Thankful Thursdays: schedules

I'm thankful that my schedule will be back to normal soon! I'm sorry y'all! It's been crazy busy! Also it's harder than I thought to add another day of blogging to the mix! But I have enjoyed it! 

But for the past 2 days, my days have consisted of this wittle face!

Which isn't a bad thing at all! 

She is so precious! I'm also thankful she doesn't burst into tears when she sees me anymore! Thank the Lord! 

And then I've filled my days with preparing for Funkyfinds next week!! And then I will also be adding items to my etsy shop soon too, so those of you who will not be coming to Funkyfinds can still purchase some incredible items for you & loved ones. I'll also try and post pics of the booth!

Also, I've been celebrating my friend for 16 years (time flies) as she gets married TOMORROW! wow just wow! I'm so thrilled for her and husband to be! 

So hopefully by next week I will be back on a schedule! And by the next week I should have a new DIY for ya! 

Love y'all! - Ryn

Style Find: A Mirror

Ugh! Don't you wish you could go back in time and redo your outfit? Boy, do I! 

This weekend I was dog sitting for my sister, picked out my outfit beforehand and brought it with me to her house. I thought it was a cute outfit in my head, but I never checked in the mirror. My mistake not doing so! I wore the whole outfit feeling so uncomfortable! And I let it get the best of me. I was comparing myself to those around me and questioning things I shouldn't have been questioning! And then I got to thinking, and even though that wasn't my best outfit, doesn't mean I've never had one cute or even outfits to comet that will be cute! So we hit speed bumps through life. It's our choice to either stay down in defeat when something comes against us or we can get up and own it!

I guess I needed this lesson in life. I do know never to wear a belt with that outfit EVER again!  

Be yourself, but don't beat yourself up & always check your outfit in a mirror! 

And let the words of Coco Chanel ring in your ears from time to time. "When accessorizing, always take off the last thing you put on." -Coco Chanel

And those who saw me yesterday, I apologize for wearing that belt with that sweater! I know It wasn't my best look! I give you permission to tell me if you think something is off the next time you see me!

Have a happy week! -Ryn

Thankful Thursday: Healing

Even though it's approaching Saturday, I'm still thankful! I'm thankful for healing! All sorts actually! Healing in marriages, in bodies, manifested healing, healing of self image issues, etc. 

Just the other day, I strained my back. And yet I stood on the word and my back is so much better! I'm thankful for a God who heals! 

What are you thankful for?

-Ryn

Style find: costumes for little tykes

I'm not one who likes celebrating halloween, but I wasn't raised to! When I was growing up, my parents would treat us with new books & healthy candy. I've only been to 3 Halloween costume parties in my life span, that including church. But each October 31st, my family would turn out all the lights in the house, to make sure kids didn't come to our door, then we would pile in my parents bedroom and turn on a movie. To me,  October 31st is just like any other night. I think those nights were the best! It created family night. Awe those were the days! 

Anyway, as I said, I'm not one to promote Halloween, but I saw these kids costumes from H&M and they are adorable! If you still need one for your child, definitely look on H&M. 

Here are few of my favorites:

The first two are the great gatsby! Oh so cute!

The first two here are adorable! 

And then all of these are cute! 

And the great thing is you can style these for other occasions! It's a win win for sure! 

So there ya are! Have a happy rest of Wednesday! -Ryn

Style Fyle: my uniform

Style Fyle: my uniform by rynb featuring a nail polish

This is definitely an outfit I will partake in! The only things I do not have at the moment are: the tee, tan Chelsea boots & the transport bag. But it won't be long now. But I can totally see his as a "uniform" of sorts. I just bought a pair of black leather Chelsea boots. And I'll be getting/making the tee soon... And I put the bag on my Christmas/Birthday... So, isn't this such a cute outfit though?! 

Black high-waisted skinny jeans & hi-lo baggy tee which you can tuck the shirt in front, or let it hang loose. Once you have the basics down, Then you can add on your accessories. Boots are a standard for fall. Sometimes winter. Then pick the bag you want. Then which I just saw this idea was to polish your nails in black or dark grey (Butter London Union Jack black & chimney sweep are my faves) and then add matte top coat to the nail color! Then add your lip color! (Favorite colors: Tarte lipsurgence in exposed and MAC rebel lip color) 

Then, you can add a leather waterfall jacket or a cardigan. 

