New Obsession

Stay at home mom life equals little time to put yourself together in the morning. Usually I have one kid screaming at me "I need more donuts" and another one crying "feed me woman." My wardrobe these days consist of track shorts and t-shirts, and they are usually covered in something disgusting (baby food, spit up, pee, paint, you name it). I rarely ever wear make up and well I feel down right sorry for the Mr. because my hair is always in a pony tail. Would I change any of it? Absolutely not! I love being a stay at home mom, even though I have to say it is the hardest job I have ever had. I am terrible with schedules, my kids eat donuts, and sometimes we stay in our pajamas until lunch. Definitely not winning mom of the year, but hey I figure at this point who really is? Judge all you want, but at the end of the day we are all alive and happy and that is really all that matters! 

With that being said and you now knowing that the Logan's are a hot mess. I want to tell you about my new go to product that does give me some sense of putting myself together in the morning. Like I mentioned before I don't wear make up often. I just don't have time to spend in the mirror putting it on. I do however go out in public and don't want to look totally scary. I have tried several different types of tinted moisturizer and haven't really liked any of them. They either make my skin feel oily, don't match my skin tone, or make me feel like I am actually wearing a thick cakey make up. 

One of my best friends Ashley sells Beauty Counter. If you haven't heard about this amazing company you should check it out. Over 80% of their ingredients are organic, natural, or plant derived and are super safe for your skin! They do excessive amounts of research to ensure that the products they produce are safe, down to the containers the put them in. Who knew a lot of the most popular make up you buy is filled with ingredients that aren't safe for your skin?   Ashley sent me some samples of their different cleansing lines, which sparked me to try their tinted moisturizer.  

I love how this tinted moisturizer goes on. I use a brush similar to this one to apply the moisturizer. It goes on smooth, blends with my skin perfectly, is light, and gives me just the right amount of coverage that I need to make my skin look even. It also has SPF in it which is great for those days at the park. The product smells amazing! I purchased shade No. 2, and honestly I have worn it even when I needed a little more make up, its that good. I have just added some concealer under my eyes, bronzer, and blush and feel just as made up as I would if I used my usual go to foundation. Ashley sent me this video just to show you how awesome this product is. Plus it was featured on the Today show and was named by Allure as one of the top tinted moisturizer, it speaks for itself.  

I plan on ordering the concealer from Beauty Counter once I have used up all of the one I usually purchase (not that I don't like the one I use but I am willing to try all things Beauty Counter). The sample sets that Ashley sent me were from both their Essential line and the CounterTime Line. I really liked both lines, but honestly I will be ordering products from each line. I have already ordered the Nourishing Cream Cleanser. My main reasons for liking this product is that it left my skin feeling smooth, washes away the tinted moisturizer/make up, and smells great. I use the Clarisonic in my morning beauty routine and it works great with the Clarisonic. 

I plan on ordering the Rejuvenating Eye Cream, I could definitely notice a diminishing of my dark circles when I used the sample (yep, lack of sleep causes those) and I may also order the Rejuvenating Radiance Serum, my face always felt tighter when I used it and now that I am 30 I probably need to start worrying about controlling the aging process. Unless I inherited this girls skin then I have nothing to worry about:

My grandmom who doesn't look day over 30! 

If you need any help at all figuring out the Beauty Counter line don't hesitate to contact my friend Ashley. She is an expert in all things Beauty Counter and really all things life! Hope you all order at least one of these amazing products, you will probably be hooked but don't say I didn't warn you.

    

Invitations and Announcements Galore

I wanted to do a quick post on my Etsy store. During my little vacation from the blog world not only did I travel around a lot but I also have been spending a lot of time making new invitation on my Etsy site NOLA Lou Lou. In the past few months I have had tons of orders and felt like it was time to up my game and just start coming up with new ideas for my shop. 

Here are a couple new items to my shop that I am in love with:

I am not sure if I ever blogged about my store and how it works but here is a quick run down. Essentially I make the invitation/announcement/wall art or whatever digital work your heart desires and you print it from your home or the printing company of your liking. Usually when you log onto sites such at Tiny Prints or Shutterfly you are paying a fee (its included in the price) for the designer and then you are paying for them to be printed. While I would love to print all of these invitation I just don't have the space or equipment to do so. However, chances are if you let me design your invitation, Christmas Card, etc. I will probably save you time and money just because you will be printing them yourself. So if you are having a party, looking for home decor, sending out Christmas cards, getting married, whatever it maybe please don't hesitate to contact me. I love doing custom work and can make just about anything. I can incorporate pictures of your loved ones, play with font, and well if I can't do it I will be upfront with you and let you know. Just because you don't see it on my site doesn't mean I can't make it! 

