BLOGTOBER DAY 5: CORN MAZE SHENANIGANS

Hi y'all! 

I can't believe it's already the day before Halloween! This month flew by so quickly, it's insane. I wanted to do so many more posts for Blogtober this month, but with school and everything else going on in my life, it just didn't work out that way. I'm definitely looking forward to a time where I can focus more on blogging, and in the mean time I'm just going to do my best and enjoy the posts that I do have time to write. ♥ 

Anyways, back to the point of today's post! 

Last weekend, Ry, Lilah, and I had the pleasure of going with our good friends to the South Texas Corn Maize! I had only been once when I was a baby, and I was so pumped to finally get to go and really experience it. The maze covers seven acres, and the rest of the property that you get access to with admission includes a pumpkin patch, a hayride, a corn slide mountain and so much more! There is also a ton of delicious food options as well. It has such a family friendly environment, and Lilah had the time of her life!

The first thing we did when we got there was grab some drinks and delicious kettle corn, and then we headed straight towards the corn maze!

CLARISONIC MIA 2 REVIEW

Hi y'all! 
In today's post I'm going to be reviewing the Clarisonic Mia 2 device for all of you!
 In case you didn't know, the Clarisonic Mia 2 is a sonic facial cleansing brush that claims to clean your skin 6x better than hands alone. I've had the first model, the Clarisonic Mia, for a few years and I absolutely loved it, so when the chance came for me to try out and review the newest model, I was pumped! 

FTC disclosure: This is a sponsored post in partnership with Clarisonic and Her Campus media. All words and opinions are my own. 

BLOGTOBER DAY 4: OCTOBER "BLACK MAGIC" IPSY BAG

     

Hi everyone, and welcome to Blogtober Day 4!

Halloween is coming so fast, I can't believe that it's over halfway through the month already! Crazy, right? I've been absolutely swamped with class assignments which is why I haven't posted as many Blogtober posts as I would have liked, but I'm doing the best I can so I'm happy about that.

Today I'm going to be talking about my October Ipsy bag I just received a couple days ago. This month has an adorable "Black Magic"-witch-Halloween sort of theme so I thought it would be absolutely perfect for a Blogtober post! For those who don't know, Ipsy is a monthly subscription service that costs $10 for 5-6 sample or full sized products. You can read a little more about it in my post here. 

So, without further ado, let's get into what I got in my bag this month! 

BLOGTOBER DAY 3: FAMILY FRIGHT FEST FUN

     

October is in full swing, and so are all the fun Halloween activities! 
One tradition every year for my family is to go to Six Flag's Fiesta Texas' Fright Fest celebration! For those who don't know, they essentially deck the whole theme park out in Halloween decor, and have haunted houses and monsters out to scare people when it gets dark. It's a blast! I look forward to it every year. 
We went during the day this year (before the people dressed as monsters came out) to keep it kid friendly for Lilah who had so much fun! She got to ride her first real rides, and even got to do a little trick or treating with Tweety Bird and Taz. My family and I had such a great time watching her smile and enjoy the Halloween festivities (even if some of the spooky decor freaked her out a little bit). 
If you haven't made it to Fright Fest at a Six Flags location yet, you need to go! It's fun for both the little ones and adults. I'm hoping to go again later in the month to explore it after dark and check out what the free haunted houses have to offer. 
So, I thought I would throw together a quick post to share a little about our afternoon there, and to share pictures I took inside the park. Hope you enjoy! 

BLOGTOBER DAY 2: EASY HALLOWEEN NAILS

     

Hi y'all, and welcome to BLOGTOBER DAY 2! 

I love adding a bit of Halloween spirit to everything I can this time of year, and my nails are no exception. It's so fun to play around with different nail polish colors and create Halloween themed looks. Since I've always loved painting my nails, and am a nail polish hoarder, I thought it would be perfect to create three (easy) Halloween nail looks to share with all of you so that you can keep your manis looking festive!

I am by no means anywhere near an expert at nails, so I wanted these three looks to be something simple that everyone can do! I hope you enjoy! 

(BTW: these nail looks are not perfect, uniform, or anything like that, they're actually quite a bit messy and all over the place, but I did them for fun to give you all ideas for nail looks that you can go perfect yourselves ♥)

BLOGTOBER DAY 1: HAPPY OCTOBER!

