Hey friends and happy holidays! Sadly, the holidays are coming to an end but I can't wait for NYE! My Clemson Tigers will be playing in the playoffs and I'll be watching them from home on my cozy couch. We actually have tickets and are selling them because honestly, we've been traveling so much and nothing sounds better than drinks, apps and a beef tenderloin and watching the game in our pajamas with some of our best friends. 

Anyways, back to my makeup bag.

I don't travel lightly. Never have and honestly, probably never will. I'm not ashamed. It's who I am and I totally own it. 

When traveling during the holidays, I always bring items that can be used for any occasion. Whether it's going out with high school friends to get a drink, going on date night or Christmas dinner, I've got it covered. 

These are a slew of my favorite things…seriously, where do they come up with these things? It's genius. 

First off, the travel bag was originally $26 but is on sale for $15 with an additional 20% off using the code Extra20. You're welcome. 

Most of these items shouldn't come as a surprise to you, but they are my go-to, can't live without products that I grab for on a daily basis.

In the order that I apply the products, they are:

Moisturizer

Primer

First Aide Beauty Eye Duty 

Foundation

Concealer

Powder 

Bronzer

Eye Primer

Eyeshadow Palette

Eyeliner

Mac Blush, Becca Blush, Hourglass Blush 

Mascara

Setting Spray

Lipstick (not pictured)
Perfume 

See, I told you that I don't travel lightly. Now, what do you keep in your holiday travel bag? 

Gift Guide for the Beauty Lover

I was so honored when Evelina from Fortunate House emailed me asking if I'd guest blog for her while she went to New York for vacation! I was thrilled and of course said yes because she is one of my favorite bloggers. We started blogging at about the same time so I feel like we are going through this journey together and it's been so fun getting to know her.

 I find a lot of inspiration through other blogger's holiday gift guides and since some of my most favorite posts are beauty related, why not combine the two?

Have that difficult friend or relative that has absolutely everything and you never know what to get them? Well, I can guarantee you that they won't have a few items on this list since they are all new holiday editions.




1 |  2 |  3 |  4 |  5 |  6 |  7 |  8 |  9 |  10 |  11 |  12 |  13 |  14 |  15 

Just look how luxurious all of these are. I want it all. We're still shopping for others…not ourselves, right? 

So sit down, pour a hot cup of peppermint bark hot chocolate (it's been our go-to this holiday season) and write down all of these gift sets and products to go get for your loved ones!

Thanks again, Evelina for letting me guest blog for you while you are on vacation. I can only imagine the wonderful time you are having during the most beautiful and magical time of year!

Ladies, please head on over to her blog and check it out. I promise she won't disappoint you!!

Have a great weekend!

Our 2015 Christmas Card

I feel like I was super behind this season on sending out Christmas cards but hopefully by now, most of our friends and family have received them. I still have a few stragglers that are waiting on addresses or just waiting for a stamp to seal the deal. 

In the past years, I've used Minted, but this year I chose to use Shutterfly. I had a really good coupon and couldn't pass up the fantastic deal.

I was so impressed with their customer service and the quality of the card. I ordered them on a late Sunday night and they were in my hands the next Thursday morning. They shipped the very next day that they were ordered. That is basically 3 days. Ordered, printed and delivered. I was really, really impressed. 

I usually have a vision for our Christmas cards and this year was no exception. 

The first married year was a no brainer. Slap a professional wedding photo on the card and call it a day. The second and third year was a little more difficult to come up with an idea but we ended up attending attending black tie weddings both years around the holiday so we used that. 

We don't have children and don't have a dog (which I feel like most people usually use as a prop) so it's just the two of us in the card each year and that can sometimes be awkward.

But this year, I wanted something different. 

Our alma mater's football team, Clemson University, is the number one team in the nation, is the only undefeated team and just won the ACC Championship game. They are headed to Miami to play in the playoffs in hopes of making it to the National Championship. 

With that being said, we absolutely knew that we wanted our Christmas card to be themed around Clemson.

