A clean house is a must for our family. I do my best to always use baby-safe products, when I’m cleaning I never want to question could this be safe for Blakely. When Blakely was born I didn’t know what products to use, there are just so many out there! But I was won over by Babyganics because their products are formulated with plant-based, natural and certified organic ingredients. Recently, Babyganics sent me some their fabulous products to try, some of these I already use daily and others were new to me. So today I’m excited to share 3 of my favorite Babyganics products. Using these products give me peace of mind that I am using good and gentle cleaning products in our house.
This has been my go to sunscreen since Blakely was born. I love it because the ingredients are way more natural than other sunscreens, it’s non-allergenic and tear free.When you have a one year old who won’t sit still while putting on sunscreen an effortless application is a MUST! So I love how Babyganics applies, it rubs in the skin right away, has no strange sunscreen smell!
The day these Babyganics goodies arrived at our door, Blakely had come down with her second cold ever. There were a lot of boogers and sneezes happening at our house, the face and hand wipes came in so handy that week. They are super gentle wipes, Blakely did not have any redness around her nose the entire cold. These wipes are very hydrating and they are unscented (unlike some other boogie wipes out there)!
It’s crazy how fast bottles add up in the sink. Every mom knows the faster the bottles can get cleaned and rinsed the better! Foam soap is great because there is alway less rinsing aka less water used, this soap takes off the residue and 100% gets rid of the stinky smell of formula.
If you love Babyganics products too… DON’T FORGET to enter our giveaway over on Instagram. You have until midnight Thursday, September 21st to enter, the winner will be announced on Friday.
Happy Friday guys! What a crazy few weeks we have had over here. We have been sick and had family in town over Labor Day. I feel like we are finally get back in the swing of things.
Okay so do you remember this post all about my favorite Target Must Haves – – – well I have found a few more things from TARGET that are trendy for Fall and can transition so easily for any occasion. The BEST part is they are all under $30.00! Check them out and have a great weekend!
Most of you know how much I love beauty products from my monthly beauty budget picks post. It doesn’t get much better than Ulta’s Beauty’s 21 Days of Beauty sale starting September 3! Guys, this is big news — a new sale every day with up to 50 percent off of must have products like Naked, Becca and Tarte. Prepare yourself cause your gonna want to buy something from each day. Check out the calendar below and don’t you worry I’ve narrowed it down to my top SEVEN must have picks. Let’s get shopping……
SEPT 4: Buxom Plump line Lip Liner is a must have because it is an all-in-one plumping lip liner that has a nice built-in brush to help define, contour and fill lips. UGH I am obsessed with BUXOM.. and they are marked down to $8.50
SEPT 12: Peter Thomas Roth Anti-Aging Cleansing Gel $19 If you haven’t tried Peter Thomas Roth products you need to jump on the bandwagon. This cleansing gel is said to help resurface the skin and support natural cell turnover. At 30 years old this is the type of cleanser I need because it will help diminish the appearance of these fine lines and wrinkles!
SEPT 17:Becca Under Eye Brightening Corrector 50% off and is only $15.00. OMG one of my favorite products of all time! This truly has come in handy as a new mom, it really minimizes under eye darkness by brightening and evening skin tone. If you love that glowing look, make sure to snag one of these on Sept 17th!
SEPT 21: Laura Geller Balance-n-Brighten Baked Color Correcting Foundation $16.50 I have not tried this before but I am always looking to try anything color correcting. During pregnancy I was blessed to get hyperpigmentation known as melasma. So any product that helps color correct I will try!
SEPT 23 Mario Badescu Vitamin C Serum $22.50 Vitamin C is not only the great for your immune system but its wonderful for your face too. It is known to help with melasma *pregnancy mask* by a helping to brighten uneven skin tones while diminishing the look of fine lines and discoloration.
So as most of you know I am huge fan of at home workouts. Doing workout videos is how I lost the initial baby weight and it gave me some of my initial tone back. After awhile it was getting harder and harder to squeeze in a really good workout during Blakely’s morning nap, thats is when I found FIT4MOM Chula Vista. It was through FIT4MOM that I got my true body back, I am more toned and lighter than I have ever been! FIT4MOM is an incredible fitness group for moms who don’t want to leave their babe(s) behind at a gym daycare. At FIT4MOM you will find a community of women who are all there to support one another, have some fun and get fit. I love that their workouts have a level for the novice and a level for workout veterans. You can alway count on instructors to give you different options to fit your fitness level. Here is what you can expect when you attend your first class. We always start in a circle and introduce ourselves while warming up. We then leave the park and go to 2-or 3 different stations. At those stations we might do strength training with bands or some cardio activities. FIT4MOM is more than just fitness to me, I have found an amazing community of strong women and some incredible friendships. It has given me the support system I needed as a new mom, and it has helped me find strength in myself and in motherhood. If your interested in knowing more about FIT4MOM Chula Vista or another FIT4MOM around the country please contact ambercarroll@fit4mom.com , she will connect you with the correct franchisee for your area!
