Monday, November 21, 2011

Head & Shoulders review! Super FUN!


This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and Head & Shoulders.


Hello lovelies! Hope all is well in your worlds!
I wanted to let you in on a secret. I just might be addicted to the new line of Head & Shoulders. Yes, this is a paid review, but seriously, I’m in love. 
Not only do I have an uncontrollable mop head at times, but with all this hair, my scalp can get itchy, especially in the winter months. With the cold months creeping up on me, it’s time to start thinking about these lovely locks.

I always look for shampoo or conditioner with tea tree oil or something “tingly.” I have issues with peppermint, tea tree oil, eucalyptus, etc. If it’s tingly and minty feeling, I LOVE it!!  I actually prefer to use minty shampoos, conditioners and soaps year-round. Tingly soaps are like a cup THIS BIG of coffee in the mornings.
If you haven’t already tried it, I dare you to try a minty shampoo and conditioner on a Monday morning when you are pootered out and not too sure about starting another week in the grinder! I promise you will be REFRESHED and ready to ROLL!
I’m warning you though. It can be addicting!
I really feel like Head & Shoulders follows through with what they promise in their new collection. They promise to ease three common scalp and dandruff problems: dryness, itchiness, and sensitivity. With 84% of surveyed scalp issue sufferers concerned about these issues, Head & Shoulders has combined the effectiveness of their HydraZinc formula to alleviate these conditions leaving your hair beautifully flake free*.  (*Visible flakes with regular use. Up to 100% Flake Free.)


Some shampoos and conditioners tout “minty” ingredients and may smell a little “minty” but do not actually feel very tingly or even refreshing. This does!! And if you are a “minty” soap addict like me, the feeling needs to last even when I’m done showering. This lasts so long; I actually wait as long as I can to dry my hair, so that I can revel in all the “tingly” goodness. Ha ha.


I am also a big judge of conditioners. If you have hair resembling a horse’s tail, not all conditioners are created equal. Watered-down conditioners will not work for my Medusa hair. This conditioner is like a handful of thick, creamy hair-loving goodness! It works marvelous for course-thick hair!
Just look at this thick, creamy goodness:

If I can comb my hair easily after washing it, then a conditioner WORKS.  And this stuff, is MARVELOUS! 
Woooohoooooooo! See–no matted–tangly–MESS!  

I’m 100% in love with the Head & Shoulders new collection. I’m so glad I had a chance to review the new collection. I will be using it from now on! 
Pretty hair = a HAPPY Mamma!

Have you thought about how you will change your beauty routine this season yet? How do you change your beauty routine in the colder winter season from the warmer seasons? Leave me a comment to be entered for a chance to win a $50 Visa gift card, courtesy of BlogHer.




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Rules:
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You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a)Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b)Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c)Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d)For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.
Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.
You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 11/21/11 - 12/22/11

Be sure to visit the Promotions & Prizes page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

Want more great tips for winter hair care? Check out the newest “Looking Your Best” post in the Life Well Lived section of BlogHer.com.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Yahooo! My Vintage Pearl necklace came in the mail today!!

Oh my goodness!! Remember like almost a year ago when I told you I had finally won a blog giveaway??? Ha ha ha…or maybe it’s been so long ago you don’t even recall that little diddy.

Well I did win…and I looked at all the goodies over and over…and couldn’t make my mind up. Then…my mind forgot. And lo’ and behold…almost a year has gone by…and I finally remembered I had a gift certificate… made up my mind and ordered a SWEET NECKLACE!

I’m SO in LOVE with it!!!

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I’m so BLESSED to have won! I would never be able to buy myself anything extra like this…and I love it so much!!!

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It was like getting an EARLY Christmas present!! Pretty sweet!! If you haven’t looked at The Vintage Pearl before…you really should. They have such amazing handmade jewelry. I love it all!

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Hope your week is going AWESOME!!

XoXo

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Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Cake Pop Recipe!

Oh yummmmo! Have you discovered cake pops yet? I’m sure you have! They are all the rage lately. From Starbucks, to local bakeries, cake pops are everywhere! And they have a PRETTY price too!

I have tried them at Starbucks once, but after the whopping prices, it’s just not something that gets on my priority list. We have a very teeny budget, and $20 for a dozen of those goodies aren’t practical in single Mom land! BUT…thank goodness for awesome Mammas like Pioneer Woman…who have made their own and shared it with the world!

I saw her recipe (found HERE) and I thought…omgeeeeee….I can so do this! For maybe $5?? Oh YAY!!!

So are you ready to make your own too? It’s SUPER fun for kiddos too! Jaxon LOVED helping!

Here we go!!!!!

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This is all you need to make your own cake pops! Shut up! Isn’t that nutzo! Who knew!

