Weekly Roundup: What’s Been Cookin’

Meals this week were super simple, and mostly because I knew we would be camping over the weekend and I didn’t want to have a ton of leftovers left in the fridge while we were gone all weekend. So, I kept it simple with a Cheesy Chicken Fajita Bake. I tried to keep it even healthier and did more of a chicken fajita bowl with it with rice and sliced lettuce. For Mo, we wrapped hers in a tortilla like a chicken burrito and she was content with it! This was the only NEW recipe I tried last week. On Wednesday night we had egg roll in a bowl which I’ve shared previously on IG but figured I would include this time around too. Cheesy Chicken Fajita Bake recipe and Egg Roll in a Bowl below!

Cheesy Chicken Fajita Bake

Ingredients:

4-5 chicken breasts
1/2 packet fajita seasoning (honestly though, I would’ve used the whole thing)
1/3 cup salsa
2 large bell peppers sliced
2 cups Mexican blend grated cheese
8 oz cream cheese block (softened)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375
9×13 dish, greased
Place chicken in baking dish
In a bowl, mix the cream cheese, fajita seasoning, salsa and grated cheese together
Spread the mixture evenly over the top of the chicken
Add the sliced bell peppers on top
Bake for 30-45 minutes (depending on how thick the chicken breasts are)

Egg Roll in a Bowl

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb ground turkey (but last week we tried it with ground bison and we loved it)
12 oz shredded cabbage or slaw mix
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp ginger minced
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tblspn sesame oil
1/2 cup green onions for garnish

Instructions

In a small bowl combine the garlic, ginger and soy sauce
In a large skillet brown the meat over medium high heat
Add the shredded cabbage or slaw and stir to combine
Add the sauce mixture to the slaw and meat. Cook for 3-5 minutes. Garnish with green onions.
Serve over rice

I make the Egg Roll in a Bowl easily once every 1-2 weeks. It’s not really something Mo likes so I try to make it on evenings we don’t have he, but it’s great for any type of meal prep which is perfect for Dillon when he’s working – easy on the go! For more easy and/or kid tested and approved meals, I have a recipe highlight on my IG where I keep everything so they are always accessible. I also try to post what our meal plans for the week every Monday! Not only does it help me stay organized for the week, but it also helps with only needing to go to the grocery store once a week.

Next post will focus on how we get ourselves prepped and organized for camping. I’ve been building some useful checklists the last couple of years to help keep us organized so I’m exploring ways to capture those lists in downloadable PDFs so anyone can access them! And, we’ve been trying to up our cooking game while we camp so I’m excited to share what we did for meals last weekend!

Uncategorized

Weekly Round Up: What we did, what we made.

All Recipes for Everything in this Blog Can be Found on my Instagram: Wishbonedreams

Hi everyone! I’m sure it was a busy weekend full of cooking and planning for the Super Bowl. For me personally, I am not a football fan but our neighbors (who are also in our social COVID-free bubble) are, so they invited us over. Dillon made delicious hot wings, homemade ranch dressing and we took some crackers and jalapeño dip we picked up at the farmer’s market. Honestly, I was relieved he took the lead on what to bring. While I like planning out what we are going to eat all week, when it comes to appetizers etc. I basically have a handful of go-tos, and on a special occasion I will make a charcuterie board (I’ll have to do a post about that).

The week started with Mo on Monday. For dinner we had turkey meatball spaghetti. It was definitely kid approved, but still took her 45 minutes to eat dinner. Does anyone else battle with that? Dinner is such a struggle sometimes, even when it’s something we know she loves.

Tuesday Mo and I are usually on our own, however we have a standing date with my good friend Heather and her two little boys. Her husband is also a deputy and working on Tuesday evenings so we get the kiddos together either at her house or ours and the kids ride bikes, play on the trampoline and so on. It’s good for the kids and we get a little bit of a break and some girl time to chat. It was my house this past week so I made crispy cheddar chicken. It was also kid approved – by one 5 year old and one 2 year old.

Wednesday Mo went back to her Mom’s so I was on my own for dinner…except I wasn’t. Dillon was home for dinner on Wednesday night – which NEVER happens. So, I roasted some broccoli and threw the leftover chicken in the broiler to get it nice and crispy. Anyone else love leftovers?

Thursday was another quiet evening by myself and I always struggle with what to make for myself when I’m by myself. Sometimes I even default to just ordering something but couldn’t bring myself to do it. SO I made myself a HUGE chicken quesadilla. I only ate half and left the rest for Dillon when he got home from work later that night. I don’t have a recipe to link, but I do try to always have that pre-cooked chicken for easy things such as chicken salads or a chicken quesadilla.

