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Favorite recent purchases
September 24, 2020
Hello hello! Wow, it's been a minute, huh? Without meaning to I took a little six month hiatus from the blog. I don't think I need to to explain why since we're all living through the same things right now! I just could not find any energy to spare on the blog and then kept getting overwhelmed about starting again because there was so much to catch up on in six months. So I decided to just dive in with some favorite recent purchases. I do have several other drafts going that I've been working on for months that hopefully I'll finish up soon because it's content I'm really excited about like our house-buying process and house updates. But for now, here are a few things I've been raving about IRL.
Masks
Since these are the hottest new accessory I wanted to share my favorites! This rainbow one is definitely my favorite but it's a bit summery so I wanted to get some fall masks (lol what a world we live in) so I got two different leopard ones. This one is a bit fancier but these are also nice because they come in a pack of three and are reversible so if you're not feeling the leopard you can do the black.
These just might be my best COVID purchase. I wear them every single day no matter the season. They've held up super well over the last six months, are cozy and provide great support while I'm doing things around the house too.
I don't know about you but my face is the first place I start to sweat...TMI? This Megababe powder is a GAME CHANGER for face-sweat. Technically it's called Bust Dust and is meant for boob sweat, which isn't a huge issue for me, so I just use it on my face. They do have a Body Dust as well, which is the same formula, but I like the pump on the Bust Dust bottle so that I can put it on a makeup brush to apply. Highly recommend!
Speaking of things for your face, this hair remover has been so great for any unwanted hair. It's easy to use and completely painless.
This isn't anything revolutionary but my mom had this wine opener and after trying it a couple of times at her house I bought it myself. The charge lasts for months, it's easy to use and it has a foil cutter attached for convenience.
After seeing all of my favorite influencers post about Supergoop's Glowscreen I decided to give it a try and let me tell you...it's worth the hype. I am not a face makeup person, or really any makeup right now TBH, so I was a bit intimidated when I first saw it in person because it has some pigment to it. It goes on beautifully and ends up looking very sheer, not at all cakey and just overall perfectly glowy. It's all I'm wearing in the above photo! It's like a moisturizing highlighter for your whole face ;)
If you're not already following Things I Bought and Liked you should remedy that immediately because when TIBAL recommends something, you listen up. So when she posted about this posture corrector I added it to my cart immediately because I've been having all sorts of back issues from my WFH setup and being a stomach sleeper. It provides immediate relief for me and my chiropractor gave it her blessing. As a heads up the brand is TRUWEO and it's paired with a flag on the back so at first glance it looks like it says Trump. Just don't want you to be alarmed and wonder WTF did I buy?! 😂
xo Catherine
Core 10 Favorites
March 22, 2020
I wanted to pop in today to share some of my favorite pieces from Amazon's athletic brand Core 10. I've talked about Core 10 on here and Instagram before but wanted to put everything in one place. This is especially timely because, like many of you, I am working from home for the foreseeable future and so that means lots of cozy clothes. I already had several things from them but ordered a few new things to up my #quarantinecozies game. I also have a few cute sweatsuits on the way from the Nordstrom sale which I'm excited about!
Working from home, and just being at home all the time for that matter, has definitely been an adjustment. I miss my coworkers and actually miss getting dressed every day, but not enough to do my hair and makeup most days. Ha! I've just been trying to really focus on taking care of myself. I've been walking the dog daily, keeping up with my regular exercise routine, meditating, puzzling and have a therapy session on Tuesday which should be helpful. Anyway, let's get to it!
I just got both of these this week and have been wearing them nonstop. There are joggers that technically go with this sweatshirt that I ordered too but I liked these ones better. They're a little sporty but very comfortable. The best thing though is this sweatshirt. It's described as "cloud soft" and it could not be more accurate. It's sooo soft and has a little stretch which is nice. Highly recommend!
I've had these joggers for months and they're the best. I've got several people buy them and everyone loves them. They're ultra-soft and hold up really well after lots of washing. I have them in two colors.
