Santas Little Helper

I absolutely LOVE the holidays. Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorite times of the year and now that I have my baby girl, it's even more exciting! I seriously can't wait until she's old enough to believe in Santa that will be so much fun! I know that Christmas is still a month away, but I just had to dress her up and take some photos of her in the little outfit I got for her to wear on Christmas Eve. We're going to be putting up our tree and decorating the house on Saturday, I can't wait! I'm sure I'll get even more adorable pictures of her ;) 

She's such a doll to photograph!

The outfit is from Carters and her headband I got from Etsy. I'm in love with these bandana bow knot headbands lately. They're super cute and go with pretty much any of her little outfits. 

I hope everyone is having a good Monday and looking forward to the Holiday weekend!

xx

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Rainy Days

Today mainly consisted of snuggles with my little girl and Waffle (our little terrier/Chihuahua pup). It's FINALLY been getting colder here so I've been enjoying this weather by laying around the house in my PJ's and watching too much Netflix with miss Aubree  cuddled up with me. It's been so amazing being able to stay home with her, I couldn't ask for a better job.

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Illamasqua Powder Blusher in Katie

Hi everyone! I hope you're all doing well! I wanted to do a quick post to tell you all about one of my my new favorite blushes that I've rediscovered recently. I haven't tried many products from Illamasqua, but I absolutely adore this blusher. I have it in the color Katie which is a beautiful baby pink shade that is perfect for any time of the year if you want to add a little color on your cheeks! I rediscovered this blusher in my pile of other blushes and I have been using it almost everyday since I stumbled upon it. I haven't tried any of their other products but I am definitely going to give them a try since I love this one so much!

What is your favorite Illamasqua product?

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My Life Lately...

1. We found out back when I was 15 weeks pregnant that we are having a girl! I'm so excited! Baby girl clothes are so much fun to shop for. 2. My husband got me a puppy for Valentines day & I named him Waffle. He is a terrier chihuahua mix. A little bit on the wild side but he's a cutie pie. 3.My husband got me some beautiful flowers just because. I love having fresh flowers in the house. 4. Headed off to an April wedding at 17 weeks pregnant!

5. Panera Bread lunch date with my husband. 6. 21 weeks pregnant belly! 7. A lovely bath complete with candles and relaxing music. 8. Last week at 25 weeks pregnant!

  9. My pretty little kitty. 

I hope you all are having a great start to your week!

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May Favorites

 Hi everyone! Since I'm now getting back into the swing of things, I wanted to start off doing a May Favorites post since I haven't done one in forever. I don't have a ton of favorites this month, but there were few items that I found myself reaching for all the time. 

One of my absolute favorite products that I've been loving is the new Revlon Highlighting Palette which is a really nice dupe for the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick. I got the Revlon palette in the color Rose Glow which is a gorgeous mix of champagne and rose colors that add the perfect bit of glow to your cheeks. As the name says, it is a highlighting palette but I have been using it as my blush and adding another highlighting powder on top of it. It doesn't give too much highlight to your cheeks, so if you like a bit more then layering a another shimmery powder on the top of your blush will give it an extra little pop.

Benefit High Beam has become such a staple in my makeup routine for the last few months. I have been using it to brighten up under my eyes by adding a tiny dab of the product and blending it in with my fingers. It doesn't make my under eye area look too bright, but it gives just enough to make my eyes look brighter and more awake. If you want to add more of a glow, then popping a little dab of it on your cheek bones looks gorgeous as well! 

Of course when spring and summer come around I have to bust out my bright lipsticks! One of my all time favorites is the Miliani lipstick in the color Fruit Punch. It's a fun matte bright pink that is perfect to wear if you want to spice up your makeup a little bit. It's not a super bright fuchsia pink which I like, but it definitely is one of the brighter colors that I have in my collection! I love to wear this when I have a more simple look going on and I want to brighten it up a bit. It's the perfect summer lipstick in my opinion!

