Obsessed with this necklace!

DETAILS: GOLD SMALL CHAIN NECKLACE | GOLD T-BAR CHAIN NECKLACE | GOLD BRACELET | GOLD CHAIN BRACELET | RUFFLED TANK | DENIM | LIPSTICK: HONEST MULBERRY KISS – NO LONGER SOLD 🙁 | BLACK HANDBAG

Confidence comes in waves, but it’s something I think is contagious. When you are around the right type of confident people they usually are lifting others up and their energy is contagious. When you think of a confident woman in your life who’s the first person who pops in your head? 

It’s something I am always trying to work on, some days it comes naturally and other days I’m giving myself  a pep talk. We all know the days when we are our own worst critics, and sometimes it’s hard to get out of that funk, but here are 6 easy things I do when I’m having an off day to try and switch my mood and confidence. 

1. Stop The Negative Talk. I was actually reading a recent study and it said POSITIVE self talk is the greatest predictor of success. The study showed that people didn’t need to be reminded how to do something as much as they needed to tell themselves they are doing something great. We are all guilty of it from time to time, but stop yourself next time you catch yourself saying something negative, walk to a mirror and say 3 positive things about yourself. 
2. Serve others. If I’m having an off day, I always ask myself, what have I done to help someone else today or this week? And usually I haven’t! So whether it’s helping someone, encouraging someone else’s dream, writing an email to someone you look up to or admire, step outside of yourself and look at ways to help others. 
3. Jewelry. And I’m not just talking your go-to pair of earrings. Go big! I love layering lots of pendants and chains to make even the simplest outfits more beautiful. I wish I had taken a before pic, but think about it – jeans and a tank is effortless and easy, but layer on some beautiful high-quality jewelry and it instantly feels more elevated. You guys know how obsessed I am with Missoma – they are my number one jewelry brand. All their pieces are such amazing quality. I just got these pieces from their new collection. I honestly can’t recommend this brand enough. I always have at least one of their pieces on. And when you have your beautiful necklaces on, it draws attention to your shoulders and neckline (which I cover in point 5). So if your posture is on check, your confidence is shining. 
4. A bold lip. I always feel more confident when I have a bright or moody bold lip on, and my eyes are always drawn when I see other women out sporting their beautiful bold colors. So excited for fall to be able to pull out some moodier shades!
5. Check your posture. Even if it’s as simple as looking more people in the eyes. How often are we all hunched over our phones walking around. Put the phone down, straighten your shoulder, raise your head and look people in the eyes. 
6. Wear matching underwear. Ok ladies can you relate to this?? I’ll be honest it is a miracle if I can find two socks that match, but when I put on a matching bra and underwear set, I feel more confident. 

What are some things that make you guys feel more confident on days when you are feeling off?

XX, Christine

*In collaboration with Missoma.

The post 6 Easy Ways to Feel More Confident appeared first on Hello Fashion.

I’ve definitely been educating myself more about racism over these last few weeks,  but I also want to continue the conversation with my kids so they learn from a young age – not just so this next generation isn’t part of the problem, but so they can be part of the solution. I really believe it starts in the home, how we raise our kids.

In addition to having conversations with the kids, I wanted to have some books for them to. I’ve ordered some new books but I also wanted to put together a round up with a few other’s I’ve sourced below.

1. THE HATE U GIVE | 2. A KIDS BOOK ABOUT RACISM | 3. LITTLE LEADERS: BOLD WOMEN IN BLACK HISTORY | 4. SATURDAY | 5. YOU MATTER | 6. ANTIRACIST BABY | 7. LET’S TALK ABOUT RACE | 8. SOMETHING HAPPENED IN OUR TOWN | 9. THIS BOOK IS ANTI-RACIST

I would love to create a resource with this post, so please add your suggestions in comments for others.

XX, Christine

The post Kids Books to Start Teaching Anti Racism At Home appeared first on Hello Fashion.

DETAILS: SHERPA PULLOVER | DENIM | CONVERSE | SUNGLASSES | OLLIE’S SHERPA SUIT | BABYBJORN BABY FREE CARRIER | LIPSTICK

Hey guys! Real talk… I don’t post as much as I used to on the blog, and I wanted to see how many of you guys still enjoy coming here for content?  This has been such an incredible journey, and even though social platforms are where we spend a lot of our time, I’m forever grateful for you following along, old and new, who read here. It means so much! I like the blog because it allows me to share a lot more and write more!

My blog, like my clothing line ILY Couture, has always gradually evolved with me. For those of you who may not remember, I started ILY when I was engaged and looking for some headpieces to wear to my wedding. I couldn’t find what I wanted, so I decided to make my own! From there, it evolved to jewelry, women and kids clothing and more. I remember when I got pregnant with Beckam, we made our ‘Preggers’ tee, and then our iconic ‘Wifey’ tee. Hello Fashion has been evolving also – initially just fashion, then expanding to include family and lifestyle, beauty, travel, home decor, and more. I feel like you guys are truly friends and I love the community we’ve created, so it feels right to share the natural progression of my life.

After having Ollie I did a Q&A on insta and asked what you missed seeing and people said fashion. I hadn’t even realized it but None of my recent pictures on Insta were in jeans, but then upon a closer look I realized I had barely posted jeans in the year prior (part of that was just living in swimsuits and dresses during my pregnancy 🙂 and it occurred to me how much my brand has grown to be more lifestyle than just fashion. I have always loved fashion and love sharing my new finds with you guys, but as I’ve been trying to reflect on my brand, I wanted to give you guys a chance to weigh in. The last thing I want this to be is asking you guys ‘What content do you want to see more of?” that has been so prevalent this year. But for those of you who read here – what do you love the most?  fashion and street style? Or do you prefer the family content at home?  I would love to hear your thoughts below. And thank you guys from the bottom of my heart for being here throughout this journey of life. 🙂 Hope you guys are all staying safe during the quarantine!

XX, Christine

The post Real Talk: What Brings You Here? appeared first on Hello Fashion.

Happy Friday, mamas! Let’s talk nursing… whether you’re breastfeeding, pumping, or using formula, when it comes to feeding our babies I feel like people are really passionate one way or the other. I remember when I had Beckam, my milk dried up really fast and I felt like I was failing as a mom. I think a big part that was that breastfeeding in general was not as openly talked about as it is now. As a first time mom, I wasn’t as confident in my “mom skills” as I am the second time around. So I just wanted to start this post with whatever you are doing to feed your baby, that’s amazing! 

When we had Ollie this time around, I wanted to try breastfeeding again. He did really well at the beginning, but as time went on my milk supply started to lower. My milk wasn’t coming out as fast as the bottle so when it came time to feed, he would get really upset and wouldn’t latch. Sometimes if he was really tired, he would latch and I LOVE that time with him so much. There is no better connection, but most of the time after the first 6 weeks, it just didn’t work… Some days it’s still hard and I miss having that connection time breastfeeding him, but I’m also really thankful he can still get some of my milk other ways. And I’ll be honest, it’s not much some days, but I’ve learned to appreciate my body at this stage and to be thankful for everything it’s done – like carrying him through a healthy pregnancy. Whatever stage you’re at, appreciate your body! 

When we were at the hospital they kept telling me I could get a nice pump covered by insurance. I went to multiple pharmacies to ask, but got blank stares each time. I almost gave up but then I heard about Aeroflow Breastpumps. The company specializes in helping women get a breast pump through their insurance. They also offer pregnancy and postpartum support garments, like maternity support bands, compression socks, etc. As well as essentials like milk storage bags and nursing pads, cleaning supplies, and hands-free pumping bras – and you can even use your FSA/HSA funds to purchase these items! They take care of the entire process for you, filing the claim and getting documents from your doctor – all you do is fill out this form and Aeroflow Breastpumps will check to see if you qualify for a pump through insurance and do the rest. They also have a ton of breast pumps to choose from. The Lansinoh Smartpump is amazing – you can track/monitor your pumping schedule from your phone and it actually mimics baby’s natural feeding patterns, so it’s really efficient. This pump is covered through most insurance plans, too! Breast pumps can really add up but if your insurance covers it, it’s a great way to snag a nice one. Plus you can save money to splurge on something else – like a car seat or stroller.  

