{playing dress up}

Today has been so full of birthday celebrating that I almost forgot to post my WIWW!  I mean...this is quite distracting, right? :)

I'm a little light on outfits this week because I've been off of work quite a bit and busy getting ready for the boys' party. #1 is a work outfit, and #2 was from yesterday...my hair had a hot date with some scissors and color and I made a quick trip to Hobby Lobby for more party supplies.

#1...

Top and earrings: Kohls // skirt: Sears // Sandals: Target // Ring: Etsy

#2...

Top: Walmart // capris and sandals: Kohl's // Bag: Etsy

Hope everyone is having a good week! I'm back to work tomorrow after a super long and fun weekend. At least it is only two days and then its time for our superhero extravaganza! :)

Ooh...and if you haven't already, head on over and enter my Eclos Beauty Skincare Kit Giveaway!

Linking up with...

{saying good-bye to three}

As we put the boys to bed tonight, all I could think about was that it was the last night putting them to bed as three year olds. They will be four tomorrow. FOUR.

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around that number...especially when I look back on how we started out...

And then came their first birthday. One was a little bittersweet for me, but mostly exciting...a celebration of surviving the first year as parents of twins.

Two was even more of a celebration, and we had SO much fun picking out their gifts and personalizing everything for them...

I didn't think it could happen, but three was even more exciting. Three is such an age of discovery and the boys were turning into little people that we could have a conversation with and interact with on a deeper level...and their Despicable Three birthday party was so much fun...

But four...well now I'm realizing that they REALLY aren't babies anymore. They will start preschool in just a few months. They can go to the potty all by themselves. Well...when they want to. They talk to me about God, about what they want to do tomorrow, about what super-hero they like the best. They tell me they love me without me saying it first...

They are little men now.

Tomorrow will be a fun family day, just the four of us. We're going to take the boys out and let them do all of their favorite things...maybe some bowling, pick out a new book, a trip to our local toy store to pick out their free birthday present, whatever they want for dinner. And a little cake just for them.

And then on Saturday we'll celebrate with our family and friends...superhero style. :) I can't wait to share the best moments of their 4th birthday with you.

{#EclosBeauty skincare review and giveaway}

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of éclos Skin Care for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

When I was contacted by éclos to try out their éclos Anti-Aging Skin Care Starter Kit, and to offer a second kit to one of my readers, I was really excited. See...I have a little bit of an obsession with trying out new beauty care items. And now that I'm close to my mid 30's and those pesky little fine lines are showing up, I'm even more game for trying out any product that has "Anti-Aging" in the title.

Here is a little bit about the éclos products:
éclos features Apple Stem Cells extracted from a rare Swiss apple which have shown tremendous ability to stimulate skin stem cells, encouraging aging skin to behave like younger skin. Plant extracts, vitamins and anti-oxidants combine with the Apple Stem Cell technology to help minimize the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and tired skin.

When my starter kit arrived I couldn't wait to try out all of the samples. It came in a cute little box and there were six products in the kit...


• Facial Cleanser Skin Prep
• Cellular Activator Face Serum
• Moisture Therapy Regenerative Cream
• Restorative Eye Cream
• Instant Radiance Facial Scrub
• Skin Renewal Clay Mask



They also included an éclos Terry Cloth Head Band and a $3 coupon to use on a future purchase...



The first time I used the products, I noticed two things that made them stand out from other products that I've tried. They have a really great natural fragrance, which includes a clean and fresh blend of all-natural essential oils including rosewood, ylang ylang, palmarosa, cardamom, and geranium. They are also free from parabens, sulfates, synthetic fragrances, synthetic dyes, or petro chemicals (potentially harmful synthetic chemicals derived from petroleum).

I split the products into two regimens...one which included the Instant Radiance Facial Scrub, and one that included the Skin Renewal Clay Mask. Each separate product was wonderful in its own way. The facial cleanser was very light and foamy, and really felt like it was cleaning off my make-up and the grime from the day. The scrub had a sugar-like texture, and warmed up when I applied it to my face, almost melting away after a minute of massaging it into my skin. The clay mask left my skin feeling tightened and refreshed. The face serum is very light, and I only needed a small amount to cover my entire face. I love the texture and moisturizing quality of the regenerative cream. It left my skin feeling very moisturized and soft, but not at all oily or greasy. And the eye cream was the first product of its kind that I've tried. I noticed that the skin around my eyes stayed soft for up to a day after I had applied it.

Here is a photo from before I used the products. It is hard to tell in this picture, but I do have some fine lines on my forehead, and some more noticeable smile lines...



I noticed after using the products for a week that my smile lines were softer and not quite as noticable, as well as the fine lines on my forehead. I feel like if I continue to use them I will see more noticable results.

Here is an "after" photo and I think you can see a slight difference in my smile lines {the difference is more noticable to me in person}...



These products claim to help restore smooth,youthful texture to skin, tighten pores, and reduce the appearance of fine lines, and I can say from my experience that the products do deliver. They left my skin feeling softer, looking more even and radiant, and also lessened the appearance of my fine lines.