The last favorite that I have for this month is a nail polish. I love painting my nails fun bright colors during the warmer months, but for some reason I keep going back to Essie's Sand Tropez, which is a gorgeous neutral beige color. It's a shade that goes with anything and everything and it's easy to just pop on your nails when you don't really feel like picking out a color. The formula is my favorite out of all of the polishes I own. It's easy to put on and quick to dry. If you haven't tried this stunning shade yet, I would highly suggest trying it out!

What are some of your favorite products from last month?  

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Starting Over: New Blog!

 

Image from weheartit

Hi everyone! Some of you are probably wondering what's going on and why I'm starting over with my blog. For any new followers, I used to blog at Life of a Housewife.com but I recently decided that I wanted a change and wanted to get back into blogging regularly. Last year, I had a ton going on in my life and my passion for blogging got lost in all of the bad things that were happening. After my mom passed away I let my depression get the best of me and I totally stopped blogging. I posted a few things here and there just because I felt like I had to but my heart wasn't really in it. 

But I'm so excited to say that I am for sure back in the blogging world and I can't wait to get started again! With all the (good) craziness in my life now with a new baby on the way & a great job as a freelance makeup artist, I really want to keep up with all the positivity in my life. So I am going to be posting more regularly and trying to get back into the blogging scene and hopefully my blog will become something that a lot of you will love to read on a regular basis!

I changed the name to Lace & Pearls because I feel like that fits the majority of my posts on this blog. As all of you know, I love posting about makeup and beauty so I thought that Lace & Pearls fits the girly and feminine vibe of my blog. Of course there will be baby posts here and there (how can I not?!) but the majority will still be beauty and fashion related!

If you followed me on Life of a Housewife, I would love it if you would continue to follow me on here, through GFC (which is on my sidebar, just click Follow!) and on Bloglovin!

Thanks everyone for your support! It means the world to me!

 

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Pregnancy Update - Week 15-17

17 week baby bump! On the way to a friends wedding!

How far along?
17 weeks 6 days.

Total weight gain?
Still about 12 pounds.

Maternity clothes?
I've been wearing a lot of maxi dresses since it's been such nice weather here lately! It's so much cheaper as well rather than buying actual maternity wear.

Stretch marks?
Not yet! Still using cocoa butter.

Sleep?
I've still been sleeping really well. It's just getting harder now to get comfortable. I can't really sleep on my left side much other wise the baby kicks me a ton.

Best moment this week?
Wasn't this week but we did find out that we are having a girl! So exciting! I also received my baby shower invitations in the mail this week, they are so cute! I can't wait until my shower in June!

Miss anything?
Having a beer or a glass of wine with my husband when we go out to dinner :(

Movement?
She has been kicking me and punching like crazy!

Food cravings?
Pizza!

Anything making you feel queezy or sick?
Nope, I feel really good!

Gender
GIRL!

Symptoms
Still really lightheaded which can be a pain in the butt when we are out in public and I need to sit down :( Also, my back has been hurting a lot lately as well.

Belly button in or out?
In!

Happy or moody most of the time?
Happy!

Looking forward to?
My baby shower! It's at the beginning of June and I'm so excited for it. Only 2-ish more months!

So like I said in the update, we are having a little baby GIRL! I'm overjoyed that our first little baby is going to be a little miss, but of course I would have been happy with either gender as long as baby is healthy! I haven't made a video in a while either, I'm so sorry about that guys! I've been so busy lately, but I am going to do my best to get one up at the beginning of next week!

Pregnancy Update - Week 14

How far along?
15 weeks 3 days.

Total weight gain?
About 12 pounds :(

Maternity clothes?
Yes! I bought a super comfy pair of maternity jeans and a lovely maxi dress that I have been wearing the heck out of lately. I still need to get more though.

Stretch marks?
Not yet! I switched to using Palmers Cocoa Butter because I like the smell so much better.

Sleep?
I've been sleeping a lot better at night, so that's been a relief. And still have a lot more energy during the day as well.

Best moment this week?
We bought the rocking chair/glider and crib mattress for the nursery!

Miss anything?
Eating lunch meat! I have been just dying to have some cold Salami and pepperoni. Mmm.

Movement?
Definitely been feeling a lot of of baby this week for sure.

Food cravings?
Anything cheesy. I've really been loving cheese quesadillas.

