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Love, Love, Love…..

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“Hi everyone! First off, thank you from the bottom of my heart to all the Veterans out there for your service and sacrifice! We will be forever grateful. Happy Veteran’s day!!! Secondly, I’ll be logging off for the weekend to let the events of this week sink in and give myself some time to process everything. A central theme of my blog is embracing diversity in the makeup industry. But outside of my blog- diversity, inclusion, and showing compassion for everyone regardless of their background is something that I take very seriously and that I’m extremely passionate about every day. I’m taking the weekend off to spend some much needed quality time with people that I love. ?
Be kind, show empathy, spread some love and have a great weekend!”

I wrote this last Friday while my boyfriend and I were on our way to visit my little sister. At that moment, I was feeling a little down and I’ll admit that I let myself drown in my thoughts, sadness, and anger for a couple days.  Sometimes all it takes to ease a burdened mind and a heavy heart is some quality time with your loved ones, fresh beach air, California sunshine, and a break from reading posts on social media. Oh yeah, and wine… can’t forget the wine! All these things don’t solve everything, but it definitely helps to feel and give a little love and light.

Here are some suggestions on how to spread some happiness today!

  • Hold the door open for a stranger
  • Smile at anyone and everyone
  • Leave positive comments on someone’s blog or Instagram
  • Compliment someone!
  • Text/reach out to someone you haven’t talked to in a while
  • Assume positive intent in people… this one is harder said than done
  • If you see someone who seems sad or having a hard time with something, offer some support
  • Do something to make yourself happy too! Go shopping, treat yourself, relax, write, sing, dance, laugh… whatever makes you feel good!

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What I’ve Learned from Being a Big Sister

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This post is very near and dear to my heart because it’s about my one and only BABY sister, Marci, who just turned 21 years old on Halloween this year. Ok ok, 21 is hardly baby age, but she’ll always be a baby to me!

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I felt like one minute I was giving my little baby sister makeovers (like this dalmatian look you see right here), and then I blinked and all the sudden she turned into this gorgeous, smart, hilarious, witty GROWN UP who I go to for literally everything..whether it be advice about my career, personal life, my blog, ANYTHING. Somehow, my younger sister has taken the role of older sister and taken care of me in more ways than she’ll ever know.

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Not only has she been one of the very most important people in my life since I was six years old, she has been an incredible influence on this blog. She is my social media adviser… almost all pictures and posts get her approval first! She keeps me up to date on young people lingo… for example when she had to explain to me what “on fleek” meant.

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3 out of the many things I’ve learned while being her big sister….

How to truly care about someone else. I can definitely relate to Katniss Everdeen when she volunteered herself as tribute in place of her little sister- because there is no doubt in my mind that I would do the same for Marci. We’re 6 years apart so our age gap has been significant for most of our lives and that has always made me protective of her. I constantly worry about her well-being, get nervous for her during her first day of school, always hope that she makes the right decisions in life, etc. And every time I’ve been nervous about her, she’s proven she can totally handle it and that I had nothing to worry about!

Patience.  My sister and I are 6 years apart. I grew up watching my friends with their siblings who were super close in age laugh and play with each other and I remember being so excited to finally have a relationship like that with my baby sister. I quickly found out at 6 years old that new born babies don’t really do much at all. I remember one time, I literally sat around next to her crib and told myself that I would “sit right here and wait until she’s old enough to actually play with me”.  Hence- patience!

How to be a grown up. Marci gives me the best advice and has no problem telling me how it is. Her most recent gem of advice that has super stuck with me was “stop wearing yoga pants and Hello Kitty shirts everyday and get your life together!”

Overall…. She is a constant reminder that family always comes first and how amazing it is to have someone to love and care about you as much as you love and care about them.

What I can promise her as her big sister: I will always be there for her no matter what.  No matter how much we bicker or fight like sisters tend to do! Anytime she needs me, I will literally drop ANYTHING for her!!

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I will always love and care for her (this includes being extra protective-can’t help it sorry!!)

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Marci-pie, I love you with all my heart, always have, always will!!!

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One of my biggest supporters has no interest in makeup!

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This post is going to be a little different than my previous posts… it’ll give you a peak into my life outside of makeup and swatching!

Did you know that one of the biggest supporters of Beyond the Swatch has absolutely zero interest in makeup??

This person is none other than my wonderful and ever supportive boyfriend, Chris!! In honor of his birthday this past week, I wanted to take a second to recognize and thank him for everything he’s done to support my blog! 🙂

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Some of the many ways Chris has supported Beyond the Swatch!

  • When I first told him I wanted to start a makeup blog, he spent hours listening to my ideas, asking me questions, helping me map out my thoughts, and come up with ways to make my ideas better
  • He helped me research what type of camera and laptop is most recommended for an inspiring blogger
  • He researched how to build a photobox and built one for me to use
  • He is behind the scenes of almost every photo I take, helping me frame the picture, hold up a lamp so I can get the lighting just right, or by taking the pictures himself (here’s his hand, helping organize my makeup products for an instagram post!)

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  • He lets me talk endlessly about makeup and actively shows interest even though I know most of what I’m saying goes right over his handsome head 🙂
  • Anytime I doubt myself and have a million reasons why my ideas won’t work or that my dreams are stupid, he reassures me and counters my fears and encourages me to keep going
  • A blog post doesn’t get published until he’s proofread what I’ve written or listened to me read it outloud. Nothing makes my day more than when I’m reading one of my posts to him and I see him smile out of the corner of my eye or laugh at certain parts of the post
  • He is completely supportive/understanding when I randomly get the urge to swatch makeup i.e. at a baseball game, date night, vacation, literally anywhere
  • He patiently waits for me when I spend “just a couple minutes” in the makeup department 😉

In these ways, and so many more, Chris has been a huge motivation to starting this blog and to keep it going!

Chris and I have a lot of similar hobbies/obsessions (for example: Walking Dead, Pop Figures, Bob’s Burgers, puppies, turtles, and football).

It’s important to share some of the same interests with your partner, but to find someone who takes interest in something you love simply because they know how much it means to you, is pretty amazing. I feel so lucky every day that Chris invests and supports my dreams, no matter how big or small. 

So I challenge all of you today to take some interest in your loved one’s hobbies and passions, whether it’s blogging, makeup, starting their own business, football, knitting, reading, dancing, collecting spoons, art, traveling, music and even Pokemon Go! 

  • Ask them a question to learn about whatever it is that they are passionate about and actively listen to what they say
  • Spend time with them doing their hobby and trying it out for yourself
  • Do a little research on whatever topic they’re interested in, and spark a conversation based on what you’ve learned
  • Compliment something they’ve created or worked on lately
  • Get them a simple gift that shows your support
  • Speak highly of their dreams/ideas/hobbies with other people
  • Just show up! (to their games, performances, etc)
  • Know that you don’t have to fully understand or grasp why they enjoy what they’re doing, but just let them enjoy what they love!

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