I want plastic surgery

Ok well it's not quite how it sounds. Here's a bit of a story:

I have briefly mentioned here before that when I was a kid I was bit in the face by a neighbor's dog. I was in the ER for 2 hours while the doctor stitched my face with 37 stitches. I was told at the time there was a good possibility I would need some kind of plastic surgery when I was older. The scars healed well enough that I never did have to have any kind of cosmetic work done and other than slight scarring and one nostril that is smaller than the other, there are no other reminders of that accident.

EXCEPT.

When the dog bit my face he must have actually bit some flesh off leaving the doctor to stitch what was left of the nostril back to my face, making it quite a bit smaller than it had been before. Other than looking like a plug-in-face (ha. ha.) this has actually left me with some difficulty breathing. I notice it mostly when I have a cold or am already stuffed up AND every night when I'm falling asleep. It wasn't until about 3 years ago that I realized that every night I subconsciously lay with my hand or finger against my cheek, holding that nostril open, opening the airway . Once I realized I was doing it I noticed it really was something I did every single night.

And...

You better believe I took a photo to show you just what I mean. Oh yes. I did.

See? I really did!

I tried those Breathe Right strips and they do help but I don't have a life time supply of them. (Hey there Breathe Right people?!?) Anyway, it got me thinking - I know people who have plastic surgery for other 'medical' reasons - breast reductions, various rhinoplasty procedures and so on. I am wondering if I am a candidate of such reconstruction. It's not that I am just dying to go under the knife for a nose job but really if this is something that could be corrected I would be interested. I don't mind that I am facially asymmetrical but not being able to breathe properly from one nostril is actually rather unpleasant.

I think I'll take it up with my doctor when I next see him. I'm interested in hearing his opinion on if it's something worth fixing, or if the ordeal of a nose job is worse than just holding my nose open while I sleep.

What's your opinion on the idea?

gone too soon

Well I can't let this day slip away and not mention something about my MJ. Y'all know I've got mad love for him and today marks 2 years since his passing and since I left my cart of groceries sitting in the aisle of Safeway when I got the news. I'll leave you with one of my favorite videos, (who am I kidding, how can I even pick a favorite) Stranger in Moscow.

This song always makes me think of my 2 besties Sharlee and Jodi, and how we used to laugh because when he says "how does it feel" it really sounds like he has a lisp and says "how doth it feel." Welp, I just ruined the song for you but at least now you're in on the joke too.

Enjoy one of  my favorites and yeah, I still can't believe he's gone.

another hairdo

As lame as it sounds I've been having a lot of fun trying out these hairdos from Abby's 30 Do's in 30 Days series. I mean, when I put my kids to bed at 7 and my husband doesn't get home until 11 I'm left with a lot of time on my hands! And instead of doing something productive I play makeover with my hair - great choice Michelle, I could have knit an afghan by now. Anyway. 
Today I'm sporting the 'do she called Three Banded Buns. It too was super fast and easy and I'm loving having the hair off my neck in something other that a regular old ponytail. Unknowingly I left more ends out than she did but I think it's a cute variation. I'd also like to try this with only 2 buns instead of 3 so that you don't see as much of the poof on the sides from the front. We'll see how much of a headache I have this evening but so far I'm liking the look.

And for your viewing pleasure... some poor quality photos. (Sorry, they're especially bad today.)

Next up I want to try the Braided Crown. I've attempted it a couple times and so far it's got me beat but I'll get you Braided Crown. Yes I will.

a word about mascara

I really thought this was a common practice but since I've had 2 different gals in the last few months comment about it maybe it's not as common as I perceived. I thought I would do a quick blog post about it and show some pictures to illustrate.

When I was in Arizona with my sister we got ready together every morning and one morning she noticed that I was putting more than one layer of mascara on my eyelashes. I told her yes, I always do two or three coats, letting them dry in between. It makes your eyelashes so much longer, fuller and more dramatic. She said she always just did one coat but when she tried doing a few she noticed a much fuller look right away. My friend Laura made a similar comment when I posted the video of Alex doing her makeup as she applied a couple layers to her outer lashes to achieve that false-eyelashes look.

Now this isn't brain surgery nor is it revolutionary but I thought I'd share since maybe there are some of you that haven't tried applying a few coats. Here are a few photos to show the dramatic difference and the look you can achieve when you apply more than just a quick sweep. (And I'm not talking about doing it so many times you've got spiders sitting on your face... use common sense ladies!)

The eye on the left has 3 coats of mascara while the eye on the right has only one coat. You can see the dramatic difference. 

If you are after a subtle look to finish off your face just sweep one coat of mascara over your eyelashes, but if you want something a bit more striking keep coating those lashes (remember to let them dry in between coats!) until you get the look you're after.