    

Hi everyone, and HAPPY OCTOBER!
I am incredibly excited that this month is finally here. There's such a fun vibe in the air during Halloween time, and also (well, at least for me), the feeling of impending excitement as the holidays and Christmas grow nearer. These next few months are just my absolute favorite time of year.  
There is so much I want to do this October to celebrate Halloween time: watch scary movies, go to a pumpkin patch with my daughter, go to a corn maze for the first time since I was little, carve pumpkins, the list goes on and on. 

2ND BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

Hi everyone!    In case you didn't know, my sweet little girl turned TWO last Wednesday! My husband and I decided to rent out a nice pavilion at a local park and invite our closest family and friends to celebrate with us. 
We were blessed with nice weather, good food, and great company. Lilah had a blast playing on the playground right next to the pavilion (and in the dirt of course). It was such a wonderful day! 
I have so many photos I want to share from that day, but since it's not acceptable to post 30 pictures on Instagram at once, I figured this would be the perfect place to share our memories of the day that I'll be able to look back on easily.
So, I hope you enjoy getting a glimpse into my little girl's special day!    

TO MY DAUGHTER ON HER SECOND BIRTHDAY

Hi baby girl, 
Can you believe that it's been two wonderful years since you entered the world at 4:09 pm and changed your daddy and I's lives forever? 
Two years since I held your tiny, warm body in my arms for the first time after a long labor. 
Two years since I kissed your sweet, soft forehead for the first time as you tried to make sense of this bright, scary world that you were thrust in to. 
Two years since the first day of many that I watched you bring joy into the lives of everyone your adorable and hilarious personality touched. 

FAVORITE DRUGSTORE LIPSTICKS FOR FALL

Hi everyone! I hope you are all having a lovely week so far. 

September already seems to be flying by, I can't believe it's almost half way over! You know what that means right? The official start of fall (or autumn as I often like to call it) is only a mere

 10 DAYS AWAY! In case you can't tell, I'm pumped. Even though it will most likely still be in the high 80s here in Texas, you can bet that I will be planning for Halloween, lighting all of my pumpkin candles, and rocking dark lipsticks. 

Speaking of lipsticks and fall time, in this post I am so excited to share with you all my absolute favorite drugstore lipsticks for the upcoming season. I am a bit of a lipstick hoarder, so it was hard to narrow down my favorites to just a few. So, even though a lot of these shades are pretty similar and in the same color family, different formulas make them stand out. I swear even the most similar ones hold slightly different tones (which totally justifies why I purchased them in my head). 

My favorite shades to wear during the fall season are mauves, dark berry tones, and dark reds. I compiled 9 of my favorites that I wear constantly together here for you so that you can prepare your makeup collection for the upcoming season. So, without further ado, here are my favorite drugstore lipsticks for fall!

STRESSED BUT BLESSED: LIFE UPDATE

Hi y'all! 
I feel like it has been a hot minute since I've posted anything about what's been going on in my life lately, so I thought it was about time that I get you all up to speed. I know I mentioned wanting to do more personal posts on my blog a couple months ago, but I just haven't had any big changes or exciting things happen to talk about until now. 
This post wasn't planned or overthought or anything like that. I just got home to my class, laid Lilah down for a nap, and spontaneously felt like getting on here and talking (& venting a little) to y'all on a more personal level. 

AUGUST FAVORITES

Hi y'all! I can't believe that we're only days away from September! August was a great (busy) month, but I am so ready to embrace September and all the fall goodness that's to come. I can almost taste the pumpkin pies...mmm.
Anyways, (since I'm sure you all are getting tired of hearing me mention my love for the time of year that's approaching), in honor of the end of the month, I thought I'd share the things that I have been loving these last four weeks with all of you! I've come across some new things that I am obsessing over, as well as tried and true products that I rediscovered. 
So, without further ado, here are 5 things that I have been loving in the month of August!

