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New routine: How I whiten my sensitive teeth at home

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This post is in partnership with Smile Brilliant, but opinions expressed here are my own.

If you’ve been following along for a while, you might know that my husband Alex and I met over coffee. (I was his favorite Starbucks barista back in the day 😉) You could say it was love at first cup of joe.

And since becoming a mom, let me just say my love of coffee runs REAAALLLL deep, mkay? Starbucks is life, and I have zero intentions of giving it up.

I mean, without coffee, I couldn’t survive the 746352 “Mommy, watch this!” requests, endless loads of dishes, and convincing two tiny humans to nap, while still managing to stand upright at the end of the day.

Motherhood is exhausting, but man oh man….my heart has never been happier.

Ain’t nobody got the time (or money) for that

Speaking of happiness, I prided myself on my smile for years. My parents paid big bucks for braces, and I still regularly wear my retainer at night (Alex’s personal fave…hot mom alert! 😊)

But, perhaps it was the caffeine, or the countless times I’ve literally forgotten to brush my teeth (because, #momlife), I started to notice that my pearly whites weren’t quite as white anymore. They weren’t horrible…but, I was starting to notice a difference.

I began thinking about professional whitening, but with the average price of $500+ and the fact that it was going to be something I’d have to find a sitter for….just didn’t appeal to me. Ain’t nobody got time – or money for that!

Meet Smile Brilliant

So, when Smile Brilliant reached out with an at-home, customized teeth whitening kit at a fraction of the cost, I was interested. But, I’ll be honest, I was super skeptical.

I have never had a good experience with whitening products. I’ve tried the ones you can buy at the dentist office, and those you can buy at the grocery store. The goopy whitening gel always made me gag, and the uncomfortable, slippery trays made my teeth so INSANELY sensitive that the pain wasn’t even worth it for me. I only made it a couple of days before throwing in the towel.

But, my friends at Smile Brilliant explained that their system included not only a set of custom whitening trays that matched my exact dental impressions – hello, no more sloppy, slimy, goopy gel – but also a desensitizing gel that they promised would make whitening a lot less painful. Um, YESS, PLEASSEEE. They had my attention.

Multi-tasking for the win

So, I gave them a try. Funny story: The first night I wore my custom trays before bed, I was talking to my husband, Alex, and he didn’t even notice I was wearing them – ha! I’m so thankful that my trays are clear and fit snugly.

I can wear them while I do anything – around the house, or even while I’m out talking with neighbors as our kids play together. I love a product that helps me multi-task 🙂

And let me just say, the desensitizing gel is legit! While I did experience some sensitivity – which is unavoidable while using any whitening trays – it was honestly nothing like the pain I’d experienced with other products. I love being able to whiten my teeth whenever I want without the fear of absolutely unbearable pain from sensitivity. Talk about a game changer!

And here are my results

Before (left) and after (right) using Smile Brilliant

This is just the beginning! It might look like a small change, but it’s making all the difference for me when I look in the mirror. I plan to continue using Smile Brilliant as needed to give my smile the little boost it needs (read: I’m not giving up coffee).

Enter the giveaway – or get your coupon code

Good news for you! If you’re a coffee-loving or wine-loving (or both) mama looking to whiten up your smile, I’ve got the hookup for you. Enter my giveaway to win a FREE Smile Brilliant kit for yourself – a $145 value!

Or use code yomamalife15 save 15% store wide at SmileBrilliant.com.

Thanks to Smile Brilliant, we’re all smiles over here!

Lennox’s nursery reveal

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Photo by Lulu+Rose Photography

“Do NOT enter until baby arrives!” If you’ve been to our house in the last month or two, you would have found this written on a bright blue Post-It note stuck to the nursery door.

I really wanted to keep the baby’s name a secret. So, when we hung his name on the wall, that meant our friends and family weren’t allowed into the nursery until after he arrived. 

But, now that our sweet Lennox William is here, I can FINALLY share his nursery with you! I’m obsessed with this space, and I have my husband, Alex, and my father-in-law, Randy to thank for all their hard work to make it come to life. Alex worked his tail off and didn’t bat an eye at my requests to hang…and rehang everything.

And Randy helped with the shiplap, and then willingly showed up to paint the room while Alex was a work. It takes a village, right?!

So, here it is! 

Recreate this nursery 

I’ve included links below to everything I purchased so that you can recreate this space for your little one. A few things I haven’t linked here are items we already had, including the rocker recliner, the script wooden frame sign and crib. 

