jamie dana.

Look at those big blue eyes. This is my beautiful 18 year old sister, Jamie,  when we went to San Francisco for a weekend.

I was so blessed to have had her for a week, all to ourselves. We had such an amazing time giggling together, getting tattoos, getting to know each other more, and just bonding. We are 5 years apart, so we really have had the true sister relationship. I was the cool big sister who would take her friends to a movie or to the mall. In the past couple years though, our friendship has grown so much deeper. She has turned into to this person that makes me stand back in awe. Seems like yesterday that she was this crazy little blonde running around screaming at the top of her lungs to be heard by her big sisters and brother. Now here she is... this beautiful young lady. She is full of life and love, she's brilliant, funny, hardworking, and above all, she is kind.

It's amazing what God will do through the gift of siblings and what your relationship grows into as we grow up. I am so thankful for this one I have been given with Jamie and each relationship I have with my 3 other siblings.

hey pretty girl.

Here is the down low on my latest beauty routine and loves. 

SKIN 

SKIN CARE // Mario Badescu

 I could go on and on about my love of Mario Badescu skin care. I use the acne face wash every night (every other night I will use my Clarisonic brush with it) and use Neutragina Natural Face wash in the morning. It has been a great product for my skin and has truly cleared up my acne. I mean, I thought I paid my dues to acne in high school, but apparently not. I have also used and love their oil control moisturizer spf 15. 

Available at Ulta or on Amazon.

BB CREAM // Naked Beauty Balm by Urban Decay

 I am such a skeptic of things being too good to be true, but this little bug is just proving me wrong. It has all the benefits of beauty balms (spf, pore minimizing, primer, & moisturizing) but it doesn't have coverage, which I actually prefer. I have oily skin and am still acne prone, so this is perfect for me. I have been shine free & not a single break out. It is great for no make up days because it still gives you oil control, moisture and spf, while it also works great under foundation, too. 

Available at Ulta and Sephora.

FOUNDATION // Maestro by Giorgio Armani

Though this is hands down my priciest product, it is worth every little penny. This is like silk on your face. I get the most compliments on my skin from this foundation. Gorgeous. A little goes a long way and use a foundation brush. 

Available at Nordstroms.

EYESHADOW // Naked Basics by Urban Decay

This is the famed Naked & Naked 2's baby sister. She is cute, simple, and soft. The pallet, made up of 6 shadows, is mainly matte, with one bone colored shimmer shadow- perfect for highlighting. The brown is a great shadow for smokey eyes, smudging eyeliner, and I even use it to fill in my brows. 

Available at Ulta and Sephora.

BRONZER // Hula by Benefit

This is such a great bronzer for most skin types because it looks like a real tan. Hoola is brown based, not orangey like most are, giving you the appearance of having been out in the sun and kissed in all the right places. Perfect for contouring and giving your skin that glow year round. 

Available at Ulta and Sephora.

LOTION // Spray & Go moisturizer Coco Butter by Vaseline 

So easy, smells great, and no excuses not to put lotion on after the shower. 

Available at Target and Ulta.

DRY SKIN // Organic Virgin Coconut Oil from Trader Joes

This is great for my little hands that get washed all day long. My hands have been so dry that most normal hand creams still burn, not fun. I started using the oil on my hands, feet and elbows. I love it. Smells great, cheap, and natural. The only draw back I have found, is that you can't throw it in your purse. I use it at night before I go to bed and sometimes in the morning before I leave. 

Available at all grocery stores.

HAIR

HAIR MASQUE // Total Repair 5 - Damage Erasing Balm by Loreal 

I am willing to try any new product, in good reason, that will help restore my locks. I regularly use heat, color, and wear high buns so much that my long locks need all the lovin they can get. This masque smells great, moisturizes, smoothes, and is a great price point. I would definitely recommend this and buy it again. Use in place of conditioner once a week, let sit for 5 minutes. If your hair is extremely dry, put in after only shampooing in the shower, braid your hair, and let it sit on your hair over night. You might want to lay down a hand towel on your pillow to not get your pillow case all covered in conditioner. 

Available at all drug stores and Ulta.

VOLUMIZING SPRAY // Volume Spray by Brazilian Blowout

I have been using this on my clients with both finer hair and thicker hair just wanting some more lift and the response has been great. It is practically weightless, smells great, gives good movement, and doesn't effect your hair's ability to not wash for a couple days. All around, great product, decent price (little goes a long way) and very user friendly.  

Available at salons that carry Brazilian Blowout Products or on Amazon.

Hope my little tips and reviews are helpful.

Feel free to email me or comment bellow with any comments or questions. 

xoxo

let me love you.

