Hello Spring

This Spring, it's all about fun-loving pastels, sparkling oceanic blues and aquas, vivid and alluring fushias to kick up those pretty-in-pinks, to softly muted chic sophisticated neutrals.  Seems like there's a little bit of something for everyone this season. 

As of late, I'm loving the oceanic blues and aquas against Navy.  Think Nautical. 

What color palette and patterns are you leaning towards this season?

So long Winter

Goodbye dry winter skin, 3-5 layers of clothing, cozy boots, coats, gloves, chilly nights, wild wind storms, snowboarding, winter cabin trips, snowy mountains, leggings, fuzzy socks, crackling fire place, home-made comfort soup, long evenings in PJs, hot tea, holiday cheers, hot cocoa, long winter vacations, hot showers, warm comforters, chapped lips, winter reading-books, dry winter hair, defrost button and frosty windshields, crowds, and ice cream in the winter taste so much better.

Highlights of my Winter...

 For my birthday/Valentine's day, Thank you BF

Road trip to Mammoth

Finally bought our own gear

We made it to the highest peak

 View from the top of Mammoth

On the way down looking back

Woke up to a foot of overnight snow

I heart snowboarding because it makes us...

Bike riding with my sister along the coast of So Cal

When summer visits in the winter

Boyfriend get's recognized for Teacher's Achievement @ NBA game, Clippers vs Hawks

 

Lots of road trips..

Last of the winter storm

Watching mother nature color the world

I love winter, it's my favorite season, not because I was born in the winter.  But there are just some things you hate about winter, but still manage to miss winter when it's behind us.

What do you love or hate about winter?

I surrender... evil Samoas

 I surrender...

Don't get me started on the Thin Mints...

Hairstyle for Workouts: Fishtail Braid

A year and a half ago, I cut off 15 inches of hair to donate to Pantene's Beautiful Length.  Working out with short hair was easy because the only thing you can really do with short hair was a pulled back ponytail.  My hair was so short, it looked more like a fluff or the end of a bad paint brush.

As my hair grew to a medium length, the ponytail started feeling heavy, and it would swoosh side to side during my runs, and that was annoying.  I started wearing my hair in a short ponytail braid, high topknot, or low loose bun.  This worked for awhile...

Now that my hair is longer, a pulled back ponytail will not do, I can feel it flying all over the place when I run.  A bun does not stay put because it's a lot heavier, bulkier, and I hate using bobby pins, and they don't stay on my hair.  The bun is also fairly uncomfortable for Pilates, because I'm laying down most of the time, and the bun gets in the way when I'm trying to lay flat on the mat.  I tried the ponytail braid for Pilates and the whole time I can feel it bulking on my back, causing discomfort during sit-ups and core exercises.  And because my hair is layered, the short strands start to fall and stick to my face when I'm already feeling sweaty...gross.  By the end of the workout, my braid is a hot mess.  So I tried french braid, which I can not seem to do!  I have never been able to do the french braid on myself, but I can do it on other people.  It always comes out as a dutch braid on myself, so it doesn't work for Pilates because I can feel the bulk on the back of my head when I'm laying down, since the dutch braid has the braid sitting on top of the hair rather then inside or under the hair like a french braid. 

Finally, I decided to learn the fishtail braid because I've always wanted to do it to my hair but it always looked so difficult and complex because I thought it involved twisting and braiding at the same time.  But really, it is so much easier than a french or dutch braid.
 

Functionally, I love it during my workouts because at the end, my hair still looks good.  I don't have little strands of hair sticking out in odd places, because the cross-over strands are thinner, not necessarily tighter which I really like because I hate the feeling of my hair being pulled too tight.  AND it looks absolutely pretty and chic.

I'm so glad I finally found a hairstyle that works for me without weighing me down, literally!  What kind of hair style do you sport during your workouts?

Current Favorites

Favorite Nail Color:

 Avon nail polish: Loving Lavender

Favorite Scent: 

 

Favorite Wish:

Favorite Sport:

Lake Tahoe, NV

Favorite Place: 

Hermit Falls, Arcadia CA

 Favorite Sound:

 Santa Monica, CA

What are your current favorites? 

Creative Thursday: Tissue Paper Flower Bouquet

The last Creative Thursday post was a shabby chic inspired painting of Paris' Eiffel Tower.  I was looking over at the mantel and couldn't help but say that a bouquet of peonies would look elegantly beautiful right next to my painting.  Lo and be hold, peonies are not yet in season!  And sadly, peonies season is relatively short, they bloom late April to early June and its done...

I figure since I do not have a garden of my own, let alone afford to buy fresh flowers as often as I like... I'd have to find an alternative way of adding a touch of pretty.  Tissue paper flowers.  Inexpensive, pretty, and last much longer than the real thing, of course I'll never get the wonderful fragrant over the real peonies.  Buy hey, this is all eyes for now.  At least until the real thing blooms.

All you need is:

(8) 6x10 inch tissue paper per blossom
pair of scissors
ribbon or string 
thin wire or pipe cleaner

Stack 8 sheets of tissue.  Make 1/2 inch folds in an accordion-like pattern, creasing with each fold.   Folds do not have to be perfect, gives the final look of the blossom some character.

Tie a ribbon or string around the center fold.

Trim the ends of the tissue.  Petals of the blossom to look pointy or rounded.

And now the fun part, fluff!  Separate the layers, by pulling away from the center.  Easier if you do one side first, pulling one layer at a time.

I did this one with half rounded petals and half pointy petals.

Ever wonder what you could do with foods that come in canisters like these?  I know, what a waste right?  How often do these get tossed out into the trash... Eco-friendly please...

Recycle, or turn it into something useful.  With a few scraps of paper, ribbons, and decorative pieces... here's a easy one.

I'm using scrapbook card stocks.  Color theme: whites, pinks, creams, and light shades of blues.  Be creative.  Construction and color paper works just fine, even fabric.

I covered the canister with card stock paper, secured with clear tape.  Glue works fine too.

Giving it that shabby chic, English country, cottage style look, I placed a white paper doily and tied a cream color satin ribbon to hold it in place.

Simple as that!  You can easily transform any mundane canister into a useful vase, pen/pencils holder, table center pieces, or just need a touch of pretty home decor.

Good luck!  Get creative.