BACK TO BASICS // jeans four

It's funny how one day I can do something crazy like get on stage in front of nearly 1000 people, and then the next day I go to do something new and still get anxious.  On Wednesday I decided to go to a ballet class after being encouraged by my choreographer to do it.  I'd done ballet in college, but hadn't been to a class in probably seven years, and I'm certainly not a "dancer."  I didn't grow up dancing and don't have that base of knowledge and muscle memory.  Being a perfectionist and competitive, being bad at things, especially in a group setting, is one of my least favorite things.  But there I was in a group of adults, some of whom have clearly danced since they could walk,  some much older and decidedly uncoordinated, and then there I was.  Standing at the barre slightly freaking out about what I had decided to put myself through.  I had a sprained big toe and couldn't even get up on relevé , and I probably shouldn't have gone, to let my toe heal, but I didn't want to use it as an excuse.  I sat out on half of it because I physically couldn't do it with my hurt foot, but I went.  I dragged my ass out of bed on a wednesday morning, put on some tights and ballet flats and put myself in a situation that was well out of my comfort zone.  I'm not sure when I'll go next, but I bought a 10 class punch card (in some sort of overconfident, enthusiastic haze), so I have to go back.  

 

top/courtesy of marshalls :: jeans + cardigan/courtesy of modcloth necklace/handmade :: hat/courtesy of tittle millinery
Ok so this is a sort of cheating outfit.  It's pretty much identical to an outfit I wore before, but I wanted to try it out with wide leg jeans instead of skinnies.  A while back I saw Kendi wear a gorgeous outfit with a flowing white top and wide legged jeans and I wanted to replicate it but the only flowing top I have is this cardigan, so for now it'll have to do.  Someday I'll find the perfect flowy white top to go with it.  Time to start scouring thrift stores!

a delightful giveaway from original moxie!

Hi guys!  This week I'm giving away a customized selection of a full size shampoo, conditioner, and styler or treatment from Original Moxie to one lucky winner!  The winner will give Original Moxie the low down on what kind of hair they have and Original Moxie will pick out the products that will best suit her hair!  I think this is so cool because it kind of saves you the trouble of having to try products that may or may not work for you.  Since Original Moxie specifically designed each product with a certain hair type and solution in mind, it makes sense that they'd have a good idea which products would work best for your hair!  You can also go on to their site and use their 3D hair diagnostic to get an idea of which products would work best for your hair.  Or if you'd like to ask the pros at Original Moxie a hair question or find out what they think would be best for your hair, you can also do that!

To enter the giveaway, just follow the directions below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

BACK TO BASICS // jeans three

It's definitely starting to feel like spring when I get the urge to put on my flower crown.   Or maybe I'm just going through withdrawals from not having Poppy Girl rehearsals for Adventures in Oz anymore.  It's so strange getting back to real life after the whirlwind of last week.  Things are so much less... glittery.  It's funny how one late night conversation with one of Dan's coworkers culminated in performing in the biggest stage production of my life.  I think my favorite thing about the show has been the new friends, though.  Making friends as an adult who works from home is challenging to say the least.  I was introduced to a whole new group of people and got to spend hours with them every week, laughing and having fun while putting together a fantastic production.  Not only do I walk away from Oz proud of everyone for putting on an amazing show, I also walk away with new friends.

I got a Q+A question asking for advice on how to make friends in a new town (speaking of Q+A, I'm going to try to get back on that wagon soon!).  Truth is, I'm no expert.  I've lived in Tacoma for like three years now and I still don't feel like I have all that many friends.  One of my good friends was a coworker at the coffee shop I worked at when I first moved here.  I convinced my best friend from high school to move here, so I feel like that doesn't count.  I met Dan in college, so he doesn't count.  Dan went to high school in Tacoma and grew up in Washington, so quite a few of the people I know in town are people he was friends with before I moved here.  When I moved here I was basically just transplanted into his group of friends, so I at least had that as a new girl in town.  I tagged along with him to parties and met all his friends who became my friends/acquaintances.