Drum rollll……

Yes, that would be Howard's Rock. The rock that every Clemson player and coach rubs before they run down the hill at a home game. A rock that is extremely important to the school and is a long standing tradition. 

 After the Tigers won the ACC Championship, Andrew and I took this picture and knew it had a special place on the back of our card!

Overall, I was extremely happy with the way our cards turned out this year and let's pray for a Tiger win!

Do you send out Christmas cards? If so, I'd love to see them!

Weekend Vibes and a Cookie Exchange Party

Since last weekend was so busy, it was nice to stay in town and relax this weekend! We went over to some friend's house on Friday evening to eat a delicious meal and hang out. On Saturday, I had to work but then came home and was in the kitchen for about 4 hours! That might not seem relaxing to some, but it is so therapeutic for me. I might have made the biggest mess ever, but it was so worth it. 

I prepared dough to make 64 cookies (yes, that's a lot!) and then cooked Andrew and I dinner. While I was cooking, I poured a glass of wine, turned on all of our Christmas tree and mantle lights and watched my first Christmas movie of the season. It was glorious. 

That's only about 16 pounds of cookie dough that consists of chocolate chips, Rolos and toffee bits! My mother in law and I have perfected the recipe and it even won at my company bake off last month! 

The best twice baked potatoes I've made to date, NY strip with caramelized onions and mushrooms and some broccoli…yuck. I always make a vegetable to make myself feel better but don't always end up eating all of it. It's the thought that counts, right?

Y'all, I hadn't purchased one single Christmas gift this season until Sunday. I have been so behind this year but made it a point to wake up early and go. Remember all of the cookies I prepped on Saturday? Well, I baked them on Sunday and took them (only 48 so Andrew could have a few) to a cookie exchange party on Sunday and shared them all with some girl friends. It was so much fun and good to see some of my girlfriends that I haven't seen in a while. Not to mention, I brought a ton of different cookies home that everyone else made and actually dropped some of them off at multiple friend's houses on the way home because I didn't think it was smart to keep allll of those cookies in the house. Bad decision? Thanks for hosting, Ashley and Casey!! 

The finished product. 

Veuve at 2:00 in the afternoon? Sure, it's a party! And the holidays.

Cookies on cookies.

Another table of desserts...

My dear friend Leslie and me.

The "exchanged" cookies. It was so fun to see what everyone else brought. 

I'm looking forward to this week…multiple Christmas parties and y'all, is next week actually Christmas? It still hasn't hit me yet and I am so not ready, but we'll get there. And then New Years will be here before we know it.  

Linking up with Biana for Weekending! Check out her blog. You won't be disappointed! 

100 Posts!

Hundreds of comments.

Thousands of page views.
Hours on hours reading and commenting on other's blogs.
Hundreds of hours creating posts.

100 Posts.

Thank you for encouraging, reading, commenting and most importantly, coming to my little space each day. 

I wouldn't be here if it weren't for y'all and it would be much, much harder for me to write and put my life out there if it weren't for my readers. I write a blog for myself, but it is a wonderful feeling that people actually enjoy following along.

I know I've taken a back seat to blogging lately due to a lot of personal things going on but 2016, I'm comin' for ya!

So, thank you for your support and let's hope I can get to the next 100!

xoxo,
Ashley

Linking up with Annie for Thoughts for Thursday 

Christmas Parties and ACC Championship

The first weekend in December was one for the books. We crammed a lot into just one weekend and we visited multiple cities all in a few days, but it was memorable. 

We headed to one of our favorite places on earth to take our Christmas card photos. I can't tell you where yet but you will find out once I share our final card with you! 

After that, we headed to Atlanta for Andrew's Christmas party at Sweetwater Brewery. Our work Christmas parties happened to be on the same weekend but since we lived in Atlanta and don't get to see a lot of our friends that often, we chose to head there. It was so much fun and we were so excited to spend time with friends that don't live close by. 

We brunched in Atlanta and then headed to Charlotte for the ACC Championship. Our #1 Clemson Tigers took on the UNC Tar Heels and we ended up on top. I'm not going to lie, I was a nervous wreck the entire game but it ended the way we wanted it to. 

