Sephora 2020 Holiday Savings Event

It’s my favorite time of year when Sephora kicks off their sale which only happens twice a year! If you haven’t heard yet, the sale at Sephora started last week, October 30, for the holiday season! All levels – Sephora Rouge, VIB and Beauty Insider can shop the sale of the season!

The reason this sale is so awesome is that department stores will never give you this much of a discount off of beauty products! So if you’ve been thinking of splurging on the Dyson Hairdryer or T3 Styling Wand now is the time to buy those investment pieces.

HOW TO SHOP THE SEPHORA SALE

First off, you need to be a member of the Beauty Insider program (you can sign up here).

The sale takes place in a tiered format:

·         Rouge members – Receive 20% off October 30 – November 9
Code: HOLIDAYFUN

·         VIB members – Receive 15% off November 3 – November 9
Code: HOLIDAYFUN

·         Beauty Insiders – Receive 10% off November 5 – November 9
Code: HOLIDAYFUN

If you aren’t familiar with the tiers here is a run down on how it works. The top tier is VIB Rouge which is for those customers that spend $1,000 a year. The next tier is VIB for customers who spend $350 a year. The third tier is Beauty Insider which is for any customers in the program who spend less than $350 a year. I’m a total makeup junkie so I shopped the sale last week and summarized my top 10 picks below:

WHAT TO BUY FROM THE SEPHORA VIB SALE - TOP 10 ITEMS

1. Hair Tools - The T3 Styling Wand is super easy to use and creates the most long lasting curls. I always struggled with curls falling out soon after I've curled my hair but this styling wand is amazing! What's even better is that this comes in a set of THREE barrels so you get more for your money! Another one of my favorites, the Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer, is another one of my personal favorites. The Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer has made my life so much easier with its high-speed, powerful, brushless digital motor and intelligent heat control for shine. It dries my hair so fast and when I use a round brush with it, my hair looks like I’ve just stepped out of the salon.

2. Body Wash - I always stock up on my favorite brand of body wash, Necessaire in Sandalwood (comes in three different scents). This product is both vegan and considered a “clean” product which is made without all those harmful chemicals.

3. Summer Fridays Jet Lag Mask - Still one of the hottest products in the blogger community, this mask does not disappoint. I love how thick the mask is and how hydrating it is (definitely great for those that have dry and dull skin). I use this mask as my night time moisturizer and wake up with beautiful hydrated skin!

4. Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder - I use this loose setting powder each time I do my makeup. It really helps to set my undereye makeup so it doesn’t crease and to contour the sides of my nose and under my cheek bones. I love that it also comes in a mini travel size which I bought as part of the sale so I use it on the go.

5. Lip Combo - To get my signature lip combo (I’ve been wearing this for YEARS) I use these three products. I first start off my lining my lips with the Smashbox Lip Liner in shade Nude Medium followed by filling in my lips with the Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Bow N Arrow. Then once that’s dry I use the Charlotte Tilbury Collagen Lip Bath Gloss in Sheer. This 3-step combo makes the most beautiful glossy neutral lip color.

6. Tarte Creaseless Undereye Concealer - Another must have product and one I can’t live without. I pair this concealer paired with the Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder and it creates a flawless undereye finish!

7. Moisturizers - Nothing is more important than a great base! I like to keep my skin well hydrated and moisturized. Here are some of my favorite moisturizers: Belif The True Cream Aqua Bomb, Honey Halo Ultra-Hydrating Ceramide Moisturizer and Tatcha Water Cream.

8. Face Tools - I have a Jade Roller and also did purchase the Gua Sha tool during the last Sephora sale in the spring and actually use it more than the Jade Roller. The Gua Sha tool promotes the lifting and smoothing of the skin and it leaves the face lifted.

9.  Foundation - There are so many foundations out there but one that I have been wanting to try is the Fenty Beauty by Rihanna which is a soft-matte long-wear foundation that comes in 50 shades! My go-to foundation is the Lancome Teint Idole Ultra Long Wear Foundation which is a long-wear foundation and lasts for up to 24 hours (you can read my review here).

10. Perfume - When does perfume EVER go on sale? Well during the Sephora sale they sure do! I have both the COCO Mademoiselle and the Chloé Eau de Parfum they are both amazing. I always make sure to stock up on perfumes during each sale and cologne for my husband as well. He loves the Bleu De CHANEL and it smells sooo good!

What will you be shopping from the Sephora Sale?

Our Neutral Themed Baby Shower

Today I’m so excited to share with you some photos from my baby shower a little over a week ago at the Moshulu in Philadelphia, PA! It was truly a special day and I feel so grateful to be able to celebrate our baby boy with our closest friends even in the middle of a pandemic! My heart goes out to all the mommas out there who weren’t able to do baby shower - bringing a baby into this world should be a time to celebrate and it’s really unfortunate.

We did do a virtual baby shower for my family the day before our baby shower since my family is in Connecticut and with the pandemic we didn’t think it would be a good idea to have everyone travel to Philadelphia. I will be doing a separate blog post on how to throw a virtual shower next week so keep a lookout for that!

So onto our baby shower. We wanted to switch things up from the traditional baby shower (which can honestly be soo boring)! We just wanted our friends to come, enjoy, eat, drink and celebrate Baby C! We did our baby shower on a Sunday during the day time and it was a brunch event filled with brunch food (I’m still thinking about the french toast and waffles… YUM) and open bar brunch drinks. With the pandemic and the regulations we were lucky to able to find the perfect venue which was at the deck at the Moshulu so everyone was able to socially distance themselves since we had the entire top deck. The weather was luckily on our side and was beautiful even for a fall day in the middle of October!