XX, Christine

*In collaboration with Aeroflow. 

The post Nursing Diaries appeared first on Hello Fashion.

DETAILS: WHITE MAXI DRESS (WEARING SIZE 8) | ALSO ORDERED THIS ONE AND THIS ONE

So excited to share some of the pics from my baby shower last month! It was such a special night, it really couldn’t have turned out better, and I just left feeling SO grateful for the amazing people in my life I get to call my friends and family!!

If you missed my posts on social, we turned my baby shower into a charity event to raise money for people in need of clean water. Earlier this summer when I heard the founder of charity:water speak, I knew I wanted to do something to support their cause. I watched this video which, although long, will completely change the way you think about water and charities.  There are still so many people in the world who don’t have access to one of the most basic thing we take for granted: clean water. In the video thousands of people donate their birthdays (instead of getting gifts from friends and family, they ask you to donate the money they would spend on a gift to charity). I loved the idea, but my birthday seemed so far away I decided to donate my baby shower! We set a goal to raise $15k for charity:water and a stretch goal of $20k! I am so excited to say we hit the 15k!! And are SOOO CLOSE to hitting the 20k! You can see more on the fundraiser here and you can still donate if you’re interested 🙂 100% of your donation goes to bringing families clean water.

For the shower we wanted to do a color palette of rich shades of blue (shifting a little from the typical baby blue) to symbolize our sweet baby boy and fresh water. This is the first time I’ve done an event from scratch so it was a learning process 😉 I didn’t realize you could rent everything, which made it so much easier having everything come from one spot instead of ordering things from a bunch of different places. I worked with Alpine Events Co. and Kristin Elizabeth Events who helped bring together the most beautiful setup and design! Kristin was amazing in giving so much of her time and experience ( If you are looking for an event coordinator in SLC or Utah area, highly recommend Kristin!)  – it wouldn’t have come together without her and my good friend Whitney on my team!

The event came up so quick, I forgot to get an outfit for the shower until like 2 days before and rushed this dress last minute. It’s actually not even a maternity dress I just sized up to an 8 and it worked great!

These beautiful blue goblets were one of my favorite accessories for the table (we rented them from Alpine Events with

Lol I have no idea what Beckam is doing haha – and we are missing Wes, he was at his Mom’s 🙂

You guys know how obsessed with flowers I am, and my go-to florist Rachel completely transformed the space with her insane arrangements! I’m honestly so blown away by what she can do with flowers. 😍

The baby sign! This was a DIY project. I had seen these huge life size letters on Pinterest that said baby boy and I called a few places about making them and it was like 2k dollars I was shocked! I found these letters on clearance at a home decor store here in Utah on accident (I wasn’t even looking) and then my Dad strung them together with fishing wire and we hung them from this gold clothing rack. Rachel added the beautiful flowers and ta-da!

Megan Faulkner Brown, always making the most beautiful AND delicious treats! I use her for all our kids birthdays and events! How gorgeous is this cake and her cupcakes? Still dreaming about that yummy mint leaf with the chocolate cupcakes. Sooooo good!

At the end of the night, I shared some clips from the original charity:water video that had touched me so much. It was so hard to narrow it down to my favorite parts (thanks to MacVid for putting everything together so quickly!) but by the end of the night, I think everyone was able to feel what a need there is to help.  (Here’s the full version for anyone who can take a moment to watch it – I promise you won’t regret it. ❤️)

Part of my family and Cody’s family 🙂 It was just a girls event, but my Dad, Cody and B were all helping set up and get things ready 🙂

We did a cute Polaroid string light station that doubled as a guest book where friends and fam could write their guess for when the baby would be born. Love being able to keep all those polaroids with some of my closest friends and family to remember the night!

One of my favorite pics from the event ❤️ Mara is so excited about the baby – she really is the best big sister!

Some of my favorite skincare and beauty brands came together to put together some of my favorite products for party favors. I knew I wanted something water related to remind people about charity: water each time they went to use them, so we included my favorite Lancome sheet mask (I’ve used it for years and swear by it – so moisturizing!),  the Lanolips Lip Water (a must try if you haven’t yet – especially for winter!) all their lip products are amazing though!, and  Vichy (another skincare brand that I use all the time)  Mineral89 which is their hyaluronic face moisturizer with 89% of their Thermal Water – so good!

I was dilated to a 3 when we had the baby shower and I thought I would for sure go into labor with in days, but it was almost 2 weeks later before Ollie decided to come to the world! Can’t wait to share our birth story soon, and some pics from the last couple weeks at home with him. More to come soon!

We are still running the Charity Water campaign through the end of this month. Any donation big or small would mean so much! You guys have already helped raise over $17k so far, by donating, spreading the word, or both! We are $2,500 from reaching our goal of $20k and I know we can do it by working together.  Even if just by giving up your $5 Starbucks run today, every contribution counts – you can donate and read more about it here. Love you guys!

SOURCES FROM OUR EVENT AND BIG BIG THANKS TO DONORS:

Event Coordinator: Kristin Elizabeth Events

Furniture Rental: Alpine Events Co.

Event Space: Ember

Florals: Rachel Osguthorpe

Cake and Treats: Megan Faulkner Brown

Photographer: Jordy B Photo

Videographer: MacVid

Makeup: Marisa @marisarosemph

Brands: Lancome, Vichy, LanoLips, Beauty Lab and Laser, Grand America, Albion Fit

Below are some similar dress styles that are perfect for a baby shower or your next event that calls for a white dress!

XX, Christine

The post My Baby Shower Charity Event with Charity Water appeared first on Hello Fashion.

DETAILS: BLUSH CAMISOLE | PINK SKIRT (UNDER $100) | BLUSH CROSSBODY (UNDER $50) | BRACELET | SANDALS (ON SALE – 25% OFF)

Whatever your day has in store, I think we could all use some daily reminders – either to get through some of the hard times or appreciate the good! Below are a few powerful reminders I wanted to share. I hope they have as much on impact on your day as they have on mine!

Today is a new day.

Don’t let any of yesterday’s issues or stressors run over into today. It’s a fresh day and you can make it into anything you want it to be! On that same note, you can’t rush tomorrow – it will get here when it gets here! So even though you might be looking forward to something tomorrow or next week, make sure you don’t forget to enjoy today.

Failure is ok.

One of my favorite quotes is “There is no elevator to success, you have to take the stairs!” It’s hard work, you’ll miss a few steps and stumble along the way, but it’s the journey and your failures  that strengthen you and helps you succeed.

Others don’t define me.

In a time when it’s so easy to compare yourself to others, it’s even more important to remind yourself every day that you aren’t defined by your comparison to others. What makes you you is what makes you beautiful!

Nothing changes if nothing changes.

My friend shared this quote with me recently and it really resonated with me. Whatever your goals are in life, whatever you are working towards or dreaming of, nothing in your life will change if nothing in your life changes. Create new good habits, ditch old habits that are holding you back – start doing something new and it will put you on the path towards accomplishing your goals!

You are more powerful than you think you are!

I think belief is a powerful tool – whether you believe in a great power, believe in the law of attraction, or anything else, add yourself to that list! Believe in yourself and you will be amazed at the things you can accomplish.

Positivity is a choice.

Positive thoughts can create positive things – I truly believe this and think your mentality 100% creates your perspective, that that in turn creates the world you are living in! Fill it with positivity.

Let me know if you guys have any other mantras or daily reminders that you live by or start your day off right!

XX, Christine

The post 6 Daily Reminders to Start Your Day Off Strong appeared first on Hello Fashion.

Popcorn in bed! Some of my favorite mom moments are the simplest moments like these!

