A Few of my Favorite Philosophy Beauty Things

My friends... You all know how much I love Philosophy beauty products. It's an obsession I've had since Oprah first mentioned them on her favorite things list YEARS and YEARS ago. Anytime I try something new I tell all my friends when they need to try it too. Purity facial wash, renewed hope in a jar, the retinal cream, it's all amazing and if you came to my house and opened up my bathroom drawers and cabinets you'd see them full of Philosphy products. 

Of course there are other products from other brands in my bathroom, that's life, but the majority of my beauty products are Philosophy... because I truly LOVE them.

Before you're thinking, "Oh great, another sponsored blog post from a blogger." This is NOT sponosred. All opinions are mine. Philosphy doesn't even know I'm writing this post. I annouced last year that I am a Philosophy #BeautyBeliever and I still am, however, that's not paid. That's just me loving their stuff and writing reviews of new and fun products. (BTW, check out my #BeautyBeliever reviews on Facebook: CLICK HERE)

The holidays are upon us and I know a lot of people who have started holiday shopping. It's time to think about one of these Philosophy Holiday Gift Sets for your mom/sister/aunt/cousin/girlfiend/favorite person/daughter/neice or YOU.

Let's go through my favorites... 

Loveswept Holiday Collection

You guys. There's no better way to describe how Loveswept smells but with one word. Sexy. When I worked at Dillard's in college I worked in the fragrance department and layering your scent is a real thing. You will want to layer yourself in Loveswept because it's delicious. 

This perfume is sexy. It's romantic. It's my new favorite. This giftset on Philosophy.com is $57 for the holidays and it's worth every penny. 

Perfect gift for anyone who loves perfume. 

Fresh Cream Gift Set

OK - This gift is perfect for two reasons. It's a great gift at $32 and it has SO MANY GOOD SMELLING THINGS. This is the perfect gift for anyone who loves shower beauty products. Between the scrub to the body wash, it's an amazing start to your morning. Once you apply the cream you're set for a day of soft skin. 

Renewed Hope for the Holidays

If you don't get this set for anyone than yourself then you're doing the holidays wrong. I use renewed hope in a jar every. single. day. I also use renewed hope in a jar night every. single. night. You cannot go wrong with this giftset or the price. 

Honestly, it's probably better to just buy two of these because the value is amazing. 

If you know you have someone in your life who loves beauty but like things on the simpler side, then try giving them these products. 

1. Amazing Grace body lotion

2. Purity Facial wash 

If you give your family/friends/special people either one of these products you will become their favorite person in the world. 

Why am I sharing my love letter about Philosophy? Because I truly believe in this company and its products. As always, you can find these giftsets at Sephora, Ulta, Nordstrom, etc, but honestly I like shopping directly from Philosophy.com because if you signup for their emails they always send you a promo code or specials. I mean, if you can order something and get something else for free, why not? 

**NO AFFILIATE LINKS INCLUDED IN THIS POST.

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A House Tour & Update

When is the moment that a house becomes a home? When you sign away your life or when you put all of your things on the shelves? Either way, this house is starting to feel like home. Not in the way living in an apartment did - more like this is a place I will knowingly be living in for a long period of time. No more six-month leases because I'm afraid to commit. 

Oh, I have committed...

We're getting there in terms of being unpacked - there are plenty of boxes in the garage that haven't been touched but who can worry about those boxes today when there are more fun things to figure out.

Like paint. 

Before I had even bought the house I had decided on paint colors... that's a stupid decision to make by the way because then you move into the house and you realize that the paint colors are WAY TOO DARK because you were never in the house at night and there IS TERRIBLE LIGHTING EVERYWHERE. 

Of course, if you're anything like me you slap some paint on each wall and then just leave it there for two weeks because you are now paralyzed in decision-making fear regarding paint colors. 

These were my original two choices. 

Yes, they are similar, no I am not going with either one because the room needs a much lighter color. 

'Tis my life. 

Some rooms are coming along nicely - the master bedroom is one of them. Everything here was from the apartment except for the rug and the pillow. You can't see the rug here but it's really pretty. 

It looks more like this. 

The screened-in porch is probably one of my favorite places in this house. It's peaceful, big, lots of seating, and THERE ARE NO BUGS. 

The dining area is going to need some work. I plan on painting the fireplace, adding a mantel, finding a rug, re-doing the cushions on the table, and working on getting some additional lighting for this space. 

It's why the lamp is in the corner. 

But the shelves. The shelves are 'getting' there because it's actually hard to decorate shelves when you realized 1) you don't have enough shelf decorating things 2) the things you do have you don't like. 

That's a small preview of progress. Over the weekend I visited my local Sherwin Williams where I think the guy working was so exhausted with my questions he just gave me one of those large color paint things. 

