Brown paper packages tied up with string

One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is decorating. Since it's my first year of having a house to decorate (my house was a torn up mess, with a broken furnace at Christmas time last year)

I didn't go all cuckoo crazy with decor, I don't have a whole lot yet... just a tree and some ornaments, really. Nor do I have the extra cash lying around to spend on new stuff. My mom gave me some of her old decor and I DIY'ed a few things too but I'm really happy with how it all looks!

The red frames were just Goodwill cheapies I tore the artwork out of and spraypainted, the origami star garland is from a local store that sells fair trades goods, the white candle stick was a dumpster dive find and the Believe sign I made myself with stencils, glitter and old barnwood!

I think my favorite piece is my Christmas tree though. It looked like such a sad little Charlie Brown tree when I first put it up.

But with a little love, a lotta burlap I am now in LOVE with it!

To make my garland I just roughly cut 2" strips of burlap and knotted the ends together. Super simple and I loved how it turned out!


Ok, I totally lied though. My absolute favorite are the gifts. I wrapped gifts in newspaper and washi tape the past couple years but this year I went with kraft paper and yarn. I used a chalk marker to write the receiver's name. Not to toot my own horn, but I adore the way they look all bundled up under my tree!

(For all who have asked: I got the Kraft paper at Staples, look near their shipping supplies. The ChalkMarker is from Joann's and I just bought 3 different colored skeins of cheapo yarn there too.)

How to train your dragon. Or your hair.

Training boyfriends - totally experienced; training fire-breathing scaly creatures - inexperienced; training my hair - somewhat experienced.

I once did a lot of research on the best way to go about 'training' your hair. I studied the benefits, made positive/negative lists and evaluated the long-term benefits...

Eh who am I kidding. i started 'training' my hair a handful of years ago because I was plain lazy. That 36 minutes it takes to wash and dry my hair was deemed more suitable for shuteye so I started skipping a day. Day 2 was dedicated to ponytails, messy buns or hats.The thing is, when you're in college and you have an 8am class every day sometimes days become a blur and day 3 rolls around and you decide you actually can rock a Bo'Sox hat pretty well. And then that cycle starts repeating.

In all honesty, it's gross. Training your hair... in the beginning. It will be that shiny, piecey look. That's why you tease and hairspray and pull it back. But after a while your oil glands realize they don't NEED to produce so much oil to keep your hair healthy. And they chill out... and after a lil while you notice you don't get that dirtykid hair until day 3 or day 4.

Let's note that I don't work out or anything, I don't kick it with smokers, I don't typically douse my hair in product...  so my hair isn't getting any 'dirt' from sweat or any other external forces.

Constantly washing your hair strips it of it's own natural oils and other jazz that protects it and keeps it healthy.  Therefore your hair will produce more oil to help make up for the absence. High school econ, people. Supply and demand.

I'm no expert, there's tons of articles in magazines about it. Do a bit of google research.  It may or may not be legit... but it works for me. I typically wash my hair every 2 or 3 days. Nowadays I just curl it on day 2 or 3.It takes a while though. My whole 'training trend' started years and years ago. Don't expect it to instantly adapt in a few weeks.

(That right there... that is 3rd day hair. It holds curl SO much better)

Do you have your hair 'trained'? Cheers to all the fellow Linus' out there... rock that dust cloud with pride.

MiMO Monday

Morning lovelies! Another week closer to Christmas and we still haven't had any major snow in Indy... so rare! I'm not complaining though!

Ready for another week of MiMO with Holly and I??

My MiMO outfit for this week was actually something I donned on a date. It was a mash-up inspired by these two different outfits...

Source: lookbook.nu via Becky on Pinterest

and

Source: sparkling-glitter.tumblr.com via Holly on Pinterest

I loved the striped shirt + skinnies + boots from the second look but wanted somethin more bohemian and not quite so rocker (hence where the first picture came in)

Here's how I made it my own:

Whitney bet me that I couldn't get those super-flared jeans into boots, but I did it. Possibly one of my proudest accomplishments. Kidding. sort of.

