7.31.2012

{Product Review} Original Sprout Tahitian Collection



As a licensed cosmetologist of 6 years, finding the perfect product can be a daunting task. There are so many to choose from, and knowing what which one is perfect for your hair type can make you want to pull your hair out!
I got the opportunity to do a review for the company  Original Sprout. They carry a wonderful  line of bathing and hair products. Originally geared towards baby and children, but most recently launching a new line for the Mommies (& Daddies). I have been a FAITHFUL Original Sprout user for the last 3 years. I use their baby line on both of my kids and SWEAR by every product! What makes this line great and different from others, it's a CLEAN product, which means it doesn't contain those nasty ingredients that we are always trying to avoid (but still seem to be in EVERYTHING!) It is especially great for those who have allergies to many things (It's Gluten Free, Dairy and Soy Free, No Oils or other irritants that may cause concern)

OK, so lets get down to the knitty-gritty! 
To get the FULL use out of this product, I enlisted the help of my Mother. Her hair type is completely different than mine, which I thought would make great for the review (2 different hair types are better than one, right!?) She has very thick, highlighted, curly hair, that frizzes at the just the thought of humidity! (It's probably frizzing right now, as we are talking about it!) And I have wavy, medium, color treated hair. We both used it for a week in place of our regular products.

I have to say from my side, I am in love with this product! It smells great, and doesn't have that lingering perfumey smell that most tend to have and leave you with a headache. The shampoo makes your hair feel smooth after rinsing, in my experience most leave your hair feeling some what dry and aching for you to slather the conditioner on. And the conditioner is just AWESOME! I leave it on for about 5 minutes then rinse in cool water to seal in the moisture. My hair has never felt better! For me it dries soft and smooth with minimal frizzing. I feel like I can get away without using any post shower smoothing gels. 
My mom  had just about the same feelings as I did. Although, hers still had the frizzing issue (just one of those things she has to deal with). She loved the smell and feel of her hair afterwards. 

I also used on my kids as well since it is such a CLEAN product. Loved that it kept my daughters hair manageable and soft in between baths and hair brushing.

Overall I think that if you choose to go with this product, you will not be disappointed! It is a little on the pricier side, but in my honest opinion it is well worth the extra dollars! 
You can order directly from their website 
If you are local to the San Luis Obispo area, check out Kahuna Kids in Paso Robles, Ca. They carry the full Original Sprout line and can answer any questions you might have about it while you're there, cause they are awesome like that!!

7.30.2012

Oh Monday...

Totally just self diagnosed myself with a {case of the Monday's}
Just can't seem to get motivated to do really anything. Although I got in my daily vacuum, I find myself sitting here wondering where the heck my energy is. 
IT'S 4:30!!! 
So much for all that coffee. 
I guess I better get my butt in gear and get dinner made for the family. Luckily it's spaghetti, so I can basically
cook it with my eyes closed.
{SIGHS}
Looking forward to an eventful Tuesday!!

{RECIPE} Yummy Pancakes

Wanted to make pancakes for breakfast, but I had run out of sugar!! YIKES!!
Now what?... 
Decided to do a little experimenting, and a lot of praying that what ever I whipped up would be edible!
To my surprise, my NEW pancakes actually turned out great. I even got the Hubby's approval (so you know they are good!)

Cinnamon Delight Pancakes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk (I used Almond Milk)
3 tbsp butter (melted)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

In a medium bowl, mix all your dry ingredients together. Add your milk, egg, vanilla and melted butter and mix until you have no more lumps. On a greased pan set to medium heat, spoon out about 1/4 cup at a time. Cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side.
Makes about 12 pancakes

We enjoyed ours with some sweet Agave Syrup!
I will definitely be making these again!!
ENJOY


{Weekend iPhone Photo Rewind}

Hope you all had a FABULOUS weekend!! 
We had some gorgeous weather here in California, warm but nice!
Had a busy FUN Saturday and Sunday!
Spent Saturday cleaning and organizing (not super fun, but was glad to get it done).
Did my Grandmas hair Sunday morning, she was happy to see the kiddos.
Then we were off to my Mom's place, I took pictures for her of my other Grandma's gorgeous gardens. A little quiet time to myself while I captured the blooming flowers and busy little bees.
 
We also had a little BBQ with my Hubby's parents. Elk Burgers from an Elk the Hubs Uncle shot up in Oregon. 
Surprisingly, it was pretty AMAZING, no gamey taste at all. 
The kids had fun jumping all over Grandma and Grandpa, and also got to play in their new sandbox!
(I also got a new bubble gun from Michael's, it was 80% off, spent $.75 on it!! 
And got them these cute litte rakes and bug catches, they were like $.80 a piece!)
My weekend would not be complete with out a trip to Starbucks and Target. 
I ordered my new FAVORITE drink, Trenta Cool Lime Refresher with Lemonade. Kinda OBSESSED with it. And because I ordered a Refresher and I have a GOLD card, I got a FREE Strawberry Lemonade Refresher, it was YUMMY!!
Headed to Target to get my usually purchases; Almond Milk, Soda, Snackies...
Picked up some new makeup too!! My friend had suggested the Physicians Formula Bronzer, Vegas Strip. LOVE it!! I also got a Kabuki Brush by ELF. For $3, it's a very nice brush! And I also grabbed a few ELF eye shadows. You buy an empty palette, $1. Choose 4 different eye shadow shades, $1 ea. I have never used the line before, but for being so inexpensive, it held up great!

