My Young Career Mommy Fashion Style: C.C.C

C.C.C makes up the 3 main statements I look to meet when choosing my outfits for work style.

"CHIC,

CUTE,

and COMFORTABLE"

Now that I am a mom and a young one at that, I want to go back to career-mode in a fashionable yet "take me seriously because Im here to WORK" style.

I thought It would be fun to share with you, my readers, some of the outfits I will be wearing once I start working next week. I am in Corporate Recruitment for a large investment company, so clearly that must tell you I need to have first and for most have a "professional demeanour". Secondly, I want to bring in Spring sooner that the weather does with bright, happy colours mixed with classic blacks and whites to make a pow statement.

With that said, I will be posting weekly my outfits and accessories worn to work, to share with other career mommies who are also young and vibrant and share of my experiences with finding, picking and wearing them.

Most of the accessories I will be wearing will come from my Purple Heart line of jewelry and statement pieces, but a lot of the outfits will just be from daily/weekly scouting at malls, department stores and of course Joe fresh (I absolutely LOVE Joe Fresh Baby for my son and Joe Fresh Women for me!)

Here are a few new pieces I got this past week to kick off my new "Mommy Goes to Work: Fashion Diaries" posts starting this month on the blog. I hope you follow along, tweet me your opinions and favourite places to shop at @aPurpleHeartMom.


First up, I believe every young professional needs a TON of sexy, tailored Blazers. They give you that crisp, clean and well-put-together look, especially with a statement piece necklace. I got a grey and a white to start things off. I think these two colours can work with numerous colour mixes.

Forever XXI - White - $29.80

Forever XXI - Grey $29.80

Purple Heart - Nude & Turquoise Statement Piece

Purple Heart - Collar Pearls Necklace

Next up, SHOES!!!!

I still have a lot more shoes to add to my small but growing collection, but I thought these 3 were a good place to start. Some of you remember my Leopard Ankle Booties from a previous post here. I absolutely love them! I also got a new Nude pump with Black accents and a cute wedge heel from Nine West. I love these colours since they can go with a variety of outfits.  Comfort is definitely a big factor when it comes to shoes, so I will only purchase options that I can actually make it during the day in! My collection is coming along.. 

Sears - $5.00!!!! (Clearance Sale)

Shoe Company - $25 (sale as well)

Winners - $39.99

Lastly, Pants. I love the fitted/tailored to the bottom style this past few seasons. They give the legs length, definition and go well with sexy pumps or comfy flats. Here is one I picked up yesterday from Forever XXI. I love pants like this that are made from that stretchy material which helps to pin in they Muffin top we momma's know and hate! Also, I like that it gives us that well-defined look and still is comfy as TNA yoga pants. Best of both worlds I say!

Forever XXI - Black with Tuxedo white strip on sides - $39.00

Follow along weekly for more "Mommy Goes to Work: Fashion Diaries"! Cant wait to tweet with you all!

Off to the movies with mom! Happy Weekend!

My 2014 Book list that gives "a young momma Motivation"

As I come to a closure of a chapter in my life and start a new one next week (starting a new corporate full-time role),  it dawned on me that I need something to keep my hopes high, and positivity to motivate and help me balance my new life as a working mama.

I thought, what better way than to read a few books that really SPEAKS TO ME. Not just any book, but a book that I can go to when I need time away from the craziness, or a book that I can almost meditate on when I'm feeling the need to be re-energized from a long day at work and home with family.

I have always been the type to read all types of books for the main purpose of aiding me in my journey while going through various life changes. Which in terms of this new life change I will be experiencing, I thought I would share with you all my 3 Top Wish-list books that I will be picking up and reading for the  next few months.

These 3 books all have a common purpose for me and that is to MOTIVATE me. I want to learn how to be happy doing something I love, all while finding balance with all of it so nothing lacks. I want to be an fantastic Corporate Recruiter, an in-touch and consistent blogger & shop owner. I also want to be a hands-on nurturing mommy to my 2 year old son and a adoring, loving wife to my hubby.

Can I really handle all of that within a 35 hr work week? Do I have what it takes to balance them effectively and with care?

All I know is that Im not looking to be perfect, but I do know that all of these things are what I want and will continue to work hard for.

