 2022 was a very hard year for me to get through. However during the lows, I knew I had not only my blog but my community that I’ve been slowly building up to turn to. Sara Elise Blog has been a small beacon of hope for me during a trying time and I hope you, as my readers, have also found a positive and fun light from my posts. ⭐️
I wanted to pull together a few of my best posts from 2022 to look back on. These blog posts and pictures above are from the following blog highlights: 1 outfit, 3 looks: Valentines Edition, Wedding Wednesday- Guest Dresses, Travel Guide: Raleigh, NC, and Travel Guide: 30A, FL. While there were other posts published between all of these, the four I listed were some of my favourites to write.
I want to express my sincerest gratitude to all of you, my readers and supporters. I am so very thankful for all of you.💗 I have received so much love, encouragement, and genuine interest from this past year. Connecting with each of you on an individual basis is definitely a highlight of my days. Thank you for believing in me and challenging me to keep going even when life got a little tough and busy. In 2023, I hope to bring more fashion, beauty and lifestyle content to y’all in whatever way I can. If there is anything specific that you would like to see this year, I’m happy to hear!
Is it just me or does the sale madness begin earlier and earlier every year? This year, I even noticed that most of the big names started early Black Friday deals at the end of October which was probably the earliest I’ve ever seen. Even though I love finding the best deals and sharing with all my friends (all of you), it definitely becomes overwhelming to see all of the sales blasted all over social media, emails, and TV. Since I find it overwhelming, I could only imagine how stressful it might be especially when someone is trying to shop for gifts and they barely like to shop at all. To make it easier, I figured I would put together this blog post with a list of the sales/places I plan on shopping this year. Some of them have already started but at least this list will be comprehensive by the time Thursday and Friday roll around.
I hope this helps you guys this week while you are shopping for either yourself or for people on your gift list. I wanted to put a quick little reminder out there that even though there are sales and marketing tactics all over the internet right now, things are just things. While there may be some deals that are better around this time of year, the stuff will be there another time so please don’t feel pressured to buy buy buy right now. Material goods are not the key to happiness and if the holidays need to look different this year for whatever reason, family/friends/experiences are all the things that can truly mean the world. If it was between a new shirt on sale or making a memory with a loved one, I would choose the memory making in a heartbeat. Anyway, if there is anything I can help with to find a good sale on, please let me know. I am happy to be a resource for you during this hectic season.
Thanks for reading along with this post! Happy Thanksgiving week ⭐️
*All thoughts and opinions are my own. I do not own the rights to the images provided unless the picture is of myself. Website links tied to them through the item name. I do not make any commission off any of these items.
With November right around the corner, all my beauty-lovers out there know that it’s about that time of year for the Sephora Holiday Savings Event! 🛍 This event runs from October 28-November 7, 2022 and opens to shoppers based on Sephora status, the same as years past. I couldn’t be more excited to cover this sale for the third year for all of you. Just leaning into my Type A tendencies here …in preparation for the sale, I start saving several months before each Sephora sale. As you may know, there are 2 sales, one in spring and the holiday sale now. After the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale in July, I knew the next big sale I was looking forward to was this holiday sale. I started saving for this sale in August which has given me 3 full months of savings SPECIFIC to the sale so I can freely shop within that budget. The reason why I look forward to this sale is because it is a great time to restock on favourite products that you’ve been loving. Some of the items in my cart are tried and true products that either I repurchase every year or that I found last year and love it enough to restock. Another reason why this sale is such a good time to place an order is because with the discounts, it makes snagging more luxurious or high-ticket items at a better price. Of course with the holidays right around the corner, there are many gift sets available that would be great for anyone on your list. I have laid out the basics below:
The Basics
For those of you who have been following along with me since the beginning of my blog, this is the same spiel with all of the basic info that anyone needs to know in order to shop the event. First, you must have an account with Sephora. If you don’t have an account with Sephora, you can sign up for free here. If you are Rouge status, you will be able to shop first with early access with 20% off from October 28-November 7. If you are VIB status, you can start shopping with 15% off from November 1-7. If you are an Insider, you will be able to shop with 10% off from November 3-7. Make sure to use the code SAVINGS when you are checking out to receive your holiday savings! All these discounts are multi-use and can be used in-store of course, as well. ✨
I have split this post into several sections so it is easier to plan your shopping strategy (and yes I take this sale that seriously). The sections include makeup must-haves, other holy grails, and currently in cart. If at any time, you need a more comprehensive review of a particular product or have additional questions, please reach out to me ~ I’m happy to help!
Makeup Musts
Sephora Collection PRO BLUSH BRUSH #99– $30 My biggest advice for the sale? Don’t sleep on the Sephora Collection items! I bought this brush for my cream blushes last year and it’s the only brush I use now. Plus all of Sephora Collection is 30% off.
IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream with SPF 50+ (shade: neutral tan, light brown shade with neutral undertones)- $44 This CC cream is very buildable and I love it because of the good coverage it provides. I wear this everyday for work and I used to wear it in the office when I would work in-person. I also always use this cream to the pool, to the beach, or any outdoor events specifically during the summer because of the amazing SPF coverage. In the depth of winter, I transition to the shade of neutral medium.
Patrick Ta Major Beauty Headlines Double-Take Creme & Powder Blush (shade: She’s a Doll) – $34 This blush is the perfect shade for that pop of pink on your cheeks. I use the creme blush first using the Sephora #99 brush above and then I put the powder on top for a very youthful look. The brighter the pink, the better.
Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz Ultra-Slim Precision Brow Pencil (shade: ebony) – $25 If you watched my videos from the spring sale, you already know that brow products have never been a priority for me. I got a couple of recommendations on using a very low-key brow pencil so I decided to try this one out and love it now. I have very dark brown almost black coloured hair so the shade ebony was a perfect match for me.
Rare Beauty Positive Light Liquid Luminizer Highlight (shade: Mesmerize) – $22 This liquid highlight is everything. It blends into the skin seamlessly and I am obsessed over the the shade Mesmerize which also happens to be Selena’s go-to shade as well. The pigment is so intense and I love the beautiful payoff it has on the skin.
Sephora Collection 12 Hour Contour Pencil Eyeliner (shade: coconut) – $11 I love to use this eyeliner in this shade as a liner on my waterline to awaken the eyes. It instantly rejuvenates and brightens the eye area, a daily must for me! Stays on all day and doesn’t smudge.
Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Lipstick (shade: Pillow Talk)- $34 First I use the lip liner then I use the lipstick and to top it off you can use either the lip gloss or the collagen lip bath. The colour is universally flattering which is a major plus because it is a true nude and not only is soft on the lips but I find it hydrating too.
Lancome Cils Booster XL Super-Enhancing Mascara Primer– $28 The absolute best eyelash primer that has ever graced this planet. No, I don’t say this lightly either. Every sale, I buy in bulk because I just can never run out of it. I have three in my restock drawer already. The trick is to let it sit for about 30 seconds so it gets a bit tacky and then apply the mascara of your choice for a beautiful wispy and full effect.
HUDA BEAUTY Easy Bake Loose Baking & Setting Powder (shade: banana bread- light, medium, and tan skin tones)- $35 The best loose setting powder on the market! This was a recent find from the Sephora Holiday Sale and I am so glad I picked it up because I don’t go a day without using it. The powder is so finely milled and it applies beautifully on the skin. Doesn’t crease at all and it brightens the area applied. I don’t need a restock because I still have plenty, but I will definitely make sure I don’t ever run out of it.
Dior Addict Lip Glow Balm (shade: Rosewood) – $38 This is definitely my go-to shade for everyday use. I love the glow balm because not only is it moisturizing but it also gives a bit of colour on the lips. Plus I am usually sold on Dior packaging as well.
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Waterproof Eyeliner Pencil (shade: bourbon, glimmering dark brown)- $22 This eyeliner is a beautiful brown with slight shimmer in it which I love to use on an everyday look. I line my top lid and smudge it with with a brush so it creates a soft glow look. I also wear this liner without eyeshadow if I just want a subtle outline to make my eyes shine a bit more.
Lancome Idole Ultra-Precise Felt Tip Liquid Eyeliner – $22 This was a recent purchase this year and I was so happy that I tried it out because it surpassed all of my expectations. It is jet black, ultra fine so that it can be easily maneuvered, and long staying power. I would definitely repurchase if I didn’t already have a restock.
Rare Beauty Pore Diffusing Primer – $26 I have been gravitating towards this primer for as awhile to put underneath the Rare Beauty foundation. It grips the makeup and blurs my pores which is the only request I have from a primer.
NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer (shade: ginger, medium with warm undertones and a golden tone)- $31 This concealer is the one of the best concealers I’ve used before. It doesn’t settle into my fine lines and it actually conceals redness and my dark circles under my eyes. When I first tried it, I got the mini-size and it lasted such a long time. Ever since then, I’ve repurchasing a full size bottle and always keep it on my vanity.
Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush (shade: happy, dewy cool pink)- $20 This blush is absolutely stunning. The formula, the colour, and the pigment are top tier. I thought this colour might’ve been too bright for me however just a dab on my cheek is all I needed, and blending it out made it look like I had just naturally blushing cheeks. I liked wearing it in the summer because of the naturalness of it but I also am liking it during the colder months because of how nourishing it feels on my face.
I made one more graphic below to showcase all of the items in the other sections, skincare, hair and fragrance, that are my holy grail items. However, I want to make sure that it is clear that I will absolutely not recommend products to you if I don’t actually use it myself. All the products that are on my graphic are all ones that I currently use or have been using in the past that I would recommend to grab during the sale. With that being said, feel free to message me if there are any specific questions you might have about any of the items.
I have made the below graphic with all the items that I have in my basket. Most of them are new products to me that I haven’t tried before or at least in that particular shade. For the ones that I haven’t tried before, I don’t have reviews on them yet but I will soon! That will have to be my next blog post!
I know I just threw a lot of information at you but I wanted to make sure that you had as much information available to you right when the sale opens, no matter which tier you shop in. I am also always available to answer any questions you might have or share my thoughts/experiences with certain products. This is such an exciting time of the year because the holidays are quickly surfacing and all I can think about are the items I want to gift to my loved ones. I will definitely be back soon with another Sephora sale update. Happy shopping! Can’t wait to chat all about the goodies purchased! Thanks for reading, if you made it this far 🤍
*All thoughts and opinions are my own. I do not own the rights to the images provided unless the picture is of myself. All other pictures have website links tied to them through the item name. I do not make any commission of any of these items.
I have been dreaming of a beautiful beach holiday for many many months and finally, I got to go on one.🌊 I felt so blessed that I was able to take some time away from the hecticness of life and travel with my boyfriend, Anthony. We both needed a getaway and this was how I wanted to spend my 25th birthday trip this year. He was the best travel partner I could ask for because he indulged in all of the things I wanted to do but also kept reassuring me how much he too was enjoying each leg of the trip. Anyways, as a couple traveling from several states away, flying made the most sense to us. While it would’ve been nice to drive one of our cars down to have and be able to bring beach gear with us, it wasn’t worth the over 20hr drive. Instead, we opted to fly into ECP, rented a car down there and rented an AirBnB that had beach gear included in the rental. At the very bottom of this blog post, I rounded up food/drinks all into a list format so if you are using this as a reference blog, you can easily get names and locations quickly.
Day 1: Travel Day and Settling In ✈️
Okay y’all, I haven’t been on a plane in over a year and with all of the news stories about delays and cancellations, I was a little nervous to fly to Florida. However, I knew I wasn’t going to survive driving from VA to FL so I went ahead and made the arrangements to fly several months prior. Our flight was early early, like 6am early which meant getting to the airport by 4:30am and waking up to get to the airport around 2:45am. Thankfully there were no issues with our flights or luggage getting into Florida. Luckily grabbed Whataburger as well during our brief connecting stop in Dallas, TX. We arrived to Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (ECP) on time and around 11am which gave us the rest of the day to get sorted and explore the area a bit. We rented a Jeep through Turo for this trip and it was one of the best decisions we made. Not only did both my boyfriend and I take turns to drive in a new vehicle we had never tested before, we also had free reign to go wherever we needed. Okay getting back to the actual travel days… after getting into the Jeep at the airport, we still had the rest of the day to get our bearings. I am a big believer in getting as early a flight as possible to maximize the time I have in the new location. We drove around Panama City Beach (PCB) for awhile to explore a bit since we weren’t going to be staying in that area for the rest of the week. There were a couple of toiletries that we needed to get so we found a Target and picked up what was needed. After that it was around 2pm and we couldn’t check into the airbnb unit until 4pm so we decided to have a late lunch in PCB. I genuinely didn’t make many plans on this trip other than visiting various beach towns along the Gulf. All I knew was that I wanted to be on the beach with a margarita in my hand. With that in mind, I looked at some local reviews and I picked Sharky’s Beachfront Restaurant in PCB. The name is all I needed, beachfront? Sign me up. Waltzed right into the restaurant and dined right on the Panama City Beachfront. I had the no chilli nachos, the Hawaiian chicken sandwich, and a ‘Sharkarita’ their version of a jumbo margarita. They even gave their speciality drinks out in their signature cup which was a bonus because it automatically made my first souveniour easy.
It only took about 30 minutes from the restaurant to get into 30A and the whole ride over, I was so giddy. I had seen pictures of the beautiful landscaping of the beaches on 30A but I was finally going to see it in person. Just entering into the strip was amazing and I was driving super slow to take it all in (and to be careful of the pedestrians because pedestrians/bicyclists run the town). We stayed inside the Village at Seacrest Beach which was an amazing location for us. Seacrest beach is nestled right in between Rosemary Beach and Alys Beach which were the two beaches I was most excited to visit. There was a wristband that went along with our rooms and it provided a free trolley service from our front steps to the private beach access walkway. This was such a lifesaver so we didn’t have to lug all of our beach equipment. Additionally, it gave us access to the pool and grills within the village. After settling into our rental condo, I ~naturally~ wanted to go to the beach and dip my feet into the water. The timing worked out perfectly because by the time we walked down to the private beach area, it was sunset and the water looked absolutely spectacular. The scenery was breathtaking and at that moment, I knew that this trip was everything I needed. 30A is a very family friendly beach area which has definitely driven the tourist numbers up in addition to the small town beach charm of the area. With that small town charm also comes early closing hours so many restaurants were closed around 9:30pm and if you don’t have reservations, there isn’t usually a lot of room to accommodate large parties towards the end of the evening. We like to do pizza on the first travel day because it’s usually the easiest to find before getting groceries. Again, basing my decision off reviews, I found Angelina’s Pizzeria & Pasta located in Seagrove Beach. They closed at 9:30 so we were able to be seated around 8. I am a big fan of Italian food so this was very exciting to me. We split a cheese pizza and a gorgeous antipasta salad. After a lovely but very long travel day, we were happy to go back to our rental and relax before making our plan of action for the rest of the week.
Day 2: Beach Day… FINALLY 🏝
I woke up our first full day in Florida to the realization that I could finally go down to the beach and sit in the sun. The smile that was on the my face the whole day was massive. There are many beaches along the 30A coastline so I wanted to see as many as we could while we were visiting. First stop was Blue Mountain Bakery to go get coffee and pastries. We drove over to Blue Mountain Bakery early in the morning before getting on with the day. I had heard about huge cinnamon rolls but you must get there before 10am to be able to grab some, they were sold out by the time we arrived. However, I had some other great bakery items and there were even gluten-free options available which is why I wanted to go there. While I was there, I ordered the bacon and gouda breakfast roll, a gluten-free apple cinnamon muffin, and a peach green tea. They were all so yummy. The bakery is just a couple quick blocks away from Blue Mountain Beach so if you would like to grab some pastries and take them over to the beach to enjoy in the morning, it would be the perfect morning. The bakery was on the way to the grocery store which was the best scenario because I wanted to go get a few groceries at Publix before we went to the beach. Nothing compares to a good ole-fashioned sandwich while sitting in the sand and looking out at the water. After picking up a grocery-cart full of items from Publix, we drove back to our apartment to get ourselves ready for the beach. Thankfully we had chairs, an umbrella, and a cooler all in our Airbnb to be able to take our fruit and sandwiches in to enjoy lunch at the beach. The whole afternoon we spent at the beach in the water and in the sand and it was truly amazing. Feeling the warm water, jumping through the waves, reading under the umbrella, and laying out in the sand was exactly what I was there to do and I did it all week long. After getting washed off, we decided to stay local to our beach town for dinner. Our apartment was in the building above La Co so it seemed like the best option for us. A wonderful mango margarita and a chicken taco salad later, our first full day in 30A was complete.
Day 3: ANOTHER BEACH DAY 🏖
Another beach day today! That is all I wanted out of this trip so of course I was going to make sure we made the most of our time on the beach. Before our big beach day, we had to grab some breakfast but again, didn’t want to go too far so we walked down in The Village and saw this cute creperie right down the block. Creative Crepes had so many different options available and it seemed very popular. We got there in the knick of time because as soon as we got in line, more and more people lined up behind us all the way out the door and into the street. When there is a long line like that, you know it’s a good place that’s worth the wait. I am not a big sweets person so I decided to try one of the savoury crepes. I ordered the Pesto Turkey one (pictured) and it was so delicious and filling. Plus the creperie is right next door to the Starbucks so if you need a quick caffeine jolt in the morning, it’v available. After the creperie, we didn’t want to waste any time in getting to the beach this day. We packed up a few drinks and snacks and headed out to the beach for the rest of the day. It was of course amazing, just hanging out in the sun together and wading through the warm waves. After a long day at the beach, we had made dinner reservations the night before for Cafe Thirty-A. It is an upscale casual beach restaurant so we decided to dress up a bit and go with our beachiest upscale look. This restaurant was one of the best ones we went to during our stay in 30A. It gives off the James Bond old school beach vibe which was so fun to experience. The service was great, the food was remarkable, and the drinks were strong… everything we wanted for a fun evening out. I was very interested in their martini and cocktail menu so I tried the Hendricks Tini which was so good. We started with the Beef Carpaccio, I had the Grilled 12oz Prime NY Strip (AMAZING), and ended the meal with Warm Rum Raisin Apple Bread Pudding which was worth every rich bite. We were thoroughly impressed with this restaurant and still talk about the food today.
Day 4: Rosemary and of course, another Beach Day 🌊
Saturday morning at the beach? That means brunch, of course. Before we got down there, I had done a good amount of research on the places to stay and best restaurants to eat at. If I was only there for a couple of days and wanted to stay at a top hotel, it would’ve been at The Pearl hotel in Rosemary Beach. We decided to go anyway though for brunch so that we could see the hotel and try the food. We had a wonderful brunch on the outside terrace which was a great start to the morning. They even served freshly-squeezed orange and apple juice which was a big win for both Anthony and I. After brunch, we walked around Rosemary Beach shops a bit and it was so cute. It’s one of the smaller beach towns but it is definitely geared towards more adult couples than little kids. Shortly after walking around Rosemary, we decided to quickly get our swimsuits on and head down to the beach for a few hours. Enjoying the sun and the crash of the waves everyday was one of the best highlights from the trip. We weren’t able to stay for too long on Saturday because we had to get ready to go to Destin that night. It just so happened that some of my cousins from Texas were in Destin which was only 45 minutes away from where were staying so we all decided to get together. This was the perfect opportunity for Anthony and I to drive over to the Destin area and look around a bit. We all met at Captain Daves on the Gulf right in Destin and it was amazing. The food was pretty okay but the view is what pushed the experience to the next level. The restaurant was right on the beach and since we were seated by the window, we were able to look out and enjoy the blue water view right from where we were sitting. After dinner, we snuck away to the beach to see if it was much different than 30A beaches and other than a bit more crowded, it was still beautiful white sand and clear blue water with a breathtaking sunset. Lastly, we hadn’t had any dessert so when we made it back to the Seacrest area, we stopped into the cupcake shop right across from our Airbnb, Smallcakes 30A. I even splurged and got a gluten-free chocolate cupcake with pink frosting because duh, of course I had to. It was a jam-packed Saturday but a great one for sure.
Day 5: Alys, Seaside and Blue Mountain Beach 🤍
Did I wake up at 6:30am to go get donuts? Yes i did! I had read so many good reviews about Charlie’s Donut Truck but many of those good reviews said that they were the best in the area unfortunately they are sold out by 9am. Beach donuts just hit differently, I couldn’t not try these amazing donuts for myself. Originally, the truck was located in Alys Beach so I headed on over there to look for it. Unfortunately, there was a sign that said it is currently under construction so the donuts are actually being sold at different locations, one being a hut right in front of out Airbnb. By this point, it was already 8am and I was nervous about the sell-out potential so we both ran back over to Seacrest Beach and found the hut. Thank goodness because nothing had sold out yet. The chocolate rainbow sprinkles, maple bacon, and blueberry are absolute musts! These donuts were amazing, so amazing that we went back each morning after this one. This was the day we decided to give the beach a break at least from laying out in the sun to save Anthony’s sunburn. After we enjoyed the donuts, we got ready and drove over to Seaside. Throughout the week, I knew I wanted to visit Seaside but I wasn’t sure when, it turned out Seaside Sunday was the best way to go. We spent a few hours walking around looking through all the shops and people-watching. It was such a relaxing way to spend time together that wasn’t directly right on the beach. If you go, you have to try the food trucks! They are so good, unlike any other food trucks I’ve had before. We ate at Barefoot BBQ but the meltdown (grilled cheese-centered menu) definitely caught my eye but I knew it would’ve caused a stomach ache. A sad part of my reality but if you have the chance, you gotta try it. For lunch time dessert, we stopped by Dawson’s Yogurt and Fudgeworks to grab a milkshake and a scoop, wow did it impress. Such a refreshing dessert on a very hot day in the sun. Before we left for the afternoon, I made sure to stop into the the bookstore, Sundog Books and picked up a very cute beach read to take home with me. All of the boutiques in the area have such cute items, very worth stopping into. Once we exhausted ourselves in the heat, we went back to our Airbnb and showered to get ready for our dinner reservations. A few days earlier, I had made a reservation at Blue Mable Smokehouse and Provisions for the evening of and since it was located in Blue Mountain Beach, we decided to go to the area again and walk along the beach during the sunset before our dinner time. The restaurant was so delicious, we enjoyed everything we had from the menu. It also seemed to be a local favourite because it was completely packed the whole night we were there. The drink I tried was Heart of Pearl but I’ll admit the Pardon Me Dolly definitely caught my eye. As an appetizer, we shared the brisket nachos and WOW some of the best nachos I’ve had (and that says a lot). Instead of having a main, I ordered a wedge salad and a side of fries because that’s what I do best….mix greens and fries. A very gluten-friendly menu was very much appreciated. Sunday was filled with amazing food, funny conversations, and beautiful scenery making it such a treasured day of the trip.
Day 6: Last Day in Paradise🌅
Our last full day in 30A was intended to be a full beach day which is exactly what we planned for. First, we wanted to make sure to grab a couple of last minute souveniours so we walked over to Rosemary to do our shopping. Since many boutiques did not open until 10am, we decided to go to Charlie’s Cafe at Rosemary and thankfully, they had the donuts from the truck! We grabbed donuts, breakfast wraps and a couple of morning drinks to pass the time. Once the boutiques opened, we grabbed a few sweatshirts for me (my vice) and then headed back to our place to get our swimsuits on and headed to Seacrest beach. I tried to maximize the time I had on the beach today because I knew the next day I would be headed home on a plane. The views were absolutely incredible, minimal junegrass, and bright sun rays that put me in the best mood. I think we stayed about 5-6 hours on our last day, I had lots of time to read my book. After our fun at the beach, we got cleaned up and embarked on our last dinner out. For our last date night dinner, we drove to Watercolor Beach to dine at Fish Out of Water (FOOW). We didn’t get seated until about 9pm but while we waited, we walked around the area and it was such a nice area that if we go back, I had thought about booking there. FOOW was amazing food and a great ambience as well. I ordered the Filet medallions for dinner and we ate the “Dirt Road Anthem” for dessert. The name sold me on it for the most part. Whenever we go on a holiday, we make sure that our last dinner conversation consists of what our favourites restaurants and activities that we did there so of course that was a priority we talked about. After, finishing at FOOW we had to head back to Seacrest to pack the last few things up in our suitcases to get ready for our next travel day.
Food/Drinks Places:
Sharky’s Beachfront Restaurant (Panama City Beach)
Angelina’s Pizzeria & Pasta (Seagrove Beach)
Blue Mountain Bakery (Blue Mountain Beach)
La Co Latin Coastal Kitchen (The Village at Seacrest Beach)
Creative Crepes (Seacrest Beach)
Cafe Thirty-A (Seagrove Beach)
The Pearl Hotel (Rosemary Beach)
Captain Daves on the Gulf (Destin)
Smallcakes 30A (The Village at Seacrest Beach)
Charlies Donut Truck (Alys Beach)
Seaside Food Trucks
Dawson’s Yogurt and Fudgeworks (Seaside Beach)
Blue Mabel Smokehouse and Provisions
Charlie’s Cafe at Rosemary
Fish Out Of Water- FOOW (Watercolor Beach)
The last day was just a travel day back to Virginia so I didn’t feel the need to go into great day breakdown detail. 🧳 All in all, this trip was so well-needed and well-timed. It was more than I could ask for to have some uninterrupted time with Anthony away from the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives. 30A was truly a little slice of paradise and if you are looking for a relaxing beach area with amazing views and cute beach towns, then this is the trip for you to take. I would love to continue to visit the area and make it an annual or bi-annual tradition, I loved it that much. For those of you who have known me for awhile, you know I’m a big traveller. I travelled a lot growing up and still have a long list of places I want to visit. I believe traveling is one of the best ways to spend your time so I really put a lot of intention into this trip to ensure it would be memorable. I hope you liked reading along with this post and hopefully by now, you’ll be on the flight with me next time I visit 30A. If you have any other questions about the trip, let me know! I’m happy to answer any and all. Have a great week and enjoy the last bit of summer left.✨
Alright, friends… it’s time to start preparing for the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale aka NSale! This sale is seriously like Christmas in July 🎄. When my boyfriend asked me last year when the sale started, what the big deal was? I answered, this sale is like the Super Bowl of sales.🏈 It is, the sale of the year, if you will. Today, the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale preview officially releases where you can see the items that will be included in the highly-anticpated sale. Okay for those of you who think that I’m being ~dramatic~ thats fine, but let me explain to you why this is the sale of all sales…
Why does this sale matter?
When most people (including myself) hear the words sales, the first thought is whatever season you are in is about to end. Usually most sales are supposed to get rid of the clothes on the shelf in order to make room for the next season of clothes. What sets the NSale apart is that the items that are included are the new fall/winter clothes of that year being put on sale before they are even able to be shopped. Once the sale ends, those pieces will all go back to full price and will be *currently in season. This is basically unheard of, except for when it comes to Nordstrom. 🛍
When does the sale start?
