Charleston is always lovely, but Charleston in the spring has to be one of the loveliest places on the planet. Since the Holy City is just over a four hour’s drive from us, we try to take a weekend trip every other year. (We would love to go more often, but CHS accommodations are $$$, and there are so many places to explore!) This year, we made our trip the last hurrah of my maternity leave so that only one of us had to take a day off work. We were curious to see how a road trip with our girl would go, and I’d say she did just about as well as we expected. Here’s a little recap! We left around 8:15 on Saturday morning, after June woke up and had breakfast. We ended up stopping twice on the drive down to feed her (in the car). The second time was just a half an hour outside of Charleston, so we probably could have pressed on, but that timing meant that she was full and happy by the time we hit the stop-and-go of downtown. We parked in the metered lot by Zero George and had a late lunch at Cru Cafe – yummy shoestring fries! It is tiny, so be prepared to wait. After lunch we drove to our hotel (The Mills House) and checked in. We ended up making our reservation super last minute (two days before we left!) on Priceline, and got it for $175 a night, which I thought was a great deal for being right downtown. We really wanted to be within walking distance to everything so we could just take June in the stroller. Plus, The Mills House is pink! :) It’s no surprise Charleston is one of my favorite destinations, because it’s

First things first: the Minted giveaway winner has been posted! Now, out of the hundreds of posts I’ve written on Em for Marvelous, probably fewer than five discuss makeup. This is for a couple reasons. First, I am nowhere near an expert on the topic, and it’s not something I spend a lot of time thinking about or experimenting with. Second, I still think I’m on the hunt for my ideal products, so I don’t really feel as though I’m in a position to make recommendations. But. In April, I posted about wanting to try Josie Maran’s Argan Oil Daily Moisturizer. I ended up buying the travel size, used it every day since, and then — the ultimate test — repurchased in September (the larger size!). I knew this lotion was special from the first day I tried it, but I didn’t want to recommend it until it passed the ultimate test :) Everyone’s skin is different, so I have no idea if you’ll have a good experience if you try this lotion. But, if your skin sounds like mine, I’d say give it a shot! Before I tried Josie Maran, my face would be slick by the middle of the day — but then dry, sometimes, too! The JM moisturizer has made my skin drastically less shiny, and I think it’s improved my complexion a bit, too (the star ingredient, argan oil, is touted as skin-repairing and damage-reversing, for what it’s worth). And, as a huge stickler for sunscreen, I’m so happy it has SPF 40! In case you try it, I use 3 pumps in the morning and 3 at night. It does take some rubbing in, but once it’s absorbed, there’s no white cast, which I’ve heard can be an issue with some zinc oxide sunscreens.