Do you ever wonder other moms secrets? Like actual real beautiful day to day hard working moms? So often I see a darling one at the park and think wow, she looks so great! I wonder what she is doing so well. With that in mind I thought I’d begin a new series on ALFS – Everyday Moms. These are moms I know, moms that have been recommended to me, moms that inspire and are beautiful inside and out. Let’s peak into their lives just a bit, shall we?

Meet Amy!

Location: Barrington, IL

Job: Stay at home Mom

Kid(s): Brody (9)

You’re in your closet – what do you reach for first? Anything black. Lately I’ve embraced casual dresses (especially from Old Navy) because I enjoy looking semi-put together with minimal effort.  I love being able to throw on a dress with some flip flops and spending five minutes putting my hair up with a swipe of mascara and lip gloss and walking out the door.    

Hands down the one beauty product you can’t live without. Only one! Bobbi Brown Lip Gloss in Nude. It’s my go-to color and I always have it in my purse or in my pocket. 

Your daily moisturizer. Are you happy with it? I love Mabel+Meg Lumilixir serum.  It gives my skin a healthy looking glow with the added bonus of minimizing the blemishes I’ve recently been getting as my skin is changing with age. 

Your nightly moisturizer. Are you happy with it? I started using Kiehl’s Super Multi-Corrective Cream about 6 months ago and I’m obsessed.  I’ve noticed a huge difference in the way my skin looks and feels. 

Something in your shopping cart online right now that you want to buy – budget is no limit. New paint and light fixtures for our home.  I’ve been watching way too much HGTV (if that’s actually possible) and I’m desperate to change the paint colors from the yellows and greens that were popular a decade ago to greige, greige, greige. 

How do you feel your beauty routine changed when you became a mom? I’ve always been a hair and make-up girl and still love the experiment with both when I have the time.  Most days, that isn’t reality, so I will throw on some mascara and lip gloss and call it a day.  I promised myself when I turned 40 that I would actually develop a nightly skin care routine and I’ve stuck with it – washing my face, taking off my makeup, and applying a concoction of lotions and potions.  This is a big step in maturity for me since I spent my 20’s and 30’s in slept-in makeup.

Biggest indulgence you allow yourself. At least once a month I have a no-chip manicure on the calendar.  I love having a fun new design each time with lots of color and tons of glitter.  I’ve had everything from Lego to Harry Potter to Unicorns – anything goes and they are always attention getting.

Tell us about your kid(s). My only child Brody is 9 and he is quite the renaissance man.  He absolutely loves playing baseball and hockey, but he is equally as interested in math, chess and art.  He has been taking Tae Kwon Do for years and is currently a first degree black belt.  He stays in constant motion whether it is with sports, video games, or solving a Rubik’s cube.  He definitely keeps me on my toes and constantly makes me laugh.

What is your biggest struggle as a mom day to day. I need to remember to take some time for myself each day.  There are days that go by that I realize the only time I sat down was in the car to be the mom taxi going from activity to activity.  Reminding myself that the dishes will still be there, the laundry will still be there, the floors will still be there, and nothing will implode if I sit down and breathe in the moment when I need a break. 

What is your biggest happiness as a mom day to day. Watching my son celebrate his successes and learn from his failures. 

Snap your fingers – you could have a magic fairy help you with one thing around the home every day. What is it? Absolutely, without a doubt, I need a magic fairy who will cook for me.  As hard as I try, I’m a disaster in the kitchen.  I haven’t found the joy in cooking, and meal planning just stresses me out.  I fly by the seat of my pants and find myself at the grocery store daily trying to throw together something that everyone will eat and I can make in between activities.  The majority of dinners are either tacos or food on the grill because that’s what I can handle.  Magic cooking fairy, call me!

Because you are oh so pretty, tell us about your favorite feature! Being able to make people laugh.  There are so many times when life can feel overwhelming, but I believe laughter is the key to getting through the crazy.

