MOVING DAYS AHEAD!!

We're moving!!! We're moving!!!

1 year ago the big machine pulled up and broke ground on our dream home! What a journey it's been since then! I'm pretty sure I've aged more in the last year than I have in the last 10! I have done work that I didn't think my body could do... dug trenches, moved gravel by hand, spent more time in more mud than I could have ever imagined, breathed in a WHOLE lot of saw dust, removed tonnnnnnes of garbage from the site (I even picked up a live mouse by accident!!) and eaten WAY too many sandwiches. But the day is drawing near that we will no longer be responsible for two homes... no more referring to the two places as "The old house" and "The new house".
What I'm looking forward to most is:
-having two linen closets
-having an en suite
-my gigantic closet!!!

But the challenges in the next two weeks have me feeling just a smidgen overwhelmed... but I'm so excited to decorate... and will post pictures as I go!

Vinylux Nail Polish review... It's a game changer!!

I recently discovered a brand new product by CND that is kinda blowing my mind! Anyone who knows me is familiar with my love of nail polish, and over the years I've accumulated quite a collection! I have to say though, I get so frustrated with nails that are chipped... Especially if its only been a day or two! I did jump on the Gel Polish craze, and though I love the look of it, I found it very difficult to remove, and my nails really took a beating! 

But ALAS... Along comes Vinylux!!! It's an innovative new product that applies just like regular polish, but has the added benefit of a UV sensitive top coat!! That means, no drying under a lamp... But natural sunlight will make it more durable!! The result is nail polish that lasts up to a week, depending on how hard you are in your nails! I must say, I've been VERY hard on my nails this summer as we've been building a house, but this stuff really takes a beating!! Doing a sink full of dishes, or digging in the mud has not beat out this power polish!! Lets just say, I'm in love. 

Anyone want a huge bag of regular old nail polish? 

Weekly Wear

Top/Skirt/Necklace -Target

Shoes -Aldo

Top $5!!! -H&M

Skirt -Winners

Belt -Dynamite

Necklace -Stella and Dot

Hair you go!!!

I have been doing hair for almost 20 years! Yikes! Right from day one... Even back to my JrHigh days, styling has always been my favorite! The proof is in the photos of my university aged sister and her perfectly "poofed" 90's bangs, thanks to me! As time has gone on, and my body has given out, I've dropped first perming, then coloring. But I can NEVER imagine the day I say no to an updo!! 

Looking through my portfolio photos brings back such happy memories of beautiful brides, and excited grads! Thank you all for letting me in to your memories, to be a part of your big days! I've loved every moment of it!! Here are some of my favorites over the years!!

To be continued...

Balancing Act

As the weather warms up,  it feels SO great to shed the layers, to let our toes free of the socks and boots. But a tendency I see way too often is to get to carried away with our enthusiasm to embrace the warm air on our bare skin! Trust me, I do get it... I too LOVE the heat! But there is a way to embrace the warmth, without showing too much skin. It's really all about balance... and fabric.

Forever 21

 If you want to wear shorts... wear a long sleeve LIGHTWEIGHT blouse in linen, cotton or gauze... even an open knit lightweight sweater. The trick is natural fabrics.

Forever 21

If you have a tank you'd like to wear, go for a great pair of capri's. Again, watch the fabric content.

This rule applies with length of your shorts too... if you're wearing longer shorts, you can have a "lesser" top. 

Just a rule of thumb I thought I'd share, that I try to apply.

On those SUPER hot days that I really love, I usually go with a summer dress, where I feel the same rules generally apply.

Gap

Gap

Now go slather on some sunscreen, grab your shades and enjoy the summer ladies!! 

P.S. This is a general rule of thumb if wanting to keep modesty in mind... there are definitely places were strapless tanks and short shorts can be worn... like the beach...ahhhh the beach. Sigh.

Weekly wear....

Makeover Mania!!!

