This is Fall

Minnesota has been ROCKIN' this fall. The weather has been PERFECT! We have had so many beautiful days and I am grateful we have been able to spend so much time outside so late in the year as we all know it's just a matter of time before it snows and I am permanently crabby for 5 months.

Over the weekend we took Kenley to pick out pumpkins! This kid LOVES pump-pins. Everywhere we go she spazzes when she sees a pumpkin - so imagine her joy when she saw HUNDREDS of them. She literally picked out the very first pumpkin she saw which was a perfectly tiny little Kenny pumpkin. Having a kiddo really does make everything more fun, doesn't it?

takin' care of my hair

My hair has been a hot mess for quite some time as you may recall from my post on postpartum hair loss. The haircut I got at the beginning of September definitely helped the health of my hair and my stylist gave me great tips on how to style my hair to cover up the massive regrowth, but there was a key ingredient I was still missing....

the right hair products. 

You guys, my prayers have been answered! Let me introduce you to the Dove Pure Care Dry Oil collection. 

For starters, the products are infused with pure drops of natural oils {you know how much I love oils} and use unique Dry Oil technology allowing them to absorb deep in to the hair resulting in perfectly silky hair. I kid you not, my hair has not felt this soft since I was pregnant and I noticed the difference after just one use.

Because I have been so focused on getting my hair to grow, I have been doing my best do avoid blow drying, straightening and curling my hair when possible. The last thing I want to do is damage it even more, but now that I have the Nourishing Hair Treatment at my fingertips, I feel much better about actually putting time in to styling my hair because I trust it is protected. I just use a couple of pumps on my wet hair and it protects and nourishes my hair without making it feel heavy or greasy!

The soft hair is great, the wonderful ingredients are awesome but for me, the best part of the Dove Pure Care Dry Oil collection is that is helps my style STAY! My hair is very heavy and thick so no matter how I style it it always seems to fall flat after an hour. I've been so impressed with the staying power of my hair style since starting with this hair care system.

If you don't believe me, try the products for yourself! Dove Hair is challenging all of you to a "Dove Silky Hair Dare" where you can try the Dove Pure Care Dry Oil collection risk free between now and December 31st!

*If you are not completely satisfied with the Dove Advanced Hair Series Pure Care Dry Oil system, Dove will refund your purchase (from 9/21 – 12/31). Visit hairmoneyback.com for details

So what are you waiting for?!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

essentially obsessed

Last night me and my buddy, Sara, attended the doTERRA 2014 Asprire Post-Convention Tour, which is a very long title to an awesome event filled with oil enthusiasts talking about oils.

And now, if it's possible, I am even more obsessed with essential oils! Any of you who have emailed me about oils have experienced my passion first hand with an incredibly lengthy email in return. I just can't help myself! I am amazed by what these oils can do! I had terrible cramps a couple weeks ago - rubbed some clary sage on my belly and they were GONE. I had a really bad wine related headache on Saturday morning - a drop of peppermint on my temples and it was GONE. Kenley has a really bad yeast diaper rash that was not clearing up with lotions or cream - made my own cream with Melaleuca + Lavender + Unrefined Virgin Coconut Oil and it's clearing right up!

Seriously you guys, this stuff is LEGIT. Not to mention it is an amazing way to make some extra cash money for those of you who are in to that kind of thing. I am so filled with ideas and excitement on different ways to share the power of oils I just don't even know where to start! I am definitely planning on composing more oil related posts to share and teach all of you the benefits from all the different oils and doTERRA products but I want to know from you - WHAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW? I totally get being on the skeptic side of oils and thinking "aren't essential oils for hippies?" Believe me. I thought oil users were cray-cray. So what can I share with you to make you not think I've gone completely off the deep end? 

Also, I just had to share this video because this is TOTALLY who I am becoming. So-Dang-Funny.

