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Fashion, Favorite Things, Friday Eve Favorites, Friendship, Gifts, Gratitude, Laughter, Makeup

FRIDAY EVE FAVORITES – APRIL GUEST EDITION

Meet Cindy Baden! I’ve known Cindy for years and she is still one of my favorite friends to laugh with. Her impersonations are so hilarious, she could easily make one of the Queen’s Royal Guards chuckle. In the decade+ since we’ve been friends, I’ve never seen her look less than perfect. Just when her graceful beauty gets cruelly unfair, she balances it with her kind heart and sweet smile. I’ve never known another person who can put her own eyelash extensions on perfectly…seriously?! Cindy and her husband Jon have a precious family that she manages with love and ease, complete with a handsome teenage son and two beautiful daughters. She is a Realtor here in Waco, Texas and enjoys helping others, whether its finding them their next home or willingly sharing her beauty tips and secrets! Enjoy Cindy and her favorite things!

The Hot Mess Ice Roller

This is the best ice roller that I have ever had! There are so many benefits to ice rolling: reducing redness, inflammation, improving circulation and helping to drain your lymphatic system. I like to keep mine in the freezer, but this beauty feels cold even after sitting out all day. Love it! 

Botianic Tree Face Wash

Botanic Tree Glycolic Face Wash is the prefect exfoliating cleanser that exfoliates WITHOUT that nasty gritty “apricot shell” feeling that we have all be told is the only way to exfoliate. Well, I’m here to tell you that this does it’s job, doesn’t damage my skin and smells amazing! 

Supergoop Vitamin C + SPF Serum

Sunscreen is a MUST!  Sun damage is not only dangerous, but it causes the appearance of aging and who in the world wants that?! I love this brand for the whole family.  I use their product “Play” everyday sunscreen for my kids.  It feels good, goes on light and is water resistant.  I also use their “Daily Dose Vitamin C + SPF Serum” every day.  It feels hydrating on the skin and gives a nice glow for those no-makeup days.  I also use it under my makeup as my primer. Glow, vitamin c, primer and most importantly SUN PROTECTION!  

Backpack Purse

I love this bag more than I thought I would.  Soft durable faux leather that is waterproof and looks great!  It is large enough for my iPad, frees up my hand and has access that fits up against your back so that you know your belonging are safe! 

Pura Smart Home Diffuser

I never knew that I needed this product until I got it!  Controlled by your phone, long lasting with a variety of amazing scents to choose from!  I personally can’t get enough of the Capri Blue Volcano fragrance.  Give it a try! 

Jo Malone Fragrance

I love that you can layer these fragrances to create your own signature scent.  I personally love Peony & Blush Suede.  New to their line is a solid scent palette (shown above) that is perfect for travel without the fear of liquid leaking in your favorite handbag.

Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask

Feels amazing! Light scent! Wake up with lips that are ready to face the day! 

LCN Foot Balm

This is an amazing product and super easy to use!  Apply it before bed or before you walk out of the house, WHENEVER, and let it do it’s job. Get those heels summer ready! 

Drunk Elephant

I am a BIG fan of this brand, but if I had to tell you to start with one product, this would be it! Drunk Elephant T.L.C. Framboos Glycolic Night Serum.  Refine and resurface your skin while you sleep to achieve that radiant glow you were looking for! Quick tip: A little goes a long way! 

Bytox: The Hangover Patch

Before you judge, let me say that weather you are a lightweight or a seasoned pro when it comes to your adult beverages, this is a LIFE SAVER!  Put this bad boy on your bum before a night out and when you wake up to next morning your head will say THANK YOU! Quick Tip: we all know vitamins can have unique fragrance, slap it on, wash yours hands and move on! 😉 

Mind Your Business Planner

“You are who you plan to be. Whether you’re a creator, creative, entrepreneur or student, this planner is designed to help you Mind Your Business. Set goals, track your habits and plan your months, weeks and days down to the last hour.”

How fun was that? The ice roller is the absolute BEST!! I always follow all of her recommendations on skin care, as long as Cindy promises I’ll look like her when I wake up. 🙂

Happy April Friends!

Brooke

April 8, 2022 by
Grace, Gratitude, Growth, Priorities, Renewed, Rest

Wide Open Spaces

Wide open spaces are balm to the unrested soul and a brain that doesn’t take a breather.

Last week I put my social secretary on probation, because she stinks. She is a people lover who wants to do all the things. She overcommits me, leaves zero breathing room between appointments, and runs an exhausting schedule that makes one want to fake their own death. Her only saving grace is she has learned some fires aren’t ours, therefore don’t need our irons in them.  She just needs to learn to say a gentle “no thank you” more often.

Also, she is me.

You too?

A while ago I heard an analogy that I wish I remembered well. The gist of it is this…

Imagine all the magnets you have on your refrigerator, each representing an area of your specific life. Family, Friends, Career, Spiritual Life, Health, Exercise, Recreation, Hobbies, Causes you support, Relaxing, Emotional growth, etc. Add what you need to make it tailored to you.

