Wella Toner T27 "Medium Beige Blonde"

So, 
For any of you ladies who are thinking you want to do some BLONDE for summertime! Or just feeling a change, and blonde is in your future.
I went to the salon and got my hair done! Bleaching hair is never easy (especially if you dye your hair regularly with box dye, etc.)
To lighten my hair, I decided to go to the salon though! My results were very bold and lovely. 
However, 
My hair was brassy, and even a little yellowy in areas. 
I decided to get a toner from my local Sallys! 


I decided on "T27 Medium Beige Blonde" by Color Charm (Wella Toner)
You will need one part toner, two parts creme developer. I got the developer made specifically for the type of toner I needed. I got a 20 developer. 
You will need a mixing bowl, mixing brush, and gloves as well.
If you have a lot of hair feel free to get two bottles of your toner. 
The bottle of toner was 1.4oz so I put 2.8 oz of the creme developer. 

Section your hair, apply quickly (the toner works quick). I left mine on about 15 minutes. The box says a max of 30 minutes. :) Good luck to all who are attempting this! 

Here are my before and after pictures. I really loved the results. They ended up being a sort of sandy beach blonde :) 

Painting Stripes!

Okay,
so recently...I decided I wanted to tackle painting stripes - for a while, I didn't feel like it was something I wanted to do because doing it alone could be very difficult! Honestly - It was easy as pie, and I would DO IT AGAIN!

 

Step 1: Paint your wall the lightest color that you want in your stripes. The entire wall, yes! 

Step 2: Put up your tape lines! Use a leveler and ruler to help you measure and ensure straight, even lines! 

Step 3: Paint over your tape with the lightest color (again yes)...to seal the tape to ensure no leak throughs. Even if it does bleed it will be the same color! 

Step 4: Paint every other section the darker color of your stripes.

Step 5: Pull that tape off while the paint is still wet - this prevents peeling! 

Step 6: ENJOY YOUR amazing stripes! 

 

Hate your fireplace? Paint it!

It is amazing what a little bit of paint does! I thought I would share with you all my before and after pictures of my fireplace (which I hated!)…It made the room look dark and small, and I wanted a splash of VIBRANT LIGHT in the room! SO, I decided…….

PAINT IT!


BEFORE:

It was cherry stained (just like my kitchen)….

Here is what I did step by step ( AND IT IS SO EASY! )

1. Prime with a 3 in 1 primer (or sand, and prime if necessary)

2. Paint Once, let dry.

3. Paint again….

4. Lacquer, or use a gloss over your paint (unless you got a semi-gloss/gloss paint [ then it might not be necessary ] )

AND you will be so happy with the results you get!!!


FINAL RESULT:

Kitchen Remodeling!

Ok Ladies & Gents,

I decided since so many people have been asking me what I have been up to in my new house, I figured I would write a little blog about it!
I have been remodeling everything and slowly but surely I will have this blog filled with all the remodels that I have tackled thus far!
I am actually currently in the process of my kitchen remodel, and wanted to let you know how it is going & what things are looking like. This is also a step - by - step "how to" in case you decide you too are brave enough to tackle your kitchen!

My kitchen started out a cherry wood stained color with black granite (mixed with tans and whites)
Here is a picture..

Okay, Well Anyways,
Some people look at these cherry wood cabinets - and wonder why would I change them? They look great! Well I personally, do not like the look of the dark wood, and preferred something lighter. Also, they were stained by someone that did not take the time to do them properly and did not look good (in person). SO I decided quite quickly that I would change them all.

1. First I took all my cabinets off - and all the hardware off (handles, knobs, drawers, everything was detached)
2. Lightly sand your cabinets if necessary, although they make some great primers (3 in 1 primer) nowadays that makes it unnecessary to sand if they are in good condition!
3. Next step was to prime everything! I used Bulls Eye 1.2.3 All in one primer~  It works amazingly!

 The picture shown is of a cabinet primed, and then painted! This just shows that the primer does not come out a solid color - and doesn't need to in order to work perfectly!

As you can tell, the next step after you prime everything, is to paint it the color of your desire! I decided to go with toasted wheat for all my cabinets - and I chose to do a GLAZE... I used 8 oz of Belgian sweet (dark brown) in a small can of faux glaze which came out to a nice chocolate caramel brown!

The last and most important step! LACQUER the cabinets! :) This is so important for the kitchen because it gives it the 'smooth' finish you desire - and easily cleanable cupboards! 

I used 5 cans of lacquer clear gloss, and one can of clear gloss. I used the spray cans for the actual cabinets, and the can of gloss for the actual cupboards and island. 

It took about 30 minutes per cupboard of drying time (dry to the touch in 15, and in 24hrs ready to be used) and for the cupboards it took less time! I was using them within 4 hours.



BEFORE: 

AFTER: 

Thank you for checking out the blog :) Be on the lookout for some future blogs & projects that I post!

