Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!

I'm heading to Kansas City today to meet my newest nephew, Cohen Scott Alsbrooks, who was born on Wednesday night!

So I'll be spending my birthday holding a newborn, drinking Bud Light Lime and eating Mr. GoodCents while watching K-State play football. And hanging out with my family (minus my husband and children).

It will be a good weekend!

Here are your Friday Favorites!

The weather has finally turned Fall-like here in Chicago. Do I expect it to last long? No. I see 80 degree temps in our future again. BUT for now... I'm going to enjoy! It is beautiful outside!

And yet again, Abercrombie & Fitch (yes, THAT one) has me drooling over a fleece pullover again!

This Assymetrical Snap Pullover is such a great alternative to an old sweatshirt from 2001 (yes, I have those)! It's soft, it has pockets, it's warm. It's all the right things that we all need in our lives!

I'm a fan of supporting small businesses since I own (a few) small businesses! I came across this sweater on a blogger I follow and loved it! How cute to throw on over a solid chambray top and some jeans!

And hello, I'm obsessed with stripes so this had me at stripes. :)

Now... to find it for Two Dots...

Tess and I went to Nordstrom on Tuesday to do some blog research (that post will be coming to you next week) and you will most definitely see these jeans again next week.

I was hesitant about them for two reasons: cost and the buttons.

And here's what I will tell you.

I would pay the price and the buttons are amazing.

You guys, these jeans are sooooo wonderful. They are high-waisted (nothing extreme), they have stretch to them (thank goodness - does anyone wear jeans anymore that do NOT have stretch in them?) and the length was perfect (which is hard for this shorty).

The price? $135.

I texted Matt to ask him how much he'd pay for a good pair of jeans and he said $150.

And I"m all for him spending money clothes because it doesn't make me feel as bad when I want to do the same. Plus he wears jeans SO much that he needs to own some good denim.

But I'm in the same boat, I wear jeans SO much in the fall and winter. But the price tag is still haunting me which is why I didn't leave with them. But I'm telling you... I will have them.

I'm also telling you that it's OK to spend a chunk of change on GOOD JEANS. So... feel free to shop! :)

If you guys haven't checked out Target's new clothing lines, I suggest you find a good Target and take a look! Lauren and I did this recently and ohmagoodness, so much great new stuff! 

INCLUDING these high top sneakers! I actually had tried the exact pair in navy (these also come in Navy) at a Nordstrom Rack in Chicago way back in February and they were almost double the price. Now you can get them at your very own Tar-jay! 

They are comfy and so cute with denim... and maybe that cute Assymetrical Pullover I mentioned! Just a great option versus a tennis shoe! 

I honestly can't remember if I have mentioned this on the blog before so if I have, I'm doing it again! 

This is Candlelight ShadowSense from SeneGence (who owns LipSense). 

I. Am. OBSESSED. 

And I say this to you, not just as a person who sells this stuff, but because I am not going to push products on you that I don't love! 

You guys, this stuff is the most amazing CONCEALER as well as eye primer. It covers up anything and everything and I have already went through one tube in a few months. Because I obviously have way to much to hide on my face! 

I can't rave about this enough to you and I guarantee anyone you ask that has used it will rave as well.

I'm placing an order today for lip colors (check out my Lips Shop page if you are curious on colors) as well as more Candlelight, and a few other products I can't wait to try! If you're interested, shoot me a message! 

And that's it friends... have a wonderful weekend! I know I most certainly will! 

GO CATS! 

XXOO,

Allyson

What's Up Wednesday

It's been awhile, but I'm excited to jump back in to 'What's Up Wednesday' ... just an extended version of 'Life Lately'! :)

What We're Eating This Week... We invited our sweet neighbor (and fellow Kappa) Shelby over for dinner on Monday. Shelby is 8.5 months pregnant and her husband travels during the week so she came over to eat and brought cupcakes (score)! I made Mississippi Roast in the crockpot and mashed potatoes in the Instant Pot, both recipes from Pinterest. Both recipes SO SO SO easy and SO SO SO yummy!

We will also do some Burrito Bowls with quinoa and leftovers the rest of the week - busy evenings in the Clark household this week!


What I'm Reminiscing About... My sister's due date was yesterday so of course, I have my phone turned up as loud as it can so when my brother-in-law starts texting me when she goes into labor (as he has been instructed to do), I won't miss anything!

And whenever someone else is about to have a baby, you can't help but think about when you had your own babies. And though it doesn't seem like that long ago, it's been almost seven years since Sloane was born.