Friday we got Mo back to start our 5 days and I was going to do grilled cheese and soup but then thought I’d surprise her with her favorite thing for dinner…BREAKFAST! She was so excited. Helped me make the pancakes and everything. I cook a lot of things out of Joanna Gaines’ cook books. One of which is her Best Ever Fluffy Pancakes. I won’t list out the recipe but I did a quick google search and it’s easy to find. But seriously, her cookbooks are worth the purchase in my opinion (the hard back versions). I decided to add cinnamon to the pancake batter and I promise it made them even better! We did bacon – which we bake in the oven at 400 for about 15 minutes. Comes out perfect! If you haven’t tried that trick do it! Saves time, and messy grease splatter.

Saturday we hit up the farmers market and had some burritos there for lunch and then went over to Heather’s house. Dillon was helping Heather’s husband out with one of his dirt bikes and it gave the kids an opportunity to play again. We decided to barbecue chicken and burgers and all were happy! Heather made the patties and they were delicious and super simple! She did two spoonfuls of minced garlic, salt and pepper and soy sauce. Then we did muenster cheese on them – they were a hit!

Sunday was super bowl and of course we just ate a ton of stuff. So, we start the week again and I will likely sit down and make my grocery list and plan dinners for the week. Crockpot Sloppy Joe’s were on the list for last week but didn’t happen so I will be doing that on Tuesday night for our standing playdate. Otherwise I gotta figure it out!

I just created a highlight on my IG of all the things I made with recipes! Hope you all can enjoy that, I know I love to try new recipes I find on both Pinterest and IG.

career, Uncategorized, women

Part Two: Something we don’t talk about – Women CEOs

Hi all,

This is the second installment of my review and insights about the Korn Ferry Institute’s report on women CEOs. If you didn’t read the first one, please do! I will ground us quickly by highlighting what I discussed previously. The last post examined what characteristics are most prominent in women CEOs according to the Korn Ferry Institute, and next up I will share with you how the traits previously outlined are the ingredients needed to become a CEO. The main question Korn Ferry poses though is, what values and interests or motivators, referred to as drivers, guided the women’s career decisions?

According to Korn Ferry the drive for these women CEOs was described in one word, challenge. Thriving on challenge, and having been less interested in competition was a huge factor for women CEOS. Korn Ferry found that routine job promotion is generally not enough to stake the thirst for challenge, and found that their interviewers stepped knowingly into less-than-desirable, ill-defined roles because they saw potential in these opportunities, like diamonds in the rough. Tell me, have you ever done that? I know that I have. I didn’t do it with the end potential that I wanted to be a CEO someday, but more for the potential that the opportunity would give me a skill I may have been missing, or teach me something I needed to learn. There have been times where I’ve been in a job that I wasn’t maybe crazy about, and kept telling myself that there would be a lesson or something I would gain from that experience no matter what. And, often times it doesn’t feel like that will be the case in the moment, but it always turns out that there is a lesson to learn in everything…whether big or small.

Now, to tackle the notion that women thrive on challenge and are less interested in competition. Korn Ferry also heard from their CEOs that sometimes they were so intensely focused on whatever challenges were before them that they neglected longer-term career planning and mastering the “political” aspects of the organization. A typical refrain they found was: “I was head-down, delivering results in my current role.” It is hard to not get caught up in that, especially if the thought of competition or playing office politics is not interesting. Korn Ferry found that they are largely disinterested in inside-the-company competition. They preferred to let their results speak for themselves. I have always been this way, but have also found that unless you have someone in your corner helping exhibit your good work, it can sometimes go unseen and not “speak for itself.” According to Korn Ferry, this challenge-centric mindset explains a striking observation from their interviews: 63% of the CEOs either didn’t mention organizational barriers or explicitly said they were not hindered by being a woman. In some cases, organizations were seamlessly facilitating their growth and grooming them for leadership. I guess I’m a little cynical, and find this surprising, but also somewhat comforting. Maybe a tide is turning a bit for women in the workforce?

Independence balanced with collaboration

Korn Ferry’s assessment also revealed higher-than-expected scores for a driver called independence. These scores also indicated another dynamic – these women were happy to get things done on their own, and overall Korn Ferry sees female CEOs exhibiting benchmark levels of collaboration, so this hasn’t impeded their desire to foster and lead teams, to build consensus or to share responsibility. Korn Ferry does explain however, that there is a cautionary flag here. Those who become overly autonomous in how they work can later find themselves without the support, networks, or advocacy that they need around them to become CEO and stay there. There’s that key again, support, networks and advocacy. Many of the women Korn Ferry interviewed had strong late-career sponsors who pushed their careers forward, but then discovered they didn’t have the broad support they needed for their agenda as CEO. Others found themselves blindsided by competitive executives, or without enough allies when they discovered others were waiting – or rooting – for them to fail. So, a little bit of politics and keeping your head up may be a better route to go in the long run?