Let’s get down to the nitty gritty now. The NSale has several tiers that it opens up in. All Nordstrom credit card holders automatically get early access. It begins with early access on July 6th with subsequent phases of cardholder statuses. The sale then opens up to the public on July 15th where anyone and everyone can take advantage of the sale prices for the upcoming seasons. The following schedule is how the 2022 NSale is operating and when every tiered status can begin shopping:
Icon status: July 6, 2022
Ambassador status: July 7, 2022
Influencer status: July 9, 2022
NSale opens up to the public on July 15, 2022
The sale will be in-store during open hours and will begin online at 9:01pm PST on July 14th/12:01am EST on July 15th.
This sounds confusing, where do I start?
There is a lot of information out there when it comes to the NSale. You can easily make a wishlist if you sign up/in to your Nordstrom account, PRO TIP. This is so helpful when shopping so that you are fully aware of what you are looking for and tracking for restocks. If an item is on your wishlist, you will be notified when it is restocked in the size/colour you wanted. Be sure to keep an eye out for restocks and new items they sometimes throw into the sale when it opens to the public.
What should I do in the meantime while I wait until my access opens?
I have been shopping the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale for many years friends, even when I was too little to shop, I would walk through the department store hand in hand with my mom while she shopped it. There is a bit of nostalgia associated with the sale for me but more than anything I find it the most practical time for me to jump ahead of the fall fashion trends before the season starts and fill up my wardrobe with the must-haves. Before I think about shopping or even making my wishlist, I go through my closet and do a major clean out of the items that I don’t wear anymore or don’t fit anymore. This way, I am not duplicating efforts when I am shopping and accidentally buy something that I already have something similar. I would strongly encourage you to do the same so that you can be focused during the shopping event. This is also the best way for me to stick to my budget 🙂 Which leads us into the next question…
How do I budget for the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale?
I received this question quite a few times last year when I shopped it so I figured I would go ahead and throw it in the pre-sale blog post to address it. Like I mentioned in my previous blog stories, I wait and plan for this sale all year which is how I budget for it. I usually save a portion of my paycheck once a month for 6 months and that will usually get me in a good spot to be able to buy the items on my wishlist. Again, I stick to my list of items needed from my wardrobe as well to make sure I don’t go overboard. Most of the items I buy are shoes and fall/winter staples that I can reuse year after year such as jeans and jackets. Many of the items with the sale prices are under $100 which is what I anticipate. These pieces are great investment pieces that can be used throughout the year and will keep the quality of the item long after the year is over.
I hope this information has provided some helpful tips on how to shop the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale this year. I’m so pumped for this year’s sale, lets get shoppin’!
Y’all… when I tell you a girls trip is good for the soul, IT IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL. 🧳I went to Raleigh for a long weekend with some of my best girlfriends and it was such a fun trip. I hadn’t ever really had Raleigh on my bucket list to travel to but just given where my friends and I are all located right now, it seemed like a good trip choice. We truly just wanted a new city to explore all together and Raleigh (known as the “city inside a park”) was just that. Y’all know I always do extensive research and plan out trips well in advance. Between the craziness of the past couple of months, I looked up a few things to do but didn’t plan extensively which also made it fun when we could just pick what we wanted to do given the time of day it was without any pressure. We travelled down to North Carolina on a Friday and then left midday on Monday which gave us almost 3 full days to explore. I’m going to break down each day in this blog post so that it is clearly laid out in a chronological order.
Day 1: Friday
I came from Northern Virginia which meant Friday was largely spent in the car. Thankfully, my friend and I made the journey together so it wasn’t a lonely ride. It took us about 6 hours to arrive to our destination with a few stops here and there. One important thing to note is that we drove to meet our friend who already resides in North Carolina so we didn’t go straight to Raleigh right away. We caught up with our friend and got to explore where she now lives. The nice thing about heading down a day early was that we didn’t have to rush to Raleigh on Saturday and waste a day on travel, as soon as we arrived we could just begin exploring. If you are flying into Raleigh or if it is a farther drive, I highly recommend trying to make the most out of the travel day to make sure you can fit everything in.
Day 2: Saturday
Our official first day in Raleigh! We weren’t too far away from downtown so we stopped at Starbucks in the early morning and then hit the road to head over to the Airbnb. Like I mentioned previously, you can either drive into Raleigh or if it’s easier/quicker, you can also fly directly into the Raleigh airport which is what one of my friends ended up doing. It is not far from downtown at all either. Since our Airbnb was unable to be checked into until later in the day, we decided to grab a quick bite in the morning to hold us over until a full lunch. We had heard that Raleigh is known for their food halls so we decided to make our way over to one that was walkable from the Airbnb. Transfer Co. Food Hall was our first stop but since it was still early in the day, there was only one vendor that was open for us to get a breakfast bite from. No complaints though because Benchwarmer Bagels was so so good! Any bagel-lover’s heaven for sure, you can pick any type of bagel and they have an assortment of spreads, butters, and fillings all with a fully functioning cafe so you can enjoy a coffee or tea with your bagel. Somehow I forgot to take a picture of my bagel but I split one with my friend since they were massive and I’m not much of a breakfast person. It was an everything bagel and (When in Raleigh…) I ordered a honey bacon butter spread and ohhhhh my goodness it was heavenly. While we were enjoying our bagels, it started to sprinkle…. then pour down rain. When traveling, I usually bring layers so that in the event that I have to quickly change for the weather it would work. So this time, I had brought my raincoat but didn’t have closed-toed shoes… can’t have it all though. Since the rain was only supposed to last for a short period of time, we needed to find an indoor activity that would help pass the time. Indoor mini golf it was! We went to ParTee Shack Mini Golf is where we went and we had the best time all laughing together playing around. They had very unique courses to try which made it way more enjoyable, so if you need a rainy day activity, indoor mini golf is fun! Thankfully, the rain lifted and we were finally able to check into our beautifully appointed cottage of an Airbnb. I will leave the link for the rental we used below at the bottom of this post. We headed out for lunch and decided to explore the city by walking through downtown. We stumbled upon our lunch place just by fluke but we were so glad we made the stop because it was such good food and the right amount of portions for us all, plus a good margarita choice too. The Mexican restaurant we went to was El Rodeo Mexican Restaurant right in the middle of downtown. I ordered a lovely house margarita and the yummiest carne asada street tacos. After enjoying lots of chips and salsa, we walked through the streets to look around local shops. There are some great small business shops sprinkled throughout the downtown area. We ended up making our way to the North Carolina State Capitol which was wonderful to see. It is a beautiful capitol nestled in between grassy grounds and large trees which provided many patches of shades to easily take a rest under. I really enjoyed that we got to see several pieces of history on this trip. After taking a few hours to explore downtown, we all freshened up for dinner at the Rye Bar & Southern Kitchen (located inside of the Marriott hotel) which was definitely one of the best restaurants we went to on the trip. Gin & tonics all around the table made for such a fun night as well. I ordered the steak salad with a side of french fries, topping it all of with the table desserts of a chocolate torte and a Kentucky chocolate bourbon pie. We spent quite a few hours at this restaurant but we wanted to make sure that we still go to end the night at a speakeasy we researched. The Merchant is located on a quiet street and since we went around 11:30pm, there weren’t clear markers that people were coming in and out. The drinks there were spectacularly creative and very instagram-able including the drink I ordered, Femme Fatale.
Day 3: Sunday
A sunny Sunday was exactly what we were looking forward to on this trip. Of course, we had to have a lovely brunch all together in the morning just like old times. We settled on Big Ed’s Restaurant which had the most amazing buttermilk biscuits I have had in awhile. I couldn’t recommend them more. They had an extensive menu where everyone had plenty of options to choose from. We arrived at the restaurant around 10:30am and while it was still full, there wasn’t a wait at all. However, once we left at 11:30am, there was a line wrapped around the corner to get a table and with the warmer months coming, I highly recommend trying to get in as early as you can on the weekends. After brunch, we decided to take the day by storm by eating/drinking some of the best things…. chocolate and wine! First was the Videri Chocolate Factory a few blocks from our Airbnb cottage that we walked to. They had a self-guided tour available through the factory showing the process from bean to pure chocolate. I brought back some chocolate as souvenirs for my friends and family too. Since it was a hot day we all decided to get soft serve from the chocolate factory, my order was a swirl soft serve with a solid chocolate cowboy hat… yes you heard that right and it was the most adorable cup of ice-cream I’ve ever had. Right after the chocolate factory, we walked right over to the newest location of the Raleigh Wine Shop which worked out perfectly as it was just down the street from our cottage. We settled on doing several wine tastings and then went on to look through the aisles of wine to see which bottles were going to come home with us. I settled on two bottles of white, a red, and a rose. If you are interested in the specific international labels, let me know and I will send the names. After several wonderful afternoon hours at the wine shop, we decided to get freshened up before dinner. One of the musts that I wanted to do on this trip was to visit a rooftop bar, turns out Sunday night was the right night for it. The spot we landed on was The Willard Rooftop Bar & Lounge and it was absolutely perfect for our last night in Raleigh. They had great seasonal cocktails on the bar menu so I would definitely recommend trying whichever best suits your taste. I also recommend ordering small plates with the drinks because they were such a good pairing. At this rooftop bar, we received excellent service and enjoyed all of menu items we tried. It also gave beautiful panoramic views of downtown Raleigh, a city my friends and I all enjoyed exploring. I loved that we chose to do this rooftop the last night of our trip because it gave us the opportunity to recap and appreciate our much-needed trip away from reality.
Day 4: Monday
Our last day in Raleigh, we decided to get a yummy breakfast all together before we headed out our separate ways towards home. Before going to bed Sunday night, we agreed that we all wanted to try the restaurant The Flying Biscuit Cafe. Right when we woke up, we got packed up, left the cottage, and made our way over to the cafe all together. It was such good food and of course, the biscuits deserved to be in the title as they were so warm and fluffy. It was a great send off meal for us all in Raleigh. We had a bit of time left before we all had to hit the road so we decided to do the one activity that we didn’t have time to do over the the weekend, boutique shopping!! Going inside different local boutiques, trying on different items, laughing together piecing outfits together, it was an absolute blast. Plus we all got to leave the boutiques with a little something we all found and loved. Two of the boutiques I chose items from were Madison and The Impeccable Pig all in the village of Raleigh. After our little shopping sprees, we said our goodbyes which of course was bittersweet since we had the best weekend all together.
I couldn’t have asked for a better girls trip weekend away. It truly just meant the world that we were all able to schedule time out of our busy lives to make sure we nurtured our friendships and made the most out of the limited time we have together now. From living together as roommates our senior year of college to all embarking on our individual adult lives, our love for each other has only grown but as we all have different things going on, we always make the effort to spend time with each other. It’s so important to have friends you can trust and depend on no matter what season of life you are in. I know I am so thankful for all of my dear friends💗 I hope y’all enjoy the travel guides, I’ll keep them coming if you do like them.
All thoughts and opinions are my own. I own the rights of all pictures of me in them in this blog post. I do not make any commission from links provided.
Finally sitting down and writing this blog post for y’all! We are officially in wedding season, my friends!!👰🏽 I have been talking with some of y’all in private messages about the amount of weddings that are happening this year and all the outfits we are looking for so I figured I would put some of my picks in a blog post all together. There is always a lot of preparation that goes into attending a wedding, not to mention everything the engaged couple is going through. One of the most nerve wracking things is to find the perfect outfit to wear as a guest. I already know what you’re thinking… okay so no white/cream/ivory duh? Is this too bright of a colour? If the floral print has white in it, is it automatically a no? What’s the dress code and does this outfit blend in? Am I going to get too hot or too cold during the ceremony? Oh i hope this doesn’t look like the bridal party, does it? If those types of thoughts are racing through your head, you are most definitely not alone, we’ve all been there. Over the years, I have been to my fair share of weddings- definitely up in the double digits. Regardless of the wedding, it’s always nice to calm your nerves over fashion anxiety… trust me, it happens to the best of us. So without further ado, let’s get into some fabulous dress options, FOR THE GUESTS!🥂
This was my favourite way to break down the dresses, by venue style. Of course you aren’t locked into the venue style if it doesn’t suit you. For example, any one of these dresses could be for a winery/garden wedding not just the one pictured by it but I wanted to give some creative options. All links are provided within each style as well. The best part is… they are all under $100!
How beautiful is this pink puffed-sleeve dress? If you were around for my Valentine’s Day outfit haul, you’ll remember seeing this outfit before. That is half the reason why I love the dress because it could be used for several different occasions. I’m wearing a size small and it fits very comfortably. If you are unsure of what to wear if you are attending a religious wedding, for example like a church wedding, a good rule of thumb is to wear some sort of sleeve. Short, 3/4 or full sleeves all work well and if your outfit is sleeveless then bringing a cardigan or a scarf/shawl would be great as well. Any nude heels would work with this dress but I chose to wear the white strappy heeled sandals to match my clutch. This dress is so romantic which makes it the perfect outfit to wear on a day to celebrate love. 💒
The warm weather is finally setting in!🌈 This means that there will be quite a few backyard summer weddings coming up. This darling little lilac dress would be perfect for such an occasion, I can’t say enough good things about it. It is ruffled throughout which makes it look feminine and girly without constricting. I could easily eat a full plate of barbecue and be good to go. I’m wearing a small in this dress and it is very comfortable. I decided to lift my hair up and wear an up-do for this dress to show off the neckline. Since it is an off the shoulder fit, I think it uplevels the look a bit more with hair up. Keep the accessories minimal because the dress is the focal point, perhaps no necklace and statement earrings to truly shine.
Alright, Alright, Alright…. This dress reminds me of the showstopper dress from one of my favourite movies with Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”. ✨It is so hard to pick a favourite outfit out of all of these pictured, but this one might be it. I just absolutely love the stunning gold colour of the dress because it is super unique. The slit on the dress is very flattering and since the dress is a satin material, it is one of the most comfortable to be right on the beach with. The fabric also makes it to be an easy travel dress if you are flying for a destination wedding. Imagine this gold dress against the white sands or the beautiful clear blue ocean… can’t get any better, other than the bride of course. I ordered both a small and a medium in this dress for sizing options. I’m wearing a small and it fits great however if you are in between, size up in this dress. Keep accessories minimal and gold to match.
My sister called me Tinkerbell in this dress and I instantly loved it. 🧚🏽♀️The satin wrap portion of the dress is so forgiving and lightweight. Could you imagine strolling through a beautiful grass field with a glass of wine in your head for cocktail hour? This dress makes the absolute perfect option as a wedding guest dress. The colour is so beautiful and can be rocked throughout the remainder of the spring season and into summer. Since this dress is strapless, I decided to wear my hair half up and half down so that my shoulders were covered but most of the attention went to the dress. Likewise, I wore clear wedges so that it wouldn’t take away from the satin stunner. I’m wearing a size medium in this dress as I sized up for my bust and hips.
I have loved putting together these looks for this post and I hope they have provided some help and context for your next wedding outing. Enjoy all of the wedding festivities this year and please let me know if you have any questions or need helpful opinions on outfit options. Cheers to love!! 🤍
All thoughts and opinions are my own. I own the rights of all pictures of me in them in this blog post. I do not make any commission from links provided.
Hello my lovelies 🙂 I am following up on my previous blog post to share the items that I ended up purchasing during the sale. It is officially open to all tiered members and if you aren’t a member, you can sign up for free and still receive a discount!✨ For more details about the nuts and bolts of the sale, click here for my previous blog post. I will link all the items with the shade names as well throughout the post. Please keep in mind that for the majority of the products, I haven’t yet tested them out so I can’t speak to the wearability but I hope to do an updated post in a few weeks after getting good use out of them. Any product that has a double asterisk (**) next to it is a restock for me.💄
Some of the products I went in-store for, especially to get shade-matched. However, some items are online-only so I placed orders for them the first day of the sale.
Makeup:
Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez Pore Diffusing Primer – $26, I bought the full size after I used a sample last year and really liked the formula. This is great for oily skin (like mine), the illuminating primer would be best for dry skin.
I wanted to section off all the products so you could easily find what you were looking for. All items have links tied to them and a picture to go with the item. Like I said in my previous blog post, this is truly one of the best times to stock up on your favourites from Sephora while you can get a discount. 🎀We all know that makeup and beauty items can add up real quick which is why I make sure I wait for this event to restock my tried and true items as well as experiment with new ones. Let me know if there are any products you see here that you need further explanation of or any recommendations for a type of product you don’t see in this list. I am more than happy to help! Thanks for reading along and following along through the sale!
*All thoughts and opinions are my own. I do not own the rights to the images provided unless the picture is of myself. All other pictures have website links tied to them through the item name. I do not make any commission off any of these items.
Cheers to the Sephora Sale and my sister’s 21st birthday happening all on the same weekend
The Sephora Spring Sale is finally here; it runs from April 1-April 11 and I couldn’t be more excited to cover this sale for the third year. 💄Fun fact about my blog, the first sale I covered was the Sephora Spring Sale back in 2020 before I re-branded in 2021. Many of y’all have been around since last year’s sale so you know the drill! I tend to … fall into my Type A tendencies …in preparation for the sale because I start saving several months before each sale. As you may know, there are 2 sales, one now in spring and the other during November for the holiday sale. Since I covered the holiday sale in November/December, I started saving for this sale in January. Which has given me 3 full months of savings SPECIFIC to the sale so I can freely shop within that budget. The reason why I look forward to this sale is because it is a great time to restock on favourite products that you’ve been loving. Some of the items in my cart are tried and true products that either I repurchase every year or that I found last year and love it enough to restock. Another reason why this sale is such a good time to place an order is because with the discounts, it makes snagging more luxurious or high-ticket items at a better price. Okay enough rambling from me, I have all the details laid out for y’all below.
If you don’t have an account with Sephora, you can sign up for free here. If you are in the Rouge status, you will be able to shop first with early access with 20% off from April 1-11. If you are in the VIB status, you can start shopping with 15% off on April 5-11. If you are an Insider, you will be able to shop with 10% off from April 7-11. Make sure to use the code SAVESPRING when you are checking out to receive your spring savings! I have split this post into several sections so it is easier to plan your shopping strategy (and yes I take this sale that seriously). The sections include makeup, skincare, hair care, and fragrances. Within each category, I have listed products that I have on my wishlist and want to buy during the sale. If at any time, you need a more comprehensive review of a particular product or have additional questions, please reach out to me ~ I’m happy to help! 🛍
First off, is the Daily Makeup Favs graphic, which includes the items that I quite literally use daily. For the most part, I like a full face of makeup if I bother to put it on so these items are my go-to’s.
Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Instant Eyeshadow Palette, $75 This palette has four different sets of looks with three different shades in each. I really like how CT separates her eyeshadow palettes because it gives the user direction on where to use them and what to use them for each occasion. There is a holiday collection that comes out every year and I use last year’s quite a bit as well.
Tarte SEA Breezy Blender Cream Bronzer Brush– $29 This bronzer brush is really convenient because of the shape of it. It fits perfectly into the hollows of my cheeks so that it beautifully applies my cream contour and bronzer.
PAT McGRATH LABS Bridgerton MTHRSHP: Diamond of the First Water Eyeshadow Palette– $65 Calling all Bridgerton fans!! I was so excited when I heard this limited edition collection was coming to Sephora. The colours of the shades are beautiful for spring and summer. The shadows are beautifully pigmented with the same quality of the other MTHRSHP palettes. I highly recommend this palette, I wear it almost everyday now and I always get really lovely compliments.
ILIA Fullest Volumizing Mascara– $28 This has been one of my favourite volumizing mascaras that I have tried. I used to wear the Marc Fisher Velvet Noir but unfortunately it has been discontinued. This was my replacement and so far have been loving it.
Lancome Cils Booster XL Super-Enhancing Mascara Primer– $28 The absolute best eyelash primer that has ever graced this planet. No, I don’t say this lightly either. Every sale, I buy in bulk because I just can never run out of it. I have three in my restock drawer already. The trick is to let it sit for about 30 seconds so it gets a bit tacky and then apply the mascara of your choice for a beautiful wispy and full effect.
NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer (shade: ginger, medium with warm undertones and a golden tone)- $31 This concealer is the only concealer I use hands down. It doesn’t settle into my fine lines and it actually conceals redness and my dark circles under my eyes. When I first tried it, I got the mini-size and it lasted such a long time. Ever since then, I’ve repurchasing a full size bottle and I won’t use anything else.
Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Setting Powder (shade: 2 medium)- $45 This finishing powder is the only powder I use under my eyes because it truly has a flawless finish to it. It sets my under-eye and on top of my lid perfectly. I like that it has a subtle brightening effect as well for my dark circles under my eye.
Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Perfect Glow Flawless Oil-Free Foundation (shade: 6 medium olive)- $65 This is a fan fav, although honestly it is not my favourite foundation. It is light to medium coverage with a natural finish. When I first bought it, my skin was glowing so the makeup applied beautifully. Now that I have been breaking out and uneven texture, it doesn’t look nearly as seamless as it used to before. This will be perfect for anyone who has dry-skin, as I have oily skin this does the opposite effect it’s supposed to. Currently on the hunt for a new everyday foundation.
HUDA BEAUTY Easy Bake Loose Baking & Setting Powder (shade: banana bread- light, medium, and tan skin tones)- $34 The best loose setting powder on the market! This was a recent find from the Sephora Holiday Sale and I am so glad I picked it up because I don’t go a day without using it. The powder is so finely milled and it applies beautifully on the skin. Doesn’t crease at all and it brightens the area applied. I don’t need a restock because I still have plenty, but I will definitely make sure I don’t ever run out of it.
Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Lipstick and Lip Liner shade: Pillow Talk)- $34 First I use the lip liner then I use the lipstick and to top it off you can use either the lip gloss or the collagen lip bath. The colour is universally flattering which is a major plus because it is a true nude and not only is soft on the lips but I find it hydrating too.
Charlotte Tilbury Jewel Lip Gloss (shade: Pillow Talk)- $32 Unfortunately, pillow talk is sold out so I linked it up to Rose Jewel which looks so beautiful and is the same formula as pillow talk with a bit more gold to it. Absolutely obsessed with the packaging on this one!
IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream with SPF 50+ (shade: neutral tan, light brown shade with neutral undertones)- $42 This CC cream is very buildable and I love it because of the good coverage it provides. I wear this everyday for work and I used to wear it in the office when I would work in-person. I also always use this cream to the pool, to the beach, or any outdoor events specifically during the summer because of the amazing SPF coverage. In the depth of winter, I transition to the shade of neutral medium.
Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush (shade: happy, dewy cool pink)- $20 This blush is absolutely stunning. The formula, the colour, and the pigment are top tier. I thought this colour might’ve been too bright for me however just a dab on my cheek is all I needed, and blending it out made it look like I had just naturally blushing cheeks. I liked wearing it in the summer because of the naturalness of it but I also am liking it during the colder months because of how nourishing it feels on my face.
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Waterproof Eyeliner Pencil (shade: bourbon, glimmering dark brown)- $22 This eyeliner is a beautiful brown with slight shimmer in it which I love to use on an everyday look. I line my top lid and smudge it with with a brush so it creates a soft glow look. I also wear this liner without eyeshadow if I just want a subtle outline to make my eyes shine a bit more.
Gucci Mascara L’Obscur (shaded: eve black)- $35 I fell in love with this mascara last spring sale and I haven’t looked back. I think for a designer brand, it is a reasonable price especially now during the sale. It is a great everyday mascara that lengthens the lashes and gives a beautiful rich and flattering look to the eyes. Plus the packaging is dead set a winner to me.
Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Longwear Foundation (shade 7: medium skin with neutral undertones)- $44 I tried this product when the last sale was happening and I really liked it. I kept wearing it over the weekends and I found that this is one of the best full coverage foundations I’ve tried. The finish is flawlessly matte but doesn’t ever finish cakey. This is what I wear to weddings, photoshoots, and any event that I need my makeup to picture beautifully but not feel heavy on my face.
MY WISHLIST
I have made the above graphic with all the items that I have in my basket. All of them are new products to me that I haven’t tried before or at least in that particular shade. Unfortunately, I don’t have reviews on them yet but I will soon! That will have to be my next blog post!
I have made a few graphics below to showcase all of the items in certain sections. However, I want to make sure that it is clear that I will absolutely not recommend products to you if I don’t actually use it myself. All the products that are on my graphics (unless it is a wishlist item) are all products that I currently use or have been using in the past that I would recommend to grab during the sale. With that being said, feel free to message me if there are any specific questions you might have about any of the items.
I will stop my rambling here as I think I have covered quite a bit of info for one blog post. My next post will be of the items that I actually purchased with the shade names included. I definitely placed an online order and went into the store to get shade matched for a few things. Clearly, I’m so excited for this sale and I hope y’all are too. It only comes around twice a year, after all. Please let me know if there are any questions about the sale or any of the items I listed. Can’t wait to chat all about the goodies purchased! Thanks for reading, if you made it this far. 🤍
*All thoughts and opinions are my own. I do not own the rights to the images provided unless the picture is of myself. All other pictures have website links tied to them through the item name. I do not make any commission off any of these items.
aaaaaand the countdown is on! Valentine’s Day is on Monday and I can’t contain my excitement. This past week I have been working on expanding the ways I can share content with y’all so I’m trying my luck with reels. I have a reel on my instagram with the visuals for this blog so that I can continue marrying the two platforms together. 🤍Anyways, I wanted to share with you guys 3 different looks that can be styled from 1 outfit… and even better one piece, a black sweater dress. If you live in the deep south than perhaps you don’t usually spend Valentine’s freezing, but here in Virginia it is usually pretty cold/snowy here around Valentine’s Day which is why I chose to style the black sweater dress for this post. It’s simple in the essence of it and most people already have a version of it in their wardrobe. If not, it isn’t too hard to hunt down. I will link mine here for those of you who are interested; I’m in a size small. In case it gets restocked, make sure to note which size you’re looking for.
Having 3 looks to work from ensures that there is some type of inspiration for various types of styles. Let’s be honest, some days I want to look very girly and feminine but other days I need to have that fun western chic vibe… and then other days, everything else in between. Again, most of the items in this blog post are from my closet (and a few years ago) so do some digging in your own closet to see if you can put together an outfit of your own.
screenshot from the reel
Look 1: Western & Trendy 🌹
Super simple look to achieve with 2 pieces total- the black sweater dress and cowboy boots. Of course, I chose the red glitter ones but you could wear whatever colour or version you would like. To set the true trend report on fire, bust out the white cowgirl boots and shimmy on out the door.
screenshot from the reel
Look 2: Chic & Comfortable 🎀
If it happens to be a bit more chilly where you live for Valentine’s Day, then this is the perfect outfit. Black sweater dress, knee-high black boots and a mini heart purse for a splash of Valentine’s colour. If you don’t have a specific heart accessory, anything red or pink would suffice.
screenshot from the reel
Look 3: Glam & Flirty 💄
The perfect way to dress up an outfit is to enhance the accessories. I’m a big believer in “it’s all in the details” so for this look I pulled out my sparkly bow shoes that I got for the holidays and my LOVE clutch that would be perfect for a dinner date or a night out on the town.
