Yer a wizard, Harry

What's that? You were wondering if I was still a huge nerd? Well, funny you should ask...

If you don't follow the goings-on of the magical world like I do, then you may not have been aware of the new illustrated version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, released just a few days ago. 

A spectacular illustrator, Jim Kay, added some stunning artwork to J. K. Rowling's masterpiece. I obviously pre-ordered the book, and may or may not have wept when I opened the package. (I totally did.)

It's so beautiful!

Even the inside cover is gorgeous!

Seriously, can you understand why I cried?

 My thoughts exactly, Jo.

Order your own here.

Things I'm lovin today

Whenever I'm having a hard day, when things just aren't going quite right, I like to make a list of what makes me happy.

Today, it's not a long list, but so much happiness comes from these things. 

1. I'm grateful for Portia. She gets herself mostly ready for school by herself every morning, is so very helpful with Elena all the time, and is very patient with her poor overwhelmed mama. Today, Portia came home and reminded me that tomorrow is picture day. I had completely forgotten. Way to be on top of things, kiddo.

2. I'm grateful for Margot. She is my little helper all day. She is constantly grabbing me a diaper or putting laundry away for me, and usually does it with a great attitude. And she is so sweet with her baby sister! She is such a great big sister!

3 I'm grateful for Brandon. Elena and I had a rough night last night. She was very fussy, and couldn't get settled until about 3 am. Which means, I didn't get to sleep until 3 am. This morning, we were obviously exhausted. Brandon, wonderful, glorious man that he is, hung out with Margot and sent Elena and I back to bed! 

Even though he is swamped with school, somehow he still finds the time to help me out when I really need it. Man, I love that guy!

And lastly, #4 is Elena. She is clingy and allergic to sleep, but soooo sweet. Look at that face!

I've got a good life.

Get out of the car!

One of the greatest scenes in one of the greatest movies of all time

I quote this to my kids about once a day. Every time we go anywhere I tell them to "GET OUT OF THE CAR" just like this guy.

It's hilarious.

Bow bun

Yesterday, I did one of Portia's favorite hairstyles for her for school: a bow bun! 

It's surprisingly easy, and super cute!

She was pretty excited. She spent probably 10 minutes trying to take selfies where her hair showed.

The beauty of this hairstyle is that it's still cute, even if it's not perfect!

On another note, after getting the perfect shot of her hair, she took about 30 pictures just like these:

When I asked why, she said "I was pretending I didn't have any hair at all."

Whatever floats your boat, kiddo.

Give me a stinkin' apple.

Ok. I'm about to anger some people. Get ready.

It's officially the beginning of fall, even if it doesn't quite feel like it yet. And the beginning of fall always means one thing: Pumpkin Spice everything. 

Here's where I start shocking people.  Are you sitting down?

I don't like pumpkin spice. 

I'm just not a fan. 

Don't get me wrong, I'll eat a piece of pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving, and even enjoy it. But pumpkin yogurt? Pumpkin hot chocolate? Pumpkin M&Ms?

Who decreed that pumpkin had to be the official flavor of autumn anyway? What about apple?! Or cinnamon?! Or chocolate, for pete's sake?! Who said that we need to inject pumpkin into every food known to mankind for 2 months? 

I know, I know. You're mad at me. 

Go drink a pumpkin spice latte and eat a pumpkin spice donut and settle down.

SIMP

Guys. Candace Flynn invented twerking.

Also, I regularly watch Phineas and Ferb. 

Don't judge.

Baby face

When a new baby is born, everyone always wants to know who they look like. "Oh, I see so much of her Dad in her!" or "She definitely has the family chin!"

I actually think most newborn babies look pretty much the same, all sweet snuggly balls of squish. But, it has become pretty apparent to me that my three girls all looked very similar as newborns!

Check it out:

This is all three of my girls at about 4 weeks old. Portia is at the top left, Margot is the bottom left, and Elena on the right. 

Pretty obvious that they're sisters huh?

Here they are now:

Maybe I'm biased, but I make the prettiest kids ever.

9 months

Now that Elena is here, it's easy to look back at the last 10 months wit rose-colored glasses. But the fact of the matter is that this pregnancy totally kicked my butt. 

To be fair, I'm not the most cheerful of pregnant women; I loathe being pregnant. I will never understand the women who say that they enjoy it. Insane.

No, pregnancy is not my favorite to begin with, but this time around seemed much harder than with Portia and Margot. Maybe it's because I'm not 21 anymore, maybe it's because I already had two kids to chase after, or maybe it's simply because Elena is ornery. 

But nothing can deter from the wonder of hearing a tiny heartbeat, seeing that first ultrasound, or feeling your baby move.

And even though I felt like this most of the time:

watching Portia and Margot fall in love with their baby sister is all worth it.

Happy Birthday Margot!

Yesterday, this girl turned 4!

I can't believe it! When did she stop being a toddler and become a kid?!?

