New Hair!

Ever since I started noticing less and less fall-out and shedding due to being Post-Partum, I couldn't wait to schedule a hair appointment.  The last cut I had was about a month after Addison was born and my ends were desperately needing some new life!  I also wanted to do something with the color since I haven't really touched it in YEARS.  A few box colors here and there, but I haven't been to the salon for color in what feels like forever!

I wanted something chocolatel-y brown, soft and most importantly subtle.  The thing I love most about my new color is that I won't have to worry about noticeable regrowth in a couple months.  It will grow out with the same ombre effect.  I can't tell you how much lighter and fresher the cut makes me feel too.  She actually cut about 2 inches, and after seeing how little it was, I asked her to go a little shorter.  I had her cut in long layers all around, which is normally how I have it cut, and Voila`!

                                   Before                                                                    After (sunglasses)

When I asked Kristle about the exact colors she used, this is what she told me (literally, word for word) ;).  "Your color is a dark chocolate at the base to a light chocolate at the bottom.  Its a hand painted ombre crushed in foil, not a true baylage.  All color, no bleach lightening".  So there you have it!  If you guys live around the Lehigh Valley and are craving a new do' I would highly recommend giving Kristle a try.  And just a side-note, she does BEAUTIFUL up-dos, if you ever have a wedding/event to go to!  You can schedule an appointment with her at Apotheca Salon & Boutique.  Tell her I sent ya ;)

P.S. I often get asked if I am still getting Keratin treatments and the answer to that is no.  The last one I had done was probably about 2 years ago.  I honestly haven't felt like I needed one.  My waves really have relaxed and the frizz is pretty much non-existent.  Though I think I do have pregnancy to thank for that, I do attribute it to the 3 Keratin treatments I had done in the past.  I really feel like the results have lingered and really helped my hair for the better.  You can actually get them done at Apotheca as well.  They use the Simply Smooth line (the only line I have and would use). I had my second one done there and had amazing results!

Video Outfit of the Day Details

I hope you are all digging yourselves out of the snow and staying warm!

xo,

Michele

Homemade Baby Food - Its Easier Than You Think!

Making Addison’s baby food has been such a fun journey! We started her on solids at 5 1/2 months and haven’t looked back since!  Each week when I sit down to make our weekly menu for my husband and I, I also decide which new foods I’m going to introduce to Addie.  I have been introducing 1 new food every 4 days to make sure she doesn’t have any allergic reactions.  I look forward to finding new things for her to eat each week AND mixing and matching different things for her to try!  I love that I know exactly what is going into her body, and if God forbid she has an adverse reaction to anything, I will know exactly what it is.  Here are a few essentials (in my opinion) if you want to start making your own baby food.

The Baby Bullet

You definitely will want some kind of blender to puree everything.  I love the Baby Bullet because it is fast, simple to use, takes up very little counter space and is easy to clean. 

Baby Bullet Turbo Steamer

This is more of a “nice-to-have”, as it is super fast to steam anything I want.  Without this, you can boil your food (though I have read that boiling sometimes removes some of the nutrients), or use a vegetable steamer over a pot on the stove.  Simply put-its convenient.

Silicone Ice Cube Trays

I picked these up at Bed Bath and Beyond after struggling with the one that came with my Baby Bullet.  I find the smaller cubes are easier to pop out, and you get more space for food.  Also, VERY easy to clean!

Ziploc Freezer Bags

Once the food is frozen, I pop them into these bags, and label them with the date and name of the food.  Each night I decide what I'm going to give Addison for breakfast and put a few cubes in the refrigerator to thaw over night.  In the morning, I pop them into the microwave for 10-20 secods to warm them up and then decide what she is going to have for dinner and do the same!

If you never wanted to do this because you assumed it would be too costly and or time consuming, I urge you to give it a try.  It honestly takes very little time (maybe an hour to prepare several foods for the week / month), and I find that it actually is cheaper than purchasing packaged baby food from the store.  I go a little bit more in depth in the video about the whole process.

What are your favorite combos to give to your little one?

xo,

Michele

Valentine's Day for Your Little Lady!

