Bright & Bold on a Gloomy day

woke up to a rainy gloomy day. which I actually don't mind. reminds me of rainy days in Vancouver. 

I have always been a color lover. I don't think I owned anything black in my wardrobe until I was well into my twenties. I feel like color just makes me happy, and make people around you feel bright. am i right? I hope so! my favorite color is yellow... like lemon, sunshine yellow. its just so happy. after yellow, anything bright and happy is good with me. 

is it sad I can't wait to be a old little lady so I can wear REALLY bright stuff and have lipstick all over and everything bedazzled? I envision myself as a jolly old lady with lots of color on and laughing a lot. I hope so. 

sweater: kohl's

scarf: target

bag: marshall's

jeans: vigoss from nordstrom rack

boots: love culture

belt: 50 cents at the thrift store!

hope you all have a bright and colorful day!

those 2 little lines!

so crazy how 2 little lines can change your life!

we are so excited to be adding one more to our family!

yes we planned it. yes we are excited. yes we are crazy!

I have to say though. Before we got married I was told I could not have kids and after we got married my doctor was certain we would have to go through fertility treatments and would not be able to conceive naturally. I am so thankful that God is bigger than my limitations and that He has blessed me and my family! so here with go with number four!

 

Croup and the letter W

so we are all sick. 

one gets better, another gets sick. I guess its kind of inevitable in a family with little kids.

the littlest one has croup. such a horrible thing. the honking barking cough and wheezing makes me so nervous. been taking a lot of bundled up walks in the cold air to try to help.

my heart hurts when my kids are sick, especially when they are too little to tell me what hurts.

I wish I could take away all their sick days!

its funny how when they are sick nothing else seems to matter and you just want them to feel better again. Being a parent has made me understand God's love for me so much more. 

it is so much deeper, wider, longer than I can possibly imagine.

on a different note, my kids are OBSESSED with this song....we listen to it ALL day. I have to admit, its pretty catchy. all of us end up singing and dancing along.

they have a song for every letter, but W is definitely the best!

 

the end of the world

do I believe its the end of the world tomorrow? no.

do I live as if each day was my last? yes.

Every day I look at my kids and my husband and I am thankful. I cannot understand or fully grasp how my life has changed and become what it is right now. God has been so good to me. 

In light of all that happened last week I have spent less time fussing, nagging, shushing and being busy. 

I've been spending more time loving, hugging, laughing, giving full attention, reflecting and appreciating.

my mind cannot go there. I cannot imagine.

all I know is that God is a God of peace, love and joy. in ALL circumstances.

so I am praying that for all those who need it and cannot utter the words to a God that seems so far away. 

Hope you are all staying warm, your hearts are filled with love and your spirit full of peace.

Crowd Tap

Have you guys heard of Crowd Tap? 

The other day some friends came into town and our friend gave me a glorious coupon for Old Navy. She said one was to share with a friend. woohoo!!! I didn't fully read it until the next day, but it was for a top AND bottom from their active line (not including sale items). So I took a stroll to Old Navy to look at their active wear. I am NOT an 'activewear' person because, c'mon lets be honest. I'm not so active. but ooooohhh.. I got some active pants that I will wear as super comfy leggings and a zip up with sleeves that actually go all the way down to my hands! this was a $60 value! 

so on the card it said 'oldnavystylecouncil'. So of course when I got home I had to look it up. She had mentioned that it was similar to swagbucks... which I am a HUGE HUGE fan of. Over the past couple years I've earned more than a hundred giftcards! (mostly to amazon).

Oh gosh.

this is starting to sound like an infomercial.

ANYWAYS.

so I joined crowdtap (hopefully under my coupon giving friend Amber) yesterday and I am addicted! you earn points and it seems eventually get samples/products from companies such as the old navy deal and you can redeem points for giftcards, just like swagbucks!!!

anyways I thought I would share with you guys! if you want to join click the crowd tap logo above and we both get points! happy crowd tapping!