So, then Korn Ferry posed the question, “why doesn’t such drive produce more female CEOs?” According to them, the fact that women must exhibit such a huge appetite for challenge to reach CEO speaks volumes about the systemic barriers many women still face. Their adaptations to that working environment, further, can harm their chances of success. So, there’s a fine line to toe here. According to Korn Ferry, we will never know, for instance, how many women didn’t become CEO because they were more independent than well-networked, or because their humility undermined how they were perceived, or because organizations didn’t recognize their drive. Those are very situational reasons and of course are hard to measure, but definitely something to make you think about. Finally, Korn Ferry discovered that multiple studies have documented that women are more likely than men to leave positions in which they are unsatisfied. That doesn’t mean work is difficult or unpleasant. The CEOs who were interviewed quit or turned down jobs when:

The company didn’t meet their standards for integrity
The role lacked a sense of larger purpose or
It was a place where people were treated very poorly

I think this is important to note. If it doesn’t feel right, morally or supporting a larger purpose, we will find something else to do or somewhere else to go. I have always believed, if you’re REALLY not happy…LEAVE! It does nothing for you to stick around when you are unhappy, and that goes for any situation!

So what type of things motivate women in the workforce? According to Korn Ferry, more are motivated by work-life balance. The participants in their interviews never shied away from hard work, and they took no shortcuts. But they did, on average, express more desire or work-life balance than Korn Ferry’s CEO benchmark. All of them were currently or had been married, and said they had supportive spouses, though some didn’t find that until a second marriage. According to Korn Ferry, being a CEO is not a one-person job, and this was acknowledged by the participants. A CEO’s partner has to “lean in” too. The partners of the women CEOs often took primary responsibility on the home front, managing the logistics and outsourcing of childcare, while choosing to stay home or take jobs with more flexibility. Some even said that their career affected what kind of mother they were. One said, for example, her children were resentful of her career commitments when they were young, but came to admire her accomplishments when they were older. I mean, I guess it’s nice that her children came to admire her eventually, but yikes – that kind of resentment is a bit scary if you ask me. According to Korn Ferry, many pointed out that being a mother added to their abilities as executive leaders and it gave them a particular grounding and sense of perspective, as well as gave them practice on patience and compassion, along with setting appropriate boundaries, creating clear expectations, and making unpopular decisions.

Korn Ferry also found that women are motivated by purpose and creating a positive culture. Purpose and mission were central to their messages as leaders and working to create a more positive culture was a primary way those women carried out purpose and mission in their companies.

So as Korn Ferry does for every section, they outline key takeaways for women and for organizations. I want to continue to highlight them for you because I think if you take nothing else away from these installments, you takeaway from this section something that could be useful for you in the future.

Takeaways for organizations

Organizations need to re-calibrate how they recognize ambition.
The drive in high-achieving women may not manifest as corporate-ladder climbing or jockeying for promotion.
Men who might be motivated more by advancement could be more willing to take any promotion as long as it progresses their careers.
If women hesitate or turn it down, this can be misconstrued by the organization as a disinterest.
Organizations also have a big problem if women aren’t interested in the top jobs that are offered.
Sr. leadership and c-suite roles need to be described in a way that captures the challenge and opportunity they present, as well as what outcomes are possible and needed. This is what speaks to women’s sense of purpose and desire to contribute value and shape culture.

Takeaways for women

To navigate into leadership roles, women have to resist inclinations to be overly self-reliant, which can be part of that “head down” focus.
They need to create a strategic network, because without those relationships they don’t have influence on the things that matter to them.
Results don’t speak for themselves; some positioning and packaging is needed for people to notice.
Women should seek out not just difficult challenges, but also “high visibility” ones.
Negotiating with a partner or spouse as to who takes a big job and who manages the personal side of life is crucial. This can have implications very early on, even in the kind of person who chooses one chooses as a partner.

I hope you enjoyed this installment! Next up I will examine some of the major turning points in women CEO’s lives that impacted their road to CEO per Korn Ferry’s research.

career, Uncategorized, women

Part One: Something we don’t talk about – Women CEOs

A couple of months ago I was attending a conference where they had a panel that consisted of Women CEOs, specifically in the utility industry. The panel participants were also the same CEOs who had been interviewed for a Korn Ferry Institute research project titled Women CEOs Speak – strategies for the next generation of female executives and how companies can pave the road. This project was also supported by The Rockefeller Foundation.

Korn Ferry is the preeminent global people and organizational advisory firm. They help leaders, organizations, and societies succeed by realizing the full power and potential of people. Korn Ferry Institute is Korn Ferry’s research and analytics arm, and was established to share intelligence and expert point of views on talent and leadership. They do this through studies, books and a quarterly magazine, Briefings. They aim to increase understanding of how strategic talent decisions contribute to competitive advantage, growth and success. So, as you can imagine I knew immediately that they would have an interesting take on women CEOs (or lack-there-of).

