Happy Monday all, I know Monday’s get a bad rap, but honestly, since I am such a fan of routine, its always nice to get back into it after a weekend of just going with the flow! Brandon just got back in town last night and Jett and I are just sooo happy to have him home! Jett picked up a new word (or I guess you can just call it a “sound”) in just the short amount of time B was gone – “BaBa!”.. were still working on MAMA, but I can see it in his eyes he wants it!
Let’s talk Mules!.. I can admit – my stock of loafers escalated from one pair to 5 or 6 pair preeeetttty quickly. I have always been a flats girl.. probably for the sole reason of comfort… but ballet flats have had their moment and its now all about the mule. Perfect for spring, as the weather heats up a little bit and there is no more snow on the ground, a good mule is versatile enough to go with pants, shorts, even dresses if you do it right. I have rounded up some of my favorite loafers to usher in the spring season, happy shopping!
“Well I’ll be your rainy day lover. Whenever the sunny days end. And whatever the weather, we have each other. And that’s how the story will end
Well I’ll be your shade tree in summer mmm. If you’ll be my fire when it’s cold. And whatever the season, well, we’ll keep on breathing. Cause we’ll have each other to hold.
I’ll hold you- I’ll sing.
I wanna love you, forever I do. I wanna spend all of my days with you. I’ll carry your burdens and be the wind at your back. I wanna spend my forever – forever like that.”
It occurred to me this morning that its been about a year (ish) since I started blogging (well.. I guess you could say for the 2nd time – I had a brief stint in the summer of 2014). Over the past year a LOT has happened. I got pregnant.. had a baby… and now adjusting to life as a new mom. I am thankful every day when I log into my blog account for all the memories it holds within its little virtual walls.
A LOT of work goes into this website- some days it can definitely feel burdensome and overwhelming, but mostly its been such a wonderful and welcomed challenge. The work I put in is a lot of fun & extremely rewarding. Most days I’m up at 5 AM working on the blog before Jett gets up – editing photos or writing my content for the week. Its also been just in this last year that I have really taken notice in how much I have grown – new skills I have added to my tool belt, and positive changes on my outlook on life and the confidence I hold for myself. I know I am just a tiny little fish in a big ocean of social media influencers but I still believe that this little blog-project I put so much work into is worth all the time spent. Here are some of main takeaways for this past year. (And If YOU have toyed with the idea of starting a blog yourself, I hope you find value and inspiration in this list):
Get over that embarrassment, do what you love and don’t worry about what others think
One of the main reasons I stopped back in 2014 was I felt embarrassed – putting photos, stories, thoughts out there for anyone and everyone to see. What would people think when I posted photos of myself? I hope they don’t think I’m narcissistic! (I am the FARTHEST from it) Why does anyone care what I have to say? Oh and taking photos out in public – can I always wear a hat and glasses and some sort of invisibility cloak so no one can see me? Well its taken awhile, but I think its FINALLY started to settle that life will not end when I hit publish on a blog post. I have been amazed at how supportive people have been and not at all judgmental. Not to say there aren’t haters every now and then- but its never enough to stop me from pursuing what I love. CREATING. Creating a space all my own in which I am totally in control of sharing things that I love. Now this “getting over caring what people think” – I’ve been working on that for like 30 years, and the ONE thing that has made an impact on me at all has been going outside of my comfort zone by starting and keeping up with this blog.
More on judgement – Those who don’t have a blog, probably wish they had a blog.
I am pretty confident that 99% of the people out there that you are fearful of judging you for having a blog probably would love to have their own blog themselves. Who doesn’t want a space to share their passions and be creative? I think when I first started – back in 2014 – fashion blogging was definitely a thing, but not as MASSIVE as it is now – I didn’t quite know where I fit, because I was the only one I knew besides the already “famous” bloggers posting their outfits to Instagram. And now days I get so excited to see so many friends jumping on board and launching their personal blogs (Hey I’m not alone!)- wherever their interests lie whether that be fashion blogging- or food blogging, or mama blogging, etc. I believe there is room for everyone – everyone’s content is welcome.
Hey, you ARE pretty darn creative!
I really LOVE numbers. I can proudly admit that my favorite subjects in school was Calculus and Accounting. I even tutored accounting and lots of math subjects to student athletes in college. AND grad school. I remember being a kid and loving arts and crafts but as I got older I think I wrote myself off as being a creative person and just assumed I could only be good at math. I took a photography class in high school and I am pretty sure I got a C. I remember getting criticized on all my photos back then and just telling myself – “ah well I’m just not a photographer.” Fast forward 12 years (EEK!) and I am by no means saying I am this amazing photographer but I feel like I can hold my own. I LOVE the editing process and have spent hours learning Lightroom and Photoshop. Really GOOD images inspire me and photography is probably the number one reason I got into blogging in the first place. I am always a student, always learning and feel like after a year of blogging I can confidently say – YES I am creative! I just had to flex that muscle a little bit.