Rugs: Overland Sheepskin rug in Grey Mist and Well Woven Cybil Ivory Modern Rug

Table: T.J. Maxx (not listed on site)

Dresser: Wayfair Myrasol 6 Drawer Dresser 

Mirror: HomeGoods (only in stores)

Macrame: Mkono macrame wall hanging

Plants: Joyfoli Plant Shop – ZZ plant (in white planter) and snake plant

Plant stand: Sona Home Adjustable Mid Century Plant Stand (Height: High, in carbonized bamboo)

Hamper: HomeGoods (only in stores)

Growth chart ruler: Pine Designs growth chart

LENNOX scrabble letters: Pine Designs tile letters

Wreath: Lloyd & Hannah 20-in. Artificial Boxwood Preserved Wreath

 

Let me know what you think of the nursery in the comments below! Think Lennox will love it as much as we do? 

CURRENT FAVES: Mama’s 10-minute fall makeup routine

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If you’ve seen my recent Instagram stories, you saw my annual Sephora haul. Colder weather is a tough transition for my brain. I LIVE for sunshine. And when I know cold temps are coming, I cope by making changes to my appearance and routine…and pretending like freezing temps are actually never happening. Just me?!

I’ve received a bunch of sweet messages from you all about that *pregnancy glow* you’ve noticed lately. You guys are the sweetest. But, I’m here to tell you: I think it’s the makeup!

As someone who generally prefers to wear as little makeup as possible, I’ve been so excited about these products that I have actually WANTED to put on makeup nearly every day. And that says alot! Most of the products below are from my Sephora haul – plus a few items I’ve been using for a while. 

Face

After I have a clean face, I use Burt’s Bees Renewal Firming Day Lotion as a moisturizer/primer base. It’s not technically a primer, but I use it as one. I love that it has SPF 30 and is wrinkle reducer. 

For foundation, I have been OBSESSING over bareMinerals’ BlemishRescue Skin-Clearing Loose Powder Foundation in the shade Neutral Ivory. It’s formulated with 0.5% salicylic acid, so I actually feel like it’s helping me manage my breakouts – rather than just clog up my pores. This foundation is a bit more full coverage than the typical bareMinerals product, which I actually love, especially since it’s so lightweight.

Contouring

Because I tend to have oily skin, I opted for all matte products during my recent Sephora trip. I am absolutely loving the soft, beautiful finish of the Marc Jacobs O!Mega Bronzer Coconut Perfect Tan. A quick sweep across the underside of my cheekbones, along my hairline, along either side of my nose, and a light dusting across my jaw line, and I’m done! I love how natural it looks, and I’m so glad I made the switch from a shimmery bronzer to a matte one.

If I’m up for a light dusting of blush, I use a couple swipes of my new Nars Amour Blush, just to warm up my face a little. I tend to have red undertones to my skin, so I try to go super light on red/pink colors so I don’t overdo it.

I typically use a quick couple of brush strokes of Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder (highlighter) under my eyes in a v-like shape, across the top left and right of my forehead, and straight down my nose. Again, I go fairly light on this, too. It does have a bit of a shimmer to it, but not over the top.

Eyes

I keep my eye makeup routine pretty simple and quick as well. The RealHer Do Your Squats palette arrived in a previous FabFitFun box, and I like it. I dust the entire lid and up to my brow line with the color Driven (a very light, almost white color) to brighten things up and give it a simple base. Then, I use a warmer brown or soft mauve color (Invincible and Indomitable are my current go-to colors in the palette) to give my eyes a bit of smokey dimension, but nothing crazy or over-the-top.

I don’t like a heavy eyeliner look, so I tend to use a fine brush to line the bottom of my lash line with a darker brown eyeshadow. This tends to just soften the look a bit – none of that WOAH, NICE EYELINER look for me. For the top lash line, if I’m not super lazy, I’ll apply a thin line of Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner in Intense Black. If you’ve ever been afraid of using liquid eyeliner, this is for YOU! The applicator is so forgiving, and if I mess up, I just grab a q-tip to fix my mistake, and keep going. Seriously, love this stuff.

Anyone else SUPER picky about mascara? I haven’t made the plunge into eyelash extensions (though I’ve seriously considered it!), so I’m always on the lookout for the best mascara with the shortest applicator bristles. I don’t like the long traditional mascara applicator brushes because I think they make my lashes wayyyy too clumpy. My go-to mascara for the last couple of years has been L’OREAL Voluminous Butterfly Sculpt in Blackest Black. You’ll never believe how short these applicator bristles are…and I’m telling you, they’re the best!

