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It’s Prime Time – My Favorites in the Amazon Prime Day Deals

July 10, 2017

Amazon Prime is honestly my life saver. I am a slight procrastinator (mainly because I am just super busy), and/or I am forgetful. Amazon Prime offers my vitamins “prime” to my house in just 2 days of ordering, as well as last minutes gifts, and the perfect outfit for a wedding or event I may have just remembered the week of. There honestly isn’t one particular thing I can think of that Amazon Prime doesn’t help me with.

My husband and I both agree that its yearly fee of $99.00 is worth every stinking penny! We have already used that +more this year in just in the perks received from being a Prime member. Don’t worry, if you’re having any doubts about becoming a member you can try the 30-day trial for FREE! Just click here to get started on your membership or trial and get to shopping this amazing sale.

There are some key items I am looking to purchase in this year’s sale. I try not to blow up our bank account on Amazon Prime Day Deals, but I typically purchase things that are household useful or techy things at great deals. And yes, we need a water hose badly so you can imagine that will be the FIRST thing in my cart! Hahaha, talk about adulating hard core in one of your favorite sales. I am also purchasing a few gifts for an upcoming baby shower for an Amazon Prime Day deals, so to say this sale is worth it across the board is an understatement. It’s TOTALLY worth it! But do notice, that Amazon Prime Day Deals only last for 30 hours so don’t hesitate if you find an item you love.

Hubs already knows he is on his own for dinner tonight since starting at 9pm ET/6pm PT many of these Amazon Prime Day deals are going live and I am getting a head start before tomorrow! I’d love to hear what you were able to score in this year’s Amazon Prime Day, you might just influence me to snag a few more items 😉

Stay Tuned For A HUGE Fashion Sale Coming Later This Week. ** Hint: Full Blog Post on Wednesday About it**

My Amazon Prime Day Deals

Household Items (aka Adulting stuff)

Fashion Finds

Baby Shower Gift Ideas

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The Perfect Beach Day + Must Have Summer Sequins Floppy Hat

June 28, 2017

Now that summer is in full force my mind can’t seem to get out of beach day dreams. Sadly, Galveston doesn’t have white sands and crystal blue water, but it is still relaxing and one of my favorite things to do in the summer. First things first on a beach day are: sunscreen, Sequin Beach Hat, pop-up tent, comfortable tan worthy chair, and a cooler filled with all my favorites!

When you’re as white as piece of paper with very little tan insight, sunscreen is your best friend in the summer. My favorite right now is this Copportone sunscreen. I promise it won’t leave you sticky, it will protect you from those harmful rays, and it’s not pore clogging whatsoever. Sunscreen Winning!! Now what beach day is complete without that summer umbrella drink in hand?! There isn’t one! Wellllll for me there isn’t one anyways. My current favorite refreshing beach beverage is what I call the “Blueberry Day Dream”. I’ll leave you with the recipe below.

“Blueberry Day Dream”
2 shots – Stolli Blueberry Vodka
10 oz (1 small bottle) – Club Soda
2 lime wedges- squeezed
Shake well, and serve in your ice filled tumbler for refreshing beach bubbly!

Ladies, you totally know what I mean when I say that those cooler bags your handsome hunkster generally carries on your beach or pool days aren’t typically what we would refer to as cute! BUT this adorable Francesca’s “Chill Out” insulated tote will totally change your mind about that. Oh yeah, this baby comes to every water related event I go to now! And no cute beach day look is complete without a Summer Sequins Floppy Hat! I am obsessed with all things sequin and when Yanita with Summer Sequins said she could customize my hat with my favorite saying, I think I fell out of my office chair! I definitely Sip & Sass my way through every day with a smile. Her designs are flawless, price point perfection, and totally customizable! You need to check her out before you head to your next summer soiree.

I’d love to hear all your favorite summer drinks, and beach day must haves. Leave a comment below of your favorites and I will get back to you ASAP lovely!

Photography By: C Wright Photography
Hair Stylist: Cattleya Hair Studio

*This post was in collaboration with Summer Sequins. As always, all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own*

My Favorite Frayed Denim & Overcoming Failure with Grace

June 23, 2017

Frayed Denim: Nordstrom [under $30] // Off the Shoulder: Shein // Wedges (similar): Marc Fisher // Summer Earrings: Charming Charlie // Pineapple Tote (similar): Target

As you may or may not know, my family experienced a tragic loss a week ago today. A beautiful soul we loved was taken to be with God and dance no longer in pain. I am not going to go into detail about out loss, but I wanted to explain my absence on social media and here on the blog. I did have a small Instagram posting Wednesday broadly making some of you aware of this, and your prayers, love, and support mean more than I could ever say in words! THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY SASSY HEART. Days prior to our loss it was my hubbie’s birthday week and we had many days of celebratory things planned that I took time away from the blog to focus on for him!

