Hair Too{s}day.

Volume 12: the curling stick. 

Welcome to my official weekly tutorial  of what do to with your hair!! People are always asking me 

"How did you do that to your hair?" 

And so here are my answers, trials, and step by step tutorials of 

"How you can do that to your hair, too!"

Today will be my first every product post. I'm sorry to admit that I did not find the time over the even more shameful half weekend off I enjoyed, because I was too busy filling it with funness. Not that making tutorials isn't fun, but summer is almost gone and as much as I'm cheering it's goodbye to welcome everything fantastic about the fall season, I can't help but want to squeeze in as many hot summer days as possible. Maybe a little cold feet of what the fall season will bring? We shall see. 

A lot of you wonderful followers whether through blogger or facebook etc make me feel so special when you email me with questions, comments, and raves. And lately a recurring question has been what that thing is that I use to curl my hair. Well fasten your seatbelts kids cuz today you're gonna learn all about the 

the curling stick.

  

A few months ago I saw another blogging using this crazy curling iron to give her long amazing hippie locks the coolest curl. So of course I had to have this device and that's when I discovered curling my entire head of hair in less than 10 minutes; hiding every bad version of bad hair day in minutes; curling every type of curl from 1 inch to long loose beach waves..all with this crazy looking thing! 

It's as simple to use as a curling iron. Instead of having a clamp to hold your strand in place, you can wrap each strand of hair every which way you want which gives you different types and tightness of curl, and you definitely don't get shirley temple curls. Why does the picture picture a sexy single glove? That's because this thing can get a little hot (superfreakingcrazyburnshot!!) and so each curling stick comes with a fancy little protector glove :) 

If you want to order the tool of magic right this minute just go here.

Or just remember to stop by Target where I found mine and look for the 

Remington Salon Collection

Ceramic Curling Wand

The small/medium size I use can be found in store other sizes can be found on Target.com

---

My procrastinating self has to jet off to work now! 

xo . jess

summer to go.

The weekend felt long and enjoyable. And being off Friday and Sunday made The Saturday from Hell at work much more manageable. And forgettable. Especially after today's hot summer Sunday afternoon.

If you caught my Friday post, you know that I promised picture sharing time before the end of the weekend of my finds at the thrift store. (Yeah so you've probably started the new week already but you know the weekend is still fresh in your mind. So let me kill some of your Monday morning blues by picture sliding you through my weekend + share with you my thrift finds!

fabulous saturday.

+ this cute little pants of sass stayed the night at the house and was complete with french braid pigtails, sun tan lotion, and sunglasses fabulous before 9:40am.

+ After lounging the morning away I found myself in a work chaos disaster most of the evening. Which I then danced away for a spontaneous night out with Jenna and the girls*

summerfun Sunday. 

it was a french toast kind of morning. 

got sweet and sweaty cheerin' on at Ty's soccer game. 

(chowed down almost an entire bag of the best grapes I've had all year)

Oh my talented brother. 7 - 0 you show off kids. 

Had a little (one legged) visitor take some shade in my half tent. He was kinda cute until he tried to crawl into my tote and I had to kick him out. Gently of course. The poor guy already only had one leg. 

And now :) my thrift finds from Friday! It wasn't much, but I count myself very successful. I got 5 items which is in itself a good find. And all pieces are fairly unique and quite the staple items. A perfect start into the fall thrifting season I'd say :) 

thrifting treasures:

I have been dieing to have a denim vest in my wardrobe. I've recently discovered that I have a love affair with vests. I have the most random pieces. And I decided to keep my eye out for great finds to widen my collection. 

Brand: Levi's

Size: small

Price: $4.99

 This poncho is an item that I'm loving more and more just knowing it's in my closet waiting for the warm weather to bring those cooler Colorado falls days. At first I saw it and thought it was at least worth trying on. Then as soon as I put it on in the fitting room - even paired with the magical Banana Republic boyfriend jeans I found - I knew I would regret passing it up. 

Brand: anu

Size: small - medium

Price: $3.99

Yes..unfortunately for you I was so in love with the above mentioned lightwash boyfriend denim jeans I found for $9.99 that I not only wore them to work the next day but straight out to the bar afterward with the girls. So they are already on their second cleaning. But trust me when I say they fit like magic pants. 

Lastly I found these fantastic totes. The basket tote on the left reminds me of the one my mom carried around when I was a kid. Also something I've already used several times over the weekend. The second has a fun printed plastic inner lining which will be perfect for toting around hair and make up products. 

left:

Brand: unknown

Size: medium bag

Price: $3.99

right:

Brand: Jane Maryl

Size: large bag

Price: $2.99

---

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful weekend. Summer is fading fast and although it seemed sort of a stressful season this year, we had some great weeks, trips, and days. We have the fortune of getting to look forward to one more camping trip back at Red Feather's mid September. A little family vacation mixed in with celebrating our one year wedding anniversary. 

