I went to Baltimore to have lunch with my Grandmother, Great-Grandmother, and my cousin Robyn. We ate at an asian restaurant which had the best Tropical decor complete with a mini-pool and palm trees.
My cousin and I
Me, my Great Grandmother, Robyn
Grandmother, Me, Great Grandmother
I picked up the stripe blouse at Marshall's earlier this summer. I do not recall the exact price, but know it wasn't more than $20.
I am in love with the ceiling!
Wrap around studded bracelet from Forever 21- $8
Old cross body Coach bag found in the back of Grandmother's closet.
The fascinating thing with fashion is that it repeats itself over the years. What was once in 10 years ago cycles back and becomes the latest trends. I always like to look through my Grandmother's old jewelry, clothing, and purses to see what came back in style. This time I found this adorable Coach cross body bag which is the perfect size for putting things in without being too bulky.
The countdown of when I move back into my dorm has begun. I am putting the finishing touches on the items for my room. I really wanted some more pillows for my room, but the finding the right color was extremely difficult. Not to mention the fact that pillows are overpriced. Looking for a cheaper alternative I recovered a pair of old pillows.
I found these yellow vinyl pillows in my grandmother's basement. I wiped them off to get most of the dirt off.
Bought this ruffle fabric from Hobby Lobby for $10. It was a little over a yard which turned out to be more than enough.
I laid the pillows on the fabric cutting the fabric. Leave a little extra room on both sides to make sure you have enough room.
Flip the fabric on the opposite side and begin to sew the sides together. Do this for two sides.
**I am not a pro at sewing and only used simple/beginner stitches.**
Use push-pins to help keep the fabric in place while sewing
On the last side, flip the fabric to the correct side. Slide the pillow into the pocket and sew the last side shut.
The pillows really look professional/store bought. I believe the ruffles helped disguised the sewing. Be mindful of the type of fabric you buy if you are not the best seamstress. Overall, I am happy with my pillows. They are the exact shade of blue I am looking for (The closest thing I can compare to the color is the Tiffany & Co. blue boxes) and only cost me $10. Can't beat it!
**Now what to do with the leftover fabric....*** ;-)
I have so much jewelry that I wanted a cute and affordable way to store it. I noticed that if I cannot easily see or access my jewelry, clothing, shoes, purses...than I won't wear it. Last year, after browsing a couple of websites/youtube I decided to make a jewelry board. I am updating the color of my jewelry to match my new dorm room.
1) I picked up this cork board from Goodwill for a couple of dollars.
2) I found this really cool duct tape in Dollar Tree for only a dollar-of course.
3) Tape the border of the cork board.
4) This is actually an unnecessary step. I painted a Gloss Medium Varnish over the duct tape for a shiny look. I was also worried about the duct tape coming off since the tape is cheap. A substitute that can be used to further secure the duct tape is modge podge.
5) Use any scrapbook paper fo your choice. I used three sheets of glittery blue scrapbook paper.
6) Cut the paper laying it on the cork board.
7) Use push pins to secure the paper to the board. I opt for push pins instead of glue or painting the board in case you want to change the colors. The push pins also double as a hanger for your jewelry.
8) Space the push pins around the board to display your jewelry!
This jewelry board is cute, functional, and cheap!
I just wanted to quickly share a website that I use for textbooks other than the school bookstore, amazon, and ebay. It's called Chegg, The textbooks I need are overall cheaper than amazon and the school bookstore.
Will buy previous textbooks (and will pay for shipping)
When renting textbooks they send three reminders about the due date by phone, email, and text message (This is perfect for me! I ended up having to pay for a textbook after forgetting to return it to the bookstore)
I prefer how Chegg is a one-stop place for textbooks. Everything is normally packaged in one box with quick delivery and I am saving money.
If anyone else have any websites to save money on textbooks please share!
After the sad condition my hair was in, I decided to show it some TLC. I used Jamilla henna, deep conditioned my hair, twisted with Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie, and sealed with shea butter.I will do another post in the future on the benefits of henna and my steps. As I twisted my hair I trimmed a little off the ends of each twists. Some people also call this "dusting your ends". I find this is the easiest way for me to trim my hair myself. I personally like trimming my hair because I can control how much hair is being cut off. Also, I am a firm believer that when properly taking care of the hair the less often you need a trim.
My hair was so tangled from the wash-n-go that detangling was a nightmare. Like I wrote in a previous post I will probably never do a wash-n-go because of the amount of hair that I lost. Detangling was so bad that I actually had to dig out my comb.
My improvised hairstyle
Between washing, the henna, deep conditioning, rinsing, detangling, twisting, and sealing it took me forever to finish my hair. I ended up going to bed in the wee' hours of the morning, waking up early twisting my hair some more and still wasn't finished. Quickly, I improvised creating a puff with the untwisted hair in the front and went to my internship.
The next day I went through each twist trimming the scraggly ends off the twist. Trimming my hair by "dusting" allows me to control how much hair is cut off, is a method that i can do independently especially during the school year, and is free!
Here is a really good detail step of the process by one of my favorite youtubers- MrsVCharles.
Instead of just stretching the hair like MrsVCharles, I prefer to twist it then trim.
I never made it to the Natural Hair Expo last Saturday. I ended up going back to campus for the weekend. However, I did go to the Shea Moisture Event Friday night.
My opinion of Shea Moisture Event:
The event was all right. If I had actually paid for this event I wouldv'e been upset with the turnout. There was a decent amount of delicious food and the venue was nice. I think the event would have been better if there was more of mix and mingle atmosphere. I was more interested in the other ladies hair attending the event then I was about the presenters. Perhaps I could have gotten a couple of stylists information who colors and cuts natural hair.
Janell Stewart from (KinkyCurlyCoilyMe.com) was super sweet. However, I was less than impressed by celebrity stylist Diane Bailey. As broke college student, I take issue with a hair stylists who recommends going to the hair dresser for everything. She was doing a models hair while talking which was distracting in itself, but also impossible to see from the audience. I found the most informative part of the event was when a Shea Moisture representative (I believe she was a type of chemist) spoke. She broke down what separates Shea Moisture's all natural line versus other companies who are "organic", "natural", and "sulfate-free". Only further confirmed my high opinion of Shea Moisture.
They sent everyone home with goodie bags. I got a sample size of their curl enhancing smoothie and their Organic Coconut & Hibiscus Curl and Shine Shampoo. I think on my next trip to Target, I will finally break down and buy another bottle of Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl & Style Conditioning Milk. I am still unable to find an item to replace it.
It's official today is August 1st. Summer has completely flown by and now that its August it's time to kick it into school mode. I just finalized my class schedule for the fall. There are only two weeks left of my internship and three weeks until I move in- so much to be done.
I have been so preoccupied lately that I have neglected my hair. This past week I attempted a Wash-n-Go. A complete disaster! I cowashed with the Everyday Coconut Super Hydrating Conditioner, added some leave-in plus ecostyler gel, and walked out the door. Never again. My hair was dry, shrunken, and ended up in a bunch of knots. I was forced to wear my hair in a puff and wash that evening. Personally, I rather spend three-four hours washing and twisting my hair then re-washing my hair the next day.
I guess this was just another lesson learned.
A couple of HAIR INSPIRATION photos in spite of my failed attempts:
Lately, I have been really feeling twisted updos. Perhaps its my next style.
