Friday, September 20, 2013

Links I'm frantically forwarding around today.

I'm raising money for Breast Cancer & walking 5 miles on Oct. 6th. You can donate here. This has (unfortunately, and recently,) touched closer to home as of late. Any amount helps.


Really fun fall nail polish colors. Now I want a mani/pedi. 

My hair is no longer long enough for this, but I can't wait to try it when it is. What a great ponytail! (Dana! This would work for you!)

For those of you looking for a new birth control to try...

This made me ugly cry at work. If you have a dog... you've been warned. (Also, I can't keep seeing that news story of the tortured puppy they found 5 miles from my house. The puppy didn't make it, and they are looking for the person who could do such a horrible thing. Literally makes me sick to my stomach. And I am using the word literally... literally.)

I friggen love sassy two year olds. 

Speaking of sassy... 

I just recently bought Glennon's book, and I am LOVING it. She is so real. I'm a highlighting fiend. Check out her most recent post here. 

Kelle Hampton is my fave. She is many people's faves. That's OK, I'll share. (Not gonna lie, when she retweets/responds to me, I do a little happy dance.) Sometimes she writes something that I need to hear, sometimes she writes something I've been hearing already. This post came at a perfect time.

 Happy Friday.

 

Monday, August 12, 2013

Hair Obsession

I've always been into hair, but my current job has turned me into a full-blown hair addict. I'm obsessed with the latest products, styles, trends, you name it. The right products can be life changing. You can have the hair you dream of! You just need to know how to achieve it ;-)

So I'm going to list some of my favorite hair styles/products, and talk you through my hair routine(s). I'm chopping 6+ inches off tomorrow, so I'll keep you updated on that, too! (I'm not linking to websites where you can buy the products, but I have bolded them & made them pink - you can find almost all of them on amazon, online, or at your local salon.) Remember, professional hair products are ONLY guaranteed when sold out of a salon; meaning buying this stuff at CVS means you are buying really old (and probably expired) stuff. Ew.

(P.S - I absolutely LOVE giving hair advice/ sharing my favorite products, so if you comment below with your email address, I will TOTALLY send you fun samples to try!)



Blow Dry

I am absolutely obsessed with bumble & bumble's tutorial videos and have watched them all a bunch of times. This is what got me looked on my three key products when blow drying - prep, thickening hairspray, & straight balm. I almost always use prep - it conditions, detangles, and makes the other products you use more effective. It's just overall really good for your hair, and I find it light enough to use every day. (I've never been a leave-in conditioner girl.) I spray thickening hairspray on my roots to help with lift, and then a nickle-sized amount of straight balm (life-changing!) through my hair (avoiding roots) for help with a smooth blow dry. Getting a blow dryer (with nozzle) and round brush that YOU love and are comfortable with is key - I have a moroccan oil round brush I love, and a blow dryer with enough heat and power that is still light-weight. The videos I linked to above are really great - I'm not a stylist so I can't get way into technique or anything - but these products have really made blow drying my hair smooth much easier. 
 

Sometimes to mix it up, I'll use It's a Ten Miracle Leave-In Smoothing Serum - I find it gives me maximum shine and silkiness, but does weigh down my hair a bit.

Another product I use sometimes is bumble & bumble's Invisible Hairdresser's Oil - a lot of people love Moroccan Oil, but that ish is too heavy for me. This is light, smooth & wispy, and smells great. Just don't use too much! (I'll dab a bit on my ends & smooth over flyaways).


Curls

After blow drying, I usually curl my hair. I have four five seven curling irons. They are all different! And one I keep at work, for "emergencies" ... hehe. My current favorite type of curling iron is a wand - basically a curling iron with the clamp removed. My hair is so long that I use a 2-inch iron to get big bouncy waves - any smaller and the curls are just too overwhelming, since my hair is naturally curly. I used to love this but my hair is just too long right now. The method to my madness is WRAPPING the hair around the curling iron, always away from your face. (The Beauty Snoop has a great image on that here.) Yes - you CAN burn your fingers. They sell heat-proof gloves, but really, just be careful. I like the ends getting left out a bit, it looks a bit more natural. I use Redken's Spray Starch as a heat protectant (never use heat on naked hair!) and I finish with Moroccan Oil's Medium Finsh Hairspray.


