5 on Friday: Inspiration

[1] FOOD

Pumpkin chocolate chip bread recipe. It's my turn to bring a baked good at ECFE (mommy + me playgroup) on Monday and this is what I plan on making. Yummm.

[2] LAUGHS

Okay, okay Jon Stewart is nothing new for me but he is the cutest dude that could totally be my dad and he is hilarious and wise as an added bonus. If you don't watch The Daily Show we probably can't be friends ;).

[3] HALLOWEEN DECOR

Just some indoor inspiration. I've seen this effect a lot this year and hopefully I get ambitious enough for something like this before Halloween gets here.

[4] ART

I've been on the search for a nice big world map for my gallery wall. I love the gold foil on the black background.

[5] QUOTE

"All the effort in the world won't matter if you're not inspired" - Chuck Palahniuk (author of a couple of my favorite reads, Fight Club and Choke)

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Makeup Staples

I wanted to do something different and fun so I made a set of my makeup favorites. Most of these are products that are fairly new to me within the last 6 months to a year. (I wasn't really into makeup in college and the only thing I cared to splurge on was mascara). I've read rave reviews about the Buxom mascara so I tried it out. I also bought the Better Than Sex mascara by Too Faced on a whim just to try something new and I must say I would place that one far above Buxom and I hadn't even seen any reviews about it. 


I recently started contouring, using a setting powder, and a liquid eyeliner and it's all actually really fun. The setting powder gives my skin a more airbrushed look than traditional powders, the liquid eyeliner just gives a more dramatic effect for the eyes, and contouring gives my face some depth instead of looking so flat. I only contour when I'm feeling really ambitious, though. 
Lips. I do like the Nars lipstick because it is very subtle but has a bit of a rosy colored shimmer and the pixi tinted lip balm is barely noticeable color-wise but is the smoothest stuff ever. 
I've used the cc cream for a long time now, I got it in a birchbox almost 2 years ago. I've used that revlon brow pencil since before I can remember, probably 5 years ago. It's a much cheaper option than the Anastasia brow line at sephora. And I've played around with different shimmer powders but this hourglass kind (I received it as a sample at sephora so I haven't paid for a full size yet) is the finest shimmer powder I've tried. The shimmer is a lot more natural than others, it's more of a highlight. 
There you have it. You can click on the set for details. 

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The 5 People You Meet On Earth

You are only as good as the people you surround yourself with. The 5 people you surround yourself with, actually. Why? Because you become the average of these people. [link] Just like finding the median in math, I guess.

Take a look at your top 5. Do they inspire you? Are they supportive? Are they overall happy? If you can't answer this for any of them, you might want to reconsider your network. These people affect your success, your happiness, and personal growth. You don't want to end up mirroring negative people, and therefore, become that negative person. You are allowed to be selective of who you spend your time with and should not have to apologize for choosing to remove certain people from your network. Don't let someone bring down your average.

I find that the best people to have around you are ones that share similar goals, dreams, values, or are overall on the same journey as you. For me, it's people who inspire me to do the things I'm passionate about: to read more literature, to be educated in all subjects, to want to move forward in my career, to workout at the gym harder, to eat healthier, to be informed on world news, and to be courteous and understanding to those around me.  Sometimes I ask myself, "Is there someone's average I'm bringing down?" This motivates me to be the best version of myself for someone else. Don't bring someone else's average down, and choose your own top 5 wisely!

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Friday Linkup: Goal for the New Year

My goal for the new year is to focus on myself and my family. 

The one thing, the one single thing that makes me lose sight of what I have is comparison. Comparing what I have to what others have, and 99% of the time it's comparing myself to people that I don't even know in real life. It's people that I've seen on tv, or on a popular blogger's instagram, or in magazines, or a friend of a friend of a friend's facebook profile that I stumbled across. I compare my house, my looks, my career, and any other materialistic thing you can think of. Honestly I do think highly of all those things for myself,  so why do I let people I don't even know take that away from me? I don't know what goes on behind closed doors, and for all I know these people I'm comparing myself to might struggle a lot in areas that I'm flawless in. Nobody is perfect, I know this. So why do I trick myself into thinking that they can be? 

I made a facebook status a while back to remind myself to live my life at my own pace, in my own way, without watching how everyone else is doing it: Like doing yoga, learn to listen to your own body to dictate how your practice should look. By imagining there is no one else in the room, you can't compare your position or flexibility to others' and are completely fulfilled by where you are. 

This is exactly how I feel and need to remember to follow this. With that being said, I need to remind myself of all the great things we have going in our life, and all the great qualities I have and Adam has. I'm gonna write them down in big bold letters and hang it up on the fridge if need be. This year I want to be more positive, and replace words of negativity and complaining with words of kindness, affirmation, and positivity. 

So, I need to quit comparing, and to be positive about my own life. It's more important now than ever because we have a daughter now and I need to show her what she should be truly valuing in life. 

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