Once A Week Treat

Two weeks ago, I shared in this post a great daily skin care item to keep your beautiful face beautifully clear from blemishes. Some of the greatest parts about the Burt's Bees product is that it's affordable and easy to use every day or as needed. Three cheers for easy, effective and affordable things in life!

While that's all well and good (or, ahem, frickin' fantastic!), facial skin takes a beating by being exposed to all the products you put on it; the sun, wind and other elements; and has constant exposure to the air which means it has constant exposure to toxins (air pollution, soot, city slime and grime, etc). Because your facial skin has to be such a trooper, you should cut it some slack every once in a while! As I also mentioned before, I'm no beauty blogger; I do read them daily, however, and in one of my readings last fall, the author recommended that readers "treat" their skin to a facial mask once a week to help remove all the gunk and junk that builds up week in and week out.

Now, I'm a Birchbox subscriber. If you don't know what that is, check it out! BEST $10 you'll spend all month, no lie. Since I have gotten so many great, high-end products in my monthly boxes, I hopped on over to their website after reading about the importance of a weekly mask, and started a search for one.

And I came across this AMAZING, MIND BLOWINGLY AWESOME product:

You may know I'm all about being as natural as possible, and using products and eating foods where I can pronounce all the ingredients. So when I read about this product, I thought, YES! This is a great one to try! And then I looked at the price, and I was like, NO! I've never heard of this brand before and don't want to pay that much money for that little of product that I may not like or that may not work! So I moved on in my research and ended up not purchasing anything. And frankly, I completely forgot about it not even a day later.

I think I've made mention several times that my husband travels extensively for a living. He's gone roughly half the month. So early in our relationship, I learned to make life easy for him by sending him direct links to "gift ideas" for birthdays, Christmas', and so on and so forth. This little product made it into that list, and the hubs purchased it for me for this past Christmas. I was pumped when I opened it, and since we spent the holiday with just the two of us and our puppy dogs, I exclaimed, "Ohhhh, wait! You gotta see this! I'm going to scare the crap out of the dogs with this mask!"

The comment came from my Halloween costume, which if you follow me on Instagram you're familiar with. The costume did NOT go over well with our dogs, who had no idea who this masked woman was in their home, and what she did with their mama. It was heeeee-larious. Yes, this is an embarrassing glimpse into my life while my husband is traveling, what do YOU do for entertainment?!

I go upstairs and put the mask on, and was disappointed: it was flesh colored, and simply dried to a shiny, translucent, egg white sheen on my face. No dogs were scared in trying this mask out. My husband had no idea what I was doing or why I was disappointed, and thankfully just shrugged his shoulders (as he often does with all my antics) and continued cleaning up the wrapping paper from all the opened gifts. Now, I was also about 16 weeks pregnant over Christmas, and dealing with some unpleasant hormonal acne. I woke up the next day, THE NEXT DAY, to a cleared complexion. WHUT. And all red marks that I had were greatly faded. My skin wasn't dried out; it didn't "make things worse before it got better" like so many other products claim; it simply made things better!

What the product looks like; I'm nearly out! No!!!!!!!

I was in awe. I mean, AWE. I've struggled with cray cray skin since I was a pre-teen, so I've run the gamut of products. I have never seen something work such wonders. My rough skin got smoothed over, my acne scars have faded, and if a "flare up" is coming on, it's quickly wiped out. And, you can pronounce everything in this tiny jar! I started with a twice a week application; after my skin calmed down, I now use it once a week to keep things smooth and clear. I recently learned that this brand carries other skin care items, like eye serums. Not only will I be purchasing this again, I cannot wait to try other items in their line! It is SO worth it.

*The opinion listed above is my own, and I've in no way received any compensation, either monetary or gifted product, for my published opinions.

Advanced Prenatal Yoga Poses

As it would turn out, I'm wayyyyyyyy "granola" when it comes to healthcare. Meaning, I don't dig conventional medicine. I don't like the concept of popping pills to fix symptoms of problems far larger and more systemic to one's lifestyle choices. When it comes to this little babe I'm toting around everywhere with me, I'm no different.

I've elected to give birth to my son at a birth center. The cesarean section rate in Texas is near 70%, and that FRIGHTENS me. There won't be an M.D. or epidural in sight; rather, I'll work with my midwife and family to utilize alternative pain management methods such as water therapy, massage, and laughing gas, if I so chose. I know, I know, that's a lofty goal! I can't tell you how many women have heard me say that and given me a huge eye roll with a "good luck with that!" (LADIES! What is up with the 'tude about someone else's birthing choices?!) But I've been spending my time doing some "prep work" to get me in tippity-top shape for this massive venture I'll take on in early June: Yoga!

