Fashionista Friday: Finding Haircut Peace

Courtesy of digitalart; FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I have crazy hair.  Wild, curly, frizzy, grows-exponentially-if-you-drybrush-it hair.

I rarely look cute when I wake up.  I often have a halo of frizz around me all day and night during the summer months.

I used to hate my hair, but I'm over it.

When I was a teenager and needed my hair to look a certain way (in my mind), products that actually worked were limited.  Now there are plenty of products to help me deal with my hair issues, and that's a good thing when I actually use them.

Until a few years ago, I still had one problem:  The bell.  My hair was always cut in long layers, around the same length, and from the top of my pointy little head to the bottom length of my hair looked like a bell.

I hated the bell.

I finally found someone who knew what to do with the bell. She's a pain in the butt and we argue and she gets mad at me for messing with my own hair between appointments, but she knows what the heck she's doing. 

And she banished the bell.  http://reneehairandcolorstudio.com/


I suffered for a long time, and thought I'd give some tips today about haircuts for different faces.  This is based on research I did awhile back for another article that I never wrote because I missed my deadline, but that's another story (of my disorganization).

Courtesy of MR LIGHTMAN; FreeDigitalPhotos.net

An oval face shape is well balanced and can wear any style without heavy bangs.  A diamond face is very similar with a bit more wideness at the cheekbones.  A diamond face shape can wear absolutely any style, lucky ducks.

Courtesy of scottchan; FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Rectangular face shapes would do well to keep the hair short to medium length.  A cut that is full on the sides and sports wispy bangs will soften the sharpness of the face's angles.

Courtesy of digitalart; FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Focus on height at the crown of the head and avoid a center part.  Cut should lay close to the face but stay longer than chin-length to slim out roundness.

Courtesy of m_bartosch; FreeDigitalPhotos.net

For a square face, short to medium length is best with softness or curl at the sides of the face.  A part that falls off-center is best; avoid any type of sharp, linear cuts.

Courtesy of digitalart; FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Chin length or longer is preferred, with a side part.  A chin length bob is perfect for a heart because it gives fullness where necessary to balance out a narrow chin.

Courtesy of Piyachok Thawornmat; FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Short hair is best for triangle faces, with a fuller top to balance out a wide jaw.  The best cuts for this shape are a wedge or shag style.  Any cut that has top layers to create fullness and tapers down to the jaw will work well.

Happy Haircuts to you all.  I hope you find this helpful!

"Thing About" Thursdays: The Thing About Over-Parenting

I apologize, but I am not writing today.  The reason I am not writing is because another mommy blogger has done a perfect job of saying exactly what I want to say.

Why re-do what is already done?

What is not done is my laundry, my cleaning, my shower, and my for-pay writing!  I'm going to go do that.

Meanwhile, please enjoy this article about helicopter parenting and consider where you fit in terms of giving your kids opportunities to be kids and experience life.

Have a great day!

Frugal by Choice, Cheap by Necessity: Helicopter parents, free-range kids, and other ver...: Before I get off on a tangent and climb up on my soapbox, Happy Earth Day everyone! And this post is NOT written for people who live in ac...

What's Cooking Wednesday: Faves from Pinterest

I have been pinning, and pinning, and pinning,

and pinning,

and pinning,

and pinning.

I decided to finally start cooking!  Here are my favorites the kids' favorites so far from my Pinterest adventures in cooking.

Click on the caption below each picture to link directly to the recipe!  Enjoy!

Pasta Crab Casserole

Roasted potatoes with bacon & parmesan

Pork flavored with ranch - 3 ingredients!

Peanut Butter, Chocolate, Cool Whip - what could go wrong?

***All pictures belong to the websites they are linked to***

Tightwad Tuesday: How to Spend Money

Photo courtesy of renjith krishnan; FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I've just finished whining to my darling love about not knowing what to write about for Tightwad Tuesday.  I whined about it to Neonatal Nurse Nancy too, right after 6 this morning.

I said, "I can't think of any more ways to save money except just don't go anywhere, do anything, or buy anything!"  Much of my life does hold true to that, but that's boring stuff.

So let's talk about spending.  How do you decided what to spend on?  I have a few simple rules for choosing my expenditures wisely.

Do you love it?

