Can you believe we have less than two weeks until Mother’s Day? If you want to get something special now is the time to get that done. I wanted to share a few things I think any woman in your life will enjoy this year.
Mixhers: as someone who has been having trouble sleeping I cannot sing the praises of their Hernightly drink mix. use code CLASSYBYJEN to get a discount on your order too!
PMD: If you have been around here for a while you know I love my PMD face care from the microdermabrasion to the heated PMD Clean Gemstone. This is the ultimate in self-care for your skin.
Hello Whimzy: By now, if you haven’t seen me in one of Lauren’s Peter Pan collars something is seriously wrong. I feel like these add the perfect touch to any outfit out there! If you want 10% off use code CLASSY.
Red Sprite Hats: If you are the kind of lady who loves a good hat and a good messy bun and are sad you can’t do both together… Look no further! My friend Jill at Red Sprite Hats is amazing and has the perfect solution.
Slice of Sun: If you know, you know. These pajamas are like butter. They are so soft, so comfortable and incredibly cute. And if you use code CLASSY you get 15% off your purchase!
Sly Beauty: As a makeup artist having a good bag for my cosmetics is essential. I love all things from Sly Beauty! Especially their Ever Need bag! I love everything about it. You can’t go wrong with their brushes.
You know the feeling, you either look at your Disney app or pass by the ride you want to go in and the wait time is loooong. What’s your gut reaction? Look for another ride? Go get something to eat? Do you have that amazingly selfless soul that always waits in the line for everyone as they go do something else?
I have been going to Disneyland ever since I was 6. Our kids start before they even turn one and we go every year if not multiple times a year. I have sooooo many people that say they aren’t taking littles to Diz until they are either old enough to remember or won’t squirm everywhere. I can address that if you guys want….but my advise is to NEVER wait….ever. By taking our kiddos so often and at every age, we have found a few systems that work for us while in line. Those systems have “grown” as our kids have. I’m excited to share a few with you!!!
Smile! 🥰 Your attitude & demeanor can make or BREAK yours & your family’s experience. As in life, we can set the tone for how our kids can react to things. Be flexible, be loving, be happy & be prepared! Will you always be happy in line…heck no! But trying is what we are going for here. Just try. Just that little smile, or your excitement to get on a ride will build there’s! Not sweating the small things you can’t change is a life long practice and is a great one to work on in line 😅.
STICKERS!!! We took the autograph books for characters & turned them into works of art with stickers & colored pencils. I would have them draw their favorite character, plants they see, rides or balloons.
Talk in line! Getting zoned out happens if you are tired but the more you communicate, the more enjoyable it is. I love making little moments magical. I hope my kids will say to their own kids, “Grandma always told us that when we passed under any bridge, that a magical world was on the other side.” I would always describe things to look for to prove that it was (miss on a tree, leaves rustling etc). I do the same at Disney parks and because they are SO magical, it’s not hard. I get down at their level and tell them to look for magical things around us. Hidden Mickeys are fun to find and I have a slew of IG accounts that share the secrets of Disneyland & World. They often have secrets about each ride so I’ll pull it out and tell them something special, or something to look for. Disney provided us with a guide on one of our trips and, although grateful, Kev and I decided we wouldn’t ever decide to do that I. Our own. He made a comment that made me fall in love with him even more (as we were being taken straight to the front of the line). “The bonding happens IN the lines more than ON the ride.” Take advantage and talk. Now with teens we talk about our fave memories of the ride we are about to go on or make a plan for what we’ll go on or eat next.
Games. Oh how I love games to pass the time! We love playing the Disney ABC game. We will either think of a line from a movie, a character, a ride or a movie that starts with each letter. If you get through all the characters in the alphabet, then change to movies and so on and so forth. I love it when other people hear what we are doing and will add something we hadn’t thought of. After all, almost everyone there is a Disney fan! 🥰 Now that my kids are older, I love doing scavenger hunts. I will send my teenagers off to find something somewhat nearby. They have to take a picture and come back proving they found it. Scavenger hunts are the most fun at Diz when you’ve seen everything, you’ve done everything and know every inch of the park. It makes you look at it like it’s brand new!
EAT! Sure, right now it’s harder with precautions but we’ll soon move forward and have some things get back to how they were. Eating for us is an every two hour event at the parks. Most of our snacks we share and are eaten in the line…while playing games 😂. I like to choose non sticky snacks for littles and ones they can eat themselves. Granola bars (with no melty chocolate) are amazing and we all have our own water bottles.