What motivates a study like this? When roughly 94% of Fortune 1,000 CEOs are men you may ask yourself, “what qualities drive the 6% who are women in the most elite reaches of corporate leadership?” To find out, the Korn Ferry Institute studied 57 women who have been CEO – 38 currently and 19 previously – at Fortune 1,000 – listed companies and others of similar size. They analyzed structured interviews with all 57 women and the results of psychometric assessments taken by two-thirds of them. The Rockefeller Foundation, which funded the research, wants to change the astounding fact that only 6% of Fortune 500 CEOs were women in 2017. Re-read that again. Only 6% of Fortune 500 CEOs were women in 2017. I know I have written a series in the past about women in the workforce, and I try hard to not sound like a hell-bent feminist (not that there’s anything wrong if that’s how you describe yourself) but I try hard to support women’s rights but also not be so into it that I don’t have a realistic viewpoint of what is going on. I think this study does just that by taking a very hard look at what is keeping women CEOs from becoming a norm and not a “nice-to-have” at companies. The Rockefeller Foundation, has established a target through it’s 100 x 25 initiative which is to have 100 women leading Fortune 500 companies by 2025. Korn Ferry’s portion of that initiative, called the CEO Pipeline Project, seeks to learn from the women who have already succeeded at becoming CEOs, and what women in the workforce now can do to take the CEO path, and most importantly, what companies and organizations can do to help women succeed along the path to CEO.

I have a copy of the study and found it moving so much so that I wanted to share it here, along with my thoughts – especially given that I have never had a desire to be a CEO, let alone even manage people. Nonetheless, I still felt it was interesting and useful information to share. Also, I feel as if this holds a special place in my heart. When I was working at the utility, I was present for the announcement of the utility’s first female CEO. It wasn’t lost on me that I was witnessing history, and she was also part of this study. I hope you enjoy what I have to share and reflect on with this topic.

To ground this research, Korn Ferry gathered publicly available biographical data about all female CEOs in 2017 Fortune 1,000 companies and compared that to a parallel example of male CEOs who led companies of the same revenue size. Interestingly, when demographically compared, male and female CEOs look very similar, and while the differences are subtle, they definitely add up. Here is a quick comparison:

The women were, on average, four years older when they got their very first CEO appointment, though it is worth noting that in the study’s male sample many CEOs were their company’s founder.
Overall, the women accrued more diverse experience by working in a greater average number of senior roles, functions, companies and industries.
The fortune 1,000 data also reveal that female CEOs are not spread evenly across industries.
They are in greater numbers in consumer goods, utilities, and finance (particularly insurance), but less represented in industrial companies and the health and life sciences.

The next question Korn Ferry asked themselves to ground their research, was: “is 100 x 25 attainable?” The answer is yes, but the pace needs to accelerate. They found that in higher-revenue Fortune 500 companies, women held the CEO role at 32 companies in mid-2017, up from 12 just a decade earlier and two in 1997! Now, this next fact surprised me, especially in comparison to other countries…it currently takes 269 days on average to place a female CEO in the US – which is 30% longer than the 207 days to place a male CEO. When compared to Europe and Middle East markets, there is no such delay and women are placed 14% faster than men, and in Asia-Pacific where they placed women 22% more quickly. What Korn Ferry says this suggests is that boards of directors in the US still aren’t open to female CEOs as boards in other countries. So, what gives?

Before I dive a bit deeper, for those of you who have the analytic mind (not me), I will outline the Korn Ferry Institute’s research tools:

Korn Ferry conducted structured interviews with the 57 CEOs, asking about key events in each woman’s career progression, including pivoted experiences, set-backs, and factors that enabled or hindered her success. These were analyzed and coded to determine common themes.
Their assessment for executive leaders specifically measured:
- Traits: A person’s inclinations and aptitudes, such as personality traits and intellectual capacity. Traits also include attributes such as assertiveness, risk-taking, optimism, and confidence.
- Drivers: Deeply held values and internal motivators that guide a person’s actions and decisions. A desire for power, challenge, or work-life balance are things we categorize as drivers.
- Competencies: The observable skills essential to management success, such as innovation and strategic vision.

Some of the main characteristics identified were personal fortitude and courage – or what they like to call “the right stuff.” That’s what female CEOs exhibited in their assessment scores, beginning with their traits. According to Korn Ferry, their mean score matched their CEO benchmark on 16 of 20 traits, including persistence, need for achievement, curiosity, focus, assertiveness, risk-taking, and empathy. I know, as a woman, that I have many of those characteristics myself, and they are among the characteristics about myself that I am most proud of, so it was no surprise to see those reflected in their study. The places in which women deviated from the benchmark were in humility, confidence, credibility and openness to difference.

I have always believed that how you are brought up and just your own personal makeup is identified early on in life. Korn Ferry’s study found similarly, that personal traits are not immutable, but they are established early in life and difficult to alter. So, the close alignment to the CEO benchmark suggests that these women had the style and mindset of a CEO early in their careers. I thought this was so interesting! So, remember when you hear someone say – that little girl will be a CEO someday…they just might be on to something!