Simple, right?  I think us girls can tend to fall into the trap of buying too many clothes in particular...but this could fall to knicknacks, electronics, or any item you personally purchase regularly.  Think about the things you have that you love.  You use them or wear them all the time; you take extra special care of them.  Start training yourself to buy only in this category.  Not only does it save your budget, it saves space and helps keep clutter out of your life and out of your closet.

Choose to make space in your life for items that you love and leave the rest behind because somebody, somewhere, needs that item to love in their home.

Do you need it?

Another seemingly simple question...but define need?  Right?  Need is personal, and all I can say is you have to define your own parameters of need for your budget and lifestyle.

The best advice I can give on this is what I say to myself when buying or when giving things away....  I ask myself this question:  What is the worst thing that will happen if I don't have this and I need it in a year?  Answering that question usually helps me decide whether to buy and whether to purge from my home.

Can you get a better price elsewhere?

This is a big one because, quite frankly, we tend to be lazy.  Why go to three grocery stores and get the best deals when you can get everything in one place and be done?  This is where you have to decided upon and balance the value of your time and the value of your money.  Only you can make this decision for your spending, but I advise you to think about this aspect at least occasionally if you are committed to living a wise-money life.

Is it going to last for an extended period of time?

Think about how long the item will last and how much use you will get from it.  Thinking this way will allow you to consider a general price-per-use or price-per-year cost.  Now, you don't have to get fancy with pages of calculations.  I'm talking about taking a moment before you impulsively buy something.  If I get this black sequined dress and wear it once a year, and knowing me I will get sick of it after a few times, at $500 it costs me about $100 each time I wear it.

Not such a good deal.

If you spend $20 on a pair of jeans you will wear twice a week for a few years, however, that's a good deal!  Even $100 for a pair of jeans would not be a bad deal at that rate of use. 

Think about the useful life of items before dumping cash into them.

Does the price match the quality?

This one is a big one for me.  Let me give you an example:  I love Target.  Who doesn't, right?  I particularly came to love them for kids clothes.  I feel that, in general, they have decent quality at a reasonable price for these items.

I also love Kohls.  They carry more name brands when it comes to kids clothes, and carry a slightly higher quality than does Target, however, the prices jump higher than does the quality, in my opinion.

Thankfully, Kohls has great sales which get you down to the price you actually should pay for their quality, so it works out. 

My favorite in-my-head question for this is:  I love it, but do I love it x-amount of dollars?  This little question has saved me from impulse buys over and over again.

How do you control your spending when you are in the shopping moment?

Monday Motherhood Musing: The Baby Itch

Photo courtesy of imagerymajestic; FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Yesterday at church I was watching this little baby bouncing on her grandma's knee.  She was probably about 5 months old, and she was adorable.  She looked like a little doll, actually.  I smiled and she definitely distracted me from my fabulous pastor for a few minutes, which is saying a lot.  (www.gatewaychurchyork.com - you can listen to some sermons online)

I see this baby girl at church often.  I don't know the family; I should say hello, shouldn't I?  Seeing her every week and also seeing my wonderful baby nephew gives me the baby itch.

Because 4 is not enough, right?  I mean, have you read my blog? I am constantly running, running, running and losing my mind some days over these kids.  And I want another one?  One that cannot use the toilet and one that will need to attach his or her mouth to my body every hour or two?  Am I completely nuts? 

Probably.

What is it about babies?

I think part of it for me is my darling love - we both have children from our marriages to other people, but neither one of us is getting any younger and we've decided more children are not sensible for us.

As if children were sensible in the first place!  Ha!

Part of me wants a child with him.  I want a child planned and borne out of a love that I never knew existed on earth; I want a piece of the two of us left here when we're gone.  I want to exchange that look of mutual adoration that occurs just after the birth; I want to hold our child knowing it was half made from him.  All of these things tug at my heart when I see babies, hold babies.

But even if we started this year, my darling love would be nearly 70 when that child finished high school.  Even if we started this year, my past difficulty with my last c-section would grip me with terror, and it would be quite possible that my darling would raise that child alone while I watched from heaven.  It's not sensible.

So I'm stuck trying to steal other people's babies for a few moments. 

I'm stuck with the family talking about how I'm a baby hog with my nephew. 

I'm stuck wistfully waiting the 10 years or more until I am a grandma.

(IT BETTER BE AT LEAST 10 YEARS, BANANAG13!!!  I KNOW YOU'RE READING THIS!)

If you've got a baby, come on over and help me scratch my baby itch.