Life Well Lived Looking Your Best Answer: How to Give, Ask For or Receive Style Advice‏

I'm participating in another Life Well Lived post from BlogHer. The question this week is:

Have you ever asked for or given style advice to a friend or family member? How did it go? What are your best tips for having this delicate style conversation without creating hurt feelings?

Even though my sister is in Chicago, I will still ask her opinion on clothes, makeup, hair, you name it. 9 times out of 10 if I'm looking for a specific outfit I will text her a photo from the dressing room asking her opinion. Why do I ask my sister? Because she'll be honest with me, and you always need someone that will tell you that, yes, that dress makes your butt look big. 

Style advice is such a hard topic to handle, and I'm not really a good person to go to when asking if something looks good. I can't lie well when it comes to that. You can pretty much see it on my face if I don't like it. It's hard to soften the blow sometimes, but in the end, I would rather someone I know and love tell me it doesn't look right then some stranger at a party or a restaurant. 

Join in the discussion over at BlogHer and be sure to check out all of the discussions in the Life Well Lived section. While you're there take a minute and enter the Life Well Lived sweepstakes! 

Life Well Lived: Looking Your Best

I'm participating in another one of BlogHer's Life Well Lived questions. Here the question of the week: 

What are your favorite ways to dress well for your size and shape? How do you make your wardrobe work through transitions?


I definitely had to relearn how to dress myself after the kiddos. To be perfectly honest, I'm still learning. I may be the same weight that I was from before I had them, but by no means am I the same shape.

I've definitely embraced brighter colors with much darker bottoms. I've also embraced the trouser cut jean, it's been a lifesaver.

As far as making my wardrobe work through transitions, I have a two size range in almost everything I own, this way, at any given time I have something that fits.

Check out what everyone else is saying on the main post on BlogHer.com and while you are there be sure to enter the sweepstakes!

Life Well Lived...Getting Happy

I was selected to answer another Life Well Lived Getting Happy question. The question is:

How do you put yourself first? How does taking time for yourself help make you happier?

I think as a Mom the whole concept of putting myself first was a hard one to grasp. I think so often we are made to feel guilty or selfish if we put ourselves first. The fact of the matter is we often need to, it's really the only way to stay sane.

My dear friend Elizabeth Lyons said it best when she said, "What do you do when your car is on E? You go to the gas station and fill up, right? So what do you do when you are running on E? You need to fill up on whatever it is that makes you happy."

I think that statement says it all. If we are putting everyone else first and not taking any time for ourselves unhappiness/resentment is sure to follow. The thing is, what you do does not have to be some big extravagant thing. I'm not saying make a daily spa appointment or anything like that. What I'm saying is, do something that makes you happy and do it alone. It can be something as simple as taking a bubble bath at the end of the night, or going for a pedicure. Sometimes, for me, it's going to the grocery store sans kids. Seriously, it's like a vacation.

I'm going to leave you with one last quote, and it's one my very Southern husband says all the time, "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy".

Be sure to check out all the other Life Well Lived Getting Happy discussions over at BlogHer and while you're there enter the Live Well Lived Sweepstakes!

Life Well Lived...Looking Your Best

I'm teaming up with the great ladies of BlogHer today in their Life Well Lived segment. This week is about looking your best and here is the questioned that was posed to me:

What are your beauty resolutions this year? How do you plan to shake up and streamline your routine? What are the good habits you are committing to developing?

For the most part my daily look is pretty simple. I've been trying to mix up how I style my hair, this way it's not the typical "mom hair". However, something I've noticed is that my "daily" look never seems to change into my "going out with my hubby" look. I making a conscious effort this year to try and look more...romantic....when we go out. So I guess you could say that my resolution is to shake up my normal routine and experiment with new looks. I have every intention of getting tips, tricks and ideas from my niece who just graduated from beauty school (her makeup is always flawless).

As far as good habits I'm committing to, I'm really trying to stay ahead of the aging process. Ever since I moved to Florida I have made sure that all of my lotions and makeup contain at least an SPF of 15 since the sun is always out. I also try and pamper my skin once a week with a mask, I've definitely noticed a difference in this. I'm also trying to stay on top of cleaning my makeup brushes. Honestly, I am pretty bad about this. Everyday I wipe them down to get the color off of them, but I'm bad about actually washing them. I've taken to setting reminders in my phone so I can stay on top of it. I've also started setting reminders for when it's time to throw out makeup, this way I'm not using expired products. Check out this article on About.com to find out when to throw out your products.

Want to join in on the discussion? Head over to BlogHer and check out the main post and leave comments there. While you're there, please visit the Life Well Lived Sweepstakes starting on January 26^th and enter for a chance to win a Kindle Fire and a $50 Amazon Gift Card.