Beachy Waves

My hair is naturally wavy/curly, but it's texture has a lot to do with what product cocktail I'm using, and the weather! Sometimes it will be super curly, othertimes more wavy... I always start with prep, and then I usually use bumble & bumble's curl conscious creme. I find for me, a creme or serum is best - I HATE crunchy, crispy curls, so I never use gel or mousse. I'll finish with bumble & bumble's surf spray, ad touch up with that throughout the day.


Wearing Your Hair Up

I hardly EVER wear my hair up. It gives me a headache. That being said, I do like to add little braids in my hair, or to try little cute styles that I see on pinterest. I will spray some dry shampoo in my hair (Oribe's Dry Texture Spray or Suave Dry Shampoo are my faves!) and then play around.


Color & Care

I color my hair every 4-6 months. Right now, it's very ombre, which I love. I love playing with color and have been since I was 15 (yikes). It's SUPER important when coloring your hair to take care of it, so you aren't damaging the life out of it. Sulfate free shampoos, color-care products - all of that matters. Also, don't wash your hair every day.  






my hair pin-spiration board! http://pinterest.com/hayleydenker/hair-ideas/  

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Updates

Hah. It's been awhile. Not that I even HAD blogging mojo, but if I did, I am sure loosing it. This articulates that pretty accurately.  Also, I can't bring myself to "write like I'm at a tea party with grandmas" - all, "hello sweet friends" and the sort. I've been know to call Tyler just "husband", and that's as far as I'll get. 

But here are some updates.

  • Been babysitting a ton - a family friend has 3 grandkids all under 4 and I'm obsessed with them all. Lately I've been with the youngest a lot, and we have totally bonded. I'm in love. We had a long day of hot weather, locked doors & no PJs, but through a stressful situation we had the sweetest, sweetest time together.  

  • Father's day was excellent. I had my dad the whole day - which of course stressed me out a bit attempting to plan the perfect day. We had brunch at Back Bay Social Club, walked around Newbury St., then headed to my apartment. We watched Sophie Scholl on my tiny kindle, and then headed to Marina Bay for drinks & apps on the water with my brother. We ended up staying & hearing this blues and that was playing, which was unexpected and really fun.

  • I've been to two concerts so far this summer - countryfest w/Florida Georgia line & Luke Bryant (which I worked at) and Rascal Flatts. Quintessential summer nights - lime-y beer, country music, cutoff shorts, tailgating...


  • Dana has been getting me to go to the gym with her 3-4 times a week. I feel like I have way more energy when I go, and it's been so nice getting to see her on a regular basis.
  •  The beautiful Ashti's bridal shower was filled with love & excitement - we are SO looking forward to their wedding! (I get to wear a sari! They have convinced me that I won't look lame. We shall see...)
  • Had a great Sunday Funday in Ogunquit with Jess & Eric and the puppydogs - although the 95 degree weather in Boston did not translate to Maine weather. It was 70 and drizzly! Naturally, we took a trolley and holed up at Barnacle Billy's where we wolfed down 4 lobster rolls & 10 rum punches, or "rum drunks" as Tyler was calling them. (Tyler also ordered a side of sunshine...) After all of those drinks, the sun came out, and we walked back to the beach, jumped in the FREEZING ocean, and headed back to Eric's parents place. We set up at the beach, where the boys played ladder golf while the thunder rolled in the background. Jess & I snuggled up in towels while we screamed every time the lighting hit - aren't you NOT supposed to be on the beach when there is lightning?! ... We made it back JUST before it downpoured. 

