Earlier this month, I posted about having to tighten up the old budget, and it seems that several of you are in the same boat. (As evil as it may sound, its a tad bit comforting to know I'm not the only one trying to keep my Amex in its place this summer!) The main thing to take a hit during this spending lockdown has been my clothing budget. I think I can count the number of closet covetables I've purchased since April on one hand. (A big fete for me!) But not far behind in the spending lockdown has been my beauty budget. Luckily, I have a small MAC store under my bathroom sink, so I've been in the clear there. But I've had to quickly reevaluate my $65 nightime moisturizer, weekly manicures, and like-clockwork highlights. I traded in the bank breaking moisturizer for a Neutrogena fave and have learned to embrace a bit of roots and stretch out my highlights. But one of the hardest things for me to give up has been my manicures.
Call me girly, call me high maintainance, whatever, but something about freshly painted nails just makes me happy. My love for pretty manicures does not translate however into the slightest ounce of skill when it comes to DIY manicures. Don't get me wrong, I've tried several times, and good heavens, was it a disaster! No matter how careful I was, no matter how still I tried to be, my manicures always looked like they were the work of a blindfolded first grader wearing thick wooly mittens. Uneven layers, polish halfway down my fingers...eesh, it was a mess. But a few weeks ago, this blog post by Lindsay changed my life. Seriously. Armed with determination and the realization that I had to cut back on my beauty budget, I gave her tips a go, and holy goodness, what do you know? It worked! I successfully did my own manicure and didn't have polish smeared on my elbow. Hallelulah!
Since then, I've sucessfully done two more at home manis, both better than the one before. So if you're like me and have been longing to get better at DIY manicures and save your bank account unneccesary strain, catch a few tips me...
{1. Go read Lindsay's post.
2. Reread it, just to make sure you registered all that goodness. Seriously.
3. Start sheer, nude, and light with your polish color. The mistakes aren't as easy to see and you won't spend all night staring at that one spot. (I mean, its your first time, it won't be perfect!)
4. When painting your nails, start in the middle, painting a stripe down the center of your nail, then slowly moving toward the outside of the nail. Much easier this way!
And my favorite tip...
5. ADD GLITTER! I have always loved anything sparkly, glitter nails included, so imagine my delight when I realized glitter is the ideal coverup for not-quite-perfect nails. My first glitter go was silver layered over an Essie pink, and I can't stop squealing over my cotton candy princess nails. Now I'm dreaming of a minty green with glitter, glitter tips, glittered ring finger manicures, and black with gold glitter. Its a whole new world out there yall. Glitter is the perfect tool for DIY nail newbies!
Needless to say, me, my nails, and my bank account are happy campers. Expect to see lots of pretty paint jobs and loads of glittered nails around these parts. If I wasn't already, I'm officially smitten with glitter! And if you're a hopeless DIY manicurist, give these tips a try. I swear, if I can do, you can definitely do it!
Anyone else a hopeless manicure DIY-er or a glittered nail lover?
If you haven't heard of Iron and Wine, you should definitely check out their 
We packed a little picnic, found a spot along the fence, and made friends with our blanket neighbors, who happened to be responsible DePaul students. (They brought their math homework with them!)
There are few things I love more in the summer than plaid picnic blankets and armfuls of thrifted/gifted bracelets.
I literally wear 
Lol, what a stud :)
Oh how we love our city. I'm so happy we get to stay here for a long while!
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The sisters, the graduate, the parents, and the brother-in-law...all so very proud of our graduate. PS: Did that make it sound like Matt is my brother-in-law? Cause that would be just weird. My husband, but brother-in-law of the graduate. Lol, got it?
Ryan and I would be lost without the love and support of these two.
My sweet sister and I.
My brother and his oh-so-adorable girlfriend, Makenna. Graduation was my first time to meet her (a major downfall of living so far away) and I couldn't believe how unbelievably delightful she was! Genuine, funny, mature, fashionable, and insanely down to earth. But best of all, she adores my brother, and nothing makes me happier :)
Family events always make me smile at how easily Matt has fit into my crazy family.
There is not a prouder big sister on the planet!
One big, happy family, including my aunt, uncle, and cousin who flew in from Atlanta. PS: thanks Makenna for the picture!
At my brother's graduation party. Friends, family, and Texas BBQ...the best kind of celebration!
Love my sweet dad :)
For my brother's graduation gift, I put together a slideshow with tons of pictures of Ryan growing up, playing sports, living and traveling in Europe, and enjoying high school. It was such a treat to make and a blast to show to family and friends at the graduation party. This picture made the video, and it makes me tear up, thinking how much time has passed since this picture. The Lion King pajamas no longer fit, the baby teeth are gone, but my love for this little guy is as big as ever. Ryan, I'm so proud of the person you are, the growth you've experienced, and the love you give to the people around you. No matter where life takes you, I hope you always know how very much your big sister loves you.
Fruity drinks on the patio? Yes please.
My love affair with pina coladas is out of this world. They are worth every single one of their 9,000 calories. So much so, I had two :)
We tried a new spot for dinner on Friday (thanks Groupon Now for the push) and we were pleasantly surprised. A Friday fish fry, a huge outdoor patio, and pina coladas on special. Does it get any better?
After a slow moving Saturday morning (oh how I love waking up without an alarm), we headed to the 
As soon as I saw the maze garden, my Harry Potter geek meter went off, playing a million Goblet of Fire scenarios in my mind. But after thinking back to 
Pretty flowers, happy little bee.
For lunch we packed a picnic and found a great little spot near the lake to unfold our blanket.
The view, looking up, from our picnic blanket. I'm hardly the "outdoorsy type" but even I can't deny this loveliness.
After lunch, I caught up with Harry and his friends, in preparation for the upcoming movie. July 15...anyone else counting down?!
The Arboretum has over 1,700 acres of gardens, woods, and lakes, so it truly is impossible to experience everything in a visit, so after our picnic, Matt and I agreed to hike the trail to Big Rock. I was slightly unprepared for the hike as I thought it would be more of a "stroll through heavily manicured gardens." Not entirely lol. So after a little bit of whining, I calmed down and we set off for a solid hour hike.
I can't help but laugh at this picture. A little lost and a lot hot, we pause for a break, and in true fashion, Matt turns to the map and I turn to the camera. We make a good pair us two :)
Visit 
Type "smartandsassy" into the host first name spot, search, and follow the link to our private trunk show.
Once you do this, you'll see my blog name as the party host, and you're ready to start shopping!