© 2014 sarahfortune.

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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Health & Beauty, Life, Skincare

Two Weeks Later – An Update!

It’s been two weeks since I walked through the doors of NWA Center for Plastic Surgery‘s skin care center for my first consultation. As mentioned in my previous post, I had zero clue as for what to expect. And if you are in the same boat as I was (basically clueless about skin care), then hopefully the sharing of my experience will be helpful!

Once I got all checked-in, I talked with the esthetician for a good thirty minutes about my skin. The approach wasn’t about what I hated and wanted to change – it was about what I loved and wanted to preserve. That positivity matched the atmosphere, which felt more like home than a doctor’s office. With big windows that let in a lot of natural light, and decor that left me wanting to move in, I felt comfortable. Like I was on a nice little retreat from my work day.

After figuring out what would work best with my skin (mine is pretty sensitive), I jumped right in and started a few treatments. One of the first things I did was dermaplane. I think I had heard of it before, but I had no idea what it was. And in case you don’t either, I’m here to tell you that it means taking a scalpel to the face! Sounds horrifying, right? It was actually incredibly relaxing, pain free, and I would do it every week if I could. The process scrapes off the layer of dead skin cells and the velus hair (the peach fuzz) on your face and it instantly made my skin softer than it has ever been.

After that, she did a few more treatments of various creams and ointments, including a very light chemical peel which again, sounds scary and painful, but it was easy breezy. All of this took less time than my lunch hour. From there, I went down the hall and met my new best friend, Annie. She just so happens to be the Nurse Injector and she introduced me to my other new best friend…Botox.

That’s right. For the first time ever, I got Botox. And I would do it again in a heartbeat. I’ve been curious about it for some time now, but only recently realized that it’s helpful to prevent wrinkles, not just smooth them away. Which, by the way – it DOES. Like magic. Like REAL-LIFE Photoshop. The best thing about how NWA Center for Plastic Surgery offers Botox is that they are thoughtful about how it’s done. I was told to start small, which I did, and that no one would actually notice that I got it, which they didn’t. Obviously you still want to look like you, just a refreshed version of you. And now two weeks later, that’s what I got – my skin is smoother, but my expression is still mine. Although, it might be smiling a bit more lately because I honestly love my skin again. I’ve already switched from my full-coverage foundation, to a tinted moisturize – or nothing at all.

Now let’s get to the fun stuff – The before and after photos! I am still a work in progress, but I started noticing a real change on day four. The Botox was injected in my forehead, by my eyes, and in-between my eyebrows. The photo on the left was taken at my first visit, right after the dermaplane. On the right is two weeks later, right after a workout.

With Botox, the only thing I regret is not doing it a little sooner. Now that I’m “on the other side,” I see how it’s a subtle game-changer. I’m also realizing how many other people do it – and I had no idea. I love talking about this sort of stuff and it seems that once the conversation gets started, so does everyone else. So, let’s keep talking, learning, and sharing. I’m been religiously using the SkinMedica day and night, and I go back for another round of dermaplane (woo hoo!) in two weeks. Can’t wait to see (and share) the rest of my progress!

Special thanks to the NWA Center for Plastic Surgery for sponsoring me on this journey! Seriously, y’all have made my year and I’m so excited to share.

Sponsored, Travel

TRAVEL LOVE: Our First Cruise

Going on a cruise is something I never thought I’d do. I’m usually more of a road-trip or fly-to-a-big-city kind of girl. But recently our family had the opportunity to experience our very first sailing adventure thanks to Carnival. After it’s all said and done, I must admit – sailing away on a cruise is something that I think everyone should do at least once in their life. I thought I knew what it would be like, but until you experience it, there’s no way to fully know. There’s something so cool about being on a huge ship, sailing through the middle of the ocean, and ending up in another country. You’re relaxed, but still with a destination – and someone else is doing all the work (while you sit back and drink a piña colada).

We boarded the Carnival Liberty in Galveston, Texas for a five day cruise to Cozumel and Progresso. Knowing nothing about the cruising lifestyle, I did my fair share of research ahead of time and I was really glad that I did. I’ll be sharing our trip across a couple of posts, as I feel like we fit five different vacations into just one trip and I have a million photos to prove it!

