Friday, May 17, 2013

Today is a Milestone

Just like I can't emotionally steel myself to watch the last Harry Potter movie (hey, Brynn!), I also couldn't bring myself to write about Sean's graduation from preschool tonight. He woke up an hour earlier than usual and keeps walking around saying he can't believe it's finally his graduation.

I am bittersweet- I am excited to see him grow and learn. Every day he becomes more of a person with attitudes and beliefs and likes and dislikes. I cannot wait to see him flourish in a classroom. But at the same time, I want to freeze this moment... or at least play the rest of my life in slow-motion.

Curtis (the real writer in the family) shared a post this morning that expresses the way I feel better than I could. I hope you will hop over and read Baby Steps and share some love with the best dad and husband in the world!

Sean and I both started school in August of 2008.
This is the picture we took for our first day of school.
I've never taken another first day of school picture.
I need to.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Love Your Hair? Now You Will!


The Event
I've been on a real hair kick lately, so when ULTA Beauty and BlogHer asked me to participate in the "Love Your Hair" campaign, I couldn't resist! Having a good hair day, as shallow as it seems, can make a woman feel beautiful and confident, yet so many of us hate our hair. We resort to wearing it the same way every day or hiding it in a messy ponytail.  From May 12 until June 1, ULTA Beauty store locations and online are celebrating hair for 21 days. Each day they will feature one or more Beauty Steals™ - three WEEKS of amazing hair products and styling tools. I had the opportunity to review these products early and today I am going to share my favorites with you!



The Products
I am always looking for new products for styling my sassy pixie cut. With gravity-defying swoops and faux-hawks, I need something with strong hold. Add to that the heat of living in the South, I also need products that will resist humidity! I started by washing my hair with Sebastian Drench Shampoo and Conditioner (just a tiny dab!). Because my hair is so short, shampoo and conditioner is really a non-issue; However, I still like to make sure I am keeping my scalp and roots healthy. Drench is intensely moisturizing, and I could tell that my hair felt smoother after using it. It's specifically formulated to rehydrate coarse and color-treated hair, and since my hair fits the bill in both instances, I knew it would be a good choice.


The next morning I woke up and used the Hot Tools Nano Ceramic flat iron. It has super tiny 1/2" plates, so it was perfect for even my shortest layers. And because my hair is so coarse, I need super high heats to smooth and straighten my hair. This little baby can reach heats up to 450 degrees, which is more than enough :) One of my FAVORITE beauty products for my hair is any kind of volumizing and texturizing dust/powder. If you have thin hair, flat hair, short hair, long hair, straight hair, or curly hair, I'm telling you, this product can be a game changer.

ULTA Beauty provided Osis + Mattifying Powder, and while I wasn't familiar with it, it did work very similarly to other powders I've tried in the past. You simply sprinkle a tiny amount of the powder at your roots, tousle your hair, and voila - perfect hair. I use it right at my crown to give the spiky layers right there extra lift and definition. Usually that's all I use for styling my hair - it is truly that awesome - and Osis + was no exception. It creates very full, texturized hair with a very strong hold.

I hardly ever use hairspray, but since I had so many to choose from and it was super rainy, I decided to use Kenra Volume Spray 25. It can be used two different ways. You can use it to build up volume between your layers, by spraying it in quick bursts. You can also use it as an all-over finishing spray.


Just as a point of reference, my hair photos were taken after working all day and being out in the rain, so I am definitely impressed.
Earrings
Necklace


The Pledge
As a part of ULTA's Love Your Hair campaign, they are encouraging women to pledge to love the hair they have and maybe even win free blowouts for the rest of the year! Now, my hair's too short to bother with blowouts, but joining the movement (and entering to win) is simple. Just tweet your hair pledge with the hashtag #ULTAHairPledge and you're entered to win.


The Prize
Here's the best part. I have a $100 ULTA Beauty gift card to give to one lucky winner! Yes! To enter, simply tell me about your hair pledge. A winner will be announced during the first week in June.
Rules:
No duplicate comments. 
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: "#SweepstakesEntry"; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 5/15/13-6/1/13.
Be sure to visit the the ULTA Beauty page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

Monday, May 13, 2013

Sick Day: 6 Weeks Post-Sinus Surgery


It has happened. Six weeks after having major surgery on all parts of my nose, I am sick with a sinus infection. Exactly what the surgery was supposed to help me with.... To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. I know the surgery wasn't a guarantee that I'd never get sick again, but, technically, I'm still in the recovery phase. I would have liked to have stayed well a little longer than six weeks (especially since three of those weeks I was taking antibiotics). Ugh. I'm trying to power through, but right now everything is a struggle! Hope the rest of you are having awesome Mondays!
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
 
Pin It button on image hover