A Stylish Mama

So, today is Mother's day - never my favorite day out of the year since losing my own mom to cancer 17 years ago. It has absolutely gotten easier to celebrate this day over the years and I have a lot of amazing women in my life to celebrate on this day.  Women who treat me like one of their own, mentor, and help to guide me along this crazy thing called life. It is a complex thing to celebrate this day but today I want to focus on something I love - style. I saw this adorable blog about what women have learned from their mom's about fashion and ModCloth's instagram and blog have been filled with "mom-inspired" outfits all week!

I love the idea of celebrating mom's style because most of the time a mom is going to be a big source of your fashion and style choices, even unconsciously. My own sweet mama was definitely my biggest style inspiration just by her own love of clothes, fashion, shoes, and all things accessories. Some of the biggest fashion lessons I learned from her were:

- If you've got it, flaunt it. (aka dress for your body, every one has something to flaunt! Play up your assets!)

- Always look put together, because how you look affects how you feel. My mom was often undergoing some sort of medical procedure or treatment for her cancer, but by god I dare you to find a hair out of place. She felt better if she looked put together.

- When in doubt, buy the shoes. She is the reason I inherited by Imelda Marcos level shoe hoarding habits. She had dozens and dozens of shoes, and she found a way to wear them all!

- And perhaps most importantly, be confident. Be OK with who you are and embrace yourself. It may have took some urging by her best friend (hey, we all have self-confidence issues now and then) but it was brave and amazing of her to bare her adorable little head during her chemo. She also had a blonde wig that she wore because, as she said, "Blondes have more fun".

So today, in order to honor her, I am wearing an outfit directly inspired by my mom. I have lots of 80's - 90's fashion inspiration photos to choose from, as you can see from above, but when I first decided to do this post I picked this one:

Just look how adorable she is! :) Stripes are totally on trend right now and I love red. I thought this would be the perfect outfit to try to emulate. So I tried. And I tried. And I hated the new top I bought (I am actually taking it back) and it just didn't feel right.

I went back to the photo album. I learned that my mom wore white jeans a lot. Like, she even had a pair of white overalls! I learned that she also wore pastels. a lot. I also learned she apparently had her photo taken in winter a lot, or she was just always cold, because I swear the woman is wearing a turtleneck or heavy knit in almost every photo! Then I started to re-think this whole post and thought that a photo album was making me a liar…

Then I took a minute and breathed.

 I decided to go simple. So, I  went back to some of my favorite photos, of some of my most cherished memories. I changed my mind and picked this one:

A snapshot from our last vacation together in Sedona, AZ. The time when my mom was being amazingly brave. A classic outfit - a floral top (even if it is a turtleneck (IN ARIZONA MOM - REALLY?)), jeans, and a long sweater. That I can do.

So here is my version. Updated print and silhouette and let's not talk about acid wash, but ultimately the same concept. Plus, I think she would've liked it.

Happy Mother's Day Mama.

Has your mom influenced you fashion sense? What's the best style advice your mom gave you?

Friday Favorites

I like to hop around the blogosphere to see everyone's Friday posts because they are all usually so upbeat and lovely. Everyone is celebrating the fact that it is Friday, the hard week is over, and the weekend is just a few hours away... It is like a party on the internet and I love it.

I want to put out some positive Friday-vibes on my little corner of the interwebs too, so I thought I would just throw out a couple things I am loving from this past week! (Prepare yourself for this to be all over the place, I love lots of things!)

1. Jif Whips

This is heaven in a dish. Oh my goodness, it is light and fluffy and super delicious. I am telling everyone I know about this stuff and my husband and I are going through almost 2 tubs a week! We are constantly fighting over the chocolate one... its almost like candy or nutella but FLUFFY. Really, there is no going wrong here.

