Valentines Day BFF & Me Gift Guide + Blush Spa Event
Can you all believe it’ll be February next week, so crazy! I wanted to make sure I shared my Valentines day gift guide with y’all with enough time for you to order online if needed. Who say’s Valentines Day has to be all about your significant other? I love the idea of giving small gifts to your girlfriends, mom, aunts, sisters, etc. i’m sharing all my favorites with you in today’s post for some gifting and self shopping inspiration.
For all my local Kansas City girls I have a super exciting and fun event I’m hosting with Blush Spa in ANTICIPATION of valentines day approaching. it will be full of all things fashion, accessories, beauty, braided hair, plus a chance for you to take home a $50 Nordstrom gift card! I will list out all the details at the end of this post so keep your scroll after you get through my bff + me VALENTINE’s day gift guide.
Fav Statement Earrings + How I keep them organized & displayed
I love a good statement accessory whether it be a bag, shoes, necklace or especially a pair of beautiful statement earrings. I have a slight obsession with statement earrings but I’m actually pretty proud of myself for doing a major purging session of all my jewelry over the holidays. It felt so good to get rid of old pieces that were falling apart or pieces I simply just didn’t wear anymore. I also better organized my jewels and displayed them in a way that’s not only makes it easier to look through when styling an outfit but is also aesthetically pleasing. Keep your scroll to see some of my favorite statement earrings + how I keep them displayed and organized.
My Current Nightly Skin Care Routine
{my NIGHTLY skin care routine}
as promised today I’m sharing part 2 of my skin care routine detailing out everything I do and use in the pm. fair warning, my nightly routine might seem like a lot and to be honest I probably spend more time taking off my make up and caring for my skin than i actually do putting on my make up. however, I do truly believe that all of these steps are totally worth the extra time for healthy skin in the long run.
My Current Morning Skin Care Routine
I originally had this post featuring both my AM and PM skin care routines but it was lonnnng. So, I’m going to break it up into two separate post’s this week for you guys. Starting it off with today’s post sharing my morning skin care routine. I mentioned in my ‘A Year in Review’ blog post that taking good care of my skin is a major part of my 2018 goals. I really started caring for my skin when I got engaged in 2015 and even then I wasn’t doing all that I could have been. Before then, there were many times {more than I want to admit} where I’d go to bed with my make up on. I wasn’t following a routine and I thought a make up wipe, face wash, and a basic moisturizer was good enough. If only we could only go back in time to tell our younger selves to take better self care, sigh.
The older I get the more I realize how lucky I am to have a healthy body with no major issues. I am so grateful for that and I want to really start taking the best possible care of it that I can, which includes my skin. Jack McFarland from Will & Grace says it best, “There’s no shame in getting old. There’s only shame in getting ugly.” 😉 Aging gracefully is a goal of mine and I’m taking all the preventative measures I can in order to do so.
Tiered Ruffles & Pearl Embellishment
We’ve all been there, the Timehop photo’s from half a decade ago popping up and bringing back nostalgic emotions of wherever you were and what ever stage in life you were, the friends you surrounded yourself with, and the memories made. Then after the nostalgia starts to simmer you abruptly think to yourself, ‘what in the world was I wearing!?’ oh, is Just me? gosh I hope not, ha! I have a pretty certain feeling that in five or so more years I’ll be looking back at these big ruffle sleeved sweaters I’m obsessed with right now and embellished pearl booties and think the exact same thing. But 2023 fashion police Leah can take a back seat for now because I’m going to live it up in these current trends and hopefully not regret it too much. 😉
My 2018 Health & Fitness Goals + Cyclebar
nike cropped sweatshirt // VS slate KNOCKOUT LEGGINGS {ON SALE} // NIKE ROSHE SNEAKERS {on sale} // APPLE WATCH
Ever since I turned 20 I have really always struggled or yo-yoed with my weight. I would start a certain diet and work out regimen and lose a little weight with it but in the long run I would get burnt out fast and nothing ever stuck. in the spring of 2013 I lost 30 ish pounds and was happy with my weight only to gain it all back that winter. I pretty much struggled with emotional eating and weight gain until getting engaged in June of 2015. In prep for the wedding I then lost a good 40 ish pounds from that august to the following May in 2016 when we got married and went on our honeymoon. After returning from our honeymoon I completely gained all of that weight plus more back and felt like I kept gaining little by little each month as we made our way into 2017. This past August (2017) at my highest weight ever I decided enough was enough and that I was determined to lose the weight, for real this time. Honestly and more importantly I really just want to be healthy. I’m in my mid 20’s and should be at my prime, and I’m determined to get there this year. i think now that i’m wanting to lose weight for the right reasons and not for an event deadline it should go a lot easier with less pressure. whether it takes me another 6 months or all of 2018 to lose it, i know it will be worth the hard work to feel my best.
A Year in Review + Blush Velour Jumpsuit
hi friends, happy 2018 to you all!
i posted this pretty blush velour jumpsuit on my instagram page a few weeks ago and i’m so sorry it’s taken me this long to do a full post on all the details. i love that jumpsuits are so on trend right now as this was the perfect piece to wear to a holiday party without having to freeze my legs off in a dress or skirt. i know the holidays are over but a jumpsuit would also be perfect for any banquets or weddings you have coming up this winter and even more perfect for a dressy valentine’s date night look next month.
with it being a new year, a fresh start, a clean slate – whatever you want to call it. i wanted to reflect on 2017 and share some of my new resolutions/goals for 2018 in today’s post as well. i know, i know, it’s a very cliché thing to do and it’s something that doesn’t and honestly shouldn’t have to wait until january 1st to sit down and do. even so, I’m still pretty into it and enjoy setting new goals to better myself & lifestyle. can we also address how satisfying it was that the first day of the new year was on a monday this year? so lovely.
The Best of After Christmas Sales
Good Morning lovelies, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend with time well spent relaxing with your loved ones. I don’t know about you but I’m chugging water, green juice, and making sure I’m taking my vitamins today as I 100% committed to a full on three-day Netflix binge watching/snack session, haha. I started and finished season 1 and all that has aired so far of season 2 of the show Riverdale, anyone watch it? It’s Pretty Little Liars meets Gossip Girl meets National Treasure in my opinion. Super cheesy/corny and right when you tell yourself ‘OK this is too much, I’m going to quit watching’ they suck you back in and you find yourself gasping out loud and dying to know the full story. The very first episode is what got me hooked so at least give it a try and if you can’t make it past the first episode, well, you probably shouldn’t continue watching.
ANYWAYS, there are so many auh-mazing after Christmas sales happening that I wanted to share which sales I’ll be shopping and some of my favorites from a couple places. Get those gift cards and Christmas cash out and ready to use!
Holiday Gift Guide Part Three: Health & Fitness Gifts
