Curly Girl Update 1 year 6 months

Hi all! Sorry for my lack of posting this week but we had winter storm Leon coming through which meant everyone freaked out and work was a little crazy but I am here now and I will be updating you guys Monday on our nursery progress (hint: we finished installing the ceiling).

Anyway I was looking back through old posts and realized that I have not mentioned anything about curly girl products since last January/February. So I thought I would share with you how my routine has changed. If you want to see the original post then go here. I am just going to start with what I am using now and some transitions I have made.

I did give the diva curl line a try and I really liked it. However at $18 a bottle that was just too steep for my budget. Since then I have been using a hodge podge of things. Mostly the loreal ever pure line but when I went into target a few weeks ago to purchase the ever curl products they were no where to be found. I mean there was a spot for them but no product. I then spent an hour in the hair care isle trying to decide what else to buy. You should have seen me looking like a lost puppy on my phone reading reviews of each product I picked up. I finally settled on the Organix Macadamia Oil Shampoo, Conditioner, and hydrating mask. I have to be honest here their price tag was what attracted me the most.

However now that I have used them I am in love. I do not think my hair has felt this soft and touchable since I was straightening it everyday. (Which if you look at some recent pictures on here you will notice I had been doing for a bit). I am back on the curly girl wagon though after finding this shampoo and conditioner combo. I will give you a little run down of how I use each product.

Curly Girl Routine Revisited

http://nymag.com/thecut/2012/02/best-bet-organix-macadamia-oil-collection.html

Organix Macadamia Oil Shampoo: This one is pretty self explanatory, wet hair and lather in. For those of you strictly following CG then you will be happy to know this is sulfate free. 

Organix Macadamia Oil Condition: So for this one I put a little on my hair while in the shower just to be able to finger comb the knots out. Then I rinse this out. Once I get out of the shower and towel dry my hair I add more of this wonderful conditioner and scrunch it in. (Like you do with gel)

Organix Macadamia Oil Intensive Moisture Mask: So this definitely lives up to its name. I put this on about once a week in the shower and put a shower cap on. Go about my normal shower business and the last thing I do is rinse this out. It leaves my hair so silky and soft. 

http://www.walmart.com/ip/La-Bella-Lots-of-Curls-Styling-Gel-22-oz/10534339

La Bella Styling Gel: Yup this is the one constant in my CG routine.  I love this gel and if they ever stop making it I may have a breakdown in target. (just saying)

So there you have it, a little update on my CG routine. I hope everyone fared winter storm Leon okay. I know here in the low country we are still seeing ice and very cold temps (for us anyway) but never fear it is supposed to be 70 on Saturday. I am praying it actually makes it there because I am tired of winter already. Anyone else ready for spring?

"Are you sure you are not having twins?" And other things to never say to a pregnant woman.

So this has been on my mind for a while and when a friend and I were discussing it at lunch I decided it would make an excellent blog topic. I am sure I am not the only pregnant person to have an issue with this. It seems as if the second people find out you are expecting then the unsolicited opinions and advice start rolling in. I mean I am thankful for the people in my life that give real advice. I am however sick of hearing how wrong I am in my thinking about some things (cough... Cloth diapering. . .). Now I know I am a novice at this parenting thing, but I am not an unintelligent person and there are just some things that you should let me figure out for myself. If I eat my words later on, then I give you permission to gloat. Anyway enough of my ranting lets just get to the list of things you should never say to a pregnant woman.

1. You must be due any day now (this may be the case but she doesn't need to hear that she looks large or ready to pop and if it's not the case then you are sure to make her angry)

2. Are you sure it's not twins? ( I mean really people how many times must I say that I am only having a SINGLE baby) 

3. Well when I was pregnant I . . . (Insert here worked out everyday, ate only organic, ate anything but what you are currently eating) This is not helpful ladies. I mean how would you like it if you are steadily expanding and someone judges your every meal. I think I may start doing this to every person who does this to me pregnant or not.  

4. Can I touch your belly? We'll thanks for asking but if I don't know you then the answer is no. I find this to be the strangest thing. Why do you want to rub my belly? I mean the baby cannot feel it and chances are you may get kicked. Also it's just weird people especially if you are not close friends or family. I mean really. 

5. Make sure you do. . .( insert some thing that I will probably forget immediately after our conversation) Unless I asked you what to do about a certain situation then I don't want/need the advice. I know you mean well but you may be being offensive without realizing it. 

