Apoterra Skincare

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Let’s be real, after (and during) my pregnancy my skin was horrible. I did not have this pregnancy glow that everyone was raving about. It was dry, yet broken out. When you are pregnant and growing a tiny human inside you, you have to think about everything that comes in contact with your body, so you can’t really use harsh chemicals on your skin. Then after the baby was no longer physically tied to me, I was breastfeeding, and still had to think about what I was putting in/on my body.

I couldn’t use normal acne fighting stuff like salicylic acid or even Mario Badescu Drying lotion. So then I had to look at au naturale ways to take care of skin. I landed on Apoterra Skincare among the million natural beauty companies and decided to give it a shot. I have weird skin. Normally oily skin gets broken out, so you use a range of “drying” concoctions to rescue it…but I was also super dry (maybe because my body is using every bit of moisture to produce breast milk) so if I only used acne stuff I’d probably just crumble and die.

With this skincare line, I was able to mix a system that worked for me. And now that I’ve used it long enough to EMPTY OUT some bottles, I figured, yeah, I should probably write about it, because I trust it on my skin!

At first, the pimples were my first priority. I’m too old to be breaking out like this. I used their activated charcoal soap with sea salt. It came in a black bar. Washed my face every night with it, then I used the moisturizing night treatment. In the morning I would use the rose oil, after washing my face with just water. This method worked so well. My skin finally rehydrated and calmed down.

Now that my skin is back to normal and not as broken out I’ve changed my system. I now wash with a moisturizing bar soap. If I have broken out spots, I use their toner on the trouble spots. And then I use their clarifying oil on trouble spots, then the night treatment every where else. When I wake up I still wash with warm water and use the oil under my regular spf. It might sound like a lot, but it’s really not, and I’m finally glad to have my skin back to normal!

apoterra

**All opinions are my own and I don’t even think Apoterra knows I exist. I bought all products with my own money and was not paid to share this honest review.

ColourPOP Cosmetics

After feeling and looking like a bum for a few months, I wanted to start my new job off right. Tucked in shirts, heels, and lipstick. After seeing so much hype about it on instagram, I decided to try out Colourpop Cosmetics.

The prices are super reasonable, so I decided to try a couple of lipsticks, eye shadows, their gel liner and cheek colors. And the result? I love it.

The texture is so cool. When you touch it, it feels.. soft and buttery? And you can apply with just your fingers. If you don’t mind getting your fingers dirty, this could be fun. I personally prefer brushes because I feel like its more precise. However, it’s easier to keep your fingers clean than your brushes.

Eyeshadow
I don’t really wear anything on my eyes except liner and mascara. I have oily eyelids and not much real estate there, but I got some anyways. I liked their summer look so I used that as my color guide. I got three colors for a tan golden look when combined. The pigment is really nice, but be warned their shadows with glitter in it is really…well. Glittery. Like it actually works. If that’s what you want. However, I’m a 30-something mother. This is not what I want. I haven’t really worn the eyeshadow on a regular basis, but I will bust it out for a date night.

Lipsticks
Love the color selection. And they last pretty long on me. I started user the lip primer. It really dries out my lips and doesn’t make it last any longer than it usually does compared to my normal routine, so I personally can do without. But everyone’s lips are different. I did a lipstick challenge and the matte colors had very little reapplication times, and I eat and drink a lot during the day!

Cheeks
Omg. I LOVE LOVE LOVE these. I use them every day. I use a blush, a highlighter and the bronzer. I love the all year round sun kissed look, and its easy to apply and really buildable. I can see myself using these three until they are completely empty. For the highlighter, I use Wisp, and I dab it on with my fingers. The other two I use my sigma brushes.

Gel Liner
This applies really smoothly…but my greasy eyelids turn it into a smudgy look not too long after. But its great for waterline…which is what I use it for mainly now.

Eyebrow Pencil
Love this. The shade I got, (brown/black) is perfect for making my eyebrowz “on fleek”. Love that the brush is at the end of it so I don’t have to go looking for it when I use it. 

Overall I personally think it’s a great product line for the price. I know a lot of people complain that its hard to only have them online because you can’t try before you buy, but it’s so popular now I’m sure you’ll find someone who already has it for you to check out and do swatches. Or its cheap enough to try it out for very little risk. Good Luck!

 

Celine Dion in Vegas

I didn’t realize how much a concert could effect me. My girlfriends and I had a girl’s trip for my adult best friend’s early birthday celebration. Having started a new job and a young baby at home, I literally was only there for activities for 24 hours. The main event for this 24 hours was to see Celine Dion and it was worth the long traveling, short trip and no sleep. This is a concert after the loss of her beloved husband, and seeing her dedicate her show, and how much love they have basically made me cry uncontrollably for the first 2 two songs. She is amazing.

  

There were times where it would just be her voice and I just let it wrap around me like a warm hug. Though there were probably thousands of others there, it felt very intimate. It was a magical experience, and to know that I was breathing the same air as her and hearing her live was indescribable. The night was perfect…almost. 