**After looking at this post a few times now does it totally look like I have owl eyes to anyone else?!
 Hoo hoo!**

100 FOLLOWERS!! {giveaway winner!!}

Well folks, we did it!  

100 readers! 

 (that's right - in color!)

I know that's not necessarily a lot in bloggerland but to me it's a lot, especially considering I started with 12. Well technically we all start with zero but I hovered at 12 for a good long time. Anyway, I just want to thank you for reading my blog. I can't believe there are 100 people who care what I have to say, not even the people in my own house want to listen to me - how are there 100 of you out there?! Thanks for making a girl happy. I love being out and about and running into people who say, "oh I saw that on your blog," or "I'm trying this new thing I saw on your blog!" It's thrilling, so thanks!

Well without further ado I'm excited to announce the giveaway winner and I have to tell you I had such a good laugh. This is totally legit, in fact here's the random generator that drew the number: 

The winner is someone that is very close to me, like literally, like living in the same apartment building. 

Miss Judy Oler 

You are the lucky winner of your very own bottle of Moroccan Oil! Judy is another Vivint wife that is here in Saskatoon with me. Well technically right now she is back home visiting family, so hey Judy, when you get back want to go shopping?! Too funny. 

Thank you to all my readers and be sure to keep following, and commenting - I love to hear from you! And let's do another giveaway soon! Might as well!

waterfall braid

When I had two different friends send me the link to Abby's blog My Yellow Sandbox's series of 30 Do's in 30 Days (cute idea right?!) I figured they either thought I would really enjoy trying the looks on myself or were subtly trying to tell me I should really put a little more effort into my tresses. Which is true, I probably should.

This morning I decided to try my first one - the Waterfall Braid. It was actually a lot easier than I thought it was going to be and went very quickly. I was skeptical that it was going to hold well but it actually does. As she explains in the video you can end it off in different ways and I chose to just fasten it at the end instead of doing a braid. 

Here's my hair today!

Fun eh?!

And please excuse the crappy self-taken-in-the-mirror-photos, I asked Porter to help me and I got a collection of pics that look a lot like this: 

 And this:

And this:

So I figured I'd better take matters into my own hands... and mirror.

Go look through Abby's series, not only is she absolutely beautiful but she makes the tutorials really simple and doable. I hope you give it a go, I'm going to be trying more for sure!

*Oh, and with only three more followers I get to give away a bottle of yummy Moroccan Oil! We're so close!*

auto correct

I have a love/hate relationship with the auto-correct on my phone, as I'm sure you can relate. Sometimes it saves me from having to delete and retype as I see I'm not exactly getting the word I was going for and sometimes it gives me options that I just look at and think, where on this earth did that come from?! Like the time I was trying to congratulate someone and typed, "that's tupperware!" instead of "that's terrific!" My biggest complaint as of late is the insistence of my phone spelling Wang (with a deliberate capital "W") instead of the word "went." Despite what my phone believes I don't think I've ever used the word Wang in a text message. Not once.  Anyway.

I figured I couldn't be the only one to have these blunders so I looked online and I've been busting a gut this morning laughing at other autocorrect fails. For a good time call 403-915-4402 google autocorrect fail and read some of the other bloopers. I've seriously been holding-my-tummy-laughing, they are so funny. 

Any funny auto-correct stories to share? Have a tupperware day!

giveaway - almost there!

Just a reminder that with the addition of 10 new readers someone will be winning their very own bottle of my personal favorite, Moroccan Oil!

If you want smooth, shiny, strong and healthy hair (that smells great!) then follow this blog! Yep, just by clicking follow your hair will transform to that, it's amazing! :) And if that doesn't happen you can stick around to laugh at my lame jokes. I mean, either is pretty good.

Have a great weekend!

today's inspiration

I watched this tutorial from Alex this morning and liked the simplicity of what she did. Plus isn't she just adorable?

(Oh yeah, it's long. I watched it in installments, haaha!)

Because I didn't already have an idea of how I wanted to do my hair and makeup today I decided to give her glowy summertime look a go! I don't have all the same items she used (like extensions for one, how fun do they look?) but with my own similar products I recreated the look on myself. I think watching a video or seeing a photo and trying it out on yourself is fun and you can learn a lot. Here's my version - but I'm no Alex!

Please excuse the crappy phone picture

Find a look you like and try it out, what have you got to lose?!

the TV sold me

I like to think I'm not a really easy sale (I'm sure I am) but I've seen TWO infomercials this week and am convinced I need these 2 things.

The Swivel Store and The Gyro Bowl 

We've also seen the Baby Bullet infomercial a few times this week, *cue Porter: "See, listen to the lady - we need the baby bullet!"* but already owning the Magic Bullet I feel it would be redundant. However, I own nothing like the contraptions above! You really must take a few minutes to go and watch the little videos if you haven't seen them before. I'm honestly considering placing an order. Does anyone have either of these inventions?