Happening Now (Nordstrom Anniversary Sale)

{Sketchers 'Twinkle Toes'}

Never send me in a store to pick up ONE thing. It just will not happen. All summer the little princess has been living in Keen's and I thought I'd pick up another pair during the sale. I've learned the hard way that you can't skimp on kid's shoes. The little princess already has had her fair share of blisters from cheapo Target shoes. I figure she'll pay her dues when she grows up and squeezes her size 6 feet into the most adorable 4" stilettos a half size too small. (Yes, I am totally guilty.) The Anniversary Sale had a great price on the normally $50 kid shoe. Newsflash for those of you who don't have kids yet, they are expensive. Two hours into the sale the shoes were already sold out of her size, I should have pre-ordered. I ended up getting two sizes larger. Hopefully these will last at least a year with all that room to grow. All Nordstrom associates are trained well and normal protocol is to bring at least one pair of shoes that you didn't ask for. Sure enough I took the bait. As parents, we want to give our kids things we didn't have. Secretly I want to run around in shoes that light up. I couldn't resist getting these 'Twinkle Toes' Sketchers that are neon pink with obnoxiously bright LED lights that light up when she walks. She LOVES and I'm jealous!

{Anniversary sale goodies}

I couldn't help myself and wandered from department to department. I found a great pair of boots that I over looked during pre-sale, a Chanel-esque cardi from the BP department and a leopard pencil skirt. Everyone should have at least one animal print piece in their closet. The skirt didn't look "all that" in the catalog, in real life it is a great brocade fabric and has little silver metallic flecks in the fabric that gives it a little somethin' somethin'. It runs a bit large and the entire company sold out of the petite sizes in the first few hours of opening. I am hoping that they will restock so that I can get the petite 0. They have a great return/exchange policy, so I am keeping the 0 waiting patiently even if it takes a month or so to get the petite size. Things in store and online were selling through fast. I have a feeling it will be a nightmare this weekend. If you plan on hitting the sale go early.

Thoughts and Prayers

I usually try to keep this blog fun and light as life can be hectic. My heart is heavy because I just found out that the sweetest man who is my postal carrier, Babou, lost his 3 year old daughter last Friday. Little Isatou Ceesay drowned in the hot tub of their apartment complex.

3-Year Old Drowns in Hot Tub Outside Housing Complex

I am just so saddened by this news that it brings tears to my eyes every time I think about it. Becoming a mother has taught me a lot, but most importantly it has given me the opportunity to experience loving someone else more than I love myself. I can't image the devastation of losing a child.

Please keep the Ceesay family in your thoughts and prayers.

**Update**A website has been set up for the family. Donations are being accepted to help buy plane tickets for Babou's mother and brother in Africa. There is also a meal sign up and a sign up for other household help. Any help is greatly appreciated.

isatouceesay.com

Buy Now (Kendra Scott Jewelry)

I love Kendra Scott jewelry and always try to by her pieces at discount. Her sample sale is up on Gilt today. The vermeil feather cuff I wore here and here is on Gilt now for $48, normally $150.

Shop the sale HERE.

Coming Clean (Digital Perm)

I am here to come clean and let you all know that I went and got a digital perm. I have been obsessed with this ever since my friend from Asia came to visit and had a head of hair with the most perfect curls. I come to find that there is some newish technology with perms. Apparently this type of process is more common in Asian salons. Yes, I am Asian and I live under a rock...the Rocky Mountains that is, not very many Asian salons around here.

There are lots of inquiries about digital perms so this is going to be lengthy. If you are not that interested in the details skip down to see pics below.

This technology is also known as the digital perm, digi perm,warm perm or hot perm because the hot rods that are used are digitally regulated. The end result is much different than the traditional cold perm. See Wikipedia for a more thorough explanation of a digital perm here.

My M.O. was to wait until my next visit to L.A. to get a digital perm where Asian salons are in abundance, but I stumbled upon an Asian salon just 15 minutes away from my house. Didn't I just say that these were scarce in Colorado? I probably walked by this salon at least 100 times in the four years that I've lived here. After walking past for the 101st time, a light bulb went off and I inquired about a digital perm. By golly they did them.

