Please help with my hair dilemma!

I'm desperate and this is a serious problem! ;) I can't decide what to do with my hair. It's been long for a few years and I've had enough. I don't want to cut it completely short, but definitely need some of the weight and length off. Here's what it's been looking like (this is completely unstyled so please excuse the frizz but as you can see... it's thick) When I straighten it, which is most of the time, it's even longer.

I'm probably going to keep the color. I'm pretty much back to my natural color and sick of coloring. It looks super light in these pictures but is actually a little darker. I found a few ideas, so please let me know what you think! 

{ONE}

love the bangs and length

{source}

{TWO}

more of a layered look, might be good with my thick hair?

{source}

{THREE}

basically the same as one, but straight. love this cut, and obviously emma stone.

{source}

{FOUR}

basically the cut I have now, just shorter and angled in the front

{source}

{FIVE}

orrrr I could get bangs! not sure how this would look with my texture/thickness. circa 1998 I rocked the bangs...but not in a good way. that was an embarrassing time. I love this cut though!

{source}

So, what do you think? Let me know in the comments! I appreciate ANY input, even if it's none of these ideas and something completely different :)

Memorial Day Weekend

Can every weekend be 4 days long? We packed so much into those 4 days. Here are the highlights!


Friday was Ben's college graduation! I'm so proud of my brother. 

After graduation, Ben and Zach came over to our place. It was fun to just hang out with my brothers. The next morning we enjoyed the now-famous french toast bake before B and Z headed off to the beach for the weekend.


I also had my first experience with crabs. After all, I have lived in Maryland for 20+ years and never done this.

I wasn't impressed :( It was such hard work for not much payoff and honestly a little gross but I'm glad I tried it! Thanks for showing me the ropes, Chris :)


Of course, we swam and had a cookout at Chris' family's house on Monday. 

On our way home, we stopped by the soft serve ice cream stand in our neighborhood for the first time. The line is always so long and I've been wanting to stop since it opened.. it is so worth the wait! And only a 5 minute walk away... this could be dangerous!


Last but not least, we can't forget the reason for the holiday. Remembering those who have sacrificed their lives for our country...there aren't enough "thanks" in the world!


I hope everyone had a great weekend!

High Five for Friday! ~ May 25, 2012

Happy Friday! Linking up with Lauren for High Five for Friday :)


There are so many great things about this week and upcoming weekend.


{1} This should count for all 5. My (not so) little brother, Ben, is graduating college today! He has worked so hard and I am so proud of him. He is moving to California next month to start a new adventure, one that he's always dreamed of. I'm going to miss him so much but look forward to visiting him in sunny LA :) In the spirit of his upcoming move, here's a picture of us in CA a couple years ago (excuse my terrible sunglasses... I thought they were cool)

I am so grateful for him and can't believe he'll be 2000 miles away soon. Wahhhh!
Also, Ben and Zach (other brother) are staying over at my place tonight. They specially requested I make the french toast bake for breakfast tomorrow. This is probably the only reason they wanted to come over :) I'm excited! 


{2} My new throw pillows and tv stand in living room! This is what I did on my day off. Chris built the tv stand over the weekend. Poor Chris had the worst time putting it together, thanks to Ikea's horrible directions and weird parts. This will definitely be our last Ikea furniture purchase. :(

{3} My Birchbox FINALLY arrived! Of course I've been having fun sampling all the goodies.


{4} 4 Day weekend! Memorial day weekend = warm weather, swimming, and grilling out. Can't wait!


{5} I went through about 10 boxes of old stuff from my childhood room. The boxes have been sitting in my garage for the past month and needed to go. I went to Target and bought 4 big Rubbermaid containers, then put some music on and just went through everything. I filled 3 of the containers and threw a lot out.. a lot of junk! I found a couple treasures, though:


Can you believe the price of that Disneyland ticket in 1994!?

This is a note Ben wrote to me... he must have been about 9? Haha

I hope you have a great Memorial Day weekend :)

Best of Birchbox

Since I've only been blogging a little while (not counting my random recipe posts since 2010 ;) ), I wanted to share my favorite items from previous month Birchboxes! I've discovered some pretty awesome products and usually the samples are big enough to use for a while. Sometimes the nail polish is even full size!

Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant {February 2012}
This stuff is great- it exfoliates but it gentle enough to use daily. It leaves my face feeling clean and has a small amount of Salicylic Acid to help prevent breakouts.

fresh Sugar Rose Tinted Lip Treatment SPF 15 {March 2012, Teen Vogue Box}

This lip treatment smells great, lasts a long time, and provides a subtle tint. Chapsticks, glosses, and lipsticks are always tricky for me and this product does not leave my lips cracked, dry, sticky, like many others do.