That leads me to my real subject of this post. Taking time for yourself, life, and loved ones is immensely important! I personally put a lot of pressure on myself to keep up with it all. Heck, most of us women are go getters trying to do it all to the best of our abilities. And I love being a woman and all the strong, but graceful abilities we have. I can’t say I am graceful when I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off, juggling 6 different things in my brain, and 4 others in my hands. But the point is I am strong, and I TRY!

I feel guilty when I am not constantly posting a wonderful blog post on my regular scheduled days, or even when I don’t get my Instagram post out some of those days. I love all of you my readers, and I pour my heart into all aspects of Gracefully Sassy. With that, the perfectionist side of me takes it hard when I have to place this lovely piece of me on the backburner to tend to my emotions and physical health, or even the beautiful other parts of life with my husband and family. And I am coming to realize, that is A Okay!

Unplugging from the online social world is what I have to do when trying to regroup or focus on my loved ones. So here I am admitting, I can’t do it all, BUT I do try my hardest to make it all work to the best of my ability. I am not at my best when I am run down, typing with one eye open. So now you see why I take time away. It’s to your benefit I promise! Hahaha, if you think my typos and grammar are bad now… just imagine if I was doing this half asleep. It would be unreadable for sure.

No one is perfect! We all mistakes, take two steps forward and one step back, but remember you’re still one step ahead of where you started. Celebrate all of your successes Small & Large! The failures are not where your focus should be. For explain, my “failure” in not posting because I needed to care for myself and my family led to this blog post. All in all, I feel that is a success as it may be helping some of you in some small way to see your worth celebrating.

I hope you enjoyed this post, and I would love to hear your feedback on how you deal with similar things in life! Well, until next week.. signing off to have some girl time sipping Rose while watching Beauty and the Best.

Photography By: C Wright Photography
Hair Stylist: Cattleya Hair Studio

Galveston Staycation & Floral Swimsuits

June 1, 2017

Hair Stylist: Cattleya Hair Studio
Photography By: C Wright Photography

The hubs and I were semi-sad about not being able to take a full on tropical vacation somewhere this summer. He started a new job in the fall of last year and has very little time in his training months (this summer) to take time off. Not to mention, this new job came with a temporary pay cut so after contemplation, STAYCATION was what we decided to enjoy this year.

I’ll be quite frank with you, I am not a fan of the Galveston water. I typically only walk along the beach and get in no further than ankle deep. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t a million other fun, and tropical things to do on the island. I made a whole list below of places to eat, things to do, photo op places to visit, and my favorite swim-up bars around Galveston.

Before you splurge on all the Staycation details can we just talk about Floral Swimwear for a second. Floral is everywhere this year and one of my favorite timeless trends. These pieces are worth your investment because they never go out of summer style. I linked below my favorites from bikinis, high waisted 2-pieces, one piece wonders, and more. These are all in decent price points that you can probably grab a couple while you’re at it 😉

Staycation To-do’s & SwimUp Bars:

Touring the historic parts of the island on a double bicycle! This has to be one of the funest day dates we have had in a long time. As long as it’s not in the middle of August heat it is truly lovely!

If you’re feeling a little boardwalk thrill ride is up your alley, well the Galveston Pleasure Pier is your place. You can enjoy a bite, watch the kids enjoy some carnival time, or have a dreamy ferris wheel ride with your love. It’s fun for all ages, and Kyle and I enjoy doing whimsical things like this.

Who would have ever thought it, a bar that sounds the center attraction.. THE POOL! The Float Pool & Patio Bar is located along the seawall. Whether you’re looking for a place to enjoy drinks while watching the ocean or take a dip while swimming up to the bar this is a fun take on island bar life.

Another great SwimUp bar is located inside the San Luis Hotel. This hotel will give you all the resort vibes for a true Staycation experience. They have gorgeous tropical atmostphere in their resort pool area that is adorned with cabanas, and you guess it, a SwimUp Bar! Kyle and I like to take a weekend getaway here in the summer to relax and enjoy ourselves as if we were in the middle of Caribbean sipping margaritas. It won’t disappoint any Staycation expectations you may have.

Photo Ops:

If you’re like me, then you probably have a color obsession. Have you seen the insanely gorgeous colorful hotel in Palm Springs, CA? This is an iconic place many bloggers visit to capture all their summer fun images filled with more color than you can dream up.

Well, if you’re looking to visit Galveston and stay on the island I found you the perfect condos that mimic the Palm Springs beauties at half the cost. You will have more photo opportunities that your memory card can handle. Trust me!

Be sure to visit historic downtown Galveston on your Staycation. There is so much character to capture it will give you ALL the heart eyes! Not to mention, if you enjoy antiques then you will love coming to shop here.