Terrible decision by you Mr. Sherwin Williams paint man because now I will only have more questions regarding undertones and priming. 

More house to come - though I might just do one update post a week so I can get back to blogging about cooking and shopping. We'll see. 

xx, M

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New Neighbor Welcome Gift

Hi! I am back after a mini-break from blogging. All of the packing, moving, unpacking, rearranging, organizing, and generally try to keep life together while I can't find socks has kept me busy the past couple of weeks but it's back to blogging as usual now. 

I can't tell you how much I love this new house - because I don't think there are words. After living in an apartment for SIX years it's like a brand new world living in a house again. This is the first time in 11 years I haven't lived in an apartment. There is a big back yard, an office, a big kitchen, and a fireplace. Do you want to see a home tour? There are a lot of things I want to change but I can do an before & after. 

First things first - I pinterested REALLY hard to say hello to our new neighbors. This idea wasn't mine... Mrs. Happy from HappyAsWeKnowIt.com shared it earlier this spring. So, I took her downloadable template and then just edited to make the second sheet. 

I mean - how could you not think I was a great neighbor if you saw something so cute. 

Let's hope that my neighbors don't expect something this cute every holiday or occasion. That's a lot to live up to.

On the second page I just said who we were, which house was ours, and included our numbers. It's good to know your neighbors, for better or for worse they are who will be living beside you for a long period of time. Also, if they see something that looks fishy, I'd like for them to know who to call to ask.

I went to Walmart to grab these bags for $0.33! The popcorn was about 12 bags to a box for a few dollars. After buying some white ribbon this project was about $15. 

Two bags of popcorn per sack. 

Just one hole punch at the top of the bag. 

Tie the hello pages with some white ribbon at the top! 

Done! This was such an easy and cute Pinterest find! 

Now, the question is... did they work? They did! Since deliverying them last week I've met four of my neighbors. One set of neighbors brought some cookies, one came over to talk about the neighborhood and one brought me a puppy. 

Well, someone had lost a puppy so she thought it was mine and brought it over so it wasn't technically a gift of a puppy...

For $15 and about an hour or two of time (depending on delivery) it was totally worth it! 

Here's the Pinterest inspiraition: HERE & HERE
Here's the download: HERE

Stay tuned for more house updates! 

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Home: The Beginning of a New Chapter

It's been a few days ... weeks... whatever... since I've posted on here. In my defense, it's been really busy and in my other defense I've been really tired from being really busy. 

As of today, it's time to start a new chapter in life. By the time you're probably reading this I have bought a house. (If you're reading this after 10 a.m. CST then yes, I have bought a house. If you're reading this before 10 a.m. CST then I'm on my way.)

It's exciting. It's terrifying. It's a LOT of commitment. It's exhausting. It's the right decision for life right now, it's also very bittersweet. 

So a little background in case anyone other than my mom and my cousin are reading this post. In 2007 I graduated college and couldn't wait to move the heck out of Arkansas to find the bigger and better cities. So I did. I moved to Atlanta, lived there for a couple of years and then between a terrible, awful breakup, and always being consistently homesick decided it was time to move back to Arkansas. 

It was 2010 and I moved back to my college town thinking that life would be like it had once been, but that wasn't the case. My friends were still my friends, but it was different. I enjoyed being back in Arkansas but I wasn't challenged at my job where I was working. Looking back, it was all meant to be because during the nine months of living in my college town I was able to heal from the breakup and find the fun in me again. Anyone else forget who you were after a relationship that ended badly? You get it then. 

While I was working at this terrible, sucky job for this awful man who did unethical marketing practices, I quit. Choosing to be unemployed was probably the best decision that I've ever made (besides moving from Atlanta from the terrible, awful relationship). I took a few months and decided it was time to move on from my college town to the capital of Arkansas, Little Rock. 

The initial plan was to live here for a couple of years then move off again, after all, my soul was meant for bigger things and bigger places. Something happened, though, this city became my family in a way. My colleagues at work became my friends and my desire for more was being fulfilled by going back to graduate school and traveling for work. When I could almost see the light at the end of the tunnel of grad school I thought it was going to be time to fly off again. 

What's the phrase, you make plans while God laughs? Well, sure enough, the big guy in the sky must have been tickled in his seat when THE day that I said, 'I'm done with dating. I am going to focus on me for the next year, graduate, and move to 'insert big city name.' THE DAY I said that at 10 a.m. is THE SAME DAY that I met my boyfriend. *insert eye roll of irony* 

After dating for a few years, and deciding to move in together last spring, it's now time for another new chapter. Homeownership.  

After six years of living in the same apartment, neighborhood, area of town, I'm moving. It's exciting in that I won't have neighbors living above me, or have a patio the size of a closet. I'm going to have a lot of space, my own 'real' office, and I can paint the walls WHATEVER color that I want. 