Working hard on something you love makes you a hard worker in other aspects of your life.
Not to say I wasn’t a hard worker before Alexander-Alexandra but my work ethic has probably grown 10,394 times over. I work really hard, and spend a lot of time – not only on creating content, but also just making and maintaining new relationships. And of course collaborating with brands, companies and other influencers. Some of the work can be tedious and time consuming, but by now I have realized the value that each part creates and know its necessary and just has to get done! But so much of it is really fun, and there is nothing better than taking a step back – looking over your blog, seeing it as a whole and realizing that all that hard work has resulted in this really amazing project that you can be proud of..
Be organic, be you, (and don’t take all the free stuff if you don’t believe in it)
Don’t sell yourself short. Don’t buy followers, don’t work with companies or products that you don’t really believe in. It’s tempting when you start gaining some traction and companies start reaching out to you with all this free stuff in exchange for posting about them. But honestly I would rather just post about things I do REALLY like and use. I am not a walking commercial for anything people want to throw at me. I care less about the number of followers I have, and more about just producing the BEST CONTENT I can, and if others want to follow along- great! I enjoy blogging so much more when its organic and real and I build a community of people that actually have the same interests. Those followers you are looking for- they will come, just be you, and have fun with it, and they will come.
Thanks for reading – if you visit my little site often – Thank you SO MUCH for following along. One year down – a lifetime to go!
Valentines Day is Wednesday and for those of you who have plans this week with your special someone (does anyone else celebrate any other day BUT Valentines to avoid crowds and surging prices??) have a little try with this easy knotted braid hair style for your dinner date. It can easily be done with a few clear-elastic bands, a hand mirror (to use to see the back of your head), and a few hair products to give you a bit more texture and volume.
There are two products that come in handy for anytime you are doing any kind of braid, twist, or pony. First is this dry texture spay gives your hair exactly that- some extra texture (which is especially great if you have lots of dimension in your hair already – a little texture brings that out even more)
We also used a little Molding cream since my hair was clean and we needed a bit more structure.
After applying the hair products… Start by pulling the top section of hair back -starting at your crown and tie with your first clear hair elastic. You can pull out a few strands to frame your face if you’d like, giving it a more “naturally messy” look.
Next, starting right above your ears, loosely pull the next section of hair back, including the section that is apart of the ponytail above, and secure with the second clear hair elastic. After the elastic is in place, gently pull the section that is apart of the ponytail out of the second elastic a little bit to give the section more volume. The final elastic – don’t grab any more hair, but instead place about two inches down the current ponytail. Use the same technique to pull out the hair from the final elastic, matching the volume of the section above.
Finally, curl the ends of your hair to your liking and finish with some.. hair spray. Easy peasy and ready for date night!
I love this Moroccon Oil Hairspray (and ALL the Moroccon Oil products – it smells amazing and manages to keep your hair light and bouncy without weighing it down.
Special thanks to Amanda at Stem Hair Salon in Merriam for the style (and is the one responsible for my ombre color as well!)
Last weekend we flew to Colorado for a long weekend to see my parents. The last time we had visited Jett was about 6 weeks old, so it was about time for another trip out – this time for some snow, Jett’s first trip to the park, and his first college basketball game! (Jett even made it on ESPN!) It’s so nice to have my parents a quick 50 minute flight away, as difficult as it can be flying with a baby, it definitely helps when all you have to commit to is less-than-one-hour of flying time. I must say, the older Jett gets, we are definitely realizing more challenges with travel! I think we are in that in-between stage of him not wanting to sit still – but not interested enough in distractions (for very long anyways). A few walks up and down the aisle seems to do the trick of keeping him busy and content. Our next flight is in mid-March and will be around 2 and a half hours so until then I will be doing my research for some good plane toys and distractions. Anyone have any suggestions??
Happy Friday, its been a LONG week and I am excited to have a little relaxation time!
As much as I love a comfy chunky knit sweater (I’m allll about staying warm and toasty in cold weather – I am such a wimp!) I have found that the best way to start moving toward spring styles without busting out the floral dresses and open toed shoes is to incorporate a few sweaters with fun details – such as this open backed twist sweater. Just throw on a warm coat if its super chilly outside and you are good to go! I was actually surprised at just how warm (and soft!) this sweater was even with the extra skin showing. (bonus- you still can wear a regular bra underneath and not worry about it showing!)
OK mother nature.. I will give you a few more weeks, but after that its time to start the transition to spring!
