as requested, here’s my eyebrow tutorial.

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I’ve been asked a handful of times to do an eyebrow tutorial and I’ve always avoided it because I feel like my method won’t work for everyone, and I don’t think I do anything special. But I promised I would, so here we are kids.

I feel like this tutorial is best for those like me who have very light, very sparse eyebrows. I was “blessed” with the features of a ginger (blonde and sparse eyebrows and eyelashes, cool toned skin, freckles, etc) without the red hair. Thanks for those genes, mom!

So, here’s the spoiler.. I cheat. I dye my eyebrows. I’ve been doing it for six years and I’m not even remotely ashamed.

Let’s walk through this together, shall we?

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Here’s me without anything on my eyebrows, and I haven’t dyed or plucked them in about 5 weeks. I usually dye them every 6-8 weeks so they’re typically quite lighter when I attack them again when the dye.

Here’s the dye I use:

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So I’d say “follow the package directions!” but I haven’t read the package directions in six years so I have no idea if I’m still doing this, um, the “right way”. Before you do ANYTHING though, do a patch test. Yes, seriously. You’re about to put dye on your face, dumbass, test it out first.

This product comes in these weird little capsules and each capsule is supposed to be “one use”. It is SOOOO much product and you truly only need like, a fifth of what’s in the capsule so I emptied all the capsules into another container so I didn’t have to waste it. *shrug*

I apply the dye like I would apply eyebrow pomade or whatever, just in whatever shape you want your eyebrows to be. (If you aren’t sure how to shape your eyebrows, there are about 14,000 tutorials on Pinterest and almost all of them say the same thing.) I leave it on for 4-5 minutes.

Use this time to frighten your husband, do Cara Delevigne impressions, or pluck any strays.

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Wipe off the dye. You’ll notice it may have stained your skin and it’s totally no big deal, it’ll wash off in a day or two. You’ll survive.

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So every day I use one of these two products: NYX Eyebrow Cake Powder (yum?) or NYX Brow Mascara.

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I prefer the powder a bit more but if I’m in a hurry the mascara works great. Here I’ve used the powder on the right, and the mascara on the left:

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That’s it. Seriously. Now go forth and be on fleek.

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– amanda

fall bucket list : an update

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We’re just over a month into fall, so I thought I’d update where we’re at on our fall bucket list.

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We have..

Carved pumpkins!

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Decorated for Halloween! (If you’re in the Moore area come see us this Halloween!)

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Bought many many fall candles. I cut myself off. I have a problem. Target has some fantastic ones this year!

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Made a pot roast. (Have you guys tried the Mississippi roast recipe? Ugh so good.)

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Had friends over for chili and s’mores. We had so much fun!

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And we visited the zoo for Cora’s birthday.

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Loving this season so far. We’re (hopefully) off to the pumpkin patch this week, so I’ll share that soon. ❤

– amanda

bullet journal: weekly and extras

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I shared what my monthly calendar and chore chart looked like yesterday, so today I wanted to share my weekly layout. It’s super straightforward, just something to help me remember which chores to knock out, what appointments we have, make sure I’m drinking enough water, and help me remember what day it is. That in itself is probably the most helpful.

I also include a little habit tracker to see how I did for the week. Let’s just say “10,000 steps” is the one I almost always have checked off. #chasingbabies

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I took this photo at the beginning of the week, so there’s been more added to it as the week has progressed and more things have popped up. (As they do.) I usually look at my planner first thing in the morning and try to knock out as much as possible early on, since the kids are usually the least needy in the mornings. This system has worked really really well for me.

And just for fun, I have a few random pages throughout my bullet journal. Favorite lyrics (that whole page is Florence + The Machine, haha), quotes from famous women, a few pages of dinner ideas that I badly need to update, and a list of little things I do for self-care.

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This little notebook has become my lifeline the last 10 months. I firmly believe our house would be in utter shambles without it. We’re all fucking crazy.. But our house doesn’t show it!

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– amanda

bullet journal : monthly calendar and chore key

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Sit down and let me tell you a story about how I am my grandmother.

I lost my grandma…my Nanny…when I was 16 years old. I. Loved. My. Nanny. Some of my fondest childhood memories were sleepovers at her house (where I would eventually live). It wasn’t until I was older that I started doing and saying things that reminded me of her. Like obsessively wiping down the kitchen counter. Or vacuuming three times a week. Or explaining to Mark that the silverware goes into the dishwasher in a specific fashion so as to make putting them up easier: Large spoons in one cubby, large forks in one cubby, small forks in one cubby, small spoons in one cubby…just as they appear in our utensil drawer.

