MOTHERHOOD Archives - Oh, I Design Studio

6 SKINCARE MUST-HAVES FOR WEDDING SEASON

June 29, 2017

Wedding Season is upon us! Although we have only one wedding to attend this year, I have some friends that are going to 5! I wanted to share some of my favorite healthy skincare products for not only the bride but also the guests. I’ve tested all of these products thanks to my kind friends at Follain, and can’t recommend them enough.

one // RMS Magic Luminizer – I’ve been using this luminizer every day that it’s sunny out! I put it on as a highlighter (above my cheekbones and in the middle of my nose). It’s hydrating and provides the perfect glow! It’s a product I can’t live without at this point.

two // RMS Coconut Oil Makeup Remover Pads – Another RMS product I’ve been using non-stop. These don’t need a lot of explaining, it’s coconut oil in a wipe. Great for throwing in your purse or travel bag on those nights you are more than likely not going to wash your face. Maybe due to those extra glasses of wine? 😉

three // Orgaid Vitamin C Sheet Mask – A new favorite. I love bringing sheet masks when I travel, they come in handy when your skin needs a little boost of moisture or brightening. This one would be perfect the night before a wedding or the morning of to boost your skin’s radiance.

four // Lumiere Body Oil – Bronzing – being fair-skinned, this one is a must for any event or wedding in the Summer/Fall months. I love the way the oil gives my skin a beachy glow with some color! Obsessed.

five // W3ll People Bio Brightener Powder – with a number of oils I typically use on my face, this powder helps set them and tones down the excess oil. It’s a staple for a Summer outdoor wedding because if you’re like me, you sweat…A LOT. This magical powder will help blur pores and fine lines as well!

six // Ilia Tinted Lip Conditioner with SPF 15 – The perfect amount of color and protects your lips from the sun! My lips tend to be on the dry side and anytime I put on lipstick I’m so nervous they are going to crack or it’s going to look messy after an hour or so. These are super creamy and lasts awhile!

This post was created in collaboration with Follain, my go-to natural skincare shop. Thank you for supporting brands that support Oh, I Design!

TWO EVENTS NEXT WEEK & YOU’RE INVITED!

April 28, 2017

Hello Friends! I have a couple of fun events next week that may interest some of you lovely New England readers out there.

The first event I will be giving a presentation to Design Professionals about all things Social Media and how to maximize your business with various these platforms. The event is hosted by Mitchell Gold & Bob Williams in Burlington, MA on Tuesday at 11:30am! RSVP here.

photos by: Lindsay Hite

The second event I’m collaborating with Kathryn Yee, Owner of The Everyday Co. and new mama, on an exclusive Mother’s Day studio shopping event! The Everyday Co. sells handmade stylish cloth goods for your home including reusable cloth napkins, coasters, hand towels, and more. If you’ve been a reader here for awhile or have been to our home, you know the Everyday napkins are a staple in the Klein household and would make the ultimate Mother’s Day gift (coming from a mom herself)! RSVP to: kathryn@theeveryday.co.

6 STEPS TO A SPA NIGHT AT HOME

February 27, 2017

I am so excited to collaborate with Follain, my go-to natural skincare/beauty shop, each month to chat about wellness, healthy skin care & beauty tips, and much more. If you are a follower of the @ohidesignblog instagram or are a reader here, you’ve probably read about my love for natural skincare and how much I enjoy my frequent trips to Follain. If you’ve never visited one of their locations, let me just paint a picture of the experience for you. The moment you walk through the door it smells like the best spa of your life (think: lavender, lemongrass, etc.), the interior design is beautiful and very instagram-worthy, and the Follain team is incredibly knowledgeable & kind. That being said, this is the PERFECT collaboration and I’m excited to bring more beauty + wellness to the blog. Alright, alright on to the post!

Although February is coming to a close, we are going to begin the series by talking about a subject I am very passionate about – loving yourself. You know the saying…you can’t take care of others unless you take care of yourself first? Well, that is the name of the game in our household. In the past, I noticed when I wasn’t taking care of myself, how it directly affected those around me. It wasn’t too long after having Evie that I realized I have to schedule “me time”.