Seasons Box Review and Giveaway!

I love services like this. They make gift giving so much easier! I usually opt for a Harry & David fruit tower or something when I want to send a little something that nice...but this.. this is fabulous. 

you get FULL sized products that are neatly and beautifully packaged sent to yourself or to someone you love! You can do it as a one time gift or you can do it as a subscription. ( I personally think this is a great treat to get yourself or someone you love because then they get a surprise every once in a while!)

So seasonsbox.com wanted to give one of my subscribers a box of their own! wooohooo!! I love gifts and I love free! So here are the rules:

1. go and 'like' their Facebook page Facebook.com/seasonsboxhttp://www.facebook.com/seasonsbox

2. write a comment on their page saying that I "alittleaboutalot" sent you and something you love about the holiday season

3. be a subscriber of mine on YouTube

4. like my Facebook page (optional, i don't wanna force anyone to like me!!! hahaha!)

Facebook.com/alittleaboutalothttp://www.facebook.com/alittleaboutalot

Good luck everyone! I'm gonna go make some chocolate tea and get this nose drip under control!

Today's Tidbit: Fear is NOT your friend

hey err body! I took a little break. Just wanted to enjoy family and time. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I cannot believe how close Christmas is!! so crazy.

Been thinking and reflecting a lot lately on why I let fear dictate anything I do, or don't do for that matter. Fear is not my friend. It does not want the best for me and stops me from doing great things...but only if I let it.
I had the thought the other day, what if God could not do anything BUT bless me. then what would I do? then I had the other thought, He DOES bless me. shoot. simple but huge lightbulb over my head!!!
so now what am I gonna do? I need to think up something great!

anyways I hope this encourages you just a little bit to do something, try something or even maybe just realize a little bit that you CAN do great things. :)

my skincare routine

A couple of people asked me to do a skincare routine...and although I by no means have perfect skin, over the years I have found some products that work with my skin (and an under the sink  full of products that do not).  Everyone's skin is different so it takes a while to figure out what will work best with your skin type.

My skin is:

dry

sensitive

VERY porous

It needs:

deep cleaning

moisture

anti-aging/eye cream

age spot removal (haven't found one that works yet)

hope this helps in your skincare journey!

NEW Cirque du Soleil China Glaze colors

 New China Glaze colors!

It's a Trap-eze: milky glitter

Surreal Appeal: gorgeous coral

Escaping Beauty: hot pink

Running in Circles: glittery green

Def Defying: lime

Whirled away: black and white chunky glitter and stringy glitter

I have always loved the colors and consistency of China Glaze polishes. They aren't thick and goopy (and they don't get that way with age either) BUT they are super pigmented...enough that you could get away with doing one layer with most colors. 

"whirled away" away looked like it was a black polish with glitter in in. Once you put it on you realize it is actually a clear polish with such dense chunky glitter that it only looks that way. I like that once it is on the nail it is reminiscent of cherry blossoms or something organize like that.

"Its a trap-eze" is the other glitter that looks kind of milky in the bottle and on the finger I've never owned a milky glitter and I love it! it gives the glitter a little more of a muted look. 

love love love all of these colors~!

Zit Fighter

This is my new go-to when I get a zit. Seriously brings down inflammation and redness over night and reduces the life span of my zits!

I got this at lioletexas.com when they had their big grand opening sale and I'm so glad that I took a chance on it! Thank goodness for sales! 

I hope this is informative and helpful and if you try it I hope it works as well for you as it does for me!

M.A.C. Rebel

So I bought this lipstick months ago and for the life of me could not find it after using it a couple of times. I kept thinking it would show up again....but finally caved and got another one. (I'm sure it'll show up now!... at least I'll have a backup now!)

I love the formula of this one because it isn't too drying and gives such a beautiful saturated color. A very dark, wine, berry color. Perfect for fall and winter and definitely a statement lip!

