Oh baby!

I'm pregnant… and it's uncomfortable.

Yes it's exciting, a little scary, and all that stuff but still uncomfortable.

The first few months were miserable.  Constant nausea. Imagine getting hit with a hangover at around the same time each day. Nothing you do can stop it… in fact you have to work through it (literally.)  My energy was at a 3 on a good day.

Before my happy accident, my plan was to focus on blogging when I wasn't working.  All the time I wanted to devote to creating content went towards… sleep.

Now that I'm in the middle of my second trimester, I'm still tired but it's gotten better.  I'm going to take that "extra" awake time and start blogging again. Since it's a lifestyle blog, my new lifestyle is going to be a little different.  I have new limitations when it comes to eating.  I have no clue how to dress this new body and my desire to do my hair or makeup is basically non-existent.  Baby GIRL is the reason for all of this. I can't wait to become a mom but this waiting game is giving me a set of challenges that I'm eager to talk about.

If anyone reading this is a mom, please feel free to comment on how you got through your pregnancy. 

Ulta Haul

Now I don't know if I would call this a haul really.  I picked up a couple of new goodies at Ulta and I can't wait to try them out. Look out for reviews in the coming weeks.

I needed wanted some new brushes for my face and a few of my favorite YouTubers swear by their Real Techniques brushes so I decided to give them a try. 

This Shea Moisture soap was on my list after watching this DIY makeup brush from Nikkimae2003

I was most excited to get my hands on this product. This is the Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade. I'm still relatively new to this eyebrow game but after months of trial and error I think I have a handle on what product works best for me (pencil vs. powder vs. creme/pomade) Prior to buying this I was using a dupe, the ELF creme eyeliner.  I'll let you know which one works better.

This is just an angled liner/brow brush from the IT for Ulta line. It's No. 217

Til next time...

Faux Loc Love

I'm a natural hair stalker. 

I can look at pictures of kinks, curls, coils for hours.

Lately I've been fascinated by locs, both real and fake (or faux… such a pretty way to say fake)

And since I was contemplating a protective style I decided that I should try some faux locs.  

Now if you're like me and you've seen all the YouTube videos, you know how daunting it looks to do it yourself. I expected it to take 2 or 3 days but surprisingly I got it done in 11 hours all in one sitting.  I attribute that to the size and length that I made them. They look just like I imagined and I couldn't be happier.    

Well there's one minor issue… they are  HEAVY.   You have to remember each loc has approximately 4-5 strands of hair to make it up. So the weight adds up quickly. That's a major reason why I made them  larger.

My plan was to record a tutorial of my install but my battery died on me.  So after ordering a spare battery  to make sure this wouldn't happen again, I'll probably make a short video about maintenance and an overall review of the style.

Honestly I probably will only have them in for a few weeks and then install some twists with the remaining cuban twist hair that I have

Here's a picture I took before going out to dinner a couple of days ago.

Cape: Asos; similar/ Shirt: H&M; similar/ Jeans: H&M/

Bag: Marc by Marc Jacobs 

True Romance

I've been married for 2 years now and I love it. 

But after being together for almost 9 years,  I find that we're just stuck in the same routine. 

Wake up, work, come home, make dinner, watch tv, go to bed, repeat.

I'm still fairly new to Charlotte so there are plenty of places for me and the hubs to visit. Plus we don't have kids yet so this is our time. We've decided that we need to take an occasional time out from decorating the house and explore.

This was my week to plan so I chose True Crafted Pizza, mainly because I've wanted pizza for a while so it was either this or delivery.

  

True is located in South Charlotte, the Piper Glen/Ballentyne area.  And it's a cute casual pizza spot. We opted to get the four cheese white pizza and added chicken. It was super good. Thin crust, not soggy.  A nice quick lunch. 

Office Space

In order for me to take my blogging seriously this time around I realized that I need to work in the right space.  Last time I blogged from my bedroom in my parent's house and barely got anything accomplished, mainly because I wasn't comfortable  sharing the fact that I wanted to blog.   Fast forward to now, I'm a homeowner and our biggest focus is setting up our household.  We're creating a his and hers office so that I can focus on my blog and produce quality content.  It's in the beginning stages but I'm excited to see the transformation.  Since this is a lifestyle blog and this DIY is a major part of my life it's only right that I share how our project is going.

Right now we've gotten a fair amount done. Our theme is gold and rustic furniture; with pastel blue, green and pink on my side and navy on his.  

This is my staging table. I want to display products I buy here. In my mind I knew I wanted a lucite table but didn't want to shell out a lot of money because my taste changes so often. Then I remembered this DIY I saw on Miss Kris Turner's YouTube page.

 Problem solved and money saved.

Last days of Summer

Here's a quickie recap of my summer:

I flew back home to NY to surprise my best friend for her 30th bday and turned up in Philly for Made in America.  I was out there for two weeks but it seems like such a blur.

Day One of MIA: Hands down the best performer that day was J.Cole

Day Two of MIA: We were forced to evacuate the park because a storm had moved into the area but on the way back to the hotel we saw everyone jumping into this fountain so… When in Philly…

The festival opened back up later that night so I got to see Pharrell but I left my camera in the room unfortunately.  So good.

(I said it was a quickie)


In a couple of days I'm off to Vegas for a friend's wedding.  Hopefully I'll be a lot better at taking pictures during my time there.  Can't call this a lifestyle blog if I'm not gonna truly document my life, right?

til then...

Welcome

New start… new blog.

I'm a New Yorker tried and true. My husband was able to pull me away from my beloved home and we went all the way to California.  But after a year away and realizing that I didn't want to start a family so far away from our families, we're back on the east coast and starting to settle in our new home in Charlotte, NC.

I love the South and I'm excited about what the future is going to bring. What better way to document things than through blogging.

La vie I chose is me. The life I've decided to live and now document. 

Join me, won't you?