TAG: The Sunshine Award

I have to admit, I'm pretty excited to have been tagged by Ashley over at GreenBeautyLife. If you aren't yet familiar with her blog, you should really check it out! She's a girl after my own heart, trying to go green with her cosmetic choices and she does some excellent reviews on products. Honestly, I could read her blog all day.

As I've just gotten back into blogging, I don't have as many posts as I would like, so what better a way to let you know a bit more about me to add this award post and also introduce you to some other blogs you may not have come across yet.

Here are the rules for the Sunshine Award:

Share 11 random facts about yourself.

Answer 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.

List 11 bloggers. They should be bloggers you believe deserve the recognition.

Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer, and let all of them know that they have been nominated.

 

11 Random Facts About Me:

1. I'm a recovering perfectionist. My mantra is: I'm not perfect, as that's okay, as long as I'm doing  the best I can.
2. I have seen every episode ever aired of the "Real Housewives" franchise.

3. I hate the taste of beer. I'm all about champagne.

4. Some of my favorite jewelry pieces are from Tori Spelling's HSN line.

5. I'm obsessed with makeup, but most days I don't even wear it.

6. I'm a brunette, my husband is a blond, and my baby girl is a redhead...every time we walk into a room it's like the opening line of a joke.

7. I'm a bit of a hoarder.

8. I do most of the reading in the bath, even on my iPad and Kindle.

9. I'm kind of a know-it-all and I hate that about myself.

10. I have over 50 pairs of shoes.

11. My favorite sound in the entire world is my baby girl's laugh.

 

11 Questions from Ashley:

1. What is your favorite article of clothing that you own?

Tough question! I have a lot of clothes. And I certainly have a favorite pair of shoes, but if I had to pick a favorite article of clothing it would be my Michael Kors black leather motorcycle jacket with lots of silver hardware. It looks good with almost everything!

2. Favorite place you've ever been?

Venice, Italy on my honeymoon. I swoon just thinking about it.

3. Favorite scent?

Another tough one. I also have a ton of perfume. I love Dior, Hypnotic Poison and the original Burberry.

4. Would you rather have a chocolately dessert or fruity one?

Chocolately, all day, any day. But add some raspberry and that's just sinful!

5. Name a weird habit that you just can't shake!

I save old voicemails. I want to be able to hear people's voices even after they're gone.

6. What color are your nails right now?

They're completely bare at the moment. I wash my hands so frequently at the moment!

7. Name one beauty product that you continuously repurchase.

Avon's lipgloss in "Magnificent Mauve."

8. Favorite movie/TV show?

For years it has been "What Not to Wear" so I guess I will have to find a new one soon. Heartbreaking!

9. Favorite type of food?

I love Italian food. Except pizza. I'm not a big fan of pizza.

10. How big is your makeup collection?

So big! It fills my bathroom and spills out into my bedroom. And you can find more in more purse and pretty much every room in the house. It just keep growing and growing.

11. Favorite place to go shopping?

I'd love to go to Nordstrom any day for the atmosphere, but I love JC Penney's affordable prices and trendy styles. 

 

Tag, You're It! The 11 Bloggers I Tag!

Fighting off Frumpy

Creating-Mom

For Love or Funny

The Rantings of a Drama Queen's Mum

Renew Your Space

Two Years and Counting

my brand new life as...mom

Style Life Lovely

One Dollar Cottage

Ins and Outs

Irresistible Icing

 

My 11 Questions for You 

1. What inspires you the most in life?

2. What advice would you give you yourself from five years ago?

3. If you could change any body part, what would it be?

4. What's your go to outfit for a casual, crisp Fall day?

5. Name your favorite magazine.

6. If you had to recommend a good book to a friend, what would that book be?

7. What is the one song, that whenever you hear it, you can't help but shake your groove thing?

8. Do you have a signature scent?

9. What's your go-to recipe?

10. Where are you going on your next vacation?

11. What's the best compliment you've ever received?

 

Okay, I can't wait to hear your answers! I hope you have as much fun with this little exercise as I did!

