Wednesday Wants: Post-Christmas Goodies & 2015 Thoughts about LLB!

Tassel Earrings // Marble Look iPhone Case // Red Fringe Heels // Sequin Collar Striped Shirt // Grey Lace Up Heels

  Floral Dress // Gold Ring Set // Striped Midi Skirt // Tiffany Blue Nikes // Cross Ring

I can't believe this is my last post of 2015! It is has been a crazy year for me. I started my own defense practice, bought an apartment, and had a whole big bunch of emotional ups and downs. I am looking forward to 2016 and have a ton of big things planned for my personal life, my legal career and LLB!  

I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on what things YOU would like to see on LLB in the new year - do you like the mon/wed/fri posting schedule? Are there specific topics or outfits you'd like covered? I love reader input! Thinking back over 12 months of LLB I have some things I'd like to share:

2015 Musings about LLB:

- Most popular posts: Summer Office Wear & Guide to the Best Heels for Work
- Personal favorite post: Lawyered
- Personal favorite outfit: Off to the Races
- Post closest to my heart: Be Brave
- In mid-2015 I hit my personal goal of having over 10,000 page views per month
- I did not reach my goal of getting 5,000 instagram followers (but at least I have a goal to work for!)

From the bottom of my heart, thank you all so much for your support of LLB this year! I am shocked and amazed at how big the blog has become (especially in the past 3 months) and I have you to thank for supporting me.

Linking up with: what i wore // the mummy chronicles // color and grace // oh hey girl // trendy wednesday // midweek muse // jersey girl texan heart // spotlight of the week // #wiwt

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Christmas Recap & Best Boxing Week Sale Items!

Welcome back everyone! I hope you all had a great Christmas and have enjoyed some time off! As you may remember from this post, I wasn't able to head back to Ontario for the Holidays. Luckily, my friends ensured my Christmas was still pretty amazing!

Be sure to check the bottom of this post to see my round up of the stores with the BEST boxing week sales, as well as my picks for the best items this boxing week!

Christmas Recap:

Christmas Eve I had some friends over for a Christmas feast! (You can see all my recipes on my Pinterest). We had a great time eating, drinking and just catching up.

Christmas morning I woke up bright & early to head to meet my best friend at her parents house about an hour away from me. Christmas morning with her family was the greatest. Her two younger brothers are definitely my "unofficial" brothers, and her parents are so welcoming. After the usual present opening chaos we spent the majority of the day playing games & helping out in the kitchen.

I was meant to stay over Christmas night and spend boxing day there as well but - surprise! - my 17 year old nephew texted me at 6pm letting me know that he was stuck in an airport and was going to get sent to Vancouver for a layover. So of course I told him I would come get him when he landed and he could stay with me. He ended up getting in at 1 in the morning, and had to be back at the airport at 7am. We still managed to spend a bit of time catching up, which was great... and definitely made up for being exhausted all of boxing day haha.

After taking my nephew back to the airport I headed back out to my friend's parents. We decided to spend the day making Jelly! Man oh man, was that ever a ton of work. We made both bell pepper jelly & jalapeno lime jelly. We spent the rest of the day/evening playing more board games and then I headed back home. Ps. if you haven't heard of the card game Super Fight you have to check it out. It's pretty darn hilarious.

Whew! What a whirlwind Christmas! I am now back cozy in my home -with the whole day off work, wooohooooo! See you back here on Wednesday! OH, and below are a collection of pictures from my Holidays. I hope you enjoy them!

My Apartment

Christmas Eve with Friends

 The Bestie & I At Her Parents' House

 My Nephew & I
Note how unimpressed he is with me taking a selfie at 2 in the morning...

A little too pleased with ourselves post-making homemade Jelly

My favorite Christmas present - a set of Kate Spade Cutting Boards!

Boxing Week Sales:

Banana Republic: 50% off Sale Items (plus free shipping & returns!)