I love it!

Winter Green Eyes & Nudey Pink Lips

One thing about cooler weather I love is that I can play more with makeup without the fear of it melting off! So seeing as today was a lot cooler I thought I'd do a wintery green eye with pretty pink lips.

hope you enjoy!

Classic Red Lips

i love red lips... especially when its not 'dressy'. 

this is a favorite look for me in the winter when you wanna feel a little sassy

my go-to red is Ruby Woo by MAC. Just a classic red lipstick that looks good on everyone!

enjoy!

First Birthday Party!

 Yesterday we got to celebrate our little girl's first birthday. So much fun...so much pink! haha! I was going to do a little video blog about it, but I didn't want to get distracted in having fun with the kids. I did manage to take a couple of pictures of the things I made for decorations and thought I'd share since everything was super easy (and cheap!)

these little feather hair clips were actually my older daughter's idea. I just bought:

a bag of feathers

flat wood shapes

hair clips

gems

all from Michaels. all you need to do is gather the feathers, glue gun them to the wood chip, glue the wood chip to the hair clip and then glue on gems where all the feather tips gather! so easy!

This is what I used as a back drop:

2 yards of fabric (if you get the fabric that was pre-cut and probably returned, its super cheap)

foam circle

wrap foam circle in tulle

and made a strip of tu-tu to add to the top to frame the fabric and hide the edges.

the #1 is just cut out of sparkly foam paper

the tutu on the highchair is just tulle on elastic, but you can really just wrap it on a strip of tulle like I did to frame the polka dot wall.

flower tissue paper poofs and lanterns were like $6/3 at Party City and Target

The backdrop is so cheap, but really made good for pictures!

we had face painting and playdoh outside...and of course  a bounce house!

love days like this. luckily I get to do it again in 2 weeks for our son!

first birthday

Today is my little lady's first birthday. It is crazy thinking that only a year ago I was at the hospital in labor! She is such a blessing to our lives and brings such a joy to our family. I have been so blessed to have 3 amazing children that love each other and have such joyful personalities. 

I can't believe that me and my husband contemplated whether or not to have more after our first 2. I can't imagine life without this little one. Also crazy to think that she is a result of one decision. amazing.

So today (which was actually cold out for once) I decided to bust out my older daughters hanbok (korean dress) I got from my good friend when she turned one. Ran outside and tried to take as many pictures as I could in about..... 2 minutes. haha!!

anyways for 30 days of thanksgiving, today I am thankful for my sweet little girl!!!!

 

my head wrap thingy is from Savers Thrift store!

Today's Tidbit: there is no "i can't"

I learn so much from my husband on a daily basis. Whether its through talking to him, watching him or learning from him... he always has these awesome nuggets of wisdom that flow from who he is. 

With that said, he teaches karate and tells the kids that there is no "i can't" in karate. I wish there was that rule in real life! So here is a quick tidbit for today. I hope you all know and be bold in saying I CAN! because you can.... I believe :)

Easy Upper Smokey Eye for the busy lady!

heyyyyyyyy sexy lady.. womp womp womp womp womp womp..

haha!

so I am so behind on my blog because we went on a beautiful family vacation!! 

Anyways, a beautiful friend on YouTube asked me to be a part of a collaboration makeup tutorial with other mommies to show how we get ready quick and easy... Here is my version of the 'upper smokey eye'

hope it helps you in getting ready quick when you don't want or have the time to dilly dally in your makeup routine! 

New Colored Lenses

I got some new contact lenses recently from contactlensxchange.com !

These are the Geo Color Nine Series in Grey $19.50

I love that you can get each eye different prescription because a lot of places won't let you or you have to buy two complete sets for each prescription!

at first I was concerned because in the past wearing contacts where the color went to the center made me see a haze when I wore them making me feel nauseous and headachy.but these ones do not do that at all. I don't see a haze even when I look side to side. score!