I got both of these for tennis because I didn't have any athletic wear that was in good enough shape to be seen in public. I have these leggings in two colors and love them. They have pockets, are nice and thick and come up high on my waist. This quarter zip is really nice for working out too. It's lightweight and has thumb holes.
I haven't had a bad experience with Core 10 yet. I've really liked everything that I bought from them and they're all at a good price point.
Stay safe and stay sane friends!
xo Catherine
Double piercings + Dainty earrings
January 22, 2020
I finally did something that I've been thinking about for months: I got my ears double pierced! My friend Mary and I have been wanting to do it for a while now partly because we love Emily Schuman from Cupcakes and Cashmere and are inspired by her style. I'm happy to say we finally bit the bullet! I'll be honest, I was the one holding us back though. We kept setting a date to do it and then I would back out. I'm not sure why but the decision was giving me a lot of anxiety and I even talked to my therapist about it! On Saturday I was finally fully on board so we went to a local tattoo shop and now we have double piercings! Part of the reason that we'd been wanting to get the piercings was because we really love all of the beautiful dainty earrings that are out right now so I wanted to share some of my favorites. Since we've been talking about doing this for months I've had some time to start stockpiling earrings and I have my eye on a few more pieces too. I can't wait until I can start switching them out and really having fun with different mixing and matching!
I've been having the most luck finding cute things at Madewell, Cupcakes and Cashmere, Baublebar, Amazon, Etsy and Mejuri. Here are some of my favorites!
Madewell: I have these small chunky hoops (shown above) which are a really great staple as well as these pretty gem studs (also shown above). I like the studs better when they're kind of crawling up the ear but can't show that right now since I can't swap out my second earring yet. However, here is a picture I took of some barrettes where I happen to be wearing them in my preferred way before the double piercings :)
Cupcakes and Cashmere: I got these Harlow mini hoops for Christmas (shown above) and they're sooo cute and dainty in person. I have my eye on several more pairs from this shop but the one I'm most excited about is this pretty stud with an attached cuff. I have no plans to pierce my cartilage but I love the look. I'm also eyeing these pretty drops and these unique hoops.
BaubleBar: I got these simple pavé huggies (above) and they're so cute and great quality. Again, I love the look of a cuff and am eyeing this set and these as well! These dainty hoops with a little sparkle are adorable and this chained double huggie is very cool. Trying to decide if I could pull that one off!
Amazon: If you're looking for a nice starter pack this set has a little bit of everything. Amazon as a whole has such a good selection of everything now that you could probably find any pair you're looking for on there!
Etsy: If you were looking for a really nice solid gold pair of hoops, these are beautiful. I'm loving this pair of unique studs. If you need a pair of dainty CZ studs as a staple in your jewelry collection these look really pretty and have great reviews.
Mejuri: This is a new to me brand but they Instagram targeted the sh*t out of me and I finally clicked over to discover some truly beautiful pieces! I plan on stealing this idea from one of my friends but I want to buy this delicate chain that can attach to any stud and add it on to my piercing earrings after a few weeks. That way they can stay in while I wait for them to heal but look a little bit more fun than just regular studs! I'm also loving these double hoops and these dainty drop earrings.
xo Catherine
Amazon: If you're looking for a nice starter pack this set has a little bit of everything. Amazon as a whole has such a good selection of everything now that you could probably find any pair you're looking for on there!
Etsy: If you were looking for a really nice solid gold pair of hoops, these are beautiful. I'm loving this pair of unique studs. If you need a pair of dainty CZ studs as a staple in your jewelry collection these look really pretty and have great reviews.
Mejuri: This is a new to me brand but they Instagram targeted the sh*t out of me and I finally clicked over to discover some truly beautiful pieces! I plan on stealing this idea from one of my friends but I want to buy this delicate chain that can attach to any stud and add it on to my piercing earrings after a few weeks. That way they can stay in while I wait for them to heal but look a little bit more fun than just regular studs! I'm also loving these double hoops and these dainty drop earrings.
xo Catherine
Favorite Recent Purchases
January 20, 2020
It's been a while since I shared the things I can't get enough of so I'm back with another installment of favorite recent purchases!
