this crazy week.

Haven't had much time to blog lately during this crazy week. Here's a recap of the events. 

I had an extreme kick myself in the a$s moment on the way home from work. Don't ask, just look.

No one was injured and we both drove away just fine.

 Her car. Not so fine. I still feel horrible, but hey that 85 Volvo had to go right? ;-) She jumped out of the car almost cheering "YES! I get a new vehicle" ha. 

Hubs and I celebrated our VDay by dining at Vince Young Steak House. 

Hm, where to begin. Other than I'm going to write a review on Yelp and my only good comment is going to be that the filet that came with the surf and turf was AMAZING! 

But being hollered at "Hey Mamma!" by the waitstaff standing by the kitchen. The lack of politeness by our water was awful. We heard the specials via another waiter who had a table next to us and we didn't even get an amuse buche! 

But I snapped a cool pic waiting for valet. 

And we had a mini family "photo shoot" when we got home from dinner. 

Chaos ensued.

We couldn't get the camera to flash properly and Gunnar wouldn't sit still. 

So hubs said, give me the camera I'll take a good one. 

Woke up to this on VDay morning! :)

And was hand delivered these little smiles on a stick, with a kiss!! Seriously I am spoiled rotten and I love him so so VERY much for it!! 

 I gave myself a VDay mani.

My little brother is one of Cupids children born on Valentine's Day. We spent this year celebrating at Main Event and bowling for over 2 hours....my arms are sore. Can we say 'out of shape much'? haha

My brothers best buds from childhood. So crazy. They are so grown up...one with child. Which means I am old. ;)

He just got his PADI Open Water Divers certification a couple weeks ago. So as a birthday present we got him the advanced course to continue on in his journey. So proud of my little brudda!

I have been needing some serious motivation to get back into my workout routine. So what better way than to put your hollyjollyoverstuffedwithyummyxmasbirthdayNYEcandiesandbooze self into one of these gems.

I'm actually really in love with this little number and am so ready for sunshine and poollakeriverocean madness! 

Exhibit A, MO-TI-VA-TION!

I also decided that I needed to kick my workout routine into overdrive so I started the Insanity workout which is exactly as it sounds. I am insanely sore today. 

Time to burn the butter baby!

Terry was pretty sick so I caught up on my girly shows; The Housewives of Beverly Hills and the OC. 

We had one vacancy this month at work. Was completed with repairs and renos on Tuesday, showed it on Wednesday and was leased on Thursday, they move in today! BANGARANG! 

Tonight is our office Happy Hour, should be interesting since there will only be like 9 of us going. 

Tomorrow I get to hang out with 'Thankgodfor Brianne' and my little boyfriend Andon! I'm so excited to squeeze them both and they get to meet Gunnar for the first time. 

T-MINUS 6 DAYS till I'll be doing this

okay it will probably look more like this

But at least I have goals right? :)

I hope you all have had a beautiful week with your loved ones and have an even better weekend ahead!! 

moojellybeans,

Country Meets City: Our Love Story

Since it is February, the month of all things sweet and red and above all loooove *said in a lovey mushy voice*. I find it appropriate to do my first ever link-up, with 'From Mrs. to Mama'. She and all the other 'taken' and 'single' bloggers out there will be sharing their own personal love story.

So here it goes.  

I was a blond, outdoorsy city going gal and he was an all American country boy.

We met in a bar. 

Not just any old bar, a bar much like Coyote Ugly. Where we swung in the rafters and danced on the bars. Don't judge, it was part time. I was saving to go on a trip to Ireland. ;-)

                               That's me in the pink top.                                                           I'm under the girl in the red top on the left.

The Story Of Us

Written Specially for the Bride with love from the Groom {I am going to add in my side of the story. Sorry to do this babe as you are not here to rebuttal. ;-)} 

Weekend after weekend I would go in to her work to see her/stand at the back of the room with one hand in his pocket and the other with a Coors Light in it, staring at me like a really good lookin' creeper. ;-) I always would order from her (LIES! He always sent his friends up there to order for him to make him seem more mysterious) but kept the conversation light and open. She always smiled as though she was interested but never said anything that led me to believe that she was (this is probably true because he made me really nervous when he came around. I would always jump down off the bar when they came in) I usually had a group of fun loving friends ridiculously wild and more crazy than I had ever been around that acted as my shield and reason to be around her as she worked. I would play shy and coy (games! two can play at that) but let her catch me looking at her while she worked. It was a sexy, playful preamble to what was to come.

Finally, after many, many nights (like 4 months of him coming in every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday) of flirtations and casual conversations with undertones of desire for one another, she wrote her phone number on my receipt (I comped half their tab and wrote my number on the receipt). I have to admit I was less than shocked. So many times I wanted to give her my number but was determined to wait for her to make the first move, and I could tell she wanted to (if I hadn't of done that we might still be playing these silly games as stubborn as he was. Some one had to break they cycle).