Time, you go by at an extremely fast pace!


What I'm Loving... I am currently loving fall decor. And everything from Madewell. Insert eye roll emoji and dollar sign emoji. :)


What We've Been Up To... I blogged in early September how we went from having NOTHING to do in the summers to full-speed ahead with school! The kids are super busy! Sloane started a cooking class on Monday after school, Reece will start a soccer class after school on Friday. They have Catechism on Tuesday evenings and Sloane has dance on Thursday afternoons. We are constantly moving and for the most part, I'm OK with it! Just as long as I can get to the place we need to be when we need to be there, which is sometimes a problem for the Clark children!


What I'm Dreading... My current dread is anything and everything related to the post office. It's the biggest hassle about living here.

Which is ABSURD!

Two Dots had a major sale this past weekend and I had at least 10 boxes to ship out. But you can't schedule mail pick-ups here. And there isn't parking at the post office. So. I had to do this.

What a joke! AND I didn't even get all of the boxes! UGH!


What I'm Working On... I've been working hard on getting Two Dots social media (click here and here to follow us!) up to par as well as working on a new website for easy shopping! And I've been blogging. And taking kids to Timbuktu. And cooking. And cleaning. ;)


What I'm Excited About... MY BIRTHDAY! My birthday is Saturday and it's my favorite holiday of the year! I'm actually flying to Kansas City on Friday to meet my new nephew and watch my niece while my sister and brother-in-law are at the hospital. So I will be eating cake, Mr. Goodcents, hanging out with my brother, sister-in-law, nephew(s), niece, and watching K-State play football! DREAM!

What I'm Reading/Watching... Reading? Well... I'm still working on Becky Thompson's "Love Unending". But again, it will take me awhile! :) Watching? Matt and I just finished Hard Knocks on HBO, in between watching "This Is Us" over again since Matt hasn't seen it before. And also staying up to date with the Real Housewives franchise. New Jersey starts next week! WHOOP WHOOP! :)

What I'm Listening To... Well, it's that time of year. And if you all remember, this is when I listen to the Charlie Brown soundtrack until January. And actually, I yell at Alexa to play Vince Guaraldi and I get a nice mix of his stuff... that I love... and my kids get sick of by October! :)


What I'm Wearing... Well, for the last two weeks, I've been in whatever will keep me cool as we had a lovely heatwave take over Chicago! The fantastic news is that tomorrow, the heat wave vanishes and it will be 20 degrees cooler. So it's back to open windows, pants and smiles all around because no one is sweating! BUT... since it's my birthday, I'm hoping I'll be wearing these VERY soon!

What I'm Doing this Weekend... Please see "What I'm Excited About" -- exact same response! :)


What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month... We have SO much going on in October! We are traveling home to celebrate birthdays, we have visitors coming, it's Halloween, it's FALL.... October is one of my favorite months so I expect great things from it! As does Sloane. If I have taught her anything, it is to LOVE your birthday with immense passion. And she does! :)


What Else is New... A few extra goals for me in 2017 are to get Tess to drink from a sippy cup (still, a major struggle so any tips will be greatly appreciated!!!) and try and not use the pacifier as much.

One can dream! :)


Have a wonderful Wednesday friends... we are halfway to Friday!

XXOO,
Allyson

Business Life

Friends, if you are new to this blog, then you might not know that I own two businesses.

And that I blog (duh).

And that I'm a mom to three children and a husband who still puts his dishes in the sink rather than the dishwasher and until recently, would throw a bag of laundry from a work trip into the hamper. Still in the bag.

It also should be noted that I'm a CLEAN FREAK. All of those cute sayings of, "Enjoy the mess now, one day you'll miss it!" are directed at me and I swat them away.

And besides liking things to be a certain way (in terms of my home, the direction of a book, the routine of my day...), I'm just your typical stay-at-home mom!





HAAAAA! I mean, get real. I'm the highest form of a looney-tunes version stay-at-home mom. And those that know me know this.

As do I. I mean, the first step in solving a problem is to admit that it's a problem!

I've admitted it that I'm cuckoo-cachoo. What will change?

Eh, probably not much. So I'm just going to keep plowing through life.



My sister and I had wanted to start a clothing store for awhile. I probably just dragged her into doing in like so many things in our life, but she never stopped me! So in 2013, less than a month after her wedding, Two Dots officially opened.

And since then, it has been a labor of love.

When I wanted it to be.

The glorious thing about owning your own business and it being online is that you can work as hard (or not as hard) as you'd like. I had many moments of working my tail off with it.

