Christmas 2011

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas full of love...and presents!

 This year Brannon got a guitar and he has not put it down since he opened it!

He's actually really good at it...music is in his blood!

I'm hoping that he will hit it big in country music so I can get a beach house, tummy tuck, and Cadillac! In that order.

 We could not get enough of this precious baby!

Granta Claus made this Christmas extra special!

How sweet are these boys?!

The kids showing off their teddy bears from Mimi!

So excited! He finally got a camo snuggie!

Last night when Brannon and I got home from Columbia (after sitting in traffic for almost 4 hours grr) we rearranged our bedroom.  I have been wanting to do this forever but Brannon always brushes me off whenever I bring it up.  Well, when we started chatting about changing it up on a long car ride, I made him think that it was HIS idea.  And he got pumped about it and BOOM. He got to work and arranged it exactly how I invisioned. Genius.  Our room is super tiny with oversized furniture so our options are limited but the way we moved it around works perfectly. 

After we finished that (at 11:00pm) we headed to WalMart to get a new tv for a newly rearranged bedroom.  Here's a picture of Brannon hard a work hanging my new tv. Loves it!

Exciting News!

Two years ago my husband and mother encouraged me to look into going back to school.  I have always been a horrible student and hated school so I had no desire or confidence to ever go back.  But I knew if I wanted a better career and more financial freedom I had no choice. 

So I enrolled in school and here I am two years later with 14 classes under my belt and a 3.0 GPA!! This year I received the BEST birthday gift EVER....

an acceptance letter to the program I applied for!!!!!!!

The picture above looks weird because I had to crop out the acceptance letter...has all of my personal information on it.

To celebrate my sweet boys took me to lunch and to a movie!!

Could he be any cuter!?! I don't think so..

I had to take a few pictures to always remember this day!! I cannot even describe to y'all how amazing it feels.  To be bad at something for so long-- and to finally overcome the fears, anxiety, and hatred I had towards school is the greatest feeling in the world!

My Make Up Bag

I get many emails and tweets about what makeup I use so I wanted to do a post and share with you what's in my makeup bag!!

Moisturizer:
Sephora Instant Moisturizer
Philosophy Eye Hope
Make Up Forever HD Primer

Foundation:
Make Up Forever HD Foundation in #118 Flesh
Chanel Mat Lumiere in Ginger #44 (until I fell in LOVE with MUF)

Concealer:
Make UP Forever HD concealer #325
Under Eye Brightener--Benefit Eye Bright (this works MIRACLES on my dark circles!)

Blush:
Chanel in Narcisse 44

Bronzer:
NYC Bronzing Face Powder in Sunny

Eyeshadow:
NARS Alhambra (I wear this daily with different color liners)
MAC Satin Taupe (I like to do a brown smokey eye with this color)
MAC Plum Dressing (stunning with black liner)

Eye Liners:
MAC Prunella
MAC Teddy
MAC Permaplum
MAC Fluidline in Black

Mascara:
L'Oreal Voluminous in Black (used since I was 14!!)
L'Oreal False Fibers

Lips:
For Nude Lip:
MAC Lipstick in Honey Lust
MAC gloss in Florabundance

For Pink Lip:
MAC Politely Pink
NARS Turkish Delight (tooooo diiiie for! so pretty!!)

Darker Lip:
MAC Lipstick in Touch

Cleanser to Wash it All Off:
Peter Thomas Roth-I go back and forth between anti aging and acne wash
Clairsonic Face Brush (another miracle worker!)

What's in your bag?! Share your favorites with me...I love trying new products!

Once You Go Shellac...

You never go back to regular manicures!

For those of you who have not heard of shellac, it is a nail polish that lasts 14-18 days without chipping, breaking, or smudging! And to me the best part is the quick dry time! No more ruined mani's from thinking they are dry and looking down and noticing they are jacked up from putting your seat belt on. Happened to me all the time.

I have been shellac-ing for over a year now and I LOVE IT! My nails are in the best shape ever! My manicurist gave me some great news last time I saw her....

She is getting the new line of OPI Gel... I am stoked because she will now have my three fave colors of all time--Strawberry Margarita, Lincoln Park After Dark, and Russian Navy!!!

Warning: If you have not tried shellac make sure you go to a salon that works with it often and is knowledgeable about the application. I went to a place (in a strip mall..sigh) that did not apply it properly (they used the knock off shellac) and it only lasted 4 days. The girl I go to is fabulous and only charges $25. If you are in the Charleston area..email me and I will give you her info!

MAKEUP FOREVER Review

Ever since Kyle Richards tweeted that her favorite makeup was MAKEUP FOREVER I have been DYING to try it! I think she is flawless and I willing to try any makeup, skincare, or fashion tips she offers. Sephora had the starter kit for a great price. The kit includes primer, foundation, finishing powder, and the powder brush. ALL for only $79. Holla. I took this picture the first day I tried the new makeup. I could not stop staring at myself. Seriously. So narcissistic. But I have never seen my skin look this way. My skin (all day--after 12 hours it still looked flawless) looked like it had been airbrushed AND photo shopped. I LOOOOOVE MAKEUP FOREVER! The only thing I do not like about this product is it is very light weight and your face feels like you have nothing on at all. I like to feel like I have foundation and powder on so this will take some getting used to. I recommend this starter kit to anyone who wants to acheive the Kyle Richards airbrush look. FAB!

Tonight Brannon and I went to dinner with our neighbor. I've been very jealous of the BROmance going on between these two so they wanted to take me out to dinner since I've been feeling left out. We had a blast!! This pic is a little blurry (taken on my phone!) but I wanted to show y'all my new hair color. She did it dark brown with a few highlights. I love it!

I almost forgot to tell y'all about my new NARS obsession...when I was in Sephora I could not resist the lip gloss in Turkish Delight! It's the pretties pale pink gloss I have ever seen. Run, don't walk to your nearest Sephora and stock up...you WON'T be disappointed!