favorites/2015

beauty-

wore this NYC Peach Blush every single day on the top halves of my cheekbones. might not be a perfect color for everyone, but for me, this blends into bronzer really nicely and looks very natural with or without any base.

the nars audacious lipstick collection is beautiful. i have 5 colors and they're what i reach for most. claudia is a cool pink that makes me feel very bardot-esque, michiyo is a great hot pink, grace is a happy poppy red/coral, natalie is a warm opaque peach, and vivien is top 3 all time lipsticks for me: the perfect perfect berry. they're thick and matte and last really well, but the best thing about them is the colors.

i have 3 colors of this stila liquid liner , and it's my favorite way to do my cat eye (and definitely more user friendly than using a brush if you're new at it. i have jet black, moss and cobalt.

i ran out of this nars bronzer, which almost never happens for me. usually i get excited about some new thing and don't fully finish powders, but i used this EVERY DAY i wore make up, i think. this is a shimmery one, which i like.

my other favorite purchase of 2015 for beauty was this flat kabuki brush to apply primer and foundation, and to buff in concealer. makes a huge difference in application!

oh and i feel like i would be remiss not to mention that greg found and fell in love with the only hair product he has ever enjoyed this year. this hairspray is his jam. i steal it too sometimes, great hold.

wearing

i felt like i was pregnant 99% of 2015. but there are some standouts that i wear ALL of the time.

this flannel which is now on sale!

this and this jumpsuit, both from old navy, both on sale.

aaaaaand, everything else i wear a lot is old/ i am still waiting to fit into about 30% of my old stuff.
(just like... waiting. not really doing anything about it.)

reading

favorite novel was hannah coulter by wendell berry.

favorite nonfiction was probably loving to know by esther meek, which is in progress.

baking/cooking/eating

a lot of babkas this year. more than average, i would say.

everyone went 100% nuts for these sandwiches on christmas day. def not healthy or my normal meal situation, but it was SO EASY and fed a million people.

things i learned about salad in 2015:
* i almost always like it better when there's more "stuff" than greens in there. like a good 2 cups of cooked quinoa or cous cous in a big salad bowl. or a whole pan of roasted veggies, or can of chick peas.
*chop the greens up tiny and the experience will be magical,
*the next morning throw your salad in a cast iron skillet with a glug of oil and sautee for a minute or two. pour in 4-6 eggs whisked with a splash of milk and salt and pepper and heat on the stove for a few minutes. throw in a 400 degree oven and watch until it sets. DELICIOUS. MAKE SURE THERE'S CHEESE IN YOUR SALAD. BUT WHY WOULDN'T THERE BE?




there you go, the three of you that read this. ; )

it's monday and i like things/ 5

wearing:

this mini skirt with crew neck sweaters and tights. i have it in the navy and the tan, and i always feel polished when i wear it and also simultaneously not terrified i am going to ruin real suede with food/spit up/baby poop.

can someone come up with a sweater that's super warm and easy to nurse in? one that i can wear with a sports bra? that looks nice? pipe dream?


beauty stuff:

this tip for thick lashes, changing the mascara game.

feeling inspired by this pallette greg got me for christmas. i want to try something like this!


cooking:

a white wine pork tenderloin stuffed with apples and gorgonzola. have never made in the crock pot, so we'll see how it turns out!

reading:

this article re: nutrition availability deficit. the system is BROKEN.

this essay about kim kardashian. put the judgment aside and think about it.

this piece on the myth of quality time: convicting and encouraging. we just need to show up, consistently.

still working on loving to know, some other books greg got me for christmas on academia and biblical scholarship.

making:

crafts with eliza out of paint sample papers from home depot! that child goes nuts in front of a color wall.

thinking about my next quilt- thinking i need to start to feel motivated again.

thoughts at hot yoga

*when i left the car, 2/2 children were screaming. are they still screaming? how long could they scream? will greg ever let me do this again?

*he's the best it will be fine.

*how long has it been since i shaved my legs? only my ankles are showing, its fine.

*how long since i did my toenails? yikes. noone look at my feet plz

*this feels so good, i should do this more!

*instructor: there's a class at 8:30 am tomorrow, hope to see you there!
me: lol no. this is my once a month exercise.

*wow this is hot. i know i think this everytime, but like... is it hotter today?

*is my mat supposed to be slipping away from me every time i move? like is that normal? i feel like everyone elses mat is really staying put.

*should have brought nineteen towels to sop up sweat.

*greg probably took the girls for cookies.

*i am sore already, i feel like i'm going to be toned after this. like i am liquidating all fat, etc. i will be so disappointed if i leave this class and am not immediately a supermodel mermaid.

