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Lifestyle

Folly Beach Weekend

July 30, 2018

Folly Beach is one of my all time favorite places to go. Unfortunately it’s such a pain to get to during the summer due to traffic. I can’t justify sitting on Folly Road for an hour just to go a few miles from my house. Luckily this year I was able to go out to a condo for a night. Even better, we had some amazing views of not only the moon but Mars as well. I really wish that I would have taken my camera with me to get better photos. I also wish that my phone would have captured the gorgeous reds and oranges of both Mars and the moon. Alas, it couldn’t.

There’s nothing quite like looking out over the ocean and seeing a bright red star in the sky and knowing that it’s Mars. The moon rising was also fantastic. It rose, bright through the clouds in reds and oranges. The coloring was so amazing it almost looked like it should have been the sun rising. The clouds moving across helped put on one hell of a good show Saturday night. These are a few pictures I took before heading to bed.

Lifestyle, Writing

It’s Been A While

July 23, 2018

It’s amazing how time flies sometimes. I’ve been so busy working on my other blog that I’ve completely neglected my own site. I really should know better by now but sometimes life really can get the best of you. I’m here now though and I’ll hopefully be able to post a little something on a regular basis.

So, what the heck have I been up to? Well, I’m still working full time with my family’s company. I’m still a consultant with Perfectly Posh and recently I’ve added Origami Owl to that list. I’m not as focused on the later two but it is nice to make some extra money from time to time! If you’re interested in checking either out I’ll have a list of links at the end of the post!

A locket inspired by the SC state flag and local Charleston iconography

A sea inspired locket

An 80’s inspired locket

I also got another cat. My friends joked that I got Frankie right after David Bowie. Then I went and adopted Oliver right after Chris Cornell. Personally, I don’t think that’s the case. So how did I end up with Oliver? I’d gone to Pet Smart for cat food and saw this little kitten peaking around the corner in the adoption area. All the other kittens were asleep but he kept watching me. Basically he picked me and I couldn’t leave without him. They have their own Instagram and I’ll leave a link at the end of the post.

Lots of Writing

The Other Blog

I’ve also been working on another blog where we update a little more often than I have been over here. It’s been pretty fun the last two years. It’s called Not Your Counter Culture. We’ve been focused on sharing fun playlists we’ve made, looking at some of the different subscription boxes and searching for off the beaten path places in Charleston and Charlotte.

The Novel

My friend and I are also working on a novel (well a series). We’ve been talking about it for years but we’ve finally buckled down and started doing some serious work towards starting. I’m really excited to finally put all of our ideas down. I’ll probably be updating a lot about that process over here.

Links to check out

Beauty Tip Tuesday, Lifestyle, Perfectly Posh

Lip Tips For Fall & Winter

November 7, 2016

Let’s face it, we’ve all fallen in love with the matte lipstick craze that has taken over 2016. As we shift into fall and winter it would be a no brainer to rock out all of these amazing deep reds, dusty roses, plums, and whatever other shade your heart desires with a matte liquid lip. But I have a challenge for you. Maybe, just maybe, for the sake of your lip’s health you should try something on the cream side this season or get ready to pamper the hell out of those lips when you take that lipstick off.

Lips suffer in the dry winter months, we all know it and we all deal with it in different ways. Lip balms, chapsticks (DANGER WILL ROBINSON), and moisturizers are all go to’s when trying to keep our lips healthy when the temperatures start to drop. Did you know though that using your favorite matte lipsticks could actually make it even worse? It wasn’t really something I thought about until recently and being in love with all of these new shades I just bought I told myself everything would be fine. Guess what, I was wrong.

I live in the south where balmy for this time of year could mean 75 with 80% humidity so it never crossed my mind that I would need to take extra precautions with my lips. That is until they cracked and broke out after a weekend of wearing this amazing Colour Pop matte liquid lipstick that I just can’t seem to live without right now and needing to turn my heat on overnight for the first time. That was when I realized that I was going to need to step my game up if I wanted to keep using it during the cooler months. I’d say drier but let’s face it, the only reason the air feels drier in Charleston in winter is because we’re turning the heat on; but considering that when it is cooler we tend to spend more time indoors, our skin is faced with drier conditions most of the time. Humidity rant aside, I needed to find a new way to keep my lips moisturized.

I’ve got two words for you that made my lips feel better almost overnight: scrub and mask. The concept seems pretty simple, we do both to our faces on a regular basis already so why not treat the skin on our lips with the same respect? First of all, sugar lip scrubs are a great way to not only exfoliate your lips but they’re also excellent at removing lip stains so for me using a scrub is really like hitting two steps in one. My favorite lip scrub right now is the Snowed In from Perfectly Posh (on a side note if you haven’t noticed, I’m an independent consultant for Perfectly Posh). It’s got an amazing vanillamint flavor that I’m loving right now and is full of natural ingredients like sugar, shea and cocoa butters, honey, macadamia, jojoba, and peppermint oil. There’s also another scrub called Orange Cara-Mellow that’s an orange and caramel flavor.

