Selfie Sunday: Monogram Addict

This weekend called for cozy, lazy days.
My husband and I laid around, laughed at the crazy folks buying bread and milk for the weekend, drank hot chocolate, and watched season one of Downton Abbey (which now makes me wish I were British).

After church this morning, I had a photo shoot in this chilly weather. I threw on a warm head band and one of my new favorite sweat shirts that I had monogrammed by a friend of mine....check it out!

 

Guys...I am officially on the monogram train. I want everything I own to be monogrammed! Yes....everything.

Hope everyone had a warm and safe weekend!

Happy Blogging and Happy Holidays!

xoxo

A

Christmas Wish List

I have seriously been starting my Christmas list since the beginning of this year. Anytime I see something I want (but can't afford to buy at the moment) I jot it down on my wish list.

Here are my top 5 wishes for Christmas...

1. New running shoes: Mizuno Wave Rider 16

2. Canon EOS 5D Mark II

3. Kendra Scott Emerald Earrings

4. Gold name necklace

5. Aviator Ray Ban's (because the ocean decided to take mine from me)

What's on your wish list? Send your ideas my way so I can add to mine!

Happy Blogging and Happy Holidays!

xoxo

A

The Open Window Boutique

Last week I had an amazing photo shoot with a local boutique. The models, the clothes, and the setting made this shoot PERFECT. Check out The Open Boutique on Facebook and try not to drool over these adorable clothes:

Happy Blogging!

xoxo,

A

L's Weight Loss Update

Okay y'all. It was my birthday on Saturday. So you know that I acted like calories don't count. Because nobody should be on a diet on their birthday. Le duh.

Needless to say, I was kinda dreading stepping on the scale this morning. And by kinda dreading, I mean that I covered my eyes as I was stepping on the scale. No lie.

Anyways, I ended up LOSING 1.2 lbs! WOOHOOOOOOO! So that puts me at 1_1.6 lbs!

Yup. This girl is doing the happy dance.

And you know what I'm going to do to celebrate?

Eat some light greek yogurt. Womp womp.

xoxo

The most daunting post. Of my life. Ever.

Okay folks.

The scale has gotten out of control. Like, it's not good. My clothes aren't fitting me as well. And with the holidays coming up, I need to do some serious damage control. I joined a gym. I run on occasion. And I started weight watchers. So this is for real. Y'all are going to be my accountability. Like we're talking real accountability... If you're a personal friend of mine, text me and make sure I'm on track. Or to all of you bloggy friends- email me and tell me to get my booty to the gym that day. I'm thinking about creating an Instagram account for meals. Haven't decided on that one yet.

As of this morning, I weighed 1_2.8 lbs (Muahahaha see what I did there? I'm totally leaving the middle number blank. And I will for a while). Mondays will be my weekly weigh in. And until I like the middle number more, it will be left blank.

It's a bit daunting- knowing that technically anybody in the world could be holding me accountable to this. I'm actually forced to be successful now that I put it out there.

I'm flipping out, y'all. Wish me luck!

xoxo

Life of a Photog

Many of you might not know this about me, but as a hobby I love to take pictures.
Capturing those sweet moments in life are priceless to me.

I'm in the process of redesigning my Facebook photography page (Amanda Woodruff Photography) and made a couple of banners for the Fall/Christmas.

Tell me what ya think....

 

I started photography years ago, but never really got serious about it till recently. After I got married I tried changing my photography name, but since I had so many 'likes' I am stuck with my maiden name. (Honestly I love it. Very sentimental to me.)

I'll be posting different photo sessions here and there through out the year. Eventually I'll get an extremely nice camera worth thousands, but for now I'll just deal with what I have!

Happy Blogging!

xoxo,

A

Matte Nails

So there's been a trend that I've seen a lot on Pinterest... Matte nails.