With all that said, here are my 3 books to coach me on along the way:

Source: Amazon.ca

1. I have been a solid fan of Danielle Laporte since I "coped" her former book, "The fire Starter Sessions" last year. She has such a way with words in her books that make you feel like you're having a direct heart-to-heart with her in your home office. She tells it like it is and keeps you re-organizing your goals and actions plans. In this new book, "The Desire Map", she helps us narrow down a plan to reach our Happiness, instead of our "goals". It is a new way of thinking which she states -

"Your bucket list. Quarterly objectives. Strategic plans. Big dreams. Goals. Lots of goals and plans to achieve those goals-no matter what. Except. You're not chasing the goal itself, you're actually chasing the feeling that you hope achieving that goal will give you. Which means we have the procedures of achievement upside down. We go after the stuff we want to have, get, or accomplish, and we hope that we'll be fulfilled when we get there. It's backwards. And it's burning us out."

 I cannot wait to dig into this book and I know i will uncover a lot more about myself and what I want out of life than I do now.

Source: Amazon.ca

2. Sparkle: The Girl's Guide to Living a Deliciously Dazzling, Wildly Effervescent, Kick-Ass Life
had me as soon as I read the title. What woman doesn't want to live a " deliciously dazzling, wildly effervescent kick-ass" life? I uncovered this book through Twitter when I landed on Cara's (The Author) twitter page. As she says about this book, it is a book designed to help woman uncover what makes them SPARKLE and how they can use these qualities to live a life they desire and better yet deserve. It is like a celebration of your personal qualities and motivation to help you use them effectively in any environment.

Source: WorkingMomManifesto.com

3. Lastly, this book is probably my most excited to read book of all three. Its called The Working Mom Manifesto by CEO/Mommy-preneur of Glamajama, Author and Motivational Life Coach, Heather Schuck. I also discovered her through Twitter and immediately fell in-love with her story and not to mention amazing twitter feeds! She is a mother bursting with a beautiful story to tell of her past struggles and current success. She has made a life out of her disasters from the past and proves that any mother can do the same thing if they try! She is truly an inspiration to me.

I hope some or all of these books end up on your bookshelves as well as mine because they are all great, motivating reads for us women and momma's!

Thanks for reading.

P.S: I would love to hear any of your favourite "Motivational reads" for young woman and mommas! 

The NEW Working Girl (or should I say Mama)

It's funny how when you are experiencing an emotion or feeling or life occurrence, you usually fall upon a blog post/blog that automatically resonates with your exact feelings that moment. I believe It must be that "Blog-sphere" magic!

Some of you might know, in early December I lost by job due to downsizing (I am a recruiter by day, blogger/shop owner/busy-momma by night), which I was devastated by but of course, tried to make the best of it. I continued to think positive, cherish the time I got to spend with my son and hubby and also working on my store launch (still in progress!). I also continued to send out resumes to roles that I ACTUALLY wanted to get, not just to anything for means of income.

Well, couple days ago, I got the best news I could have received... I got the JOB!!!!

As of mid-February, I will be working in a large investment firm as their Corporate Recruiter for their Canadian Offices. I am so thankful to have landed this amazing opportunity to bless not only me but my family as well.

After really digesting the news and my complete excitement and happiness, I came across this amazing blog called "The Working Girl" by Sydney Roberts. She recently launched her re-branded site and I am so happy to have found it!

I quickly fell in love with the mission of her blog; to motivate young girl professionals with career advice, style tips of looking the part at work and living a healthy balanced life. This blog is EXACTLY what I need now to help me get back into the swing of things!

I found this perfect little saying on her about me page and had to share with you all:

This pretty much sums up the type of woman I want to be. I know that it won't be easy to balance life as a busy professional, mama, blogger and shop owner, but I am definitely willing to try! I admire her  post called "Happy New Year" where she speaks about her truthful journey she's on with her career, future goals and how far she's come. It definitely spoke to me about my own journey I'm on and that I should look forward to the new path God has placed my me on.

I have a lot more goals to reach and accomplishments to make happen this year, but I will do them without the least bit of fear!

Have a great weekend!

Winter Winter, what have you done with my skin! Skincare Routine

Old man winter always has a way of messing with our hair, skin and lips. I cannot tell you how many jars of Blistex me and hubby go through weekly to help our lips survive from being chapped and dry.

My face is a whole other thing.

In the winter, I actually have to change my products, the way I use them and how much I use.

**Since I came across Arbonne and chemical/paraben free products, I have changed my skin care and make-up to   healthier and safer options, which is what you will see in my skincare routine below.**



Normally I would do the normal cleanser, toner, acne medication and moisturizer but in the winter I HAVE to take out toner completely in hope of not taking away any more moisture that my skin needs.

