HELLO
Mom to Iris. Wife to Todd. Our little family lives at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains in Fayetteville, Arkansas. We love it here and I love sharing little bits of our life.

© 2014 sarahfortune.

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Category : Life

ABOUT FACE: My New Skin Care Journey

So next week I turn 36 and, as I inch closer and closer to the big 4-0, I’m realizing that I need to start taking better care of my skin. Don’t get me wrong, I wash, exfoliate, and moisturize every day, but I’m discovering that things are starting to change and the cream I pick up during my grocery store run isn’t cutting it any longer.

The problem is, I’m pretty naive when it comes to skin care and am always overwhelmed any time I try to figure out a routine. At the end of the day, I end up with a hodge-podge of products and just cross my fingers that they are all actually doing something. I often find myself admiring other people’s skin, wondering what it is that they do to perfect it and – not just how do I get there – but where do I even start?!

So here I am – starting! I can’t tell you how excited I am to team up with NWA Center for Plastic Surgery, specifically their Skin Care Center. I just had my first consultation yesterday and leading up to my appointment felt like waiting for Christmas morning. I didn’t have any idea what to expect, but I was ready for the experts to have their way with my face. Over the next six months I’m going to document my journey as I try some core treatments and a regimented (and finally consistent) skin care routine. I’ll share my journey along the way, talking about my entire experience – not just the cool products (which, by the way, are very cool), but the maintenance as well. I feel like much of the treatments are kept “hush hush” on a personal level, but I’ve been so curious for so long, that I’m ready to try it all out and share my experience.

So, stay tuned…


My new best friend: SkinMedica c/o NWA Center for Plastic Surgery

Falling into Autumn

Life has been quite the whirlwind lately. I did the math and I’m officially traveling more than I am at home in the month of September. I’m still working on my re-cap post of our last trip, which was essentially two trips in one: a weekend get-away to Houston and then a five-day cruise off to Mexico. I held onto a little cold that entire week and then came home to get even more sick, so I’m playing catch up on aspects of my life it seems. Thankfully, I’m finally starting to feel like my normal self, but just in time to go on another trip.

I fly out on Sunday to Vegas for work meetings, so until then I hope to soak up as many moments around my home as I can: watching the Razorbacks game, cooking dinner, hide & go seek with Iris, and being in my cozy pants as much as possible. I would say things will start to slow down come October, but I would be kidding myself because October is always one of our busiest months of the year. With Halloween, our annual camping trip, football, my birthday, and Iris turning FIVE one month from today, it too will be a whirlwind. I need to get busy figuring out out just what we’re going to do to celebrate her big day. There’s no way we’ll ever top last year, so we aren’t even going to try. Regardless, it will be full of sweets and smiles, and that’s all that matters.

End of the Summer

Once again, summer is almost done. Being from the south you would think I hate our hot, humid summers, but it’s always been my favorite season. Sure, fall is lovely with the crisp air and turning leaves… Nothing quite like it, actually. But I think one of the reasons it’s so lovely is that it’s so temporary. You know it won’t last. Summer, on the other hand, seems to last forever. I love the long days, the day drinks to keep cool, the pools to keep even cooler, the road trips, and the summer dresses. I love it all and this summer has been no exception.

We have one more big family trip before we completely bid farewell to Summer 2016. We’re spending a few days in Houston and then taking our first ever cruise to Mexico (so hurricanes, let’s chill out for a minute, k?). This is fresh off the heels of a work trip to Salt Lake City, and then another trip to Kansas City and the wineries of Hermann, Missouri.

My trip to Hermann, though a whirlwind, was well worth the time it took to get there. I had just flown in from Salt Lake on Tuesday night, worked Wednesday and Thursday, then drove the 3.5 hours to Kansas City on Thursday evening. Bright and early the next morning, I took a four hour train ride to the tiny and very old town of Hermann to explore the wineries there. I went with six other ladies in celebration of my friend Bev’s 40th birthday. My only regret is that I would have taken more pictures because the town was so lovely and full of charm, right down to the trolley that took us everywhere we needed to go. After a night at a grape-themed bed & breakfast, we took the train back to Kansas City to hang with a few more friends.

