DIY Vanilla Pumpkin Spice Sugar Scrub


Hi everyone! So now that we are into the thick of October I thought it would be so fun to share this super easy DIY! I am not a pumpkin spice latte girl, I just can't get on board with the taste of pumpkin but that doesn't stop me from getting into the fall spirit with a little bit of pumpkin.  (BTW I totally get a little bit more "basic" when Starbucks releases their peppermint mochas! You can bet I will be in line for one of those everyday.) So this is a vanilla pumpkin spice sugar scrub, it smells so good and it will totally get you into the fall spirit! (as if you already weren't.) 

1 cup of granulated sugar 
1/4 cup of coconut oil
2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice 
2 tsp of vanilla extract 

After you have mixed it all up you will want to store it in a jar that has a good seal on it and then you can just keep it in your bathroom.  I went ahead and made two batches because my jar was a little bit bigger than what I was expecting but the more the merrier! I hope you guys try this out and I hope you enjoy it.  I have actually had a pretty long pregnant girl day so when my husband gets home from work I'm going to have a nice long soak and use my new scrub! I can't wait! 

Have a great week! 

My Top Five Favorite Children's Books!


So it is no secret that I absolutely love books! Reading is really special to me and it's something that I hope my children love as well. I have tried to implement reading before bedtime every night (although let's be real, some nights are not as smooth as others!) I can tell it's something that my daughter really enjoys and I am happy to enjoy it with her. Anyway, today I thought I would share with you all some of my current favorites (and hers as well). I would be lying if I said I wasn't a sucker for good illustration and as you can see all of these just have the sweetest illustrations but they are also fun and whimsical and that's why we love them! 

The Adventures of Miss Petitfour is my number one favorite as of right now. I found this book in a little children's shop downtown and I had to pick it up! It's a longer book as it's over 100 pages but it's actually broken down into five short stories about Miss Petitfour and her daily adventures. I have been reading a few pages to Ezrah every night and it has been a lot of fun. And I just have to share with you some of the description on the inside cover because it's what got me hooked. 

"Miss Petitfour is an expert at baking and eating little cakes, She also has the most marvelous everyday adventures. Her favorite mode of travel is by tablecloth, and on windy days she always takes her sixteen cats out of an airing." 

Doesn't that sound so magical? It really does live up to the expectation and I highly recommend it for you and your little one, or just for you! 
If you know me at all you will know that Just Being Audrey made the list for obvious reasons. This book tells the story of Audrey Hepburn's life and how she got into acting. The illustrations are so beautiful and it's just a really fun read.  Maybe one day Ezrah and her sister will be into watching Audrey movies all day with me!  I'm looking forward to that! 

Miss Lina's Ballerinas is about eight ballerinas in four rows of two and they are one perfect act, until Regina shows up and everything gets confusing as they have to now dance in three rows of three. This is such a great book about friendship and learning to work together.  Also, if you need a good rhyme fix then this is also for you! I always get caught up in the rhythm when I read this to my daughter, it's so fun! 
A little while ago I discovered this little company called Babylit and I just fell in love.  I think as of now we have seven or eight of their books but Pride & Prejudice happens to be mine and my daughters favorite.  The whole idea behind this company is they take classic literature and turn them into books for children, for example Pride and Prejudice is a counting primer.  Out of all of Ezrah's books we read this one the most and can say that it has helped her learn numbers (from one to ten at least).  Other books focus on things like emotions, colors, flowers, etc. and they all stay true to the characters and story lines of the originals.  I just think it is such a cute and genius idea and I highly recommend any of them. 

Last on the list, but certainly not least is Julia, Child. This one, like Just Being Audrey, has a children's biography concept but with a little twist.  This is about Julia Child as a child and her friend, Simca (Simca Beck was also a french cookbook author whom Julia worked closely with during her career) The story shares their cooking journey as children and one day they serve their food to adults who take all the fun out of food.  They then go find the perfect ingredients and make a meal that will make all the grown-ups child-like again.  This is the sweetest book about friendship and imagination. 

and you can never have too much of either, or butter! 

I hope you all have an amazing weekend! 