Here is a run down of what I use, and of course no skin care would be complete with out my Mia2 Clarisonic:

For the most part, daily I like to use the Live Clean Foam Cleanser with my Mia2, rinse well then apply my Live Clean Moisturizer. They go hand in hand and leave my face feeling supple, well moisturized and light.

When the weather gets really cold and i feel like my face feels dry (doesn't happen a lot), I like to use my Arbonne products from the FC5 line. They are amazing to use when you have dry skin and need a refreshing dose of moisture protection and a sealed in barrier. These products do not sell in store but online or through an Arbonne Consultant (I use to be one and even though I don't host parties anymore, I still love their products and purchase them often).

Weekly, I like to have a mask night where I use a mask that is good for the specific need my skin has. When i feel that my skin is congested and oily, this is my GO TO MASK! I love Origins products and this mask is no exception. Perfect for drawing out those deep impurities that cause skin to get oily and persistent breakouts. This is definitely one of my favourites and a must try!

And of course all my products work even better with my Clarisonic. I use the Deep Pore brush head, and I find that my skin works well with it. Every skin type is different and you must try until you know you've found the right one. I started with the sensitive, which they advise all new owners of the cleansing brush to do. I found that it was just to soft and wasn't doing my skin any justice. This one works great for me.

What do you normally add or take away from your skincare routine? 

Too "old" to find myself...?

I often have this battle with myself and those closest around me..

"Why can't you pick one thing you like and just do that?"

How else can I answer this question I struggle with constantly. Am I suppose to know what I want to do and have it all together just because I am married and has a child? When did I stop being a 23 year old girl searching for herself? Maybe it's because I'm His wife. Or maybe it's because I'm his mother. Or maybe its because I have those bills to pay.

What ever it is, it's telling me that I shouldn't be "testing the waters" with different career paths or new entrepreneurial ventures. And don't get me wrong, my husband supports ALL of my crazy, sometimes irrational dreams and "plans" I come up with for my life, but from time to time I can tell he gets exhausted of them. Maybe even scared that I can't seem to make up my mind... but what am I suppose to do? Just for the sake of his sanity or mine, pick something fast to stop wasting time and settle with it?

I can't do that.

I sometimes personally forget that I'm only in my early-twenties... that I had to "matured up" and fast due to me having my small family so early and all, also to the fact that I have always surrounded myself with older friends and family since I was a child. The point is, I really have talked myself into feeling guilty that I don't have it all together and that I should. And with this realization, came the point that it has been making it even worse on my part because I feel like I have to rush into something else fast to make up for not picking the right "thing" to do in the 1st place.


I think its about time I come to terms with this and really get this under control.

I am allowed to not have it all together.
I am allowed to make mistakes and try again.
I am allowed to follow my dreams, even if they don't make sense to anyone else.
I am allowed to look stupid at times when I realize I chose something wrong for me.
I am allowed to get back up and try something new.
I am allowed to be WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN AND WHY because thats what 20-something year olds do...period.

I am a mother and a wife. I take these commitments very seriously and I try to do my best at them with all my heart and soul but I also have to focus on myself because if I can't be happy with the person I am, how can I be happy doing anything else?

Life is short.
It goes by fast.
It gets crazy hard, but it's also a gift from God.
It's a time where we should live with the utmost joy, love and passion while we are here. I want to make the best of this life I was blessed with, even if that means trying something new everyday.

I can no longer feel sorry for exploring MY waters. I also want to encourage other young moms to feel the same thing. We are girls at the end of the day. We have our own goals and our own ambitions too. We are human. We are not selfish nor are we silly for our dreams.


Please,

If not for anyone else but yourself. Trust me... your family will benefit from this, even if it doesn't look so now.

It will.







Thank-you for reading my bare heart on this blog post. <3
signed, a young mom with BIG dreams.

2014 Inspiration - #2014BloggerChallenge

HAPPY 2014!!!!!

For our first #2014bloggerChallenge post, we are suppose to choose one picture, quote or thing that we have found inspirational and that we can use for our 2014 goals. 

For me, it was an obvious choice that I had to use a Lara Casey imagine from her shop because she has the most motivating quotes ever! I purchased my first set of her Power Sheets last year and they came with a beautiful gold foil card saying this:

After I received this package, I actually put this card up on my desk where I can always see it and resort back to it, especially on days where I feel lack of motivation. 