And I've been liking my hair right now and I just like it to hangloose. But if I'm on 3 day hair, I may opt for a messy bun instead! 

Let me know what your style uniform is! 

Have a great week! -Ryn

Free People american tee
freepeople.com

Old Navy stretch jeans
oldnavy.gap.com

Leather boots
$640 - margarethowell.co.uk

Mango ankle boots
$97 - mango.com

Madewell leather sling purse
madewell.com

Mac cosmetic
maccosmetics.com

Tarte lips makeup
sephora.com

TIBI nail polish
tibi.com

DIY Friday: orange spice coffee

     

Ummmm my apologies! This week has been kinda busy and I was going to write a post yesterday, Friday and it totally slipped my mind! 

 

So a DIY on Saturday is just as good right? 

I don't really like Starbucks, I know it may shock some of you, but I just don't! I don't have a standard coffee drink I order (until now), their coffee is a bit too strong for me and cream doesn't cut it! And I don't particularly like burnt coffee... But that's just my take on it! 

But, when I'm desperate, I have found a new friendly coffee which is: Orange Spice iced coffee with half & half.

Mmm so good! 

But I don't always like paying $4.00 for a grande... It's not something I splurge on regularly. 

Sooo, I decided I would try to duplicate it at home... And I mastered it on the first try! I do have to give credit to my mama, she told me to try this out and figure out a way to make it myself. 

Sorry there are no pictures! 😞

What to gather:  

Ground coffee

Coffee maker

Cinnamon 

Orange essential oil or extract

Ice

Half & half

1. Add the ground coffee to your coffee maker. (I made 6 cups, so I could have left overs for days)

2. Add the cinnamon to your ground coffee and stir around. (I added 2 tablespoons)

3. Then add a few drops the orange essential oil. (I added about 5 drops) (I also added it to the water, but I'm not so sure it's a good idea...)

4. Let it brew.

5. Then add ice to a glass and pour the coffee. Then add half & half to your preference. Then I add stevia, but whatever you prefer.  

If you really want to outdo yourself, you could make homemade whipped cream sweetened with whatever you like, and candied oranges too! Add the candied oranges to your coffee. Then add a dollop of the whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon! Yum!!! 

Hope you do try this at home! Love y'all!!! -Ryn

P.s. You're not going to like what I'm about say but it will be to your benefit! I'm going to hold off on doing DIY Fridays for a few weeks : / it's just super busy right now and I haven't been able to put a whole lot of time, effort & heart towards it. So, I'm taking a few weeks off starting next week and hopefully get some DIYs going again soon! I'll let you know when I'm back in action on here & on Instagram! (Username: @RynB) thanks y'all for understanding! Hope you have a fabulous week! 

Thankful Thursdays: Grace

grace

grās/

noun

1. 1.

   simple elegance or refinement of movement.

   "she moved through the water with effortless grace"

   synonyms:

   elegance, poise, gracefulness, finesse; More
2. 2.

   (in Christian belief) the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings.

verb

1. 1.

   do honor or credit to (someone or something) by one's presence.

   "she bowed out from the sport she has graced for two decades"

   synonyms:

   dignify, distinguish, honor, favor; More

   
   

   
   

   I'm not sure about you, but I'm so thankful for grace! There are times that I look back, and all I can see is a grace filled life. Were there hard times, yes. But my past has been and will forever be covered in grace! 

   I have an image of God, he has a can of red paint, and he's pouring it over my past, future & present. Then he's marking it, and it says "covered". My life is covered in grace. Your life is covered in grace. We have favor wherever we go. Favor is chasing us down & overtaking us! 

   
   

   This is the year of Great Grace. Each of us can choose to walk in it or walk out of it. I'm walking in it for sure! 

   
   

   We didn't do anything to deserve unmerited favor and yet we still get to receive it. That's how cool God is! He just Loves us! He longs to be good to us! 

   
   

   Hope this brightens your day! And I encourage you to write down what you're thankful for, keep a grateful heart always! 

   
   

   Love y'all, Ryn

   
   

Beauty Find: current favorites

Here are a few of my favorites right now... 