These shorts are so soft and love the ruching detail (they also come in this sweats version too). I also got this retro bralette and bottoms set. Their cotton bra and underwear are some of my favorites!

DETAILS: PAJAMA BOTTOMS (UNDER $20 – WEARING SIZE S) | WHITE CROPPED TEE (UNDER $15 – WEARING SIZE M) | GREY BRALETTE (UNDER $15) | GREY BOTTOMS (UNDER $10)

CODY: BRIEF BOTTOMS | WHITE CREW NECK TEES (3 PACK – UNDER $20) | BLACK BRIEF BOTTOMS (3 PACK – UNDER $20)

BECKAM: COTTON STRETCH BOXER BRIEFS (3 PACK) | WHITE TEES (3 PACK) 

MARA: BRALETTE AND BOTTOM SET

WES: BRIEF BOTTOMS (3 PACK) | WHITE TEES (3 PACK) 

Adding another one to the family, there’s always a fear of not being good enough or falling short in some way, wondering how Beckam will adjust not being the baby anymore, and about a million other thoughts! But I think one thing I’ve learned is that most of the time I create these things in my head and worry about things that often never happen haha. Anyone else? Being a mom, a good mom, was something I’ve looked forward to since I was a little girl. And I know there are days I nail it and I can tell my kids feel so loved, and other days I know I’m falling short, but the biggest thing I’ve realized is how much my attitude as a mom can affect the whole family! So I wanted to share 10 habits I’ve found help me to be a better, happier mom:

Expressing gratitude.

It’s so important to be mindful of everything you have to be grateful for! Whether it’s expressing gratitude to your kids, your spouse, or even just consciously acknowledging or writing out everything you have to be thankful for, it will help you focus more on the positive versus the negative.

Being open-minded.

There is no perfect way to be pregnant or to be a perfect mom. What works for your neighbor may not work for you, and that’s ok! Be open-minded to other people’s perspectives and way of doing things. and be okay if things aren’t always perfectly put together. Putting unrealistic expectations on yourself for what needs to be done, or how your kids should act or what they should be achieving just sets you up for stress.

Not comparing yourself.

In that same vein, they say comparison is the death of joy and it couldn’t be truer about motherhood! There will always be moms who might be more organized than you, a better cook, etc. Instead of comparing yourself to see how you stack up, focus on yourself and your goals. You are your own benchmark! Praise yourself for the things you’re good at, whether it’s just mentally or actually saying it out loud.

Exercising.

The more pregnant I get, the harder it’s been to stick to a regular exercise routine, but staying active is just as important for the body as it is for the mind! Find some type of exercise you enjoy and make it part of your daily routine. Right now, swimming laps is my favorite form of exercise – not only is it a great way to beat the heat, it’s also a lifesaver in alleviating the restless leg syndrome I’ve had this pregnancy.

Focusing on the positive.

During another sleepless night last week, I listened to a motivational speaker and loved what they said about focusing on positive, empowering thoughts. It’s all about confirmation bias – your mind will automatically search for information or experiences that reinforce your beliefs. So if you tell yourself your are failing as a bad mom, your mind will always pick out those experiences to reinforce that belief and disregard anything that disproves it. This applies to everyone, in every stage of life. It’s so important to focus on the positive and things that can empower you as a person! Reflect on your thoughts… are you choosing ones that empower you?

Knowing when to ask for help.

There are always going to be days that are stressful and overwhelming – don’t be afraid to ask for help! You’ll start to identify triggers or signs that you are running out of steam, so before you feel completely drained, enlist help. Have your kids go to the neighbor’s house to play for an hour or get someone to help you come tackle a cleaning day. And get creative! It doesn’t always have to involve spending money. You can trade off with neighborhood moms or find creative ways to get an hour to ‘refill your cup’ without hiring a babysitter.

Being open with other moms.

I was talking to my friend the other day who I look to as a great mom. She’s a stay at home mom and always does a great job planning stuff for her kids. She was saying that sometimes she feels she doesn’t have the creativity to sit and play pretend dolls for long periods of time, and after 5-10 minutes she catches her mind thinking about other things. I have that same problem, and hearing someone I look to as a great mom say the same made me feel better. I thought it was just me! Being open with other moms about your struggles or on the flip side, fun things you do with your kids, will create a space for advice and learning – and you can only improve from learning from others!

Making time for yourself.

Obviously you love your kids, but make sure you are getting time away to nurture yourself too. I love going out to get a mani/pedi, going to dinner with a friend after the kids go to bed, or just going shopping. Target is always my happy place – I could wander the aisles forever! Or for some ‘you’ time at home, get the kids riled up for a wrestling match with dad to get some of their energy out. It’s literally Wes and B’s favorite thing to do! Whatever it is, just make sure you are regularly carving out some time for yourself to do something you love so that you don’t lose yourself in your role of ‘mom’.

Encouraging others.

One of my best friends is so good at sending me notes reminding me I’m a great mom, and honestly they MAKE MY DAY. Take a moment to lift other moms up around you and let them know something you appreciate or admire about them. Have you ever noticed that the more you focus on helping or encouraging other, the more joy it brings to your life in general? Not that that’s the reason you should do it 😉 but you know what I’m say. 🙂

Knowing that you are an amazing mom.

There will be days you have mom guilt or feel burnt out, but it’s important to remember how much you do and focus on the ways you are succeeding. Especially when they are young, kids look up to you like their hero and all they want to do is hang out with you. So cut yourself some slack and realize you are doing a GREAT job!

Do you guys have any other habits of happy moms you’ve learned? Let me know below in comments! You can also see more of my posts on motherhood and life of moms here.

XX, Christine

The post 10 Habits of Happy Moms appeared first on Hello Fashion.

5 Ways to Improve Your Instagram Feed

Social media is growing at a faster pace than ever, so one of the most common questions I get about growing your IG. whether you want to improve your personal IG feed or you are trying to make the cut as an influencer, we could all benefit from a few IG hacks so today I wanted to share 5 ways to improve your Instagram feed!

Tell a story. When you think about it, some of your followers are essentially on Season 3 episode 8 of your life. Obviously not exactly, but they’ve been following along, liking, and engaging with your account long enough to feel invested in your story, so make sure you are telling a story! Whether that’s telling a story with a picture or a caption that makes your followers feel like they were there for that moment.

Find your niche. You have 24 hours of potential content in a day, so figure out what type of content you want to share on your account. While some variation is necessary to keep your feed from feeling stale, you should also figure out what your niche is – whether it’s fashion and beauty, the outdoors, home renovation projects, product reviews, memes, etc.

Be YOU. There are two ways people view your Instagram – either in their feed (whenever you post a new picture) or when they visit your IG account. Typically new or potential followers visit your Instagram page first before deciding whether to follow, so you want to make sure your feed is you and fits your aesthetic. You can’t be everything to everyone, so just do you! Make sure your voice comes through in all your pictures, captions, and content so they know what to expect when they get that follow button.

Create a cohesive feed. Along those same lines, make sure your feed flows! Once I created my own presets I was finally able to really create a cohesive feed – before that, every picture felt different. I actually just launched my new home presets here for everything I shoot indoors – more details on this soon but if you want a sneak peek you can see it here! I also have presets inspired by my travels to different cities that are perfect for all your trips, everything from the beach to your favorite Paris pics. You can shop all my presets here.

Get the shot. And last but not least – getting the perfect scroll-stopping shot! You never get a second shot to make a first impression, so make sure you capture those pictures that will make an impact. If you haven’t checked out my e-book yet, I have a whole section dedicated to all of my tips for both creating and capturing the perfect shot.

XX, Christine

The post 5 Ways To Improve Your Instagram Feed appeared first on Hello Fashion.

After being married for a while, balancing family time, work schedules, kids’ sports, and just the chaos of life, it can be tricky to set aside time for a true date night with Cody. There are days where we are so rushed out the door that it takes us like a half hour to unwind and really start getting connected on date night. Then there are days where we actually shut work off before date night and it totally changes our mood! Here are 7 of my favorite ideas to start setting the mood for date night before you even walk out the door!

