New Goodies!

I'm so excited, my new ELF goodies came today and I can't wait to try them. I got a couple of the HD Blushes, 2 of the Contouring Blush & Bronzing Powders and a few other things. I'll do a detailed post after I take pictures and then a review after I've used some things. Well off to tend to the sweet pea! Enjoy your weekend.

Love and hugs,
Jae

First Visit Back to the NICU

Today was a great day for the little guy and I. He had his first follow up appointment with the occupational therapist at the hospital and visited a few friends, including his girlfriend Nurse Devin. He was evaluated at well above his corrective age and is expected to catch up with no issues. All in all, life is great!

Love and hugs,
Jae

Collective Shopping Spree

I’ve picked up a few things here and there lately that I wanted to share with you guys. I haven’t really had the chance to use them enough for a review, but I’ll get on it!

Eyes/Brows:

Maybelline Color Tattoo in Painted Purple, Tenacious Teal and Tough as Taupe

Maybelline Master Precise eyeliner

Maybelline Master Shape brow definer in soft brown

Face/Cheeks:

MAC Studio Careblend Pressed Powder in medium deep

NYX Bronzer & Blusher Combo in Sunrise in Bali

NYC Sun 'n’ Bronze Powder in Coney Island Glow

Sephora Harmony Trio Bronzer in Apricot

Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush in Peach Satin

e.l.f Makeup Mist & Set

Lips:

Wet n Wild Lipstick in Don’t Blink Pink and Dollhouse Pink

essence Stay with me lipgloss in Me & My Icecream and Candy Bar

L-R: Don’t Blink Pink, Dollhouse Pink, Me & My Icecream, Candy Bar

Nail:

Sinful Colors polish in Zeus

Fragrance:

Victoria’s Secret Pink with a splash body mist in sweet & flirty and fresh & clean

Hair:

Organix Moroccan Argan Oil Conditioner

I’ll be posting pictures and completing reviews soon!

Love and hugs,

Jae

My New Obsession

Being a makeup junkie can be expensive, especially when making higher end purchases. To help myself indulge and help my pocketbook (Omg...did I just say pocketbook!) I now shop the sample size items at Sephora and Ulta.

I received my first sample set - Happy Beauty Day! from Ulta for purchasing another Benefit product. It contained:
BADgal lash mascara, posietint lip and cheek stain and POREfessional pore reducing primer.

While waiting to checkout at Sephora I came across the benefit to go "stay put" set, which contained:
Stay Don't Stray shadow and concealer primer, Erase Paste camouflage for eyes and face and RSVP creaseless cream shadow. I believe this set was $10 and contains a fair amount of product.

Last week I went to Sephora and found myself only interested in the items at the checkout. I didn't want to make a big purchase so I stuck with the benefit FULL GLAM AHEAD set, which contains:
High Beam luminescent complexion enhanced, Stay Don't Stray shadow and concealer primer and BADgal lash mascara. I didn't mind the duplicates as I like both the mascara and primer and may purchase the full size when I run out. This set was $12.

Stay tuned for reviews on some of these products.

I definitely plan on making more sample set purchase from other companies such as Tarte, Lorac, Urban Decay and Too Faced, just to name a few.

BTW...I've started posting some things from my phone as its much faster with the little one around. I'll still have some posts from my computer with better pictures!

Definitely leave me a comment if you've tried any of these items or suggest other sets.
Happy reading,
Jae

Hair Update: Post Baby Blues

One thing I loved about being pregnant was my hair. It was so thick, soft and strong and I just knew it was my new mane. Little did I know, many women experience lots of shedding after birth while the hormones are returning to normal. Let's just say, I've hit the post baby phase hard! I've decided to keep my hair in protective styles for the next few months, washing every 2 weeks. Here's the first style, I promise to post better pictures soon.

Let me know your suggestions for the post baby hair blues.

O..you can see Baby Byrd in the back if you look closely!

Love and hugs,
Jae

What a Wonderful Easter

This Easter was one of the best days that I've had in a long while. As you know my baby boy was born 12 weeks early and had been in the NICU since February. Well, my little guy was discharged Easter afternoon and spent the day at home with the family.