Below are just a few photos of our trip by Laura Hobbs. As mentioned, I should have taken more photos, but hers are so much better than what mine would have been anyway!


by Laura Hobbs


by Laura Hobbs


by Laura Hobbs


by Laura Hobbs

TRAVEL LOVE: Cabo San Lucas

After what seemed like YEARS of planning, our 2016 Girls Trip has come and gone. I went with six of my best girl friends to Cabo for four nights… FOUR NIGHTS! I thought that would be too long, but I’m pretty sure that is the magic number for a girls getaway. Any longer and I would have missed my family too much, but any shorter and I don’t think I would have fully relaxed.

We came from all over – Boulder, Kansas City, Houston, and of course, Arkansas. Somehow all of our flights were magically on schedule and we all arrived at the airport in Mexico around the same time. We hopped in our van that was waiting on us and hit the road to our beach house. You know it’s going to be a good trip when you get in the airport shuttle and they ask you what you want to drink, and they only have beer. So Pacifico in hand, we took the 45 minute ride to our ahhhhmaaaazzzing house. We stayed in the gated community of Pedregal, which Google tells me is the “Beverley Hills of Cabo.” We all Real World-ed it and ran around claiming our bedrooms (our pal Lacy took charge and planned every detail of the trip, so she fully deserved the master).

One of the best things that we decided to do for this trip was splurge and have lunch ready for us when we got there. We walked into our house and there was already a team of people making us fresh tacos and mixing margaritas. We also had the house stocked with groceries and drinks before our arrival, so there was no shuffling off to find a grocery store or a bottle of wine. GENIUS.

That first afternoon and evening we stayed put, hung by the pool, caught up, and drank lots of wine.

The second day we ventured to town and did a little shopping (more like haggling), stopped by Cabo Wabo for a drink, had more drinks by the marina, and then experienced dinner at The Office where I got to live out a life-long dream and drink a pina colada out of a pineapple, so my night was made.

The next day, Bev and I had our own little excursion to the Pueblo Bonito Pacifica Golf & Spa Resort. We got the grand tour of the property, which is all-inclusive and adults only. Greeted with a mojito before we even hit the hotel lobby doors, this place was heavenly. The first thing we noticed was how lovely the entire place smelled. Even though the resort is rather large, they only have around 150 sleeping rooms, so it never gets crowded. That’s some good planning right there.

After walking around by the beach daybeds, scoping out the restaurants, and seeing the rooms, Bev and I were treated to the best spa experience of my life. I opted for a hot stone massage and it was 80 minutes of bliss. We had extra time to lounge in the spa with cucumbers on our eyes, drink fruit infused water, and eat chocolate too, so the overall experience was perfection.

After an afternoon at the resort, we made our way back to our humble abode and where all the ladies got dressed up for dinner at Toro (I think everyone in our group is in agreement that this was by far the best meal of our trip).

Each night we all went to bed pretty early and each morning we all got up around the late hour of 7 am. On our final day, we were all well rested and were up for the adventurous walk to the beach. The waves were insane. Gorgeous, but terrifying. The pictures don’t even do it justice. So after a hot hour in sand, we were done “roughing it” and wandered back up to our very safe pool to cool off.

For our final night, we had private chefs come in and whip up our last meal. Complete with margaritas and churros, it was the perfect grand finale.

All in all, this was such an amazing trip with some amazing girls. In fact, we’re already planning where we’ll go next year, so stay tuned. And check out Bev and Laura’s recap posts on our the trip while you’re at it!

9 Years Ago Today

I steal his socks. I leave cereal boxes open. I drop a trail of clothes and coffee cups behind me wherever I go.

He makes our bed every morning. He washes dishes after every meal. And he doesn’t even mind that all of his socks are missing.

Today, we’ve been married for nine years. It’s easy to get lost in the day-to-day, but I’m truly so grateful for him and this little life we’ve built together. I love looking back and seeing how far we’ve come together. Our house, our careers, our crazy kid.

Here are a few polaroids from our wedding, which I feel perfectly capture the hot, wonderful summer afternoon of August 11, 2007 at the Clinton House.