Check out the store, refer a friend, just don't forget about NOLA Lou Lou for your digital work needs! Happy Thursday Y'all! 

In Connecticut We Say…….

I am back, after a short little hiatus, and I have tons of things to blog about. We have been on so many trips and I have a couple of things I can't wait to share with you guys. This blog post though is going to be a quick little update about the family and all things Connecticut.

I decided to update you guys by reintroducing you to the kiddos, since lets face it the Mr. and I aren't changing on a daily basis. 

The Logan Line Up

The Dictator

Meet the little girl who runs our family, at least for now. This girl currently is attending summer camp two days a week at a fun little kids gym in the town over from us. She is obsessed with all things princesses, sticker books, drawing, and having the Mr. chase her around our island a million times every night. She can be a diva, jokester, drama queen, sweetheart, all rolled into one. 

No she doesn't wear glasses, she is just a diva who loves to dress up!

Baymax aka BayBay

Meet Baymax also know as BayBay. This little guy may only be 7 months old (almost 8) but he is equivalent to a one year old in both height and weight. While we don't currently have a crawler it is going to happen at any moment. He is obsessed with his sister, and basically anything his sister will let him get his hands on (we aren't the best at sharing). I don't know if it is a boy thing but BayBay is always busy and if he not busy he is eating. He is a super momma's boy and loves to cuddle.

Just look at those rolls, according to his cousins he reminds them of this guy! 

We have been in Connecticut now for 6 months. It has, to say the least, been an adjustment for everyone but I feel like we are settling into our new normal. New normal being life with two kids, life in Connecticut, life away from everything we've ever known, whatever you want to call life now that we have made several big life changes and taken a (huge) leap of faith (still not sure what the Big Man has planned for us but learning everyday to rely on him for essentially everything). 

While we haven't fallen in love with Connecticut we are learning the ropes. We have had to learn several things since moving here. Examples being: learning how to drive Connecticut style (people have no idea how to merge, use the slow lane, or fast lane at that, their brakes, in a nut shell CT drivers maybe the worst drivers in the country, sorry but it is true), we are learning how to navigate (only 2 more states to go in New England), and we have also had to learn the lingo. Yep, just because we are only 17 hours away from Kentucky doesn't mean we speak the same language, surprising I know. Here is some lingo that we have learned:

Other  game changers since moving here. The grocery store, I have still yet to find a grocery store here that is my one stop shop. All you people reading this who have Kroger near by be sure to stop and thank God next time you walk in your nearest friendliest Kroger. Our Wal-Mart isn't even a one stop shop, they don't carry meat or produce (shocking I know).  I currently have to go to two or three grocery stores just to get everything I need, but I am still searching, and in the mean time missing Kroger. I should also mention that Trader Joe's doesn't carry wine (go ahead and shed a tear for me here people).

Coffee, yep, that is my next topic. In the KY there is a Starbucks on every corner. I loved Starbucks, went there whenever possible, bought the coffee at the grocery store, thought that there was no way I would ever convert over to the dark side (Dunkin Donuts). Oh how things have changed. We live in a really small town and we have 4 Dunkin Donuts, they are everywhere! I have converted over, I learned to order properly and I switched over so fast and am not even looking back. I love their hot coffee and ice coffee, I love buying their coffee and brewing it home. If you aren't a Dunkin fan and still hanging with Starbucks I encourage you to step out, find a Dunkin and order my favorite go to French Vanilla coffee with cream and sugar. 

My final rant is mainly just another thing I miss about the south. In Connecticut they love their Diners, and well I miss brunch. Diners are just not cutting it for me. Where is Wild Eggs? First Watch? Cracker Barrel for that matter? I miss brunch! I miss the quirky little places in Louisville where you could get endless coffee and a meal that please me (the breakfast lover) and the Mr. (loves everything but breakfast). A diner just doesn't scream brunch to me, it screams truck drivers and late night food! 

While I would still say we are settling in, we are making Connecticut our home away from home. Stay tuned bloggers I have lots of fun blogs coming soon!