After using one of them to remove the last bits of my lip color and washing my face I follow it up with a lip mask. I’d never heard of a lip mask before Perfectly Posh came out with one and as weird as it might sound, it’s kind of a no brainer. You use face masks for a variety of reasons so why not use one on your lips. Goodnight Kisses is an overnight lip mask you can use while you sleep. It will help deeply hydrate your lips so they’ll be ready for whatever you want to put on the next day. These simple two steps have been keeping my lips healthy and hydrated while I continue to go against recommendations and wear my matte lipsticks.

A couple of other options are to try some cream lipsticks this season and to always use a hydrating lip balm when you’re not wearing any color.

Cooking, Lifestyle

Garlic Parmesan Shrimp

June 8, 2016

Recently I did a quick meal out of things I happened to already have in the fridge. I was craving spaghetti but I wanted something a little on the lighter side as well as something that would be healthier for me. This meal was really easy, however I didn’t measure anything out so I can’t give you specifics on how much to use of what ingredients.

First I started with a spaghetti squash since I knew it would take the longest to cook. I always like to roast mine, although I know many people cook theirs in the microwave. I tossed it in the oven with some olive oil, salt and pepper. If you aren’t sure how to cook a spaghetti squash, a quick Google search can show you a few different ways.

While that was in the oven, I started on the shrimp. I warmed some Holy Smoke olive oil (if you haven’t tried this stuff out you really need to) up in a pan with some minced garlic and just sauteed the shrimp until they were done. I set them aside and then added more olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper to the pan and began warming it up while I waited on the squash to be done. After pulling the squash out of the oven I added grated Parmesan cheese to the olive oil along with about of 1/4 of a cup of water (if I was making regular pasta I would have reserved pasta water for this) and let that all simmer together on the stove. I tossed the shrimp back into the pan and began adding the spaghetti squash little by little.

That’s it! The meal took less than an hour to cook and only really included two ingredients I don’t normally keep stocked in the kitchen. If you try it out, let me know!

Lifestyle, Makeup

Time To Branch Out

May 24, 2016

Anyone that’s known me for a while is aware that I have a love affair when it comes to MAC Cosmetics. I’ve been almost exclusively using the brand for makeup for about 1o years and fell in love with it back when I was a junior in high school. I go through phases with makeup so it never really paid off for me to experiment with other brands. Currently I’m getting out of a bare minimum look phase and starting to get back into wearing more eye and lip colors.

In my new adventures with makeup I thought it would be awesome to try out some new brands and new types of products. The first step, of course, was hitting up the Sephora site. We have one here in Charleston now but it’s much safer for me to shop online instead of wanting to buy everything in the store. I did a little research into what I wanted to try first but had been putting off the order until I got and email about free perfume. Of course I had to take advantage of that!

The first big change I made was trying out the Make Up For Ever Pro Finish powder. So far I haven’t noticed a huge difference between in and the MAC powder that I’d been using other than I feel like I color matched better with Make Up For Ever.

The Marc Jacobs birthday gift was a great add on, however I’m not fully impressed with the eye liner. While it goes on smoothly it smudges very easily for me with just wear. The lipstick however feels great and I love it!

As for the Ralph Lauren perfume, I’m in love! I’m going to be doing a full post on perfumes soon so I’ll save it for then!

Home, Lifestyle, Renovations

Guest Room Update

January 22, 2016

Now that my office is about half way sorted I’ve moved on to my next project. I’m still debating how I was to possibly incorporate a sitting area with a couch or chairs in there but for now everything is perfect. With the help of my friend Jack, I was able to get a new daybed put together for my guest room. Its a huge improvement over the futon that I’d had since I originally moved out of my parents house back in 2007. This bed is a real space saver with the drawers in the trundle section. I’m able to fit pillows and blankets that I’m not currently using in there and that helped free up space on the rack that I unfortunately have to use for linen storage. That is probably the biggest drawback of this house. My old condo was half the size but managed to fit almost twice the storage space in it. The transition from having a pantry and linen closet to not having either is still a struggle almost three years later.

I’ve got to admit, I might have an Ikea problem now. I’d still like to get a nice linen cabinet for the room and possibly a bedside table, although I’m not sure if it will fit yet (time to break out the tape measure). However, my living room furniture is starting to really show (and feel) their age and I think the guest room might have to take a back burner to a new couch. My goal for this year, as long as I have the funds to budget it in, is to finish both rooms. I have an idea for my living room but again it requires some measuring and careful planning.

