Crazy Hair Day!

Every year at school, my youngest has a Crazy Hair Day.  In year's past, I have done her hair in the morning, she has cried, insisted I remove whatever I've done and gone to school with completely normal hair.

This year, I made her promise that if I did her hair she would HAVE to go to school, no tears, no changes.  She looked up a mohawk for girls online and this is our 'interpretation'.  Her hair is way, way too long to do a mohawk, so this is what we ended up with.

To do this, I first braided her hair in tiny braids the night before to give it more volume in the morning since her hair is so straight.

Next, I divided it into tiny ponytails all in the center of her head.  Then I started teasing the center ponytails, working my way side to side.  I decided to leave one section out in the front and three sections out in the back because she has SO MUCH hair and time was running out.

Then I pinned a few hot pink feathers in, used some haircolor spray paint in hot pink and voila!

Best of all, no tears!

Hanging out at Down East Basics

Wednesday night I had a girls night out and met up with some of the local OC Bloggers over at a new store Down East Basics located at the Irvine Spectrum Center.

They hosted a Holiday Blogger Mixer where we could all hang out, chat and of course try on fun finds.  Here is Heather who works as a fashion designer, blogger and model here in Southern California trying on the cutest skirt that was full of layers, texture and color.  She was layering up tons of their pieces and creating great combinations.  You can check out her post about the evening over here.

I have been loving anything lavender or gray lately and I saw plenty that caught my eye in store.

I loved this gray dress with the chunky blue scarf.  The ruching on the top was very flattering and works well if you have {ahem}.. bosoms...

With the weight I've lost I am so stinking excited to be able to go to a 'normal' store and purchase items.  It was such a treat to walk in and realize what a fantastic selection awaited me.  I really loved the look of the store.  It felt like an up-scale boutique but the prices were AMAZING! 

They also have clothing for little girls.  Look at this adorable outfit I picked up for my little one.  The gray top has a triple ruffle pleat at the neckline which matches the triple ruffle pleat on the tulle in the skirt. I added in a beaded flower clip to use at the waist and this will be the perfect outfit for a trombone recital!  Everything in the little girls section was modest and appropriate which is of utmost importance to me when raising daughters.  The skirts were not too short and they had a great selection of items meant to be worn with leggings which in our house are always'daddy approved'...

I'm a girly girl so I love anything with ruffles, bows and that extra bit of detail and each of their pieces had something unique about it.  I also have about a million headbands with bows so when I walked in and found a giant purple felt bow on a headband I knew I was in a store I was going to shop at often!

I picked up a great lightweight scarf in a soft gray-the kind of gray that reminds you of early morning-but here's the kicker...it is trimmed in the most beautiful of soft purple crochet.  Here's how I layered it together for my Friday casual look.  I took a silver sequined t-shirt, layered on a gray cardi, my boot
cut jeans and added the scarf...it was perfect. I felt so cute and received compliments, which I adore!

Overall I would say that this store had great finds that were ultra-feminine, and heavy on the cute factor...no athletic wear here!  Just super cute feminine design.  Many of their pieces could be layered easily and they carried quite a selection of sizes and a ton of unstructured designs which are very flattering on many different body types.

Location: The new DownEast Basics store is in the Irvine Spectrum Center at

71 Fortune Drive

in Irvine, California. The store is located between H&M and Anthropologie.

DownEast Links:

• Web: www.downeastbasics.com
• FB: www.facebook.com/downeastbasics
• Tweet Tweet! www.twitter.com/downeastbasics

Irvine Spectrum Links:

• Mall Twitter: http://twitter.com/irvinespectrum
• Mall FB: http://www.facebook.com/irvinespectrumcenter

**I was gifted a $25 gift card for attending the mixer and reviewing the store, as well as a scarf and some delicious chocolates.**

My new BFF!

I love skin care and facials and all that girly stuff.  Yes, I love to garden but I really sincerely love glitz and glamour too.  I am the most un-granola-y garden person I know. 

So, it is with huge happiness and joy that I discovered Deborah DeMarco Skin Care in the Berkely Historic Building in Old Towne Orange  (apparently Clark Gable stayed there at one point, I feel glamorous just knowing that.)  I found out about her through a client of mine, so in full disclosure, Deborah is someone I've just added to my client roster, so it is my job to love her, but she makes it so easy!  I was blown away by everything about this new business.

Deborah is the owner, and the esthetician.  It's a tiny single bed studio upstairs away from the hustle and bustle of life.  It smells terrific, the bed was heated, the room A/C'd and the treatment was to die for!

Here is the text of my review on Yelp.  I gushed about her on Yelp and then at a dinner party and then out for drinks with my former co-workers.  Seriously, this woman is awesome.  She's my new BFF! 

Best facial ever and I've had facials regularly for 18 years, so saying this is the best is a big deal for me. The consult was thorough, then Deborah did an skin analysis with a mag lamp, which again, was very thorough, she asked instinctive questions and she really understood my skin before she ever put a product on it. Great ambience, the room smelled great, heated bed, very comfortable spa wrap, water was offered BEFORE and AFTER the treament (never been given water before a treatment).  The Dermalogica products smelled heavenly and did not distress my skin, but were highly effective, plus she used ultrasound technology to loosen up the clogged pores, and she used galvanic current TWICE during the treatment to really penetrate into the deeper layers and a hydrating gauzy wrap, plus a scalp massage, acupressure facial massage, double cleanse, extractions, mask, moisturizer, serums, eye cream and more.  This was the kind of facial I've dreamed of having, it was state-of-the-art and heavenly.  Plus, she called the next day just to make sure my skin felt great and there was no sensitivity, etc.  Can't believe what an awesome facial I had for the price!  I was not rushed, no timer went off, she took her time and TWO hours later, I was relaxed, glowing and ready to take on the world.  I asked her if she does all of this stuff for everyone or was it just me and she said that's how every treatment is, customized and she uses whatever technology (she called it modalities) are needed.

Deborah DeMarco Skin Care is located at:

1420 E Chapman Ave Studio 2A
Orange, CA 92866

(714) 815-6694

If you mention that you saw this on the blog and Yelp, that would be awesome!  She's got a great summer special going on!

New Clients "Summer Savings Spectacular".  Mention Yelp and receive 40% off 60 Minute Facial.  Regular $79, save your skin & $31.