I love a finished face look but don’t love taking an hour and using 100 products to get there. I’ve recently condensed down my makeup bag and these 6 products have made the cut. **Disclaimer: I don’t consider myself beauty guru or beauty blogger** Just your girlfriend sharing my favorite finds incase you’re looking for a new product to try! I’ve never ordered through Amazon for makeup but I found all the products on there!!
CC Cream– this stuff is butter. plus it has spf and goes on with my fingers or a brush for a full coverage moisturized look. If you don’t have dry skin like me- you may want to set this with powder if you don’t like a dewy look.
TARTE under eye concealer- tip for this is to apply and let it sit for a second before rubbing it in. It covers better when its a little sticky.
Too Faced Bronzer- I apply with an angled brush if I am feeling fancy then blend with a bronzer brush. Cheeks, forehead, nose, jawline.
TART- Eyeshadow (if I am feeling fancy). This palette is great, its small and I actually use every color. I line my eyes with the darkest brown.And I have eyelash extensions so I don’t wear mascara so that would take a little extra time!,
My travvy boy is obsessed with Starbucks’ banana nut bread. I had a bunch of bananas about to go bad so I attempted to make our own banana nut bread. I make him blender spinach muffins (SO easy) so I thought; let’s try banana bread in the blender, too. They turned out so well & trav approves! (If you’re making them with regular flour omit the xanthan gum) Chocolate chips would be yummy too! Feel free to omit the nuts according to your preference!
gf/df blender muffins
Ingredients
2 cups flour ( I used an all purpose gf flour)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 egg
1 1/8 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil (I used canola)
2 Tbs almond milk
1 Tbs vanilla
3 ripe bananas
2, 2.25 ounce bags of chopped walnuts
Sprinkle of brown sugar (Optional)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Add all wet ingredients to the blender and blend on medium speed until combined.
All all dry ingredients to blender (with the exception of the walnuts). Blend on a slow speed until combined. Mix one packet of walnuts in by hand.
Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 12th! I polled some moms to see what they truly wanted for mother’s day. The results were a little split so I split this guide into two separate categories: experiences & gifts. There are ranges of price points & ranges of products depending on the mama in your life because you know her best. <3
experiences: let’s just say…. every mama would LOVE some self care time. TIME was a popular response. Time with their family, TIME to themselves.. etc.
Spa Day- YASS>>> do you live near a resort? Get her a massage at the spa and she will have access to all their amenities all day long. It’s a mini vacation, she’ll come back rejuvenated. If you need ideas for ones in Scottsdale- I have you covered.
Shopping, alone- sounds lame but to a mom… it could be exactly what she needs. Literally a visa gift card- or cash and watch the babe/babes and send her on her way to the mall to try on clothes/shoes without a stroller in tow.
Manicure or pedicure. This needs no explanation. If you don’t know her favorite place- I have recommendations just ask!
Housecleaning- sometimes your house needs a good deep clean by someone other than mom. Groupon has great deals.
Hello FRESH- give mom a break from meal planning ,prepping and have the weeks dinner ingredients delivered to your house… BONUS*** maybe you cook one of them & help clean the kitchen.
Grocery Delivery Membership- if your mama likes grocery delivery you can gift the year delivery fee for groceries!
Family Photos– *** I love this. Every mom wants photos taken of her and her family. We are behind the camera most the time and don’t have as many photos WITH our families as we would like. Find a photography and gift the mama in your life with a family session. If you need recommendations for local photographers in phoenix, I got you!
gifts- the key to getting a great gift, is putting thought into it. Knowing what she likes then getting something that goes along with that… KEY. Does she like to cook- a new cook book. Does she like jewelry- a new piece from her favorite brand OR a personalized necklace with her babies initials- LITERALLY ALWAYS A WINNER. okay so in no particular order..
Perfume. Flowerbomb is a a safe bet, Chanel is always a good choice. Or her favorite scent if you know it.
Volcano Candle. I’ve never met a woman that doesn’t like this candle. I want one.
T3 Curling Iron. This curling iron is trending in the beauty world and its a good excuse to splurge a little.
Kendra Scott. I love her jewelry. This gift set is great and these earrings and necklace are two of my favorite pieces that I wear allll the time.
Sunglasses. These are also very popular right now, I love the shape.
Mom Mug. love this! I think it would be great with a mug/hat especially for new moms that are celebrating their first mother’s day.
Roomba!!!!! Literally every mom needs one. I can’t even explain my love for my roomba. It picks up actual dirt and I can vacuum while cooking, cleaning something else, or sleeping.
Cook Once Eat All Week. My current favorite cookbook. Cassy Joy has always been one of my favorite food bloggers to follow, I love her first book but THIS BOOK is so awesome. She takes one protein, one veggie, one carb that you prep on day one then she gives you three different meals that use those key ingredients! Cuts down prep time and is much cheaper than traditional meal prepping. If your baby mama or actual mama is a foodie or likes to cook… GET THIS.