1. Plan ahead! Put it on your calendar and schedule the babysitter so things can’t pop up and cause you to postpone! I try to do it a week in advance instead of day of or the night before because it seems like things pup up closer to the day of. The anticipation and excitement leading up to an event is half the fun and will give you something to look forward to.
2. Drop a note. Hide a little note in your S/O’s briefcase, car, or gym bag – anywhere they will find it before date night! Let them know how excited you are for the upcoming night and build up some of their own excitement for what’s in store.
3. Set rules. It might not seem romantic, but nothing says I love you like banning your cell phones for the night, haha. Since Cody and I work together on so many projects, it can be hard to turn work off on date night, so set those boundaries ahead of time! Whether it’s no phones, no work talk, etc., find whatever works for you!
4. . Get ready together. There’s something about seeing your guy shave and put on your favorite cologne that really starts the night off on the right foot, so I always love when mine and Cody’s schedules line up and we can get ready together (although he takes about half the time to get ready as I do lol). Are you guys the type to share products or do you keep everything separate? Occasionally I’ll steal Cody’s Gillette razors but I also have my own Venus razors. Right now, Costco’s running sales on Venus Disposable Razors ($5 off – sale ends today!), and Mach3 Turbo razor refills and Gillette ProGlide razor refills for $14-$15 off now through June 25th so grab them on sale now! I also love the scent of Cody’s Gillette Advanced 5-in-1 Deodorant but I think I’ll leave that one to him. 😉 What products do you guys share?
5. Blast your favorite playlist. Set the mood with your couple’s playlist. If you don’t have one, make one! We love playing songs that bring us back to all different stages of our relationship – it’s such a fun walk down memory lane and perfect for setting the stage for a special night.
6. Get confident. The first step to looking beautiful is to feel beautiful. Nothing beats the look or feel of smooth, sleek legs, freshly washed hair, and a bright red lip!
7. Try something new. Experiencing new things together always makes for the best memories. Break out of your usual dinner and a movie routine with something out of your comfort zone!

What are some of your ideas for getting date-night ready?

XX, Christine

*In collaboration with P&G.

The post 7 Ways to Make The Most of Date Night appeared first on Hello Fashion.

Writing has always been kind of therapeutic for me. I remember in high school when I would get really mad I would go write in my journal or doodle (Do kids these days even still have diaries and journals?!).  For all the things I think about sharing or not sharing for some reason this one wasn’t hard for me. Maybe it’s the stage in my life. Honestly last year was a hard year personally and with work. And I think maybe with so much going on I needed to vent and let something out because it was bottling in my head. I knew so many people had been through this. Family on both sides, mine and Cody’s, have been through these struggles, through IVF, adoption, anything and everything to bring a sweet baby in the world. But I also knew there were women holding it in and I wanted to share my feelings in hopes to help someone maybe going through the same thing not feel so alone. Your dm’s have poured in and meant so much to me as I share our journey, and I just want you to know I read every single one.

I think for awhile I just thought if I stopped thinking about it it would happen. With Beckam it was so easy, we tried a couple months and boom I was pregnant. I didn’t check my ovulation (honestly I didn’t even know that was a thing when I had Beckam). I just got off birth control and I think it was like 2-3 months later I was pregnant. (For those that are new here: Mara and Wes the older kids you see in my pics are my step babies 🙂  – so Beckam is the only child I have “given birth to” as I reference trying to get pregnant again) Now that it hasn’t happened so easy, I’ve read up on all the things that have to line up for you to actually get pregnant, and it’s crazy to think about how many people accidentally get pregnant. I know that’s cliche and it’s been said a million times but its just more crazy to me now. And if anything it has made it more apparent to me that at the end of the day God’s timing isn’t always our timing. And don’t get me wrong, I’ve been mad, I’ve been sad, I’ve been annoyed, I’ve been moody, and we haven’t even been through the really hard stuff yet. But I still do believe that there is always a plan for our life.

I think the biggest thing is I’ve just felt like is I’m failing. I think this feeling of failure has been a voice in my head I’ve let speak too loud. Other areas of my life (I’ll save for a later post) haven’t been going the way I planned and this little voice that starts small, gets louder, and louder, and you start to believe it. There has been multiple months I thought oh I’m for sure pregnant this month, I wouldn’t tell anyone cause I didn’t want to jinx it, and then my period would come, and it was another month of disappoint. That quiet voice became this loud drum every month that lasted a week reminding me I’m failing. I would carry it into my day and into my personal life and my work.

As I’m writing this I feel like it sounding so dark, this was really November and December for me of last year and now as I have been working through things I feel like it’s easier to talk about and share…

So what have we done and where are we at?

We started trying December/January of last year, so its been a little over a year now. Everyone told me to wait a full year before I saw a fertility doctor, but after 6 months of not getting pregnant I started doing research and found out a lot of doctors take a couple months to get into so I scheduled an apt and sure enough September was their earliest opening.

When we went in, it felt kind of like the movies, you sit down and awkwardly talk about your sex life to a stranger, what you’ve been doing, how often you’ve been doing it, any history of medical issues, etc etc. You set a plan, and for us, my doctor said I shouldn’t be too alarmed because its only been 9 months. Too me that felt like ETERNITY, I always want the quick and fastest solution. That’s just my personality. But I am also SUPER sensitive to all types of medicine, so we wanted to be as conservative as possible. She ordered a lot of different tests. Sperm analysis for Cody. For me – I have had irregular cycles since I was young, so she wanted me to really track my cycles (the Ava bracelet was super helpful for this), do blood work to check my hormones and nutrition levels, and some tests to see if I had PCOS (polycystic ovaries). Everything came back pretty normal, I was a little low on vitamin D and I think Vitamin B but nothing too major. My thyroid was on the borderline too, but nothing that would majorly prevent us from conceiving. She concluded I did have PCOS (which I was told when I was high school, but I guess 15 years ago it was really over diagnosed so she wanted to double check). This being the major reason I most likely was having a hard time getting pregnant, because I wasn’t ovulating every month.

All the tests took a month and half or so to do, once those were complete she decided to have me do an HSG test. Basically it’s a test they put blue dye through your tubes to make sure their is no blockage and things are flowing the right way. I had heard from friends and family who had gone through it that it was really painful and uncomfortable. I’ll be honest I am a wimp when it comes to pain – so when my doctor asked if I wanted anything to help with pain and my nerves I opted for it no question haha.( A lot of you dmed me saying you didn’t have that option – so maybe ask your doctor if you can get something to help if you’re getting it done.) I think because of that it wasn’t that painful. It was a little uncomfortable but not as bad as I was expecting at all. Those tests came back clear too. Many people said they got pregnant after this test because it clears your tubes out, we weren’t that lucky, but it’s an easy step to take if your in the journey struggling to conceive to maybe get some answers.

(Cody here with me to hold my hand during the HSG test. He’s always really good with making me laugh in situations I’m nervous.)

So now we were to “next steps”.  She wanted to put me on Femara – which is really similar to chlomid but more effective for patients with PCOS. She decided we would do 3 months of “timed intercourse” and if we were unsuccessful move to IVF. This is where we are now. I take femara for a certain number of days and then go in to see if I’m creating follicles to ovulate. (sorry I’m probably overly explaining this but here it all is haha) The first month I wasn’t ovulating like I was supposed to, even with the medicine it wasn’t working, I was literally panicking. They have you come in every 2-3 couple days to monitor it, and nothing was changing.  They upped my dose, and between the 2 day gap they check I ovulated and we missed it. They said this RARELY happens, like a 1% chance they miss it, but my body just wasn’t responding. I was so disappointed. We spent so much money and it didn’t work, and it was another month of time. They felt so bad, so they gave us our next month free and here we are on round two.