Additionally, Korn Ferry found that humility and valuing others reign over confidence, ambition and drive growth out of early formative experiences, and their outlook is optimistic and fearless. I’ll break them down below:

Humility and valuing others reign over confidence

High humility scores indicate a lack of self-absorption and more importantly, an expressed appreciation of others.
These women are very willing to give credit to people and situations that contributed to their success.
The female CEOs repeatedly made note of people who’d helped and supported them.
Credibility is generally shorthand for delivering on your word, but in their assessment it also captures something better described as dutifulness or “good soldier” behavior.

These are so interesting to me. All of those characteristics described above are exactly what I like to see in a leader, and I know for a fact I have made gripes and complaints of a leader lacking in all of those areas. Why isn’t this the norm in all leaders? Maybe that’s the problem – it should be the norm, but it is hard to come by. Could there be a direct correlation between that and the lack of female leadership? Maybe!

Ambition and drive grow out of early formative experiences

In the interviews, they heard that these traits have deep roots.
Asked about “key events in your career progression that contributed to your development as a person or a leader,” many spoke first not of their career but of their childhood. In their interviews, 23% of the key events the CEOs chose to discuss were about personal experiences unrelated to work.
Parents instilled resilience, high expectations, and a strong work ethic in their daughters. Some CEOs had particularly difficult childhoods – a parent was ill or deceased, for example – and they had to take on responsibilities when quite young.
More than 40% of the CEOs earned undergraduate college degrees in science, math or engineering. This prevalence of STEM degrees may seem surprising, but similar rates are seen in male CEOs as well.
Another 19% studied business, economics, or finance, while 21% were in the arts and humanities.

Their outlook is optimistic and fearless

Generally speaking, the women CEOs were not at all cynical about the corporate world they entered.
Their traits scores and interviews both indicated that they are highly optimistic, trusting, sociable and empathetic.
The interviews underscored how much emphasis these women placed on being authentic and remaining true to themselves.
Compromising on their values – or on their vision – is not in their makeup, even if it would mean turning down some opportunities for advancement.
Some said they didn’t feel they could give their all to a goal, strategy, or company that they didn’t believe in.
These women seek input at critical stages, then solidly make up their mind. And these women are exceptionally focused on pursuing their own vision.

What I especially appreciate about this study, is that they highlight key takeaways from each section for women and then separately for organizations. As you can imagine, especially given the numbers Korn Ferry offered about the slowness in approving women CEOs, organizations and companies can still take a word of advice on how to cultivate and identify potential women CEOs. To give you a taste of how Korn Ferry offers key takeaways for each section, below I have listed the takeaways for the information just outlined.

Takeaways for organizations

The traits that made these women CEO material – curiosity, willingness to take risks, persistence, and a need for achievement – were reinforced early in their lives. But these traits are not rare among women, and can be further cultivated in the workplace.

Takeaways for Women

An education in science, math or engineering sets a strong foundation for becoming a business leader.
While confidence is important, tempering it with equally high levels of humility doesn’t seem to have hurt these CEO’s careers.
Women should also pay attention to the issue of openness to difference. Women who are in the minority in an office might presume they are sufficiently exposed to differing (in this case, male) points of view. But CEOs aggressively seek out others’ opinions as they shape their own strategic vision.

I hope you have found this first installment of the Korn Ferry Institute’s “Women CEOs Speak” interesting. To really give you a detailed idea about what characteristics are most prominent in women CEOs is a great way to ground the study and to kick off my series of posts. Next up I will share with you how the traits outlined by Korn Ferry in this blog post are the ingredients needed to become a CEO. The main question Korn Ferry poses though is, what values and interests or motivators, referred to as drivers, guided the women’s career decisions?

Let me know what you think about this blog post and anything else you’d like to share about female CEOs!

beauty, Uncategorized, women

Amazon Weekly Roundup

Hi all!

Here is a weekly Amazon round up for ya! I am indeed working on a post with a little more substance than this, but in the meantime I wanted to share some Amazon items I think are great deals and I may be interested in purchasing.

The first is these rubber Birkenstock dupes! I had an awesome girls trip a couple of months ago to San Diego and one of my girlfriends had the actual Birkenstock version of these and she loved them! So, here’s a version for even less.

Next up is the St. Tropez Applicator Mitt. I LOVE the St. Tropez self tanner foam – it really is the best, and I’m one of those stubborn people who didn’t buy the mitt along with the self tanner, but it really is a must. This is in my cart and I will be purchasing as I have a trip to Santa Barbara coming up soon and these pasty white legs will need some color, and preferably without messing up my manicure!

So, I have a water flosser and it’s the best! This one is a similar version to what I have, but actually more compact. I received one for Christmas last year and I’ve added it to my dental routine!

I have been very interested in exploring the whole essential oil diffuser thing, and without breaking the bank I think this find from Amazon is a good choice. It’s in my cart as we speak, but may still do a little more research before I pull the trigger on it. Definitely interested though because I’m a huge candle person, so why not essential oils?

