Colorado – Page 2 – Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic

Personal June 29, 2015

Week in Review

Hello from my parent’s house in Durango, Colorado! I arrived here yesterday afternoon after spending the weekend in Vail, celebrating one of my oldest friend’s weddings. Brittany was one of the first people I befriended when I moved to Texas from Scotland in 3rd grade. I adore her and her new husband, Aaron, and had the best time showering them with love over the last few days. Sasha flew home to Houston after the wedding, and I met my parents and Isla in Durango, where we spent over two months last summer (I have missed it so much). We’re going to spend a few weeks here, which I’m looking forward to (Texas summers are something else!).

Prior to flying to Vail on Friday, we had a very busy week in Houston. I was fortunate enough to have photo shoots every single day (two on Monday!) – more photos to come later this week (also shared a few last week). It did, however, make for many late nights, as I’m OCD about a quick turnaround for editing. I am currently editing photographs from Brittany and Aaron’s rehearsal, and I’ll post those soon. You’ll see a few below – and will likely fall in love with her black and white Oscar de la Renta dress (recently worn by T. Swift – nbd, right?).

Some of the week’s highlights included:

Photographing two baby boys, David and Brooks, on Monday – I shared their photos here last week. They are both insanely cute, and their mamas are sweet to boot.
Celebrating Cake & Confetti‘s second “birthday” with Meredith and other incredibly talented Houston ladies – I cannot wait to share photos later on! More details here.
Shooting more looks for my gorgeous friend’s new fashion blog – Feather Thread. We found some cool spots at City Centre, and I’m anxious to photograph more outfits when we get back home.
Meeting and photographing the cutest baby girl, Murphey Grace, whose parents we have about ten connections to. The world is so small! I’m going to share her photos tomorrow.
Chatting with Leah of The Monogram Shop (she’s the sweetest) and picking up Isla’s adorable monogrammed dress, which I shared on Friday.
Relaxing at the Sonnenalp hotel – our room was one of the coolest I’ve ever stayed in, as I loved the decor and the fact it was a two-story room. I highly recommend staying there if you are ever visiting Vail!

How was your week? Please tell me some of your highlights in the comments below! xo

Gift Guide December 9, 2014

Gift Guide for the Outdoorsman

Last week, I published a Gift Guide for the Gadget Guy, which involved lots of research and consultation with my dad and Sasha. I had to do the same with today’s guide for the outdoorsman, which, conveniently, is what both these men consider themselves. While in Durango this summer, we got to test out a lot of outdoorsy products, as we spent the majority of the day outside. We bought these Bunjo chairs, which are seriously amazing. We tried them out at Sports Authority and sat there for quite a while – too comortable to get up!

My dad has this CamelBak water purifying bottle, which after watching endless episodes of Naked and Afraid (guilty!), I wish the contestants could have! It’s genius. We recently bought our good friend this cordless Dewalt drill, which Sasha geeks out over (and Brett did too!).

Beauty September 19, 2014

Favorite Beauty Finds

While in Durango, my beauty routine was fairly minimal, as I only wore makeup a handful of times and rarely styled my hair. With that said, the air in Colorado is so dry that I incorporated a number of new products into my typical day-to-day routine. My favorite new product is the Aveda Dry Remedy Daily Moisturizing Oil. Not only does it smell incredible, the oil penetrates your hair shaft and leaves it feeling much more smooth and moisturized. Couple that with the Healthy Sexy Soy Tri-Wheat Leave-In Conditioner, and your locks will be loving you.

Most days, I threw my hair up in a messy ponytail, often teased with my new Phillips 3 Row Teasing Brush. I’m from Texas, so you know we love our volume. This brush works miracles, and I highly recommend it. I would add one of these ban.do Flash Bobbi Pins to the side, and voila – pretty pony, but oh-so-simple. I inevitably waited four to five days to wash my hair (don’t worry, I still showered in between!), so the Psssssst Instant Dry Shampoo became my best friend.

In addition to the Josie Maran Love Your Skin Argan Oil Set that I mentioned here, I also used the Wrinkle Reducing Sheet Masks by Masque Bar to help add moisture to my face. I felt a difference after using it for thirty minutes – my only complaint is that the mask didn’t stick to my face well, so I had to lay down on the couch while using it.

Last, but not least, in preparation for one of my best friend’s weddings in Mexico, I used Crest 3D White Professional Effects Whitestrips. These are the most expensive ‘level’ of whitestrips, but they are worth it! You cannot leave them on too long, or you’ll get a headache, but if you follow the instructions, you’ll have some pearly whites! Also to prep for the nuptials, I started using Latisse again. I gave it up to try Neulash, but I prefer the prescription product more. It takes 2-3 months before you start to see a difference, but when you do – va-voom lashes!

Do you have any must-have beauty products for me to try? I love testing new items!

BeautyProducts

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Personal September 2, 2014

Week 7 in Durango

Week 7 has come and gone very quickly, with the holiday weekend and my parents arriving in Colorado. We are going back to Houston in one week from today – I am so ready to hug (i.e. squeeze to death) my friends, but so sad to leave this gorgeous weather and valuable family time.

In the past week, we hiked up to Fort Lewis College every morning, tried a new restaurant (Chimayo – amazing and will definitely be on my updated Durango Travel Guide), went to the Saturday farmer’s market (delicious hatch peppers and tasty wheat grass drinks!), made some crepe paper peonies (DIY here), baked more vegan black bean brownies as well as these amazing and healthy cookies, ate even more Cream Bean Berry, watched Isla play with her ‘Mimi’ and ‘Papa’, dominated my parents in Taboo, and practiced playing bean bag toss (I’m awful). The only low point of the week was getting stung by a wasp twice (in my hand and leg) – totally unprovoked on my end! Not fun.

Lastly, I recently set up a Facebook page and Instagram account for Snapshots & My Thoughts. I would love if you were to follow along so I can follow you too! Thanks for reading. xoxo

Read about our time in Durango here: Week 1 | Week 2 and 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6

Decor August 29, 2014

Floral Fridays: Tulip Love

Week two of my Floral Arranging 101 with Nicole’s Classes has come and gone, and the homework assignment was to create a wild English garden arrangement. Our instructor’s example (see top photo) is literally to die for. I want her talent! Like I said last week, the local Durango flower and vase options are very limited, so I couldn’t produce as fancy an arrangement; however, I chose a bold colored tulip as my focal flower and ran with it.

I absolutely adore tulips (second favorite, to peonies, and runner-up to garden roses). I dug into my wedding pinboards and found some of my favorite tulip bouquets and arrangements. They also make for the perfect desk decoration – I’ll be sharing my favorite office spaces next week! I can’t wait.

Lastly, the winner of the BABYBJÖRN Carrier We giveaway is Vanessa W. Congratulations! Make sure you enter the BabyLit giveaway by midnight tonight and use code ‘Isla’ to receive 40% off at BabyLit.com. Have a wonderful weekend!

Tulip Floral Inspiration