For me, it means having an at-home spa night, going to get a pedicure, taking a solo walk around Boston, dinner & drinks with friends, date night with Cody, or perhaps a new outfit. I do these things so that I can come home to Evie and Cody refreshed and motivated to be my best self and the best mom to Evie that I can be. I know you may be thinking, duh Jessica, do things you like to do. But, it’s crazy how much of our time and efforts are given to other people & other commitments which in turn leaves us too exhausted to care for ourselves. Gotta put your oxygen mask on first! Can I get an amen?!

I wanted to share the steps + ingredients to an at-home spa night (#jessicastyle) as this is something I have always enjoyed, even since I was a little girl hosting slumber parties. I used to do my friends’ eyebrows, paint our nails, and we would put on face masks then create our own music videos. Ultimate girl party! Not much has changed really, other than the music videos (unless my best friend Misha is in town).

Step One:

Create a spa-like atmosphere. my spa-night always includes a glass of red wine or a cup of tea (perhaps both), a clean bathroom (this is an important step or else you will feel stressed without even realizing it), a good read, a candle/incense, and some good tunes in the background. Also, extra points if you make “spa water” – you know, water infused with fruit.

Step Two:

I always wash my face and exfoliate to remove dead skin cells.

Step Three:

After I have a clean face, I apply a face mask before getting in the bath.

Step Four:

Relax in a warm bath with essential oils and/or bath salts. I can’t wait to try out the Farmaesthetic’s Bath Elixir – it relieves achy muscles, relaxes the mind & opens congestion.

Step Five:

I love to exfoliate my body so that my skin feels like new after the bath. I currently use Organic Bath’s Stress Less Scrub (lavender for the win).

Step Six:

When I am finished soaking in the bath, then I typically take a quick shower to remove the face mask and wash my hair but that step isn’t necessary. Then I rehydrate my skin with face serum, moisturizer, body oil & lotion. Basically, I’m ready to be put in the oven after my spa nights. HA!

I hope this guide to an at-home spa night inspires you to make time for yourself this week! If you need an excuse to get away, just say Jessica made me do it. 😉

Shop the items above:

“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.” – Sam Levenson

This post was created in collaboration with Follain, all thoughts & opinions are, as always, my own. Thank you for supporting brands that we are passionate about!

A GUIDE TO PARK CITY, UTAH

February 15, 2017

Goodness, Park City was a winter wonderland, especially the day we woke up to 8″ of fresh snow. There was so much to love about this city – the incredibly beautiful mountains, the active yet quaint Main St. & the insane views. This was definitely a trip to remember! When we were planning this trip, we decided we were going to make it an adult vacation and let Evie visit her family in Oklahoma City. Sometimes parents need a break and since we don’t live near family, we were long overdue for a getaway without our little babe. Although we missed her dearly, I’m so glad we were able to make this trip happen with friends from Dallas! Main St. was filled with cute shops, restaurants, bars & ski shops. My kind of place.

Hands down, one of my favorite parts of the trip was when we visited the “Après Lounge” at The Montage. Aka…the most attractive yurt EVER. My girlfriends & I popped a bottle of Veuve Clicquot (worth every penny!) and warmed up by the fire while enjoying the interior design by Gorsuch. Seriously, we stayed there for 3 hours. 🙂 Our Itinerary:

Food & Drinks: High West Distillery, Church Public House (loved the interior & their wifi password: confessions2017), Zoom (highly recommend the Sonny Steele cocktail + the mac n cheese), 501 on Main, Tupelo, Grappa (for our fancy dinner night), Coffee at Pink Elephant is a must (especially on Fridays because they bring in donuts), Apex at The Montage (ask about the doggies that visit the hotel…refer to photo above), St. Regis Bar for their famous Bloody Mary & the buffet (that included a candy bar with bags you can take with you!!). Also, order a hot cocoa or a caramel latte from the St. Regis…because DAMN they were good. Wow, I am now realizing how much I need to do a cleanse after all of that indulging.

Shops: Cake Boutique (my favorite shop for skincare & casual clothing! SO GOOD.), Flight Boutique (gorgeous clothing that I couldn’t afford & a sweet dog in the entry), Overland Sheepskin, Prospect (so many good hats and shoes), Park City Mercantile (I purchased a gorgeous Roost vase/pitcher). there were many other great shops, these were just the ones we stopped in!

Activities: Massage at Remede Spa in The St. Regis Deer Valley (the massage was great…but very pricey), the “Après Lounge” at The Montage, skiing (of course) at Park City Mountain.

