That 'summer glow'.

My oh my how I love me some spring and summer.  The smell of the air, the newness of the world waking up around me and that beautiful, gorgeous sun that I always wish I could bottle.  My whole life I have been a sun junkie and a beach babe.  My Dad would forever try to get us to go to new places on family vacations but my sisters, Mom and I always chose the beach (sorry Dad!).  We would lay out slathered in oil getting bronzed to perfection right before we went back to school.

As I get older, the more I regret those decisions.  I am very fair, and thinking about the torture that I put my skin through when I was younger makes me shudder.  Mom and Dad always cautioned us against it, but hey, we wanted to be the sun kissed sisters.  (It was also totally unfair that our Mom could sit under the umbrella all.day.long and end up more bronzed than us!!  We totally got our Dad's Irish skin that burned first, not the Italian skin that bronzes!)

So now that I am in my ::gulp:: later twenties, I really really do not want to do that to my skin anymore.  I have always wanted to try sunless tanners on my face but I am super-duper sensitive skinned, so trying ANYTHING new on my face is extremely rare, especially if it's not skincare products.  I bit the bullet a few weeks ago though and bought this:

source

Well.  Let me tell you.  I absolutely LOVE this stuff.  I'm pretty much a Clinique girl anyways with my skincare routine, so I really trust their brand so I figured I would give it a whirl.  It applies really easily, it's not streaky and it's not orange!  I exfoliate with one of their masks first and then put this on and leave it for a few hours.  It lasts about 3-5 days, which is fine for me.  I would rather buy something that isn't super heavy and obvious on the face and just reapply every few days.  Being as fair as I am, it's more natural looking anyhow.

So far, so good!  No breakouts from it and I have applied round two tonight.  I am really glad that I found something I like that works for me that won't require me torturing my skin with sun every year.  And for $22, it's really not a bad deal at all.  The tube should get me through a few months, at least.  Since this works so well, I just may have to try the body tanner they have, too!  Man it feels good to get my summer glow going again!

**I was not compensated for this post, I just really like the product and wanted to share! :)**

Weekly Happies.

So I know everyone does the Five for Friday thing, so in my neck of the woods I am going to start listing my Weekly Happies...all the things this week that brought beauty, love and happiness to my soul.  And I will probably go past 5 :)

1.) My husband, Joey.  He is seriously the greatest thing to ever happen to me.  He deserves to have the first place on this list.  I am the luckiest girl to have a man that is my best friend.  The gratitude and love I feel towards him is immeasurable.

2.) 66* weather!  Holy cow, guys, does that feel good to have.  It hasn't stuck around but those fleeting days where it does peek gives me hope that May will bring a sunshine and warm filled month!  (And I would like to see some green outside, yes? ENOUGH with the brown!)

3.)  My powder room.  I did a little sprucing of it the past few weeks to add some personality.  I found the CUTEST little stand at Home Goods which fit perfectly and then I added a lantern, a lotus flower tealight, a little rock that says 'Relax' and some orchids.  I don't know why, but that little corner in my house makes me so happy.  I will put pictures up one day!

4.) Our elliptical.  I have been using that thing every night before I shower and go to bed and it has made sleep SO much better for me.

5.) Spartan Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream.  This stuff is the BEST.  No other brand tops Spartan on this one in my book.  My parents had a gallon and I had to go over and inhale some.

6.) My new flats.  This goes along with #2.  I bought the cutest little lace flats that are the most comfortable things to boot.  It just has to stop raining so I can wear them more.

7.) Walking the dogs.  Joey and I love to do this in our sub.  It's so peaceful and it's awesome when we see some deer!

Well, those are my Happies of the week...It's Easter weekend so we will be all over the place, but it should be a good time.  Let's have some warm weather to celebrate, please!

Happy 4th of July!

I'm so thankful for all the men and women who give their lives in service and dedication for our country.  What a wonderful nation we live in!

I am excited to do nothing but lounge today with the exception of going to check out our property and the progress on the new house, and maybe do a little bit of shopping with my sister to pick out some maxi skirts for Florida in a few weeks.

This is how I'm looking today in all of my comfy-clothes glory:

home decor on a dime.

Since we are building a new house, we are trying to keep money pretty tight.  But at the same time, I'm trying to look at and compile ideas for decorating our new house.  But Target.  Ohhh, Target.  Gets me and my wallet every time.

I had basically gone for conditioner and birthday cards and tried to keep myself away from everything else because I can never seem to get out of there for under $30.  As I was looking at the birthday cards, they have this row of those really beautiful Papyrus cards.  You know, the ones that cost like $7-10 PER CARD.  (Do people really buy those for birthdays/special occasions? I sure don't.  That stuff is expensive, yo!) 

They're beautiful cards with sparkles and glitter and sometimes they're just minimal and simplistic and I adore them all.  I just admire and look and wistfully wish that I could bring myself to spend that much on a card and then I put them back.

Patterns and Polka Dots

I am starting to let myself explore a little bit more pattern in my clothing.  For some reason, I have always been a solids kind of girl--I don't stray much into the pattern department.  I think this stems from me feeling like most patterns look too big and flashy and I prefer more dainty, delicate looks.  Or it could be that most stores I have been looking in have so much pattern everywhere that I give up and walk out cross-eyed from the overload. ::shudders::