Oh you wanna see something funny... I was teasing my hair and it got a bit out of hand, a la Everybody Loves Mary.

 Striped tank: Forever21 (Similar)

Cardigan: AE (it was on clearance for like $12!)

Necklace:Charlotte Russe

Grey Boots: Elle (Kohls)

Watch: MK

Coral bracelet: from Jamaica

I've heard a lot of people say "well I don't have ____ or _____ so I can't recreate that outfit!" I've noticed I find inspiration by the whole 'vibe' of a look, by the color scheme, or by the 'shapes/style' of the clothing that I see someone wearing. Branch out a bit, it's crazy what you can create!

Did you rock a Pinterest-inspired outfit this week? Add your link below, we wanna see your twist! *Make sure the link you add is TO YOUR MIMO post. Not to your blog in general. If you don't play fair, I WILL delete you from the linkup.*

Mixer & Mingle Friday : Spiced Rums

Pirate parties? Sign me up. Pirate rum. No thanks. I’m past the age of 7, I don’t need an animated character on my favorite drink.

If I’ve ever given you hell for drinking Pirate Rum (You know what I’m talking about… the one with a captain that doesn’t know how to stand normal… yea that one.) you aren’t alone. It’s only because I love you. And I want you to grow, and realize there are better tasting rums than the official drink of frat boys everywhere.

Here are some of my favorite spiced rums, in no particular order. Give them a shot… I promise you won’t ever spend another second wishing you were back on the pirate ship. 

Sailor Jerry

(Fun fact: Navy Veteran, Sailor Jerry (Norman "Sailor Jerry" Collins) revolutionized the art of tattooing . Seriously, read up on him. Very cool guy)

 Cruzan 9

 Bacardi Oakheart

My favorite way to enjoy spiced rum... with Coke. What can I say, I'm easy to pleasey! Cheers!

What would you do?

Let’s play a fun game, blog readers. I call this game “What would you do”. Here’s the rules: I explain a situation (PURELY hypothetical of course) and you tell me your insight on the matter. Fun, right? Awesome, let’s go.

Hypothetical situation numero uno:

Early one Friday afternoon I invite a friend, whom I’ve know for MANY years, to go to a festival with me on a Friday night. I have free passes for said festival. They agree, exclaiming it sounds like fun and that they will meet me there after they get off work.

I carry on about my day. Later in the evening I  text them to make sure of time and where we’re meeting up at. They don’t respond. Since I don’t really like showing up to places alone, I bring other guests along with me  and figure this friend will text you at some point before we get there to plan on where to meet up. I try a few more times to contact them with no avail. ‘Weird,’ I  think to myself, ‘guess she bailed?’. I’m a little peeved at them bailing with no forwarning (and glad I had brought along others so I wasn’t wandering the festival alone!)

After awhile we were enjoying ourselves and I had sort of shrugged off the whole situation. That’s when someone from our group came back after a bathroom trip or something, and said he had ran into the offriender (see what I did there, friend +offender HA!), with a group of other mutual acquaintances. That’s when I really became baffled. He said he stopped & talked to them for a moment, and pointed out where we were at yet not once did they come by and say hi or come by and offer up any explanation as to why I was seemingly being avoided all afternoon?

We left shortly thereafter. The next day I texted that friend simply asking ‘what happened to you last night’. Never did get a response to that one either.

                            

The kicker of it all, is that I haven’t heard from that person. Nearly 4 weeks later. And then I received a text inviting me to go out one night for their birthday.

Am I overreacting? I just feel like I deserve some sort of explanation at least, if not an apology. I don’t know. I’m just a little shocked. And a lot baffled.

Any insights, thoughts, recommendations are totally welcomed with open arms.

Purely hypothetical situation of course ;)