I Cut SIX Inches Off My Hair

TGIF! Can I say that now? Technically I have a job...

I may have today off already, but still I'm happy it's Friday. Actually, I'll be happy when it's next Wednesday. Tomorrow I have to volunteer in the morning, baby shower in the afternoon, shoot to Pensacola to sign our FIRST set of tenants, tie up loose ends at the house, back to Enterprise to attend meetings Monday morning, more volunteering, work, and then a HUGE community service event Tuesday. I. Can't. Wait. For. Wednesday.

Okay, so normally I wouldn't be due for a haircut until um...May or something because I'm cheap I just don't care to get my hair cut often. However, due to the current climate of my life, my hair has grown like Kudzu vine. As such, it doesn't look like I cut 6 inches off, but it is the shortest it has been in years and I think I like it.

Other than busy {as usual} and lopping my hair off, we have found our tenants and will hopefully have the paperwork finalized in time for March 1st rent (whoopwhoop), I FINALLY ordered the free pair of Ariat boots I won several months ago, and CQB is now about 13oz. I still don't feel pregnant in spite of the itty bitty baby bump, but I do get more excited by the day. Homegirl is taking over our lives, and I'm completely okay with that. ;)

In closing, I'm ecstatic that The Voice is back on. It's one of the very few shows that I actually look forward to, and it leaves me with a perma-smile every time. The raw talent, the ambition, the camaraderie, and watching the coaches humbled by these newbs gets me every time. I always catch myself still as a statue, mouth wide open, and a huge goofy grin to boot while I watch. If you've never watched it- you are missing out!

Ugh...I Feel Like A Cow!

A ChikFilA cow, that is! I have wanted to participate in #Cowappreciationday for years, and I finally got to. I ended up going all by my lonesome, but that sure wasn't going to stop me. I grabbed an old top from my donation pile, sharpie'd on spots and udders, and a cow was born. It was a little strange walking around as a cow, but it was TOTALLY worth the effort. I got a chicken wrap, side salad, and a lemonade FO'FREE.

From there, it was time to get my hair did, and that went pretty well too. {She didn't wash it, so don't judge my three-day hair.} I like this chick because I showed her pictures of what I was looking for, she was honest about how it would work on my hair, and came up with a happy medium. I know it doesn't look like we did that much, but we managed to thin it out SO much and there are a lot of layers that she snuck in to create volume when I curl it.

At that point, I was going to a Painting Party with the girls, and thought the rest of the weekend would be spent at home. Boy, was I wrong. Each night ended in the wee hours of the morning, there were BBQ's, Brunch, and the World Cup Finals, and it was all as exhausting as it sounds. I almost feel guilty about having so much fun lately, but we spouses are really supporting each other like I've never seen. Technically, Joel is not a spouse, but he most certainly gets all the perks of hanging out with all of us.

In closing, I'll tell you my favorite part of the weekend. We were at the bar on Saturday {I was totally sober as the DD}, and this guy asked me if my skirt was a skirt or shorts. Instead of just telling him it was a skirt and moving on, I whipped a safety pin out and made Steve Urkel shorts. It went over so well that people were asking to take pictures with me, and I've heard the pictures are already floating around Facebook. Good times.

Life is short, and there is nothing wrong with acting a fool.

I Heart Ulta...And Sales

Would you believe me if I told you that I didn't step foot into an Ulta until last year? Now I'm a card carrying member, and I live by their sales. Full price? Nah, but when it's 21 Days Of Beauty or some other promotion, I'm totally in! This is why I went a little nutso two weeks ago...I also blame Shanna, "Because Shanna Said So". She told me my life would change from using some of these, and she was right.

Not Your Mother's Dry Shampoo is the ONLY dry shampoo that can hold a candle to good old baby powder or corn starch. Not only does it get rid of the oil, it smells great, doesn't leave a residue, AND adds volume. VaVaVOOM!
Physician's Formula Warm Nude Palette may be my favorite eye shadow ever. Someone gave me the Classic Nude palette, which I liked, but Warm Nude is more my color. Don't ask me what that really means, because I'm really not that good at this stuff. Just trust me.
Physicians Formula Powder Palette in Healthy Glow is my go to bronzer. You don't want to overdue it with this stuff, but that's the good part. It doesn't take much and by picking and choosing the colors you use, it can be very versatile.
Maybeline Falsies Mascara has great coverage, and I can usually find it B1G1.
Wigo Brush has only been used once, but it seemed to work great considering I have no clue how to tease my hair. Why did I buy this?
Ulta Lip Liner in Rustic was $2 bucks on sale, so I now consider it amazing. I think it's only the second lip liner I've ever tried, but it was fun getting a little artsy fartsy with it.