Once you have all your magnets, move them all to the side of the fridge. Only 6 magnets can fit on the front of the appliance. Choose your Top 6 to reflect what you can focus on in this current season of life.

While you love all the magnets, you can only focus on the six on the front of your refrigerator. You are welcome to switch them out at any seasonal change, but only six can be front and center. Those are your current mainstays.

What if we committed to be kinder to ourselves, to honor the season of life we are currently walking through? A gentle no is so much kinder than a stressed yes.

May we leave enough space to take a dang breath.

March 21, 2021 by
Family, Gifts, Grace, Gratitude, Growth, Lessons, Love, Patience, Rest, Stillness

Grounded in 2020

God speaks to me strongest through his creation.  I love nature – rocks, animals, trees, water, crystals, grass…all the simple beauty.  Chances are, when you see me, I have some form of nature in my pocket reminding me to stay grounded.  A rock, a feather from a bird, a seed from a plant…they bring me peace.  We can all get a little too full of hot, stagnant air from time to time.  We allow monkeys that are not from our own circus to jump on our back. We worry, and then we worry. When that doesn’t work, we worry some more.

Nature is a way of remembering what is mine and what is important.  Staying grounded is vital for my own spiritual health.

There is often a mantra being repeated in my head, “What’s mine is mine. What’s yours is yours.”

Keep your crap over there Karen. 

Nature reminds us to be steady. Nature is audacious in its perseverance. In its bounce back ability.

This is definitely a time to focus on staying grounded, as nothing is solid. We are in a time where everything in our country and counties are changing by the hour. No rhyme or reason or warning. Just when we think we have a plan, the rug is once again pulled out from underneath our feet. It’s like trying to stand up on a lily pad. Everything is contradicting. We are left grasping on to the yin and the yang.

Nothing is certain or permanent.

Everyone’s pain is relevant. Everyone’s confusion is relevant. Grace is required and appreciated.

We need to get good at loving. We need to get resilient at surviving heartbreak, accepting what we can and can’t control. There is a peace and freedom in letting go of our plan and picture of what we envisioned 2020 would look like and savoring the joy that we can find in the wake of it.

The funny thing is, we’ve never had full control, in any year. Life can knock us down at any point, and just when we get our footing again, it’ll knock you from the other side. We know this, as we’ve all been knocked on our own behinds. Perhaps that’s why there is extra cushion there. Clever God, that guy thought of everything. I’m positive that’s why my backside has grown as I’ve aged, continued training for bounce back ability.

The one certain that hasn’t changed is the love and nature of God.

We can stay grounded in that. And on the hard days that knock us on our padded bottoms, get outside. Walk barefoot in the grass. Sit by some water and listen to it. Find a tree and lean against it in the shade. There is a reason tree huggers are happy. Find a pretty rock and hold it in your pocket. If you don’t have a pocket, put it in your bra. (Pro tip – take it out before going through airport security.) Lift your face up to feel the sunshine. Watch the moon glowing on our sweet world. Let the outdoors slow you down. Take a lesson from God’s nature and become a Champ at loving.

I’ll leave you with the weekly words from our boys Lorena Athletic Director and beloved Coach Ray Biles,

“Don’t worry about the things you cannot control, focus on the things you can control. It may change tomorrow. It may change the day after that, but you know the good Lord is in control and we’ll all be okay.”

Sending you love, light, and pretty rocks,

Brooke

July 28, 2020 by
Family, Gratitude, Hope, Lessons, Love, Parenting

The Audacious Hope of Rooted Things

“The audacious hope of rooted things”

That was my first thought when I looked up from a traffic light this week and realized that the bluebonnets had bloomed.  It actually caught my breath looking at them and recognizing they were here, along with spring.*

I suspect the bluebonnets have been here for awhile, but my eyes have been cast down, along with my heart – and I missed the rebirth and bloom of the gorgeous wild flowers.

I feel ridiculous for how deeply I miss my GrandDad.  When life goes according to plan, we are supposed to bury our grandparents.  Sadly, all three sets of my grandparents buried their own children.  If life is sweet enough to let us plan according to the circle of a full life, then I should have been ready.  But, I never, ever would have been.

I miss him. He stepped in and raised me as a daughter when he didn’t have to. My parents divorced when I was eight months old, which lead to my mother and I moving in with her parents. Since my mom and her siblings called him Daddy, and my grandmother referred to him as Daddy in front of the kids, then I did too.  Lots of my cousins call him GrandDad, or Papa – but he was always Daddy to me.

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May 16, 2019 by
Books, Courage, Friendship, Gratitude, Growth, Laughter, Makeup, Rest, Stillness

What is saving your life right now?

Barbara Brown Taylor has made a practice of asking others and herself that question often*.

Salvation is a word for the divine spaciousness that comes to human beings in all the tight places where their lives are at risk, regardless of how they got there or whether they know God’s name. Few of us can choose our circumstances, but we can choose how we respond to them.  To be saved is not only to recognize the alternative to the deadliness pressing down on us but also be able to act on it.”

This morning when I awoke, I started a list. Shallow and thoughtful.  Spiritual and materialistic.  Here is what is saving my life right now. Continue Reading

February 20, 2019 by