Massachusetts The Bay State (Boston)

The Mr. and I celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary in Boston, with the kids of course. In 7 years we have had 2 kids, moved homes 4 times, moved to a new state, been to 26 states together, 5 different countries, and as the Mr. put it in his Instagram post he is still sleeping in the bed. I hate to get all mushy on you all but I don't get the opportunity to share with the world how much I love him often. His sacrifice for his family, his unfailing love, his constant support are just a few things that admire about him (he is pretty awesome lets just put it that way). If there is one thing living in a state far away from all that you know has brought to our marriage it is that we have truly learned to depend on one another. I am beyond blessed to have him as my partner in the adventure of life. Here's to many more Mr. Logan! 

Check out those babies 11 years ago

June 20, 2009

I guess I never really realized how close Boston is to us, but just like everything else it could easily be a day trip. I have to start off by saying, we LOVED Boston. Honestly, I think we like it better than NYC. It feels cleaner, its full of history, and just has an overall good vibe to it. I can definitely see us heading back to Boston during our time here (only a few more states to go before we revisit any previous states). 

Did I mention how close it is? Boston is seriously just and hour and half drive from our home in Connecticut. If you are from Kentucky that is pretty much like driving from Greenville to Bowling Green, or to Cincinnati from Louisville. People that the Mr. works with ask him all the time "Did you travel that much when you were living in Kentucky? You know to like Indiana and all the surrounding states?" While his answer is no, this is all new to us, so we are taking full advantage of the proximity. In all actuality, yes we have been to all the surrounding states, but what I don't think they realize is that we could drive for five hours and never leave the state. The one thing I have noticed is while I have always known where the New England states are (as to probably everyone reading this post) I can't say that New Englanders know much about the great state of Kentucky. I have had the following two crazy statements: "Is Kentucky close to Colorado?" "Oh your from Kentucky, isn't that where that big horse race is? I think its called the Kentucky Derby?" Come on people, really? 

We decided since it was our anniversary weekend we would make a weekend trip out of it, well two days. The Mr. took some time off on Friday so we leisurely made our way north with our first stop being Cambridge, MA home of Harvard University. I know some of you think we are crazy dragging our small children to all these Universities (Elin has been on like 5 college tours in her two years of life), but we are firm believers on it never being to early to start talking about colleges. Plus, right now at this point in their lives we are just dragging them to things that the Mr. and I want to do, making memories! The main reason we wanted to go into Cambridge though wasn't because of Harvard. I have told you all before that New Orleans is by far our favorite place we have traveled to, it lives in our soul! One of our favorite restaurants in NOLA is a little Mexican place (yep, Mexican in the bayou is pretty amazing) called Felipe's. Now Felipe's has several location in NOLA but the only location outside of NOLA just happens to be in Cambridge, MA. Why? I have no idea, I guess I should have asked. Randomly I was on Felipe's website looking to see if it was a chain one year while we were visiting and I never forgot this little bit of information. I have been planning this trip to Felipe's since we moved here. It was just as good as it is in NOLA, only difference the Harvard location just doesn't have that NOLA charm (it lacks a little dirt and beautiful architecture). If you ever visit either city please stop by Felipe's. Our personal favorite is anything with chicken tinga, and we have tried just about everything on the menu (sometimes we eat there everyday for lunch, or late night snack while in NOLA, its that good). 

Sorry but not sorry NOLA Crew (Mallori, Tory, John, Kari, Will, and Macy), we are ready to plan a NOLA trip soon though!

After lunch we did explore Harvard Square (got the t-shirt) and headed over to Harvard's campus. We loved Harvard Yard, it is probably a great place to study or as the Mr. said take a good nap. They had tons of little movable metal chairs in all colors. Of course the dictator needed the Mr. to move all the chairs until she got just the right color combination (blue, purple, pink, yellow, and orange).

We spent a little time on the yard just letting Elin run around and soak up Harvard campus. Its amazing to think that some of those building were built in the 1800s or even earlier. Some interesting things that we learned about Harvard (they are actually lies written on the John Harvard statue) 1.) John Harvard is not the founder of the University (in fact he just donated a bunch of books, no body even knew his name until he was dead) 2.) the statue of John Harvard is just a man, not actually John Harvard (it was the 1600 people, photography was not invented, and John Harvard has no record of sitting for a portrait) 3.) if you read closely on the John Harvard statue it says that the University was founded in 1639, when in fact it was founded in 1636 and was originally called New College, only getting its name changed after John Harvard died and his will was read and he became such a huge benefactor to the University. Just because their Ivy League doesn't mean they tell the truth. However, being a former teacher it was pretty cool to stand on the campus of the oldest insitute for higher education. 

