SEQUINS & SANDCASTLES

Thursday, October 29, 2015

FALL BASICS FOR HIM & HER

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In the next couple of weeks we will join the rest of the country and start enjoying cooler weather. Fall for us is really summer 2.0 but as November approaches, we need to start thinking long sleeves, pants and something other than sandals for shoes. When I shop for fall and winter clothes for the kids, I generally like to go with mostly basics that can be mixed, matched and layered any number of ways and add in a few fun pieces for each of them. We have such a short season of cooler weather that it makes the most sense for us.

Going back to basics and coordinating a number of them stemmed from some shoe envy Lex has for Dylan’s shoes. I am learning that it’s in my best interest to buy her similar shoes instead of anything super girly to make our days more peaceful. With that in mind, here are a few of the things I am crushing on for them for fall, and for peaceful mornings. Plus, how cute will they look?For Him: Peek sweatshirt, baby size here, Gap vest, Gap tee– also love this one and this one, Gap jeans, Hunter boots

For Her: Peek sweatshirt, baby size here, Gap vest, Peek tee, Peek jeans, Hunter boots

Since we’re talking fall, how about a pic of them at the pumpkin patch last week? I love how much they love each other right now.

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Friday, October 9, 2015

FIVE TIPS FOR PLANNING YOUR WEDDING

photo credit: Emily at EME Photography

Today is our five year wedding anniversary! I loved planning our wedding! It was so much fun. Although not an expert, I thought it would be fun to share five tips for planning a wedding of your own on our fifth year of marriage.

1. Hire a wedding planner. Hiring our wedding planner was ~~one of~~ the best things we spent money on. She was worth every penny we paid her! Our wedding planner did so much to make sure every detail was perfect. Even if we only had her the day of the wedding, we both said she was worth her fee. I recommend hiring a wedding planner who passes on vendor discounts to her couples. It is hard to find, but SO worth it if you can find one and love her work! If you think you can’t afford a wedding planner but find one who passes discounts to her bride, you will find you save more than her fee; at least we did.

2. Decide early on your most important elements. In the event you don’t have an unlimited budget, decide early on what you want to prioritize and where to spend more of your budget. For us, we chose things that we would have forever, photos, and what would be photographed most frequently, flowers, dress, etc.

3. Don’t try on a dress more expensive than what you are willing to spend. Stop looking when you’ve found ‘the dress’. If you try on a dress out of your budget, without fail, that will be the dress you fall in love with. Save yourself the heartbreak and don’t try it on in the first place. When I found and purchased the dress, I stopped looking at dresses altogether. I didn’t watch Say Yes to the Dress on TV, skipped over the dress section in bridal magazines, etc. I tried as much as possible to avoid seeing something I might like better.

4. Ask potential photographers to see a complete wedding album, not just a best of portfolio. You may find someone whose work you love when you see only a single element or two but realize their whole wedding portfolio doesn’t quite stand up. Ask to see full albums up front, if they won’t show it, move on. There are no d0-overs, so you need to get it right. Luckily for us, I knew our photographer and have always admired her work. I’ve had friends who have used her and have seen multiple weddings she has done. Hiring her was an easy choice.

5. Try not to be a bridezilla and show gratitude to those who have helped make the day special. We all have our moments. I had mine at our rehearsal. In general, try to enjoy the experience, it goes by fast. We had a small wedding, our vendors were amazing and I would use or recommend every single one again. At our reception, I offered all of them cake and cookies (we had a cookie bar as favors) and they were genuinely appreciative of the gesture. Little things go a long way with your vendors; be sure to thank them.

There you go, my five tips for planning a great wedding! Now if you’ll excuse me, I am off to pick up our anniversary cake from Piece of Cake Desserts! You can see a few more wedding and trash the dress pictures here.

If you are in the Phoenix area and would like a list of our vendors, send me an email, I would be happy to share!

This post is not sponsored or affiliated with any company mentioned.

