Turning 8 - The Plan.

Happy Monday, Islanders!

What's that?

I know, I'm late sharing the plans for Munch's birthday.  If you're new to the island, Munch and I typically have the birthday conversation (where she informs me of her party wish list) the day after Valentine's Day, exactly six months out from her birth date. 

This year, Munch needed time to plan so she asked for another week.  Yesterday, February 23rd, I asked the question and she responded with a full-on plan.

"I want a rock star party.  With like, purple and orange... and some blue and pink... and neon colors.  I want my friends to come over and ring the doorbell and I'll say 'HEY!' and they'll be all like 'HEYYY!' and me and Jada might have a performance and then we'll *like* play and then everybody will dance.  We can have a sign that says, 'welcome to the rock star party!'... with *like* a drum and a guitar.  We can dance and take pictures and play music and stuff."

*Munch stands up and twirls around making up a dance routine while singing Party Like A Rock Star*

*Hubbs glances up from his iPad to witness the twirling and shakes his head*

*I stare off in space trying to work the logistics for building a dance floor and hanging a disco ball in my head*

Hubbs: I feel broke just LOOKING at you THINK about this party.

Whatever.

I was excited. Munch loves to dance and wiggle and flip.  She also loves to plan a good party... and THIS?! This will be a great party.

ROCK STAR DANCE PARTY

Munch loves all things bright and neon, glittery and fabulous. 

My inspiration is the 80's (she's turning 8, get it?) but Munch will just love having a cool glow-in-the-dark dance party.

It sounds so fun, right?!

Guests will arrive and decorate a cardboard guitar with neon puffy paints, enjoy dinner, get their makeup done (black light or glow in the dark lip stick?), get rock star tattoos (glow in the dark paint?), pose for fun photos in the rock star photo area (a custom spray paint backdrop?)then head to our (now empty) home gym in the basement which will be transformed into a DANCE PARTY ROOM!  The room will be awesome with black lights, glow-in-the-dark décor, a fun buffet of sweets, rockin' music and glow-in-the-dark games (glow necklace ring toss? pin the music note on the sheet music?)!

I'm excited because Munch will have the dance party she's always wanted.  O, here's the inspiration board I designed to capture my vision:

Yes, there are a lot of elements and I'll break down each number in tomorrow's post!

OMG!

I feel so accomplished and I haven't even started any projects... yet.

Cheers to celebrating,
 

New Stuff - Thoughts, Blog Series & Hair

Hey, Islanders! I know... I'm blogging on a SATURDAY!

 

I'm just poppin' in to let you guys know it appears the subscription emails are back up and running. 

 

I know many of you haven't received emails since Thanksgiving... Well, my blogging frequency hasn't changed... at all.  Feel free to come visit the island (here) to catch-up!

 

O and, since I have your attention, I want to share the latest "thing" here on the blog. 

 

Snapshot Saturdays/Sundays

 

I'm all about real-life around these parts so I want to share in-progress photos of projects around the house or in our everyday life.  Consider it a little dose of life unscripted. 

 

 

Today, 'round these parts, I'm washing my hair for the first time in weeks.  Why, you ask?  Well, I tried something different:

 

 

Marley Twists!!!

 

I know what you're thinking and, yes, they are a different style for me.  I fell in love while stalking pics online.

 

 

I really wanted to try the look.  I twist my hair often but adding hair will make it thicker and a little longer (mine are really long while wet but shrink after drying).

 

I mentioned to Devona that I was thinking of trying the style and she volunteered to experiment with me and I panicked freaked canceled debated agreed.

 

So, I turned 31... I've decided to make personal improvements to myself... to do whatever I need to feel GREAT because I deserve to give myself my best.  Well, in my pursuit of personal happiness I've also decided to push myself... to embrace and to improve myself (even if it means stepping out of my comfort zone).  Well, we did it. 

 

Yep.

 

 

On Super Bowl Sunday, Devona twisted my hair.  She would've done them smaller but I wanted the twists to be big and natural-looking.

 

We rolled the ends and dipped them in hot water to seal them...

 

I was worried this style was too "ethnic" for the office so I enjoyed some cool buns and braids.  Most people thought, because I have so much hair that it was mine, lol.  My thoughts on that topic?!

