Fashion, Travel & Lifestyle Blog || Est. 2012 || Virginia Beach, VA
A few months ago, we made an exciting upgrade to our master bedroom in our home. It was a low-effort upgrade that had pretty amazing results. (Isn't that the best type of home upgrade?) We got rid of the non-aesthetic shades that came with our master bedroom, and upgraded to chic wooden shades from SelectBlinds. I'm excited to share a full review with you today, and keep reading for an exclusive discount code for SelectBlinds below!
For the past couple of months, I've been doing a fun partnership on Instagram with a clothing rental company called Armoire. I realized recently that while I share updates about using Armoire on Instagram weekly, I hadn't shared much on the blog yet! Armoire has been the first clothing rental service that I've ever tried, and I have really enjoyed using it so far. And make sure to read until the end- I have a great discount code with two special offers for you to try Armoire!
I recently tried a high-end skincare retinol system that worked incredibly well for my skin! I shared a little bit about it on Instagram Stories and got so many questions about it, so I wanted to write up a quick blog post with more information.
It's been four years since I became an enthusiast of DIY manicures and ditched my costly monthly visits to nail salons. And I've never looked back! I first discovered ImPRESS press-on nails in 2019 and became obsessed. I then started playing around with different brands of nail polish wraps in 2021, and enjoyed incorporating those into my manicure routines when I wasn't using ImPRESS. Even though I had definitely found a variety of nail products that I did enjoy using at home, I kept feeling like there still might be something better out there for truly long-lasting DIY nails. And I was right! In 2022 I discovered the Dashing Diva Glaze UV Gel Nail Polish Wraps, and they are without a doubt the best nail product I've ever used. This is the magical unicorn product that I was searching for when it comes to doing manicures myself! It's about time I gave them a full review here on the blog.
I love cooking and baking, but sometimes feel overwhelmed taking the time to cook from scratch on weeknights. I stay pretty busy in my M-F life; between work (and sometimes having weekday evening work events), Junior League commitments, working out, spending time with Ryan, meeting up with friends, chores in my apartment...etc! I'm not even a wife or parent yet and I already feel pretty busy most weeknights.
I am a connoisseur of cookbooks with a decent sized collection on my bookshelves, and I also have many food blogs that I enjoy reading. But even with all of these recipes at my disposal, sometimes I still feel overwhelmed and too pressed for time to jump into anything. I can't tell you how many times I've tried a new cookbook recipe thinking it will be quick, and two hours later I'm still working on it. For years now, I've been looking for an organized "database" of sorts for recipes that are actually both quick and delicious that I can easily turn to on busy weekdays. Something that's easily accessible and doesn't involve digging through cookbooks or food blogs when in a pinch. For a couple years I really enjoyed doing the Hello Fresh meal kits, but their prices kept getting higher and higher.
What has finally helped to solve my weeknight dinner recipe dilemmas? The A Month of Dinner recipe booklets by Larson Folkerts! I have been loving these for the past six months, and it's about time I finally write a dedicated review of them on the blog. These recipe booklets have helped so much with my weeknight dinner woes, and I think they can help you a lot too!
Last week, I had the chance to work with a local professional organizer to re-do two of the closets in my Virginia Beach apartment. I can't wait to show document the before/after photos and share more about the process with you! I worked with the NEAT Method Virginia Beach, and local owner Alayna, and had such a positive experience all-around.
I started doing my nails myself in 2019 to avoid costly trips to the salon. I was lucky to quickly find an at-home option that I loved: ImPRESS press-on nails. I still love using ImPRESS nails today, and they probably will always be my favorite DIY manicure option. (I've written two posts about ImPRESS- a review and tutorial here, and tips for making them last longer here!) Even though I'd found a great at-home option that I like for nails, I'm never opposed to still trying other new things. In the last couple years, the popularity of nail polish wraps has exploded, and I finally wanted to give those a try too! Over the past few months, I've been testing out three different brands of nail polish wraps, and I'm excited to share this review with you today.
My pandemic hobby that I'm most proud of and that I've stuck with the most consistently is practicing the French language on the Duolingo app. In August, I hit my one year anniversary of using Duolingo, and I'm proud of myself for continuing on for this long! I wanted to share a review and some thoughts about how much I like Duolingo. I apologize in advance for how long this post is- I had a lot to say!
At the end of 2020, I was invited to become a Sarah Flint Brand Ambassador. I was previously familiar with Sarah Flint shoes (they've been worn by some big names like Meghan Markle and Lady Gaga), but I didn't actually own any for myself as they are at a high price point. When I was invited to join the Brand Ambassador program, I was really excited to finally get to try and style a pair of these shoes, and test them out to let you know an honest opinion of them. Now that I've had my pair for a few months and worn them a good bit, I'm excited to share this review and a special Sarah Flint discount code with you today!
ImPRESS Nails were one of my best new purchase discoveries of 2019, and I'm still absolutely obsessed with them today! Discovering these press-on drugstore nails completely eliminated my expensive monthly nail salon visits. It's been so much fun to hear from a lot of you since I started sharing about these nails that have also tried them! However, one of the most frequently asked questions that I get in my DMs now is how to make ImPRESS Nails last longer. There are definitely some "best practices" for application that can be the difference between them lasting just a few days, to lasting 10+ days! Today I'm sharing my best tips for making your ImPRESS Nails last as long as they can.
I have a decent collection of Kendra Scott jewelry pieces that I've amassed over the years, but there are a few special pieces that I love and wear more than others. I always enjoy writing a good review post, so it seems overdue to share about my most worn Kendra Scott pieces! I have four that I wear often (one of them that I literally almost wear every single day)!
Over the past year, I have become a big fan of Barrington Gifts bags! They sell many items in their online boutique from luggage to accessories for him and her to diaper bags, but I feel their signature item and what they're best known for are their monogrammed and customized totes. And when it comes to Barrington totes, it really breaks down to two styles: the St. Anne and the Savannah. Today I'm comparing and contrasting both, and sharing why both are wonderful bags in their own right, yet also a little different from each other! There is an amazing Barrington promo happening right now, so I wanted to get this post up ASAP so you can take advantage.
It's here- my unsponsored and unbiased review of Hello Fresh, the meal kit service that I've been enjoying using for the past two months! I never thought I would be this excited about using a meal kit, but here we are. I am still planning to try out a few of Hello Fresh's competitors like Home Chef, Blue Apron, etc this winter and write a larger blog post comparing and contrasting several of them, but some of you messaged me on Instagram saying you still really wanted to see a dedicated Hello Fresh review first. So here we go! Spoiler alert: I love it!
I am excited to be partnering with Hallmark today to share with you why the act of sending a greeting card in the mail means so much to me! I am a huge card enthusiast (and basically have been since I was old enough to write), so this partnership is truly a dream.
