WAKE UP AND GET READY WITH ME

i do not want to come across as a blog full of products, but i personally enjoy when other women share how they get ready in the mornings and i am always up for trying new products and seeing if there is something better than what i am using now. so i would like to share with you my morning routine... 

+ Shower time
my hair gets oily very quickly so i alway shower in the morning. even if i shower at night my hair some how feels dirty in the morning... i know, it's weird.

i have been using this brand of shampoo and conditioner for over a year now and would never use anything different! i do switch between think and full and tree mint. these shampoos have a hydrating blend of Australian tea tree oils, this shampoo nourishes and strengthens each hair shaft. Hydrating Teatree Mint Shampoo by OGX features a fresh, stimulating scent. Moisturizes and balances using milk proteins and micro-infused peppermint oils. Leaves hair soft, smooth and shiny.

Summers Eve is what i use to wash my entire body! my skin is very sensitive and i can't use anything with added perfumes or my body will breakout and dry out. 

+After the shower 

i try to use its a 10 hair mask from Target every other Wednesday, but since i skip a week i sometime forget.... sham on me, because it make my hair feel WONDERFUL!  in the winter months like now, my hair gets extra dry and brittle....so even though this product can be a little pricy, its worth the price tag.  I'm in the middle of trying to grow it out so the more help i can get the better! i keep the mask on for about 10-15 minutes and then i rinse my hair in the sink. my hair feels like silk when I'm finished and i just can't keep my hands out of my hair. 

+ Face Time

now while my hair is up in the mask i use this time wash my face. i use this face wash by Neutrogena. i am thrilled i found this product because it can be used both as a wash or a mask. my favorite is the mask, but don't want to dry ou my face too much so i use it as a wash in the mornings. 

every Sunday i use Botanics Shine Away Ionic Clay Mask. this is a great product to get rid of all the deep dirt in my face from the previous week. Willowbark is a natural source of salicylic acid, which helps refine skin texture and actively target imperfections. this is an all natural product made from; Sea Silt (Natural Oceanic Clay), Water, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Hydroxymethylglycinate, Salix Nigra (Willow) Bark Extract, Active Plant Extract.. it's a MUST try!!! i let this mask sit and harden on my face (which is a super weird feeling) for abut 15 minutes. this is a great time to just relax and gather my thoughts for the coming week ahead. 

+ Make up

i like to keep things light and breathable, so i am not a fan of liquid makeup... plus i always knock over the bottle and make a mess. 

i like to keep my make up routine simple and sweet! This Prime Time is from bareMinerals and you can order it here from Amazon. this is a primer for your makeup- hints the name. ;) just put a pea size dap on your finger tips, rub it in and then on your face. this gives you a great base and helps your make up last through the entire day. 

next, i use the foundation and apply very lightly to my face. 

this looks very similar to the image above, but they are very different. this one is called warmth. it goes on after the foundation giving you a natural glow.... i tend to only use this in the summer time, because the shade is much darker and doesn't match my skin tone in the winter.... but if you are wanting you use warmth and you are like me and it's to dark you can purchase a smaller and light color and them mix the two together matching your winter skin tone... i personally have never tried this one, but i have heard great things about mixing. if you try it out, please let me know how it goes!! 

sometimes when i am going out for date night, or somewhere special i like to add a hint of bare mineral blush.... i almost always forget this step, but i love the look when i do remember! 

lastly, i use Mineral Veil from bareMinerals. These helps minimize the look of your pores and gives you that air brush make up look. if i do not use this i can 100% tell a difference in the look of my makeup.

what i love most about bare minerals is that i always feel like i am not wearing any makeup..... sometimes i even forget that its one when I'm getting ready for bed. it just a light product and with no harsh chemicals leaving your face dry. 

i normally do not use this mascara, but since i shop at Sephora, every time you shop there you get points and when those points add up you can get free samples. once again, they got me!!! i am so happy with this mascara. it goes on smooth and never clumpy. i usually apply about three coats... crazy i know, but thats just a personal preference. 

i have these in a few colors and they are fabulous! i have the nude and the light pink like the one above. 

i touch my eyes and face too much, so i do not wear eyeliner on a regular basis. but when i go out on the town i try to apply a small about to the top corners of my eyes. never all the way across my eye lid. 

after being finished with this blog post i realized my morning routine is more complicated and has a ton of different steps than i thought i had.... i am as simple as it gets when it come to my appearance. 

but i love that about me and i cant wait to hear what steps you guys take in the mornings! 
Thanks for stopping by! 
What are your morning products? 