I really like the look of these... I feel ice princess-y. perfect for winter!

these are the ones I usually wear. they are the  Geo Big Grang Grang Series in Brown. $19.80

At first I thought the limbal ring was way to big (compared to the acuvue define I wore every day before this) but now I always go back to them because they make your eyes look so pretty!

I hope this helps you in your colored/circle ring hunt!

Here is my Fall Favorite Nail Polishes...Here I'm wearing the Grey ones :) 

and in case you haven't seen my review on the Acuvue Define Dailies here it is! have a great weekend everyone!

things I'm loving :)

Anastasia perfect brow pencil: I didn't like this when I first got it...but I've been working it again. It takes a little more work and effort, but the outcome is great!

Clinique Take the day off makeup remover: how did I forget how good this works? I wake up with no mascara flakes or raccoon eyes. not scaring your husband first thing in the morning = bonus!

Sigma Travel Kabuki: Love this sigmax brush. Its a travel brush but I just use it at home. So incredibly soft! 

MAC Tendertone in Purring: Smells sooooooooooooooooooooo good. It conditions your lips so well. Love this! 

s l o w l y cooling

so it is finally finally FINALLY starting to cool down. Meaning, it wasn't triple digits yesterday. haha! In my mind it was gonna be a lot cooler...but regardless, I'm gonna start dressing for fall. It seems so ironic to me that my favorite season are fall and winter and I live in a place that is always just different degrees of summer! 

I got some early birthday money the other day so I thought I'd treat myself. This usually means me ending up buying stuff for the kids, but this time I actually found a couple of cute things!

These little booties were only $16 at Ross and are surprisingly comfortable. the sole is squishy if that makes any sense... then I found this cute polka dot denim shirt at Forever 21 along with some other cute things in the clearance section that was an additional 50% off the sale price!! Gotta love shirts for under $3!!!

anyways, I am so excited for cooler weather clothes. What are you most excited to wear?

Gotta go de-cling all my scarves. does that happen to yours too?

Today's Tidbit: Being Content

Learning to be thankful every day for all that I have.

If God did not give me one more thing, I could be happy for the rest of my life. He has blessed me so much.. what more could I ask for? 

I feel like it's not natural to be content, we always want more...the danger in that is that it will never be enough.  So I am learning to be content, thankful and happy with where I am, who I am and all that I have! Of course we should always work hard and aspire and dream...but be happy with where you are right now...and then be happy with where you are later! xoxo


   

DS Styles Rhinestone Phone Case for Samsung Galaxy S3

Ah! I love phone cases. I seriously search phone cases every day online. Its replacing my shoe obsession. ok, maybe not that far..but its coming close!

This beauty came in the mail yesterday from DS Styles and I absolutely love it!

I wasn't sure how 'expensive' it would look from the website...but I have to tell you...in real life it looks pretty darn fancy! The Rhinestones are super clear and sparkly and don't' look like there are gonna fall off AND a huge AND you can't see the glue. There is something about seeing the glue or the glue strings that bothers me. I also thought that it would be heavy, but on the contrary. It is super light.

If you are a phone case lover too check out their site, they have a ton of cases and different categories...like mine is the 'rhinestone' but they have a huge selection!

 

September Favorites

hey everyone! so YouTube was all wonky the other day so I had to do this twice. Just some products I've been loving this month!

hot and sweaty

So today was the first day in about a week I crawled out of bed...literally crawled

Thought I'd slap some paint on my mug and decided to go with the ombre lip. Saw a lady the other day with a dark vampy ombre and I loved it. but since I've been in a gloom I thought I'd go for the lighter version. kinda like it!

With that said... I'm on my 6th day of a lingering migraine that won't go away. Today I'm trying to be a little more function but wowee mama... I am sweating and squinting like a vampire at any sign of daylight. Maybe I should start wearing sunglasses indoors like all the cool teenagers at the mall.

haha!!!

anyways I hope you are all doing well~