Beauty Week Day1-Beauty Routine

Hey guys, my name is Mallorie and I write over at Home is with you... today I'll be sharing with you all my daily beauty routine! I try my best to only use all natural products because the stuff you put on your skin seeps into your pores and well, we don't want any nasty chemicals in our bodies now do we?

 First I start with this moisturizer. Not only is it super moisturizing (which is really important since I tend to have dry skin), but it has just the right amount of SPF...

 Then I put a dab of this around each eye. Make sure to use your ring fingers because they are the weakest of our fingers and will do the least amount of damage to our skin...

The first thing I do at night is use face wipes to take off my makeup...gently...

 Then I put a nightly repairing cream on....

 ...and this bad boy is what I use if I ever start to feel a breakout coming on...a little dab of this works miracles, I'm speak the truth here people. Honestly I don't know where to get it, my Mom is a hairstylist and gets it for me at one of the beauty suppliers, but I'm sure you can order it online or something. You won't regret it!

So there you have my daily beauty routine for my face...please come say hi to me over on my blog, I love new friends :)

Beauty Week Day1-Beauty Routine!

Today starts BEAUTY WEEK! We have some fabulous ladies willing to share what they know and help us with some tips and tricks from beauty routines to the right accessories. I have multiple post for each day, so make sure you check back throughout the day!

Also, if you have any tips and tricks to share, make sure to comment, or even write your own blog post and leave the link in the comment sections! I am sure we would all love to hear your beauty secrets too!


Today we start with the basics: BEAUTY ROUTINE.
Our first blogger is Liv from the blog Soul Singing Liv. Love this girls writing and her outlook on life. It makes me happy just reading her blog! So without further ado.......

Hello, my name is Liv and I am a free-spirited, new experience craving, music loving, peace seeking, soul singing butterfly.  My blog is a special place where I store away all of my treasures, a place where I record our daily adventures and reflect on the simple  blessings in life.  I love writing, learning new ideas, making music, taking photos, and collecting sentimental pieces.   I spend my days balancing my time between working as a nurse and building a career I am passionate about while also being a wife and mama to my precious family.  Together, we spend our days striving for peace in our hearts, kindness in our words, and adventure in our souls.

I am SO excited to be a part of She Said's Beauty Week!!  Michelle is such a beautiful,stylish mama and I honestly feel out of my league in such lovely company!

I am a pretty earthy, no frills kind of girl: I wear my hair long and embrace my natural curls, I enjoy make-up and what it does to make me feel glamorous but I don't wear it everyday.  However, when it comes to my skin, I am ridiculously high maintenance. My grandmother bought me my very own Noxzema and Oil of Olay products on my thirteenth birthday, presenting them to me in her bathroom like some kind of Southern Belle rite of passage.  She gave me specific instructions to stay out of the sun, avoid cigarettes like the plague, and to always, without fail, wash and moisturize my face every morning and every night.  I have tried to honor my beautiful, Cajun mama ever since: understanding the importance of taking care of your skin now in order to preserve it later.

I've been a product junkie for years, trying every skin care line I could get my hands on, hording samples and experimenting with different combinations.  I experienced adult acne when I was 27 and 28, got a mild case of melasma when I was pregnant with my second child, battle undereye circles daily thanks to my olive complexion, and started seeing REAL wrinkles this past summer.  Two years ago, I finally found a line that was able to address all of those issues: Murad.  I haven't looked back since. 

Murad is a gentle skin care line that has treated my acne symptoms without burning and damaging my skin.  It has helped correct the pigment problems caused by my pregnancy hormones without using harsh chemicals.  And, best of all, it has reduced my fine lines and wrinkles and made my skin tone smooth and even.  I also never leave the house without my Dermalogica Total Eye Care cream: an undereye moisturizer that contains an SPF 15 AND is tinted to cover dark circles.   The last step is a foundation primer made by Merle Norman that I simply can NOT live without: Luxiva Foundation Primer.  It keeps my makeup fresh all day long and gives my skin that dewy glow I love so much.