Lips

If you saw my Instagram stories, you heard me talking about the bold lip color that I picked up at Sephora that was a bit out of my comfort zone. I wanted a good fall lip color that I didn’t have to reapply over and over again. The woman helping me picked up the Sephora brand Cream Lip Stain Liquid Lipstick in Autumn Wind.

I’ll be honest, I was a little scared at first because it was a way darker color than what I’m used to. I applied it when I got home, and BAM. It was wayyy too dark.

Pro tip:  I decided to try to apply a smaller amount with a q-tip to minimize the product, and so I could manipulate the placement a bit more than with the lip color wand. And guess what?! I LOVE IT!!! 

I will say that the color does not hold up for the entire day. However, it does hold up longer than most lipsticks, and when it does start to fade, it doesn’t look gross. I like to swipe a bit of gloss or even chapstick over the top, so it doesn’t feel dry throughout the day.

That’s it!

And there ya have it! That’s my usual makeup routine. I know it sounds like alot, but I promise it takes me maybe ten minutes total, and I’ve gotten a ton of compliments on it lately!

From you all: When I recently asked about your favorite Sephora products, you said: Nars Bronzing Powder in Laguna and Too Faced Better Than Sex Waterproof Mascara were among your go-to’s! 

Tell me below, do you use any of these products? And how often do you change up your makeup routine? 

4 Things I absolutely loved about my momcation with Carnival Cruise Line

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This post is in partnership with Carnival Cruise Line, but opinions expressed are my own.

This past weekend, I returned from my first ever momcation – a trip I decided to take on a whim. With my bags packed with all of my essentials, I set sail with my mom and two aunts on the Carnival Conquest for a nearly week long trip across the Caribbean. This was my second Carnival cruise, and let’s just say, the staff did NOT disappoint! Here are four things I absolutely loved about my momcation with Carnival Cruise Line. 

The food

It’s safe to say we didn’t go hungry on our cruise. There was basically food EVERYWHERE, ALL DAY! And I got to sit down and eat EVERY SINGLE MEAL. That alone was like vacation.

I’m blaming my pregnancy weight gain on Carnival. From huge buffets at breakfast and lunch to three course dinners, I’m probably going to scare myself at my next OB visit when I step on the scale. But, oh well! It was totally worth it. I discovered Eggs Benedict at breakfast (um, what have I been doing with my life?! This stuff is amazing), and at dinner, I had the BEST crab cakes I’ve ever had in my life. Seriously, sooo good! Oh, and the dessert…I mean…where do I even start? Chocolate melting cake, creme brulee, baked Alaska, etc.? We didn’t have a bad dessert or meal!

On board, they surprised us with a private tour of the kitchen, where they serve 1500 meals in 45 MINUTES! Can you even imagine?! Our dinner staff treated us like gold, and not to mention, did some hilarious and cute dinnertime dancing/singing for us nearly every night, too.

Meeting Chef Satish during our private kitchen tasting (see my Instagram stories for more behind-the-scenes in the kitchen).

The service

I don’t know about you, but I’m disappointed by poor customer service on a regular basis – from grumpy cashiers to rude coffee shop workers. I don’t know what happened to great customer service, but it seems that Carnival hasn’t let this slip into a thing of the past.

Every single day, we were greeted by smiles and “Hello, Whitney, Debbie, Julie and Mary,” by our stateroom steward and our dining staff. They truly made us feel at home, and every day, our steward delivered fresh towels, tidied our space, made our beds in the morning, turned down the covers for us before we arrived at night…and even made us laugh with fun towel animals – including a monkey swinging from the ceiling one night, ha! I mean, having someone make MY bed and turn down the covers was a dream in an of itself!

Our fantastic dinner staff – including (left to right) Angel, Oka and our head waiter, Yosef, whose been with Carnival for 20 years! See my Instagram for Yosef’s mad dance skills.

The views and relaxation

There’s something about being on board a cruise ship that makes me sleep like a baby! It must be the gentle swaying of the ocean waves that rock me to sleep, or the fact that I know I’m going to wake up to views of ocean as far as I can see. Whatever it is, I was SO well-rested on board.

We’d go to bed early (before 10 p.m. most nights) and wake up around 7 a.m. to get our workout/walk in on the top deck with a fresh ocean breeze and breathtaking views. Talk about a great start to the day!

If we were on board for a day at sea, we’d grab pool chairs and layout in the sunshine near a salt water pool while reading and listening to Carribean music from a nearby performer. We made stops in Nassau (Bahamas), Half Moon Cay (Bahamas), Grand Turk (Turks and Caicos) and Amber Cove (Dominican Republic).

