One Year of Finding My Curls Using the Curly Girl Method

Hi all! It's been a million years (well really 2.5, but who's counting?) since I've written anything on here. Thanks to anyone who's been on here in my absence and to all who may read this. I've missed this, but it's definitely gone on the back burner with a second kid who coincidentally turns 2 this month. What are the odds? Yep, I totally got pregnant and then just basically got tired and then busy. But it's time to start giving you all some updates on my life again.

One major discovery that I had was that I have naturally wavy bordering on curly hair. I remember as a kid that I had mushroom hair. Please tell me I'm not the only one! It would be combed and straight and nice and poofy. Even if I did that, I remember times my parents would look at me and tell me to go and put it in a ponytail to get it under control. They meant well, they really did. But the shampooing and combing it basically took out any natural curl and left me with a nice poofball. By the time I was 10ish I learned the art of French braids and that was a Godsend! By 12 I was pretty regularly blowdrying it, and sometimes even curling it with a curling iron after that. Anyone else have this childhood? Just me? Oh if only we knew what to do with my hair! All of that work, and I had waves just waiting to be discovered.

Oh the joys of teenage hair!

By college I had this down. I never really let my hair airdry anymore, so I basically forgot that I had this poofy hair. I just washed and dried it, and curled it every 2 days and bam, done. I always had that one cowlick that wasn't cooperative, but we all have that right? When I could spend the time, I really did love my hair. It was shiny and held a curl so well!

Enter in a Facebook post at age 36 on a mom's group regarding caring for a curly-haired kid when you've got straight hair. One of the mom's on there mentioned that she'd recently discovered the Curly Girl Method for her daughter and it was making a world of difference. I was curious. What was this? It turns out there was even a book, The Curly Girl Handbook by Lorraine Massey.  I read the reviews on Amazon and discovered many a story that sounded like my hair history. I was intrigued. Since having kids, the ability to do my "normal" routine was much more limited, and my hair poof was returning. I could tell that I had some wave to my hair, but clearly my normal products and just air drying were not giving me hair I could really take in public. Yes, I'll show you a picture.

This is a fresh haircut that a sweet stylist did to try to accentuate my natural wave. This was pretty much the best I could get and I loved it. I thought I was really on to something with this cut. Yeah, of course without her doing it, it just poofed immediately.

But, this did give me hope that the Curly Girl Method just might reveal something that I'd never discovered before. It did not disappoint. I devoured the book, bought the products I thought were right and jumped in. I could feel the difference immediately. I was hooked, and I haven't looked back. I won't be able to go into all of the details here, and it takes time and effort to learn this and embrace your natural hair. I got the book in January 2018 and started my journey in February. It's been a year now. I've made a lot of mistakes, but I don't regret it at all.

The book is quick and easy to read, and once you do that, hop on to Instagram and follow the #curlygirlmethod and a few key curlfriends. The top curl stylist that I have seen and would recommend you all follow is Evan Joseph. He keeps it simple, which I love. He's also a stylist and sees curly hair day in and day out, so he knows firsthand what effect certain products will have. There is a ton of noise out there on the topic with a lot of misinformation. I would trust his product recommendations over anyone else. Yes, it'll be expensive stuff, but if you get a good basic set of 2 or 3 products, that's all you'll need. I promise.

The key tips I've picked up are:

1. Drop the shampoo. Use a cleansing conditioner. Yep, I promise you that your scalp and hair will be clean. Shampoo just dries out your hair. There are very few that will really clean your hair, but I use AG Naturals Boost Conditioner to cleanse my scalp and detangle and condition my hair. Hit up Youtube and check out the application tips on how to Cowash. It's not your same old shampoo technique. Use those fingertips and give that scalp a nice 3 minute massaging scrub.

2. Step away from the combs and brushes. Use you're fingers to detangle. And stop brushing it, ever. Brushing and combing pull the hair which will break the delicate curl pattern. If you have a weak curl pattern like me, just the daily use of a brush will be enough to make you think you have straight hair.

3. Squish to Condish. This is exactly what it sounds like. You squish your conditioner up and into your hair. If you're a visual learner, check out this cute Youtube Video.