Have a happy Monday lovelies! 

xo . jess

little neighbor.

On Friday morning I noticed we had a little visitor that had made himself an overnight stay in between our screen and window.

I know. Iiiew a mouse!! But c'mon. I don't think any living thing could possibly be ugly or gross in baby form. Alright maybe spiders. And frogs. Okay you get what I mean! There's no way this thing was gross and we of course could not let him be stuck in the basement window shaft. Let alone squished in the window like this. 

And by me I mean N. 

We waited until the little guy had woken up and came out from between the screen and window. Once he was chillin on the newspaper in the sunshine, N scooped him out! 

So we set him on the other side of the fence, where N had released his 2 siblings Thursday morning. 

Look how little he is!

Like a golf ball. 

Then the little guy he decided he was gonna take a walk. 

yes of course I said "awwwwww" :)) he's freaking cute people. And our fence is really high so I was hanging over the top of the wall hence the little girl voice. I was in a little squished position. 

So the little shit head decided to crawl right back under the fence and chill in the warmth of the ac unit. 

(sorry for the super annoying ac unit noise!)

say what you will this guy was so cute. we found him a better place to hide after and haven't seen him or his siblings since but I'll keep you updated on my mouse adventures. :) 

I gotta jet off to work for the rest of the afternoon/night. Might possibly stop to have drinks with Jenna & her girls on the way home and am already looking forward to share my thrift finds with you tomorrow, and cheer on my brother Ty and his soccer team in the afternoon!

Hooray for work free Sundays!

xo . jess

Fill in the Blank Friday

I was always quite the procrastinator. I had no problem choosing to go shopping, or to the mountains, or to someone's house before doing the more responsible option in college such as stay in and study, stay in and clean,  or maybe even catch up on a little bit of sleep.

And while my day off today sort of ran away from me, I regret nothing because I got to have breakfast with N (german of course), got to wash my hair today :) it's getting super loong!, pick up yummy junk food and catch up over lunch with my Jenna, rummage through her closet for things to borrow and kill the afternoon thrifting at our favorite thrift store (Unique Thrift Store). Although I was unsuccessful in my search for a new bag, scarf, and t length skirt (my current thrift store wish list), I discovered some great things and I can't wait to share them with you over the weekend!

For tonight I'm leaving you with blanks and wish you a happy Saturday! Even though I have to report to work for a long day tomorrow I get to snooze away Sunday for a back to back day off. So I am not going to complain! Plus + N unfortunately does not get to share Sunday off with me so I might hit the flea market before the season is truly over!!! aah! :) I'd be tweeting #happyme's all day!

If you want to play Lauren's famous Friday Blanks head here and follow instructions. 

1. One of life's most simplest pleasures is (to me) N's forehead kisses.

2.  makes me want to punch someone. 

3. I like to iron my bed sheets , because because I love perfectly made beds.

4. Wagon is a funny word. (Pronouncing it feels so awkward I always think it's not actually an English word.)

5. If I had to choose one beauty product to use for the rest of eternity it would be The Body Shop Body Butter, eye cream, mascara. (Every girl knows there's no such thing as "one" beauty product.)

6. I'm happy that I recently lost 10lbs and dropped 3 jean sizes. Hollaa :)helloo 28.

7. I would never go Hilbilly Handfishin'.(What is the matter with people.)

happy weekend !!

xo . jess

pleasantweek

Happy mid morning to you all. I have a short morning before I jet off to work a mid shift that soaks up all the good times of the day but it's okay because tomorrow I get to welcome a day off! As much as I hate having a random popcorn schedule, it does make working retail much more bearable. 5 days straight is much more than 2 days or relaxing can make up for. Anyway, I'm rambling...

Even though I have put college behind me, the end of August also brings the month of September which for me this year is one busy month! Don't get me wrong they're all good and exciting things by all means very exciting actually (!!) which of course I look forward to sharing with you, but that little "September" tab on my planner just came a little quicker than I thought and it's caught me off guard. 

You might not think it but I feel as if I can be really cautious sometimes. Especially within the last year I have learned a lot about myself and the things I need in order to maintain balance in my life. I think the most important thing in doing so was admitting that I had become a little lost and since then I like to take things one step at a time so to speak. 

One of the things I have been teaching myself this year is finances. Between paying myself through a 4 year college on a minimum wage job, life, and a shopping problem..(not to forget that education and its expenses in the US is quite the rip off.) .. you turn 23 and realize - wow I'm flat broke. No doubt 2011 has been one huge bitch year of learning lessons, learning patience, and learning to be grateful no matter what the amount in your bank account. Can't take that dirty paper with you when you die any how :) 

So to tie all these loose strings together, September is knocking on my front door and I am getting so excited to be celebrating the string of wonderful events and enjoying our last camping trip of the season! I'm going to take this next week to budget like a smart girl, plan to the last second, and start shining my dancing shoes. 

