Remember a few years ago, when I wanted to start a little virtual book club with you guys? Turns out my lack of free time was exactly your challenge as well, and by March the book club idea was tossed right out of the window. I just cannot hold myself accountable these days. Kids school projects get done the night before, permissions signed in the car pool lane the morning of, and a late work night results in ordering Jersey Mikes two nights in a row. Life right now is hectic, and my minutes alone are so few and far between I’ve lost sight of making “me time” a priority.
Setting goals is just an awful set up for me these days. I am a list maker – a plan ahead gal, and when my list fails, I feel like a failure. It is an ridiculous snowball of self loathing lately. I’ve started to tell myself that my to do list is just to ambitious. That I need to give myself a break. The kids back and forth of school, taking care of Max, running the blog during the day takes up a lot of my time. By the time B is out of school, its back for dinner, bath, play time, clean up and bed. So my ridiculous list of “paint the dining room” – “menu plan for the entire month” etc. has to go — I need to enjoy the simple things in my spare time, and do my very best to allow myself to breath.
Every month I have SO many things I want to share with you guys. Funny clips, what I am into, products I love and more. I thought showing you guys my finds and favorites of each month would be such an enjoyable and fun post to share with you all on a consistent basis. Not, “Hey! Lets read 2 books this month!” kind of goal. (Even though books are totally in my favorites of the month – more than likely I will not finish them until the next).
Now that you all understand where this totally random post of what Abby is into is coming from, shall we dabble?
Oh, Clinton Kelly – I’ve got a crush on you for sure. I record his show, The Chew during the day because I love rewatching bit by bit during the week when I do laundry. The show is so light-hearted, and fills me with ideas for dinners that I apply to my real life. This book of his! Guys, I am only two chapters in and I have laughed out loud so many times. A must read, if you want to join me!? 🙂
You can buy it off of Amazon, HERE
I have to share with you the quickest back story before I bless you with my next share. My grandmother was a QVC queen. An entire closet set aside for her purchases, multiples of everything because she had 17 grandkids (so c’mon she had to). Her jewelry collection was unbelievable! You could literally go shopping in her house and never run out of choices. It is a standing joke when QVC comes up in discusssion with our family. Even better, my grandma seemed to of passed the gene on. Guess who got the bug (not even 5% as bad as my g-ma though) MY MOM. She has talked my ears off this entire year about this brand of moisturizer/face creams etc she fell in love with. And I would always shrug along and love the scents, but I am not product junkie so I always just appreciated her love for it.
UNTIL she shared one with me to take home. You guys, it has turn my world upside down this past month. And now, here I sit, on QVC and wait for her miraculous arrival and have my cell phone ready to order during her 2 hour specials.
I’ve become a HUGE Josie Maran fan
I have always leaned toward more natural, pure products to use on my body. Your skin is your body’s largest organ, and essentially what you put on it gets soaked into every pore. In years past, I worked with Aveda products, which I think gave me my foundation to care deeply about what I use. And then somewhere between being a cosmetologist and mother I fell off of the wagon and just forget to take care of my skin. Sure, I used a daily SPF on my face – but that is about where the self-maintenance stopped.
Until my sweet mama turned me onto Josie Maran. Her products have been a total game changer for me. You can read all about her products, HERE. They are available at Sephora, but if you really want to get the best deal you have to tune into her QVC specials.
Here is what I am using lately…
I’ll break these all down for you in a post coming soon – in the mean time, I highly recommend watching her QVC special where she can talk about everything. I am hooked on the whipped body butter, and the Milk. My skin has never looked or felt better, and I feel SO good about putting pure ingredients on my skin. 30 is the decade to start taking care of my skin better – a last-minute attempt to preserve what I have left!
Max started crawling last week. He has been crawling backwards/belly scooting for a bit and has officially transitioned to crawling like a total maniac. It is the cutest thing ever, and has me vacuuming and washing my floors even more than I did before! I stumbled across these Baby Einstein toys at Target the other day on clearance (of course) and Max is completely smitten by these…
It comes in one box, and the caterpillar balls are so cute – the face lights up when you hit it on the ground. Max giggles so hard, pushes it around and gives his thunder thighs a go chasing it in circles.
oh! Last but not least, my favorite hair products that are CHEAP! I go through hair products so quickly I just cannot wrap my head around spending a fortune on them.
I have been using this texturizing sea salt spray for over a year and loooove it. Not only does it smell like a dreamy beachy coconut – you can use it on day old hair just to refresh and give your hair a bit more oomph and texture! A must have for under $5
Dry shampoo is the answer to every mothers bad hair day. Living Proof is apparently the best of the best, but for under $5 I have tested a few and found Dove to be the most pleasant smelling – grease sucking up – give my hair another day champion! BY FAR!
Okay loves, that’s a wrap on my itty bitty favorites + finds to share with you all this month! Comment me your favorite finds of the month, or what you cannot live without! I can always use advice in every aspect of my life. HA!
xoxo, abby