Hailey's Helpful Hints

Don't have time to flip thru the latest issue of Vogue to find out the fall/winter color trends? Don't beat yourself up - not many of us do. If you're stuck in a beauty rut and you want to *attempt* to stay current but have no idea where to start, here are four (4) top makeup trends for Fall/Winter 2010 to get you started in the right direction. 1) NATURAL: Fall/Winter 2010 is a time to let your natural beauty shine through, with flawless skin, nude lip colors and soft, neutral eyes. The natural look is one that suits every age group and every pocketbook. The key to the minimal makeup look is to make certain that your skin looks gorgeous. By exfoliating and keeping it moisturized , you'll be able to pull off this look with ease. I personally love to dust my skin with a darker shade of luminous pressed powder - not a " bronzer " - to highlight the skin with a subtle glaze of color. MAC's " Mineralize Skinfinish Natural " is a perfect choice. ...

I recently set off to meet my husband in NYC for a weekend in the BIG city. Kid-less . Ahhhh . As I sat there waiting for the plane to take off, I thought, “ ok now what?” I had almost forgotten what it felt like to travel without Chase, the sound of Barney's voice and all the “extras”– stroller, diaper bag packed with food, diapers, change of clothes, DVD’s and a purse packed with dinosaurs and Match Box Cars. After I got comfy in my seat and was handed my usual Club Soda, I dove into a book I’d been meaning to read for quite some time – “The Five Love Languages” by Gary Chapman. I started to read…and read…until I couldn ’t read anymore. 5 hours later, I had completed the book and felt so inspired to start my journey on learning to speak and better understand the unique love language of my husband to make our already incredible marriage that much better. I was finishing up my Junior year at the University of Washington when I first met Dave. Call me young and dumb but after a mon...

Unscripted: adj - Spontaneous, different, unusual, unique A thing that doesn't go as planned but ends up a lot better than expected. To live life unscripted goes against all my Type-A, Virgo traits. I hate uncertainty. I thrive on routine. I like to know what's next. I'm a borderline control freak. I don't like when things go wrong. Most days I love the person God made me to be. Other days, I can't stand myself. It's a gnarly love/hate relationship. But at the end of the day, all I can be is me. One of my goals however over the past few months has been to live more freely. For me that's as simple as being ok with leaving the bed unmade. Or ordering something off the menu other than chicken. It's a work in progress but I am getting there, one baby step at a time. Naturally, we are all creatures of habit to some degree. There's a lot of comfort and predictability in doing the same ol ' same ol '. A good routine becomes a well oiled machine ov...

You couldn't have paid me $5,000 to muster up the motivation to go to the grocery store on Monday. The thought of loading and unloading the car made me sick to my stomach. Instead, I decided to do what any smart woman should - I ordered them online @ Vons.com and had them delivered to my house. Genius right? I was a little skeptical at first but when that grocery boy arrived at my door the following day - on time with all my ordered items - I was elated. Why didn't I do this sooner?? This got me thinking...what other mobile services could help me lighten the load? I have a pretty extensive list of mobile resources I already use and I’m always shocked to hear that people 1) don’t know they exist or 2) don’t take advantage of them. For instance, we use a mobile Drycleaning service. Our friends had never heard of such a thing. We put the bag of clothes to be laundered on the porch Friday AM, a man stops by our house and picks them up (no call or appointment needed) Friday afterno...

' Tis the season for giving - especially to those that gave to you in some way or another over the year. In particular; teachers, employees, faithful customers & clients, nannies, party hostesses. An unexpected gesture of recognition around the holidays is always a touching way to show your appreciation. If you're sick of giving the same ol ' box of chocolates or items that will absentmindedly get shoved into the desk drawer, I suggest you look into these fashionable foods - Paulette Macarons . My girlfriend, Lori, was given a box of 24 as a gift recently. Of course she busted them out when the pregnant lady came to visit. Before even diving into one, I inspected the stylish packaging. It was love at first sight. Their rainbow array of colorful cookies are made so perfectly pretty and the varying list of flavors made for a fun conversation piece. After much talk and research on the price ( a little steep at $1.60/cookie), we nibbled away. Ohhhhhh my goodness, this li...

You just spent the last 20 minutes lathering your body in soap bubbles, washing every square inch of your body. You feel so fresh and clean. Until...you put your face into the towel that wreaks so bad you want to vomit. The musty towel stench is so indescribable. Nothing is worse than getting a wiff of that smell on your skin hours later at the office. Does it mean your towel is too old? Probably not. Is your washing machine bad? Highly unlikely. Do you have a bad water tank? Most likely not. It would be safe to say that you need to evaluate how often you are washing your towels and will most likely need to change up your washing technique. So before you throw out those bad boys - read on. There are a handful of people that reach for a brand new towel every single day. This post will probably mean nothing to you. I for one, do not. I hang my towel on the hook and reuse a handful of times. So this got me thinking whether or not, from a germ perspective, I ought to be washing my towels ...

It's time. Time to get our minds right for what's to come in...55 days. Christmas. I'm all about taking one holiday at a time but the reality is, Christmas really sneaks up on us. It's hard enough trying to keep up with life, work, school, and kids. Now tack on holiday parties, house decorating, present shopping, school functions, church plays - the list seems to never end. One of my pet peeves during this time of year is holiday cards that arrive just days before Christmas. Growing up my mom would tape all the cards on the wall by the front door. We loved coming home to look at all the new and old faces. I've decided to carry on that tradition in our household. No matter how many times we walk by, we stop, look and feel blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives. So how do you make it on the wall? Start thinking about your holiday cards NOW. Your goal should be to mail them on Dec. 1st. Considering you can kiss the week of Thanksgiving goodbye, that's n...