Bubbles! What kid doesn’t love bubbles??? We have used this small distraction for years and now with needing to be 6 feet apart, it gives them more room to pop ( and more room for me to not get the person in front of my soapy LOL).
Light up bracelets from the dollar store. NOTHING is more fun to a little in the dark than anything that glows. We save our money and instead of getting the super expensive toys at the park we bust these out in line and let them make necklaces, chains, bracelets, whatever! This also helps during nighttime at the park when things start to light up. You can bust these out and surprise them!
Misters. Sometimes it’s just so stinkin hot that these bottles (that they can totally operate) keep them so occupied since it gives them relief and a little spritz to the face. We LOVE them!!!!!
Dis has gotten REALLY creative with their lines during social distancing. We even went through the Columbia Harbour House restaurant to get on Peter Pans Flight (see video on my IG). We were ALWAYS moving!!! Don’t be scared of the lines. Any more tips to add??? 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
Delicious Reads has a series called “Looks From Books”. We have so many talented ladies in this book club that you can almost get overwhelmed with giddiness thinking about the possibilities. I’m a little late in posting this because of the craziness that ensued during Halloween but better late than never, right?!? Here is my first collaboration with Jacque from Looks For Lovelies. We all discussed having a literary character that we could use to inspire us to find a costume in our own closets. We wanted something unexpected. Something that could be visually stimulating without anyone having ever really thought to use said character. We decided on Hedwig; Harry Potter’s beautiful snowy owl. We were pretty excited at the possibility of feathers, I must say LOL!
Love this girl with my whole heart so it was fun to bring her in and play with her face =).
Jacque is a styling master and made this crown and neck decal for our stunning model Kara. Staying true to wanting to find pieces you already own we went straight to our closets.
This coat comes from Bebe and belongs to yours truly. LOVE the elegance of the faux fur collar and the way I feel instant glam whenever I wear it. Interesting fact about female snowy owls: they aren’t as stark white as the male and often have darker markings. Needless to say, this cream coat worked perefctly and the darker feathers in the crown and necklace were quite accurate ;D. Jacque went through Kara’s closet to pick out the clothing pieces. Top: Choies.com Skirt: Downeast Basics Shoes: Forever Young Shoes
Our amaaaaazing photographer captured a few behind the scenes as we pinned and tucked =). Big shout out to her since she is one of my favs to use. Loves to Niki from Niki Martins Photography.
One last seeeeeerious face cuz that’s what models DO! lol
Halloween just makes me giddy. Grinning ear to hear, can smell caramel in the air want to dress up all day long GIDDY!!!! Our neighborhood has a witches night out every year and it is so much fun!!! Amazing food, fun games and great gals to chat the night away with. Last year I was a spunky witch and used items that I already had on hand. I love being creative and it was super fun to piece everything together. This year I was so crazy busy out of my mind that I honestly didn’t even THINK about what I was going to do till the day of….the DAY OF!!!!! What a terrible example of an over planner….bleck! Well ENTER Archive Costumes at Hale Center Theater in Orem. Seriously, all I had to do was walk in, tell them my dreams and they were OFF!!!! The manager Kris (who is an absolute doll and GENIUS) pieced together my masterpiece of a costume. That’s RIGHT! This costume was built piece by piece. She came zipping in and out of some secret, magical, huge closet (that I desperately want to peruse one day) with lace, an ascot, clock works, a cane, gloves, a petticoat, ribbons and strings!
I was memorized by her speed, her attention to detail, her style! All of these costumes were tailor made for performances given at the Hale Center Theater and lovingly stored (remember the magic closet?) so that I could waltz in one day and be completely pampered and taken care of.
Kris made me into the “Witch of Time” and adorned the dress and hat in all things steam punk time-esque.
The party that night was officially something I could look forward to with the proper degree of excitement and anticipation. All I had to do now was find the perfect makeup tutorial to match this perfect outfit. HERE was the tutorial I used and tried to do justice to. I had two other witches I was getting ready that night so I was able to practice practice before I completed my look. I showed up, knocked a few times before I let myself in leeeaaaning on the cane and hunching over. The gasps and laughter were perfect!
