fine hair mini miracles

I have struggled with thin, body-less hair all my life. My mom says I need to curl it in order for it to look good, but who wants to spend all that time with a curling iron or rollers in the morning? Not me. Not a morning person.

So, I've been lazy and worn it long and straight (and stringy) for the majority of the last 10 years. I teased my hair to new heights in college; for some reason this was considered OK for the better part of my 4.5 glorious years at K-State. Looking back, I was dangerously close to this look:

NOT OK!! No offense to Drew, she's beautiful no matter what but yikes, imagine this with straight red hair. I'm sure this bouffant look will come circling its way back in style, but for now, this is unacceptable.

Recently, I've found some really fast and easy tricks I thought I'd share with everyone who has hair troubles like mine....

1. My favorite is the following video from Lucky. It's a step-by-step tutorial on how to easily and quickly get beautiful bouncy hair. I just used this trick last weekend for a wedding and was thrilled with the turnout!

2. This next video provides easy instructions on how to do a waterfall braid on yourself. If you can french braid, you'll have no problem picking this up. I've been wearing this look most weekends, especially after completing #1.

3. Lastly, for those mornings I hit snooze 4-5 times, the Katniss braid. Named after the bad ass protagonist in The Hunger Games (obsessed). Wearing it now and all the time here. Find out how to do the reverse french braid part here.

On an unrelated note, happy last few hours of hump day! I personally can't wait for the weekend....

Top 5 Tuesday: bloggers

For this week's Top 5 Tuesday, I wanted to give a shout out to some great blogs I read.... thank you for your funny stories, interesting views, delicious recipes, spot-on fashion sense and inspiration!

1. Pretty in Pink 

2. Grilled Cheese Social

3. belle maison

4. Decorating Obsessed

5. Corporette

fall obsession: burlap

I am a big fan of the oatmeal / tan / greige color scheme, and have noticed lately that burlap has been blowing up on Pinterest. I like this A LOT. Not only for wedding decor (which is so romantic in a "I'm more laid back than silk and lace" way) but in furniture, decor and accessories too! Here are some recent favorites:

TOMS $54

Louis XIII inspired burlap chair. Restoration Hardware.

Burlap seahorse pillow from www.domestically-speaking.com

Alexander Wang Adele clutch

album l.o.v.e.

I've already mentioned this band briefly a while ago, but I am so in love with them, they deserve their own post.

These guys are brilliant......

You've probably heard their first single "Pumped Up Kicks", released early in 2010 but just now hitting major radio stations. If you like the happy, catchy.... alright, addicting music with the interesting (read: dark) lyrics of Kicks, the entire album will be a thrilling experience for you.

Seriously, I like the whole thing. I can't remember the last time that happened. Not even old faithful The Black Keys do that to me. They're so awesome Weezer did a cover of Pumped Up Kicks at Lollapalooza last weekend. When Rivers Cuomo sings your song at Lolla, you've pretty much made it.

And to look past their musicality, they give back to the community. Just announced today, they are kicking off "Foster The Future" in partnership with The Do Good Bus. They'll work with a charity in each city on their North American tour and spend some time volunteering there. *Sigh*

Embarrassing story time: FTP came to Kansas City for a 7am acoustic show. My favorite radio station in town was putting it on: first come, first serve. Blue Eyes & I were PUMPED to see them (excuse the pun, it was intended). So excited in fact, that we woke up at 4:30 on a Tuesday morning, fully ready to play hooky from work for a few hours, drove to the Firefly Lounge, and parked in the empty lot. What? Were we that big of fans? Or do these early morning shows really not pull in a crowd? Something was seriously wrong.... so we pull up the radio station's website on the Blackberry and sure enough, the concert is at 7am on FRIDAY. I was so excited to see them perform I forgot to listen to the ad long enough to figure out when they were playing. And apparently Blue Eyes believes everything I say, which in most cases is good except when I pull a ditz move like that. As if that isn't bad enough, the worst part is by the time Friday morning came around, I missed the concert. Effff!

Next time, Mark Foster & co, I will make it to hear your music. Come back to KC soon please!

Happy Birthday MK!

Today is the birthday of the wonderful Michael Kors: King of classic American style, and my favorite judge on Project Runway. In honor of his wonderfulness' birthday, here's some of my favorite pieces from his Fall 2011 and Resort 2012 collections. *Happy Birthday Michael Kors!*

Fall 2011 Platinum cape and Smoke shift

She looks like a winter goddess/bad ass in those boots.

Brown runway watch

 How beautiful is this watch? Brown stainless steel?! I'm going to have to check that out in person stat...

Buckled Motorcycle Jacket

I love shearling, but not to worry - this jacket is made of all faux sheepskin & shearling. No animals hurt here!

Resort 2012 gold jacket

Hello fabulous. This screams "Welcome to my spring cocktail party at the Hamptons."

i found the land of milk & honey

Thanks to Lucky Magazine (avid reader since issue #1), I have recently discovered a gem of a website. Shoe lovers: get excited. It's called milk & honey shoes, and simply stated, you create your own shoes at a fraction of Louboutin, Choo, and Blahnik's prices - without sacrificing quality.

I love chunky heels for work, but have a horrible time finding them in stores, especially in the color I want and within my budget. But I do really like these:

Diane Von Furstenberg Roxanne Pump

Prada Pilgrim Buckle Pump

Being a red head, I never wear pink, but how great would those Prada's be with a neutral outfit? Love.

Anyway, milk & honey shoes lets you create a pair of completely custom digs with your choice of toe, heel, height, embellishments, and TONS of different fabrics. I'm designing a pair of chunky heel loafers as I write this blog. You can check out the creators' story here. Plus, it's really fun to pretend you're a designer making final decisions on your line of shoes!

Negligent

So it has been more than a month since my last post.... What have I been doing, you ask?

Well, I went to South America. Buenos Aires, Uruguay, and Rio de Janeiro to be exact. Here are some pics, you all should  need to go!

Our view from the apartment in Buenos Aires, Palermo neighborhood

La Boca neighborhood in BA, this is the most "traditional" tourist area. I compared it to a much better version of the Midwest's Branson, MO. Lots of tango shows here.

This is what I ate a gigantic steak on. Love it.

Blue Eyes taking a stroll in Uruguay.

At the pier in Colonia de Sacramento, Uruguay

Beautiful Ipanema Beach

Copa, Copacabana......

Had to go see the Big Guy in Rio. Breathtaking.

After the trip, I bought a car. And the day job got crazy busy. That's what I've been up to. So, Sorry I'm Not Sorry I have been negligent, I'M BACK!