Going Blonde!

In October I decided to try going BLONDE!  I found some amazing inspiration on Pinterest and decided I wanted something similar to this.

Source (original source unknown)

So I went to this awesome lady and we set out to recreate this color.  She knew I wanted to keep my hair as damage free as possible because I like to keep it long.  So when my color pulled red (due to how my hair naturally goes when it lightens and hormones due to breast feeding) we just went with what we got.

It was actually surprisingly very flattering with my skin tone and eyes.  The only problem was that sometimes it looked very blonde-ish orange instead of blonde or red or light brown.  I went in search of an awesome purple shampoo.  

Purple shampoos help blonde hair stay more cool toned and fight orange or yellow tones by leaving a touch of blue violet in your hair.  If your hair is very light blonde you need to be careful to use it once or twice a week or else your hair will start to look purple.  If that happens just don't use the purple shampoo again until it is all washed out and has started to go back to almost looking yellow or brassy.

So I choose my favorite shampoo at Sally Beauty Supply based on ingredients and smell read the review here.  I felt like it was helping, but it is a gradual change as it builds up.  A week or two after I started using it though my husband actually said that he thought the purple shampoo was actually working and that my hair was not as orange.  :)

The two left pictures were right after I had my hair done and the right picture is a few months later (obviously they are in very different lighting but my hair looks much more blonde in the right picture).

I am just about ready to go back in and we're going to have another try for more blonde and more like the inspiration, but in the meantime I have loved my new hair color.  :)

Thanks for reading!  Do you have a fun hair coloring story?  I'd love to hear about it in the comments below :)

Life lately: Christmas with the Smiths

 We're kinda Christmas procrastinators.  I did a lot of our Christmas shopping the week of Christmas and we didn't go do Christmas-y things until about two weeks before.  We had a lot of fun seeing Jackson's reaction to everything.  Some things he really loved (like the decorations) and other things he wasn't as excited about (like opening presents).

The first Christmas thing we did this year was go to Christmas Village in Ogden.  It was so weird this year because there was absolutely no snow and no ice.  I mean, it's not Christmas Village if you're not slipping around and having to hold your date's hand right?

My favorite thing is watching these two together!  Steve is such a great dad and Jackson has so much fun with him.

I love the clouds on the mountains in this picture!  We went up to my little sister's dance recital and really enjoyed watching her dance.  She did so good!

On Christmas Eve we went to my Aunt's and visited with my cousins and we did the Nativity.  We have done this for years and it gets funner every year as we all get older.
This year my favorite part was making Jackson a sheep.  We finally got him to say "Ahhh!" (his version of Baa) right before we started and then he randomly said it throughout the Nativity (just like a real sheep would have).

I had to take the pen and shoe away from him to try to get him to open his present.  We only got him one big present and everyone else spoiled him.  We thought that would probably happen and I'm glad we just got him the dump truck.

This last picture is a very tame version of the mess our house was in for about a week post-Christmas.  Christmas is so much fun, but I am so glad it is only once a year!  We've finally got everything all put away and are back to normal life.  
I hope everyone else had a great time and has recuperated as well :)

Bold florals + Bold stripes (plus some little sister fashion)

Last night/early this morning my little brother left home for the next two years to serve a mission for our church.  We thought he wasn't going for another two weeks, so it was a really crazy few days for my mom getting him ready to go.  We all got together as a family last night.  It was sad to say goodbye, but we are all very excited for him.  As I'm typing this, he is probably almost to Mexico City.

I wanted to share some pics of what I wore last night and also what my 9 year old sister wore.  She was wearing the cutest outfit and it was so well coordinated.  I'm sharing pics below.  She also took the first few pictures of my outfit.  :)

This skirt is actually from my friend's wedding.  Isn't it cute!  I thought the bold stripes in my shirt needed a bolder floral pattern and I love how it looked with this bright, bold skirt.  My other sister got me this beautiful blazer for Christmas.  It has a stripe print with a chunky white lace overlay.

See how cute!?  She's got this beautiful white tee with clear, iridescent sequin sleeves and a pocket, a super cute polka dot layered skirt, white leggings with lace on the bottom, and then sparkly shoes that match the shirt.  She put this together by herself!

Thanks so much for reading!!

Linking up with:  Because Shanna Said So, The Pleated Poppy, Style Elixir, Whitney Nic James, Trend Spin Linkup.

Take a Trip Thursday: Packing tips and Hawaii Pics

Napali Coast Kauai

You know how some people have the most gorgeous, coordinated, well put together outfits when they travel?  I am not one of those people.  At all.  I have made a lot of packing blunders in the past.  I'm still not the perfect packer, but I thought I could share what I have learned so far. :)

1.  Plan ahead:  Waiting until the last minute results in grabbing many miscellaneous items that may or may not go well together.  I have learned this the hard way.  Also it is hard to pack the right amount when you are in a hurry.
2.  Plan multiple outfits with your pieces:  As you decide what pieces you want to take lay them all out and start putting together potential outfits.  You want clothes that you feel comfortable in and that work well together.  I am very bad at grabbing a bunch of my favorites and then finding out on the trip that I only can make a few outfits and that some pieces don't match with anything :(
3.  Dress for your activities:  Take your itinerary and decide, based on what you are doing each day, what you should plan on wearing.  You don't have to plan everything out to a T, but if you are going to be doing a ton of hiking (like we did in HI), you will want multiple outfits that work for that activity and less outfits for other activities.  