Birdies. As we've well established by now I am a huge fan of the royal family. I won't get into all of the drama that's been going on with Harry and Meghan because I'm still trying to work out how I feel about it but I have been continually inspired by Meghan's style. After seeing some of my favorite bloggers post about Birdies I was intrigued and after seeing that Meghan has a pair and wears them a ton I was sold. I bought the seasonal green velvet edition of the Starling (they're on sale right now!) and am in love. They are so gorgeous in person and supremely comfortable. I went up a half size and cannot recommend enough. I want a second pair!
Amazon headbands. I had stocked up on headbands for summer but needed a few that were more wintery so I took to Amazon. I wanted a leopard one and an emerald green velvet one but unfortunately I wasn't able to find ones I liked that were sold alone so I bought some variety packs. I am now set on the winter headband front for a long time! Here are the velvet ones I got and the leopard. Lots to choose from!
Core 10 leggings. I posted about these on Instagram but wanted to share them here too. Core 10 is an Amazon athletic brand that I've been really into lately. I started playing tennis last year and joined a league in the fall so I was on the hunt for some new workout wear. I normally just workout at home so it doesn't matter what I wear but since I am now seen in public I needed some cute options! I bought these leggings in camo and black and am very impressed. I needed ones with pockets to hold tennis balls so these are great. They've held up really well and are nice and thick.
Madewell jeans. I had one pair of Madewell jeans and decided to buy another pair or two when they were doing 40% off for Black Friday. I got this pair of black skinnies and this pair of lighter wash skinnies. The black pair are pretty standard but I am really digging the lighter pair! I'm not normally a huge light wash denim fan but something about these is so great. The fit is amazing and I just all around feel so good when I wear them.
My under-eye trifecta: Nars Creamy Concealer, Ole Henrickson Banana Bright Eye Cream and Weleda Skin Food. I also posted about these on Instagram because they're my new favorite trio. At night I use the skin food as eye cream because it is insanely hydrating. I'm talking wake-up-in-the-morning-and-my-under-eyes-still-feel-moist hydrated (gross, I know). Anyway, then I use the Ole Henrickson eye cream in the morning which works as a great base for under concealer. Apparently some people don't like the smell but I think it's delightful. My other final favorite under-eye product is the Nars creamy concealer. I knew this was a cult favorite but had yet to try and am so glad I did! The reason for this whole routine is that my skin is extremely dry. I think it's a combination of living in MN again and the fact that I use retinol regularly. The concealer I was previously using worked great when my skin was oilier but wasn't cutting it anymore. This one goes on great, you barely need any, lasts all day and doesn't really crease. My under eyes have never looked better!
J. Crew Factory tank tops. The final thing I wanted to share were these J. Crew tank tops that are a staple in my closet. I bought the tan version a few years ago and recently picked up the black. These are the best for wearing under anything sheer or thin to smooth things out. Most of my bras have lace on them and if I'm wearing a certain type of top you can see the lace texture which I don't like so I'll put one of these on underneath. They're also great if you want to wear a button down under a sweater. I'll wear one over the button down so that it's not all bunched up and the buttons won't show through the sweater that way.
That's all I've got for today! A random assortment but all great products.
xo Catherine
Favorite Recent Purchases
June 10, 2019
Today's post is a little all over the place but I wanted to share some random things that I've been loving lately! I can't quite put my finger on why but I've been feeling less and less inclined to share things on Instagram stories lately. I was talking to my girlfriends about this and said that I used to post on Instagram stories all the time and lately just haven't felt like sharing and have even become more self conscious about it. One of my friends pointed out that it could be that I posted a lot more frequently because I was living away from all of my friends and family so that's how I kept in touch was by posting more of my everyday life online. I think that was a really insightful point and could be applied both to social media and to the blog. When we were living in California I had way fewer social plans because I didn't have a ton of friends there so I was blogging and Instagramming more in my free time. Now that I'm back in MN and see friends and family frequently I haven't made sharing online that much of a priority. All this to say that these are some things that in the past I would have probably shared on IG stories but haven't so I wanted to put together a little roundup of my favorite recent purchases here!