AUGUST 2016 IPSY BAG

Hi y'all! I'm sorry I got this post up a little later than I wanted to. My first day of classes was today, and needless to say I'm already feeling pretty stressed out by everything that this next semester will entail. I know that I can do it if I keep myself driven and focused though, so I'm trying to stay positive. 
Anyways, in other news I received my August Ipsy bag about a week ago, and I am loving it! 
For those that don't know, Ipsy is a $10 monthly subscription beauty bag that is filled with 5 full sized or sample sized products. To read up about it a little more check out my post here. It's a fun inexpensive way to try out and discover new makeup. 
The reason I haven't posted about Ipsy in a while was because I honestly wasn't too impressed with the last couple bags I received. However, I think they got their stuff together because this bag was a hit! So, without further ado, here are the goodies I got this month! I hope you enjoy! 

5 BACKPACK ESSENTIALS

Hi everyone! I hope you are all enjoying the last little bit of summer. I FINALLY finished my summer classes Saturday so I'm really enjoying this last week of relaxation. While I'm happy that this stressful summer has come to a close, I'm thankful for all the fun times I had with my family and friends the last few months. 
 Sticking with last post's back to school vibe, I thought I'd make a quick post to tell y'all all about 5 essentials that I always have in my backpack with me to carry to class. These are 5 must-haves that I consistently make sure to pack along with all my books, folders, etc. 
I hope y'all enjoy! 
♥

THE BEST PLANNERS FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS

**UPDATED WITH 2018-2019 ACADEMIC PLANNER LINKS**
Hi everyone! Well, it's that time of year again. Everyone is getting ready to go back to school in a couple weeks, and so the madness of school supply shopping has begun.
While I love picking out pretty colored pens and highlighters, my absolute favorite must-have for every new academic year is an awesome planner. In high school, I would always buy a planner and never end up using it, but I find it essential to have one in college. There's always so much going on, and planners just make it so easy to stay on top of everything. From college to work to mommy duties to blog planning, I have a lot to keep track of, and my life would be in utter chaos without a beautiful planner to bring some structure to my days (a little dramatic, I know). 
But seriously, I think every college student should start the year with a planner they love. I, unfortunately, tend to be a bit picky and want a lot out of a planner, so it's often times hard to find one I love at a decent price. I don't know about everyone, but I know that most college kids don't have $60 to dish out on a planner, which is the price tag I have seen on some of the ones I have looked at in the past. 
So luckily, a few years ago I was thrilled to discover an AFFORDABLE planner collaboration between Day Designer (the planner brand of my dreams) and a company called Blue Sky that is available at Target and Amazon. The links I provide in this post are linked to Amazon because the prices are comparable, you don't have to go out to search for a specific planner at multiple Targets, and well they have free 2 day shipping with Prime...need I say more? The planner line they put out is seriously beautiful AND affordable. I am totally obsessed with it. 

In this post I'll be sharing one specific daily/monthly planner from the Day Designer x Blue Sky collab that I bought for the 2016-2017 academic year, along with the larger daily/monthly one I used the previous year. If you like the smaller 5"x 8" daily/monthly one I review in this post click here for the 2018-2019 academic year version. If you like the larger 8"x 10" daily/monthly planner, click here for a similar one for the 2018-2019 academic year. I hope you enjoy getting a glimpse into what is, in my opinion, the best line of planners for college students!  ♥

MY FAVORITE DRUGSTORE HIGHLIGHTER

Hi everyone! I know it's been a hot minute since I've posted. It's just hard to find the time these days, especially when I know I should really be working on upcoming assignments for my summer classes (ew). Luckily, there's only a few more weeks of that and then I'm done! That is, until fall semester starts...ugh. How many days until I graduate again? 
Anyways, I hope all of you have been having a fabulous July! Mine has been quite the roller coaster, but overall things are going great, and the summer is seriously flying by. I can't believe it's almost August! 
One of my favorite things this time of year is fun, glowy, sun-kissed makeup. And in case some of you didn't know, I absolutely love makeup and beauty products. That's why they're such a big part of this blog! So naturally, whenever I discover a product that I absolutely love, I have to share it with all of you! 
Allow me to introduce you all to this gorgeous Makeup Revolution Vivid Shimmer Brick in "Radiant." I had heard good things about this product from one of my favorite beauty gurus on YouTube, and, after hunting for it for a while, I finally found it at Ulta in the shade I needed.
Guys, this highlighter is only $7, and it is SO GOOD.