Increasing flexibility yoga pose: Downward Facing Dog 

Most know that yoga involves stretching, balance and breathing through postures. But it also focuses on methods in stress reduction; being present; breath control and athletics. All of these things will help tremendously in my natural birth! They've also come in quite handy in just managing the difficulties of pregnancy. And before I became pregnant, they helped in simply better handling and managing life! I can't tell you how many times my previous bosses have asked me in the midst of a work-crisis, "How are you so calm right now?!" to which I responded with a smile, "Yoga."

Increasing flexibility yoga pose: Seated Cow with Eagle Arms

Now that I'm massive and in my third trimester, I can't run (hellooooooooo round ligament pain!), I struggle to walk more than four miles at once (again, the ligaments! ahhhhh ligaments!), barre classes work but my balance is sub-par with this big ol' belly and Pilates is becoming more and more challenging as I spend half the class creating modified moves for myself. Yoga has remained one of my constants; I can still do nearly everything I used to and have safely modified my inversions to be preggo-friendly.


Yoga will help you, pregnant or not, build strength in your core, thighs, arms and shoulders (to name just a few key areas). It will help calm your mind and sharpen your focus. It will help you concentrate on your breath, which helps you move forward in difficult situations whether they be work-related or in your personal life. It will bring world peace and cure world-violence. Juuuuuuuust kidding, but I'm pretty sure we'd all be a bit more kind and friendly to each other if we all had a regular yoga practice!

You can find my yoga mat here, top (non-maternity) here, and maternity yoga crops here. In addition to the poses above, here are some of my favorites to practice:

Strength building yoga pose: Chaturanga Dandasana

Increasing flexibility yoga pose: Mermaid's Pose

Strength building yoga pose: Crow

 Strength building inversion: 3/4 Tripod Headstand *I list this as 3/4 because I choose to keep a knee balanced on my arm to safely invert while pregnant. If you're pregnant and didn't do this pose beforehand, DO NOT attempt while pregnant! If you are new to yoga, don't attempt this pose until you have an instructor to safely guide you through it.

Increasing flexibility yoga pose: Hero

Strength building yoga pose: Running Man

Most of these yoga poses are advanced, but if you keep practicing throughout your pregnancy, you'll be able to enjoy the benefits of yoga through the end!

High Five for Friday!

It's that time of the week again: FRIDAYYYYYYY!! Not only is the weekend about to start, but it's also officially spring. Really, the only thing better than a Friday is a Friday that leaves winter behind in the dust. Especially THIS winter, amiright?

In addition to spring, lots of good things are happening around here. It was hard to narrow down my Top 5 Favorite Moments of the Week, but after a little editing, here they are:

1) I entered my third trimester on Monday! Last one. Third and final. He'll be here in about 12 more weeks. Expect a future Mommy Monday post on what I really think about pregnancy (hint: I'm not a fan. At all. Not even a little bit) so let's just say that I'm SO THANKFUL to have the finish line in sight! Now, about this basketball I done went and swallowed...

Top: Pea in the Pod; Jeans: Hudson Jeans; Watch: Micheal Kors; iPhone Case: I literally picked this thing up at ATT for less than $30

2) I completed my taxes... And it's the last year I'll file as a "single" person! It's also the last year I'll have to pay Minnesota state income taxes, since Texas has no state income taxes. I mean, I'm about to shout out loud from the rooftops I'm so pumped about that!

3) I started working with two of my girlfriends to plan and host my Dallas Coed Baby Shower in April. I had a traditional shower back in January because I had the rare opportunity to have close friends and family members all in the same state. This one is going to be a little less conventional... And will also be a way for us to have a housewarming party so our friends can see our new home (we were running out of dates to get all the partying in before baby arrives!) So far, it's shaping up to include some fun coed games (we already have corn hole/bags ready to go!), beer towers, a BBQ and other fun surprises. My theory is, as long as there's plenty of beer, man-food, and fun games to play, men won't have an issue showing up :)

4) I shared in this post a little bit about what's going on in our living room. There's only one project left and it will finally be complete! We plan on making some of the final purchases to finish it off this weekend so that we can get our common living spaces all wrapped up prior to our planned April shower. I don't even need to tell you; you know you'll see it here once complete!

5) Spring has sprung in Dallas: it was at least mid-70's and sunny ALL week long, which meant I got to spend lots of time outside, playing fetch with these little lovers:

Little Otis Beaufort on the top of the couch and big boy Baxter spreading his legs out

Have a wonderful weekend dear reader! Until next week... Au revoir!