The overwhelming amount of great memories I have of all the different Valentine's day is amazing. Some of my favorite childhood memories are how my Mom and Dad always made that day so special. We would all wake up to our favorite candies on the kitchen table with a gift! We loved it. As I got older, my Dad would always send me flowers, which of course as every girl knows, makes you feel like a million bucks. Through high school, my friends and I grabbed a movie (usually The Notebook, lets be honest) and ordered in a heart shaped pizza... or two or three. Friends and sisters are always the greatest Valentines. The memories of funny things that we did and gave to each other is too long to list. To this day we still laugh and tell our husbands about our former hilarious single days and the stupid things we did. Sometimes they laugh and sometimes you get the look that says "that is only funny to you and your friends." - which I have to say, is usually true. To me though, I think the true value is in the memories that were made, the joy that is brought in those gifts, and the time spent together. 

The greatest joy that I receive is in giving love and the many different ways that we can show it. 

Here are some of my favorite things I have made / given / received!

made by me this year for my Mom & Dad

the card I made for my younger sister, Cait, this year

my gift for Josh this year ...

the phone case I got Josh this year for valentine's

my valentine from my boyfriend, Luke, this year

the card I made for my younger sister, Jamie, this year

my baby sister, Addison, with some of the things I sent her

the card I made for my Dad, Laura and Addison this year

my tea from my friend Jayne two years ago

cupcakes sent a couple years ago from my favorite bakery by my Mom & Dad

probably my #1, my first valentine's day card from Josh two years ago

& valentine's day last year from Josh

-----------------------------------------------

Love is such a gift. The beauty of love is all it's different shapes and forms that it takes. The way we love one another is a reflection of who we are and how we choose to feel towards another. This past week Josh and I read through The Five Love Languages and we really learned a ton. We realized so much about how we feel loved, what we need to feel loved, how we can better love one another, and just how special that is that we are all so different. I love that we are different. I love that Josh feels love in another way than I do and now I know how I can better communicate that to him. So far, in the tiny steps we have taken to express our love to one another, through quality time and the simple hand on the back, we have both felt better loved. 

I love that God has blessed me with being Josh's wife and being able to love him in a way that only I was created to love him. As we enter into a new part of our relationship, passing the 2 year mark of being together, we have found the chapters of each part of our story to be so different but equally beautiful. Realizing that you can't live on a mountain top, that there is beauty in each phase of life, and seeing growth in both good and the bad has been a huge blessing to us both. Falling in love with each other daily in new ways, loving each other when you fall short, choosing to show each other love when you are tired and just want to go to bed... this is the beauty of our God to me. I love that He has modeled the perfect relationship and reflection of love. Thank God, because I fall short everyday. But Josh loves me the way that our God loves him, with mercy, grace, and unconditionally. 

This Valentine's day was better and different than any other because of that man and the love we have been given. I hope everyone else has had a great love day, whether it was being silly with your sisters or friends, sharing it with your parents, or with the man / woman you love. 

xoxo

falling for nola

This will be my fourth Mardi Gras in the great city of New Orleans. I fell in love with the city that first year, but our love grows deeper and differently every year. My parents have blessed with me with a love of traveling and lit the fire within me to have adventures. I love trying new food, walking around the city, listening to great live music, and being present in those moments with my family. 

Contrary to the usual Mardi Gras experience, my favorite memories of Nawlins are the ones we have made in restaurants, watching my Dad ride in the Bacchus parade, and walking the French Market. The culture of the city is so rich and full of flavor, jazz, and art. Jackson Square is in the heart of down town and surrounded by street artist trying to make a buck. 

We have stayed at the Hilton on the River, the Hotel Monteleone, and the Ritz Carlton. I highly recommend staying down in the French Quarter for the full experience. Save your money up and splurge on dinner at Commanders Palace. Eat breakfast and have dessert at Brennan's. Don't count calories and eat a couple of those world famous beignets and cup of cafe au lait at Cafe Du Monde, you won't regret it. Take a tour of the city and see the lower ninth ward, garden district and everything in between. Do a buggy tour in the French Quarter and walk the cemeteries. 

The best part of going to this great city each year is that it is unpredictable. My first year, the weather was colder than it was at the winter Olympics. Last year, it poured a couple days and was 75 degrees the next day. You have never seen anything like the people you will see in New Orleans. All walks of life. You will turn a corner and there is two incredible musicians just playing for hours, then further down the street are literal gypsies just doing their street show thang. It's amazing. It's unpredictable. It is something I recommend to everyone, go and experience this great city that much life and unique charm. 

I didn't take too many of my own pictures last year, but here are a couple of my favorites. 

We leave for nola next Friday and I can't wait to tell you all about my latest adventure. 

my husband likes it.

My love for red lipstick took a sharp turn into obsession the other day when I bought Nars - fire down bellow. I am obsessed. I saw it on Pinterest, saying it was supposed to be a universally flattering red for any skin tone because it was based on the color of human blood. Sounds gross, but it is actually the opposite of gross. Magical really. Fell in love with it and I am pretty sure you will too.

