Nothing to Exciting

We haven't been up to much lately. Summer is defiantly  here already. It has been so hot, I can't even stand to sit outside to get some sun. We had a pretty low key this weekend. It was nice to just relax and not have to go do anything! I haven't blogged about what we have been up to the past couple of post.
 We did have the salon "Spring Fling" Saturday night at Randy's and Corienna's house. Because the party usually last to early in the morning we took little baby Farrah home with us for the night. She was such a good baby. Only woke up at two, then again at 6, but feel back to sleep till 8. So it was a good night. I think Deric was a bit nervous to have her all night so I was glad she was good. The pups didn't really know what to do when Farrah was here all night. Overall they seem to like Farrah which is good!
 In other big news Deric and I are headed back home on Friday! We are not going to make it home till Saturday. I wanted to break the drive up this time.I think it will be nice to have shorter days in the car. We usually make the trip in July but Deric's nephew is graduating from High School June 6th and then it is Miss Nikhol's birthday on the 12th. So we will get to be home for both events! I am so ready to be home for a week. I am ready for a break and hopefully lots of time to relax!  I am picturing  myself now laying by the pool and a book... ahhhh. And of course getting to hang out and visit with our wonderful families and friends!  I am hoping there will be a DQ ice cream cake some time next week! ( I am a little excited about that) It can't be a visit home in the summer without one!
Other than that I don't really have much to blog about for now! This week I am super busy at work and I don't even know when I will have time to pack! I have a tons of laundry to finish and keep the house in order. I know as soon as I get home from work I will be ready for bed! Good thing Deric is great at keeping the house clean. I think he has done most of it the last few weeks!  I have deep cleaned the bathrooms a few times. So I am holding my own!
 As you can see I didn't do a hair tip this week. Sorry! I know I haven't done much of anything this weekend but I didn't make time to do a tip this week!  I promise I will have extra awesome one next time!

Braids

I am sure most of you have seen the "headband" braids and wondered how to get that look. Do you just want to know how to braid your own hair or your child's hair. Well this is the tip you have been searching for!! Hopefully I can help you out!

  First off you need to know there are two types of French Braids.  There is a traditional FB... which the hair sits even with the scalp. This is the braid what most of us grew up with. Inside out F.B is the other choice. The inside out braid is not all that different process. When you are  FB braiding hair the traditional way  you grab extra hair and add it to the top. Well, the inside out braid you add the extra hair to the bottom or "under" the hair. You will end up with this type of look

You can take this technique of braiding and do the headband braid... like this picture below. Most of my clients want to know how to get this look.

                           Here is a video of me braiding my hair as well as more braided styles.

If you have a little girl who won't sit still for you long enough to braid her hair. I have a few tips. Now I am no expert in child behavior but I have a few tricks I use when I am doing kid's hair. First, if she is so wiggly sit her on your counter right in front of the mirror. Kids love to watch themselves in the mirror, I think it helps them see what you are doing. If that isn't helping try feeding them a snack! I give snacks for all my wiggly clients.  I know I have a one up because I have the "cool" hair and all the gadgets to look at. One tool kids LOVE it the "tickle brush" . This is the big fluffy brush I use to clean the hair off the neck. Break out a bigger make-up brush. I swear the kiddos love it! If you can't get the mirror, snack trick , or brush to work, try getting someone else to play or read a book to them while you braid their hair. It will take time to get them used to you messing with their hair. Don't expect her to allow you to do it the first time, especially if she is a toddler who has never had her hair braided.   But most of all practice on a adult friend or yourself before you attempt it on child. They have no patiences for you to "figure" it out on their hair!

Dress Your Hair Up

 

This weeks hair tip is all about products and accessories. I am loving that the trend for 2010 is lots of hair accessories. I love wearing cute headband or scarfs in my hair. This is also a easy way to dress up a pony tail or add to your short hair style!

I am seeing in all the magazines that big headbands like these are really popular this year.

