BEAUTY | The Jumpsuit

Y’all! Anthropologie is having a sale on sale.. an extra 30% off this yellow jumpsuit! Making it only $41! I love to at least have one jumpsuit to throw on, dress up, dress down, or layer. There are so many options for one piece. It’s a must in your closet. Also, these boots… I live in them.

Jumpsuit & Shirt: Antropologie | Shoes: Sam Edelman

BEAUTY | Black, Camel, & Mules

Shirt: Free People| Jeans: AE | Necklace: Target | Mules: Dottie Couture Boutique
Shirt: Free People| Jeans: AE | Necklace: Target | Mules: Dottie Couture Boutique
  1. Mules

Love that this style looks perfect with a pair of skinny black jeans, super easy to throw on, and they are the perfect accessory for an all neutral outfit. I just bought these from Dottie Couture (also just found some similar at Vici Collection $32 + coupon code FASHION20 ) –but these are fun styles for under $100. Just click to shop any of the styles!

2. Black and Camel

Obsessed with black and camel colors these days. I can’t wait to change out my simple black and gold cross body purse for this camel colored one. Pair it with black shirt + black denim and camel mules = perfect. My shirt is linked below.. Keep in mind Free People always runs big and my AE denim runs true to size.

smoothie bowls & wheat grass

Processed with VSCO with a6 presetI found this on pinterest (see below) and it helped me get the right consistency for my smoothie bowls. I make mine in a Ninja Pro  and it takes more pulses than a vitamix probably would but still blends everything really well for the price!

My 2 favorite smoothie bowls are:  (Frozen Strawberries + Frozen blueberries or wild berries + justins pb + 1/2 c spinach + 1/2 c apple juice and added 1/4 tsp dried wheat grass powder + toppings)

2) frozen strawberries + frozen banana + almond butter + vanilla almond milk topped with Purely Elizabeth Ancient Grain Granola, apples, strawberries, bananas, chia seeds.

Wheat grass shots are nothing new, but I just found this wheat grass powder at (Harris Teeter) that makes adding it in a smoothie much less complicated. It didn’t affect the taste at all either!

Wheat grass has lots of health benefits and only 2 oz is equivalent to eating 4lbs of veggies! I’m not sure if you get the exact same benefits from the freeze fried powder as fresh, but i’m willing to try it!

 

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http://produceforkids.com/blog/build-your-own-smoothie-bowl

 

**Purely Elizabeth Granola can be found at most grocery stores, target, and amazon. Dried Wheat Grass was at Harris Teeter.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/AUnc7rkmUG6A78sNt3zTqCez8CdwtUWWECRZSMx1BakdPEgBEuNaTUw/

5 Tips for Better Instagram Photos

  1. LIGHT- Lighting is everything. No matter what filter you add, you can’t change where the light is positioned. First, Find natural light (windows, outside, etc). If you are inside, turn off the overhead lights and try to move your subject (food, kids, dog, clothes, etc) to the window light. If you are outside in broad daylight (meaning mid-day-ish), find shade. Try not to take a photo with a light right overhead- it casts crazy shadows and is totally unflattering. Aim for light behind, light beside, or shade. Tap the subject to get the right exposure/ light on your subject.
  2.  BACKGROUND– Decluttered/ Clean backgrounds. I like to find solid walls, a similar pattern like a bush or flowering tree, or even the garage/ side of my house.
  3. CROP-If you can’t find a plain background or if the back ground has too much going on.. zoom in. Don’t be afraid to crop and not get the whole picture. Sometimes the details are more meaningful and you can only see them if you crop out the rest.
  4. COLOR- if your subject’s outfit does not compliment the photo, but you still LOVE what you’ve captured, convert it to black and white / add a BW filter. This does not correct for lighting, BUT it can correct color.
  5. EDITING/ FILTERS– Download VSCO in the app store if you haven’t already. This is my favorite app for editing photos. This takes it to a whole other level than using instagram filters. You can apply a preset/ filter and then there are so many tools within vsco to adjust that affect on your image. My favorites are brightening, temperature, and exposure. If you want to cool off your image (decrease the yellows/oranges/reds in the photo) slide that thermometer to the left. If your image is too dark, you can kick up the exposure to the right to help. If your image is too bright, you can slide it left. This can help when your whites are too bright. Play around and create your own! You can copy and paste your edits to make all your images uniform.
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    My VSCO library.. not everything I edit is posted on IG
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    Editing Options / Light Behind