*::music gets louder at difficult point in class:: this is like a kind of enjoyable seizure/psychotic break? like it's really hot and i'm sweating and doing weird motions and theres a lot of loud electronic sounds?

*no way will i be cold when i go outside

*wow it's so cold outside, my sweat is frozen. can i go back and just lay on my mat?

*::gets in the car with 2 screaming babies:: NO REALLY CAN I GO BACK AND LAY ON MY SWEATY MAT FOR A SEC?

its monday and i like things/4

wearing- 

my stripe collection to death. will never tire of a striped shirt/sweater and a bold lip.

i keep purging the crap out of my closet, and just yesterday went through the basement to donate some of what i had in storage...10 LARGE TRASH BAGS OF CLOTHING LATER... i'm feeling easy and breezy and like our house just lost some weight. 

fitting into some of my fave pants again! (the stretchiest of the stretchy ones, but who cares.)

beauty stuff-

still so much lipstick. current fave: Nars audacious lipstick in grace or claudia. they are mega pricy, but sometimes if you look on amazon you can find them for HALF the price. the formula is very comfy and they stay really nicely. beautiful colors, too.

oh! and from the drug store:

these are great.

HOWEVER. got a sample of the nars audacious mascara with my sephora order recently. NO GO. SO CLUMPY. do not enjoy.


used my little rebate sephora gift card for the bobbi brown blush i was excited about and i love it. you need about 1/100th of a swipe to get a pretty berry flush. 

cooking-

made this sausage, kale and white bean soup the other night and it was a win. brown sausage, deglaze pan with white wine and chicken stock, add more stock, simmer with kale and white bean, add parsley and lemon at the end, top with some parmesan cheese and serve with toasty bread with smashed roasted garlic. not pretty, but so tasty and warm. 

reading-

not much, to be honest. trying to get going on daring greatly by brene brown, and still reading loving to know by esther lightcap meeks, but ive been using reading time to get christmas cards addressed. hand cramps R US.


watching- 

nothing but survivor. we keep saying we're "saving up" the other shows we normally would be watching for when we get tired of survivor but we're on season 19 so... idk if we're going to stop any time soon. 

making- 

bought fabric for a quilt to make for a beautiful friend's wedding. writing this blog post. doing a lot of stickers with my liza girl. Oh! i did make an advent calender. And i'm wrapping a lot of presents.

do those things count as creative? they feel good, so i'm going to say yes.

made the grandparents these instagram friendly photobooks of pictures of the girls for christmas for the second year in a row.  really easy to make and so beautiful.



loving advent, longing for jesus to come back. that's about it. maybe one of these days i'll get my thoughts together about advent and how it changes and reinvigorates my faith every year and write them down. here's hoping.

its friday and i like things/ 3

wearing- 

a lot of red. maybe it's the leaves changing? it's been unseasonably warm here, so eliza and louisa and i have been leaving the house in jackets in the morning and coming home with a few layers removed.


beauty stuff-

a lot of lipstick. favorites right now: urban decay matte revolution lipstick (i have this shade), which stays forever and isn't uncomfortably drying. steady hand in application is key. kat von d everlasting liquid lipstick is also fun. i have a few colors and i'm eyeing this one.


did i already mention lash stiletto mascara? don't remember but i love it. i like long lashes (who doesn't?!) but do not like clumping or spideryness. this one produces long skinny lashes.


every once in a while because we buy through an internet rebate thing, i'll get a sephora gift card instead of cashing out. i'm thinking my next sephora purchases will be a new color of stila liquid eyeliner or a new bobbi brown blush- i've heard they last really well.


cooking-

scrambled eggs with basil and truffle oil for breakfast. one day we did it with feta as well, delicious.


baking pumpkin banana applesauce muffins. very very healthy and they taste like it. but eliza loves them. the child will eat anything.


oh! and we made some pickles (FINALLY, greg would say.) making pickles seems so daunting and susie homemaker but it is not scary. ill throw up my how-to (i hesitate to even call it a recipe) at some point if anyone is interested. this week we did some sweet and spicy slices for sandwhiches and snacking, some regular garlic dill cukes, carrots and onions. i think we finished them on wednesday and they are half gone.



reading-

finished liane moriarty's what alice forgot. i liked it! made me want to bring it in the car to read while i waited for eliza to come out from school, which is high praise. any time i'm so into a book that i need to bring it with me in case i get a few minutes... that's such a wonderful feeling. this was another one of those books that made me real grateful for my husband and babies. so that's a positive. easy and enjoyable read.


still reading loving to know by esther meeks. so much underlining happening. a snippet:


"it has been ingrained in us that we should keep our emotions, our selves, out of the information, as you would strive to keep contaminants out of a water supply. small wonder that people are bored, when personal commitment and passion are subjective items we must check at the door, small wonder that we are bored, when we presume that information is ever only dispassionately derived or held to be true. dispassionately gleaned information, dispassionately conveyed and dispassionately apprehended, spells boredom. it suggests that knowledge has little to do with what is meaningful in life."