This quote to me simply means go and make the life you want and don't stop for anything or anyone. You have all the things you need to make your dreams come true NOW even if you think you don't. I love that it is very straight forward and that anyone can read it and can form their own motivation from it.

Hope you all have an Amazing 2014, Making Things Happen!!

13 things a "young mama" learned in 2013

As the year comes to a close, I usually like to reflect upon the years experiences, lessons and losses that I have gone through so that I can use them to better equip myself for the new approaching year. 2013 has been such a world-wind experience, with a lot of good (starting this blog, creating my Purple Heart business, getting married in Jamaica) but also a lot of not so good aka Life Lessons.

I was so intrigued by Tyler Perry's "44 things I learned at age 44" that he posted on his Facebook account (you can find that post here) for his birthday, that I decided I wanted to incorporate the same sort of thing into my new years post.

Below you will find the 13 life lessons I have learned this year and hopefully some of you will find similarity within my experiences and have a giggle or shout too after reading.

Make sure to leave me your comments below of your similar lessons or experiences because as always, I'd love to hear them!

Enjoy!

1. Having too many ideas/plans at one time can really distract you from that one idea or plan thats worth your time and effort! Focus on one thing and put your ALL into it.
2. There is no such thing as having to many pacifiers around the house - I can have 5 but by the end of the day, can only find ONE.
3. It is DEFINITELY possible to plan a destination wedding in 9 months. Did that. check mark. DONE.
4. Going to Wal-mart with a cart even though you came only for one thing is NEVER a good idea, hence why you can never find any hand baskets but thousands of carts... don't get tricked!
5. Tasting one or two spoonful's of your baby's dinner can sometimes lead to you wanting to finish it (or actually finishing it for them)... what can I say, I make my son's meal tastier than mine! (don't act like you haven't done this before mommies!)
6. Getting ready before feeding mello is definitely a foolish idea. ALWAYS feed child first then get ready if you want to look decent before leaving the house.
7. Painting my nails before putting mello to bed is just plain STUPID.
8. If there is ever a way to get tickets to a Beyonce concert... TAKE THEM. Amazing performer!
9.  God NEVER makes mistakes. No matter how hard it is to understand why it happened.. it was needed to make you who your are or will be.
10. Friendships are beautiful when they last but don't be distraught when they come to an end. Sometimes you have to let go of good to make room for great. And remember, Friends come and go, but family is forever.
11. Do not over-think things. Usually your first thought is great and can be doable if you try. Don't confuse yourself with "perfecting" things. Trust your creativity and just do it!
12. Marriage is WORK. There are days that you will feel like the luckiest woman in the world and other days you will think you were cursed. To succeed at it, you both must put in effort and be patient within the hard times. Good will always come again.
13. Wish it. Dream it. Do it. <--- my year's quote

Happy New Years to all of you and may you all have new perspectives, dreams and goals for the new year! All the best my loves!

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!!

This holiday is definitely a special one for us. It will be our first christmas being married! It is so crazy to think back to last year around this time when we were Newly engaged and in the "planning stages" of our 2013 Destination Wedding nuptials! Time really has flown! Now we are married, and settled into our little family and life, which we are so thankful for! 

This holiday, may you cherish all the little gifts that are around you, including love & family. 

Merry Christmas from us to you!

xoxo

My "hot" Leopard print find!

Here are one of those amazing finds I encountered last Saturday at Town Shoes while doing some last minute christmas shopping!

Loving my new KateandMel leopard print ankle boots! Paired with a few of my accessories from my shop coming this January:

What do you guys think? 

I love sharing new items I find, while growing my new clothing collection. Mama's can be HOT too! 

Happy Monday!

P.s: 2 MORE DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS!!!

QUEEN BEE.

Here are some serious CANDID photos from the Beyonce Concert Last night.

 ***THESE WERE TAKEN WITH MY IPHONE 4S CAMERA AND ARE NOT THE BEST SINCE I WAS DOING MY BOOTY DANCE & TRYING TO CAPTURE THE SHOW AS WELL! SORRY!***

Finally found our seats! Main stage is right below us!

Opening Act: Luke James, coming 2014 in Canada! 

OMG BEY'S COMING OUT!!!!!!

SHES HERE!

 

QUEEN BEE!

Lover her smile

GO LADIES! (I was working it out right along with them here)

                      

2nd Stage lit up, ready for Bey to transport there. (middle of crowd)

There she goes!