Some I've had for awhile and others, I've only had a short bit. But all of them I currently liking...a lot! I have kind of categorized each product. Let me know if you have used any of these products, I'd love to know your opinion on them too. 

Hair:

I first heard about this hairbrush from Zoe from her YouTube channel Zoella. Then I saw it in ulta, and knew I wanted to try it, but didn't get it. Then I was in there again, and decided to buy it. Glad I did! It's great! So soft & so gentle! And it does what it says with the pamphlet it comes with, which states: promotes healthy looking hair by noticeably increasing shine, leaving it looking silky smooth after styling.  I would recommend it to anyone, it's that good! 

This stuff is so awesome smelling! Mmm, it smells floral-y/fruity, but it smells really good! And it gives my hair an extra oomph. My hair can last about 3 days of no washing, it was only doing 2, until I used this stuff! But this stuff costs $18.98! Eek! But it's really good!

Make-up:

This is one of my neccessities for leaving the house! I try to never leave without my bold brow! This is great! And the price tag is only $3.00! Ya can't beat that by much less! But it lasts all day, it doesn't smudge and it gives me the look I want!

I just bought this mascara and I must say it's amazing! And it doesn't have any of the harmful things that normal mascaras have in them. It's a vacation for my eyelashes! The formula is so soft, it doesn't flake & it's so easy to wash off! But even though it's healthier, it's still voluminzing and lengthening! Amazing product! It will set you back about $30. But hopefully it will last a long time.

This is my go-to shade for fall & winter! It's perfection. The perfect berry shade. 

All because a girl came into my booth last year at Funkyfinds with this shade on! I wouldn't have known about it if I hadn't of asked her what it was! Back to the color, it's such a deep color, but it's still soft enough for you to dab it on your fingers and rub it on your lips. 

These two NYX products are great. The wonder pencil is awesome for your lower lash line. It brightens it well. And the HD concealer is great for spot concealer & under the eye. It's a great pick-me-up eye concealer!

Last but not the very least, this blending sponge phenomenol! I really like sponges. I received this last Christmas and I thought I didn't have a use for it, but I finally figured out that I do and I've been using it non-stop! This is not the beauty blender. But I still like it!

Body:

I bought this last year and I really haven't used it much until recently. It's been great for my underarms. They have been a bit irritated with the other deodorant I've been using so I decided to try this again and so far my underarms feel great! It an awesome product!

Apps:

Two apps that I have been enjoying are: scrabble & kindle! It's nice to work out your brain! I recommend both apps! 

And there you have it! Hope you enjoyed it! Leave comment below, if you like any of the products or if you have any questions or statements! Love y'all! -Ryn

Style find: ankle boots

Today was a rather rainy day... Which I love! I could so live in London or Seattle, just for that reason. 

But I went out today and went to one of my favorite dives on Magnolia ave, which is Paul's donuts, subs & gyros! Yum! The gyros are so good! And well the donuts are tasty too! So if you love near Fort Worth or you're traveling to the Dallas Fort Worth area, be sure to check them out! But they're closed on Sundays and are only open til 3:00pm. 

-I got the gyro plate-

Then we (mom & I) went to trader joe's, picked up a few things we needed. And I stopped at DSW warehouse, because well, they had a huge sign say: CLEARANCE. And I went in while my mom got a tea down the way at Starbucks... I'm glad I went in, because I've been on the search for genuine leather or suede ankle boots madewell-esque for a while. Well I found them and they're comfortable, cute, black boots!!! And the great thing is, they were under $40!! Praise Him! 

And now, I'm going to rest for a bit, then draft a pattern, work and exercise too, before the night is over! 

So awesome! So my Monday has been a great one! Tell me how yours was! 👇👇👇

-Ryn

DIY Friday: lip scrub

I love how soft my lips feel & look when I use a lip scrub. I've wanted to try the Fresh lip scrub, but I know they add things that I don't really want on my lips... Like preservatives, chemicals, etc! But this way I know what's going in the scrub and on my lips! Plus, this is budget & wallet friendly! Where as the Fresh scrub is $24 for a small pot... Ouch! 

Here is what you'll need:

-Organic sugar

-Coconut oil (in the winter time it will turn into a solid mass, but you can still use it!)

-Essential oil (I used peppermint, but you can use any scent.)

Put the sugar into the bowl, I used about 1/4 cup. But you can use more if you'd like.

