OUTFIT DETAILS:  SWEATSHIRT (Under $25!) | PANTS (Under $15!) | SUNGLASSES | BOOTS

Happy Sunday!  Hope you all had a great week. I’m excited to answer some questions this week – you guys send in the best questions!  I get a lot about being a step mom and the fertility journey so I made sure to include some of those below. 🙂

1. How often do you see your step kids?
We share custody with their mom, but she has primary custody. Its nice because we live close to each other so now that they are in sports and stuff we still get to go to their games and school activities and see them even on the days that we don’t have them.

2. Favorite TV shows right now?
We watch The Office or Seinfeld every night before we go to bed when we don’t have a series that we are in to. Or just to shut off for the night if we are watching an intense series. We just got into Designated Survivor which we love. We finished Ozarks last month which was so good! (This is an adult show so if you’re a younger reader I would stay away 😉

3. How do you stay so thin?
Because of my genetics I am naturally thin but if I’m not working out or being active I loose muscle fast and feel soft and kind of bloated haha I don’t really know how to explain it.  I workout to stay toned and because I love the way it makes me feel. It give me more energy for sure and helps with stress.

4. Do you follow a strict diet? Or if you want something do you let yourself have it?
I for sure indulge and let myself have it!  I will try different things like cutting sugars or not eating as much processed food or soda but as much as I wish I could, I can’t stick with those diets for too long so I try to set short term goals for myself. 

5. What are your favorite makeup products these days?  Favorite eyeshadow?
My favorite eyeshadow right now is this palette I just got from Bobbi Brown – its so pretty! Other products I am loving lately are: this bronzer, this mascara, this primer, this eyeliner, this foundation, and this brow pencil! **And good news!! Sephora is having their Beauty Insider sale right now…everything is 15% off through Monday! Time to stock up 🙂

6. How is your infertility journey going? What are your next steps?
We got some answers from the doctor last week and I’ll be sharing more soon – thanks for all of your sweet messages and notes it really means so much to me. ❤️

7. Favorite store to buy nice shoes?
Saks definitely has one of the best Designer shoe selections. I am pretty loyal to Nordstrom so I look there a lot too but their styles are more mainstream if that’s what you are looking for! Net-a-Porter and SSense have more unique styles.

8. What happens to all the clothes you model. Do you keep them? Are they loaned?
97% are either gifted or I buy them, on a rare occasion for really expensive jewelry where I have worn multiple pieces for a post they can be loaned to style shoots. A majority of the clothes are mine and the clothes I don’t keep I give to my friends and family. I will sell the higher end pieces and do blogger sales. I donate a lot to charity and I give a lot to my family’s church in Montana where they donate to foster kids that don’t have clothes.

9. Your favorite wardrobe staples?
For fall & winter, when it gets really cold I don’t get ready as much because I hate being cold!! So to be honest I am in sweats and comfy clothes a lot.  I recently got this new fuzzy hoodie and love this jacket and this pink corduroy jacket.

I think its worth investing in a nice handbag but thats always relative to your budget, don’t make yourself go broke over it!  Pick something that is timeless – pick something that is a neutral color. Buy one bag that is nicer that can work with multiple outfits instead of 5 cheaper ones. My favorite designer bag is this one. 

I found a tan suede bootie after my hunt last week! A couple of you actually emailed me and it was so sweet!  I have had them on repeat this week. I also just got this pair in the mail and I love love them!!

And lastly, a comfy pair of distressed jeans will always be one of my wardrobe staples. The pair I definitely wear the most and am most asked about are these.  

10. How did you feel about becoming a step mom?
It was never an issue to be a step mom because my parents got divorced when I was little and my step mom was always so great to me. She was such a good example and I grew up with a loving step mom so that really helped me when I became one. She always treated me with so much love that I was excited to be a step mom too 🙂 I’m not saying it isn’t hard, with any situation there are always hard emotions you have to navigate through. But the idea of being a step mom was never hard for me! Even if you didn’t have a step mom growing up it doesn’t mean you cant be a great step mom! I can’t imaging our family without Mara and Wes and I made a conscious decision early on to treat them as if they are my own. Go in with a mentality that you don’t want to replace their mom but that you will love them and treat them as your own.

