I admittedly take terrible care of my skin. I don't wear make-up beyond mascara and some eyeliner so that probably helps, but a little splash of water and some sunscreen are about the extent of my skin care routine. Recently I’ve started to notice that my skin is not looking its best though, combine that with the postpartum hormonal acne and general sleep deprivation... something had to be done. In addition to making a concerted effort to cleanse and moisturize on the regular, I wanted something that would also treat acne scars, dark spots (thanks pregnancy) and maybe even some fine lines.

I feel like everywhere I looked on the interwebs these Sunday Riley products were being touted as the newest miracle in skin care. The Luna Sleeping Night Oil is an advance Retinol complex and is supposed to reduce lines and wrinkles. The Good Genes treatment is meant to brighten, refine and plump as well as reduce hyper-pigmentation. Sign me up! It's worth a try, right?

I’ve been using the products for the last couple of days. My husband can't stop telling me how great they smell and I have to agree with him. Since the Luna is a night treatment it's fairly heavy, but it hasn't bothered me and I hate the feeling of anything on my face. I’m not expecting any miracles in such a short time frame but I feel like I’ve already seen and improvement in the texture of my skin.

I’ll report back in a couple of weeks and let you know if I see any further improvements.

I think I may have mentioned that I have a serious mom uniform slump going on… well when I looked at the pictures of this outfit I realized that I can't really blame it on being a mom. I think that I have worn a version of this outfit for most of my life, this is my jam. I have vivid memories of a huge fight with my mom over sixth grade picture day, she wanted me to wear a dress and I insisted on jeans with holes in them and a plaid shirt and converse sneakers. It didn't look cute, but I don't think that was the point.

This is, in my opinion, about as comfortable as you can get while still wearing pants. And Hi! did you know I’m from Canada? Plaid, check. Toque, check! I love the functionality of a hat, I love that I can hide the fact that I have gone one too many days without washing my hair. I might kind of look like a lumberjack, but at least I look like a cute lumberjack. That's a thing, right?

Hat Target | Henley Old Navy | Plaid shirt Target | Apple Watch | Jeans JCrew | Shoes Converse 

Since the last two outfits were a bit on the casual side, maybe I’ll try to whip up something a little fancier for you next time!

The other day at lunch I couldn't help but think how great the Dry Sparkling Lavender soda I was drinking would be with a little gin in it, and it had almost nothing to do with the toddler throwing food at me. I couldn't wait to try this -- though I did because toddlers are not good drinking companions. I was super-excited that I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand, which is pretty much a miracle since we're out of everything else.  

Did you know that a gin fizz traditionally has egg in it? Neither did I, and I’m not sure how I feel about it. Anyway, the important thing to know is that this version doesn't have raw egg anywhere near it. I used Meyer lemon and I think its fragrant citrus added nicely to this floral, not-too-sweet drink. This is my favorite kind of recipe; simple, easy, only a couple ingredients and gin (I'm kidding... no I'm not). So you should go and get some Dry Sparkling Lavender Soda and gin and make yourself a drink!

Dry Lavender Gin Fizz

 2 oz. Gin
.5 oz. Fresh lemon juice
Dry Sparkling Lavender Soda
​
If you’re feeling fancy, put the gin and lemon juice in a shaker with some ice. Strain into a high-ball glass and top with soda. Garnish with a twist of lemon and enjoy!

As a mom I am always looking for outfits that don't make me look like a homeless person (this is a serious concern for me somedays) but that I can chase a crazy toddler around in. It’s a fine balance, and some days — okay most days — it’s a struggle to put in the effort. I definitely have a uniform that a wear on the reg, but a t-shirt and jeans does get a little stale after a while. I’m really trying to add some interest into my daily outfits, and I’m always looking for comfortable kid friendly ways to do it.

A striped dolman-sleeved tunic (this is actually a dress that I can’t wear right now because I’m breastfeeding) that’s kind of boxy and volumous, which isn't normally my style at all. But tuck it into a pair of skinny jeans and it feels a little edgy. I think the stripe actually helps this from feeling one-dimensional and gives my upper-half a bit of definition despite all of the fabric. I added a pair of super comfortable and cute booties, you can read more on how I feel about them here, to make this outfit a little more grown-up.

Glasses Oliver Peoples | Shirt Old Navy | Jeans Gap | Boots Loeffler Randall | Cross-body Bag Mackage

I had a bad week, and I felt like bitching about it in a post, but then I though I would just rather talk about shoes! Let’s talk about one of my favorite shoe designers, Loeffler Randall. Jessie Randall started her accessories company with her husband in 2004 and since then they have continued to make their mark on the fashion world.

I own a couple pairs of their shoes and they are the first thing that comes to mind when I’m looking for a new pair. I love the unique designs and fantastic quality of the craftsmanship. Most importantly they are really comfortable. I am only willing to suffer for my fashion to a certain point and I really hate that feeling when you put on a beautiful pair of shoes with the certain knowledge that you will be in excruciating pain by the time you get to the car.

When I first bought the Ella stacked heel bootie I was looking for a functional bootie that I could wear while chasing around a two year old. I will confess that the 3.25’’ heel had me a little concerned, but I loved the style and I knew how great the quality was. I bought them anyway. I am so glad I did because they are so easy to wear. I’m not saying go for a hike in them, but a day of errands and toddler wrangling is no problem. Okay, enough about my exciting life, you should go check out the shoes (and they make cute handbags too!).