Oh mom!

Just rocking her UK outfit on Harvard's campus, she is considering both right now!

Family Selfie Failure #1

Family Selfie Failure #2, our kids are wondering why they have to be seen with people

After our journey around Cambridge, and no naps we decided to head to the hotel. Elin was hoping for a pool but the Double Tree in the Theater District let her down. We weren't really sure where to stay so we just opted for any Hilton with an available room and landed in the Theater District. We didn't do much exploration in this area so I can't tell you a whole lot other than the hotel was extremely nice and super close to public transit making it very easy to get around the city. 

Friday night we went down to Faneuil Hall Marketplace. Baylor got to experience his first official ride on public transit. Other than having to carry the stroller up a flight of stairs because we took a wrong turn and missed the elevator the T was definitely easy to navigate. 

Is that the city that smells? Or me?

The kids who still had not had a nap were troopers. If you take a look at the picture below you can tell how much they enjoyed the marketplace. They used this excursion as their nap time. It actually worked out perfect that they were sleeping because at Faneuil Hall they have areas with outdoor games that you can play for free. They have a ton of board games but then they also have ping pong tables, chess, air hockey, and pool tables. The Mr. accepted my challenge in a game of ping pong, and of course I lost. I loved this idea, wish more places had things like this. While we were there we saw people of all ages going up and playing the various games. A lot of laughing and memory making. Props to Faneuil Hall for giving people a reason to put down their cell phones. 

Inside Quincy Marketplace are a million restaurants. The Mr. and dictator went with their staple, pizza, and I opted to try a buttered lobster roll (I hate mayo so I'm always searching for a good buttered lobster roll, apparently this is called Connecticut style). Of course we ended our dining experience with Ghiradelli's, which you can't go wrong with. If you are looking for Boston apparel, household items, etc. this is the place to buy it at. If you are looking just to shop, you probably want to head in another direction.

Random fact, McDonald's in New England serves Lobster Rolls and so does Panera

Good night Boston

Saturday morning we headed back down to Boston Harbor. You know me I am always one to find a good craft fair, and Boston certainly didn't let me down. Apparently this fair goes on every weekend so if you do go to Boston check it out, you can't miss it! They also have some really great food trucks in the area. We needed a mid morning snack and stopped at the cookie food truck. We tried three different flavors: salted caramel, peanut butter and chocolate chip, and a sugar cookie with M&M's (I am sure if you know the Logan family you know which cookie goes with which person). 

There were some really cute things here!

We had already planned on doing the Boston Duck Tour on Saturday. If you have never been on a Duck Tour you should try it sometime. The Mr. and I have been on one in Seattle (prior to kids), so sort of knew what it was all about. The duck tour is the best way to cover a lot of ground, see most of the top attractions a city has to offer, learn some cool facts, and have a lot of fun. The Seattle Duck Tour is nonstop quacking, blaring music, and yelling at people on the streets (it is Seattle though, enough said right?), whereas the Boston one was a little more reserved! If you are wondering what a Duck Tour is click the link above.

For only $4.00 you can get this cute little duck quacked that no 2 year old can make quack, she looks cute trying!

The Boston Duck Tour took us all around the city. If you take a look at the pictures you can see some of the sites we saw. I am not even going to begin to try to name the buildings as my memory is foggy (I leave the keys in the door pretty much daily).  Typically the tour goes by Boston Commons but our trip had to be rerouted due to some construction. We pretty much hit all the major landmarks of the city (minus Boston Commons). Boston is definitely a city of many first, and full of history. I am sure you could spend days there just soaking in all the history, but right now our kids don't have the patience for that so we opted for the quick way, Boston Duck Tour. 

Yep, she was bored! Oh, and we take that polar bear everywhere1

 After the Duck Tour, our kids were exhausted and we were ready for a break. Baylor has been cutting teeth so sleep is a word we currently don't know in the Logan household. We still have some things that we want to do in Boston (Boston Commons, Fenway Park), but those will have to be for another day! If you have any other suggestions of things we should go back and do feel free to leave them in the comments below. Overall, it was definitely a great weekend and the perfect way to ring in year 7!