Hi y’all! We are headed back from South Carolina today after a wonderful weekend with family! We celebrated my cousin Kaylee getting married and it was the sweetest wedding ceremony I have ever seen. They both wrote their vows which I loved! Each of their vows brought the entire wedding to tears, but what I thought was so special was that they made nods to specific moments in their relationship that helped them know, “This person is the one.” And they each had the same moments they referenced without even telling one another beforehand. Their wedding was in this beautiful barn overlooking the most breathtaking fields in South Carolina, which was code for Maxi ran the entire property all weekend and I’ve never chased someone so much in heels. ha! It was a blast for her and for all of our family. I’m popping in today to give my favorites for the month of March and answer a few common reader questions.

My Favorites

1. Brownie Batter Hummus: Y’all may be mad at me for this one because it could easily cause 7398 more Target runs in your household! ha. I bought this brownie batter hummus in the hummus section at Target and y’all- it tastes like PURE brownie batter. The ingredients are pretty good, too! I’ll eat a spoonful of this when my sweet tooth hits. Sometimes, I add a raspberry or two on top or even a handful of white chocolate chips. It’s truly better than any dessert I have had at home!
2. Drugstore Lipstick– While you’re at Target, pick up NYX Liquid Suede Lip in “Soft Spoken.” Not to be dramatic, but I think it’s one of my favorite drugstore beauty buys all year!
3. Shoulder Bag– Walmart has a “premium brand” shop with Lord & Taylor, which I’ll talk more about! Basically, you can shop all these “high-end” brands while you also buy your affordable tanks and tops! It makes “high/low” mixing really easy. I had talked about how this brand was a great similar option to Chanel, so I bought this blush striped one for spring. It fits a ton, the leather feels like butter {but I’ve had zero issues with scratching.} I’ll link a few more below, this option is very similar to the YSL Raffia One!

Your Questions

“You’ve said you have eczema. What do you use for it and have you found a self-tanner that doesn’t irritate your skin more?”

I feel for you! Eczema is no fun to deal with! I see my dermatologist at least every 6 months to kind of keep up with it and make sure what I’m using is working. I have pretty strong prescription creams for when it gets out of control, but if I can stay on top of my at-home routine, I can usually avoid using those too often. For starters, I am a celery juice fan. I know it seems so gimmicky and it’s an easy eye roll, but it changes my eczema drastically! I did a review here. I’ve also noticed I have to be very careful with body washes. Things like Bath & Body Works flare it up- sad day! I use Native and have great luck with it. I also love to use “Tamanu Oil” after the shower or bath and just kind of lather my body in it. It’s great for eczema or skin inflammation. Another thing that can flare it up is self-tanner. I used to be able to use any kind, but not anymore. I use St. Tropez Purity or the Kate Sommerville Tan Wipes and it doesn’t flare my eczema up! I used a drugstore self-tanner a few weeks ago and my eczema looked like I had burned my body with a curling iron ALL OVER. Now, if I just want a more subtle look I use this lotion! It gives a really nice color, but you don’t get the “spray tan” look if that is what you are wanting to avoid. It doesn’t irritate my skin at all.

“I’m having a hard time finding cute spring tops in the $100 range. I’m bored with regular t-shirts or Madewell-type styles. Do you have any suggestions?”

Hi girl! Of course! I totally hear you on that, each season stuff starts to look the same. Here’s a few tops I love below that are under $100. For shopping, check out River Island, English Factory, and Endless Rose. I hope this helps you find a few new tops!

“How do you get ready with a toddler? I’d love to know your secrets. I feel like I have to get up before my daughter to get ready, but then I’m not able to workout!” 

Love this question, because it’s tricky balancing! I feel like some days I can either shower if Maxi is awake, blow dry my hair, or get ready-never all at once. ha! I will say there are a few little things I do, that have made it much easier the past few months. Being a toddler she definitely wants to go wander off into her playroom and that makes me nervous since she’s too young to be on the other side of the house without me. So here is what I do to keep her by my side and entertained:

1. First off, I want to preface this with her personality. Just like sharing a hair tutorial on the blog, I think it’s unfair to say, “This is how you get sleek curls.” without giving credit to already smooth hair! Maxi has a fairly long attention span for 2!  But with that she’s also very shy and takes DAYS to warm up to new people- so if you have tips for that, let me know. 😉 But I do think a lot of these tricks work because she will sit for a while, so if your little one likes to switch up things more often maybe incorporate a few of these at once while you try it.
2. Maxi loves to mimic me so I have a little basket {I get baskets from Walmart or Container Store and keep them in strategic spots around the house.} in the bathroom with her own beauty products. I keep this hair kit in there and she will pretend to blow dryer her hair while I do mine. She also has a little makeup kit like this, but what I found was she normally wanted the “real deal.” So I used the pouch and put old {clean} makeup brushes of mine and then empty powder compacts in there. She’ll play with the hair and makeup for about 25 minutes which usually allows me to get ready in the morning.
3. The “Snuggle the Baby” book also keeps her very entertained because it has the cardboard baby and bottle in there. So she will read the book to herself for at least 10 minutes and then care for her baby.
4. Maxi likes coloring books, but she much prefers stray pieces of paper to color on. This Peppa Pig Color Wonder set has the loose sheets of paper as opposed to a coloring book, so I keep this in the basket for her to use, too.
5. If I’m getting ready at an “odd” time of day {like not after her breakfast or something}, I’ll make sure she has a snack to keep her busier. I’ll make her a little toddler trail mix with Cheerios, yogurt-covered raisins, butter snap pretzels, and dried banana slices. She’ll pick around in it to find what she wants so it keeps her attention there.
6. For me, using hot rollers has also been a game changer! I can get ready SO much faster, so watch my tutorial here if that is of interest to you.
7. If all else fails, I let her FaceTime Gigi. 😉 But normally the above combined always works!

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Most Shopped

Gibson Leopard Top {runs large}

TULA Eye Balm

TULA discount code “Katey” gets you 20% off.

Yellow Sweater

Sequin Kimono Dress

Pink Heels

Monthly Read

This month I read “It Ends With Us” By Colleen Hoover while on our trip to Scottsdale. What are y’all reading next?! I need a good idea!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Did you have any monthly favorites?