4. Use a palm full, 4-6 pumps, of a good gel. Squish and pulse that in. Let it harden as it dries. Really. Let it get all 90's crunchy. This is called a gel cast. It will protect that curl pattern. You won't have to stay in the 90's though. Once it's dry, you get to gently break that cast open and reveal soft gorgeous curls or waves.

Here are the key takeaways I've learned this year from this new method.

-It'll feel very weird at first. You've done you're hair one way your whole life. This will take time to feel normal.

-Your hair may look a lot worse before it gets better. This is a normal transition period. It will get better though if you give it time. I mean a lot better. My hair is still changing and getting better. When you get discouraged, hop on Instagram and check out progress photos from your curlfriends. It'll give you hope that you hair will get better too. I'll leave you with a few progress photos below from my year.

-I thought this would save me loads of time. It doesn't. I have gotten to the point where I only really wash my hair twice a week, and that's where I'm saving the time. But on an actual wash day, yeah, it still takes a long time.

-There are a ton of people on Youtube and Instagram that will show you products. Don't fall into the trap. Find a great product line that you love, stick with it and rock it. If you check out Evan Joseph's recommendations and get something from that, you'll never have to shampoo or clarify your hair again because nothing will build up on your hair. If you stray, you'll get build up and you'll have to shampoo.

-Use the Youtubers and Instragammers to learn how to apply your rockin' products. They have really great application videos and techniques. They will teach you everything from how to wash and condition to how to protect your curls at night and refresh it in the morning.

I finally feel like the real me. This sounds so stupid and vapid and shallow. I don't mean it to be that way. It's just that I never really understood my hair, nor did anyone else that worked on it. It's very strange to make it to 36 and realize what I've had really growing out of the top of my head all of these years, and it's not what we all thought it was. I have a sister with very very curly hair. No one could ever have shampooed and combed that into straight hair. I was always a little envious of her gorgeous spirals. I'm just so excited that I have some waves that I am ok taking out of the house now. :)

Now for a few photos to show you the journey my hair has been on this year. I will not inundate you with all of the photos, but this will give you a small sampling of the progress.

Day One, February 12, 2018
Lots of gel

Day 363, February 10, 2019
Air dried and no products

January 2019

Adding a Tile Backsplash to the Kitchen

When we bought this house, I liked the cabinets, but the countertop was not my favorite. It was a plain laminate that just did not do justice to the quality of the cabinets. However, after living with it for a few years, it didn't bother me nearly as much anymore. I did start to notice an issue though behind the sink with water getting under the counter and the little laminate backsplash. Something needed to be done. I thought about it for a long time, and I decided to leave the countertop, but take off the backsplash and install a tile backsplash. 

I'm going to lay it all out there and show you my kitchen in all of its useful kitchen glory. I try and try to keep it all picked up and clean, but it's the most used room in the house and it's just not that large. Plus, I think that showing you the way that real people live is healthy for us all! Here it is...

The lights are the next project on my list. Stay tuned!

As you can see here, they installed the counters all as one piece but then didn't seal it. So all of the water that splashed out of the sink leaked beneath and behind this little backsplash. It was starting to pull away from the wall. 

I got the crowbar out and got to work. Joe helped a ton here because there were a bunch of screws left in the counter that he got out for me! You can see here just how much the water was doing damage. 

I mean, Ew!!!

Once it was all off and cleaned up, I got to work on the tiling. It all went quite well until I got to the upper edges. It turned out that I needed to get a tile saw. I was freaking out about using one, but Joe encouraged/told me to get one, and that I could use it! And, it turns out that he was totally right. Thanks Joe! I was still freaking out a little bit, but I still have all 10 fingers and made some pretty nice cuts. :)

I made Joe take pictures of me at work to prove it was my project!

So, not to leave you hanging anymore, let me remind you what it started out looking like...

And after...

Ah! How lovely! We can just pretend for a minute that I don't cook or do dishes in here ever. :) I think it's the one small update that has made all of the difference in making this look like a fully updated kitchen. The good news in the end is that the wall is fully waterproofed too!

Bathroom Reno for under $250

Before and After

Our upstairs bathroom has been a room that didn't need a ton of work to update it. So I left it for about two years, and it was really functional and not offensive at all. However, I wanted to quickly bring it into this century with a new light fixture, new mirror and some fresh paint. 