This year, now that my blog has a foundation, I want to get creative with the ways I can utilize my current closet items. I don’t want to spend too much money on all new things when I have quite a good amount of items in my closet that could probably be made into a new outfit with just a few finishing touches. This was my first experiment with this idea so I hope you are able to draw some inspiration from this blog post! I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine’s Day weekend with your loved ones, family and friends. May it be filled with love, joy, good food and laughter 💘
All thoughts and opinions are my own. I own the rights of all pictures of me in them in this blog post. do not make any commission from links provided.
Happy Groundhog Day friends! It appears that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning which means that there will be six more weeks of winter.❄️ I was really looking forward to warmer weather but I am starting to believe that Phil is right because of the projected ice and snow storms rolling in. Today is also 2.2.2022 which is a fun play on numbers for a date. Would’ve made a great wedding date! Valentine’s Day is a little less than two weeks away, I can’t believe it. Since it basically snuck up on me, I wanted to make these Valentine’s Gift Guides as soon as possible for everyone to look through. There should be plenty of time to get these items in with shipping so there shouldn’t be any problems with that either! I have made 2 guides, one for her and one for him with all the details below each graphic. Without further ado…
I have a few more ideas up my sleeve for Valentine’s Day content so keep an eye out in the coming week for some more posts. I hope these gift guides were helpful, I usually get questions on what to get friends’ SO’s which is exactly why I started these last year. Of course, these are just ideas so whether you get what is actually linked or something that sparked off an item included in the gift guide, it’s meant to be useful. I also wanted to point out that there is no need to have to spend a lot of money on Valentine’s Day gifts because one of the most important gifts that you can give someone you love, is your time. Spend time together, plane a date, connect while doing something you both love… those moments are the best gifts.🎁 Plus if you wanna throw in a bottle of wine, box of chocolates, and some flowers, well that is just the icing on the cake. Let me know if any of these items are the one you’re going to get! Thanks so much for reading along!🤍
All thoughts and opinions are my own. I own the rights of all pictures of me in them and the pictures that are from other websites have links tied to them in the descriptions.
Welcome to a new week friends! I am excited to announce that today is my blog anniversary! It has been exactly a year, today January 25th, that I relaunched my blog website with the intention of fulfilling a pipe dream of mine. What started as a dream, has become a reality, and now a passion of mine… and of course, I have YOU to thank for that.🌈 In this blog post, I want to reflect a little bit about the past year and bring out the vision I have for 2022. Let’s take a look back on my first full year of blogging…
The first picture I took for my first blog post/instagram post- January 25, 2021
I cannot believe how much has happened since the above picture was taken. It was one whole year ago and I had no idea what would’ve unfolded after this. I remember that all I wanted to do last year was to build up the confidence to just sit down and publish one blog post. I did that on January 25th, but then I kept going. Now I know that seems like the obvious next step but I really wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about continuing after publishing. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I have made in awhile. With this being said, I also learned a lesson through this. I was very close to robbing myself of the joy it has brought me and losing out on the connections I have made throughout my blog if I had let my fears stand in my way and get the best of me. I couldn’t have imagined that my blog would’ve grown to what it is now back then.
We all know that the world has been filled with negativity for awhile and sometimes it feels like there isn’t really anything to look forward to/be positive about. However, having this blog to look to when times have gotten tough either professionally or personally, has really helped me bring things into perspective. It brings me happiness to escape into my blogging world and connect with all of you through our common interests. I hope that my blog can serve as just a small beacon of positivity for all of you as well.🦋
Some of the highlights from last year through the blog were some of the self-love/positivity mindset posts, Sephora Sale posts, the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale, OBX Travel Guide, and Thanksgiving Inspiration Outfit Posts. Of course, I filled the blog with many other posts webbed between all of those but to me, those were definitely the ones I was most proud of. With the upcoming year ahead of us, I would love to build on all of those posts and amplify them as much as possible. I intend to focus on fashion, beauty, and lifestyle categories throughout the year.
I have two main goals regarding my blog for this year. I am happy to share them with you below:
Consistently publish my blog posts weekly. At the minimum, I would like to post once a week but I want to strive for twice a week. Last year, I had a lot of momentum so I was trying to post twice a week. However towards the end of the year I think I got a little burned out after Thanksgiving. I think if I keep my goal consistent and then work towards the challenge of posting more than once every week, it will expand my blogging skills. After asking you guys what posting schedule would work best a couple of weeks ago, I want to try to keep posts to Monday and Wednesdays. Of course, if there is a special event or excuse as to why it would be posted on other days then that will be that day. Like for example, today is a Tuesday but its my blog anniversary so it was going to be published today regardless.
My next goal for the year is to upgrade my blog website. Most of last year I was trying to get my head around the writing tools and understanding how to best market my content but this year I would like to work on the design of the website and enhance the features. I don’t have a hard timeline to complete this, but if I work in phases, I hope that it will be done by the end of the year.
I want to express my sincerest gratitude to all of you, my readers and supporters. I am so very thankful for you guys and all of the encouragement I have received this year. For those of you who always saw the potential in me and challenged me to keep going even when life got a little tough and busy, you are the best type of human. Y’all know who you are and I can’t thank you enough. In 2022, I hope to bring more fashion, beauty and lifestyle content to y’all in whatever way I can. If there is anything specific that you would like to see this year, don’t hesitate to reach out! Much love for all of you💖
** If you are receiving this post in your email inbox, please click on the title of this post so that it will redirect you to my website… trust me it looks WAY prettier 🙂
Two weeks into the new year and still talking about goals? Well duh, how else are we going to achieve our goals? Consistency! Consistency is the key and I want to be better about keeping consistent this year than how I did last year. It’s just as important to check in on your progress of goals throughout the year as it is to make them in the beginning of the year. I only checked them twice after I made my 2021 goals last year and it wasn’t very helpful towards the end of the year because I started to feel down on myself. I wasn’t able to see the progress I had made throughout 2021. This year, I want to check in with my goals perhaps seasonally. I will check them once in winter, spring, summer, and fall which to me is enough to keep on track but also not too much that I feel overwhelmed/controlled by reaching the goals. ✨
I can’t believe we have already entered in to 2022, the past two years have been beyond anyone’s imagination. With this in mind, I try to extend myself grace and understanding on days of frustration and anxiousness… which if you knew me before 2020, would be very uncharacteristic of me. As I stated in my previous blog post Reflecting on 2021, I have a bit of a different system than others on how I set my goals. While I have a good amount of goals set aside for this year, I want to keep some of them private as they are personal. However, I will be sharing 5 of my goals in this post and categorizing them into one of my twelve sections. Without further ado, let’s talk GOALS:
Commit to (2) clean outs a year (i.e. spring cleaning, etc) – Lifestyle 💖
Y’all know how much I love a good spring cleaning! However, that is usually the only time I do a big clean out every year but it shouldn’t be. I have decided to commit to at least 2 clean outs a year including the spring cleaning event because I don’t want clutter to build up. I decided to not limit myself to just closet clean outs though. It could be accessories, books, storage, random junk lying around. I couldn’t believe how much randomness is lying around my space so I wanted to make this goal a priority this year. This will also help feed into my donating more clothes goal, by nature.
2. Stay true to 2022 savings priorities – Finances 💰
This one encompasses a large portion of my finance goals this year without having to go into specifics. I have quite a few savings goals for 2022 but the only way I am going to be able to achieve them is to focus on them every month. When I had a rather large financial goal of becoming debt-free last year, the first few months of the year I was hyper-focused on that so that drive made me act accordingly. A tangible way that I want to work towards this goal is to educate myself on different forms of investing. I know there is a lot for me to learn so I want to read a few financial literacy books and attend workshops/classes like I did last year.
3. Drink at least 70 oz. of water a day- Health 🚰
This goal is pretty self-explanatory. Water is important and I think we all know that. For me, it helps clear up my skin, makes me feel hydrated and more alert throughout the day, and helps my headaches go away 🙂 I know I can easily hit this goal if I keep it on my mind because it just means I need to drink at least 3 of my 24 oz water bottles. One in the morning, one in the afternoon and one after my workout for the evening which will get me to my daily goal. If you are reading this, I implore you to make a daily water intake goal and challenge yourself to see if you can do it.
4. Read 17 books this year while utilizing the public library – Personal Development 📚
Last year, my goal was to read 15 books and I beat the goal by 2 meaning I read a total of 17 books. I wanted to match last year’s goal by setting the bar at 17 books. Hopefully, I will be able to read more and just keep adding a few on every year. The other part of this goal is the public library. Somehow in the midst of staying inside, keeping to myself, and being afraid of germs everywhere, I completely forgot about the public library. It is insane how expensive books are nowadays and I think I spent wayyyy too much money at Barnes & Noble last year. So I would like to go back to the library and see if I can borrow more books rather than buy them outright. Of course, there will be a few books that I truly want to buy to keep in my collection but there are certainly others that I don’t need to buy for only a one-time read. Plus, I found my public library card in one of my old wallets so it’s a win-win.
5. Take a holiday trip with my boyfriend – Travel ✈️
This goal is very special to me because my boyfriend and I’s work schedules are basically the opposite of each other so for us to be able to take time off at the same time in order to travel to a new spot is a bit challenging. However, that doesn’t stop us from trying! Ever since we graduated college, we have planned at least one out-of-state trip a year. We’ve had the best time exploring new areas, experimenting with new foods, and trying new activities together. Eventually we want to go on a trip internationally but that has obviously been put on hold the past 2 years so hopefully that is on the horizon but if not, we will pick another place outside of Virginia to take a trip to this year. In 2020, we went to The Highlands, North Carolina and in 2021, we explored The Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee. Here’s to seeing where 2022 will take us.
I would love to recap this blog post at the end of 2022 or at the beginning of 2023 to see if I am able to achieve my goals. If you would like to share a goal of yours for the upcoming year, feel free to share with me! I would love to hear all about your intentions for 2022. Additionally, if there is anything specific that you would like to see in a blog post this year, let me know because I would love to continue to connect with you in as many ways as I can. Thank you for reading along on my post today!
** If you are receiving this post in your email inbox, please click on the title of this post so that it will redirect you to my website… trust me it looks WAY prettier 🙂
Happy New Year, my lovely friends! Welcome to 2022! Wow, have I missed y’all. I didn’t realize that I haven’t talked to you since Thanksgiving. I didn’t meant to ghost in December and I didn’t think I had since I was keeping up with documentation on my instagram but I am back on my blog posts now!
Over the past week, I have been doing a lot of reflecting on 2021 and how things unfolded. I didn’t speak much about this towards the end of the year but I was starting to feel a little down about how the year went. Obviously, I wasn’t thinking of the big picture and so when I started to spiral, I was only thinking of one specific section of my life and basically chalked up the rest which was forgotten. I really wanted to enjoy the holidays and not miss out on the joy to be experienced. With this attitude in mind, I dove head first into celebrating the holidays with my loved ones and tried to soak in the moment because I knew that when the new year hit, that I would try to shift my mindset. During that awkward lull time between Christmas and the New Year, I was fortunate enough to see some of my extended family which was very grounding for me. I think we can all agree that we haven’t been able to connect with our relatives as much as normal or as much as we would’ve hoped over the past two years, so the fact that I was able to see two of my tia’s (aunts) after 2 years was a very special time.
Right after we rung in the New Year, I sat down and started brainstorming for 2022. However , I wasn’t able to get very far because I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to focus on this year. That’s when I realized, I hadn’t taken the time to look back on 2021 because I was so focused on getting out of it. I took a VERY deep breath and went back to the 2021 goals I laid out for myself last January. I decided to make a “2021 brag list” where I write down all of goals I actually accomplished from 2021 and then I can see what was achieved and which goals I can continue to work on. From those, that created areas of opportunity for 2022 later on.
Everyone conducts their goals/resolutions/words of the year a little bit differently so that’s important to keep in mind here. I will explain my system to y’all but please don’t feel like you automatically have to do the same. What works for me may not work for you but I know this is my method that has proved productive. First, I don’t make big overarching goals because then I am unsure of how to actually achieve them. I instead split up my goals into categories and then write tangible smaller goals within those sections to focus my efforts in. I have a total of 12 categories which are Love & Relationships, Lifestyle, Food/Dietary Needs, Personal Development, Health (Physical/Mental), Finances, Travel, Fitness, Work/Career, Faith, Blog, and Misc/Extras. Within each of my categories, I have 2-4 smaller more attainable goals that coincide with that overarching theme. Now for some people, all of that organizing into sections might sound like overkill but to me, it made it manageable. If you are still trying too figure out your style, keep trying different methods because one size doesn’t fit all!
While I was working on the brag list, I also realized that I had a few other goals that weren’t goals in the beginning of the year but were spur of the moment or things that just came up throughout the year that I hadn’t planned for. I’m not going to share all of my goals that I achieved with you because I do want to keep some of them private as they are personal but I have decided that I will share 5 of them with you here in this post and will include which category they were from.
Try new gluten-free and dairy-free recipes from new cookbooks weekly (Food/Dietary Needs)
As you know from my previous blog posts, I dealt with quite a bit of health issues in 2020. This resulted in many different doctors, medications, time in bed, and a lot of food that all of a sudden didn’t work with my body almost abruptly. I ultimately had to switch my eating to gluten-free and dairy-free centric. My family and friends were so supportive and always were so accommodating. I also got a couple of cookbooks that Christmas that would aid me in my new lifestyle. Since I cook weekly from those cookbooks, I was experimenting all the time to find some favourites. This was a huge success for me because not only did I actually love the recipes but so did my family and some of my friends who I made them for. Not only was I finally noticing a difference in my health but I was exploring a whole other way of eating and fueling my body. I felt accomplished meeting this goal!
2. Read 15 books this year (Personal Development)
This one was definitely a big goal for me to set because even though I love reading, I have never had enough time to make it a priority…until the pandemic. So instead of doing 12 to account for a book per month I padded the goal with a few extra to see if I could make it. Happy to report that I exceeded this goal and finished reading 17 books total in 2021! As a reminder, I have a book highlight on my instagram of all my ratings and book recs. If you would like me to recap best books of 2021 in a blog post, let me know! I felt accomplished meeting this goal!
3. Pay off Loans/ Debt-Free (Finances)
I cannot believe I considered 2021 a failed year when I hadn’t even remembered I had accomplished this goal! To be fair, I reached this goal in March of 2021 so it was definitely earlier in the year so by the time December hit it felt like a lot of time had passed. ANYWAY, I was so excited all over again when I was making the brag list. I remember doing a lot of financial literacy courses during 2020 and realized that I felt very tied down by my loans (as I’m sure many of us have felt before/currently feel). That is why I was determined to pay off my remaining student loan and car loan to make me debt-free. I was able to accomplish my goal by the end of March by paying my final payment of both loans. In April, I celebrated with my family. I felt accomplished meeting this goal!
4. Sit, Write, and Publish another blog post (Blog)
Well I think this one is pretty self-explanatory. It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost a year since I started this blog journey but wow oh wow has it been such a positive addition to my life. I have loved getting to connect with you guys in a different way this past year; it was exactly the passion project I needed to start at just the right time. Obviously, just by the wording of this goal made me hesitant to even begin again after how negatively 2020 went but I am glad that I swallowed some of my fear and just began to write again. I have some exciting plans for this upcoming year and I can’t wait to share them with you as they unfold. I felt accomplished meeting this goal!
5. Full Invisalign Journey (Misc.)
This goal was apart of the miscellaneous section of my goals because I didn’t anticipate going through it during the year when I was crafting these goals. For a good amount of time in college, I felt very self-conscious of my smile because my bottom teeth were starting to shift after my wisdom teeth surgery. I realized that I could definitely take advantage of the fact that many of us were still stying indoors and wearing masks when outside so if I started my Invisalign, not many people would even notice. I went in for my consultation in January, got my first set of liners delivered in March, completed those in September. After that, I got re-scanned for a last set of 6 weeks as a victory lap which I completed in November shortly after Thanksgiving. I also made sure I was paying it off every month so that the process was paid off by November before the year-end. Now I have continued my debt-free lifestyle and have sparkly straight teeth again… sounds like a win to me. I felt accomplished meeting this goal!
That’s a wrap on my reflection of 2021 so let’s finally say that’s a wrap on 2021 itself. I am so glad that I was able to share this part of my life with you over the past year and I hope to continue to find new ways to connect with y’all in 2022. If there are any questions or need any guidance on goal-planning or would like to know more about 2021, feel free to reach out! I am always happy to chat! As always, thank you for reading and supporting 🤍
** If you are receiving this post in your email inbox, please click on the title of this post so that it will redirect you to my website… trust me it looks WAY prettier 🙂
Finally we have hit day 5 of the Thanksgiving outfit inspo series! I hope throughout the week you have been able to get some Thanksgiving outfit inspiration, whether its casual, comfy, or dressy 🧡🤎 I always struggle every year with what to wear for actual Thanksgiving because I want to feel comfortable (hello all of those yummy sides), dressed for the occasion (whichever your family decides for the day) and stylish (because thats just how I am). In this blog post, you will find my outfit details so if you do end up liking one of the outfits enough to recreate on your own, tag me and show me! Below are the details for day 5 look:
Cropped Faux Fur Jacket- Okay first on the list is my favourite but of course, its completely sold out and not even on the Abercrombie website anymore😭 So sorry about that guys however, I found some beautiful alternatives that could easily substitute with the outfit.
Magnificent Style Plum Purple Faux Fur Coat, $98- You guys, this coat is everything!! I stumbled upon it a few days ago and wow if I didn’t already have the one pictured, I would 100% grab this in a heartbeat. The rich plum colour combined with the fur look is just absolutely divine. If you want to incorporate it with the look pictured, go with the purple coat, an ivory/cream bodysuit, the skirt and boots pictured… *chefs kiss.
Collard Plush Faux Fur Coat, originally $98/sale $59- This jacket is currently on sale for 40% off, you seriously can’t beat it! I think this would be a great piece to pick up mostly because black is always chic and this can be used on so many occasions, especially for the holidays coming up. Not only for Thanksgiving but for Hanukkah, Christmas, New Years, any and all holiday celebrations! I would echo what I said before about an outfit though: any coloured bodysuit (black can pair with it all), the skirt and boots pictured and there you have a wonderful look.
Double-Layered Seamless Fabric Scuba Bodysuit, $39- I cannot say enough good things about the Abercrombie bodysuits. I was introduced to them over the summer and I now have 4 different ones because I was obsessed with the fit. Unfortunately, my exact colour/texture is sold out. Mine is the green ribbed but this one I have linked is the exact same style just a seamless texture and in a few other colours/sizes. This bodysuit in particular is very flattering because it seamlessly has a beautiful scuba cut which is unique to me. This particular neckline can also double as a more conservative top paired with a cardigan or jacket. These bodysuits are very soft, suck you in, and do not feel uncomfortable when wearing them for long periods of time. I do wear my true size in these bodysuits which is a small. There are a few different colours available on the website and I don’t think you can go wrong with any of them for Thanksgiving.
Caitlin Covington X Pink Lily The Ella Side Slit Tan Suede Skirt, $48- I have been on the hunt for a suede skirt like this for years and had not found one that was the right colour, length, or style until I saw this one! It has a comfortable zip closure on the back, a flattering side slit, is not the type of tan that looks exactly like my skin colour, and has enough stretch in the waist to not feel like you’ll have to hold your breath while eating your 2nd plate of leftovers. Truly love the texture of it as well, I don’t usually wear suede clothing items but I have a feeling this skirt is going to hold up well. Especially with the colour of it, it will tie into a lot of different outfits in my closet. I also like the fact that this type of skirt can be used in the fall, winter and even spring with some sneakers or short booties. I wear a size small in the skirt and feel very comfortable saying that this skirt does run true to size.
Steve Madden Tava Over the Knee Boot, $135- Another great purchase from the NSale, these over the knee boots are just amazing and can go with so many different outfits. The heel height is a great average height where it’s not too high to walk around comfortably. I love that these are actually pretty high because if you have a short romper, dress, or skirt that you want to wear during the winter, these are the perfect boots to wear with it given that they come up so high and can keep your legs warm. I fell in love with this rich cognac colour but they are also available in black and are mostly stocked in all sizes. Perfect shoe to add to your Christmas wishlist as well.
Well that concludes my 5th and final blog post of the week which wraps full 5 days of Thanksgiving outfit inspiration. I have had the best time this week putting together the outfits and styling various different looks for each level of dressiness. I hope you found some inspiration between outfits days and if you did, please let me know which one was your favourite?! I really appreciate all of your support and reading along with the blog posts 🤍
Have a very Happy Thanksgiving with your family, loved ones and friends!
All thoughts and opinions are my own. I do not own the rights to the images provided unless the picture is of myself. All other pictures have website links tied to them through the item name. I do not make any commission off any of these items.
** If you are receiving this post in your email inbox, please click on the title of this post so that it will redirect you to my website… trust me it looks WAY prettier 🙂
We have made it to day 4 of the Thanksgiving outfit inspo series! This is to give some Thanksgiving outfit inspiration for y’all. 🧡🤎 I always struggle every year with what to wear for actual Thanksgiving because I want to feel comfortable (hello all of those yummy sides), dressed for the occasion (whichever your family decides for the day) and stylish (because thats just how I am). As a reminder, every day this week, I will be releasing an instagram and blog post with an outfit to help spark inspiration on what to wear for the day of. I will include my outfit details as well so if you do end up liking one of the outfits enough to recreate on your own, tag me and show me! Below are the details for day 4 look:
Caitlin Covington X Pink Lily The Nancy Foldover Ivory Fitted Off The Shoulder, $46- I am so excited to be able to feature a two-piece look from Caitlin Covington’s fall collection with Pink Lily. As the queen of fall blogging, I absolutely fell in love with her collection when it was released so I placed a huge order and will be able to mix and match several of those pieces for future looks for you guys. I wear a size small in this shirt and most of the sizes are still stocked! I really like this shirt because not only is it comfortable but I like that it does cover my arms (I’m most self-conscious about this part of my body) however does give a bit of a flattering fit with my shoulders and top of my neckline showing. The shirt is soft as well which is a must for me. It can easily be paired with a skirt like how I have pictured in my outfit or with jeans/leggings for more of a casual look. I figured the ivory would be a great colour to have handy in my closet but it is also available in black too.
Caitlin Covington X Pink Lily The Ella Side Slit Tan Suede Skirt, $48- I have been on the hunt for a suede skirt like this for years and had not found one that was the right colour, length, or style until I saw this one! It has a comfortable zip closure on the back, a flattering side slit, is not the type of tan that looks exactly like my skin colour, and has enough stretch in the waist to not feel like you’ll have to hold your breath while eating your 2nd plate of leftovers. Truly love the texture of it as well, I don’t usually wear suede clothing items but I have a feeling this skirt is going to hold up well. Especially with the colour of it, it will tie into a lot of different outfits in my closet. I also like the fact that this type of skirt can be used in the fall, winter and even spring with some sneakers or short booties. I wear a size small in the skirt and feel very comfortable saying that this skirt does run true to size.
Vince Camuto Afelia Knee High Boot (size 5, Tortilla) $240- Another one of my Nsale purchases that has not disappointed. I absolutely love these boots and can’t recommend them enough. I have already worn them every weekend since the beginning of October lol. What I particularly like about this boot is that the actual shape of the boot is on trend with the western shape but also extremely comfortable. The heel height is not too high so you don’t have that pain in the ball of your feet when wearing for too long and they stretch a bit around the calf for a comfortable fit. I really appreciated how Vince Camuto just slightly elevated the incoming western boot trend of this fall with the beautiful neutral tan colour and the added suede component. As a side note, I did treat these shoes with water protectant to stop damage from rain and snow that might come. Additionally, I tend to keep to my true size when it comes to Vince and I would say these run true to size as I am in a size 5 and they fit perfectly. For the look that I styled, you can easily use any knee high neutral suede/leather boots I just loved the western boot trend and I recently purchased them so I wanted to make use of them. They are worth every penny. I will add some links below of a few other options:
That is it for day 4 outfit inspo– i hope y’all liked it and could use some of the items to create your very own Thanksgiving outfit for exactly a week away from today!🤍 Tomorrow will be the 5th and final outfit reveal so be sure to not miss it.
All thoughts and opinions are my own. I do not own the rights to the images provided unless the picture is of myself. All other pictures have website links tied to them through the item name. I do not make any commission off any of these items.
** Reminder, if you are on my email list and receiving this post in your email inbox, please click on the title of this post so that it will redirect you to my website… trust me it looks WAY prettier 🙂
Day 3 of the Thanksgiving outfit inspo series is now here! This is to give Thanksgiving outfit inspiration for y’all. 🧡🤎 I always struggle every year with what to wear for actual Thanksgiving because I want to feel comfortable (hello all of those yummy sides), dressed for the occasion (whichever your family decides for the day) and stylish (because thats just how I am). Every day this week, I will be releasing an instagram and blog post with an outfit to help spark inspiration on what to wear for the day of. I will include my outfit details as well so if you do end up liking one of the outfits enough to recreate on your own, tag me and show me! Below are the details for day 3 look:
Of course the show stopper here is the cardigan but as I am writing this blog post, it’s sold out 😭😭😭. I’m so sorry guys, I wish I could directly link to it but I did find an alternative to link from the same website and a similar look. It’s called the Playful Personality Ivory/Tan Animal Print Cardigan (small). If for any reason my actual cardigan comes back into stock, you can search for The Kenny Fuzzy Animal Print Ivory/Taupe Cardigan which is the item’s full name. For this casual look on Thanksgiving, any cardigan would fit with the outfit but y’all know how much I love leopard print and the fact that it’s a neutral leopard, I had to use it for the outfit. This particular cardigan is also super soft and buttery which just adds to that comfortability factor that many look for on Thanksgiving.
Seamless Fabric Tank Bodysuit (Rust Red), $39- I cannot say enough good things about the Abercrombie bodysuits. I was introduced to them over the summer and I now have 4 different ones because I was obsessed with the fit. This bodysuit in particular is very flattering because it has a square-neckline which can be paired with both cardigans and jackets without it cutting your chest at a weird angle. They are very soft, suck you in, and do not feel uncomfortable when wearing them for long periods of time. I do wear my true size in these bodysuits which is a small. There are a few different colours available on the website and I don’t think you can go wrong with any of them for Thanksgiving however I really liked this rusty red colour.
Ripped High Rise Super Skinny Ankle Jeans (Dark Wash with Button Front), originally $89/currently on sale $62.30- This was the closest pair of jeans I could find to the ones I am wearing in the picture because I believe the ones I am in are last season’s and they are no longer available. However the ones I linked are this year’s version with the cut off hem in the front which gives such a super flattering look and elongates the leg (I always look for this as I am petite and not very tall) however the main difference is that this pair has a full button closure whereas mine just has one button. I wear a 27 short in A&F jeans and they fit so well, I always gravitate towards their jeans because they are one of the few retailers that carry short in jeans. I almost always wear these jeans with any of my bodysuits.