2. Nurses and Teachers

Hey it's nurse and teacher appreciation week - I know a bunch of both and they are some of the most giving, loving, patient, kind people with stomachs of steel... I mean kids and patients = body fluids. *shudder* But really, I do think you are amazing and respect all of the really hard work you all do to make the world better either by teaching or by nursing. :)

3. The Originals

If it is wrong that my husband and I bond over smutty supernatural shows, then I don't want to be right. We both totally love this new CW spinoff (even better than the original... har har) and always watch it together. Elijah is my favorite. I think the hubs prefers Klaus. :)

4. Pinterest - Geek Section

This section of pinterest truly speaks to my soul... or at least my funny bone. When I need a pick-me-up at work, I spend 5 minutes here and giggle to my heart's content. It's also full of great gifs of Jensen Ackles (Supernatural) dancing. Go ahead. Click here, here, here, here, here and here. You will thank me.

5. Summer Country Music
Now this truly does speak to my soul. Some of the new country songs hitting the air waves are seriously taking me straight back to 17, laying in the grass, watching the stars, and being carefree. It's nostalgic, bittersweet, and just lovely. (Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't go back to 17 for a million dollars, BUT it is nice to get all reminisce-y)

You can check out some of my absolute favorites right now on the ol' youtube.com:
Luke Bryan - Play it Again (I mean... swoooon)
Black Shelton - My Eyes
Keith Urban - Cop Car
Band Perry - Chainsaw
Eric Church - Hometown
Rascal Flatts - Rewind

What are YOU loving this week?? Products, music, websites?? Share in the comments!

Happy Friday!

Product Review: Primer (for yo face, not yo wall)

Since I have some great friends who are in the middle of a home-reno, paint primer was the first thing I thought of when I wrote my title, which is why I needed to clarify this is primer for the face! I actually had no idea what primer was until about 5 years ago when shopping for wedding-day make up. Any girl needs to know that her wedding day make up will stay put and stay flawless and primer helps to make that happen. It also helps moisturize and some have SPF protectant. I literally used it 1 time and relegated it to the bottom of my make-up bag because, as the meme goes, "ain't nobody got time for that".

Well, as I have grown out of my early 20's baby face and have been turned on to more grown up make-up, primer has actually become a regular part of my make-up routine. I have tried several and will share my thoughts about them with you here!

First up, the wedding day primer:

Make Up Forever

I just got another sample of this in my recent Sephora order and was reminded of why it works so well. This is definitely a high quality product, it is light and silky going on. The smell is light, fresh, and clean. It is very thin consistency, so a little goes a long way. It is a higher price tag than I would typically spend - $35, but a fantastic product. 

Benefit Pore-fessional 

This is another super silky product and you could wear it alone if you just wanted very sheer coverage because it is very slightly tinted and helps to even out skin and cover up pores to make make-up glide on easily. I also like this product, but I tend to get a little shiny in the T-zone by the end of a day when I use it. However, I do not like the smell of this one. I can't even describe it to you, but I find it to be icky, but not quite icky enough to not use. This one can also be pricier than I am usually willing to pay ($31 for full-size) but you can get a mini version to try for around $10.

Neutrogena Primer

This was is totally budget friendly ($10 or less) and has a mattifying effect which I loved. It is fairly light consistency and also a thinner consistency so it spreads on easily, and make up goes on easily over it. It kept me pretty matte all day, which is a win in my book. I got it at Target, but I've been back several times and can't find it again!

My fruitless hunt for the Neutrogena primer led me to try this last one -
No. 7 mattifying primer.

Whoa man. Matte for days baby. This one has kind of a sticky formula, which took some getting used to, but it is very effective and budget friendly too. I am using it every day, but probably will try to find something a bit lighter on my next trip to the store since the weather is warming up, I try to go lighter on the facial products in the summer. It is about the same price tag as Neutrogena - $10 or so.

If I had to pick out of all of them, I would go for the Neutrogena one, because it is budget friendly and it had a mattefying effect without being super sticky. However, the Make-Up forever one is definitely a winner in my book as well, and it is a brand I love (I use their foundation and blush too!) but I feel like you should save where you can.