My cordless vacuum. This is a game. changer. Our very cheap vacuum didn't make the trip to MN with us so I was on the hunt for something new. I really wanted a Dyson but couldn't justify shelling out hundreds of dollars so I decided to try this version since it had such good Amazon reviews and is only $120. Overall I really like it! The only issue is that every once in a while the battery won't last if I'm trying to vacuum the whole house at once. It can be kind of annoying when that happens but is way less annoying than a cord IMO so I'm happy with the tradeoff!
This gorgeous Tuckernuck scarf. You may remember a similar red scarf from last year (seen here) so when I saw this beautiful summery option come out I pre-ordered it right away and have already gotten so much use out of it!
Non-slip shoe grips. I don't know about you but a lot of the flats and sandals I buy have zero traction so I picked up these sticky grips that you put on the bottom. Et voilà : traction! Such a simple product but they're so helpful.
Spring tops. I realized that this was an area of my closet that was seriously lacking so I picked up this cute Swiss dot top and this linen button up in two colors! I wear one of these pretty much every week and want to pick up even more colors. I'm wearing the French blue in the picture above!
This Target palm print headband also pictured above. I was hesitant to join in on the headband trend for fear that it would look too juvenile but I couldn't pass up this adorable palm print option for only $15. I wore it to work last week and received so many compliments on it!
Natural dry shampoo. I've been trying to swap out my beauty products for natural options where possible. There are some things I'll never be able to give up but dry shampoo seemed like an easy enough product to swap out. I was previously using baby powder as dry shampoo which my old stylist pointed out is just talc. Needless to say, that made me want to switch things up since some studies have found talc linked to cancer. I bought this natural replacement and while it's more expensive than baby powder it lasts for a while and works really well. Pro-tip for applying dry shampoo: blast your hair with your blowdryer after you apply it. It helps it absorb and results in zero white residue!
This book that has helped tremendously with my anxiety. I haven't mentioned this anywhere but when we flew to Florida in March I had a panic episode on the plane which has never happened before and I was completely unprepared for how to handle it. I think it was a combination of not being sure about my return travel plans, sitting in a middle seat and having to sit on the tarmac for an hour before we took off. It wasn't a full blown panic attack but needless to say it was not pleasant. That was the catalyst that lead me to finally find a therapist in MN. I am happy to say that I found someone I really like and she recommended this book which I have found extremely helpful. We flew to SF over Memorial Day weekend and because I had built it up so much in my head that I might feel panicked again I was very nervous for the flight. At the beginning of our flight to SF I was feeling on edge but was able to use some of the practices in this book to work through it and am happy to report that both flights ended up going very well!
That seems like a good place to end things — hope you enjoyed! Funny how this roundup of recent products doubled as a little life update as well!
xo Catherine
What I Wore to Work for a Month
February 19, 2019
I'm so excited to introduce today's post because I've been preparing it for over a month! I kept feeling guilty that I wasn't shooting outfits for the blog but in the winter I tend to feel less inspired and am rarely in the mood to stand outside in 20 degree weather for photos😇Enter the mirror selfie. I documented what I wore to work every day for four weeks in the hopes of inspiring myself to get a bit more creative with my outfits this month. Along the way I learned that I basically only ever wear my hair down, I love my cognac booties, and that I gravitate towards a lot of red, black and camel in the winter months.
A few things to note:
1. To be totally transparent, I did rewear a few things to show that I do rewear my clothes, but because I was taking photos every day I definitely repeated less than I would have normally.