Then add about 2 tablespoons of coconut oil. If it is solid, I would heat it before adding it to the sugar.

Stir it and see if it's the right consistency, if not you'll want to add a touch more of sugar. 

Then add the essential oil of your choice. I added 3 drops, I would say you can add up to 5 drops if you would like.

Then stir it all up! And you now have an awesome lip scrub! That costed maybe $3, if that!  

Perfect for using before applying matte or highly pigmented lipsticks. Also this great for gifts for Christmas, birthdays, or hostess gifts! 

How to apply the lip scrub:

1. Put a dime size of scrub on your forefinger & middle finger. 

2. Place it on you lips and swirl/scruff off the dead skin. Open your mouth and stretch your lips, to get between the wrinkles in your lips.

3. Then use a wash cloth to remove the excess sugar and dead skin. 

4. Apply your lipstick! 

Remember, this scrub will actually plump your lips! And drinking enough water will too! 

Hope you try this & happy Friday! -Ryn

Thankful Thursday: Laughter

Im so thankful for laughter! Laughter truly is the best medicine! Laughter sets a tone. An inviting one to boot!

It's usually spurred on my something that was funny. But you always seem to laugh when something's funny.  Or when someone gets hurt. Them getting hurt isn't funny, but the way they fell, ran into a door, etc.. The execution, more like! 

One thing my parents taught us was to laugh! We were a house of laughter growing up. I'm so grateful for it. Just the other day, I laughed so hard I cried! I haven't done that in year! 

Don't you remember bazooka gum? They always had jokes on wrappers. We need to laugh. We are creatures of laughter! With everything going on in the world. We just gotta be able to distress ourselves with laughter!

But did you know joy is behind laughter? You can't laugh without joy. 

I have a friend name Joy Lee, and her parents never gave her a middle name, so my sister & Brother-in-law dubbed her middle name as full. Joy-ful-lee. 

I always smile when I hear it or intentionally remember it! 

If not for anything else, be joyful this week and have a laugh! -Ryn

Soul searcher and style find: favor & shoes!

Last week was such an amazing week! I have two stories that, I hope will encourage you! And I hope you know that I'm genuine about my faith & God. I'm not a hoity toity twerp that isn't. I'm real. But I will say this, favor is chasing me down and overtaking me & I'm all about having faith! I'm a faith cougar, when I see a need for someone or even myself, I pounce. I latch my faith onto theirs and we watch it come to pass! 

So here goes! 

The first one: Last Wednesday, I was running errands that day, so when I was getting ready, my mom came in, in a panic, her iPad was frozen after she just downloaded the new download to help with bugs & such, ios 7.02...Whatever it is! And you & I know that isn't good! We tried everything possible! We tried plugging it in, shutting it down... Everything! The one thing she didn't want to lose, were her pictures. She did NOT want to lose the pictures. And she knew she needed to back up her ipad last week too, but never got the chance! She tried googling it and all they said was to take it to the Apple store. So after dealing with an apple "genius" on the phone... What a joy! (Sarcasm) we finally went to the store itself. On the drive there and even before we left the house, I asked her if she had prayed over it. She said to me, "if you have faith for it, then you do it!". So what did I do, I prayed & believed God for restoring her iPad. 

When we arrived, We talked to front man of the store, he then directed us to the guy that was taking reservations, and told us she would lose her pics (not a very nice man if you ask me, but you didn't so never mind). Then he directed us to a table to stand by & wait, it would a 1hr 45min wait. Then a few minutes passed and another man walked up and we told him the predicament and he said she would lose everything! Even her pics! She started crying of course. She told me I could go to anthropologie right next door, that she would be fine. So as I'm browsing & pursuing the lovely things in anthro. She comes up to me, bursts into tears and tells me that when they rebooted the iPad, it didn't erase any of her pictures, contacts,etc! Praise God! The guy who helped her was kinda in shock, because he's NEVER seen that happen before. He's only heard about it happening once before.

I believe, that if I hadn't of prayed for it. She would have lost everything. Prayer works! And The Lord loves me! 

