Maternity Outfit for Baby #4

While I don't have the time or inclination to go back to style blogging, I do want to try to get in maternity outfit photos throughout this pregnancy just to journal my progress, watch my body grow in photos, keep me finding creative ways to dress the bump, and be able to compare to my previous pregnancy photos. 

So here I am at 15 weeks. I wore this today for church. Wednesday is my 16 week appointment. I feel like the weeks are going by pretty fast already. It will be the second week of February soon and I'll be finding out the baby's gender!

Dress - Ann Taylor - hand-me-down (thanks Lalia!)

Scarf - c/o www.morethanalive.com

Boots - Jessica Simpson - c/o eBay

Sweater - Gap Maternity - Goodwill for $4

Besides the huge appetite I wish I didn't have (hello 6 extra pounds...and counting!), I am really having an amazing pregnancy. My morning sickness continues to be almost completely nonexistent in the mornings and doesn't creep in until around noon. During the afternoon the sickness is very manageable and sometimes I can get relief by just taking ginger root capsules. By the evening I am definitely nauseated, but still not finding myself outright sick. If I go to bed by 10PM I can usually sleep through the worst of the nausea and by 5AM it's gone. I feel so very lucky to have it so easy this time around!

Outside of craving carbs for my first and third pregnancies, the only odd thing I've craved was refried beans in my second pregnancy. I craved it so badly that I ate it cold with a spoon right out of the can! This pregnancy I'm fitting right into the stereotype of pregnant women having weird cravings. In my early weeks of pregnancy I really just wanted beans and salad - nothing too crazy. But by week 11 I was craving mustard, hot dogs, olives, pickles, horse radish, salami, and summer sausage - which I ate all together. Since then I've just been craving steak, hamburgers (which I have yet to indulge in), refried beans, cheese, spicy foods (medium salsa has been cutting it so far), and lately I'd really love a huge slice of lasagna!  

So any guesses? Girl or boy?

I thought I'd get a few new headshots to show off my chopped hair. My decision to chop had nothing to do with trying to look better. Let's face it, I think I look best with long hair and that's why I've always kept it long. But I'm turning a new leaf and trying to focus less on how I look. It's just hair and it grows back. For now having less hair means I don't have to wear ponytails that give me headaches, it takes half the time to curl, and I no longer have to get annoyed with pulling hair out of coats or out of baby's hands. It was the right time for this. I thought I'd look forward to growing it out right away, but I'm actually just enjoying the ease and the way it looks and not even thinking about growing it out yet.

Side French Braid

Inspired by Pinterest, I've been putting my daughter's hair in french braid pigtails a lot these days. Finally decided to french braid my own hair and am happy that my hair is finally getting long enough to do something like this. Hopefully this picture will encourage me to keep growing it out.

Mod Bangs

 I decided to chop off my bangs and now they're falling where I want them. Change is fun!

My Faux Bob

Every so often I get the urge to try something different with my hair - I'm never brave enough to actually go through with my ideas, but I finally decided to at least experiment with a faux bob.

 

To achieve this look, all I did was gather a loose pony at the nape of my neck and then turn the tail under with pins.

 

For some a great tutorial on the faux bob, go here.

Michael Kors and a Top Knot

While I was visiting my sis, I noticed her rocking the top knot more than once. She looked so effortlessly chic in it. She showed me the easy way she does it, and I decided I needed to give it a try. After all, just about every blogger around has been doing this for a while now, it's about time I jumped on the bandwagon. I think my head is too big in proportion to my body to really "rock" this look, but it's nice to have something trendy to fall back on when I'm having a bad hair day.

 

Michael Kors said in my latest In Style magazine that women need to be wearing true white in the winter, not just winter white. I'm all for this trend. I hate putting clothes away to only wear in certain seasons. Seasonless clothing is a win-win. It means I don't have to box it up for a season, which saves me time, and I get more for my money by being able to get more wear out of it.

 

Sweater - Gap - gifted

Chambray shirt - Gap - thrifted for $3

Jeans - Zara - $25

Pumps - Faryl Robin via eBay - $17

Earrings - gifted

A Great Curling Hair Tutorial

My Mom found this curling hair tutorial and I was immediately inspired! My sister and I both tried it out for church on Sunday and loved the results. You should try it out if you like to curl your hair and let me know if it worked for you!