Last but not least, Meyer’s hand soap is 15% off on Amazon right now. I love this stuff, and usually get it from Target, but it’s not always marked down at Target. Definitely always have a spare bottle in the cabinet for when I run out.

That’s all for this week. Like I said, I’m working on a really great blog series that I’m hoping to get launched in the next couple of weeks, and I have a Fall FabFitFun box to review as well!

Uncategorized

My Amazon Beauty Weekly Roundup

Tarte Shape Tape

This is my favorite concealer. You don’t have to use a lot and you use your beauty blender to dab it under your eyes, along the bridge of your nose, middle of your forehead, down the center of your lip and chin. It’s the most cover using the least amount of product ever. I especially like that it uses a wand as opposed to squeezing too much out.

Tarte Shape Tape: $24.90

Bahama mama

A fellow blogger I follow uses Bahama Mama for contouring. If I’m being at all honest, I’m not very good at that so I generally just use this when I feel like I need a little bronzy look instead of just good old pink cheeks!

theBalm Bahama Mama: $19

Twinkle

Earlier this year I stopped getting my eyebrows waxed and started using these eyebrow razors. Don’t get me wrong, I still need to pluck some of those really tough to get hairs, but for the most part this razor takes care of the white baby hairs that grow in that you can only see when the light hits you just right. And, while these are only marketed as eyebrow razors, they are also good to use on your face – yes on your face – for your light peach fuzz – some even say it’s like getting microdermabrasion treatments because it removes the dead layer of skin. Just an FYI 🙂

Twinkle Eyebrow Razors: $13.59

Witch Hazel

Thayers Witch Hazel is a miracle worker. With all of my work travel, my face takes the brunt of it so I decided that I needed to do something in addition to my normal Aveeno face wash. I was also realizing that washing my face every night before bed – especially if I had been wearing makeup – wasn’t removing all of my makeup. I used to also use face wipes but have stopped doing that as well because they left my face feeling oily. So, that’s when I turned to witch hazel (I prefer the lavender scent). I use it after I was my face both morning and night, and I feel like it’s making a difference!

Thayers Witch Hazel: $8.09

St. Tropez

Full disclosure, I haven’t used this yet. It is literally in my Amazon cart right now, but the reason I have it listed is because I have heard so much about it – I also have a sample size of the shower gel in my bathroom right now. In my late-teens/early-twenties I was a tanning wh*re. It was bad, and I regret all of those decisions now and truly freak out when I burn – which lets be honest, still happens though not intentionally. Anyway, not running for the sun means I am generally very pasty white by the time the warmer months come around so I’m on the search for a really good self-tanner. I’ll keep ya posted on how this works for me!

St. Tropez: $33.60

Clarins

I LOVE this. I’ve only used the sample size (I think it came in a Birchbox), but I love it. It’s a little thicker than I would normally like to use when also applying makeup, so I actually enjoy using this when I do not plan to put on any makeup/concealer at all. It is also SPF 20 which is a plus!

Clarins Multi-Active Jour (travel size): $8.00

Stila

These are my favorite liquid eye shadows for when you want to have dramatic eyes. I find myself mostly using these during the holidays, or nights out. They’re basically perfect for someone (like me) who isn’t very good at eye makeup 🙂

Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow: $24.00

Stila eyeliner

I don’t wear a lot of eyeliner (actually, hardly ever) but when I do I like the Stila smudge stick waterproof eyeliner. It has a no-brainer point that makes application easy – which I definitely need, and it’s waterproof which is great because I won’t have it smudged up over my eyelids by the end of the night.

Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliner: $22.00

Jade roller

I literally don’t know if this works, but I see bloggers using it all the time, and though that since it’s under 20 bucks on Amazon I would add it to the list. I haven’t tried it, and if I’m being honest, I probably won’t hah! But there it is!

Jade Roller: $19.98

Sun Bum

To round up my list – Sun Bum. I really like this brand a lot – and isn’t the packaging really cute? I love these, the size, and the price to throw in my bag for travel. I have already run into the oops moment where I was in Orlando for work, had a few hours to kill before my flight left and decided to sit by the pool. Yep, you guessed it, no sunscreen. AND, this was literally my first exposure to the sun all year – so I went into the gift shop to purchase sunscreen, only to find that Sun Bum was like 30 bucks for a bottle! I opted for a $17 bottle but told myself to definitely check it out once I wasn’t paying uber marked up prices. Love it, and this two pack is under $20!
SunBum SPF 30 Face Stick: $17.20

I’m going to try to do these weekly roundups for different retailers on a weekly basis, in addition to the other topics I write about! I hope everyone enjoys the change-up of topics!

