Max'ing it out!

I love wearing maxi dresses.  Below is my latest addition to my collection.  I usually wear earth tone colors, but this little jewel caught my eye.  As the weather gets warmer, I'll post looks from the others that are within 'My Closet'.  Have a great weekend!

Maxi Dress: TJ Maxx

Bolero Tiger's Eye Pendant: Thrift Store

Leather Bracelet: Target

Hobo Bag: Thrift Store

Leather Thong Sandals: Ross

Tiger's Eye Ring: Target

The ring above I've had for years!  It's the same one found in the "Hand in fro" post here.

Spring is in the air! Happy Monday!

Over the weekend, we've had mid 80 degree weather and today we are having a very warm and majestic Mondayy!  Since spring is practically here, I've begun my spring cleaning and will be donating to a local charity items my family and I are no longer having a need for. 

Spring cleaning is tough and what's even tougher is letting go!  My family and I would tell ourselves, I can still use this, or I need to have this just in case.  However, my new thought process this season is this, if we haven't used it or have worn it during the past two years, it must go.  For the items we declare as keepsakes, we have a separate box we put these items in that will make their way up into the attic.  At this time, we have just 1 1/2 boxes of keepsakes, and 5 boxes of things to get rid of.  We are noticing more space becoming available and we (I'm) loving it!

Have a GREAT Monday!

Photo of the day.

Hope you are having a wonderful Saturday! 

I broke the mold!

And re-shaped it to my liking! 

My favorite scented candle is one I purchased from Target a couple of years ago.  The scent is of sandalwood.  On one of my trips to Target to my surprise my beloved sandalwood was on clearance and the store only had a few items left.  I purchased what I could gather and was reluctant to use the candles out of fear that they were the last of the lot.  They were scented so that you could just walk by and could smell the scent.  I love, love the scent of sandalwood!  I love any scent that is earthy, warm and sensual.  These types of scents usually soothe and help me to relax. They put me in a good mood that my husband absolutely adores.  I also love warm, earthy colors and hues. 

I have a few sandalwood candles that I use strictly for decoration, but I wanted to salvage the ones I had already begun burning.  What to do, what to do? 

In attempt to salvage what I already had, I began to gather all of my old candles regardless of color and scent.   The CF candle above was my least favorite, thus I really wanted to upgrade it and the candle I use in my wall sconce was ready for a makeover.  Some containers I'll reuse, like the CF container, my votive above and the votive for my wall sconce.  However, I think I'll use a metal tin and decorate it in an effort to create something new and different for my bathroom.  It is time to break these molds and start again.

 Here are the steps I made:

1.  Use the double boiler method to melt my salvaged candles.  Stirring frequently as the wax melted.
2.  Gathered my container of choice (a clean and dry canning jar), an old birthday candle and melted wax. Placed all items together on protective mat.
3.  Poured melted wax poured into the canning jar.  You can see that the wax is beginning to harden upon contact.
4.  Once wax begins to film over on the top, I then dipped the birthday candle into the wax to coat it a bit to see if the middle section of the wax was beginning to harden. 
5.  After several dipping tests, I then pierced a small hold into a plastic Ziploc and pushed the birthday candle through it.  I then taped the top of the wick to the plastic bag to keep it from falling and getting lost in the wax. 
6.  Several hours later the wax has completely hardened and I removed the plastic covering.
7.  I now have a new scented candle to burn!

It just that simple!  I think what I will do from now on is purchased the cheap candles you find at the everything's a dollar store and create my own candles at home with whatever scent I so choose.  You can find wonderful jars, bowls, etc...at the same dollar store or at your local thrift store!

For more ideas or a different approach to recycling your old candles, check out this link from Lifestyle,  How to recycle your old candles.

Happy creations!

My latest find at Maxx!

Found these at TJ Maxx.  They are platform wedge heel shoes at a height of more than 4".  Standing at 5'10" you'd think that I would pass on these shoes, but no, I had to have them.  I haven't been able to sport them just yet as the weather here has been rainy and cold!  Soon, my little precious...soon we shall walk the streets!

Jessica Simpson's Kassidy Platform Wedge Heels

Braids...Ugh...I give up!

Took out my braids last Friday and re-styled in my beloved twists!  Although I've given up on this style at this time, I may re-visit in a few months.  I haven't quite mastered the technique on me.  I style both of my son's hair in braids and it comes out perfect on them, but for some reason or another, I can't seem to get it right for me.  I'll have to post their look (with their permission) in a later post.

