Shop Maker Oats Products Here

Hello!  With mine and Martin's big day coming up next year, getting fit for the wedding has become no joke.  What is it about wanting to look good for all the festivities and why is this such a thing!?  I've always generally thought about my health and been conscious of what I've ate, but this time it feels like such a challenge.  My current wedding diet isn't anything crazy, it just consists of eating meals at certain times of the day.  Getting used to this schedule is difficult considering my days are really busy and I love to forget to eat breakfast haha.  In the past, I've been successful with overnight oats as my breakfast, so I decided to give this another try.  First of all, oats are very good for you and super easy to whip up - literally just requires a container, milk and oats.  Overnight oats are such an awesome option for me because it's literally on-the-go breakfast and for a busy girl like myself, I need something hearty and available when I need it haha.

Overnight oats brand, Maker Oats, released three super delicious flavors that I got to try out and I'm already hooked.  Not only am I hooked on it's taste, but hooked on how easy it is to replenish and prepare.  I received two jars with two different flavors and a box of five bags to try out and honestly, the fact that this overnight oat brand provides jars is the raddest thing.  So far, I really like the Apple and Coconut mix because it's the perfect combination of guilt-free sweetness!  I hope to start adding fun toppings to my oats every morning, but for now, I'm just trying to get myself used to promptly eating at certain times.  I'm sure as this wedding diet progresses, I'll come up with other on-the-go options, but for now, overnight oats it is!  Chat with you guys super soon.

Xo,

Melissa Victoria

My Current Skincare Routine

Hello again!  Yesterday I posted a quick celebratory update on achieving a skincare regimen that works for me, and as promised, here it is.  First of all, skincare has always been a sore subject because at the age of 20, I experienced my first crazy outbreak.  I think I realized that my skin was finally changing and a quick wash wasn't going to do it anymore.  I tried several products, but nothing really worked for me and either caused outbreaks in new areas or gave me these awesome acne scars we all love.  Everything was simply too harsh for my skin and I grew very afraid of trying and testing new products out.  I knew to get my skin used to a routine meant having to try a product out over and over again, but I simply did not have the patience for that haha.  Along the way, I did find products that I knew FOR SURE made me break out and quickly eliminated those from the puzzle.

Defeated, I wrote down where I broke out the most, what I felt was different when I did break out (i.e. stress) and how long pimples would remain on my face.  In one last effort to resolve this myself, before heading to a dermatologist, I took another stroll down the skincare aisle at my local Target, and decided to try three Neutrogena products.  I picked up Neutrogena Naturals Fresh Cleansing + Makeup Remover, Neutrogena Naturals Acne Foaming Scrub and Neutrogena's oil free Acne Stress Control Triple-Action Toner.  One to leave makeup on the entire day, I began removing my makeup as soon as I got home.  Skin needs to breathe and I didn't realize how much I was clogging my skin with makeup -yikes!  Anyway, my skincare regimen began like this:

1.  I removed my makeup with the Fresh Cleansing + Makeup Remover. This felt extremely smooth on my skin and I really did see the difference when I washed my face off.
2. Next, I scrubbed my face with the Acne Foaming Scrub, and per the label, it is clinically proven acne medicine that treats and helps prevent breakouts.  I've read this tons of times before, but maybe I just scrubbed extra hard to get all up in there!
3. I poured a decent amount of the Triple-Action Toner over a cotton ball and rubbed it along my face until the cotton ball came back clear.  I think this was the game changer for me.  Even though I thought my face was clean after the cleanser, it still needed extra cleansing.
4. Not pictured is an Aveeno moisturizer that I use and love!  You can shop that here.

So after a few days of repeating this day and night, I really started to see a major difference.  I swear it felt like I had a new pimple somewhere on my face every single week.  I went a whole month without breaking out until I realized that it had to have been these new products.  It was actually kind of funny because one of my best friends made a comment about my skin, and that's when I realized I hadn't even broken out.  Nothing has changed since I began this regimen other than adding water to my cycle.  I know drinking water and staying hydrated is another huge piece to achieving perfect skin, so I started to be way more mindful of my H2O intake.  Anyway, my lesson here is to be patient.  I can't tell you guys how many products I went through to finally feel like I have control of my skin.  I'm not afraid to try new makeup out or add fun oils to my face either because I feel confident in my little skincare weapons.  I know everyone's skin is different, but if you are struggling to find products that could help your skin out, give these a try!  You never know, they might be what you were looking for.  Happy cleansing, loves.