 

 

Homemade Rosemary Leaf Extract

While I'm working on some projects to try and become more blissfully domesticated, I don't have one to share just yet. But in the meantime, if you're interested in greening your environment, check out my latest post on Green My Beauty Routine about my attempt at making my own Homemade Rosemary Leaf Extract!

Green My Beauty Routine

I love cosmetics. I'm a makeup junkie, my perfume collection could keep a dozen people smelling delicious for a lifetime, and I have a beauty product for just about any task you can think of: dry skin, blemishes, oily hair, sunburns, sunscreen, faux sun, stretch marks, spider veins...you get the idea.

It wasn't until I was pregnant that I started paying attention to what I was actually putting onto my skin. I thought about what I might be absorbing into my skin, and in turn, what my baby might then be absorbing. Figuring out which ingredients were safe and which weren't was a daunting task. Decidedly, I stopped using most of my cosmetics cold turkey.

One day while at the library, I was thumbing through some books about makeup. I glanced up and realized there were quite a few on DIY natural cosmetics. Well, I love a good project and even more, picking up a new hobby, and thus, in idea was born. I gathered up some of the books, took to internet research, and added another aspect to my journey to domestic bliss.

My first foray into making my own natural cosmetics right from my own kitchen was easy enough. Lipstick was how I began my obsession with cosmetics. My grandma's hot pink lipstick was my gateway drug. It sounds funny to say it out loud, but it's been a life-long dream of mine to make my own lipstick.  It only seemed right that it would be my original undertaking.

So I got to work. I ordered a few of the harder to find ingredients online, but collected most of what I needed from Walgreens. While you can make it without a true lipstick mold, I just felt like it wasn't lipstick if it wasn't in the pretty shape you find in the professional tubes. I ordered that online, too.

My first two homemade lipstick creations!

In the end, I had some beautiful, natural, moisturizing tubes of lipstick. I made them in very little time and it was fun imagining up the colors. My only complaint is that it paints only a sheer wash of color on my lips. It does work well for everyday color, a slight pick me up. On the agenda for the next time though, formulating a more pigmented option.

In addition to this blog, I've dedicated a separate blog to hold all my recipes. My trials and my errors. For more info and recipes check it out: Green My Beauty Routine

FlyLady - Check-in One

Our kitchen whiteboard helps me plan. Each week we list what
will be for dinner and what FlyLady's Daily Mission is.

They always say that babies don't come with instruction manuals. Well, life as a stay at home mom doesn't come with a manual either! It's actually a lot easier to find a book on how to take care of a baby than it is to find a book on how to take care of a household. I guess for some it may just be common sense, an easy transition, or skills you acquire throughout your life, but to me, it is a whole new ballgame.

Don't get me wrong, I know how to cook, do laundry, wash dishes, and the mundane that we all must do to get by, but when you're a SAHM, you have to learn to function in your house a majority of your day. On top of that, you have to learn to do it with a new little person constantly demanding attention and interrupting your every thought. (But it truly is my favorite job in the whole wide world.)

Rewind to a few months ago, when I told you about FlyLady.net and how I was hoping to follow this system on my journey to domestic bliss. Though my blog got put on the back burner (yet again) while I tried to regain control over certain aspects of life as a new SAHM, FlyLady has been something I was actually able to stick with. Believe it or not, the system is working; one Babystep at a time!

I still have a long way to go, but I'm getting better about letting go of perfection and instead getting right down to work. I've taken some pressure off myself and instead of the mess that is my house getting worse, it actually started looking better, thanks to my new outlook. Apparently, all I really needed was a place to start. As simple as it sounds, I just needed someone to tell me what to do.

I've found through working with this system, I am quite successful as long as a set teeny, tiny realistic goals for myself. Sometimes my goal is as small as: Take a Shower. Sometimes I think bigger and say: Redo Master Closet. I'm pleased with the progress I've made so far and am excited to keep going.