Above all, though, I think that beauty really does come from within.  I feel my prettiest when I'm surrounded by the ones I love, when I'm laughing my deepest belly laugh, smiling my big cheesy grin.  God has blessed us all with a beautiful and unique version of ourselves, creating a perfect canvas for us to delve into and make our own.  To me, there is nothing more beautiful than a woman who believes in herself, a girl who can stand on her own two feet and be proud of who she is.

Embrace your inner light and let it shine!

Bye Bye Binky!

I didn't want to say anything for about 2 weeks, just in case it was just an off couple of weeks because Chloe's top 2 front teeth came in, but now it's official! Chloe weaned herself from the binky!
It was quite hilarious because the weekend before it happend, she was obsessed with her binky. She had stayed the weekend with my mom and my mom said she needed the binky. She ended up loosing it in a restaurant and so my mom had to rush out to get another (she even got 2 as a back up). Then, the day after she gets back home from Grandmas, she doesn't need the pacifier anymore. Crazy. We gave her the binky one day, she sucked on it for a second, then just took it out and for the whole week whenever I would give her the binky it would be the same thing, she would pull it out after 1 suck (as weird as that sounds, I just don't know how to word it any other way). And she hasn't wanted the binky since. Although, sometimes I wish she would want it again, especially while crying because we have to put her to bed at night.... I was starting to dread having to wean her from the binky and was thinking about doing after 13 months, but she did it all on her own in a matter of a day!

We are so proud of our little girl, she is growing up so fast!!!!

Beauty Week - Next Week!

I am going to tell you a little secret. I have been feeling really icky lately about the way I look. I don't know if I am just stuck in a rut of wearing the same things over and over again. Maybe it's the fact that I haven't had my hair cut or since Chloe was still inside my belly. Maybe its that I don't change up my makeup routine and I look the same day in day out. Whatever it is, all I know is I NEED SOME CHANGE!

So this upcoming week will be BEAUTY WEEK! Each day for next week I will have guest bloggers visit and share about their fashion and beauty tips.

Monday October 24th is Beauty Routine

Tuesday October 25th is Hair

Wednesday October 26th is Make Up

Thursday October 27th is Fashion

Friday October 28th is Accessories.

I have some really good bloggers lined up, you can see who they are with the banners on the right. Seriously can't wait to hear and share all the good tips and tricks! Make sure you come by each day and check out what's new. Also, check out the guest bloggers! ---->

Pumpkin Patch Time! (pictures galore)

On Saturday we went up to Bates Nut Farm with James' dad and step mom. This is one of the very few actual pumpkin patches we have in San Diego. The day was hot (we were really hoping for some cooler, fall weather) and the place was very busy. We had tons of fun!  

They had animals you can feed like goats, pot belly pigs (so cute!) sheep, ducks, geese, chickens, emus, llamas, donkeys and more. They had a petting area too, but Chloe couldn't care less about petting the animals. We got her close to a goat and she was good for about 1 minute, then she was over it the rest of the day. But she did love to watch them, especially the chickens. 

They had hay rides, pony rides, rock climbing, those HUGE jumpy activity centers, a live band and lots of yummy food. We only partook in the corn maze. Which actually didn't contain any corn at all, it was just a short wall made of hay bales that intertwined. You had to find 8 mail stations and stamp them off on your paper to be put in a special drawing. Chloe's favorite part of the maze was getting to play with the paper. ha. (In fact, we still have the paper and her face lights up when she sees it. Maybe it's the bright orange color?)

I promise she is happy here.

Chloe stayed with Papa pretty much the whole time, I was very impressed. She LOVED being held the entire time. She even was good when he held her on his shoulders. She was pointing at everything and really enjoyed herself. 