Such a fun night and I won THE most heavenly smelling candle for my ensemble. Thank you Archive Costumes at Hale Center Theater for saving my J-Lo. I know where I’ll be going every month for my book club costume!!! What was your fav costume to wear ever for Halloween?
If you are in the Utah Valley area check out Archive costumes on these social sites:
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heeeaaaarrrrrt!!!!! =D It’s Christmas Eve. Can you feel it? Can you tell something special is coming? I remember as a kid, this night held such magic. We would not only read T’was the Night Before Christmas but we would read the even more wonderful story in Luke about our Savior being born in a manger in Bethlehem. We would sit by the lit Christmas tree with all other lights in the house off and feel the words my dad read. We knew they were true. I still do =). It was such a good transition to a peaceful sleep……but how could one SLEEP???
Enjoying yummy treats at Grandma & Grandpa’s
I was the only girl with three brothers so I always had my own room. I would sneak down the hall to where they were and we would stay awake all night playing games and guessing at what we would find in the morning. My parents always tacked up a sheet to hide our view if we ever walked past the hallway leading to the glowing Christmas tree. We would have Captain Crunch Berries EVERY year, my brothers chugged Egg Nog like it was going out of style while I sat in the corner gagging at the sight (I may have just gagged thinking of the smell). We would wake up and head down the street to Grandma & Grandpa’s for Christmas breakfast. I can hear the plates chinking, the smell of the bacon, their hugs, her glass Christmas tree candy jar filled with sweets all stuck together. Oh MEMORIES!!! Do we love traditions because they are so familiar? Because most of them are only practiced once a year so they are special? Because people we love teach us them? I think it is a sprinkling of all the above and I LoVe them!!!
Kev and I have been married for almost 10 years and haven’t lived by family for most of that time. We have loved coming up with our own little family traditions but have also brought our own from our separate families into the mix and have just loved the holidays that much more. This year we have been able to help others in ways we have always wanted to and are finally in a position to do so. We told our kids the plan of only one present from Mom and Dad, one from Santa and whatever grandparents or other family members might send. What we would have spent on Christmas has been split up between the Sub For Santa program, people in the neighborhood, acts of service (giving of our time), the United Way, food drives at school and helping lift others spirits in any way we can. The underneath of our tree may be bare but our hearts are SO full and I am SO proud of my boys (seeing as how they are younger) for being so great and excited about our Christmas this year.
My oldest (above) and I lay awake talking about Christmas and how it’s a little different this year. “Mom” he said, “Do you know what I like best about this Christmas?” “What Love?” “I loved taking those presents to all those families that wouldn’t have had a good Christmas. When they smiled and saw the bags we brought, that was my favorite present. I want to keep making people smile. Are we doing this again next year?” {insert heart MELTING right then!!!} “Yes, Kayson. We will do this as long as we have the means, and even when we don’t, we can always give our time and talents to those that need us.” Speaking of talents…..lol…..bet ya didn’t think I could ROCK Mrs. Claus for our local high school did ya? Well, you’d be wrong!!! HA!
Is that not one of the funniest things ever? I know I would have to do a double take every time I passed the mirror =D. It was so much fun to read to little kids and pretend I was married to a waaaaaay older man with a lot of power ; D. I used a lot of Ben Nye makeup for this look and the NYX Jumbo Pencil in milk for my hairline and brows. This year held a lot of parties for our family too. One was Kev’s work party up in Salt Lake at Little America. I loooooove when the invite says formal & you can take it up a notch!
I opted for this bad boy from BeBe and did a deep red wine lip. Head didn’t seem complete without a loud obnoxious bow so I added one last minute and pearls from H&M. I hope you have the merriest of Merry Christmases and are able to feel peace, love and joy this season. And if you have any room left over, try a bold lip with gorgeous lashes to top everything off =). Love you all!!! P.S. Our family pictures were taken by the lovely Sara Simpson and I HIGHLY recommend her for your photos! She travels and is SO good with kids I can’t even tell you!!! Let me know if anyone would be interested in a giveaway from her!!!
Sadly the time elapsed for our winner to claim her Norwex rags so I had to choose a new winner. That should come as GREAT news to the rest of you!!! Okay, so I put the numbers into Random.org and here is the new winner!!!!
BAMANNIE
Please oh pleeeeaaaase contact me so that I can send you your fabulous rags that you are just going to LOVE!!!!! Congrats =).
