Can You Believe It's Manicure Monday?!?!

Because I can't.

It's been far too long. Far, far too long. But not without good reason. I have been really really busy getting engaged. And working through all of everything that comes with being engaged.

I love these picture update moments, so here we go...

Zach and I have been together for close to seven years. This is a picture of us going to his prom when he was a junior in high school and I was a freshman. We grew up going to the same church with our families and started growing as friends earlier that school year. I had had a pretty consistent crush on him since I was...12, maybe? so those early convos on AIM were pretty much dreams come true.

We started dating when I turned 16 and spent the rest of Zach's time in high school together.

Zach graduated and headed to college in Virginia and I finished my last year of high school. We were already planning to be with each other for a while. so we just kind of let long distance happen. 

I went to school in New York. Zach visited me my sophomore year and my friend Ashton took some pictures for us. Some people were suspicious and thought they might have been engagement photos, but we weren't planning to get married until we both had graduated, so there was no reason to rush things.

And then Zach did propose to me. For real. I knew we were going to get married, but I had no idea he was going to ask me when he did. Happiest October 4th of my life yet.

He brought all the letters I have written him and all the cards I have made and laid them out in a path to him. And then he started to read me something from a letter I wrote him as he was leaving for college. I couldn't handle myself for a moment.

Being proposed to was genuinely one of the most joyful and exhilarating experiences of my life. If getting married is important to you, I sincerely hope you get to experience a proposal (from either side :)). And another huge thank you to all our friends who helped with the planning and executing...of the plan.
In case you aren't tired of pictures yet, I'll just share a few more from our inevitable engagement session. Once again, with the fantabulous Ashton. 

I feel like this one just screams "Christmas Card." Am I right?

Oh, and Zach has a puppy. So I also have a puppy.

For anyone who plans on getting some pictures taken for any reason but isn't sure about finding a photographer or being able to afford one, I'd like to just take some time to share what I worked out for these photos. I found a friend who likes to take photos. My fiance happens to have a nice camera, but even if he didn't we still would have gotten some perfectly fine shots with a basic digital. Then I used PicMonkey, which is a free online photo editing website. I just tweaked the pictures til I liked the way they looked, and they save in really high quality. Money saved. Check it out here. 

Now for the manicure. Can I just say that I am also fantastically excited about the nail polish I am about to show you? It is most definitely a new favorite color, and I was more than impressed with the virtual lack of chipping. 

Meet Revlon's "Fearless."

The lighting never seemed to be ideal, so I don't necessarily have a fantastic picture of this polish in action. Here is a shot in natural, but very cloudy, light.

This is really not a normal color for me. I tend to stay away from reds in general; I just don't usually love how either average or bold or bloodthirsty they look. But this caught my eye the last time I was in Wal-Mart and I took a little risk on it. Turns out it is going to be one of my all time favorites. It applied nicely; two coats and I had the opacity I wanted. It's a really bright, clean, orangey red. Not necessarily the first color I think of for the winter months, but I l-o-v-e-d the way it looked with some of my cheetah print accents and gold jewelry, and it really just gave me a nice pop of brightness in the middle of the snow and rain and grey. If I ever get a picture that does it justice you will be the first to see it. 

As usual I used Orly's Bonder Basecoat and Polishield Top Coat. This polish wore for a good week with only some shrinkage from the topcoat. No real chipping to speak of. Awesome. 

Thank you oh-so-much for stopping by. I'm going to get caught up with some fall posts and then all the winter-themed thoughts in my head are coming your way. 

Beauty Habits to Make Your Life a Bit Easier

I love making lists, so here's one of some simple beauty-ish things you can do to make your life easier. Perhaps that is an exaggeration, but, hey, when I do these thing, my life seems easier. Maybe some of these things will make you say, "Uh, duh Katie." Or "You aren't writing rocket science, here." First of all, I never said I was, and, second, I know I appreciate reminders. Maybe you do, too.