  If there is an excuse to put Addison in special little outfits to snap pictures of her in-I find it.  Holidays make dressing her that much more fun and special. When it comes to shopping for your little princess, there are so many adorable outfits and bows to choose from.  Its so easy to go crazy! Here are some of the pieces I've picked up for Addison recently that she will be wearing all this week in preparation for Valentine's Day on Friday! Where are your favorite places to shop for your little one?

Heart sweater | Rose Jammies | Bib | Heart Onesie |

One Piece | Heart Pants | Sleeper | Tutu Outfit | Dress |

Ruby Slippers (carters)

xo,

Michele

A New Beginning!

I have been a VERY bad blogger these last few years.  I just threw myself into You Tube and kind of let it go and for that I am sorry!  Ever since becoming a stay a home Mom, not only has my main job changed, my priorities have as well.  Although I still really love making videos and still enjoy all the interaction with everyone, its not always easy to find the time to sit down and record a video, edit and upload it.  Anyone else that stays home and has little ones I'm sure can relate.  I absolutely LOVE my new job and feel so blessed everyday that I get to be home and with my little girl 24/7.  However, now that I am home, there isn't a lot of time during the day to film videos (I only film when she is napping or on the weekends when Nick is home), and the little time that I do have to myself, I don't always want to spend it sitting in front of a camera or a computer.  Enter-the return to blogging!
              As most of you know, I have been breastfeeding Addison since she was born.  When we returned from the hospital and I was getting up a few times in the night to nurse her, I was always on my phone to pass the time (and not fall asleep while nursing).  Nick was always asleep beside us, so watching videos was not an option, so I started reading blogs. Now that I am a Mom, I have discovered some amazing Mommy and Lifestyle blogs and I have really took a liking to the blogging world!  After giving it much thought, I decided to try my hand (again) and contribute.  Blogging is so much faster than filming / editing, and I feel like I will be able to share more with you and more often.  I really try to keep to my upload schedule on You Tube every Tuesday and Friday, but with blogging, I can do that from anywhere without having to worry about lighting, background noise, putting on a full face of make-up, having my  hair done, etc.  I keep a long "Video To-Do" list on my phone of ideas/things I want to share, that I don't always have the time to devote a whole video to.

My hope is that blogging will be a way for me to keep in touch with you guys on a more regular basis and share more of my life with you-without the pressure of an upload schedule.  I have no intention of stopping You Tube, in fact I am enjoying it more now than ever! But when my schedule doesn't permit making a video, I want to stay in my PJs all day without any make-up on, or I can't wait until Friday to tell you guys about an awesome new product, this will be another outlet for me to connect with you all on! While I do plan on covering the same kind of content as I do on my YouTube channel, (Makeup Hauls, Product Reviews, Outfit of the Days, Stella & Dot, Tutorials), I would love to start doing more home decor and mommy / baby related posts.  I never realized just how many viewers I had that are fellow Moms until a recent video where I asked some advice on breastfeeding.  Since my little girl was born, I get requests on the daily to include more baby/mommy related videos on my channel.  I haven't done too many because I don't think the majority of my viewers would enjoy that-and rightfully so. Lets face it, I started doing YT before I was even married.  People didn't subscribe back then to hear about baby stuff!  With my blog, I'm hoping to incorporate more of those kinds of posts for those that are interested.  That way, those that are interested can read, those that aren't, can skip it, and I'm not wasting my time filming a whole video for only a few people to enjoy. If there are other requests for my blog, please send them my way!  I hope you guys will share in this new endeavor with me and we can all enjoy the ride!
xo,
Michele

P.S. Please bear with me on the design of the blog.  I know its not fancy, but I am in the process of working with someone to help me give it a MUCH NEEDED Make-over ;)

December 2013 Favorites!

Here are all the goodies I have been loving for the month of December!  What were some of your go-to products and loves last month?