11. What’s Cody’s profession?
He’s an entrepreneur and runs and manages couple different companies. 

12. How do you deal with mom guilt especially when traveling without Beckam?
Its definitely hard, but my parents live out of town and so I look at it as a good opportunity for them to watch Beckam and spend time with him – they usually come to town to watch him or he goes up to Montana to stay with them. He loves being in Montana and I love that he gets one on one time with them.  Some times are harder than others but I am always excited and re-energized to come home and be the best mom to him I can be!

13. How tall are you and Cody? 
Cody is 6’3” and I’m 5’7” and 3/4…I like to claim 5’8” 😉

Thanks for sending such great questions and following along.  Love you all!

Xx,
Christine

The post Catch up with Christine: Favorite Makeup, Being a Stepmom, and Staple Fashion Buys appeared first on Hello Fashion.

Happy Sunday! I had so much fun answering your questions last week but there were so many questions I wasn’t able to get to, so I included them in this week’s post!

1. What is the perfect, go-to date night look?!
I think it really depends on what you’re doing! I usually like to just do jeans or in the fall a leather pant so that I am comfortable and warm enough. If we are going out to eat I love off the shoulder sweaters. I have this sweater in multiple colors and love it! Here’s another off the shoulder option for under $25!  If we are walking a lot I love a low heeled bootie – this is like my fav pair ever! I am currently on the hunt for a similar pair in tan suede if anyone has seen any LET ME KNOW! 🙂  If we aren’t walking much its always my excuse to wear high heels! 

2. What are your favorite budget buys? Broke college student but still trying to be cute!
I love a good budget buy!  Here are a few of my recent budget buys under $50: this sweater (obsessed!), this bag is under $35 and I have been wearing it on repeat lately, this foundation brush is under $5 and amazing, this teddybear pullover from is one of my favorites right now….you’ve already seen me wear it multiple times! Its so cozy. 

3. Do you have advice for someone going through a breakup with someone who was their best friend prior to dating?
Breakups are always soooo hard. After a breakup I think everyone needs space at first, but maybe with time you guys can be friends again. But if they were mean and didn’t treat you well, then cut them out of your life! I honestly believe whatever is meant to be will be so my best advice is to remember that the breakup happened for a reason and in the end you will see why and be happier! Lots of love to you!

4. Where do you like to shop for sweaters for fall/winter?!
H&M is definitely one of my favorites! I just got this chunky turtleneck sweater for under $50 -its so warm and cozy I don’t want to take it off!  I also love this one (under $20, comes in 5 colors and love them all!), this long cardigan, and now I need this fuzzy pink sweater immediately!  Like I said – SO many great (and affordable!) options here 🙂

5. Does it ever give you stress/anxiety to keep up with fashion and beauty trends?
It doesn’t give me stress keeping up with the trends because I really just wear what I like and I enjoy looking at magazines and looking at articles for inspiration. I honestly really love my job, so learning more about fashion and beauty give me a lot of happiness. However, sometimes I do get anxious when I feel like I am not producing enough content. Because being a blogger you are the brand/business at the end of the day your the one responsible for making sure things are growing, and sometimes I feel like I could always be doing more. And when you love it, its easy to get caught up in always WANTING to do more. I think one thing I have really taken to heart this year is realizing that family is more important than any business so it’s ok to not be doing everything and always producing. So that’s sometimes why I don’t post everyday 🙂

6.  What’s your philosophy for cleaning out your closet?

I have actually been a lot better about this lately!  I read a book (a must read if you haven’t already!) about figuring out whether or not an item brings you joy and only keeping what does – so when I pick something up to wear and it doesn’t bring me joy or I am not excited to put it on, then I don’t keep it. Unless its something sentimental – I have a shirt thats the first shirt Cody ever bought me. I wore it in our engagement pictures and I still have it in my closet! I try to purge my closet as often as I can and donate clothes, give to friends & family and I love doing the occasional blogger sale where I can sell my clothes to you all! 