Thank you so much, Amy, for sharing your time and darling family with us. I’m with you on the Old Navy dresses and the Bobbi Brown lip gloss, great picks! Love the reminder that yes, if we take a moment to actually sit down during the day, nothing will implode. Funny we have to remind ourselves of that at times but it is so true. Hope the rest of baseball season goes well for you – go Broncos! 

Do you ever wonder other moms secrets? Like actual real beautiful day to day hard working moms? So often I see a darling one at the park and think wow, she looks so great! I wonder what she is doing so well. With that in mind I thought I’d begin a new series on ALFS – Everyday Moms. These are moms I know, moms that have been recommended to me, moms that inspire and are beautiful inside and out. Let’s peak into their lives just a bit, shall we?

Meet Andrea!

Location: Algonquin, IL

Job: Stay at home Mom

Kids: Elle (4) and Krew (2)

You’re in your closet – what do you reach for first? I am a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl. My favorite jeans right now are Hudson’s, they have a great fit.

Hands down the one beauty product you can’t live without. Only one! Does lip moisturizer count as a beauty product? If so, I would have to say my Burt’s Bees Ultra Conditioning lip moisturizer. Also, my favorite mascara. 

Your daily moisturizer. Are you happy with it? Right now I am using Rodan+Fields beauty regimens. I am very happy with my skin after almost a year of using the products!

Your nightly moisturizer. Are you happy with it? I use Rodan+Fields for my nightly moisturizer as well. There are a few of the products that I mix up for my regimen. 

Something in your shopping cart online right now that you want to buy – budget is no limit. We are currently in the process of doing some touch-ups in our kitchen. I have a few backsplash options that I’m trying to decide between. I’m leaning toward the marble look. 

How do you feel your beauty routine changed when you became a mom? Since becoming a mom, I have had less time for myself & my skin. My eyebrows get less attention, and I hardly ever exfoliate anymore.  

Biggest indulgence you allow yourself. I try to get facials every few months, it gives me some “me” time and is refreshing for my skin.

Tell us about your kid(s). Elle is 4 and Krew is 2.  They keep me laughing and are incredible kids. They are teaching me patience and helping me to not fret about the little things. I am so lucky they’re mine!

What is your biggest struggle as a mom day to day. My biggest struggle as a mom today would have to be juggling it all.  It is so easy to get frustrated with ourselves when we have to shuffle kids to school, then to extra activities, then try and keep the house nice and neat (toddlers are tornadoes, you know this!), then not only have the laundry cleaned but also folded and put away. All that and a healthy meal on the table by the time my husband gets home from work (thank goodness for slow-cookers!). More often than not, things don’t get done. The laundry may sit in the bin for a day or two before it gets folded. That laundry in that bin may have been washed and re-washed a few times because it didn’t make it into the dryer in time. Dinner might be something my husband has to pick up on his way home from work (sorry, babe!), and that is okay! I have been trying to take my own advice which is what I tell my friends, “give yourself grace!” This period of time I am in with small kiddos…it’s rough. Messes are a part of life. I am trying to embrace the toys on the floor and be thankful for what I have. 

What is your biggest happiness as a mom day to day. My biggest happiness would have to be the love my kids show us and others. Watching them be inclusive and kind is so heartwarming. 

Snap your fingers – you could have a magic fairy help you with one thing around the home every day. What is it? My magic fairy would clean my house! I see toys scattered on the floor and things that need to get put away, but right now I’m trying to enjoy this time with my kids and not stress over the messes. Wouldn’t it be great if someone else worried about that for me?! 

Because you are oh so pretty, tell us about your favorite feature! Inner beauty is what is attractive to me. My best friends would tell you that I am a great listener and I am always there for them. Other friends have complimented me on my hair. I currently use Moroccan Oil.

Thank you so much, Andrea, for sharing your time and darling family with us! Chapstick, slow cookers, facials – you are my kind of girl! I absolutely love the ‘give yourself grace’ line of thinking. Thank you for sharing that with us. What a wonderful reminder, especially in summer when days can slip away at activities and the pool and the home tasks may be neglected. Oh – and go with the marble! 

