mission curly

This post is about hair. My hair, more specifically. I have naturally, very thick, very curly hair. It pretty much looked like this since I was born to all through high school...

 Ignore the rediculous looking facial expression, sweet Roxy watch and headband, we're focusing on the hair here. Also, I was pretty blondish for a lot of the high school years. 

Anyways, as I was saying, long, curly and thick. Then one day when I was in grade 12, I was offered a job to get my hair done for a print ad. I said yes. Probably one of the worst experiences ever. The guy tied up my hair (pictured above) and cut off the ponytail and handed it to me. I was mortified. To make the situation even worse, he dyed it red with pink highlights. No joke friends. My hair never was the same after that. That is the moment that the straightening began, back in 2002. I got the fanciest flat iron on the market, because I did not want to look like a poodle with a bad dye job. I had never had short hair before and hated it so much. 

Since having Ellia, I have suffered from severe postpartum hair loss. It's thinned to the point where I literally have patches with no hair, it's cut off and broken and continues to get shorter, the frizz is out of control, it comes out in handfuls when I wash it, and I've honestly had enough. 

I've decided that it's time for mission rejuvenate hair. It needs it. I need it. I don't ever leave my hair curly unless I am on vacation because 1-humidity and straight hair is not my friend 2-who wants to spend 2 hours straightening when you could be on the beach soaking in the sun, or basically doing anything else. 

Not to mention, I don't want to spend 2 hours doing my hair anymore and when it's all done it looks like crap anyways. Let's just say, extension have been a good friend of mine for awhile. I just use the clip in ones and only if I'm going out, which clearly isn't often these days. 

So I've decided I need to give my hair a break from the chemicals, heat and damage I have been doing to it. I need to leave it curly. But here's the thing, I refuse to leave it curly the way it is, becausae let's face it, it is scary. I have been doing a ton of research and have realized I have been doing the curly hair thing allllll wrong.  So this is week one of my curly hair trial. 

I tried this method. This girls hair is amazing!!

I made the stuff she mentions, it's kind of gross but 100% natural so I thought I should try it. 

Then I used the "plopping" method. Yes, that is a thing. I look good, I know. 

And well, here are trial #1 results. My hair looks thin and crappy, but better than normal. I'll keep at it for now. 

If anyone has tips or tricks for growing out hair, or a good sulfate free shampoo, please let me know!

xox nat

little miss dress up

Recently one of my sweet IG friends launched a fabulous clothing line Paper Doll Clothing Company and sent us this gorgeous Little Miss Dress Up tee! Is there anything better than gold crowns, stripes and dressing up? Not much, I know. We have been having a horrible, very windy and chilly Spring thus far and waking up yesterday to a forecast calling for 16 (55F) and sunny I jumped at the opportunity to put Miss. E in her new tee and take some photos.

We love, love it and can't wait to wear it more as the weather, hopefully, warms up!

 Unfortuntely my chubby foot lady doesn't fit into her sweet Toms :(

The best part is, if you use the coupon code Nat20 you get 20% off of your purchase!!

Tshirt : Paper Doll Clothing Company

Jeans: Joe Fresh

Jean vest with fur: H&M

Booties: Mexx

xox nat

blogging musings

This post is brought to you by Saturday night musings, when it's 11pm and you can't sleep, blogging is always a good idea. Maybe. 

Last Wednesday I watched Christopher Wiegand's film American Blogger. I was actually very excited to watch it and was not at all disappointed. I thought it was beautiful. I really adored every minute of it.

There were a lot of reasons I loved it; the gorgeous filmography, the women and their stories, and all of the thoughts it provoked in me. I started thinking about how I would have answered each of Chris' questions. What is a blog? Why do I blog?  I have always been a big journal writer, since I was a child, but those were just for me. I never imaged putting my life out into the world, mostly because it seemed overly ordinary. I started blogging a few years ago while hubs and I were trying to conceive our first baby. One year passed and writing in my journal seemed to not be fulfilling anymore. I joined a fertility forum after a few short months of trying because I just knew that something wasn't right. It should have happened by then. The support, information and love I found on that forum was overwhelming but wonderful. I started a blog about my side of the infertility journey and never told anyone I knew about it. It still sits somewhere, I haven't been back in a long time. 