Carnival upgraded us to their VIFP (Very Important Fun Person) status, which I must say – certainly has its perks. We were able to bypass the line to board the ship, which made check-in a breeze. If you ever have the option of adding this on – DO IT! There were perks of the VIFP program throughout the entire trip, like not having to eat dinner at a set time and priority debarking as well.

Once we got onboard, we found our room which was surprisingly comfortable. We had our own private balcony, which certainly added to the comfort. Looking out onto the ongoing ocean is more beautiful than I expected (why don’t pictures ever do anything justice?), so it was a nice escape from the crowds around the ship. The beds were surprisingly roomy and and comfy, and Iris ended up loving her little spot.

After getting settled, we set off to explore the ship – and to grab a drink. It’s hard to realize just how big a cruise-liner is until you step on board. There were some things that we didn’t even discover until our very last day. So even though there were a few thousand people floating along with us, there were plenty of other places to go to escape the crowds. I’m excited to share the ins and outs of our days, and the tips we learned along the way. Till then, here are a few photos from our first exploration of the ship. Walking around on that first evening was so fun – everyone was so happy. As they should be, it was just the start of a big adventure.

Health & Beauty, 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

Travel

TRAVEL LOVE: Houston, TX

In planning our recent Carnival cruise (that post will be next!), we also added on a little bonus vacation to Houston. We have good friends that moved down to Texas a while back, so it was the perfect opportunity to visit with them before we jumped on the ship in Galveston.

Initially we were going to make it a road-trip adventure, however as the trip got closer, the thought of driving over eight hours and then being on a boat for days sounded less appealing. Finding some good prices on flights, we booked our trip to arrive in Houston a couple days ahead of our cruise.

Iris was super excited to fly on an airplane, so for us that’s when our vacation actual began. I flew with her a couple times as a baby, but she was too young to remember it. I thought she would gaze out of the window in amazement the entire way, but instead all she cared about was watching The Sound of Music on my iPad. Oh, kids these days…

But after an easy flight, we arrived in Houston just in time to watch the very first Razorback game with our old pals. Once the Hogs barely squeaked out a win (phew!), we checked into our hotel. The kind folks at Visit Houston set us up with a room at The Whitehall. Situated right downtown, it was a great location to pop over to various points in the city and explore.


The next morning we woke up pretty early and got the show on the road. After breakfast at our hotel, we hopped over to Discovery Green where we met back up with our friends. Less than 10 minutes from our hotel, there was a huge splash pad, a water area with little sailboats, restaurants, playground, etc. – all surrounded by the high-rises of Houston. Iris was in heaven romping around with Remy, cooling off in the water.


After we dried off the girls, we made our way to eat Mexican for lunch before using a coupon out of the City Passes that Visit Houston kindly gifted us. With that, we got admission to quite a few Houston attractions, but with our limited time we had to narrow it down to just a couple options.

After hearing great things about the Houston Museum of Natural Science, we decided to make our way there. From a beautiful butterfly center, to a fascinating dinosaur exhibit, this place was pretty cool – and there was a LOT more that we didn’t even get to see. I actually spent my first hour there freaking out because I couldn’t find my wallet. After calling the restaurant where we ate lunch, the bank, and searching the car twice, Todd finally found it UNDER our car. I’m so thankful we discovered it was missing before we drove away, as that would have been the worst way to start a vacation.

After a few hours at the museum, it was most definitely happy hour time. Per usual, we always like to visit at least one local brewery in all the cities we explore. Houston was no different, so we checked out Karbach Brewing Co. With a huge outdoor “play” area, the kids had fun while we tried out the beer and food.

Full and happy from our day, we said goodbye to our friends and headed back to the hotel. The next morning, we pulled out our City Passes and decided to explore the Downtown Aquarium with the time we had left in Houston. Our cruise didn’t depart until late Monday afternoon out of Galveston, which is only about an hour away, so we took our time visiting the the fish, sea creatures, and white tiger. Yes… a white tiger at an aquarium. I don’t know, but I’m not complaining.

Another cool thing about the aquarium was the outdoor carnival area with rides, games, and fair-style food. So the very last thing we did in Houston before our trip came to an end was take a ride on the ferris wheel, which reached almost as high as the skyscrapers it sat next to. Pretty cool way to wave goodbye to the city.

Thanks for having us, Houston! We hope to come back soon.

Life

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.