I am, for the most part, a very happy person. I love (in no particular order) life, my family, God, my friends, a good party, a good treat and all things pretty, attention to detail, singing, dancing, laughing, quiet moments with a book and a blanket, hot cocoa on a wintery day and BIG windows for a lightning storm just over the lake. There is so much in this life that is worth loving and learning about. I cannot TELL you how many emails I received after asking you if you would mind me sharing other aspects of life on here with you. Thank you! Thank you for being so supportive, kind and for responding =). As one of you pointed out, it’s basically all girly anyway (the topics I wanted to share) and I quite agree! My hubby is already working hard on a revamp for the look of the blog and I couldn’t be more pleased and excited! In keeping with the theme of a multi themed blog I wanted to share some triumphs with you =). I officially hit 126 lbs today!!!!!!! This may seem like not that much if you have been following the weight loss but it IS when connecting it to the fact that I have been trying to lose inches and body fat rather than lbs. I was just so tickled to see a lower number since I hadn’t in a while {giggle}. I was SUCH a silly girl and didn’t measure myself at the VERY beginning of this journey (6 weeks ago) and only started (better late than never) 2 weeks ago. Within that time frame of 2 weeks, I have lost 2 inches from my thighs & waist and an inch from my J-Lo, which is saying something! I have also taken my body fat down considerable and have been feeling a HUGE difference in my clothing. I feel…the best way to put it is “clean”.
I feel light and clean on the inside as I have taken out a lot of the toxins and unnecessary things we have in our foods. I like buying fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, natural applesauce and peanut butter, brown rice (cooked with coconut oil is to DIE for!) and wheat pasta. My kids love it, I love it and I cheat like there is NO tomorrow on Saturdays LOL. This really is a win win and I have been SO impressed with the community on Facebook for Revolt. They are all there to encourage, advise, and uplift. Nichole Huntsman has been such a positive influence in making me want to be stronger & healthier {look for an interview with Nichole herself here on the blog soon!}. If you have been looking for a change, a way to start being more healthy then this really is the program for you! It was very easy for me to slip into it since I felt someone was “holding my hand”as I started the diet & the workouts. It was clear & easy to start. It for sure took willpower on my part but I. Was. Ready!!!!! I think that I pushed myself to really follow clean eating but I think I can push myself in the workouts a little more. This was the last week for the 6 week challenge but I am going to keep going! I am on my way & am NOT going to stop now!!! If you want to start at the beginning & come on this journey with me, then Revolt Fitness’ site {here}. Right now they are doing a FREE 3 day preview & you can see why I love it so much! What are your goals to be healthy a little bit every day? What inspires you & makes you happy? What is your “why” for wanting to either change or maintain your lifestyle? I would love to know more about YOU!!! Leave some comments to get us all thinking =). Love you guys!!!
Now let us be clear. I LOVE reading books, I adORE reading books and I dream of the days spent in leisure reading all day long (okay, so maybe that would get tiresome and I would soon feel slothful). I used to go to a book club but instead of talking about the books they would just sit there and gossip (HUGE pet peeve!!!) so I would leave dejected and disappointed. Not to mention I had an enORMOUS amount of fabulous things to say about the book bursting in my head with no outlet. Grrr, but I digress. Another fabulous find in my issue of Allure was the fact that they have Beauty By Mail Clubs. Did you HEAR that????? You can pay a monthly subscription (about $10-$15) and receive monthly goodies by mail!!! They say that some samples are not even samples at all but FULL SIZE gems. And who doesn’t love a surprise? I love it!!! I do!!! Pick ME!!!! Here are a few of the sites you can go to to get started on receiving beauty kits at your door. Now notice that these are not just specific to makeup. They have perfumes, lotions, polish, brushes even!!!! Are you going to sign up with me? Which one will you choose?
Lately I have been getting a lot of emails in regard to finding things on the blog. In fact this has been a topic for a lot longer than just “lately”. When I first started hearing that it was hard I was intimidated to solve the problem. HOW do I do it? WHAT to even look up and do I need to know CODE for this??? {scary} Turns out there was a simple fix albeit still a rather “cheap” one. Until I know Blogger better or switch to something like Word Press I have installed a search bar over on the left hand side. Do you see it? Riiiight up there at the top? Yup! Right there = D. Whatever it is you are searching for just type a key word in there and voila! You’ll see a few options and you can click the specific one you are looking for =). I hope that this helps!!! =)
