Wishful Thinking

Dreaming ....

of taking a walk with my man in a place much like this ... 

 of a visit to the pumpkin patch where the boys will proudly pick their favorite pumpkin to bring home ...

Wishing to host a fall dinner much like this (plus that house in the background!) ... 

where I might wear a chic black ensemble like this ...

with hair and makeup like this ... 

 wait! maybe I'll wear this. :)

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Feeling Inspired

I'm la-la-loving these images and feeling completely inspired by them. It seems that I'm in the mood for creams (and other softly muted colors) swirled with hints of raspberry, always lovelier in dappled light and circled in flowers. 

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Follow along at Pinterest if you're looking for inspiration.

Pretty Picks - Lovely Clusters

Happy Friday everyone! I'm so thrilled to have found a whole slew of new readers come this way recently, so .... welcome to you! So happy you're here and I hope you feel inspired when you X out. Our followers are now so very close to the 100 mark, an exciting accomplishment, so if you're not yet a "follower" please give it a click. We'll have to have a 100 celebration of some sort. :)

I've picked a selection of my favorite inspirations of late, many of which fit into a clustery category, a sure sign of my personal design preferences which are the complete opposite of minimal. I love to collect beautiful objects and to display them in my home, so finding unique and enchanting ways to feature them is exactly what I hope to do. And we're always swimming in photographs around here, so new ways to feature our family in our home is perfect. 

Inspiration for your walls, your kid's rooms, your dreamy closet (and a wishlist for my wrist). 

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Sneak Peek!

Fashion's Night Out was such a blast and we have some amazing video footage to share of all the glittering outfits and fabulous people (just need to edit it all!). 

In the meantime, here's a little behind the scenes peek at makeup.

Dilly Dally Day

Elliot and I spent some time in the kitchen this afternoon, not doing anything particularly useful, just snacking and chatting. Though I think it was a splendid use of our time, there were moments when the howling winds and gloomy skies caused us to crawl in bored circles around the living room; not too productive. Eventually I hauled out the ingredients sure to cheer me up, making apple cider for 1, buttered cinnamon-walnut toast for 2 (see said cinnamon on corner of toddler's mouth below), and painting my nails a vivacious red. 

Essie's "Wild Thing" & "Shine On"

{I'm an awful manicurist, but I'm modeling it all the same}

An exciting discovery! - 

Essie nail polish happens to be my top favorite brand. I think it was the gorgeous colors at J. Crew (over the spring) that had me hooked (those corals!), but the $8.50 price tag kept my Essie purchases to only 2 over the past year - a ballet pink and a perfect khaki/tan. But today I discovered the best kept polish secret ever and right in my mall. (Drumroll ....) Aerie, a tiny lounge/underwear store belonging to American Eagle, sells Essie polish too and when you buy one you get the second free! Now that's much better. In fact, this deal is the same for all their makeup and it's really lovely. Made by the Mac cosmetics company, another brand I looove, and the colors are all deeply gorgeous and subtly shimmery + also buy one get one free! (And according to the sales person, it's even eco-friendly). So grab your sister (do-si-do) and split the cost of some new festive colors for the holiday season. 

{And a thank you to the wonderful comments I've received from a few of you this week, shared moments of how you too are feeling more excited about dressing up! And when you tell me you're a "slave to my blog" .... well ... that's just wonderful!)

What's New - Makeup

I LOVE makeup and have to completely avoid Sephora stores if I'm on any kind of budget, as it's inevitable that I will completely blow that to pieces if I step foot into that fantastic place. I used to go crazy for eye shadow and just couldn't get enough of them (lots and lots of Mac shadows). And then my mommy days took over and my luxurious shower and spontaneous beauty regimen became nought and instead I dashed through the shower, barely wetting my skin never mind using soap, and makeup was an after thought (could be applied only if baby took a marathon nap). So I toned down my shadow crush and instead began to obsess about a fling with under eye concealers. And I have not, till now, found true love. Plus, I've "invested" in a few new makeup items over the summer that I'm really enjoying. I read about the faves in magazines but I'm rarely willing to try them when they have that $25 price tag. I did come close to that this time and, thankfully, was not disappointed. Here are a few that I love.


Urban Decay Eye Shadow Primer Potion - perfect champange shade which you can use with nothing else for a little wash of color or as a primer under your shadow. It will make your shadows look more saturated and last all day long plus it actually works!
Benefit Erase Paste - under eye "brightener" and I think it does a really decent job. I can get really dark under my eyes and this one works better than any others I've tried.
Jemma Kidd eye shadow in Vintage - just found this at Target and it's a really nice beige with a tiny bit of shimmer.
Maybelline lipstick in Coral Crush - not for the faint of heart ... a bright coral that I was assured (by Cupcakes and Cashmere) would look great with every complexion. Bold, but I like it!
Jemma Kidd concealer with highlighter - also from Target and while the concealer is just okay, the highlighter is perfect!
Stella by Stella McCartney perfume - tiny size to slip in my purse. This scent is one of my faves and it's particulrly great for the summer. My other favorite is Chanel Mademoiselle, which I've used for a good 10 years now. Wow!
Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Pencil in Bourbon - a great bronzy-brown and it's waterproof. I was told that I should not be using black liner because of my fair skin. Hmmm .... ?


Now these items I've had for a while and some for-ever.

Mac Pigments - a gift from Cara and boy, are they cool. They're eye shadows in a powder form that you can add a bit of water to, which makes them super pigmented and shimmery on your eyes. If I want a Kat Deeley eye, I'll use these for sure.
Rimmel Mascara - my mom loves Rimmel and keeps giving me tubes of mascara. It works pretty well though tends to flake by the end of the day. Do you have a mascara that doesn't?
Arbonne liquid foundation - the only foundation I've ever tried and I think it works quite well. It has very light coverage, so sometimes I wonder if it does much at all, but on the same hand I don't want anything heavy, so ...
Covergirl blush - not sure of the color's name as it's rubbed off, but it's a peachy shade and I really like it. Always wanted to try a Nars blush or Benefit Benetint, but I'm nervous to spend the money in case it's not that pretty on.
Stila eyeshadow palette - purchased at Christmas time a couple of years ago, so it's no longer available, but these shadows are really great. Soft shades in gold, tan, brown, bronze. A lovely everyday eye pallette.
Shu Uemura eye lash curler - the best! Enough said.


A closer look at those gorgeous, sparkly Mac pigment shadows. Wowza!


And my newest jewelry purchase, which I had to add. Lovely necklace from Loft for only $8 and a major rockstar cocktail ring from Target for only $5. I love a deal!

What are your makeup faves that you can't live without?