Steve Madden Cedar Bootie (Tan Suede), orginially $135/currently on sale $79.96- While my exact pair of booties are last year’s version of Steve Madden booties included in the NSale, there isn’t much of a difference over the year. I love this suede taupe version of the block bootie because it is so versatile and can truly get paired with any outfit. The slit on the ankle is very flattering which again elongates the leg and so when paired with the same jean trick from above, I feel like my leg looks ways longer than it actually is. These booties are very comfortable and I couldn’t be happier with how well they have held up over the past year even when I wore them all the time last year. With the pointed heel in Steve Maddens, I did size up half a size just to make sure I could wear no-show socks with these as well so I am wearing a 5.5. I added a few more versions below that could also work well with the look:
On this lovely hump day, I wanted to post specifically a more casual look for y’all to draw inspiration from for a Thanksgiving outfit. I very rarely wear jeans on the day of but if I did, I would wear this outfit especially since I can just cuddle into my cardigan later in the evening. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s 4th outfit of the week! Thanks for keeping up with the posts!! 🤍
All thoughts and opinions are my own. I do not own the rights to the images provided unless the picture is of myself. All other pictures have website links tied to them through the item name. I do not make any commission off any of these items.
On to DAY 2 of Thanksgiving outfits inspo!! This is the second out of five full outfit looks I put together for my week of Thanksgiving outfit inspiration for y’all. 🧡🤎 I always struggle every year with what to wear for actual Thanksgiving because I want to feel comfortable (hello all of those yummy sides), dressed for the occasion (whichever your family decides for the day) and stylish (because thats just how I am). Every day this week, I will be releasing an instagram and blog post with an outfit to help spark inspiration on what to wear for the day of. I will include my outfit details as well so if you do end up liking one of the outfits enough to recreate on your own, tag me and show me! If you missed yesterdays post, click here. Below are the details for day 2 look:
Caitlin Covington X Pink Lily The Krista Cable Knit Ivory Sweater Dress (small) $58- I am so excited to be able to feature one of Caitlin Covington’s pieces in my week full of outfits. As the queen of fall blogging, I absolutely fell in love with her collection when it was released so I placed a huge order and will be able to mix and match several of those pieces for future looks for you guys. The first being, this beautiful knit sweater dress in ivory. Among the reasons why I really like this piece is because it is ivory and not a true white as I don’t usually wear white pieces during the fall and winter. This would be known as a winter white but it still pairs beautifully with the rest of my wardrobe. The dress is great quality as well with an affordable price tag. It is thick enough where it is not see through at all, will keep you warm, but is not too heavy that it would be uncomfortably warm. If you wanted, you could easily pair a fun scarf with this dress as well to add some colour (any colour would work against the ivory). A staple piece to add to any wardrobe, for sure. The sizing runs true and is also petite-friendly as in it doesn’t make me look like I’m swimming in the material. Last thing to mention, I love that this is a thrown on and go outfit. I just had to put on my dress, zip up my boots and I was out the door- def will work for any Thanksgiving plans you have plus leaves lots of room for turkey!
Vince Camuto Afelia Knee High Boot (size 5, Tortilla) $240- Another one of my Nsale purchases that has not disappointed. I absolutely love these boots and can’t recommend them enough. I have already worn them every weekend since the beginning of October lol. What I particularly like about this boot is that the actual shape of the boot is on trend with the western shape but also extremely comfortable. The heel height is not too high so you don’t have that pain in the ball of your feet when wearing for too long and they stretch a bit around the calf for a comfortable fit. I really appreciated how Vince Camuto just slightly elevated the incoming western boot trend of this fall with the beautiful neutral tan colour and the added suede component. As a side note, I did treat these shoes with water protectant to stop damage from rain and snow that might come. Additionally, I tend to keep to my true size when it comes to Vince and I would say these run true to size as I am in a size 5 and they fit perfectly. For the look that I styled, you can easily use any knee high neutral suede/leather boots I just loved the western boot trend and I recently purchased them so I wanted to make use of them. They are worth every penny. I will add some links below of a few other options:
I hope you have been able to draw some inspiration or ideas from my day 2 look. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post! As always, appreciate all of you reading my posts. 🤍
All thoughts and opinions are my own. I do not own the rights to the images provided unless the picture is of myself. All other pictures have website links tied to them through the item name. I do not make any commission off any of these items.
We have officially hit the ultimate autumn vibe as we begin the week before Thanksgiving. I cannot believe it is already going to be time to feast with family and friends soon.🍁 It truly feels like there isn’t enough time in the day but then the days pass by so quickly. Y’all feel? Anyways, I’m so excited to begin my series of Thanksgiving Outfit Inspo this week!🧡🤎 I always struggle every year with what to wear for actual Thanksgiving because I want to feel comfortable (hello all of those yummy sides), dressed for the occasion (whichever your family decides for the day) and stylish (because thats just how I am). For the next few days, I will be releasing an instagram and blog post with an outfit to help spark inspiration on what to wear for the day of. I will include my outfit details as well so if you do end up liking one of the outfits enough to recreate on your own, tag me and show me!
A couple of months ago, I published my blog post that talked all about the incoming fall trends which you can read about here. After a few weeks, I have been able to assemble my outfit that was one of my visions for the fall trends that are happening. The details are as follows:
Abercrombie & Fitch Women’s Sweater Vest Mini Dress (Tan Houndstooth) $79- I knew that the tan was the best neutral colour but initially I wasn’t sure it would look up against my skin since I also have tan skin. However, when paired with white accessories, there is a break up of colours which helped me achieve the look I wanted. I also just saw that my sweater vest is currently 15% off which is great if you are eyeing this piece. There are a few patterns and colours available that would be great for any of the upcoming holidays in the coming months. As far as sizing, I wear the petite small as I am 5’0 and I always lean towards petite sizing when offered. I would say it fits true to size however I could’ve gone down a size to xs for more of a form-fitting look.
Target Women’s Raglan Long Sleeve Button-Down Shirt (White) $20- Y’all, I can’t believe I found this shirt!! If you’ve been following this trend, you know that these shirts are sold out everywhere. However, I went on a couple days worth of a search and finally found this one that actually is comfortable and affordable. Target never fails me! Of course there are many colour options available as well but I chose the classic white to add to my wardrobe. The reviews are right in the fact that it does run oversized. I sized down to an XS and it does have quite a bit of movement in it but paired under the sweater vest dress, it doesn’t look baggy from the outside. For $20, you really can’t beat it.
Billini Caela White Crocodile-Embossed Knee-High Boots $95- Okay, another trendy item that is hard to find right now. I’ve seen them in all different types of pics but when I actually go to find them and check out, they are either ridiculously overpriced or they are sold out. Thankfully, I found these at Lulu’s a couple of weeks ago with only 2 size 5’s lefts and I jumped on them because they were already sold out from Nordstrom where I originally wanted to get them from. While these boots are so pretty in person, I will say the knee-high description is a little misleading because they definitely are more of a mid-calf boot on me and I’m quite short in comparison to most people. I was so happy that I found these particular boots because of the croc embossing, such a beautiful touch. I have provided some additional links below so you can also look at other similar options that are in stock. If you are interested in this exact pair, be sure to sign up for the restock alert!
*All thoughts and opinions are my own. I do not own the rights to the images provided unless the picture is of myself. All other pictures have website links tied to them through the item name. I do not make any commission off any of these items.
All the beauty posts coming out this week!💄 Here is a blog post I have put together that includes my current beauty picks. Below you will find my holy grail products I have discovered over the past couple of years and then I divided up the post based amongst face, eyes and lips so that there is a flow to the post that you can follow along with.
Face
Rare Beauty Liquid Touch Weightless Foundation (shade: 270N, medium with neutral beige undertones)- I love this foundation for everyday wear, it doesn’t oxidize over time and it stays in place for as long as I need it to throughout the day. If I am going to meet up with friends, have dinner out or go on a date night throughout the week, this is exactly what I reach for.
Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Longwear Foundation (shade 7: medium skin with neutral undertones)- I tried this product when the last sale was happening and I really liked it. I kept wearing it over the weekends and I found that this is one of the best full coverage foundations I’ve tried. The finish is flawlessly matte but doesn’t ever finish cakey. This is what I wear to weddings, photoshoots, and any event that I need my makeup to picture beautifully but not feel heavy on my face.
IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream with SPF 50+ (shade: neutral tan, light brown shade with neutral undertones)- This CC cream is very buildable and I love it because of the good coverage it provides. I wear this everyday for work and I used to wear it in the office when I would work in-person. I also always use this cream to the pool, to the beach, or any outdoor events specifically during the summer because of the amazing SPF coverage. In the depth of winter, I transition to the shade of neutral medium.
NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer (shade: ginger, medium with warm undertones and a golden tone)- This concealer is the only concealer I use hands down. It doesn’t settle into my fine lines and it actually conceals redness and my dark circles under my eyes. When I first tried it, I got the mini-size and it lasted such a long time. Ever since then, I’ve repurchasing a full size bottle and I won’t use anything else.
Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Contour Wand (shade: medium/dark)- I bought this product after seeing it going viral on TikTok like I’m sure many of you have seen. It’s still sold out in most places but if you do get the restock notification, I highly recommend this. It is a super blendable and beginner-friendly liquid contour.
Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Matte Bronzer (shade: tan, medium deep bronze)- I love this bronzer, its so smooth and I always set my contour above with this lovely shade. It doesn’t look dirty on my face rather just slightly bronzey and glowy through the finish.
Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Setting Powder (shade: 2 medium)- This finishing powder is the only powder I use under my eyes because it truly has a flawless finish to it. It sets my under-eye and on top of my lid perfectly. I like that it has a subtle brightening effect as well for my dark circles under my eye.
Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush (shade: happy, dewy cool pink)- This blush is absolutely stunning. The formula, the colour, and the pigment are top tier. I thought this colour might’ve been too bright for me however just a dab on my cheek is all I needed, and blending it out made it look like I had just naturally blushing cheeks. I liked wearing it in the summer because of the naturalness of it but I also am liking it during the colder months because of how nourishing it feels on my face.
NARS Blush (shade: dolce vita, dusty rose)- If I don’t use a liquid blush, I like to reach for this one as a very subtle flush of colour on my cheeks. This particular shade works well for my skin tone but any of the shades are from a great formula.
Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray– This is the best setting spray I have used thus far. I spray about 3-4 times all over my face at the very end of my makeup routine. The way I know this works is that whenever I have to wear my mask, the foundation doesn’t come off into my reusable mask for quite awhile. It hydrates my face but also keeps the makeup in place, the absolute best!
Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder (shade: Translucent, perfect for very fair to medium skintones)- This powder is very useful especially when I want to bake certain areas of my face for special occasions. Additionally, it leaves a beautiful veil over the face when I want to set my face to preserve long wear.
Eyes
Charlotte Tilbury Instant Eyeshadow Palette (Pillow Talk Collection)- This palette has four different sets of looks with three different shades in each. I really like how CT separates her eyeshadow palettes because it gives the user direction on where to use them and what to use them for each occasion. There is a holiday collection that comes out every year and I use last year’s quite a bit as well.
Rare Beauty Perfect Strokes Matte Liquid Liner (shade: black)- I really like to use this eyeliner for looks when I need more of a “put together” look. If I’m going out to dinner or have an even that day, this is exactly the eyeliner I use. It shows up bold and black with a very easy application.
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Waterproof Eyeliner Pencil (shade: bourbon, glimmering dark brown)- This eyeliner is a beautiful brown with slight shimmer in it which I love to use on an everyday look. I line my top lid and smudge it with with a brush so it creates a soft glow look. I also wear this liner without eyeshadow if I just want a subtle outline to make my eyes shine a bit more.
Lancome Cils Booster XL Super-Enhancing Mascara Primer– The absolute best eyelash primer that has ever graced this planet. No, I don’t say this lightly either. Every sale, I buy in bulk because I just can never run out of it. I have three in my restock drawer already. The trick is to let it sit for about 30 seconds so it gets a bit tacky and then apply the mascara of your choice for a beautiful wispy and full effect.
Gucci Mascara L’Obscur (shaded: eve black)- I fell in love with this mascara this past spring sale and I haven’t looked back. I think for a designer brand, it is a reasonable price especially now during the sale. It is a great everyday mascara that lengthens the lashes and gives a beautiful rich and flattering look to the eyes. Plus the packaging is dead set a winner to me.
Sephora Collection 12 hour Contour Pencil Eyeliner (shade: 54 coconut)- If you are looking for a subtle way to awaken tired eyes, then this eyeliner is great for your bottom waterline. It is a beautiful skin colour nude that instantly brightens your eyes and makes them look more naturally awake.
Lips
Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Lip Secrets Set (shade: pillow talk , nude pink)- Not only is this set a great value set from the sale, it has everything I need for a beautiful pinky nude lip look. It includes the liner which I use first, then I use the lipstick and to top it off you can use either the lip gloss or the collagen lip bath. I usually go for the lip gloss since it’s more sparkly but the collagen lip bath works well for a more full look. I use this lip set every week and I have also gifted it away. The colour is universally flattering which is a major plus.
Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat Liner (shade: iconic nude, nude)- I like this particular shade of the liner because it is a true nude and not only is soft on the lips but I find it is slightly hydrating and doesn’t dry out on the lips. I like to use this with various lipsticks because of how easily it blends and lines.
Charlotte Tilbury Hot Lips Lipstick 2 (shade: glowing jen, soft rose)- Can you tell I like CT products? This lipstick was actually the first Charlotte product I bought and instantly fell in love with the brand and formula. Its a gorgeous rosey colour that matches lips with many blushes to give that uniformed look. This particular shade is inspired by Jennifer Aniston, whom I love, so I definitely wanted to be able to use it daily. If want a bit more colour on my lips when I’m not wearing Pillow Talk, I reach for Glowing Jen. Another reason why I love the Hot Lips lipstick line from CT is that the packaging of the bullet is made to be reused and you can easily get the refill of the colour of the lipstick to reload into the same bullet to decrease waste.
As you can tell, I tried to be as thorough as I could be when it came to my makeup routine. I included both my everyday items and full glam makeup items as well so that this could be a comprehensive list to go along with my makeup tutorial on my instagram.💓 I hope you find this type of blog post helpful and I would love to know if any of these products you also like to use or if you need additional details regarding any of them. The Sephora Holiday Sale is a great time to restock daily-use products or splurge on big ticket items you have had your eye on. If you missed my blog post about the 2021 Sephora Holiday Sale, click here to read it. Thanks for reading along with my blog posts!
*All thoughts and opinions are my own. I do not own the rights to the images provided unless the picture is of myself. All other pictures have website links tied to them through the item name. I do not make any commission off any of these items.
Hello, my beautiful friends! I hope your week is off to a great start. One of my favourite things to do is to put together different outfits that could be used for multiple occasions. Today, I knew I wanted to be wrapped up in my cozy flannel but also was looking to elevate the look slightly with some statement shoes. Even though my white boots are a neutral shoe, I think the stark contrast between the black leggings and the white boots makes it more of a statement. Can you believe all of the beautiful fall leaves too?🍁 I just had to get the red leaves in the picture because they deserve to be shown off. I have listed out all of my outfit details in this blog post so you can shop and find inspo as well. Huge BONUS: Each individual piece is under $100 right now!
BP Boyfriend Plaid Button-Up Shirt (XS, $49)- I bought this flannel during the Nsale this summer and it was one of the best purchases I made because it is a great basic that I was able to add to my wardrobe. I love the neutral colours of the plaid shirt because it can be used for so many different types of outfits. I can wear this flannel like I did in my pictures for a casual look or I could sport it up with an unbuttoned shirt, black crop top/sports bra, leggings, and athleisure sneakers.
Gymshark Leggings (S, $50)- I’m a little bummed that my exact leggings are no longer being sold but I did look through the selection and I believe the ones I linked are the most similar to mine. I wear a size small in all Gymshark leggings and even though they are athletic wear, I love to dress them with casual outfits (and to motivate me to do a quick workout later too). They are very flattering and suck you in, no matter what.
Marc Fisher LTD Padmia Chelsea Boot (Size 5, orig $199- sale :$99)- I cannot believe that my new pair of Chelsea boots are 50% off! This is the lowest I have seen them marked. I recently purchased this pair of boots during the Nsale because I was looking for a pair of comfortable Chelsea boots but ones that would actually pop. These were it. They fit true to size on me and I like to wear thick socks to secure my footing. This pair comes in three different colour combos and I cannot recommend them enough- Marc Fishers are always winners in my book.
As mentioned above, all my individual outfit pieces are under $100 which is an amazing deal. I am so excited to be able to share this casual fall outfit look with you guys because it is something you can wear any day of the week and will definitely be a comfortable fit. Don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions about the pieces in this post or if you need any fall outfit inspo. More blog posts like this to come…Have a great day! 🤍
*All thoughts and opinions are my own. I do not own the rights to the images provided unless the picture is of myself. All other pictures have website links tied to them through the item name. I do not make any commission off any of these items.
Shopping for makeup products makes me feel like a million bucks 🙂
Hello again, my friends! I wanted to follow up with a blog post since I recently shared on my stories what I picked up during the sale.💄 As a reminder, it is currently open to Rouge members, then it will open up to VIB on 11/9 and finally to all Insiders on 11/11. The sale will end 11/15 so if you have been looking around and browsing the website, now is a great time to purchase anything that you will need a restock on or if there is a gift you want to pick up for someone on your list, it’s a great opportunity to do so. Similar to my previous Sephora Sale blog post, I have divided this post into different sections such as Makeup, Skincare, and Hair (I didn’t think I really needed any fragrance this time around). If a product is a restock for me, I will put a double asterisk ** next to the product name.
I may or may not need to place a second order soon because some of the items I had on my list were not able to be picked up in store. If I do make another order, I will be sure to tack it on to this post so everything is all in one place. I hope this is helpful for you, please let me know if there is anything else I can do to be a resource for you if you’re shopping the sale.
*All thoughts and opinions are my own. I do not own the rights to the images provided unless the picture is of myself. All other pictures have website links tied to them through the item name. I do not make any commission off any of these items.
Using my Dia de los Muertos makeup look from this week as the cover since this is the most amount of makeup I’ve worn all year
Wow, I can’t believe it’s already the start of the holiday season! For those beauty-lovers out there, we all know it means that the Sephora Holiday Savings Event is now happening!💄 This is my first time covering the Holiday Sephora sale, as I have only been able to write about the spring sale so I am very excited to be sharing the best details with you. I usually don’t buy anything at Sephora throughout the year because I wait until the two times a year that the sales happen. The only exception to that is if I’m desperate and am completely out of a product or if I am purchasing an item as a gift for someone, like for a birthday or a special occasion.🎄 Anyways, the point is that this is basically the time to stock up on all time favourites that you know you will be using into the new year. If you have your eye on anything that is a bit more of a splurge, the sale event is always a good time to purchase and try which is exactly what I like to do. So let’s get into it…
The Basics:
For those of you who have been following along with me since the beginning of my blog, this is the same spiel with all of the basic info that anyone needs to know in order to shop the event. First, you must have an account with Sephora. If you don’t have an account with Sephora, you can sign up for free here. If you are Rouge status, you will be able to shop first with early access with 20% off from November 5-15. If you are VIB status, you can start shopping with 15% off from November 9-15. If you are an Insider, you will be able to shop with 10% off from November 11-15. Make sure to use the code YAYHOLIDAY when you are checking out to receive your holiday savings! All these discounts are multi-use and can be used in-store of course, as well.
I have split this post into several sections so it is easier to plan your shopping strategy (and yes I take this sale that seriously). The sections include makeup, skincare, hair care, and fragrances. I will also do a recap of what I purchased in the spring sale (still this year’s purchases) to give some context. Within each category, I have listed products that I have on my wishlist and want to buy during the sale. I will double asterisk (**) any product that is a restock to me meaning that I’ve already used it and is a favourite of mine to repurchase. If at any time, you need a more comprehensive review of a particular product or have additional questions, please reach out to me ~ I’m happy to help!
I made this graphic to show all of the products I currently use on a daily basis. They are all from Sephora and if I’m not restocking them at this current sale, it’s because I already have a backup in my makeup closet.
Givenchy Prisme Libre Loose Powder, $58. I have heard glowing reviews about this product so I want to order colour 4 for medium skintones.
Set for Perfection Translucent Loose Setting Powder & Puff Set,** $39. I did get last year’s version of the kit and I like it but I’m going back and forth over if I want to restock this one or try the new one above. Great value on this kit either way though.
Skincare:
Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Magic Kit, $49. I have been on the hunt for a good toner so I’m hoping this kit will help me with both a toner and other items that could be beneficial as well.
Paula’s Choice Expert Exfoliation Duo,** $51. Restock of the 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant however the chemical peel is new to me and I’m hoping it will help with my textured skin.
Sunday Riley Luna Retinol Sleeping Night Oil,** $55. Restock- this was my first ever retinol product and it was the perfect beginner product. I will def be repurchasing with the sale.
Necessaire The Body Ritual, $40. I have used the exfoliator and have really liked it so far so I am interested in the rest of their product line.
IGK So Fresh, So Clean First Class Dry Shampoo Set,** $29. Restock- This is hands down, my favourite dry shampoo I have tried. It is heavy duty but doesn’t leave your hair gritty or with a white cast.
Drybar Hold Me Hair Clips, $19. I am planning on using these to hold my curls when I curl my hair with my wand. I have been loving my most recent Drybar purchases, so I’m hoping for the best.
Drybar Hot Toddy Heat Protectant Mist,** $29. Restock- I use this every time before I use heat on my head while styling. I need another since I have already ran out.
Amika Perk Up Talc-Free Dry Shampoo, $25. While I have my holy grail dry shampoo, I want to have a second dry shampoo to interchange between during the week.
L’Oreal Limited Edition Barbie x Steampod Flat Iron & Styler, $250. I have had my eye on the steampod since last holiday sale however I didn’t buy it at the time. Now that its in a Barbie pink version, it has officially caught my eye again.
Drybar Texas Tease Teasing Brush, $18. Everyone needs a good teasing brush, therefore I’m willing to give this one a shot to add to my collection.
Fragrance:
Sephora Favorites Bestsellers Perfume Sampler Set, $68. These value sets are some of the best deals that happen during the sales. You get to try out all of the scents in sample sizes but then you also receive a voucher for a free full size perfume from the set which is a great deal.
Sephora Favorites Holiday Cologne Sampler Set, $68. The exact same spiel above applies to the cologne set. If there is a guy in your life that is hard to shop for like a boyfriend, husband, even a brother or a father, this would make a great gift.
I know I just threw a lot of information at you but I wanted to make sure that you had as much information available to you right when the sale opens, no matter which tier you shop in. I am also always available to answer any questions you might have or share my thoughts/experiences with certain products. This is such an exciting time of the year because the holidays are quickly surfacing and all I can think about are the items I want to gift to my loved ones. I will definitely be back soon with another Sephora sale update. Happy shopping! 🛍
Thanks for reading along and supporting my blog! 🤍
*All thoughts and opinions are my own. I do not own the rights to the images provided unless the picture is of myself. All other pictures have website links tied to them through the item name. I do not make any commission of any of these items.
A picture taken of me last week at a local pumpkin patch… fun fact the skirt I’m wearing is last year’s season of Pink Lily
On the blog today, I am featuring some beautiful pieces from Pink Lily Boutique that I have recently ordered from their fall collections. I have been playing around with some colour combos and have enjoyed styling different outfits together for different events I have coming up and for some fall inspiration for you guys!🍁 A little background first, Pink Lily is definitely not just a random boutique to me. I know there are a lot of boutiques out there nowadays but back when I first found them in 2017, Pink Lily was one of the first I really found what I was looking for in an online shopping experience. They had very clean pictures, abundant sizing information, and quick shipping. All of those things still stand true about the brand to this day with some great enhancements they have implemented as they have grown over the past few years. I remember back in college, I wanted a dress that I could wear in the summer to my internship and a pink romper that I could wear out to one of my sorority functions. I found both at Pink Lily and instantly fell in love with their products, and their company, shortly after I received the package. For the past 3 years, I have been a loyal and enthusiastic customer of theirs (I laugh at myself thinking about how much of my closet is from them now).
I also chose October as the month to share with you my favourite boutique because they have a philanthropy that is very near and dear to my heart. I used to fundraise for Breast Cancer Education and Awareness with my sorority all throughout college and in fact, Pink Lily donates to the The Pink Fund for the same awareness.💓🎗 As this month is Breast Cancer Awareness month, I couldn’t think of a better boutique to shop with. I have linked to their website here where you can read further about their philanthropy. I knew of this back when I first started shopping online with them and it just solidifies that their mission and values align very closely to mine.
Skip ahead to this year, not much has changed other than my desire to share my great finds with you guys here on my blog! A lot of the pieces you have seen in pictures in blog posts before have actually been from the same place so now I can share some of my more recent finds. I have a full try-on up on my stories right now and will most likely make a highlight out of it so that it can have a semi-permanent spot on my profile. I have 5 outfit looks I am going to share with you in this post, including sizing, pricing, and ideas on where to wear that outfit. I’ve been toying around with the idea of taking one or two pieces of the haul and dressing them in 3 different ways/styles so let me know if that is something you’re interested in seeing.
For reference: I am 5’0 feet tall, 125 pounds, and a size 4 in jeans. I predominantly wear smalls in most clothing pieces.
Top and Bottom are from Pink Lily
Top: Spend the Night Cream Chenille Cable Knit Sweater – size small fits true to size (TTS), $48. This top comes in one other colour to choose from but I am usually drawn to this cream colour during this time of the year. It goes with everything! I love anything chenille, it just feels like butter on your body. As a bonus, this top also has a hood on the back and is slightly cropped in the front. It can also be worn off the shoulder if you would like.
Bottom: Goodnight Kiss Brown Plaid A-Line Skirt– size small fits tts, $44. This skirt is very flattering and I think can be paired with many different tops. I find that the A-line cut is very forgiving on a figure as well. You could wear a bodysuit, a crop top or a sweater like how I paired it. Even though it’s plaid, it is definitely not itchy at all either.
Details: I would wear this outfit to church on a Sunday, brunch with the girls on a Saturday, or to a family event that I would need to attend.
Top is from Pink Lily
Top: Sundown Awaits Knit Green Cardigan– size small and fits a bit oversized. If you want a more fitted look, size down but I wanted the oversized cardigan look so I stuck with my true size small, $46. This is a very chunky and oversized sweater cardigan but that’s one of the main reasons why I love it. During the cold months, I just want to bundle up in something cozy, and this delivers exactly what I want. There are three other colours that are available in this cardigan but I fell in love with this rich emerald green that is perfect for the upcoming holidays. Since you can also wear this as a top instead of an open cardigan, this is a great piece to get multiple uses out of.
Details: I think this outfit is quite versatile. I work from home but if I was going into the office on a casual Friday, I would absolutely wear this outfit (with the exception of the holes in the jeans). Especially if you get cold in your office like how I used to. I definitely think that it’s a casual outfit that can be worn any day of the week and can be dressed up or down based on the occasion.