At the end of last year, my good friend got me a certificate for foot reflexology. If you don’t know much about it, it’s basically the belief that everything in your body your emotions, organs, health, etc is connected to your feet. My grandma who passed away last year taught me about this when I was young. So when my friend got me the certificate I was really excited to go. I told her nothing about us trying to conceive and she hit SOOOO many things going on in my life it was crazy! She talked about how stressed my body was, and asked if we were trying to have a baby and I said yes. She said your body is over worked, and telling you if you don’t make changes in your daily lifestyle, you won’t make room for another child in your life. I was literally sobbing. What’s cool about it is she can work through these things and help release the build up of toxins in your body and adjust your body to “realign”. It’s like going to a masseuse and having them get a knot out out of  your back. She made me aware of so many things I had been holding inside, like that feeling of failure I talked about earlier. And made me realize I’m not failing! I just need to manage my life better. It has helped me with so much this year and I feel such a difference in my mindset. I’ve heard people say acupuncture helps with infertility – I’m just deathly afraid of needles, so I feel like the foot reflexology is a natural alternative similar to that. Who knows if its’ really helping us conceive, but it’s helping me as a person so it’s a win at least in one way 🙂

I’ve realized this has turned into a NOVEL!!! So I’ll wrap up here. If you have more questions leave below and I’ll answer in the next post. I’ve had so many of you suggest so many things, and share your stories, or just words of encouragement and they mean the world. You all really mean so much to me! I’m going to do another post that has a list of all the things people have suggested, I know there’s others out there going through the same thing and I want to share as much as I can. So more to come ❤️❤️ and thanks for reading and all your support.

XX, Christine

The post Pregnancy Struggles appeared first on Hello Fashion.

Happy Sunday! I had so much fun answering your questions last week but there were so many questions I wasn’t able to get to, so I included them in this week’s post!

1. What is the perfect, go-to date night look?!
I think it really depends on what you’re doing! I usually like to just do jeans or in the fall a leather pant so that I am comfortable and warm enough. If we are going out to eat I love off the shoulder sweaters. I have this sweater in multiple colors and love it! Here’s another off the shoulder option for under $25!  If we are walking a lot I love a low heeled bootie – this is like my fav pair ever! I am currently on the hunt for a similar pair in tan suede if anyone has seen any LET ME KNOW! 🙂  If we aren’t walking much its always my excuse to wear high heels! 

2. What are your favorite budget buys? Broke college student but still trying to be cute!
I love a good budget buy!  Here are a few of my recent budget buys under $50: this sweater (obsessed!), this bag is under $35 and I have been wearing it on repeat lately, this foundation brush is under $5 and amazing, this teddybear pullover from is one of my favorites right now….you’ve already seen me wear it multiple times! Its so cozy. 

3. Do you have advice for someone going through a breakup with someone who was their best friend prior to dating?
Breakups are always soooo hard. After a breakup I think everyone needs space at first, but maybe with time you guys can be friends again. But if they were mean and didn’t treat you well, then cut them out of your life! I honestly believe whatever is meant to be will be so my best advice is to remember that the breakup happened for a reason and in the end you will see why and be happier! Lots of love to you!

4. Where do you like to shop for sweaters for fall/winter?!
H&M is definitely one of my favorites! I just got this chunky turtleneck sweater for under $50 -its so warm and cozy I don’t want to take it off!  I also love this one (under $20, comes in 5 colors and love them all!), this long cardigan, and now I need this fuzzy pink sweater immediately!  Like I said – SO many great (and affordable!) options here 🙂

5. Does it ever give you stress/anxiety to keep up with fashion and beauty trends?
It doesn’t give me stress keeping up with the trends because I really just wear what I like and I enjoy looking at magazines and looking at articles for inspiration. I honestly really love my job, so learning more about fashion and beauty give me a lot of happiness. However, sometimes I do get anxious when I feel like I am not producing enough content. Because being a blogger you are the brand/business at the end of the day your the one responsible for making sure things are growing, and sometimes I feel like I could always be doing more. And when you love it, its easy to get caught up in always WANTING to do more. I think one thing I have really taken to heart this year is realizing that family is more important than any business so it’s ok to not be doing everything and always producing. So that’s sometimes why I don’t post everyday 🙂

6.  What’s your philosophy for cleaning out your closet?

I have actually been a lot better about this lately!  I read a book (a must read if you haven’t already!) about figuring out whether or not an item brings you joy and only keeping what does – so when I pick something up to wear and it doesn’t bring me joy or I am not excited to put it on, then I don’t keep it. Unless its something sentimental – I have a shirt thats the first shirt Cody ever bought me. I wore it in our engagement pictures and I still have it in my closet! I try to purge my closet as often as I can and donate clothes, give to friends & family and I love doing the occasional blogger sale where I can sell my clothes to you all! 

7. What contractors are you using to build in Utah?
Heritage Custom Homes – his wife Erin Hansen is our designer ❤️

8. Who cooks at home? And what do you make for dinner?
Honestly, we eat out a lot. We will go in phases where we do cook and both Cody and I take turns cooking. Cody thinks he’s a horrible cook, but he’s actually a good cook! When we cook we like keeping it simple and easy!  Chicken and rice, hamburger and rice, spaghetti, and we do breakfast for dinner a lot. If I’m feeling ambitious I make poppyseed chicken which is a recipe my step mom gave me that I grew up eating a lot. We eat a lot of asparagus as a side too 🙂

9. Are you and your husband LDS?
I am not LDS, Cody was raised LDS and everyone in his family is active except for him. He still believes a lot from the church, but we are not currently active. My family is non-denominational Christian. We both believe in God and consider ourselves Christians ❤️

10. What products do you use in B’s hair?
I get this question a lot! I finally just did a blog post this week all about Beckam and fall outfits for him that you can read here where I answer this!  I use this gel in his hair combined with this hairspray.

11. What do you use to whiten your teeth?
In high school I always used crest white strips – they work really well but they always made my teeth so sensitive!  I haven’t used anything in awhile. A couple years ago I went to a medspa where they whiten your teeth and it made my teeth a couple shades whiter and Cody’s 8 shades whiter…it was really cool! I think you are supposed to do that every year so after awhile I feel like they went back to the way they were before.   They did a great job but their location is like an hour away from our house so I haven’t made it back yet!

12. Beauty product you can not live without?
No question – this!  Its an investment 100% but it’s amazing.

Thanks so much for sending in your questions.  I truly love answering them and getting to feel like I am chatting with you all! Feel free to send me a DM on instagram anytime as well and we will try to include those questions here each week! Hope you all had a great weekend – love you guys!!

XX,
Christine

The post Catch up with Christine appeared first on Hello Fashion.

Hey guys! I am excited to finally launch my course for how to grow your Instagram! It’s a 60 page e-book that gives you all the ins and outs on how to build your Instagram, with the tips and secrets that took me from 100k  to half a million followers in just over a year, and now to over 1 million followers. I share my notes from my meeting with Instagram and Facebook, talk all things algorithm, getting the perfect scroll-stopping shot, how to set up props for pictures, and my favorite Instagram tools. We launched it on sale so it’s only $29.99 for a limited time!

This is a great beginners course to give you a strong foundation for growing your brand! I’m already working on a second, more advanced course sharing how to build a media kit, tips for working with brands, understanding your stats, and more, but this first course is an essential to getting started!

Can’t wait to hear what you guys think!

XX, Christine

The post How To Grow Your Instagram appeared first on Hello Fashion.

DETAILS: WHITE OFF-THE-SHOULDER SWEATER | BELTED KHAKI PANTS (UNDER $100) | WHITE BOOTS (COMES IN 3 COLORS – ON SALE) | STRAW HAT | WHITE SUNGLASSES | WATCH | WHITE CROSSBODY |

I love reading motivational books and articles. A few weeks ago, I was reading about pushing yourself to be the best. They talked about so often when we think about being the best, we are comparing ourselves to everyone else in the world trying to be “better” than them. Instead, we should be reflecting inwards and looking at “the best” in regards to ourselves. Did we REALLY give it OUR all and do OUR personal best. I loved this thought and it really hit home for me, because with the social media generation we live in, it’s so easy to compare ourselves to others, when we should be comparing ourselves to ourselves and our own individual progress. Seems weird when you say it, but ask yourself – are you really being the best version of yourself? The best mom you can be, friend, employee, entrepreneur, wife, daughter, etc. I can honestly say there are areas I am failing in, but I am always working on growing and being better.