Nanny Life: Nature Center

this week the kiddos are on christmas break, so i had the privilege to take them out on a adventure! these two balls of joy love love LOVE the outdoors and every second they get they are sneaking outside to climb trees and ride their bikes. they can never keep their socks and shoes on while running in the dirt and some how always manage to fill their pockets with mud and sand that fall out all over the house. 

so today we went to Holiday Park Nature Center here in Indianapolis. they have been here several times before, but today was my first visit. it was a blast and so educational for the kids! 

oh and it was all FREE! 

here was a station with five different fur texture for you to feel the different softnesses between the animals, you could find here in the park. Rabbit, squirrel, fox, deer, and beaver. i had never felt a beavers fur before so i thought this table was super exciting! much softer than i imaged, i thought it would be more wiry since they are in the water a lot... but i know nothing about beavers. 

and of course there was coloring!!! we are obsessed with coloring (we color everyday) and of course a place for kids has to have some type of color station! we also made snowflakes out of coffee filters, but that was a little messy and dangerous with scissors so i was not able to get a picture.... but they loved to snowflakes so much that we had to make more when we got back home.  

here are these cute log cushion seats that were meant for sitting and reading books on, but instead we made an obstacle course and had a race on who could run through it the fastest..... and duhhhh, i lost.

this part was their absolute favorite part of the entire trip! they would not leave it alone! here you had to help the fox find his home through the woods, by using his sense of smell to find his way. there were about 5 different scent, good scents and one bad one... the yummy ones were mint, spiced bush, milkweed, wild ginger and the last one was to smell the fox den.... this one was extremely stinky and the kids thought that was hilarious and kept daring each other to smell it.

this little man ran around the entire room (while the place was filled with moms looking at me like i didn't belong... thanks bud). he was running around on all fours acting like a fox. after stopping a few time to rest and scratch his head with his back foot. he thought it was the coolest thing and didn't want to take it off. after several kids seeing him have so much fun with the dress up clothes they were eager to give it a try. 

puzzles, puzzles, puzzles! we had to do them all! these were especially cool because they were soft puzzles so they were easier to combine together. plus much more durable than normal puzzles because they are so hard to break and tare apart. maybe i'm "new" to watching and ben with kids, but i think this is genius!! 

this part was again very fun for them, but for the high anxiety person that i am..... it was a mess! water EVERYWHERE! the wore these water smocks, but in two seconds they were up the their elbows in the water making it pointless for the smocks. but of well, they had a blast! 

this winter has been abnormally warm and today we had our first snow! 

like i said they love the outdoors, so as soon as they saw snow they were ready to leave and catch as much as they can! today was a blast with these guys full of laugher and learning and i can't wait to make more memories with these two in a few days on our next adventure. 

thanks so stopping by!

if you are from Indianapolis or have ever been, what kid friendly things do you like to do? For free if any? i would love to hear your ideas in the comments! 

stick around to see more! 

MONDAY MUST HAVES

All right all right, i must admit after being off for the entire week and being down south for a few days this particular Monday was a defiant struggle. After nannying for a few hours this morning... which i forgot to drink my morning coffee, so watching kids was an even bigger issue.... Major headache!!

over the Holiday Dennis and I got this wine cabinet for Christmas. After Dennis giving up within the first 15 minutes i decided to take one for the team... by opening a bottle of wine and assembling it myself.  couple hours later and one bottle down, we (i) finally finished!  THIS was the final product! Adorable, right? Our home is slowly coming together and this just makes this space complete. Next step, get more wine! 

i have recently discovered Pier 1 Imports and i am OBSESSED to say the least... heres why! :)

to go along with our new wine cabinet i purchased these 2 wine glasses. if you're anything like me i drink all wines in large glasses. i just love the way the large glass fits in my hand..... oh and i just hate having to keep going back to the kitchen to refill. Once, the dishwasher was full so i just skipped the wine glass and drank right out of the bottle.... i think i should be embarrassed, but it was totally worth it. 

this glass doesn't look that large in the picture, but i assure you its big enough. ;) oh and did i mention each wine glass is ONLY $7!! So i splurged and purchased 2! why not, right?

ok, ok. ever since we got our house i have been looking everywhere for a white farmhouse style container for our cooking supplies. before today i had a bright blue plastic container... (gross) Pier1 saved the day!!When i saw this, i knew it was made for my kitchen! I have been searching high and low at every Goodwill in town, but this is even better than a used one! This is called the County Kitchen Crock and it was only $24. 