Outings with Ezrah: A Warm Sunday Walk


On Sunday after church Ezrah and I decided to go on a walk together while we let daddy stay home and watch football. It was such a beautiful day that I couldn't resist driving up to Steilacoom, which is one of my favorite places in Washington. It's a quiet little town right on the sound and we just love to go there to eat, play on the beach, or to just enjoy a nice relaxing walk along it's charming little streets. The views are seriously beautiful! I love when the Olympic Mountains start to become topped with snow! The view of them in the distance over the sound is the best! I have to say I am really enjoying soaking up all this precious time with Ezrah before her little sister arrives in December. We are so excited to have our second girl here but it is going to be a big change and our days are going to get much fuller so I am just trying my best to be present in the chapter we are in right now. 
1. Sweater from Target 
2. Skirt from Target 
3. Shoes from Old Navy 

Ok, I just wanted to point out how darling these little oxfords are! I think they look perfect paired with these eyelet trimmed socks! They were so inexpensive (on sale now!) and I know that she is going to get so much wear out of them throughout fall and winter! 
Have a blessed week, everyone! 

Fall Makeup Staples

      Hi everyone!  We are moving further into the fall season, which for me means warm shadows and
      dark bold lips.  If I'm honest fall is my favorite season for makeup and I wanted to share with you 
      my must haves!  I don't discriminate when it comes to makeup I just buy what I love so I have a 
      good mixture of drugstore and high-end to share with you guys and I hope you enjoy!  I will link 
      to everything throughout the post to make it easier just in case you are interested in any of the 
      products that I mention. 

      To start off I have really been loving this eyeshadow palette from Tarte. There is a good mixture 
      between neutrals and soft plum shades, which can be worn subtly but I also think you can create
      a really pretty smoky eye with this too.  All the shadows are matte, which is different than 
      anything else I own and I have just been really enjoying the different looks I can create with it.  
      OK, this NARS eyeshadow duo in Isolde is everything! These shadows are just so rich and 
      beautiful and they just scream autumn.  When I wear these I simply just put the lighter gold color 
      on the inner corner of my eye and the darker bronze color of the outer corner and then blend the 
      two together.  It's so simple to do but it still gives a really bold look to the eyes that I love! 
      Lastly, I had to share one of my favorite cream eyeshadows from Maybelline in the shade 
      Bad to the Bronze.  This shadow is great for all year but I especially love it for fall because it adds 
      such a warm look to the eyes.  This is one that I just literally just throw on by itself it doesn't need 
      anything else to go with it.  It's really easy to blend out (I just use my finger) and it lasts all day.
      The price is also extremely affordable, which is always a plus! 

      Because I am so fair I struggle with finding darker shades for fall and winter that work for me.  I 
      I don't go to far outside the box but I love this one from Tarte in Exposed. It's a matte natural pink 
      and it has this warm tone that is just right for both fall and my fair complexion.  The Becca 
      highlight in Opal is great for this time of year because the gold tone really warms up the face. 
      And just for added bonus the formula is amazing, this stuff goes on like gold butter and brings the 
      light to all the right places! It is no doubt worth every penny. 

      I saved the best for last!  If you know me at all you will know that I love playing around with lip
      color and the fall season is my absolute favorite!  So without further ado lets get into my picks!  
      Black Cherry from Revlon has been a long time favorite of mine.  It's not as scary as it looks, I 
      promise!  It's pretty vampy but I think it's beautiful and the formula is really creamy, which makes 
      it easy to wear.  I do like to wear a lipliner under it and I find that this liner from NYX in 
      Copenhagen goes perfectly with it.  Another drugstore staple of mine is Divine Wine by 
      Maybelline.  As the name suggests it is just this beautiful wine shade and it's matte, which is 
      something I really love in a darker lipstick. Ok, so these next two I am super excited to talk about! 
      The melted matte lipsticks from Too Faced are seriously to die for! The first shade I have been 
      loving is called Queen B, which I would describe as a mauve-y nude. Because it's more on the 
      neutral side it's easy to pair with a lot of different looks but I also like to pair it with the colors 
      from my Tarte palette that I mentioned earlier for kind of a monochromatic look.  Now, if you are
      looking for the perfect red lipstick look absolutely no further! This one is called Lady Balls, and
      despite it's horrible name it is seriously THE best!  It has a blue undertone, which I think is 
      always flattering and the velvety texture is so sexy.  If you are the type that gets nervous about 
      matte textures you don't have to worry with this one because it stays on like cement.  I never have 
      to reapply whenever I wear it. 

      So those are my picks!  I hope you all have so much fun playing with your makeup this fall!
      Remember that it's all about having fun so don't worry about taking it too seriously!

      

Outings With Ezrah

Hi everyone! Being that my blog is sort of a mixup of all things, a lifestyle blog if you will, and being that I'm a mom I was trying to think of different ways to share my mommy experience with you all.  So I came up with a series that I want to do periodically called Outings with Ezrah. Ezrah is my three-year-old daughter and I thought it would be fun to share with you guys some of our outings together and how I dress her. I always dreamed of having girls (one on the way) but I never thought it would actually come true, they are such a joy in my life!  And though there is so much more that goes into parenting then just dressing up your kiddos in cute clothes it sure is a lot of fun! So I hope you all enjoy this new blog series! Today Ezrah and I had to run some errands around town and after we were done I took her to the park where she slid down the slide at least 100 times. I love watching her run around and giggle to her hearts content.  Plus I'm pretty sure she fell asleep within 10 minutes that night! 


