Dry Hair Salvation

My hair is seriously like the Sahara Desert. Correction: my hair used to be like the Sahara Desert.

I have naturally curly hair, which also means I have dry hair. Super dry hair. I'm sure the fact that I chemically straighten it, dye it, and flat iron it also doesn't help. So what's a girl to do?

Condition, condition, condition.

I've been using the same shampoo/conditioner combo since I graduated from highschool:

Super cheap Creme of Nature Ultra Moisturizing Shampoo is seriously the only shampoo I've tried that doesn't make my hair all dry and tangled afterward. For conditioner, I use not-so-cheap-but-totally-worth-it Frederic Fekkai Technician Color Care Conditioner. I first used the Fekkai conditioner when I started highlighting my hair in college, because I was scared it would fall out if I didn't use a great conditioner. Long story short, we've been BFFs ever since.

When Mike and I decided to get married, I knew I wanted some luscious locks for the wedding, so I got serious about making my hair healthier. I experimented with all sorts of crap in my hair- olive oil, avocado, mayonnaise- if it was in the kitchen, it was on my head. Twas nasty. Not to mention all the store bought stuff I tried- coconut oil treatments, protein something or other, restorative blah blah blahs. Nothing gave me the well-hydrated hair I was looking for. Until... dun dun dun...

Jackpot! I finally found the perfect combo. Redken Real Control Intense Renewal mask,  Kiehl's Superbly Smooth Argan Hair Pak, and Nexxus Pro-Mend overnight treatment. I use each product once a week, and I'm not kidding when I say that my hair is the healthiest it has ever been. The argan mask from Kiehl's, in particular, just blows my skirt up every time I use it. Cah-razy.

Cheap? No. But the products last forever, and come on, consistently good hair days are totally worth the money. YouknowwhatImean?

Stumbled on any miracle hair products lately?

The Random Folder

Whenever I run across something that randomly tickes my fancy on the internet, I save it to... dun dun dun... The Random Folder. It's a folder. Named random. On our computer. That has random stuff in it. See:

The Random Folder: because miscellanewhatever is too hard to spell.

Today, I will share with you a few gems from the random folder:

Because there's just something funny about a cat with a face full of cheese.

You know you've thought this before. Don't lie.

From The King's Speech. An amazing line from an amazing movie.

True. That.

Best bumper sticker ever.

And while we're on the subject of vaginas...

Spotted on Pinterest with the caption "From now on, I'm going to refer to my period as Shark Week" HA!

And... while we're still on the subject of vaginas...

Ha! Bear Grylls- so hardcore. And yes, I am, in fact, 12 years old.

*I have no idea where I found these, if you do, let me know!*

Decorating With Brights

I love bright colors. They're so fun and cheery. That being said, I know myself. I know I can't handle looking at bright colors day-in day-out for any extended period of time. I tried red and I swear looking at it for two weeks straight gave me a constant headache.

Apparently I need my cheeriness in small doses.

However, if I could tolerate living with bright colors, our apartment might look something like this:

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Ahh, a girl can dream, right?

Do you decorate with brights?

Sweet Ass Weekend

This Saturday marked the husband's birthday, and to celebrate we took a little trip to our old stomping grounds- Orlando.

First we hit Cafe Tu Tu Tango, a popular tapas restaurant for dinner. I am officially hooked on tapas-style dining. The food was amazing and now I can't wait to discover some tapas restaurants around Tampa, as well!

The restaurant has this great kitschy artist vibe going on, and you an actually purchase the paintings right off the walls!

We started off with the crab rangoon artichoke dip. So, so, so good.

Cuban steak skewers. Yum! Possibly the most tender steak I've ever had.

Chicken flautas with pepper jelly and cilantro sour cream. I wasn't a fan of the spicy/sweet pepper jelly, but Mike loved it!

This pizza. Let me say that again: THIS PIZZA. There are no words.

And of course, we had to have dessert. We chose the cheesecake lollipops with a toffee graham cracker crust, homemade whipped cream, and strawberry sauce. Delicious.

Word.

Next up, we went to see the Blue Man Group at Universal Studios. I'll admit, I was quite skeptical about paying $75 per person for a less-than-two-hour-show, considering you can spend all day at a theme park for the same price, but it was Mike's birthday, and he's been wanting to see the Blue Man Group for quite a while. So, of course, birthday boy gets what birthday boy wants.

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And here I am, eating my words. I've got to hand it to him, the show was pretty freakin amazing. I absolutely loved it and thought it was worth every penny. Apparently, the birthday boy knew what he was talking about.

How was your weekend? Anything special or out of the ordinary?

Power Questions

I came across this list of 62 Power Questions via Suburbian Bliss and I thought it was such a novel idea.

