Back at Alt Summit in June, my friends Jeran, Sarah, and Haeley encouraged me to add more fashion posts to my editorial calendar — and helped me practice mugging for the camera. “But I’m not a fashion blogger!” I argued. “Plus, I can’t afford to hire a photographer to shoot my outfits, and I feel silly posing for my husband.”… READ MORE!
As I grow older, I’m beginning to understand that my style personality is less fashion forward and more classic with a twist. Rather than fully commit to each season’s new trends, I’ve been trying to incorporate them into my wardrobe in a more subtle way, like through accessories.
Luckily, these three fall trends are rooted in classic design, so I can feel confident they’ll get a lot of use this season — and future seasons, too… READ MORE!
I’m on the hunt for new jeans and have my eyes on a couple of pairs over on Shopbop, including these mid-rise skinny jeans by Hudson, Citizens of Humanity, and J Brand.
Lucky for me — and you! — there’s a huge Shopbop sale happening today through Thursday. Get 25% off with the code FAMILY25. Time to go shopping!
Today we’re off to the Jersey Shore outlets! I have mixed feelings about outlet shopping. On one hand, I love that you can update your wardrobe for much less than it would cost to pay retail. On the other hand, many outlet stores stock slightly outdated or irregular merchandise made from material of a lesser quality. That’s how they can afford to sell it at such low price, after all.
You just have to know which outlet stores to shop — and which to avoid.… READ MORE!
It wasn’t so long ago that I was still kindly declining manicurists’ offers to jazz up my manicures with nail art. They seemed too eager to paint flowers or dots on the nails of my ring fingers. My preteen self used to jump at the chance (and add a rhinestone, please!), but I’ve always thought nail art looked tacky on adults.
Until now.… READ MORE!
I don’t miss homework, and I definitely don’t miss exams, but I do miss the excitement of getting organized for a new academic year. Shopping for school supplies was something I looked forward to every September.
If the end of summer still puts you in the mood to go back-to-school shopping, here are nine office supplies to make heading back to work (instead of the classroom) a little more bearable.
It’s been a rough week. We spent five hours on Tuesday in the pediatric emergency room, ten hours on Wednesday in the airport trying to return home, and the wee hours of the morning on Thursday packing for another flight. I desperately need a pick-me-up, and I’m hoping that some retail therapy will do the trick.
In a stroke of good timing, the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale (arguably the best department store sale of the year) begins today. While I love browsing the women’s clothing, shoes, and accessories, my money usually goes towards the beauty exclusives, products and sets created specially for the Anniversary Sale. Larger-than-normal bottles of my favorite cleanser and several limited edition makeup palettes are already sitting in my online shopping cart, but I’m hoping to visit the Nordstrom near JB’s mom’s house this weekend to do some damage in person.
These are some of the Anniversary Sale beauty exclusives I have my eye on, including my go-to face wash:
1. Laura Mercier Flawless Exceptions set // 2. Philosophy Purity Made Simple facial cleanser // 3. Emi-Jay Pearl hair ties // 4. Bobbi Brown Nude on Nude color set // 5. Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Anti-Aging set // 6. T3 The Party Couple styling set // 7. Clarins UV Plus HP Multi-Protection Day Sunscreen SPF 40 // 8. Stila Lip Glaze set // 9. Mario Badescu Complexion Perfection kit // 10. butter LONDON Funfair Fashion nail lacquer collection // 11. DevaCurl Home & Away set
Have a happy weekend — and let me know if you’ll also be indulging in some retail therapy! (Don’t forget that the Anniversary Sale ends on August 3rd.)
PS – My spring beauty essentials, and my five-minute beauty routine.
Levi is a nail biter, and I think it’s my fault.
No, I didn’t teach my almost-three year old how to bite his nails. But I’m a reformed (well, mostly reformed) nail biter, and according to Levi’s pediatrician, the bad habit is genetic.
Or did he learn the behavior by watching me? I’ll admit it: When I’m feeling overwhelmed or particularly stressed, my fingernails sometimes find their way back into my mouth.
Unfortunately, breaking the nail biting habit in a child is different than breaking the habit in an adult. When I was in my twenties, these were the two things that helped me stop biting my nails:
Acrylic nails. When my nails were painfully short, I would get acrylics. Not only was it harder to bite plastic tips, but concealing my chewed-up fingernails made me feel more confident. More confidence somehow equaled less nail biting.
Regular manicures. When my natural nails grew long enough, I’d have the acrylics removed and get regular manicures to maintain the length. Yes, the acrylics probably made my nails weaker, but keeping them polished helped prevent them from immediately breaking. I was less likely to bite my nails when they looked clean and colorful, but I’d have to get them repainted at the first sign of chipping or else I’d pick (or chew) off the peeling nail polish.
Obviously, I’m not about to put acrylics on Levi’s nails. I suppose I could paint his nails with sparkly or neon polish, but I’m not sure my three-year-old son needs to be sporting a full manicure. An alternative might be a bitter-tasting nail biting treatment
I suppose I could do nothing and just wait for Levi to outgrow his nail biting habit. According to this Washington Post article, chronic nail biting most commonly begins in childhood, peaks in adolescence and then tapers off — and only 10 to 20 percent of adults still bite their nails.
Yeah, right. I have to do something. It’s unsanitary for Levi to constantly have his hands in his mouth (despite our best efforts to have him frequently wash his hands, they’re bound to pick up germs), and he chews his nails down so far that he’s complaining they hurt. Plus, if he’s biting his nails because he’s feeling anxious about something, I want to teach him better ways to cope.
Have you had success breaking your child’s nail biting habit? Were they as young as Levi? I’d love to hear how you did it!
PS – An ombre manicure to try at home and my secret to making manicures last a week. Also, what do you think about boys wearing nail polish?
(my Instagram photo)
The morning of my Alt Summit panel on Growing a Small Blog, I had my hair braided by the incredibly talented Rubi Jones. A complementary braiding appointment was one perk of being an Alt Summit speaker — and a highlight of the conference for me.
While some of my fellow speakers brought in pictures of hairstyles for Rubi to emulate, I told her that she could do whatever she wanted with my hair. After all, she’s known as the “Braid Whisperer” for a reason! Rubi created a beautiful, slightly messy braided hairstyle similar to the top photo. I loved the look so much that I refused to undo my ballerina-meets-J.Crew-inspired updo for three days.
Since Alt, I’ve tried in vain to create summer braids similar to Rubi’s handiwork. I can French braid my own hair (a skill I acquired during 11th grade history), but that’s it. I can’t figure out how to manipulate my hair into a braided crown, a side French braid, or all-over braids.
But I’m determined to learn. On her own blog, She Lets Her Hair Down, Rubi has an entire category of hair tutorials. The mini crown braid above looks easy enough for me to master — that is, if my hair is long enough!
If you’re interested in learning how to braid, here are a few more hair tutorials on other blogs worth checking out, too:
Do you ever braid your own hair? If you have a favorite braid tutorial, please share the link in the comments!
PS – You can find more of my favorite hairstyles and tutorials on my (aptly named) Hairstyle board.
(top two images via Rubi Jones; bottom image via She Let’s Her Hair Down)