2. It was dark most mornings/nights when I was taking photos so please excuse the poor overhead lighting.
3. On the days I was wearing flats, don't fret, I wore boots into the office and swapped shoes inside😊
4. I work at a very casual advertising agency so you'll notice that my outfits are pretty laid back.
Anywho, I hope you enjoy this little peak into my daily life!
Middle: Similar black top. J. Crew vest is sold out but I saw some listings for it on Poshmark. Madewell jeans. Splendid booties.
Right: J. Crew Factory sweater. Super similar tartan button down. J. Crew Factory flats. Madewell jeans.
Middle: Similar cashmere sweater. Tuckernuck scarf is sold out but Etsy has some really cool options. Similar Rag and Bone jeans. Splendid booties.
Right: Similar button down. I couldn't find any similar pants but it's this style from Old Navy. Similar flats.
Left: Halogen cashmere cardigan. My absolute favorite Caslon t-shirt. Old Navy jeans. Ralph Lauren belt. Similar mules.
Middle: Similar turtleneck. Tuckernuck scarf is sold out but Etsy has some really cool options. Madewell jeans. Splendid booties.
Left: My absolute favorite Caslon t-shirt. Similar marled cardigan. J. Crew Factory jeans. Splendid booties.
I really enjoyed putting this together so I hope you liked it too. January is kind of the worst because it was freezing and I was already sick of my winter clothes so this was a great way to force me to mix it up and not reach for the same four sweaters all the time. I plan to do another version of this in the spring or summer to inspire myself to get creative when there are less layering possibilities. I'm looking forward to it!
xo Catherine
What's New
November 28, 2018
First of all, I want to say thank you for visiting the blog and for all of the love on the new site! It feels good to be back to blogging and even gave me something to talk about at Thanksgiving😉. Since my first post was mostly just to introduce the blog I wanted to dedicate a post to what I've been up to the last four months. I stopped blogging in August when Mark had very recently moved to join me in Minnesota and we were still staying with my mom. Here's what we've been up to since then:
The house. Ooooh sounds so ominous and it kind of is! I lived with my mom for three months and Mark was there with me for about two months. We are so grateful to her for letting us live rent free but it was less than ideal, mostly for me. My commute to work was bout 50 minutes in pretty bad traffic, so I was not a happy camper. The silver lining was that I was always caught up on my podcasts. It was really nice to see my mom so much and to be in a familiar setting but we didn't feel settled because we knew we'd only be living with her temporarily. We apartment and house hunted for a few months but weren't in a rush at first because we wanted to save a little money after all of the moving expenses. We knew we'd be renting but weren't 100% sure where we wanted to live and whether to opt for a house or an apartment. Eventually we realized we were being too picky after we weren't finding anything that was ~perfect~. The house we ended up with was one I'd looked at before Mark moved to MN and had ruled out because the location wasn't great and it was quite small. We decided to go take another look at it together and reconsidered our little house in south Minneapolis. Needless to say, we pulled the trigger on renting and moved in in September. Problems arose on day 1.
We had moved and stored all of our stuff in a PODS container and the way it was delivered was on an angle in our driveway with the door facing down. So all of our stuff had shifted and was pressing on the door, making it quite difficult to open. After about an hour with six people pushing on the door we could finally access our stuff! Unpacking is never fun but that went relatively smoothly but on day one we noticed that the kitchen sink drained verrrry slowly but didn't think much of it. Then on day two or three the kitchen sink randomly flooded with what was very clearly sewage (TMI? it was nasty) and the basement flooded. Our landlords were pretty much unresponsive even when we were telling them it was an emergency which was pretty disheartening when you move into a new place. After we were finally able to get a plumber to come out and "fix" the problem we were smooth sailing for about a day or two. Then the flooding happened again and around we went. They sent a different plumber and it's now been about two months with no plumbing issues so hopefully it's actually fixed this time!