This part was cool, getting confetti bombed.

Concert Selfie of course!

My concert Souvenir! 

Look who was so happy to see mama in the morning! <3

Fin. (the End)

This weekend Wrap-Up/ Blogger Challenge 2014!

Happy Monday beauties!

I am a bit under the weather since yesterday but I have an amazing night ahead (BEYONCE CONCERT!!!!!!!!!!!) so I got to get a grip on this cold from now so I can do my "booty dance" tonight!
As I did last week Monday, here is a small wrap-up of our past weekend! It was definitely a busy one but well enjoyed!


Friday night was a "stay in with pizza & Netflix" type of night, where we just enjoyed the warmth of staying indoors!

We LOVE Dominoes!

Saturday was a crazy day! We we're planning to do some Christmas shopping in the morning but the weather was not very understanding so we decided to skip the malls. In the afternoon we had a Christmas party to attend at my cousin's house and although I didn't get to take any of my own pictures there, I did manage to snap selfie before I left :)

SELFIE!

Sunday afternoon we had a 1st birthday to attend, which I also helped with doing the candy buffet and signs for a friend. Here is the table right before the party started:

Circus Theme

He was so happy with his BIG lolly!

His 1ST ever face-painting! He wanted spider man!

Later that night after the party, we had a surprise engagement party to go to of our close friend and here is the happy newly engaged couple in the middle of it all:

Congrats to the happy couple!

And that was our busy weekend!

I also joined the 2014 Blogger challenge, hosted by Gaby of  Another Girly Blog. There is an estimated total of 400+ bloggers world-wide involved and I am SO super excited about joining the roster! Basically the challenge involves being given 2 random topics per month to post about, ranging anywhere from Fashion to Cooking and Reviews.

This is a great way to meet, connect and work with amazing bloggers who you wouldn't normally come across and also to expand our blogging skills and topics! I cannot wait to kick of 2014 with this amazing challenge! 

Be sure to stay tuned on all the great stuff I will have in store for you guys in 2014, including the launch of my Online Store, Purple Heart!

Yuppie!

Nightly Activities: What our son likes to do before bedtime.

Every child has a nightly list of things or activities that they like to do leading up to bed-time. At our house, Romey likes to do a VARIETY of things before he goes to sleep, which many of them HAVE to be done before he can "settle down".  

Most of the time, our nights start off with eating dinner at  5:30pm (we live with my parents so Grandma usually cooks and has dinner ready by this time and we all eat together... lucky me, I know!).

Then we follow with bath time around 7:00pm - which is one of my favourite times with him because I use this time in the tub as a fun learning while we clean time, which we sing songs that he recently learned at daycare or songs I made up to to teach him how to spell his name. We also like to clown around, get the floors wet and be silly! (Clean up time is not as fun, but the splashes and laughs with him are so worth it!) I like to use the "Live Clean Baby" line, including the moisturizing baby bath soap.

After bath time, he usually likes to come back downstairs and play with daddy and his grandparents while I'm cleaning up our "fun" mess.

With daddy playing who knows what on his Android

Now its SNACK TIME! Every child's favourite time:

he loves teddy grams, Can you tell?!?

If we don't have time for snack or he had a later dinner, I usually give him his milk in a sippy cup. Here he is waiting for me to make his milk, all like "Hurry up mommy!"..

After I'm done cleaning up and it's around 8:00pm, I like to bring him up to his room for "quiet play", where we do calming activities like learning to sketch/write in his learning pad book, shown below or, we play educational games like Endless ABC's (HIGHLY recommend this app for fun learning of the ABCs for babies) on my tablet or watch tree house for a bit in mommy's room until I see those "sleepy eyes". Then I know it's time to bring him to his room.

Watching Caillou with mommy

Playing Endless ABCs

 Once I know he's ready for bed, usually anywhere between 8:30-9;00pm, we will go into his room and read. He likes to pick out his favourite books, usually "Where's Spot" or any other pop-up book.

 After a little snuggling and kisses, Its nighty-night time! He doesn't yet fall asleep on his own with crying, so we tend to lay beside him for a few minutes (sometimes hours!) til he falls asleep. I try not to push him to fall asleep on his own, since i was like this as well when i was younger and I learned to do it when i was ready. He will eventually, so until then, i don't mind the extra cuddle time!



What are your favourite night time routines and activities? I'd love to hear!