Eid Mubarak to everyone celebrating today!! This tutorial went up last night for some last minute Eid inspo and I hope y’all loved it! I used the new Urban Decay Naked Heat Palette which is one of my favorite eyeshadow palettes at the moment! It will release 6/28 @ Sephora.com!
For the majority of my pregnancy I was able to wear my regular comfy clothes. It wasn’t until near the end that I thought whoa! I need to go shopping! Nothing fit anymore, I was forever uncomfortable, and I just wasn’t feeling cute at all! Maintaining your everyday style and aesthetic while pregnant isn’t always the easiest task and it can feel downright discouraging at times. I caught wind of Lauren Conrad’s LC Lauren Conrad Maternity Collection earlier this month at Kohl’s and was super happy to see her stylish designs that didn’t scream I’m pregnant and huge! I placed my order on Kohls.com along with some a:glow maternity basics and was excited to have a proper maternity wardrobe going for the homestretch of my pregnancy.
My baby, however, had other plans and decided to arrive before my Kohl’s package even did!! Luckily my order did not go in vain. One thing a lot of women don’t talk about is what your body looks like after delivery. You’d think that weight gain aside, your insides would just pop back into place but that really isn’t the case. Celebrities and magazines can have us thinking we’re doing something wrong but let’s think about it. It took 9 months for our bodies to get to where they are, it only makes sense that it takes a little time to snap back too. With the right wardrobe and positive mindset, we can look and feel great during our journey back. :)
My tip? Hold on to those maternity clothes! The M-word might make you feel some type of way since you’re not pregnant anymore, but I say to heck with labels! Why be miserable and squeeze yourself into your old jeans before you’re ready for no reason at all (sleep deprived on top of it!) when you could wear comfortable pieces that are also figure flattering.
You look good when you feel good!
Other than having my baby girl in my arms finally, another incredible perk of her early arrival was that my husband unexpectedly got to celebrate his first Father’s Day this year! I wore my new LC Lauren Conrad Chambray Off-the-Shoulder Dress to celebrate the hubs’ new daddy status and I honestly felt… so pretty! I didn’t think I could feel that way within my first week postpartum but all it took was the right dress!
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Last summer I had the pleasure of attending Institute of Code‘s 10 day coding retreat in Bali, Indonesia! Not only was it my first time properly exploring that side of the world, it was my first formal exposure to coding after 15+ years! I wrote up a super honest post last year How I made my #LifeGoals a Reality and talked about my journey with content creation — it all began with learning very basic coding in my 7th grade computer class. It was at this pivotal, young age I realized how important it is to be self-reliant. As much as I do need to hire someone to give my bloggy a little make-over, I like to have the option of doing it myself in the meantime while I’m being lazy :)
I was totally geeked, in every sense of the word, to discover Institute of Code! Not only did it get me excited to properly learn how to code, it ignited all of my wanderlust too! Talk about a two-fer!
I hated school. I hated school so much. It felt like prison – & I can confidently say that I wasn’t alone in feeling this way. This is where IOC’s philosophy really stood out to me, they don’t believe that hard work & enjoyment are mutually exclusive. Who says you have to be miserable in order to reach your full potential? If anything, shouldn’t it be the other way? Yes, yes it should! & it is. IOC is all about getting us into our flow state – “when they are inspired, motivated, supported and eager to learn, they can accomplish so much more than they would in a normal day.”
I had to steal that blurb right from their website because it is so true! I didn’t think I’d learn more than basics over the 10-day course but I learned, absorbed, & retained so much! Not only did the program provide everything we needed so we could just focus on learning to code (chef prepared meals, yoga, meditation, massages, etc), being around other like-minded individuals was super motivating and inspiring. When we weren’t in class we got to explore the beautiful island of Bali – sigh, which isn’t just any ol’ destination. Travel goals while you’re pursuing your life goals.. that’s what I’m talkin’ bout!
I do recommend planning for an extra day or two (or more!) in Bali after your course though just in case you don’t get to check everything off of your bucket list during your stay! The outside activities & sight seeing seemed to be really dependent on the collective group’s interests. While I was very interested in checking out the cultural and historical sites on the island, most of my classmates were more into relaxing and hanging at the beach so I went off to explore on my own a couple days – totally worth it! Just something to keep in mind!
Within the past year, Institute of Code has expanded their course offerings and now also offer Digital Marketing & Blog Mentorship workshops!! FOMO!!! Kiersten of The Blonde Abroad is leading the Blog Mentorship workshop – she is such an inspiration to me as a content creator & globe trotter. I’ve followed her work for some time and actually met her while I was in Bali as she was coincidentally visiting at the same time. She not only knows how to create beautiful, compelling content.. but also clearly understands strategy as one of the most visible female travel bloggers! If I weren’t a million years pregnant, I’d attend her workshops this summer in a heartbeat! You can find deets on all the different courses IOC is currently holding on their website.
My vlog from the IOC villa is above if you haven’t checked it out yet! They have since gotten a new campus which blows the previous out of the water – check out their Instagram page for an updated look on everything they have to offer! And now…. on to my photos! :) Enjoy!
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Hi loves! I’m *finally* back with a new makeup tutorial! :) I went to a wedding over the weekend and loved having a reason to glam again – it’s been forever! I was totally wiped out the entire next day but I must say that the wedding & the glam were worth it, I had so much fun! I got so much love from you guys on Instagram over my makeup look too, thank you SO so much! Feeling like a frumpy whale these days so the love was deeply felt <3
Enjoy the tutorial and let me know below what you think xo
In this world of social media and Pinterest, celebrating every milestone to the fullest is becoming more of a norm than a novelty. Me, being the perpetually extra person that I am, have absolutely no complaints about this new age of gender reveals, babymoons, and push presents! Waseem and I have traveled quite a bit since getting married four years ago but a dream babymoon was something I just had to have IRL. Waseem really is my best friend. One night it clicked in both of our heads that soon.. we won’t be able to spontaneously jump in the car at 1am for snacks or have random 90s dance parties for two in our living room (shhh.. the baby’s sleeping!). As much as we’ve wanted and prayed for this baby.. the era of just us is coming to an end. We just needed one last hurrah before two becomes three.
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