Quick Packing Tips for a Weekend Away

Posted in Beauty, Travel Tips by meganandeggs

I am so excited to be heading down to Florida for a quick girls weekend to celebrate one of our best friend’s bachelorette party.

While living in Orange County for the past three years I feel like I lived out of a suit case on the weekends. We were so far away from friends and family in north LA that anytime I headed up there, I made sure to stay the weekend and visit as many people as possible. That being said, I got used to quickly packing for a few days, which will come in handy this week since I am also traveling for work throughout the week.

There are some things I take with me always. Whether it’s a road trip or a flight, all of these items are permanently in my weekender, ready to go.

Electronics
My headphones, phone (obviously) and portable charger are always packed. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve left my charger at home, so now I just have an extra in my bag. I also usually always have my Surface and camera. My laptop is a little too big to lug around sometimes and the Surface does anything I may need for a quick three days away. One thing that I would like to get for traveling is this right here. I love that everything is in one spot, wrapped up.

Carry on Toiletries
My toiletry bag is always restocked and ready to go away for the weekend. When I was living in Orange County, a quick night away happened so frequently and without much notice so I always was prepared so that I didn’t have to stop on my way out of town. Travel sized shampoos, conditioners, an extra toothbrush and tooth paste in my favorite toiletry bag, and I usually have a few extra laying around for when I run out.

Cardigan and Scarf
Whether it’s a road trip or flying on a plane, it’s always a good idea to have a comfy, oversized cardigan or an oversized scarf to wrap yourself up in, roll up and use as a pillow, or even a lap blanket. It’s never comfortable to be cold, or hot, and not be able to fix it. Layering is key when traveling. I got a few of these this season from Old Navy, in a few different colors. They are already packed in my carry on.

Dry Shampoo
Always dry shampoo! I’ve tried a lot of dry shampoo. For real, I have a small obsession. I always feel like my hair looks greasy so I try everything I can to take that look away. This one is great because it doesn’t leave that left over film, and it’s so lightweight that I can spray it in and just shake it out, no brush needed. I also recently picked up this one, and am slowly falling in love.

8Mar2017

Mascara Haul

Posted in Beauty by meganandeggs

This past winter I really gave my face a break. Winter is definitely the time of year where my face starts to break out, the lack of vitamin D makes my skin feel and look dead and lifeless. This winter instead of covering up like I usually do with foundations and concealers, I hydrated my face and drew the attention away from my skin and onto my lashes.

I’ve never wanted to try lash extensions. I have a terrible habit of rubbing my eyes and being a little aggressive when it comes to washing my face, so lash extensions would never work for me. I’d end up pulling them out before the week is up. But mascara, mascara is something that I can get on board with.

This winter I tried a lot of mascaras and was able to find the ones that I love, and the ones that I wasn’t so fond of. Step 1: Always, always, always use a primer. I have used both Lancome’s Cils Booster XL and also Clinique’s Lash Building Primer and I think I love them both equally. They both lengthen and coat fully which is all you really need in a primer. They both protect your eyelashes and I have noticed a lot less eyelashes falling out when I take my make up off at night.

My next step comes from Target. Yes this $6 mascara has been my favorite literally since I was in high school. Maybelline’s Full & Soft volumizes my eyelashes and makes them look super full. Which is great for my super thin eyelashes.

The next three mascaras I have been rotating. Clinique’s Lash Power small bristles separate all of my lashes to make them even fuller than with just the Full & Soft. Mary Kay has a very cool brush that both volumizes and lengthens depending which way you hold the brush. This is one of my new favorite mascaras because it is an easy one to throw in your bag and it literally does whatever you need.

My newest mascara for night time is Lancome’s Hypnose Doll Lashes. The pointed brush with wide bristles makes your natural eyelashes look like an amazing pair of falsies I love it! It’s the perfect these are my real lashes mascara, and you will have everyone thinking you are lying.

