Cookie Party Recap

Sorry I am overdue with this post.  It's been a busy couple of days since the party.  Samson and I had a rough Sunday and I stayed home on Monday to keep an eye on him.

Anyways, the party was great.  A good mix of people and most came and stayed for a pretty decent amount of time.  I'm glad so many of my family could come out and a few friends who happen to be in town at the perfect time!

I tried to snag a few photos of the layout before everyone arrived - and an outfit shot, because I know at least one of you would ask...

In my cleaning frenzy that morning, I had to move all the wrapped presents from the floor of my dining room to under the tree (really where they belong).  I definitely think gifts under the tree completes the whole "Christmas tree" feeling.  Only downside - less of my cute tree skirt was showing! :)

I borrowed the drink bucket from my parents again which works out perfectly to stick cold bottles of wine and beer in.  That way people don't have to grab stuff from the kitchen.  It's not showing in this picture, but you can see it in the background of the photo of Samson.

The buffet that I DIY from the Ikea shelves, is the perfect place to layout the drink section.

This year I made a few more appetizers than I did last year.  Surprisingly, I still had a lot of cookies leftover after the party.  My family will be happy I still have some for next week.

Finally, this is officially becoming Samson's spot during parties.  He provides him the escape from people's feet, but also gives him prime location to scout innocent party goers who are willing to give him treats.

As soon as I put the cookies out he started camping out there.  My guardian.

As for what I wore, it was kind of spur of the moment.  I like this shirt because it's festive without being obnoxious.  That being said, there were quite a few Christmas sweaters at my party.  I may have to think about that for next year.

After spending countless hours watching youtube tutorials on vintage hairstyles and all the makeup application tutorials, I feel pretty confident that I can get a very vintage look without too much work.  It's definitely becoming my go to look for parties.

 The shirt I got last year from Express; skirt is old from Macys.

Finally, a closer look at the hair and makeup thanks to a goofy Instagram selfie.

Outfit post and new hair style?

Last week during random blog trails, I stumbled onto an old post on Love Maegan about DIY overnight curly hair.  While I knew it wouldn't turn out exactly like hers - come on, I do NOT have that much hair - I wanted to at least give it a shot.

So late last night, I washed my hair, dried it almost completely, and set it in the little knots for bed.  The knots were pretty tight.  I would probably do them looser next time.

In the morning, I got ready and then pulled out all the knots and finger combed them like Maegan did in her tutorial.  It looked a little crazy - very much like I imagine naturally curly hair is like - which achieved what Maegan said the intent was.

 See, crazy.  You know I love you internet, that I am putting this picture up.

After some messing with it in the car and a few hours to let it settle at work, here is what it looks like now.

So, overall, not bad.  I would probably do fewer knots with more hair in them next time and probably looser twisting, but I don't mind the craziness of it now that it's relaxed a bit.

Oh, here's the finished outfit for today.

Vintage Hair (AKA) What happens when I'm bored and I surf YouTube

Yesterday I stumbled on a few vintage hair tutorials online.  Here and here.  Work was not exactly busy, so I spent A LOT of time surfing YouTube and watching videos.  Having really wanted to be able to do some victory rolls, I am super envious of those ladies thick, full hair.

So last night before bed, I messed around with them to see if it was something I could pull off.  I'm not sure I could do the full victory rolls without spending more time on the rest of my hair, but I was able to pull off this nice little "pomp swirl" at the front.  My first attempt I left the rest of my hair in a ponytail, but it looked to thin in comparison to the poof.  So I made a quick sock bun and tied a vintage scarf around it. I did my best to get a couple close ups below.

*sweater - Express, jeans - Gap, shoes - BP Nordstrom (old)

It is a little messier than I would like, but not bad for my first attempt.  I'm excited to incorporate some of this into some updo options.

Crappy Friday

I had high hopes for today - it is Friday after all.