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Wednesday, September 30, 2015

THREE THINGS

sneaky peeky…

photo credit Marnee of Marriott Photography

1. Until 10 days ago, I had not really given much thought to Christmas card photos. I received an email from Marnee about Christmas sessions and decided it was a good time to get them done since Dylan had a day off from preschool last week. I wasn’t really sure how it would go. Lex is a bit of a wild card when it comes to taking her picture, you never really know what you are going to get. You can see what I mean, check out the last couple of sessions of her first year photos here and here. Thankfully they both did a good job and I cannot wait to see what Marnee got. As I was writing this post, she released a sneak peek – I cannot wait to see the rest! This has the making to be my favorite photos ever! And as an added bonus, I will have our Christmas cards back soon, major score; considering none were sent last year-oops!

2. I have s-l-o-w-l-y been clearing out baby gear, toys and anything we no longer use. My closet, the kids closets, the bathrooms, the kitchen – really, nothing is safe. And then I heard about Marie Kondo’s book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up and decided to read it. I’m within a few pages of being done and have really liked it. She gives some good advice on how to get into the right perspective when cleaning out your belongings. I know I haven’t followed the book to the letter, mostly because I have been purging for awhile, but her method really helped me when purging my bathroom last week. I can’t wait to tackle more of the house using her method. When you are ready to do some purging around your house, I highly recommend her book!

3. I got my hair done yesterday and went ‘dark’ for fall. I have always been blonde so this is a big change for me. It’s not real dark, but pulls in more of my natural color so it’s less maintenance. So far I am really liking it, but have a feeling I will be back to bright blonde by summer!

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Monday, September 14, 2015

LITTLE BLACK CAT

This post contains affiliate links. That means if you click on a link and make a purchase from the site, I will earn a small commission from the sale.

sweater shoes dress hat nightgown pajamas

Happy Monday Friends! I hope you all had a nice weekend. The kids started swimming lessons, well diving lessons if you’re talking to Dylan and everyone survived.

Everything fall is coming out in full force and while we will still be firmly planted in summer weather through October, it’s time to start thinking Halloween before everything is picked over. Historically I have not been a huge fan of Halloween and Dylan really hasn’t gotten into it until last year. However, his excitement has brought me around to getting into the Halloween spirit. He’s had this year’s costume picked out since last Halloween and now it’s just up to me to make it a reality. I have to admit, I am super excited to see them dressed up this year!

A couple of weeks ago I went on a search for some end of season sale jammies for Lex. Turns out summer pajamas in her size are incredibly hard to find, but I did stumble onto some really cute early Halloween releases. My non-Halloween loving heart may have grown a few sizes when I saw this dress. Insert heart eye emoji and all. I wouldn’t have called myself a black cat Halloween loving fool, but I may have been converted. Here’s to hoping it cools down enough to wear a sweatshirt dress in October!

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Wednesday, September 2, 2015

PCA SKINCARE FAVORITES

This post contains affiliate links. That means if you click on a link and make a purchase from the site, I will earn a small commission from the sale.

bpo cleanser, clearskin, protectinhg hydrator spf 30

Did you know September is National Skin Care Awareness month? Until a few days ago, I didn’t either! While skimming Instagram, I saw a really great giveaway opportunity from PCA, my favorite skin care line, and thought I would share it with you.

I was introduced to PCA around six years ago and have been using it ever since. I can tell a difference in my skin when I use these products, it’s so much clearer. I have tried a number of PCA products, but wanted to share my three favorites today.

My all time favorite is the bpo cleanser. Even when I stop using this for awhile, if I start using it at the first signs of a breakout, it stops it in it’s tracks. This is my favorite cleanser to help keep blemishes at bay. I use clearksin to mositurize at night and the protecting hydrator during the day before applying make up. I also use the protecting hydrator as my sunscreen on days I am at the pool or beach. It’s not greasy and and I don’t worry that I will breakout from using it. If you’ve tried PCA and have a favorite product, I would love to know what it is. Leave a comment below!

In order to register for their giveaway; go to the PCA website and paste this link as the referring person: http://bit.ly/1JOdh27. You will get your own bit.ly link that you can past on facebook or share with friends to be entered to win. Giveaway ends September 10th. Be sure to check out all of the rules on the PCA website. Good luck friends!

This post is not sponsored or affiliated with PCA Skin. I use and love their products and wanted to share a really great giveaway with you.

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