Bespoke Baroque

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Hunter Boots

Trina Turk Dress (From last year but similar here)

J Crew Striped Tee

BB Dakota Coat (From last year but love this one)

Celine Bag

MAC Ruby Woo Lipstick

Since I started blogging, I've had my ups and my downs. I've had periods where I consistently posted, was lucky to attend some great events, and worked with brands on partnerships. And I've also had periods where I've gone completely silent and dropped out of site with no word to my followers. I'm embarrassed to say that I've done this more than once, and I've dared to suddenly reappear (just like I'm doing right now) and attempt to get right back into the swing of things.

In the time that I've been away from the blog, we made it through the senior year of high school, we took our family vacation to Washington D.C., I finally finished the long-term engagement I had been working on with a customer for over 4 1/2 years, and I was offered a new role at work. I've gained some more weight, I have more gray hair since I've been growing it out, both D and I have had some health scares, which, thankfully, have amounted to nothing, we moved A away to college, D started a new job, one of our doggies had a very scary injury but has made a full recovery, and I've been traveling even more often for work than I did last year. After posting this at the end of last year, I didn't think I would be traveling as much this year. Little did I know how intense my travel schedule was going to grow this year. Instead of supporting only one large customer, I'm now supporting several in the southwest, so I'm jumping all over the place.

In the time that I've been away from blogging, I've noticed a trend from some of the bloggers who I follow. I'm seeing more of the real world creeping into blogging and Instagram, and it's delightful. However, at the same time, I'm also seeing blogs that are so heavily curated, photographed and edited that it's abundantly clear that they are no different than reading a glossy magazine. Personally, although I like the pretty pictures, I want to see the whole picture, which includes the laundry piles and the unmade beds.
What does this mean for me and my blog? I'm just as guilty of trying to always show the pretty and the good and glossing over the ugly or the bad, and moving forward, I'd like this blog to represent a picture of my entire life, good and bad, pretty and messy, but I'd also like to have it serve as a reminder to me that even in the midst of the messy, life is good. I have so much to be grateful for, and I never want to lose sight of that. I hope you appreciate a shift in my content and that we can start to get to know each other a little bit more as I share more.

Revlon Powder

Murad Renewing Eye Cream

Lush Fairly Traded Honey Shampoo

Bath & Body Works Bourbon Maple Candle

This post is actually a healthy mix of true empties and some old things I just needed to purge. It's a little embarrassing, but in the spirit of full disclosure, here it goes.

Over the years of doing so much traveling (see my 2017 wrap up here), I started keeping a packed makeup bag under my bathroom counter so that I could just toss it in my suitcase and go. Over time, it has collected a ton of product until it was almost bursting, and I had to weed it out. I found things in there that I don't even remember buying including this loose powder labeled Revlon Pro. I vaguely remember buying it at a beauty supply store, but I could not tell you if it was good, bad or terrible. It must have been empty for some time just sitting at the bottom of the bag, but I don't even remember using it.

Revlon ColorStay Aqua Mineral Makeup

Instead of using powder lately, I've taken to wearing a light layer of foundation with a brushing of mineral foundation on top for more coverage. The Revlon ColorStay Aqua has a very cool, moist feel as it's applied. I find it to be a very hydrating foundation with a great finish that isn't too cakey. I'm hoping that this combo will hold up during the hot summer that will be here before we know it.

Next up on the "I can't believe how long I've had this" roster is the Yuzu Hand Scrub from Archipelago Botanicals. I loved this stuff, and when it got a bit dry, I added some almond oil and continued to use it. Over the last year, the skin condition caused by my gluten intolerance made it impossible to even think about scrubbing salt into my hand. Since it's so much better now that I've adjusted my diet, I decided to do a scrub and found that the remaining product had hardened into a rock finally, so I'm tossing it.

L'Occitane Shea Butter One-Minute Hand Scrub

I just bought this L'Occitane Shea Butter Scrub as a replacement and hope to be able to give an honest review of it in the next few weeks.

The Murad Renewing Eye Cream was nothing memorable, and neither was the Lush Honey Shampoo, so thank goodness both were just samples.

This month's candle was the Bourbon Maple, which is a little bit sweet and a little bit boozy. I'm not excited for warmer weather because, well, hot, but also because candles like this seem so much better suited for cold days. Is it just me or do you burn different scents depending on the season, too?