hello gorgeous!

03/15/16

Adult Acne Treatment

*This post contains affiliate links; I also received an Aveeno product. Any products I recommend, I stand behind 100%.

There are many things I am blessed with in my life, but smooth, clear skin is not one of them. For me, I didn’t have skin problems until my college years and am now quite familiar with the horrifying realm of “adult acne.” Why, for some reason, does putting ‘adult’ in front of ‘acne’ make me cringe from the inside out? No matter, I have accepted my skin for what it is, and instead of feeling sorry for myself or hiding out in moments of blemishes, I decided to figure out what works for me.

Before I had my daughter, I could use normal, topical acne spot treatments without any problem – for me, it was the stronger the better. Now, my skin has completely changed. One tiny drop of my old spot treatments, and my entire face breaks out in a hot, splotchy, itchy rash – sure, it’s one way to detract from the blemish, but it’s not a wonderful alternative. After trying various products and regimens, I’ll share what has worked for me.

03/11/16

March Fashion Theme Challenge

Happy March! I’m incredibly excited for this month’s fashion theme challenges because the snow has finally melted and it’s beginning to feel like spring. In case you’re new here, each month I participate in daily fashion themes from Instagram. It’s a great way to connect with people, have purpose to your fashion, and find new ways to style and wear your clothes. Part of the fun is finding ways to interpret the themes. You can see the last few challenges here: February, January, December.

I was terribly sick for several days earlier in the month, so I missed a few days, but here are the themes I’ve participated in:

• Laws of layering
• Mirror me metallics
• Darling dusters – a long cardi was the closest I got to a duster
• Blazing the way – wore a bold blazer to celebrate International Women’s Day
• Salt & pepper
• Piggy bank purchase – so glad to resurrect my mom’s MCM bag from the attic; seriously, what is such a beautiful bag doing up there? I decided to borrow it…permanently.

02/28/16

Transitioning Fashion from Winter to Spring

The transition from winter to spring in Chicago is especially fickle. Just last week I was playing outside with my daughter and the next day there was a winter storm watch! So how’s a girl to transition her closet from winter to spring with such a strange, uncertain overlap of weather?

I was feeling slightly overwhelmed when seeing the lack of spring clothes in my closet; last year during this time, I was on my maternity leave and hardly left the house. I missed out on a whole season of buying fresh springy clothes because I didn’t want to wear anything without an elastic waist band, but I found myself in a bind. Well, two binds actually.

1. How do I dress in this transitional time between winter and spring?
2. How do I update my wardrobe without spending all of my money on a crazy shopping spree?

Enter thredUP to the rescue! I was thrilled at the opportunity to try out Thred UP’s services and was compensated with a few clothing items to solve my wardrobe problems.