Everything Ezrah is wearing is from Old Navy with the exception of her little purse.  Old Navy is one of my favorite places to shop for her because they have a great selection and their prices are great!  We are also lucky enough because my cousin, Ashley works as a manager at one of the stores in the Portland and she is always brining us goodies like this top Ezrah is wearing.  I love the detail on the back of it! I LOVE this darling little purse that she is wearing, she's always stuffing toys in it before we go out.  It was a gift from her grandparents and I can't remember for the life of me but I believe they got it at a little toy shop when they were driving through New Mexico on their way to visit us. Well, guys that's it for me today.  I really hope you enjoy this new little series that I will be doing, I know I have a lot of fun creating this content.

Have a blessed week!


DIY Fall Banner


      The other day I walked outside and the temperature was a cool sixty degrees.  The air was crisp
      and smelled like fresh rainfall. This to me can only meet one thing, fall is basically here! Fall is
      my all-time favorite season and I just can't help but get excited. So I decided to start decorating
      my house for the season. The first thing I went looking for is a fall banner to put on my fire place.
      Target usually comes out with seasonal banners but I went to two different stores and I couldn't
      find one. This may also be because I am just jumping the gun and started looking too early.  In
      any case I thought it would be really fun to make my own and share it with all of you!  It is really
      easy and doesn't require a lot of steps.  Don't worry if you don't have everything you need, while
      you are out picking up supplies you can stop and get yourself a pumpkin spice latte!
     You deserve it!



      The next steps are super simple. All you need to do is take a pot and heat the wax on a low setting 
      until it is completely melted and smooth. I know it make seem scary sticking a leaf into hot wax 
      but I promise it works and it's so much easier than using glue! Once you have completely 
      saturated the leaf in wax you will want to cover the surface with glitter. You may need to work 
      fast here because depending on the consistency of you wax it kind dry rather quickly. Once all of 
      your leaves have sat out and dried for a few minutes you can pin them to your banner and you're
      all done! 


      I forgot to mention that I already had this banner from Target that I just added leaves to. If you 
      don't already have a banner like mine you can just take some twine and pin the leaves to it and it 
      will look just as good! 

      Well that's all from me today.  I really hope this helped you get into the fall spirit! Now I am off        
      to bake some cookies! 





Mommy wish list


My husband and I are expecting our second child, Hadessah in December. As much as I would have loved for this one to be a boy I would be lying if I said I wasn't elated to be having another girl! There is just something so special about little girls and we can't wait for her arrival! So of course with a new baby on the way, naturally, you have to prepare. We already have a lot of necessities like the crib and lots of clothes but I can't help but get excited about some of the other cute baby things! So without further ado here is my mommy wish list!  Some of the things on this list are more necessary than others but it's  all adorable nonetheless.

1.  We had to add Ezrah's new big girl bed to the room so I have had to do a lot of adjusting with the layout. Now that everything is rearranged I have just been working on finishing touches.  I've been keeping everything really girly and whimsical and I think this little bunny mobile would go perfectly!

2. We swaddled Ezrah until the last possible second when she was still a baby and she slept really well on her own, as I was terrified of co-sleeping.  I fully intend on using the same game plan with Hadessah. I don't really have any of Ezrah's swaddling blankets left so I have been on the lookout for some. I found these hand-made blankets from Archer and Antlers over on Etsy and I just think they are the sweetest. They all come with a matching headband or hat and the shop has really great reviews so I think it may be something that I will continue to look into!

3. I never had any kind of carrier with Ezrah but I have always wanted to try the sling carriers.  When the baby is still so little it will be nice to still have the closeness.  They also look so comfortable and easy to use so I definitely think I am going to try one this time around.

4.  So this is one of those things that isn't quite necessary but I just love these little plush dolls from Anthropologie. They are so darling and I also love the idea of the girls having their own dolls that they can play with together as the little one gets older.

5. Arn't these teethers the cutest!?  I found them on Etsy from a shop called Urban Baby Boutique Inc. Ezrah started to get her first tooth around six months but she started using teethers long before that so I know I will want to be well prepared with Hadessah too. I love finding useful products with a fun and unique twist and these are no acceptation!  They come in so many fun colors too, I think I may consider getting the pink ones!