The only product I didn't like was the Mario Badascu Face Lotion SPF 30, and it is going back. Thank goodness for their return polo]icy, because this stuff made my face and chest look like a pizza pie. What does everyone use for Protective SPF lotion? I'm tr'yna not get skin cancer, but any lotion other than Clinique's Moisturizing Gel makes my skin freak out. Seriously, why does skincare have to be so flippin' difficult?

Will And I Survived His First Bachelor Weekend

I've made it through the weekend with only a small amount of worry and zero close calls. My lovely husband is completely honest, so I knew all the shenanigans that were going down, and boy were they going down. To my surprise, he and the Bachelor removed themselves from some of the situations, because they didn't even want to be involved. You see, there were two Bachelors and one's intentions weren't so "honorable". I didn't ask any details, because all that matters to me is that I have the best hubby in the world!

Other than one dude going missing the first night Hangover style, and Will scratching his face while wrestling, the weekend went pretty smooth. The best part was that we got to text a lot. I tried to leave him alone, but since he initiated most of the texts I was happy to stay in contact. I just didn't want to be "that wife" that kept checking up on them.

Other than that, I looked up some new recipes, blogged, fulfilled some household duties, had a lunch meeting with some of my new trainers, and went to Costco with my Springs BFF, Anthony. My Monday is actually going to be more exciting than my weekend.

+Bar meeting this morning.
+Dentist Appointment. {I actually enjoy the Dentist}
+HAIR APPOINTMENT!

I received a coupon for Veda Salon, so I FINALLY had a reason to go in for a trim. I would love to actually get a "style", but I think my style is just long. It's the easiest to deal with, and everyone seems to get mad if I even mention cutting it.
I just wish I could get it to curl more than this:

Perhaps after the trim. I always have them thin it out, so hopefully that will help! If only I could have Courtney do my hair...I wonder if that would be a good enough reason to get the hubby to go on vacation to see her...hmmm. Oh, and in case y'all haven't heard, Bronde is the color for Fall, so I am totally 'in' this season. Get on my level.

But serious question:

Should I just get a trim or take it up to mid-back?

I'm so bad at these decisions!

Less than 48 hours until Will is home, and yes, I am totally counting the hours. Bachelor party is over, but Will still has one more leg of his trip. I'll fill y'all in on that soon, and I'll tell you about how I'm going BACK to Chicago this coming weekend. Craziness going on around here these days, but it will have to wait! Muhahaha ;)

iCloud iLLiterate

What would make me feel better this week?
This camera:

Source: perceptioniseverything.blogspot.com via Janna on Pinterest

The Sony Apha NEX 5R is Erin approved, so it must be awesome. Technically, I already have $369 saved towards it but it's too bad that even though I have only spent $150 out of my allowance for two months, I won't buy it. Sometimes I hate myself for being frugal.

I also figure that I should try and handle one project at a time. I can't even figure out how to use our Kindle until I get my iPhone updated, so dealing with a new camera would be counterproductive. Dammit.

I've also decided that the developers of the iCloud need to be the ones in charge of our Nation's secrets. Even after they have created tutorials, forums, and books about their precious iCloud, I STILL don't have ANY clue as to what is going on.

Please tell me I'm not the only one....

Source: geekculture.com via Sandra on Pinterest

I mean, I know how the Restore works, I've tapped into the iCloud for Windows, and I've even bought extra storage space, but I still feel like I'm missing something.

Source: mashable.com via Heather on Pinterest

Like for example...

How do you manage what's actually IN the icloud? I'm using all this storage with crap I'm sure I don't need, but I don't know how to delete it. I go to "Manage Storage" and it only has the restore points. Speaking of which, do I need both restore points that are saved or just the most recent one? Does the recent one contain all the data from Restore point 1 and restore point 2 or does it just leave off where restore point 1 stopped?

I've asked Will multiple times to help me, but I guess if I'm ever going to get this figured out I just have to get started myself. And by get started myself, I mean that I need all of YOUR help.