The week leading up to Easter was huge as he started hitting milestones in several areas very quickly. I think 37 weeks gestation clicked for him. He went from bottle feeding 15 cc's and tubing feeding 37 to bottlle feeding the entire amount the Sunday before Easter. This was such a shock to me as I didn't know the doctor had an order for bottle feeding. The last thing he needed to do was maintain his temperature so he could go into an open crib and that didn't come until Thursday before Easter. You can imagine my shock when I called to check on him Friday morning and was told he would be discharged as long as he didn't have any spells and passed his car seat challenge.

Finally, after not sleeping and calling the NICU several times a day, I was told I could come and pick my little one up around 1pm. I was so excited, but scared as I've never cared for a baby on my own. I was also sad to leave his nurses who had grown to be like family after 9 weeks. After reviewing last minute paperwork, my little one and I bolted out the door around 2pm and headed home to our family.

This journey had been a trying one, but I'm happy he's finally home and can't wait to see what motherhood brings. I'll continue to post updates along the way and get back to my regular format as well.

Love and hugs,
Momma Jae

Precious Baby Byrd

I'll be back soon, I even have a makeup look to post! My precious Baby Boy came a little early-12 weeks to be exact so I'm spending most of my time with him in the NICU. I started a post with my delivery story and will finish that soon as well.

Love and hugs,
Jae (Momma Byrd!)

What I'm Watchin'

I haven't been doing much in the way of makeup or hair, but I have been watching tons of TV and feel like writing about it. I hope to play around with some hair or makeup this weekend, but I can't make any promises. On to the good stuff...

RHWOA
This show is extremely strange this season and yet I'm still watching. Half of the ladies don't speak and the others are just existing. Peter and Cynthia seem to be having a rough first year of marriage and don't really seem to be on  the same page about things. Phaedra seems to be trying to expand her brand by opening a funeral home that she can later leave to her son. Speaking of Aiden, isn't he precious with those cheeks!?! I hope the best is yet to come, because there hasn't been much to this season. I hope something happens in Africa and hopefully Sheree and Nene and reunite.

The Game
We're only 2 episodes in this season and I'm starting to get frustrated. The first episode had a lot going on-so much so that I could barely keep up. I need the writers to slow it down just a bit and let the plot thickening throughout the season. I'll give it a little more time before I abandon ship, but this just might be the season to make me do so!

Teen Mom
I've been with this show forever and can't seem to get enough of it. Looks like Corey and Leah still have it together, but I'm waiting to see the episode where they break up. Baby Ali is the most precious little girl in the world...I can't seem to get enough of those little glasses. She also seems to be doing a lot more in terms of moving and stuff. Jenelle is a waste of space right now and I really hope she can get herself together. Watching her actually makes me sick. Chelsea is another one that really needs to get per priorities together and stop worrying about her baby daddy (I hate the term, but the shoe fits in this case!) and focus on baby Aubrey. Kailyn seems to be trying, but she doesn't always go about things the right way. I think she could have explained the entire child support reasoning a lot better and maybe Joe would have understood. I can't wait to see what's in store for the rest of the season.

Jersey Shore
This one just came back on as well and we're down two people in the first two episodes, how crazy is that! I hope Vinny gets the rest he needs and home and is able to return. Mike may be a lost cause at this point. I'll keep watching.

Braxton Family Values
Toni and her sisters are hilarious..I can't seem to get enough of this show. Tamar is her usual over the top self that fuels the fire for everyone else. This season we actually saw her bring Toni outside of herself, something you don't often see. Traci is trying to come into herself and often times they don't let her and act as if she's beneath them because she stayed in MD. Trina should probably get a divorce as it seems she and her husband are not happy and have both stepped outside the marriage. I need Towanda and her husband to decide what to do as well, that story is getting kind of old too. I think the next episode is going to be pretty good and I can't wait to see it.

Oh well..I just wanted to drop a few lines to keep this thing going. Please drop me a line if you watch any of these shows or recommend any.

Happy Reading,
Jae

Happy New Year!

Hello everyone,
I hope your holidays were all that you wanted them to be and your New Year has started off right. I have so much to look forward to this year that I can hardly contain myself. The biggest thing is the birth of my little boy (yes its a boy!) in April. I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself. I find myself getting all mushy when I see babies on TV, its so crazy, I never thought I would be the one getting mushy over a little one.

I hope to get back to more frequent updates as well, its pretty hard because I haven't been buying anything and barely wear makeup anymore. I'm thinking I need to shop my stash and make time to do a few looks. Before I know it, I won't have time for anything, so I should make it now!

Oh well, back to work...

I hope you all have a great year.
Love and hugs,
Jae