Leftie

We've been watching Ava for a while now.

The way she colors. Holds a spoon when self-feeding.

She is definitely a leftie.

Did you know that only approximately 15% of the world population is? And that males are 2x more likely to be than females?

Or that lefties are more likely to be geniuses? 20% of MENSA members are.

I think she is too. 

Dress - Tommy Hilfiger

The likelihood of 2 righties (like my husband and I) having a left-handed child is only 2%. 

And we have two of 'em.

Since this sweet girl is a leftie as well.

Headband - Goody
Tank - Old Navy

I would say we won the leftie lottery.

Since 3 out of the last 5 U.S. president's (including Mr. Obama) are all lefties.

Too soon?


Do you have or are you a leftie? So curious.
Read more cool facts here.

The winner of our eShakti giveaway was lucky #100. Congrats to Sarah from Journeys of the Zoo. I will email you! 

What.I.Wore : Skulls & Such

One thing I miss about work is casual Friday's.

Strictly for the fact that it seemed as though, the more casual people were dressed, the happier and more relaxed they were. 

A good t-shirt will do that for you too.

T-Shirt - h.i.p.
Cargo Pants - American Eagle
Studded Shoes - Pegabo

Sunglasses - Banana Republic
Necklace - Stella + Dot

 

 And that's what I'm wearing on Wednesday.

Last day to enter our eShakti giveaway here! *CLOSED*

Annmarie Gianni :: A SkinCare Review

It's funny. My skin now, in my {ahem} more mature years, is world's better than it ever was. 

I owe it to a great dermatologist. If you don't have one, get one.

If you're in the Toronto area, I would be happy to pass along my doctor's info. He is so, so good.

With that said, most of the product's I use on a day to day basis are of the prescription {read: covered by drug plan} variety. Yes, I use a standard gentle cleanser but other than that, a good vitamin A, glycolic acid and hydroquinone product are my go-to's.


I have extremely sensitive skin so typically, I will only use products that are for acne prone.oily skin. I'm a tad paranoid although I must say, I never thought at this age I would still be concerned about breakouts, but, I am.
Recently, a representative from Annmarie Gianni Skin Care contacted me regarding trying out their products. I was hesitant because it is an organic line and usually, these contain a ton of natural and/or herbal products that don't mix well with my sensitive skin. 
I let them know this and as such, they sent out products that were targeted to my specific skin type.


I continued to use my regular cleanser but gave up the rest of my goodies for 10 days replacing them with Annmaries's products including:

First and foremost, everything smelled incredible. A huge plus.
The honey coconut mask, which I used twice in the trial period, was seriously, natural enough to eat. It didn't go on feeling tight but rather kind of glowed. And I may or may not have licked my face. 
It came off easily and left my skin moisturized but not slick and feeling as soft as silk.


I gave up using a toner some time ago but always missed the fresh feeling it left me with.
The rosemary toning spray is no exception. It smelled lovely and left my skin feeling great and ready for the oil.
This scared me. A lot.
Oil on what I believe is oily skin? Different.
And fabulous. 
Not kidding.
I love it and may have added it to my daily regime. I did not get even a teeny tiny break out. Which is strange. For me. 
Even my husband commented on how great my skin was looking.
Which is strange. For him.


Did I mention I put him on a regime as well? 
Because I did. Except I physically had to wash his face with both the aloe herb facial cleanser followed by the neroli toning mist every evening.
And then he would layer on some of the same oil I was using.
He loved it. Not sure if he loved the products or the pampering, but either way, his skin looked really good. Refreshed.


You can find all of the above mentioned products and many more on their website.  A really great organic line at a price point that is more than reasonable for what you are getting.


Thank you to the team at Annmarie Gianni Skin Care for the opportunity.

Disclosure: I was provided with a sampling of products from Annmarie Gianni Skin Care at no charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are strictly my own. 


Enter our eShakti giveaway here! 

The Luxe Box Arrives

So, I have been more than a little jealous envious of all the U.S. bloggers posting pictures of the goodies they have been receiving in their Birchbox each month. 

I'm not ashamed to admit it. 

I ogled pictures, read a ridiculous amount of reviews...and promptly put myself on the waiting list for our own Luxebox.

I received my first box (or rather boxes) late last week after receiving a confirmation of delivery email the day before.

Pretty impressive.

Goodies above included a few perfume samples (meh), 2 packages of Frederic Fekkai's hair product samples, a full-size Essie polish in a gorgeous, perfect.for.summer hue and a tube of Olay's wrinkle repair. 
The second box above (the white one) contained items for "bath and body". 
It contained a Venus razor (always welcome) and a second tube of Olay wrinkle repair (ditto).

My favorite item?
Definitely the Essie polish. 

I must say I giggled like a school girl when I received the boxes in the mail. It was not unlike the surprise bags you could purchase when we were kids. Never knowing what you might get.
Anyone remember those or am I showing my age again?


I'm giving this month's box a solid 10 for presentation. (loved the personalized sticker :: such a nice touch).
And a 6 for content only because I wouldn't call these samples "luxe" in any way other than the polish as mentioned above. Pretty sure you could pick up these fragrance and hair care samples at your local department or beauty specialty store. 


Let's see what next month's holds. 
Are you subscribing to a beauty box? What do you think of them?

Beach Bound

I am already thinking about what to bring down south for our upcoming summer vacation.

Here's what the baby girl and I need to fully enjoy long, lazy days at the beach. 

To view item details for each of the above boards, follow me on Polvore.


Our little miss is obsessed with lip gloss.balm.stick as of late; particularly of the purple variety.
 I may need to stock up on these since she may or may not be eating them.

Linking up here and here.
Happy Weekend! 


Come enter our giveaway :: win an item of your choosing from eShakti.