I haven't even updated to iOS6 yet, as I have been waiting to get all of this taken care of, all the while dreading the horror stories from people losing data after the install. Although, at this point Losing all the data and starting over might be a good thing.

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Do hair straighteners count as technology?

-They plug in.

-They have temp-control settings.

-They seem to be a necessity for bloggers. 

I'm gonna say yes, so that I can tell you about the sweet straightener that I got sent to review.

Source: hanasalon.com via Janna on Pinterest

In case you haven't noticed, I have a LOT of hair.
It grows thick and long because of good genes, taking care of it, and not over styling.  As such, I am very picky about the tools I use and was skeptical when I was approached about this review.

I had heard that the company was reputable, but I certainly wasn't going to lie if I had a different experience. Luckily, I don't have to because the proof is in the pictures:





This was my first attempt at curling with a straightener, and I can't wait to try it again! It is super easy and I think I will get better the more I do it. Hi, I'm Captain Obvious.

Check out the straightener, and find it on sale here, on the Misikko site, and pass the link onto your friends and family for gift ideas. Do what I do and pin it to Pinterest, so that when people ask you what you want for Birthday/Christmas/Anniversaries you already have a list.

If you are still reading, I thank you. I was quite the ramblin' soldier today, so do forgive me. I just had a lot on my mind and you all listen really well ;)

Even Though I Don't Drink....

Yes, I know that I drank in Denver, but that hangover just reaffirmed my feelings on drinking.
This doesn't mean that I can't still go out with friends....
I'm really good at sober fun, as a matter of fact.
Here I am dancing on a bar totally sober:

It is actually really funny when I order water at a bar, and the bartender looks really confused.

Good news, Happy Hour is more about the fun and convo, than the beverages.

{I never really cared for the half-price well drinks anyways}

That's why I decided to join in with Jenn and Trish to share in the fun!

I would love to share the heck of a day I had at work yesterday, but we aren't anywhere NEAR

200 Facebook Supporters. Pity.

Instead, let's talk girl stuff.

I got an email from a sweet blogger last night asking about my makeup routine, and since it has been awhile since I shared it, I figured why not!

You can find the initial post with the video here, but here is a shot of the products:

For preparation:

I wash with Noxzema Triple Clean.

Apply PersaGel 10 all over to balance my oils with the Benzoyl Peroxide.

Apply liberal amounts of Clinique Moisturizing Gel to offset the dryness caused by the Benzoyl Peroxide.  I use the gel moisturizer, because the lotion makes me breakout.

{I'm actually thinking of covering this more in depth, because this regimen changed my life}

Spot Treatment:

I don't wear foundation or powder (they also make me breakout), so I use Clinique concealer for any spots or blemishes, which is then blended with the little red brush and the Physicians Formula Bronzer pallet.  I just mix the colors to cover as necessary.  If I have a really red spot, I used the Physicians formula green concealer.  The green tint cancels out the red.  Very great for "that time of the month" breakouts.

Eyes:

I am very picky about the type of brush on my liquid liner, but NYC has just what I like. I apply it on my top lash line, and while that dries, I fill in my eyebrows with a little bit of eye shadow (I am obsessed with full eyebrows, but mine are blonde, dang it), and then apply eye shadow. I mostly use Covergirl because I LOVE the colors and how the colors blend, but I like the LA Colors pallets, as well. I follow all that up with Covergirl Pencil Eyeliner, and then call it a day! I would explain exactly how I do the eye shadow, but that would be hard....just watch the video. ;)

I'm sure some of you are appalled that I don't use all department store makeup, but makeup really isn't my top priority.  If I can make it work with drugstore products, then that's what I'm going to do!

I know a lot of people ask me how I curl my hair and what the "Curling Wand" is, so here is a visual:

It's really that easy.  

My hair doesn't hold curl for crap, but I can manage to keep it wavy or with loose curls.

The key is LOTS of hairspray.

Speaking of which, I'm looking for a new hairspray.

I want something that holds extremely well without giving you helmet hair.

I have used Aussie and other generic brands, but I'm looking for something a little higher quality.

Any ideas?

I happen to have another surprise up my sleeve ;)

Zara and I came up with a fun 30 Day Challenge, and we will be kicking it off tomorrow!

I wish that we had more time to get y'all acclimated to the idea, but we figured that there is no time like the present! Come back tomorrow to find out ALL about it!

Happy "Thirsty Thursday", Y'all!