BOOM.


watching- 

my girls sleep. just kidding but not really. i feel like i'm attached to the video monitor at all times.


still mega into survivor. although some seasons just don't do it for me. season 13 i loved, season 14, not my favorite. can't put my finger on it.

new nursing show- aka what i watch during the one feeding i have where eliza is not awake and i can sit and nurse in front of the laptop. fixer upper on netflix. cute couple makes inexpensive real estate in texas (i guess there's just so much land out there they're giving it away?) look cute. he thinks she's smart and amazing and it's always fun to see husbands behave that way. seems so genuine. i mean, the show seems to take for granted that absolutely everyone wants a white kitchen and that all furniture should show signs of distress, but its sweet. and its a design show that doesn't make everyone's house look like it should be a doctor's office waiting room. I'M LOOKING AT YOU PROPERTY BROTHERS.


making- 


my commitment to continue making things regularly has continued! finished up another quilt top, just have to find an appropriate backing fabric. and i took a strange mumu robe from the thrift store that i had loved the pattern of but never found the right way to wear it... and made it into a dress. will surely be included in the next OOTW picture. i love how it came out, sort of 70's in print, 20's in silhouette.


eliza and i have been gathering rocks on our walks, as per usual, painting them inside, and then adding them to a special rock box. she plays with them on the kitchen floor while i make dinner most days. it's like a set of blocks she made herself. she makes "calaces" castle/palaces. ha. before you tell me i'm a creative parent i should tell you that it weighs approximately one thousand pounds, this box, and is sort of terrifying to watch the two year old play with it in close proximity to the two month old. so whether this was a dumb idea or a good idea should play out in the next few weeks.

WIL/ October

pictures from our little beach trip this october. <3 

hmm. what i learned this month. 

so cheesy, but i love birthdays. this year, the actual day was a bit of a bummer, to be honest. greg had to leave for work before i or the girls were awake, he came home after the girls had already been put to sleep. eliza acted up at a friends house so we couldn't stay. (one of those moments where you put your foot down and then regret the ultimatum because it punishes you also.) it was lonely and a little stressful. i made all the meals, did all the dishes. there was much screaming and gnashing of teeth (from the girls).

greg really felt bad- he was so upset to not be home. if i remember correctly it was an unexpected thing for him to be gone the whole entire day. i kept thinking to myself wow this is a bummer. but what i learned is that i can handle it. it's just nice to think back to five years ago and wonder- how would this have gone down then? i don't know if back then i would have been cool with a "oh let's just celebrate my birthday next weekend instead." 

and then the next weekend came! beach weekend! so much fun, so much daddy time. i didn't have to change a single diaper. it was so, so fun. not restful, but so fun. greg and i kept looking at each other like OK BUT WHEN DOES THE NIGHTTIME COME? we miss dates, we miss leaving the house at night, we miss getting to choose what to do during the day without taking into account 12,000 factors like naptime and feedtimes and crabbiness.  OF COURSE WE DO IT WAS AWESOME. 

but what have i learned? we can also handle it. we can handle that hope deferred. we're taking care of each other and we're different and better as a couple than we were when we could run around free of those 12,000 considerations. we love deeper and are better teammates and know each others drink preferences for after the girls are asleep. 

october just seemed to be a good month for discovering that even when my resources seemed sort of depleted, i actually by god's grace had a storehouse of riches. god's grace has changed me and has changed greg and i together over time, and i'm feeling sustained and prepared and grateful. 

OOTW/4

notes:

burgundy clogs- good investment. want to wear them everyday. 

brown flats- have actual holes in the bottom. should replace. terrified. takes me forever to find a good flat. greg makes fun of me, but when the front of a flat shoe points UPWARDS I CANNOT TAKE IT. i have a slight pickiness about it. however, several days the past week and a half were rainy and my feet were soaking wet... so. new flats soon.

jumpsuit on the left column, worn with leopard vans. old navy, got it for 15$. easy to nurse in & makes me feel like sort of a bad ass mechanic. 

a lot of lipstick lately. i may have to wear it daily to cheer myself up- these days where its dark early are ALREADY making me sad.