Five on...Tuesday!

Happy Tuesday readers!

I hope this email finds you well.

We had a nice, low-key weekend! Bryce is preparing to take the Professional Engineer's exam this Friday, so it's crunch time for him. He spent a lot of time studying, which gave me some much needed down time.

With the start of my new boss last week, things were a bit hectic and I never got around to posting my Five on Friday. That being said, I've decided to post a Five on TUESDAY here for ya today!

ONE

Pineapple Handprint Craft

How stinkin' cute is this pineapple handprint craft that popped up on my Pinterest feed? If I was still teaching, I would definitely find an excuse for my kinders to make this before summer; and also think it could be adorable framed as home decor! Mother's Day IS right around the corner! I am definitely going to file this idea in my brain to do with babes of my own some day!

TWO

Lancome Youth Activating Concentrate

Have you ever gone in search of a more affordable beauty product only to wind up falling for something even more pricey than what you originally used? Well, ladies, that just happened to me. For almost two years, I used this Kiehl's Line Reducing Concentrate under my Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream, however it's a bit pricey in my opinion. When I last ran out, a few months ago, I decided to not replace it and see how my skin reacted. I've just been using the Ultra Facial Cream, which I absolutely love, but have noticed lately that my skin hasn't been quite as smooth and even. So I wound up on Nordstrom's website last week, searching for an anti-aging product with rave reviews that wouldn't break the bank (By the way, did you know you can search by "Skin Concern!?" How cool!)  I bet you can guess what happened next. I found this Advanced Genifique Youth Activating Concentrate...and it's nearly double what the Kiehl's concentrate cost. BUT, how could I resist when it has a 4.8/5 star rating based on 454 reviews!!! Surely I must have found the fountain of youth! It arrived Friday and I've been using it under my Ultra Facial Cream since then and already can notice that my skin is a bit smoother to the touch. It also has more of a liquid/gel consistency and you only use one drop when applying, so I am thinking it will last far longer than the Kiehl's which is more of a lotion. I will be sure to report back after I've been using it longer. I also was in the market for new eye cream, and wound up with the Lancome Progres Eye Creme, which also has rave reviews. My mom used Lancome products for years. Have any of y'all had a good experience with their skincare line?

THREE

Summer Salads

I read on Emily's blog last week that one of her April goals is to eat a salad for dinner at least once a week. I loved this idea! It seems so simple, but is a great way to cut some calories during the week. Now that warmer weather is mostly here, I tend to enjoy eating light more, rather than craving hearty, warm comfort food as in the winter months. I think we're going to adopt her goal as our own, and I think this 30 Summer Salads list will provide great inspiration.

FOUR

Pom Pom Clutch

How adorable is this pom pom clutch? I've been eyeing it for weeks now and don't know why I haven't taken the plunge...especially considering it's only $40! I can just imagine pairing it with white jeans and sky high wedges while sipping pina coladas by the beach!

FIVE

Let's Share a Dish

And last, but not least, I wanted to share a new blog with you! My friend Meg (who, funny story, I met because she was a blog follower and reached out to help me network during my job search) recently started her very own blog with a girlfriend called Let's Share a Dish....and she's rocking it! Richmond readers especially should check it out, as the main focus is Richmond eats! Since I started following along, my list of restaurants to try is constantly expanding. For example, I am dying to do a picnic dinner one night soon, and I learned in this post that the local Garnett's Cafe will pack your take out order in a picnic basket, upon request! Spring bucket list item!? I think so! They also are mixing in some travel and lifestyle posts, though too, so anyone would enjoy it! Go check out their blog and let them know I sent ya!

What's been on your radar lately?

Have a great day!

Follow

The Blowout Bar

Happy Hump Day readers!

I am so excited that the spring weather is coming back!

Today I am sharing the highlight of my cousin's bachelorette weekend with you. When sending out the weekend itinerary, the Maid of Honor, Sarah, listed a "Surprise Activity" for Saturday afternoon. The suspense was killing me, and at book club the night before, all my friends and I were speculating on what the activity would be. That being said, I was ecstatic when Sarah announced that we were getting blowouts. SO fun!

Sarah had reserved the Blowout Bar DC for 2 hours for us that afternoon. We were all excited to get dolled up for our night out!

We were greeted with champagne.

The decor inside was perfectly girlie! Lilac walls and chandeliers really set the tone!

After sipping on some bubbly, we started taking turns rotating through. The bride went first, and I did my best to serve as paparazzi. 

The experience started with shampoo and relaxing scalp massage.

Once in the chair, you were able to select which hairstyle you'd like from their menu. Callee, the bride, and I both went with "The Grace," glamorous, loose curls.

