Birthday Glamping

I hit the big 3-0 milestone a few weeks ago and to celebrate, my family took me to the Cape Cod Camp Resort in Falmouth. It is truly more of a resort than a campground. There are 3 pools, a hot tub, a lake with boat rentals, a cafe and wi-fi.

We stayed in the "Glamping" area which included paved sites, large picnic tables and stone fire pits. There are walkways from the picnic tables to the fire pits that are paved with shells, how very Cape Cod!

The grounds are beautifully manicured and well-kept. Everywhere you looked there were enormous rhododendrons in bloom. 

On Saturday we headed to Woods Hole for the afternoon. Our first stop was to the Woods Hole Science Aquarium. It's a free public aquarium that features 140 species of marine animals including an outdoor Seal habitat. The aquarium is small but there were truly a lot of exhibits and tanks to look at. You can also go behind the scenes to the work area behind the tanks to see the staff tending to the animals. Everyone there is very friendly and will answer questions.

After the Aquarium we walked around a bit and stopped for lunch at the Fishmonger Cafe. It was a cozy little spot that is actually on stilts and overlooks the drawbridge passageway.  The food and drinks were tasty and we enjoyed the great view!

Walking back to the car, we stumbled upon this gorgeous little spot, the Angelus Bell Tower and Mary Garden. It's located across from St. Joseph's church overlooking Eel pond (the harbor on the other side of the drawbridge). In reading about the garden, this is said to be the first U.S. Mary Garden: a garden dedicated to Mary where plants named after her surround her statue. It was like a secret garden located behind 6 ft tall hedges. The view of the harbor was amazing, this would be the perfect spot for a small wedding ceremony!

Saturday night we went to dinner at one of my favorite Falmouth spots, Liam McGuire's. It's a lively Irish pub with live music and delicious food. When we got back to the camp I was presented with this glorious cupcake cake from Cupcake Charlie's. It tasted as good as it looks!

My go-to MAC products

One of my all-time favorite makeup brands is MAC cosmetics. MAC carries high-end makeup artist quality products at reasonable prices. They also have color and product selections that can't be beat. They carry everything from foundation to brushes and everything in between. To go to a counter or store can even be a little intimidating at times because the selection is just so vast. Since I've tried a lot of their products, I thought I'd share a roundup of my go-to MAC staple items:

Lipstick

One of the most iconic and raved about MAC product is their lipstick. I have an ever growing collection that you can read more about here. They offer just about every shade and finish you can think of, which is what makes them so popular. I recently dug through my lipstick stash and pulled out some of my favorite summer brights including this shade, Pink Nouveau. Its a blue-based, cotton candy pink. Blue-based pinks and reds are great because they make you teeth appear whiter, which is always a plus.

Mineralize Skinfinish

MAC describes these powders as "luxurious and velvet-soft with a high frost finish." My favorite way to use them is to highlight my cheeks and brow bones. All of the MSF's have a marble swirl throughout the product. They are really beautiful to look at. The texture is soft and finely milled. There are six shades in MAC's permanent line but they are constantly releasing new shades in their limited edition collections. This one is Perfect Topping, a pale peach highlight with lavender marble.

Mineralize Skinfinish Natural

This is a baked mineral setting powder that provides a natural, matte finish. This is honestly the most natural setting powder I own. It is not powdery at all and really leaves my skin looking like skin. MAC touts this as a setting powder but in the past I've actually used this as a powder foundation and it worked great! It is also one of my favorites to bring in my purse for an on-the-go touch up. The shade I use is medium. They've re-done the packaging for this and it now contains a mirror, this is the old packaging.

Blush

Like MAC lipsticks, their blush comes in a vast array of finishes and colors. There are over 30 shades in the regular line. All of the blushes are soft and finely milled, making them easy to use. They are also long-wearing. If I apply it in the morning I can still see the flush on my cheeks when I get home from work. This shade is Lovecloud, a bright mid-toned pink. This is a great color to give you that natural, healthy flush.

Pro Longwear Concealer

This is a great full coverage concealer. It works for me both under the eyes and to cover blemishes and dark spots on my face. Even though this is full coverage it feels very lightweight when applied and a little goes a long way. I only need 1 pump for under my eyes and there will be some left over if I have any spots to cover. It dries to a natural matte finish. My shade is NC20.


These are the products that are not only my favorite but they are the ones I go back to and if I run out, I always repurchase. Do you have any MAC go-tos?