For her birthday, Margot got to pick any restaurant in the world to go to, and she picked Applebees. 

She loves Applebees, which is weird since she's never actually eaten there. But she has been talking about her birthday dinner at Applebees for months. 

She even got free dessert. 

Happy birthday Kiddo!

Back in the USSR

Don't let this title confuse you, I've never actually been to the USSR. But I am back!

I've taken an unscheduled hiatus from blogging for the last 9 months, due to lack of willpower. I actually tried to update this blog many a time, but as soon as I'd sit down at my computer, the urge to take a nap or eat a sandwich would become too strong to resist. 

But here I am! 

I'm not going to spend 4 hours telling you every single thing that's happened in the last 9 months; you'd be bored to tears. But I'll touch on the big stuff!

We moved back to Oklahoma! Brandon completed his masters degree in Arizona, and we left the land of the warm and dry for the land of the warm and humid! 

Brandon got accepted to medical school, because he's an awesome, handsome genius. We couldn't be more proud!

I successfully grew another human!

Interesting how my blogging hiatus coincides with my pregnancy, don't you think? 

Introducing Elena Denise!

Isn't she a doll? 

Huntington Beach, or Vacation Part 2

The next day, we slept in, relaxed a bit at the hotel, got some food, and then drove the short distance to Huntington Beach!

The water was a bit chilly, but the girls and I didn't care! We love the beach!

We played in the waves, collected shells, watched surfers, and ate at Ruby's on the pier, and I was in heaven! I wish we had spent a week at Huntington, instead of just a day.

Disneyland, or Vacation Part 1

The last few weeks have been whirlwind of adventure for us! Wanna hear about it? 

I knew you would!

About 2 weeks ago, Brandon's awesome parents came into town to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with us. One morning, we woke up 4 am and packed up the car. We had been planning quite the surprise for Portia and Margot!

After the initial shock wore off, they were thrilled!

We spent most of the day riding every ride the girls set their little hearts on!

Margot says her favorite ride was Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and Portia's was It's a Small World After All.

We even got to meet princesses!

As you can imagine, Portia and Margot were ecstatic! 

We stayed in the park until the girls literally passed out with exhaustion, then headed back to the hotel, ate some dinner, and fell into bed ourselves. We had even more fun planned for the next day!

Halloween, a week late.

I know, I know, Halloween has come and gone. But we've had a busy week, so here are the costume pictures now.

My girls were so excited for Halloween, it was almost comical. Every morning, Portia would wake up and the first words out of her mouth would be "MOM. How many days until trick-or-treat?!?"

The day finally arrived, and the girls took great care in every aspect of their costumes, down to their fingernail colors. They were thrilled!

I present to you, Elsa and Rapunzel!

5 Myths about hairstylists

Being a hairstylist is really fun. I get to meet and make friends with all sorts of people, stay on the cusp of fashion trends, and make people feel beautiful!

But over the last 6 years of doing hair, I've realized that there are several common misconceptions about the beauty industry, and those of us working in it.
Let's put those to rest, shall we?

Myth #1; My stylist is only trying to sell me product to make money.
Here's the deal. My main goal, as a stylist, is for you to leave my chair with gorgeous, healthy hair. Essentially, all I'm trying to do is make you happy. And product is a huge part of that.
We use product to strengthen your hair, enhance your style, and help you recreate the look at home. Yes, when we sell product, we typically make a little bit of money. But stylists usually only recommend product because your hair really needs it.
I would rather give products away for free and have my clients walk out the door with beautiful hair, than sell buckets of product to someone who doesn't need it.

Myth #2: I could do what my stylist does.

I've had clients sit in my chair and make comments that they could do my job for me.
On average, hairstylists spend thousands of dollars, and years on their education. We learn cutting, coloring, and styling techniques, client consultation services, and how to use our dangerous and complicated tools. We even go to business and tax classes. We also spend a lot of time and money on continuing education classes, sometimes as often as once a month. Part of the joy of working in the beauty industry is that it is always changing; styles come and go, and trends are continuously morphing. Which means that we are always re-learning our trade. We love what we do, and we want to be the best at it!
Please don't think that we just pick up a pair of scissors and become a pro; just like any career, we've have a lot of training to do what we do.

Yours truly, circa 2010

Myth #3: My stylist cut too much off cause she's mean, untalented, or simply didn't listen.

We've all had it happen. We go to the salon and the stylist goes on a cutting spree. She's horrible, right? Well, maybe not.
I can't tell you how many times a client has sat in my chair and said, "I just want the dead ends cut off." To me, that may mean 4 inches. To the client, that's only 1/2 inch. Communication is key! Chances are, if your stylist does something you don't like, they thought they were doing what you wanted. Tell your stylist exactly what you want, bring pictures, be clear. And if your cut is over, and you aren't happy, say so! We will either fix it ourselves, or help you find someone else who can. We want you to leave happy!

Myth #4: I can go get a consultation at a salon and then buy the service/product at drugstore.