Outfit Post: Green

This morning I decided to take the kids to the movies. Our local theatre has free showings for children at 10:00 on Wednesday mornings. So these are the photos I got straight from the shower, before I fixed my hair and as I was rushing out the door. Last night when I got home from the salon, my hair looked smooth and perfect like this.

 I know, very blurry photo. Gone are the days when I have the time to actually use a real camera. Droid camera photos are all I take these days.

After the theatre I was able to curl my hair (gasp). Something I haven't done in ages it seems. I just curled the ends of a few pieces since I am again on the run for more outings today. Here are the lovely headshots of my new haircut. Now, you are all probably not seeing any difference whatsoever. But bear with me. The last time I stepped foot in a salon was 7 years ago. While I've always had my hair done by a professional, it was always inside their home, so I haven't had the full wash treatment in quite a while. I felt completely pampered for two and a half hours last night and can't wait to go back. It may look the same, but it feels totally different. I am a new woman I tell you.

This green dress I won a long time ago from a blog giveaway. It's from Target. The leather belt is from my trip to Florence, and the shoes are Nine West. The faux emerald cuff and earrings are vintage and gifted.



To The Hair Salon

I called my husband the other day to tell him I was going to make an appointment for a hair trim. I normally have my Mom cut my hair, but I won't have the opportunity to have her cut it until Thanksgiving and am too impatient. His response was that I should do something different if I was going to go to a salon. He didn't want any drastic color changes and nothing short. I don't see how I can really do anything different with those restrictions, but this is my idea for the color:

 Some caramel/honey hues added to my hair with reddish undertones.

 For the cut, just the same cut I always get. Lots of face framing layers.

If my husband didn't care I think a bob with lots of layers might be fun. Maybe one day. 

Inconsistencies

Apparently a former reader is upset at some inconsistencies on this blog regarding hair products. The fact that I said I rarely do my hair (I don't use blow dryers, straighteners, curling irons, etc.) and yet I've done several product reviews and tutorials on the subject confused her. She feels I said great things about those products just because they were given to me for free. I get that. It is not the case, but I can see why she would think that.

I should have clarified yesterday's post by saying that I rarely do my hair *anymore*. But yes, I've always preferred the au naturale look. I go through seasons of appreciating certain colors, products, styles, and clothes - this includes hair products, styles, and cuts. This season in my life is about not having to style my hair. Since we're getting close to summer season and everyone's hair is probably having some difficulty staying styled, I thought I'd tell you about another way I style my hair using no curling irons, blow dryers, or straighteners.  However, in future posts, and in past posts, I have and will post about the benefits of using products even though I prefer not using them all the time. Right now I have chosen to go au naturale, but tomorrow I may use a curling iron or straightener. In fact, I hate the color black, and yet I wear it often on this blog. Sometimes out of necessity, boredom, curiosity, or whatever else, I try things that I don't prefer. Hope that clarifies it for some of you. And if not, feel free to ask.

I stand by the products I was given for free. They truly are amazing. I just haven't needed to use them much lately and prefer to not have to use them at all. But soon I'll be in a no baby season of my life again, get bored with my hair, and experiment with all the products I have.

Beachy Hair

I rarely blow dry, curl, or straighten my hair. I prefer the au naturale look most of the time, and thankfully I have pretty easy going hair that doesn't usually have to be styled to look ok. In the summer, though, I love to add a bit of product to my air dried hair. I use salt sprays to achieve a beachy hair look. I've used all kinds of products in the past, but my favorite is the stuff I make myself.

I add a teaspoon or more of sea salt to a spray bottle filled with warm water, a dab of conditioner (or this time around I used melted coconut oil) and then sprayed it generously in my hair. Using my homemade product achieves the look I have below.

When I'm going for the beachy hair look, I shampoo my hair only twice a week. The saltwater dries out my hair, so all I do is rinse it lightly with water in the shower and then let it air dry half way before spraying it with the saltwater. If my hair ends up too greasy, I just use dry shampoo, and if it gets too dry, I will skip the shampoo and just add conditioner to the ends. 

I love easy, breezy, beachy hair for the summer!

