What I’m Lovin’ Wednesday: Hair Products

Happy Wednesday friends? Are you having a good week? I am. So far!  While I’ve been preparing for my new position all summer, my first official day of work was yesterday and it was wonderful. If you get a chance, please say a prayer for me to be able to juggle this new position and transition into my new role with a smile.  If the space between posts begins to grow, you know why, but don’t worry I wont be too far away.  I love y’all to much!

I keep getting questions about my hair products.  So today I’m going to share my hair care secrets with you.  You might be surprised to see what I actually use though; and none of it is secret LOL.  I don’t use many products, and the products I do use aren’t anything special.  I have had this head of hair for almost 30 years and I’m still not sure I know what to do with it, but here goes:

For shampoo & conditioner, I use Dove Daily Moisture.  I originally got it because it was on sale at Costco (big fan of buying in bulk), and came with a pump, but I keep using it because I love how soft it makes my hair.

When I get out of the shower I comb my hair.  I never use a brush on wet hair.  Someone a long time ago told me that brushing my hair was one of the most abusive things you can do to your hair.  I’m not sure if this is true or not, but it stuck with me.  I use a wide tooth to slowly comb through all of my hair, and then follow up with the wider portion of the purple comb below.  Once my hair is mostly dry, I then use a large round brush to style my hair.

After combing my hair, and while it is still wet, I spray either Suave Volumizing Spray or Regis Root Boost Foam, about 2 inches from my scalp on the sides and the back. I do live in Texas so I gotta have my big hair :-). 

Right before I begin to blow my hair dry, I spray my hair with Suave Heat Protector, focusing on my ends.  Once my hair is dry and I’m done styling my hair, I use Garnier Frucis Pure Clean Defining Paste.  This gives my hair definition, especially when I curl my hair. 

Then of course, like every proud woman from the south, I top off my hair with a large pulse of TreSemme hair spray.  I use the level 4, extra firm control, which protects my hair-do from the toxic humidity.  I still have my morning hair-do at the end of the day, but I still have movement (i.e. I’m not a helmet head).

For styling my hair, or just keeping my hair out of my face, I use alligator clips, pins, and Goody Spin Pins.  I try not to use elastics because I’m convinced they rip my hair out.  Remember when my sister was here at LWTH and introduced the Goody Spin Pins?  Remember last Thanksgiving when I shared about Vintage Pin Curls?

What hair appliances do I use?  I mentioned both of these new “appliances” back in February, so sorry if this is old news.  My hair dryer is Revlon 1875W Tourmaline Ionic Ceramic Dryer and my curling iron is the Conair Double Ceramic Curling Iron.  I use these daily, and so far I love both of these because they’re fast.  See my review of them here.

See what I mean? I think I’m pretty simple when it comes to hair care.  What do you think? Do you use these products? Or do you have any suggestions for me?  I’m always on the look for something new and improved :-)

I was not paid for these review; everything written is of my own opinion.

J. Black Blate

If you're a blogger you're familiar with the term "blate".  Blate = blogger + date.  Get it?
Well last weekend I had a blate with some of my besties in Houston at J.Blacks Feel Good Kitchen & Lounge.  If you have not checked out J.Blacks you definitely need to; the food and drinks are delicious.  In fact, J. Blacks is so new to Houston that they have not even had their Grand Opening yet!  I feel so cutting edge for the first time in my life! haha Anyways their Grand Opening is tomorrow night and it will be awesome!

We were in the lounge area, and I could best describe the decor as rustic elegance.  There were hard brick walls and wooden beams on the ceilings, but there were also chandeliers (cue hilarious SNL Chandelier Skit) and fancy wall paper.  

 The food was so scrumptious....it was fancy but also feel-good, if you know what I mean.

 

 And what is a blate without amazing friends?!?!

The atmosphere was fun and energetic, and I will probably go back with the Mr sometime.  So fellow Houstonian foodies, make sure you check out  J.Blacks Feel Good Kitchen & Lounge .

Tell Me I’m Wrong!

It's Monday, and you know what that means?
We all deserve a ginormous cup of coffee to start our day.
Yes, coffee is THE best!
I dare you to tell me I’m wrong!
I dare you!
No, I triple dog dare you!
Good luck though, because even the piglet agrees.
Wouldn’t you agree? Nothing is better then a hot cup of coffee , unless of course it is paired with an amazing book ;-)
Have a great week friends!!!

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Classic Beef Stew

I made this one night this summer when it seemed like the rain would N*E*V*E*R stop! The Mr told me that this tasted "classic", so here I will share with you a "classic" and savory beef stew that is perfect for those rainy days as well as those chilly fall and winter days that us Texans are dreaming about.

