The English Dept. Bridal Fashion Show 2012 :: A Novel Romance

Posted on | Monday, January 30, 2012 | 4 Comments

It's that perfect time of year again! Our favorite, The English Dept. , will be having their annual bridal fashion show, A Novel Romance. I'm so excited to attend. I believe this will be the 4th year in a row for us. My dear sweet and talented friend, Elizabeth Dye, will be showcasing her designs in addition to many other amazing dresses and accessories! If you're in the Portland area on Sunday at 12pm, please plan to attend. You will not be disappointed! View the details below:

Skin care

Posted on | Saturday, January 21, 2012 | 8 Comments

Sweet Yumi asked in a previous post about my skin care secrets. Here they are!
In my teens, I had horrible skin. I was so embarrassed by my acne and it was pretty bad. I tried so many topical products to no avail. Turned out it was my hormones and after I fixed that, my skin cleared up. When I hit my twenties, I really made it my goal to take care of my skin so I started a good skin care regimen and stuck with it. My mom and grandmother have always taken care of their skin and everyone thinks they are way younger than they are so, hey - might as well follow their lead! I also don't wear a lot of color on my face/eyes. I'm not that into it. Instead, I prefer to make my skin look the best and healthiest it can and I think that goes a long way as opposed to loading on color.

To cleanse my face, I'm not super loyal to any particular soap. I just look for something mostly or all natural that is simple and cheap. I figure that it gets washed off and goes down the sink so why invest a ton in soap. I usually use a vegetable based glycerine soap (1). I also like to exfoliate my skin. I LOVE Biore SkinPreservation Even Smoother Microderm Exfoliator(2). It's really gritty and I feel like it polishes off all the roughness and dead skin cells very thoroughly. I use this once a week. I tend to be super lazy and impatient with most masks, but Bliss' Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Mask
is awesome as it only takes 5 minutes. It leaves my skin glowy and refreshed and I even got my sister hooked on it who then got it for our mom. I use this every other week or so.

To moisturize, I love La Mer products. I start out with a base of their Radiant Infusion(4) to prep my skin. I then slather on their Creme De La Mer (5). I finish at night with a dab of their Eye Concentrate(6) under my eyes. I also use their Lip Balm, which is the best.

Most days, I'm too lazy or busy to put on makeup. It's such a luxury! On the rare occasion that I do put on makeup, I like to prime my face with a foundation primer like Laura Mercier's Foundation Primer Radiance. I usually skip this step though. The foundation I've used for the past couple years is Tarte's ReCreate™ Anti-Aging Foundation With Wrinkle Rewind™ Technology SPF 15 (7). It's lightweight, mostly natural and has SPF. I have very oily skin that I used to hate but now really appreciate. I don't care how greasy my skin looks anymore (used to be hyper paranoid about it) as oily skin helps prevent wrinkles. I just think that if my skin looks like an oil slick, at least it's keeping wrinkles at bay. After applying foundation, I do like a little deliberate glowiness, so I dab on some of Stila's Illuminating Tinted Moisturizer Oil-Free SPF 20 (8). When I want some added dazzle, I tap a little Benefit High Beam onto the cheeks. After that, I apply Tarte's Cheek Stain in Dollface onto my cheeks. This is hands down, my FAVORITE cheek color & product of all time. I've been using for a few years and anytime I deviate away from it to try something new, I go right back to it. It is moisturizing, adds the perfect amount of blendable color and it smells nice too! For all the face makeup (foundation, cheek stain, etc.), I apply using my fingers. I don't own a foundation sponge or brush.

Whew! That was a lot, yes? BUT, most days, I just wash my face with soap and moisturize.... like 19 out of 20 days. :)
I try to steer clear from harsh chemicals and try to use as much "natural" as possible, with the exception of a few awesome products that work well for me.

I hope this was a fun read!!!

Racing & Birthdays!

Posted on | Thursday, January 19, 2012 | 3 Comments

Our family has a lot of birthdays in January! Mine, my dad's and my sister's husband, Sean. This past weekend, we had our birthday dinner at Claim Jumper in Clackamas, OR and ate TONS of good food and had a great time:

After dinner, we went to Sykart in Tigard, OR for some awesome kart racing!

Signing in and getting ready. Matt and I got memberships. Yes!

Getting pumped up for the race! The karts at sykart can go over 40mph, all indoors!

Getting on the helmet liner. So stylish!

Race results. I won!! Out of 10 racers in that race. :) Beat the 9hp faster kart with my 6hp. Matt got the best lap time in the next race and I got 2nd.
Kart racing is my new latest obsession. It's soooooo fun. Everyone should try it!
Thanks to my sis for the photos!

The more time that goes by...

Posted on | Wednesday, January 11, 2012 | 2 Comments

The simpler I want things to look.
We're in the middle of a home remodel. When finished, we should have a brand new kitchen with a new walk-in pantry, new master bedroom (taking our home from a 2 bedroom to a 3 bedroom) and new bathroom (our home has only 1 right now). It's very exciting! When we purchased our home in 2008, I hated, absolutely hated our kitchen and bathroom. We have a 1930s home with lots of charm - moldings, built-ins, etc. Not a cookie cutter at all. I love this about the house, but the outdated kitchen/bath are the only downsides. We decided when we purchased the home that we would remodel these the first chance we got. We live in the historic Fairmount Hills neighborhood in Salem, OR, which is so great, but I think our home is the last one to get remodeled!

We scrimped and saved for over 3 years and now we're in the middle of it. Matt completely gutted the kitchen and has put in new floor boards and dry wall. We're getting there!

Here are some pinterest finds that I found very inspiring. I think less is definitely more. As I get older, I find that I want less fussy designs. As clean and simple as possible while still feeling cozy and like a home.

Love the glass front doors here. pinterest

Love the white tile back splash and dark counter tops.

Really like this concept for the pantry door.

Love this simple bathroom with wall mounted sink, white tiles, clean lined toilet.

The hubby demolishing our kitchen.

I think if I could make our entire house white, black and shades of grey, I'd be super happy. :) Maybe not with our current house, but someday, when we're out in the country on a farm. For now, making our current home more "us" is a good goal. I'll post more photos later!