Kerastase Elixir Ultimate {March 2012, Teen Vogue Box}
You couldn't tell from the name, but this is hair oil. I already use Argan Oil (Redken All Soft) which I LOVE but this stuff works wonders as well. It's a blend of four oils and makes the hair feel silky smooth. It even makes styling hair easier. It's $54 for a bottle so I can't say I would purchase it, but maybe I'll save up my Birchbox points to buy it :)


Zoya TRUE Spring Collection Nail Polish- Bevin {April 2012}
I was unsure about the color when I opened the box. It's a muted blue/teal color and is gorgeous in the bottle... I didn't know how I would feel about it on my nails but I love it. I wouldn't wear this color daily but it's a fun change and got me hooked on Zoya polish! {Zoya polish doesn't contain the toxic chemicals so it doesn't smell as bad, and it lasts much longer than regular polish!}


Wonderstruck Taylor Swift Perfume {April 2012}
Taylor Swift's perfume smelled a little strong at first, so I was unsure. I tried it out and a little bit goes a long way- it lasts all day and has a fresh and fun scent. I'm a fan and would definitely consider buying a full sized bottle once my sample runs out. {As you might know from my May Birchbox post, I'm extremely picky about perfume!}


J.R. Watkins Hand & Cuticle Salve- Lemon {April 2012}
April was a good month! I was pleasantly surprised with this hand salve. It smells fresh and keeps my cuticles moisturized for hours. There are other scents, but if I were to buy it I would pick the lemon scent.


That's my Birchbox roundup! What are your favorites?

Living Room: Excited about the Pillows

We bought new furniture when moving to our new apartment in February. The couches didn't come with throw pillows, which was fine since the patterns are always so ugly. I FINALLY found a couple sets that I liked at Homegoods and am in throw pillow heaven. Yeah, it's the little things. Here are a few pictures of the living room space, pillows and all.


{The tan pillows are not new and don't really match. I might re-cover them at some point}

This is my "fancy pillow". I had to!

I wanted solid colors because we want to get a rug soon and I didn't want patterns to clash... but I didn't want to be totally boring. So, I found textured fabrics. I love. 

This is another favorite find- Ottoman with storage and two trays that flip over. The small ottomans in the first picture came inside this!

Decorating/furnishing has been a process, but one that I enjoy!

May Birchbox

I finally received my Birchbox, after waiting forever! 
Birchbox = $10 monthly subscription to receive sample of all sorts of goodies- hair, makeup, and other products. It's like opening a little present each month- and I mean the good kind ;)

This was my 4th box. I can't say it was my favorite but I'm not totally disappointed. 
When I get a chance, I'll go back and do a post about my past boxes. I wasn't really blogging then, but I definitely got some good stuff worth sharing.

{1} Stila Sparkle Waterproof Eyeliner - I was excited to see Stila, my favorite makeup brand. I don't normally use liquid liner, but will give it a try. It has a bit of sparkle, so it's more of a "night out" look.


{2} Shu Uemura Cleansing Oil Shampoo- Haven't tried this yet but it looks pretty amazing from the description. It's oil to foam, so it might be a nice formula for my sensitive scalp.


{3} Dior Miss Dior Fragrance- Honestly, I can't stand this scent. However, I'm super picky when it comes to perfume and my sense of smell is ridiculously heightened. I could see how someone would like it, but it's too heavy and musky for me. I tried washing it off twice and can still smell it. On the upside, if you like the scent it seems to last a long time unlike some perfumes.


{4} Miracle Skin Transformer Body SPF 20- This moisturizer comes in sheer and tinted shades. I'm really looking forward to using it because I'm always looking for a good product with SPF. 


If you are a Birchbox member, don't forget to review your products each month. You earn 10 points per review and then redeem as cash once you have a bunch saved! 


I'd love to hear about your May Birchbox!

High Five for Friday!

It's my first High Five for Friday post! 
I thought it would be fun to join the party and link up with Lauren on this happy Friday.


High Five = Best 5 things from the week!


1) 3 day weekend! I'm off work today and can't wait to relax and maybe do a little shopping! And hang out here:

2) Last night's spontaneous pizza dinner. And the leftovers that we get to enjoy today!

3) Grey's Anatomy Finale last night. Oh. My. Gosh. I'm not going to lie, I was sobbing during the first 15 minutes. Pathetic :) I can't help it.. like so many other people, I've been watching this show FOREVER and it's my favorite!


4) Not being on-call for work anymore. I hate to drag work into this, but we have an on-call rotation so every couple months I'm answering the phone 24/7 and being available for emergencies. It's exhausting and this week was particularly busy. It's such a relief to not have to worry about being woken up in the middle of the night by the phone ringing!


5) This weather. It's almost summer!!!

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend!

Garden Updates and Homemade Pizza!