New Day & Age

It has been a little bit since I have blogged last. 
My daughter is now a week shy of 9 months old (and all over the place, might I add!) 
We are closing on a home in a week! 

Back to what I really wanted to blog about. This day and age. There must be some reason why social media is such a popular thing. So popular that face-to-face interaction doesn't happen as often as it should anymore.

What happened to the childhood where we played in the dirt, built forts and played cartoon tag? I have no idea! It has happened right before my very eyes. 

The cell phone, the computer, from instant messaging to mypsace to facebook and all of the other things in between. 

Is it the fact that we can be who we want to be on the internet? Or the fact that we can think before we type, and make ourselves appear to be so much better than we actually are? 

So that we can simply put the pictures of ourselves that look the best, and give off the impression to the world that we are FUN and totally awesome people. 

So we can hide behind a name as we put other people down and be the judger of all judges? 

As silly as that all sounds, and as I type it here on this very blog I have to believe it to be mostly true. 

I have been on a social media page now for 6 years, and I have witnessed so much. You start to feel like you do not know what genuine is anymore. Especially when communicating with your own family becomes mostly texting, facetime, or facebook commenting. 

I wonder how things will be in an additional 50 years, and the things that my grandchildren will have to explain to me "How to do" because I am no longer 'hip and a part of their "day and age"' 

For now I am stuck in this very world, raising my beautiful daughter and contemplating the questions that no parent ever thought they might ask themselves..

When do I allow her to use a cell phone, or have a facebook, or get a computer!? Can't I shelter her from this very world where cyber-bullying is the norm and not ENJOYING face to face time with your friends is the usual! Where kids don't get dirty in the mud, and scuff their knees from falling off of a bike, but instead are sexting, killing zombies on video games and tweeting. 

Well I hope, hope soo badly that she will enjoy her childhood, and not try to grow up too fast. I hope that her skirts stay past her ankles ( HAHA yes ankles...) and that she stays innocent as long as she possibly can. It is a scary world we are living in. Several marriages are built from online dating websites, and half the people on the web are catfishing or being CATFISHED. And while I wish I could protect her from all of the things in this world that I think could potentially harm her, I suppose it is also my responsibility to let my daughter make her own mistakes and learn from them (Though I will try VERY VERY hard to give her all the advice so that she wont make too many heartbreaking mistakes) 

And that my friends, is the end of my rant. 
Much love, 
xoo. :)



 

9 Months of Bliss

New Moms, Old Moms, Young Moms, All Moms, 

You understand that journey to motherhood. All of our stories are different. From our conception, to our pregnancies, to our birthing experience, to parenting styles. 
But we all have things in common as well. 

My Journey to Motherhood: 

It started with a little surprise on a stick that told us YES we are pregnant. Thoughts all came pouring in. Is this real? Yes, yes it is real! Do I have a human being inside of me? Yes! Yes! Yes!! 

Okay so prenatal vitamins - CHECK! Vitamin E oil - CHECK! 

I think once you become pregnant your mind is flooded with emotions. You have questions - you google constantly. You wonder Will I be good at this? Am I doing everything right? Is my baby healthy? Am I healthy? 

Usually most expect that they will have a completely normal pregnancy, and that everything will go as it should. We don't typically anticipate the negative, surely because we are so overjoyed with being pregnant! 

My pregnancy was "normal" for the most part - starting with morning sickness for the first 3 months, the next 3 being that 'glowing i am so happy to be pregnant and I am finally "showing" & for the most part sickness no where to be found' and then came along my third not-so-normal trimester (3 months of misery) LOL. 

I was diagnosed with Cholestasis. You have probably never heard of this before. It occurs in 1 /1000 pregnancies. If you are searching for information on it, the information is probably limited. 

It started gradually - In my palms & feet. An itch, an unbearable itch. The kind that there was no relief for. First thing I tried was benadryl. The next thing I tried was a cream prescribed by my doctor. When none of that was working we did some blood work. & come to find out I surely had what they call "CHOLESTASIS of pregnancy" 

That third trimester only got worse - The itching continued, and spread to my legs and arms. I itched every waking moment. I didn't sleep more than 2 hours at night. I was so unbelievably miserable. When my doctor told me that for the safety of my daughter I would need to be induced at 37 weeks - I was selfishly overjoyed that I would finally be put of my misery. Weeks upon weeks with no relief - an under the skin itch that even after itching & creating scabs all over my poor pregnant body - NO relief! 

While doctors are slowly getting more information on this pregnancy phenomenon - I was given pills which attempted to control the over flow of bile salts in my blood- to keep my little one safe. 

They say that if you had cholestasis with one pregnancy the likelihood that you will have it with your next is 75%  - Yikes.

So that was my pregnancy - my experience. 
At the end of it all - I ended up with a beautiful, healthy, bundle of JOY! My daughter was worth every moment of misery in that third trimester. 

I am a regular - 5'2 - & some change - healthy person who ended up with a what might be considered 'not-so-normal' pregnancy. Every pregnancy is different. 

What's your story?