Glasses Shop

This is my second sponsored blog post, and I really only say yes to working with brands and companies that I, myself, love and feel good about sharing with all of you. Today, I'm collaborating with www.glassesshop.com to show off how to get away with wearing non-prescription glasses.

My mom has been a glasses wearer for most of her life, and as a girl growing up my mom was my beauty icon. On her, glasses were an endearing attribute, one that I loved because, for me, they symbolized her and all the beauty that I saw in her. As a kid, I never needed glasses, which most would consider lucky, but to my 10-year-old self, it came as a bit of a disappointment.

Now, that I'm a mom, and a maturing lady, I decided that if I want to change the way I look or take on a new style, or look a little more like my own momma, why shouldn't I? So, I ordered myself a pair of glasses; a cool transparent pink, wayfarer style pair. I wear them as an accessory, mixed in with some denim and a little bit of dirty, no shower hair :)

They have a great variety of glasses online, as well as prescription sunglasses. And for someone who impatiently awaits mail/packages, I was stoked to see them arrive at my door in one week! If you want to get your hands on some of these frames, RaisingGirl readers can use the code: GSHOT50 to get 50% off eye glasses and sunglasses with free lenses (sale frames excluded).

Photos by: Stefanie Meyer

    

It's good to be a little daring with your style, get out of your box and wear glasses if you want to. Dye your hair purple if it makes you feel more alive. I'm a big advocate for expressing your self with fashion. You do you. Let's see what Florence takes from that as she gets older...

Tracking My Cycle with Clue

Between the ages of 18-24, I didn't have a regular menstrual cycle. That's 6 years of my life, my womanhood, that I lived without a clue as to what was happening with my own body.

After seeing a nutritionist and getting some help with a long-term eating disorder, my body resumed its normal cycles, and I finally had a period again. After being clueless for so long, I now have this deep appreciation for my period. Many women probably laugh to hear me say, my period is sacred. But, the truth is, for me my period signifies that my body is on track, it's a reminder to myself that I have come a long way from the unhealthy girl I was for years. And, of course, my period will always be connected to my journey to having Florence.

A few months back, I discovered Clue, a company in Berlin that makes tracking your period and ovulation accurate, fast and friendly. And guess what?! They have an app and, ladies, it's free. I think I love my period even more, now.

I used to track my cycle by making little black "x"'s in the corners of my planner days. Clue helps me track all the things that come along with my periods like pain, mood, fluid, and sexual activity. There's even an option to enter good hair vs. bad hair days because we all know that is a real thing, am I right?! One of my friends who is a creative entrepreneur uses the app to track her motivation/productivity on a daily basis to help her identify patterns that affect her workflow.

The best thing about using the Clue app: it empowers me by providing a simple way for me to track my own period and see a complete picture of how my cycle affects me. 

What I Love about Clue:
-user friendly
-simple icon-based design
-tracks emotional side effects, as well as, physical ones
-it's free!

Do you track your period?

Finding Your Personal Style Post Motherhood

Last week my favorite podcast, Being Boss, did an interview with Tiffany Ima on finding your style. Hearing her advice was an answered prayer. I found solutions for so many of my style issues and I could not wait to write this post. 

After motherhood, I was at a total loss when it came to my own sense of style. As someone who finds a lot of joy and confidence in expressing myself through fashion, this was confusing for me.  My closet hadn't changed at all before and after having Florence and my shape hadn't changed dramatically either. So I couldn't really explain why I just felt awkward in my old clothes.

Until I realized, after being pregnant and now a parent, how I feel about myself has fundamentally shifted, and I decided my style needs to as well. 

For years I've been a consistent closet purger. I like to be able to see everything in my closet. I find that if I can narrow down to the few things I always want to wear then getting dressed is way more simple and I'm more willing to try new combinations because the choices are not overwhelming.

I have a tendency to immediately then start buying new things to fill up all the space I just created. Instead of taking the time to consider what I actually want to add to my wardrobe, I just refill it with things that seem like a good idea, or that I like the idea of and in a few months my closet is all congested again. 

So this time, I followed Tiffany Ima's advice and after doing my closet cleanse I came up with a few words to describe my new style and created a Pinterest board. The three words I chose are: sexy, comfortable/relaxed, and of course, minimalist. 

 I love this because now I have a goal for my style and I have some guidelines for when I'm shopping that will help me be happy in the long term. No more quick fixes with closet fillers. I actually want to take my time and slowly build my new, mom confident wardrobe.

Do you share my style problems? What are your solutions? I'd love to hear how you've embraced your post motherhood style.

Summery Makeup Style

Doing a post on makeup feels a little out of my box, if I'm being honest about it. I can't remember now exactly why I had the idea to talk about it in the first place, but I actually really enjoyed putting this one together. 

Growing up I didn't feel entitled to wear makeup. For one, I was athletic and I never had friends or sisters that were much into getting dolled up, so I never learned how to wear it or buy it. And then from my own place, I felt compelled to seek beauty in other ways which then I could only understand by rejecting parts of my femininity. I thought that you had to be either or. Athletic and ungirly or feminine and makeup wearing. For years, I just stirred clear of that feminine territory.  

It was a confirming moment for me when, at nearly 30 years old, one of my best friends told me she likes wearing makeup because it makes her feel more adult. I totally agree. In the past few years I have embraced my femininity in a way that makes me feel free to express my body. Makeup has been a fun part of my maturing. It's been an outlet for me to embrace a side of myself I didn't understand before.     

   

As a makeup minimalist, I generally use just four products, which I'll share with you. Part of my minimalism comes from still not having a lot of experience with makeup, so I stick to easy basics that give a nice pop and hardly take any time to apply. I also just like the look of light, airy makeup.