Every time we take a trip I’m reminded of how important it is to TRAVEL. Seriously, it’s the absolute best thing you can spend your money on. Cheers to many more trips to follow!

For more adventures & travel inspiration, click here.

A LOOK AT 2016

December 30, 2016

I want to take a moment to reflect on 2016. It was definitely a year of learning for me – being a mom and a business owner.

THINGS I LEARNED:

– I will be honest and admit that I went through some personal battles. One was realizing I can’t run my business AND be a good mom to Evie full-time. There were many days I felt trapped and not like myself, leaving me feeling stressed at the end of the day and not in a creative state for my clients. Together, Cody and I decided to hire a sitter for a couple days a week so I can step away from my mom role and continue growing my business. I learned I just simply cannot do it all. Repeat, I cannot do it all. It’s definitely a big expense (dear family – anyone ready to move to Boston??), but worth every penny. The other personal battle I dealt with is not something I talk about often here, but it’s something a lot of people deal with on a daily basis so I’m going to be open. I struggle with anxiety and have for awhile but didn’t realize it until recently. I have some very specific triggers for my anxiety attacks, but mostly I’m trying to understand the root of my anxiety. So I’ve decided in 2017 I’m going to get help and talk to someone about it because like I learned recently (thanks to my recent coaching at Capital One), talking to a complete stranger helps you gain some clarity.

– I can successfully work from home. I’ve created a space in our guest room and it serves me well! Although for some bigger goals I have in the upcoming years, I will need more space, but for now, I am thankful to even have a dedicated space to work from.

– Traveling with a baby is hard, but worth it. Cody and I have made a promise to one another that we will not let having a child stop us from doing the things we love. That means going out to eat, traveling, etc. However, we do have a big ski trip planned for February and we will be shipping Evie to her grandparents’ in Oklahoma. 😉 Because “mama” and “dada” could use a little break every now and then.

– We’ve been blessed with a trick baby. No, not Urban Dictionary’s definition of it… YIKES. But, a baby that is easy going and he/she makes you think you should have another one! Now, this doesn’t mean we are planning for another one in the foreseeable future, but it does mean we have been given a child that loves to sleep, is easy to make smile and is great when we hand her off to friends. Since she has developed her own personality, she makes us laugh at something new every single day. This is not to say parenting has been a breeze, trust me, it has not. But we are extremely thankful for those 9+ hours a night she gives us every night to recharge since she was 4 months. You can read more about “trick babies” here. 😉

– We love New England. It turns out we may never leave…because after 3 years of living in Massachusetts, we found out how much we adore the surrounding states as well! I’m not one to predict the future because if you are a long time reader here, you know we have gone through MANY changes over the past 6 years. But I can definitely see us living here for a long time!

photos by: madison snider

GOALS FOR 2017:

– Say YES to the RIGHT projects, whether it be for the blog or the interior design side. Be cautious and ask a lot of questions before committing.

– Create an email list and exciting content to go along with it! You know – like free interior design products, design tricks, motherhood, etc.

– A NEW WEBSITE! Okay, so this is actually happening, but I’m going to make it a goal because there’s a lot of work to be done behind the scenes to make this site a better one. We can all admit there are a sea of blogs out there now, so my friends at The Business Bar are working on a unique design and fresh logo to keep Oh I Design going strong. The new site will also make it easier to read previous posts, a guide to my interior design services, my portfolio, etc. I am very very excited about this!

– Attend a design conference. I need to get inspired again in the design world and I think a conference would do just that. Seeing new products and meeting other designers in real life would help. Any recommendations? I was thinking the Design Bloggers Conference in LA? It’s coming up though so I need to make a decision by early January.

– Collaborate more! I want to reach out to more companies that I love and find interesting ways for us to partner together on blog/social media projects. More of this will result in better content for you guys! 🙂

– Achieve at least one of my business-related goals – i.e. meeting my profit goals, creating an email list, etc.

– Find an accountability partner. Someone who checks in on my goals and vice versa.

– Become a part of a volunteer organization or program. We are thinking of getting Bella certified to visit children in the hospital and that’s one of our main goals for the New Year as a family.

PLANS FOR NEW YEAR’S EVE: staying in with my little family. We are going to pop open a bottle of Freixenet champagne, even if we don’t make it to 12:00! haha

I’d love to hear some of your goals if you are willing to share! Happy New Year to you guys!!