7. What contractors are you using to build in Utah?
Heritage Custom Homes – his wife Erin Hansen is our designer ❤️

8. Who cooks at home? And what do you make for dinner?
Honestly, we eat out a lot. We will go in phases where we do cook and both Cody and I take turns cooking. Cody thinks he’s a horrible cook, but he’s actually a good cook! When we cook we like keeping it simple and easy!  Chicken and rice, hamburger and rice, spaghetti, and we do breakfast for dinner a lot. If I’m feeling ambitious I make poppyseed chicken which is a recipe my step mom gave me that I grew up eating a lot. We eat a lot of asparagus as a side too 🙂

9. Are you and your husband LDS?
I am not LDS, Cody was raised LDS and everyone in his family is active except for him. He still believes a lot from the church, but we are not currently active. My family is non-denominational Christian. We both believe in God and consider ourselves Christians ❤️

10. What products do you use in B’s hair?
I get this question a lot! I finally just did a blog post this week all about Beckam and fall outfits for him that you can read here where I answer this!  I use this gel in his hair combined with this hairspray.

11. What do you use to whiten your teeth?
In high school I always used crest white strips – they work really well but they always made my teeth so sensitive!  I haven’t used anything in awhile. A couple years ago I went to a medspa where they whiten your teeth and it made my teeth a couple shades whiter and Cody’s 8 shades whiter…it was really cool! I think you are supposed to do that every year so after awhile I feel like they went back to the way they were before.   They did a great job but their location is like an hour away from our house so I haven’t made it back yet!

12. Beauty product you can not live without?
No question – this!  Its an investment 100% but it’s amazing.

Thanks so much for sending in your questions.  I truly love answering them and getting to feel like I am chatting with you all! Feel free to send me a DM on instagram anytime as well and we will try to include those questions here each week! Hope you all had a great weekend – love you guys!!

XX,
Christine

The post Catch up with Christine appeared first on Hello Fashion.

Happy Halloween Weekend!  I am so excited to share my first “Catch up with Christine” Q&A today.  Ps you guys voted on the name and this is what won!  I wanted to create this hang out time to share more, answer commonly asked questions, and get more personal with you all. I am going  to post this Catch Up series every weekend, it will be a Friday or a Sunday post. So be sure to look for it every weekend! There were soooo many great questions to pick from.  If I wasn’t able to get to your question this week, please ask again next week or leave in comments below! Love you all!

Favorite foundation and concealer?
I use Lancome 24 hr long wear foundation right now. For concealers I like this Nars one, and I actually got this drugstore one in the mail a few weeks ago and have been loving it! It’s super light it and not too heavy and cakey.

Also My friend Jill (@jillmariemakeup) did my makeup the other day and she used this 2 in 1 foundation & concealer from….Walmart!!! I seriously love it and couldn’t believe the amazing drugstore price! (Under $10!!!)

How did Hello Fashion start? What is the story?
This question was asked a lot so I am going to do a full blog post on this!  The short story is….I was rejected from fashion school and really wanted a way to still showcase the things I am passionate about. Cody and I had just gotten married and I was working as a manager at Aldo shoes in the mall, but I always knew I wanted my own business at some point.   So on the side I started ILY Couture (my clothing line) which is now ShopHelloFashion. I wanted a way to show some of the stuff we were selling, and I loved finding stuff on sale so I started my blog for fun to just write about sales finds and show pieces from our shop. I never thought it would lead to what it is now!  

How long did it take you to build up your brand to the extent it is today?
It will be 7 years in December since I started…its so crazy to think that I have been blogging this long! The first year to year and a half I didn’t post a ton, maybe once a week, but around year two I started making my content a lot more consistent.  Once I became consistent it grew and took off from there!  I have an E-Book that talks more about this and has lots of tips on growing your platform!

Favorite date night ideas?
Cody and I would have different answers for this for sure!  For me it’s nothing crazy, we are so busy during the week and work together a lot,  I honestly love finding a good series and getting cozy and watching our favorite show at home. I do love doing random adventurous things together…the other night on a whim we made a list of things and did a picture scavenger hunt at the mall and that was so much fun!  Cody would definitely say something adventurous and is all about things that aren’t routine. 