During the second year of trying, I became less quiet about the whole thing. If you know me personally, you know that I am not a secretive person by nature. Unless it's not my secret, then my lips are sealed. I grew up in a household with 2 sisters and an Italian mother and father, and a very close-knit family who were very open and loud about pretty much everything. If someone asks me a question, I will tell you the truth, whether it be ugly or not, I'm not much for sugar coating, unless I can eat it. I also tend to talk way too much when I am nervous or in uncomfortable or unfamiliar situations. Growing up I was bullied and even switched schools because I was always known as a nerd, who was extremely shy. Or on the flip side, people have thought I was a super bitch, because of my shyness. I instantly loved blogging. When I started this blog, I had just found out I was pregnant after two years and an IUI. I was so grateful for the pregnancy because I know of so many women and couples who have struggled far greater than we have. I always have said that my blog is my diary. I never intended to have anyone read it or have a following of people. I enjoyed reading others blogs, but it was and still is not really a part of my daily life.  I blog to remember moments in time. I blog to have a place to look back on someday, to see the things that we did, the clothes we wore and how Ellia looked on her second Easter. I blog to talk about the great opportunities I've been presented with and show off the fabulous products I have been so fortunate to get. I don't blog for money, or to get these things, although I am always incredibly happy when I do, it's not the reason. For now anyways. I love having my little place, a tiny fish in the big ocean, but I really don't care. 

This blog doesn't really have a theme. I'm not a fashion expert, although I do like playing dress up. I love art, crafting and DIY projects, but most idea's I have are executed during the night, when it's dark and not ideal for taking pictures. I'm not a cook or into fitness. I just love my family and styling photoshoots and parties.

I think another reason that I love blogging so much is because it involves photographs. It is no secret that I love photos, I love taking them and the meaning behind them. The fact that I can write a diary AND include photos is pretty much the best thing ever. I also am blown away by the connections I have made. The people I have met online and the support and friendships has been crazy amazing. I really do love meeting new people and find it so difficult in everyday life. I don't have a whole lot of real life friends that I see frequently, but I feel so full with being able to see and read about the lives of my online friends. Most of my "real life" friends don't understand the whole blogging thing because they don't do it. I'm sure a lot of them think I am crazy or weird, or both. But I am okay with that.

I don't tend to talk about the infertility stuff too much, and that's because I really am so lucky. I have one amazing, perfect little lady, and she makes it all okay. I know so many people aren't so lucky and it breaks my heart. We have been trying for number two for a year, come May. We are on this journey again and again, and it's just a part of life. I know Ellia will have a little brother or sister someday, I do have faith in that. 

If you've read this, thank you. I don't have a whole lot of extra time to make this blog something, or to spend hours reading others blogs, but I would like to. I feel like a bunch of you take the time to read my posts and I don't do the same for you. So here's the thing, if you're reading this, and you have a blog, leave me a comment with your blog address and let's be friends. Like I said, I enjoy making new friends.

xox nat

Easter 2014 in photos

Holiday's are always super busy. Since hubs family doesn't live in town, we do some traveling. We spent Saturday afternoon with his family and Sunday with mine. Ellia was not interested in photos, as per usual, and we didn't even get one decent family shot, but it's okay. I'm just going to keep going on thinking it's just a phase and someday she will be all over my photoshoot ideas. Or even a simple family portrait would do.

I'm going to keep it simple, as I do with most holiday posts. Here's just a whole lotta photos...

Easter Saturday with Daddy's family

Easter Sunday

 

The weather here has still been very chilly, so my plans for some lovely outdoor Easter photos did not happen. The whole purpose of these holiday photos are for our family to be able to see how Ellia has grown and changed over the years AND so that she has something to look back on when she's older. It's a way for me to combined doing what I love and documenting special times in our lives at the same time. I spent about 20 minutes putting this together and another 30 - 40 minutes shooting. It was so fun watching my bunny smile away and eat some chocolate.

gold glitter bow headband: Bub + Bug Studio
Washable paper bag from Ella + Issa

Whew, you made it to the bottom, thanks for looking! Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter too!

xox nat