maiden braids...

i love my long hair. really i do. but some days, i'm just not in the mood to deal with styling it.  or having it in my face all day.  i had one of those days last week. the great thing about braids is they hold the hair back all day, and it looks like it took a lot of time and effort to do your hair. actuality? it takes just a few short minutes.

i know, mine are pretty messy.  this is the result of a monday though.  they were much neater at the start of the day.  the tricky part to a wrap around braid is when you have to switch hands.  my tendancy is to braid backwards, which ends up unbraiding what i've already done.  i'm better at braiding from left to right, with my right hand as being the 'lead hand'.  my trick? i have a full length mirror in my closet, so i open my door and angle it so i can see my reflection from my dresser mirror.  that way i have a mirror in the front and back.  once i've braided as far as i can and it's time to switch, instead of actually switching, i just hold it with my other hand, then reach over with my original braiding hand and continue.  

     top, skirt: ruche
     cardi, shoes: melissa's
     necklace: vintage
     glasses: rayban new wayfarers

was there life before youtube?...

i don't remember what life was like before youtube.  or online video instructions.  i use it so regularly these days, that i honestly have no inclination how i used to learn things before.  youtube has been my teacher of french braiding and fishtail braiding.  it helped me to check the belt on my turntable christmas morning...  many bloggers use it for hair and makeup tutorials... (i'm not there yet, but soon hopefully)...

i was extremely excited when i noticed veronika of tick tock vintage posted a tutorial on how to do a french braided crown.  she sported this a while back, and i loved it.  i did attempt it then, but i had a hard time when i had to switch my hands and go in the other direction.  her tutorial was helpful, and i got it on my first try.

it was neater this morning, before i had to wear a hood in the snowy, windy weather outside.  i'll definitely be sporting this hairstyle regularly.  i think it can both dress up and dress down an outfit.

          
                dress, blouse, earrings: ruche
                boots: gift
                tights: we love color

again, i apologize for the abundance of indoor blog pictures.  the temperatures here have been insanely cold, with crazy wind chills.  please be patient.  the weather will warm up in eastern canada yet again, and there will be more scenic and aesthetically pleasing pictures... someday... maybe in june.

:)

j.

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awesome & awkward: dance moves edition...

 cardi, top, skirt, belt, earrings: ruche, boots: shelly's (from karmaloop), tights: american apparel

.....

today is thursday! awkward and awesome day!  

i'm going to do it a little bit backwards today...

awesome:

- starting the new year off in a new office, with a new contract, and an email signature

- the fact that it doesnt take much to make me happy

- these boots.

- ordering records... i'm beyond excited that i just placed the order, imagine when they come in??

- my record player... i'm in love with it.

 

awkward:

- popping in your boss's office tuesday morning and saying "happy 2010!!"... apparently i go back a year instead of ahead... next time, stick to 'happy new year!'

- trying to follow the instructions on hooking up an xm radio, and where to hide the wires. really? had i done it myself, i would've been running over the wires...

- my dance moves!

 wouldn't you love to hit up the dance floor with me??

no really, wanna hit up the dance floor with me?? i'm in a dancing mood!

:)

j.

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when friday blends into saturday unawares...

top (dress): asos, belt: ruche, jeans: ae, boots: aldo, watch: guess

.....

it's seven minutes past midnight. on friday. well, technically saturday. what am i up to? i'm just heading to bed... after four hours of wrapping christmas presents. four hours... not bad right?? almost done. except this is day four of wrapping. i get to wrap all of the family presents. from me, from my parents, to mom from dad, to dad from mom... to me from my parents... crazy. for some reason, most of my christmas obsessions seemed to have skipped a generation. my parents aren't bakers, or big decorators, or christmas wrappers who are OCD and need perfect corners... i get these from my nanny (murchie). so, alas, i get to wrap ALL.THE.PRESENTS.

and bake hundreds of goodies. which i need to start asap.

what else did i do on this exciting friday?? well... mom and i went to the cottage. our cottage. that my parents just bought yesterday. uber exciting. so we went to the cottage to put up a tree. (again with my obsession). well, the electric heat wouldn't turn on. yay. day 2 of owning the cottage and already a problem! there's a wood stove, but my mom didn't feel comfortable starting a fire and leaving shortly after. so after two hours of freezing (literally), fighting with the heat, being bundled in a blanket, we left. with the christmas tree still in the box. so that's a task i'll revisit tomorrow!

on a bright note: it's december! which means it's officially officially christmas season to practically everyone, and i'll seem less crazy for having all of my decorations up (since november 12th) and the rest of the population will start to join me!!

AND it snowed tonight. just a dusting, but still, the ground is white. yay christmas!

:)

happy friday! (saturday)

j.