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You can mix and match flavors if you want! I wanted chocolate cake with vanilla outside icing stuff! LOL!

Mix and bake the cake as directed on the box. Cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil or wax paper. Allow the cake to cool completely. Grab your little helpers and start crumbling the cake with forks. I just left our cake in the pan we baked it in…you could use another bowl if you wanted.

Jax thought this part was SUPER cool!

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Add in about 3/4 of the container of frosting and mix well. For extra gushy, moist cake pops add the whole container.

I tried to get my little model to help show off the icing container…notice there is already chocolate on his face.

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Once he realized that the container was chocolate icing…it was all over…all he wanted to do was lick the spoon!

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Combine cake and icing until it looks like this.

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It’s a chocolate mushy mess! LOL!

Next, I used a soup spoon to scoop out even amounts of the cake mixtures. You could use a melon scoop too…I just don’t have one!

Place cake balls on your lined cookie sheet. Once done shaping cake balls, place cookie sheet in freezer. Allow cake balls to freeze 20-30 minutes until hardened.

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Melt almond bark in the microwave. I zapped mine for 1:30 minutes and just stirred until it all melted. The heat will eventually melt the entire bowl until is smooth.

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Use a fork to hold your cake ball and spoon melted bark on your cake ball. Try not to roll the ball in the bark, believe me, I learned the hard way and had CAKE FLOATIES! LOL!

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If you are going to decorate your cake balls, now is the time! Sprinkle with decorations and place back on cookie sheet to harden.

To make cake pops with popsicle sticks, I stuck the sticks in the cake balls, and spooned the melted bark on them. I placed them in an upside down strainer to harden. ((saw that idea on Pinterest! Yay!))

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Then we proceeded to taste test. And by we…I mean ME because Jaxon thinks they are weird and won’t touch them! Ha ha ha ha!

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They are sooooo DEEEEEELISH!

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We added a few holiday sprinkles to a few to show how caaaa-ute they would be for CHRISTMAS! Love it! [[I’ve been fighting putting up my Christmas decorations since November 1st. Ha ha ha. This is the first year I am making myself wait until after Thanksgiving. Who knew it would be so hard! LOL!]]

 

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If you think about it…homemade cake pops are a cute and inexpensive…handmade gift!! There are sooooo many possibilities with these!! We already sent some to Granny and PaPa’s house.

You could make them for your kiddos’ teachers….for neigbors…for friends!

What YUMMY FUN!

Here’s the recipe! Click the image to enlarge!

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Have a BLESSED day!

XoXo

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Monday, November 14, 2011

Texas Cotton Fields…

We have been having such a BLESSED time lately. Nothing out of the ordinary…but just some special and BLESSED days. It’s still sheer chaos most days trying to get the old to-do list done…but the days are just sweeter! I think it’s because it’s FALL! Fall days are always SWEET!

And speaking of sweet…I have to tell you about a SUPER SWEET senior photo session from last week.

This guy…was a baby when I was in high school and I used to babysit him and his sweet sister. Talk about feeling oooooooooooold! He’s a SENIOR now! Oh my gravy!!

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His Mom wanted part of his session to be in their family’s cotton field at the perfect time when the cotton was perfectly white and poofy! I loved it!! When the time was right…me any my little side-kick Jaxon went out to meet them in one of their fields.

And because they are soooooo sweet. Guess what Jaxon got to do while we did our session???

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Isn’t that the sweetest thing ever!! He was in HOG-HEAVEN as we Texans like to say. It made my Mamma-Heart SO HAPPY TOO! What a sweet thing to do for a little boy who LOVES tractors!!

Tooo sweet!!

Hope your week is off to a MARVELOUS start!

XoXo

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Friday, November 11, 2011

I was featured today!

It makes my day when others enjoy my crafties or project ideas. Isn’t that point of blogging…to share all our God-given creative gifts and ideas with each other! I think so!!

Lately my homemade finger paints have been everywhere. It’s such a BLESSING! I never knew such a simple project would be so fun for so many Mammas!

Today that post was featured on Sew Mamma Sew’s

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Click the box to visit the post and find some amazing art project and gift ideas.

While you're there…check out the daily lists they are putting together for HANDMADE HOLIDAYS this year.

I adore it!!!!

I know you will too!!

 

Have a BLESSED weekend!

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Thursday, November 10, 2011

I’m in LOVE with my CrockPot!

I can be such a slow learner sometimes. I have seen MANY Mom’s praise their CrockPots…but do you think I listened? Oh no…I like to make things 10-times harder! LOL!!