You would think that the Celine Dion crowd would be full of classy older people, who would sip their drinks and applause when needed and enjoy the beauty of her performance respectively. BUT NOPE. We had 4 obnoxious women and their bestie gays when them. THEY WERE SOOO LOUD, SO OBNOXIOUS. SO ROWDY. This is Celine Dion, not fucking Chris Brown. Read the room assholes. One even spilled their skunky ass beer down my back and all over the floor which seeped down to wear my feet were. I was torn between telling them to shut up, and trying to fully embrace and experience the wonder that is Celine. Many people in their row shushed them and told them to be quiet, which resulted in them getting even MORE louder and hostile. Also, “YASSSS QUEEN” and “BAE” and off key singing and CONTINUOUS CHATTER during her whole show. Seriously, if you conversation is so important, why even bother coming. Everyone paid a good chunk of money to spend the night with the Queen. Don’t ruin it for us. 

Despite that, I was still able to focus on her and relish in this amazing experience. 

I don’t know if I would ever go to Vegas again, unless it was to see Celine Dion again, or just eat (more on that later). Definitely not my scene. But I had a great time with my girlies, even though I missed my little family at home. 

Girls Trip: Vegas!

It’s been awhile since I’ve had a “girls trip”. So for my Ride or Die’s 30th we went to Vegas to see the Queen, Celine Dion. Being that I started a new job, and I’m a new mom, I couldn’t take as many days off, so we will no refer to my portion of the trip, #24hoursinvegas.

Friday started off with a lunch with the hubs, and a flight from DC which put me in Vegas at 10pm. Got on the shuttle, and got to the hotel at around 11. We stayed at the Venetian, and it was glorious. Though, to be honest, it reminded me a lot of Atlantis in the Bahamas. Except they have awesome ceilings and grand hallways here. Made my way to the girls, caught up on what they’ve done so far, showered and slept.

Saturday morning started off with a search for food. Ended up eating brunch at yardbird, then shopped a little. After that, GONDOLA rides…cuz Venetian. We had a singer name Rosalina, who refers to us as bellas with a (fake/real) Italian accent and tells us stories of her home. One of my friends told me that shes fake and is probably just an acting student. Fairytale crushed.

Somehow the day escaped us, and it was time to grab a coffee and get ready for dinner and Celine! Since our suite was full of mirrors everyone seemed to get ready at the same time without a hitch.

Dinner was at db Brasserie and was yummy.

We ran down the street to Caesars Palace to get in line for a highlight moment of our lives! She was magical, she was wonderful, she is a unicorn, so much so that the show will get it’s own post later.

Afterwards we took a ride on the High Roller Ferris Wheel.

We got our tickets on groupon, 2 for 1 PLUS there was a 50% off groupon code. So in the end we only paid $39 for two people for a ticket for the ferris wheel AND open bar (which was useless to me because I was on antibiotics and couldn’t drink). After we boarded this tiny pod loaded with a bar and tvs…we decided that maybe it was a good idea that we didn’t pay full price. The floor was sticky, which makes sense, it’s a bar. The people that were in there were random, and some were young and annoying (jeez I’m an angry grandma now). Though I did enjoy our little squad, the view was somewhat similar to what we saw in our room…but I’d say I wasn’t as impressed and hyped as I thought I would be. Maybe if the music wasn’t terrible. And we were on the parking lot side of the pod. I think next time, if we try to do this again, get a big enough group of people you want to hang out with and fill the pod!

Overall, I had a great time, and it was a brief break and a chance to sleep in that was welcomed. I was ecstatic to come home and see my dancing baby and my sweet husband.

Where to next?!

…And We’re Back!

It’s been a while friend. How have you been? I’ve missed you. Motherhood, career change, travel, renovations…these are the things that have kept me away. But I am back, hopefully better! I tried to reorganize the blog. But then it took me too long to do what I wanted to do, so I guess I will do it little by little while its still live.

At home, we’ve redone my kitchen space. Expanded the main floor to dining, and moved our living space up to the loft so I have more room to play (thank you to my loving supporting husband). We’ve opened up the kitchen bar, so I could have guests watch me cook, or maybe even start a youtube channel! How I will fit that in with a baby, full time job, cookbook writing and blogging, who knows!
Since I’ve been eating out a lot (because I wasn’t cooking as much as I should) there will be lots of restaurant posts, but eating out has refreshed my motivation for cooking. There will be more recipes for you to try with me! I’m also attempting to use a big girl camera instead of my iPhone so hopefully my images will be better too. Wish me luck!

As always, thank you for coming by, your comments, your time, your emails and your support! You know where to find me, hello {at} miemonster {dot} net!

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Taylor Swift 1989 World Tour

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Finally. Of all the years of being a Taylor Swift fan, I FINALLY was able to go to a concert. Reasons before? Friends didn’t like Taylor Swift enough to spend the money on tickets to go with me. If they did go with me, I’d have to buy the tickets. For my 30th birthday, my husband (along with a surprise party) got us tickets to see Tay Tay! He happened to like her new album and was willing to sit through it with me. <3

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She is amazing. She even played a couple of her older songs, updated to her new sound. She makes everyone feel like we are all her best friends (which is probably why her squad is so big) and I love her even more. The concert was outdoors at Nats Stadium, and it rained all day. Her stage, which lifted up from the ground, got stuck in the air, and she handled it with grace until they were able to fix it.