Do you ever wonder other moms secrets? Like actual real beautiful day to day hard working moms? So often I see a darling one at the park and think wow, she looks so great! I wonder what she is doing so well. With that in mind I thought I’d begin a new series on ALFS – Everyday Moms. These are moms I know, moms that have been recommended to me, moms that inspire and are beautiful inside and out. Let’s peak into their lives just a bit, shall we?

Meet Margaret! 

Location: Hoffman Estates, IL

Job: Writer

Kid(s): Ruby (6), Eloise (3), and one more girl to join in the fall! 

You’re in your closet – what do you reach for first? As a mom of littles and a writer who works from home, I usually go for comfy, basic pieces. Jeans, t-shirts and flats.

Hands down the one beauty product you can’t live without. Only one! Easy: mascara. I’ve been obsessed since high school! I currently use Lancome Grandiose and I love it because it’s dramatic. To heck with balance, I want serious lashes!

Your daily moisturizer. Are you happy with it? On the recommendation of a friend, I decided to try R+F Triple Defense Treatment. While I like the smell, the feel and the overall effect, I wish it was a little more reasonably priced. I try to use it sparingly and sometimes rotate it with plain old Eucerin.

Your nightly moisturizer. Are you happy with it? Similarly, R+F Overnight Restorative Cream works great. But it’s not cheap! I’ve tried to make the original jar last for months and months!

Something in your shopping cart online right now that you want to buy – budget is no limit. My three year old recently “hid” my favorite necklace from Dana Rebecca Designs. I have a new one sitting in my online cart, but can’t quite bring myself to purchase it again.

How do you feel your beauty routine changed when you became a mom? This season of motherhood has required that I embrace my bare face more often, the “sparkly silver” strands of hair that seem to appear more quickly, and for now, consider showers without interruptions as self-care.

Biggest indulgence you allow yourself. What does it say that I can’t think of a good answer?

Tell us about your kid(s). Ruby is our six year old. She is smart, generous, imaginative, silly and a bustle of energy. She likes to win, make art projects, write stories and scoot around the neighborhood on her new scooter. Eloise is three and she is our comedian. She pretends like a pro, dances all the time, and negotiates relentlessly. We have a third daughter on the way, due this fall. We can’t wait to meet her and to watch Ruby and Eloise as big sisters to a sweet baby girl.

What is your biggest struggle as a mom day to day. I struggle to make time and space for myself, and then to not feel guilty about it. If I’m not careful, I can go too long without real self-care, and while I think I’m doing everyone a favor, it ends up coming out sideways, like a sad little resentful martyr. My husband has to remind me that taking care of myself is a way of taking care of our whole family. I imagine I’ll have to practice and practice for my whole life.

What is your biggest happiness as a mom day to day. Silliness. My girls are the perfect invitation to be my real, actual, weirdo silly self. We pretend and sing and dance and play. I have never been more surprised and delighted with silliness as I have as a mama.

Snap your fingers – you could have a magic fairy help you with one thing around the home every day. What is it? I want a laundry fairy. Because I can never seem to get ahead. I always have piles of clean clothes waiting to be put away and piles of dirty clothes waiting to be washed. And usually, a load of clothes in the washing machine begging to rewashed because I forgot about it and now smells sad and stinky.

Because you are oh so pretty, tell us about your favorite feature! I’d have to go with my eyes. They can’t make up their mind about being green or blue. And although they might now have bags, the beginnings of wrinkles and eye brows that don’t cooperate with this new crazy boy brow trend, they usually tell the whole story. And I do love that.

Thank you so much Margaret for sharing your time and your darling family with us! And congrats on your pregnancy. Coming from a three daughter family myself I can assure you your girls are going to have a lot of fun. I wish you a safe and healthy pregnancy! (And a not too hot summer 😉 ) 

Do you ever wonder other moms secrets? Like actual real beautiful day to day hard working moms? So often I see a darling one at the park and think wow, she looks so great! I wonder what she is doing so well. With that in mind I thought I’d begin a new series on ALFS – Everyday Moms. These are moms I know, moms that have been recommended to me, moms that inspire and are beautiful inside and out. Let’s peak into their lives just a bit, shall we?