Anything making you feel queezy or sick?
Nothing right now. At the moment I can't stop eating!

Gender
We are finding out on Friday!

Symptoms
Not much has changed since the last time I updated you all. I still have really bad heartburn and I've been getting really dizzy and light headed lately too. At my next doctors appointment I am going to be asking about that.

Belly button in or out?
In!

Happy or moody most of the time?
Happy!

Looking forward to?
Our gender scan is on Friday and I am sooooooo excited to finally know what we will be having!

I hope you all enjoyed the update! After our gender scan in Friday I will possibly be doing a video to let you all know the gender! I'm still deciding if I want to reveal it in a video on on my blog. So we will see!

Baby Clothing Haul!

Hi everyone! New video is up on my channel! Be sure to subscribe!

Bedroom Wishlist

Hi everyone! I haven't done a wishlist post in a while so I thought that I would make one for our master bedroom. Since we have a baby on the way, we are going to be doing A LOT of redecorating and switching around rooms for the nursery. We'll be redoing the guest bedroom and making it into an office/guest room and we will also be moving my dressing room (which is going to become the nursery) into another room of the house! While we are doing that, I have been really wanting to redo our master bedroom too. It's quite plain right now and I don't really like it very much at the moment. I have had my eye on these items for a while now and I'm so so so excited to finally be able to set up our bedroom how I've always wanted it!

All of the furniture and bedding I picked out are white and brightly colored. Our bedroom isn't huge so I want lighter furniture to lighten it up a bit and to give the illusion that it's bigger than it actually is. I have had my eyes on the Leirvik bedframe from IKEA for the longest time and I love how dainty the metal frame looks. The bedding set is a gorgeous lilac and cream color and I can't wait to finally purchase it. I have been staring it at for over a year now! If you'd like to take a look at the whole set, you can find it HERE.

For the end tables, I really loved the 'shabby chic' look of the two I found on Wayfair.com. I absolutely adore the detailing on the wood. I think it'll look gorgeous in the room! As for the dresser, I haven't found one that I'm super crazy about yet, but one similar to what I have listed is what I'm going for. I also am planning on switching out the dresser knobs for pretty crystal ones as well.

And last I just have a cute little white decorative frame from IKEA that I think would be really cute and some flowers that would add a nice touch.

I'm so excited to redo the rooms in our house! It's going to a fun project and I can't wait to get started!

Week 13 Pregnancy Vlog

Hi loves! I just uploaded my 13 week pregnancy vlog! Be sure to subscribe to my channel to keep up with new videos!

Pregnancy Update - Week 12

How far along?
13 weeks! Yay! Out of first trimester finally!

Total weight gain?
About 9 pounds.

Maternity clothes?
Still nothing new other than the maternity shirts I bought awhile back. I really really really need to invest in some maternity jeans though. I can't fit into any of mine anymore :(

Stretch marks?
Not yet! Still using Burt's Bee's Mamma Bee Belly Butter.

Sleep?
I'm not as tired during the day. I can still nap though (hah) but it definately isn't as bad. Sleeping at night is getting harder and more uncomfortable. I can't seem to stay asleep for more than 4 hours at a time for some reason. Boo.

Best moment this week?
Had our 12 week scan yesterday and it went perfectly! We got to see our little jelly bean bouncing around.

Miss anything?
Haven't really missed anything too much this week.

Movement?
I have been feeling little tiny flutters and "thumps" where the baby is. It's so crazy!

Food cravings?
Still pizza!

Anything making you feel queezy or sick?
I totally jinxed myself on my first video. The day after I filmed it I totally threw up :( I've been sick a few times since then too. I have no idea what's going on! I thought that I was supposed to be feeling better by now!

Gender
We don't know yet!

Symptoms
Still craving anything cheesy. Like I said previously, I've also had the pleasure of throwing up a few times and that is definitely annoying. oh my gosh HEARTBURN has started full force. Anything I eat now gives me awful heartburn and nothing helps it to go away. Ugh.

Belly button in or out?
In!

Happy or moody most of the time?
Happy!