A few months ago my very talented friend Shandi Saito of Tabhair Photography and I were in a mid winter slump... so as girls do, we decided to get together for coffee. This girl never fails to inspire me! She wanted to get her creative juices flowing again, and I wanted to light a fire under my own skinny jeans clad butt! It didn't take much conversation before we realized that what we needed was to get around some inspiring ladies and do what we love to do most... make others feel better about themselves. Shandi by showing them how beautiful they are in photos, and me revealing their beauty with hair/makeup/ and clothes. TA DA!! A makeover was born! A facebook event was created... names, stories and photos were submitted and finally the day came to choose the name! We were both SOOOO excited! There were such fabulous ladies names in that little jar! It was so much fun that we decided we HAD to choose two names!

Well... It took a bit of time to get it all coordinated, 4 busy moms with 4 busy schedules, but last Saturday we finally all made it work!

 And what a fun day it was!! My daughter Katrina made a fantastic assistant and my Charlie was good for comic relief! "Oh Charlie!"
















The 1st gorgeous gal was Heather!
Heather is a busy wife and mom of 8!!!  As if having 4 kids isn't busy enough, they opened their hearts and welcomed 4 adopted children into their family a few years ago. When she isn't chasing one of her toddlers she's off taking one of her teens to a practice or gymnastics class! We all know how rarely moms get to take an afternoon just for themselves to get dolled up, so it was a joy to see her soak in every minute! She is so sweet and kind  and also so very STUNNING (and so are the photos Shandi took of her)!

Heather Before

Heather After

Heather After

Our second great lady of inspiration is an exceptionally cool chic who gets her hands dirty daily and is a force to be reckoned with in her male dominated job all while holding down the role of mom and wife!
And this girl smiles ALL THE TIME! Let me tell you, she is a gracious beauty inside and out! What I loved most about her was every time I gave her a compliment she replied with the most sincere smile and "THANK YOU"! It made me realize that by brushing off compliments that are given to me, I'm wrecking the joy that was intended by the giver! Thanks for reminding me of that Christine!

Christine before

Christine After

Christine After

This day left me with lasting memories...a warmed heart... and a renewed passion for what I love to do...showing ladies how beautiful they are! SHANDI... LET'S DO IT AGAIN!!!

Reduce, Reuse ReSQUISH

You are about to discover a very real truth about me. I may as well just confess... I'm a cheapy. I rarely buy something if it isn't on sale. I LOVE a bargain... like really, REALLY love a good old "Holy Cow...you paid WHAT!?" kinda bargain! And because of this I often have the mentality with my things that if they get ruined, ripped, or broken... "oh well, what the heck, it only cost me_____". Take for example my brand new polka dotted denim shirt from Winners. I was wearing it for the first time the other day, not even noticing it getting a little breezy, when my friend Sue pointed out the the entire back seam had ripped open! She said I should take it back... I couldn't  be bothered for how little I paid for it. I'll just sew it back up, and wear a cardigan over it!

Another fix-it project that I'm SO excited to share with you, starts in that moment we've all had. You're busy in the mornings, rushing to get out the door, and so, while slapping on your daily allotted amount of cosmetic product, it's understandable that you might just be a bit more clumsy that usual. In the chaos, time seems to slow down to the classic television slow motion scene as you watch your favorite eye shadow pot slip gracefully through the air, heading to it's sad demise as it projectiles towards your extremely hard tiled floor. You dive ever so gracefully as though rescuing a falling newborn baby...
 Ok... back to reality. Your attempted rescue mission is a fail and your favorite cake eyeshadow is now a clumpy powdery mess. This is usually the start to a day that continues with a run in your nylons and coffee spilled down your white blouse and ends with a flat tire on your way home.
I used to try to continue to use the broken eyeshadow, while it would ever so slowly leak out into my makeup bag making the rest of my makeup look like it had been in there since 1930. Until, one day, I'd eventually give up on it, and toss it. BUT, the other day, I had a lightbulb moment! What if, I could make that powdery mess solid again!? So I dug out that newly dropped tub of light pink and got to work.


I added a teeny tiny drop of water...

Carefully stirred and mixed until all the powder was all wet...

And then began pressing the powder down as tightly as I could.

I then left it out on the counter to dry over night and VOILA!! Good as new!!