28Feb2017

February Round Up

Posted in Beauty, Updates by meganandeggs

Can you even believe how fast February flew by? I feel like it was just a few weeks ago that our house was decorated for Christmas and now we are starting to think spring and sunshine. Which is something here in Southern California we miss so much. Mother nature really kicked our asses here in SoCal this month. We had sink holes, freeways shut down because they turned into rivers, mudslides, and hurricane forced winds. It was absolutely insane. But we are hoping for a little more outdoor activities for March.

February was packed with indoor activities. We had our food tasting at our wedding venue. We were pretty early for this but we defiantly wanted our parents there with us and we figured the sooner the better. So picking our food was a big check off of our wedding to do list. I also got to celebrate a huge milestone for one of my best friends and also another huge success for Chris.

My best friend Bryan had his photography featured a magazine with a four page spread of some of his shots. And this past weekend Chris’s new venue, House of Blues Gardenwalk, opened with a huge opening party. Chris has worked for House of Blues for the past three years and last May they closed up their location in Downtown Disney. After 9 months of being shut down, they opened up their new location, just down the street at Gardenwalk, an outdoor mall here in Anaheim. It was an amazing party with tons of media, celebrity guests and amazing music.

I had to prep for these out of living room activities. I feel like I’ve been in hiding on my couch since November, so this month, with spring on the horizon, I realized I had to start hydrating my face so a bi weekly sheet mask became my best friend. Full sheet masks, under eye masks, charcoal, aloe… they were all my best friends this month. And they all made Chris laugh at me, and try to take my picture, every time.

My favorites have been the SOO AE Green Tea Collagen mask I got in my February IPSY subscription, Que Bella Professional Moisturizing gel eye masks that you can get at Target and my all-time favorite agave lip mask by Bite that you can get at Sephora. But I am going to keep trying more and maybe put together a post of my favorite masks later in the spring.

Can anyone tell I am super excited for spring to come? What are your favorite spring activities?

We had to try the new brewery that opened close to our house. Stereo’s wheat beer, Hazy Jane…. YUM! Try it!

I am so sad that this room isn’t big enough to hold our entire wedding. But how cute is the barrel room at Wilson Creek Winery in Temecula. So cute.

Blackbird in Temecula is such a yummy brunch spot to check out pre-wine tasting.

19Jan2017

How to Look & Feel Fresh After a Weekend of Traveling

Posted in Beauty by meganandeggs

I am just getting back from a crazy 60 hours on the east coast where I was go go go. Last Friday after work, Chris dropped me off at the airport where I flew home to visit my friends and family in Connecticut. I haven’t been home in a full year and was in desperate need of some friend time, and cousin time. Lucky for me, everyone was able to get together and spend the weekend together. Saturday some of my bridesmaids and I were able to go and have them look at dresses for our wedding next year. And after that they threw me a little fake birthday party since I won’t be around at the end of February during my actual birthday.

Sunday most of my family members were able to get together for some lunch and wine at my mom’s house. Last year I had three cousins who had babies and I was itching to see how these little guys grew in the past year. And they did not disappoint! The little munchkins are so cute. And neither did the food. When I tell you we went through five loaves of large stuffed breads, I am not exaggerating. I don’t even know where you can get stuffed breads in Orange County. Italian food in Connecticut is no joke kids!

I headed back to the airport around noon on Monday but I was still able to stop by a girlfriend’s house to see her new born and stop by another bridal shop to scour for a dress my sister fell in love with a few months ago, and now we cannot find. So once I got in the car to head back to the airport, I finally sat down for a minute and realized that was the first time I had slowed down since getting on the plane Friday night.

I instantly felt the bags under my eyes growing and the pimples on my face getting bigger and bigger. I landed in Los Angeles at 8pm and had to be at work just 12 hours later and I knew I needed to get my face and my schedule back on track.