6. Oh you want to do a natural labor/birthing experience? Let me tell you how horrible it will be. I know people really believe this is going to change my mind but at this point I am stubborn enough I wouldn't asks for drugs for anything.  (So I will be the lady in May screaming obscenities in the delivery room. Nice to meet you if you are delivering in Charleston in May.)

7. When are you due complete with belly rub to a non pregnant person. Yeah this one should get you smacked people. I have a dear friend that works with me who people think we are twins (we don't see it) and since I have been open about this pregnancy she has this happen to her on about a weekly basis. This is just WRONG. 

I hope this list doesn't offend anyone, but I do hope you will think twice the next time you decide to offer advice or just speak to a pregnant woman. We have enough crazy hormonal issues going on that you may not walk away unscathed. 

Wardrobe Wednesday: Week 24

Hi all! I am going to keep today short and sweet because I need to start putting paint on those nursery walls. Anyway here is the 24 week bump pic. Enjoy!

Cardigan: Old Navy (non maternity)
Sweater: Destination Materinity
Jeans: Thrifted Liz Lange for Target
Boots: Thrifted (from a goodwill in Montana)

Hear Ye Hear Ye: We Finally Started on the Nursery

Happy Monday. I know many of you are going to enjoy this Monday because you may have a holiday. If you do I hope you enjoy it but if not well then I hope your work day is pleasant.

Jose and I finally started on the nursery this weekend. As usual our thoughts of this will only take about a day are quickly turning into well I guess we will finish this next weekend. (In other words no one is allowed in our home but us for the next week because it looks like an episode of hoarders.)

Back in December I posted the mood board for the nursery so you could see our inspiration and where we are headed. Right now it is difficult to see the final picture but we at least did get the walls primed (I am painting them Wednesday) and the ceiling halfway done. The ceiling is one thing we did not share with you on the mood board. Mostly because I did not think it would convey very well. Well now I am happy to show you the wood plank ceiling that we have been tirelessly working on for the past three days. 

This is what we found when we removed the molding around the room. 

The room after one coat of primer and the ceiling halfway finished.

Isn't it gorgeous! I mean I cannot wait until it is done and our baby boy will have such a gorgeous and non traditional ceiling to stare up at. We plan to stain the ceiling but we are not sure what color yet. We do not want anything too dark but we don't want it to  look like we tried to match the floors either.  I am hoping to have time in the next couple of weeks to pick out a stain. Once the ceiling is completely finished I will write up a quick how we did it post but for now I hope you guys enjoy the progress shots.

Have you ever undertaken a home project that took much longer than anticipated? Or has your house ever looked like they could film hoarders in it? I would love to hear about it!

Wardrobe Wednesday: 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23 Week bump-dates

 Its been a couple of week since I did a dedicated Wardrobe Wednesday. Today I am just going to catch you guys up on what I have been wearing the past few weeks. Also catch up on a few bump pictures.
I am a bad blogger and prego lady because I forgot to take a picture during 20 and 22 weeks. I blame the holidays and being out of town. Also did anyone else feel like time started flying by after 20 weeks. I cannot believe I am 24 Weeks on Thursday!

On another note I think recently I have been dressing better pregnant than I did pre-pregnancy. Maybe it is just the thought of knowing my wardrobe will consist of mom-attire once nugget is here. By mom attire I am hoping to still dress nice its just that jeans and easily washed clothing items will become the norm.

Freezing Fountain

Hi all! So I am finally back at this Monday blogging thing. I was hoping to have a nursery update for you guys today but we sort of ran into a slight issue when taking down the crown molding and so maybe Thursday I will be back to update you on that one.

As most of you probably experienced last week in pretty much every part of the country it was cold and not just a little cold but bone chilling cold. We here in Charleston fared a little better but it did still get down into single digit temps with the wind chills. For anyone who has visited Charleston in the winter you know this is way too cold for our liking. We enjoy our mild sixty degree winters here thank you. However as you know when it gets this cold you run the risk of having your pipes freeze. Especially when you live in a house built in 1938 with questionable plumbing sometimes.

Our supervisor for this project.

Well that is exactly what happened to us. Thankfully though it was the irrigation system (that we never use and thought we had turned off) pipes that froze and not the main pipes. So we never went without water but we did have a nice fountain and stream going throughout our yard for a few days.