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Everyone was given a LED wristband, we weren’t sure what it was for, until she came out on stage. THEY LIT UP. She basically controlled all of us during the show. It lit up multiple colors, blinked to the beat and was just all in all a ridiculously fun and awesome show. I totally understand now why my cousin goes to her concert EVERY time. She is a true performer. The stadium sat about 45,000 people and she SOLD THEM OUT. For TWO NIGHTS IN A ROW.

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She also has a surprise guest every night, and our night was Lorde. They sang Royals together. Her set, her costumes, everything was fun and sparkly.

It was hard to leave our newborn at Nana’s but I had a great time. Now that I found out some of my mommy friends like Taylor too, I would definitely go again and leave the babies with their daddies 😉 Even though my husband seemed to enjoy the concert too!

Where Have I Been?

…not sleeping and trying to figure out parenthood. The only thing I’m making is breast milk. We have been eating what neighbors and friends bring us, and the hubs has been cooking Blue Apron meals.

But my mini bun has finally arrived! You can read my birth story over at my mama blog. Yep. I have two. I figured not everyone wants to read a mama blog so I’ve decided to keep this one life and food. Though there’s not much happening right now because well first time parents. Lol.

The days are such a blur right now. Stick with me, I’ll figure it out.

Blogging and Privacy

{Drawing by Tu Gribouilles}

I am torn. I love blogging. I love to share snippets of my life, and products that I like and hope could be beneficial to you. I like telling stories and hope that people can relate. That is all fine and dandy for my food blog. I keep people anonymous when they want to be. But when it comes to my unborn child I am torn. I know everything she does is going to be adorable, and I will have a million pictures of her. But do I want to share them? Do I want digital copies of my kid’s face floating on the internet?

For the most part the internet has been good to me. I haven’t run into anything detrimental. I try to keep tabs of what I share and consider those in my lives when sharing. However, there are still times where I come across people stealing my pictures and using it as theirs, or even have my face as their face! I do not want that for my mini bun. I don’t even want to use her name in a public space. But can I really be an effective mommy blogger (MamaMiemo.com), if I won’t even share pictures of my kid? I honestly don’t even wanna put stuff up on my personal facebook!

I love looking at the cute kids when I’m reading through parental blogs. But the internet is a big scary place, for a tiny baby. How do you guys feel about it?

Kikki K Personal Planner

Ugh. I know. Miemo, ANOTHER planner? How many planners does one woman need, as my cousin Cece would say. Well at one point I had 3. Erin Condren for my life, Poppin for my blogs, and freelance clients, and a Sugar Paper LA one for my office and work tasks. As I get bigger and more off balance, I’ve decided that I need just ONE planner to put everything in (except work/office, that stays there).

After making a list of what I want I want to schedule in this planner, and what I want it to do, I then made a list of places that sells them. I knew for sure that I wanted something that I could reuse from years to come, and not have to order one every year. I wanted ample note pages and pockets and customize able.

After scouring blogs, watching youtube reviews, and pinterest, I finally decided. I bit the bullet and went with the one recommended by Michelle from Hey Love Designs. I got the Kikki Large Personal Planner.

Pros:

  • Big enough for me to fold papers and stick in there until I can deal with them
  • Has a clasp
  • Soft leather, looks so cute, love the colors
  • Refillable, just buy a new set of weekly calendar every year or use perpetual that comes with it (I prefer predated pages)
  • Compatible with filofax A5 stuff so I’m not limited to Kikki K stuff
  • Tabs to organize all the things I need to manage, social, personal, projects, blogs etc.
  • Week starts on a Monday, and the weekend days are kept together at the end
  • Being a hole punched system it’s easy for me to move sheets and notes around

Cons:

  • Big. I carry a big purse but I can see how this could be an issue when I don’t
  • The preprinted calendars are based on the Australian calendar, so I have to write in American holidays
  • Paper is thinner than I’d like
  • No notes section for weekly tasks at each week for the planner section (I just added lined post its)
  • There’s no monthly outlook prior to the weekly pages starting. They are in the beginning,  but I feel I could probably find a refill that’s more my style

…also, yes I know its in the middle of the year, but guess what, their planners start in JUNE so just in time for me!

Minnie Mouse Baby Shower

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I have the best friends. I really do. I don’t know if I say it enough. Over the weekend they threw us a baby shower. They did such a great job planning it, all I did was show up. The theme was Minnie Mouse, since we will be calling the baby Minnie, (like mini me!) as a nickname.

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We had it at a local restaurant, and they provided the finger foods. But the highlight was the dessert table! Vanilla bean cupcakes, oreo pops, sugar cookies. We played games, opened presents and got to see all our loved ones in one place.

 

Thank you so much for all your hard work ladies. We appreciate it so much, and its great to see how loved Minnie will be when she gets here!