They have a real patch that you can go pick the pumpkins from. We opted for a small Cinderella pumpkin that will hopefully last me for fall decor for November. I also got a small white, orange and tiger pumpkin. And a fun multi-colored bumpy squash. They will make quite a centerpiece for our table.

I really wanted this squash. I though it would be great to prop it with a skeleton making a phone call....

 These were James' favorite. They look like Zombie pumpkins

 They had a scarecrow contest the weekend before we went so we were able to see all the creative scarecrows that others came up with. My favorite was the owl (of course) and James was Jack Skellington. The Dia De Los Muertos one was also on my fave list.

 I seriously LOVE all the faces she makes. So cute!

Canadian Thanksgiving

Our boss is Canadian and very proud of it. At work, we celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving every year. Since Canadian Thanksgiving was on Monday, and James and I took the day off at work to have a "personal" day, we celebrated it yesterday.  Everyone brought in a traditional Thanksgiving dish. We had turkey, cheesy potatoes, pumpkin and apple pies, veggies, cranberries, green bean casserole, and other great and wholesome side dishes. James made candied yams (so good!) and I made our family wassail. We set up our lunchroom to look like thanksgiving dinner and we all sat down together to "feast" in the meal. It was so nice and it felt like family. And to honor Canadian Thanksgiving even more, we all dressed in red and white. 

Like Always, we had to take a group picture.

So to all you Canadians out there, hope your Thanksgiving was grand!

TV Console Ideas?

So right now, our laptop, dvd & vhs player sit on a sofa table that is against our wall under our mounted tv. If you don't know what a sofa table is, it is skinny tall table that typically sits behind a sofa or sits in an entry way.

Sofa Table on Overstock
ours looks just like this but white.

 We have 6 decorative boxes filled to the max with dvds that sit underneath said table. They are pretty wedged in under the table so Chloe is not able to pull them out... until now. And she loves to play with these boxes, and pull herself up using them and try to climp up them. I am really afraid she will pull one out and land on her.... And she has gotten tall enough to reach ontop of the table and grab at the laptop and almost reach the dvd player. YIKES!

We got these boxes from Ikea
Although they are super great for storing dvd, not so great for baby climbing.

 SO now we are on the hunt for a tv console.... the reason we waited this long is because I really haven't found anything I like. I am looking for something that has doors and cabinets so that way we can "conceal" everything. Less clutter for me = less stress.

Jessica at Tart's tv console
I really want something like this.

 We need to find one that will look good with our 2 tall bookshelves that flank the side of the tv and the soon to be console cabinet.

This was from our old apartment set up... I loved it!

Can anyone give me any ideas of where to look? I have tried Ikea, Overstock, Target, Cb2. I want one that looks a little more modern than traditional. And I don't want to shell out the big bucks for as I hate to spend money on something that I am not sure I will be able to take with us when we move to Portland. (you never know what furniture will fit where when you apartment hop as much as we do).

Date Night

It's funny before James and I had Chloe we really didn't have "date nights" it seemed that most nights were a date night. Now, I realize how precious those 2 little words really are. My mom will be taking Chloe over the 3 day weekend to see my Grams in Phoenix, AZ. Leaving James and I to catch up on those much needed "Date Nights". I am so excited, but also kinda bummed that I will be missing Chloe's first flight. Oh well... I can't experience every one of her "first".  I know this is good for Chloe to have some special bonding time with my mom and my Grams, so I am super excited for her too.



Tonight, I get a date night with MYSELF. And I am quite looking forward to it! I have so many things I want to do that I don't think I will have time for.... take a long bubble bath, catch up on a book, work on some sewing projects I have been not finding time for, playing with my hair and watching hair tutorials on you tube. Actually getting a chance to shave my legs... haha I guess I could have left that last part out... but it's true! I took for granted all the time I had to actually do things before I had Chloe and it is so nice to get some ME time in! YAY! Who knows... I may catch up on some blogging as well... :)

Then I get to go on a date night with the hubs. We are going to Sushi, strolling around Balboa Park (our fave place), going shopping (finally using my gift card from my birthday 10 months ago) and watching 50/50. And getting some quality face to face time in (my love language). So stoked !!!!