My next small step goal: Go to the post office (with an eight-month-old baby, that's harder than it sounds)
My next big leap goal: Create a household organizer

I'm Back! Get Up Off That Thing and Follow Me

I'm looking forward to getting back into blogging now that things are a little less crazy around here. I hope you'll join me on my journey. Adventure awaits!

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FlyLady - First Impressions

As I mentioned in my last post, I was introduced to a website called FlyLady. The website is all about overcoming your perfectionism and "finally loving yourself" (hence the word FLY). So what better a way for me to find domestic bliss than to follow this program!

Let me start by giving you my version of how it works. Each month, FlyLady introduces us to a new habit that we should try to incorporate into our daily routine. In addition to the monthly habit, each week we are given a "zone" in the house to focus on. For instance, this week we dedicate our time to taking care of "Zone 1" which includes: the entrance, front porch, and dining room. Since I signed up to receive the emails (free), FlyLady breaks it down even more, giving me daily missions on what specifically to do in that zone for the day. The email also includes a daily routine schedule that you should eventually adapt for everyday use. (This is just a quick overview, check out the site, FlyLady.net, for more details.)

So here are my first impressions of the FlyLady system:

Almost immediately after I signed up for the emails, I was bombarded with them! They were completely overwhelming. I wasn't sure if I needed to read all of them and I also didn't feel like I had the time to since some of them were quite long. I wondered what I had gotten myself into (there is a "lite" version with one email a day, but I was afraid that might become too easy for me to ignore).

Quickly, I realized I'm really just interested in the daily "Flight Plan" emails and deleted or set the other emails aside for the time being.  I really love how the "Flight Plan" tells me the monthly habit I need to work on, gives me a daily mission for my "zone" and includes a specific daily routine. Personally, I feel like I follow direction really well, so it definitely helps me to accomplish something. Otherwise, I tend to feel overwhelmed and don't end up doing anything!

As I said, I can become overwhelmed easily, but FlyLady has a solution for that. According to FlyLady, the best way to avoid getting overwhelmed or sidetracked is to break things down into small tasks and stick with them for 15 minutes, then move on to something else. It is true that you won't believe how much you can actually get done in 15 minutes! I kept saying I couldn't get anything done because I was too busy with my two-month old daughter or just too exhausted. It's pretty easy to squeeze in a 15 minute task during one of her naps or when my husband comes home and can relieve me for a short break. I just tell Siri on my iPhone to set a 15 minute timer and go to work. The best part is I can give myself permission to stop working on the project even if it isn't done perfectly (well honestly, I'm still working on that part)!

 

So overall, FlyLady is already helping me to see that in letting go of being perfect, our lives actually become a little more perfect and a lot less chaotic. I'm excited to continue working on both the monthly habits and the daily missions while working toward finding domestic bliss. Check back here to follow up on my progress!

Have you tried FlyLady? What do you think of the system? What works for your routine?

*Note - This review is my personal opinion. I have not been asked by the website to review it; I am just sharing my journey to domestic bliss and hope the help it provides can be a part of my success. 

Two Months Later...

Two months ago, I was trying to find something to do with all my time. Now that my little girl has arrived, I am just trying find a second to get anything done!

A lot has happened in the last two months here. My mom passed after a two and a half year battle with breast cancer. My husband's grandfather unexpectedly passed while traveling internationally. And Halle, my little bundle of joy, was born.

Needless to say the past two months have been hectic and chaotic. I've had to do a lot of life adjustments and assessments, but it's all a part of finding my domestic bliss.

Life with a newborn is far from routine, but I realize now that didn't have a good routine down anyway. Now I'm committing to finding a good routine. Recently, I was introduced to a website called FlyLady. Her website is all about letting go of perfectionism. It's perfect for me right? (No pun intended.) I'm going to use her daily emails and monthly missions to help me get my life a little bit more under control. And just maybe, I will find my domestic bliss.

Have you ever heard of FlyLady? What do you think of the website?

Keep following my adventures to see how it turns out!