Wrong.  I woke up at 12:30am to the sound of water dripping.  Turns out the ceiling in my bedroom is leaking from where the radiator is upstairs.  Awesome.  I tried my best to put towels down and then had to spend the rest of the night sleeping on my couch because I couldn't NOT focus on the sound of water dripping onto the wet towel.  You will notice the rolled back carpet in the photo.  Ugh.

So I did get a bit more sleep after that.

Then, when I got to work, I was trying to wrangle my purse, my bag with lunch and a giant iced coffee out of the car and the coffee slipped and spilled ALL OVER my front seat.  So it looks like I'm off to target this morning to get some upholstery cleaner in hopes of getting the stain out before it completely sets in.  Also, the only thing I had to use was my SFHS blanket that was in the back seat.  Looks like I'm doing some laundry this weekend (hi mom!)

Anyways, before all of this happened, I was actually pretty pumped about my outfit today - and my hair!

It's something right?

Happy Crappy Friday.

 *shoes - Target, pants - Macys, shirt - JCrew Outlet, jacket - Express, hair - BIG  :)

Award Season

For those of you who don't want Downton Abbey, you should!

Here is gorgeous Lady Mary (aka Michelle Dockery) at the Golden Globes... looking amazing!  I love the dress... and the hair.

The hair is making me wish I had really thick hair so I could cut it short and look that good.

Freezing

This morning it was bitterly cold out.  After feeling like summer on Friday and Saturday (in the 50s), it seemed even colder this morning.

If I could've gotten away with wearing my double layers sweatpants to work, I would've considered it.

*sweater- GAP mens, shirt - JCrew factory, pants - Macys (old), shoes - Sole Society

I'm still trying to decide if I can even do this pants with booties thing.  It feels weird, but I'm giving it a chance.

Also, I'm so proud to admit that my hair today is all my own. :)  I used this technique I got though one of my 100s of emails I get each day.

*Ah, no nailpolish!  

I didn't wash it this morning so it still had all the product in from yesterday (I wore it curly), so I added some dry shampoo to the roots and then teased a tiny bit per the instructions.  I'm kindof proud of my semi-big bun. :)

This one goes in the "can't believe I posted this on the internet" file

Last night I FINALLY got a haircut.  It's been since February and I needed one badly.  I was hesitant to find someone since I really liked my stylist back in DC.

Eventually I caved and scheduled an appointment with Brooke's friend/stylist/landlord, George.  It isn't too far from my office so I went directly from work.

We didn't do anything fancy, just a good trim - but he gave me some styling tips and I am STILL amazed.

He used a salt spray product that is supposed to give my fine hair some texture.  And then he curled it.

This photo is from an hour after -

And this one (I can't believe I am posting this on the internet) is from this morning - AFTER I slept on it!

That is just craziness.  NEVER has curl stayed in my hair that long and he didn't use any styling gel or hair spray.  Honestly, if I can replicate this on my own, George might just have a new stalker.

Sadly, I showered out the curls this morning and went SUPER casual... still cannot believe I am wearing leggings to work.  BUT, there aren't many people in the office because of the holiday and I have to pack up boxes today.  See, it's justified.... right?

*sweater - VS, leggings - Express, shoes & scarf - Target

Tonight, Samson and I are heading up to my parents place.  I wanted to get settled before the holiday and Lauren, Kevin, Liam and the dogs are coming down tomorrow.

Curly Hair Update

For those of you that care.... here is what my hair looks like right now (2pm CT).

I have to say, it was pretty curly still until about 2 hours ago when it got really warm in my office.  I sent Lauren a text picture at 11am that had good curl left.

I think with some more products and a bit more time spent on it, it will last longer.

A tease of Spring

Spring like weather in March in Chicago seems outrageous.  It's becoming increasingly difficult to convince myself that this is just short lived and to be prepared for the onslaught of cold weather again soon.

(Maybe if I an negative about it, I will be wrong?? :)  Worth a shot right?)

I LOVE my outfit today.  Can't say that happens very often.