SALTY AIR & SANDY HAIR: OUR LITTLE BEACH TRIP

Hi everyone! 
Last week my family and I went on a short little beach trip to Rockport, Texas. It was so nice to get a break from the daily grind of work, schoolwork, cleaning the house, etc to spend some time soaking up the sun and relaxing on the beach and by the pool. 
We spent a good portion of our time at the beach, and had a blast. Lilah (my daughter for those who might not know) loved building, (and destroying) sand castles. We even found a tiny blue crab that Lilah called a "bug" and proceeded to try and squish (it lived, don't worry).
Along with beach and pool time, we got to take Lilah to the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi which was seriously such a fun experience! I think I was just as excited to go as she was. We all agreed that the Jellyfish, or "Jellies" as she calls them, were one of our favorite parts. 
I normally don't tend to do too many personal posts about what my family and I do in our everyday lives, but I love to make an occasional one about special holidays and family trips. These posts will be really fun to look back on in a couple years! 
So, I thought I would whip up this quick post to share some of my favorite pictures from our time at Rockport. Instead of writing a long post about what we did during our time there, I thought I'd show you with pictures. Hope you enjoy this little glimpse into my life!    ♥

JUNE FAVORITES

Hi everyone, and Happy Fourth of July! I'm sorry that I've been MIA on here for a couple weeks, my summer classes are seriously kicking my butt. But, I'm back and excited to share my favorites for the month of June! 
I can't believe that it's July already! This summer is flying by, but I'm honestly okay with that because my favorite seasons are right around the corner. I'm already checking out the pumpkin scented candles in the stores and planning some awesome fall and winter blog posts. I can't wait!
Anyways, last month I discovered some awesome new products that I have been loving, so I thought what better way to share them than in a monthly favorites post? 
So, without further ado, here are some things that I was loving in the month of June!
 ♥ 

WHY I'M GRATEFUL FOR GETTING MARRIED YOUNG

Nowadays, society loves to tell people what they're too young for.  Too young to do this. Too young to do that. Too young to get married. Too young to be parents. Most people view being young as going hand in hand with not being mature. 
While that might be true in some cases, a lot of times it is not. In my case, it is not.
What people don't understand is that maturity is developed through life experience, not by age. What we go through shapes how we view things and our mind set. While we tend to gain more life experience as we age, sometimes it doesn't quite work like that. 
I married Ryan, my high school sweetheart, in July 2014 at the age of 19. And yes, I know that's young. I've gotten the surprised "Wow you're married?", "How old are you?", "You're so young!" comments countless times.
But just because my husband and I are in a young marriage, does not mean that we are doomed to fail. It doesn't mean that we can't establish a loving, mature relationship that will hold strong and last until we are gray haired and weathered. 
Sure, we have certain challenges that older couples might not have. But, I also feel like we have certain advantages in our marriage that older couples don't. Looking back over the (almost) two years I've been married, I am so grateful that I didn't wait to get married until the age that society deems "appropriate," and I wanted to write this post to tell you a few reasons why.

LOVE PERFUME? YOU'LL LOVE LUXURY SCENT BOX

Hi everyone! I don't know about you guys, but I LOVE perfume and especially love getting to try out new scents. Going to a fragrance store or stand at the mall can be fun, but sometimes you need to try out a scent more than once in order to know if you truly like it. 
That's where Luxury Scent Box comes in! Luxury Scent Box is a fantastic monthly designer fragrance subscription box that provides you with a month supply of the scent of your choice in a travel size atomizer. 
It's a really unique and cool subscription service that I was lucky enough to be asked to try out and review by the lovely people at Luxury Scent Box. Even though I was sent this box complimentary, all opinions on it are my own. ♥ 
Without further ado, let's get into my review of this subscription box! 

THE SCARY SIDE OF MOTHERHOOD

The day I gave birth to my sweet little girl, I was filled with so many overpowering emotions. I was intensely happy of course, but there was also a little bit of fear. 
I'm positive every mother has experienced this feeling at some point in their child's life.  I worried about keeping her safe. There are so many dangers in the world, and when I first looked into my daughter's big hazel eyes, I felt an intense sense of responsibility to keep her from any harm. "I will take care of you, I will keep you safe" I promised her. 
What I didn't realize at the time was that despite how hard I might try to protect her, bad things can still happen, and that is the truly scary part.