So after a few phone conversations we decide to meet at a bar on 6th Street where she and her friends had planned to be. I brought a couple of guys I grew up with so I wouldn't be the only guy there. (Which was awesome (and so sweet for going somewhere out of their comfort zone) because they stuck out like sore thumbs in their camo jackets, baseball caps, Wranglers and work boots, in a sea of all the DB's and wanna-be rico suave's) We had some drinks and bounced between a couple of bars and had a great time. I enjoyed her and her friends and she mine and everyone had a lot of fun! When it was over, I told her goodnight, told her I would call and walked away to my truck...but there was no way i was going to let her get away without a kiss.  After walking about 50 ft I turned around, sprinted back to her, grabbed her in my arms and gave her a hard, deep kiss that neither of us will ever forget! It was the start to an awesome story I'm sure you will enjoy!


 I'm so happy that 5 years ago Cupid shot his arrow of love through our hearts because every year has been filled with new adventures and amazing new memories made {big and small} with my best friend and the love of my life! 

5 Day Challenge + Dry Shampoo Reviews, tips & tricks

Howdy doo friends and happy weekend morning to ya!

No this is not a post about diet or exercise silly, this is a hair challenge! How do you do a hair challenge you ask? Well I decided that I need to expand my every day "work hair" routine...boring and sloppy. And turn it into something more interesting and fun! Not really for other people but mostly for myself.

So I decided that for 5 days during the week I would challenge myself to style my hair different every single day! 

Piece of cake you think- not for me it wasn't. I like my shut eye, even if it is only 7 more minutes. :) 

This will do several things for me and my hair (and hopefully you can try out your own challenge):

1. force me to get up earlier, potentially getting me to work on time (a girl can dream right)

2. eliminate the need for washing (we all know your hair holds style better when it's not freshly washed)

3. give my hair a break from hot tools

What makes this easy is if you kind of try to plan it out before the week starts. 

Monday: Triple Knot
This one is super easy to do:

-pull out your bangs or your side sweep.
-take a section of hair from the center of your head, starting from an inch or so above your temples slide your fingers to the back of your head till they touch
-lift it up give that section a little tease for some volume.
-Roll that section into a bun or tie into a messy knot right by the little bump/bone on the back of your head and bobby pin.
-The remaining hair separate into a left section and a right section. Then repeat the previous step.

This look is not coiffed or sleek by any means. It's more loose and laid back looking. It's okay if pieces stick out from your knots/buns.

Tuesday: Carrie Bradshaw Top Bun/Sock Bun
Yes ladies I wore a sock in my hair to work! HAHA!

Follow the steps in this blog to create this chic bun.

If  you want to wrap your hair around it like I did in this version below, then before you turn down the sock, pull out a 1" inch section, wrap around the bun and bobby pin! 

Wednesday: Natural
I am SO not a fan of my limp sorry excuse for waves natural hair.
BUT I tried out a restorative mask (post coming soon) the night before and went to bed with wet hair and I was actually okay with the way it turned out the following  morning. Don't get me wrong I felt a little disheveled going to work with my hair like this.

But it's always good to give your hair a complete break from any hot tools.

Thursday: Messy Bun with Faux Braid
This sweet gal gives a good tutorial on how to do the faux braid. The braid is easier to do when your hair has a little 'staying power' thanks to the natural oils from not being washed.
Then just pull your hair back in a pony, side braid or a chic bun or a messy bun like I did.

Friday: Side part + Side braid
I had a fancy little party to attend right after work so I put quite a bit more effort into my hair on Friday morning. Right before I left I took a small section of hair, braided it and bobby pinned it in the back.

Here is my inspiration pic from the beautiful The Beauty Department Blog:

 

Tricks & tools needed to achieve certain looks and to extend your washings.

*shampooing strips your hair of the natural oils that it needs, so try to only wash your hair ever 2-3 days. And if you're boss like me {okay, or just don't care like me ;-)} then you can go 4-5 days. haha! Yes friends I can wash my hair, style it for going out on Saturday and not wash it until Wednesday night the following week. Thanks to these products below.
(Obviously though if it's in the dead of Summer or I had a serious workout this would not be the case.) 

*eliminate the oils with a dry shampoo. this may take a little getting used to if you have never used it before. always start with a little bit because you can always keep adding. my first time  my two faves are:

**warning to my beautiful brunettes: these are white, like baby powder white! I know you can find dark powders and sprays that are meant for us brunettes but I just haven't found a brand I like yet**

Klorane Dry Shampoo

A bit on the pricier side but this is the first dry shampoo I have ever used and I bought my first bottle with a Sephora gift card my Momma gave me 3 years ago! That's how long this bottle should last. It doesn't have a scent which kind of sucks because when you're 2 days into not washing your hair you need a little fresh scent. But my tip for this is squeeze the bottle into the palm of your hands and then rub it into your hair, leave on 2 minutes and brush the excess out. 

TRESemme Fresh Start Dry Shampoo Spray

This is stuff comes out wet similar to hair spray and like I said it comes out white so it makes you look like you're graying. but don't be alarmed. It is also a bit on the tacky side so you can actually use this for several other things besides toning down the greasy-ness. 

if you're going to braid the front of your hair it works nicely to help keep the sections together and in place. 

if you have just blow dryed your hair and need a little extra volume and don't like tease your hair, lift up a few sections where you want the volume spray lightly at the root, let it dry, set the down and ruffle that area up a bit with your fingers.