Grub!

Gypsy Joynt will have you dancing on the tables from taste bud happiness. Kyle pretty much makes this a MUST when we go to Galveston, evening if we’re just going for a beach day.

RedFish Pool Bar, although they don’t have a SwimUp bar, they have a huge pool that is family friendly! They food is decent casual food, with large bar menu and great cocktails. The atmosphere is loads of fun and right along the seawall let’s you enjoy the beach without having to deal with Galveston sea water.

Viva La Brunch, Mosqito Café in Galveston is where my island brunch heart lives. Hubs has learned not to even ask if a brunch opportunity presents itself because there is where we’re headed, no questions asked!

Eyelash Extensions Review with My Lash Girl

May 19, 2017

Houston blogger, style blog, fashion blogger, beauty blogger, eyelash extensions, my lash girl, gracefully sassy - Eyelash Extensions Review with My Lash Girl by Houston style blogger Gracefully Sassy Have you been a lash extension skeptic? I TOTALLY was! And I say was because I am now a lash extension wearing gal. I had built up so many cons in my head in getting eyelash extensions that I couldn’t see past my own ignorance, until I saw the amazing work Darlene with My Lash Girl creates. She is truly sensational at curating the perfect lash formula specifically for your eye structure, style, and look. If you enjoy my look above here is the formula Darlene curated specifically for me: lash size 7, 8, & 10 with curl C and .15 diameter.
Before lash extensions I frequently wore lash strips for blog shoots or events I was attending.
There were two BIG issues that always bothered me:
The glue over many hours would irritate my sensitive eyes.
The weight of the strip began to really weigh on my eyes after only a few hours of wearing them.

When I partnered with My Lash Girl for this blog post I wanted to give you my honest eyelash extensions review with the pros and cons.

PROS

You wake up daily looking so put together without an ounce of makeup on. That is a must for these sassy pants as I typically wear little no makeup during the week. I look like I am ready to walk the red carpet without a minute of any makeup routine in the mornings.
If you are a lash strip wearing lady and you take the time for eyeliner, and then perfecting the strip application, well with lash extensions you have shave an easy 10 minutes off of your makeup routine. This alone quickly convinced my husband they were worth the investment! I don’t have to apply anything to my eyes other than my brows and the occasional eye shadow.
Weightless! Like I said earlier, strips were so heavy on my eyes. I couldn’t tell you why, just that is how I always felt with them. I don’t even notice I have anything on my eyes. It’s so wonderful! Being able to look like a glamazon without the old saying “beauty is pain”.
I do all my usual day to day life things such as hair, makeup, airbrush tan, eyebrow dying & waxing, ect. I have had zero issues with anything lessen my beautiful lashes. And let me just be loud and clear, by choosing a true lash expert to apply your lash extensions your natural lashes will not shed ANY MORE than there usual life span. In plain terms: there is no damage or loss of your natural lashes! This was a big concern for me when contemplating getting extensions. I had a full sit down consultation with Darlene prior to ever coming in for my lashes. I asked every questions under the sun and she had all the lash educated answers for all of them.
Maintenance is truly a breeze. They simple combing of your lashes in the mornings and evenings is all I have to do. Darlene also sells her special lash cleaning solution she refers to as “lash poo”. Some people like peace of mind with cleaning their lashes at the end of the day, regardless if they had worn makeup or not. And this solution is easy on even the most sensitive of eyes that will leave them clean and fresh.

CONS

I am sure you’re thinking there has to be cons to perfectly sounding beauty must have and from my experience I have found VERY few. I wouldn’t even say that these are honest con’s, just simple things you need to be mindful of if you have lash extensions.
I seriously love to rub my eyes after a long day, but that is something I am no longer able to do as it will pull all my lovely lashes out. Your eyes become a no touch zone with extensions. No worries, that isn’t anything a small glass of wine in the evening can’t fix!
Being mindful of the products I put near or around my eyes can be a tad tricky, but nothing major. From makeup to skin care, things need to be oil free in that region to refrain from destroying the lash adhesive.
Once those chiller holiday months roll around you have to remember to not place your face over a pot of boiling water (the heat from the steam kills the adhesive). Also, the same goes for those patio fire pits. Don’t sit too close because you will singe and melt those lash ends together and not one likes clumpy lashes.

I have currently started a more voluminous look, but without being full wabaam volume. Darlene refers to it as hybrid and it for me is the perfect medium for a classic look, with a dash of sass. I will see about having a full Instragram stories video of my refill next week for you to really see all the in’s and out’s of the process.

*This blog eyelash extensions review post is in collaboration and sponsored by My Lash Girl, but as always all thoughts and opinions are my own*