Top is from Pink Lily
Top: Autumn’s First Kiss Peplum Black Sweater– size small and fits true to size, $46. This beautiful peplum top couldn’t be more flattering. I absolutely fell in love with this top on the site and as soon as I tried it on, I was so relieved that it fit just like how I imagined it. I think the black looks so chic and effortlessly stylish which is what I always am looking for. Never forget, an all-black outfit will never fail you.
Details: I love this outfit for a girls night out on the town! If you want to grab drinks or even some dinner and cocktails with the girls, this is the outfit I would reach for in my closet.
Top and bottom are Pink Lily
Top: By The Firelight Magenta Fringe Sweater– size small and fits tts, $48. Currently sold out in this colour but if you add it to your wishlist, you will be able to monitor when it comes back in stock. It’s very comfy fitting and the fringe definitely makes it a bit extra, but in a great way. It also has small slits on either side which makes it easy to tuck into jeans or a skirt easily without cutting your hips in an odd angle.
Bottom: Diva Moment Black Leather Skirt– size small and fits tts, $46. If you are taller than 5’3″, I would size up one just for length. I really like where the slit is on this skirt as well since it is very flattering on the figure. I have a bit thicker of thighs so with a slit, it doesn’t look like I’m stuffing two sausages into my skirt lol. A leather skirt is a staple to have in my closet, and I finally got it with this one!
Details: This outfit screams girls trip to me! If I have a trip to Nashville or Las Vegas, I would 100% bring this whole outfit along. The fringe, the leather, and the pop of colour… it’s meant for a night out on the town. If you don’t have a trip planned anytime soon, this also would be great for a night out with the girlfriends or even a date night look to a concert or a dining experience.
Top and bottom are from Pink Lily
Top: By the Firelight Ivory Fringe Sweater– size small and fits tts, $48. Cream colour is completely in stock. It’s very comfy fitting and the fringe definitely makes it a bit extra, but in a great way. It also has small slits on either side which makes it easy to tuck into jeans or a skirt easily without cutting your hips in an odd angle.
Bottom: You Inspire My Heart Rust Plaid Skirt – size small and fits tts, $42. If you are in between sizes, size up as the material of the skirt has very little stretch. This skirt was the first item I had my eye on when the boutique released their fall collections. It just looks like a pumpkin in a skirt and gives me all of the fall vibez I’m looking for during the season. It’s very comfortable and not itchy.
Details: So I would say this outfit is one of my most trendy of the group because of how big the western boot trend is this fall. If you want to read more about the fall fashion trends of 2021, click here and read my previous blog post. With the fringe sweater, plaid skirt, and western boots, I think this outfit would be great for a pumpkin patch or a fall festival in your local area. I would also wear this to a winery or a cidery during the fall because I think it gives the perfect amount of dressed up look with fitting into the season.
That wraps up all 5 looks I have put together from Pink Lily Boutique for this blog post. I hope you found this blog post helpful while navigating your fall fashion sense! If you found a piece that you absolutely fall in love with, reach out to me directly and I’d be happy to pass along my link for $10 off your first purchase! 🛍I must caution you though, you might fall in love with this boutique way more than you anticipated once you receive your first package. As you can see, I love styling outfits and pairing different pieces together…. it truly brings me joy. So I am so happy that I am able to share all of this with you on this platform.
Thanks for reading along!! I appreciate your support, if you’ve read till the end lol.🤍
Happy fall y’all!🍂 I can’t believe we have already entered into a new season of autumn. If I’m being completely honest with you, summer is my favourite season however if we are talking fashion season, my favourite is definitely the fall. Fall fashion is clearly unmatched in my eyes and it brings me so much excitement to forecast and analyze the fall fashion trends that debut every year.🧥 There are so many fashion trends that I’m loving this season and I wanted to compile them into one blog post for you guys so that it’s in one place. Even though I’ll be detailing the big trends, this isn’t quite all of them. For example, plaid, chunky boots and thick knit sweaters are a given that will be showing up however they came back every fall so I wanted to focus on the others that are more specific to the year. Specifically with the 2021 trends, we have seen a huge blast to the past to the 60’s, 90’s and even early 2000’s fashion which I deny calling ~vintage~. So let’s dive right into the trends that you will be seeing everywhere this fall… 🧡🤎
Below, I have posted my Pinterest board where I have added some of my inspiration as well as where I will continue to add throughout the season so be sure to pin and follow!
Oversized Blazers
Scroll through Pinterest board for inspo here! As you can tell, there aren’t specific styles or colours that are part of this trend, just the fact that it’s an oversized blazer is #trending. I’ve seen retailers showcase a selection of solid colours, fun patterns such as houndstooth or plaid, and leather blazers to add to an outfit. I think this trend is so popular this year because it can truly be appreciated by many different people even if they have differing fashion tastes. You can truly dress a blazer up for a work outfit or down for a casual day out depending on the print you decide to go with. I’m still hunting for a blazer that I want for the season but I’m leaning towards either classic oversized boyfriend black one or a houndstooth one.
Tweed Sets/Separates
More Pinterest board scrolling for inspo! While tweed arguably makes a “comeback” every fall, I have seen it particularly popular this year with its various patterns and colours. My favourite I have seen so far is the pink and white tweed jacket. There are also a lot of neutral tweed designs that are on trend this season which is a draw-in for many. I also have noticed that tweed separates are just as popular as a set this year when paired with great basics. For example, if there is a tweed cropped jacket that you would like but not sure how to style an outfit with it, it would be great to pair with a leather skirt or pants to bring contrast to the outfit. I just ordered a few skirts in a few different colours so they can work both for fall and winter.
Sweater Vests/Dresses
Okay unless you’ve been living under a rock in fashion world, you will definitely have seen this coming on my trends report. Most major retailers have included sweater vests and dresses in their fall and winter lineup as it is one of the soaring trends for the seasons. I was just mentioning to my friend the other day that while the preppy girl look is coming back into style this year, it just gives me awful flashbacks to dressing in my private school uniform growing up haha. Despite that though, now we can play with fun colours and patterns so I’m looking forward to styling a few outfits for the sweater dresses I’ve snagged so far.
Western Boots
I’m so excited for the western boots trend!! At first I was confused as to why there were so many cowboy boots being pictured on social media and then I realized that they were coming “back” into style. However, in Sara’s world, cowboy boots have never gone OUT of style. Not only do I wear them every year, I genuinely look for different designs for various outfits from year to year. I guess you can’t take my Texas roots out of me on this one. The one bold difference this season when it comes to western boots are that white/cream boots are the showstoppers. They are sold out on many sites currently and/or more on the expensive side. While I do think that the white boot trend will fade out after this year, I will continue to wear and style my boots long past the trendy season. My advice: if you are going to invest in boots, then invest in a pair that you truly like and are handcrafted. They will stand the test of time and they will last you for many years to come… even until the NEXT time the western boot trend comes back.
Personally, I’m super on board with this trend as I love all things fluffy… yes, just like Agnes from Despicable Me. I originally wasn’t sure how I felt about the teddy shearling all over a shoe since that can lead to your feet overheating but I do like the look of it particularly if it’s focused on the outside as an eye-catcher. A teddy purse? Gimme! The Marc Jacobs line of teddy bags this season are gorgeous and I have been contemplating on taking the plunge for a couple of weeks now… should i do it??
As you can see from the picture above, I am all smiles about the change of the seasons. Even though I’ve been gradually adding pieces to my wardrobe for the fall, it’s been hard to commit to fully transitioning clothes because of the crazy high temperatures recently. Most of September and some of October has been 80 degree weather which I don’t reach for my cozy sweaters during. I think it might get a little chilly towards the middle of the month but for now I’m sticking to shorts/tops/skirts that have more muted colours to go with the season. I’m interested to know which fall trend you are most looking forward to or which is your favourite from this post. Let me know in the comments below. Happy fall fashion to all👢👜
*All thoughts and opinions are my own. I do not own the rights to the images provided unless the picture is of myself. All other pictures have website links tied to them. I do not make any commission of any of these items.
Hi friends, welcome to my very first travel guide! I have been wanting to put together a travel guide for awhile now but obviously given the state of the world last year *cue sighs*, it had to wait. Funny enough, if I had started my blog all those years ago (when I told myself I wanted to), I could’ve been writing travel guides for various international countries that I traveled to in college. However, since I don’t have those written, feel free to reach out to me if you’re thinking of visiting the United Kingdom or Europe, and I can jog my memory to give my best recommendations. Moving right along to the travel guide that you have in front of you, throughout this post you will be taken to the beautiful beaches of the Outer Banks (OBX) in North Carolina.🏖
Even though I live in Virginia and have lived here on and off for years, this was my first time to the Outer Banks. This fact is quite surprising since many of my friends and acquaintances in the area usually take time in the summer to spend in the banks. Finally, I can say that I have made my way to OBX with my family for a wonderfully relaxing week. Plus, the Outer Banks is getting even more publicity these days with the new Netflix series. I haven’t seen it yet, but I’ve heard through the grapevine that it’s a pretty decent show. Given that we were able to fully enjoy our time being there, I wanted to round up all of the information in one blog post for you guys if you ever find yourself headed that way. I have separated the blog post into several sections: Food/Drinks, Activities, Outfits, and Location.
Location:
There are many beaches that make up the Outer Banks so I know I was confused when I first learned where we were going. Kitty Hawk, Corolla, Nags Head, Duck and Kill Devil Hills are some of the most popular beaches to name a few.🌊 We stayed in Kill Devil Hills at a beach house right down the block from the Avalon Fishing Pier. We ended up parking at the pier everyday we were there at the beach because we could drive over all of our beach equipment, there was quick access to restrooms, and there was a full service bar. There was a daily parking fee associated with being at the pier but it was well worth it especially since we spent the majority of the day there at the beach. Kill Devil Hills was a very friendly and welcoming area. It was very family-oriented and kept pretty clean. While we mostly stayed in Kill Devil, we also ventured to the other areas for different activities and restaurants and by my first impression, it seemed like it was the most quiet of all the beaches.
Food/Drinks:
One of the perks of renting a beach house for the week was that there was an operating kitchen with all of the appliances needed to cook a couple of meals here and there and keep all of our veggies/fruits cold and fresh. Oh and the best part? There was a PUBLIX right down the road from the beach house which I was super excited about since we don’t have those here in Virginia and I only had been to them in Florida. However, idk how it works in your family but in ours, when we are on holiday, the last thing we all want to do is be on the hook to cook for all the meals. So of course, we did our fair share of dining out and I will list the places below so that you can have some places to reference.
Miller’s Seafood and Steakhouse (Kill Devil Hills)- We visited the restaurant right as we entered into the beach town on our first evening. It surely had something on the menu for everyone, and their hush puppies were amazing!
Mako’s (Kill Devil Hills)- Pizza is always a must while you’re at the beach however, when you are gluten-sensitive like I am, the regular pizza shops don’t always work. I was able to enjoy a GF personal pizza and a lovely caesar salad here. 🍕
Booty Treats (Nags Head)- Booty Treats was hands down my favourite place that we ate at while we were at the beach! So good, that we went two days consecutively. The huge draw to this place was the dairy-free options that were available, also very hard to find at the beach. My mom, my sister and I stood in line for about 20 minutes each night (don’t worry this is normal during peak season) and waited patiently for our orders. They were definitely worth the wait! Both nights I got the oatmilk chocolate chunk ice cream with various toppings on the two days. You HAVE to try this place! 🍦
Sun Fish Grill (Corolla)- Unfortunately when we went to this restaurant, they had just opened back up so had a very limited menu but they had great salads and fries… which is all I need for dinner anyway. This restaurant is for sure the beach bar type, if that’s what you’re looking for.
Duck Donuts (various locations)- Of course, the donut shop that was started in the OBX is a must-have. I highly recommend ordering your donuts before 8:30am if you go in person as the line is usually out the door. They also have online ordering available which is very useful if you are planning on getting donuts for large groups. My favourite are the blueberry and maple bacon donut. Gotta make sure you make a pit stop here before you leave the beach. 🍩
~Honourable Mention
Stack’em High Pancakes & So Forth- No GF options here so unfortunately I was not able to go but my parents went after I left a little early and they said it was great. A local fav, make sure to get there early in the morning to avoid long lines and long waiting times. They are famous for their fluffy pancake stacks and the various topping options. Once I get back on the regular pancake train, I can’t wait to go back and try them, I’ve only heard great things. 🥞
Activities:
I know what you’re thinking, you’re at the beach… that’s the activity. Well yes it is, but I always try to find different activities to do in the evening after a long beach day as well. Now when I go to the beach, I’m definitely one of those people who says “beach at 10am AT 10am and we don’t leave until we have to”. I love being at the beach, having the sun shine on my face and hearing the waves while I’m engulfed in a good book. That’s why for the week, I felt like I was in complete bliss. Since we were there over the July 4th weekend as well, we were able to watch the beach fireworks show from our house. 🎆 Along the pier, the workers advised that firework shows happen often which was great to know.
Jockey’s Ridge State Park (Nags Head)- This place was a recommendation to me from one of my friends who I ran into at the beach. Shoutout Rita thanks for recommending this place as it was one of the highlights of the trip. This park was only 20 minutes away from our beach house and was an amazing gem of the area. There were beautiful sand ridges that you could even see the ocean off into the distance. While I was there, it felt like I was back in the Sahara desert, a place I haven’t had a chance to return to in over 10 years. Pro tip: bring sandals that you can take off while trudging through the sand ridges and a mini scarf or blanket to be able to lay on the sand. We went at sunset and it was beautiful, couldn’t recommend enough.
Lost Treasure Mini Golf (Kill Devil Hills)- On one of the last nights we were at the beach, we wanted to do an activity that would be fun for the whole family. So mini golf it was! ⛳️There were a good amount of people where we had to wait in line to enter but the line moved quickly and we were excited that it didn’t take too long to start the course. I crushed all my family members 😇
Shopping- Now shopping is definitely not exclusive to a beach vacation but it is always fun looking through the beach storefronts. If you’re into the tie-dye trend, the beach is definitely the place to stock up on pieces. I walked away with tie-dyed pants, a cozy fleece sweatshirt, and some random souvenirs.
Outfits:
There aren’t many outfit tips for me to give on this particular trip as most of my suitcase was filled with swimsuits lol as would be expected on a beach trip. I was there for 5 days so I bought 6 different swimsuit sets, one for every day there and an extra for good measure. Given that the weekend I was there was for 4th of July, I also made sure to pack a couple of red, white, and blue outfit options to rotate through. Lots of crop tops, tank tops, mom shorts, and sundresses were stacked full in my suitcase. However, for the first time in as long as I can remember, I packed less pairs of shoes than the number of days I was traveling for. Thats right my friends, I only brought 4 pairs of shoes for a 6 day trip. I would also like to add to this section that even though at the beach, there tends to be “less clothing” on or not as many full outfits, I always like to accessorize. Everything from scarfs to sunglasses to jewelry. Accessories can amp up any outfit even one as plain as jean shorts and a T-shirt so don’t be afraid to mix and match accessory styles. Here are a few pics below to give show you some beach style and style inspiration for your upcoming trips.
All in all, I had a wonderful time in the Outer Banks! I know many of my friends have already been but in the off chance that you are reading this and haven’t been, I do recommend checking out at least one of the beaches here! If you will be able to make it down to North Carolina over this long weekend, I hope you can use this travel guide blog post to help plan your trip a bit. Please let me know if you end up trying out any of these, happy (safe and responsible) traveling!
*All thoughts and opinions are my own. I own the rights for the images above that I have taken and are of myself. I do not make any commission off anything in this post.
A very raw pic of myself picking up my Nordstrom order
Hi everyone, welcome back to another blog post! Trust me the wait is worth it for this one, it is 💛NORDSTROM ANNIVERSARY SALE TIME!💛 Keep reading to find out all the things you need to know:
The Basics:
This is it, the time has finally come, it is time for the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale aka NSale! This sale is seriously like Christmas in July 🎄. When my boyfriend asked me last year when the sale started, what the big deal was? I answered, this sale is like the Super Bowl of sales.🏈 It is, personally, the sale of the year. Okay for those of you who think that I’m being ~dramatic~ thats fine, but let me explain to you why this is the sale of all sales…
When most people (including myself) hear the words sales, the first thought is whatever season you are in is about to end. Usually most sales are supposed to get rid of the clothes on the shelf in order to make room for the next season of clothes. What sets the NSale apart is that the items that are included are the new fall/winter clothes of that year being put on sale before they are even able to be shopped. Once the sale ends, those pieces will all go back to full price and will be *currently in season. This is basically unheard of, except for when it comes to Nordstrom. 🛍
Let’s get down to the nitty gritty now. The NSale has several tiers that it opens up in. It begins with early access on July 12th with subsequent phases of cardholder statuses. The sale then opens up to the public on July 28th (tomorrow!) where anyone and everyone can take advantage of the sale prices for the upcoming seasons. All Nordstrom credit card holders automatically get early access. The following schedule is how the 2021 NSale is operating and when every tiered status can begin shopping:
Icon status: July 12, 2021
Ambassador status: July 14, 2021
Influencer status: July 16, 2021
NSale opens up to the public on July 28, 2021
The sale will be in-store during open hours and will begin online at 12am PST/3am EST. I also wanted to mention that you can easily make a wishlist if you sign up/in to your Nordstrom account, PRO TIP. This is so helpful when shopping so that you are fully aware of what you are looking for and tracking for restocks. Some of the items I have included in this blog post are currently sold out however, if it is on your wishlist, you will be notified when it is restocked in the size/colour you wanted. Be sure to keep an eye out for restocks and new items they sometimes throw into the sale when it opens to the public.
Restocked Purchases From Last Year:
Steve Madden Chain Mule: This mule is currently an upgraded version of the Steve Madden mule from last year! I got the turquoise croc leather last year with a smaller chain. I like to pick different colours in these mules so that I bring a bit of diversity into my shoe collection. This year my eyes are set on the pink and navy tweed. The tan and brown versions are easily the most popular and versatile for the fall though. I sized up 1/2 a size last year to accommodate for the very pointed toe. This year I am going to try on my true size 5 and see how they feel since I tried the 5.5 and they were too big on me.
Spanx Faux Leather Leggings: Last year, I bought my first pair of Spanx leggings and omg I don’t know how I waited so long! They go with everything and can really elevate any look in the colder months. I also love that they include petite sizes in the sale. I have them in a petite small and they fit perfectly.
Moonlight Short Pajamas: I bought these as a matching set for me and my mom last year. They are so soft and comfortable that I ordered both of us another set this year. I have the black set and I got her the navy set. I wear a small in these.
Blank NYC Faux Leather Moto Jacket: The NSale is a great time to look at jackets. This is when the largest discount will be applied before the fall starts. Last year’s version had a faux fur detachable piece to it but this year the black moto jacket is much more classic and an awesome piece to snag. I ordered a small last year.
Steve Madden Bootie: This bootie is similar to the ones I bought last year with just minor differences. However the block heel is the same and the deep ankle cuts are so flattering on the leg! It definitley elongates the leg and it’s very easy to throw on a pair of no-show socks for comfort. I sized up 1/2 a size last year to accommodate for socks. This year I am going to try on my true size 5 and see how they feel.
Shoes:
These are the shoes that I currently have on my wishlist. Wish I could say that I wasn’t planning on buying all of them and trying them on but then I’d be lying.🤪 If you couldn’t tell, the shoes get me every year without fail. TTS=true to size
These are the items that I think are the best value within the sale. I currently use the Charlotte Tilbury set, Elemis balm, Laura Mercier powder, and the first edition of the Hollie Woodward X Sigma brushes and they have all become staples in my routine.
I hope you’re as excited as I am for the NSale! While I know that all of this information can be overwhelming, I truly look forward to this sale every year. Part of the reason why is because I grew up shopping at Nordstrom and the NSale with my mom all the time. I remember the beautiful racks of shoes, coats, and the fun Nordstrom cafe we would stop for a kids hot chocolate during our shopping trips. Part of shopping the NSale is nostalgia but it is also because I love to look and try on the new fashions trends. While summer is indeed my favourite season, nothing ever comes close to fall fashion! If there is anything in particular you have your eye on during the sale, let me know! Additionally, if there are further questions about logistics, feel free to message me or you can find additional Nordstrom information here.
Happy Shopping- tell me what is in your cart this year! Thanks for following along with me on the blog 🤍
*All thoughts and opinions are my own. I do not own the rights to the images provided unless the picture is of myself. All other pictures have website links tied to their description in bullets. I do not make any commission of any of these items.
Hello and Happy Tuesday, friends! Work has definitely been picking up and getting busier for me so I haven’t had a lot of down time after work to write as many posts. Please be assured, my posts may slow at times but they won’t be stopping anytime soon. I can’t believe that June is already rocking and rolling. This Sunday, June 20th is already Father’s Day! I know personally, I’ve always looked up to my dad and have admired all that he’s done in his life. Most of all, he has always done what was best for my sister and I, couldn’t have been blessed with a more amazing dad.💙
I wanted to put together a few gift guides on ideas for Father’s Day. I made several different versions so that there is something for all dads out there. As a reminder, these gifts would be great for any other paternal figure in your life such as grandfather, step dads, godfathers, new fathers, etc. I also wanted to mention, which I also talked briefly on my instagram, that I know Father’s Day can also be a difficult day for some and if that applies to you, you will be on my heart that day.🤍
Pictures of me and my dad! We don’t have many but I was able to find some over most recent years. From left to right, London New Years Eve 2017, Paris June 2017, Normandy July 2018.
** Make sure to check all shipping options to get in time**
I hope these gift guides are helpful while you are shopping for Father’s Day. If you end up getting any of these gift suggestions, let me know- I’d love to hear about what you think about the gift guides. I hope that you all have a special day with your dads if you are lucky enough to live close enough to see them. Thank you for reading along and supporting!
*All thoughts and opinions are my own. I do not own the rights to the images provided unless the picture is of myself. All other pictures have website links tied to them. I do not make any commission of any of these items.
Anyone who truly knows me, knows that shoes are the way to my heart. Shoes can do no wrong and they make my heart happy. All types of shoes too, I’m not picky, sandals, wedges, sneakers, heels, slippers, boots, I like them all. I bought all of these shoes in the spring for the upcoming summer which has been fun getting them in slowly so I can try them on and see what outfits I want to wear them with. Now that I’ve worn each sandal at least once, these are for sure the shoes I will be wearing on repeat this summer. I tried to get a variety of designs and styles to accommodate different outfits and jewelry. I wanted to round them all up in a blog post for you guys to have one place to come to for reference. ☀️
If my personality was a shoe, it would be this one. I found these online and instantly fell in love with them, I just couldn’t resist. As y’all know, I usually have to have some type of pink on me whether its nail polish, a piece of clothing or an accessory. Surprisingly, I don’t have that many pink pairs of shoes so I thought the Brielle sandals would be a great summer edition.
I gravitate towards more neutral and lighter-coloured sandals for the summer but when I saw this bold pairing of gold bulleted studs on the black jelly sandal, I was instantly sucked in. Since I don’t have anything like it, I instantly felt like I could justify adding these to my cart lol. I have worn them a few times since I received them and they are perfect to add a bit of a statement to my all black outfit ensembles that I tend to lean towards in a dressing panic.
Even though this pair of sandals were last season, I bought them this year after seeing them on sale. With quarantine, I didn’t have much of a reason to buy them back then but now, I saw my opening and took it. I will say they fit very true to size but unfortunately bought a size 5.5 just never returned for a true size 5. Don’t fall into my same lazy mistake lol. I really like the clear trend because it elongates my legs and for a 5″ foot person, that is music to my ears. The studs and bullets on this sandal are great for my more edgy and trendier looks.
This style, Skyler, is basically this year’s version of the Travel style I just talked about above. However, there are a few differences that made me want to pick them up to add to my wardrobe. First off, the square-toe detail is very trendy right now so I like that they added it to this one. Additionally, the diamond bedazzling on the outline of the shoe is hard to see from the website picture but, stunning in person! Finally, the clear strap doesn’t wrap around the ankle so this is a perfect slip on and slip off type of shoe that elevates any look for the summer. These go with anything and everything, highly recommend!
Size 5, Fits TTS however a little snug on wider feet
These are even more beautiful in person and the perfect shade of universal nude. I remember seeing them right when they were first released from Marc Fisher and I just kept looking back at them. I waited until I could find them on sale and then I snagged them. Again, the squared-toe trend is big this season and then when you add in the braid on top, this shoe is arguably the IT shoe of the season. Even though I love wearing these, I would not recommend wearing them for long periods of time for a long distance since they have minimal padding. I usually wear them for a dinner out or a date night.
I know it sounds ridiculous but I legitimately have a shoe budget. Yes, you read that right. I make sure to pencil into my budget an amount for shoes every month because I love them that much. If that means I skimp in other things, then I skimp. I know what I value and what I’d rather spend money on and most of the time, its shoes lol. I usually buy about 3-4 pairs a season depending on if I really am into the trends or if I have an occasion that I want to wear a particular style of shoe. As seen above, I found some great summer additions to add to my closet. All serve a different purpose and if you told me to pick a favourite, i don’t even know if I’d be able to since I simply love all of them. 👡
If you end up trying any of these sandals, please let me know! I’d love to hear your thoughts or if there are other sandals that you’ve found for the summer season. If you would like to submit any blog idea topics to me, please feel free to! Always want to cater to my readers for content, especially in my favourite season, summer. Thank you for reading along!
*All thoughts and opinions are my own. I do not own the rights to the images provided unless the picture is of myself/stated underneath. All other pictures have website links tied to them in the description. I do not make any commission of any of these items.
Hello everyone and Happy Memorial Day Weekend! I know its been a few days since I jumped on here and posted but with the past few days loading up with work, by the time I’m off I’m mentally exhausted. However, this weekend I am hoping to take full advantage of it being a long one and get all of the rest I can. I know many people travel around over this weekend but I’ve always liked to stay local for this particular weekend because usually beaches and lakes are crowded since everyone wants to use the first weekend of summer to travel (understandably). Unfortunately, I think it’s also supposed to rain where I’m at for most of the weekend so my activities that I had planned for outside might have to be put on hold. In this post, I will be sharing a full list of the sales that I was able to find. If you head over to my instagram @saraeliseblog, I also have all of these graphics posted. I have included some other sales in this post, special for my loyal readers, and won’t be posting those on my instagram.💙 Click on the link to the retailer, and it will take you directly to their site/sale section. I hope you guys have a wonderful weekend and thank you to all of the service men and women who currently serve our country, have served, or given their life for our country. May we never forget what the true meaning behind the weekend and the sacrifices that were made for us. 🇺🇸
MDW SALES ROUNDUP
Abercrombie: 25% off select styles + Free shipping on orders over $75
IT Cosmetics: 30% off site wide sale with code: SUMMER + Free shipping on orders over $50 + Free makeup gift set with a purchase of over $100
Lancome: Friends and Family 25% site wide sale, 30% off when you create an account
*All thoughts and opinions are my own. I do not own the rights to the images provided unless the picture is of myself. All other pictures have website links tied to them. I do not make any commission of any of these items.