Beauty Tip Tuesday, Lifestyle, Perfectly Posh

My Daily Routine – Hair Care

January 19, 2016

Since making the switch to Perfectly Posh I thought it was time to go over some of my daily routines that I’ve adopted. The first one I wanted to talk about is my morning routine.

First I’m going to start with my hair since I’ve always had problems with it. I’m not someone that spends a lot of time on their hair and I don’t really know much other than how to put it up in a ponytail. It’s just never been my thing. I blow dry and straighten every day on top of only getting it cut a couple of times a year. Needless to say, it can be an oily, damaged, split end mess. When Posh launched the End Mend line I knew I had to try it out. Their skin care products had helped me so much already I figured their hair products would work too. I bough the shampoo and conditioner after getting the spritz in my enrollment kit. It took a few days for my hair to adjust and because its so long I tend to use more than the recommended amount, but my hair has been transformed. I have a lot less frizz now and that’s even after being caught out in the rain without an umbrella a few times. My ends feel much more healthy than they normally do at this stage (I’m going on nine months without a trim).

Lifestyle, Music Monday

Grace Potter

January 18, 2016

This was supposed to be posted back in November but I guess I forgot to schedule it.

Last year I got to see the amazing Grace Potter live! I’ve been a fan of her stuff for a while now and when her new solo album came out I really loved the different sound. A lot of it reminds me of Taylor Dayne (in the best possible way). The show though was far beyond anything I expected. I’ve never seen her live before and I’d never watched any live videos so I went in with no real knowledge of what her live performances were like.

I can’t express enough how powerful she is on stage. Overall her music is so diverse that it spreads over so many different genres that it felt like I was at some sort of festival, as if I was watching different bands with different musical backgrounds and styles all playing. It kept things fresh and interesting with every new song that started.

Then there’s her voice. I’ve been to a lot of concerts but never has someone’s voice blown me away so much. You never really can before hearing someone live just how well they sing and I have to admit I thought her live voice was better than her recorded one. I know its cliche to say but I felt like I went through a religious experience during the show. If you ever get the chance, go see her live! I know I’m never going to miss another show here in Charleston.

Lifestyle, Pets

New Roomie

January 18, 2016

Back on the 9th I finally decided it was time to adopt. I’ve been living on my own now for almost 10 years and I’ve always wanted to get a pet but I never could follow through with it. I can’t be certain whether it was because I didn’t think I had the time or I just couldn’t find one at the shelters that I really connected to. That all changed when I stopped by Pet Helpers and headed into the kitten room. I instantly fell in love and when they let her out so I could hold her I knew I had to take her home right then.

$250 and an hour later I pulled up to my house with my new kitten and everything I needed to get started with making her feel at home. The last week has been an interesting learning experience. I grew up with having cats but I’d never had to take care of one on my own but I’m thankful that they’re relatively easy, or at least my little Frankie is.

And as any new enthusiastic pet parent, I’ve already started her own Instagram. Follow her @frankiemeowsrelax

Home, Lifestyle, Monday Motivation, Perfectly Posh

Perfectly Posh

August 3, 2015

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m beginning the process of renovating and refurnishing my house. I’ve already started and have quite a few things bought already. I have a brand new refrigerator and my home office is actually almost done with the first phase, I’m just waiting for the bookcase to come back into stock so I can get that moved in and finish getting everything out of boxes. After that I’ll be moving on to my guest room. The only problem I’ve run into so far is that even with all the budgeting I’ve been doing I’m running into financial stumbling blocks. Between interest rates and higher utilities I’m just not where I had hoped to be so when my sister introduced me to Perfectly Posh I knew it was something I wanted to give a go.

After using the products for about three weeks I was hooked. I’ve always struggled with oily skin, mild acne and dry feet from always being in flip flops. After once use of some bath salts and a body scrub on my feet, they remained soft and moisturized for a week. By the afternoon every day I always felt like I needed to just strip everything off my face and scrub it but using their skin masks two to three times a week have gotten that under control and their soaps and scrubs have helped reduce my overall acne. That doesn’t even cover how much softer and healthier my skin feels from their lotions. Needless to say, I’ve never been so impressed with a skin care line and I’ve tried things from sensitive skin products to $100 mud masks.

Once I’d fallen in love with the products I saw an opportunity to help me reach my goals by signing up to become and independent consultant. This way I can not only enjoy the products myself but easily share them with my friends and family. I’ve been at it for a few weeks now and not only is my skin and hair doing better than ever but I’ve heard from my customers just how much they love the product after one use!

My launch party is currently going on and is open until about 2pm on Friday. If you’re interested in trying anything out visit the site and sign up for a Perks account. If you have any questions or would like to schedule a party feel free to contact me!