[cool products: 101 Hairstyles.]

I've been pretty much every hairstyle you can imagine.  I've been cursed/blessed with poker straight hair, that I completely fought against since the age of 12.  Yes - the dreaded perm was a common expense for me during those painfully icky years ... 

When I was in grade 11/12, I desperately wanted long hair. I wanted it all one length.  I wanted a spiral perm.  I wanted it long and flowy ... but the growing out process from a really bad layered haircut proved to be too much.  By the time spring of my graduating year came around, I completely abandoned ship with a small bribe from my mom to get rid of it.  So, I cut it off and proceeded to look like I had stuck my finger in a light socket.

Attractive.  I know.  ... my prom photo (with my "cropped" date).

After highschool, my boyfriend at the time told me that he'd dump me if I ever cut off my hair.  So.  I pixied it and dyed it black.   Needless-to-say, that relationship ended not long after.  But I'm annoyed because I can't find any initial photos of when I did that ... this pic was taken about a month later during my travels in NZ with my friend.  My hair grows about 1 inch per month.  You can imagine how short it really was ... I was 19.

After that, I began to grow it back.  And I was pretty much a share-holder in every dark-brown-with-burgandy-highlights hair colour product.  Colouring my hair was a monthly ritual ... and for the first time ever - my hair was straight.

I grew it to my chin.  And then cut if off short again ... then grew it back.  This is me and my dad in England.  Just thought I'd throw that in.  I was 21.

Then.  It just kept growing.  I had never had long hair, never mind long STRAIGHT hair, before.  It was all one length ... and I was also sporting the thickest eyebrows ever, I see ... this pic was from a Mexico missions trip I went on.  There was a "long dress" dress code - in case you were wondering.

... then, in Puerto Vallarta with my BFF ... I think I was 22 then.

Then came the blond ... it started off as streaks and before I knew it - my whole head was pretty much blond.  And I also invested in hot rollers - to try and imitate all those lovely, ringletted friends I had ... Feeble attempt, I know.  The curls lasted for about an hour before they turned into a straggly mess ... 

I wore it up, down, straight, curly ... braids, crimped, low ponys, high ponys.  You name it, I tried it.

This was all around the time I met my hubby and got married (these pics are from the summer before I got engaged in February ...).  I was 23.

This photo I found (please excuse the quality ... eek) was taken in Fiji, five years after I got married (I was 29) ... I had just found out I was pregnant with our first child, Mattias, the week prior.  And after that ... that blond was gone.

This photo was taken when I was 8months preggo with Josiah.  About a year earlier, I had cut some bangs - which I hadn't had since I buzzed it - and I had a lovely reunion with the bottle of dark hair-dye.

After that, it's been a mix-mash of basically the same style.  Long bangs, side part, layered bob.  Currently, it's blonder in the front, and about an inch off of my shoulders.  And I am BORED with it.  It's been the same for so long ... This pic was taken last week.  I'm thirty *cough* seven.  

SO.  Last week I bought a 2011 hairstyle magazine, and I snapped a few of my faves with my IPhone.   Here are a few that jumped out at me.   

FIrst off - the fauxhawk.  I LOVE this.  I think it's beautiful.  Ok - maybe this one is a little bit high, but it's funky and feminine, edgy and bold.  And my hubby rolled his eyes when I showed it to him and said, "yuck".  So - I guess that one's out.  Dang.

I love this in platinum blond ... isn't she beautiful?  But again, my hubby is not a fan.  Boo.

So - there's this one.  But it's just a shorter version of what I have, no?  And I think she has an undercut  on the one side - which is exactly what my hubby doesn't like.  I may have try and win him over - I'm loving undercuts (not shaved, just short).

So, the winner?  Well, this is the pic I'm planning on taking to my hairstylist in a few weeks.  I'm not sure if I just like the hairstyle, or I just wish I looked like her *grin*.  That's the thing ... you can like a hairstyle on a model, but it may look like trash on you.  She has very fine features ... I, do not.

But I love this ... and it means that I'll be "growing it out" a bit.  Shorter on one side, "airy" and edgy on the other.  I like that.  And will I keep the blond if I do this?  Well ... It'll take me a while to get it like this ... maybe in the fall I'll go dark again.  Maybe with blond, the way this model has done the red?  I don't think I'd do red ... it'd clash with my wardrobe.

And my hubby?  He gave the, "yeah whatever" smile and nod when I showed him it.  Which is better than the eye-roll *grin*.  Pretty much a thumbs-up.

Ok.  So that was a crazy long post ... I've been working on this for a while *grin*.  Hope you enjoyed it ... 

And I hope you have a great one!

[katia: Happy 2nd Birthday.]

Today our littlest bean is 2 years old.  WOW.  In some ways it has flown by; and in others - it feels like she's been here forever.