There are many women who provide me with inspiration on a daily basis. I want to take time each month and interview one woman, whose story and success inspires us all. My first interview is with Jessica Boutwell of Růže Cake House, Růže Cake House located in Old Town Scottsdale, Arizona. Růže Cake House is a mother/daughter collaborative team known for their fresh and innovative designs of cakes and desserts. I am huge fan of their work so much that they have been apart of all of my major life events over the past two years. They created treats for my wedding shower, as well as my wedding cake/dessert bar. And if that wasn’t enough they made the most beautiful personalized cookies and macarons my daughters baby shower! These are two incredibly talented business women who’s story is inspiring and OMG their cakes and desserts will blow you away!
Jessica jumped behind the counter to whip me up a Boba Tea!
Great selection of freshly baked treats
Don’t be surprised if on their busy days they are sold out!
W: I’m so excited that you are taking time to do this interview with me! I know it has been a whirlwind the last few years and the business has really taken off. As a Scottsdale local Ruze Cake House is now a must stop shop in Old Town. So for those who don’t know your story, tell me how Ruze Cake House first came to life?
J: Hi! It’s such a pleasure to be a part of your series! Thank you so much for the support!
It’s funny because – to this day – I still don’t consider myself a baker. My mom had been a self-taught home baker for as long as I can remember. A few years ago she decided she wanted to start a small business creating cakes for friends and family. She enlisted my help to create a Facebook page, and I explained she needed a business name in order to create the page, and after a few days of thought, she came back and said she wanted to call her business Mommy and Me Bakery. At that moment, I realized she needed WAY more help than I initially thought! I got involved in helping name the business, and then it just snowballed from there. I had so much fun on the creative side of things, and we realized we would perfectly compliment one another’s strengths and weaknesses. So, I do a lot of the conceptualizing, she handles a majority of the baking, and then we do the finishing touches together.
W: Lets be honest your wedding cakes and dessert designs are so beautiful, as an Arizonan the desert theme pulls at my heartstrings. What made you want to infuse so much of that Arizona theme into your business? And who or what is inspiring you at the moment?
J: We are always trying to find ways to connect with Arizona brides. When we started doing cakes a few years ago, very few people were incorporating the Southwest in their designs. And if they did, the cakes were more of a caricature of the desert (fiesta themed, etc.). So we wanted to come up with Arizona elements that were formal enough for a wedding, but whimsical enough to – as you say – tug on the heartstrings!
These days, in addition to designs, we’re also really excited to try new ways to incorporate Southwest flavors. For example, in our shop right now, we’re offering Prickly Pear Jalapeno Lemonade Bobas! It’s made with a fresh prickly pear puree that’s been infused with jalapeno, which we pour into a hand-squeezed lemonade. So refreshing! We also do a prickly pear curd for our wedding cakes which is really fun for couples who want a whisper of Arizona in their wedding cake, without necessarily any desert elements in the design.
W: When I first met you, it was to chat about my wedding desserts and cake. Having food allergies I needed everything at my wedding to be gluten free, and you were so accommodating. How important are the ingredients you use in your food?
J: As a vegan myself since the 4th grade, quality of ingredients is a huge concern/passion for me. Růže was founded on the principle that local and sustainable ingredients make for better, fresher tasting cakes. And we’ve always felt passionately about ethically-sourced food on a personal level and as business owners — we believe we have an even greater responsibility to source food that’s been produced in a way which doesn’t harm the environment or exploit farmers and producers.
We pride ourselves on knowing where our ingredients come from. Many of our eggs come from chickens raised in our own backyards, who roam free and eat an organic diet. All our honey, citrus, and milk are sourced from Arizona farmers, many of whom we see each week at the Scottsdale Farmer’s Market. For example, our milk is sourced exclusively through Danzisien Dairy, a local, family-owned company, which we have privately toured and visited several times.
We also feel it’s important to accommodate special diet needs, such as yours! Fortunately in this day and age it’s so much easier to source specialty ingredients, so we feel we can meet the needs of most clients.
W:Everything you two create is spectacular! I’m a big fan of your macaroons and the London Fog boba tea. Can you share with us any new treats your working on?
J: We LOVE playing around with new concepts, and something we’ve been doing once a month is a themed week, during which most items in our shop are inspired by a certain theme. It really gives us an opportunity to exercise our creative spirit. For example we’ve done Breakfast Week, and served things like Acai Bowl macarons. And we’ve done Retro Week, where we had things like Circus Animal Macarons and played 80s music all week.
This coming week we’re doing Ice Cream Week…so all of our macarons, cupcakes, etc. will be inspired by ice cream flavors. BY FAR the thing I’m most excited about is our French Fry Milkshake Macarons. The macaron is filled with a chocolate milkshake buttercream and we roll the outside in French fries. And it’s gluten free!!! Our taste testers say it’s one of their favorite flavors we’ve ever created.
W:What have you learned about yourself going through the process of building a business with your mom and do you have any advice for other women who want to start business?
J: In looking back, I think something that’s really helped the growth of our business is our ability to recognize when an opportunity exists. So often I think people are put in a position to be able to make a change in their life or in their business, and either don’t see the opportunity in front of them, or are reluctant to take hold of it. While my mom and I are inherently very cautious when it comes to the development of our company, I think we are equally fearless when it comes time to take a giant leap. I’m not sure this is making sense!