Now, i did have a gift card and i had a $50 limit. I was almost to $50 so i was trying to stay in budget and not go over. I love my all white decor but theses plates i couldn't pass up. These will add the perfect amount of pop in our kitchen. 

with that being said, now i am going to finish off my evening with some red wine and popcorn while i catch up on some Scandal and wait for the lover to come home form his hard day at work. i totally feel like Olivia Pope right now. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

xoxo, 

Steph

Mister Perfect

hi friends, if i have learned anything this year it has to be to cherish every moment, good or bad.  this little guy right here has my entire heart and i couldn't picture it any other way. Eli James is the most perfect gift God has blessed our family with. in times of trouble and mistrust we had no other choice, but to put our entire faith in God and believe that he has a plan for our family. and he sure did. now i couldn't picture our family without this little bundle or joy.  this year i get the pleasure to visit my family for 5 entire days. (it's usually only 2) i am most excited to spend my time with my nephew. he is growing up so fast and it breaks my heart i am not around much to see him grow and grow.  so stick around in the coming weeks to see all the fun and exciting memories we will be creating together!

over the weekend my wonderful sister decided to take these adorable picture. she's not one to be super creative so when i was sent these i got extremely excited... and i'm surprised Eli stayed still to allow her to take these. 

i am not one to follow trends, but i am slowly becoming obsessed with everything chalkbaoards.... (along with everyone else these days.)

jack is our crazy little mutt, who surprisingly is very good with Eli and his silly ways. jack is a yorkie mix so he has very high energy and never slows down.... perfect for a 2 year old toddler.  

soon i will add some pictures of my chalkboard doodles.... because what the heck, i'll join this trend. 

  they are the bestest of buds. poor jack is such a trooper.

to say the least, i will not be letting him go for the whole 5 days i am with him. 

Eli James, 

you are a miracle and auntie love you so much. 

Chocolate Covered Pretzel Rods

These are my FAVORITE "go-to" party snack!  

Super easy and super super yummy! 

Guess where i went shopping?

Target!!!! 

Below are the items you will need...

(when i make these no one can have just 1, so i make triple the amount needed)

3 Bags of Pretzel Rods

1 Box of peppermint candy canes 

1 Box of Oreos

2 Bags of White Chocolate chips

2 Bags of Mile Chocolate chips

not pictured are some Holiday sprinkles I added later on

Take all the candy canes and Oreos and placed them in separate Ziploc bags.

Then take all the air out and smashed them with a rolling pin. 

Melt the chocolates in separate pans, until chocolate is completely melted and smooth.  Then remove from heat.

Using a spoon, spoon the chocolate over the pretzel, leaving a few inches bare as a "handle."  Allow the excess chocolate to drip off the pretzels by twisting and wiggling the pretzel.  This will help to avoid the chocolate pooling under the pretzel or into the toppings.

Immediately cover chocolate with desired toppings and place on foil-lined baking sheet.   

I found it easier to put the topping on a plate and then roll the pretzels instead of using the bowl in the pictures above

When the sheet is full, place it in the fridge to set for about 30 mins.  

 Once set, they're ready to be served or kept in an air-tight container for a few days.

I'm so excited about how these turned out!

Instagram roundup

Check out my Instagram here for more pictures! 

i love antique shopping and stick around when I talk about my trip to the Midland Antique Mall

  

fruit, fruit, fruit. 

i don't know what i would do without Gods sweet treats! 

 

my two favorite things, flowers and quotes. 

 

being a cat is hard work....

  

My lovely friend above on the far left is a blogger herself!
You will see her around here often and i will post soon where you can find her blog at! 

 

sometimes i try to be edgy.... and it never really works. 

  

i love watching the fall leaves change.

 

feeding my bird obsession one day at a time. 

Eli James and his chalkboard table i made for him. he's the best.

discovering hidden gems under Indianapolis. 

they love birds, just like their momma

this tree is magical. 

perfect spot for a nap