Answering Your DM’s

I’ve gotten really behind on answering your DM’s on Instagram, so I’m doing my best to answer the most common questions here. If this is something you find helpful, let me know and we can make these a regular thing. If you have questions for me that I haven’t gotten to on the blog, please email me at [email protected]. I will compile a list and make sure to answer in them in my next Answering Your DM’s post.

1. Do your clothes come in sizes 10-12? You have cute taste but I’m not petite.

A lot of the clothes I wear are not petite. I haven’t looked to see if they come in size 10-12, but I know Nordstrom does a good job in having large range of sizes.

2. Clean makeup favorites

So far I’m loving Kosas face oil. I need to try a lot more products before I can really share my favorites. So far, not LOVING too many clean products… hoping this changes soon.

3. What business are you in? Your clothes are so expensive.

Mike (husband) and I run Crystalin Marie together (blog, social media, etc.)

4. Tips and tricks for your plants

Mike does pretty much all the plant care. We were actually getting too many real plants to take care of so we’ve recently started incorporating a lot more faux plants (I did an entire post on the best faux plants). Mike tips: make sure it’s the right lighting, check for watering at least once a week by touching the soil to see if it’s dry, don’t over water, and use filtered water.

5. Which luggage do you prefer, Calpak or Away?

Our Calpak is bigger (both still carryon size), so we rely on the Calpak more often. In general though, I would say Away is a little nicer (details and quality) than Calpak – but you see this in the price difference.

6. I love your photos. How do you edit them and what software do you use?

Thank you! I edit all my photos in Lightroom desktop. I’ve noticed a big difference between Lightroom mobile and desktop (mobile isn’t as great). I use the A6 filter in VSCO and use the white balance to correct the lighting. I always adjust the highlights, shadows, whites, and blacks as well.

7. What are good affordable white sneaker options?

I just did a post in the LTK app about this here. 

8. How do you guys deal with Harper’s tantrums, especially when you’re out in public?

Luckily we haven’t had to deal with tantrums outside of the home too often. Right now, she will lose it when we take her away from the park, but we try to draw her attention to something else and as soon as we get her into the car, she’s fine. We still uses a pacifier and that helps as well.  At home, she’s been crying when she doesn’t get her way, but she will stop after a few minutes. We always try to lure her away from the situation to do something else. We just let her have her moment and then we move on. We also make a big effort to not react to her tantrums.

9. Do you still use the soft soled Freshly Picked shoes for Harper?

Yes! Harper has small feet, so she still doesn’t fit into a lot of shoes. She will wear her Converse or Salt Water sandals, but for the most part we still use the Freshly Picked mocs. Hoping to transition out of those soon.

10. Did you find a better way to remove sunscreen?

Ha, no! Everyone said to wipe them down with wipes throughout the day before the bath. But bath every night was what most people said.

11. Do you have the details for the area rug you’re selling sine I’m not local?

Our guest bedroom rug is the Tabia rug from Lulu & Georgia. The size is 8’6” x 11’6”.

12. Favorite clips / hair binders for Harper?

We use clips and headbands from Billy Bibs and I recently got these black bands to tie her hair up.

13. Best lunch spots in Portland?

We are plant-based and don’t eat at a ton of different places. I would recommend Pine Street Market (has a bunch of vendors, so something for everyone), Bamboo Sushi, Oven & Shaker Pizza, Grassa, Verde Cocina

14. What’s the water bottle with the time on it?

The water bottle is Healthish.

15. Any petite-friendly bras or bathing suits you recommend?

You know, I don’t buy petite-friendly bras or bathing suits. But, I would check out Asos for both.

16. How did you restructure Harper’s day after the 3-4 month sleep & nap regression?

Wow, it’s so hard to remember that long ago. I had to go re-read my monthly updates to see what was going on.  The short naps killed us, but we kept with it. We kept her same schedule and were persistent and by 7 months or so she was napping really well and consistently and slept through the night consistently until this day. When she wouldn’t nap, we would either have to help her fall asleep (hold her, rock her), or I would let her be awake and try her nap after some time went by. I kept her feeding schedule the same unless she was beyond overtired and the only thing that would help her sleep would be milk. So, to answer your questions, lol, if she wouldn’t nap long and she was still tired, we would try to help her nap or I would let you stay awake for a little longer before trying a nap again.

17. How do you feel about OTK flat boots? I’m not sure how to style them.

I love OTK flat boots. In fact, I actually prefer them over knee-high flat boots. Anything OTK help elongate your legs, and as a petite, it really helps a ton. I talk about this in this post here.

18. Favorite things to do in Portland?

Go to different restaurants, stop by Blue Star donuts and coffee, beautiful parks, go down by the waterfront, rose garden – very basic, but we’re not the adventurous type.

19. I’m moving to Portland – best places to pick up furniture that won’t break the bank?

We bought pretty much all of our furniture online. I know that’s not for everyone, but with reviews, it’s gotten a lot better. We do stop into West Elm in the Pearl every so often.

20. Could you talk a little more about your IKEA closet and how you designed it?

A lot of thought and time went into designing and ordering my IKEA Pax wardrobe. I started with getting inspiration from Stephanie’s closet. But, I also had to think about what I needed each compartment, drawer for. I had to take inventory of what I had and what I was going to store and find storage solutions for that. The great thing about the Pax wardrobe system, things can be moved around when your needs change. I’ve already changed the system a handful of times.

Once you have an idea of the types of storage you need, you can start designing your wardrobe on ikea.com here. From there, you order all the pieces and you can choose whether you want to have someone from Ikea put your closet together (I think it’s $500) or you can have it delivered and you build it. We chose to build it ourselves and it took several days. Mike is really good at putting Ikea furniture together, so he thought he had it in the bag. There’s just so many pieces… he says if he would do it again, he would hire someone.

21. If you had to pick one: your rectangle leatherology bag or moon shaped Cuyana bag?

The Leatherology bag is roomier but chunkier and the Cuyana bag is more lightweight and slim. If I had to choose, I would say the Cuyana bag. I’ve noticed it’s easier to wear, I love the way it lays on my body, and it fits everything I need.

22. Do you think the APC bag is worth the $$/will it remain in style?

I absolutely love my A.P.C. bag. The brand, shape, and style are all very classic and I think it’s one of those timeless pieces. The smooth leather does get scratched though. If you’re the type of person that can’t handle getting any marks on your bag, this may not be a good option for you. I treat my bags really well and the leather has actually held up really well considering it shows every mark.

23. What is your paint color?

We have Sherwin Williams high reflective white all over the house.

24. What’s the difference in fit with the YSL and Hermes sandals?

I get this question A LOT. The Hermes sandals are very comfortable and the strap runs pretty wide (and I don’t have narrow feet). The YSL sandals run very narrow along the footbed and the strap. These take some wear before they’re comfortable… at least for me.

25. What do you use to hang your hats?

I use simple push pins.

26. Best place to get a haircut in Portland?

I get my haircut at Dosha Salon at Bridgeport. I see Olivia.

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