September will be bringing..

* my mother's 50th birthday

* the wedding of two great friends

*family camping trip

*hair too(s)day goes professional

*n's and my one year wedding anniversary

Hope you enjoyed this mornings ramblings. I'm off to hop in the shower and tackle the day. 

---

xo .  jess

Hair Too{s}day.

Volume 11: the messy sidebun

Welcome to my official weekly tutorial  of what do to with your hair!! People are always asking me 

"How did you do that to your hair?" 

And so here are my answers, trials, and step by step tutorials of 

"How you can do that to your hair, too!"

Alright, this is becoming more like hair Wednesday..but yesterday I didn't realize how pooped I was from the last 5 days of work and not only did I pass out cold before 10pm last night, I proceeded to oversleep the work meeting I had this morning (but that could be blamed on the failed alarm) - still - and have been wanting to relax and have comfyness all day. 

So after the failed work appearance, it was german breakfast time and of course 2 big cups of coffee..a shower and quick trip to Target (which turned up pretty unsuccessful) so planning, a little nap even, and now 

it's hair too(s)day time!

weeeeeeehhhhhh!!!

---

This week I received a very special request from my dearest *schwesterherz* 

(inlaw)

for a very special 'do. So am I super excited to be posting my first request 'do! Please know you're always welcome to send me any kinds of pictures, questions, or thoughts on 'dos or styles and I'd be happy to tutorial, try, and experiment!

the messy side bun: a la Julie's request

what you need:

1. Straightener/Curler

2. Comb

3. Pins

4. Hairspray of choice :)

What you do: 

I still haven't fixed my computer so I'm sorry that I can't talk - but I can play you music for some reason! Excuse the lame Pandora commercial, enjoy my computer almost dying mid video and me frantically plugging it in, and make sure you get your bobby pins ready. Not like me who's scrambling to find the right sized towards the end of the video. Just know that I am working on the improvement of my videos ;)

Now who's got the cuter sidebun?

Hope you have a fantastic Tuesday/Wednesay. I'm headed to the Rockies' game! Woop Woop!

---

xo . jess

Blanking it Saturday

fill in the blank Friday

haven't played in forever!!!

 see Lauren for details.

1. My idea of pure perfection would be finally having our own home. And I'm not even talking house. Box would be fine with me. 4 walls, and a door. Just him and I. We've been together for 6 years; married for almost 1, and have never lived alone. I'm feeling it's time. 

2.  l.o.v.e. makes the world go 'round.

3.  If it weren't for that big ole chunk of time, land, and peoples separating me + some of my favorite people, I'd laugh more, cry less, and feel oh so loved.

4. Bloggers are  some of the most inspiring, uplifting, empathetic, and coolest people around. (duh.)

5. If I had  "..much money..." I'd buy you "...a big house where we both could live..."

6. I'm glad it's (Saturday) because the best morning cartoons are on tv.

7. Something I'm excited about is fall accessories ,weather  ,shoes , and colors.

---

xo . jess

non stopness.

Work was a complete non stop cluster-you-know-what today. I interviewed from 10 to 6:15pm with a 40 minute break in between. And although I think I managed to stay pretty clear headed until the very last interviewee, my voice is going to sound even sexier in the morning. booyaah.

Lesson learned for tomorrow's 7.5 hrs of interviewing: keeping a bottle of water and chapstick nearby!

Needless to say I am pooped and grumpy tonight because I didn't think I was going to be able to blog tonight. However, with a little positive attitude I have been working up I decided..why not just share with you the non stop weekend I've got ahead of me! Since I'll get to enjoy your weekend posts during (my) mid-work week ;) Who says there's anything wrong with living vicariously?

my weekend non stopness.

being a working girl. 

celebrating my best friend's 25th birthday. (What is up with this photo??)

being a sleepy girl :) 


(haven't used this site in ages but all images via) 


---


Have a happy weekend if you do get to enjoy the weekend as the break in your week! Even if I won't have anything exciting to post & share I know you will and I look forward to having something to read before bedtime to keep me going till my Friday.    

---

xo . jess

tante katie comes to visit.

 Back in -whatfeelslikeforeverago- July, one of my favorite people in the world came to visit. The visit was last minute, poorly planned, with the sole agenda of closing the biggest childhood chapter together vs alone, and of course the greatest 8 days of the year!!

Hanging out with nothing to do but bbq, catch up on movies, talk and drink wine and yes - go see Harry Potter together onelasttime!!!!!!!! - was the greatest little staycation I could have planned for this year!