She's a chatterbox ... 

After having 2 boys, she amazed me with her communication and vocabulary at such a young age.  I had been warned by other moms *grin* - but was still stunned at the sheer volume of language skills ... 

She's tiny ... 

Everyone comments on how little she is.  But she wears size 2 clothes ... she's just a lightweight.  Literally.  She's 23lbs.  Teeny.  She sure doesn't get that from me ... I was a chub.

She's girly ... 

She chooses pink over everything ... she wants her babies ... she insists on putting on chapstick and tries to steal my bracelets.  You don't have to teach a girl to be a girl apparently.

She is the perfect completion to our little family.  She brings everyone such joy, so many giggles ... she's one of a kind.

Happy 2nd birthday, sweet angel.

(I posted some pics of a photoshoot with her on my RedHanded Photography blog.  You can see that HERE).

I hope you all are enjoying the end of summer ... it goes by too fast, doesn't it??  The fall busyness is about to come upon us all.  

So, until then - have a great one!!

Summer is full of so many wonderful things ... and for me, it includes having photoshoots with incredible people, with incredible stories.

Meet "Joel & Avin" ... and check out Part I of their engagement shoot session HERE on my RedHanded Photography blog ... these two truly have a soft spot in my heart.

Wishing you and yours a fantastic summers day, wherever you are - whatever you're doing - whomever you're doing it with ... have a great one!!

[cool products: If I Was Asked for My Christmas List ...]

Christmas lists ... seems a little silly in August - and let's be real, I'm a grown-up.  So without getting into the debate of whether a grown-up should even have a list ... here's mine *grin*.  Oh come on.  It's just another spin on some of my "fave things" ... *GRIN*.

Here's what I'm loving these days ... 

1.  Tetley Mojito Herbal Tea:  Ok ... isn't my pic (thanks google) - but the tea is diVINE.  Lime and mint make a fantastic combo ... and I actually like it cooled on a pile of ice cubes.  Highly recommend.

2.  This bracelet.  I saw it on Esty and it's crazy expensive (like $80+) ... it has semi-precious stones which make it feminine, and I love the wrapped leather.  So cool ... you can see more about it HERE

3. La Roche-Posy - Toleriane ULTRA.  This was a true find for me.  I don't know if it's because I'm getting old - but I find that my skin cannot handle all the junk in moisturizers.  Even the expensive ones that I've invested in, actually BURN my skin during different times of the month.  It's crazy.  So when I was at Shoppers Drug Mart, I asked for a non-perfume moisturizer for highly sensitive skin.  This is what the lady sold me, and it is fantastic.   It's about $30.00.

4,  The Left.  Now ... so I'm a bit biased.  A couple of these guys go to my church, and I've had the crazy pleasure of having them on my worship team.  And - I'm even more biased because one of the guys has grown to become a good friend of my hubbys.  And mine too.  His wife rocks too ... but I'm getting off topic here. The music?  So good ... download "Carry You" for a cool love-song vibe.  It's, like, #51 on the Amazon charts ... You can check out their site and download their album HERE.

5. Voxer.  For all you BB users, you can take a five minute breather ... this is for iphone users *grin*.   Voxer is a FREE app that turns your phone into a "walkie talkie".  It's kinda like "hey tell", except better.  You can text, send images and even "walkie talkie" groups of people at once.  It's so great ... I've been voxing my kiwi cuz's in NZ and actually replaying their voice messages over and over.  Miss them ... but voxer makes hangin' with them so easy ...

Ok ... that's it for now.

Have a great one *grin*!

[cakes: Treasure Chest Birthday Cake.]

Before I start, can I just say how RELIEVED I am that Tias' birthday is over.  Is that bad??  I mean, I just find that I can't think about anything else - not because I'm crazy excited and can't wait for it - but because I'm nervous, terrified that I'm going to forget something.  I find birthdays REALLY overwhelming.  I wish I didn't ... 

One of the things that I actually enjoy about the kid's birthdays, is making their cake.  Oh sure ... while I'm deciding what to do, I freak out a bit.  But once I start building it ... it's therapeutic.  I so enjoy the creative process.  And I always make the cake the night before the party, so when the kids wake up in the morning, it's sitting on the counter and they go crazy.  I love that *smile*.

Mattias had a "scavenger hunt" birthday - not a "pirate" one.  I say that, because everything to do with "maps" and "treasures" is pirate.  Fair enough.  But Tias really doesn't like the skull and crossbones ... so when I was coming up with cake, I decided to google search "treasure chest cake".  And wow ... so many fantastic cakes came up.  The perfect way to pick and choose what I did.

So ... here's how I started:

I baked a 9x13 white cake, and a 3x13x4 (or something like that) chocolate cake.  

