Wordless Wednesday | Rediscovering

Over the last two years dealing with my back injury I put on a good deal of weight. All my clothes eventually ended up in storage and sadly, yoga pants and oversized shirts became the norm.

 

With my recent weight loss I've pulled some clothes out of storage and I'm having so much fun shopping in my own closet!

 

My favorite band shirt and comfy skinny jeans made a come back!

I paired an Old Navy cardigan and Lane Bryant boots with some old staples I'm so happy to be wearing again.

 

Hope you have a great Wednesday!

Motivational Monday: Bossy Pants

Many nights I lay in bed thinking. Sometimes the pain won't let me sleep and I start thinking about everything I had done that day and mostly what I have to do the next day. I'm a worrier. I worry about everything. But last night was different, last night I started thinking about my blog and all the great ideas I had for posts. One thing that I couldn't get my mind off of was a picture I saw on Facebook the other day:

 

I was that little girl being told she was bossy all the time. My Mom said I get that quality from her. I'm a planner, a doer and I really like things to be done a certain way. When I started working in high school and even into my first job as an adult this idea of me being bossy was one of my biggest insecurities. I would go out of my way to make sure I wasn't being bossy. It was hard and probably deterred my growth in the companies.

 

When I was 19 I was working in a retail store and because of the quick turn around with employees I ended up becoming the Senior Sales Associate. What that meant was that all the new employees were encouraged to come to me for training and help. I had never led any training before so I just showed them what I knew. In no way was I trying to be bossy. I was just doing my job. This eventually led to a talk with the Assistant Manager that the girls were complaining about how bossy I was. I couldn't believe it. This further deepened my insecurity.

My job at the Museum is one of the best jobs I have ever had. I had never worked somewhere where growth and the sharing of ideas was so encouraged. Most of the heads of the divisions and the departments are women. They're bossy women too. I began to think how this idea of being bossy wasn't such a bad thing. I've always been a leader and loved that quality about myself. I never realized that being passionate, ambitious and often times pretty OCD made me who I am. If those qualities make me bossy then I'll go ahead and let people call me that. No more insecurities. I'm proud of what I have accomplished for myself. Mrs. Bossy Pants at your service. ;)

 

Hope you have a great week!

 

Better Together

On Thursday, my husband and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. We took a little extra time with each other and tried not to let the little moments pass. Sometimes life can get so busy and in my case painful that I can easily forget to give my husband some attention. It was a gentle reminder that we need to stop every once in a while and just be together.

It was such a perfect night. We headed out to our favorite Sushi restaurant in the rain! As you know, we live in Southern California. It has been dry, windy and hot for most of the month. I'm sure those on the east coast have no sympathy but this drought is rough! I was so happy to see the rain!

Colors shone with exceptional clarity in the rain. The ground was a deep black, the pine branches a brilliant green, the people wrapped in yellow looking like special spirits that were allowed to wander over the earth on rainy mornings only
 • Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

We enjoyed our favorite meal while talking and laughing. It was a perfect night. An escape from all the distractions.

So happy I get to spend the rest of my life with this guy <3

My Beauty Favorites of the Moment

During my blogging break I've discovered a new love for beauty and make-up! It's been a lot of fun trying out new products, watching YouTube tutorials and overall just feeling really great lately. I thought it would be cool to mention some of my beauty favorites of the moment here on the blog. :)

These are the items that are currently sitting in my Sephora Beauty Bag plus a few extras ;). I'll link to everything in case you want to check some of them out.



Josie Maran
100 percent Pure Argan Oil Light

This product is a miracle worker! I have dry combination skin and lately my face has been feeling really tight and looking flaky. I stopped in Sephora and picked up a sample of this beauty. I started adding a few drops to my moisturizer every night and it has made a huge difference! It also looks like my skin is clearing up and evening out too. Like I said, a miracle worker!

Origins
Clear Improvement™ Active Charcoal Mask To Clear Pores

I had been hearing great things about this mask for quite some time and when I reached 100pts on my Sephora Beauty Insider card I decided to try the sample. It's a great mask! For a while I was getting little foil packets of an off brand at Target for my weekly masks. I was never too impressed by them and felt like they weren't doing much for my skin issues. This mask definitely checks all the boxes! It removes those pesky black heads, exfoliates and treats acne as well. It is a clay mask so it gets pretty tight on the skin and tingles a bit but I think it's a small price to pay for the long term benefits. I'll definitely be getting the full size one!

Dr. Jart+ Water Fuse Beauty Balm SPF 25+

I recently cashed in some of my Birchbox points for a few things I had tried as samples. I got this in a kit with three other BB Creams. I've only tried two and so far this is my favorite one. It's prefect for my dry skin and it's formulated to automatically match your skin tone. Because I'm still working on getting my skin well enough to wear foundation, I think BB Creams are a great starting point when you want light coverage.

Revlon Colorburst Balm Stain
Honey

An absolute favorite of mine lately is the Revlon Colorburst Balm Stains. Per a YouTube recommendation I tried the shade in Honey. It has perfect light coverage and stays a while without having to retouch. This Honey color is the perfect pinky-nude, great for everyday wear.

Here I am wearing the face oil, bb cream and balm stain.

I had so much fun creating this post and hope you enjoyed it! I'd love to hear what you've been loving lately!

 

Hope you have a great day!

Three Amazing Years

Today marks 3 years to the day that I married my best friend!  

 

1.30.11 <3

We have been through so much these past few years and

I'm so happy we are getting through this life together.

 

 

"It's not always easy and sometimes life can be deceiving
I'll tell you one thing it's always better when we're together"

-Jack Johnson "Better Together"


Wordless Wednesday

Happy Wednesday!

 

Here's a little bit of what I've been up to. :)

 

Brought in the New Year feeling great!

Declared 2014 the "Year of the Selfie" ;)

Lots of driving around with this cutie <3

More "Selfies"

Reuniting with my college roomie after 8 years!

 

Hope you have a great day!



Motivational Monday: My Journey...So Far

I'm back! Lol. I really am this time! I finally got a new computer and it's small enough for me to carry everywhere and be comfortable on the couch when my back is really sore. :)

I've been pretty busy lately! It's mostly due in part to getting a good handle on my depression. I've been able to cope better and losing weight has definitely boosted my confidence. That's right, this girl has lost 22lbs! Yay! I've been on Jenny Craig since September 24th and I've been loving it. It was really hard at first but like anything new, it takes some getting used to.

I plan on posting before and after pictures eventually, but I think I'll wait until I reach one of my goals.

 



Right now I'm keeping busy with trying to walk at least three times a week. Working through the pain is difficult but I'm getting through it. :) My Dad is finally getting a good hold of his health issues and my husband and I are taking turns with helping him get to his appointments and run errands. I never realized how hard it would be trying to take care of myself and my chronic pain while also trying to help my Dad deal with his issues. Tough stuff! It's all part of the journey I guess.

 

This has really been resonating with me lately. I am doing it.

I can finally say I see an end in site and with a few more pounds to lose I'm almost there! Once I reach my weight loss goal I'll be getting ready to meet with a surgeon. I've exhausted all my recovery options these past two years and I'm looking forward to finally feeling like something might work.

 

It feels so good to be back blogging and finally catching up with my dear friends in the blog world. I've missed you! Stay tuned for Wednesday's post!

 

Hope you have a great day!