All Quiet on the Blogging Front

I have been burning to get a post out of my fingertips for days... but unfortunately, work hit the fan over the past week and I feel like all I've done for the past 11 days is eat, sleep, and go back to work.  With a side of online shopping.

So I've been a bit of a zombie lately, but in the midst of the crazy I have been fixating on something that happened during Halloween.  I had been wanting to dress up as Rosie the Riveter for over a year now, ever since I had a cute headscarf in my Forever 21 cart a million years ago and it got away from me.  RIP F21 HEADSCARF.

Etsy to the rescue.

Bonus points to everyone who didn't think I was Lucille Ball.... which was approximately almost everyone.

Side note:  That pic was taken with my husband's brand spankin new iPhone 6 plus, which apparently besides being super ridiculous takes extremely sharp and focused pictures.  I mean, I can see every stray hair and forehead scrunch wrinkle.  Dang.  Luckily I should be the proud owner of a contract that's ready to be renewed on... Black Friday.

So I wore the scarf, loved the scarf, became obsessed with the scarf.  (Bandana?  Headband?)

Either way, one of my customers nominated this to be my "holiday look" for the year, and I'm pretty much obsessed.

I already have the red polka dot on the bottom left... and I need the red/white/blue because I'm American... but I'm just overwhelmed with possibilities for the other ones I need.

I mean.... the possibilities are endless when you think of clipping on a little pin, sparkly hairbow, etc.  I seriously don't know which ones to order.  (All these pics are from SandChica's etsy shop.)

I think I'm going to try to limit myself to maybe 5 head scarves.  That's not excessive, right? 

And damn if the shop isn't having a sale.  What's a girl to do?

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

For the past month, I have been rocking the most unbelievably ratty hair.  The more I fretted about it, the more unavailable I was for an appointment with my hair guru.

The thing is, my hair hasn't had a decent cut since.... probably last year.  2010.  I've been letting it grow long for unknown reasons, really.

And then there were the roots.  A solid inch of love-love-lovely dirty blonde peeking out from the scalp.

I tell you, it's amazing how long I can ignore and sidestep routine hair care.

I got to the stylist this week and told her to chop it all off.  "All" being a relative term that means "I live in ponytails, so watch yourself."

I have reached the point in life where Mr. RH has become my photography assistant.  I'm telling you.... a photography assistant who tells you how beautiful you are every 2 seconds is worth his weight in gold.

He took the photo on the left.... and then I was left to my own devices at 10 pm to get the photo on the right.  Oops.

I'm 5 inches lighter and much more blonde.  Hellloooo, sassy.

It's day 2 post chop.  WHERE DID MY HAIR GO?  What do you think?

Let's Talk Eclipse, Finally!

Ladies, how is it possible that I didn't gush on and on about how awesome Eclipse was?

But let's not dwell.

How awesome was Eclipse?

Well.... pretty damn awesome.

First off, anybody who thinks they are too cool for Twilight should just get over themselves right now. By clicking that red X in the upper right corner.

So, as far as I know, nobody particularly comes to the movie for the excellent acting. Surprisingly, I thought this film, out of the three so far, delivered SO much better than the previous three. I honestly just felt like the cast put so much effort into this film!

I felt like the storyline stayed pretty true to the script, although I haven't read the books since November so I can't be positive.

You know what I liked most about this movie though? Honestly?

It was just so hawt! For me, I felt like the tension humming through every scene was just crazy.

My BFF, sitting next to me, kept whispering, "We know how it's going to end. It's going to be FINE." And then something would happen and we'd be squee-ing and clutching the arm rests and generally acting a fool.

(In our defense, the women next to us were HAMMERED and smelled like pot and were annoying us... so we were just adjusting to our environment. By acting like fools.)

S0, by now, please tell me you've all seen Eclipse.

Do you think it's the best one so far??

I do!

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On an unrelated note, I'm talking about Goody Spin Pins over on Chic Critique. Easiest hair bun ever!

Happy Monday!!

This Post Brought to You By the Year 1992

Since the humidity jumped up into the 234th percentile (no, I have no clue what this means. But it feels appropriate.) this week, I have been having Hair Issues.

It's not so much the fact that my hair gets poufy (cause it doesn't, it gets flat) or icky... but it just feels disgusting. The fact that my hair is brushing my neck and my face just... ick. I feel like a sweaty, gross mess.

And then I found this little guy floating in the bottom of an old bag of junk:
Ringing any bells?

That, my friends, is a vintage TopsyTail.

Apparently not that vintage because you can still purchase one.

Anyway, to keep my hair as far away from my person as possible... I have been rocking the upside down Topsy Tail.

(Seriously, try typing out Topsy Tail a few times. It totally messes with your mind cause it does NOT seem like it should be spelled like... that.)

And the Finished Product:
My very professional work hair.

Yes, I rock a ponytail to work constantly. Deal with it.

Happy Friday!!

Hair-fessions

I've always been obsessed with my hair.

From the color to the cut to its always-flat state, there is always something on my mind.

In high school, I was downright psycho about my hair. I showered and blow-dried it every single day. Even on the days when I had 2nd period swim class.