Two scriptures (MSG translation) come to mind: 

Faith moves mountains.Matthew 21:21-22

Two or more gathered. Matthew 18:18-20

2nd story:

On Friday, we were going to go to Terri savelle Foy's women's conference that night. So we just planned to piddle paddle through Fort Worth until it started. So mom wanted to go to coldwater creek for something & I was just going to go with her, well she persuaded me into going to Madewell. And so I went it... I did get to see my friend Mary(who works there) and tell her about Funkyfinds(yay!) I then found myself in the sale area, picking up some shoes I have been eyeing for MONTHS! Well I saw one box that said it was a size 8 and they were $39.99, but then what I thought said, was the color black(which turned into actually being the burnt sienna I wanted! Because I didn't actually read the box! Haha!) was $69.99. I asked a different girl about it and she said no, it was just mismarked. But I was insistent about it and showed her the box. Same color, same shoe, different size. So she went and asked her manager and she came back, and said I was actually right! I bought the shoes, right then & there. And I also bought some leather sandals too! I had been wanting some great quality leather sandals. But I never found any that I liked. But my roommate at the time, Holly(hey girl!), bought some for full price and and they were super cute! 

So I found the exact same ones, but in my size for $20.00. But that's not all, I didn't actually pay $60+tax for them. No, I received 30% all sale items! You do the math! Glory! 

So now, I have a great pair of sandals for next summer & the flats I've been wanting for awhile to add a bit of punch to my outfits! Only more blessings & favor to come! I was super happy that day & I still am! 

{Here are the beauties}

The Lord totally gives you the desires of your heart. Psalm 20:4

Ask and you shall receive! John 16:23-24

(MSG translations)

Hope you have awesome day! -Ryn

Styled: Dyanna G.

So on Saturday, I had the pleasure of styling my wonderful & beautiful sister Dyanna!!! Which she had to trust me with a few items, though I think she can trust me as a stylist now...  I have been wanting to style her, and We both finally had time to. Yay! It was fun! And her closet is a dream! (They just finished renovating it! and it's impeccable, the DIY network would be jealous!) here are some of the outfits we came up with:

Playing with color! Greenish turquoise blouse, deep royal blue cigarette pants, purple suede flaps! Perfect!

Cream L/S blouse with black leather trim, dark royal ble cigarette pants, black & white polkadot heels.

Black & white sleeveless blouse, dark royal blue cigarette pants, royal blue heels.

Perfect for going to a fancy event! Wide-leg satin pants, cream beaded top & bright magenta shoes! Can you say classy? Because I sure can!

Sequin raglan sleeve tee, dark royal blue cigarette pants, velvet flats.

Chambray shirt, dark royal blue cigarette pants, royal blue suede shoes.

Silky grey hi-lo top, grey cardigan sweatshirt, toms boots in taupe.

Perfect for a holiday party! Red V-neck sweater,  green & whit striped Oxford, black skinnies, caramel boots

A more casual outfit, perfect for going out! Black skinnies, grey cardigan sweatshirt, Rhinestone sweatshirt.

Boucle jacket, purple top, black velvet pants... 

Plaid shirt & boot cut taupe jeans

There are a few styles that I would like to try out! But I will try and refrain! Since she still hates to match! Hah! ; ) And we don't even have the same styles, but we do have similar taste in a way!

You wouldn't know that if you had seen us earlier that day (before I changed!) We both had similar nail color on and berry color lipstick! (I changed mine to a neon red color) but it makes since, I used to love to match her when I we were growing up, she, on the other hand hated the fact that we matched! Maybe she just missed the good ol' days! 😉

The only thing I would say she needs to supply her closet with would be: more skinny jeans, new tank tops, long sleeve trendy tees, long sleeve dressier blouses & Maude C. Jewels... (Hehe!)

I would define her style as: classic, conservative, stylish, classy, with a touch of trendy! 

You know it's funny, no one I style has the same style, they all have different genres of dressing! No two are alike! I think its really cool! i think that's why each of us are unique & beautiful! 

If you enjoyed this & thinks she's beautiful, please leave a comment below or on Instagram: @RynB 

Thanks guys! And have a fabulous Monday!

DIY Friday: a healthy snack

This snack is near & dear to my heart, when I was living in Kentucky, we used to drive up to Huber Farms in Indiana every fall and pick apples. but they didn't just have apples to pick, they had a petting zoo, a gift shop, ice cream parlor, cheese shop, wine shop, a restaurant, pumpkin picking, they even had a corn maze!

