Friday Five : Peonies + graduation edition

         Happy Friday! This week's been a busy one, filled with family, flowers, and great food! My family trekked all the way from the East coast to attend my graduation. It's not often I get to hang out with them, so it was a real treat. In addition to graduation festivities, I dragged them to yoga, rock climbing, and a brief foodie tour of Chicago. (By the way, it's always a good week when dinner at Piccolo Sogno is on the schedule). 

        For this edition of Friday Five, I'm sharing a five things I've been enjoying this week:

I love garden-grown peonies! They have this organic feel that you just don't get from in-store bouquets!

1. Graduation 
I'm graduating for what (most likely) will be the last time! I can't tell you how amazing it feels to finally finish eight years of graduate school and now graduate with my second doctoral degree. It was even more special because my dad was able to give me my doctoral hood during the ceremony. I'm so thankful for the opportunity (after all, it's what brought me to Chicago), and can't wait to see what's ahead! At this point, it looks like I'll stay in Chicago one more year before moving on to new adventures!

Really loved this graduation cap - I'd have to say it's a pretty flattering shape!

2. Home-grown peonies
For graduation, my mom brought this enormous, amazing bouquet of peonies grown in her garden. I wish I'd taken a photo at the time - the mix of white, pink, and dark pink peonies in all stages of blooming was really a sight to see! Most of the blooms have since wilted, but I have a small vase with baby blooms left to enjoy (see below!)

By the way, I love the fact that Kate Spade makes phone cases for Samsung Galaxy models as well. This one is too cute!

3. My basic beauty routine, updated
After making-do with products in my current stash, it feels nice to get a small update! I'm loving my bottle of CHANEL Perfection Lumière in B30 (most of the year, I'm a B20). It looks so natural against my current tan; I don't know what took me so long to take the plunge! I think I may have to pick up my favorite CHANEL Double Perfection Lumière in B30 now as well. (CHANEL foundations to cost a small fortune, so it is a little painful to have to stock my collection with so many...). NARS Larger Than Life Volumizing Mascara is still my long-time favorite. One tube lasts me forever, however I think it's time for a new one. In terms of blush, I'm loving my new Bobbi Brown blushes in Nude Pink and Pastel Pink (reviewed here). When it comes to tan skin, I find that more pigmented blushes are appropriate - and these blushes have been great options for me.

4. Kakao talk
I spend so much time on social media for blog purposes, that often I'm slow about using my personal accounts for personal purposes! I really need to be better about keeping in touch with friends and family. One step in a positive direction has been downloading Kakao talk onto my phone. It's a cute messenging system commonly used by Koreans that's been around for some time now. It's so nice to finally get this; now I can chat with my mom and aunts anytime!

Some of my current beauty favorites. You'll probably recognize that a couple of these seem to appear on Cute and Mundane time and time again!

5. Incoming skincare + swimwear
It's only a matter of days before I leave my current vacation-like schedule and go back to work (eek). I'm trying to pick up anything I might need before that time comes, as I won't have much time for shopping (online or otherwise)! A shipment of my favorite Avène skincare is on it's way. I was lucky to find a deal for 20% off, so I ordered my favorite Avène Cleanance cleanser (reviewed here), as well as new masks and a moisturizer that I'll be trying for the first time.

I've really been all about fitness lately. (I guess my New Year's resolutions kind of stuck this year!) I've been doing a near daily combination of bouldering and yoga at Brooklyn Boulders, and have seen some pretty gratifying results. Soon, my schedule will prevent daily visits, so I'm hoping to pick up new ways to stay fit. I'd been wanting to get back to swimming for some time, however I just don't have the suit for it! On one hand, I don't feel like squeezing into competition suits anymore and on the other, my two piece beach wear collection is hardly suited to training. I just placed an order for a cute Nike two-piece which I'm hoping will be a nice in-between.

Mom's home-grown peonies, up close and personal!

          Thanks for reading this little life update! How have you been? What are you loving lately?

Love, Dovey.