I don’t have full blown OCD but you might say I have somewhat of a Type A personality. Everything is thought through, planned for, and cleaned. But mostly cleaned.

I’m telling you all this because I have to make it clear that I am a compulsive planner and cleaner. Enter the Bullet Journal.

I have used planners for as long as I can remember, but usually give them up after a few months because they’re either too detailed (I don’t need an hourly play-by-play) or not detailed enough (chore lists! I need chore lists!). I discovered bullet journaling back in December and started in January.. I have no plans of looking back.

The beauty of a bullet journal is that there are no rules. It exists solely to make your life easier. Some love to get fancy with washi tape, doodles, massive pen collections, and stickers. Others stick to nothing but a notebook and a pen. I ride the line. I want it to look pretty, but the thought of me spending hours a week on a planner is laughable…I don’t have that kind of time.

So once a week I set aside 45 minutes or so to sit down and plan out our upcoming week. Most use a notebook (Leuchtturms and Moleskines seem to be most popular) but I love the adjustability of a Filofax binder. So that’s what I use! I print free calendars I find on blogs, and the rest I draw up myself.

Today I wanted to primarily share the thing that has made my life sooo much easier: My chore calendar. ❤

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My chore calendar exists so that I have 1-2 small chores (occasionally 3-4) every day, ensuring that our house is always at least 85% clean. I never feel overwhelmed by a messy or dirty house, we’re never behind on laundry, and I never spend an entire day cleaning. Because I don’t have time for that shit.

I hear moms complaining frequently about being behind on housework and laundry and I couldn’t recommend this system enough. Y’all, if I can do it with two under two, anyone can.

Tomorrow I’ll share what my weekly layout looks like (as well as some fun extras) and how I set it up!

– amanda

how i trained my hair to only be washed once a week(ish)

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Not too long ago I posted a photo on Instagram about how I’m “training” my hair to not have to be washed often, and I was genuinely shocked at how many people had questions. I promised a post on my method, so here we are.

I’m about one month into this method and so far it’s getting easier and easier each week. I wash my hair about every 7-8 days or so. The first week my hair felt disgusting by day 5, but this last week I made it to day 8 and still felt like I could go another day or two. (I should note, I still take baths every other day, so I’m most certainly still bathing myself. I’m not that nasty.)

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Day 1: I’ve washed my hair the night before but didn’t blow dry it. (I actually very rarely blow dry my hair anymore.) I use a flat iron to curl my hair. This is my LEAST favorite hair day but it sets a good base for the week.

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Day 2: I brush out my hair to pull some of the natural oils on my roots down to the ends of my hair. I HIGHLY recommend a boar bristle brush for this. They’re fairly inexpensive, and they make your hair super shiny! I then use dry shampoo (Batiste is my fav <3) just on the roots at my part and the hair around my face. I don’t use it on my entire head. Rub it in with your fingers and touch up the curls if you want. I usually only have to touch up a little bit, 5 minutes tops. (The curls for me have turned more into waves by day 2…yay!) A lot of complaints I hear about dry shampoo is that it dries out the ends of your hair. By redistributing the natural oils in the beginning and only focusing on your roots with the dry shampoo, you’ll notice a big difference.

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Day 3: Same method as day 2.

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Day 4: Same method, but if things are looking blah or too oily at this point, switch up your part. Day 3, 4, and 5 are usually my favorite hair days!

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Day 5: Same method.

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Day 6: You’ll probably notice the hair closest to your face and around your neckline is looking rough at this point. I’ve had luck with braiding my bangs back and just using some dry shampoo on my neckline. But if it’s feeling horribly gross…wash that shit and see if you can push it further next week.

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Day 7: If you’re on week 1, your hair will probably look and feel grimy as hell right now. (Mine was still fine at this point but for demonstration’s sake, I’ll pretend I was having a yucky hair day.) Throw it up in a bun, a braid, whatever your go-to “My hair looks like shit today” style is.

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Day 8: If you haven’t washed your hair by now, go with another up-do of some kind. I’m currently loving pigtail buns right now because it’s one of the few styles that works with my short hair. Tonight.. We wash.

So.. Pretty straightforward method. The key, I think, is sticking with it. No part of any “training” is ever easy in the beginning, but it gets easier. Week two was easier than week one, week three was easier than week 2, and maybe in a few weeks I’ll just stop washing my hair, get some dreads, live on a commune, grow some weed, and change my name to Sunflower.

Totally kidding.

– amanda

dexter’s 6 month photos

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I had good intentions of getting some great snaps of my two hellions last week. I borrowed a friend’s camera (I sold mine after I ended my business so I couldn’t be talked into photographing people…true story), picked out a few cute outfits, and we were off to one of my favorite parks.

It. Was. A. Disaster.