After staring at the cakes for about 10 minutes - afraid to make the first cut, I sliced the rounded ends of the chocolate cake off.  Then cut them on the diagonal.

I cut the chocolate cake in half, and slipped the wedged in the centre of the cake - to act like a hinge.  I had seen this on youtube ... brilliant.

... it was way past his bedtime ... but he was hoping to lick the chocolate buttercream frosting bowl.  No such luck ... time for bed, Tias *grin* ... 

I frosted the cake ... yup.  As you can see ... I'm a cake builder.  Not a decorator.  Frosting is not my forte *grin*.

I had a bowl of chocolate frosting - so I added blue gel cake tint, hoping that it would work.  It turned int an bluey/green ... good enough.

Out came the bag of smarties.  I had seen fruit leather used for the "leather bands".   But I didn't have any ... so brown smarties it was.

I had these silver balls left over from some other cake I did ... they were a pain to work with.  They would slip from my fingers, get into the green icing, and I STILL (two days later) have green finger tips from attempting to remove them *grin* ... 

I had bought a TON of different candies that I thought I'd "fill" the chest with.  But it wasn't very deep ... so I just started placing the chocolate coins in to start with.

I had bought four candy necklaces, but decided to only use one.  Then - with the left over wedges of cake, I created a "7" and filled it with the left over stars I had for Josiah's "Toy Story Cake".  I used a red gel script icing pen to write "happy birthday" and voila.  A treasure chest cake.

I love details.  So, I would walk away from the cake, come back - look - and think of more details.  Like the yellow "buckle" smartie.

I added more silver balls, more coins ... until there was nothing left to do.

It was far than perfect.   Wobbly, not straight ... but I made it with love *smile*.

So.  There you have it.  This year's "Treasure Chest Birthday Cake" for Mattias' 7th birthday.  And I won't have a very long break before the next cake creation ... Katia's birthday is coming up in two weeks.  

Here we go again ...

Have a great one!

[redhandedphotography: Lise & The Girls.]

I have a "to do" list so long, that if I type to long on here and leave it, I'm afraid it will somehow procreate and grow into a bigger list of things I won't possibly have time to finish today ... 

It's great to be alive *grin*!!

SO ... 

Instead of an update, a "fave things" list, a new recipe, a reflection on things that God is reminding me of ...  instead - a photo session on my RedHanded Photography blog ... HERE.

And a preview ... 

Come drop by, leave a comment, say "hello".  You can join the blog there too - simple to do, and it'll keep you updated on all that is RHP.

Hope you have a good one ... I'm off and running.

Literally *grin*.

[vacations: Keats.]

Our life-long friends invited us to join them at their family cottage for the weekend ... we were thrilled to be asked, and our boys were beyond even that.  Tias and Siah are a year younger than each of our friend's boys, and the idea of a weekend away with them just about made their brains explode with excitement.

There were boat rides, tube rides, scavenger hunts, photo-shoots, ice-cream making, black berry picking, fort building, "kick the can" playing, hiking, fishing ... 

And whadayaknow.  I had my camera with me *grin*.

... the weather was perfect.  Even in the early morning, a latte on the deck and a good conversation was all these two needed .. 

Josiah caught his first fish ... with his Handy Manny fishing pole *grin*.

Both boys tubed for the first time ... Somehow the ocean seems scarier than a lake, but we didn't let them in on that *grin* ... 

... my hubby bailed as he tubed with Svea, our friend's 10 year old daughter.   She should've known her dad would try and flip my hubby *grin* ... 

Tias took a liking to jumping off their dock ... and was amazed at how sometimes it was such a big jump compared to other times ... due to the tides.  Try explaining the gravitational pull of the moon to a 6 year old.  He'll think you're lying *grin*.  At least mine did.

... rainbow birthday cake, baked in a jar.  Lisa is just that amazing.

... Josiah didn't want to leave his fort - and kept asking, "do pirates like shells?" or whatever, and if we said no, he would decorate the fort with them ... ensuring the pirates would stay away ... 

Mattias and Eston were so cold from swimming in the ocean, they tried to suck the heat off of the boat's seats *grin* ... 

Man.  BC really is spectacular.

And ... Lisa was kind enough to snap a few family pics for me.  Of course, my family HATES getting their pics taken ... but they were nice enough to put up with me saying, "Pleeeeease.  I just need ONE good one."  

And while the boys were off with their dad, I was able to get a little photoshoot with Katia ... except she officially REFUSES to have her pic taken ... well.  She'll have it taken, but she won't look at the camera.  I have 40 fantastic photos, all with her looking down.  I'll post those another time *grin* ... unleeeeess, I can sneek in a shoot with the kiddies soon.  I think it's time.

I'm looking forward to more sunshine around here ... and I hope that you and your family are enjoying your summer in the sunshine too :-)!

Have a great one!