Looking forward to?
Our gender scan is in two weeks. I'm so excited to find out if we are having a little boy or girl!

Another vlog will be up on my channel either tomorrow or Monday. So be sure to subscribe so you can see my weekly updates!

The Honest Company // Review

Hi everyone! I hope you're all doing great and having a lovely week so far! I wanted to do a quick little show and tell on a few little goodies that I received in the mail not to long ago. I was browsing online for baby things (exciting!) and came across The Honest Co. If you didn't know, this company is founded by Jessica Alba and it is a safe, natural, non-toxic, eco-friendly line of products for babies and for everyday items. I've actually heard of this company before but never actually tried any of the products. They were offering a free trial and all I had to pay for was the shipping so I thought that it was a pretty good deal! First, I love the packaging and how everything is boxed! So cute! All of the items in the 'free trial' package are are trial sized obviously and if you like the products you have the option to subscribe monthly and get different items every month for a set fee. I haven't looked too much into that since I'm still testing out all of the products but it's something I might consider!

I was surprised that none of the products really have a smell at all. It's all very very neutral. I have yet to test out the laundry detergent, the hand soap, or the body wash & shampoo but I'm working my way to them! I have used the lotions and I have to say they are incredibly moisturizing! I was actually shocked at how silky it made my skin feel. However, I do like a scent so I'm not sure if I really like that it doesn't smell like anything. I'm planning on testing out the detergent next time I do laundry (if I can remember to use it!) so we will see how I end up liking that. Overall, I love that their products are so safe and that you don't have to worry about harsh chemicals. It's hard to find companies like that!

If you're interested in the free trial, hop on over to their website HERE and take a look at what they offer!

First Trimester Pregnancy Vlog

Hi everyone! I decided that I wanted to start doing pregnancy Vlogs because I absolutely love watching them and I would love to have something to look back on once we have our little baby. I hope that my vlogs are helpful to the ladies who are pregnant or who want to get pregnant! This is my very first vlog ever so bear with me. I also want to apologize for the quality of the video. I'm going to start using my camera to film so hopefully they look much better than this.

I plan on doing weekly pregnancy updates and random little vlogs in between those updates. So I hope you guys enjoy! I would love it if you subscribed and followed my channel!

Pregnancy Update - Week 11

How far along?
11 weeks, 2 days. Next week is my last week in the first trimester! So happy!

Total weight gain?
About 7-8 pounds. I feel like that's a lot.

Maternity clothes?
I've only bought maternity shirts so far. I like them a lot because they're long enough to cover my bum so that I can wear my leggings. SO much more comfortable than jeans! I bought a few bump bands but my jeans still aren't comfy at all. I'm thinking I might have to suck it up and get a pair of maternity pants soon.

Stretch marks?
Not yet. I use the Burts Bees Mamma Bee Belly Butter every night. I don't really like smell of it so when it runs out I'm going to try something different.

Sleep?
I'm SO tired all the time, oh my gosh. I don't think I have ever felt this exhausted in my life! Even though I'm so tired sleep is getting a little uncomfortable so I went out and bought a pregnancy wedge pillow to put in between my knees at night. Hopefully this helps!

Best moment this week?
My mother in law sent us a care package filled with adorable baby things. I loved getting all of it!

Miss anything?
I definately miss having a drink at dinner! I know I'm going to miss it even more when it starts getting hotter here!

Movement?
Not yet. However we've seen our little one flipping and kicking a ton during ultrasounds so I know it's quite active in there!

Food cravings?
Anything cheesy! I've especially been craving pizza a lot!

Anything making you feel queezy or sick?
Nothing at the moment. A few weeks ago almost anything made me feel so nauseous that I didn't want to eat anything. Thank goodness that has disappeared!

Gender
We don't know yet! But I am like 99% sure that it's going to be a girl! We booked an early gender scan at 15 weeks so I'm really hoping that we will find out then!

Symptoms
I still feel so exhausted. It feels like a huge chore to do pretty much anything at the moment. My poor husband hasn't been getting home cooked meals as often because I'm just so exhausted all the time! Besides feeling tired all the time, I also have been constantly hungry. I'm always snacking on something! I've also been getting ligament pain in my stomach area which is definately no fun at all. I don't know how long it lasts but hopefully it goes away soon!