Dexter wouldn’t look at the camera, he only wanted to eat the grass. It was hot. Cora cried basically from the moment we got there until the moment we left, for no reason. I accidentally sat Dex in an ant bed and by the grace of god he didn’t get bit at all. We were at the park all of half an hour and I walked away with a very small handful of usable shots.

So I spent the next couple of days snapping some of Dex when I could and ended up with a few keepers. I still haven’t attempted any more of Cora, I’m a smidge scared of her if we’re being honest.

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I have no idea why.

Anyway, here’s Dexter the Jumbo Kid.

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– amanda

 

P.S. I took this photo with Cora so I decided to do the same with Dexter. The size difference.. I just can’t even. Y’all we actually thought Cora was a big baby. (In grand retrospect, she was…she was always in the 90th or higher percentile for height.) Dexter is just a monster.

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two years old.

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As of Sunday, I became the mother of a TWO year old. I can hardly believe it. Well, I can believe it.. We have hit the terrible twos with a fierceness and I have quickly learned that Cora inherited her momma’s temper. Something doesn’t work the first go around? Throw it. Leave the room. Don’t speak for half an hour. Cora and Amanda logic.

Tantrums aside, this girl blows my mind daily. I’m sure Mark gets tired of me going “Do you see what that girl is doing?” or “Listen to her! She’s so smart!” or “Let me tell you what Cora did today!” She impresses me so much with how quickly she picks things up. She can watch an episode of her favorite cartoon and have the song and half the dialogue memorized by the third time she watches it. (It’s Rain Man shit, you guys.) She uses “please”, “thank you”, and “sorry” appropriately. She adores cleaning. She is ridiculously timid in new situations for the first half dozen times she’s in them but the moment she’s comfortable she rules the room. (She is her mother. I have to reel myself in if and when I get too comfortable somewhere.)

This year we got almost every single tooth (she only had two teeth for hew first birthday!). We hit the WORST SLEEP REGRESSION I EVER COULD HAVE IMAGINED…Mark and I would have to sit on the porch for half an hour after we put her down because she would scream bloody murder. We decided Bubble Guppies weren’t the greatest things ever anymore and now we think Team Umizoomi hung the moon…mom and dad hope Bot shorts out, but Cora can count to five because of those assholes so it’s whatever. She started “school” (Mother’s Day Out twice a week) and dance class and we’re watching her confidence blossom with each week.

Cora has become her own little person with her own thoughts and opinions and it is wild to watch. We are so proud of the little lady she’s becoming.

Here are some snaps from her “Tea for Two” party and our annual birthday trip to the zoo. ❤

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– amanda

the alluring mom bod.

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Let’s just get this out of the way: I had two huge ass babies.

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Cora was 9lbs 10oz and Dexter, damn him, was 11lbs 5oz. I’m 5’3”. By the grace of god I walked away mostly unscathed from my pregnancy with Cora…a slight case of diastisis recti but no stretch marks or real flabbiness.

And then there was Dexter.

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(Those are hot pink underwear with pizza slices all over them. Say something.)

I ended up with the weirdest horizontal stretch marks with that kid. Think less “tiger stripe” and more “Shar Pei wrinkle”. They’re hardly noticeable now but they’re certainly still there. There’s a solid 2 inch gap between my abs where my diastisis recti worsened. I have a noticeable, strange dent above my bellybutton where my stomach sinks in a bit. There is so. much. loose. skin. My belly button sags. (DID YOU KNOW THAT YOU COULD HAVE A SAGGY BELLYBUTTON, GUYS?! WHAT IS THIS SHIT?) My metabolism has gone haywire. And I’ve been rocking the ol’ linea nigra for over two years now…it runs from my chest straight down to my pubic bone and I’m not convinced that fucker is ever going away.

My mom told me this would happen. She did. For years. “I was your size once,” she would say. “And then I had babies.” And then she’d grab her flab with this “YOU’RE NEXT” gleam in her eye. (I’m sorry I’m talking about your flab, mom.) And like with most things, she was right.

There are some days I’m fine with it because hello, look at these beautiful blessings I have bestowed upon the earth! (Cora runs into door frames frequently and Dexter whines 24/7.) I know this stuff happens and my body stopped being my own once I got pregnant. I know that. But there are some days, and it’s usually when I’ve seen an old photo of myself (thanks Timehop!), that I miss my old body fiercely.

Oh, and I have a newfound love for mid-rise jeans and one-piece swimsuits. Just like a real mom. *thumbs up*

– amanda

P.S. I am most definitely not writing this for “But you look great!!” comments. I don’t need them. No fishing here. Just let me rant about my saggy bellybutton without a pity party.