 

Hey, if 90% of the big stars add a little to accomplish a style or look, why can't I?!

 

It was a lot of fun! 

 

When I removed the twists, my hair had remained in twists so long that I was able to wear a really cool twist-out then a big bun.

 

So, finally washing my hair... There's my Saturday morning. 

 

Now, back to what this series will mean to the island...

Maybe it'll be pics of our dirty house or of our hair treatments that require shopping bags to "activate" the deep conditioner... OR my battle with the never-ending pile o' laundry. Events? Home projects? Family time?  

 

IDK, everyone is so in love with their perfect homes, fabulous projects and angelic children that I find it refreshing when people are just REAL.  I love my home, my man and my kid... but some days they get on my last nerve and I stand on the premise that it's ok.  I feel bad sometimes if I have a less-than-perfect day... If I'm not selfie ready or steppin' out in style.  Maybe I'm crazy.  Maybe I'm alone in this feeling.  Maybe I'm the only one who giggles at those people who are so perfectly living life.  Whatever the case, I want to lead by example. I want to tell anyone who will listen that LIFE (motherhood, marriage, home ownership, family, work, EVERYTHING) takes work and has ups and downs.  The downs make the ups that much greater...  they're a fact of life... they're normal and this little ol' island? It embraces flaws as fabulous (especially since we all have them).

 

*steps off of soap box*

 

*sips water*

 

*wipes forehead*

 

*exhales*

 

I'm trying to justify posting pics of my crazy hair, jerk husband, dirty house and sassy child in an effort to rebel against this PERFECT LIFE epidemic social media seems to perpetuate. O and I'm kindly demanding telling daring you to debate ASKING you to support.

 

JUST GO WITH IT, OK?

 

Fab Friends Friday - Sheena's New BLOG!

It's FAB Friday, Islanders!

 

I'm here today with some great news.  One of my best friends, Sheena, has embarked on a new virtual adventure.  She has transitioned from her blog all about shoes to a MOMMY BLOG!

 

For my shy and private friend this is a happy yet really scary moment.  She will be sharing DatMyHoney with the world...

 

 

We all know that I have a problem sharing her but... I mean... if her Mama is ok with it, who am I? 

 

Truthfully, I'm SO excited!

 

Though she doesn't share it with the world, Sheena crafts, bakes, cooks, coupons, plans events and so much more!  She is an awesome mom and I'm confident she will share a little somethin' for everyone.

 

How can YOU help?

 

As I mentioned earlier, Sheena is private so I need my dear sweet Islanders to welcome her to the blogging community.  Stop by her new blog, Life With An External Heartbeat, and send her hugs and kisses!  O and tell her I sent you :)

 

I have some pretty fabulous friends on the Island, right?!  Maybe this will turn into a series? Eh, we'll see!

 

Happy Friday, fabulous followers :)

KinksNCurls - Munch's Journey

Hey, Islanders!  I don't claim to be a natural hair blogger but I've been natural for just-about 10 years.  I transitioned from my relaxer after 10 years of permanent hair straightening every four months.  After successfully transitioning, I shaved my head... like low-low.  Don't believe me? Here's a pic after two months of growth (I cut in late October and this was at my company's Christmas party mid-December):

 

 

 I learned to care for my hair as it grew out. I was able to identify the various curl patterns before it was too much to handle. I was of the opinion that I didn't want to salvage hair I would eventually cut off ONLY to have a head full of hair I would know nothing about.

 

I was natural for 15 months before I decided to straighten it for the first time.  It was my 23rd birthday.

I went from bald to a cut with a shape! I was so excited to see how much hair I grew in a year :)

I was also pregnant in the above photo.  I vowed my baby girl would learn to love her hair from the beginning so she would NEVER see a need to chemically process her hair.

 

I wasn't surprised when I had my beautiful baby and she was born borderline bald with straight fine hair; I knew it would be fine and/or non-existent just like mine was as a baby.  Here's a pictorial journey of my child's hair:

 

Five months - yes, she was crawling :)

 

Six months - a few straight stands on the top

 

Nine months - still pretty straight with her 'newborn' hair hanging near her shoulders in the back ONLY

 

Ten months - waves and curly flips started on the top

 

One year - the curly/wavy Mohawk started to grow

 

Two years - we had a Mohawk with curlie flips on the sides and longer hair in the back

 

Three years - photo taken early Fall

 

Three years - photo taken early Summer

 

We experienced the most hair growth at four years old.