Hope you all have a good weekend and try to get some quality time with yourself and your other half too...

Fall/Holiday Treat (Recipe Included)

Since marrying James, I have been privy to 3 amazing family tradition foods.
1) The best mashed potatoes I have ever EVER had. And I LOVE mashed potatoes
2) Chocolate Mousse Pie. James dad will not reveal his recipe just yet. But someday I will get it. It is seriously AMAZING. This is the single most exciting food that I look forward to for the Holidays.
3) Wassail. seriously, this drink makes me feel like I actually get to experience fall and winter.

These foods are always expected around the holidays. And although they can be made all year round, it just isn't the same. It's the same reason Starbucks waits to have Pumpkin Spice, it's just not the same if you were able to have it all the time.... although, these foods would definitely not be taken for granted if I were to have them more often throughout the entire year. These foods just make me feel like "ahhh, the holidays are here!"

After getting James approval I am going to share our wonderful Wassail drink recipe. And although I am sure you can probably find this recipe on the world wide web. I have not tried all those recipes, and I can't suggest something I haven't tried... So take my word, this Wassail recipe is THE BEST and you should definitely try it out! It's simple and hearty and just ohhhhh sooooo goood!

Schmitz Wassail Recipe:
Ingredients: 
1 32 oz Crandberry Juice
2 32oz  Apple Cider
3 Cinnamon Sticks
1 Orange
Whole Cloves

Directions:
Pour cranberry juice and apple cider into a crock pot. Turn crock pot on medium and let sit.
Take 1 orange and slice it it, leaving the peel on.
Push whole cloves through the peel on each slice. 
Put  orange slices into crock pot.
Put cinnamon sticks into crock pot.
Heat for 15 minutes. Then Enjoy!

It's super easy and ridiculously yummy! Let me know if you get a chance to make it!

Halloween Decorating

Halloween is hands down James favorite holiday. He usually gets free rein to do whatever he wants to our house for Halloween. He usually goes all out with scary (and I mean scary) figurines, wall, window and door hangings, skulls that drip red blood candle wax, full size skeletons, all the works...

Spooky Couch Cover from Target
If it were up to James, our house pretty much would look like this

 hand from Target
usually we have things like this

Spider Skeleton from Target
I am sure if James saw this there, he would have tried to convince me we needed it.

Zombie from Target
I know James would have loved this!

 However, now that we have a baby, things have changed. We have to be careful not to make it too scary for her and we have to make sure that everything is put up on tall shelves and countertops that she cannot reach. We can't put out a spooky table cloth or fun spider webs all over the place because I know she will find a way to 1) pull them down and everything else with it or 2) eat it.

  This year we had toned it down quite a lot and have gone more the cutesy "Martha Stewart" route instead. And you know what, I like it. James thinks it looks more like a "moms" Halloween and it looks cheesy and I am a-okay with that. I for one, do not love being scared every time I have to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom or get a drink of water. Plus, I really do like the cutesy stuff.  This year we just ended up going to Target to get additional Halloween Decor. I was surprised that there was a lot more there that I wanted then I would have expected.

Candelabra from Target
We put a bunch candelabras like these around our house with orange and yellow candles

Orange Berry Wreath from Target
I don't know why I really like wreaths hung on front doors.
And this one would work for both Halloween and Thanksgiving!

Frankenstein Nutcracker from Target
This would looks so cute on my bookshelf!

Vintage Wall Hangs from Target
Target even has vintage designs that they made with real wood. I LOVED these!

So it got me wondering, did anyone else changed the way they decorated for a "scary" holiday like this when they had kids? Also, anyone have any ideas for cutesy Halloween decor that James might like? Can anyone give me some suggestions of other places to get some fun Halloween decor?