(who doesn't love picture stories)

friday.

out of all her visits to beautiful Colorado K had yet to see downtown Denver in the daylight! We quickly changed that. 

Took this crazy kid along for a night on the town (patio dinner + hp7)

saturday. 

a very important ritual: Illegal Pete's before a Rockies' game!

greatest baseball game company, everr. 

we silly faced. 

we stuffed our faces with tornado thingies. 

flaunted our super ueber sexy hat hair. 

and of course, kissy faced. 

then came the misfortune of the umbrella. 

that yes of course I broke. 

Rest in peace Eddie Bauer umbrella. You shall be replaced. 

birry. sena. and my dinosaur husband. I mean N. 

sena & K. cheers to a fantastic, hilarious, unforgettable evening! 

---

Today, Wednesday August 17th, 2011, I am lounging around my house because 1) N and I are still sharing a car so I'm more or less trapped here with nothing more than my bike and a grocery store (which believe it or not I have already visited today!) and 2) today is basically my Sunday and tomorrow is fully my Monday and I will be working until next Tuesday. Cheers to 6 days. 

I am not really dreading the work days. I have actually been enjoying the longer of stretches of work because I am in total save and move mode and I am getting so excited to be moving out into our own place in the upcoming months. And since it is still a chunk away --> longer work weeks I welcome you!!

So far my Wednesday Sunday has included: 

+ awaking at 7:31 all on my own. lovely. 

+ strapping up for a bike ride and a trip through the grocery  store and back. all before my cup of coffee

+ snoozing the morning away to the Jetsons, Popeye, and the Flintstones (thank you Boomerang)

+ lunching with my brother over "Hoodwinked, too!"

+ and now hanging out with you lovelies 

---

Happy Hump Day. 

xo . jess

Hair Too(s)day.

Volume 10:the messy pony 

Welcome to my official weekly tutorial  of what do to with your hair!! People are always asking me 

"How did you do that to your hair?" 

And so here are my answers, trials, and step by step tutorials of 

"How you can do that to your hair, too!"

Alright ladies, this week I'm gonna pull a quickie on you. I spent the entire morning putting this together and mama's gotta get dressed for work! (I know - not your fault I'm queen of procrastinating but whatev)

This week we are going to learn the messy ponyyy! woop woop (wouldn't I be the coolest teacher)

What you need

1. A curling iron or stick (my favorite tool in the hairworld!)

2. A comb or brush - nothing that will make your hair frizzy - just to comb out knots. 

3. Hair ties. (I've recently discovered the tiny gummy hair ties - they work wonders!! (If you're fortunate enough to have medium thick hair they really give you play room with your do. And also - no pony tail headaches!)

What you do

I apologize but the microphone still isn't working on my computer so the video is nice and silent so I suggest you turn on some tunes while you watch. 

1. Comb your hair out. Knots are never fun.

2. Start with getting your bangs prepared. Or the hair that will be loosely framing your face. Curl the locks backward, away from your face. They'll stay there all day - out of your face. 

3. Give your ends all over a good curl. I'm only showing you the fast track version in the video to keep you from falling asleep ;) I went back and curled all of my ends pretty decently. Always mess with your fingers to give it a messy look!

4. Slightly part your hair where you will be leaving fringe in the front out. Work your hair to the back of you head in the direction of the ponytail. (this is something my sister taught me) 

5. Wrap a hair tie around your fingers before you start to loosely gather your hair for the pony tail. Don't make the gathering perfect - this will allow for a loose messy pony look - and simply wrap the hair tie once you have it gathered in the place you want it. 

6. Once you secured the hair tie loosely grab ends and tug for support and of course - messyness! :) 

7. Fix, primp, and check for last minute needs to curl and tadaaa! Enjoy your sexy pony girls. 

*tip of the week*

When I'm in a hurry and it happens to be a morning I had to plan on washing and therefore styling my hair, it's hard to let my hair air dry just a bit before styling, which can risk frizz or a limp do'. When I don't have enough time to give my air drying time, I will work in my product of choice (whether you're straightening, volumizing, or curling) while my hair is still decently damp and wrap it (loosely!) back up in a towel - this is where those fancy hair towels come very handy! - and let the towel soak all left over moisture from my hair for me while letting the product work itself into my hair. Maybe there's not much sense behind it, but I swear it's never left me with a stubborn set of hair to style! So to recap: 

eins. apply product to damp locks. no matter the product. 

zwei. loosely wrap hair in dry towel. (try to avoid the towel you just showered in ;))

drei. leave hair wrapped while you finish your make up, pack your lunch, or whatever the heck else you can kill time with. 

vier. style like normal.

---

xo . jess