wine down wednesday
Wine Down Wednesday is a weekly post where we answer your questions! Since it's week number 1 of Wine Down Wednesday, we thought it would be fun to have the boys ask us questions (okay-- we'd be lying if we didn't tell you that we didn't help them!)
Where did the name of your blog come from?
Pretty Girl Parade originated back at Karissa's bachelorette party. We were walking down the street when a man yelled out of his car "what is this? the pretty girl parade?" and the rest is history.
How did you meet and decide to start a blog together?
We met in college at Otterbein University - our boys were/are inseparable so we began hanging out all the time. We are always discussing current trends with home decor and clothing every time we see each other. With our mutual love of reading blogs and constantly getting questioned where we bought things, we decided to make a blog to share!
What is your nightly skincare routine?
Karissa: I use Garnier Micellar Water (on a cotton pad) to get my make up off - my face feels clean after use and it is light on my skin . Then I use a facial moisturizer, currently I'm loving Borage Facial lotion - my skin is pretty dry year round and this seems to really help.
Sam: As soon as I get home from work I use a makeup wipe to remove all my makeup before walking the dog/working out (I love Burt's Bees). Then later before bed I use a retinol cream which has been a game changer for me. I used to break out around my chin at least once a month and regular use of retinol has halted that and smoothed out the lines in my forehead. I love this one and this one. Read more about retinol benefits here. Then I lock that in with a moisturizer or serum, I love this Fresh gel cream from Sephora.
What are some of your favorite recipes and where do you get them?
Sam: Pinterest is where I store almost all of my recipes. When I go to make my meal plan each week I just look to see what I pinned to my Pinterest board. My favorites are Pinch of Yum, Damn Delicious, Half Baked Harvest, and Eat Yourself Skinny. When I don't have time to make a recipe or if I am out of ingredients I stick to grilling fish and veggies over homemade Uncle Ben's rice packs (hack for this here).
All time favorite recipes are Magic Green Sauce, Tex Mex Pasta and this mac and cheese.
Karissa: I am definitely not the best cook in the world and it's hard for me to motivate myself to cook, but when I do I love easy recipes that have few ingredients. A lot of my favorite recipes are from Skinny Taste - they are all pretty healthy and easy to follow- plus super delicious. I also love Cooking Light magazine and obviously Pinterest!
What are you currently binge watching?
Karissa: I'm currently watching the newest season of Shameless. I started it last summer and season 7 is now on Netflix and I cannot hold myself back! I also really love the TV Land show - Younger, it's funny and with 30 minute episodes you can watch a lot in one day ;)
Sam: I started The Keepers last night and it is insane! Zach and I are re-watching the last season of Game of Thrones to prep for the new season on Sunday. I'm also currently loving The Handmaids Tale and the new season of Orange is the New Black. Check out the documentary What the Health - it will change the way you think about a lot of foods you thought were "healthy."
Where did you register for your weddings? Since you both bought your first homes before your wedding what types of things did you register for?
Karissa: Bradley and I registered strictly at Macys- we tried to register at more than one place but just got stressed out trying to decide what to get from what store. Plus, Macys has great rewards with their registry program (you get money back based on a percentage gifts purchased and you get discounts on the items that were not purchased off your registry). We knew we would need a lot of stuff for our house because we were still using stuff from college, so we registered for a lot of the basics, such as: dishes, towels, bedding, pots and pans, and silverware. We love all our gifts and love having people over so we can actually use it all.
Sam: I had lived on my own for 3 years while Zach was in grad school so I accumulated a ton of kitchen and housing items over time. We will be in our house for 6 months before our wedding so we decided to register at Amazon to expand our options to everything from kettle bells for the gym to a leaf blower for the fall. I wanted to register at Home Depot but apparently that is not possible! We also registered at our favorite home goods store, Crate & Barrel, to get a nice set of plates, silverware, towels and so forth.
What trends are you loving for summer?
Karissa: I feel like you can never go wrong with stripes in the summer! I also love the block heel trend - they are so easy to walk in and I love that they're usually a good heel height (not too high) for everyday wear.
Sam: Wide leg dress pants are hot right now and I need to get a nice pair for work. Wearing white with ivory has taken some getting used to but I think it looks extremely classy. I am also loving the mule/slipper shoe trend - You'll catch me wearing them to work at least 3 days a week and they are easy to dress up for the evening. One trend I am not loving is corsets over button up shirts.
Have a question for next weeks Wine Down Wednesday? Email us at prettygirlparade@gmail.com or comment below!