All the staff were so  nice and accommodating! The owner ran out of peach champagne, a favorite of the group, and went to the store, returning with not only more champagne, but also delicious brownie bites! They played fun, pump up music, and even had Magic Mike playing on the TV, perfect for a bachelorette.

Callee and I both loved our loose curls, but knew that with our fine hair they would not last throughout the night. The stylist was sweet enough to give us both a touch up, with tighter curls that would make it!

After styling all 10 of us, we snapped a quick group picture before heading home to get ready for the night! 

Have you ever gotten a blowout?

What have been some of your favorite activities during bachelorette weekends?

Have a great day!

Follow

Hair Care

Happy Thursday readers!

I've had a lot on my plate emotionally these last few weeks, and it's really affected my blogging groove. I'm sorry to be getting away from my normal schedule and appreciate your patience as I work through some personal struggles.

I've had some reader requests for hair tips and thought it would be appropriate to write a post covering my favorite hair products and routine.

I'll start by being honest:  I was blessed with really good hair.  Every girl has things they love and hate about their appearance, and my hair happens to be one of the things I love.

My hair is pretty low maintenance; start to finish my whole routine takes less than 15 minutes.  Aside from a cowlick at my part (which just so happens to be one of Bryce's favorite features of mine, ha!) and a lack of volume at times, I can't really complain.

So while I don't necessarily have any hair secrets to share, I am happy to share some really helpful products I've discovered and my step-by-step routine.

During the week, most of the time I let my hair air dry and don't wash it every day.  As a kindergarten teacher, it's perfectly acceptable to go to school with wet hair thrown into a bun as I walk out the door. If I haven't washed it a particular morning, I'm a huge fan of the baby powder trick.  Because my hair is thin, it gets greasy really fast.  An easy solution, however, is just to rub baby powder in your roots.  I typically avoid my part, and also flip my hair over so that baby powder is never applied directly to the top.  In college I tried a fancy Bumble & Bumble dry shampoo and actually found the baby powder to be preferable.  It saves me time, and also helps my hair to stay healthier, because I typically only blow dry it about 3 times a week.

When I do go through the effort of getting dolled up, however, here is my routine:

1. Wash & Condition:  I don't have any one go-to shampoo and conditioner.  I go through phases and tend to switch it up.  I will say, though, that I am a big fan of John Frieda and Biolage products.

2. Brush:  After my shower, I brush my hair using the Olivia Garden Round Brush shown below.  I like it because it is very easy to clean and the round vented design allows me to give my layers some shape and body when blow drying.  My hairdresser often uses a paddle brush when styling my hair, so I'm also interested in trying one of those...

3. Oil:  After brushing, I put 1-2 squirts of Pureology Precious Oil in my wet hair.  I rub it in starting about halfway down through the ends.  Because I do highlight my hair regularly, I like to provide all the conditioning I can to keep my hair smooth and moisturized.  This is definitely a product to use sparingly, though, and I avoid putting it anywhere near the front of my hair or scalp.

4. Mousse:  I mentioned that one of my few complaints is that my hair can lack volume.  I have a lot of hair, but it is naturally straight and thin.  At times it can look a little flat and limp on my head.  To help with this, I usually rub about a golf ball sized amount of Kenra Volume Mousse Extra into my scalp and roots, making sure to poof it up a bit, before blow drying.

5.  Blow Dry:  I usually just dry it using my hands and brush to target specific sections.  To help with volume, I sometimes will part it in weird spots and dry it the opposite direction of the way it will eventually lay on my head.  I also flip my head over and dry upside down for a minute or two which adds volume.  I use a Hana Air Dryer that I was gifted a few years ago and LOVE it.  It makes my hair so soft.  You can read my full review of it here.

6. Fluff:  Most of the time I stop at step 5, however, I just added step 6 for special occasions.  I recently was introduced to Bumble & Bumble Thickening Dryspun Finish by my friend Michelle and absolutely love it.  You simply spray it at your roots and then work it in with your fingers fluffing your hair up.  

And there you have it! My hair routine.  

This is the end product of steps 1-5 on a particularly good hair day!

And finally, two other tips:

1. I have found that long layers are very helpful in terms of increasing volume and body!

2. In this post, I asked for tips on curling hair, because I am hopeless with a curling iron.  Responding to my request, sweet Cambron recommended a curling wand and it was a total game changer.  I can now curl my hair with ease!  I have this Conair one and love it.

This was my hair on just the second attempt with the wand!

What does your hair routine involve?

Any other tips for adding volume?

Have a great day!

Friday Happies

TGIF!

Fun weekend plans?

This week has seemed extra long and I think it's because we have a special weekend ahead- look for a post on that next week!

I don't have any deep thoughts for you today, just some pretties that are making me happy...enjoy!