Meet Kristin!

Location: Schaumburg, IL

Job: Stay at home mama

Kid(s): Luke (7), Zach (5), and Eliza (almost 3)

You’re in your closet – what do you reach for first? Either a pair of jeans and a t-shirt or a comfy pair of leggings and a long-sleeve shirt.  I recently embraced the athleisure phenomenon (I know I’m so late to the game) and absolutely love my Zella high waisted leggings. 

Hands down the one beauty product you can’t live without. Only one! Bliss Spa Lemon + Sage body butter.  It goes on thick and soaks right in.  And I just love the way this stuff smells.  I don’t wear perfume, but the scent is so light and fresh.   

Your daily moisturizer. Are you happy with it? I recently started using Rodan + Fields and the Redefine 3 step process and really like it.  The am face cream has a built in SPF, so that makes me feel responsible.  I also use Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Moisturizer on my neck and upper chest. 

 Your nightly moisturizer. Are you happy with it? Again, I use the R+F Redefine 3 step process with the nightly moisturizer.  I unfortunately don’t use it every night as sometimes my bed calls me before I have time to do my nightly routine, but when I do use it, I love it. 

Something in your shopping cart online right now that you want to buy – budget is no limit. I have a lot of wishful things in my Amazon cart right now, but I would love a Kitchen Aid mixer.  I’m not a huge baker, but my friends make these amazing cookies that I really want to try and word has it that you need a standing mixer to make them. 

How do you feel your beauty routine changed when you became a mom? I’ve never spent a whole lot of time on my beauty routine, so I don’t think it’s changed that much, but I have had to use more under-eye concealer than I used to.  I also recently started letting my hair air dry almost every day.  I used to blow dry and straighten my hair every day (I know, a big no-no).  It’s taken a bit of time for me to get used to my natural waves, but I also love being able to basically wash and go. 

Biggest indulgence you allow yourself. Starting in January we put our littlest kiddo in preschool 3x a week for 2.5 hours.  Having those 2.5 hours to myself a couple of times a week has been life changing.  I typically fill those couple hours up with errands, house cleaning, doctor appointments (not glamorous stuff) but being able to do those things without having a child in tow has been such a break.  It’s also given me a little headspace where I don’t have to be “on” all the time. 

Tell us about your kid(s). We have 3 children.  Luke (7), Zach (5) and Eliza (almost 3).  Luke is my sweet, oldest boy who is such a rule follower.  He is a voracious reader and loves the Cubs and all things baseball and basketball.  Zach is my independent little rascal.  He keeps me on my toes every day.  He loves to have fun and has a gift of remembering faces and names.  He is a social butterfly and wants to be friends with everyone.  And Eliza (our little Nugget).  Oh, she brings such a sweetness to our family.  She is a girly girl who loves bows, babies, shoes, purses and her momma.  But she can also hang and get in on a sibling wrestling session any day of the week. 

What is your biggest struggle as a mom day to day. My biggest struggle is wanting to feel like I have it all together but being hit smack in the face with the reality that I can’t do it all perfectly and that I can’t control everything my kids do.  I tend to get frustrated with myself and have days where I feel overwhelmed and unqualified for this job.

What is your biggest happiness as a mom day to day. While I don’t always feel qualified, I do feel so grateful for the opportunity and ability to be a stay-at-home mom.  Being able to be involved in my kid’s lives every moment of every day is such a gift.  Now, don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely a moment (or two) of every day that I also wish that I were somewhere else and could flee the scene (by bedtime I want to check-out and hide!), but being there for them brings me such joy. 

