Friday Favorites

Happy First Friday of 2018, friends!

And what a doozy of a week!

We made it back from Kansas on Sunday, laid fairly low until yesterday, when Sloane had a small surgery in the morning. Sidenote: Thanks to everyone that sent sweet messages and checked in on us! The surgery was very fast and we were home by 10:30 and she was back to her normal self by 10:45. She has a small bandage on her forehead and won't be able to take a bath or shower until Saturday. We will also have to work on the small scar that will accompany this, but we will take that versus the alternative.

But we have earned these Friday Favorites, so let's do it!

This first favorite is in honor of my dad. My anal retentiveness comes from him (Thanks, dad!) and he and I are in total sync when it comes to the organization of electronic cords. When I had left my charger at home during Christmas vaca, my dad told me where to go to find his extra chargers.

I opened the magic bag and behold - organized cords! And all because of these fastening wrap strips! For $6.99, you too can have an organized bag of cords! These bad boys are wonderful and keep everything together, rather than one big heaping pile of tangled madness!

So for the organized freaks like myself and my dad, or those that are eager to be more like us, start here! ;)

I've told you all about how I have an issue with following bloggers on InstaStories and buying everything they tell me to swipe up for (it is a goal in my life to have enough followers to be able to have you all 'Swipe Up' on my Instagram account - sad goals? Maybe. But it's a goal, nonetheless). This is one of those purchases! 

Loreal's Lumi is a liquid illuminator. You can use it by itself to contour, use above and below the brow bone to enhance your eyes or you can mix it in with your foundation to give a highlighting effect, which his what I do. It comes in three different shades: Ice for cool skin tones, Golden for warm skin tones or Rose for neutral skin tones. 

And don't you worry, my pretties... our favorite place - Target - sells these! 

We are staying on the Loreal Paris bandwagon for one more second. Back in October, I asked the question, "What's your favorite mascara and eye-makeup remover?" And holy cow - did I get responses! That has been one of my most-read and most-commented-on blog posts since I started this blog (who knew!). 

Everyone had great recommendations. But in the end, I decided to try a store-bought brand first. And to my surprise (and relief), Loreal's Voluminous Mascara has been great! It totally reminds me the Clinique version that we all raved about, but that only came in the "gift with purchase" set. Downside is that it gets a little clumpy sometimes, but bright side is that it goes on well and is less than $8. Win-win. 

So if you're hunting for mascara, I'd definitely give this one a try! 

My name is Allyson and I have an expensive shoe problem.

Hi, Allyson.

Good news is this problem isn't something that I take action on. As in, I want ALL of the expensive shoes but don't own one pair of them! So... maybe not a real problem? But I'm winning the lottery so ... SHOES FOR EVERYONE!

I saw these Everlane shoes (The Day Heel) on a blogger (shocker) and THEN I saw them in ruby red. Lawdy... this Kansas girl can't stay away from a ruby red shoe! :) I'm in love with them, but here's the deal - I wear dress shoes maybe once a week for maybe an hour and a half. I wear Uggs every day, all day. So spending $155 on a pair of shoes is tough for me... but these shoes. I need.

I LOVE this color as well - they are super classy with a pair of black pants. Oh Lottery Gods, come hither! :)

I bought this sherpa jacket from Amazon after reading about in from The Mom Edit. They showed theirs in an oatmeal color, and I honestly couldn't decide which color I liked more so I went with the gray.

It's more of charcoal (as you can see on me, in the left),  and probably not AS pretty as the version they show on the right (with their beautiful lighting). But it's unbelievably soft and comfy, which was the comment I got from most people yesterday - it looks soft and comfy!

It has two pockets in the front and a hood in the back... and it's perfect for those lazy days. I'm not one that finds sherpa to be something you wear out to something nice... but for those days where you just have errands to run and want to be comfortable, this is it!

And... it's $22. I got a small and felt the sizing was right on. Grab one before they are gone and won't be back until April! :)


That's a wrap for this week, folks. We are laying semi-low this weekend - probably a Costco trip where we will be strictly buying from the list, maybe a movie with Sloane to treat her for being so brave on Thursday and a big trip to UPS to ship off all of the gifts that arrived AFTER we left for Christmas break! Classic! :)

Have a great weekend everyone and stay tuned for a new and improved Tess and Elm, hopefully coming to you next week! EEK! :)

XXOO,
Allyson

Friday Favorites

It's Friday! We made it! Pat yourself on the back, sit down, put your feet up and have a drink!