Countdown: D-Day Has Arrived!

Since I only made it to 38 weeks for my first pregnancy, I was really wanting to make it all the way to 40 weeks for this one...and am so happy to say that we made it (with God's help, of course)! I am 40 weeks today! I'm feeling great, although I'm very sore from all the contractions I've already had this month. Since I'm a VBAC, I'm going to have to fight to not get induced next week if I still haven't gone into labor on my own by then, but with how good I'm feeling, I think I'll have the energy to put up the necessary fight and let my body go into labor on its own. So here's to hoping the next few days or weeks are productive and go by fast so we can meet our little girl soon!

 I was inspired by the gorgeous and chic: The Stylish Housewife, to wear my hair like this since today my plans are to get the house cleaned and the laundry done. If you want to try out the style, check out her quick and easy tutorial. Nothing like a good messy updo for housework!

Product Review: Misikko's Corioliss Curling Wand

My curling wand from Misikko arrived complete with extra goodies (like Paul Mitchell Volumizer spray, make-up, flowers, ribbons, etc.!) - it was like my Birthday all over again!

I couldn't wait to try it, so even though I had just straightened my hair with my new Hana flat iron, I immediately started using the curling wand...It took me quite a while to get the hang of how to use it, but I loved the results. It definitely creates more of a ringlet than what my flat iron or regular curling iron can do, but it also has the ability to create a ripply wave (something my regular curling iron doesn't really do either).
You really should check out Misikko for great products like ceramic curling irons, the best hair dryers, and great flat irons. I love my Hana Professional, but Corioliss (the same brand as my curling wand) makes a Corioliss Straightener, too.

And since I had some trouble at first using the curling wand, I thought I'd show you a quick video tutorial of how to use it since I think I've got it figured out now.

You can watch this video I did for tips on how I style my curled hair.

Have any of you tried the curling wands out there? Do you prefer them over the regular curling irons with clamps?

Product Review: Misikko Flat Iron

Misikko (a company that sells ceramic flat irons, and other fabulous hair products like the T3 hair dryer , and chi hair straighteners), sent me the Hana Professional with Tourmaline flat iron to do a product review, and I have to say, I was impressed even before I saw and used the iron! Check out how they wrapped it:
After looking through the little goodies they sent with it (lipstick, hand sanitizer, emory boards, etc.), I finally got a glimpse of the flat iron... It came in a pink faux leather pouch with a separater inside so that the cord to the iron would stay separate from the iron when hot. Love that. I was sent the pink edition, which I'm particularly excited about since pink is my favorite color!! I decided to put the straightener to the absolute tests...

This is my hair on a bad hair day...very bad hair day...and immediately upon waking up...

I brushed through some of the front pieces of my hair with the iron before the flat iron was even fully hot, and couldn't believe how powerfully and quickly it straightened and shined my hair!

Reading the instructions to the iron, it says that it has a heat setting for super fine hair, and so I thought I would test the iron out on my mother-in-law who never uses any heat on her hair due to how fine it is.

This is her hair with just a touch of hairspray in it. She has a grown out perm in the ends of it, and sleeps in sponge rollers to give her hair extra body for the day.

This is her hair after I flat ironed it. Shiny, smooth, and full looking. And yes, those curls were made with the iron. I also decided I would test out the iron on someone with super curly hair.

My sister-in-law's hair is so curly, she has to tame the frizz with styling gel, and tons of hairspray. She came to me with her hair full of hair product and stiff, but we tried the iron on it anyway...

It straightened her hair in one brush of the iron! I quickly curled the ends with the iron, and my sister-in-law left with shiny, bouncy curls!

The curls the flat iron makes are stronger than what my Conair curling iron can do, and I've found that my curls stay tighter longer, even after two days of no touch ups! Can you tell I'm sold on this iron?

I tried a new hairstyle!

Last night, I watched the video tutorial posted by Nic, and I tried it in my own hair today. I did everything exactly how she said, and this is how mine hair turned out. I had to pin it up on the side, because I usually tuck my hair behind my ear, and it was falling into my face. It looked pretty, but I couldn't stand it! My hair doesn't really hold a curl or even much of a wave after I blow dry it, so I did use some hair spray and scrunched it a bit after I had finished with the curling iron.