All can be found and sourced on my Pinterest HAPPINESS! board!

Have a great weekend!

Loving...

TGIF!!!

I am so glad Friday is here and can't wait to put on my PJs early tonight and just relax!  I am worn out from the first week of school!  I like my class so far this year, but am really missing all my babies from last year.  Every time I see one of them in the hall, I feel a tug at my heartstrings!  On top of that, the first few weeks of kindergarten are always the toughest.  Training the kiddos on classroom routines and structure takes lots of time and *patience*!

That being said the first thing I am loving right now is that the weekend is here!

And now for some other things I'm loving...

Essie "Going Incognito"

I think a Target trip is in order for this weekend to get this..perfect for the transition into fall!

C. Wonder Dancing Zebra Silk Shirt

How fun is this?

Hattan Home Papaya Whip Moroccan Pouf

I am a little late to jump on this trend...BUT...I'm dying to get one of these for our sunroom!

Scout Pocket Rocket

If you teach...GO AND GET THIS BAG!

I've had mine since last year, but didn't start using it for teaching until this year...I will never switch back to another bag!  All the outside pockets are ahh-mazing and the bag is sturdy enough it doesn't tip!

And finally, in honor of getting through the first week of school, I'm loving this e-card:

Anything you especially love this week?

Have a GREAT weekend!

Big Meadows

Hey chickies!

Happy Friday!

Today I'm going to share another of our weekend getaways this summer.

At the end of June we visited Big Meadows.  Big Meadows is a campground in the Shenandoah National Park.  They have camping areas, rooms to stay in, cabins, and a main lodge with a common area, tap room, and restaurant.  Each year, one of Bryce's dad's business colleagues hosts his dad and step-mom for the weekend and this was our second year being invited along as well.

When we first arrived, D&A, the hosting couple, had a beautiful spread waiting for us!

We sipped on cocktails and snacked the first few hours of our visit.

These gorgeous views were right outside our room!

After lots of grazing, we made our way to the main lodge for dinner.

I couldn't resist snapping a picture with this bear after dinner!

(last year, we saw actual bears on our hike!)

The next day we fueled up with a great breakfast in the lodge, before heading out on a hike.

The pancakes were de-lic-ious!

We stopped by the Big Meadows visitor's center to help decide which hiking trail to take.

The visitors center was full of cool history--for example, we learned that good fly fishing is what convinced President Hoover to make Virginia the location for the East Coast's first national park.

I loved this tunnel filled with woods scenes and quotes about the wilderness.  My favorite quote was:  "The love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond our reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth." -Edward Abbey

While at the visitor's center we picked our hike:  A trail that would take us to Rapidan Camp, the location of President Hoover's summer home!

B's dad, leading the way!

I loved this tree!

:)

Bryce's stepmom secretly snapped this picture and I love it...I believe I was showing Bryce a crawfish I had found!

Once we made it to Camp Rapidan we found a place to rest and eat a picnic lunch before exploring!

This quote, by Hoover's wife, reminded Bryce of us, so I decided to snap a picture of it.  We definitely are two people with our own independent spirits, haha!

Unfortunately, cameras were not allowed inside Hoover's personal cabin, so I wasn't able to take any photos of it.  The cabin was really cool though and had the HUGEST fireplaces!

When we got back from our hike that afternoon, I took a much needed nap before heading to the lodge for our last night's dinner.

The lodge was filled with seating and games.

I also loved the ceilings!

My favorite thing on the menu were these sweet potato fries served with lemon aioli!

AND my other favorite part of the  menu was THIS mudslide dessert.  It was a brownie topped with ice cream, Kahlua, Baileys, hot fudge, and whipped cream!  Heaven in your mouth!

After dinner we were all thoroughly exhausted and hit the sack early.  Bryce and I had decided to go see the sunrise, just the two of us the next morning, so we especially had to get to sleep early.

 The next morning, our alarms were set for 5:00 am and we made our way to the Big Meadow!

Sleepy Eyes!

The sunset was spectacular and such a special time for just the two of us!

A little after six, we made our way back to the cabin for a little snooze until breakfast!

For our last breakfast before saying farewell, D&A had planned a delicious blueberry pancake breakfast.  We headed to the campsite to use their grills!

This took "tailgating" to a new level!

We even had coffee from Cafe du Monde in New Orleans!

Bryce and his dad were in charge of the meat!

Buckwheat Pancakes with fresh blueberries from D's garden!

YUM!

With full bellies we said goodbye to D&A and are already looking forward to next year's Big Meadows trip!

Do you enjoy the mountains?

Have you had any fun weekend getaways this summer?

Have a great weekend and if you haven't already, click here to enter my giveaway!