I won't go into all of the details but this little episode was kind of an omen for how the first month and a half of living here went. We had a gas leak, our neighbors got robbed, our internet wasn't installed properly, a package got stolen, our brand new washing machine was broken. You get the picture. We seriously considered breaking our lease because we were both so unhappy here. Thankfully, things are looking up and now it's been about four weeks (not even joking) since we had any major issues so hopefully now we can finally relax and start to feel at home here.
I don't want to only talk about the bad so I'll tell you about how cute the house is. It's almost 100 years old but was remodeled right before we moved in so it's designed in a modern way. I've had so much fun decorating and Mark has been great indulging my desire to paint and install new light fixtures, so I'm really happy with how it's coming together! We have all of the major furniture now so it's starting to really feel like home. Here's a sneak peek of how the living room is coming together for the holidays:
Social life. I have one! I'm only half joking. Friends were hard to come by in California so it has been an adjustment (in the best way) to have so many friends and family members to do things with now. I'd say we usually have plans two or three nights a week which is up by about 100% from CA. I've tried so many good restaurants that I'll have to do a whole post on my new favorites in Minneapolis. All in all it's been so wonderful to be back with all of our people.
Jobs. I can't remember if I previously mentioned this but my new job is at an advertising agency. I work as an Account Executive (AKA client services) and am basically the go-between for my client and our creative team. It's very different than my job at Google and has really challenged me. I've already learned a lot in the five months I've been there. For about two months the job was absolutely insane because we were in the thick of planning our holiday campaigns so I was working ten hour days pretty much without breaks. Thankfully that has passed and I'm back and a normal workload, so overall it's good!
Mark works as a Product Owner at a data security company downtown and overall really likes his job and exploring Minneapolis since he hasn't spent much time here as an adult.
Louie. Yes, he deserves his own headline. A surprising amount of people have asked me how he's adjusting and I'm happy to say he's been great. It's snowed a few times and he's been okay with it so far. He loves going on walks around our neighborhood and going to my mom's house because her basement has so much space for him to run around. I'm glad we have our house for him to have more space and a yard so ultimately I think the house was the right call. He did have a rough last few weeks though between breaking a tooth and having to have it removed and having the groomer shave him without asking us right before winter he's had some issues haha. I cried over the shaving incident but he's still our happy little pup so it is what it is. The photo about is pre-grooming debacle.
Minnesota. You guys, I just love it here so much. Minneapolis is such a fun city and the people are the best. This summer was so much fun exploring new restaurants and patios, we barely had a fall but the changing leaves were very welcome and we've already gotten snow! I cannot wait fore more snow and to be here for all of the Christmas season. Mark isn't nearly as enchanted with Minnesota as I am but he's happy to be back near his family so he's tolerated the weather for that tradeoff.
I think we're all caught up now! We have a busy few weeks ahead of us but I hope to post some holiday content between in the coming weeks. I'm hosting a holiday party this weekend and we're going to be in New York next weekend so I'm sure I'll have some #content.
What's Next
August 1, 2018
You may have noticed that things have been pretty quiet around here and I wanted to stop in and explain. I haven’t been posting simply because I haven’t felt inspired to. I’ve been feeling a bit disillusioned with my blog and the blogging world for awhile and finally decided to take a break. Normally I feel guilty for not posting but honestly, this has felt really good to not worry about it. I started the blog for fun and while I still do enjoy creating content it was becoming a chore. I don’t know why I put so much pressure on myself to post three times a week because blogging is not my job, but I do.
On Moving Back to Minnesota
June 25, 2018
Long time no talk, huh? I'm so excited to be back to blogging! As you may remember I've spent the last few weeks since we talked moving across the country, spending time with family in New York and visiting London (I'll do a whole post on our trip later) so I've had a bit going on ;) This post is a little belated as I technically left California on June 8th but it still doesn't really feel like I've moved. I'm staying with my mom and Mark is back in California so it just feels like I'm visiting. I do start my new job today though (!!!) so I'm sure that will wake me up to the real world verrrry quickly.
In case you missed that news, you can catch up on our move here.
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