A whole post about Starbucks?? What is there not to love?! I’m not even a coffee person but this mermaid-icon based cafe is one of the places that brings me joy.🌈 One of my strengths is that I can usually find a silver lining in most situations. Now that I work from home and have been for the past year and a few months, I barely leave my house… or the basement for that matter. The very few times I leave my house during the week, it’s usually in the afternoon to run through the Starbucks drive thru and grab a quick pick-me-up for the rest of the day. This is the one thing throughout the work day that I can look forward to. It gets me away from my computer screen for about 10 minutes and I get a nice treat, sounds like a win-win situation to me. As I briefly mentioned, I am not a big coffee drinker and never really have been. I never got into it during college and there was never a huge impulse to drink it after I graduated and begun my professional career. I’m much more of a tea drinker, anyone else? What do you guys rather prefer, tea or coffee? ☕️
Over the past few months, I have tried out a few different combinations of drinks to find a few that I like and I wanted to put them all together in this blog post so that they can be all in one place. I would also like to point out that I usually only get iced drinks when its like 65 degrees or higher, anything lower I get a hot drink because I can’t stand the cold lol. I will provide the titles, pictures, and how I order the drinks below (approximate calories are taken from the Starbucks app and does not include customizations just standard renditions):
Iced Caffè Mocha (Tall) ~260 calories
Blonde Espresso
Almond Milk
No Whipped Cream
2 Pumps of Mocha Sauce (remove 1 from the standard 3 pumps in a tall)
2 Pumps of Toffee Nut Syrup
This is one of my favourite coffee drinks if I’m actually in the mood to order one. During the fall, I tried the Salted Caramel Mocha and surprisingly (I’m not a big salted caramel fan), I loved it. Since that is a seasonal drink and it was taken off the menu a few months ago, I had to do some experimenting. The toffee nut syrup makes all the difference. I liked this hot version so much, I made it iced in March and it’s basically the only coffee-forward drink I drink. I highly recommend trying this one.
I can’t remember how many years ago it was that this drink was brought to the menu but I want to say its been almost three years. I remember I tried it the same day I was wearing a dress that was the same colour of the drink so the Starbucks barista recommended it for me to try. I did, and it was my new favourite summer drink. If I’m feeling ~crazy~ then I get the grande but the tall is my go-to. Additionally, there is a version with lemonade in it and it is very good, very sweet, but I prefer just the regular refreshers since they are less sugar.
Peach Green Tea Lemonade (Tall) ~ 60 calories
I get the order as is
This drink is so good for a hot summer day! My boyfriend and family loves to go to Starbucks most days. Sometimes if I’m asked what drink I want and I don’t quite want something too heavy but just refreshing, I request this drink. The perfect amount of peach mixed with lemon is such a thirst quencher for the long sunny days. Again, I’ll get a grande if I think I can stomach it that day, but most times I get a tall. Since the tea is pretty light (sugar-wise) I splurge and get the lemonade for this version even though there is one without.
Sometimes, I omit the mocha drizzle on top (if I don’t want that much mocha)
Okay do frappes remind anyone else of high school afternoons? I remember getting out of school and wanting to run by starbs with my friends to grab a quick chilled frap before I ran to my dance studio for never-ending classes. I remember it like it was yesterday because this drink brought one of my best friends and I together. This drink came out the summer of my sophomore year of high school and we bonded over liking the Mocha Cookie Crumble… now back then of course I had a grande with FULL toppings and all the whipped cream you could imagine. There is no way I’m able to handle that these days so I have now a bit more of a modified version for those few days a year that I actually crave one of these bad boys.
I’d love to hear about what your fav drinks that you get from Starbucks when it starts to get warm outside. I’m always looking for more options to add to my list to try! I stick to almond milk for the most part and usually omit whipped cream because I don’t find the appeal in it anymore but I like trying new things for sure. I will say that I have tried the majority of the refreshers and they are equally good except for the Mango Dragonfruit one I mentioned earlier, def tops them all. Thanks for reading along and I hope you give one of my drink recommendations a try in the coming months! 🤍
Let’s all rejoice together that Friday is finally here. It’s now the weekend and we can all finally relax. I actually was just thinking about how a couple of years ago in college, my weekend would start on Thursday night instead of Friday. Ah the good ole college days were so fun. Somehow I made sure that every semester I never had a Friday class. 8 semesters, no Friday classes- it was so great which meant after I was done with classes on Friday, my weekend began (even though some of my internships were on Fridays) on Thursday and carried on throughout Sunday. What I would give to get one of those weekends back! Anyways, back to what I was planning on talking about in this blog post, basically a dreaded word…. comparison.
“Comparison is the thief of joy”
-Theodore Roosevelt
I don’t know about y’all but personally, I have always struggled with comparing myself. Not that it’s a daily feeling but I think it comes in seasons. Throughout various seasons in my life, I have caught myself feeling less than and comparing my life/feelings/scenario to others. Not even necessarily others I know, perhaps complete strangers but nonetheless, others who were not living my life. While I knew it probably wasn’t the best decision to be doing, I felt like I almost couldn’t help it. In today’s society with social media running our lives and now being isolated (safely and rightfully so, of course, because of the pandemic), it’s almost easier to compare our lives to others on the internet. This is a dangerous slippery slope to go down because as we all know, on any social media platform, it is very easy to get sucked into the black hole and start comparing and rethinking our own lives when in reality, we don’t truly know what’s going on behind the other person’s screen. In the same regard, others don’t know what is going on with us behind the screen because while technology is so useful and has brought such advancement to our lives, there is a slight negative side of it where some can rely on it so much or it be our only sense of reality, which would be a false one.
I can easily scroll through instagram and find a few accounts that I easily go down a rabbit hole on. Oh her hair looks so pretty, I wonder why mine doesn’t do that. Oh they must be so smart because they invested in blah blah, I could never understand that stuff. Oh she must not even have bad days because she’s always smiling and laughing… y’all get the point. It’s just so easy to play the comparison game especially with how our society functions these days. However, as we’ve explored, comparison can be a true root of evil. If we are constantly thinking of what other people have/don’t have, or what others lives must be like/or not like then how can we ever find peace and happiness in our own? “Real life”and some authenticity sometimes can lack on social media… instagram is definitely a highlight reel but that doesn’t meant that real life (whether it happens to you or others) doesn’t exist because it’s not posted about. On the contrary, “real life” happens everyday, its the way we choose to control our own emotions and handle the situation that really matters in the end.
In the past year, I will admit that I have compared my life or my story to others but in truth, I’ve made a conscious effort in the past months to understand why I start to have those thoughts when they arise and how to swiftly move away from them. Particularly during the past two years while navigating my post-grad life. My friends and I are all living very different lives now and in some ways it feels like I try to “catch up” or get to where I “should” be by x amount of months I’ve graduated from. In reality, those are all time constraints and expectations that we put on ourselves, we don’t actually have to listen to them. There really is no reason for me to compare because no one’s life/decisions/objects/feelings are going to be like mine because they are not me and I am not them. We all live individual lives and have our own experiences that are unique to us… and no one can ever take that away. Finding solace in the fact that no one else is living my life has helped me transition out of that toxic comparison mentality recently because if I can live my life confidently and in my own way (mistakes and all) then it’s my story to tell. I get to write the beginning, middle, and end….. with the help of the big guy upstairs of course. 🌈
If you are reading this and finding yourself agreeing with a lot of what I have said, then at least you can now realize you’re definitely not alone. It’s not just like there’s a cure either to just magically stop yourself from comparing things but I hope that with some conscious thinking, it will keep on becoming minimal in my life. I have also been trying to find the everyday joys. This counteracts the comparison game quite heavily. I’ve always been decent at finding a silver lining in situations but taking the time everyday to intentionally be grateful or joyful about something, big or small, takes WORK. Anyways, I hope you all have a great weekend and truly can find joy in all of your special, unique, and custom created lives. Oh, and Happy Mother’s Day weekend!💐 For those of you who find Mother’s Day challenging for whichever reason, I will be thinking of you. Thanks for reading along🤍
Hello friends! I hope your week has treated you well and that you are looking forward to another spring weekend. I was a little stumped on what to blog about this week mainly because I think the Sephora Sale wiped me out 😂. Not really however, I was still unsure of what I wanted to share with you guys. In recent weeks, I found myself cowering down in certain situations, feeling bad for some of the emotions I was feeling, and finding excuses for the times where I just didn’t feel “right”. I know recently I have been able to turn to my friends (you know who you are) that I’m so grateful for to talk about all of the internal troubles I seem to have been wrestling with.
To be fair, there isn’t just one facet of life that these feelings could creep into. Anything from work, friends, relationships, health, mentally, could all be relevant to what I’m talking about. It’s important for me to remember that when I start to feel like I may not be worth the trouble of …xyz…, that I remember that it’s most likely my inner enemies getting the best of me. I think we all struggle with those little voices in our head from time to time but at least in my case, mine have been making their presence known to me recently. I feel like I may be rambling a bit and going in a circle but I promise I do have a point lol. I hope that when I do share these types of posts, that someone else out there doesn’t have to feel alone if they are walking through a similar season in their life.
Anyway, back on track. I’m going to provide an example so that we can at least have a scenario in our heads. I’ll take my health for example. After battling with my diagnoses from last year (if you are confused, feel free to read my first post back to blogging here), I started to panic that I didn’t have enough answers from various doctors that I saw. The longer the time passed with few answers on how I would continue to live my life, the more frustrated I got and started to feel like my questions weren’t that important. Others probably had way worse issues than I did so why was I bothering the doctors? Maybe I was overthinking it? I didn’t realize this at the time, but now that I can reflect back on this type of situation, I know that I was just letting myself sink into the background. I want to be able to catch myself in these types of situations diminishing my worth. Of course I’m worthy enough to know answers about MY body, or bringing up MY concerns at work on a certain project, or advocating for MY emotions in my relationship. There are so many instances that I have to either stand up for myself or stand my ground in what I am feeling/saying- that it’s important for me to trust my gut and know that at the end of the day, the only person has to live with my life choices is me, so why doubt myself, my decisions, or my worthiness.
Sometimes instead of facing the issue, I can easily try to turn to ways of masking my negative emotions. The most infamous culprit is shopping or online shopping. In the moment, I feel sad or down so I go shopping (one of my favourite ways to spend time) and then think I want to buy material items. Once I have made my purchases, I am happy for only a few min after and then I go right back to the previous negative emotions that I was otherwise trying to suppress. Now of course this is a dangerous slope to go down, but this is exactly why I have been focusing on reflecting internally rather than turning to material items to get myself out of a ~funk~.
Sure, it’s easy enough to say “yeah, I know I’m worth it” but BELIEVING it is a whole other ball game. This is the part that I could argue is the most challenging. I definitely haven’t figured this part out yet but the best that I can explain it is to give yourself time and grace throughout this challenging process. It has taken me a long time to trust my gut but I am a heck of a lot farther in my journey than in former years. I think staying home for the majority of the past year due to the pandemic has left me in a frenzy of emotions…. and I’ve had to face them head on because there’s not really any place to hide from your thoughts during a shutdown lol. However, even though I wasn’t thrilled with this fact last spring, I’ve learned a lot about myself since then and am much more comfortable with feeling and understanding my various emotions as they arise. As you can tell from this blog post, my mind goes a mile a minute so I hope you’re following along with me. If there is ever any doubt in your mind, just remember that you are worth every good thing that may come into your life… and that you believe it.🤍 Take some time for yourself this weekend and enjoy it! Thanks for reading along!
I hope you have had a wonderful week, friends! If you’ve been scrolling around on Instagram at all this past week, you will have seen that the Sephora Spring Savings Event is currently happening and will end on April 19th. If you haven’t checked out my Sephora Shopping Guide blog post that I published at the end of last week, click on the title of the blog to read. Between all the questions and recommendations I have been asked this year, I figured I would go ahead and put together a huge blog post of all the items I purchased. As the week has gone on, I of course, want to order another shipment. I haven’t used a majority of these products yet as they are new purchases to me but since I will most likely be using them in the future in videos/tutorials, I figured having them all wrapped up in a blog post would be helpful. If you are planning on shopping the sale, I hope to be a helpful resource for you so if you need any more specific details on any of the products I have listed in either of my blog posts, please reach out and let me know. I have divided this post up into several sections including makeup, skincare/body care, and hair. 🛍 As a reminder, here are the main details you need to know for the sale:
If you don’t have an account with Sephora, you can sign up for free here. If you are in the Rouge status, you will be able to shop first with early access with 20% off from April 9-19. If you are in the VIB status, you can start shopping with 15% off on April 13-19. If you are an Insider, you will be able to shop with 10% off from April 15-19. Make sure to use the code OMGSPRING when you are checking out to receive your spring savings!
I think I might have one more order that I need to make so I will be adding to this post as more items come in. I wanted to say that while I have covered this sale quite extensively, I don’t want any of it to come off as that I am telling you that you NEED any of the items. At the end of the day, these things are just material items and they aren’t an essential. On my end at least, I plan several months in advance for these big sales so that I can set aside a little from every paycheck so when the time comes, I can make the most of my discount. During these semi-annual sales, I like to restock on my fav items, try luxury items that I’ve had my eye on, or invest in hair tools that I wouldn’t pay full price for normally. If there are other products you need recommendations for or a review, please let me know. I’m happy to help in anyway I can- even if that just means I’m listening to your skin concerns/makeup desires. Thank you for reading along! 🤍
*All thoughts and opinions are my own. I do not own the rights to the images provided unless the picture is of myself. All other pictures have website links tied to them. I do not make any commission of any of these items.
One of my favourite sales of the year has finally arrived! Today marks the first day of the Sephora Spring Sale that runs from April 9- April 19, 2021. This sale is one of two site-wide sales that Sephora has in a year, the other is the holiday sale usually in November. I look forward to the spring sale specifically because this is the time where I experiment and purchase products that I’ve been wanting to buy but haven’t tried out yet. This is also the perfect time to buy items that you are interested in for the summer or for products that are a little bit more of a splurge that you wouldn’t normally buy. It’s quite simple to shop the sale, all you need to know is the code to save (provided below), the Sephora tier you belong to, and your wishlist 😉
If you don’t have an account with Sephora, you can sign up for free here. If you are in the Rouge status, you will be able to shop first with early access with 20% off from April 9-19. If you are in the VIB status, you can start shopping with 15% off on April 13-19. If you are an Insider, you will be able to shop with 10% off from April 15-19. Make sure to use the code OMGSPRING when you are checking out to receive your spring savings! I have split this post into several sections so it is easier to plan your shopping strategy (and yes I take this sale that seriously). The sections include makeup, skincare, hair care, and fragrances. Within each category, I have listed products that I have on my wishlist and want to buy during the sale. I will double asterisk (**) any product that is a restock to me meaning that I’ve already used it and is a favourite of mine to repurchase. If at any time, you need a more comprehensive review of a particular product or have additional questions, please reach out to me ~ I’m happy to help! 🛍
Makeup
Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Smoothing Foundation, $44 – Since I have been looking for a full coverage foundation and all of the other Charlotte Tilbury products, I’ve really enjoyed, I wanted to try this foundation to see how it would work for me. By using the shade finder, I believe I would be between the shades of 6, 7 , or 7.5 depending on what time of year it is.
Charlotte Tilbury Mini Flawless Setting Spray, $20 – This setting spray is supposed to be one of the best but since I haven’t tried it yet I would rather get the mini than the full size. Additionally, if I get the CT foundation listed above, it might be best for me to pair the same brand’s setting spray with it.
Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Instant Eyeshadow Palette, $75 – During the holidays sale, I bought the limited edition bejeweled palette and I have been using it nonstop. Since most of those eyeshadows are glittery/shimmer based, I wanted to try the original Pillow Talk Palette for everyday use. The sale is a great time to snag this luxury eyeshadow palette.
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Waterproof Eyeliner Pencil, $22 – I have been wanting to try a brown eyeliner to achieve that perfect glowy refreshed look for the summer. I want to get the shade bourbon and try it out with my other brown eyeshadows for a more relaxed look.
Gucci Poudre De Beauté Mat Naturel Beauty Setting Powder, $62 – The reviews about this product speak for itself. I have been interested in the Gucci makeup line for years but haven’t actually tried any of them. Usually I need a powder for the warmer months to set my face, so I wanted to see how this would pair with my current foundations.
Gucci Mascara L’Obscur, $35 – Over the past two years, I have tried upwards of 10 different mascaras and while I have found a few that I like for specific reasons, I want to try this one as I’ve been told it’s an overall great quality mascara. Of course, the packaging is a big seller as well.
ILIA Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 40 Foundation, $48- I feel like this foundation is calling my name. I have been moving towards clean skincare and makeup products over the last year since my health issues arose. ILIA is considered clean beauty at Sephora so in addition to being a clean brand, it has quite powerful ingredients within it and a high SPF of 40 which seems like the perfect product for me to wear this upcoming summer. Based on the shade finder, it seems that my shade would be 9 Paloma.
ILIA Mini Blue Light Protect + Set Mist, $18 – Carrying on with the clean beauty brand, ILIA, I wanted to try this setting mist in combination with the skin tint. Since I mostly stare at screens all day, I always look for blue light protection in as many products as I can. This mini product will allow me to try the mist without committing to the full size.
ILIA Limitless Lash Lengthening Mascara, $28 – One more product I want to try from this brand. I have heard nothing but good reviews about this mascara and since I’ve been trying out so many mascaras, what is the harm in trying out one more?
Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush, $20 – I’ve heard great things about these liquid blushes from Selena Gomez’s cosmetics brand. I am looking particularly at the two shades Happy and Lucky but unsure of which would look best with my skin tone. I might buy both just to try them out. I think Lucky would be a great summer item to wear.
Rare Beauty Liquid Touch Weightless Foundation, ** $29 – I bought this earlier last year and I really liked wearing it for the fall time. It’s medium coverage but buildable to make it more full coverage. It is very lightweight on the skin and didn’t cause any irritation or texture problems on my skin. I wear the shade 270 N but will most likely need a lighter shade for now since that was after the summer months. I plan on buying another shade during this sale. Their shade range is amazing!!
Marc Jacobs Velvet NoirMajor Volume Mascara Very Merry Cherry Edition, **sale $19 – I bought this mascara during the holiday sale and this has been the one mascara I have been wearing nonstop since then. It does not flake off at all, very thickening and not too hard to take off. Even though it is categorized as the merry holiday edition, I could argue the colours work for the summer and spring especially since cherries are very on trend now. It is currently on sale so I will def be grabbing another one.
Hair
Drybar Southern Belle Volume-Boosting Root Lifter, $26 – I kinda hate that I want this just because of the name but marketing makes a ton on me. I’m always up for trying different hair products and while I currently have a volume lift spray I like, I want to try this one and see how it works.
Drybar Texas Tease Teasing Brush, $18 – Again, the name can sell me on almost anything. Everything is truly bigger and better in Texas so I HAVE to get this teasing brush to add volume to my hair.
Drybar Hot Toddy Heat Protectant Mist, $27 – I am in serious need of a heat protectant. I have been reading some good reviews, and though some have said the fragrance is strong, I don’t mind fragrances in my hair products. I’m going to buy it and see how it holds up with all of my heat styling tools.
Drybar Detox Dry Shampoo, (mini) $14 – I have been in this phase of trying out different dry shampoos while I’ve been in the process of training my hair. I like to get several mini sizes of various dry shampoos and try them out. Since I haven’t tried this one out and that it claims its detoxing, I want to try this out to see how it compares to others.
IGK Upgraded First Class Charcoal Detox Dry Shampoo Set, ** $27 – Another repurchase for me. I bought this set during the holiday savings event and it has worked out great for me! It truly detoxes my hair and is a heavy duty dry shampoo that I usually use on day 3 or 4 hair. This set is a great value because you get a full size and a travel size which is super convenient. Excited to get this in my order.
Briogeo Scalp Revival Charcoal + Tea Tree Scalp Treatment, ** $32 – All of Briogeo’s Scalp Revival line is amazing! I bought the set of the line so I could help my dry and itchy scalp during the holiday savings event. Now my scalp is feeling much better and I use this treatment every time I wash my hair. I’m almost out of my current bottle so I need to buy it while it’s on a discount. It truly soothes my scalps and I have noticed a huge difference in the decrease of flakiness on my scalp.
Drybar The Mixologist Interchangeable Styling Iron, $199 – I feel like interchangeable irons are a popular trend but I’ve seen several types of wands in one and several types curling irons in one but I’ve never seen a wand, curling iron, and waver all in one which is what caught my eye. I’ve been looking to find a waver for the summer and since this tool has all 3, I want to try this out and see how each looks. Drybar has a great respectable reputation so I have high hopes for this tool.
Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer Limited Edition Gift Set, $399 – Okay here it is, the big kahuna, THE dyson hair dryer. I have been eyeing both this and the Airwrap for awhile but haven’t been sure of the major investment it takes to get these products. Essentially, my hair is very thick and it holds moisture forever. When it air-dries, it isn’t fully dry until almost 24 hours later. Since this hair dryer is very powerful and the new technology is supposed to do less damage with heat styling, I thought this would be the perfect tool for me to try out. This gift set is a great value to me because it is limited edition and it includes two gift brushes with the hair dryer for the price of the hair dryer regularly. I’m still nervous on actually purchasing it just because it is quite the splurge, but I think it will work well for my hair needs.
Mini Dae Hair Kit, $32 – I am in serious need of hair help. I’ve tried so many different shampoos and conditioners and haven’t been able to find one that works for my hair type. After reading the reviews for this brand, I wanted to try it out but couldn’t commit to the full size products. I thought this mini set would be the perfect way to try out the line and see if it will work for me.
Skincare
Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Bum Bum Cream 8.1 oz, ** $45 – This is a restock for me! I have been through 2 jars of this and I can’t get enough. I haven’t had it during the summer months so I’m excited to get it now in time for the warmer weather. Smells like I’m on a beach somewhere in Mexico… which is exactly where I want to be at this point. Even though this is a splurge lotion, I find it worth it.
Olehenriksen Wrinkle Blur Bakuchiol Eye Gel Creme, $49 – This is a new product that has Bakuchiol which is a plant based retinol alternative. I struggle with fine lines on my under-eye area so I’m hoping this will help as part of my nighttime skincare routine.
Olehenriksen Banana Bright Eye Creme, $39 – I have heard great reviews about this eye creme and I’ve been on the hunt for a good under-eye product. I’m hoping this will be a good addition to my daytime skincare routine due to the Vitamin C in it. I would use this product before I apply my concealer/makeup.
Fragrance
Dior Miss Dior Eau de Parfum 1.7 oz, ** $105 – This is a repurchase for me! I love this scent, it was one of the first ones that my mom bought me when I first entered college. Now that it’s almost empty, I need to get another bottle for sure. This scent is classic and a timeless favourite.
Versace Bright Crystal 1.7 oz, $82 – This was a sample I got a couple of months ago and I really liked it upon first smell. I like to wear it whenever I go out to dinner but now that I’m out of the sample, I’m interested in the full size product.
Yves Saint Laurent Mon Paris Eau de Parfum 1.6 oz , $102 – I received a sample of this in a Nordstrom beauty sample box and I fell in love with this scent! I’m hoping to snag the full size in the sale.
Okay this is one of my longer more full blog posts I’ve posted but for good reason. I wanted to make sure that I was as informative as possible. The majority of this post are items that I haven’t tried but want to purchase during the sale. If you are interested in another post about my tried and true items that I currently use that could be purchased during the sale, let me know and I can put something together. I truly have the best time researching and trying out products so I hope that my two cents in this blog post is helpful. If you have tried any of these products or if you plan on buying one, please let me know… we can compare notes! I’m always here to help with any shopping tips. I hope you are all able to snag one or two goodies from the sale, everyone deserves to treat themself once in awhile. Thanks for reading along and your support! 🤍
*All thoughts and opinions are my own. I do not own the rights to the images provided unless the picture is of myself. All other pictures have website links tied to them. I do not make any commission of any of these items.
Sharing pictures from yesterday’s Easter celebration! Dress is from Pink Lily Boutique.
Happy Monday, friends! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and a great Easter Sunday filled with joy and blessings.🐰 While most of my time is spent at home these days, on holidays like yesterday, I find it to be a great blessing to be under the same roof as my loved ones. The day consisted of watching Easter mass virtually, getting all dolled up in my white dress, participating in the Easter egg cascaroñes hunt, eating a full ham dinner and dessert, and watching the movie Hop at the end of the night. A full day left me very tired this morning, anyone else? After reflecting on yesterday, I wanted to fully dwell in the sense of renewal that I felt throughout the day. As we are now fully engulfed in spring, the season of new beginnings and fresh clean slates, I want to absorb those sentiments within my own mentality.
A sense of renewal can be very impactful. Most notably, if we let go of our shortcomings, forgive ourselves for what we cannot fix, and extend grace to ourselves through the hardships. Now of course, this is all easier said than done but if we make a conscious effort to do these things, it will become easier to sway towards those directions instead of getting overly frustrated with ourselves. Our mindset is arguably one of the most powerful assets we have. If we work towards reframing our thoughts into positive ones, I think we will see the fruits of those labours manifest in our everyday lives. For me personally at least, I try to make sure that when I start playing the what if or I should’ve game, that I catch myself before I go too far. The what if and should’ve game is very toxic and can lead down a negative path very quickly. I’ll admit it’s still hard for me to not play into those scenarios but I know that in order for me to move on in a positive way, I have to let go of the second guessing.
I briefly talked about this in my other blog post, Spring Refresh (Your Mindset) but another way I wanted to relish in the season of revival and renewal is to step away from social media more often than I do now. I notice myself always reaching for my phone when I’m not focusing on other things. It’s like I always have to be scrolling if I’m not already preoccupied which is not a great habit that I want to keep. I probably am the odd one out when I say that Twitter is my favourite social media platform but it’s because that there are always more tweets to read and probes me to read a bit more, rather than scrolling on Instagram and TikTok where I can mindlessly scroll and just look at pictures and videos. Those pictures and videos can also lead to a cycle of comparison which I want to steer clear from. Especially with the pandemic still being very prevalent, it’s an easy escape to look at pictures online and compare your life with others right now. However, I always try to keep in mind that Instagram is a highlight reel and only shows a small portion of a person’s life, mine included. In the coming weeks, I would like to take intentional time away from my phone daily and when I do have my phone near me, to not always reach to mindlessly scroll.
Lastly throughout this season, I want to choose joy and gratefulness more often than I have been doing in the past. Even though I have been talking a lot about new beginnings and renewing ourselves, I don’t want to brush over the fact that there are people in my life that have helped me get to where I am now. And those people are not part of my “new beginning” because they have been with me through my past and will continue to be with my in my future. Whether it be my family, boyfriend, close friends, or various mentors, these people have played pivotal roles in my life which is something I want to acknowledge and be grateful for. A way that I was thinking of doing this was to send simple texts to those people saying “Hey, thanks for being you. You have helped me in xyz and I am truly grateful to have you in my life.”. Anything along those lines I’m sure would mean the world to people to receive because I know I would be overjoyed if I received a random note like that. It’s easy to start dwelling on the negative that has happened but it takes true discipline to shift those thoughts and choose joy for yourself.