Sole Society: 50% off Select Shoes, Bags & Accessories

Nordstrom: 50% off Select Items

Forever 21: 75% Off Select Items

Bauble Bar: 60% Off Select Items

J Crew: 50% off Sale Items & 30% off Other (LAST DAY FOR THIS DEAL!!)

Nine West: Up to 50% off 

Le Chateau:  50% off Suit Items!!

Linking up with: OOTD // let it shine // a lovely little a la mode // mix it mondays // sophisticated style // on trend tuesdays // style sessions // tuesday fashion party // confident twosday // trend spin // the mummy chronicles

 

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Christmas Gift Guide: Surviving Last Minute Shopping

Anastasia Brow Kit // Sole Society "Mason" Weekender Bag // Naked Eyeshadow Palette // Watch & Bracelet Set // Quilted Cross Body // Audio Enabled Earmuffs 

Pom Beanie // Ring // Initial Necklace (no longer available at Bloomingdale's, so I've linked it up elsewhere) // Rose Gold Brush Set (also only available elsewhere- but it's linked!) // Infinity Scarf // Similar Pocket Scarf

As a busy woman, I know how hard it can be to find time for things like Christmas shopping. If any of you have left your shopping to the last minute - fear not! It is possible to shop for Christmas gifts at the last minute, and still get excellent gifts that your friends & family will love.

In addition to the above items which all make great gifts, I've got a number of tips for you on how to actually survive shopping for gifts right before Christmas. Here goes:

How to Win at Last Minute Christmas Shopping 

(1) Pick 1 or 2 Stores ONLY
As you can see, my picks above are all from Nordstrom & Bloomingdale's. These are great stores for last minute shopping because of the variety of items available in one store. When you're shopping last minute you do not want to get stuck going to 10 different stores. One-stop shops are the place to be!!

(2) Pick Out Items Online
Shop online to determine what you want to (ideally) get, and arm yourself with a printed list when you actually go to the store. Stores will be crowded, and the last thing you want is to have to aimlessly wander around looking for gift ideas.

(3) Call Stores to Check Availability

Many stores - even during the busy Christmas season - will check stock if you call and give them the product code (that you will have seen during your online research) Better to know in advance if the item you want is available so you can get in and get out and avoid the aforementioned aimless wandering haha.

(4) Call Stores for Holds 

Many stores will put on hold for you the item/items you have called about. Most will keep them behind the counter. This way, you can go straight to the till and not worry about finding things in store! Some stores - like Macy's - even allow you to shop and pay online and just do "pick up" in your local store. This is the biggest time saver there is!

And there you have it!!

 Good luck to everyone with their last minute shopping. And don't forget that it is totally okay to pick up a little something for yourself while you're at it! Personally, I can't get enough of THIS!

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Holiday Office Wear

Blouse // Skirt // Heels // Purse (on CRAZY sale!!) // Necklace // Earrings 

Can you believe it is already the last week of work before Christmas?! I love festive outfits this time of year (as evidence by my instagram lately haha) but it can be hard to do so and still look professional.

This outfit has been my go to this holiday season. I love the red pencil skirt and it's so easy to add a bit of sparkle and get a work appropriate holiday look.

Good luck to everyone in getting through this late week till Christmas! I'm not making it home to Ontario this year (flights were over $1000!) but I am SO lucky to have such great friends that Christmas is still going to be amazing. I'm having two of my closest friends over for Christmas Eve. I'm going to make a proper Christmas dinner (thanks mom for the recipes!) and then we are just going to relax and drink by the fire. Then, Christmas morning I am heading bright & early to my best friend's parents house which is about an hour away. I'll stay up there for a couple days and could not be more excited about it! 

What are your Christmas plans?! 
 
Ps. don't forget to follow along on Facebook & Twitter to see this week's Monday Must Read!