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beauty, clothing, style, Uncategorized, women

Old Navy Roundup

It’s been quiet around here lately, which is 100% my fault, so I thought I would do a little Old Navy roundup. I haven’t been to Old Navy in some time so it was nice to see what they had available. A few of the pieces I picked up, and some I didn’t but if I had an endless wardrobe I would have purchased them.

I tried to roundup pieces that I thought were time capsule worthy. So the distressed denim jacket is great to wear casually with anything, and great to wear with a cute jumpsuit or dress to dress it down a bit. Also, the d’orsay shoes that Old Navy carries are THE BEST! When I was commuting to work every day they were a staple in my wardrobe. Plus, they’re so reasonably priced that you get plenty of wears out of them. I also included the faux leather mule – it’s a total Madewell dupe and super cute. I have the Madewell version of them and love them, but if you are on the fence about wearing a mule then this is a good way to try it out!

To see some of the pieces I bought check out my IG account: Wishbonedreams

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Saying Goodbye When You Aren’t Ready

Recently, I had to say goodbye to someone who in all honesty, I hadn’t seen in a number of years. But nowadays, with Facebook and Instagram and SnapChat, it’s so easy to feel like you still “see” that person or even “talk” to that person, even if you really don’t. With that said, myself and many of my high school classmates had the shock of our lives. We had to say goodbye to someone we had all grown up with in a number of different ways. Some had known him since they were four, others were his coaches, his sweet and loving family, or for some of us we met during those early years in our teens where everything you say, and do and the people you meet shape a significant piece of who you grow up to be.

Do you remember your first real date? Not the kind of date where your mom drops you off at the mall and you meet up with a boy – I’m talking about the boy drives his mom’s car over to your house to pick you up and take you to the movies. THAT kind of real date. And do you remember your first kiss? How about your first prom date? I bet you answered yet. These are important and people-shaping moments and memories in a teenager’s life. For me, the person I had to say goodbye to was all of those things. My first real date, my first real kiss, and my first prom date.

When I heard the news shock hit me, then I was overcome with complete sadness. The tears just flowed. I was sad for the people who love him so much and wouldn’t have him to talk to every day, I was sad for his two beautiful little boys, I was sad for the sports community that he had been such a big part of…I was just sad. Then the memories hit me like a ton of bricks. I shared some of the most important high school memories with him. I quickly realized that I was so lucky to have those memories with him and that every time I think of him or look back on those memories, I won’t be sad for long because they will make me smile.

His celebration of life was probably the nicest thing I’ve ever seen. His sister and family did an amazing job and it really celebrated him. It also brought so many of us back together again – many of which hadn’t seen each other in 20+ years! Yes, there were lots of tears, but there were also a lot of laughs and that helped everyone get through the day, and if I’m being honest, I think it’s what he would’ve wanted anyway.

It has been a tough couple of months for the large group that I grew up with. There has been a lot of saying goodbye recently to those who shouldn’t be leaving so soon, and while I hope this is the last one for a long time, I am inspired by the notion that in order to heal and support we are all able come together. My brother pointed something interesting out to me – my graduating class, which was the class of 2001, was very closely linked to the class of 2000 and the class of 1999. My brother also pointed out that not many classes after mine co-mingled, so-to-speak, the way in which 1999-2001 did and it was very evident at the celebration of life. We all truly care about one another and when the need to come together is there it will happen – and in huge numbers! Of course, we all agree that it’s nice to see everyone and we should do it more, however not in this way, but in times of need, sadness, despair, or whatever it may be that’s when those who truly have your back show up.

This loss has also put many things into perspective for me and has made me think about things a little differently: mortality, love, life goals, commitment, loyalty…the list goes on. Something like this makes you take a self inventory and ask yourself if you’re really making the most out of life. Do you need to make a change? Do you need to slow things down and embrace experiences more? All I can say is hold those special things and special moments a little closer and a little tighter to your heart, because you don’t know how long you’ll have with them, and just be grateful. Be grateful for what you have and even for what you don’t have.

For now though, I have found myself lost in my thoughts and sad for the weeks following. I appreciate the little reminders of him that I randomly see. Whether it’s my 6 year-old niece plastering an entire sheet of Star Wars tattoos across her chest (he loved Star Wars – made me watch it on one of our “dates” for the first time at his house), or seeing a “Beast Mode” t-shirt at the gym – these are reminders of him, and though they make me sad at first, they also make me smile and that is something isn’t it? My only regret is that I didn’t actually see him more after we graduated, but I take solace in knowing that I have some pretty amazing memories that will forever be mine and his to share. As I said before, this isn’t goodbye forever, it’s just goodbye for now.

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Wishbonedreams Turns Two!

WordPress kindly reminded me that my blog turned two last month. Last year I was so excited and so aware when my blog turned one, that I did a whole reflective post and stats on my first year which you can read here.