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    Filter Choices/ Light in Front

Lennox’s First Birthday | Bear Bash

Lennox is the sweetest little boy. My favorite things are how he always crosses his ankles when he sits, he puts out his bottom lip to offer me a kiss, and when he says “hello.” He seems to be a good mix of my other two so far. He loves to put things into other things to see if they will fit. He is completely content with a box and a couple of items to drop in and pick back out. He loves baths and kicks his legs back and forth with excitement.

I’m so thankful for my little bear cub and it was such a fun time celebrating his first year!

I’m learning that I don’t need to “MAKE” everything — ain’t nobody got time for that! My mom made the fruit skewers, we bought the food, and I diy-ed some printable and made the cake toppers. I think with each kid you learn to plan a little better and manage your time a little bit more. I don’t stay up the night before trying to do everything! I come up with a theme, make a do-able guest list, and create somewhat of a budget. Then, I come up with my “must- haves” which is typically a cake from our favorite bakery in town, gold balloons, themed or color coordinating plates/napkins, favors, and good food. Everything else is 2nd in terms of budget- depending on the theme of the party. Hope that helps you stress-less if you have a party to plan!

Here are some pics from his party, links of items are listed below 🙂

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Cakes- Southern Gourmet in Matthews, NC | Biscuits Catered – The Flying Biscuit | Chicken Minis – Chick-fil-a | Toppers: DIY- black bears from Hobby Lobby, Brown Bear– Amazon | Gold Balloons, Stick Pencils, White Gummy Bears, Meri Meri Plates & Napkins, Wooden Cutlery, Plaid Runner– Amazon | Bow Tie- Little Mister

 

Lennox Gray : 6 months

Lennox’s half birthday fell around christmas time, so we signed up for mini sessions with sassyfras studios. It was freezing cold and windy and it was 1.5 hours away– which gave me plenty of time to do my makeup in the car haha. They always make something out of nothing and I was so happy to get some photos of our family of 5. Outfit details below.

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Lennox: Hat- Swallows Return, Moccs- Bedtime Rebel on Etsy | Kinsley: Green Jumper- lovey lake, bows-cloudless Sky Design | Me: dress- Free People, Earrings- Reclaimed

ACV faves

There are so many health benefits to drinking Apple Cider Vinegar (such as balancing blood sugar, fights allergies, aids weight loss, relieves constipation, lowers blood pressure and detoxes the body). I picked up my Braggs Organic Apple Cider Vinegar at Harris Teeter and I’ve already felt a good “clean” feeling from drinking it either at night or during the day. I’m trying to up my intake and see if it helps more with weight loss/ feeling bloated/ digestion. Let me know if you have any favorite recipes in the comments!

Favorite ACV recipes

  1. 8oz apple juice + 1 TBSP ACV + cinnamon and heat in microwave 1 min
  2. 80z water + 1 lemon + 1 TBSP ACV + 2 TBSP Maple Syrup + cinnamon + pinch of cayenne pepper + frozen strawberries + apple slices — let sit in fridge for a while and poor over ice (pictured)
  3. 80z Water + 1 lemon + 2 TBSP maple syrup + cayenne pepper + dash cinnamon (similar to the lemonade detox flush but added acv)
  4. Salad Dressing- 2 TBSP ACV, 2 TBSP Olive oil, salt + Pepper + garlic powder + 1/2 tsp of sweetener (I use splenda).. use as much or as little to suite your taste