This is what the bathroom looked like from the day we moved in. These pictures don't really do the walls justice. Picture the blue of a baby shower for a boy. That's the color these walls were. And let's just take a second to remember that the vanity had a really awesome 70's feel with the cream veneer with a gold paint trim. Gorgeous right?

The first thing to change was the vanity. You can read about that change here.  The following pictures are to show you the mirror and the light that had to go.  The light was so hot that it was burning the paint on the side wall. I put my makeup on in there, and my goodness it almost melted off my face.  Can we just say yuck!?!?

The first thing I did was pull down the mirror and light fixture. Changing out the light fixture was not difficult except for the fact that the old light fixture was not installed in the center of the sink. It was just so large that I couldn't tell with the old one, but with the new fixture it was not OK! Also, whoever installed the last light did not put in an electrical box. So I had to hire an electrician to install an electrical box in the center of the sink. The light that I chose was the Portfolio 4-Light Paces Brushed Nickel Bathroom Vanity Light from Lowes.  

I got a new mirror too. I wanted one that could hang vertically and not hit the toothbrush holder and soap holder. I found this Satin Silvered Beveled Mirror from Wayfair.com. I chose a wall mirror as opposed to a bathroom mirror because it was lightweight and easy to hang. It was also the right size and style.

Ah!!! Isn't that refreshing and bright! 

The final thing that I did was to give all of the walls a fresh coat of paint. I went with Valspar Winter in Paris. It's a really pretty light grey blue. It also has some green tones to it. It's very pretty and far less baby boy blue. 

I think that this room really got the facelift it needed for just a small amount of money.

The budget breakdown:

Vanity paint- I already had a gallon of white

Vanity hardware- $5

Light- $69

Mirror- $69

Wall paint- $35

Electrician to install the light properly-$50 (he was already out to install a new fan in our guest bedroom)

Total-$228

So if you've got a bathroom that has a solid shower, toilet and vanity but needs some updating, for a small amount of money, you can do quite a lot with paint and a new light and mirror! Be brave. Paint and lights are not difficult. You can do it!

I know it may seem that not much has been done, but I think it's a huge difference and brings this bathroom into the modern age!

A Letter to My Baby on the Eve of Your First Birthday

Dear Sweet One, 

I haven't spent much time this past year reminiscing and being sentimental. I've been far too busy enjoying you and all you've accomplished in just one short year! Watching you grow and seeing what new things you've learned each day has been one of the biggest joys of being your mom. Maybe it's the teacher in me, but I found it all incredible to watch. I remember the first time you reached for a toy. What an achievement. Now, you can carry three toys while army crawling, one in each hand and the bonus toy in your mouth. Then there was that week you learned how to roll from back to front. You did that over and over for days. You were so proud. 

365 days ago (we had a leap day) was the day that our lived changed forever! What a wonderful blessed day that was. 5 lbs 8 oz (2500 g exactly) and 20.5 inches long, 10 fingers, 10 toes. You were small and perfect. Your father and I were so in love with everything about you!

I don't want to gush, but I do want you to know that we are still so in love with everything about you. I probably won't be too sentimental very often because I'm totally confident that you will continue to amaze me with all that you learn. I do want to stop occasionally and remember to treasure these moments, and the eve of your first birthday seemed like a good time to do just that. This very short letter only took me most of the evening to write because you needed some extra cuddles tonight. Getting teeth isn't very fun. I'm so glad that you needed those extra snuggles on this last night as my baby because when I snuggle with you tomorrow, I'll be snuggling a toddler. I can't wait to meet him and see what he has to teach us all!

We love you sweet boy! May God bless you this year and always. Happy birthday!

Monster Pants Knitting Pattern with stitched-in eyes and teeth

I made a pair of grumpybums monster longies from the tales of the Wandering Lady blog. They turned out well and are quite adorable. I wanted to make a second pair right away with a few touches of my own to make the knitting go even faster. So I used her pattern as the base and stitched the eyes and teeth into the pants using the intarsia method as opposed to using the duplicate stitch method that she uses. Using the duplicate stitch does give you more freedom in placement once the pants are knitted; however, it takes quite a bit more time and it adds bulk. Also if you're not good at it (me!), you are able to see the base color underneath the duplicate stitches.