This year, I was thinking it would be fun to reflect on my very first blog post, which you can find here Four Girls, a Road Trip & Camping. Two years ago myself and three girlfriends (the same three I was in Italy with), decided to road trip up to Oregon and go camping. And not some like comfy camping – I mean don’t get me wrong we had bathrooms and showers – but we also did good old tent camping. It was a lot of fun, but in reflecting on the post I realize how much my blog has changed. I’m still trying to figure out what the niche is – is this blog a travel blog? Not really. I travel, and occasionally share it on the blog, but that’s not it’s main focus. Is my blog about beauty products and outfits? At times I focus on those things, but not all the time. Is my blog about women empowerment and inspiration? Sometimes! The point here is that I still haven’t determined what this blog is supposed to be like, but people seem to enjoy it so I just write about whatever it is I’m feeling.

When I think back on the time I wrote my first blog, I had just changed jobs and was no longer doing executive communications. I was worried that my need to write wouldn’t be satisfied after removing that part of my daily work, so the blog was something to fill that void. It has definitely done it’s job! So much has changed since then! I am no longer working in that position, or at that company for that matter. I have traveled so much more since then – Italy, Mexico, all over the U.S. – and my relationships during that time have evolved, or gone away all together – both good things if you ask me 🙂 But what I’ve realized the most and appreciate the most is everyone who reads this little blog, and though I don’t always know how people are feeling about it, occasionally I’ll see someone I haven’t seen in a while and they’ll tell me how much they love reading my blog, and that is the reason I keep doing it! I enjoy it, it’s a way for me to express my feelings or share my experiences, but ultimately I love hearing that people enjoy it. For me, that’s the point.

I’m keeping this one short and sweet because really this is to say THANKS to the people who take the time read my little blog when it posts. Life gets hard sometimes and doing this makes me happy, and so I hope that reading it makes you all happy and relieves a little bit of the madness that life provides.

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How to Pack for a Work Trip Like a Pro

When I took my new job I knew that there would be some travel involved. What I didn’t realize was just how much travel. Since the end of March I have traveled to Austin, Orlando, Chicago, New Orleans and San Diego – five different cities and four different states (I live in California), all within a four week period. That’s a lot right? As you can imagine, I had to figure out the best way to pack for these trips, because not only am I out on the exhibit floor but there are always activities during the evening at these things as well. With that said, I had to take to my list-making skills and really plan out what I was going to wear and when.

I gave up on the idea of only taking a carry-on. It’s not worth the stress of trying to put a week’s worth of clothes into a tiny bag, so eliminating that right off the bat was very helpful. I realize that many people only ever want to take a carry-on and by all means I feel that way a lot of the time, but for work it just made more sense to take a bigger bag. Anyway, I figured I would list here the process I use for packing. I realize other people probably have a more efficient way of doing this, but this really keeps me organized.

I scroll through my Pinterest account for outfit inspiration. I used to do this the night before work every day (before I was working from home), and would frequently find cute outfits that I could put together just from looking at some of my style boards on Pinterest.
I make a list of the outfit that I’ve been inspired by.
Then I make a packing list that will include all of the pieces that I am planning to pull, in addition to things like underwear and pajamas.
Pull the pieces from my closet and try them on. This is important…there have been times where I have packed something that I was certain would look great on, only to find out at the hotel that I was very, very wrong. So, now I always try it on first before I pack it.
Take a photo of it once it’s on. Sometimes once I’ve tried it on and packed it, I get to the hotel and think, ‘what the heck did I pack this to go with?’ So, to avoid that, I will take a photo of the outfit I tried on so that I can reference it once I’m in the hotel.
Shoes! Be strategic with shoes. Try to pack a shoe that will go with more than one of your outfits.
Jackets – I try my best to wear the one jacket I’ll want on my trip, one the airplane – that way it takes up less room in my bag.
Throw some dryer sheets in with your clothes! It will keep them smelling fresh. Isn’t that the oddest thing? I pack clean clothes, pull them out after half a day of travel and boom, they don’t smell clean!
I always, always unpack completely once I’m in the hotel room. I used to not do this…I would literally live out of my suitcase and not unpack anything, but now that I’m traveling more for work it’s essential to unpack especially for those pieces that will get wrinkled during travel in your suitcase.
Roll you clothes. I’m sure most people already do this, as I’ve been doing it myself for sometime – especially when I packed 10 days work of clothes for an Italy trip into an international sized carry-on.

That’s my list! I hope you find it helpful. I do have some new ideas though that I’m going to try out for one of my next trips for sure. For example, I keep seeing things about packing cubes. It’s supposed to keep things compact and organized – definitely something I’m going to look into purchasing. I also read that packing your socks and undergarments in a small reusable cloth bag helps with organization as well. Given that we use reusable bags for everything I’m definitely looking forward to trying that. Especially because I’m notorious for throwing all of my dirty clothes in the dry cleaning bag and separating them from my leftover clean clothes when I travel home. And another thing…I have yet to find a suitcase that I just love, so that is definitely on my list for future purchase, so if anyone has recommendations let me know!

Until next time folks!