 

Four years - photo taken in August.  We wore pony tails in the top because it was the longest part

 

Four years - photo taken at her birthday party (August)

 

Four years - photo taken in early Fall.  The sides began to grow and we started to wear pony tails everyday

 

Four years - photo taken on Halloween 

 

 

Four years - photo taken in December

 

Four years - photo taken early Spring. The Mohawk started to really sprout

 

Four years - photo taken in Spring. PONYTAILS!

 

Four years - photo taken Summer

 

Five years - photo taken on Halloween

 

 Five years - photo taken in February

 

 

Six years - photo taken in Fall

 

Munch had HAIR... and LOTS of it. 

 

 

You can tell from the pictures that pony tails were a milestone for us so, as it started to hang down her back, we celebrated the progress along the way:)

 

 

Unlike a lot of moms, I never cared about her hair length.  I cared about hair health.  My kid knew we washed hair every Monday. I didn't try to force pony tails on her and I tried my best to avoid any confidence issues.  She was bald-headed and cuter than any baby I'd ever seen before.  Yes, I'm biased.  Nope, I don't think your kid is cuter.  SorryNOTsorry :/

 

Anyhoo, with hair down her back, I taught Munch how to recognize the signs of when her hair needs trims.  In her very fine hair, the clear sign is when it becomes difficult to comb (knotty).  I trimmed her hair every 8 weeks (on average).

 

UNTIL...

 

July... we went to Georgia for the 4th of July.  She had big bows and long pony tails, remember?

 

 

Well, we returned home and, after the chlorine and sun exposure of the summer, her hair was dry and damaged and in need of a trim.  Normally, my process is as follows:

I stretch her hair all the way out.  I do this by parting a thin row of hair along the neck.  I then "sandwich" her hair between my pointer and middle fingers and slide my finger to the end of her hair.  When I reach the end of her hair, I use my shears to trim just above my fingers.  In this case, however, I didn't think the damaged portion was taken off with the 1/2" trim so I eye-balled it (without stretching) and cut her hair straight across.  Did you hear me? I cut her curly hair without stretching it.  What looked like an inch of curls was actually more like 2" unstretched and about 3-4" stretched.

 

Munch began to cry.  I wanted to cry.  In that moment, I made a promise to take better care of her hair and to leave it alone until Easter.  No trims.  Deep conditioning.  Protective styles.

 

 I thought her hair was butchered and it hurt my heart.  The following day, my prayers were answered when she had a beautiful HEALTHY wash-n-go:

 

 

Two days after a trim, we were rocking our pony tails:

 

 

We had work to do.

 

Here's our regimen and product list for folks who have asked for it:

 

1.  Weekly co-washes with Cantu conditioner.  A great conditioner that is sold at Walmart for less than $5, this conditioner provides great curl management and moisture for Munch's hair; I love it more than other expensive conditioners I've purchased (DevaCurl, Carol's Daughter, etc.).

 

 

2.  After washes, I part her hair into 4 sections and comb through Carol's Daughter Hair Milk.  A splurge at just-under $20, a dime-sized amount of this leave-in conditioner goes a long way.

 

 

3. Style the hair using Taliah Waajid Style and Shine.  This product is awesome. It provides frizz control and manageability while it also locks in moisture and gives a natural non-greasy shine.  I've recommended it to a few moms and they've all reported the same thing; they LOVE it too!  It's sold at Walmart and is a splurge compared to other kids' styling creams on their shelves at just under $7.

 

 

 

4.  Spray twists and pony tails with Carol's Daughter Black Vanilla moisturizing spray.  This stuff smells amazing and really keeps the moisture in.  It's $14 at most high-end cosmetic stores and it's worth every penny.

 

 

 

I'm happy to report that since the hair cut in July, Munch has grown all of her hair back and then some.  Most importantly, her ends still look great and she doesn't NEED a trim!

 

Taken in November

 

I hope this LONG post was helpful. I've decided to share more of my other passions on the blog to include our hair - care, styling, product reviews, etc. - some islanders are interested to know :)

 

Happy hair growing,