And then I'd have a baby.

Or we would move (which has happened multiple times since we opened). And then I started selling LipSense (which I also absolutely love and it has been super fun to sell)!

And then you hit a snag... a lull. Because people have forgotten about you! And rightfully so! People lose interest in you pretty quickly if you aren't working hard to keep their interest. It's the way of the world.

I easily could have said, "You know what? It's too much. I'm doing too much. I need to focus on one thing and make it great!" And my, how wise those words are.

But what do I halt? Which one of these things that I enjoy so much do I stop doing? I can't tell you that I love one more than the other.

So I'm not going to stop anything. I'm going to bring Two Dots and my LipSense shop together - so you will definitely see more LipSense info on our Two Dots pages. I'm going to work my tail off to make Two Dots better in many ways.

We've started by just getting a fresh update with a new logo and a new website that is soon to be unveiled.

And this blog? I'd love for it to become more of a lifestyle blog and work in more home decor, more fashion (more Two Dots), more recipes... but for now, it's going to continue to be my 'therapy'. My way of voicing my life to you through words because I'm way better at typing than actually speaking! How I ever majored in public relations at K-State is beyond me!

So to everyone that has followed along on my journey of business(es), motherhood, and crazy life, thank you. I hope I can step up my game for you so that you feel like sharing with others. The more, the merrier!


XXOO,
Allyson

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday everyone!

My weekend is going to be interesting. Matt is taking Sloane and Reece on a work camping trip from Saturday morning until Sunday morning... so it will be just Tess and I holding down the fort.

With no car.

Matt's taking the van with him and since we sold the truck when we moved to Chicago (because we only had one parking spot!), we will have no vehicle. So. We shall see what kinds of shenanigans Tess and I can get into carless.

Maybe just a lot of football watching... we'll see!

I went to Benefit Cosmetics to get my eyebrows waxed last weekend and I am happy to report they were awesome and I will be going back!

I asked the gal if she had any recommendations for brow fillers since brows are all the rage these days and of course, she had a few things to show me, but this was her favorite.

It's called 'Gimme Brow Volumizing Fiber Gel' and it is da bomb, ladies! I have used my Elf creme to fill in my brows and definitely have loved it and loved the $3 price tag.

But this stuff is just that much better and quicker to use... with a $24 price tag.

It's shaped like a mini mascara brush and comes in different shades. You just swipe it on, as much as you'd like, and you can rub it back and forth to really fill in. And boom! Brows look SO much better!

This is NOT me, but a great picture to show you the before and after difference! So if your'e in the market for a new brow pencil or brow gel, give this one a shot!

I love a good graphic tee. For many reasons. But the most important being that you can dress them up and dress them down so easily!

Pair it with jeans and sneakers and a baseball cap. Or put a blazer on over it, top knot that hair, a pair of heels and it's totally transitioned into an evening look.

So when JCrew debuted their Horoscope shirts, yep... they had me.

They have all of the signs and they are ALL really cute, so go check for yours (PS. My birthday is in nine days so I love this shirt even more right now)!

I love InsaStories. For many reasons, but mostly because usually as soon as someone I am following - a store, a blogger, etc. - announces something that they love and I must have, I immediately go and usually buy it. Not ALL the time but with very specific bloggers, I tend to be that way.

Not the best way to live, but it's fun.

So I've blogged about my former roommate/Wichita State media relations workhorse friend Brittany and her and her sister's adorable monogram shop, Southern Trademark. I LOVE their InstaStories and just their social media presence in general because they are KILLING it. They have super-motivated me and getting Two Dots back to legit-status. So... thank you to Brittany and Brooke! :)

Today they posted new items they got in and holy cuteness! Is this bag not amazing for fall and winter?! I can name five people off the top of my head who would love to rock this bag.

So... if you're an early Christmas shopper or are birthday present-hunting, hunt no more! Check out their shop!

Speaking of InstaStories... I did one the other day on this incredible cheese that I just started eating. And I started eating it BECAUSE of an InstaStory? See, it brings great things to one's life!

The cheese AND InstaStories!

So as I said in the story, I've been trying to eat better. Don't kid yourself, I'm not going to do anything crazy and give up McDonald's coke (though I know I should). But I've just tried to find things that I can eat at the correct times of day (not lunch at 2:45 pm) that aren't going to enhance my gut.