I hope this post didn’t come off as too preachy because my intention of this post was to truly just reflect on my thoughts and share with all of you. This where is my recent thoughts have led to me, perhaps there are some correlations with celebrating Easter but even so, these thoughts have been swirling in my head for awhile so I wanted to compile them into one post to share. I’m looking forward to a new season this year, I think it will bring us great joy. Wishing all of you the best of blessings, joy, love, and the promise of renewal. Let’s all have a powerfully positive week. Thanks for reading along! 🤍
P.S. Linking last year’s Sephora Sale blog post here… big hints!! 💄
Easter is now less than a week ago and I started panicking yesterday because I realized how unprepared I feel. With that being said, I went to none other than Pinterest to craft up some ideas for the day of. In addition to decorative food items, I also looked at several different outfit options that would be appropriate for the day of. I always look forward to Easter not only because of the religious meaning behind it but also the sense of renewal and rejoicing that comes along with this time of the year.💐 Since I am feeling a little behind on my planning, I wanted to share what I have found with all of you incase you find yourself in a similar predicament. So let’s get hoppin’ to the details…
Depending on what your plans entails for the actual day of Easter will determine what meals you will want to focus on. Traditionally, we like to have a brunch of some sort and then a fun Easter dinner. I believe that is still the case this year but I haven’t checked on it. I know in years past, especially during the years I unfortunately wasn’t able to be with my family for Easter, I would spend the day/weekend with my best girlfriend’s family. They loved changing up the menu every year but everyone who came was responsible for a particular dish- we did the same thing for Thanksgiving! For the years I spent with them, I would bring a bunny garden cake which was basically a combined recipe I made from two types of cakes I found on Pinterest. I will post the pictures here (scrolling wayyy back into my camera roll for these) so you can get inspiration from it. I will also post my meshed up recipe so you can easily get the ingredients this week if you want to try your hand at it. Additionally, please find my blog’s Pinterest board below where you will find some pins I found for more snacks/dessert inspiration for the day.🐰🐣
My Easter Bunny Dirt Cake I have made from various Pinterest recipes. Yes, this picture is 2018 iPhone quality.
A long-standing tradition that my family makes happen every year for Easter is to have cascaroñes. It’s a Mexican tradition that we have always celebrated with for as long as I can remember. In the weeks leading up to Easter, whenever we are making eggs or recipes with eggs, we only crack the very top of the egg, dump it into the bowl and clean out the shell. We collect them until we have several dozen and then in the week leading up to Easter, we dye them! After they have fully dried, we stuff them with confetti, apply a thin layer of glue to the rim of the egg, paste down a piece of tissue paper and viola, they are ready. Just like any other Easter egg hunt, these eggs are hidden around the yard by the parents and then the kids are let out to collect as many as they can. The best part is when you find all the eggs, you crack them on people’s heads to shower them with confetti!🎊 I have such fond memories of this growing up and I fully intend to carry this tradition on whether I have kids or not in the future. I have posted a few pictures from over the years below so you can see the full effect!
Easter was one of the two days in the year that my mom MADE sure my sister and I were dressed to the nines… no exceptions. Easter and Christmas were the two days where we had to have play clothes and nice dresses/outfits for church. 👗Now that we are older, we still like to get dressed up and find joy in looking for the perfect Easter dress to wear not only for church but for the whole day. I have compiled a few options below in case you are still on the hunt for a fun and festive outfit for the day of. While they would make perfect Easter outfits, they would also be perfect for spring in general so if you see one you like, be sure to snag it! This is a judge-free zone so I will share with you that I intend on wearing the same dress as last year because I really like it and I want to wear it again.
I do not own the rights to these images. All are linked below to the owner’s website.
I feel like I threw a ton of information at you in this post but I hope you find it helpful in preparing for this weekend. I am excited to celebrate Easter with my loved ones this year and to crack a few eggs on their heads of course! If you are celebrating this weekend, please share with me how you will be spending the day and any Easter traditions/ideas you have. I hope you all have a wonderful week filled with joy. If you have made it this far, I so appreciate you taking the time read my posts. Your support means the world to me🤍
** All thoughts and opinions are my own on this blog post and the pictures of me/with me belong to me. All other images are linked to the owners of that site.
It’s that time of year again!! Spring cleaning time has arrived.🌸 Usually, I wait until a little closer to mid-April to start cleaning out my closet/room/life haha but this year I have decided to get ahead of the game and start before April even begins. Mostly because my Easter dress is in my spring clothes storage boxes and I need it before next weekend! So with that in mind, this weekend I’m going to tackle my own spring cleaning. When I started thinking about spring cleaning earlier this week, I realized that I have many areas in my life that I wanted to essentially “clear out” or minimize the clutter both in my life and in my mind. To keep this post concise and informational, I’m going to break it up into three tangible categories, closet/wardrobe, beauty, and accessories. Of course there are other areas that you can focus on this year but these are the three that I want to talk my tips through.
Closet /Wardrobe 👗:
I feel like this category might be the most obvious when I think about spring cleaning. However, it also might be the most important. For me personally, I have several boxes that I rotate between storing clothes for spring/summer and fall/winter depending on whichever is needed at that time of the year. This is good in theory for me but the downside is that I always forget about what I actually have in my wardrobe by the time the year has passed and the next set of seasons has arrived. Therefore, I buy things in anticipation for the upcoming seasons when in reality, I probably don’t need to since I have many other items just hidden away for the time-being. I can’t take credit for this idea but I heard about the hanger method a few months ago which I thought was a clever way to weed out the old in your closet however, it takes a little longer than a weekend to finish the project. If I were to implement this method, I would empty out all of my spring/summer clothes and put them all on hangers with the hook facing towards me. This way I would hang everything on the closet rack with the hooks facing towards me. Throughout the spring and summer, once I chose something to wear, I would take it off the hanger and flip the hanger to the hook facing away from me like normal. This means by the time the fall rolled around and the warmer months were over, I would know exactly what I wore throughout the warm seasons and anything with a hanger facing towards me would be the clothes I would get rid of since I didn’t wear them. I think this idea is really creative so I would love to try it out this year since I haven’t done it yet.
Alright y’all, I know there are some expired beauty items at the bottom of your makeup bag or in your bathroom closet that you forgot about. I am 10000% going through my makeup shelves this spring and clearing out any opened items that I don’t use either daily or in the past year. This applies for sanitary purposes as well since some products expire quicker than others. Obviously when we are taking care of our skin and body we don’t want to be putting items on that could cause damage to our skin. I stumbled upon this Cosmetic Calculator that I have linked for y’all because I thought this was too useful not to share. They resource a ton of different brands and by putting in some of the information from the product, you can see what the shelf life is for the product. Over the past year, I have really gone through my products to determine what works best for me and for some, I’ve gotten replacements with cleaner and safer ingredients after my health issues arose. For all the items I have replaced, I can get rid of the old ones I don’t need anymore.
Accessories (jewelry, hats/scarves, purses, and shoes) 👛:
I was hesitant on even including shoes in this category because I think they deserve their own but again, trying to keep this post concise. As far as shoes go, it is very hard for me to let go of them since they are like my fashion obsession and have been ever since I could walk basically. For the most part, I’m trying to keep shoes so I have 1 of a colour not like 4 pairs of brown boots. If I have more than 1 pair of brown boots, I have to pick my favourite and donate the rest. The idea behind it is to not have too much excess of one type or colour. With handbags and hats/scarves, this isn’t as necessary to clean out to me unless you’re having trouble fitting everything into your closet/drawers. If it’s starting to overflow, then perhaps it’s time to get rid of some. For purses, I’ve started to narrow down my selection and hopefully work towards a collection of purses. One for evening, one for everyday, one for travel, one for special occasions, and then a few here and there as iconic/specialty items. Anything that doesn’t fit in those categories at the moment for me, time for them to go. Jewelry I am working in a similar method as the purses so if I have several pearl studs, let’s try to pair that down to the ones I wear the most. I know I have a good amount of necklaces, bracelets, and rings from YEARS ago that I don’t wear anymore so I need to find them a different home.
As you can see, there are several ways to go about spring cleaning, no one way fits all, and it shouldn’t because everyone has their own method. I hope that by me talking through the strategies I’ve been thinking about has inspired you to think about what your spring cleaning is going to look like. Will you be starting this weekend, next weekend or are you an early bird and have already started? I really am trying to refine my mentality of not just keeping things just “to have” because that doesn’t serve much of a purpose and in the end, it’s just stuff. I am eager to get started tonight maybe tomorrow with my spring cleaning because I think it would be best for me to get a head start… I definitely anticipate needing the whole weekend and then some. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the nice weather. Thank you for reading along, as always.🤍
It’s officially SPRING! As I’ve scrolled around social media, it seems like everywhere I turn, people are talking about spring and anything related to being outside in the sun. Not to sound too ~philosophical~ but I started to think more about our mindset as we enter into a fresh new season in the new year. Especially coming out of a year as tough as 2020 was, setting ourselves up for success this new season is important. I brainstormed over the weekend some ideas to share with you suggestions on how to refresh your mindset for spring. I plan on listening to my own advice since many of these items, I can use some accountability in. I have broken this post up into four parts which are declutter, create/reform routines, hydrate/exploring your taste buds, and invest in your time wisely. Each part will depict a certain facet of my spring refresh mentality.🌸
Declutter:
Phone: Your phone is the first thing that I would recommend to declutter. Mainly because, we all spend so much time on our phones especially now that we are mostly staying home. I know for myself, all I do is look at several screens all day so making sure that I am looking at productive/positive items is essential for my wellbeing.
Social Media: Go through your social media accounts and unfollow any account that doesn’t bring happiness to you or if it puts you down. If there is an account you have followed for awhile and all it makes you do is be critical of yourself (comparing yourself to someone else, reminding you of mistakes, egging bad behavior on, etc.), then you don’t need it. Remove the toxicity in your life, starting with unhealthy relationships with accounts on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, all of it.
Pictures: Right now, pick up your phone and scroll through your camera roll and start deleting!!! Guys I have over 19,000 pictures on my phone. WHO NEEDS THAT MANY PICTURES?! Granted, it has about 9 years of memories, trips, friends and locations on it but still almost 20K photos is a little excessive. Even if you don’t have as many as I do, I can guarantee you there are screenshots, or double pictures of random things that you don’t need taking up space on your phone.
Create/Reform Routine:
Routines: I feel like before the past year, whenever I would see the word routine, i would instantly make a face, or sigh really hard. Let’s face it, it sounds like we have to go back to school and get into a “routine” which isn’t fun. I’ve had to learn how to repurpose this word in my mind in order to not instantly eye-roll once I thought about it.
Morning Moments: I recently wrote a whole blog post on My Morning Moments Routine which is linked here. This post talks about how I structure my mornings to get my mindset right before the day takes off. I go into detail on how I try to use a few minutes in the morning for myself and my health/wellbeing.
Evening Routine: Winding down in the evening is essential for me to have a good nights rest. I struggle with many sleeping issues but one component that helps me stay asleep most nights is to wind down about 30 minutes-an hour before I want to sleep and just focus on less technology. Turning off my phone, TV and laptop helps me unplug a bit and focus on my skincare, taking my night supplements and basically shut off my brain so it doesn’t keep running at night. I haven’t made a post about my full evening routine yet but if that’s something y’all are interested in, let me know!
Stay Hydrated/Explore Your Tastebuds
What you put into your body is so important! I am a strong believer in nourishing your body and that all whole/fresh foods + water are all your body needs to truly thrive (not just survive).
Drink More Water: I feel like this is also everywhere…. every health nut on the internet is pushing water on to me, but they aren’t all wrong. I think it’s important to keep yourself hydrated throughout the day but not to the point where you’re obsessed with finishing all these gallons of water. I have found that increasing my water intake by a few ounces every day has made such a difference in how I feel throughout the day, how much energy I have by the end of the work-day, and by how less excruciating headaches I get. The rule of thumb I follow is that I try to drink half my weight in oz of water. So around 60 oz a day is what I strive to have for my daily water intake.
Fruits and Veggies: I’m not a nutritionist or anything certified so you can feel free to take or leave my advice here but this is how I’m shaping up my mindset for spring. Fruits and veggies are never your enemy…. unless it is in excess. With that being said, I’ve never heard anyone say they’ve eaten too many carrots and that’s how they feel uncomfortable with their body… have you? Just some food for thought here. I want to increase the amount of fruits and veggies I eat. Naturally, I think we all tend to reach for fruits in the warmer months since they are juicy and refreshing. However I want to make a solid effort in trying to expand my veggie selection. I want to try a few new veggies and learn recipes to make them a couple different styles so I can switch things up a bit. I think finding the right ingredients is key because no one said we have to eat broccoli raw to feel our best.
Invest Your Time Wisely:
This one has a lot of creative license attached to it. There are so many possibilities associated with this facet of a spring refresh. Now is your time to pick something new to try out or pick back up an old hobby that you led slip away previously. Remember, no better time than the present to start.
Whatever the hobby is, try to see if you can spend some time outside doing it. Currently, I’m sitting on the patio in the sun writing this blog. My blog is for sure my passion project and I have loved every single minute of writing and creating content. However, the cherry on top has been getting out in the sun to create as well. Now that the warmer months are right around the corner, you can take advantage of the temperature.
Name an accountability partner! You don’t necessarily have to pick a hobby that you can do with someone else but it is nice to know another person is looking out for you. For example, I didn’t start a blog with 2 creators, but instead I have a close accountability partners to ensure that I am keeping up my posts and still having ~fun~ through it all. Your accountability partner should be someone you trust and that you have no issues keeping in contact with.
Alrighty, that brings us to the wrap up of this post. All of these items I have laid out are just suggestions on how to focus on your mental wellbeing through spring. I always try to find ways to “up my game” in the spring since this is essentially the time to get rid of the old (habits) and bring in the new (growth). I would love to hear if you plan on implementing any of these strategies this spring or if there is another way that you are planning on improving your wellness. As always, thank you for continuing to read my posts and supporting my passion project 💗
My Smile Express package has arrived!! I’m so excited to share that I have officially begun my Invisalign journey this week! I am currently on day 5 of my first set of trays since my first day was this past Monday. I have been thinking about getting Invisalign for several months and I finally took the plunge this winter to begin the process. Before I talk about the specifics, I am going to provide a bit of a background so that everything makes sense by the end of this post.
Backstory:
I had braces for about a year when I was in 8th grade going into high school. I didn’t have too many issues with my teeth back then so we went ahead and opted to do braces since that was very standard. My experience was great and I loved how my teeth were super straight when I got them off. A few years later when I was a freshman in college, my dentist told me that I needed to get my wisdom teeth removed. They didn’t hurt me at the time but he advised that they were growing in and it was going to overcrowd my mouth. With this in mind, I had wisdom teeth surgery where all four were removed but there was an excessive amount of swelling during the recovery process. It took several weeks for everything to be completely healed but by that time, my teeth had already shifted enough where my retainers wouldn’t fit anymore. While this wasn’t a big deal to me at the time in college, I knew I would eventually want them to be straight again. After graduating college, they weren’t my top priority but I did become a little more insecure about how my teeth looked when I smiled/laughed. Towards the end of 2020, I went to my dentist appointment where I brought up some concerns about having issues with grinding my teeth at night which resulted in a lot of sores in my mouth. I wanted to get some type of night guard as protection because it was getting to the point of having 3-4 in my mouth weekly. My dentist said he could customize a guard for me but encouraged me the if I was going to straighten up my teeth, now would be the time to do it. Unfortunately, I also was told that my orthodontist who did my braces sold his practice and is no longer in the area. SO that brings us to present day…
Why I Chose Northern Virginia Orthodontics? 🧡
Completely candidly, I heard from Northern Virginia Orthodontics (NVO) through a flyer I got in my mailbox. There was a promotion going on at the time so they were trying to spread the word around the area. Since I couldn’t go to my old Orthodontist, I figured what the heck, I”ll look them up. When I did a little research on their website, I was instantly hooked. I called immediately to set up a free consultation, I figured it couldn’t hurt. They have several locations in the Northern Virginia area including Tysons Corner and One Loudoun but I went to the Brambleton location for my consultation. I’ll be honest, I was very nervous going to a new company to talk about one of my insecurities but the receptionist that I spoke to while setting up the consultant was very nice and super inviting. I went in with a mindset of just gathering as much information as possible and to make an educated/informed decision later. I learned that NVO is the #1 Invisalign Provider in the nation and the team orthodontist for the Washington Capitals (go caps!)! Since I was mainly looking at Invisalign options, I felt more comfortable going knowing their outstanding reputation.
As soon as I stepped into the office, after all of the necessary COVID safety precautions were taken, I was ushered through a series of offices accompanied with the most welcoming and friendly staff. I was immediately put at ease and felt the warmth that the office exuded. Plus a HUGE bonus, during the tour of the office I was given, I was offered a Starbucks drink from their Starbucks cafe they have ~in office~. This was such a nice surprise to be welcomed with and they made sure I was aware that NVO donates $1 for every drink served to the NVO Foundation.
Throughout the consultation, the staff were very knowledgable and kind while answering my questions. I met with Dr. Elvi Barcoma and she took a quick exam of my teeth. I felt very confident in talking about my concerns and options with her. She truly made my experience at NVO very comforting and I was pleasantly surprised with how excited I was in beginning my treatment.
What is Smile Express?
For my current teeth situation, it was recommended to me that I use Smile Express, a special program created by NVO, to treat patients that had similar stories to mine. I was an adult seeking minor straightening within my teeth but I had previously received orthodonture work so I knew the commitment it took. Smile Express only requires two in-office visits, the first to run scans to create the liners, and then the last one is at the end of your treatment plan. Since I agreed to the program during my consultation, I was able to use that same appointment to run my scans so that counted as my first appointment. Then the liners were made for me and I waited for them to be delivered straight to me! All 25 weeks of liners were sent in a box complete with additional instructions and a mini travel cosmetics bag with extra goodies inside. Especially while being cooped up inside due to COVID, I felt like this was the perfect program for me to invest in with NVO because it required limited visits to the office, convenient delivery, and efficient personalized results.🌟
My Experience So Far:
I put my first set of liners in this past Monday so I could always start my new liners on a Monday and so far, it has been great. There was minimal discomfort on the first day while my teeth were adjusting but after that I barely noticed them. I’m on week 1 of 25 liners so if all goes to plan, I’ll be finishing up the treatment by September. I have been brushing and flossing like crazy this week which makes me happy that I invested in quality toothpaste and floss recently as well. I am really excited with how the whole process has happened thus far. I felt welcomed and in great hands with NVO and felt confident in my decision to choose Smile Express. Eagerly awaiting to see my super straight smile in 6 months!
If you have additional questions about how I started with Invisalign, feel free to reach out to me. I’d be happy to talk through my experience in more depth and listen to your questions. At the end of my treatment, I intend to make a wrap up post on my whole experience until the end.
Let’s keep those pearly whites clean and straight!🤍 Thanks for reading, as always.
**If you are an email subscriber and are viewing this through your email inbox, click on the title of this blog post to be redirected to my website so you can experience the full effect of the post.
Welcome to another week, my friends. For those of you who have been reading for awhile, y’all know that holidays, big or small, puts such a huge smile on my face. Even just thinking back to all of the preparation I did in anticipation for Valentine’s Day a little over a month ago is fun to look back on. And before you say it, yes Valentine’s Day is considered a holiday in my book. In a couple days, I will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, a little differently because of the current situation we have all found ourselves in over the past year, but still celebrating nonetheless. Even though I don’t go all out for St. Patrick’s Day like I do for other mini holidays, I still like to keep things festive and fun💚
The best part of St. Patrick’s Day (like most celebrations) are the food and drinks, in my opinion. I love hopping on to Pinterest and finding colourful recipes to experiment with for the day of. In years past, I have made bangers and mash for dinner to fit the Irish theme. Unfortunately, since pork and I don’t agree ever since my recent diagnosis of health issues, Irish bangers were out of the question for me this year. Instead, I have opted to make Shepherd’s Pie, another traditional Irish meal, as it is one of my favourites. I had also thought about making a Guinness stew of sorts but I think I might try that next year instead since that takes a little bit more of experimentation for me. I have made Shepherd’s Pie once before so I believe I can confidently make it again. Fun fact, technically I will be making a Cottage Pie because a true traditional Irish Shepherd’s Pie is made from ground lamb, hence the shepherd part. A Cottage Pie is made with ground beef which is what I will be using… but for the purpose of St. Patrick’s Day, let’s just call it Shepherd’s Pie and move on. I will link the recipe that I am planning on using here from The Wholesome Dish.
Dessert deserves it’s own paragraph. This is where you can let your imagination run wild since there are so many possible options. I have done some digging on Pinterest and will be providing you with some inspiration from my board. In the past, I have made green-dyed rice crispy treats, pot of gold jello shots, green frosted cupcakes, and shamrock milkshakes. This year, I wanted to make something a little different so over the weekend I was brainstorming and came up with Lucky Charm Treats. Taking a slight turn on the original rice crispy treat recipe, I figured it would be fun to cover Lucky Charms in the marshmallow instead. This seemed appropriate since the little leprechaun on the cereal box is always concerned about his lucky marshmallow charms! I thought that this was just my original idea but I looked on Pinterest to look up any recipes and of course, there were pictures of others trying this out too so although I didn’t come up with it myself, I at least have a guide to go off of.
Outfit Details/Inspiration:
Sweater: Aerie, Size Small- I actually got this sweater just a few months ago in the fall and I absolutley love it. Other than its huge comfort factor, its lightweight and I like that its slightly oversized so I can easily pair a bralette with it. Thankfully, I bought this olive green version of the sweater and since its still windy and a bit chilly outside, this is what I will be wearing this St. Patrick’s Day. No pinches for me 🙅🏽♀️.
Jeans: Abercrombie & Fitch, Size 28S- These jeans were a purchase from last year when they were on sale and I love this particular cut of jean because I think it is super flattering for us short people when it comes to the cut of the ankle trim. I also love to get my jeans from A&F since they have jeans in short which is what I have on. These jeans fit really well back then but I will most likely be getting another pair for this fall either in a 26 or a 27, they fit true to size! I couldn’t find the exact pair but I found one that is pretty close which is linked here.
Shoes: Steve Madden, Size 6- I got these mules at the end of the summer season last year for $20 at our local Steve Madden outlet and I remember being so excited! I went up a whole size in these because the pointed toe takes up a lot of space within the shoe. I love the snakeskin pattern with the flecks of gold detailing.
I know my St. Patrick’s Day will be low-key this year instead of going to an Irish pub or a bar crawl like I have done in the past, but I still think I can make it fun. Perhaps you’d opt to go to the store and grab some Guinness too? Whatever your plans are for St. Paddy’s Day, please let me know in the comments! I would love to hear your ideas and if you are planning on making any cool recipes🤍
With all of this Irish talk, it’s making me reminisce HARD when my family and I went to Ireland a couple of years ago before the pandemic. I’ll do a little photo dump below from the Guinness Brewery. Wishing you all the best of luck this week☘️ Thank you for reading!
** None of the items that are listed in this post are sponsored and I do not receive any type of commission through using these links. Additionally, the images of myself belong to me.
This week, specifically yesterday, the weather here in Virginia finally hit over 75 degrees and I instantly felt myself become happier as I walked outside. Does anyone else’s mood correlate directly with the weather? I have always liked being in a state that has all four seasons but it definitely makes me feel better when I am able to finally enjoy the warmer months. Now that the weather is starting to feel like its finally back on my side, I have realized that my wardrobe is still in the thick of my fall and winter clothes. For those of you who don’t know, I am 100% a seasonal wardrobe changer.🌷 I have several storage boxes that are rotated between the warm and cold months depending on whichever one I don’t need in my closet at the time. While I usually have a strict break between the separation of my clothes between the months, I try to keep versatile pieces within each set of clothes to make sure I can accommodate those awkward transitional months… like the one we are currently in.
As soon as I know that the 70’s weather is on its way, I know exactly what I am going to wear. How? I have a basic spring uniform that I wear during this time that I don’t quite feel comfortable enough to break out my shorts and when I can’t stand to think a sweatshirt. My spring uniform is basic but practical so that it can be easily adjusted and will still look like an outfit you put effort into creating. As a good rule of thumb, I like to have 3 colours/types of each item so that I can mix and match for the few weeks that we are transitioning in spring to summery weather. All details from the pictures are below:
Cardigan: Old Navy, Size M- Don’t sleep on old navy!! The week before I started my office job, my mom took me to our local Old Navy store in the mall and it was such a great experience because they have such good quality clothes but for great prices (and usually lots of sales to accompany). I remember I got several pairs of pixie pants and some nice tops and cardigans. Thankfully this lilac cardigan was included in that shopping haul. I have gotten so much use out of it and I think it’s the perfect spring colour. I sized up to a medium for extra comfort and a looser fit.
Lace Tank Top: Hollister, Size M- Oh my goodness y’all, this top is so old. It is kind of embarrassing how old this top is. It’s from Hollister (ahhh the memories) and I am wearing a size medium. Funny enough, it used to fit pretty well but now I can see that its a little baggy on the side, which is probably just natural wear and tear over the years, so I will most likely be saying goodbye to the top soon. Any simple white/ivory top will work as an option for this styled look. This top is also slightly cropped which I look for a relaxed fit. I also like the thick straps for when I want to take off the cardigan but not just have spaghetti straps on.
Boyfriend Jeans: Pacsun, Size 3- Again, another embarrassingly old item of clothing in my wardrobe LOL but I think this is just a testament to the a) quality of the item and the b) commitment to my clothes that I get the full use out of them. These jeans are bullhead from Pacsun and are comfortable but also feel like a true jean fit with minimal stretch. These boyfriend jeans are the perfect style for the spring because they have the rolled cuff at the bottom and minor distress with some patches behind the large holes so that wind barely gets through. I rotate through a few different pairs of jeans throughout the spring but I tend to roll and cuff the bottom fo my jeans (because I’m short) and I think it completes the look.
Sandals: Sam Edelman, Size 5.5- I got these sandals last year and I was so excited when they arrived because they are everything I didn’t know I needed. The nude sandal goes with literally everything in my wardrobe and then throw on the chunky rhinestones and I am SOLD. I sized up half a size as I usually do in Sam Edelman sandals because if I get my true size somethings they rub on the side of my foot too much. These were the perfect pair and as you’ll come to see I also got them in a light pink too. Seriously, some of my favourite and comfortable sandals since it has a cushion on the bottom and not just a flat sole.
