LookBook and Pinterest

Good morning! I hope everyone had a nice weekend! Mine was very relaxing, so I feel well rested and ready for the week ahead. I got to spend some great quality time with my fiancée, as well as do almost all of the household chores that I had on my to-do list. 

I also did two unexpected things over the weekend...I joined Pinterest (finally!) and made a LookBook account! I'm still in the learning process, but I'm very much enjoying both sites so far! 

On Pinterest, I've created two albums so far, one for Home and Decor, and the other for Wedding things. You can take a look at those here!

On LookBook, I've uploaded one look so far, but I'm really looking forward to adding more. I'm so impressed by how supportive and friendly everyone has been so far! Check out my profile here!

Happy Monday!

River Walk

The other day, my fiancée (I love being able to say that now!) and I went for a walk along the river by our apartment. It was beautifully warm and sunny, so we headed out just before lunch to walk along the path by the river. 

I can definitely be a bit of a romantic at times, so I wanted to walk by the spot where he proposed to me last Saturday. Ryan was happy to oblige me, so we set off to return to our special spot on the path by the river. What I didn't expect, was that we would be lucky enough to see the swans again! This time though, we had our camera ready to snap a few photos of them! 

Beauty, Grace, and Love

I know it might sound a bit silly, but I can't help but think that seeing those swans on both occasions that we went to that specific spot, has got to be some kind of good luck or blessing of some sort! Of course, it's probably just a nice coincidence, but we still enjoyed it none the less. 

They weren't shy about swimming right beside us!

Throwback Thursday

This week I'm featuring a photo from about fourteen years ago. It was taken in my littlest brother's room, which certainly looks much different now than it does in the picture.

This dress was so fun and airy!
 I also loved the bright pink color!

Ever since I was a little girl, I absolutely loved to dress up and play around with clothes, accessories, and makeup (check out the lipstick and heavy pink blush!). I've always been a very creative person, so experimenting with fashion and beauty proved to be a really fun outlet for me. I didn't get it right all the time, but I always enjoyed dressing up and putting different looks together..and after years of practice, I absolutely still love it!

Beauty Products + Expiration Dates

 I was on BuzzFeed the other day, and came across a really interesting article about beauty products! I've seen plenty of other articles covering the same subject, but for some reason, this one really stuck out for me. 

Essentially, the article explains that instead of trying to remember how long your lipstick or mascara is good for (is it four months or six?), you can actually check for yourself on the product packaging. This way, you'll be able to know once and for all whether your MAC eye shadows really will last longer than your Revlon ColorStay quads. The trick is, you have to find the icon that indicates how long the product is good for. On most products, it resembles a small, slightly open jar, with a number in front. That number represents the number of months the product is guaranteed to be good for. Unfortunately, not every single product on the shelves has a clearly visible expiration icon, but luckily, most do!

Dior BB cream (12 months), Tarte Amazonian
Clay blush (12 months), Nars lipstick in Roman Holiday (24 months)

I know a lot of people who will use their makeup and beauty products after the suggested expiry date, and in some cases, this is perfectly fine. What you need to be careful about, is using your makeup products long after they've expired! If your blush expired last month but you still have a fair bit of powder in the compact, and it's not causing any skin irritation, I don't see anything wrong with using it. However, if you're using mascara that expired a year ago and is clumpy and dry when you pull out the wand, you really need to toss it! Ultimately, the most important thing to take into consideration is how your products are reacting with your skin. The expiration dates on your makeup are there to guide you, but if you're having trouble with any products at any point, it's always best to let them go. 

If you're interested in checking it out the original article on BuzzFeed, I've posted the link here.

Big News!

Even though it was rainy and overcast for the past two days, I still had an incredible weekend! Add to the fact that today is the very first day of June (my favorite month, due in large part to my birthday on the 14th), and I am having a really fantastic Monday!

So the question is, what's my big news? ...

I'M ENGAGED! 

On Saturday, May 30th, Ryan and I went to the movies (we saw Aloha), followed by a nice dinner at home, and then a walk along the river by our apartment. He had originally planned for us to go out to sushi for dinner, but silly me, I turned it down! His plan was to recreate the little things that brought us together in Vancouver, like going out for sushi (we went every single week!), watching movies together, and going for walks along a wooded path (where he had first confessed he loved me!). So, after getting appropriately dressed for the weather, we headed out for what I thought was a routine walk along our path by the river. At one point, we stopped at a clearing where a few swans were swimming alongside us. I know he didn't plan for the swans, but it was a very beautiful bit of luck that they were there at that exact moment! Anyway, when I turned around from looking out at the river, there he was, down on one knee! He pulled the ring out of his wallet and explained how walking along this path reminded him of how we fell in love in Vancouver. I was so shocked and excited, it took me a few seconds to process what was really going on! He actually had to ask me if I would marry him twice since I was so excited I had forgotten to actually say yes at first! It was the perfect proposal and I have to admit, I couldn't help but cry tears of joy! 

I love you so much Ryan! I am so excited to be engaged to such a wonderful man, and I can't wait to become your wife!