Let that sink in for a minute.

I would blow dry my hair.... to have it be soaked with greening chlorine about 2 hours later.

Seriously, I'm an idiot.

Somewhere in college, I discovered dry shampoo. It helped get rid of some of the second-day softness that plagues my baby-fine head.

Anyways. So now. I work 5 days a week, but never Monday-Friday. Anyways, I have recently been hiding a dirty little secret.

I'm no longer a daily hair washer. Even though I still feel like my hair is too "soft" on the second day.... I only wash my hair every other day.

(I know, I kinda feel like I just admitted a drug habit.)

Pshew. It feels much better to get that off my chest.

(Me, right now.)
(Man, I look tired.)

Happy No-Wash Thursday!

(Let's hope my boss doesn't notice its icky state during our meeting today, ok?)
xxo

Extreme Makeover

So I finally cut my hair... try and contain your excitement.

So the reason for the title of this post is the fact that Extreme Makeover Home Edition is building a home just north of my house.

The house has been demolished and they started building last night. Unfortunately, it's been pouring rain for the past 7-ish hours. A couple of my friends want to go out and cheer on the builders but if this rain never lets up... I'm not so sure we're going to make it out there.

Beyond rebuilding the house, the literally thousands of volunteers are pouring into the local Domestic Violence Shelter and are building 3 homes for Habitat for Humanity in the area.

It just warms my heart to see so much good when you hear so much bad on the news.

Maybe I'll have to head on over for the reveal and see the amazing work that they do this weekend.

Have an awesome weekend!

Beauty Habits... and HELP ME!

So, I love to hear about other people's beauty routines. Sometimes people tell me about a particular task and I am floored that I never worked it into my routine. And then I feel so uncouth. (Do you know what uncouth means? I think it's a fabulous word!)

Today I thought I'd offer up one of the many strange things I do.

Number One: I go on periodic eyebrow-growing-out binges. For one thing, I HATE super-skinny eyebrows. Brows are meant to frame the eyes, and I like a good frame. Who doesn't? One of my best friends gets married a week from next Saturday, so I'm "growing" mine until next week sometime.

I'm lucky because I don't have super dark eyebrows... I probably couldn't get away if mine were much darker. I hate how it looks while they are all out of control.... but I love how good they look after I grow them out.

Do you have any weird eyebrow habits? Are you an everyday tweezer? A never tweezer?

I'd share more weird beauty habits... but I need to make sure none of you are going to stone me for having odd grooming habits.

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And now, I need your HELP!

Ok, I've posted about my hair before.

I've shown you some of the high points.

I've shown you some before pics....
...and the after pics.

I've been blonde forever. I've been getting highlights forever, year-round (although not that frequently).

The pic directly above on the right, taken in March, was my last cut - although I had highlights in April.

So here I am today:

I have an appointment for a color and cut... so what should I do? Keep it long? Chop it off? Keep the highlights?

Cast your vote or forever hold your peace!

And then make me feel good about my out-of-control eyebrows by sharing your weird beauty habits. I know you have some!

Houston, We Have a Hair Product

When I first read Ashley's comment about my beauty routine, I was excited. I love to talk about some products. When I read the next line, "especially what hair products you use because your hair always looks amazing" I laughed out loud.

Ok, the truth is, I've had some good hair.

But I took a good half-hour to find those photos and they are from my sweet 16, HS graduation, and college senior formal. Considering the six year span of these photos, it means that there were a lot of average-hair days in between.

The truth is, I am genetically cursed with flat, limp hair. I don't have a lot of hair, and it is super fine. It has zero texture, which means if I wash and go it is flatter than a pancake as soon as it dries.

But, I don't give up.

These products are just about half of my hair arsenal. In fact, I started to grab more products but then I realized they wouldn't really fit in the picture if you wanted to be able to identify them.

So my hair routine consists of a very basic shampoo and conditioner, followed by a product or two. I usually use one strengthening or conditioning product combined with a heavy dose of volumizing product.

I wish I knew the tricks for a good blowout, but I don't.
I blow-dry upside-down with a big flat paddle brush. Yes, I know that round brushes create volume and blah blah blah but they just end up tangled in my hair.

That's another thing - my hair tangles like there is no tomorrow. My hairdresser (who has cut my hair since birth) always remarks that she "forgot just how snarly" my hair is.

To create a lot of volume, I usually curl my hair all over with a curling iron and then brush it out. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

To create the curly updo (like in the top right photo), I curl my hair with foam rollers, spray gel, and a blow dryer. Then I just basically pull it back into a ponytail.

To be honest, my hair looks like this most days:
In my opinion, the standout, concerning my hair, is the color. It's a combination of good genes and good highlights, I guess.

Ok, I think everyone now knows way too much about me and my hair.

What are your favorite hair products? Do you have a special tip or trick you use to style your hair?

Remember, every comment this week earns you a chance to win some fabulous spa products.

Happy Wednesday!! Now tell me about your hair!!

Four Inch Wonders

Yesterday, my charity held a fundraiser called "Cuts for Kids." We got local salons to come in with stylists who volunteered to donate free haircuts. All donations went to our cause.