Each year I set goals for myself, both goals to grow personally and grow my brands. The goals always align with what I achieved the year before, and setting benchmarks based off of where I was previously. Let’s just say we grew 10% last year, so this year I want to grow 12%. It’s not about looking at another brand, trying to set my goals based off their performance or wanting to beat other brands. Instead it’s about pushing my own limits and looking within for ways to grow personally and in our own business endeavors.

This month Secret reached out about promoting their Clinical Strength line and talking about pushing your limits to reach higher, and this is something I believe in so much! I’ve used their deodorant for years –  love that you start dry and stay dry with their Invisible Solid that goes on smooth :). When you start pushing yourself to want the best out of life, you push for it in everything you do and use, which is why I use Secret. And this is not just with work, but healthy eating or eating habits, making efforts in your relationships, sticking to your lengthy nightly skincare regimen no matter how tired you are, or sticking to your tried-and-true products instead of the easiest to grab-and-go. But instead of comparing your eating habits to someone else’s, or your career moves to another’s, just remember where you started and it will be so much easier to stick with your goals and succeed!

Have you guys tried Secret Clinical Strength yet? Check out the product here. There’s also a special promotion in stores at Walmart through April 28th.

XX, Christine

*In collaboration with Secret.

The post The Secret to Being The Best You appeared first on Hello Fashion.

DETAILS: SPORTS BRA | BLACK CROP TOP (UNDER $30) | LEGGINGS (LAST SEEN HERE)

Who else LOVES sugar! I used to drink a Coke almost everyday. Every morning I would have a chai latte from Starbucks, and every night I would eat a bowl of my favorite sugary cereal before bed. Sugar was a major part of my life!

The reason I started this 14 Day No Sugar Challenge had nothing to do with fitness but was actually because I am obsessed with skincare, skincare products, how to improve your skin, anything and everything, I just love to learn and read about it. I had been reading all these articles about how sugar and processed foods affect so many aspects of your body, one of the main ones being wrinkles and aging your face. It was early December when I came across the article, but I knew there was NO WAY I would make it through the holidays without sugar so I pushed it aside and decided to wait until the new year. January 1st hit and I decided to go 14 days with NO SUGAR! I posted it on my Instagram so I had extra accountability to do it and so many of you guys chimed in with ideas and your favorite snacks to make it happen.

Let me put one disclaimer out there. I did no major artificial sugars, so I still had honey, fruit, yogurt – I was staying away from the major things like pop, candy, cookies, sugary cereals, sugary lattes, processed junk food (I know it’s not sugar but just junk food in general – basically stuff I knew was bad for you). Below is my no sugar diary – if you want to skip past my blabbering I give some tips and and ideas at the bottom and what my overall outcome was.

DAY 1 & 2:

The first two days weren’t that big a deal. I definitely thought about it but had that beginning motivation of “I got this!” which made it easy to fight through the little headaches and tired spells.

DAY 3-7:

The next couple days were when it started to get rough! I got bad headaches, felt agitated, super tired, felt like an addict noticing sugar EVERYWHERE we went. You know when you’re not supposed to have something so all you do is think about it. Ya, that was happening! I was really craving a fizzy soda and posted about it on my stories and a bunch of you recommended Le Croix. Mara picked out the flavors it was strawberry something and you know the burning feeling from the bubbles when you drink pop it kind of gave that effect so it filled my void for the need for pop.

DAY 7 CONFESSION:

Cody and I were driving to Spaghetti Factory, chatting away listening to music, and he’s eating a bag of cinnamon bears totally not thinking I reach my hand in the bang, grab one and take a bite. I’m like dannnng this tastes SO GOOD WHY?! And then mid chew it hit me- I was like crap it’s sugar!! Ahhh!!! I started yelling ” HURRY babe roll down the window I gotta spit this out!!!” I didn’t swallow it and it was 100% an accident so I feel like it’s not a true cheat lol 🙂

DAY 8:

Headed on a flight to Miami and it was super weird because I ALWAYS get Twizzler nibs for the flight. We fly quite a bit so it was so weird my body like wanted to go through the motions at the airport and get my snack foods, but mentally I had stop myself a couple times. Habitually I ordered Ginger Ale, because I have that or Coke on every flight but then the second she handed it to me it was like oh ya I’m not drinking pop so I handed it back to her and switched out for water.

DAY 9 – 11:

Was in Miami and luckily my friends with me are pretty healthy eaters, I found this place that had all organic fruit pops that were like popsicles but just with fresh fruit! They were super yummy and I got a kiwi strawberry one.

DAY 12-14: HOME STRETCH!

I got home from Miami and my best friend flew into town. We stalked up on a bunch of snacks for the kids and Beckam picked one of my all time favorite POWDERED DONUTS! – yes im realizing this is basically turning into a diary of all the sugary things I missed. I opened the bag to give one to B and they smelt SO GOOD. It literally took everything in me not to take one. My friend was like just do it your a day away you seriously did so good already and I was like I can’t, I’ve come this far I have to do ONE MORE DAY! And I know it sounds so dumb but when I finally finished knowing I really really made it and set my mind to something and actually did it felt SO GOOD!

I DID IT!

It was literally a celebration when Day 14 came! I was so excited to have some sort of treat! Yes it was powdered donuts lol, and of course a Coke. But what was weird is usually I can drink a full Coke no big deal I only had a couple sips and was kind of over it. I wasn’t as into as I used to be, and I didn’t even crave my chai lattes anymore! But let’s be honest the donuts tasted like heaven 😉

So I wanted to share some tips and pointers from what I learned:

SUBSTITUTES:

Milk: I  made the switch from regular milk to almond milk, and surprisingly didn’t even miss normal milk that much. On average one cup of milk has about 10-12 grams of sugar, whereas most almond milks contain no sugar at all.

Soda: On a couple occasions I had really bad cravings for soda, so I turned to drinking zero sugar drinks like La Croix instead. They’re not necessarily my favorite drinks ever, but the carbonation helped to curb the cravings.

When it came to snacks, I loved almonds, apple slices, protein shakes, etc. I also probably ate eggs way more than ever. Scrambled egg whites, egg sandwiches, avocado toast with eggs, really egg anything I like.

EATING OUT:

If you’re going to attempt any sort of lifestyle or diet change it’s probably unrealistic to say that you’ll never eat at your favorite restaurants, drinks or desserts. Something that helped me a lot was one of my friends told me you could look up restaurants menus and nutrition facts online. Nowadays most restaurants include dietary information on their websites which is extremely helpful and insightful. For example a lot of times I thought a salad off the menu would have the least amount of sugar compared to everything else, but most the time was completely wrong! What I would do is look up those facts online for wherever we were planning on eating so that I would know ahead of time what I would be ordering so that I could still stick to my plan.

For example, you can plan your no-sugar Starbucks run in advance with their nutrition information here. It definitely takes a little more planning, but so worth it!

WHAT I LEARNED:

Since the two weeks have been over I’ve been much more aware of sugar and how prevalent it is in the foods we eat. Since the challenge,  I still have my occasional chai lattes and cold Coke, but I’ve cut my overall sugar down SO much. I’m trying to limit myself to two days a week of having a cheat item, and honestly the weeks I don’t limit myself and just eat whatever (it’s been almost 2 months since I finished), I notice a huge change in my energy and overall feelings.

I noticed more changes (for the good) in my body those two weeks of no sugar than ever before! Not to say that working out isn’t important because I started going to the gym a lot more during this too, but sometimes I forget that what we’re eating is what plays the biggest role in how our bodies react and change.

