I'm starting off with the COVERGIRL + Olay Simply Ageless Anti-Aging Foundation Primer which has a lovely creamy texture and applying it to a clean, bare face. This primer not only helps foundation to last longer and look better, but it also includes anti-aging ingredients that help condition skin over time which is always a blessing for my sleep-deprived self!


Next, I'm applying Simply Ageless 3-in-1 Foundation in Medium Beige all over my skin using clean fingertips. Seriously, I am in so love with the texture of this! It has almost a fluffy, soft feeling which blurs into the skin so smoothly, no brushes needed. The medium-to-full coverage gave me an even, flawless complexion with a very natural satin finish that also felt very hydrating.


To finish the look I applied a contoured rose-gold eye and matching rosy cheeks with a deep red lip to bring out the sophisticated glam feeling I was going for.

You all know I would never leave you hanging so if you want to check out my whole process for getting ready including makeup application and outfit, you can see it all step-by-step in video form below!

For the record, these pretty pretty photos are courtesy of the pretty BFF to my right, photographer extraordinaire Kassia. Girl, you are just too talented.

I know you only get snippets in the video, but the ladies and I had the best time sipping lattes, cracking up over silly selfies that will never see the light of day, and protecting ourselves from the local finches who were getting a little too brave about trying our food! All in all, a worthy event to get glammed out for, making memories with my best friends.

It always feels so strange on the first day of the new year to realize another 365 days has passed and be given the opportunity to start fresh again. Today may be the same as yesterday but truthfully, because we collectively step forward and reflect together, it is not just another day. It's a time to be thankful for the good and bad and pay that wisdom forward.

This past year for me has been the most physically difficult of my life as well as emotionally fulfilling beyond my expectation. Before getting pregnant, I always feared how my small frame would handle growing and delivering a baby, but now I can look back and say look what I did. (For the record I was 4'11" and 80 lbs pre-pregnancy which I will say openly in the hopes that it abates that fear in others.) Photos of my pregnant body still leave me in wonder at the sacrifices mothers go through and what a blessing it is that life is created that way. I will never be the same and I'm okay with that because there is nothing in my life I have ever done that compares with how fulfilled I feel being a mother.

I've written and re-written dozens of ways to try and explain how bringing Aria into the world has shifted my definition of joy, burden, humility, sacrifice, and love but maybe the best way is to just share this video of what the past year has been like for my husband and me. One second from each day of 2016.