Oh, Hi! Maternity Photo Glam and 38 weeks Pregnant!

I have to say....prepping for maternity pics may be my favorite prep of all time. For any other photo shoot, I definitely would not have pre-gamed with a Rice Krispies Treats milkshake....and for sure wouldn't have attempted to handle my own glam.

I was truly so happy with how it all turned out, and can't wait to share photos from the shoot!  

Also...we're officially 38 weeks and 5 days pregnant and officially in the 9 day countdown until our little princess is due to make her first appearance!

I've been a little hesitant to blog about the pregnancy, maybe I'm a little superstitious and didn't realize it until now!

We feel SO lucky to have had the experience we've had so far, and I will be posting a full pregnancy / delivery / postpartum journey blog once she's here!

I've definitely hit the point where I am just SO READY to meet her, and we've tried the whole Eggplant Parmesan thing, eating pineapples and kiwi...and today we took a nice long walk and I played Dance Revolution on the Xbox ....yepp, sure did.

But looks like this kiddo is just going to show up exactly when she feels like it, regardless of how we feel....shocker!

Hopefully we will get to update soon with a birth announcement, and we'll get back to a regular schedule on here!

Until then -- 

xoxo - A

Oh, Hi! TOP FIVE THINGS You're doing that TURN YOUR MAN OFF.

We've ALL been there...you're several months into a relationship, feeling pretty sure about things.  He finally drops the L-Bomb, and you breathe a sigh of relief, which equates to "OhmyfriekingGAWD THANK YOU I can relax now and maybe not put on that fifth layer of mascara before every single da*n dinner"...

While you should ALWAYS be 100% you, 100% genuine, and represent yourself exactly as you are from the beginning of a courtship, we all know (admit it ladies) that before you've got that reassurance and comfort level in a relationship, it's like you're in a constant tizzy to make sure every little piece of hair is in place, every outfit is on point, and your naturally gorgeous, perfect cheek bone  and pouty lip equipped face might consist of just, like, an hour or two of prep.

There may be a certain level of glam that isn't practical to keep up every.single.day....but there are 5 KEY things that, if you want to keep that fire burning bright, you just can not let go...

Here they are, verified by guys, and fact checked by yours truly and countless girlfriends, in no particular order:

1. THE STUBBLE FACTOR - You've totally spoiled him by prepping for each rendezvous so far by making sure you're super smooth and totally touchable pretty much everywhere.  Then winter time hits, you're wearing pants, and figure you can let things slide for a few days. NO.NO.NO.  There's nothing worse for him than reaching across the bed to stroke your silky, umm, legs....and getting hit with sandpaper instead.  Talk about instant turn off.  We've all made out with that guy who leaves you with an unexpectedly exfoliated chin after your hot and heavy session. You think your man wants to experience that in areas a little less visible, and hello, way more sensitive? Ah-hem...nope....
   
2. THE FLAT FAUX PAS (and other wardrobe laziness) - Your outfits so far have been pretty killer...tight hot dresses and stilettos on late night dates, saucy skin baring ensembles and wedges for day time events, and slinky lingerie when you hit the sheets.  Like it or not, men are visually stimulated beings...So when their saucy little kitten all of a sudden starts rocking nothing but sweats at home, jeans and sneakers with a hoodie during the day, and OH MY GOD...FLATS on date night....don't be surprised if the steam in the bedroom follows the decline in the height of your heels. We're not saying you've got to be turned up to 10 all the time, but it's a mistake to just let it all go.  Save that for when he's out of town and it's time to Netflix and CHILL. SAME THING can be said for the makeup routine.  Again, full glam all the time isn't necessary, but how tough is it to throw on some concealer, mascara, and gloss? Just do it.
3. FILTERLESS BODY TALK - Believe it or not, your partner does not need to hear about what just happened in the bathroom, what effect your Mexican dinner of queso and bean burritos had on you, or get details about the ebb and flow of your cycle.  When it comes to what's going on with you internally, keep it to yourself, or text a girlfriend and have a good laugh.  Hell, even swap a few war stories.  The man...he doesn't need any of this info, and if you give it to him...let's just say that's not the visual you want him to be conjuring up when he's thinking about you during his day at the office.  
   