Belly button in or out?
In!

Happy or moody most of the time?
Happy most of the time!

Looking forward to?
March 7th is our next ultrasound and I can't wait to see our little one!

I hope you all enjoyed this update! I am going to start doing my pregnancy updates at the end of each week. I just hadn't posted in a while and I really wanted to share my update with you guys! So I hope you enjoyed it! If there are any other mommy blogs or pregnancy blogs that you guys like reading please leave me the links, I'd love to get some new blogs to read!

I'm Pregnant!

Hi everyone! It's been a little while since I posted anything, but a lot has been going on! If you follow me on Instagram then you probably already saw the news...I'm pregnant! My husband and I are very excited and already can't wait to meet our little one. I found out on New Years day and immediately told my husband the news. I told my dad and my mother in law right after we found out but we decided to wait until we had the first ultrasound to tell the rest of our family and friends. I'm currently about 8 weeks along and I know that there are a lot of different opinions about when you should tell people, but we decided that we wanted to share the news sooner!

I had my ultrasound today and it went amazingly. The baby is 3 days ahead and the heartbeat is strong! We couldn't keep the news to ourselves any longer! So there will be weekly updates on my pregnancy and I'm deciding if I want to start doing Vlogs on Youtube as well because I think that would be really fun to look back on and hopefully, it might help out some other newly pregnant ladies out there! I will still be posting fashion and beauty posts as well so don't worry!

There is one last thing I wanted to share with you all...our Facebook announcement photo and our ultrasound !

Professional Makeup Haul

Hi loves! Recently I went on a bit of a makeup spending spree to restock my professional makeup kit for when I do work on clients. I ended up spending about $150 on everything but I have to say that I am so pleased with everything that has arrived so far. I 'm still expecting one more box that should get here today! But I wanted to share with you all the goodies that I have received so far!

I went ahead and decided to bite the bullet and splurge on a Graftobian HD 18 shade foundation palette. I got it in the Warm palette but they have a cool and neutral palette that I am going to end up purchasing as well. These foundations are perfect for in front of the camera. They blend so well and are incredibly creamy and even though it looks like there isn't much product in the palette, a little definately goes a long way with these. I love that it comes with 18 different shades simply for the fact that it makes it so much easier to color match clients' skin tones. If you end up running out of a shade, they sell the individual colors seperately. So that's nice. I got this for about $60 and I would seriously recommend these to any makeup artist looking for a great foundation palette!

The next thing I got was a Stilla lip palette. I love Stilla products and when I saw this I knew I had to have it. The colors are so gorgeous and pigmented! I use a lip brush and apply whatever shade I choose over a lipliner and the color payoff is insane. Stilla has a few other lip palettes with different shades that I'm considering getting in the future!

The next two things I purchased because I've been wanting to test them out for quite sometime. The first is the Ben Nye Neutral Set Colorless Powder. It's basically just a setting or finishing powder to apply once you've finished your makeup. I've tested it out and even though it's a pretty small bottle, you really only need a tiny bit to brush over the whole face. I like it quite a bit! It adds a really pretty soft finish to your makeup and helps give a finished look. I believe this was only about $6, so of course I couldn't resist!

The last little beauty is the Model in a Bottle setting spray. OH. MY. GOSH. This spray is seriously the absolute best setting spray I have ever used. After applying my makeup in the morning, I spray this all over my face and let it set for about 20 seconds or so. A lot of people in the reviews on this product have complained about the smell, but honestly I thought it smelled pretty good! But I might just be weird. My makeup lasted all day and night without one smudge or anything out of place. It looked the same as when I applied it in the morning. I am definately going to be using this on brides!

All of the products I reviewed I purchased from Camera Ready Cosmetics.com. If you're looking for really great deal on HD and professional makeup, I would give this site a look through! They have all kinds of brands for amazing prices.

I hope you all enjoyed my little haul. As I said in the post, I have another package coming today (hopefully!) with a bunch more items that I purchased so as soon as those come in I will be popping up a review for you guys!