OH CHRISTMAS TREE, OH CHRISTMAS TREE

Hey Hey! I cannot believe Christmas is right around the corner!! I think that this is one of my most favorite times of the year. I love being cozy and comfy, eating comfort foods, decorating ridiculously and overall just being....well, merry! This pretty much wraps up the decorations at this home though, because once Christmas is over it all comes down and not much goes back up until October! Not that I don't love Easter or Fourth of July, I just don't go to town for those as I do the others. Although, for Easter I do make a pretty mean (as in good) bunny cake! But that will come later. For now, here's a peek into our Winter Wonderland, aka my home. Enjoy!


This little guy managed to make his way into our family last year. We got him from either Home Depot or Lowe's, can't remember! He sits in our front flower bed. Too.damn.cute.

Charlie and Winston both have Christmas ornaments in their honor. Obsessed much? Yes. We still have to paint the ears black on Winston's so it matches him, though.

And, of course Charlie and Winston have stockings. How else is St. Nick going to leave gifts in their stockings if they don't have one?!?! Anyone else celebrate St. Nicholas day? Growing up, we would get fruit, nuts, candy and a small gift in our stocking. And then at school, the teachers would have us leave our shoes in the hallway during class, and then magically St. Nick would swoop by and leave candy in our shoes! Great memories!

This has been my stocking since I was a little kid. And then once the hubs and I got married, he got one too! My mom makes all of them! :)

Charlie and Winston enjoying their St. Nicholas Day gifts... BONES!! Yum!

These pine cones have cinnamon scent on them. MMmmm...

My Mom and Dad have an army of Nutcrackers at their house that are proudly put on display every holiday season. I love them and would like to gradually build my own collection too! It just doesn't seem like home unless there is a nutcracker around!

MMmm.... coffee.....

I'll fill ya in on my looks from this past week/weekend tomorrow. Too much going on in this post as it is!! I hope everyone has a relaxing Sunday and recharge for this busy week before Christmas!!! So fun!!! :) And, I can proudly announce that I.am.done. with my Christmas shopping!! WooHoo!! CANNOT wait for the hubs to open his gift... :) So exciting!


xoxo MaryBeth

BOLD LIPS AND CHANDELIER LOVE

Hey Ladies! Today was fabulous! I got together with two of my friends today for a Boudoir session. I did hair and makeup, one of us photographed, and the other was wanting pics for her fiance. It was so much fun and I have realized even more my passion for all things fashion. I will be posting my outfit of the day and a sneak Boudoir preview pic later, with permission of course, and also fill  you in on my own Boudoir session I did for my hubby when we were engaged :)

Now on to the rest of this post. As promised, I am doing a, "makeup reveal" and a home decor find. We went to a good friend's wedding the other weekend and I decided to rock some RED lips. I know the colorful lipsticks can be a bit intimidating, but let me tell you, it was so much fun to be so bold! Here's a pic.

For this look I used mostly Cover Girl products, which is my go to brand. I started with the Cover Girl & Olay Simply Ageless serum primer. Then I topped that with a foundation from the CG Clean line: Sensitive Skin in creamy beige. I did some contouring with E.L.F. Healthy Glow Bronzing Powder and blended with CG Professional Loose Powder in translucent honey. My blush is CG in iced plum and my eyeliner is CG in black onyx. To fill in my eyebrows I used an eyebrow pencil by E.L.F. I love and have always used CG mascara. I like the kind that comes in the classic blue tube, black, curved brush. And lastly, those lips! I chose (you guessed it) CG #30 Hot and the lip pencil #215 Passion. This stuff is hard core and not for the faint of heart. The only drawback to bold lip color is that it is not the easiest thing to take off! The eye shadows are from a line by the makeup artist who did my own boudoir photo session, and I'll give you those deets in my Boudoir post.

Now on to home decor. Chandeliers. Need I say anymore? I love them. I knew that I had to have one in my bedroom and only every once in a while does the hubs complain that we don't have a ceiling fan (I think he loves the chandelier too and has to remind himself to complain just so I don't catch on that he likes it! haha). I searched many stores and many websites for the perfect one. Luckily, the one I truly loved for our room also happened to be inexpensive (never happens) and was at, no joke, Lowe's!

 This lovely find did all the work for me. If this had gone down the way most things go down, I would have found, "the one", and it would have been a. lot. of. mulah. Then I would have to hunt down its perfect, yet more sensibly priced, match. Not in this case. I loved this one when I saw it and I said, YES, when I read the price tag! This beauty rang in at the cool price of $109. Now, I am usually a Home Depot kind of girl, so the stars must have aligned on this one.

We also have some chandelier love going on in our dining room, another room I knew I had to have one. This one came from my good and trusty, Home Depot, and was also very reasonably priced. Like my holiday decor goin on in this pic? ha!

Hope everyone has a nice night! Oh, and how about those Cardinals, eh?! A score of 8-0 in playoffs isn't so bad! GO CARDINALS!!!


xoxo MaryBeth

DIY DELIGHT

Hey Ladies! Today was a, "go to the gym, run errands, clean the house" kind of day. And of course I am dressed to the nine's and rockin' my stilettos on a day like this....not. This pic pretty much sums it up. But, like I said, it's not about looking fabulous every second of every day. It's about knowing how to look fabulous, whenever you want!

Kohl's $12ish
Black Running Tank
Target $19ish
Black Running Capris
Dick's Sporting Goods $80
Asics Running Shoes
Sweet Bun On My Head $priceless

Another thing on the agenda for today was to finish up a DIY (do it yourself) project the hubs and I started. After all the remodeling that we had done to our house, we somehow let the closet doors to our master bathroom fall to the wayside. Not that they were terrible, but they just needed a little touch up so they could shine with the rest of the house. It's funny how when you remodel a home you think that you have every square inch accounted for and that you are going to have everything perfect. Wrong. So wrong. We have come across MANY things that were either an oversight, or a corner cut that, at the time, cutting that corner meant life and death because all we wanted to do was move in. Hence, my poor little closet doors. Here is a pic after we had already sanded the doors down so that their fresh coat of color would stick.

  

After sanding, we then spent around $5 on two cans of the appropriate type of spray paint, and there you have it.

Finished Product

Finished Product

And yes, I did say spray paint. Have you ever been in the spray paint aisle of a Home Depot or Lowe's?? If you are turning your nose up to the thought of spray paint, then clearly you haven't! It is amazing all the different textures and colors they have to offer. Even metallic colors (which, by the way, I am going to have try out on something). So there you have it! Hope you liked this, "DIY Delight".

xoxo MaryBeth