 

lace top (similar)/courtesy of asianicandy :: floral top/courtesy of ruche  short necklace + flower crown/handmade :: jeans/courtesy of modcloth long necklace/courtesy of adorn by sarah lewis :: photos by Dan
Even though I'm no pro when it comes to the friend-making game I do have a few tips.  If you're an introvert I think the first tip would be putting yourself outside of your comfort zone.  You're just not going to make friends laying in bed watching Netflix (no matter how ideal a night with wine and netflix sounds).  So, once you get yourself out of the house here are a few things you can do to facilitate meeting new friends:

• If you have the opportunity, work somewhere that facilitates meeting people.  I met lots of people working as a barista and made friends with my coworkers.  Obviously this isn't something that everyone can do, but I do miss being a barista sometimes simply because I was able to meet new people who were customers or coworkers.

• Take up a hobby.  When Dan and I started rock climbing I don't think we anticipated becoming part of the rock climbing community.  It's fun for us now to go to the gym and climb with people who we consider friends.  We don't see them much outside of the gym, but with summer approaching we now have friends who we can climb outdoors with!  Think about what kind of people you want to meet and find hobbies that might coincide with that.  

• Hang out at coffee shops.  I don't know if this is just a Northwest thing, but people hang out at coffee shops here for hours.  Most of Dan's friends in Tacoma he met while hanging out at a local coffee shop.  Weird but true!  If you're in school, maybe go to a coffee shop to do homework instead of hiding at home.  Take a book to a coffee shop and read it there, grab your laptop and do work there instead of at home.  

• Meet other people's friends.  I already mentioned this, but since Dan grew up in the area, he already had a much wider base of friends.  Try to meet people who have been in the area for longer than you, they probably have lots of local friends they can introduce you to.  Go with them to an event or a party or bar and meet the people they know.  If you like them, you might like their friends too!

• Volunteer for a cause you care about.  The other volunteers will likely care about the same cause as you and might have similar interests as you, since you're supporting the same cause.  Plus, since you're volunteering and working on something, breaking the ice is much easier.

• Take a class or join a sports team.  Again, you're putting yourself in a situation where people with similar interests already are.  Take a class at the local community college or craft store.  Everyone is learning a new skill and it's easy to start conversation around what you're learning.  Dan joined an adult dodgeball team here in Tacoma a few years ago and it was a really fun way to hang out with people.  Plus, after games you all can go out and grab a drink or bite and continue meeting one another.

• If you have a specific faith community, a church can be a great way to meet other people.  Churches also typically have events and groups that already exist which you can join to find people in similar situations as you (parent groups, college groups, singles groups, etc).

Or, you know, audition for a burlesque production.  You'll get real intimate with new people pretty fast.

 

BACK TO BASICS // jeans two

On Friday I drove down to Portland with my Mom and Dan to visit my brothers for their birthdays.  Their birthdays are only two weeks apart so we took them out to The Spaghetti Factory to load up on carbs and threaten to invite the balloon guy over to make them balloon birthday hats.  Since we were spending most of the day in the car I wore a pretty comfortable outfit.  I usually wear this top to yoga and the climbing gym, but I love the design and never style it in a non-fitness setting, so I pulled it out and gave it a go.  
I didn't anticipate how busy I would be running around doing things for Saturday's show, my mom visiting, driving to Portland!  I feel like I was on a crazy vacation and now am getting back and trying to catch up on everything!  For today, though, I'm resting.  We're having Easter dinner with Dan's family later, and I'm currently laying in bed while writing this post, recovering from yesterday's craziness.  I can't even tell you guys how awesome the show was.  I saw a couple blog readers after the show, I was so happy that some of you guys got to come!  It was such a magnificent evening.  There were a few photographers capturing the evening, so if I ever get ahold of some of those images I'll definitely be sharing them.  I still have red hair color spray in my hair and glitter all over my hair and body.  My shower is going to look like I murdered a fairy...

 

top/the wishing stone :: cardigan/thrifted :: jeans/courtesy of modcloth boots/vogue footwear :: bag/courtesy of handbag heaven :: hat/the north face necklaces/courtesy of adorn by sarah lewis :: photos by Dan