The most relaxing stop was in Half Moon Cay, where we rented rafts and literally floated out into the clear blue ocean for most of the day. I got super fried in the sun, but it was so worth it for the views and the relaxation! Seriously unlike any other experience I’ve had on vacation.

My raft view from Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas where we floated for an entire day.

The fun 

Who says you can’t have fun when you’re pregnant? We tapped into our adventurous side and tried out the on board water slide, and went ziplining over the huge pool in Amber Cove (twice!). It was so fun! We also got some quality shopping done in Nassau, and taste tested the famous Tortuga rum cakes (and may have brought back a couple of cakes!).

A couple of evenings, after our bellies were sufficiently stuffed at dinner, we’d catch a movie near the pool on the big screen located on the upper deck. I never make time to watch movies anymore, and I was so excited to finally get to see The Greatest Showman on board. So good! There were also plenty of performances to catch every night, like comedy shows, piano bar singing, casino games, live music as well as on board shopping.

Sipping on a virgin Pina Colada at the party pool in Grand Turk.

We laughed too much, ate too much, and slept too much. And that – in my opinion – is what vacation is all about. Thanks to Carnival for making my momcation one to remember. It will likely be the last true vacation I take for a while with baby #2 on the way!

Now, I’m attempting to settle back into my Midwest reality – without three course dinners, laying out all day, and stunning ocean views. To be honest, leaving for a whole week was really hard. I battled a LOT of momguilt and missed my family so much. But, being apart gave us space to miss one another and find gratitude for the little moments.

Left to right: Mom, me, Aunt Julie and Aunt Mary.

I’m back and feeling super recharged and grateful I had the support of my husband and family to go on this trip. And if you’ve read this far, I hope you’ll take this as a sign that you need to make time for yourself, too…with a momcation or otherwise.

I’ll be looking forward to my next momcation way off on the horizon! Until next time, Carnival. 

PS: To see videos and more snippets of my Carnival experience, visit my Instagram and click on the Momcation icon in my story highlights. You don’t want to miss the sweet reunion with my boys at the airport (tears!). 

Momcation essentials

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Getting ready for my momcation at the end of this week has been a gradual process. I’ve been preparing my son, my husband, my dogs – and my suitcase, little by little. As the day approaches to leave for my cruise, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t anxious about being away from my family for an entire week.

BUT, I know I’ll be a better mom because of it. After all, I firmly believe that self-care is one of our most important jobs as moms. And I’m really looking forward to several things on this trip: quality time with my mom and aunts (while I’m NOT chasing a toddler), sunny relaxation, eating uninterrupted meals, and workouts with an ocean view.

To be honest, I’m not exactly sure if I know how to relax anymore, so this will be interesting.

As I’m slowly packing, I wanted to let you in on my must-have essentials to survive a week without momming. Here’s a snippet of what I’m taking with me to the airport this weekend: 

For relaxation

For taking care of my skin

  • Morning skincare routine – I’m a big fan of the Meijer brand face cleansing wipes because they’re effective, especially for a quick fresh face first thing in the morning. And they’re more affordable than many name brand wipes. After a fresh face, I love applying a moisturizer with sunscreen – and Burt’s Bees Renewal Day Lotion with SPF 30 has been my favorite recently.
  • Evening skincare routine – I don’t know what I’d do without my Clarisonic. I’ve used this deep cleaning accessory for years now, and it does an amazing job of getting all the daily oil and makeup off my face. Well worth the price. And my go-to face wash is Neutrogena Naturals because it’s free of all the junk – like parabens and sulfates. Before bed, I’ve been absolutely loving Burt’s Bees Night Cream with Royal Jelly. 

For workouts with a view

  • Morning sweat sessions – Gotta have my Powerbeats wireless headphones to crank my tunes. My favorite workout on a cruise is on the small “track” on the top deck – I love running laps and adding in some cardio/body weight resistance training, too. There’s no better workout than one surrounded by nothing but ocean. I use a simple armband from Amazon to keep my phone – and room key in one place.
  • Best running shoes – I’ve worn the same brand of running shoes since my high school cross country/track days: Mizunos. I love them because when I get a new pair, I NEVER have to break them in with the discomfort of other running shoes – with painful things like blisters. Everyone’s feet are different, but Mizuno Wave Riders have been my go-to for years!

For evenings at sea

Now your turn: If you could go on a momcation tomorrow, what essentials would be on your list? Gimme your top 3 below! And don’t forget to subscribe to my email list for a little vacation-inspired treat for your inbox at the end of this week.