This cheese comes in atleast eight different flavors and they are small wedges, which one might think wouldn't be very much. But it actually is! I coat a flat out sandwich wrap in it with some rotisserie chicken and spinach and still have 3/4 of a wedge left. So I either put it away, or swipe the rest on my plate and dip carrots in it... or pretzel thins.

Sadly, Amazon Prime Now only has two flavors so they don't give me a good variety but Target is on point and has MANY to choose from!

How many of you out there are chapstick users? 🙋

I was an avid Burts Bees chapstick user. Until I started using LipSense. And because Burts Bees is a wax-based chapstick, that was not helping my lips with the exfoliation process it has to go through to get your lips perfect for LipSense.

And then finally, the LipSense Lip Balm came back in stock and it did it without me having to sit at my computer for hours on end staring at the screen and refreshing repeatedly in hopes that it would come back!

I got my hands on a few and it came at the right time because my lips were starting to get dry. I had been using our Lip Volumizer, which I loved and truly felt like it gave my lips a nicer, more plump look without being over the top, but I felt like I hit a limit and my lips were like ... "We need a break from volume and just need balm!"

I tried the lip balm and boom, dry lips no more!

It feels SO nice and applies easily. So if you're a chapstick-aholic, but love your LipSense, stop. Drop (the Carmex) and roll on over to The Lips Shop on Facebook and I will hook you up!

PS. I need to shout it out on more time, but I gained another gal on my LipSense team this week - Christine was one of my cheerleaders I coached when she was at Chapman High and I was a senior at K-State. Lots of life lessons learned by moi... like maybe a 22 year old shouldn't be coaching 17 and 18 year olds.

That's neither here nor there.

Anyway, super pumped she's joined my team and if anyone in Manhattan or Junction City is looking for a LipSense gal, message me and I'll direct you to her!!


Everyone have an awesome weekend! I'll let you know how Tess and I handle our day without a car...

XXOO,
Allyson

Fitting Room Finds

I had brought up earlier this year about starting this 'Fitting Room Finds' and where you all would like me to shop! I had two votes for Nordstrom... and that was my intention - to start at Nordstrom like I was asked.

Oddly enough, there was no Nordstrom in Bentonville, Ark. And the closest Nordstrom to me is on Michigan Avenue which would be fun if I had lots of hours to jot down there. But I was limited to about an hour and a half on this trip, so I went to one of my favorites... and that was close.

The Loft.

Why do I like The Loft? I like it for many reasons as well as have issues with it. My issues are that some things look old to me. And there are plenty of stores that produce enough 'old' clothing that I don't need it at this store, too. But my likes outweighs the dislikes for sure.

I love the quality. I love the color. I love how there are simple pieces and fun pieces. I love that the sizes range and for the most part, I think they run on the large side, so you can size down which is fun to do!

So I started my Fitting Room Finds at The Loft and literally walked back with about 25 different things to try on for you. But decided tot only show you things that I felt good about this readership liking.

Without further adieu...

1.) Chambray Top   2.) Modern Skinny Jeans  3.) Button Wrap Skirt

This top was one of those that really would go with anything! You can't beat chambray, people, so don't even try! :)

The skinny jeans were super soft, super comfortable and KEY - super stretchy! The color I have on is green. 

The wrap skirt was also extremely comfortable and I felt it was a great fall addition for a work wardrobe. 

1.) Plaid Smocked Blouse   2.) Frayed Cuff Straight Leg Jeans   

This top caught my eye as soon as I walked in the store! It's very versatile -- day-to-night, fall-to-winter, work-to-drinks, skirt-to-jeans... I LOVE sleeves with smocked cuffs because it seems to make my wrists really skinny which somehow makes everything else seem skinnier. 

These jeans I also loved! The frayed cuff was actually really cute and I think that it's a trend that isn't silly to purchase! I also wore the top with the wrap skirt from above and again, just another cute outfit option! 

1.) Bonfire Sweater    2.) Striped Cutout Sweater    3.) Blouson Sleeve Sweater

My go-to outfits for the fall and winter are jeans (or leggings - I'm one of 'those' people) and a sweater. And these three sweaters are perfect with the frayed cuff jeans I had on. The Bonfire Sweater is my favorite because it has some color, it wasn't itchy and it hit in the right spot on my torso! 

The Striped Cutout Sweater was uber-comfy, but on me, probably made me look wider than I need to be. But still... big fan! 

The Blouson Sleeve Sweater was perfect, came in a few different colors and would look so great dressed up as well! 