  • I've somehow convinced Tyler to start GRILLING!! We got supplies and drinks and sat at the picnic table in our complex while we grilled steaks & salmon. It was delicious, and relaxing. I'm hoping summer nights include a lot more of this. Also spent a lovely summer night on the Luciano/Alario roofdeck - what a frat house THAT place is. (NOT. Jess made a gorg spread, & we sipped "peeny greegy" and gossiped all night. Awesomesauce.)




  • The big event of the summer so far was Noel's wedding - whoa. It was Gatsby themed, and I acted as the LIVE CARD TABLE during cocktail hour. No joke. It got a little touchy, but thankfully Tyler was there to help (& to tell old men "paws off"). SUCH a fun night - the food, decor, music, everything was amazing - but what makes a wedding perfect is the people, and gosh, this was full of the good ones. I cried during all of the speeches & was so emotional... probably since this was the first wedding we've attended since our own!








Future summer plans include an INSANELY patriotic July 4th (just wait), a trip to Chatham with Mom's side, then a week in Sandwich with Dad's side. We're also trying to think of romantic/drivable weekend places to celebrate our 1st anniversary (boy did THAT go by fast!) . Hope everyone is staying cool & enjoying a frosty cold beverage :-)






Friday, March 29, 2013

lately on pinterest...




I'm gonna try a series... lately on pinterest. Things I've found on pinterest, things I've pinned, things I want to try, things I've tried... 

follow me on pinterest here.



Springy Wardrobe. 
aka basically what I wear to work every day.





Great Quote.
been reading a lot lately - find me on goodreads!
 



TRUTH.
made me feel good.




Summery Feta Dip.
looks amazing.





Genious - Corner Rod In Closet.
for hanging what I'm wearing the next day? ideal.
 
 
 
 
Sweet. True.
reminds me of Tyler.
 
 
 
 what have you found on pinterest lately?
 
 
 

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Thoughts Become Things... Choose The Good Ones

Because no matter WHAT is going on in your life, when you get a "note from the universe" - everything is put into perspective. And somehow, the universe knows exactly. what. to. say.

Sometimes, I'm all, " touche, universe." Othertimes I cry. Or laugh. Or just smirk. But it's always, always profound. The one I get on my birthday stays with me all year long. And I wanted to share these notes with you today.

Sign up here to be a member of TUT's club (click on "daily notes" or "inspirations"). I promise you won't be disappointed.

(Are any of you already receiving Notes?) 






Thursday, March 7, 2013

Sweet & Low

nothing tastes like sugar it’s all sweet and low
nothing drinks like lemonade
nothing skips like stone 
nothing runs like water when your one true love is gone every day that comes along has a silver medal on 
nothing soars like falcons it’s all paper planes 
 nothing stings like thistles and nothing floods like rain
  nothing roars like fire when you’re standing on your own
 no shelter from the coming storm will ever feel like home
 nothing’s cut like diamond it’s all shades of coal
nothing breaks like tidal waves nothing mends like bone
nothing tastes like sugar when your love can ne’er return 
 how to feel with half your heart is the toughest thing to learn

check out this check. for reals. http://caitlincanty.com/
 

Friday, March 1, 2013

heureux de la vie

Disclaimer: I am feeling really good today. This is a cheesy post. Most of my posts are, but today feels extra cheesy. Sometimes cheese is annoying, so.. you've been warned. :-)

10 days until daylight savings. When I leave work, it will be light out. I'll drive home and I won't MIND the time spent in traffic, because the windows will be rolled down, the sun will be shining, and the country tunes will be blasting. My call home to Tyler won't be just "what should we have for dinner? how was your day?" but "what should we DO tonight?" Yes. Pumped.

Things lately are so... hopeful. Exciting. I can't think of the right word... anticipatory? I don't know. We are married. We are married and things DO feel different (we've been together 7 years and lived together for 6, so we both figured, what's left to change?). We filed our taxed JOINTLY last night. We are learning & growing & thinking about our future & making small, careful, grown up plans. We are allowing ourselves to think of & imagine the wonderful, big, happy, exciting, thrilling, ever-changing life that is before us. To not limit our possibilities with fear - but to educate ourselves on things we are afraid of. We know that when we leap, the net will appear. 

