fun with the new a beautiful mess app

This week the lovely ladies behind A Beautiful Mess have made a great little iPhone photo app! What’s great about it, though, is that it’s more than just for adding filters to photos. It’s like a scrapbooking app, where you can take pre-existing images and add great doodles, orders, and text.

Hello!

The app has some pre-set phrases in Elsie’s adorable handwriting (like the Hello!) above, as well as an assortment of borders, arrows, flowers, hearts…super cute stuff. All of it.

yum!

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a look back :: 2013 goals

So back at the beginning of the year I made myself a list of goals to work towards.

Turns out I can actually cross stitch.

And I can run a 5k.

And I’ve actually been pretty good about running 3 times a week!

And I actually like running now. Gasp.

I also just started a new job! I’m only in training now, but I am already in love with everyone at Volusion. And it’s nice to have a job that stays at work…

So, I’ve crossed a few things off my list! 2013 has been a good year so far. Gotta keep it up!

bloglovin’!

Hey Bloglovin’ lovers! You can now follow me there!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Voilá!

the routine

I get asked on a pretty regular basis what my skincare routine is. I have notoriously acne-ridden, combination, pain-in-the-ass skin that is super sensitive to everything. I have pretty bad allergies and my skin reacts poorly to the most random things. It’s taken me about 10 years to really sort out the right skincare routine for my skin, and just because these products work for me doesn’t mean they will for you. But if you’re interested, here are the products I love to use:

A few things to note:
- Face-washing routine: cleanse > (exfoliate about 2-3 times a week >) tone > moisturize
- Hair routine: shampoo > condition > towel dry > spray in leave-in treatment > rough dry > apply morrocon oil > blowout with brush
- Makeup routine: BB cream, smooth with Beauty Blender > matte finish > bronze and blush > fill in brows > eyeshadow > (eyeliner >) mascara
- Makeup removal routine: eye makeup (cotton round and Boots soothing remover) > exfoliating towelette > cold cream > night cream

I only wash my hair 2-3 times a week (more often if I run more than 3 times a week). Nails are a whole other animal!

I hope this gives you some ideas of stuff to try! For the record I have very course, wavy, incredibly thick-stranded hair. A round brush with lots of course bristles helps smooth out my hair and make it manageable. Leave-in conditioners are a must.

crochet love :: animal booties

I stumbled upon these on Pinterest not long ago. I did a bunch of digging and finally found the exact blog post that shared the images:

Turns out they are from an Etsy seller that either no longer exists or has changed names. Which I find supremely disappointing because these are SUPER adorable. I want to make the for Baby Charlie! I bet I could make something up that’s similar…hmm…