1.) Smocked Cold Shoulder Top    2.) Diamond Button Wrap Skirt

Cold shoulder tops are everywhere right now... if you don't know have one in your closet by now, I don't know how you got away from them! I will say that for the most part, these tops really do look good on everyone and are ageless. My six year old has one and my mom has one. This particular one that I tried on was more of a sweater material and again, had the smocked cuffs that I love. It was very comfy and will march right on through winter for you. I tried it with the frayed cuff jeans as well as this adorable wrap skirt! 

Prints can be scary sometimes, which is why my wardrobe is so blasé. Prints can sometimes make you look heavier, but I really felt like this one did the opposite. In fact, I should wear this skirt every day because I felt like it made me look smaller! BONUS POINTS! 

As you all know if you are frequent Loft shoppers, they have new items coming in all the time so if I walked in today, I would literally try on at least 15 new items. But I felt that what I picked out to show you all are classic pieces that you can make lots of different outfits with items from your own closet. But splurge on yourself a little bit, grab a few new pieces for fall that make you feel good about yourself and will allow your to diversify your wardrobe. 

Happy shopping! 

XXOO,

Allyson

Trying Not to Lose that Loving Feeling

Get it?! ;)

While we were on a whirlwind vacation to Kansas before school started, I was able to get in and get Sloane's hair trimmed and mine colored by a local gal. To be more specific, Becca went to Caney (my rival school growing up in Sedan), she married my sister's high school boyfriend of two minutes and she lives in Niotaze (pronounced Ny-o-taze - Ny-o-tazee), a teeny-tiny town that I have driven through about 1.8 million times in my life, but never actually turned and went through the town.

So finding Becca was actually more difficult than I had imagined!

Anyway... I had a great conversation with her, which is one sign of a fantastic hairstylist, and before I left, she told me I needed to read this book that she had started.

The book was called "Love Unending: Rediscovering Your Marriage in the Midst of Motherhood" by Becky Thompson. Becky is a blogger who, similar to the Pioneer Woman, was a 'city girl' and ended up in the country. Or northwest Oklahoma.

This book is 21 chapters long and the chapters are very short, but each chapter ends with a spot to take notes and reflect, a challenge as well as a prayer. The goal is to read this book in 21 days -- so every day is a new challenge for you in your marriage, something to try and better, atleast better it than it was the day before.

When Becca was explaining it to me, this is where my mind went...

"That book is exactly what I need! Where is Matt's version?"

Because obviously, if I'm going to try and better myself as a wife, he darn tootin' better be trying to better himself at the same time!

And what's funny is that I was reading this one night while we were hanging out in front of the television (because that's what we do to spend time with each other!) and I told him that I was reading this to "try and become a better wife."

A few seconds later he said he was writing the book on ways to be the worst husband.

Those of you that know us know that being serious is not our forte.
.............................................................................................................................................................

So I will be honest. The 21 day challenge is going to probably take me 52 days. And I think that's OK. I don't think Becky is going to scold me for not reading every day. The book is about being a better wife AMIDST motherhood, which as most of us know, it takes a lot out of a person by 5 pm.

I read the first chapter and after reading it, I sat the book down and just thought about where I am at in my life... If I could remember life before kids. If I could remember MATT before kids.

And MAN... is that hard! We both have admitted that we don't remember much before Sloane. And what's really funny is that Matt said he doesn't remember much between the five years from when he graduated to college until we got married.

Which ALL just makes us both feel senile!

The first chapter challenged me to greet Matt when he gets home from work the way I would have greeted him while we were dating. Matt and I were long-distance daters for five and a half of our seven-year courtship so when we were dating and I saw him, I had an extra pep in my step.

I don't remember the exact day it happened, but that "jump in his arms" greeting disappeared at some point. When we lived in Minneapolis, I was usually mad at him when he walked in the door.

Why, you ask? My answer is I have no flipping idea. Maybe I was mad that he got to leave the house every day and have atleast 20 minutes of peace and quiet. Maybe I was mad that he didn't call to tell me he wouldn't be home until later. Maybe I was mad that I hadn't had time to make dinner (again) so in turn, I was mad at him.

I don't know why! I feel like as much as I loved Minnesota, I spent a lot of time unhappy there. I made some wonderful friends that I am forever grateful for. But I think we had a lot of things happen to us that were a part of life's road bumps that just made me an unhappy person.

And so instead of being happy to see him walk through the door (which I was), I fueled it into anger. And I had a resting frown face when he would walk in. Most always.

Since those days, we added children, Matt's job title changed, we moved (numerous times), I started doing some things on my own such as this blog, Two Dots, LipSense - you know, just OVERDOING it over here! - but things that gave me a sense of accomplishment.