6. This post wouldn't be complete without a sweet little dress! I love the little collar on this one that I found at Zara.  I always tell all the mommy's in my life to check out Zara's children's clothing! They are seriously the best! I would consider some of their stuff to be on the pricy side but I would say that the majority of it is pretty affordable.  Their prices are right along the lines of other places like Target and Gap and you can get a lot of basic pieces like t-shirts for five dollars!

7.  Last but certainly not least are bibs! Now this one may look a bit fancy to you, like why would I buy this just to get peas and carrot stains all over it?  I have my reasonings.  Ezrah was the biggest drooler known to man.  I am so serious, I had to change her clothes like three times a day because they would be soaking ten minutes after I dressed her.  So if Ezrah's little sister is anything like she was I am going to need to figure something out rather that just change her clothes three times a day.  I could just go with your basic bib but I thought this was a great idea because if she is going to wear it all day long at least it ought to be stylish! It's also something that I can take off of her once it gets totally soaked, throw in the dryer quick, and then pop it back on her once its dried.  This particular one I found on Billy Bibs, they have so many other amazing styles and they are all reversible, which is a great little bonus.  I would also suggest following them on Instagram if you want endless amounts of mommy inspiration.

Well that is it for me today! I really hope that you enjoyed reading and I wish you all a happy Thursday! Friday is almost here, guys!

also if you want to see more from me you can follow my blog through email or bloglovin' all the links are located at the top right of the screen.  I would love to see you back :)


Go to makeup

     Summer is winding and so I have found myself soaking up all thats left.  Trips to the pool, doing 
     my morning workout outside, going out to get ice cream, and summer makeup is all still on the 
     agenda.  Don't get me wrong though, I am SO excited for fall, as it is my favorite season! But 
     because I am still in summer mode I thought I would share with you my all the products I have 
     reaching for to create my go to look.  I hope you enjoy! 
 
     When it comes to foundation I rarely change it up.  I am very faithful to the Covergirl Outlast 
     Stay Luminous Foundation (I am in the color 820: creamy natural). I like my foundation quite 
     dewy because I tend to have dryer skin and a matte finish just doesn't work for my skin type 
     plus I feel like my skin looks more glowy and natural.  For concealer I have been using the cover 
     stick by Maybelline. This stuff is really thick and full coverage.  I find it lasts way longer than 
     some of the others I have used in the past. I use the color light beige which is slightly lighter than
     my actual skin tone.  I find that this helps brighten up my under eye area. 
     The bronzer that I have been reaching for the most lately is my Chocolate Soleil by Too Faced
     which (bonus!) actually smells like chocolate!  I really like the matte finish and I find it really 
     blendable, which can kind of be a hassle with bronzer sometimes. 
     It's no secret that my favorite spring/summer blush of all time is Full of Joy by MAC it is THE 
     perfect baby doll pink with just a hint of lavender.  It makes the face look so dewy and fresh and 
     I just think it should be a staple in every girls collection. 
     On to my favorite part, highlight! I received the OFRA You Glow Girl highlighter in my August 
     Ipsy bag and I got so excited because I saw it reviewed on Rachhloves YouTube channel 
     (the girl knows about highlight!) and I really wanted to try it.  It is no joke and has quickly 
     become one of my favorites.  I have been using it almost everyday and it just gives the most 
     beautiful glow to the high points of the face.  I will definitely be repurchasing it in the full size 
     when I am finished with the sample and I highly recommend it to all of you!
      When it comes to eyes I have been keeping it really simple.  I have been loving the NARS 
      eyeshadow duo in the shade Alhambra.  They are so pigmented and really easy to work with.  So 
      what I do is take the gold shade (on the right) and sweep it all over my eyelid then I just take a 
      little bit of my bronzer and pop a little bit in the crease to add a little bit of definition.  I then use 
      the champaign shade on the left and put a little bit underneath my brow bone and in the inner 
      corner of my eye. After my eyeshadow has been applied I take a brown liner (from Covergirl) and
      line my upper eyelid, then I smudge it out.  I also use it to line the rim of my bottom lid.  I think 
      the brown really complements the gold toned shades plus its really soft.  I find that for me, black      
      liner is often too harsh for an everyday look. 
      
     Last but not least are lips.  Lilac Flush by Maybelline has been my go to color.  It's such a 
     beautiful shade of pink and it complements the blush I've been using really well.  It's also really 
     moisturizing, which is always a plus.  I just put a little bit on my lips and then really rub it in with 
     my fingers to give it a sheerer look.  I think it looks a little bit more understated this way. 


Well that's it, guys, just pop on some mascara and you're done! Overall I think this look is really simple and perfect for soaking up the remainder of summer! I hope you all have a blessed week!