I like to wear it with a natural golden shadow and a cat eye. Let the lip be your focal point so you don't overwhelm the rest of you features and look like a drag queen. For a date I can't wait to do a bronze smokey eye with it for a more dramatic effect. You might want to contour a little bit more than normal too because it does tend to give your skin a bit more color!

Tip - use a Qtip and chap stick to line  the outside of your lips before you put on your lipstick. The chapstick outside of your lips will act as a buffer for your red to not get on your skin and stain it. Also, it is better to have fully moisturized lips so that the color doesn't settle in the cracks of your lips. 

My husband practically drooled over it. And so did my friend's fiance when she wore it. So ladies take note, men love a confident girl with big pouty red lips. Get it girls. 

living life as a wife.

Almost 3 and a half months ago my whole world changed. My heart is now bound to another's in Christ through marriage. The biggest blessing I could have ever dreamt of! The past few months have been such a beautiful adventure. Learning to live life as a wife has been such a blast, fulfilling, hilarious,  and honestly quite humbling. 

On our honeymoon, I thought, "this will kind of be similar to what our life will be like right? Always together, always tan, always laughing, always relaxed..." And that my friends, is why they call it the honeymoon phase. Don't get me wrong, we are very much still in the honeymoon phase! But the kick back in to real life was swift when we got home. 

Within two days of returning, Josh was sick and so was our 15 year old pup Maple. Maple had been in my life since I was in 3rd grade and I was entirely convinced that she would live forever. We will be forever grateful that we were there when she passed and that she had not been in pain for long. We said good bye to Maple two days after we got home. Talk about bitter sweet. I was so happy to be home with my husband and live together and then....my dog dies? Not exactly my plan at all. Even though I was blissfully married, I cried the whole first week we were home. Mind you, I did laugh a lot too, but I was also mourning the life of a companion I'd had for more than half my life. 

Weeks had passed and our other dog, Pancakes (yes, plural) who is almost 6, was still sad without our girl. We had been planning on adopting another dog in January, so this just seemed to bump up our process. We started looking online at local rescues and thinking about what kind of dog would be right for us. Then one fateful Saturday, Josh went to a Petsmart adoption day while I was at work. Obviously we all know if you go with even the inkling of adopting a dog, and there are a bunch of puppies kissing you, you will take one home, or you might as well be heartless. That day, we brought home a bouncing baby girl dog who we named Greyson, about 20 lbs and huge paws. She has made our lil family complete for now, brings so much joy, and has completely brought out the best in Pancakes . 

On top of our growing family, I have also been blessed with one of every girls dreams...two of my best friends were engaged at the same time as me. Ava got married in June and my best friend Cheryl just married her man a week ago! This is how you dream of it in middle school. "We will get married around the same time, we will double date, we will have babies at the same time..." I mean come on, you all had that written down in your Lisa Frank friendship journal and/or seen Bridewars. Ava and I's festivities were within weeks of each others all before June, making life crazy but so fun. And now recently we have gotten to celebrate all things Cheryl! The Lord has truly blessed me with friendships and bonds that make life so much fun and fulfilling. As both of my friends live out of town and state, I know that time and space between me and two of my best friends will not hinder our friendship.

Through all of this madness, I have been learning to be a wife. It's learning to make someone your number one priority in every area of your life. I love to serve people, I always have. I love to buy presents, I love to make dinner for people, surprise people with coffee at the right moment...that part came naturally to me. I am great at doing laundry and cleaning up. I naturally fell right into my role as the traditional wife. But I am not just a traditional stay at home house wife, as much as I think I would like to be. Part of being a team is learning what makes the other one feel loved. I have had to really work on making my schedule line up with Josh's so that we can have the quality time that shows him he is my number one. For me, I love so many wonderful people. I am blessed with a huge family, an amazing bunch of friends - who just insist on living everywhere. So, I spend a lot of my time trying to be there for all of them. I am in no way praising my efforts as a friend, daughter, sister, stylist or whatever, but trying to show you where my love had been focused. Those relationships do not have to suffer to be a good wife. I just have to put him first. Learning to be a wife first and everything else second. No one would disagree that is what you should be! 

With all of the holidays around the corner, we have been enjoying decorating our home together, making traditions, and drinking a lot of coffee and hot chocolate. This year has brought the most joy into my life. I became an Auntie for the first time, one of my sisters started med school, another sis started college, and the youngest turned 5!! My heart is bursting at the seams with love. 

There, my friends, is a glimpse into my life as a wife and what we have been up to! 

I have a couple blog posts coming up with fun holiday decor too, so stay tuned. 

xoxo

Lexi

you look like the sun.

Here's a couple of our favorite wedding photos!
Brad captured so many of the little moments
that made that day so incredibly special.
So without further adieu, the pictures from
the day I married the love of my life :)

All Photos by Brad Claypool

Our Venue was Calamigos Ranch Malibu,CA

Hair by Jamie Feliz & Bree Gentry

Make up by Melissa MacGalvary & Beka Leighton