Heat 3 tbs of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil), and brown 2.5 lbs beef stew meat in a large pot.  Remove the meat from the pot but do not drain the meat from the pot.  You will want to use the grease.

Dice 1 medium onion and add to the same pot for 3-5 minutes.  Add in 3 garlic cloves and allow to cook for 30 seconds (remember to stir this well because garlic easily burns). 

Pour in 1 bottle of beer.  The Mr makes his own so you can’t use the one I used, but you can either purchase an amber beer or a dark brown beer.  I have also used St. Arnold's Christmas and it's delicious!

Add in 4 cups reduced-sodium beef broth, 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce, 2 heaping tbs tomato paste, 1/2 tsp paprika, 1.5 tsp sugar, 3/4 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper (and 1/4 tsp thyme- optional).  Return the beef to the pot and let this simmer on low for 2 hours.

Dice 2 large potatoes (leaving the skin on ), and half 2 handfuls of baby carrots (really scientific measurement huh?). Add these to the pot and allow to cook for 30 minutes.

Take 1 cup of the simmering broth and whisk in 3 tbs of all-purpose flour, before returning it back to the pot and stirring.  This will thicken the broth to a stew-like consistency.

Before serving sprinkle on some parsley and warm up some asiago bread

My hubby loved this stew.  Please let me know if you try this recipe and what suggestions you have for improvements!!
Have a great weekend friends

Southern Tour: A Hawley Roadtrip {Part 2}

A couple weeks ago I teased you with some pictures from our road trip.  I entitled it Part 1, but in truth, and I’m sorry for those readers who don’t like series, but I have no idea how many parts this series is going to have.  You see, the Mr and I took a road trip back home.  Yes, we went from Houston all the way back to the east coast and up to Baltimore.  THAT IS A 28 HOUR DRIVE PEOPLE!

AND we took both dogs!

Are we NUTS?! Quite possibly.

So, I’m sure you can imagine, I’ve got some stories to tell you!  We had a purpose for the trip though: one of our good friends from college was getting married, and we wouldn’t miss that moment for the world.  The Mr and I decided to turn it into our summer road trip vacation.  We have both driven to Houston before (how else would we have moved to Houston?!), but we did it by ourselves before we got married.  After moving to Houston, I swore I would NEVER, under any circumstances, make that long journey again……….Friends, never say never, because 5 years later, here we were again, making the trip (both ways) voluntarily and considering it a vacation! hahahahaha Oh how time has changed us LOL

When we were planning this trip, we were under the impression that we were going to be moving to the Midwest (read about job search here), and since there were so many cities in the south that we had yet to see we thought a road trip would be a great opportunity to just spend time with each other (and the pups!) touring the south. Then we we found out we were staying in Houston we decided to keep our road trip plans.

I really thought that we were nuts to take the dogs on a 28 hour road trip.  But to be honest, the pups did awesome on the trip; they slept the majority of the time.  We stopped at dog parks in every state to let them run around, and then we bathed them before hoping back in the car.  They were awesome, and I think they fell in love with my dad’s backyard in Virginia.  The only “bad” thing on the trip was that poor Rooney learned what yellow jackets were, and he was not impressed.  Poor Roo!

The trip was fantastic.  We left on a Saturday and had until the following Friday to be in Baltimore for the wedding, so we took our time perusing the South.  It was nice to have a goal, but to take our time as well.  We stopped at all of the crazy places on the side of the road, and took way too much delight in capturing a photograph of each state’s welcome sign.  We also ate at a restaurant in each state that has been featured on the Food Network or Travel Channel.  It really was a lot of fun and I encourage other families to take a road trip!  Today I just want to share some pictures of the road trip view from the car.

Rooney liked to sleep in between the backseat and the driver’s seat. At a dog park in Mobile, which was probably the fanciest dog park in the world. “Sorry mamma and dad, there is no room for you!”While Phil drove I took pictures, read, and tweeted with you all…… When I wasn’t doing those things, I was “charming” Phil with my road trip singing voice ;-)

We were chased by bad weather: thunderstorms, a hurricane, and even a tornado.  It was quite an adventure, but the skies between were stunning!My snugglin’ babes in the backseat :-) Thank goodness for the Pet Rider!

We stopped at Citrus Center (extremely disappointing after all the billboard build-up), and Peach World.  At the very least we got great snacks and a chance to move our legs.

Thank goodness for a hose and some puppy shampoo!

And now for the signs that we had way too  much fun chasing on our road trip.  Some of the pictures are not perfect, but hey, we were moving when we took these.  We started in TX and went to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and then back :-)So that is the second part of our trip!  It was fun and I can’t wait to share more pictures and stories from the road with you! Do you like road trips?  When and where was your last road trip?