SUMMER JEWELRY WISH LIST

Y'all, summer is just around the corner, and I can't wait! 
One of the best things about this time of the year is the fashion. Stores are always filled with fun, bright prints and adorable accessories during the summer season. In my opinion, jewelry is an absolute essential to complete any outfit. It can really act as a finishing touch that pulls everything together and just gives it that extra little oomph. 
Summer jewelry collections have always been my favorite. They tend to be more colorful and enticing, which I love! A simple, plain tank can take on a whole different look with the perfect statement necklace. 
So, I thought I would whip up a post to share the gorgeous jewelry that I am lusting after for the upcoming summer season. Hope you enjoy! ♥☀

MAY 2016 IPSY BAG

Hi everyone! My Ipsy bag came in the mail a few days ago, and I was super excited to see what goodies I got, and to try out some new makeup and beauty products! This is my second month subscribed to Ipsy, and I am loving it. It is such a cute subscription service. 
Don't know what Ipsy is? Check out my post here where I go a bit more in depth about it. I want to make this post short, sweet, and to the point.  ♥
So, without further ado, here is what I got in the May 2016 Ipsy bag! 

5 THINGS TO DO ON A RAINY DAY

If you're like me, the weather can really affect your mood. I love bright and sunny days; they make me feel positive, energetic, and ready to take on the world. Rainy days tend to have the opposite effect on me. They make me feel really lazy and I usually end up laying around and watching Netflix all day. 
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love lazy days, but when the place you live in has rain in the forecast for the next two weeks straight (thanks Texas weather), I still want to be able to be productive and do something a bit more worthwhile than watch t.v in my pjs for days on end. Of course there will be some Netflix days thrown in there, but there are so many other great things you can do on a rainy day.
So, I thought I'd make a quick post on this gloomy Texas day to share with y'all some of my fav ways to pass the time on a rainy day. Hope you enjoy! ♥

WORTH THE HYPE? MY REVIEW OF THE PHYSICIAN'S FORMULA BUTTER BRONZER

Hi everyone! Sorry for the lack of posts this past week and a half, finals had me super stressed and busy, something I'm sure all my fellow college students can relate to. I also decided to change up the template of my blog (as you can probably see), and I am seriously in love with it! I still have a little bit of tweaking to do, but it's pretty much done. I hope you like it! ♥
Anyways, back to the point of this post. I'm sure a decent amount of you have heard about the Physician's Formula Butter Bronzer. If not, I'm excited to introduce you to it! This product has a lot of hype around it right now, even though I believe it came out a couple months ago. I heard about the Butter Bronzer through one of my fav YouTube makeup gurus a couple weeks ago. Not long after that, several more of the makeup gurus I watch were talking about how much they love it. 
Since then, I have been itching to get ahold of it! It was hard to find, it seemed everywhere I went it was sold out, or they only had the lighter shade. I finally found it in the shade I needed ("Bronzer" instead of "Light Bronze") a few days ago, and I am IN LOVE! 

APRIL SUBSCRIPTION BOXES: IPSY, BOXYCHARM, & GLOSSYBOX

Hi everyone! Today I wanted to talk to you all about the three subscription boxes that I received for the month of April!
As most of you probably know, subscription boxes are super popular right now, so I wanted to try some out so I could see what all the hype was about! I also decided to get them because, let's be real... if you know me you know I am addicted to buying and trying out new makeup and beauty products. Especially lipsticks, but we won't get into that right now. 
Anyways, after watching some of my favorite YouTube beauty gurus talk about their favorite subscription boxes and seeing what sorts of products they received, I decided to try out Ipsy, Boxycharm, and Glossybox. 
In this post I'll give you a little general info on each box, show the products inside + give you a little review on the ones I've tried out, and tell you the prices of both the box and the value of what's inside so you can get an idea of the value of each one. It's going to be a pretty long post, so hang on for the ride! Hope you enjoy! ♥

AN OPEN LETTER TO YOUNG MOMS

To all the young moms out there, 
You are amazing. You're on a path that's a lot more challenging than others, but I'm so proud of you for doing your best and taking care of that little human (or humans) you brought into the world.