I challenge you to try and do a different hair-do for 5 days next week and see what you can come up with! If you do, I would love to see your styles.

peace, love and good hair days every day,

shop your own closet with outfit inspirations!

How many times have you stood half naked {no, you don't do that ;-)} in your closet thinking "I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR"?! 

Seriously though, don't you hate that feeling? 

I mean you have a jam packed closet full of stuff and you can't figure out what to wear. Ridiculous right, well here are a couple tips to help you limit the amount of trips to buy something new for a certain occasion.

1. I recently reorganized my entire closet, part of my 2012 goals, not resolutions (big shout out to the hubs for the new shelf additions in our "office"). I hung all my tops according to  my fave colors first- it doesn't have to be organized according to the rainbow either. 

*reorganizing your closet also forces you to take a mental inventory of what you have, what you have to much of, what you're lacking etc. 

I feel like I have a brand new wardrobe quite frankly! That makes me and my checking account very happy. 

2. Find pictures of celebrities, look on fashion blogs or Pinterest to find outfit inspirations. You can bookmark the link, save the picture to your phone or desktop or pin them and refer back to them later. 

I have been following this blog called The Budget Babe that I absolutely adore. She posts pictures like the one below of celebrities in very wearable outfits and finds pieces at a more affordable cost to recreate them. Brilliant! 

All the items used to recreate these outfits are from my own closet. I didn't purchase anything to create these looks.

I wore this on a chilly afternoon to run errands. 

White fur vest from Old Navy, was a gift MANY years ago that I could not part with! It has a hood AND it's reversible. 

Striped boat neck top from f21 (similar here)

Cobalt blue skinnies from Target (similar here)

Girls "suede" "uggs" ;-) from Old Navy (not available online, similar here)

Parachute cord bracelet from local Army Surplus store (similar here)

Brown wrap watch (similar here)

My inspiration came from one of my favorite fashion blogs, J's Everyday Fashion. When I saw this post I thought to myself how in the world did she come up with this because these are pieces I would NEVER in a million years have put together. But she made it look so great and it turns out I had something similar in my closet to every piece she had on!


Thanks 'J' for your beautiful inspiration!


This I wore last Friday night to the Austin Fashion Week: Beauty Goes Red Event benefiting the American Heart Association. 

White blazer from a local boutique (similar here)

Floral ruffle tank from LOFT, last summer (similar here)

Red skinnies from Target (similar here)

Nude platform heels from Agaci Too (similar here)

Red tribal earring from Target (similar here)

I hope this helps inspire you to shop your own closet and create some great outfits you normally wouldn't put together! 

over the weekend

I shared another lovely weekend with wonderful friends and family. Since I'm not really good with words, here some great photos instead. 

Enjoy!

I started the weekend off with my beautiful girlfriends at the Austin Fashion Week kick-off party: Beauty Goes Red benefiting the American Heart Association. 

Did you know that heart disease is the #1 killer of women in America!

So that night led to way too many shots, which led me to a not so fun hangover on Saturday morning. But luckily I have the best hubs in the whole wide world and one rad new bff guy friend (he and hubs are bff so it's ok). But they don't like to see me in self-induced pain so they made a Torchy's taco run and came back with my favorite Girl Scout Cookies for 'dessert'! They're the bestest!

Saturday night we went to our, get this one, GREAT Niece's 4th princess birthday party! Yes I am a Great Aunt...thanks Ash! ;-) 

She loved our Tinkerbell and Fairy Friends costume we got for her. 

I just love these tender moments between proud Momma and her happy sweet baby girl. 

Then SUNday SUNDAY SUNDAYYY! Super Bowl Sunday! We had a little get together at our Casita. 

I made these Pinterest inspired football rice crispie treats. 

John enjoying his new furgirlfriend, Chloe. Isn't she adorbale! 

We had fun and games after the Madonna half time show!

AND my favorite part of the night our post Super Bowl, PreGame-ing for Keystone!

Remeber kids, safety 1st!

Another super weekend for the books blog,

Marilyn Monroe's Unpublished Photos

I'm so excited to see 'My Week With Marilyn'! I have been hearing nothing but great things. Plus that time period is one of my favorites. The Hubs has another football tournement this weekend; sounds like I need to plan a lovely girls date! 

Anyway, how fab are these photos of Marilyn Monroe? She was only 24 years old at the time of this particular shoot. 

The images were randomly discovered by an editor at LIFE Magazine. They had been stored away and forgotten in a New Jersey warehouse, until now.

Photographer, Ed Clark talks about his shoot with her:

"She was unknown then, so I was able to spend a lot of time shooting her. We'd go out to Griffith Park [Los Angeles] and she'd read poetry. I sent several rolls to LIFE in New York, but they wired back, 'Who the hell is Marilyn Monroe?'"

Have any of you seen 'My Week With Marilyn' and do you give it two-thumbs-up or down?