Our balcony garden is looking pretty good, just a month after we started! There are no peppers yet... I think those will take a while. Basil is growing fast, which we used on tonight's pizza. The flowers are growing so fast and obviously loving the sunny balcony. I never thought I would like gardening, and I am so surprised I've been able to keep plants alive for this long!


Basil and peppers:

 Flower box:

Don't you love these chimes? {Pier One}

Strawberry Margaritas...

And homemade pizza! Let me just say... I am so lucky. Chris makes awesome pizza. I prefer this pizza any day over delivery. Plus, we know what's in it and I'm sure it's a lot healthier than the fast food stuff.

I'm loving this warm weather and everything that comes with it!

French Toast Bake

I made this French Toast Bake the night before Mother's Day for our brunch. It was SO yummy.


I made a few changes to this recipe I found on Pinterest and got this:

Ingredients:

1 stick melted butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 loaf challah bread (or any other bread, but challah is sweet and tastes the best in french toast to me)

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

Powdered sugar

Directions:

1) Slice bread if not already sliced:

2) Mix melted butter and brown sugar until it looks like this, then spread evenly in bottom of 9x13 pan:

3) In a mixer or by hand, beat milk, eggs, vanilla, and cinnamon:

4) Layer bread in pan on top of butter/brown sugar mixture

5) Pour 1/2 of the egg mixture on top of bread:

5) Sprinkle some brown sugar and cinnamon on top of bread. Layer remaining bread, then pour remaining egg mixture on top. You can sprinkle more sugar if you'd like, as if this recipe isn't sweet enough! 

6) Chill overnight in fridge

7) Bake in 350 degree oven for ~40 minutes or until bread looks toasted

8) Serve UPSIDE DOWN so brown sugar mixture is on top. I also sprinkled powdered sugar which is totally unnecessary. And delicious. 

ENJOY!

Mother's Day Brunch

We had a few hours on Sunday to celebrate Mom....then my brothers had to go back to college to study for finals, and I had to work. The time we had was fun and it was good to be together! Here are a few pictures... I'm going to make a separate post about the French Toast Bake soon :)

French toast bake... Is your mouth watering yet?

Fruit salad.. yumm

Pretty flowers B and Z got for Mom. Good taste, guys!

About to put together Mom's gift... a fire pit! "Why are you taking our picture?!?!"
(She loved the gift and we'll make s'mores another time soon!)

Love my family! Happy Mother's Day!

Wall of Happiness

I actually hung a couple things in my new office at work and wanted to share!

Frame is from Kohl's for about $6. I have hundreds of pictures from last year's Puerto Rico trip, so I just stuck a few in there. It's a nice reminder of what you can earn with some hard work... and it also makes me want to take another vacation so bad. 

The clock was around $7 at Target. As you can see from the time, that day it was 4:45 and I was ready to bounce (it's rare that I get off work at 5 so when I can, I'm excited)

Considering a year ago I didn't know how to even hang a picture, I'd say I'm making progress!

Bright Summer Polish

I love Zoya's summer colors. The polish goes on great and hardly smells. Plus, you don't need a topcoat to achieve the "shiny" look. So, naturally, I wanted to wear both colors I just bought:

L: Zoya/Arizona, R: Zoya/Lara


I'm so glad that bright, fun polish colors are "in" again :)

SkinnyCow Candy

Ok. I did not start this blog to do food/product reviews... but I can't help sharing the things I love! SkinnyCow has this amazing new line of candy- all around 100 calories! I'm already a fan of their ice cream sandwiches, which do not taste low-fat at all. This candy satisfies a sweet tooth while staying on track. Now, if I could only stop eating that toffee I made yesterday.... ;)


I found this big box at... you guessed it... Costco! $10!

Check the products out here. 

Salted Toffee

The combination of chocolate, toffee, and a little sea salt is just amazing! This recipe is quick, easy, and not too messy. The hardest part is waiting for the toffee to harden before eating :)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
Dash of sea salt, More for sprinkling on top
Semi-sweet baking bar or ~2 cups chocolate chips


1) Melt butter, sugar, and salt in saucepan

2) Let boil and continue to cook until mixture becomes slightly darker


3) Pour mixture onto wax-paper lined pan, spread around pan


4) Break up chocolate bar and sprinkle over mixture


5) Let sit for a minute to let chocolate melt, or put in oven for a minute

6) Spread chocolate, sprinkle sea salt


7) Let set in freezer. When set, break apart and enjoy!

Slightly adapted from this recipe. The batch I made had too much butter and didn't mix in well, so I reduced the butter for the above recipe.


Before setting in freezer, you could add sliced almonds, walnuts, or whatever you like. I prefer just the toffee and chocolate... yummm. Warning: this is in NO way healthy. It's so sweet I can only eat a couple small pieces, so that works for me ;)