My reason for starting this was out of the intention to be a little healthier and feel better overall, but in the end I realized this was WAY more of a mental challenge than a physical one. If you read my daily diary above you know day thirteen when I was opening a bag of powdered donuts for B it literally took everything in me to resist. At that point I knew one donut wouldn’t ruin everything, but I wanted to push myself and prove to myself that I could stick to my guns. So many times during these two weeks I was pushed to the breaking point of giving in. Once it was over I was so proud of myself for pushing through and it was a good reminder that I really can do anything I set my mind too, and that we’re all stronger than we think. I know this sounds cheesy but I feel like it’s helped me have a stronger mental focus in other areas of my life as well. Does anyone know what I’m talking about? I feel like it’s so hard to really explain.

Also I had originally set out to do this for skin improvements and one of the girls who does my makeup a lot came over for a shoot and she was like your skin seems tighter under your eyes have you been doing something different? And I was so excited she saw a difference! She had no idea I was on the sugar challenge and she’s someone who is constantly looking at my skin so I was excited to see it actually worked!

Have you guys ever tried to go without sugar? What was your experience like and would you do it again? Or how long did you last without sugar – so curious!

XX, Christine

The post The No Sugar Challenge That Almost Broke Me appeared first on Hello Fashion.

Through this whole process I have learned so so much! We’ve made a lot of dumb mistakes, got burned by people, realized stuff cost a lot more than we thought, realized the process was a lot longer, had arguments between me and Cody over what we want, and so on and so on!  I wanted to share some of things we’ve learned so if you’re building you hopefully don’t go through the same headache we did!

This post is going to turn into a novel, but I wanted to share the WHOLE story. We’ve been through three builders and years trying to make this happen, so it’s a lot to share.

I’ll start with the lot. We drove by this lot every day for months and fell in love with the view! It was our dream lot, but it was never up for sale, until one random day we noticed a FOR SALE sign. We called and it was out of our price range so we set big goals for work, and hoped it wouldn’t sell before then. When the time came that we were able to get the lot it was still for sale!! The owner told us he had lots of developers reach out to buy it but he wanted to sell it to a family and was so excited for it to be our first home. We closed on the lot right around Christmas of 2014.

BUILDER ONE. Our first builder was super nice and had been referred by a friend, but during the very beginning stages of getting things approved, someone in his family got terminally ill. We had been on the fence about actually building the home because we found a lot we really liked by my sister-in-law (who we hang out with every weekend) and thought maybe it was a sign to sell our old one and build by her. So we held off, put our old lot up for sale, put an offer in on the lot next to Cody’s sister, and thought it was a done deal. When we did our due diligence on the new lot we found it had been used as a dump site years ago for old refrigerators and appliances so we were worried about that, and also found out there was no way to make our current house plans feasibly fit on the new lot without going back to square one, which means thousands of dollars down the drain for the plans we had already perfected. So we pulled our offer and decided to find a new builder and build on our original lot.

BUILDER TWO: Honestly, I can’t even remember how we found these guys but this is where things really went wrong. The one thing I will say they did do right is help us make some adjustments to the house plans to utilize some of the space for things we would use more, like taking out the office downstairs and turning it into a bedroom and making a bigger closet for my office upstairs since I work so much from home. The major things that went wrong were the timeline and the budget (they went over our budget by 40+%). I understand that sometimes things cost more but they never brought these increased prices to us they would just send us bills for the overages. We broke ground on our home on Beckam’s birthday last year, March 16th, 2017, and then months and months went by and it seemed like next to nothing was being done.

September rolled around (six months later) and they hadn’t even finished pouring the foundation, which in my opinion is ridiculous. Over and over again we were promised it would be done the next week and it didn’t happen. Because we were new to building, I didn’t know if this was typical because everyone says it will take longer than you plan. I kept calling friends who had built and they said it didn’t seem right so we finally started reaching out to new builders because prices were continually going up and it felt like nothing was being done. Other houses around us started going up that broke ground months after us and they were already framing! I will go into more details about some of the major issues in my Q&A post, but the biggest thing was I didn’t feel like I could trust our builders, and because you spend so much time and money with these people I think trust is one of the biggest things you need to have with whoever you pick.

*If you are building in Salt Lake or Davis County, you can privately email or dm me and I will tell you the name of the builders because I WOULD NEVER SUGGEST THEM TO ANYONE.

BUILDER THREE: Our current builder is Brian Hansen of Heritage Custom Homes, and his wife Erin Hansen is our interior designer. I had actually found Erin through the Parade of Homes. We fell in love with the clean modern design she did for the parade home. We actually hired her first while we had our second builders. I was continually calling her about my frustrations with the constant delays and one day when I was so fed up I said WE NEED NEW BUILDERS! She told me her husband was a builder and hadn’t mentioned it before because she didn’t want me to feel like she was just suggesting him because they were married. We met with them and you could just sense the honesty and passion they had for their job! Brian took everything over and has literally been a dream to work with. He’s helped us readjust things to get us back to a realistic budget, been on time consistently ( I can’t tell you how much this means after having almost nothing be on time with our previous builders), he has called me with ways to SAVE money where he sees it – another huge thing we never had happen before. He’s been so honest and realistic about things, it has made these last couple months so much easier to build and actually got me EXCITED about the house again. (I’m not sponsored to say this in any way, I say this all because after how much money, time, and headache we lost over our second builder I would NEVER want someone to go through the same thing.) I can’t tell you how many times Cody and I said, “Is this even worth it?” while working with the second builders – it was a true true nightmare. I am so so thankful we found Brian and Erin. I think I appreciate it on a different level because I saw how wrong building can really go!

So now things are rolling!!! We are expected to be in July this year!

December 20th: The first wall goes up! It’s a tiny little wall but it was OUR FIRST WALL!!

January 2nd: Framing the basement! Almost all the basement was framed!

They just finished the flooring and are framing the main level now but I have to save some pics for the next post 🙂

So I wrote wayyyy more than I planned to, so I am going to break up the Q&A into the next post and talk more about how to pick a builder, questions to ask them, and so on. If you have specific questions about our home or building process leave them in comments below I’m going to answer those in the next post too. I am so so excited to share this process with you guys!

XX, Christine

The post Our Home Building Nightmare appeared first on Hello Fashion.

My little ninjas! These two jump all day!! I swear they never get tired 🙂

Love the red lining against the black on this tote!

Obsessed with these studded heeled sandals.

DETAILS: COACH MARKET TOTE | GRAPHIC TEE (SIMILAR HERE) | STUDDED ANKLE-WRAP SANDALS (ALSO LOVE THESE) | GOLD COACH WATCH | STUDDED BANGLES (SIMILAR HERE)

It’s Mother’s Day week! Motherhood is one of my favorite things to write about! In no way am I an expert, but it’s one of the things I am most passionate about. Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve looked forward to being a mom. It wasn’t until I became one that I realized, holy cow, it’s not as easy as it looks! I’m constantly in the struggle of making sure I set enough time aside for the kids, that I’m present and they know how much they are loved. If there is anything I’ve learned it’s that it is a 24-7 balancing act and I fail A LOT, but I’m always trying to make it better! I wanted to share 6 tricks I’ve learned to making life easier, happier, and a little less crazy – both in motherhood and my career.

Write it out. There are some days where everything seems to run smoothly, but more often than not it feels like a tornado inside my head, lol. Between running things at ILY, shooting or wrapping up projects for the blog, and balancing the kids and Cody, there’s no such thing as a slow day.  On days when I feel frustrated and cluttered, a lot of it is just nonsense running through my head. When I sit down and write things out, the list is ALWAYS shorter than it seemed in my head.