And then... as soon as we start allowing ourselves to think, to get excited about things, somehow things magically start to fall together. Is that how you know you are on the right path? Or is this something we are manifesting ourselves? Either way, we are plowing ahead fearlessly (well, that's a lie - not fearlessly. But you can be afraid and brave at the same time, right? That's what being brave is.) and are just EXCITED about life.






*whoa, another disclaimer. not talking about anything really specific in this post. like, not trying to get preggo or anything right now, if that's what you thought. just a vague, overall excitement about future. that's all. and that's enough.

Friday, February 22, 2013

On birthdays

Happy 26th to me!

I woke up to a quiet house... Tyler had already gone to work around 4:30am (and I can hazily remember him kissing my goodbye and whispering, "happy birthday!" before he left.) and I was immediately sad to wake up alone on my birthday. I started going through my phone, reading a few blog posts. Kelle Hampton's birth story of her newest baby Dash made me cry. I opened the bedroom door to the rest of the house, and it looked the same as I had left it the night before. Dirty dishes, mail piling up, clothes on the floor. (What was I expecting, the house to know it was my birthday?) I cried again, feeling... raw.

Went into the bathroom to see this



which made me giggle.

Jammed out to some good tunes on the way to work. Hardly any traffic. Stopped at Starbucks, where I got a free birthday drink... that they forgot to make. 15 minutes later, latte in hand (and a free drink ticket for next time, too), I get to my office, where I was surprised with a happy birthday banner & singing balloons. So great. :)

It's Jess's birthday today, too. As we texted morning birthday wishes, we both confessed that we'd cried multiple times already that morning. I said to her, "I feel very.... Raw. Not really in a negative way, I just feel open and raw and exposed, with an overwhelming capacity for greatness. That is so cheesy but it's true. Like today I have a direct line to the universe. So I'm really really feeling feelings today. Sad, happy, excited, nervous, overwhelmed, disappointed...."

I wonder if that's true. If on your birthday, that whatever magic was present when we came into this world is there again, just for the day.

My capacity today for love is OUTSTANDING. For love, for excitement, for joy - through. the. roof. The smallest things are just making my day amazing. And yet the opposite is also true. The smallest things can send me to the darkest, saddest, loneliest place. I feel open, bare... like how a great hug can sometimes make you sad. (Anyone? Anyone?) 

Reading this it may just sound like I'm emotional, but it's so much more than that. It's quieter than that. It's something I can sit back & observe, as if it isn't happening to me...

Anyways. Here's to making birthdays amazing - cheers to all who are doing just that for me today.

Friday, January 18, 2013

Happy Friday!

Happy happy friday! my best friend Meg is going to be in town this weekend, yay! We are trying to decide between going to see some live music on Sunday, or watching the Pats game. Now, I'm not a huge football fan, but I am a fan of the environment of a fun game! Good finger food, craft beer, enthusiasm, friends & family... BUT, I'd also really like to see this show... what would you do??

Maybe both?? :-)

Monday, January 14, 2013

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 
 
2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Monday, January 7, 2013

What will people think? & "Sharing"

It's why we sometimes feel hesitant to publish or share.  What will people think? 

Let me answer that.  If you share, if you publish, if you write, if you speak, if you are brave and decide to put yourself out there, I promise you, someone won't like it.  Someone won't agree with you.  Someone will misinterpret.  Someone will think that you are silly, unqualified and that your work is crap.  That you are crap.  They might not just think it but they might tell you.  And that won't feel good, especially not the first time you hear it.  But it is necessary.  And it's okay.

- Kelle Hampton, Enjoying The Small Things
There are posts I can't write. A few of my favorite bloggers totally get this - they've once bravely posted something they  ended up taking down for whatever reason. Haven't we all? What's sad is, we feel what we posted. It's true. It's truth. But "putting it out there" is just too much. When it affects others... it changes. Not our truth, but our willingness to share.

