Fuzzy Green Sweater 😃

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Sweater: H&M / Bag: Coach / Flats: Payless / Watch: Charming Charlie's

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I'm packing for a little trip to the east coast next month and plan on bringing every fuzzy sweater I own - including this dusty green one! Winter is an absolutely brutal season for me. Even though I'm used to the weather because I've lived in the Midwest for all of my life, that doesn't mean that I hate the cold any less! Fuzzy sweaters make life a little more bearable because when the forecast says there's a -10 degree wind chill, all I truly want to wear is my onesie, and at least fuzzy sweaters are a little more socially acceptable :) 

Ipsy Glam Bag: January 2018

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The Ipsy Glam Bag is a monthly beauty subscription box that gives you a personalized bag of full-size and sample size beauty and make-up products for $10 a month. All of their products also come in a cute, handy little make-up bag!

The Balm: Mary-Lou Manizer Highlighter | Full-Size $24

This little highlight is so cutely packaged (I appreciate the fact the The Balm still makes an effort in packaging their samples!) and the highlight itself is a beautifully subtle shade. I’ve been using it to highlight both the cheekbones and brow bone and love its versatility! 

Dermelect: Microfacial Exfoliating Masque | Full-Size $38

Another item that I was thrilled to receive - especially since I’ve noted in my ipsy profile that I love receiving skincare products! I’ve been a huge fan of exfoliating products lately and this one is no different - it leaves the skin feeling so smooth! 

Lue by Jean Seo: Balance Hydrating and Calm Serum

Always love receiving a good skincare product in my subscription boxes! This serum feels so nice and gentle on the skin and has one of my all-time favorite skincare ingredients - hyaluronic acid! Although I've never heard of the brand, I tend to be pretty clueless when it comes to skincare brands so part of the reason I love beauty boxes is the opportunity to discover new brands! 

Seraphine Botanicals: Raisin + Cream Long-Lasting Lip Stain | Full-Size $24

I love experimenting with lip colors so this product was a perfect fit, plus, the rich mauve-y shade is perfect for winter. Although this product’s staying power was not quite as good as the liquid lipsticks I tend to favor, it has an extremely light-weight, moisturizing formula! 

SLMISSGLAM: L36 Tapered Highlight Brush 

I love how unique this brush’s design is! I’m 100% a girly girl and I think a pink, sparkly brush is every girly girls dream. I’ve specified in my ipsy profile that I enjoy receiving make-up tools and brushes, so I love that Ipsy has actually listened and now sends me more brushes! I’ve been using this brush as a highlight brush but love the fact that it’s a versatile size and could easily be used for eyeshadow or blush as well. 

Overall, I’m really happy with this month’s ipsy bag! I love that they are truly sending me products that I enjoy testing out. Although no subscription box will necessarily be perfect at predicting each person’s preferences, I think my ipsy bags have continuously improved over time and I definitely appreciate that about them! What did you think of your first ipsy bag of the new year?

My Twenty Eighteen Word of the Year

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Hello everyone! Sorry this post might be a little on the late side, but I really wanted to take time to think about what my focus for the 2018 year would be. I think we’re often pressured to make these crazy, outlandish, completely unachievable goals for the new year that just end up making us feel like failures when we don’t accomplish them! I’ve had enough unachieved new years resolutions to know that huge goals set at the beginning of the year almost never work for me! 

Instead, I like to set smaller, more frequent goals on a monthly basis that work towards achieving a greater goal overall. There’s really nothing special about January - and if we feel like we’ve already failed our new years resolutions just weeks into the new year, it can be really hard to get back on the wagon. So, it’s worth remembering that January is just another month, new years is just another day, and tomorrow is another opportunity at being better than you were yesterday 😃 

This past year, I’ve really struggled to find a healthy balance between the different parts of my life. Work, family, friends, self-care, fitness, blogging, volunteering, and even boring things like keeping my house clean started to overwhelm me, leaving my very little downtime to just sit back and relax. I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself to do everything. I want to have a clean house and also be able to spend lots of time with family. I want to go above and beyond at my job and also try to keep contributing to my blog - but as one person with a limited number of hours in a day, frankly, it’s impossible to do it all! 

So, this year, I’m choosing to focus on BALANCE as my word of the year. Yes, I still want to be better at everything, but instead of trying to do everything perfectly all at once, I’m hoping to be a little bit more patient with myself. As long as I’m getting a good balance between all of the different parts of my life that are important to me, I won’t give myself too hard of a time. 😃

What is your focus for the upcoming year?

I’d love to hear about your goals and resolutions for 2018!