I have many headbands that I have bought over the past couple of months. I love that it will dress up a tee and jeans in a instant! Or if I have a bad hair day and just want to throw a ponytail in I have a headband to dress it up. I am not much of JUST a ponytail.... it has to look like I did something to my hair!
I have a few of these braided headbands and they are super cute. I got them at Forever 21 for under $4.00.
Hats are a trend this year too. I have a few hats that I like to sport! :)

When it comes to hair products I have a list of the ones I like.Ihe list could go on forever! I used to be in LOVE with Big Sexy Hair. But over time it seemed to just build up in my hair and the longer my hair got the "gummier" the product felt on my scalp. Nothing against all their products. This just shows it good to change it up.I don't mind using products as long as I don't feel it in my hair!  Lately,  I have been loving my Kenra products. Kenra has line two lines of product.. Kenra Platinum and Kenra Classic. Quality. Haircare. You can see the difference right away. the Platinum line is super shiny sliver packaging and the Classic is in matte sliver packaging. I am sure you can tell from packaging the Platinum is for complete shine!

Kenra has different holds to their products like most lines. I use their 25 hairspray, this is the hardest hold but it still is easy to comb out and shampoo out.  This hairspray won the stylist choice award.

 I have also found that Kenra Curl Defining Cream works best for my natural curls. I mentioned it in my last hair tip post.  It never makes it look wet and helps eliminate any frizz. I use this also when I am just curling my hair with a normal curling iron. I use it to separate the curls.  It adds bounce and shine to my hair. May I mention that the smell is amazing!!!!

The other product that I love more than the Kenra Defining Creme is Paul Mitchel's "Super Skinny Serum"

Even though these are the products that I love the most, doesn't mean they are the best for you. If you have oily hair you do not need to be using the skinny serum. But if you have dry, stressed hair like mine... a dime size is all you will need.  Most people need a GOOD shampoo and conditioner. You don't need to spend a ton of money on these... but PLEASE buy  salon hair care. Many "chain" salons run deals ALL the time. You can sometimes find better deals on salon products that what you can get off  a Wal-Mart shelve.  Start with a brand that you have heard of the most, good price, and of course it has to smell good! I suggest you stay away from products that have a lot of sulfate and alcohol in it. Most hairspray have alcohol... they have to have it in it. But there is no need for shampoo and conditioner to have it.  If you are new to buying professional products start with a shampoo, conditioner, and a hairspray. These are the products that you will use the most and you will see the difference professional products make! It is pretty easy to figure out what "type of shampoo/conditioner you will need ... if your hair is
                                                        dry get  moister shp/con
                                                         flat hair get volume
                                                        colored get colored treated
 There are even brands for gressy/oily, curly, thin, and thick hair. All you have to do is look for it!
You have your hair for life why ruin it with products that are full of silicon, wax, and alcohol that will just dry it out. When you can invest a bit more in professional products and you know your hair will be shiner, healthier, and worth every penny. Salon hair care will safe you money over time, because you will find you don't need to use as much product. I can go months without buying products and I style my hair everyday sometimes twice a day!!

Curly Hair

Here is your hair tip of the week....

How to diffuse your natural curly hair.

Most of you that have curly hair probably already use a diffuser. But I get asked if they are using the diffuser correctly. Some people still get a lot of frizz in the hair after they diffuse and that is not good. The Diffuser is suppose to eliminate more or all the frizz if you use it correctly.This video is how I style my hair when I wear it curly. I hope you learn something from it!

Here are a few other things I didn't mention in the video. If your hair is ringlet curls, try twisting your hair around it's self then diffuse it. It will dry better and then just take a curl paste and seperate. If you plan on putting your hair up after you dry it... make sure it is all the way dry or your curls will frizz. Remember no squeezing\ scrunching the hair until it is pretty much dry!!! Let the diffuser do the work!!!!

                                                    This is the picture with the curling iron used.
                                    I just picked up pieces of hair and curled them with my 3\4 in. iron

Happy Mother's Day

First ... Happy Mother's Day to our moms, Janice and Linda!!! Thank you for being such wonderful Moms. I hope I am as great as a mom you both are. Hopefully this time next year I will be celebrated by my own child. We can't wait to see you both in a few weeks we miss you!!