I could go on an on with this one, folks. I know that you can go to Target and find Redken products for cheap, but chances are that those products are absolutely not legit. The products that we sell in salons are not guaranteed when not sold by a licensed professional,  as seen on my shampoo:

"Exclusive salon distribution"
If you find these products outside of a salon, you have found a counterfeit. In the beauty industry, this is called Diversion. These products are often expired or discontinued. I'll never remember the day in hair school, when one of our instructors brought a pile of products she had bought at local drugstores. One of the bottles was filled with dish soap. Gross.
The real kicker is that you probably aren't even getting a deal. At several salons I've worked at, we purposefully priced our products a few cents cheaper than Walmart and Target.
Buy your products from your stylist. Not only are you guaranteed to get the real deal, you are also getting a consultation that is customized just for your individual hair.
This blog post explains Diversion really well:
http://www.xojane.com/beauty/why-you-should-avoid-salon-products-at-the-drugstore

Myth #5: I know my stylist from school/church/PTA, so she won't mind giving me a discount.
While most stylists run specials from time to time, it is totally not ok to expect free or discounted service simply because you know each other outside of the salon!
Doing hair pays my bills. It is my career, and I need to be paid just like you and everyone else on this planet.
I know that some salon services are expensive, and who doesn't love saving a buck, but stylists work very hard and deserve to be paid accordingly. If a service costs more than your budget allows, let your stylist know. "I can't afford that right now," is something we've all heard, and understand. Call the salon first and ask for an estimate price. Be flexible and communicate, and your stylist will try to do the same.

Hairstylists want you to leave happy, so if there is anything we love, it's communication! Tell your stylist what you expect, what you hope your hair to look like, your budget, and voice any questions or concerns. Your hair will thank you!

It's all just a bunch of Hocus Pocus!

It's no secret that I love Halloween; it's one if my favorite holidays! I love candy, dressing up in ridiculous costumes, and everything macabre! 

One of my favorite things to do around this time of year is to snuggle up on the couch and watch creepy movies.  While these movies are not necessarily halloween-themed, they'll definitely get you in the spooky mood.

1. The Nightmare Before Christmas

Is it Christmas? Is is Halloween? I don't know, but it's certainly creepy! My kids are simultaneously terrified of and in love with this movie. 

2. The Dark Crystal

It's Jim Henson at his finest, folks. Large, intricate puppets, fantastical storyline, and some of the straight-up scariest dudes ever, the Skeksis. The disrobing of Camberlain seriously affected me as a kid.

3.  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

This is probably the most Halloween-y of the Harry Potter films. The Hogwarts choir singing a Macbeth inspired song gets me every time! Awesome!

4. Labrynth

David Bowie has never been dreamier, in my opinion. 

5. Hocus Pocus

What Halloween movie list would be complete without Hocus Pocus? This is obviously the best of the bunch, with star actors, hilarious one-liners, and the creepiest zombie ever. Seriously, Billy Butcherson gave me nightmares for at least 3 years. 

My dear, you have the Grim!

Halloween is coming up, and so naturally, I've been watching and reading  Harry Potter a lot recently. Actually, I always have Harry Potter on the brain, but it's nice to have a somewhat justifiable reason around this time of year.

Anyway, one of my favorite characters in the third book, Prisoner of Azkaban, is Professor Trelawney. She's kooky and eccentric, and completely devoted to her sometimes legitimate seer abilities.

I have always wanted a Grim mug, but they are not found in stores, and cost upwards of $25 online. So I decided to try my hand at being crafty!

So, without further ado, here's my DIY Grim Mug!

First, you need your supplies. You'll need:
a mug (any kind will work, but a wider base is better)
a paintbrush
a plastic plate
black ceramic/enamel paint
rubbing alchohol

Make sure your paint is designed for glassware, and dishwasher safe is a plus.
You're going to wash your mug with the rubbing alchohol, and put a small amount of paint on the plate.
Now I looked up several pictures of the Grim design online, and practiced a few times on paper to make sure I got it how I wanted it, but if you're confident in your artistic abilities, free-hand away!
First, I drew the Grim, aka, a big black dog.

I found that the actual bristles of the paintbrush were much too big, so I dipped the handle of the brush in the paint and used that.

Next, I added the rest of the "tea dregs."

Once I  was happy with the design, I let the paint dry for at least an hour.

Now, for this next part, you'll need to follow the instructions on your paint bottle, as they may be different from mine.
To cure the paint, I put the mug in a cold oven, and turned the heat on to 350 degrees. After the oven had reached 350, I baked it for 30 minutes, and then turned the oven off and let the mug cool inside the oven all night long.

And there you have it!

And if you aren't into Harry Potter, paint whatever the heck you want! Just remember that, though the paint says dishwasher safe, hand washing will ensure that your design stays longer without chipping.

Get to painting! And you should probably watch Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban while you do it; Emma Thompson is genius!