A signature color...

There are probably millions of ways that little girls find their way into the love of beauty. A stray tube of mascara, a first bottle of Tinkerbell nail polish, a shared spritz of perfume... For me, it was my grandmother.

Some of my favorite moments with her were spent listening to her tell stories while sitting at her makeup table. She never scolded me when I tried my hand at applying her little treasure trove of Clinique, regardless of the fact that I was probably turning myself into a clown/geisha hybrid with her powder and blush and I'll never forget the first time she let me try "dress up" lipstick, her signature color, Revlon Cherries in the Snow.

Borrowed

She always had the matching lipstick and nail polish which was incredibly chic and glamorous to me. I can't remember a time when she wore any other color and when I recently picked up a bottle of this gorgeous fuchsia red polish I felt an overwhelming sense of nostalgia.

Turns out she had great taste too, this polish is one of those rare one-coat wonders with a beautiful high gloss finish. And seriously, take a look at that killer vintage ad!

Who inspired your love of beauty?

XO

Hoarder...

I cleaned out and organized my Helmer today! It was very satisfying. I filled a Target bag to the brim with old makeup and spoiled polish and was excited to have a little extra space to rework my collection...until there wasn't any.

After all the beauty products were wrangled up from my cluttered vanity, manicure area, and strewn about shopping bags I ended up with less space than when I started. For example, the nail polish drawer to the left used to house a decent sized basket where I stored all my mani/pedi tools. He had to find a new home, stat. I'm starting to think I'm a blackout polish shopper, that's a thing right?

Fun fact, I did all of this organizing while sporting the most glossy and obscene red lip you can imagine. Testing products while cleaning totally adds to the fun. I nearly swatched enough eye shadow and lip gloss to reach my armpit.

Beat those Sunday night plans.

XO

OH...

You guys. I wish I could have bottled the awesome that was this visit home to Ohio to carry it around with me everywhere. We didn't get to do everything or see everyone we wanted to but the time we spent with friends and family was absolute perfection!

The whole reason we headed to Ohio was to attend the wedding of some incredible friends and we enjoyed every second of their celebration! A good amount of pinot grigio may or may not have led to some enthusiastic Journey inspired air guitar...which of course happened in full view of their wedding video crew. 

Also, there was a photo booth involved.

The remainder of the journey brought to you via Instagram!

I never turned off my electronic devices. Take that FAA!

I got plane creases on my forehead from staring out the window and trying to remember the words to identify the parts of a river. My brain short circuited after "tributaries".

A snooty tailor, a buffalo chicken salad, a snazzy mural. Good day.

The first Spring outing of the year with my TOMS! Happy happy happy.

We go for the wings but I still always order the chicken sandwich. I may have done damage to some fried cauliflower as well.

I dominated in dominoes!!! ...the lowest score wins, I swear.

SUCH a good day! I not only met up with my dear sweet friend and blogger extraordinaire, Renee, but also met a brand new blogger bestie, Lyndsey, at the local Ulta! Talk about trouble, this Benefit They're Real mascara was one of many purchases.

Mason jar glasses at The Barn! I belong here.

We always stock up heavily on our Ohio State swag whenever we come home. Buckeyes for life!

Tired, happy, and on our way home!

A perfect end to a perfect couple of weeks. I know I've been super slack on the updates around here lately but I can promise you a few reviews on the horizon as well as another little photo tour-this time of Texas!

*cue the air guitar*

XO

March photo a day...

I did it! I finally committed to/completed one of those photo-a-day challenges!

Up.

Fruit.

Your neighborhood.

Bedside.

A smile.

5pm.

Something you wore.

Window.

Red.

Loud.

Someone you talked to.

Fork.

Sign.

Clouds.

Car.

Sunglasses.

Green.

A corner of your home.

Funny.

Before/After.

Delicious.

Kitchen sink.

Moon.

Animal.

Breakfast.

Keys.

Your name.

Trash.

Feet.

Toy.

Where you relax.

"Moon" doesn't count as moon, I got impatient. And "Loud" would make more sense if you could have been at lunch with us to appreciate the volume of the conversation at the next table over...serious meh. Oh, and "Toy"! You can expect a review on that little gem, ASAP!

There is another photo challenge on deck for April but I think I'll take the month off this time around. Between a week in Texas, a week in Ohio and everything else going on my April is shaping up to be pretty jam packed! You know I'll still be rocking Instagram on the regular, check me out here!

XO

Cute app alert...

For all the hopeless romantics who miss their sweeties when they're across town or across the globe, I have stumbled upon the ultimate app to span the distance!

I give you, Pair. It's like Facebook, Path, Draw Something, iMessage, and Instagram all rolled into one little package. If the idea of that appeals to you, imagine how much more fun and exclusive all those features will feel when you know you and your honey are the only ones who can see or add to it. It takes the fun of the everyday apps you use and turns them into a sweet little secret club for just you two!

My own personal favorite feature? ThumbKiss!

Anytime, anywhere, and no matter what the distance between you if you and your partner enter this part of the app together you can share a sweet little ThumbKiss by touching the part of the screen where your partner's print appears. When you're "thumb to thumb" the screen goes from white, to pink, to red and seals the smooch with a tiny little vibration! I absolutely love it!

It goes without saying that I've fussed Chad into doing this about three times from work already today. I'm a super big help when it comes to productivity!

Pair is only a few days old and like any new app it has its bugs but the fun far outweighs the growing pains. This app is currently only available on the iPhone but if you visit Pair's website you can get yourself on the waiting list for the Android version that's hopefully coming soon and without a doubt will be worth the wait! Besides, we all could use a little something in our lives to make us giggle and moon over our significant others a little more often and now-there's an app for that!

XO

Yoga...

Borrowed

Bikram yoga is the practice of performing 26 yoga poses for a total of 90 minutes in a room heated to 105°F.

It's hot, exhausting, sweaty...and amazing.

I'm in my third week of a month unlimited package and I am absolutely addicted. In the first two classes the heat made me dizzy and I found myself nauseated by the time we got to position 21 but the more I do it, the more the heat becomes calming instead of stifling. I find myself looking forward to it instead of dreading it and as I completely soak through every item of clothing I'm wearing with sweat I feel incredibly powerful, capable, and oddly peaceful.

The teachers I've taken classes from have all been absolutely incredible. They each put their own spin on the class from the way they encourage, the music they choose (my personal favorite is the teacher's soundtrack that always ends with us meditating to Mad World by Gary Jules), and even the way they end class which can alternate from sharing a reading from Bikram Choudhury's personal memoirs, placing icy cold rocks between your eyebrows and in your belly button, or spraying down your feet with cool essential oils and giving a brief temple massage before chanting Sanskrit.

I leave each class feeling like I've really accomplished something and counting the hours till I can go back. I'm flexible in ways I never thought possible and in an unexpected development, all that sweating and toxin purging I'm doing is leaving my skin looking incredible! 

If you're doing Bikram I'd love to hear about your experience and if you've never tried it and get the opportunity, consider this my personal endorsement!

Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

XO