Luckily this was a relatively easy fix. We just decided that since we do not use the irrigation system we would just cut the pipe where it cracked and cap it off. The longest part of this whole process was getting the supplies. You see we got home with what we thought was everything only to cut the pipe and think that we bought the wrong cap size. Back to Lowe's we went armed this time with a piece of the pipe. After standing there trying different caps for a few minutes we realized we indeed had the right cap, had a nice long laugh at ourselves, and headed back home to finalize our little plumbing project. So in case you were wondering how we completed this project here is a quick rundown of the process.

Jose's sad face at the realization we got the wrong size cap. 

Supplies:

Broken pipe

3/4 in Caps (or whatever size your pipe is)

Copper Tube Cutter (that cuts up to your size pipe)

Step One: Turn off the main water supply so as to not create a large fountain when you cut your pipe

Step Two: Use the copper tube cutter to cut an even line around the pipe. You will probably have to do this in two locations. 

Step Three: Push the caps onto your freshly cut pipes. Yes these are that easy to use. No other tools necessary. 

Step 4: Turn your water back on and pray it holds. (So far so good in this category.)

See, easy peasy. Have you ever had a busted pipe? Was it an easy fix or was it a job for a plumber? I would love to hear about it!

29 Things Before 29 Updated

Pinterest Image

Hi all! I am sure you were beginning to wonder if I had fallen off the face of the earth but alas I am back. Lets just say the holidays were hectic and we had a perfect Christmas and New Years. Today I wanted to share with you a little update on my 29 things before 29 post I did for my 28th birthday. So here we go:

1. Complete a Photo 365 Project (Still in progress but not going as well as I had hoped. Its hard finding time to take a picture everyday.)

2. Run a Half Marathon (This one will not be updated until after our little nugget arrives but I have a half marathon in mind.)

3. Start an Etsy Shop

4. Read 100 Books (So far I am 2 books in. Lets hope this picks up soon)

5. Sew at least 5 articles of Clothing from a pattern (My sewing machine officially bit the dust last week while working on a nursery project. I am currently in the process of finding a replacement.)

6. Consistently Blog 4 times a week (I think we know how terribly I have bombed this one.)

7. Attend a Blog Conference

8. Develop a Cleaning Schedule and Stick to It. (Again another bombing. Our house currently looks like a bomb went off.)

9. Purge our home (In progress, hence the explosion our home appears to have been through)

10.Crochet an Afghan

11. Get a new tattoo

12. Start Saving to visit London

13. Get Passport Renewed

14. Create at least one Pinterest Craft a Month (I actually did do this throughout the holiday season but I am a bad blogger and did not document it. Sorry guys.)

15. Go to a Concert

16. Hike Table Rock with Jose

17. Visit the Gibbes Art Museum

18. Learn Spanish

19. Learn to play guitar

20. Eat at 5 New Restaurants

21. Visit the Beach at least 10 times

22. Visit Asheville at least once (I guess Jose and I technically fulfilled this one when we went to Gatlinburg a few weeks ago. We stopped in Asheville for lunch but I would like to go back for a weekend at least.)

23. Learn to Knit

24. Go to at least one Spoleto Event 

25. Take pictures in front of the awesome graffiti murals in Park Circle

26. Run at least 3 5k's

27. Pay someone else to take pictures of us as a family

28. Do one random act of kindness monthly (I need to step it up on this one.)

29. Experience at least one new thing with Jose a month.

Wow so that is my somewhat failed attempts thus far with this list. I am really hoping to get my act together and start making some real headway on this before our baby boy arrives. 

Do you have a list of things for 2014? How about just one resolution? Are you sticking with it or falling short? I would love to hear about it all the good, the bad, and the procrastinator. (Please tell me I am not the only one.)

Welcome 2014!

I think 2014 is going to be the best year yet. Why? Well I am glad you asked. It has nothing to do with having reached my weight loss goal, being healthier, or reinventing myself. It has everything to do with this wonderful bundle of joy that will make his appearance in May.

I know that sounds presumptive of me. Saying that 2014 is going to be a wonderful year just because our first child will be born but that really is going to be the highlight of my year. I cannot wait to meet him and learn his little personality. I also cannot wait to see Jose in the role of Dad. He is going to be so awesome at it. It melts my heart to think in five short months our family of two (four if you count our furbabies) will become a family of three (5).

I would love to know if those of you expecting a little one feel the same way. Anyway what every 2014 brings I am ready for it. I am ready to make this my year and the best one of my 28 years on this planet.