I Am Stepher

My friend Molly introduced me to BB Cream.  I am a sucker for any new skin care so I was pretty surprised to just now find out about it.

BB Cream started out as cream initially used to protect skin after laser procedures and surgery while also providing light coverage.  There a dozens of different formulas and qualities but all of them promise the all-in-one properties of moisturizer, primer, foundation, sun block and anti-inflammatory.  Some even promise to lighten skin and lessen flaws and acne over time.  BB creams are so popular in South Korea that even men have started using them.  I just ordered a few from Amazon and will try them out this week and report back.  I went with the Korean Brands for my initial trial because they are the most popular and least expensive but lots of Western companies are starting to sell them now, including Dior, Clinique and NARS. 

I don’t wear much makeup but I do use sunscreen, moisturizer and concealer.  If this can really cover all of those needs in one application and give me a dewy complexion then count me in!

I looove bracelets more than my friend Molly loves lip gloss and that is a LOT. I usually switch out colors and types everyday but this group has stuck around for the past week. From right to left, this is what they are:
1) Pura Vida bracelet ( http://www.puravidabracelets.com )
2) LF Stores leather skull wrap bracelet ( LFStores.com )
3, 4 and 5) Sisa Bracelets (you can buy these in boutiques in almost any big city. They are made of tiny glass beads by Nepali women)
6) Frieda and Nellie bracelet. Each piece is hand-made and one of a kind. http://www.friedaandnellie.com/productss/bracelets/

Could her dress be any more beautiful?! I am obsessed. This was important enough to wake up my blog, oh and I started back to work today.

Little Eloise Ruby Crouppen

Born April 3, 2012 at 12:25 pm

7lbs 2oz

With this St. Louis heat, I contemplate cutting my long hair almost on a daily basis. But now that I know about the sock bun, my life has totally changed.

This awesome video will teach you how to get this perfect bun in your hair and no one has to know that there is an old rolled up sock in there. This bun took me no more than 30 seconds to do.

The best part about it is that after you take your hair out of the bun, your hair looks like this.


**If you sleep in it over night! I am doing this tonight! So excited.

I thought I would share some of our wedding details even though most of my readers were probably at the wedding.
We were married in Cancun, Mexico at Le Meridien Hotel. The hotel was incredible. It only has 200 rooms so even though it is on the main strip (next door to the J.W. Marriott and the Ritz) it still feels like you are in a small boutique hotel. We had 120 guests and the hotel made for the perfect place to hang with our close friends and family by the beach or one of their 3 pools. We rented out all of the cabanas for the weekend ($10 each!) and the hotel felt like our own private house.

I cannot thank our incredible photographers enough. They captured every moment we wanted them to and tons that we didn’t know about or remember. Unusually Fine Photography is a guy and girl team (Max and Margaret) who we met at another friends wedding. They flew from New York to Cancun and made everything so easy. I could write a novel about how great and unintrusive they were. If they are available for your wedding, the best decision you could make is to hire them. In the end, all you have are your photos and memories and my memory isn’t so good…

We had our rehearsal dinner on the beach with a traditional mexican theme. We wanted everyone to attend so it was almost like having a pre-wedding. 110 people were at the dinner but it still felt so intimate. I loved it. We had a sideshow play against one of the cabanas as soon as the sun went down and the sweetest speeches ever! What a great night. We decided on a buffet and no flowers, no decorations, just tons of alcohol and a beautiful beach. It was perfect.

The next day (the wedding day) was stress free thanks to my awesome bridesmaids. My dress started out as a sample size 10 dress that happened to be Romona Keveza and also happened to be 75% off so I just had to have it. I was set on an all lace dress but they were just so expensive so I knew a sample dress was the only way I would be able to get what I wanted. With plenty of extra lace and a dream the sample was quickly transformed into the dress of my dreams thanks to a great tailor and a belt from Etsy. Check out the transformation.
This is the first day of trying on dresses and I immediately loved it.

Here is the after picture!

The Shoes (worth every penny): Manolo Blahnik

Flowers: I have always loved paper flowers and because they are so inexpensive in Mexico, we replaced half of our real flowers with paper. Check out the bouquet and boutineers.

More details on the ceremony, paper, reception and day after to come……….

This makes me want to work in an office again. I love the drama. My Grandma loves to tell the story of the sandwich stealer in her office building. Every few days her delicious “left-overs” sandwich would be stolen. I can totally understand why, because my Grandma would always throw together some ridiculously good sandwich made of all the leftovers from dinner the night before. After being so fed up with missing sandwiches, she asked my Grandpa to make the hottest salsa he possibly could. The next day, Granny poured the salsa in the inside of the sandwich and waited for the thief to fess up. At lunch time, Granny went to get her lunch out of the office refrigerator and the sandwich was still there. Being the frugal woman that she is, Granny downed the sandwich and got super sick. Day 2, Granny got the co-worker to eat the sandwich. Apparently, she never said anything to the woman, but heard her coughing and gasping for air a few cubical away. Her sandwich was never stolen again.

If only Granny would have had these bags back then. Although, she probably wouldn’t have wasted the money on them….