4. HYGIENE HIJINKS -  Similar to the Body Talk issue, he also shouldn't be made witness to any evidence of the issues we talked about in number 4.  Dispose of your girl garbage discreetly, use a bathroom out of ear range if possible, and DEAR GOD do not release any, umm....wind....from either end if you want to keep any feminine mystique going.  Just don't do it.
5. THE CRAZY COMES OUT -  You're chit chatting about life, having a fun little date...and then somehow the ex-factor gets brought up.  Instead of flipping out, throwing a million questions or sarcastic comments his way, or my personal favorite, going completely silent and into lockdown mode....get it together girl.  He's there with you, not anybody else.  He clearly feels comfortable enough to share with you, which is kind of killer, so don't ruin it.  Let him talk, and again, if you must flip out...text a girlfriend.  Spend an entire girl's night frieking out about it.  But don't let the CRAZY out.  We know that momentary insanity passes, and afterwards you feel pretty silly and embarrassed, not to mention you've got to rebuild your air of total security and get him back to a place where he can talk to you again...so just lock it down and move on.  SERIOUSLY.

We're NOT SAYING that you have to keep up some kind of false front to make a relationship work...but there are certain items, most importantly in our experience the ones in this list, that with a little effort can make a huge difference in the heat you keep going...

Agree? Disagree? Have something to add to the list? Comment below!

XO-A

Oh, Hi! Lip Kit By Kylie!

Oh, Hi! Lip Kit By Kylie!

Confession time.  I downloaded the Kylie Jenner app. 

And I'm NOT EVEN SORRY.

What I AM sorry about is that I deleted the darn thing before realizing that this was how she would be announcing the launch times of her ridiculously crazy in demand lip kits.

I missed the first launch, the second launch....but NOT THE THIRD!

Seeing on her Instagram that she was announcing the launch time on her app, I googled my little heart out to find a blogger (don't you just love those blogger ladies??) who had posted the launch time.

Once I had that super important piece of info, (3pm....they were re-launching at 3pm!), I set my phone alarm, and logged on to the site 5 mins early...then kept on clicking away trying to get that KOKO K lip kit in my shopping cart!

EXACTLY at 3pm, the page reloaded, I entered my payment info, and BAM! my lip kit was on the way!

No more than 4 days later, my package arrived, and I am THRILLED with this product!

The packaging was SUPER fun, not overdone, but still cute and totally keeps the branding on point!

I've been using the liner and the color each time I've worn it so far, and they blend seamlessly together, dry super fast, and have the most perfect matte finish without making your lips look or feel dried out.

I also experimented with throwing a little GLAMGLOW Plumprageous Lip Treatment on top, which didn't mess with the color's staying power at all but gave my lips a little moisture and tingle halfway through the day.

The first night wearing the Lip Kit By Kylie, we went for dinner at Seven Lamps in Buckhead (more on that later kiddos), went to see a movie, and stopped for a little Fro-Yo afterwards.

That said, the color stayed totally true and consistent through the whole evening and when we made it home, looked like I had just applied it!  WINNER! 

I've tried SO MANY "long lasting" lip colors that end up either cracking because they turn into a weird shellac, beading up and looking like dry skin, wearing off in weird spots...you get the picture.

This stuff doesn't go ANYWHERE and the color is beyond perfect for a natural, pretty, saucy nude.

I wore it again today ALL DAY while at the restaurant, and again, made it all day looking fab!

I'm giving this stuff FIVE STARS all the way... (cost and quality are EXACTLY what they should be, heck, I'd pay more!) ... and will be devising a strategy to be able to order multiples and more colors at the next re-launch!

Thank you to the Kylie Cosmetics team for such a fantastic product!

xoxo-A

Oh, Hi! Kardashley Makeup Tutorials !

Oh, Hi! Kardashley Makeup Tutorials!




So...we kind of have a MAH-JOR girl crush on Ashley Iaconetti, and you should too.  Ashley was our favorite part of watching The Bachelor this season just to see what she would wear...what she would do with her makeup...and to cheer on a fellow brunette, Kardashian beauty obsessed, Forever 21 dabbling fabulous 20 something girl that OWNED her melodrama.
She has this super fun blog, Duchess Kimberly, and has started posting makeup tutorials....which we, are of course, LOVING. SO WE HAD to share them with you!!!  We are even so on board with the fact that she is not rocking a preset, perfectly lit, professionally video'd set-up.... #keepingitrealandstillsoOhHiMaintenance
She's gotten us totally hooked on using the Maybelline Dream Mousse foundation as a concealer and now even as a great contour assistant...and we LOVE that she's a real girl just doing her thing.
Thanks Ashley I. ... a.k.a. Kardashley, for being YOU and never apologizing for it.  We just love you over here at Oh, Hi Maintenance!


The first two videos are tutorials...and the last three are super fun because she's showing the blogger from Possessionista trying to follow along.  #LOVE


xoxo-
A