Oh, did I forget to mention that they’re having a boot sale? Use the code REBOOT to get 25% off boots until 1/18/16!

I know I’m a little late for the holiday party season, but I just mailed my Christmas cards last week so this is pretty much the story of my life right now… I wore this outfit to my husband's company holiday party in December and I threw it back on as part of my ‘How to take a Selfie’ post. I think this is a really easy and comfortable look, a cute little cocktail dress with a fitted bodice and a little flare at the hip. I love this pewter grey color, and the little bit of shine on the fabric makes it festive without having to go full glitter (sequins scare me).

I love these shoes! They are the most amazing color! I would even venture to call them sea-foam green and not feel bad about it at all. I love the pop of color that they lend to this outfit and they’re the perfect height for a long evening of standing, aka the cocktail party. I paired them with this cute little pouch, the edging matches the green of the shoes and the polkadot pattern felt like a fun little detail. When I was putting this look together I realized that I don't really own any statement pieces in the jewelry department, and I think I might need to start exploring this avenue of accessorizing in the near future (yes, my husband does read this).

 I didn't intend on making this into a feature series on the blog, but I kind of like how the pictures turned out so over the next couple of weeks I’ll be posting the rest of the outfits I shot. If you guys like them maybe I'll keep it up.

Dress (this one is old, find a similar one here) | Shoes Loeffler Randall

My sister-in-law (you can check out her food blog here) and I hatched a scheme to go see the San Francisco Ballet perform The Nutcracker over the holidays. We planned an amazing adult evening; dinner, box seats, fancy cocktails, hotel rooms and babysitters.  I had a baby four months ago, and I really wanted something new that was going to make me feel great, but I didn't want to invest in something that I wouldn't wear again.

Rent The Runway offers designer dresses and accessories that you can borrow for a myriad of different occasions. You can choose between a four and eight day rental period and they will send you your dress in two sizes, just in case. I actually ended up wearing my back-up size so I recommend taking advantage of this feature. 

I rented a ML Monique L’Huillier Madame Damask dress in a 6L. I might have been a little over dressed for the ballet, but I felt great so who cares. I specifically picked a dress with a fit-and-flare silhouette in order to camouflage some after-baby body issues, and it has pockets! The dress was in great condition. It was a little longer than I'd anticipated, so don't get the long version if you are under 5’8’’.

My dresses arrived two days earlier then scheduled, which was great. They were delivered in a heavy navy blue garment bag with gold hardware that zipped into a handy tote. Inside the bag there were lots of mesh pockets, the return packing slip, and a cute little make-up bag and a travel sized mascara.

After the event, all I had to do was place the dresses back in the garment bag, zip it up, put the return slip in the pocket on the front and lock it. The lock that was supposed to be included with my bag was missing, but the FAQ section on the Rent The Runway website addressed the issue. Take it to your closest UPS drop-off by the deadline and your done.  A confirmation email will be sent when they have received your shipment. The whole thing was so easy, and I got to wear a dress that retails for several hundred dollars for a fraction of the price. There is a delivery fee and insurance on top of the rental fee so keep that in mind when your looking for a dress.

Rent the Runway is a wonderful service to keep in mind for all of your  holiday parties or the dreaded wedding season. You can rent several different looks for the price of one really nice dress. 

Welcome to the second installment of How To Take a Selfie: OOTD edition. If you’re not sure what OOTD stands for (hi Mom), that would be Outfit Of The Day. I personally love OOTD posts, and there are some amazing style bloggers out there offering inspiration for a wide range of styles, budgets and body types. I found that most style bloggers outline how they achieve their OOTD photos in their FAQ sections, usually with some helpful tips.

I ended up taking these photos inside with a backdrop, and I shot five outfits all at one time. I used a tripod, a canon T3i with my 18-55mm kit lens and I set the timer to 10 seconds with continuous shooting. This allowed me lots of time to get into place and move through a couple of poses without having to go back to the camera as often.

Putting together an outfit for an OOTD shoot takes a bit of thought. The camera will catch any wrinkles, stains or poorly fitting clothing and freeze them in time. Things that you can get away with in real life, or at least think you can get away with might be the thing that ruins a look. This was a bit of an issue for me because I’m apparently a slob and the last time I ironed anything it was with a hair straightener…
Posing in front of the camera is my nightmare. It took me three outfit changes to even start warming up and having fun in front of the camera. I definitely felt that the pictures when I was a little more relaxed and playful looked a lot nicer. I ruined a ton of shots because I over exaggerated a pose. If you're looking off camera try keeping your gaze just to the side of the camera or straight a head of you to prevent only seeing the whites of your eyes, its not a good look.

Here is what I’ve learned so far… This is harder than it looks. Take as many pictures as you can stand. Practice your poses and try a lot of them to figure out what works for you. Use good posture, this is so important. Find good light, possibly the most important. And finally, relax and have fun, like I said it’s harder than it looks. All in all I ended up with enough pictures that I’m going to do an individual post on each of them over the next month so stay tuned.