It's only 8:45 in the morning you say? Who cares! Do it anyway! :)

Busy weekend ahead for the Clark's. We are off to Manhattan to celebrate my dear friend Abby's wedding.

Me and a bunch of my sorority sisters. LOTS of laughter to ensue!

It's also my Sloane's sixth birthday... six going on 16, I can't believe it!

I shared this on my blog Facebook page this week, but I had went shoe shopping for this weekend's wedding at Payless.

Sidenote: Friends, I NEVER wear dressy shoes. The dressiest I get is Minnetonka Moccasins. So even though I really would have loved to find a really nice pair for the wedding, it is just so pointless for me. My friend Megan will be wearing a pair of Jimmy Choos that I will be trying on and taking pictures of myself in because there will never be a time that I'm as cool as Carrie Bradshaw, except for that moment that I'm in the Choos. Stay tuned.

Anyway, I found some shoes for the wedding, but also found some adorable flats by Christian Siriano who was a winner on Project Runway (great show)! He has a line of shoes at Payless and I'd seriously recommend taking a peek. There are some really cute options!

Here is the pair of Keltie Flats I found that were comfortable and adorable -- love them with some skinny jeans or skinny dress pants! They also come in black.

I also tried these Gianna Pointed Toe Flat and loved them! And they are currently on clearance for $10. So... I'm just sayin'...

And here's the shoe I ended up going with for the wedding. It'lldo. :)

Not to toot our own horn or anything, but if you gals haven't checked out the latest stuff coming in to Two Dots, I highly recommend you stop reading, click this link and go browse! We have so many cute items coming in for Fall, it's hard for me to not swoop in and take one of each!

 

It is no secret that one of my very favorite stores to shop at is JCrew Factory.

I love JCrew so very much, but at some point in my later teenage years, they took it upon themselves to jack their prices up exponentially. But then they saved themselves and gave me JCrew Factory!

My sister's birthday is right around the corner and we love to give each other clothes (you'd think that would be the last thing we'd want to give each other since we co-own a clothing store together, but far from it...). So I hopped on the JCrew Factory site and sat there staring at all the things that I wanted. That my sister would like, too. But I seemed to forget the main objective here.

But I knew I needed to tell you about the Anya Suede Ballet Flats. Because they are my favorite!

I own them in this color, saddle, as well as pink/coral color, also in suede. I really want to own the cabernet and graphite. I mean... I'd just take them all!

They are the comfiest flats I've ever owned - they have nice cushion on the bottom and I can wear them all day without feeling like my ankles need to be peeled off the back of them!

They are a pretty shoe and the saddle color is a staple for me all Fall!

Everyone needs a pair! :)

I have a fairly simple style. I buy basic pieces that you can add to with a vest, a sweater, a jacket... just fairly classic pieces.

But I am bored with my closet. I walk in every day and can't find anything to wear.

I realize this is a female problem in general because we all "never have anything to wear" but it's really true in my case! ;)

So I was hoping my beloved JCrew Factory could help me out a bit. I love all of their sweaters, but really love these two. PS. These aren't "knock down your door" standout pieces, but ....

I LOVE the bold blue color of this sweater. My mom got me a puffer vest from JCrew in this exact color and I love it! It's a fantastic pop of color during seasons where there is very little color. And this would look good on everyone!

And then, as you can tell from our Two Dots purchases, we love some stripes. And we love some black and white! How adorable would this sweater be with a great pair of jeans (if I could ever find some) and the Anya Suede Ballet Flats in cabernet.

Who's with me?!

I don't know about you all, but I have a hard time finding a lipstick that stays on all day. And by having a hard time, I mean I don't have any that stay on very long.

I love the colors of my Mac lipsticks, but they last for an hour or so (and I don't carry lipsticks around with me).

I LOVE my Clinique Chubby Sticks (I love the colors) but have the same problem as above. And I have a ton of random lipsticks that I love the colors of, but again, nothing stays.

I found this blog, The Small Things, from Pinterest. This blogger is a hair stylist and if you look at her pics, she might seem familiar because pictures of her hair are many I've pinned! :) She does great beauty posts and she is the reason I use a Maybelline cream blush!

Anywho... she just recently did a post on long-lasting lipsticks and tested three different ones out. The cheapest of the three won the test (L’Oreal Infallible 2-step lip color in Toujour Teaberry) and I'm sure it can be found at Wal Mart, Target or Walgreens if you happen to be perusing the makeup aisles next time you are there.

I'll definitely be giving this a test run!


Everyone have a great weekend! I'm excited for a weekend with my friends, and to celebrate my Sloane turning 6! See you on Monday!

XXOO,
Allyson