What.That.Baby.Wore : A Girl in the Garden

There truly are days where you just need to stop and smell the roses.
Immerse yourself in the little things. And appreciate the beauty of all that surrounds us.

Yesterday was one of those days.

I think the prettiest flower in the bunch is the one all in pink.

On Ava:

Linen dress worn as top : Premaman

Leggings: Joe FRESH

Shoes: LelliKelly

Enter our eShakti giveaway here!

What.I.Wore : Lavender Love & An eShakti Giveaway

I am loving lavender as of late.

Striped Top - Joe FRESH
Skirt - Three Dots
Sandals - Tory Burch

Sunglasses - Gucci
Watch - Michael Kors
Bracelets - Links of London/Gifted
Polish - Lincoln Square Lavender by NYC

Now, for the giveaway! 
To celebrate the site's Spring/Summer makeover, the team at eShakti is offering you the  choice of ANY item from the site. I'm jealous. 

To enter:

You MUST be a GFC follower of Ava Grace's Closet

Visit eShakti and tell me which item you would choose if you one!

Mandatory Entry:

Follow eShakti on pinterest and like them on facebook. 

Additional Entries:

{leave a separate comment for each}

Follow me on twitter

Like us on facebook

Follow me on bloglovin

Follow me on pinterest

Tweet about the giveaway and include both @avagracescloset & @eShakti in your tweet along with link to giveaway. eg. "I'm hoping to win my choice of item from @eShakti via @avagracescloset". {2 entries}

And although it's a lavender kind of day, I would be equally excited to go green. 
If I was eligible, I would choose this:

Eyelet keyhole dress by eShakti

Giveaway open to U.S./Canada.

Closes next Wednesday, May 30th @ midnight.

Good Luck! 

A Coffee Date

I've seen a lot of these around the blogosphere lately and thought it might be fun to play along.

I am a crazy coffee lover but funny enough, I didn't start drinking it until my late 20's. Before that, I really hated the taste. Even today, I take way too much cream and sugar. It is my one vice. Well, that and diet coke. 

If we sat down for coffee...

I would tell you that Isabella seems to be growing up right before my eyes. She was invited to a pool party on Saturday night and I was seriously worried about her getting into a bikini. She has the body of a woman. Scary. I have to constantly remind myself (and her daddy) to have faith in the fact that she has been raised well.

I would tell you that we've officially booked our summer vacation. And that I cannot wait. We'll be in West Palm Beach, Florida for 5 glorious weeks. Yes, I'm well aware of the fact that it is crazy hot. We love it. Living in Canada will do that to a person.

Ava has finally hit the dreaded terrible part of the two's. I kid you not, she whined the entire day yesterday. I'm chalking it up to growing pains.

My husband has been on a mission to get the house in order. I find we go in stages...for a while we will do all kinds of things and then not touch a thing for a long while. We had the patio stones in the back re-laid this week. And right this very minute, he is out buying flowers at Costco for the planters in the back. The pool should be open soon!

I would tell you that my big brother was here for dinner on Saturday night since my SIL was away with friends for the weekend. He looked so handsome. I kept asking if he had been on a hot date. And he kept saying that yes, he had...and that it was with a 72 year old gentleman earlier that day to play tennis. 

Touche.

We might chat about how great my shopping trip with Julian was this past Saturday..a little break and some one on one time with my boy. We got his hair cut, bought Ava a few things she has been needing and went to two toy stores. Not one, two. 

On the drive home he apologized for not wanting to go with me initially. And then told me it was "so fun".

I would also tell you that I got a new Kobo e-reader for Mother's Day and I am LOVING it. I would ask if you use one as well or if you still prefer a good old book? I think I may go back and forth. But honestly, have nowhere left to store them so thinking this is a really great solution.

Lastly, I might invite you to my Stella + Dot jewellery party next Thursday. Really, just an excuse to have a fun girls night in while simultaneously supporting one of my besties. Any suggestions on a fun signature cocktail? 

Let's do this again soon, m'kay?
And if you have your own coffee date post, be sure to include a link so I can check it out! 

Mother's Day Photo Fail

I don't think I ask for much.

One little photo of the kids and I on Mother's Day every year.

I had this brilliant idea that it might be cute to do it out at the swing set and have them all sit on the rocket. 

You can see how this went.

It didn't take long for us to give up.

And it took even longer for my husband to realize that Isabella's face had a chain from the swing across it in almost every.single.photo

Still...it's all my babies and me. And we're happy.

Mission accomplished. Sort of.

See last year's fail here. We'll get there yet. 
Happy Long Weekend to my fellow Canadian friends!

Friday Fancies : Chambray

Chambray seems to work it's way out and then slowly back into my wardrobe every few years.
An almost classic. 

Fresh when paired with shades of mustard and persimmon.

For full outfit details, follow me on Polyvore.


The weather promises to be beautiful this weekend.
Can't wait to enjoy it. 
Happy Friday.

Linking up with Long Distance Loving here.

The Next Big Thing

My husband has this silly notion about our Ava.

Since neither of our other two are that taken with sports, he feels that she could make up for that. And in this thinking, has decided she may or may not be the next big thing in tennis.

Polo Top - Ralph Lauren
Pants - Ralph Lauren
Shoes - LelliKelly

"Where is he?"

These hands are definitely big enough to grip a racket. 

"Soccer may be more my thing?"

Ava and her coach aka Daddy

I was rather excited by the prospect of her one day following in her mama's footsteps and taking ballet. 
His response? "Dance? Forget dance. We'll buy her a tennis racket."
It's no wonder really.
We're croatian. Tennis is our religion.
And the leader of it may just be a member of my family.

My own coach aka the brother. Circa 1979.

So, how early is too early to start training?
I'm all in for moving to Florida. 

Linking up with Mama Loves Papa for Small Style.