But, based on our experience, I think the best piece of advice is a three parter: 1) Keep your ears open because opportunities come in the strangest of places 2) Do your due diligence on said opportunity and take the leap and 3) Don’t second guess yourself after a decision has been made! This is the only way we can sleep at night. If obstacles arise, keep moving forward because there’s no going back!
W: What is the next step for you and Ruze Cake House?
J: Oh my gosh…I’m so excited about the next chapter of Ruze! We’ve just started working on a mobile macaron cart and our contractor actually started building the unit this week! It will very much look like a mini Ruze, containing many of the same design elements of our shop (e.g., white, copper accents, lots of greenery). We will be renting it out for weddings and other custom events, so guests can have the full experience of Ruze without coming into the shop. If all goes well we hope to have several of these carts that we can rent out to different events every weekend. Stay tuned!
Here are the amazing treats they created for me over the last few years. Stop by their website Růže Cake House or find them on Instagram.
August already? I swear July flew by so fast and here we are again with another monthly beauty budget pick post! I have found some beauty budget gems for you, each of them are now a part of my daily makeup routine! Little Black Liner Wardrobe by Ulta
I’m super picky about eyeliners but for the price ($18.00) this kit comes with a ton of great product. In the Kit you get…
Gel Eye Liner Pencil: for a smooth blendable line
Glitter Liquid Liner: a bold line with sparkle to add extra glam ( don’t let the glitter scare you, it’s more shimmery than anything)
Classic Felt Tip Liner: for drawing the finest precision line
Paddle Felt Tip Liner: for a thicker, more dramatic line
Smoky Eye Crayon: an easy smoky eye (amazing for the waterline )
Cat Eye Tool: helps achieve the perfect cat eye ( if your a cat eye beginner this some getting used to and finding your way of maneuvering everything)
I have written about these before but they just came out with Mattes and Metallic. These might be my favorite mattes yet, some mattes can get really dry but this one has pretty good moisture to it. I have only tried one of the four metallic colors, it has fun coverage and is trendy vibrant look.
This cheek palette has four blendable shads that bring a pop of color to your complexion, what I love about this palette is each shades are super saturated with pigment. A little bit goes a long way with this palette and it stays on for most of the day.
St Lucia is a contouring blush & bronzing powder in one. I know that contouring seems time-consuming, or even scary but thanks to simple compacts like is one it is super easy to get that little bit of summer glow. You don’t need a lot of this bronzer just like the blush above it goes along ways. The nice part about this compact is on the days that you just want to add a flush of color and a little bit of luminosity to your face just use the blush side. I’m obsessed with this compact and is only $3.99 !!
SO many people said to me before Blakely was born, treasure every moment, every stage, every second. At that time I was like yes.. I know I will. I heard them say it but you don’t realize it until it has already happened that OMG my baby is already 15 months old. I now think about about all those times I wish I could have froze in time. If only we could! I will be the first to admit lately I know I cannot stop time, but I have been making an effort to slow down my days and learn how to treasure even the crazy moments Blakely and I have together.
Around 14 going on 15month I noticed big changes in Blakely. It was like “OK I am here I have arrived in the world, and I am ready to share all my feelings with you Mom and Dad.” We really saw her independence start to develop, she went form helpless in ways to independent. And yes… as a result we started to see extreme swings and “not so good” behavior. We really had to have a “Come to Jesus” moment and realize that the behavior often happens because she think she has the world figured out but she doesn’t yet and her getting frustrated about that is all apart of her developing her identity.
The next big change that is happening as we speak is the transition from two naps to one. I am proud to say we are still doing two naps (most days) thanks to the plan we got from Cara sleep expert from Taking Cara babies (which I am hoping to do a post coming up telling you our experience using her). My major take away from sleep and a 15 month old is having a plan/routine (from birth) and sticking to it. Once we got on the plan from Cara, Blakely gets all rest she needs to make her and me happier throughout the day. I am dreading the day of having to FULLY transition down to one nap but we can do it!
The other difference that has happened is just how active my little B has become, obviously I knew that this is going happen so each day we try to get outside and do an activity. Three days a week we go to FIT4MOM workout group and other days I try to have a play date or we go to the park to feed the ducks. This summer she has loved playing in this inflatable pool or playing with chalk and bubbles(the hurricane is awesome). Oh the bubbles…. I never thought I would see this many bubbles. BUT it is so much fun being with her and watching her enjoy life and explore the world. What are some of your favorite activities to do with your toddler, let me know in the comments below.
In love with the newest POSIE+CO tee! PLAYTIME ALL THE TIME Tee available 
SO many people said to me before Blakely was born, treasure every moment, every stage, every second. At that time I was like yes.. I know I will. I heard them say it but you don’t realize it until it has already happened that OMG my baby is already 15 months old. I now think about about all those times I wish I could have froze in time. If only we could! I will be the first to admit lately I know I cannot stop time, but I have been making an effort to slow down my days and learn how to treasure even the crazy moments Blakely and I have together.