*Another outfit by JCrew (they should be paying me to endorse them at this point...), shoes - Nine West

Also, curly hair?!!!  It's only been an hour (by the time I'm writing this) and the curls are already wearing down.  I'm going to have to play around with some more products.

Curling was done using my straightener.

I'm glad I tested this, because I might throw more product in and do this tomorrow for my photo/video shoot at work.  Kind of wishing I had saved this outfit for tomorrow.  Hindsight.

A new 'do for 2012

I love my stylist... no, i LOVE my stylist!  It took me moving to DC to find someone that I trusted completely to just do whatever they suggested to my hair.

I love how I can make suggestions and she will either agree, or suggest something similar that would look better.  So a few weeks ago when I asked her about Jessica Biel's hair, so was totally for it.

I managed to snap a picture while I was enjoying a glass of wine and letting the color do its thing.

Here's the before and after....

And then the after compared to the inspiration photo....

I seriously LOVE it.

A hair change

If you watched the Golden Globes last week, like Nanny and my mom and I did, I'm sure you felt the same way as I did about the dresses.  Kind of underwhelming right?  Sure, there were some gorgeous ones but there were also plenty of misses.  And, a bunch of boring ones.... at least in my opinion.  

Here are my favorites:

 Claire Danes - probably my favorite.  And the back was stunning.

 Emma Stone - not sure how I felt about that bird on the belt... but the dress is gorgeous

Shailene Woodley (from the Descendants) - so pretty and age appropriate 

 Rachel Evan Woods - I love this dress even though it's sort of weird

 Kate Beckinsale - so simple

Now.... for my "what were they thinking" choices:

 Amanda Peet - Really?  It looks like curtains

 Kelly Osborne - I'm not even sure what to say about this one

 Lea Michele - She looks like Spiderman in that one movie where he is bad... that weird black goop

 Oh Jessica Biel - I love you, but this dress breaks me heart.  She looked like she had three boobs

I bet right about now you are wondering why I titled this post "A hair change".  I don't blame you!  When I was in high school and college, I colored my hair A LOT.  I guess I felt like since I couldn't do much drastically with the cut, the color was a way I could keep mixing it up.  It also helped that my friend was my stylist so she almost always did it for free.

Then I moved out to DC, got a job, had to pay for my hair cuts (what?) and realized that really... the maintenance of coloring my hair was so not worth the money.  So I stopped.  It's been 5 years since the last time I colored my hair.  And really, I like my natural hair color.  But after watching the Golden Globes, I could not stop obsessing about Jessica Biel's hair color.

Look at it - so rich and amazing.  So right away, I saved a photo to my computer and messaged my stylist on facebook (we are friends okay).  I asked her if this color was totally out of the question for me.  She said no, actually, that it would look really nice and to schedule an appointment when I wanted.  Since I haven't gotten my hair cut since July (I actually can't believe that either now that it's written down), I'm way past due for a hair cut.  Now the issue is just getting my butt in there and paying the money to get it done.

The Sock Bun

Ok, before I get into the main purpose of this post... an outfit photo.  I have lunch with a CVB today, so I wanted to be "dressy" casual.

*Shirt - JCrew, vest - Express, jeans - Gap, shoes - Nine West, Necklace - DIY

By the way, these jeans are the closest to trouser that I own right now.

NOW, the main thing I wanted to point out.... THE HAIR.  Back in October, when I was posting about sleeping in a headband to get "no heat curls", I had also seen this YouTube video about a "sock bun".

So, I checked it out.  Basically, you roll up a sock and roll your hair around the sock to create a fuller bun.  Perfect for the girl with super thin hair, right?

So finally, I got a dark colored sock and thought I would give it a try this morning.  The results.... well, AWESOME.

You can see in the photo above how it already looks fuller and more noticeable.  Here is a photo from the back.  You can't see the sock anywhere.

I finally found my easy, go-to hairstyle!!!!