When I got my matte top coat from Essie last year, I wanted to try it on everything. But I quickly learned that you can't pull off a matte nail with every color. I painted my toes (first problem right there) a pastel pink color (second problem), and the matte top coat made it look... gross. There's no other way to describe it. I kept making the mistake of painting the matte top coat on light colors. Then I finally came to my senses.

I painted my nails Russian Navy by OPI, and then added the top coat. I couldn't love this look more.

Have you tried the matte nail trend yet? Do you like it?

xoxo
L

Huge change...

I finally did it.

I chopped the hair off (I seriously need to start using my real camera instead of the iPhone....).

Here's the before....

Here's the during...

 

 

My 14 inch ponytail. AHHHH!

 



AND AFTER!!!

I had to do a selfie. Crucify me.

I think chopping the hair off was one of the best decisions I could have made- it only takes 5 minutes to dry, 5 minutes to straighten, and it's absolutely amazing. If you are considering cutting a substantial amount of hair, do it.

Also, FYI: I donated my hair to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths organization. They give the wigs away to cancer patients (unlike Locks of Love, who charge the people for their wigs! CRAZY, right?!).

Have a wonderful day, loves!

xoxo
L

Denim on Denim

Today I was determined to find something cute to wear. However, the problem was I haven't been shopping in forever (no exaggeration) and I feel like everything I have is 'old' and boring. That's when Pinterest saved my life....once again.

My OOTD: Denim on Denim

(Pinterest Inspiration)

(Pants: Levis from Dillard's; Shirt: JC Penney's)

(Boots: Target)

(Shamless Selfie aka that horrid bathroom mirror pic that every girl does.)

I was proud of myself for not giving in and spending money on stuff I could easily find to wear in my own closet. Denim on denim may now be my new fav.

Happy Blogging!

xoxo,

A

Pinterest Inspiration: Hair/Make-up Edition

The past week, one of my best friend's little sister (Kelsey) was voted into homecoming court. It's a pretty big deal since the school she goes to has about 500+ students in EACH GRADE......crazy!

Now let's keep in mind this girl is stunning without make up and a fancy hair do, but I had the privilege of fixing her up for court! Kelsey had a picture she found from Pinterest for her hair (picture below) and really didn't have a preference on make up (we went with a light smokey eye and natural, pink-colored lipgloss). She wore a royal blue dress that was absolutely gorgeous on her and BEAUTIFUL Gianni Bini heels that were to die for.

(Pinterest Inspiration for her)

(Applying lip plump lipgloss from Mac.) 

     

(Front and back of hair- braided on the sides with loose curls.)

Ta-daaa! There she is, people! Miss America! This girl won Homecoming Queen in my book!

Happy Blogging!

xoxo,

A

Transformation Monday

Okay you guys. This is the story of what a difference a year makes. I don't think you're even ready for this.

So this is what my home decor "style" was in 2012 (I am gagging as I type the word "style", because the pictures you are about to see would not fall under the category of style. Please forgive me).

Y'all. Horrific doesn't even sum it up.

Anyhow, I don't know what it was, but I had this huge shift in what I liked as far as interior design (thank GOODNESS). So here's a little glimpse of a few DIY projects that we tackled over the weekend to enhance our little home. I apologize for the phone pictures, but I am planning on taking better pictures this week so you can see it all! :)

Remember the first picture with the awkward rectangles? Well we painted over it, then taped it.... 

Then we spray painted the canvas, pulled the tape off, and voila! We also got new lamps. 

Remember the picture of (half of) the laundry room? With the black little hanging thingie with the blue baskets? Well Deej decided to sand it down today, and spray painted it, and now it's hanging in our guest bathroom (aren't those plants ADORABLE? Ikea, y'all).

Lastly, we needed something to make our bedroom more special, so we bought this sunburst mirror, and we painted our initials together! It was so much fun. 

So there's my transformation (and again, I'm sorry for the poor quality of my iPhone pics). I'm telling you- I will never go back to what I was doing last year. Promise. ;)

xoxo

L