 My four things:

1. Facial Oil (john masters organics)

Because I spend a lot of time under the sun playing with Florence, I use this nourishing facial oil. It keeps my face feeling rejuvenated after being exposed to sun rays and being in and out of chlorinated pools. My skin is also very dry, even in the summer. It's definitely a middle to heavy oil I wouldn't recommend it unless you're on the dry skin end of the spectrum. I use it at the end of the day, after I've washed my face or showered. However, for a dewy summer look, I apply it on my eye lids and creases when put on mascara.

2. Blushhhhh (Gabriel)

Blush is by far my favorite piece of makeup. I love a rosy cheek look, especially for the summer with sunned skin and freckles. This one I like a lot, it's called Apricot by Gabriel. You can buy it at Whole Foods.

3. Mascara (L'Oreal)

I have a hard time finding great mascaras. I loathe a clump prone mascara. This Voluminous stick by L'Oreal works pretty well. I also prefer a finer applicator. I'm still searching for a perfect mascara.

4. Lip Color (Aveda)

I'm a solid fan of Aveda products and I especially love their lip sticks. My favorite color is this pinky coral, Peruvian Lily. I also like to mix lip colors, do you do this? I have a light nude pink that I mix for a lighter look.

Thanks Instagram friends for encouraging me to lean into my feminine side and share my makeup routine! I've also been totally inspired this makeup wizard woman, my cousin-in-law, she's incredibly talented and fun.    

DIY Play Scape

Hey friends, last week I made this play scape for Florence's animals and a few of you asked me to put it up on the blog so you could be inspired to make your own. One of my favorites of all of Flori's toys are her sets of animal figurines. Out of desperation, I bought a little pail of these mini ones at the airport a few weeks ago on our way back from Utah! We recently went to the zoo with my sister and nieces and seeing the animals there got me thinking I want to make a little "zoo" for Flori's animals. 

So I went digging through my craft supplies to see what I could conjure up. I just used a flat piece of card board (an insert from something) and cut pieces of felt out for the "terrain". I also had some of these green grassy balls and craft moss (you can get at Hobby Lobby or Michaels). I found some craft pebbles too, which are Florence's favorite thing to try and pull off. 

Arrange all your pieces to make your own play scape and then use a hot glue gun to secure it all in place. It's a fun and cheap little project to play with! Share pics with me on IG of how yours turns out!

happy zoo building :)

When the Sun is Out

Florence and I just got back from spending a week with my sister in Utah. She has three amazing girls. And, though I don't get to see them more than once a year, I still love the connections I have to each of them. It's been quite special to see them grow and change. They're a fuller version of themselves each time I see them again.

The best part of being an aunt is that you're not the parent, and therefore, you can just be a grown up kid. During the week with my nieces, we spent time making music videos with that app, Musically. It's a favorite past time of mine now, if you've never played with it, you probably should. We jumped on the trampoline and drove their big family four-wheeler around the neighborhood. We watched Frozen (my first time, wow) and ate ice cream. We painted nails and read books and talked about boys. I love their individualities, as sisters and as girls. It reminds me of how each child comes in to the world with a different lens, it's beautiful to nurture to their unique beings.

This is a photoshoot I did with my 12 yr old niece, one of the last days of our visit. She was my first niece, and I lived with her for a short time when she was 2. I remember wondering what kind of person she would grow up to be, as I played with her, a barely walking human then. At 12, she's bright and witty and loves basketball. She draws and writes stories. She's incredibly caring and her sisters look up to her with both eyes. I'm so excited to see where her heart is led as she continues to grow. You're a sun, my girl, I'll always see your place in the sky.  

Atlanta, the peach of my eye

The spring time in Atlanta, with its budding trees and warm sidewalks, is the time of year when I go back to that first impression I had of this place, one year ago. You see, this week marks our one year anniversary in Atlanta, when we made that first big decision as two young parents, to move. Here. 

The red lights are longer. Sidewalks are often broken into crumbs where tree roots have won. My car stereo has 6 different stations of hip hop programmed into it. And, regrettably, left turn lanes have become a luxury (something you only treasure in their absence). When we first moved here all these things stuck out to me, all the small revelations that are enough to remind you've come from some place else. Until inevitably, they fade, absorbed into the carpet of the places we've been and will go.

It was easy to jump into thinking that this last year has gone by with little else to focus on then the raising of our girl, this has been her first year, and we have absolutely felt our biggest transformations because it of. But for the stride we've made as a family, we owe credit to Atlanta. Going into our move here my approach was like, "I'll pretty much be house bound for a good year with this little baby, so it doesn't really matter where we live". I was so wrong. Atlanta mattered. Atlanta is where I (we) needed to be this whole house bound year.

Why? We needed Atlanta because we needed to start something together. We needed a risk. And distractions. We needed to be the three of us standing on our own.  We needed to wake up and see a skyline with unknowns. We needed discussions provoked by a big city, in the South. And grocery store lines that have different stories to tell. We needed grace in the form of something that was uncertain. We needed to muster trust like no other. And really go with it. We needed to see that community can happen suddenly, sometimes. And it makes a new place feel so unexpectedly like home.

Now my skin is [even] thinner. I've acclimated to winters that dip only to the 30s. For a few short days. I sing along with the radio and its hip hoppin' beats.  Florence knows the streets we walk to get to the park from our house, she points and pushes me to keep going until we can hear the kids playing at last. There are a lot of things we left when we decided to move here a year ago, and I know both Alex and I still feel a tug, now and then, from the life we left in Texas. But Atlanta was written into our geographies for a reason. And that reason has only felt like one big blessing. One big peachy, Southern blessing. 

I'm putting together a list of some of our favorite Atlanta things, so keep an eye out for it!

xo