Birthday Bash

This past weekend the Hubs and I celebrated our birthday a little early (his is Apr 25 and I'm May 1) at this fun Irish bar called Dillon's. It was such a great time, I wish I had more pictures, but I was too busy having fun to take the time.

Big thanks to everyone who came out! Matt and I had the best time. We're still recovering.

Hot Man Parade: Zac Efron

Okay, so it's no surprise how much I'm in love with little Zaccy poo and his baby blues. See his previous HMP tributes here and here. He's gorgeous. Swoon.

In honor of his movie coming out this weekend, I just had to post about him. And his baby blues. His good hair. His sense of style. Etc.

Got My Hair Did

If you follow me on Facebook, I wanted to switch my hair up. If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll realize I want to do this often. I first went with ombre hair a while ago and loved it. I thought it would be a perfect way to try and get back to my natural dirty blonde color without being too shell shocked from living the past decade (or so) as a bleach blonde, honey blonde, "natural" blonde (a shade I like to refer to as one that does occur in nature, just not one I was born with), dark blonde, white blonde, etc. You can check out the results of ombre round 1 here.

This is the picture I brought in as my inspiration (if only I could go to the gym with that picture and walk out with that body after one session):

What I love most about ombre and this particular picture is how natural it looks. It reminds me of children who have been playing outside all summer and the natural lightness they get on the tips from the sun. Plus, this root color is pretty similar to my natural color- right on the edge of blonde and brunette (this does look a little closer to brunette though I would say).

Here are my results:

At the salon right after the big reveal.

I made sure not to have my face show because this is the same day as a major allergy reaction I was having where my face was super swollen and my eyes were nearly shut. I did take pictures of that, but trust me, you don't want to see them. Just think of Will Smith in the movie Hitch.

After my first wash a few days later.

At first I was shocked at how dark it was and my stylist, who is the bomb.com, said if I didn't like it to come back next week to add more blonde in. I love her, she is just the sweetest thing, and although I would do that if that's the case, her hands are magical and I never not like what she does to my weave. She's fantastic about understanding what I want, getting a great shade that matches my skin tone, and giving me a great cut. She's a stylist who cuts off a half inch when you tell her an inch because no one ever realizes how much a full inch is. She's fantastic. And magical.

Anywho, like I said I was shocked in the first five minutes. Then I was completely enamored. The color matches my brows so perfectly that peeps at my work asked if I had my brows done to match (which I didn't). I'm seriously in love with this color. It's so natural and the blonde at the bottom is still bright, but subtle. I'm so in love with this shade, I'm definitely going to be rocking it for a long time. I feel like it really compliments my skin, doesn't wash me out, and makes my eyes pop. I'll be sure to post more pictures as the color settles in.

What's your favorite hair color? Are you still feeling the ombre trend?

Summer Hairstyles

This summer I really want to switch up my hair this summer. I usually wear it down everyday and I'm going to consciously try and wear it up more often. Here are some of my favorite looks so far that I've seen.

Classic Side Braid

Looks cute with nearly every outfit, and the messier the better!

Sides Pulled Up

This look is so simple, but I always look weird to myself when I try it. This summer I'm going to master it.

The Undone Updo

Oh, LC, you have such gorgeous locks. Half up and half down is my usual go to, getting it to look messy and cute? I'm going to master that too.

The Knot Pony

Such a great way to mix up a pony tail, see the video how-to here from My Yellow Sandbox.

Pony with Braids

Braids are one of my favorite hair looks. I love how Steph adds several braids to really mix it up. Check out how-to on this look as well as 10 other ponytail looks on her blog Hair and Make-up by Steph.

Braided Pony

I told you all I like braids right? I love how undone this look is, and to be truthful, I can only get halfway through a frenchbraid before my arms get tired. LOL. This is perfect for me!

I Tried It: Flat Iron Curls

***Be Prepared, this week is going to be all about hair!***

So some of you longtime readers may remember way back when I posted about how I wanted to learn how to curl my hair using a flat iron. Well, I've finally learned how thanks to Steph from Hair and Make-up. She's the bomb. She has a TON of tutorials that are super easy to follow and tips on each post to make sure you're doing it right or how to do it easier.

Now, I'm sharing pics with you from my first time doing it, and I'm not a pro by any means. Oh, and I'm also in my bathrobe.

I curl my hair nearly every single day (you can see how here, here and here), but lately I've been sick of my hair looking the same all the time. Granted, there's not a huge difference from my loose curls, but enough of one to keep me happy. Plus, it's a new skill I learned.

The curls lasted all day long and looked good even when I was going to bed. It takes me a little bit longer to curl it this way versus using a regular curling iron. Now, I would share with you how-to or tips, but I'd pretty much just be copy and pasting Steph's entire post. I have nothing new to share with you that she didn't cover so head over to her if you're interested in learning how.

How do you curl your hair? What way to you prefer?