Slide.

It's funny how a good memory can be so heartbreaking.
It's a day like this that makes you curse yourself for every moment of your life that you've wished away. Every long sleepless night that you just wanted to be over. Every temper tantrum in the middle of Wal-mart that you wish you could miss. It used to make me so uncomfortable when the G baby was just months old and the old timers would stop and coo at him out in public and always say something along the lines of, 'he'll grow too fast.' I would think, 'Yes! When he can crawl he can get what he wants without waiting for me to figure it out. When he can talk I will finally know what he's been thinking! When he can get his own snack from the fridge, life will be so much easier.'
Nothing makes my heart heavier than to realize all the moments I should have cherished as a young first-time mother, instead of letting them scare me into just wishing I'd make it through them.

Today, we went to the park, and my husband took our second little baby for her first ride down a slide.

...And it made me remember a time, almost four years ago. We were living in Asheville right after the G baby was born-young, scared, and so, so broke. So many moments I just wanted to make it through, instead of opening my eyes to every precious moment God gave me with my family.


Gabriel's first time down a slide, with a very young-looking Dada:

I'm humbled by the journey that God has laid out for me. And the old timers are right-they grow too fast.



xoxo,

L

Makeup Review: Maybelline ColorShow Nail Polish

I always love to hear what other (real) ladies have to say out there about certain beauty products before I invest! Buying a new makeup or skincare product might not sound like a big deal to some, but when you're on a really limited budget and have children, it is! Plus, it's such a bummer to spend money on a product and be disappointed.

I have recently tried the new Maybelline ColorShow Nail Polish in two different colors. I started with white and then decided that I needed to try another color before I could give it a fair review. The marketing for this product really got me, along with it's price-under $3, which is almost unheard of for any decent nail polish these days.


Please don't judge this polish by the poor paint job. Manicure skills-some ladies just have them, and some just don't. I'm a don't.

 Audacious Asphalt

Porcelain Party

I give this polish a 4 out of 5. 

The pros: 

-The biggest pro is that it dries SUPER fast, which is a must for me. It's tricky to find the right time to paint your nails with a 4-year-old and a baby. This stuff does not stay tacky very long at all, and dries completely in a couple of minutes. 

-It's cheap!

-The color selection-there are a ton of great colors.

-Reaches full opacity (but it takes 3 coats, not a big deal though since it dries so fast).

-easy to clean off of cuticles.

-removes easily with nail polish remover

The cons:

-Takes 3 coats to be opaque.

When I put that first coat of white on, my heart sank. It looked streaky and just plain bad. But after a couple more coats, the white looked awesome, and the gray was just as good. I recommend!

xoxo,

L

Life as Leah v.3

Our weekly happenings...

little black dress.

daughter time.

legging skirt combo.

sleepy, sleepy ladies.

big brown eyes.

This was the last week my husband will be home with us this summer, before he heads off to year 3 of pharmacy school. We're going to miss seeing his beautiful face around so much! Hope you guys have a great weekend!!

xoxo,

L

Belk Fall Fashion Preview 2012

Like any lady who loves a large selection of fashions at a wide variety of prices, I love a great department store. And like any lady born and raised in the South, I love Belk.
Going on a shopping excursion to Belk is like an adventure. There is so much to check out-the makeup and perfume counters, the collection of shoes that ranges from leather riding boots to sky-high sequined platform pumps, the different designer collections, each in their own little coves. I also love their HUGE end-of-season clearance sales. It's like a treasure hunt. A couple weeks ago I scored a beautiful draped yellow jacket (seen here in this post) down from it's orignal price of $110 to just over $16, as well as a red dress (seen here in this post) for $20, down from it's original price of $98.
Belk is the place to go for splurge-worthy investment pieces as well as the place to go to snag some jaw-dropping deals on the fly.

As soon as any hint of coolness seeps into the breeze, us ladies get antsy for the chunky sweaters and leather jackets of fall. Belk offers all the upcoming trends this fall, categorized into four stunning Style Statements: My Fair Lady, Town & Country, Mod Modern, and my favorite-Vivid.
 Here's a sneak peek of what you can expect to see this fall at belk:

From the My Fair Lady Style Statement:



Spense
Day Coat, $98.00
Keyhole Dress, $78.00


Chenault
Peter Pan crochet collar blouse, $58.00
Grace slim ponte pant, $68.00

From the Town and Country Style Statement:


Madison
Belted long sweater vest with pockets, $72.00
Bow Blouse-$65.00
Ponte Pant-$65.00


Lucky Brand Jewelry Collection
Statement necklace, $65.00
Chandelier earring, $45.00
Gold bracelet, $59.00

From the Mod Modern Style Statement:


Muse
Two-toned contrast dot sleeveless shift dress, $150.00




Kenneth Cole Jewelry Collection
Collar necklace, $98.00
Cuff bracelet, $98.00

From the Vivid Style Statement:


Jessica Simpson
Berlin peplum coat, $98.00
Stripe sweater, $69.00
Crinkle chiffon skirt, $49.00



Vince Camuto
Blouson cap sleeve sweater dress, $148.00


I can't wait to hit up Belk this fall!!

xoxo,

L

Life as Leah v. 2

Our weekly happenings...

bubble blowing.

 headscarf hides needs-washing hair so well

 the construction cake I attempted for G baby

birthday loot

 playing hard.

 slobber hand.

 baby check.

 this love.

 fast asleep.

birthday boy smiling in his sleep.

xoxo,

L

Super Healthy Sweet Spinach Salad

If I could only buy five items at the grocery store to feed my family off of for a week, fresh baby spinach would be on the list. I can do about a million things with this stuff, and it is so healthy for you. I especially like it's high calcium content since I am dairy free these days due to baby Ari's milk protein allergy. I splurged a little on G baby's birthday weekend at my Dad's house because he made homemade ice cream, and sure enough...Ari has a slight rash and a little bit of blood in her stool again. The good news is now I have confirmation that dairy is definitely the culprit, the bad news is now I feel like a super-asshole for giving her a rash!

Anyways, the good news about this salad is that it's very versatile if you have to substitute some ingredients.
More on that later though.

Ingredients:

1/2 bag baby spinach (can use regular)

1 avocado

1 vidalia onion

5-8 strawberries

1 small package walnuts (or pecans or pine nuts)

Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette (or other sweet vinaigrette dressing)

You can pretty much use any nuts for this recipe, I actually feel that pecans would be even better, but I went for walnuts because they are lower in both price and fat content. You can also omit the avocado if you don't like them or just want to save money, but they do add a lot of nutrition to this salad, so I definitely recommend you put one in there!

 First, saute the onions and nuts until the onions are translucent and start to caramelize. I sauteed mine in margarine.

Chop up your strawberries and avocados into bite-size pieces.

       Pile it all together and top with some vinaigrette dressing! I went light on the dressing because between the strawberries and caramelized onions, there's already a lot of flavor to this salad.
The overall taste of this salad is sweet and nutty, you don't even realize how much spinach you are eating!
Enjoy!

xoxo,

L