One of the stylists arrived early, so I decided to take the plunge (well, it wasn't really that dramatic).

The Before (notice me trying not to look too happy):
Four inches later, the After: (Actually, I forgot to take an After picture yesterday, so I took one this morning).

It feels a million times lighter and fresher... yay spring!

Happy Wednesday!

To Me Roommate's CHI:

Dear Hair-Straightener,
It's on.

The fight:
CHI: 1
Sarah: 0

Ok, I realize that it's a bit hard to see but that guy burned me bad this morning. Ruined my whole day. I spent the entire day trying to find a cool surface in class to rest my big 'ol burn on. Ouch!

Happy Tuesday!

A Maid's Honor

So, a week from tomorrow I will be walking down a church aisle in this little getup: That's right - my best friend is getting married on December 27th, the Saturday after Christmas.

I'm really excited about the wedding, although I have NOT been eating like I should and am therefore slightly concerned that I am going to have to hike up my dress to walk down the aisle because the damn thing won't fit.

On another note, I got my hair highlighted last night for the first time since July. July, people. Can you say roots? Yeah, me too. I didn't take a picture, but it actually looked surprisingly like this: It's just a bit longer than that photo because I haven't cut it since JULY and she only took off about a centimeter tonight (so I could keep it long for the wedding).

Today is the Bachelorette Party. That I'm throwing. And I basically don't have any plans yet. And it's almost 8 am. So, yeah, I'm flying by the seat of my pants. You see, it's been a very busy and stressful week (hence my lack of posting) and I just didn't have the brainpower to pull something together.

I barely sent out the invitations on time, slacker that I am. And they looked awful, which I feel bad about, considering my sometimes-craftiness.

Anyway, tonight I'll be celebrating the last week of freedom for my best friend. What will you be doing?

Happy Friday!! (And seriously, TGIF!!)

Before and Afters

Today was a day of before and afters. We finally, after 14 years, got our carpet replaced in the family room and steps/upstairs hallway. That old carpet was nas-tay. (Can you see the wear-spots? Gross - I honestly didn't even really notice how bad it was when the furniture was in the room.)
Before:
After:
The second transformation was on my hair!!
Remember when I wrote this post as a hair wakeup call/intervention?

Well here was my hair yesterday morning. Talk about a hot mess! (My dad's photography skills in this photo are excellent - I'm so proud!)
And the after (hmm, this photo is weird and tripped out, but I'm too tired to fix it now.)
It's definitely blonder and somewhat shorter... and curlier. I told my stylist not to curl it... but she just loves to play with my hair, so I let her. It's cute - too bad it won't do that every day!!

Is it weird that, even though I know it's blonder - I can't really see a difference? Overall it seems "lighter" but not "blonder"?

Anyways, it was a great day of change in my life.. but now it's Wednesday - let the marathon of airport runs and squeezing in mall trips in before vacation begin!

Happy Hump Day!!

love,

The Good, The Bad, the Blonde

If you have ever looked at any of the pictures on this blog, you may notice something (wait, you haven't looked. Please feel free to look back now. Okay.). My hair - it has, shall we say, very few looks. It is either in a ponytail or is a hot mess. I mean, my hair is decent. It is not hopeless. But seriously, it is bo-ring.

I have no hair style, and haven't had one for approximately... three years? Yikes, I didn't realize it had been that long. Yech.

Ok, this is the bad semi-bad. It's not all that horrible (meaning that small children won't necessarily cry when they see it), but it is a warning for girls who use too much spray gel and foam rollers. Holy geez.

The following photos are a montage (whoa, is that a 25 cent word?) of my favorite/not-so-favorite looks from the past few years. I think you'll be able to tell the highs from the lows.

Going back in history, this is my hair in 2004 on my 18th birthday in 2004. I would call this my crowning glory look. Unfortunately, it took 342.5 hours to achieve this look (i.e. my hair is flat, stringy, and not at all curly). But still, it was SOO long and purty!

My mom took this picture right before my high school graduation in spring 2005. This was my last real cut. I believe it was the Rachel. Or at least my flat-haired, stringy take on it. And I know, it looks pretty decent in this picture, but the wind was blowing just so perfectly. You know what I'm talking about. The good hair wind.

This was my hair in 2006 - stringy, flat, wild, etc.

This was my hair in 2007. The expression: out of control. The hair: boring. 'Nuff said.

This is my current hair do. Ok, ok, the photo was taken a few weeks ago when I was in New Jersey. BUT it does show my daily hairstyle: ponytail. Sometimes I substitute the bobby pin for a headband - you know, if I'm feeling really wild. Occasionally I go for the high-pony, but let's not get carried away here.

Why the hair post? A contest, of course. (This is my first contest ever. Please don't throw rocks at me.)

Casey, aka Moosh in Indy has teamed up with Sarah from Whoorl to make some hair-magic happen. And since I have been aimlessly googling "the perfect hairstyle for stringy blonde hair" with no luck, I thought a little public declaration would put my butt in gear!

And please, no hatin on the hair. It's blonde and in charge - I'm only along for the ride!! Much love to my flat-haired chicas...

love,