The place was not the posh salon settings that I am used to. It was more of a drop-in kind of place. I believe it was owner who attended to me and she did not have the greatest "chair side" manner. No chit chatting. In fact when I asked if she did many digital perms her reply was "no we don't do many anymore, everyone wants straight hair." Oye....and I still went through with it. She was not kind to my mane. There was lots of tugging, pulling and fighting with my hair. She gave me a little trim before she started on the perm. My hair was wet going into the process and I think this may have hampered some of her efforts. The outcome was more of a beachy wave than ringlet curls. Phew. My ultimate fear was coming out looking like a doll with tight ringlets. But from what I've seen in my research on the web, I expected to see more of a tighter curl than waves.

My friend just got her's done today in L.A. and she ended up with tighter curls. Comparing processes, her stylist dried her hair before the perm process. I think that was the main difference. My solution probably ended up being watered down and therefore did not set the same way.

I've read that after getting digital perms, styling curls and waves are much easier and they stay ALL day. My objective with the digital perm was stay all day curls and waves. I can safely say this was achieved. Prior to the digital perm, curls would fall out by day's end. Now, although I still spend the same amount of time styling the difference is that the curl stays all day.

All in all, I am fine with the outcome. After seeing my friends hair though, I am not completely satisfied. I still want more of a tighter curl. My version is a good intro to the digital perm, I think I would have freaked if I walked out looking like Annie. So the next time I'm in L.A. I have plans for another digital perm.

You are probably wondering about the details. I paid $125 for a trim, a (semi) digital perm and hair abuse. I don't think I'll be revisiting that salon, I am in L.A. enough to get a proper digital perm. My friend went to Hair Epoch in Los Angeles and had wonderful results with Aki. Her cut and digital perm cost $170ish. They have good reviews on Yelp. Both of our cuts and digital perms took 3-4 hours. Bring a book.

On to the picture and styling portion. It has been exactly a week and I am learning to live with this new texture in my hair and trying out different techniques in styling it. This first pic is pretty much what it looks like in its natural state. The technique here is simple. Spray hair with Fredrick Fekkai Luscious Curls then twirl sections of hair and let it air dry. It gives me soft beach waves.


In the pic below I created more prominent waves with a 1.25" curling iron. Tutorial here from Cupcakes and Cashmere. After curling I followed with the Fekkai Luscious Curls Spray.


It really doesn't look much different than what I had going on, the style just stays ALL DAY. So good! I still have yet to take the flat iron to it, blow it out or curl it into ringlets. So more hair pics to come!

And just in case this wasn't enough. Check out these fellow bloggers with digital perms Tiffany (I-am-Styl-ish) and Angel (Love and Splendor).

Even more information can be found at digitalperms.blogspot.com

Lookbook (Back On Track)

{Dress: Patterson J. Kincaid, Belt: Roni NYC, Shoes: KORS by Michael Kors - Victoria
Bracelet & Earrings: Kendra Scott, Ring: Forever 21}

Now that the in-laws have left we need to get things back on track. The house really needs a thorough cleaning and I need to get my weekly menu going, but I thought I'd check in since I've been scarce for the past week.

I behaved myself during July 4th sales and kept out of the stores. Online browsing proved to be more tempting since I can do it 24/7 in the comfort of my own home. I had my eyes on a pair of KORS by Michael Kors gladiator wedges and they were calling my name when Bloomingdale's decided to put them on sale. Buy them here. They arrived last week and I couldn't be happier! (I did wear them in my last lookbook and didn't make mention of them.) The ultra feminine dress by Patterson J. Kincaid is now on sale here for $55. FYI, the cut of the dress has a bohemian flare so it is really loose at the top and will require a tank underneath.

Did you also happen to notice my new rug? =) Nothing really to write home about, it's just a $50 rug from Costco. It does give me a little pep in my step to have something new and different to look at. Yay for anything new for the home! The simple things, right?

Well I better stop procrastinating, I have lots of catching up to do to get this household back on track.

Shop the lookbook below.

Happy Monday!

Tag Sale

I live to shop, but garage sales are not my scene. (My mother-in-law often refers to garage sales as tag sales, this cracks me up.) Many moms swear by these tag sales as a great place to get toys for the kids on the cheap. As fast as children grow out of clothes, they grow out of toys even faster. This weekend while out and about running errands I spot an "Estate Sale" sign. Sounding more glamorous than a garage sale, I decided to go check it out. This estate sale is what I equate to the ideal tag sale. The entire contents of the house was for sale. And lookie look at what I scored at the tag sale for $35. It immediately reminded me of the Pottery Barn Briana Glass lamp. Now I just need to find a shade for this great over sized lamp base.

Better luck next time on toys for the little one.