Do you ever fear an expensive purchase will go out of style quickly?
No, I used to think about it more a couple years ago but now I feel like there are so many opportunities for people to resell stuff. I think if you take care of the item, especially handbags you can always re-sell for a good amount back. Bags hold their value pretty well!  I remember when I bought my first Celine bag Cody thought I was crazy. I remember setting a goal and saving up for it as my first big purchase and I still have it today years later.  I did a post about investing in handbags here!

Pros & cons about traveling while having kiddos?
Pros- Especially with our older kids is definitely that on trips with just our family its fun for us to be their friends and experience new things with them. At home and on trips with family they are always focused on their friends or cousins, so on trips with just us its nice to have their full attention and make fun memories! And when things go wrong… like coming off a an international  flight and the hotel not having our room so we were hotel-less for 24 hours, sucks at the time but always makes for the best memories in the long run:)

Cons- Everything takes a little longer…packing…activities on the trip, etc!  I think its important to have a balance of both traveling with kids and without. Cody and I did an adult trip this year and that time away together was so special. I think it’s important to have alone time but its also so special to have that family time.

Do you wear hair extensions?
Yes I have worn extensions for the last 4 years. After I had Beckam I lost so much hair, it would come out in big wads! So I got extensions as my hair grew back and now I just love them to keep the fullness. I have a beaded sewn weft – I used to have 2 rows and now its just one row for fullness. My friend Tatum does my hair she has been doing it for like 4 -5 years she is amazing.

What’s your favorite food?
I love Mexican food!  But I feel like that’s such a typical response….so, some random favorites are – green bean casserole and chickpeas with ranch dressing! haha I also LOVE pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and cinnamon rolls.

How do you edit your pics?
With my Hello Fashion Lightroom presets – you can get them HERE! All you need is the free Lightroom mobile app and then you purchase my presets and import them into Lightroom. I am about to launch a couple of new ones soon too! Also if you have questions about installing here is a quick youtube video on my channel here. 

Your messy bun is always on point!! Tutorial? 
Aww thanks! I have a dated video on my youtube – so here is a good start if you haven’t seen it. I am going to make a new one soon so stay tuned!  I look back on this video and my makeup is a little intense!! LOL

Did you go to college?
Yes – I graduated with my Bachelors in Fine Arts with a minor in Business 

Where did you grow up?
I have lived all over!  I was born in Bogota, Colombia and I lived in Washington DC, Port Angeles, WA (everyone knows that from Twilight!) and then went to high school in Montana. 

Do you always have a photographer take your photos? Even the ones at your house are so pretty!
No not at all! 90% of my shots are shot by someone in my family (Cody, one of the kids, my parents, sister in laws, etc) or someone that works with me.  For bigger campaigns and brand shoots sometimes we have a photographer but I always edit my own pictures now to keep a cohesive feed.

I’m looking to purchase my first designer bag…thoughts on which to purchase?
I would say the bag I wear and use the most is my Givenchy – I love both sizes . The bags that hold their value the most are Chanel for sure so it really comes down to personal preference 🙂 

How old are you?!
32 – does anyone else forget their age sometimes and when people ask you you have to stop and think about it for a second haha, I feel like this more so happens the older you get 😉

Can we be friends?! But really, will you do a meet up or something here in Utah?
Awww these type of messages make me so happy!  We did the blogger sale a couple weeks ago and had such a great turnout. We will for sure do something again soon!  I have the best followers and love getting to know you guys!! Speaking of which if you see us out and about please always say hi! I love meeting you guys and taking a pic together!

I’m so sorry if I didn’t get to your question this week!  I’m so excited to answer more next week! Also this isn’t a questions – but Pottery Barn Kids, and West Elm are both running 25% off site wide ending today. I just ordered a bunch of cute kids Christmas stuff! So if you want to save a little – enjoy some lazy day Sunday shopping 😉

XX,
Christine

The post Catch up with Christine Series appeared first on Hello Fashion.