Happy Sunday! It’s time for another Ask Sabrina roundup! You guys asked so many great questions in my last poll on the blog and Instagram, I think I’ve got a long enough list to keep this series going for the next few months!
Here are 10 more questions I’m going to answer today. As always, if you’re curious about a profile, my background, etc., you can always click on the “Ask SABRINA” category to read past posts!
Even though many of you have been with me since the beginning (i.e. before I showed my face to the world), there are still many new readers who would like to know more about how I started my blog, becoming a beauty influencer / Bloggers, why we moved to Florida and more. All of these have been answered in past “Ask Sabrina” posts, but I’ll elaborate on some of them since many of you have follow-up questions.
1. Can you tell us more about your upcoming actions? Why did you move again? How do you decide between San Diego or Miami?
Andrew and I love to explore, and our jobs allow us the flexibility to do just that! San Diego is still my home. I have family and friends there, although many have moved away over the past decade. A lot of our friends moved from San Diego to bigger cities like Los Angeles or San Francisco for more job opportunities. Also, when the pandemic hit and everything shut down, many of our friends moved across states to be closer to family.
We may be moving back to San Diego due to Andrew’s job and my family being there. But now our hearts are set in Miami for our next adventure. We are exploring our options and are taking the time to explore both options.
For our move to Miami, I’ve always wanted to live in a big city and we both love everything Miami has to offer. It’s much bigger than Tampa, and whenever we travel to Miami we’re always sad to leave. We still love Tampa/St. Pete, but we’re ready for a change, six years here.
Who knows? We’ll probably be back in a year or so! Many readers have told me they have locations on both coasts. They travel back and forth depending on the vibe they want. Tampa/St. Pete is more casual and laid-back, while Miami is busier and more dynamic.
2. Have you ever regretted leaving your 9-to-5 job? Do you think your financial education and background have helped you in your blogging career today?
I have zero regrets about leaving the corporate world. When I quit my corporate job to blog full time, almost everyone told me I would regret it. I was really sad when I decided to leave. This is the first company I’ve worked for that has a great workplace culture and environment. I really like the team and management I work with. Still, I felt limited in what I could do and how I could grow. I was eventually expected to be promoted to a management position, but managing people was not my thing at all. The transition from working in a large company to working alone was quite a shock to me. It took me a while to get used to, but I don’t regret it one bit.
All my experiences have served me in some way. I do think my education has helped in many ways. I don’t know if it matters to me now, but I’m glad I went through it.
3. What’s your favorite concealer lately?
I still swear by the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer, but today there are so many great new options. Two of my favorites right now are Natasha Denona Hy-Glam Concealer and Givenchy Prisme Libre Concealer. I also really like YSL Touche Eclat (best for brightening) and Armani Luminous Silk Concealer (a forever classic).
For blending, I usually use BeautyBlender, but my 2 favorite brushes are the Real Techniques 210 Brush and the Hourglass Vanish Concealer Brush.
4. Is there a beauty product that you wish existed but didn’t?
I really love the Chanel makeup machine from the movie The Fifth Element. Instantly looks like Chanel too? Sign me up! For something more realistic, I really like that Chanel is bringing back one of their discontinued best colors (i.e. nude lip liner, shell or luminous gloss, or any gloss really).
5. Best wedding lipstick?
This is a great question for me! I would love to do a poll on what lipstick you wear to your wedding because Andrew and I don’t have lipstick. We got married in a San Diego courthouse because planning a wedding was so difficult. Andrew proposed when we were both in grad school. We’ve been dating for almost 7 years and know we’re ready, but going to school is time consuming for both of us. We have such a busy schedule, I feel like we haven’t seen each other for three years!
We had planned to have a big ceremony a year after graduation when we would have more time to plan and enjoy it all. But by the end of the year, we were so happily married that we didn’t feel we needed a big wedding and decided to save the money for a future honeymoon.
For the weddings I’ve been to, I can’t actually remember any beauty products I’ve used, but I think lipstick is usually a Tom Ford or Chanel thing. What I remember is actually the ceremony or being there for loved ones, not the clothes I wore. It’s been ages since we’ve been to a wedding – most of our friends have kids now!
6. What is your favorite guilt?
Put down anything sweet. I love Jeni’s ice cream and Trader Joe’s pancake bread. I also like the Swedish Fish and Haribo Fudge.
7. Do you like to cook or bake? What’s your favorite food?
Yes, I love baking and cooking! I used to work and assist with cooking classes at Williams and Sonoma. But I had to stop baking because it was very unhealthy.
When we moved to Florida, we both started cooking a lot in order to eat healthier, but now I actually don’t cook much. Andrew wanted to find a way to help reduce the amount of time I spend cooking, so we’ve been experimenting with some meal planning. If you want an overview or advice, I can definitely share them. Finding a food we both like was a challenge because I’m a super picky eater. We’ve tried a lot!
8. What are the habits you develop in your daily life?
Both Andrew and I have gone the extra mile to improve our health and wellness and it has made a huge difference in our lives. We don’t always eat healthy, we still love to indulge, but we make a huge effort to reduce our sugar intake and we’ve never felt better! This was a challenge for me due to my sweet tooth, but we do try to eat it in moderation.
9. You were stranded on a desert island, what 5 beauty products would you want to take with you?
This question always makes me laugh because I have follow up questions! am i alone Who else is there? Can I escape or leave this island? If I was alone, I probably wouldn’t really care about beauty products and would rather want something to get me off that island!
But I can’t live without a tub or shower, so I want a lifetime supply of good body wash (if I had to have just one, I’d steal Andrew’s Jack Black Turbo Cleanse since it doubles as a shampoo) and facial cleanser (probably First Aid Beauty Pure Skin Cleanser). Sun Protection In this case, I use Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protection Emulsion Sunscreen. Natural deodorant because even if I’m alone, I don’t want to smell bad. A nice lip balm, I think Vaseline Lip Balm Cocoa Butter would be my choice. Also, I might cheat and ask permission to use a sixth product, which is a really good hairbrush.
10. Pet Supplies! I combine 2 into 1. What shampoo and grooming products does Ollie use? Do Ollie and Kitty get along well?
We started with Earthbath Oatmeal & Aloe Fragrance Free because that’s what we’ve been using on Jack and Lucy for over a decade. Since then, we’ve started using Ouai Pet Shampoo because it smells so good (available at Sephora and Ulta). We use these two brands interchangeably.
I did smell Aesop pet shampoo but thought it was too strong so I didn’t buy it. I can imagine myself using it, but I think it’s too big for Ollie’s nose. Let me know if you try it on your pets!
Ollie still hates baths so we bathe him in the shower he can tolerate.
Yes, Ollie and Kitty get along really well. They don’t snuggle together, but they actually play together now and chase each other. Sometimes cats will start playtime with a playful pat. It’s so cute.
This wraps up this week’s Ask Sabrina series! If you’d like to share your wedding lipsticks in the comments, I’m sure future brides would really appreciate hearing what your favorites are! I’m also taking a poll on Instagram this week and sharing the results in the next “Ask Sabrina” series.