Snap your fingers – you could have a magic fairy help you with one thing around the home every day. What is it? I would love a magic fairy that does everything that goes into getting meals on the table (planning, shopping, prepping, cooking).  I enjoy cooking, but I just have a hard time doing it every week, every day, multiple times a day.  My husband takes an active roll in the weekly dinner planning and grocery shopping, and I do the prepping and cooking (typically with Eliza on my hip or at my legs and hungry boys begging for unhealthy snacks while I’m cooking) and I just don’t enjoy the stress of it.  I would love a magic meal fairy because then I could spend more time with the kiddos while our fairy made healthy meals for the family.  Now, if the fairy could get the kids to eat the meal she made, then that wouldn’t be magic it would be a miracle! 

Because you are oh so pretty, tell us about your favorite feature! My eyes.  I get my eyes from my mom and when I was a young girl I always thought she smiled with her eyes.  And now all three of our kiddos now have her eyes too. 

Thank you so much Kristin for sharing your time and your darling family for us. I am so happy to have been able to meet you through our mutual friend, another Everyday Mom, Mary Beth! I can see why she speaks so highly of you and I look forward to getting to know you better. Now, make sure you get that kitchen aid mixer ASAP! 

 

 

Do you ever wonder other moms secrets? Like actual real beautiful day to day hard working moms? So often I see a darling one at the park and think wow, she looks so great! I wonder what she is doing so well. With that in mind I thought I’d begin a new series on ALFS – Everyday Moms. These are moms I know, moms that have been recommended to me, moms that inspire and are beautiful inside and out. Let’s peak into their lives just a bit, shall we?

Meet Amy!

Location: North Barrington, IL

Job: Mom of 4, so….nurse, teacher, coach, cleaning lady, chauffeur, mentor, manager 

Kids: Emilia (10), Ben (7), Julia (5) & Ryan (18 months)

You’re in your closet. What do you reach for first? I reach for workout clothes- anything from Lululemon to Target brand!

Hands down the one beauty product you can’t live without. Only one! I LOVE wearing make-up, but I can only pick one product….My MAC jet black eye liner pencil

Your daily moisturizer. Are you happy with it? I have used Aveeno face lotion forever and it has never failed me.

Your nightly moisturizer. Are you happy with it? Aveeno face lotion for nighttime too!

Something in your shopping cart online right now that you want to buy – budget is no limit! Haha- that amazing crockpot you love!!!

How do you feel your beauty routine changed when you became a mom? When I became a mom, I kept up with my love for make-up, but let my hair go out the window. Need to prioritize making time for a regular hair-cut and color!

Biggest indulgence you allow yourself. My biggest indulgence I allow myself is either taking walks in my beautiful neighborhood or getting to the gym. J

Tell us about your kid(s). We have four wonderful kids. 2 girls and 2 boys.  Emilia (10) is our queen bee, Ben (7) is mr active- always wanting to play with a ball or go do something, Julia (5) is my spunky and imaginative tomboy, and Ryan (18 months), the baby in the family who thinks he should attend grade school with everyone else.  He also has a ball in his hand most times (or food). 

What is your biggest struggle as a mom day to day? My biggest struggle as a mom day to day is always striving to find the balance of creating a happy, organized, and fun household. The chaos of a larger family is something I love, but can also stress me out!

What is your biggest happiness as a mom day to day? My biggest happiness as a mom day to day is spending each and every day with my husband and our kids. I truly do enjoy every day.  Maybe not ALL day every day, but every day. 

Snap your fingers – you could have a magic fairy to help you with one thing around the home everyday. What is it? I need a magic fairy to help me put everybody’s stuff away in the right place.  6 people plus a dog equals random stuff constantly!

Because you are oh so pretty, tell us about your favorite feature! My favorite feature is staying fit and healthy overall. 

Thank you so much Amy for sharing your time and your family with us! Love that Emilia and Logan have been together since Kindergarten, can you believe we will have fifth graders next year? You were always such an inspiration walking the hills of Biltmore so consistently and it pays off. You look so great! Absolutely darling mom and darling family.