Book Club :: The Woman Who Wasn't There

I feel pretty grown up and pretty darn cool saying that I am in a book club. My high school girlfriends decided that we needed to find an excuse to get together on a regular basis {outside of weddings and baby showers} and figured a book club was the perfect way. Our very first meeting was a raging success filled with wine, pizza and actually talking about books {we weren't entirely confident we would ever actually discuss books at our book club and were prepared to be more of just a club}. For our first read we decided on The Woman Who Wasn't There by Robin Gaby Fisher and Angelo J. Guglielmo, Jr. 

This book is about a 9/11 survivor with an incredible story about her experience in the South Tower and her husband who died in the North Tower. This women uses her incredible story to spearhead a 9/11 survivors network and works tireless to help heal survivors suffering from survivor guilt and get their group noticed and heard amongst all the support geared towards families who lost loved ones and the rescuers. But it turns out, much of this story doesn't match up. 

Synopsis via Amazon.com: "Tania Head’s astonishing account of her experience on September 11, 2001, was a tale of loss and recovery, of courage and sorrow, of horror and inspiration. It transformed her into one of the great victims and heroes of that tragic day. But there was something very wrong with Tania’s story—a terrible secret that would break the hearts and challenge the faith of all those she claimed to champion. 

Told with the unique insider perspective of Angelo J. Guglielmo, Jr., a filmmaker shooting a documentary on the efforts of the Survivors’ Network, and previously one of Tania’s closest friends,The Woman Who Wasn’t There is the story of one of the most audacious and bewildering quests for acclaim in recent memory—one that poses fascinating questions about the essence of morality and the human need for connection at any cost."

Overall, I thought this was a good book. It's always interesting reading about 9/11 and this book was no exception. I did feel like the book was filled was a lot of unnecessary information that really didn't add anything to the story - it felt like the authors were just throwing in some historical information just to beef up the content. I was also a little disappointed in the ending. Going in I knew the gyst of how it would end, but overall I thought it was a bit anti-climatic. But, with that being said, it's a quick and interesting read that will definitely inspire some post-read google time to find out more about this woman who told a pretty incredible lie and maintained it for quite some time. 

Next up for book club, Where'd You Go, Bernadette?

Anyone read either of these books?

Thoughts?

I'm Back!

If you read my last post, you know I've been in a bit of a rut. Life is really great right now but I was feeling super unorganized and out of control. Some prayers, some focus and an amazing career change have me feeling back on track and hopeful that I can get myself in a routine that will help me not only feel more sane but will help me reach my goals.

I've mentioned a few times before that I have several different jobs, and technically I still do, but thanks to an awesome twist of fate I'm focusing my energies on one of my jobs that will give me structure and routine but will still allow me to be a mom and spend time with my baby girl. 

So what have I been up to you ask...?

Since leaving my full time job in March, I have been working part time at a coffee shop near my house. I absolutely love it and it brings me back to my Coffee Buzz days. Sure being a barista is a little different than owning your own shop but I love to make drinks and love to make connections with regular customers - and I'm pretty good at it (if I do say so myself). While it's been a fun job, it's not what I want to do the rest of my life. However, I was having a hard time giving it up completely so I am keeping one shift a week (my favorite Friday morning line out the door craziness shift) for fun and for the coffee discount. 

I am also doing the social media for my Aunt's women's golf clothing line Tzu Tzu Sport as well as helping her with trunk shows and other odd jobs. I am so proud of my Auntie and am amazed by the brand she has created and the success she has seen in such a short time. Tzu Tzu is destined for big things and I am excited and proud to be a part of it.

I also do the social media for a local juice company called Zula. I've written about my experience with one of their juice cleanses in the past and that post helped build a relationship with the owners that eventually led to a job! Zula is the ONLY 100% organic, raw, cold pressed juice company in Minnesota and I love how passionate they are about health and spreading information on healthy living. It's really fun to help this awesome husband & wife duo! 

Then, of course, you know about my at-home job of being a mama-wife-blogger. I love being a mom more than anything (and love being a wife too) and really love my blog. It kind of amazed me that it has become a small little spending money income for me. I love to write and love the connections I have made through this blog. This is something that is 100% me and I love that. I hate that I've been such a slacker on the blog front and am anxious to find my blogging mojo again and make this little piece of the internet a priority once again. 