So this chapter is closing its page. Boxes are mostly packed, everything is scheduled, and the only thing left is to sign my name approximately 398 times to sign away my life to a bank. 

So, stay tuned for more updates. Meltdowns. Before & after photos. Recipes since there will be a kitchen to actually have room to cook in. Stay tuned for this next chapter. 

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Review: Trunk Club Styling Service

It's Trunk Club time! If you haven't seen my posts before here's a little recap: 

Trunk Club, owned by Nordstrom, is a personalized clothing service that delivers clothing, accessories, and shoes to your door in a cute box. There is a new, initial styling fee of $25 that goes towards the cost of any item you may buy from the trunk. 

After you signup, you're assigned a personalized stylist. This is the best part to me - you have your own stylist who will chat with you via the Trunk Club app, online, phone or email. My favorite way to talk to my stylist is via the app. Your stylist will ask you a bunch of questions of your style, what you're looking for and what events are coming up.

Trunk Club Review

This month I requested a fall trunk from my stylist because fall weather in Arkansas is really like a cooler summer. I wanted pieces that could transition from summer to fall, from work to happy hour, and classic yet pretty. 

Let's go through the trunk! 

FRAME 'Le High Skinny' High Rise Crop Jeans Sterling - $165 (on sale!)
Joie 'Anatase B' Floral Print Sleeveless Silk Top - $198  

First up: My stylist sent me these Frame jeans. I don't mind the holes in the knees, but since I just bought two pairs of Paige jeans these are going to go back.

She also sent me the Joie top that I love, because I oddly love florals. Overall I really like both pieces. This top would be great with jeans, or tucked into a skirt with a jacket. 

Vince Camuto Zip Front Tweed Suit Jacket - $179

I am OBSESSED with this Vince Camuto Tweed Jacket. When I realized that there was a matching skirt I became even more obsessed. A Chanel-inspired outfit that makes me feel like Chanel from Scream Queens and Coco Chanel at the same time? HOW COULD I NOT buy this jacket? I am a bit bummed they didn't include the skirt, I could order it separately but it's so hard to tell if I'm going to be a cute Chanel, or look like a grandma at church. 

Chealsea28 Print Shift Dress - $119
Mary Jane Pump by Charles by Charles David - $65

So, I LOVE the cut and shape of this Chealsea28 shift dress but the print is not for me. 

But these nude, Mary Jane pumps by Charles by Charles David were surprisingly adorable and comfortable. 

Kate Spade Stripe Please Silk Skirt - $368

This photo is a lot cuter than how I felt when I tried on this Kate Spade skirt. Pleats can be hard, and with the price tag of these pleats this skirt just had to go back. 

Bye bye, pleat pleats.

Eliza J Off the Shoulder Top - $98

My stylist also sent me this Eliza J top that would be perfect if I wasn't so long in the torso. Sometimes normal tops can feel like crop tops so I have to be careful to buy shirts that are a little bit longer. As sexy as my muffin top is, no one needs to see it. 

Felicity and Coco Shift Dress - $88

LOVE this dress! I had no idea how much I would love this Felicity & Coco purple dress, but it's so pretty! Simple and classic is very much my style. After trying on this dress I want to venture out into a few more into the new world of deep purple. 

  

Trouve Tuxedo Jacket - $119 

If we'd like to talk about major obsessions let's talk about this Trouve Tuxedo jacket. This is a piece that I would have never picked out or tried on, but after I did, I was in love. This jacket is fitted perfectly, looks good with skirts, dresses, and jeans. If only it would get cooler in Arkansas so I could wear it!

Dolce Vita Over the Knee Boot (on sale!)

Hi, thigh-highs! I requested a pair of thigh high boots because ... because I wanted a pair. These Dolce Vita boots have a great heel but are also really comfortable. They did go back though because I have my eye on another pair right now, and since I'm on a budget, I can't keep it all. 

Trunk Club Review Final Thoughts

Trunk Club is really great for my lifestyle. As someone who loves to shop but tends to buy some of the same things over and over again, I get into fashion ruts. Telling someone else what I like and then getting those items along with new, interesting pieces is a big pro to me. 

There is a cost of $25 to receive a trunk, but honestly, it's worth it to me. I'm able to speak to someone about what I like/need/want, she sends me 10 items in the mail that I can try on in the comfort of my own home? The $25 is a convenience fee that I will happily pay. 

Also, if you buy anything then the $25 is just credited to your total. Win-win. 

If you're thinking about signing up, please use my referral link. Trust me, this is the best clothing service out there. 

Trunk Club Referral Link: https://www.trunkclub.com/my/invite/G79SAN  

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