7.28.2012

{DIY} Elastic Dispenser

Ok, this is kind of a no brainer. 
I have been trying FOREVER to find a way to organize my elastic I use to make my headbands, but also functional at the same time. 
I figured this might help someone who was in the same predicament as me. 
PREDICAMENT SOLVED!
Plus, who doesn't LOVE using mason jars... 
(If you don't, then this isn't for you then and you are missing out on the mason jar GREATNESS!)


Materials:
Mason Jars (I used the small 6 oz jars)
Heavy Duty Puncher
Sandpaper
So basically, you're going to punch a hole....See I told you, NO BRAINER!
I punched it a few times just to make the hole a tad bigger.
Then sand the top and bottom, to remove any sharp pokies.

I then wound the elastic around my hand, placed in jar and BOOM! 
Kinda cute Right!?
I am thinking I should paint the tops or add some fun paper to SASS it up a little.

*If you are looking for Skinny Elastic, check out Bitsy Bands. They have TONS of fun colors and 
different styles of elastic. Plus they are reasonably priced and ship fast!*





7.26.2012

{THANKFUL Thursday} AMAZING Pediatricians!

Today Lil Man had his 16 month Well Check visit. 
Weighed in at 23 lbs and is 31 1/2 inches long!!
Can't believe how much he has grown since he was born, kind crazy to think that about a year and a half 
ago he was this tiny 7 lb little squirt! GEEZ time sure does fly!
I have to say, I got so lucky in choosing our pediatrician for our kids. Well, it was actually pretty easy, I was one of his first patients when he started almost 26 years ago. (Oh Dear, I am aging...)
I continued to see him until I was about 18... Guess it would be time to find a regular doctor...
So when it came time to find the PERFECT doctor to see my children, it was kind of a no brainer! 
He is the most down to earth man and so easy going. The kids LOVE him!
He always makes sure that his little patients are well taken care of and thoroughly answers any CRAZY MOM questions I may have. Always assures me that I am a great Mom and raising BEAUTIFUL children (well, I think so too...)
I love that he supports my option to spread out vaccinations and never makes me feel like anything that I am doing as a parent is wrong.
And all of the girls in the office are amazing as well! 
I am so THANKFUL that my little ones are blessed with such an exceptional Pediatrician!!

7.23.2012

Fun Filled Weekend!

What a great weekend we had!! Laramie went and spent some time at GiGi's house. They went shopping and swimming for hours! And Laramie made a new little friend, my mom's puppy Reagan (Laramie was not happy to leave her.)
While Laramie was soaking up some sun with GiGi, Gunnar and I enjoyed some time together as well.
We had to do some grocery shopping and make a TARGET run (poor me right!) LOL I had to bribe him with a toy to make it through the entire shopping trip, but we made it out in one piece!
Made a much needed stop by STARBUCKS (tried their Lime Refresher for the first time...LOVE IT!) And I wouldn't be a true STARBUCKS addict if I didn't get 2, YES 2 drinks! Love my Black Tea Lemonade!! To avoid traffic and to let the little guy sleep I took a country back road home, and enjoyed the lovely scenery.  I also grabbed the kids these little JUICE bottles, they were too cute to say no to. Wood and Buzz are some top notch guys in our house right now!
While putting my mound of groceries away, I SKYPED with lil miss and listened to her silly jibberish (I completely missed it too much!) Although she couldn't sit still enough for me to see her entire cute face!

To top the weekend off, I took Laramie to her FIRST concert at the Mid State Fair! Well, I guess it would really be her second, I went and saw KISS when I was about 6 months pregnant with her (she liked that concert too).
Although The Fresh Beat Band almost didn't happen! I went to grab our tickets to put in my purse and I could not find them! I searched and searched and searched!! Ripped my house apart several times and even went through the trash! (That was a dirty job!) But could not find them ANY WHERE! I had almost given up on going, when I decided to call the Fair to see about getting them reprinted, sure enough the AWESOME lady on the phone said they would have them at Will Call for me!! 
THANK YOU SWEET BABY JESUS! 
( I am convinced I will find them at some point, in the most obvious place too)


 We made it to the concert!! She was screaming with EXCITEMENT when they came out on stage!! It was the cutest moment!!

After she had a complete meltdown after only being there for about 10 minutes, she calmed down enough and get her groove on!! She was running up and down the aisle, even stopping for this family and dancing for them!
 And we made it through the concert! She sang songs and danced her little heart out!
We attempted an Ice Cream cone, but that didn't go over well, so we switched to Kettle Corn. That was a complete HIT! 
(Of course the Fair wouldn't be complete with out a Cinnamon Roll, 
Corn Dog, Smoothies and Carbonated Yummyness!)
On our way home she didn't even make it 5 minutes, and she was OUT! 
The day was a SUCCESS!!!
To top it all off, I came home to a clean house courtesy of my AMAZING Hubs! 
Fun weekend indeed!!

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