So would you like to try the éclos Anti-Aging Skin Care Starter Kit for yourself? They have generously offered a kit for one of my lucky readers!

Required Entry:
Leave a comment stating which product in the kit you are most excited to try.

Additional Entries:
Like This Girl's Life on Facebook
Follow This Girl's Life via GFC or RSS Feed
Share this giveaway on your Facebook, blog or Twitter {1 entry each}
*Be sure to leave a comment for each of these that you do!*

*Giveaway will be open until 12 pm EST on Sunday, June 3rd, and the winner will be chosen by random.*

éclos Skin Care

{instagram friday}

The weekend is almost here friends! It will be a long one for me...5 days to be exact! Of course Monday is a holiday, and Wednesday is the boys' 4th birthday so I decided to extend the weekend so we can celebrate a lot more with them. Plus it will give me time to prepare everything for the birthday party next weekend. The Ford house will be superhero central! :)

Linking up again today with Life Rearranged for Insta-Friday...



So here's what my past week looked like through my little camera lens...

1. My favorite color combo
2. "Real Italian" for dinner...plus superhero capes
3. Mouth full of breadstick
4. A squirrel button hat for a very special squirrel loving mom-to-be
5. Checking out the neighbor's flowers
6. Some days drying my hair just isn't in the cards

1. Awesome paper straws for the boys' birthday party
2. Melvin is always at my feet these days
3. A late night date with the treadmill
4. Beautiful skies
5. Watch out bad guys
6. A smoothie for dinner to combat my McDonald's lunch

Hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend!

{Starbucks iced coffee at home}

It is no secret that I love coffee.

And now that the weather has warmed up here in Hoosier land, I'm craving iced coffee nearly 24/7. My drink of choice is a {ready for this?} grande iced decaf non-fat 6-pump vanilla latte.

Yummmmm.

But I don't have the moohlah to run to Starbucks whenever I please to drop $4.50 on one. So I decided to put together a quick and easy iced "latte" of my own at home...

All you need are three ingredients...

1. A Starbucks Via iced coffee packet
2. Coffee-mate vanilla creamer {or your favorite brand/flavor}
3. Cold water and lots of ice

I began by filling my mug up about 1/2 full with cold water, and then added about 3/4 of the Starbucks Via packet and mixed it up. Then I added the vanilla creamer until it was the light brown color of my perfect mug of coffee {I like a little coffee with my creamer}. Finally I filled the mug up the rest of the way with ice cubes.

Then I popped in a straw, and took it to the patio to relax with my favorite orange cat and a new bottle of nail polish...

Do you have a favorite warm weather drink?

Tell me about it...and better yet...leave the recipe in the comments so we can try it!

Starbucks VIA Ready Brew, Italian Roast

{playing dress up}

Happy What I Wore Wednesday friends! 

If you are new to these posts, I link up on The Pleated Poppy along with lots and lots of other cute and inspiring women to share how we get dressed each week.

I realized today that I hit my one year mark with WIWW...my first post was May 11th last year! Whoa how does the time fly. And also crazy how much my hair has grown! Let's compare, shall we?

It is crazy to me how quickly my hair grows...I have only had one or two trims between. I liked my hair short but I feel like a totally different person with it long...having fun with it. :) Going in next week for the works...color, highlights and a trim. I can't wait!

OK...so let's get on to my outfits from the past week, shall we?

#1...

Top: TJ Maxx // Skirt: Sears // Flats: Kohls // Necklace: SarieJune

 #2...

Top: Walmart // Capris and Sandals: Kohls // Necklace: Target

#3...

Dress: TJ Maxx // Cardigan and Necklace: Kohls // Sandals: Dillards

#4...

Top: maurices // Sweater & Necklace: Kohls // Skirt: Walmart // Sandals: Target

#5...

Layered tank: Meijer // Cardigan: Dillards // Capris and Flats: Kohls // Ring: InPink

Flower necklace: The Birds Papaya

#6...

Dress: Target // Bracelet: Claire's // Sandals: Dillards // Bird pendant: Hobby Lobby

 

Earrings: Kohls

And I just realized I'm wearing a similar outfit today to my very first WIWW post...same earrings and bracelet and a Target chambray dress. Some things never change. :)

Linking up with...

{weekend lessons}

Lessons learned over the weekend...

1. I need to invest in spanx, especially when I have a baby shower to go to on my most bloated day of the month {TMI? Yes.}

2. Related to the above, never sit next to the filter-less guest at said baby shower when you are feeling less than happy with your appearance. And remember that your baby bump, although it was almost 4 years ago, is still not off limits for comment. Apparently someone felt that it was "not cute."

3. Never...and I repeat, NEVER, attempt to put your sons' fishy tent together when you are on your worst PMS day of the year {notice a trend in this post? ;)}. I think I scarred them. Enough said.

4. And to remedy all of the above, an iced coffee from Starbucks tastes sooo much better in the mug Landon got me for Mother's Day...and even better when accompanied by a new shade of nailpolish and my favorite orange cat...

Did you learn any good lessons over the weekend?