Minimize. I am a big believer in the power of decluttering – I’m a work in progress but it’s crazy what a difference it makes! I was in the habit of throwing everything in my purse so I had anything and everything wherever I went, but now I realize that having a cluttered purse, closet, car – really anything – just adds more stress. No mom has time to burn. especially not digging for keys while she’s trying to get the kids out the door to school or running late for a meeting. I love having this Coach tote. It’s classic and timeless – the perfect mom bag! It fits the essentials: my laptop, wallet, chargers, wipes for kiddos, and a snack to curb my sweet tooth. (Or to share with B – he’s always asking for treats!)

Mix business and family.  I definitely have times when I have to set aside time specifically for each – like shutting off my phone during family time or having Cody take the kids out to play while I knock out some solid work hours. But when it’s appropriate, incorporate your kids in your projects. A lot of times they are excited to help! Last week I ended up working late finalizing a gallery wall for a home shoot we had early the next morning.  Mara was excited to help (or avoid going to bed, not sure which one :). So I had her pick out the pictures she liked the best and she taped al the photos inside the frames. It was a simple way to mix work and family life, but she was excited to help and it was a fun mini project for us to do together.

Don’t compare yourself. Especially nowadays when you factor social media into everything, it’s so easy to compare yourself to those picture-perfect Instagram feeds or to your neighbors, people you work with, etc. No matter who you might be tempted to compare yourself with, you’re never seeing the whole picture. When you’re having one of those days, shut out the distraction and spend some one on one time with your babies.

Extra Hugs. Be that annoying over-affectionate mom. Ok, maybe not that extreme, but don’t skimp on the hugs and kisses. All that time goes by so fast! B told me he was too big to sit on my lap the other day and I about cried right there!! Of course he didn’t mean it but it made me realize how fast he’s growing and how soon it will all change! Don’t miss those moments for extra love.

Strive for perfection. Settle for excellence. The idea of a super-mom – one who doesn’t meltdown, meets all of her work deadlines, never gets upset with her kids, has a perfect house, cooks every meal, and never forgets to brush her kids’ teeth before bed – she doesn’t exist! Every day is a balancing act and just like marriage or any relationship, it’s ok to have hard times. They just make you stronger. The real super-moms are the ones that can admit when it’s hard and learn and grow from it, not pretend like their life is perfect or something that’s not real. It’s those lessons you learn through the failures that make you a super-mom.

More gift ideas for mom for Mother’s Day (or yourself :):

XX, Christine

The post 6 Ways To Make More Time in Motherhood & Your Career appeared first on Hello Fashion.

Mom life is the best life!

DETAILS: MOM LIFE TEE (WEARING SIZE SMALL) | WIFEY SWEATSHIRT (WEARING SIZE SMALL) | DISTRESSED DENIM (UNDER $100)| WHITE ESPADRILLE SNEAKERS (UNDER $100 – ALSO LOVE THESE!) | SUNGLASSES | SILVER WATCH | STRAW TOTE

Happy Monday guys!! We are in the Bahamas with the ILY team right now having a fun work getaway with the crew. So fun having time with everyone outside of work! Mother’s Day is coming up quick!! I’ll be sharing different Mother’s Day posts through out the next couple weeks. Today’s is the three things I didn’t expect becoming a mom!

1. I never thought that the cliche Spiderman pajamas and Paw Patrol underwear would become my kids favorite clothes. lol. I always thought they were the cheesiest thing in the world and now it’s over half of B’s pj and underwear collection. He loves to roam our house in just his Hulk undies and show his “muscles” like dad.
2. “That will never be me.” Before I had kids I remember seeing kids melt down in stores all the time. Not in a rude, judging way but I would think, when I’m a mom my kids will never melt down like that. Fast forward 10 years and I don’t think I can count the number of times they’ve melted down at a restaurant or store because they’re tired, didn’t get the treat they wanted, or for no reason decide to just act crazy!!! When I see moms in the store going through the same thing, now it’s the head nod and tap on the back saying, “One of those days, huh? We’ve all been there!” to remind her she’s not alone and kids will be kids!
3. More emotional! I’m not sure if that’s possible because, full honesty, I’m a crier! haha. I love sappy movies, cute elderly couples holding hands make me tear up – I’m a such a sap! But having kids has made me ten times more emotional! Looking back through old pics always makes me tear up, finding clothes that are too small in shock realizing he’s ten times bigger than when he was a baby, or videos from only a couple months earlier realizing how fast they change before your eyes! It’s turned me into a hot mess sometimes. But I love this feeling of love and emotion it brings!! Truly nothing better: Mom life is the best life!!

What about you guys?? What funny things surprised you about mom life?

XX, Christine

The post 3 Things I Didn’t Expect Becoming A Mom appeared first on Hello Fashion.

Obsessed with these bracelets. I wear them almost everyday!

DETAILS: WHITE RUFFLED DRESS | NUDE SANDALS | SUNGLASSES

JEWELRY: LINK BRACELET | THIN PEARL BRACELET | BEADED BRACELET | HEART LOCKET | OVAL LOCKET | PEARL EARRINGS | RING

Mother’s Day comes with a lot of meaning in our home – it’s actually always had a lot of meaning to me personally. As a child in a blended family, I had the joy of having two amazing women play mom roles in my life and now I’m experiencing it from the other side within our own little blended family. It’s funny – before I had kids, I always thought being a mom would be one of the easiest things. (I guess that’s a tribute to my own mom and step-mom for making it look so easy 🙂 but it’s taught me some of my hardest life lessons and also brought me some of the greatest joy that I didn’t even know was possible to experience. I’m so grateful for 3 kids that mean so much to me. And even though for two of them I’m only their stepmom, I hope they know what an impact they’ve had on my life and how special they are to me.

It always surprises me how each kid has such a different personality. They have to be parented so differently, they have different love languages, and they are all just so unique in their own way. As moms we continually feel like it’s our job to teach our kids, but today I wanted to share a few things that they have taught me.

Got Mara and myself these little lockets that each hold a picture of our family. They are so special and I hope she keeps it to give to her daughter one day. Also got one for my Moms as a gift from the kids for Mother’s Day. 🙂

MARA:

The oldest child and the biggest nurturer. I didn’t have siblings growing up, but I can’t imagine a better sister. Mara is super loyal, artistic, and giving. Super shy unless you know her well. She loves to take care of her brothers and play Mom. She’s taught me patience. Honestly she’s more patient than me a lot of times, especially with Beckam. No matter what he asks or wants she is there to make sure he is okay. Mara’s laugh is so contagious and she will make such an amazing mom one day!!

His little toothless smile kills me 🙂

WES:

Wes is always mistaken as the oldest. 🙂 He values quality time and doing things to together. He is the sensitive one in the family, but not in a whiny way, he just senses people’s feelings and hates conflict. He always knows if someone is upset and will be the first to give you a hug or try to include you if you’re feeling down. Whenever the siblings fight he is the first to apologize and say sorry. He’s taught me to let things go easier when Cody and I are in a stupid fight and I love what a cuddler he is! He has such a big heart!

BECKAM:

Partially it is the age, but the way he looks at life is so beautiful. Everything is the most exciting thing in the world to him, rolling down a hill of grass, blowing bubbles, seeing a cool bird in the sky, everything is an adventure. He is also the trouble maker in the family. Full of mischief but the life of the party. His excitement about life makes my day. He’s taught me to appreciate the little things, and to love in a way I didn’t know possible.

I know on Mother’s Day we are always thinking about our moms and, if we have kids of our own, celebrating having them in our life! I wanted to take a moment to celebrate the 3 people who have given me the best gift of being a mom and say thank you to my own moms who have given me such a good example of what that means.

Below are a few more pieces from the LAGOS Mother’s Day collection that I’ve been wearing non-stop lately and a little video we made. (ps. Mara and Wes were at school when we filmed so that’s the only reason they weren’t in it 🙂

They are the best gift and a special keepsake that moms and grandmas can wear all the time to keep their loved ones close. Great gifts for Mother’s Day:

XX, Christine

*In collaboration with LAGOS.

The post Lessons I’ve Learned From Being A Mom appeared first on Hello Fashion.