We have found our version of happy and though not every day is buckets of roses, I feel like they are just better.
............................................................................................................................................

My husband is not perfect. He probably would tell you that himself. But I am most certainly not perfect either. And movies and TV shows (thanks a lot, 'This Is Us') give us all this unattainable perfection of marriage and life that sometimes makes it's hard to not be mad at one another for not being more like 'Jack'. Or 'Randall'.

So tonight, when my husband walks through the door, I am going to be the first to greet him with a smile on my face. I might not jump into his arms like I did 16 years ago... but I will hug him longer and remember that we might not be 20-year-olds and we might not stay out until 2 AM and sleep in until 10, but our journey is still young.

As are our children. Who need to see two parents that love each other. So when my daughter says, "No more kissing tonight!", we can laugh and I can feel like we are doing our job.

So thanks to Becky for challenging me... it may be hard, harder than I thought it would be, but the challenge is accepted!


XXOO,
Allyson

Friday Favorites

As I slowly but surely dive back into blogging, Friday Favorites has been what I have missed the most! It's what I got the most feedback on and what people really seemed to enjoy!

As did I... there was so much fun stuff to throw at you! And so today... we get right back to it.

Glade has done it again, my friends! Last year's Fall candle was ahhh-mazing. It was a Friday Fave maybe more than once (or maybe I just talked about it constantly)!

And they have hit it out of the park this season once more! The Cozy Autumn Candle is legit. I've had  two of these going in the basement and in the kitchen for less than a week and both are almost gone. The smell is perfect - it's Fall at its best!

I picked these up at Target so when you make your third trip of the week out there, this time grab a few of these candles!

I am a SUPER picky shoe person! And even more picky when they are from Target. I want them to look 'real' but I want them at a fantastic price.

Those things usually never coexist.

BUT... Lauren and I got a 'Free Mom Afternoon' a few weeks ago when I was in Kansas City and we went to Target. Because where else would you go when you have four hours of freedom?

I found these and though I don't normally gravitate to a heel because I just like to be comfy... these spoke to me. So I tried them on. And I loved them.

I've done a few InstaStories on them and about their greatness, but really. If you need a nice Fall shoe to wear with jeans or a skirt, I'd check these out. For $35 (with an extra 20 percent off online), you can't beat this!

I went to The Loft this past weekend to work on a future Fitting Room Finds for you all - a new post I hope to try and do once a month from different locations that are fairly easy for everyone to get to. 

This sweater was the first thing I saw when I walked in - smart, Loft. Very smart.

So I picked it up. It was also the first thing I tried on. And I was smitten! 

It's not itchy (key), it didn't feel constricting (key), and it hit me in the right spot that didn't make me look too short (also key). 

The colors are great, especially for the Fall and though it's listed as $69.50 on the website, you know that The Loft is ALWAYS having some kind of deal! So... if you are smitten with this as well, give it a go! With some dark denim and the DV mules from Target listed above, you have yourself a nice little outfit! 

I have to give a shoutout to Matt's cousin Jen for this Friday Fave because without her, we would have never known it existed. 

And that would be a shame. 

We went on a Michigan vacation with some of Matt's cousins (and aunt and uncle) this past summer and everyone (except us who had moved in to our apartment two days before) brought food to share (thanks for the kindness, everyone!). Jen's family brought this layered dip and I think Matt and I literally ate about three-quarters of it. 

I love a good Mexican layered dip. My mom and her friend Kay make it frequently. But this one has nothing I have to pick out, like jalapeños and olives. And I could eat it with a spoon!

SO... moral of the story is that if you are having a get-together, a tailgate... or just want some damn fine dip, get to Costco and get this! You can thank me later.

And if I haven't convinced you yet to try LipSense... I'm failing at my job. :) No, but seriously... I tried Dark Pink on yesterday for the first time and have found yet another color that I love. Why do I have to love them all?! At this point, I don't even know what my go-to color is! 

So for you newbies (and anyone else who reads this blog), if you want to try out LipSense for the first time, comment below or message me and I'll give you five percent off your first purchase! 

I have said it before, but direct sales was not my jam... until I tried this stuff. I was an immediate believer and just want to share the love! :) 

Everyone have a wonderful weekend! Matt and I are going to a Cubs game on Sunday to celebrate my birthday early -- I get to fly to KC on my birthday weekend to meet my nephew who has yet to arrive. But he will be here by then or my sister will be LOSING her mind!!! :) 

XXOO,

Allyson