This is the first time I've written out a pattern, so if you discover any mistakes, please let me know! The pattern is in 1 size for now. I hope to add a larger size once I have a chance to make it. This pattern is for 6 months-1.5 years. I have made them, and they are quite generous on my 8 month old. They are very stretchy side to side. If you have a petite 18 mo old, you could make these and just add length to the legs.

Needles: Size 6 (4mm) double point needles or circular needles

Yarn: Any yarn for size 6 needles. I used an acrylic yarn for washability, but I think wool would stitch up very nicely. Base Color (BC)- 1 skein, 1 skein of each stripe color (C1/C2), about 20 yards of white and 3 yards of black

Gauge: 20 stitches- 4 inches

Glossary:
K = Knit
P = Purl
CO = Cast on
yo = yarn over
P2tog = Purl two stitches together
K2tog= Knit two stitches together 
PM = Place marker
BO = Bind off
BC = Base color
C1 = Color 1
C2 = Color 2
W = White
B = Black

Monster Pants
Using BC, CO 92 stitches. Join the round, being careful not to twist. PM at the beginning of round.
Ribbing. 
 *P2, K2* Repeat for 6 rounds to create ribbing. 
Round 7- *yo, P2tog, yo, K2* Repeat - total 115 sts.
Round 8- *P2tog, P1, K2* Repeat - Total 92 sts.
Knit 5 rounds of ribbing.

Knit 2 rounds
On the next round you will need 2 small balls of White (W) yarn to start the eyes. If you are unfamiliar with the intarsia method, please google it and you will find very good websites and videos dedicated to teaching you how to do it. It is not hard at all, it is just learning how to manage the extra yarn.
You can find the chart for the eyes and teeth here. I find it easier to verify and count with the chart in hand. It helps you know what you will create in the end with all of the upcoming color switches.
Round 3- BC K12, W K5, BC K11, W K5, BC K remaining stitches
Round 4- BC K11, W K7, BC K9, W K7, BC K remaining stitches
Round 5- *Prepare 2 small black balls- BC K10, W K6, B K1, W K2, BC K7, W K2, B K1, W K6, BC K remaining stitches
Round 6- BC K 9, W K6, B K3, W K2, BC K5, W K2, B K3, W K6, BC K remaining stitches
Round 7- BC K 9, W K6, B K3, W K2, BC K5, W K2, B K3, W K6, BC K remaining stitches
Round 8- BC K9, W K7, B K1, W K3, BC K5, W K3, B K1, W K7 BC K remaining stitches
Round 9- BC K 9, W K11, BC K5, W K11, BC K remaining stitches
Round 10- BC K 9, W K11, BC K5, W K11, BC K remaining stitches
Round 11- BC K 10, W K9, BC K7, W K9, BC K remaining stitches
Round 12- BC K11, W K7, BC K9, W K7 BC K remaining stitches
Round 13- BC K12, W K5, BC K11, W K5, BC K remaining stitches

Knit 4 rounds with BC

For mouth:
-Change to C1, K 4 rounds
*Prepare 2 small white balls
- Change to C2, K17, change to W K5, C2 K6, W K5, C2 K remaining stitches
- C2 K17, W K5, C2 K6, W K5, C2 K remaining stitches
-  C2 K18, W K3, C2 K8, W K3, C2 K1 wrap and turn
- C2 P2, W P1, C2 P10, W P1, C2 P6 wrap and turn
- C2 K23 wrap and turn
-C2 P26 wrap and turn
-C2 K29 wrap and turn
-C2 P32 wrap and turn
-C2 K10, W K1, C2 K14, W K1, C2 K9 wrap and turn
-C2 P8, W P3, C2 P12, W P3, C2 P12 wrap and turn
-C2 K12, W K3, C2 K12, W K3, C2 K12 wrap and turn
-C2 P11, W P5, C2 P10, W P5, C2 P15 wrap and turn
-C2 K15, W K5, C2 K10, W K5, C2 Knit remaining stitches
-C2 K15, W K5, C2 K10, W K5, C2 Knit remaining stitches

Change back to C1.
Knit 4 rounds. On the last round PM "A" after 21 stitches. PM "B" after 4 stitches. PM "C" after 42 stitches and PM "D: after 4 stitches.