Products mentioned

What I'm Wearing in this video

Revlon Starry Pink vs. Rescue Beauty Lounge Pizzicato

I wouldn't exactly call this a "Dupe Alert" but rather a "Extremely Close Alert"! I fell in love with Revlon's Starry Pink as soon as I laid eyes on it. Light Pink, Glittery, Girly & right up my alley! I found it at Rite Aid (I have since seen it at Ulta) on a new display featuring their Expressionists Collection for Autumn/Winter (same display with Facets of Fuchsia). When I got home and put it on my nail polish rack, I couldn't believe it when I saw how close it was to Rescue Beauty Lounge's Pizzicato (from their latest collection, Firebird).

RBL Pizzicato, Revlon Starry Pink

Now obviously Pizzicato has more subtle silver shimmer, whereas Starry Pink has the same subtle silver shimmer, in addition to large silver glitter chunks. However, the bases are just about the same color. Pizzicato is definitely more of a creamy base, whereas Starry Pink leans more on the sheer side.

So I did swatches to see just how similar they actually were (or were not), and here they are (I did 2 coats of each)......

L-R: Starry Pink, Pizzicato, Starry Pink, Pizzicato

Starry Pink is so gorgeous, but it was too light and I wanted it to be the same creamy finish of Pizzicato. So, as I was experimenting, I ended up layering Starry Pink over Pizzicato and became absolutely OBSESSED with the result! Therefore, I decided to keep them both and wear them together as one, instead of keeping them for 2 different looks. I absolutely LOVE the creamy base of Pizzicato, but the large amounts of the silver chunks in Starry Pink is TO.DIE.FOR. I wish they could be combined into one polish. That would equal PERFECTION!

L-R: Starry Pink, Starry Pink on TOP of Pizzicato, Starry Pink, Starry Pink on TOP of Pizzicato.

In conclusion, if you don't want to splurge on RBL Pizzicato and can find Revlon's Starry Pink, I think with 3-4 coats of Starry Pink, you just may be able to achieve the same look!

Pizzicato retails for $18 (+shipping) and is available here:

http://www.rescuebeauty.com/nail-polish/Pizzicato.html

Revlon's Starry Pink can be found at most drugstores and retails for $4.99 (unless of course you have some coupons, or it is on sale)!

What do you guys think? Will you be splurging and buying both, or going on a treasure hunt for Revlon's Starry Pink?

Chanel Graphite vs. Revlon Carbonite

Lately, whenever Chanel comes out with one of their new, irresistible nail polish shades, we can almost expect Revlon to release a very similar, if not exact dupe a few weeks later. Well my obsession with Chanel & nail polish got the best of me, and being that I was scared to death that it would sell out and I would miss it, I snatched up a bottle of Chanel's Graphite as soon as it went on sale. Had I just waited and found a little patience within, I could have just bought Revlon's Carbonite and saved myself the battle with myself, blogs, and fellow Twitter followers about how close the 2 bottles really were. While some may think I am just a little bit CRAZY for deciding to keep Graphite based on the incredible sparkle factor that I just can't see in Carbonite, other fellow Chanel addicts will completely understand the need to refrain from returning it! Hopefully you watched my video showing the two live, but if you haven't, here are some pictures comparing them. **Note The first 2 pictures are with 1 coat and you can see how metallic and opaque the Revlon goes on, whereas Chanel is more "sheer" but definitely has way more sparkle. Chanel*s Graphite is on the hand with my gorgeous engagement ring for reference! You can click on the pictures to enlarge them ;)

1 Coat

Top: Chanel Graphite

Bottom: Revlon Carbonite

Top: Revlon Carbonite

Bottom: Chanel Graphite

2 Coats

Top: Revlon Carbonite

Bottom: Chanel Graphite

Top: Chanel Graphite

Bottom: Revlon Carbonite

I don't know if the pictures do these colors justice....I can definitely tell the difference, but some may think I am losing my mind. If you are not one who pays all that attention to detail and you just want this shade of polish purely based on the color, than you can easily save yourself the $25 and pick up Revlon's Carbonite next time you*re at the drugstore. However, if you are one that has a very detailed eye and may be slightly compulsive ::cough me cough:::....splurge and get yourself a bottle of Chanel's Graphite ;).

Hope that was helpful!!

xo