Most recently, I have also become a Wellness Advocate for doTERRA Essential Oils. This passion and opportunity just kind of fell in my lap and I absolutely love that I can make some money while sharing this incredible product. I'm amazed by what essential oils can do and am excited to learn more and grow within the company. 

And FINALLY, I have been helping my dear friend Sara Jayne with her photography business over the past few months. It has been so much fun and I have really loved helping her with all sorts of random things from culling photos, writing blog posts and watching her baby boy during shoots. My prayers were majorly answered when Sara asked me to become a more permanent employee of Sara Jayne Photography. I will be helping with the same things but will now be focusing my attention on her business which I love so much. I am so excited to help Sara and am excited to see where these next few months take me and Sara Jayne Photography. I am so grateful for my friendship with Sara and feel so honored that she trusts me to help her. I just know we are going to do great things together and I am so excited for my first official day TODAY! 

breaking point

This is one of those sit at the keyboard and let it all out kind of posts, so I apologize if it does not flow or isn't grammatically correct. I assure you I haven't been drinking, just need a way and a place to clear my head. 

I've recently had one of those days moms joke about, ya know the ones where all you want to do is lock yourself in the bathroom with a pint of gelato and cry/ignore everyone and everything.

It was a perfect storm of chaos and frustration that has been building up for a while. 

For one, I have a two-year-old. Kenley is a great kid and I am so proud of how well-behaved and self-sufficient she is. However, she is two. She needs to be entertained, she knows what she wants, and she doesn't yet understand that she doesn't always get everything she wants right when she wants it. She is also very much testing the waters to see what she can and cannot get away with. I love her SO MUCH! And love spending time with her SO MUCH! But sometimes being the mama of a toddler is taxing and tiring!

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Additionally, this two year old has a lot of stuff. And I have a lot of stuff. And Jason has a lot of stuff. Our townhouse is not all that big and it seems that our stuff just keeps multiplying and expanding and taking over. I find myself getting easily overwhelmed by the mess and the clutter. 

On top of that I am working multiple "mini-jobs" as I like to call them. I love what I am doing and love the mix of out-of-house-work and working-from-home but I don't have a schedule. Every week is different, in fact every day is different. Combine that with the fact that Jason is in sales and has a very varying schedule along with relying on my busy family for her care when Jason and I are both working away from home makes me go a little nutty. I feel like I am doing all of these things and not doing any of them well. 

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I have also lost all motivation to eat healthy & work out. I have not only been fluctuating between the same dang 5 pounds since June which is uber discouraging but I am totally an emotional eater so I've been making poor choices to cope with my inability to get my shit together. On top of that I have broken BOTH of the FitBit bands that came with my FitBit and my stupid Tory Burch one doesn't clasp right so it always falls off and therefore I am too afraid to wear it. I'm not making time to work out because I am just not motivated to do it. Meal planning has pretty much been out the window and therefore scrounging and eating random crap has become the norm around here.

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All my goals, plans, ideas, etc. seem to just be slipping because I am too overwhelmed by the big picture and just shut down as a result. 

As I read this back, I realize I sound like I am both complaining and making a ton of excuses, but that certainly is not my intent. I LOVE my life. This is me just finally hitting that breaking point and realizing that I need to do something to make this lifestyle work for me and my family so that I don't get so easily stressed and overwhelmed. Like I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I am bad at baby steps, but figuring out how to implement some baby steps and every day habits to work towards an overall goal of not being a basket case just needs to happen.

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side note: I added the ecards after writing the post and found all of them in one of my Pinterest boards. If you have a "Funnies" board where you keep all the funny stuff you come across, go look at it after a rough day! It totally helps! 

I will leave you with this because it has absolutely NOTHING to do with this post or my life but made me laugh out loud for like 5 straight minutes. 

"Chicken Strip"