Pennsylvania International Pageant Seminar - March 8, 2014

I remember this time during 2013 when I attended the pageant seminar as a contestant.  Jodi and Scott provide so much valuable information during the seminar and it is a very helpful event for the contestants.  It is also a wonderful opportunity to meet the contestants!

Here are photos from this year!

 
WHAT I WORE:
Sabika necklace from Fall 2013 + Rainbow Necklace from Elena Maratos + fern green rhinestone earrings from Elena Maratos
Green Muse Dress - this is not a maternity dress but I look better wearing it now that I am pregnant than I ever did when I wasn't pregnant.  I might save this dress for another year or two on the off chance that I will get pregnant again.
Shoes - old taupe pair; I think they are Banana Republic

Link ups: please see the three links at left where I link up!

WOW - this post was the most clicked on link at Watch Out for the Woestmans - THANK YOU!!!!! 

My Eye Make Up Favorites

Eye Primar

Fran Krauss taught me about these first two products:

Prime Time Primar from Bare Minerals either HERE or HERE:

Eye Liner

Estee Lauder's Double Wear Pencils are my most used.  I own onyx (black), coffee (dark brown) and a midnight blue (blue/navy).

Lancome Art Liner is terrific, but I feel that the L'Oreal or NYX Studio Liquid Liner are alternatives at a much lower cost.
I find that the Art Liner is rarely in stock in dark brown; same for the L'Oreal.  So tonight, using my 20% Ulta discount, I purchased NYX.  I only tried it on my hand, but I LOVE this brown color that I purchased. 

Eyeshadow

Now this is difficult because there are so many good options on the market right now.
Urban Decay's Naked 1 Palette (I did not like palette 2).  Also, palette 3 and their matte palette both look great, but I have already moved onto Stila.

Stila's Palettes are great because, like Naked Palette, they have fabulous pigmentation.
I use In the Light:

 And when there was an Ulta sale, I purchased two eyeshadow quads from Bare Minerals.  WOW - these are awesome, especially because I only paid $15 for each quad!  I own The Truth and The A List:

For Brittani's wedding, I wanted to create a soft purple look for her (her wedding colors were purple).  I found this POP Beauty palette on Beauty.com at a 20% discount (sign up for their emails - they are the only site that every once in awhile offers Nars cosmetics and other high end brands at a full 20% discount - this never happens at Ulta).
The Amethyst Palette - LOVE THIS PALETTE!

Mascara

I have always been a Lancome fan, however, I have been CAREFULLY using only one mascara recently: Bare Minerals Lash Domination
You must CAREFULLY use this.  It took me over a month of practice and I still get big black racoon eyes.  It is a big brush and I have small eyes, so if you are not careful, you will end up with a mess.  However, no mascara has ever come as close to making my lashes so long and full.  I love it that much that I will not recommend any other brand at this point (but if you have naturally long and awesome lashes, then go to Lancome so you can avoid the mess because that is a downfall of this mascara).

2013 New Year's Eve Wedding of Brittani and Ben

I was so excited to attend Brittani and Ben's wedding on New Year's Eve in State College, PA.  Brittani's parents are my godparents and her dad married Kevin and I!  It was a bittersweet day for me though because my poor husband had to stay home due to a back injury.

I did Brittani's makeup (and applied false eyelashes - a first for her) and assisted some of the other bridesmaids with their makeup.  It was so much fun to sit and enjoy makeup with so many girls!!!!

HOW ADORABLE IS THIS!!!!

Not much of a baby bump at 12 weeks

My God-Mother

The one halfway decent photo of my God-Father who gave an incredible sermon when marrying Brittani and Ben

Meghan and Justin

Vince and I

Brittani's Terrific Brother

Bruno and I

I spent a significant amount of time shopping (and crying) trying to find something to wear for this wedding.  However, I was pleased with the end result:
DRESS: lace Diane Von Furstenberg
paired with
EARRINGS: an old pair of Stephanie Somers (the stones were matte rather than sparkly - so they were not too over-the-top)
and finished with
SHOES: my nude "go-to" LK Bennett heels.

LESSON: Yes, you can wear non-maternity clothes, especially when you are not quite ready for maternity wear.  However, this dress in a size 4 needed to be altered because it was too big across the back but not too big in the waist.  I normally wear an altered down size 2 for DvF (but her size 0 typically is too small on at least one part of my body, so I buy her 2s).  All in all, once the tummy grows another few inches, I will be glad to switch to maternity wear - even if it is expensive.  On the positive side, I can get this dress altered after the baby and wear it in the future!