As I mentioned earlier, I like to have a few different styles and colours of each item so that I can regularly interchange them and make a whole new outfit but still fit the same basic concept. Plug and play, as I like to call it. 🛍For example, right now I have 3 main cardigans that I can cycle through for this time period, the lilac one shown in these pictures, a green one, and a tan one so that there is a neutral colour as well as pops of colours to add to the outfit. Similarly, as I mentioned I have the nude sparkly sandals I wore in these pictures as well as a light pink pair and I also usually wear a pair of cheetah cloth wrap sandals to slip on and off. Neutrals, a pattern, and a colour are all within my rotation of sandals. I hope this helps frame a picture for you to create your own spring uniform or tailor yours after mine! Please let me know in the comments or DM me on Instagram @saraeliseblog to tell me about your spring uniform or if you have any questions or need advice on creating a look of your own.
Ahhhh at last, we can all enjoy the weekend! 🌸Thank you for reading along, as always.
** None of the items that are listed in this post are sponsored and I do not receive any type of commission through using these links. Additionally, all images belong to the owners of the websites that they are linked to.
This pic was taken in October but it screams Spring to me
I can’t lie and say that spending money on the Sephora Sale wasn’t at the top of mind this week when so many topics are constantly filling the headlines. I remember starting this blog years ago as an escape during a very dark time in the world but also personally. I plan to continue to use this blog space in that same way and because of that, I was more than happy to spend a few blissful hours scrolling and dreaming about the beauty world. To all my fellow beauty-lovers out there, the Sephora Spring Savings event has officially arrived!🛍 The event runs from April 4- April 14, 2025 and opens to shoppers based on Sephora status, the same as years past. I couldn’t be more excited to cover this sale for the fifth year for all of you. Fun fact about my blog, the first sale I covered was the Sephora Spring Sale back in 2020 before I re-branded in 2021. Many of y’all have been around since then so you know the drill! Just leaning into my Type A tendencies here …in preparation for the sale, I start saving several months before each savings event. As you may know, there are 2 sales, the first we had in the spring and now the holiday/fall sale has arrived. The reason why I look forward to this sale is because it is a great time to restock on favourite products that you’ve been loving. Some of the items in my cart are tried and true products that either I repurchase every year or that I found last year and love it enough to restock. Another reason why this sale is such a good time to place an order is because with the discounts, it makes snagging more luxurious or high-ticket items at a better price. I have laid out the basics below:
The Basics
For those of you who have been following along with me since the beginning of my blog, this is the same spiel with all of the basic info that anyone needs to know in order to shop the event. First, you must have an account with Sephora. If you don’t have an account with Sephora, you can sign up for free here. If you are Rouge status, you will be able to shop first with early access with 20% off from April 4- April 14. If you are VIB status, you can start shopping with 15% off from April 8 – April 14. If you are an Insider, you will be able to shop with 10% off from April 4- April 14. Make sure to use the code SAVEMORE when you are checking out to receive your holiday savings! This discount code is multi-use and can be used in-store of course, as well. ✨
I have split this post into several sections so it is easier to plan your shopping strategy (and yes I take this sale that seriously). The sections include my fav products and on my wishlist. If at any time, you need a more comprehensive review of a particular product or have additional questions, please reach out to me ~ I’m happy to help!
My Fav Products
First up are my holy grail products. These are the items that I reach for the most on my vanity. I only put products in this category if it is truly what I wear most of the week and that if I didn’t have another, I would need to immediately repurchase.
Lancome Idole Ultra-Precise Felt Tip Liquid Eyeliner – $25 This was a recent purchase this year and I was so happy that I tried it out because it surpassed all of my expectations. It is jet black, ultra fine so that it can be easily maneuvered, and long staying power. I would definitely repurchase if I didn’t already have a restock.
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit Unlocked Palette (shade: medium) – $90 I bought this palette two years ago in the medium colour story and have loved it ever since. Back then, it was the elephant cover that I went after but every year, there is a similar version of the palette. It is great for travel and the formulas truly speak for themselves. It is is a great purchase for the sale because with the discount, it would be a good time to try the product if you haven’t already.
Patrick Ta Major Beauty Headlines Double-Take Creme & Powder Blush (shade: She’s a Doll) – $38 This blush is the perfect shade for that pop of pink on your cheeks. I use the creme blush first using the Sephora #99 brush above and then I put the powder on top for a very youthful look. The brighter the pink, the better.
Patrick Ta Major Dimension Eye Illusion Eyeshadow Duo (shade: Still At The Club) – $42 This eyeshadow duo caused a lot of controversy when it launched before the holidays last year. I couldn’t help but go into the store and try them on my hand to see this unique type of formula. As soon as I saw this shade in person, I knew it was going to pick it up. It is a beautiful pearl like texture that just swipes on the lid beautifully. I definitely want more shades but can’t decide if they are a product I will pick up now or in the summer.
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Waterproof Eyeliner Pencil (shade: bourbon, glimmering dark brown)- $23 This eyeliner is a beautiful brown with slight shimmer in it which I love to use on an everyday look. I line my top lid and smudge it with with a brush so it creates a soft glow look. I also wear this liner without eyeshadow if I just want a subtle outline to make my eyes shine a bit more.
Sephora Collection PRO Concealer Brush #71 – $22 30% off the Sephora Collection during the sale, you can’t beat that for the quality of the PRO brushes. This concealer brush is dense but softly bristled so it doesn’t irritate your under eye while blending concealer seamlessly. I switch back and forth between using makeup sponges and makeup brushes under my eyes but if I use a brush it will definitely be this one.
Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer (shade: Hot Chocalit AND Fu$$Y)- $21 This was one of my favourite purchases from the fall sale because of course, Fenty glosses lived up to the hype. Ultra shiny and glossy but does not feel sticky or artificial on the lips at all. This shade was absolutely stunning for the colder months. Now I have my eye on Fu$$y for the summer.
Sephora Collection PRO BLUSH BRUSH #99– $30 My biggest advice for the sale? Don’t sleep on the Sephora Collection items! I bought this brush for my cream blushes last year and it’s the only brush I use now. Plus all of Sephora Collection is 30% off.
Lancome Cils Booster XL Super-Enhancing Mascara Primer– $30 The absolute best eyelash primer that has ever graced this planet. No, I don’t say this lightly either. Every sale, I buy in bulk because I just can never run out of it. I have three in my restock drawer already. The trick is to let it sit for about 30 seconds so it gets a bit tacky and then apply the mascara of your choice for a beautiful wispy and full effect.
HUDA BEAUTY Easy Bake Loose Baking & Setting Powder (shade: banana bread- light, medium, and tan skin tones)- $38 The best loose setting powder on the market! This was a recent find from the Sephora Holiday Sale and I am so glad I picked it up because I don’t go a day without using it. The powder is so finely milled and it applies beautifully on the skin. Doesn’t crease at all and it brightens the area applied. I don’t need a restock because I still have plenty, but I will definitely make sure I don’t ever run out of it.
Yves Saint Laurent All Hours Luminous Matte Foundation 24H Longer (shade: MN6 medium shade with neutral undertones 6) – $62 The title alone luminous matte sounds too good to be true but I am here to tell you that it is truly that good. I picked it up this past spring sale and fell in love with the coverage and the wear. It feels like velvet on the skin and wears beautifully throughout the day. The shade range is also quite large which I appreciated so I can have both my summer and winter shade available in the formula.
Urban Decay Mini Original Eyeshadow Primer Potion – $18 I chose to buy the mini because I wanted make sure I loved it before I bought the full size. I actually used to use this product when I was in high school and really liked it. All these years later, I went back to it and it still works like a charm. This is a creaseproof primer for even my most complex eyeshadow looks.
Haus Labs Color Fuse Talc-Free Blush Powder (shade: Hibiscus Haze) $32 – I bought this item during the spring sale and I absolutely do not regret it. The shade and the formula are truly beautiful. This was also the first item I tried from Haus Labs by Lady Gaga and I was quite impressed. I have been struggling with acne over the past couple of years and since this formula is talc-free, I haven’t noticed any breakouts and it lays beautifully on the skin even with texture and large pores. I will be continuing to try more of Haus Labs products in the future.
One Size On ‘Til Dawn Mattifying Waterproof Setting Spray $32 – This has been a repurchase type of item for the past two years. Everyday wear, any glam events, during the heat of summer or on the driest of winter days, I can rely on this setting spray. Recently, I needed my makeup to stay on all day while I was in a humid wedding, and it stayed without any issues for 8+ hours. I like to use this in combination with the Charlotte Tilbury setting spray for extra coverage but this spray is an incredible standalone product and I always keep this back stocked in my makeup drawer.
Fenty Beauty Diamond Bomb All-Over Diamond Veil (shade: How Many Carats?! – pure platinum sparkle) $42 Another item I was so pleased with after purchasing from the fall sale. It is absolutely stunning as a highlighter, all over body shimmer, or an eye shadow topper! Truly one of the best and looks like you’ve been dipped in diamonds. It’s a little pricey but it will last you a lifetime and it’s the perfect time to grab it if you’ve been eyeing since it’s on sale.
Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz Ultra-Slim Precision Brow Pencil (shade: ebony) – $25 If you watched my videos from the spring sale, you already know that brow products have never been a priority for me. I got a couple of recommendations on using a very low-key brow pencil so I decided to try this one out and love it now. I have very dark brown almost black coloured hair so the shade ebony was a perfect match for me.
What’s On My Wishlist?
I have made the below graphic with all the items that I have been wishing for. A couple are restocks but I admit that there are quite a a few new products that I can’t wait to try.
Lots of information in this post but I wanted to make sure that you had as many details on my staples available to you the day the sale opens, no matter which tier you shop in. I am also always available to answer any questions you might have or share my thoughts/experiences with certain products. Clearly, I’m so excited for this sale and I hope y’all are too. It only comes around twice a year, after all. Happy shopping! Can’t wait to chat all about the goodies purchased! Thanks for reading🤍
Running low on solo pictures of myself but this recent Dia de los Muertos look was completely made from makeup 🙂
It’s Super Bowl time!!! I mean… Sephora Sale time!! To all my beauty-lovers out there, the holiday savings event has arrived to round out the end of the year!🛍 The event runs from November 1-November 11, 2024 and opens to shoppers based on Sephora status, the same as years past. I couldn’t be more excited to cover this sale for the fifth year for all of you. Fun fact about my blog, the first sale I covered was the Sephora Spring Sale back in 2020 before I re-branded in 2021. Many of y’all have been around since then so you know the drill! Just leaning into my Type A tendencies here …in preparation for the sale, I start saving several months before each savings event. As you may know, there are 2 sales, the first we had in the spring and now the holiday/fall sale has arrived. The reason why I look forward to this sale is because it is a great time to restock on favourite products that you’ve been loving. Some of the items in my cart are tried and true products that either I repurchase every year or that I found last year and love it enough to restock. Another reason why this sale is such a good time to place an order is because with the discounts, it makes snagging more luxurious or high-ticket items at a better price. Of course with the holidays right around the corner, there are many gift sets available that would be great for anyone on your list. I have laid out the basics below:
The Basics
For those of you who have been following along with me since the beginning of my blog, this is the same spiel with all of the basic info that anyone needs to know in order to shop the event. First, you must have an account with Sephora. If you don’t have an account with Sephora, you can sign up for free here. If you are Rouge status, you will be able to shop first with early access with 20% off from November 1-November 11. If you are VIB status, you can start shopping with 15% off from November 5- November 11. If you are an Insider, you will be able to shop with 10% off from November 5- November 11. Make sure to use the code SAVINGS when you are checking out to receive your holiday savings! This discount code is multi-use and can be used in-store of course, as well. ✨
I have split this post into several sections so it is easier to plan your shopping strategy (and yes I take this sale that seriously). The sections include daily makeup items and on my wishlist. If at any time, you need a more comprehensive review of a particular product or have additional questions, please reach out to me ~ I’m happy to help!
Daily Makeup Favs
First up are my go to daily makeup items or my holy grail products. These are the items that I reach for the most on my vanity. I only put products in this category if it is truly what I wear most of the week and that if I didn’t have another, I would need to immediately repurchase.
Lancome Idole Ultra-Precise Felt Tip Liquid Eyeliner – $25 This was a recent purchase this year and I was so happy that I tried it out because it surpassed all of my expectations. It is jet black, ultra fine so that it can be easily maneuvered, and long staying power. I would definitely repurchase if I didn’t already have a restock.
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit Unlocked Palette (shade: medium) – $90 I bought this palette two years ago in the medium colour story and have loved it ever since. Back then, it was the elephant cover that I went after but every year, there is a similar version of the palette. It is great for travel and the formulas truly speak for themselves. It is is a great purchase for the sale because with the discount, it would be a good time to try the product if you haven’t already.
Patrick Ta Major Beauty Headlines Double-Take Creme & Powder Blush (shade: She’s a Doll) – $38 This blush is the perfect shade for that pop of pink on your cheeks. I use the creme blush first using the Sephora #99 brush above and then I put the powder on top for a very youthful look. The brighter the pink, the better.
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Waterproof Eyeliner Pencil (shade: bourbon, glimmering dark brown)- $23 This eyeliner is a beautiful brown with slight shimmer in it which I love to use on an everyday look. I line my top lid and smudge it with with a brush so it creates a soft glow look. I also wear this liner without eyeshadow if I just want a subtle outline to make my eyes shine a bit more.
Sephora Collection PRO Concealer Brush #71 – $22 30% off the Sephora Collection during the sale, you can’t beat that for the quality of the PRO brushes. This concealer brush is dense but softly bristled so it doesn’t irritate your under eye while blending concealer seamlessly. I switch back and forth between using makeup sponges and makeup brushes under my eyes but if I use a brush it will definitely be this one.
Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer (shade: Hot Chocalit AND Fu$$Y)- $21 This was one of my favourite purchases from the fall sale because of course, Fenty glosses lived up to the hype. Ultra shiny and glossy but does not feel sticky or artificial on the lips at all. This shade was absolutely stunning for the colder months. Now I have my eye on Fu$$y for the summer.
Sephora Collection PRO BLUSH BRUSH #99– $30 My biggest advice for the sale? Don’t sleep on the Sephora Collection items! I bought this brush for my cream blushes last year and it’s the only brush I use now. Plus all of Sephora Collection is 30% off.
Lancome Cils Booster XL Super-Enhancing Mascara Primer– $30 The absolute best eyelash primer that has ever graced this planet. No, I don’t say this lightly either. Every sale, I buy in bulk because I just can never run out of it. I have three in my restock drawer already. The trick is to let it sit for about 30 seconds so it gets a bit tacky and then apply the mascara of your choice for a beautiful wispy and full effect.
HUDA BEAUTY Easy Bake Loose Baking & Setting Powder (shade: banana bread- light, medium, and tan skin tones)- $38 The best loose setting powder on the market! This was a recent find from the Sephora Holiday Sale and I am so glad I picked it up because I don’t go a day without using it. The powder is so finely milled and it applies beautifully on the skin. Doesn’t crease at all and it brightens the area applied. I don’t need a restock because I still have plenty, but I will definitely make sure I don’t ever run out of it.
Yves Saint Laurent All Hours Luminous Matte Foundation 24H Longer (shade: MN6 medium shade with neutral undertones 6) – $62 The title alone luminous matte sounds too good to be true but I am here to tell you that it is truly that good. I picked it up this past spring sale and fell in love with the coverage and the wear. It feels like velvet on the skin and wears beautifully throughout the day. The shade range is also quite large which I appreciated so I can have both my summer and winter shade available in the formula.
Urban Decay Mini Original Eyeshadow Primer Potion – $18 I chose to buy the mini because I wanted make sure I loved it before I bought the full size. I actually used to use this product when I was in high school and really liked it. All these years later, I went back to it and it still works like a charm. This is a creaseproof primer for even my most complex eyeshadow looks.
Haus Labs Color Fuse Talc-Free Blush Powder (shade: Hibiscus Haze) $32 – I bought this item during the spring sale and I absolutely do not regret it. The shade and the formula are truly beautiful. This was also the first item I tried from Haus Labs by Lady Gaga and I was quite impressed. I have been struggling with acne over the past couple of years and since this formula is talc-free, I haven’t noticed any breakouts and it lays beautifully on the skin even with texture and large pores. I will be continuing to try more of Haus Labs products in the future.
One Size On ‘Til Dawn Mattifying Waterproof Setting Spray $32 – This has been a repurchase type of item for the past two years. Everyday wear, any glam events, during the heat of summer or on the driest of winter days, I can rely on this setting spray. Recently, I needed my makeup to stay on all day while I was in a humid wedding, and it stayed without any issues for 8+ hours. I like to use this in combination with the Charlotte Tilbury setting spray for extra coverage but this spray is an incredible standalone product and I always keep this back stocked in my makeup drawer.
Fenty Beauty Diamond Bomb All-Over Diamond Veil (shade: How Many Carats?! – pure platinum sparkle) $42 Another item I was so pleased with after purchasing from the fall sale. It is absolutely stunning as a highlighter, all over body shimmer, or an eye shadow topper! Truly one of the best and looks like you’ve been dipped in diamonds. It’s a little pricey but it will last you a lifetime and it’s the perfect time to grab it if you’ve been eyeing since it’s on sale.
Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz Ultra-Slim Precision Brow Pencil (shade: ebony) – $25 If you watched my videos from the spring sale, you already know that brow products have never been a priority for me. I got a couple of recommendations on using a very low-key brow pencil so I decided to try this one out and love it now. I have very dark brown almost black coloured hair so the shade ebony was a perfect match for me.
What’s On My Wishlist?
I have made the below graphic with all the items that I have been wishing for. A couple are restocks but I admit that there are quite a a few new products that I can’t wait to try.
Lots of information in this post but I wanted to make sure that you had as many details on my staples available to you right when the sale opens, no matter which tier you shop in. I am also always available to answer any questions you might have or share my thoughts/experiences with certain products. Clearly, I’m so excited for this sale and I hope y’all are too. It only comes around twice a year, after all. Happy shopping! Can’t wait to chat all about the goodies purchased! Thanks for reading🤍
It’s Super Bowl time!!! I mean… Sephora Sale time!! To all my beauty-lovers out there, the holiday savings event has arrived to round out the end of the year!🛍 The event runs from October 27-November 6, 2023 and opens to shoppers based on Sephora status, the same as years past. I couldn’t be more excited to cover this sale for the fourth year for all of you. Fun fact about my blog, the first sale I covered was the Sephora Spring Sale back in 2020 before I re-branded in 2021. Many of y’all have been around since then so you know the drill! Just leaning into my Type A tendencies here …in preparation for the sale, I start saving several months before each savings event. As you may know, there are 2 sales, the first we had in the spring and now the holiday sale has arrived. The reason why I look forward to this sale is because it is a great time to restock on favourite products that you’ve been loving. Some of the items in my cart are tried and true products that either I repurchase every year or that I found last year and love it enough to restock. Another reason why this sale is such a good time to place an order is because with the discounts, it makes snagging more luxurious or high-ticket items at a better price. Of course with the holidays right around the corner, there are many gift sets available that would be great for anyone on your list. I have laid out the basics below:
The Basics
For those of you who have been following along with me since the beginning of my blog, this is the same spiel with all of the basic info that anyone needs to know in order to shop the event. First, you must have an account with Sephora. If you don’t have an account with Sephora, you can sign up for free here. If you are Rouge status, you will be able to shop first with early access with 20% off from October 27-November 6. If you are VIB status, you can start shopping with 15% off from October 31- November 6. If you are an Insider, you will be able to shop with 10% off from October 31- November 6. Make sure to use the code TIMETOSAVE when you are checking out to receive your holiday savings! All these discounts are multi-use and can be used in-store of course, as well. ✨
I have split this post into several sections so it is easier to plan your shopping strategy (and yes I take this sale that seriously). The sections include daily makeup items, other holy grails, and on my wishlist. If at any time, you need a more comprehensive review of a particular product or have additional questions, please reach out to me ~ I’m happy to help!
First off, is the Daily Makeup Favs graphic, which includes the items that I quite literally use daily. For the most part, I like a full face of makeup if I bother to put it on so these items are my go-to’s.
Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Instant Eyeshadow Palette, $75 This palette has four different sets of looks with three different shades in each. I really like how CT separates her eyeshadow palettes because it gives the user direction on where to use them and what to use them for each occasion. There is a holiday collection that comes out every year and I use last year’s quite a bit as well. I just realized after making the graphic that this is no longer on the website but there are usually similar colours to this palette available in smaller amounts.
Lancome Idole Ultra-Precise Felt Tip Liquid Eyeliner – $23 This was a recent purchase this year and I was so happy that I tried it out because it surpassed all of my expectations. It is jet black, ultra fine so that it can be easily maneuvered, and long staying power. I would definitely repurchase if I didn’t already have a restock.
NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer (shade: ginger, medium with warm undertones and a golden tone)- $32 This concealer is the one of the best concealers I’ve used before. It doesn’t settle into my fine lines and it actually conceals redness and my dark circles under my eyes. When I first tried it, I got the mini-size and it lasted such a long time. Ever since then, I’ve repurchasing a full size bottle and always keep it on my vanity.
Patrick Ta Major Beauty Headlines Double-Take Creme & Powder Blush (shade: She’s a Doll) – $36 This blush is the perfect shade for that pop of pink on your cheeks. I use the creme blush first using the Sephora #99 brush above and then I put the powder on top for a very youthful look. The brighter the pink, the better.
HUDA BEAUTY Easy Bake Loose Baking & Setting Powder (shade: banana bread- light, medium, and tan skin tones)- $38 The best loose setting powder on the market! This was a recent find from the Sephora Holiday Sale and I am so glad I picked it up because I don’t go a day without using it. The powder is so finely milled and it applies beautifully on the skin. Doesn’t crease at all and it brightens the area applied. I don’t need a restock because I still have plenty, but I will definitely make sure I don’t ever run out of it.
Yves Saint Laurent All Hours Luminous Matte Foundation 24H Longer (shade: MN6 medium shade with neutral undertones 6) – $60 The title alone luminous matte sounds too good to be true but I am here to tell you that it is truly that good. I picked it up this past spring sale and fell in love with the coverage and the wear. It feels like velvet on the skin and wears beautifully throughout the day. The shade range is also quite large which I appreciated so I can have both my summer and winter shade available in the formula.
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Waterproof Eyeliner Pencil (shade: bourbon, glimmering dark brown)- $25 This eyeliner is a beautiful brown with slight shimmer in it which I love to use on an everyday look. I line my top lid and smudge it with with a brush so it creates a soft glow look. I also wear this liner without eyeshadow if I just want a subtle outline to make my eyes shine a bit more.
Sephora Collection PRO Concealer Brush #71 – $22 30% off the Sephora Collection during the sale, you can’t beat that for the quality of the PRO brushes. This concealer brush is dense but softly bristled so it doesn’t irritate your under eye while blending concealer seamlessly. I switch back and forth between using makeup sponges and makeup brushes under my eyes but if I use a brush it will definitely be this one.
Urban Decay Mini Original Eyeshadow Primer Potion – $16 I chose to buy the mini because I wanted make sure I loved it before I bought the full size. I actually used to use this product when I was in high school and really liked it. All these years later, I went back to it and it still works like a charm. This is a creaseproof primer for even my most complex eyeshadow looks.
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit Unlocked Palette – $90 This palette is very similar to the holiday limited edition one I got last holiday sale in the elephant cover. The leopard is going to be the most similar shade range to last year’s elephant palette and I highly recommend. The formulas of hourglass pressed powders are truly unlike any other finish. They apply beautifully to the skin and are long wearing. I truly used last year’s palette everyday for 6 straight months. I stopped when I became too tan and had to switch to different bronzers and blushes LOL. I know this one is quite expensive but if its in your budget to buy a blusg, bronzer, highlighter, and setting powder, look no further than this all in one luxurious palette.
Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer (shade: Hot Chocalit, shimmering rich brown)- $21 This was one of my favourite purchases from the fall sale because of course, Fenty glosses lived up to the hype. Ultra shiny and glossy but does not feel sticky or artificial on the lips at all. This shade was absolutely stunning for the colder months. Now I have my eye on Fu$$y for the summer.
Sephora Collection PRO BLUSH BRUSH #99– $30 My biggest advice for the sale? Don’t sleep on the Sephora Collection items! I bought this brush for my cream blushes last year and it’s the only brush I use now. Plus all of Sephora Collection is 30% off.
Lancome Cils Booster XL Super-Enhancing Mascara Primer– $30 The absolute best eyelash primer that has ever graced this planet. No, I don’t say this lightly either. Every sale, I buy in bulk because I just can never run out of it. I have three in my restock drawer already. The trick is to let it sit for about 30 seconds so it gets a bit tacky and then apply the mascara of your choice for a beautiful wispy and full effect.
Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm (shade: pink sugar) – $24 The hype is real, the butter balm is definitely worth it. It keeps my lips hydrated for several hours past application and I really enjoy wearing it on the days that I don’t want to wear full lipstick. Pink sugar is the most recent colour I picked up but last holiday season I bought the Vanilla Beige which is most definitely my top pick for the fall and winter months.
IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream with SPF 50+ (shade: neutral tan, light brown shade with neutral undertones)- $47 This CC cream is very buildable and I love it because of the good coverage it provides. I wear this everyday for work and I used to wear it in the office when I would work in-person. I also always use this cream to the pool, to the beach, or any outdoor events specifically during the summer because of the amazing SPF coverage. In the depth of winter, I transition to the shade of neutral medium.
Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush (shade: happy, dewy cool pink)- $23 This blush is absolutely stunning. The formula, the colour, and the pigment are top tier. I thought this colour might’ve been too bright for me however just a dab on my cheek is all I needed, and blending it out made it look like I had just naturally blushing cheeks. I liked wearing it in the summer because of the naturalness of it but I also am liking it during the colder months because of how nourishing it feels on my face.
Fenty Beauty Diamond Bomb All-Over Diamond Veil (shade: How Many Carats?! – pure platinum sparkle) $42 Another item I was so pleased with after purchasing from the fall sale. It is absolutely stunning as a highlighter, all over body shimmer, or an eye shadow topper! Truly one of the best and looks like you’ve been dipped in diamonds. It’s a little pricey but it will last you a lifetime and it’s the perfect time to grab it if you’ve been eyeing since it’s on sale.
Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz Ultra-Slim Precision Brow Pencil (shade: ebony) – $25 My eyebrows have always been thick and dark so brow products have never been a priority for me. I got a couple of recommendations on using a very low-key brow pencil so I decided to try this one out and love it now. I have very dark brown almost black coloured hair so the shade ebony was a perfect match for me.
What’s On My Wishlist?
I have made the below graphic with all the items that I have been wishing for. Most of them are restocks but a few new products that I can’t wait to try.
Lots of information in this post but I wanted to make sure that you had as many details on my staples available to you right when the sale opens, no matter which tier you shop in. I am also always available to answer any questions you might have or share my thoughts/experiences with certain products. Clearly, I’m so excited for this sale and I hope y’all are too. It only comes around twice a year, after all. Happy shopping! Can’t wait to chat all about the goodies purchased! Thanks for reading🤍
*All thoughts and opinions are my own. I do not own the rights to the images provided unless the picture is of myself. All other pictures have website links tied to them through the item name. I do not make any commission off any of these items.
Sara Elise 