1. Use lotion on your hands. Everyday. Especially in the Winter. Multiple times a day.
Doing this will prevent all that annoying and painful cracking. It will also help moisturize your cuticles and allow your nails to grow out better. I like to keep a small bottle with me in my purse or backpack, so anytime I get in from being outside I can moisturize those dry knuckles. 

2. Use a mouthwash.
I just think it helps my mouth feel super duper clean when I use a mouthwash. You can get ones that help with whitening if you can't stand white strips. Right now I'm using one by Crest, but I change it up almost every time that I buy it.

3. Own a facial moisturizer. And use it. Preferably one with SPF.
One of my favorites is Aveeno's Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer. It has an SPF of 15, and helps keep my face from literally falling of in the winter. In the summer, when I have parts of my face that get very oily, it doesn't over do the moisture and add to the oilyness, which is fantastic. I don't like having to change products based on season very much, so this moisturizer is ideal for me. The SPF protects my skin from UV rays, which will help prevent wrinkles and cancer later. Also, moisturizing will prevent your skin from overproducing oils to compensate for dryness, and those extra oils can lead to acne. Try out Aveeno if you like, but remember to find something that works for your skin. 

4. Curl your eyelashes.
As long as you can mentally and physically handle it, curling your eyelashes helps open up the eye and can make the eyelashes look longer, which I think I can safely assume we all want to do. I curl my lashes pretty much everyday, even if the only eye makeup I'm wearing is mascara. Practice makes perfect, and if you are afraid to try it, well, I hope you overcome your fears someday.

5. CHAPSTICK.
Dry lips are annoying and painful. And they can be a pain in the butt when trying to apply lipstick and other lip products, so keep a chapstick on you as much as possible. I love Carmex, in any form, and recently I've been using Blistex Five Star Lip Protection, which is fantastic, by the way.

6. Try out a face primer. 
If you have been struggling with foundations and haven't been able to find one you love, shift your focus to a different kind of product. I use face primer whenever I remember to, and I think it can be really helpful for getting a natural look. Face primers just smooth the face out and create a nice base for face makeup, which sometimes is all a foundation needs to really perform. You can also get ones that reduce redness or counter other discolorations in skin. Currently, I'm switching back and forth between Hard Candy's Sheer Envy Primer and NYX's Pore Filler.

7. Switch up face washes, treatments, etc.
Our skin is designed to help itself, so it will acclimate, to a certain degree, to the different products that we use. I like to use different acne washes from time to time, or else I find that my skin just gets used to it, and the results aren't as great as when I started using the product. Some of the most successful products I have used to treat acne are: AcneFree, Biore, Clean 'n' Clear, and Neutrogena. 

8. Drink water, sleep, eat "right."
I hate water, I like to eat foods that taste good, and I don't sleep as much as I should. So I'm not going to try and suggest that you change your lifestyle. Plus, I am not a doctor, so I can't give you any clinical advice or evidence to show that doing the above things will make you happier and healthier, but I can say that it is generally accepted that drinking plenty of water, getting enough sleep, and eating healthy will help you feel better and can even help give you clearer, more hydrated skin. That's all I have to say about that. If you want more information about these tips, check out the following websites.
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-4287/10-Reasons-Why-You-Should-Drink-More-Water.html
http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/food-nutrition/healthy-eating/drinking-water.ht

9. Take your makeup off of your entire face every night.
Doing this will keep everything clean, unclogged, and breathing. I also find that if my skin is going through a dry spell, not washing my face and applying moisturizer before bed means I'm going to wake with my skin about to fall. off. my. face. It's unpleasant. You can find all different forms of makeup remover for all different prices. Just look for one that is non-drying and makes taking your makeup off comfortable. Some can feel sort of abrasive. 

I'm sure this list could be so much longer, but it's not so much fun to overwhelm ourselves. 

I hope you enjoyed these little things. Do you have any helpful hints for making life easier? They don't necessarily have to be beauty related. Feel free to share them in the comments, and thanks for visiting!