Linking up with: creative mondays // shoe & tell // #howifall // let it shine // beauty by miss l // hello monday  // a lovely little a la mode // sophisticated style // mix it mondays // on trend tuesdays // bloggers who have inspired me // trend spin linkup // style sessions // confident twosday // tuesday fashion party // what i wore // the mummy chronicles // spotlight of the week // thursday fashion files 

 

 

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Beauty & The Boardroom

Boss Lady Mug ~ All photography c/o Ally fotography

Makeup for work can be tricky. Today I wanted to share with you my work day makeup routine. There are two requirements I have: 1) The makeup needs to last all day, and, 2) it needs to take 10 minutes or less to apply. Here is my fool proof work makeup step by step:  

Work Day Makeup that Lasts All Day 

1. Skin/Base:

 

First, I start by applying Photo Finish Primer to my entire face. This gives my skin an even look and helps my makeup last all day.

Second, I apply pore professional to my nose. I have massive pores - and this product is a game changer.

Third, I apply erase paste underneath my eyes. I always seem to have dark circles (permanently sleep deprived!) and this covers them without sinking into the creases and looking cakey.

Next, I apply Estee Lauder Double Wear. This is seriously THE best foundation in the world. It is worth every penny. I tried it out last year after seeing so many beauty bloggers raving about it and now it is the only makeup I will use. If you are looking for makeup to last your whole work day this is definitely it. 

Finally, I apply my Makeup Forever powder & Agent Zero Shine. BOOM. Skin is flawless and will stay this way all day long.

2. Eyes/Eyebrows:

 

Next I move on to my eyes. Eye makeup should be kept subtle for the work place- so for me that means a mix of pale nudes, pinks & browns.

To get this "mix" I have always loved the convenience of eye shadow palettes - but I hate how there are always some colors I never use. The Buxom Customizable Eyeshadow Kit has thus become my new favorite (makeup) thing. You can pick your own six buxom colors to customize your own palette. I have one of these for my workday makeup and one for evenings/more fun makeup!

After applying my neutral eye shadow, I curl my  eyelashes then apply Annabelle pencil eyeliner in the thinest possible line I can draw. This is super cheap drug store eyeliner - but I have found it stays in place better than any of the expensive liners I have tried. It goes on really smoothly as well!

After eyeliner, I go for mascara. I am *obsessed* with the L'Oreal double extend - another drug store find. This cheap mascara is the best for elongating your lashes. I swear by the primer side of it! I also really like that the mascara side is that new formula of 'tube' mascara - so it makes removing my makeup at the end of the day so. much. easier. No more raccoon eyes!

Finally I move to my eyebrows. I have pencil thin eyebrows due to overplucking (thanks for that 7th grade me...) I love the Anastasia brow powder duo to fill in my brows. I find pencil fillers to be far too strong for the work place, whereas this powder just adds subtle fill/dimension in line with your natural brows. perfect. 

I finish up my eyebrows with a quick swipe of Anastasia's clear brow gel. My eyebrows naturally point downwards, so I love this gel to just set all the hairs in the exact shape I want.

 

  

3. Lips:

Lipstick for work should be understated. There are two lipsticks that I alternate between. They are soft shades and they also are the best texture! These are NARS "Audacious" in "Anita" and YSL "Rouge Volupte" in "Opera Rose". The NARS by some crazy amazing miracle of science lasts me ALL DAY LONG. Even when I drink my coffee with it on!

And done! That takes me between 5-10 minutes (...depending on how tired I am while doing it haha) I'll put a recap of all the products I used below. I hope you all have an excellent Monday ahead of you. See you back here on Wednesday!

Follow me on Bloglovin' to make sure you don't miss any posts - you'll get an email straight to your inbox (just 1!) with post recaps of all the blogs you follow. It makes it so much easier to find and read posts you are interested in! 

Work Day Makeup Products:

Face:
- Makeup Forever Powder 

- Erase Paste
- Photo Finish Primer

- Pore Professional

- Estee Lauder Double Wear

- Agent Zero Shine

Eyes:
- Buxom Customizable Eyeshadow 

- Annabelle Eyeliner 

- Anastasia Brow Powder 

- Anastasia Brow Gel

- L'Oreal Mascara  

Lips:  

- NARS "Anita"
- YSL "Opera Rose"

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