Disclaimer: Some blog posts contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission if you use these links to make a purchase. Thanks for supporting this adventure... XOXO

Some where around the point when my youngest hit 1 year old, a stark realization hit me: for almost a decade, I had been either pregnant or breastfeeding. It’s not like I didn’t realize the math of it all, but between the 4 pregnancies and between 15 and 27 month os breastfeed those 4 babies, that was a lot of years of putting someone else first! 

Now listen, I am not about to say that my kids don’t still steal priority more often than not, but as I hit the point of weaning my youngest, I made a conscious decision that it was time to start modeling that aptly coined “self-care” trend.

I scheduled my work-outs with priority over all the things that needed to be done at home, knowing that if I felt good about myself, everything would run smoother.

I invested in my skin care routine & used the products religiously. Aging will happen, but that doesn’t mean I can’t love the skin that I am in and work my butt off to slow it down.

I dove deeper into my business, looking at how I can run more efficiently, what have a support team could look like for me & knowing that I wanted to model to my littles that chasing your dreams can be fruitful.

I doubled-down on sharing my heart. While it might seem that putting yourself out there in an open and vulnerable way might be very millennial-look-at-me, sharing the passions in my heart with an outside audience allows me to work through my mind. Seeing the thoughts on my screen or hearing them out loud puts it all in perspective and has a catharsis for me. 

And in doing all of the above and more, over the last 4 to 5 months, I have begun to never feel better on a personal level. Sure, there are still days that grind me into the ground, exhaustion from running a busy household and days when I think can I just skip the whole thing and fall into bed? But it always feels better to do those things for me. 

And along the way, I have run across some amazing products, services & more that are just too good not to share. So, since the preschool teachers tell me “sharing is caring”, I thought I would get to sharing some of my favorites on a more regular basis…

So here we go, my first #FridayFavorites! I am going to do my best to share a few favorites every Friday so that you can check them out yourself. Yes, there will be affiliate links because 2019… but I promise that these shares are things that I am totally loving. And since this was inspired by a few friends asking what I have been doing lately to look & feel so good (see above!), I thought I’d jump in with some mama self-care goodies. Here goes: 

BLAQ Eye Mask

I mentioned these in my Instagram stories this week because I am just so crazy obsessed. I stumbled upon these in my FabFitFun box this spring and OMG, it was love the first moment they touched my face. Seriously. I woke up one morning with some serious under-eye baggage and thought, hey, I can give those eye mask things a try. Resting them under my tired eyes felt so spa-like and luxurious. I didn’t even care if when I took them off the bags were gone, I was hooked. But then 15 minutes later when I reluctantly peeled them off (yeah, it feels that good) I was even more in love because those suckers were gone. Amazing.

Now these little beauties are not from the bargain bin, so at first I was hoarding them for only the super serious need. But I’ve now fallen into using them about once a week – still on the days that feel extra tired or puffy, but a little less stingy because, yeah, I love them that much. I’ve got some cheapies that I use on less needy days that I will share another time, but they just don’t compare toe the BLAQ eye masks. My only complaint is why can’t I buy them in a Costco size package. Oh well. 

AVENU FITNESS & LIFESTYLE

Y’all, I really cannot start a #FridayFavorites series and not talk about my love for this place. I first checked it out when invited to join my neighbor – I thought, sure I will try 1 week, but I am liking my streaming barre classes… Fast forward to 4 months later and I am a strong 3X a week regular. I have not been motivated to have this consistency in a work out program since working as a trainer myself before my oldest was born. Avenu runs 30 minute private or group training sessions and do not let the quick duration fool you – they will kick your butt! I work out with Cassie who is one half of the husband & wife owner team. I seriously love this chick – she keeps you moving, pushes me hard without blinking an eye and connects on life as a mother and business owner. She & Brent mean it when they say “fitness & lifestyle”. Sure, the technical service they provide may be personal training, but Brent’s weekly emails with lifestyle tips (hello, get more sleep!) and the ladies book club and just the whole vibe of the place screams “how can we enrich your life?”. It is seriously a treasure tucked away conveniently in my neighborhood. They have two locations and if you are local to Houston, you really need to do yourself a favor and check it out! Oh, and yes, the results I have seen working with Cassie definitely have me feeling swimsuit season ready!

IT Cosmetics Brow Power

With this whole trend of bold brows sweeping through my Instagram feed, I have been on a serious mission to find the perfect fix to bulking up my wimpy brows while I desperately work to grow mine in. I have tried no less than 7 different products since Christmas trying to find that perfect combo of looking polished but not too perfect, color match and staying power – because who wants there brows to have faded by school pick up time? So far, this is my go to. It glides on well, the color grabs & with the help of a little setting spray, I’ve still got brows at dinner time. I have yet to give it the pool test but I am hopeful… I’ll keep you posted on that one. So until I get up the nerve for some microblading or my Latisse finishes filling in my 90s plucking job, this is my go-to.

So there you have it. This week’s three favorites. 

Let me know what you think of them, what type of things you want to know that I am using or loving from beauty to books to home to kid gear. 

XOXO

Please note, this post does contain affiliate links meaning that if you click and purchase from this post, I will receive a small commission from your purchase. Thanks for supporting posts like this.