OK, I can’t be alone in feeling like February is one of the worst months.. The Holidays are long gone and everything is dead and grey outside. There may be dirty snow piled on the edge of the road, or if there isn’t any snow the grass is most certainly a sad shade of brown. I decided to write this post to challenge myself to find the good in this sad wintery month.. so here goes nothing!!
1. Hey it’s getting lighter outside!
The glimmer of hope that spring is on the horizon. What used to be pitch-black-darkness at 7 AM is now glowing with the sunrise. Each day the daytime gets a little bit longer and gives us a bit more reason to celebrate!
2. Valentines (or Galentines) Day
I know some people are not into the Day of Love, but I have always really enjoyed it. And not for the conventional – go -out-to-eat reason, but finding other fun ways to celebrate. When I was single, that meant a fun date with my bestie – making a heart shaped pizza and watching girly movies or sushi and fro-yo. Now with Brandon we always try to do something fun that allows us to really connect. Indoor rock climbing, making a dinner at home, or playing Mario Kart and snacking on popcorn are some recent favs!
3. Last month to just indulge in some R&R time on the couch.
I try to stay positive and instead of looking at how weve been cooped up inside for a few months now – I look at it as – this may be our last full month of just taking it easy before the busy-ness of spring starts up! Don’t feel bad about those Netfix binges and eating dinner on the couch – just own it!
It’s not long friends, hold on to your dreams of warmer days!
The morning after my facial at Radiance – (I went makeup free the whole day!)
Valentines Day is one of those holidays that I have just always loved. As a kid I couldn’t wait to assemble my shoebox at school for all the Valentines I would receive. And going to the store to pick out the themed pack of cards and type of candy I would give to my friends – I still remember those days like it was yesterday. Even now I always look forward to Valentines, just because I love giving little gifts of appreciation to my loved ones. I think one of my favorite gifts to give has been spa gift certificates – it is the ultimate thank you in my opinion, as who doesn’t love and deserve a day of indulgence and ultimate relaxation?
I recently had one of the best day of spa treatments I have ever experienced at Radiance: Beautiful Skin here in Kansas City. Over the years I have had a massage or facial here and there, but never really found a spa that I frequented, or went back to time-after time. But after my services at Radiance, and I think its safe to say I have found my spa-home!
(Now, to set the record straight before I go on, I must say that I am very selective on what I endorse here on my blog. I won’t write about anything I don’t truly believe in – it is so important to me to stay real and share with you my actual thoughts and experiences)
What I love about Radiance was the personalized touch that I received throughout. The staff was friendly, knowledgeable and genuine. In the past, especially at bigger and/or chain spas, I have felt like maybe I get the same spiel as everyone else that comes through the door, but this was different (and how refreshing is it to get individual, sincere attention!)
I started my experience with a 60 minute relaxation massage that was probably one of the best I have ever had. (raise your hand if you like lots of pressure to get those knots out!) The therapist listened to me explain my problem areas and spent extra time working on them – the tightness I battle in my lower back received the special attention it deserved! After those heavenly 60 minutes I was given a plush robe and slippers and moved onto my next treatment. I then met Tara, the owner of Radiance in the next room for my customized facial. I gave her some thoughts on what I experience with my skin and she confidently and knowledgeably talked me through what we would do to make my facial experience the most beneficial as she began my service. The hour included a HydraFacial – something I hadn’t experienced before.. life-changing! My winter skin instantly felt refreshed, brightened, and moisturized. What I loved about Tara’s facial was how she walked me through everything she was doing and how it would benefit my skin. It was relaxing and refreshing, and I felt not only rejuvenated, but motivated to continue caring for my skin at home going forward.
If you are in Kansas City and looking for the perfect Valentines Day gift that will pamper your mom, sister, bestie – whomever! I highly recommend a gift certificate for a massage + facial as I can’t speak highly enough of my experience with Tara and the staff at Radiance. Right now (and up to February 14th for you last minute folks..who, you are not alone…I find myself as a part of that group quite often) you can buy a gift certificate, or just call and schedule an appointment for a 6o minute massage + 60 minute facial for only $150 for the pair! Shop local friends! Click here to visit the website or call and book an appointment today!
As always, all opinions my own – I only write about what I truly believe in!
Well, more sickness has hit the Cusick household and I think we are all down for the count! Jett’s little cold ramped up again and now B and I are feeling it too. I would be lieing if I didn’t tell you these last few days have been pretty rough both physically and mentally. Maybe a little mix of the winter blues (come on spring!) and a lack of sleep but we are ready to power through all this to better days.
On a more positive note, it seems like a million cute sweater dresses are on sale and I have snatched a few up that will last me until the weather starts to warm up again! Which I am crossing my fingers that means sooner rather than later!