I recently told my mom this, that I could never write "my story", because it would hurt others. "OH, ME TOO!" she exclaimed. That even sort of stung. "No, I mean, I know, but... you mean that you can't tell your story. I couldn't even do a who's who in my life on my blog without offending someone."

Sure, if someone wrote out their experience of something, people can offer their different opinions. But that isn't what I mean. I mean, not only can I not talk about my OPINIONS, but I can't talk about existence. I can't reference the smallest of things. I can't talk about my life, as it is. It has to be how others are comfortable with it. THAT, to me, is tragic. That is what hurts. It's one thing if I felt strongly about some idea or thought or movement or personal trial - and I'd write about it and yes, probably hurt some people who didn't like it, and then they would criticize and it would hurt, but I feel I could be strong. I would be standing up for what I believe in.

But what about the other stuff? Stuff I don't really "believe in" one way or another - things that have just happened? That I've had no choice or control over, that I may not agree with, but choose to let go? (Oh, people reading into this, just stop. I'm not referencing anything in particular. Not that brave. Yet. In fact, I am being SO vague, that I don't even know if this post makes sense.) I don't know if I can bravely share those things with the world. Maybe I'm just not ready, maybe it isn't mine to share.

Or maybe I am doing myself a disservice. Maybe I aim to please a bit too much, and put on different faces to different people and hide certain comments that I shouldn't. I should just be me, 100% of the time, take it or leave it. (Remember that quote in The Departed, where Mark Walberg is talking to Leo about being a cop, or appearing to be a cop? He talks about how his parents where divorced and lived in different parts of town... "You're upper-middle class during the weeks, then you're droppin' your "R"s and you're hangin' in the big, bad Southie projects with your daddy, the fuckin' donkey on the weekends. I got that right? Yup. You have different accents? You did, didn't you? You little fuckin' snake. You were like different people."

WHOA.

I wrote a note to a fellow blogger who asked about my "story". And I poured it out. I have never done that before. Not in therapy, not in a journal, not to a friend, not to Tyler... I  haven't even thought about a lot of it until I was writing it out. It was hard, it sucked, it was therapeutic, it was brave. And I'm so, so happy I did. And I wonder if one day I'll be brave enough to really share it, or if I will want to.

I wonder who I am hurting by NOT sharing. Is it, like Kelle says, necessary?





"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." 
 Bill Cosby

Friday, January 4, 2013

"No one longs for what he or she already has, and yet the accumulated insight of those wise about the spiritual life suggests that the reason so many of us cannot see the red X that marks the spot is because we are standing on it. The treasure we seek requires no lengthy expedition, no expensive equipment, no superior aptitude or special company. All we lack is the willingness to imagine that we already have everything we need. The only thing missing is our consent to be where we are.”

Barbara Brown Taylor

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

No resolutions

I don't have a New Years resolution. I don't have a 2012 recap. I'm not willing to let go of 2012, just not yet. (I can't believe I can't say "I got married this year" anymore! WHAT. No fair.)

But I do have a list. I'm going to make copies of this list and put it up in my office, in my room, maybe even in the bathroom. This list is a list of things I want to do, need to focus on, or want to be better at. Some need an "explanation", some don't. 

  1. Drink more water
  2. Take care of your skin
  3. Take vitamins
  4. Do yoga once a week
  5. Eat healthy
  6. Relax - less caffeine (and booze only on weekends?)
  7. Print out pictures (gosh I haven't even printed one wedding photo yet)
  8. Frame/scrapbook (honeymoon album sits HALF done...)
  9. Record (goes with the above two... need to start recording details)
  10. LESS social media
  11. LESS cell phone
  12. MORE music/books/outside time (thank you kindle!)
  13. Focus on only GOOD
  14. Get ready for newness
  15. "Life board" (I'm going to create a visual life board of things I want...)
So, that's it. I also have little blurbs of smaller things, "do a juice cleanse!", "go skiing!", "Visit Nebraska!"which I will keep adding to. 

Tryin' to be #13 and focus on the really, really good year that 2013 is gonna be. :-)