I have had a fun weekend. I met up with some girls Friday night. We went to dinner and went to see the movie "Babies". It was a good movie. It was neat to see how the different cultures. Somethings that happened in the movie I would never in a million years think it is was "ok". But it them its is normal and how things are done! What is neat to see is how even though the babies are in different parts of the world and are in totally different cultures, they all go through the same milestones no matter how "horrible" their life setting is.
The movie documents the babies from birth to about their first birthday. Deric said it only opened in about 400 city across the U.S. I think it is worth seeing and want Deric to Netflix it.

Last night we went to our church's Saturday Night service. We usually don't attend church on Saturday night but Ms. Ana Kate was being dedicated. Ana Kate was so stinking cute. She will be 3 in August... we have the same birthday! She talked in the microphone a fews times and ended her dedication with a bow! Candace (her mom) said she had no idea where Ana Kate got the idea to bow from. She had never done that before. The funniest thing Ana Kate did was as soon as she got up on the stage she kept saying "Where Manda!!" and waving at me in the crowd. I of course loved every minute of it waving back.... I almost stood up so she would see me! I LOVE the fact that Ana Kate loves me.... she is so sweet and funny. She talks so much for only being 2 1\2 years old.

This picture is so blurry but it was a sweet moment!

Ana Kate doesn't drink out of a bottle.That is for a fundraiser at church she just wanted to hold the bottle!

I really enjoyed the service last night. The service last night brought tears to my eyes... the moment little Ana Kate's face was on the big screen and Candace talking about how they adopted her did me in. Also the music and sermon last night were wonderful. I think it helped that the setting was more intimate with only about 70 to 100 people at the service. We are used to Sunday mornings with about 1,000 people at our 9:30 service! I felt the Lord's presence last night.

In other news I am feeling MUCH better. Deric still feels yucky... allergies and stuffed up still. I have gotten all my flowers planted and I have plans for more!! LOL I think I add something every year! I am wanting to add some bushes in the side yard by our gate. It needs to look better over there... it is always a muddy mess. Here is picture of my new planter I showed you empty a few weeks ago. I love the way it looks at the front of the house. I will post pictures of my other flowers soon. I want them to get a bit bigger!! LOL

~Update on Divot~

If you know our family then you know Divot's love for a basketball..... It is the best toy ever for him. When we first moved into our house 3 1\2 years ago I gave Divot the basketball he stared and whined at. Little did I know it was a some what expensive basketball that Deric used. The ball goes with us when we go on trips with the dogs... I mean the thing entertains him for hours! The ball has seen better days. This is what it looks like 3 years later.

The ball doesn't even roll anymore. All Divot does is pick it up and run with it in his mouth. I felt bad and figured it was time for a new one. Deric had bought a new on for himself and he ended up donating that one to Divot! Div is in heaven he spends all day playing, he loves that the new one rolls!!! You can see how worn out he gets!! It is too funny.

I am planning on doing the hair tip of the week tonight. I will video it tonight and I am planing on posting it tomorrow. If you have curly hair you will like it and hopefully learn something new!!

"Under the Weather"

Sorry that I haven't gotten this weeks hair tip up yet. I have been fighting allergys all weekend. Today seems a little better, but not great. I went to work yesterday and wished that I would have stayed at home inside!  I promise I will get this week's hair tip up soon! I sound like a 100 year old smoker right now. My throat is still pretty raw and my nose is all plugged up!! LOL

But in other "Bidwell News" after work on Saturday when I still felt normal. I have been so eager to plant this year!  I stopped at the nursery to pick up some flowers. I didn't know what I wanted to get this year. So I wondered around for a bit. While I was at the nursery I ran into Melissa and Chad from "Stafford Stories" blog. Melissa was super sweet! It was nice running into them.  I did find some great flowers and some sweet potato vein! When I got home I got planting right away. I did pick up some trough like flower pots for the deck... that look so pretty!! It adds much needed color to the back yard.  Maybe I spent to much time outside that is why I feel so bad! But my flower beds look GREAT! I will post pictures later!!