Crotch:
Change back to BC. 
K to A, increase 1 st before M, K to B, increase 1 st. after M, K to end of round. Repeat 5 more rounds. Total 104 sts.
Next round, K to A, increase 1 st, before M, K to B, increase 1 st after M, K to C, increase 1 st before M, K to D, increase 1 st after M, K to end of round. Repeat 5 more rounds. Total 128 sts. 

Next round. K to A. Cut the yarn, leave a 50 cm long tail. Using the kitchener stitch, sew the four middle sts front and back together. Place the stitches of one leg on a stitch holder.

Pick up 2 sts in the join (where the front of the leg meets the back of the leg in the crotch) to avoid a hole. 62 sts total on one leg.
K 5 rounds
*Change to C1, K 5 rounds
*Change to BC, K 5 rounds
*Change to C2, K 5 rounds
*Change to BC, K 5 rounds
*Change to C1 K 5 rounds
*Change to BC, K 5 rounds

*Knit stripes until legs are the desired length.

On the last round, K2tog* Repeat all the way around decreasing to 32 sts.
Knit ribbing K2, P2 for 12 rounds. BO loosely.

Repeat for other leg matching the number of stripes.

Work in all of the ends.

I-cord
In one of the contrasting colors- CO 3 sts, K3, Don't turn, but slide the stitches to the other side of the needle and continue to knit. Repeat until desired length, about 27-35 inches long.

Baby Sophisticate Sweater

Yes, this is my little guy! He's finally big enough to wear the sweater I made when I was only just pregnant. It's fun to see him wearing it! I think I timed it perfectly for size and cold weather. I used Cascade 128 Superwash Silver color 1946. I had to buy two skeins and only used a tiny bit of the second skein. I'm making a hat for him out of the rest of it. It is just lovely and soft and oh so warm! 

You can find the pattern by clicking here. It is called Baby Sophisticate if the link doesn't work.

Last Minute Gifts for 2015! (Or products I love this year!)

I'm sure that many of you are already prepared for your Christmas gift giving. Yay for you! For those of you who are still in the market for some Christmas gifts, I'd like to share a few of my favorite items that I discovered in 2015. I was mopping just now, and I thought, I really need to tell people how much I love this mop. Hence, this post!

So in no particular order, the following are a few little items that you may want to consider for those loved ones in your life! (Affiliate links included)

I received the Aerolatte Milk Frother last Christmas and have used it every day since then! I've even taken it on trips with me. Really, I have! For those of you who enjoy coffee and specialty coffee drinks, this tool is for you! It has cut down the number of trips to Starbucks for me by a lot. I'm just so happy with a little tiny bit of foam, it's ridiculous! Aerolatte Milk Frother with Stand, Black

The next item on my list for 2015 is my new Swissmar Borner Mandoline! It just makes slicing sweet potatoes and other veggies a breeze! I had to carefully read the directions since I'd never used a mandoline before, but once I tried it, wow it was fun and easy! Swissmar Borner V Power Mandoline, V-7000, White

Admission, I forgot this the first go round, but remembered the same day as I was cooking dinner. My garlic peeler! I love it!!!! I don't know about you, but the smell of garlic is wonderful, but not on my hands all day long. This little silicone gadget is great. Put the clove of garlic in, roll it, and presto! The papery skin is gone. No need to use a big knife anymore to crush that skin off.  No potential for cutting yourself! Totally worth the $5 if you use garlic at all.  Zak Designs E-Z-Rol Garlic Peeler (Blue)

And finally, the item that inspired this post, my new e-cloth Deep Clean Mop! I love it! I had a Shark steam cleaner that I used, but it wore out. I liked that, but didn't like having to assemble and plug stuff in just to mop. When it died, I went in search of something better and easier to use. I was interested in the Norwex mopping system, but I just could not justify over $120 for a piece of metal and cloth. I read some reviews and comparisons, and it turns out that the e-cloth mop is very similar and actually gets better reviews. Plus it's a quarter of the price! Win!!! I'm pretty picky with my cleaning products since I was a janitor for a lot of years in high school and college. I will get down and wash the floor on my hands and knees for a good deep clean. I haven't felt the need to do that since I got this mop! I ordered this e-cloth Deep Clean Mop and the e-cloth Dust Mop Head. The best part of the mop is that I actually use it!!! Can you tell from the number of exclamation marks how much I love this mop? :)

Let me know if you have any products you love that I should try for 2016.