Sleep on Red Eye Flights

I don’t think I have ever flow from west to east on anything but a red eye. Lucky for me there are tons of options from LA, Orange County and Burbank for red eyes into JFK. When I get on the plane I usually do a little work and make sure I get to bed. If I need a little extra push to falling asleep I make sure I dim my TV screen in front of me, ask for some hot water and steep a small cup of green tea with mint. This is my favorite tea to fall asleep to. That way when I land at JFK at 5:30 in the morning I can pound a cup of coffee and I am usually good for most of the day. This time around, my friends and I didn’t get home from the bar until 2 in the morning and somehow I went the whole day with just a 20 minute power nap.

Drink tons of Water

I always try to skip the coffee while I am actually on the plane. Instead I opt for tons of water to keep myself hydrated and my circulation up. And I don’t think I have ever had alcohol on a plane. It just seems a little counterproductive to have a drink and then need to have water to stay hydrated for that long. As soon as I feel my fingers starting to plump up and my feet tingling I always ask for extra water bottles.

A Strong Face Mask Once I am Home

The second I get in the door I head to the shower, wash my hair from the nasty plane air and give myself a deep cleans with my Mary Kay TimeWise Microdermabrasion Set. I have been even using a facial brush with it to make sure to really clean out my pores. I have been using this since November and have been in love with the results. I feel like my face never feels too dry, even though it is a stronger facial cleanser, but it still feels clean at the end of the day. At the end of my shower I make sure to use the pore minimizer lotion, and even in the dry winter, that has been enough to keep my face hydrated.

CC Cream for the Morning

And in the morning when lack of sleep is still showing and there isn’t enough coffee to perk me up, the Mary Kay CCCream is the perfect hideaway. This is the first CCCream that I have tried and I don’t know if I am going to actually move on to any others. It is so light and wears so well throughout the day that I barely even use a powder on top. I am not a big face make up person, but in the winter, with my iridescent skin, I need something to bring a little life to my face and this CCCream has been the perfect find. It doesn’t go on cakey like other foundations and concealers but it stays throughout the day without making me break out. So far, this get 5 stars!

4Oct2016

How I Asked my Bridal Party

Posted in Beauty by meganandeggs

When Chris asked me to marry him this past spring people started me asking me all sorts of questions. They wanted to know what colors we were going to have, when was the wedding, did we have a theme? There was literally so many questions, from so many people, & I had no answers for anyone. Honestly the only thing I did know, what who I wanted to stand next to me on my big day.

I am lucky enough to have a group of girlfriends that I have been friends with since we were kids. As we get older & get our own lives, we have grown closer & our friendships have gotten stronger. Our relationships have changed a lot since we were 14, they’ve even changed a lot since we were 23, but these girls are a part of me in such a big way, I couldn’t imagine them not standing next to me.

I grew up with my sister & cousin being two of my closest friends, so when I moved to California & Chris’s younger sisters & I hit it off right away, I was so happy. I knew I needed to do something special to ask these ladies to be a part of our wedding.

A friend of ours makes amazing jewelry. (You may have seen some of her work on my Instagram here, here, & here.) So when I remembered that she has an amazing knot ring, The Jessica, I thought it would be the perfect gift to ask the girls to help me tie the knot… get it… tie the knot…

And in the theme of our wine wedding (yes, we have a theme I guess) my mom found these adorable novelty wine glasses for each of the bridesmaids.

Since my sister was out here last month, I took advantage of our time together to ask her to be my maid of honor, & a week later, I asked Chris’s sisters to be bridesmaids. I knew I wanted to ask our sisters before anyone else but I had no idea how I was going to ask my cousin & girlfriend’s from back home to be in my wedding.

Being that my mom has always had a very close relationship with my friends, she invited them over to her house last week for a Sunday dinner where her & my maid of honor had the gifts all prepared for everyone. It was great because even though I wasn’t able to be there, they were all able to be together & my mom had a huge part in being the one to ask each of them for me.

Asking your girls to be part of your big day is a huge task for a bride because you are asking them a huge favor. I wanted my gifts to not only show part of me, but also be something that would be special to each & every one of them also. These rings were the perfect gift for my bridesmaids & Annie did such an amazing job on them. I am so thankful.

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