Xo,

Melissa Victoria

What I Love About My Current Life

Hey there!  The last few weeks have been beyond amazing and more than what I could have ever wanted.  You guys should know that I am a God fearing woman and every single night I pray for everyone and everything before myself.  A fellow blogger friend of mine just recently brought something to my attention that really got me thinking.  Her question was, "If I asked you to list everything you loved the most, how long would it take to name yourself?"  I had to seriously stop and think about how when I'm asked this question (more than often than you'd think) I realized I have never said myself haha.  Not that I don't love or value myself, because TRUST me...this girl loves herself, but it's hard to not come off like a show off or vain, you know?  

With February here and it being the month of love, I figured this would be such an awesome opportunity to celebrate love in all forms, in my current life.  What I would love more than anything, is to come back to this blog years from now and read what I was so happy about - even if it's super silly!  Also, there is no shame in celebrating the many gifts life brings, am I right?  Okay, here's my list:

1. Health

As a professional hypochondriac, I'm happy that I am in good health and that those around me are as well.  I have a book called 'How Not To Die' and I read it a lot because I'm obsessed with not coming down with any crazy diseases, as I'm sure many of you are out there, too!  Working for a fast food chain is so hard because there's food everywhere, whenever I want it.  Let's be real for a moment, I am human and I will always want junk food.  However, I do have examples of how not to live, what not to eat and I'm very fortunate to have means of basically eating farm to table style.  Health will always be a priority to me and for now, I'm just so happy everyone around me is stable and in doing well.

2. Career

Last year taught me a lot about my career that has followed me into this new year.  Patience was and is always a virtue, especially in my work life.  I can't tell you guys how much I think about my career and how sometimes, I need to remind myself that things take time.  I did all that I could to advance myself and prepare for the future, and now that I'm basically all geared up, this whole 'gain as much experience as you can' game is what drives me bonkers.  I'm living out the prime years of my career and first of all, I'm extremely lucky to work for the company I work for and to have an abundant amount of opportunity.  In this new year, I want more and I want to push myself to reach things I was so scared of even touching or never thought could be mine.  You know that Aerosmith lyric, "dream on until your dreams come true"?  That is something I repeat to myself about ten times a day.  Nothing you do for your career is meaningless if you're learning along the way!

3. Love and Be Loved

We all need love.  Whether it's to love a pet, your parent, your sibling, a hobby, etc. we just need it.  I'm fortunate to love so many people and things, and to also be loved right back.  I say 'I love this' or 'I love that' a thousand times a day and I really feel it makes me such a passionate person haha.  Loving is so essential to even your character and the warmth of your soul, you know what I mean?  It feels good to know how much you're loved or appreciated and to be honest, I feel sad for anyone who doesn't know love or has ever experienced being loved *insert cry face here*.  Anyway, I've always been loved and I'm so grateful for that.  This last year was no exception with Martin showing me crazy love by wanting me to be his wife.  That, my friends is love because I can't imagine anyone wanting to wife this up.  In my wildest dreams, the person to lock me up would be a strong, resilient man and that is exactly what I got - so hell to yes, Martin, I'm glad life chose you for me!

4. Family, Friends and Support

My circle is gnarly and I cannot live without them.  My immediate family is small, I have many friends that are all valuable to me and on top of that, I have so many fun digital friends that follow me around on Instagram.  This last year was awesome because I hit 10K followers on Instagram and honestly, it was overwhelming.  I couldn't believe there were ten thousand people out there that didn't know me, but hit that follow button to see who and what I was about.  My plans for this weren't to grow into some kind of influencer status, and it's still not part of my plan, but Brocade Closet just continues to grow and I mean, I'm not stoppin' it!  My family is amazing because they support everything I do and are always there to guide me through life.  We do everything together and in this very moment, we're going through important changes that we wouldn't be able to handle without each other.  

Sigh.  I just feel a ton of gratitude that I can't express with words.  Everything I pray about is coming true and I can't believe this is the life I get to call mine!  I almost feel guilty for being this happy, but honestly, I'm just living in the moment and soaking it all in.  After writing this post, I feel even more gracious and think I should write myself a positive note every month.  It might be a good idea to reflect on all the positives to lift me up and remain in good spirits.  If you feel like doing the same, tag me in your posts! I'd love to celebrate YOU.

Xo,

Melissa Victoria