random

I have always had such thin, fine hair.  And when you have fine, thin hair you can not.  I repeat CAN NOT NOT wash your hair every day.  It’s a greasy mess barely passable for the gym.  I was mentioning it in passing to my stylist and she recommended TIGI’s Dry Shampoo Rockaholic.  Well.  That was WAY out of my new budget UNTIL Ulta ran a breast cancer awareness campaign and put their specially marked cans on sale for $6.99 last week AND put out a 20% coupon in the paper. 

So this morning, I rolled out of bed just a few minutes before having to get to work and found that my hair was as usual…smashed in the back, sticking out at on the sides and starting to get a bit greasy in the front.  I started spraying at the roots, concentrating at my hair line and then at the crown.  I used my round brush to restyle as I would with my hair dryer and voila!  My hair was suddenly passable!  It even poofed at the crown like I like!  This picture is about 10 minutes after rolling out of bed and no flat iron either!

Now, I can’t say it was just as good as the first day.  The texture was much more coarse than normal and I had to tame a few stray pieces through the day.  But FOR SURE hundreds of times better than having to do the whole thing over again.  For days like today where my biggest outing was Walgreens for a good deal on cough drops and aspirin, it worked like a charm.

So. Have you ever tried a dry shampoo that you’d recommend?

I did the girls nails today.  And then mine again after mine was destroyed doing theirs.  They picked white, pink and purple.  Go figure.

These are Emma’s.  Her pinkies are my favorites.

These are Lexi’s little chubby hands and I just want to *squeeze* them.  I can barely get passed the cute chubby to see her nails.  Her right thumb is the best but you can’t see it well.

I picked white, purple and some peachy color (quickly when my orange wouldn’t work) which I sort of regret.  I think I’m getting a handle on the patterns though.  These are at least much more consistent in look across all the fingers.

Things I noticed: my high lacquer polishes hardened almost immediately. My older Revlon polishes wouldn’t spread well.  I stuck to newer Revlon colors I had. 

I really want to try out some neon colors!

OK so I heard about this marble manicure thing from Katie on Twitter the other day.  Side note: I feel like everything I know is starting to come from Twitter.  Every other sentence I say is something like “Oh, I saw that on Twitter” or “The other day on Twitter”.  Oh well.  So the other day on Twitter I heard about these things and some of them looked SO cool.  And they made it look SO EASY.  Here is one of MANY tutorials on YouTube.

Here’s the basic steps though:

1. Paint your nails with a base color and let dry.
2. Pick 3 other colors to use.
3. Fill a bowl with tepid water.
4. Tape up one finger (see videos).
5. Let a drop of the first color drop on the surface of the water.
6. Let a drop of the second color drop in the middle of the first drop.
7. Let a drop of the third color drop in the middle of that.
8. Repeat as many times as you want. 
9. Use a toothpick to pull in the colors to the center.
10. Dip your finger in the spot of the pattern you like.
11. The polish has created a film on the water. Pull that away from your nail while it’s still dunked in the water.
12. Pull your nail out and untape it immediately.
13. Repeat for all your nails.

Yeah, it’s not the fastest thing ever.  One video I watched said it only took 15 minutes.  HA!

So I picked this mint green color for the base and then silver, pink and dark purple colors for the swirl which apparently were horrible picks because really only the green and purple showed up. I had to redo a few fingers and still a few are pretty sketchy. I think if I try a few different colors and practice with the patterns in the water I’ll get better.  Here is my first water marbling:

I think my thumbs came out the best:

So, that’s that I guess.  I definitely see some potential. 

Have you heard of this?  Tried it?

I’ve been a fan of Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman for quite some time.  I’ve put a lot of their ideas into practice.  We’ve never carried debt but we started and completed our emergency fund.  I’ve even set up a budget, created an account on mint and tracked our money .  But that’s where it stops.  I never have set up any practices to stay in budget.  I watch it go into red every single time, far beyond the limits of the budget.  It’s been depressing.  I knew Dave Ramsey’s budget system was the “envelope system”.  Where you budget your money, put cash for non-bills in envelopes and when it’s out, it’s out.  That scares me to death.  Because what if I saw the cutest top on sale at Target and I HAD to have it.  Or what if I REALLY wanted Taco Bell for lunch instead of a pb&j.  Or what if…

The end to all those sentences is, I wouldn’t be able to get what I wanted.  And that’s just lame.  I’m a grown, responsible adult and I should be better able to control those desires.  Because it may cost to opt-in but I have to count the cost of opting out.  The price of my inability to control my desires is someone’s next meal or the clothes on their back.  We have to be more responsible so we can give more.  We have to be more responsible so we are equipped to handle crisis so we are not running around trying to fix it instead of concentrating on others.  We have to be more responsible so our kids see us be more responsible.  Since December we have gotten much better but we’re ready to take the next step and tackle the envelope system.

Based off the budget I had set up in mint.com, I created a budget on Dave’s forms and actually planned where every single dollar is going to go with every paycheck.  I know when bills are coming and going.  We’re saving for once-a-year stuff.  We’ve set up what money is staying in checking, what’s being moved to savings and what goes in an envelope.  I even have a coffee envelope!  Everything in moderation, people!  You didn’t think I was going to completely cut that out did you? 

Scott and I actually had a budget meeting.  Dave suggests “the nerd” do the budget and then present it to the spouse.  They are able to make any changes they want without question.  I, of course being the nerd, presented it last night with much anticipation.  We went through every line item with little fighting and actually very little changes.

So October 1 we start.  It’s going to be weird dealing in cash.  It’s going to be weird planning meals.  It’s going to be weird rationing out clothing money.  It’s going to be weird not going to Chick-fil-a every single time we want.  It’s all going to be weird for a while. 

Weird and scary.  But I believe so worth it.

Very curious…do you have a budget?  If so, how do you control your budget? Are you a Dave Ramsey fan? 

Just a few thoughts:

1. SO excited for “Cam” from Modern Family for his win as well as the whole cast and crew for winning Best Comedy
2. Very sad for Kyle and Connie for not winning their categories but a little surreal seeing them in the crowd!  So happy the show at least got recognized.
3. The LOST song that Jimmy Fallon performed was hilarious.  “At least I tried.”
4. George Clooney’s bit with Modern Family was gold.
5. So many gorgeous dresses but these are my top 3

Flirty, Purply, Lacy Fall by bennettaj featuring Oasis tops

I just need to know which shoes you’d pick.

You can find more Fashion Friday at Musings of a Housewife,  Girlymama, Mommies with Style, Water Water Everywhere

I couldn’t quit staring at these ladies at lunch today.

At first I was taken by their looks and outfits. They have cute hair cuts, trendy yet age-appropriate clothes on and stylish hand bags. I thought, man I hope I’m in their shoes at their age. My fashion-conscious friends and I retired, spending lunch at a bistro…

Then I thought how shallow that was.

Is that what I’m aiming for? Just to look pretty and eat good food? Not to say that’s all to them because I don’t really know those ladies or what they’ve been through or done.

But it made me think about what I DO want? What do I want 30 years from now? What do I want my story to say?

Scott said yesterday lying in bed considering it all we sure do have it made. And I guess we do in some ways. No complaints from me. I don’t begrudge my blessings but I wonder if I’ll be satisfied with a good lunch and a pretty handbag at a Bistro with my friends.

I feel a rumbling in my soul to see something bigger and better. Not to be satisfied with the simple and easy and pretty. I’m not asking for pain or destitution but I don’t know, its rumbling in there. It really is.

I love owls.  Can you tell?  They were the inspiration for my latest Polyvore set.

Owl by bennettaj featuring Oasis tops