Lately with my schedule and work-load, I’ve been in search of things to make my life easier. The sock-bun hair do…in love. Saves so much time. Cooking with my CrockPot. Omgeeeeeee. My life simplified times 100!!! I only cook with it lately. And I looooooooooooove it!!!

I’m learning to freeze food too! My Mom bought me a surprise deep freeze awhile back. A little one – and it’s PRECIOUS and PERFECT! I had no idea the amount of food we were wasting…and how much money I would save with a freezer!

When I cook…most of the time my picky toddler doesn’t like it. Soooo…I can’t eat it all! And it would eventually go to waste! Now…I freeze it! And I have meals out the WAZOOOO ready to go in my freezer.

Now factor in my CrockPot….and I’m in cooking bliss!

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For example, this morning Jaxon and I whipped up a stew in less than 10 minutes.

This week after grocery shopping…I cooked the WHOLE thing of my ground beef. Then I divided it up into small freezer baggies with about 1-pound of meat in each baggie. (( HELLOOOOO another light-bulb moment for me! Cook your meat ahead of time = LESS WORK later!!))

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Then I chopped up a few potatoes. These babies MADE my day! Purple POTATOES…LOVE THEM!!!!

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My helper had fun too! He loooooooooves to help in the kitchen!

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I let him add the carrots.

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Love his JOYFUL heart!

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I also let him add the salt, pepper and dried onions. ((I always used dried onions because they don’t go bad as quickly for me!))

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LOVE it!!!!

 

Here’s my recipe-click image to enlarge!

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Hope you have a BLESSED day!

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Tuesday, November 8, 2011

SOCK BUN hair tutorials!!

As promised lovelies here is how I learned how to get my hair like this….without a curling iron…and without much effort at all.

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Can I get a halleluiah!!! Because if I don’t have to spend 30 minutes tackling my FRO then perhaps I might be able to use that time elsewhere….like coloring with Jaxon or reading a book to him. Or just breathing and taking a break! LOL!

First - watch this tutorial which will show you how to make the sock bun and how to wrap your hair with it.

 

Then watch this and she will tell you how to use the SOCK BUN to make GORGEOUS CURLS!!

 

Why in the world am I 32 and barely finding out about this?? This is for my beauty routine…what the CrockPot does for me in the kitchen! Loooooooooooooooove it!!

 

Happy happy HAIR day!!!

XoXo

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Monday, November 7, 2011

Happy MONDAY!

Good morning and HAPPY MONDAY!!

Hope everyone’s weekend was SWELL!! Mine sure was! I had a MARVELOUS last weekend class and enjoyed every second of it. My presentation was a HIT and it made my day! My professor actually told me that I taught Thoreau better than she did. I could have cried. What an honor…and what a HUGE COMPLIMENT!!!  I’ve had classes with her since I worked on my BA…she’s doesn’t say anything unless she means it. SO I knew…she meant it…and I really almost cried!! I had a moment when I was doing my presentation that I was like “Oh yes…teaching college…is where I want to be someday!!” It was awesome!!!

And don’t you know God had a few blessings up his sleeve for me while I was there too! I had the MOST AH-MAZING photo session opportunity. A dear and precious friend just happened to be in a neighboring town…for the weekend. Lo’ and behold her boyfriend PROPOSED TO HER!! She saw that I had “checked-in” to Sul Ross State University on Facebook and emailed me if it would be at all possible to drive over and do their engagement pictures where they were staying so they could capture the moment of their engagement weekend.

I almost fainted. I’ve been DREAMING about doing a session at the GAGE HOTEL in MARATHON, TEXAS! It is a GORGEOUS place!! Of course I screamed with delight…and we set up the session and after class on Saturday evening my Mom and I drove over to meet them.

It was the BEST photo session experience I’ve ever had I think!! I am such a cynic about love and marriage…you know my track history…and seeing these guys so in love just made my day. It made me a believer again!!! Robin is a precious, precious person…and a single Mom who works her fingers to the bone to make a beautiful life for her precious kiddos. God sent her such an amazing man in David…and you could literally FEEL the LOVE between them. I just had to share a few of their pictures with you!!!

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Don’t you JUST LOVE them!!! Aaaaah!!!

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I also discovered a LIFE-CHANGING hair tutorial. Oh…my….goodness!!!!! I can’t wait to share this with you tomorrow!! If you have LONG hair…and like me…haven’t heard about curling your hair with a SOCK BUN…just wait!!! It is the BEST thing I’ve ever seen for having INSTANTLY BEAUTIFUL hair in the MORNING!!

Here’s a teaser….I had this hair…this morning…without a curling iron…and by barely doing anything to my hair….REALLY!!!!!!

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Come back tomorrow and I will show you how!!!

Have a SUPER BLESSED day!!

XoXo

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