"PERFECTLY POSH" PRODUCT TESTING

Hello everyone! Today I'll be talking about my experience sampling some products from a really cute company called Perfectly Posh! 

MARCH FAVORITES

Hi everyone! It's April now, which means it's time for aaaaaaa..... monthly favorites post!! This is the first time I've done a monthly favorites on my blog, and I'm so happy to finally be doing one! I absolutely LOVE reading about/ watching videos of other people's monthly faves. They're probably one of my favorite sort of posts, and they're a fantastic way to discover new things you may end up loving! 
Currently, I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that it's already April. I swear it was just Christmas a week ago. Time is flying! Before we know it, it'll be time for April's monthly favorites, and then eventually our 2016 favorites. So crazy! 
Any who, without further delay, here are some things that I had been LOVING in the month of March. Hope you enjoy! ♥ 

REVIEW + SWATCHES: TOO FACED SWEETHEART PERFECT FLUSH BLUSH

Hello lovelies! Today I want to talk about a makeup product that I've been really excited to try out and review with you all. It's the Too Faced Sweetheart Perfect Flush Blush in "Something About Berry." Whew, that's a mouthful, isn't it? 

I managed to snag this product during one of Ulta's 21 Days of Beauty, so I ended up getting it for only $15, which is such a steal considering it normally comes with a $30 price tag. I love the 21 Days of Beauty because it's the only time I can really buy high end makeup without feeling like I'm splurging. 
Anyways, without further ado I'll get into my review of this gorgeous blush! 

A SNAPSHOT OF MY EASTER

Hi y'all! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter filled with family, laughter, and of course- lots and lots of chocolate!  My Easter was so wonderful in so many ways, and I am so thankful to have gotten to spend this holiday with the people that I love most. Spending time with family is definitely medicine for the soul.

I feel like I haven't written too many personal posts on this blog yet, and I want to change that. I want y'all to get to know who the girl behind the blog is more. After all, I love learning about and connecting more with others, so I want you all to have the opportunity to do the same.

HAPPY NATIONAL FRAGRANCE DAY: MY FAVORITE PERFUMES

Happy National Fragrance Day everyone! I didn't even know this day existed, but I'm so glad that it does because it gives me an excuse to write a little post raving about my favorite scents. 
For the majority of my life, I wasn't a big fan of perfume. In fact, when I was a little girl, I thought perfume was something that only came in heavy powdery-floral scents that old women loved to use. Of course I was totally wrong, and in the past couple years, I have discovered and fallen in love with several different scents. Whether you like fresh, floral scents, or warm, sensual ones, there really is a fragrance out there for everyone!

I hope you enjoy reading a bit about my favorite perfumes!

SPRING ESSENTIALS

Spring will be here in less than a week (although it feels like it's already here in Texas), and I couldn't be more excited! I'm ready for pretty flowers, pastel prints, pool days, and all the chocolate I'm going to eat on Easter. 
The transition of winter time to spring brings with it a plethora of changes. For one, it's time to put away the leggings and riding boots and move on to cute high waisted shorts, crop tops, and strappy sandals. Nail polish colors go from a dark vampy maroon to mint green and lavender. Those are just a couple examples out of many of the different things that I'm looking forward to this coming season. 
So, in celebration of spring, I thought I would share my spring essentials with y'all!

HOLY GRAIL MAKEUP PRODUCTS

      Hey y'all! After taking an almost 6 month hiatus from my blog, I am newly inspired and ready to leap back into the wonderful world of blogging. In case you didn't know, one of my favorite hobbies and passions is makeup. I have SO much fun testing out new products, creating new looks, and sharing my discoveries with others so they too can find things that work for them. So, upon trying to come up with an idea for my next post/re-entrance into blogging, I knew I wanted to share my holy grail, tried and true, makeup products with all of you! It took me a while to choose which products to talk about since I love so much of my makeup, but I finally narrowed it down to 8 wonderful items.
HG (holy grail) product videos and blog posts are some of my absolute favorite to watch and read. They always inspire me to try new things, and also often lead me to discovering products that I adore, some of which have even made it onto my personal HG list. 
So without further ado, here are my holy grail beauty products!