Hey y'all

Hello!  We are Melanie (red hair) and Courtney (poop brown hair, yep that's right, I said the word poop) and we are so excited to be starting this blog of ours!  Both of us have been blogging for a while, but decided to do it in sister style.

Hello, I'm Courtney and I'm the second oldest of four kids and am the only brunette child in the family.  All three of my siblings have Ariel red hair.  Growing up I would sometimes feel jealous because complete strangers would come up to our family and tell my parents what beautiful red headed children and wouldn't say anything to me :( I know pity me.

As a young child my parents would describe me as a "loose canon on a ship."  This explains my high energy, outgoing, and very determined personality.   I've lived in Utah all of my life and currently live in suburbia of Salt Lake City with my husband McKay and my baby Amelia.  She is my love and joy in life and is a xerox copy of her daddy.

Melanie and I have been really close all of our lives.  I do remember hating her for a short period of time when we were young, because I didn't like it how she would get mad at me for stealing her clothes.  When we were in college, we lived in the same town and had a lot of good times like scooter rides to J-Dawgs,  BBQ's at the house next door, shopping, hanging out, and talking about our wishes and dreams.  We even worked at the same company together where I would prank call her a lot and loved taking longer than usual restroom breaks with her.

We were raised by parents who taught us to work hard and make something out of ourselves.  I remember having a job at the age of 12 with my sisters where we delivered the newspaper everyday for FIVE years, thanks to my parents persistence!  I used to drive a little goped with my newspapers wrapped around my body and did this in the sleet and snow.  So all of my life I felt like I needed to contribute to society in some way.  When I had Amelia I thought I was making the hardest decision in my life by leaving my good job to stay home with my baby.  I knew all of my life I wanted to be a SAHM but when it was time to do it, it was a lot harder.  Fast forward to now and its been greatest blessing in my life.  I'm finally doing what I love to do being a homemaker, surrounding my life with beauty, and inspiring others!      

Hello, I'm Melanie, and I'm the oldest in the family.  As you can see, we grew up with some fun times and amazing hair bows-thanks mom for always dressing us cute!  I'm still a fan of a good polka dot outfit today.  

Nowadays, I live in the deep south of Birmingham, Alabama.  My husband Andrew moved us here for his medical residency, and we have been here almost a year.  I never thought I would say this, but in some ways I think I was made to be a southern gal!  I relate to the warm and welcoming hospitality of the sweet people that live here.  They are so close to God, and so very friendly.  Our mom always taught us how to be hospitable, and gracious hostesses, as she would often invite complete strangers over for dinner.  I guess that's why even though I have been so very far from home-in some ways I have felt very much at home here.

I work as a makeup artist and have been doing so for a decade.  I have always loved the color and glamour of makeup.  I remember being 7 years old and begging my mom for a "makeup kit" in a magazine.  I saved my chore money for months to get that makeup kit.  When I was in junior high and high school I was just discovering makeup, and learning that the same colors my mom, a brunette, used, would not work for me, a redhead.  I read everything I could get my hands on, and the book that I studied over and over was called Teenage Beauty, written by Bobbi Brown.  It was where I finally found advice for someone with my skin tone, and I made it my mission to read anything and everything about makeup.

In college, I majored in public relations.  But after graduation, I realized I never felt the same passion for it as I did for makeup artistry.  

I want to share things I find inspiring or beautiful and all these new southern quirks and charms I'm learning with y'all! (yes, it took a few months, but now I say it too)