I loved going here. I dream about it still! And I got this healthy snack from their restaurant. Apples & cheese. That's all you need! It's a quick & simple snack post workout, before bed, after school, etc.

Gather what you need:

Apple (I like firm crisp apples, somewhat in the larger side)

Cheese (I used raw milk cheddar)

Cutting board

Knife

Take your cheese and slice it. 

And the cut your apple. 

Then place the slice of chees on the apple slice on a plate and take a bite! Yum right?! 

I also added Brookside chocolate covered almonds from Sam's Club.

And I placed everything on a MacKensie-Childs Courtly Check salad plate. 

Enjoy! -Ryn

Thankful Thursdays!

Today starts the series of Thankful Thursdays!!!  Are you ready? 

I'm grouping two very important things in my life together, because without one of them the other one wouldn't exist. And this may sound cliche to you, but I'm very fond of both! 

1. God. Without him, I couldn't do what i love doing. I wouldn't have a fabulous  God-fearing family. And I would probably be drained all the time! My life is amazing because of God! He's so so good to me! My passion & dreams are so much richer because of having a relationship with Him. Not saying it has always been easy, but my life has a purpose!

And 2. I'm thankful for my family! You would think that I'm Italian, but I'm not!  I love how it has evolved. How I have great parents, who would go to ends length to help me out. A mom who will converse with me, teach things to me & run errands with me. And a dad who will help me with power tools! You mean the world to me! And i love you. For my sisters, even though they can irritate me royally, I still love them. They are some of the best women I know, all three of them! For my brother-in-laws, I know at least one of them would drop almost anything he was doing, if I called for help! He's such an awesome guy & super funny too!

The other one is pretty awesome too. He's harder to get to know, but I'm seeping in! I'll love him, whether he loves me or not. But I'm pretty sure that when I bring a guy home, my two brother-in-laws (and most likely my sisters) will infact threaten the safety of his own life if he should even think about harming one strand of hair on my head! Beware guys! Haha! 

For my nephews & niece, I love each of you so so much! You are so valuable to me!

And of course I love my dog Graycie, she's such a great doggy! 

So those are only some of the things that I'm thankful for! What are some things you are thanful for?!

 Until next week! Keep a thankful heart! -Ryn 

Beauty Find: $10.98 mascara

Just yesterday started a fabulous sale on mascara at one of my favorite beauty stores around, beauty brands!!! $10.98 for at least 8 different high end mascaras! I went in yesterday, but I couldn't make up my mind, and I had made up my mind one of two things would have happened. 1. I would stayed until they closed for the day or 2. Bought all of the mascaras that are participating in the sale... Neither one was going to work, so I went on my merry way... And then promptly looked at reviews online. 

I'm one who loves volume on my lashes. The more va-va-voom on my lashes, the better! (That and lipstick...) 

So I think I've made the decision of which one I'm getting...(yes, I'm only getting one this time...well, I think!) I think I'm either going with the:

Tarte gifted Amazonian clay smart mascara

DuWop lash venom

Per-fekt lash perfection gel

If you're not sure you have a store near you, or you want to participate in this amazing deals, go to: www.beautybrands.com and check it out!!!

Also, Butter London made it to Beauty brands, and I am such a happy girl, because I just adore butter london and I told one of the sales associates last year, that the only thing that I would LOVE about beauty brands even more would be if they started carrying Butter London! And they did! The entire collection, beauty & their nail line!!! Whoop whoop! 

P.s. Just. The other day, my sister Heather texted my that www.zulilly.com was have a sale of 3 Butter London's for $26! Pretty good deal I might add, since it would cost you $45 otherwise, if you had purchased it through a retailer. But anyways, so all the sets I was looking at & thinking about getting was surrounded around a metallic charcoal grey color called chimney sweep. Well, I ended up not getting the zulilly bunch....but, as I was going through my nail polishes for the preparation for last Fridays DIY painted bobby pins, I discovered that I already own chimney sweep! Yippee! It was like a mini Christmas for me! So happy! 

And one more thing, beauty brands also has a sale going for $9.98 hair sprays... I would check it out if I were you! 

And they also have Deborah Lippmann nailpolishes 50% off right now! Because they had to make room for Butter London! ; )