Braids were removed then I used my flat iron, set to low heat, to stretch prior to twisting.

I wear my hair in twists 95% of the time and I only straighten my hair maybe 3 - 4 times a year.  I usually straighten during the cooler months of the year...spring, fall and winter.  Summer months are an absolute no no for me.  Too hard to maintain with the my many outdoor activities.  I don't like to "sweat" out my press. LOL!

My plan is to press my tresses on March 31st!  I haven't done a full press in almost a year, so I can't wait!  I'm due for a trim and hopefully I won't get too scissor happy.  Lots and lots of talk about bangs and beautiful short hairstyles keeping popping up!

Worn out braid-out!

I've been MIA for a whileWell, in my last two posts I mentioned that I began a workout challenge and decided to wear my hair in braids for ease and as my protective style of choice.  My braids held up pretty well even with all of the sports activities I was involved in over the past two weeks (well...week and a half)! Didn't take an image of the braids before I removed them to wear out, but below are images of my braid-out that was a few days old.  I have more of a textured look with the braid-out, which I somewhat like, but I still favor my twist-out instead.  However, for longevity when working out, braids will be my staple protective style of choice.

We've had a lot of rain this week, which makes for very warm and humid days.  My braid-out held up pretty well, but I would re-braid nightly to combat the "afro" affect.  Wearing my hair in an afro this past week was not the look I was going for.  Another time, perhaps, but not this week.  Afros and working out is not a good combination for me.

Plan to wash, condition and re-braid.  Although I'm not a fan of braids on me, I want to love them, so I'll keep up this protective style until I can appreciate it as much as I do my twists.  Let's see if I can create an updo with my braids. 

Braids, the new twists!

My current protective style of choice.  Well, not really my style of choice, but rather a style of necessity.  Braids tend to last longer and look neater after working out than my twists.  However, I'm not too fond of braids on me, but that's probably because I'm usually wearing my hair in twists.

Here I've just washed and conditioned my strands and applied MA to the section then proceeded to braid.  The white cream is normal and will disappear once hair begins to dry.

 To move quickly, I always add MA to the back of my hand then emulsify it.  I then take some of the cream from the back of my hand and apply to the strand of hair prior to braiding (or twisting).

Here's a look at my braids after sitting under the hooded dry for 30 minutes.  My hair is not completely dry, thus as always, I will allow the braids to air dry for the remainder of the day.   My wash days are always early in the morning.  That is my "me" time when my family is asleep.  I can move a lot quicker this way without having to stop for, "Where's my ...?", "Can you iron my...?", "Is breakfast ready?", etc...  For my next set of braids I think I'll make them a bit larger.

If you still look pretty when you are done...

you did it wrong.  Wow, what a statement!  No more excuses!!!  Gotta start building a healthier, stronger me! 

Thanks Tamrin for the images!

Thanks Tamrin for the image!

Thanks Tamrin for the image!

I saw the above images and I became motivated to begin a new way of thinking about exercising and becoming more fit.   I didn't want to think of exercising as a dreaded chore that needed to be done in order to lose a few pounds.

Recently, my thought process has changed for the better. Today, I want to exercise not only to lose a few pounds or inches when needed, but because it's now a conscience choice on becoming more fit and being strong!  I've decided that my hair has to take a back seat to my fitness program, well...maybe the seat next to my fitness program.  Fitness for my body is important to me, but so is my hair's health as well. LOL!  The picture above states that if you are still pretty after working out then you did it wrong.  Well, I believe that there's a way to still be somewhat cute after a hard work out, so let the challenge begin!

This past Monday I began a fitness challenge to exercise daily.  I've purchased an electric exercise bike and I  ride it daily for 45 minutes on moderate (levels 1 - 3).  Next week, I will move the levels up to 4 - 6  and increase my levels weekly. I'm doing 60 sit ups and twenty push ups daily. 

.

"If you still look pretty when you're done, you did it wrong", but I still want my hair to look decent when I'm done. I don't have time to redo it after every workout. The only style I know of at this time to achieve a decent look after a workout is box braids.  I don't like box braids on me, but I will sport these over the next month since I am on a braid/twist challenge until 3/31.  However, for this past week I sported twists.  I wore the hair out this day (Friday) and took a few pics.

Today (Saturday) was wash day for me and I'm currently under my hooded dryer drying my freshly done box braids.  Again, I'm not a fan of box braids on me, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do to keep her hair and body looking tight!