For the baby shower I opted for a neutral palette so I chose to decorate with white, gold and green. I also wanted to do something different than the traditional blue for baby boy. The colors we picked perfectly complimented the space.

For the table decor we kept things simple with some DIY action! We went to Trader Joes the day before and bought all the white hydrangeas, roses, and eucalyptus we could find. Then in the evening my sister in law came over (and brother and their adorable dog Taco!) and helped put the arrangements together. We put the arrangements on top of gold runners and added a few candles.

This balloon garland was the perfect addition to the space. We used a local Philadelphia vendor Charming Garlands by Ali (Instagram page HERE) and she was more than accommodating and such a pleasure to work with! I sent her a photo of our welcome sign and she took that as the inspiration and created the most beautiful balloon garland structure for our baby shower! They’re also so much fun for photos so they double as a huge decoration and a photo backdrop for you and your guests. I was really happy with the way it turned out and highly recommend them.

The baker at the Moshulu made the cake for us and it came out so pretty! I wanted to keep things simple with a white cake with gold 3D flowers. The cake topper I bought from Etsy from a company called the Lancaster Laser Company.

My Outfit: Dress: ASOS Maternity / Heels: JustFab / Jewelry: Teardrop Earrings
Hubby’s Outfit: Blazer & Shirt: Custom from Indochino / Jeans: Diesel

Since we weren’t doing blue decor I did want to wear blue in honor of Baby Boy. I opted for this sparkly navy maternity dress from ASOS Maternity. The hubby wore a custom jacket paired with dark blue jeans and a pocket square. I love how our outfits complimented each other perfectly!

Here are the vendors we used I highly recommend all of them!

Venue: Moshulu
Food: Moshulu
Cake: Moshulu
Cake Topper: Lancaster Laser Co
Photography: Ryan Jones (Instagram page HERE)
Balloon Decor: Charming Garlands by Ali (Instagram page HERE)
Floral Arrangements: DIY (Flowers from Trader Joe’s)
Table Runners: Amazon
Welcome Sign: Adore Paper Company
My Outfit: ASOS Maternity

Below are some dresses that would be perfect for your baby shower!

Roundup of Philadelphia Fall Activities

MAMA Sweatshirt: PinkBlush / Leggings: Zella
Combat Boots: Sam Edelman (Similar) / Sunglasses: Quay (BOGO Sale!)

Looking for fun COVID friendly activities to do in the fall in and around Philadelphia? Well you’ve come to the right place! Fall has to be one of my favorite seasons of the year and one of the things I love to do this time of year is get to a pumpkin patch (at least once)! My husband and I took a trip to Linvilla Orchards which is about a 20 minute drive outside of Philadelphia early Saturday morning. It’s such a fun activity to do and there is something for all ages plus getting the fresh apple cider donuts is soo worth it!

I wanted to wear something comfortable for our outing since we would be walking around so I opted for this super cute “MAMA” sweatshirt (non maternity size HERE) which was sent by PinkBlush, an amazing maternity clothing brand that has affordable and trendy clothing. What I love about the brand is that they have clothing for before, during and after pregnancy. I wanted to keep this look simple for a fun filled activity day outside so I paired this sweatshirt with black leggings and combat boots.

Roundup of Philadelphia Fall Activities

Design Philadelphia

Night Tours at the Eastern State Penitentiary

The Trails at Fairmount Park

Fall Fest at Morgan’s Pier

Take a Ghost Tour of Philadelphia

Morris Arboretum

Linvilla Orchards

The annual Chrysanthemum Festival at Longwood Gardens

Peddler’s Village

Pennhurst Asylum

Boo at the Zoo at the Philadelphia Zoo

Solesbury Orchards

Linking some of my other favorite weekend pumpkin picking apparel from PinkBlush below!

Roundup of Best Sweater Dresses For Fall

Sweater Dress: Line & Dot / Booties: JustFab (c/o)
Purse: Chanel / Sunglasses: Quay

Can you believe it’s already the last day of September? We have had cool fall temps here in Philadelphia and it has made me SO excited for fall! I have to admit that I love this time of year - from the beautiful fall decorations and fall foliage, going to the pumpkin patch, sipping on warm drinks and wearing all the cozy clothing!

One wardrobe staple I love pulling out in my closet this time of year is the sweater dress. What I love about sweater dresses is that you can dress them up or down. If it’s chilly outside, then you can layer it up with a suede or leather jacket or a cozy scarf. As most sweater dresses are a solid color have fun with your shoes such as with these print booties from JustFab! JustFab has the most amazing selection of accessories and shoes - their new fall season items are available on their website.

Shop my sweater dress picks below!

Fall Maternity Outfit Inspiration

Dress: Z Supply / Denim Button Up: GAP
Purse: Chanel (Similar) / Shoes: Cole Haan
Sunglasses: Quay / Necklace: Kate Spade

Fall weather is FINALLY here and I’m really enjoying it! When the temperatures start cooling down I like to take my summer pieces and add layers to make them wearable for the fall weather. This outfit is super effortless and also soo comfortable (especially if you are pregnant)! The pieces are not maternity so I’m trying to get as much use as I can before I have to start buying bigger clothes (for reference I am at 26 weeks and wearing this dress in a size small). This look was perfect for a casual stroll followed by some outdoor dining near the waterfront in the city.

Shop my look below!