Love, Love, Love

Ahh yes, it's love day again!

Last year, my mom and I had a mini-photoshoot (a "fauxto"-shoot if you will) where I dressed up and we tried for an hour to get a good picture of me blowing Valentine confetti around. As far as I know, this is the only good one we ended up with! haha. But it was a lot of fun, and we laughed about it a bunch. Plus we got a few neat shots out of the deal! Hearts are my favorite shape, so of course Valentine's day is one of my favorite holidays.

Fun fact:
Have you ever seen the conversation hearts with "143" written on them and wonder what the meaning behind it is? Well, wonder no more because the answer is, "I love you." Shocking right? I find it funny because "I love you" fits on most candy hearts, so there really isn't any reason to shorten it to numbers.

Whether you are spending Valentine's day single, with your love, alone, or otherwise, I hope you have a great day and don't let all of the hype/pressure about how you "should be in a relationship/married/pregnant by now" get to you. If you need some reasons for why it doesn't matter, just look in the mirror. You're awesome! Think of all the cool things you like about yourself. Today of all days is a good time to treat yourself, and fall in love with yourself.

(I've been holding on to that graphic for quite a while now, not going to lie.)

It can take a long time to learn to love yourself. I am not saying the road is an easy one, or that the minute you do that it will stay that way for life. You will have awesome days and crappy days, and plenty of days in-between. But YOU are worthy of love. You are allowed to love yourself because that love is most deserved and it is not as selfish as it seems.

The quote "fall in love with yourself" comes from the song "Anklebiters" by Paramore, which you can listen to here:

The next line is "because someday you're gonna be the only one you've got." I think it's a good point that needs to be made. You have to live with yourself full-time, so you should love the person you've become. It doesn't matter what other people think most of the time, because at some point they won't be there and you'll be left alone with your thoughts and your dreams.  Relying on others as your sole source of love isn't any way to live. If you love yourself it makes it so much easier for others to love you too.

Your body is unique. Every scar is a masterpiece. They prove you have survived. Your body image is only dictated by your confidence in it, so rock what you've got! Somebody doesn't like it? Forget them! As George R. R. Martin wrote, "Words are wind." They can only hurt you if you let them. (Maybe I shouldn't be quoting him after all... ) You are a one-of-a-kind snowflake. And YOU. DESERVE. TO. LOVE. YOURSELF. The whole package. Flaws and all. And not just for today, love yourself every day.

So with that, I leave you with a couple of adorkable pictures that will be on my Instagram later. If you want to catch up with me, it's best to do so there! I finished my TETRIS afghan, but that's for another post.

Happy New Year!!!

I didn't go to the Space Needle this year, but last year I did and it was amazing! I hope everyone had a wonderful New Years Eve and will have a fantastic 2015!!!

Have you made any resolutions? This is the first year in 7 years that I've decided to actually make some!

1.) Grow my nails out. I painted them already so I'm getting a jump on that one!
2.) Take better care of my body with exercise and eating better.
3.) Knit or crochet an afghan! I'm thinking maybe Tetris inspired? :)

Those are just a few that I've come up with. Let me know any you feel like sharing in the comments below! Or, let me know how you celebrated! I stayed at home watching TV with my family.

Welcome 2015! 

Influenster review: 7 Day Smooth System by TREsemmé

This is my review of the 7 Day Smooth System from TRESemmé which I received as a free courtesy of Influenster for testing and review purposes through their VoxBox program.

The products contained in the #SeasonOfSmooth VoxBox included TREsemmé's Keratin Smooth: 7 Day Smooth System Shampoo, Conditioner, and Heat Activated Treatment. The product claims that it will keep your hair smooth for 7 days or up to three washes after only one application. 


Here are my results:

As you can see from my before picture, my hair doesn't like Winter very much. This is how it looks without using any extra products besides Shampoo/conditioner. The after is how it looks once I've used the Keratin Smooth 7 day treatment and a straightener. Immediately my hair feels and looks smoother and once I use the flat iron it smoothes it out even more. The first application does feel a bit heavier than I'm used to, but it's not uncomfortable and doesn't feel like it weighs my hair down like some other products do. It also doesn't make my hair feel very greasy, and I love that. All three products do smell like what a stylist puts in your hair at a salon, so if you like that smell it lasts the first two days! (Or until you wash your hair again.) I really love the smell and the way my hair feels. I couldn't stop touching it! As for the longevity of the products effects, they are greatly reduced by the time of the second shower, and by the third are barely noticeable. At least it doesn't wash out completely on the first wash after using it, but I don't agree that it lasts 7 days for my hair. (Fine and frizzy.) But overall I am very satisfied with this product. I thought I'd have to wait out Winter by damaging the heck out of my hair to make it look at least somewhat okay. But the 7 day system has shown me that I don't need to do that anymore. Now I can enjoy my #seasonofsmooth instead of season of frizz. I might purchase this product again in the future, and I do recommend it to others fighting the season of frizz like I do. But It does work better in straight hair. My mom tried it with her curly hair and there wasn't much of an improvement because she didn't use a curler or a flat iron on her hair. I think the heat is key in this case for activating the serum. 

Thanks for stopping by! See you next year! :) 

Happy Halloween Hangover!

Hey everyone! Remember me? It's been a while!

Let's catch up, shall we?
I moved into a new house (still with parents)
Didn't have internet for about a month...
Other things happened....
Blah, blah, blah....

And here's the costume I made in about a day after a thrifting trip for a last minute party invite!

I call her Betty Blackheart: The wench with the blackest heart on the seven seas!

Most of my pieces were found at Goodwill or Value Village and it all came to about $50. That may seem like a lot, but many of these pieces I can use for other costumes!

A quick run-down of the bits and pieces:

White button-up- Thrifted from Value Village
Corset top- Thrifted from VV and embellished with ribbon
Leather skirt- Thrifted from Goodwill
Tricorn hat- Thrifted from Goodwill
Sword, holster, and gun (not pictured)- Thrifted from VV
Frilly underskirt- Thrifted from Goodwill last year
Hair Dye- Roux color refresh mask (Though you can barely tell in these pictures, I dyed my hair bright red!)
Red head scarf and boot sash- cut from a dress I wore in high school! (Hoarder status much?)
Boots, earrings, and necklace- already had in my closet
Tattoo tights- Thrifted from Goodwill. Brand: Leg Avenue
And here's a closer view, because they're awesome!

*not my legs

So perfect for my costume!

It was a lot of fun to put this together, even on such short notice. I ended up having a lot of fun going to out the costume party with friends. I feel like being in costume opens up a lot more doors with strangers than simply going out on a regular night. Everyone was friendly and supportive of each other. There are so many things about Halloween that make it my favorite time of the year, and that's definitely near the top for me!

So what did you do for Halloween? Did you dress up? Let me know in the comments! Even better, leave a link to your blog if you posted your costume so I can see it!
I really need to catch up with you all!

Selling boots to geeks the right way

Not sure if you've seen these ads lately, but...

Boots for fashion-friendly zombies!

And along the same lines...

Now there are THREE?!

Then Sink your teeth into these!

These boot ads are on fire! 

Whoever is in the JustFab marketing team really knows how to play to geek culture to get attention.
The Walkers one was the first one that I saw, and immediately shared it. However instead of making me want to buy boots, it just makes me excited for more Walking Dead and Game of Thrones! (I'm currently on the second book right now!) (Okay, maybe I want the boots a little too.)

What do you think of these ads? Have you seen any other geek culture references in ads lately?

p.s. I'm not being paid by JustFab or being reimbursed in any way to share these photos. I just thought they were neat. Kbai!