natural curl routine

A couple months ago I was contacted by Original Moxie to see if I was interested in trying their hair products.  I've had a pretty natural hair routine for quite a while, so I was excited to see a company making natural products specifically designed for curly hair.  They use essential oils in their products too, which obviously was exciting as I was already adding Cedarwood essential oil to my conditioner to help with hair growth. I've been trying to be extra nice to my hair these days because I lost a ton of volume from being on birth control, and I think some of my curl as well.  As silly as it sounds, I have a ton of my identity wrapped up in my big hair, so losing some of that has been frustrating.  My hair stopped falling out once I stopped the pill, but about two weeks ago it started coming out in droves.  It was like I was 14 all over again, pulling handfuls of hair out when I'd rake my fingers through my hair.  I'd like to kindly recommend to my hormones that they stop messing with my hair.  My hair feels about half as thick as it did 2 - 3 years ago, so hopefully things will stop freaking out on the hormone front. Part of me hates that I have so much of my identity tied up in my big hair.  It never occurred to me that I could lose it.  I've always had big curly hair.  In a way it's a security blanket.  When I cut my hair off a couple years ago I felt so not myself, I couldn't wait for it to be long and big again.  It took so many years of fighting the big poofy hair as a kid and teen that now that I'm finally in love with it, it's hard to deal with having it just fall out.  Boo hiss, hormones.  I've been doing all I can to keep my hair happy, so I was excited to try some natural products that are made for curly girls.
These three products are my standard shower routine products.  I've been avoiding regular shampoos for quite a while now, since shampoo strips hair of its natural oils, so I usually only wash with shampoo on occasion, but I was interested in seeing how the no-foam shampoo worked.  It doesn't lather at all (as you can probably assume from the name), so it's a bit harder to work it through the hair, but it definitely doesn't make my hair feel stripped at all.  In the past when I've used other normal shampoos my hair feels so dry and stripped out after I shampoo, and I feel like I have to condition like crazy to get it back to feeling right.  Right now I'm kind of going half and half with the no-poo thing.  For days when I have lots of product in my hair I like to have a little help getting that gunk out, so the Get Clean! no foam shampoo is nice.

I always always always always condition.  Mostly because I can't get a brush through my hair any other time than when there is conditioner.  I like to put conditioner on and let it hang out while I shave, then brush the tangles out of my hair and rinse.  I usually like using their Intense Quench conditioner, but when I don't feel like I need a ton of conditioning power I use the Featherweight conditioner, which is a lot lighter.  Their conditioners aren't quite as "slippery" as other conditioners I've used, which is because they use butters, oils, and other nutrients to condition, rather than chemicals which give that slippery feel.  It makes it slightly more difficult to comb tangles out, but I much prefer having my hair conditioned naturally than having a bunch of weird chemicals that only make my hair feel slippery, not actually condition it.  I've also been preferring the Intense Quench because my hair is currently colored, so I like to give it as much conditioning love as possible to keep it happy. After I get out of the shower I spritz a bit of Twist Mist in my hair and diffuse to dry.  The other day I forgot that this is 100% natural oil and my brain decided to spray it on my hair like it was hair spray and holy cow my hair was SO oily.  Whoops!  It's amazing for getting a bit of shine, but because it's all oil, it's definitely better used in moderation.  
These are a few products I use, but not all the time.  I actually love the Sweet Poof spray.  It's perfect for the 2nd or 3rd day when the curls have been slept on and are a little flat and sad.  I actually decided to test it to see if it really did volumize, by using it on one side of my head and not the other and it was really funny how lopsided I looked.  Definitely works to boost curls up and re-volumize.   Another couple products I occasionally use before blow drying are the Oasis moisture gel and the Everyday Leave-in conditioner.  The leave in conditioner is also nice for applying to second-day hair to give it a little boost, and the Oasis moisture gel is another great one to apply before I blow dry to give my curls some buoyancy.  
These two products I've only used a little bit.  I really like the Lux Locks for adding some shine to the ends of my curls.  I used the Emollience Pre-Treatment overnight (they recommend applying overnight or at least 15 minutes before washing), and it took me two showers to get it out of my hair, haha.  Super penetrating moisture.  I think next time I do it I'll just do it for 15 minutes instead of overnight.  I liked it though!  I'm always on the lookout for good deep treatments to occasionally give my hair some love.  These are the only products I've been using for the past couple months, and it's been nice to have products that are designed to work together and on my specific hair type.  Before that I was just using random stuff I found at the health food store, and old tressemme products I've had for about 8 years.   If you have any questions about my hair routine that I forgot or skipped, let me know and I'll try to answer them in the comments! 
Original Moxie is celebrating Earth Day this weekend with a sale, so you can get 30% off any order over $30 using the code EDAYOM14.  I'm also doing a fun giveaway next week with Original Moxie, too, so stay tuned!
This post is sponsored by Original Moxie and I received products to try and use. All opinions and thoughts are my own. Thanks for supporting those companies which keep Delightfully Tacky alive and kicking.