I think it's really important to be self-aware and be able to acknowledge both your strengths and your weaknessess. I have a bad habit (as I'm sure lots of us do) of brushing off compliments when I recieve them, but then I end up dwelling on negative feedback, or replaying something I did wrong over and over again. I tend to focus on the negative, so I'm trying to change that.
Anywho, I think we could all use a little practice in self-reflection and finding balance, so here are my answers to a few the 62 Power Questions (my answers are in bold):

1.What do you think is your biggest flaw? What have you done about it? Negativity. I'm really good at picking apart people and things. If there are 99 things right and one thing wrong, that's the one thing I focus on. Instead, I'm trying to see the positive in every situation, keep my cool, be the bigger person, and adopt a "to each his own" attitude.

2.What is your biggest strength? How did you develop it? My talent. This is going to sound incredibly conceited, but I've never not been good at anything. I've found that I'm pretty naturally gifted at a lot of things, and for that I am incredibly lucky. I've won awards for skills I've never even tried prior to winning- writing, acting, painting. I think that's why I love dancing and acting so much, because it's a constant challenge, and not many things really challenge me.

3.Which song do you sing only when you’re alone? What memory does it bring back? Hahaha, "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid soundtrack. It brings back memories of childhood, of course.

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4.If you could change your name, what would your new name be? Natalia. I don't know why, I just like it. Ask me again in a few months and it'll probably be totally different.

5. If you could change your appearance, how would you decide to look? I don't think I'd want a drastic change. I'll take Kim Kardashian's hair, a permanent tan one shade darker than my natural color, Rihanna's hazel-green eyes, and... I'd like to magically drop 25 lbs!

{Rihanna/Kim}

6. What do you think a stranger’s first impression of you would be? I've been told I'm intimidating and that, at first blush, I seem like a snob. I think it's because I'm shy, so I generally don't start conversations with people, but I always appear confident, with my head held high and my eyes fixed forward. I'm not like that in real life, but I understand the perception.

7. What is your life really about? What is your purpose in life? I have a very impractical and hedonistic view on the "purpose of life". I don't think it's about procreating, or leaving a legacy, or devoting my life to a diety. I believe that life is about finding what you love and doing it. Period. Whatever makes you truly happy and fulfilled, I believe that that is exactly what you should do. Life is too short to work it away, wishing and hoping that you'd chosen a different path. Life is about going balls to the wall, figuring what feeds your soul, and getting there.

8. If you had the opportunity to go back in time and make a change, would you still want to have the same parents? Had I been asked this in my teenage years, my answer would have been hell-to-the-no. Now that I'm an adult, I don't know what I would do without them. The thought of ever not having my parents terrifies me. I focus on this a lot, actually. My maternal grandmother died at 61, and ever since my parents turned 50, I have been fixated on the idea that they might die young. Just thinking about it is making me nauseous, next question...

9. What type of person angers you the most? This is a loaded question, because my answer undoubtedly pisses people off, but my honest answer is: closed-minded people, especially of the religious variety. I just don't get it. Live and let live, mother f*ckers. More injustices have happened under the guise of religion than for any other reason, and it just infuriates me. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of religious people who are doing amazing things. It's just the people who try to stifle others all the while shoving their religious mumbo-jumbo down their throats- those are the ones that piss me off. Thanks, but no thanks.

10. What childhood memory sizzles your heart? One of my all-time favorite memories from childhood is playing capture the flag with the neighborhood kids in our cul-de-sac back in Washington. We had such a great little community. I always got caught first, because I was the youngest, and I specifically remember getting captured and tied to a basketball hoop pole with a variety of belts. We played dirty, obviously.

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You can find the full list of thought-provoking power questions here!

Top Ten Tuesdays

Ten things I'm loving right this second.

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I am positively drooling over this watercolor dress by Foley + Corinna (spotted on Atlantic-Pacific).

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Eeee! Sparkle! I want these J. Crew flats so bad.

 

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This tassle necklace from Anthropologie is super cute!

 

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Speaking of Anthro- I'm amazed, although I feel like I should be horrified. This is one fabulous 80s sofa if I've ever seen one!

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Seriously, how adorable are these alphabet prints from Etsy seller Modern Pop?

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Now that I've got macarons figured out, I'm kinda over it. They are just so much work! From now on, when I want a macaron fix, I'll be ordering them via Etsy seller Nicole Lee.

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Love, love, love this leaning mirror from Z Gallerie. So pretty!

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I've been having a major moment with white lately. I love lamp.

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Pink. Quilted. Topped with a bow. These shoes have my name written all over them.

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Part of me thinks rompers are ridiculous. The other part of me thinks they're ridiculously cute. Unfortunately, both of those parts of me look ridiculously douchetastic in a romper. Sad day.

 

Are you one of the select few who can effortlessly pull off a romper?

 

Getting Chic For Spring

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I'm all about skirts (just as soon as I tan my pale legs!), belts, and warm-weather layering pieces for spring.

What are your spring staples?