Hearts and Sleeves - Week Forty Seven

Your brain is just like any other muscle in your body – if you don’t work it out it will get out of shape and flabby. But don’t worry because the cure to mental obesity is just one bookstore away! Keep your mind active by always learning something new.  And don’t just stay in your comfort zone by reading material that you are already familiar with, stretch your mind and discover something you’ve never known about this world. Need some starting ideas? Search for E. M. Bounds, Do Hard Things, cupcakes, The Chronicles of Narnia, Christian biographies, The Lucky Guide to Mastering Any Style, and Jane Austen.  Enjoy the exercise!

Hearts and Sleeves - Week Forty Six

Where do white satin dresses, guest cards, diamond rings, tuxedos, and lifelong commitments collide in this world? In your upcoming wedding! You probably have some big dreams in mind for that special day, but after the engagement ring is slipped onto your finger you will quickly discover that wedding dreams do not come cheap. Start setting money aside for the big day now so that you can spend the time before your wedding being hopelessly in love, not balancing skimpy budgets and buying Costco cupcakes.

Hearts and Sleeves - Week Forty Five

A sock is not just a sock, and not just any sock goes with any shoe. Every lady should have these types of sock tucked away in her drawers – ankle socks, knee high socks, liner socks, lace liner socks, and knee high nylons. Each type of sock has its use. Ankle socks are a staple used for tennis shoes or other casual wear, knee high socks are lifesavers when wearing boots in the cooler months and are a source of undercover warmth, liner socks take flats from at home to classy, lace liner socks are great with high heels and mange to look cute through peep toes without allowing you to freeze for the sake of style, and knee high nylons are the most subtle way to cover up while providing some warmth and also smoothing out the look of skin. Stock up on the type of socks you use most, but always have a couple of pairs of the others so that you are ready for any situation. As far as color goes black is the most essential, followed by nude and white.

Hearts and Sleeves - Week Forty Four

Do you spend the week before a formal event stressing over what you are going to wear? Avoid the agony by keeping an eye out for gorgeous dresses now. When you’re at the mall  go to the formal section to see if anything is on sale, and if you already have a dress picked out, look at the accessories to see if anything might be that perfect touch. You can stop into second hand stores, and you might be surprised at what a Goodwill can hold. Now when a formal event comes your way, you’ll already have red carpet style hanging in the closet.

Hearts and Sleeves - Week Forty Three

Smokey eyes are a classic look but can be intimidating for the inexperienced. Follow these simple instructions to make it an easy addition to your makeup skills. Buy a tutorial kit from Sephora, Maybeline’s Smokey Eye shadow pallet, or Cover Girl’s Smokey Shadow Blast stick. Use the lightest color and cover your entire eyelid (from lash line to eyebrow). Take the main color and fill in your eyelid area (from lash line to crease). Use a darker color to accent the corners of your eyes. Take a brush and blend all of the layers together. (Remember that you want to look smokey, not striped.) Finish up your look with eyeliner and mascara, and you have a smoky eye. (And don’t try to skip the eyeliner, without it a smokey eye looks like a black eye.)And don’t think that the smoky eye can be done only in black, also try it in browns, purples, and greens. If you still need help mastering the technique, look up tutorials online.