Oh, and then there was that one time that Tajh Boyd showed up to our tailgate! He is one of my all-time favorite Clemson quarterbacks. 

Clemson will now head to Miami to play Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl on New Years Eve. 

    

Sunday brunch at Mert's in Charlotte was epic, as it always is. Soul food at its finest. 

We headed home, unpacked, cleaned and did loads of laundry then finally decorated the house for Christmas. The tree is up and decorated and A and I enjoyed Williams Sonoma's peppermint bark hot chocolate and listened to Christmas music while we decorated. That is always one of my favorite memories with him.  Oh, and I was finally able to get our Christmas cards ordered. 

I hope y'all enjoyed your weekend and hope you have a fabulous week!

Linking up with Biana for Weekending.

November Favorites

Can someone please tell me where did the entire month of November went? 

Life has been super busy with traveling, weddings, hospital visits and the holidays. I didn't even take one picture at Thanksgiving. We spent the majority of the holiday in the hospital and I just couldn't force myself to pretend to be happy so that means there is no documentation. 

The month of November was not a favorite and it was probably the hardest month we've had yet, but I still managed to collect a few goodies over the past month to share with you.

Yes, I am well aware that some of these are completely random but hey…they don't always have to be beauty related!

Laura Mercier Translucent Setting Powder // This has transitioned into my every day setting powder. I love that it doesn't add any color but does mattify and "set" my foundation. 

Sigma Highlight Brush // I use this to set my under eyes and it does a great job of fitting in all of the crevices of my puffy and dark circled eyes. 

First Aide Beauty Eye Duty Triple Remedy // For the above reasons (puffy and dark circles), this helps reduce the amount of puffiness and color corrects to help brighten.

Ricola Dual Action Cough Drops // So random but I've gotten addicted to these and I'm not proud. I pop them in my mouth like they are candy. My current favorite flavors are cherry and mint. They are filled with a liquid that is actually really strong since it's medicated but leaves your mouth feeling so clean! Oh, and I guess it does a good job of helping with a sore throat but clearly that isn't why I've been eating them. 

Rewind Candle in Merlot // Wine in a candle? Yes please. You know these candles are some of my favorites but as I go through one after another, I can't help but share. Merlot is my favorite scent for fall but I smelt the Rose the other day and that's on my Christmas list. Oh, and did you know that they now make a 3 wick candle so it's extra big? 

Adele "Hello" // I know this song has been so overplayed but I can't stop belting out to it every time it comes on in the car! And did you know that the album "25" does not signify her current age but actually the age she was when she went through the events that her lyrics are based on?

Thai Massaman Curry // The first few days we were in the hospital with Andrew's dad, one of his friends brought us a bunch of Thai dishes and this Massaman dish was called "Amazing!" on the menu. We had no idea what it was but let me tell you…the name of it was accurate! After researching "Thai peanut curry sauce," we found out that it was called Massaman. Well, have you know it…it is a common curry dish at our local Thai restaurant and it's been on repeat. Sorry not sorry.

iPhone 6s // I am kind of jumping the gun on this one but I have a feeling it'll definitely be a favorite. I bought this tonight so I really don't have many reviews yet but I can already tell that I'm going to love it more than my iPhone 5s. More storage, 3D and better camera? I'm in. Please leave any recommendations for cell phone cases!! Mine is still naked and need one ASAP. Would love to find a local shop if possible!

Clemson Tigers // I saved the best for last. My Tigers have been ranked #1 in the country all month long and I am so incredibly proud. We haven't won a National Championship since 1981 and this is the closest we've gotten since then! We are heading to Charlotte for the ACC Championship game this weekend against UNC and I pray we win! (Sorry, Evelina!) They have worked so hard to get where they are and I can't wait to hopefully support them in AZ in January! 

We will be going to get our Christmas tree tomorrow and I will finally start decorating for my favorite holiday! I feel like we are probably the last people on earth to be getting a tree, but better late than never? Oh, and then I have to send out my Christmas cards.

Linking up with Annie and Natalie for Thoughts for Thursday!