Instant Pot. Believe the hype. I love my instant pot. Hard boiled eggs… making shredded chicken by throwing in frozen chicken for 20 minutes… soups… yes please.
I hope you are inspired and find something you think the mamas in your life will love. Remember- a little thought goes a long way. Plan ahead. Make plans . Order the gift now and make sure it’s here 🙂
I think one of the most fun parts of motherhood is new traditions & holiday fun seen through your babe’s eyes. PSA.. Easter is coming up… so I’ve put together some fun ideas for your kid’s baskets.
If you’re like me you don’t want to spend tons of $$$ on this kind of stuff but also want to make it cute and festive.
BUY THINGS FOR THE BASKET THAT YOU NEED/ WANT TO BUY YOUR KID.
Two birds with one stone.. My son needs new shoes.. new jammies for the upcoming season.. it’s all going in the basket!! Throw some necessities along with some cheap festive fun stuff and boom you have a basket. Here are some ideas!!
(photo is linked to all options or select each individual product below)
Not linkable: plush carrots (dollar spot section at target), large wooden eggs (not shaker, also dollar spot section at target), toddler sunglasses (dollar spot section at target).
A few months into motherhood, someone asked me, “What has been the hardest part of motherhood so far?”
I without hesitation blurted out, “remembering that I am someone’s wife, first.”
You have many names. All come with many facets and responsibilites, honors and trials. MAMA- I think it is the most life-altering one. These babes are all consuming, needy in the best ways. I love my baby to the moon and back x 19883 then doubled.
But I loved my husband first. And I need to keep loving him, first.
I love my husband. 2018 was thee most amazing year for us but also thee roughest on our marriage. We had this amazing son. Both fell in love with him (it’s adorable seeing your husband become a dad, huh?). You take that baby home and life gets hard. You go into a head-down, survival mode both just focused on figuring out how to manage life and keep that freshy alive. Then you start to count cookies. The I do this… this.. this.. what do you even do? (oh, just us?) But the issue is we are counting apples and oranges. You’re that baby’s mom. Your man is not that baby’s mom. He is his/her dad. They’re different. Yes, I believe in shared responsibility in raising these babes. But don’t let yourself go down the rabbit hole.. its ugly down there, I promise. It harbors resentment which leads to wall building.
The roles are so different. My husband isn’t my baby’s mom and will love him, serve him, take care of him differently than I will. And that is okay. It’s actually great. My son needs both.
I had to learn to let my husband do things and figure things out his way. (this helped when I work weekends and he had to figure it out. And guess what, my son survived)
Okay back to love…
It was pretty eye opening to me how much I love my son. That sounds stupid and maybe a little cliche but it blew my heart WIDE OPEN. I love him more than I ever knew I was capable of. Does my baby DO anything that makes me love him? I mean sure he smiles at means that melts me but he doesn’t DO or PERFORM or really give me anything other than the privilege of being his mom.
PURELY BECAUSE HE IS MINE, I LOVE HIM UNCONDITIONALLY.
Do I love my husband like that? Purely because he is mine… I love him without conditions, without limits.
For better or worse. In sickness and in health. Richer or poorer. Without conditions?
I am called to love my husband. Period. Whether or not he shares the load around the house. Whether or not he brings home flowers or takes me on dates or makes me feel like a princess or really does anything.
Unconditionally. This baby taught me what unconditional love actually looks like. I expect nothing from my baby in return. I want to love him purely because he is a piece of me. My husband and I are one so do I love him purely because he is a piece of me?
I want to.
I’m not always good at it, but I’m trying. Unconditional love and respect is the goal. Unconditional love forgives quickly, it keeps no records of wrong, it doesn’t demand its own way. I really want to love my husband like that.
Our marriage is a work in progress for sure. We’ve committed to making God a priority in our own lives, to making each other a priority, then our son. When things come into order…. Our family starts to function like it was meant to, with ease. When I’m known and loved by an almighty God, when my husband loves on me, it is icing on the cake.
Moving forward we are really trying to have open communication and conversation and have a shared goal that we want our marriage to be the best because we want that but also want that for our son. To grow up secure knowing that mama and dada love each other above all.
I think as moms we throw ourselves all into this motherhood thing, which is great, but maybe sometimes it’s all consuming and we forget that our hearts belong to the one who made us a Mrs. not a mama.
We want to rediscover the people down deep that were crazy about each other not people that drive each other crazy. Trying to laugh together and have fun because that’s one of our core favorite parts of this relationship.
SO… if you’ve found marriage after having a baby can be rough, me too girl, me too. BUT I believe we can be mothers and sisters and friends and WIVES that love with all we’ve got. We can be women that cherish our husbands and FIGHT FOR the marriages we want.
