I Spy | What I Found While Antiquing

Hello loves,

This week was my Mom's birthday - and despite the fact that I was feverish - I mustered up the strength to peruse the aisles of her favorite antique malls.  I'll admit that this is not my most favorite thing to do, but at Christmastime there's all sorts of cute, vintage, and sparkly odds and ends that were just begging to be Instagrammed. 

Nancy Drew is one of my most favorite book series. 

Always was, always will be.

To be honest - Christmas decorations used to be weird.

And creepy.

This is not Christmasy. But I love it.

And Pizza.

Happy holidays,

Traci J 

Introductions | Lovingly LuLu

Hello loves!

Today I want to introduce you to an amazing Etsy shop and an amazing woman.  Her name is Rebekah Westermann and she is the lady behind the magic at Lovingly LuLu.  She sells super cute headbands (see above) for both babies AND adults.

Be honest - who doesn't love a good headband?!

So - let's get to know Bekah.

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Hi all! My name is Rebekah Westermann. I am originally from Wisconsin, but I currently reside in Memphis, TN. I am a 24 year old wife, and stay-at-home mom. My husband, James and I met when we were in highschool, at a little custard shop where we both worked. We started dating YEARS later, and got married the day before our one year dating anniversary. About a month after we got married, we found out that I was pregnant with our (now 10 month old) son, Warren, who has brought so much JOY into our lives. Being a wife and mommy are two beautifully challenging “jobs”, but I am so blessed by and thankful for my best friend that I get to share in life with, and the sweet little person that has been entrusted into our care.

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I had some questions for Rebekah - here's what she said:

What do you sell at your Etsy Shop?

‘Lovingly LuLu’ sells handmade headbands that are made by yours truly.

When did you start making headbands and why?

I actually made my very first headband January 2nd of this year.  

We found out a few days before Christmas that we are having a little girl in May (Yes, I am pregnant again.), and in a moment of  “I want to be crafty”, I decided to attempt making our little one a headband out of some scrap fabric I had leftover from some other project. Then I attempted another, and another, and another, and so on and so forth until I was pretty much a headband-making junkie. :) 

What inspired you to open a shop on Etsy?

Well, I actually already had my shop on Etsy before I even started making headbands. I originally opened ‘Lovingly LuLu’ this past July not only for something to do, but also to try and sell a vast array of things that I have made. It just didn’t work out for me then. Looking back I think that it was just too random to be successful. 

But when I started making headbands for our little one, people were really liking them. I had quite a few people tell me that I should start selling, so that is what I did. I transformed ‘Lovingly LuLu’ from a shop of random, to a shop of headbands.

Where did the name 'Lovingly LuLu' come from?

‘Lovingly LuLu’ is lovingly named after my mother, Luann. She passed away May 24th, 2008 from brain cancer. When I was trying to decide on a name for the shop, I knew I wanted to include her in some way. Eventually the name just came to me, and I thought (and still think) that it was (is) perfect.

Do you have any advice for others thinking of starting an Etsy shop?

Well, seeing as how I am still new at the whole Etsy shop owner thing, I don’t know that my advice counts for much. But, I guess I would just say if doing/creating something makes you happy, and the thought of sharing it with others gets you excited, go for it! If it works out for you, GREAT! If not, try not to sweat it.  You can’t succeed at something until you at least try. Failing doesn’t make YOU a failure, it just means there is something else out there that is better suited for you. :)

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More of the headbands you can find at 'Lovingly LuLu'

How do you all like the "Introductions" idea? If you'd like to see more posts like this let me know in the comments!

Be sure to check out 'Lovingly LuLu' http://www.etsy.com/shop/LovinglyLuLu

Have a great Sunday!

With love,

Traci J

My First Time at the Benefit Brow Bar

Hello everyone!

How are you? Have you been enjoying the holidays?  I know I have - except for this terrible cold I have had for the past few days.  I've barely been able to eat anything because my throat hurts so much!

However, nothing could keep me from making my annual post-Christmas shopping trip to Gurnee Mills in Gurnee, Illinois with my mom yesterday.

After having our usual lunch at the Rainforest Cafe (I had a delicious portabella wrap), mom and I wandered over to Macy's.  When I enter Macy's, I do not stop and do not pass go until I reach the make up counters.

My first and only stop was the Benefit counter.

I knew that I wanted to start building up my Benefit collection - since I am already in love with their It's Potent eye cream.  It is no surprise that Benefit has great products.  Everything from their skincare to blushes to mascaras are raved about in the beauty world.  So can you really go wrong when purchasing from Benefit? I have yet to find out.

While perusing the shelves of the Benefit counter - I found this amazing box set of skincare samples!!!!
I was drawn to this box because it contained my beloved It's Potent - and a bunch of other products from their skincare line. The best part - it only costs $24 and I get to try it all!!!

Box Includes:
Foamingly Clean Facial Wash
Refined Facial Polish
Moisture Prep Toning Lotion
Triple Performing Facial Emulsion 
Total Moisture Facial Cream
It's Potent! Eye Cream

So as I was starting to head towards the cash register, the nice man at the counter told me that they were having a promotion where if you buy $50 worth of products - you can get your brows done for free. So I though "why not?!"

To meet the $50 mark I added on the Stay Don't Stray eye primer.  I've been on the look out for a new eye primer for sometime.  I picked up this in the color light/medium.  Hopefully this helps tame my oily eyelids.

Then it was time to get my brows done.  Believe it or not, I had never had my brows waxed before.  I am a tweezer girl - but I will say that I loved my experience!  I will be getting my brows waxed on a more regular basis.  The woman who did my eye brows was nice - she remembered my name and asked questions about what I like beauty-wise.  I felt taken well taken care of.  My brows turned out fabulously - and she even touched up my make up for free!  One of my favorite parts of the experience was that she never tried to sell me any of the products.  Often I am overwhelmed by the pushy sales people at make up counters.  I would highly recommend the brow bar - regularly costing $23.

Have any of you visited the brow bar? How was your experience?

Thanks for reading!

With love,

Traci J