We brought old shoes for hiking.  Thank goodness!

Our trip consisted mainly of hiking with a side of driving and beaching :)

Waimea Canyon

4.  Bring at least one "fancy" outfit:  It is nice on vacation to go out to a nice dinner or do some shopping at least once.  It isn't as much fun when you feel like the frumpy tourist.
5.  Don't under or over pack:  I have decided that slightly over packing is better than under packing.  I tend to under pack, but I am getting better :)  Once again look at your activities and then how many days you will be gone.  Plan maybe one extra just in case outfit, but not three. :)

You can't tell from the picture but there is a nice swimming hole right here...

see we're actually standing up in this pic.

We hiked, waded, and kayaked to get to the swimming hole.

Maliuhi Road

Poipu Beach 

I bet you want to go to Kauai now ;)  It was a fun trip!

Thanks so much for reading!!  Comment if I should do a post about traveling cheaply.  Also if you have any packing tips I would love to hear them!

linking up with: BeYoutiful Link Party

Favorite things Friday

"Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes, snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes...These are a few of my favorite things!"

I hope you sang that in your head as you read it :)

So beauty wise my favorites lately are...

• Tangle Teezer- I really wasn't sold on this at first, but now I love it.  There must be a learning curve or something
• Nioxin Scalp Treatment for fine hair visibly thinning- I will be writing a full review on the full system next week.  This stuff helped me go from balding to back to normal hair.
• e.l.f. Studio Eyebrow Kit- Read my full review here.  This stuff is amazing!!  (and so easy to use)
• e.l.f. Luscuious Liquid Lipstick in Cherry Tart- I love the smell, formula, and color.  You do have to reapply about every two hours or so, but it's gorgeous and only a dollar.
• Rosebud stud earrings- I got these in a multipack from Rue 21.  Super affordable and I love wearing them with everything.

Okay now for my favorite thing in life.  My little, happy family.  Complete with the cutest little baby boy and the best daddy and husband I've ever seen.  My hubby works more hours then most anyone and still does basically all our laundry, watches baby boy while I work, and does basically all of the yard work, oh yeah and he cooks better than me and much more often lately.  (in my defense I do hold and play with the baby while he cooks, otherwise he wouldn't really be able to).

Sorry there's really bad shadows in this pic, but it is one of my favorites of us as a family so far.  This was on the Angel's Landing hike in Zion's National Park.

And because I am a proud mama and can't resist...here's some massive cuteness.

He is my little angel :) and my very favorite of all.

Thanks for reading!!

Bridal Shower Bucket

One of my hubby's best friends is getting married next week.  We've known him since high school and he and his bride have been dating for over 3 years now.  We are so excited for them!

I went to her bridal shower with his family on Saturday.  His mother makes the best food!  She made the cutest little sugar cookies, little drinks complete with color coordinated bendy straws, croissant sandwiches, and fruit kabobs.  Mmmm!

The last 3 bridal showers I have went to, I have given them some homemade laundry detergent along with other useful things.  Big storage totes are always useful, and they make a great "bucket" for smaller gifts.  Go big or go home!

Step 1:  Get your "bucket"

I bought my tote at Shopko.  I get the biggest one I can find that's around $10.  This time I got this grey tote with green latch handles by Sterilight for $12.50, I believe it was 16 gallons.

Step 2: get smaller useful things to put in the bucket.

I decided to do some quick dinner items.  I wanted them to have something for those nights when you don't have much time for dinner and didn't plan ahead, but you don't want to go out.

I got: a jar of spaghetti sauce and spaghetti noodles; a jar of alfredo sauce, fettucine noodles and a can of chicken; and peanut butter and jelly. 

 I also made them some homemade laundry detergent.  I used a clean empty pickle jar and painted the lid with krylon and made a cute "laundry sprinkles" label with instructions on it and then filled it with the laundry detergent.  The lid is super sparkly and shiny :)

Step 3:  Wrap it up!

Next use a few beautiful wedding/bridal shower bags and group things together and place them in the bags with tissue paper.  You can get super creative and write a cute note, saying or instructions with each bag.

A few examples with the items I used: "You guys go together like peanut butter and jelly."  "One without the other is like spaghetti without sauce, fettucine without alfredo," etc.  I ran out of time to do the sayings, but the gift looked much better with them grouped and wrapped in pretty bags.

This is a great way to do a gift on a budget that is still very useful and does not look or seem cheap.  With a gift like this it's the thought that counts.  This gift (to me) says, "here, lets make your life a little easier."

I was really happy with how it all turned out.  Sometimes when you try to stick to around $20-$25 you kinda feel like your gift is lacking.  That's why I love starting out with the big tote and then adding themed items to it.

Thanks for reading!!

I'm linking up with these lovely ladies.  Click here to check it out!