Cleaning House, OOTD & Wavy Hair Trick!

What a fun and busy day I've had!  This morning I woke up at around 9:30 and quickly drove over to Starbucks to get my H and I some breakfast and coffees (we had a long day head of us so we needed sustenance!) BTW, my Starbucks breakfast pick is a tall Skinny Vanilla Latte and an egg white, spinach and feta wrap. Yum!

After eating our delish breakfasts, we got right to work and we literally cleaned our home from top to bottom. I'm talking moving furniture, cleaning door frames and indoor/outdoor window cleaning type cleaning. It was the deepest clean I can ever remember us doing.  As you know, we've been stalling on listing our home because we just haven't made the little fixes we've wanted to make---so we finally got on it. We still have a few little spots where we'd like to touch up paint and then we'll be good to go.  It feels amazing to have such a clean home.

I knew we were going to go out later on tonight so I totally skipped showering and makeup this morning and I wore the t-shirt I slept in on Friday night to clean. Oh yes. It was epic. And I took photos of it all (yes, without a drop of makeup! baby steps!)

A couple of things to note:

1.  My ridiculous pink hair clip. I always use these when I'm at home (I have one in right now). I just love clipping the front part of my hair back at home to keep it outta my face. It's a pretty funny look though.

2. My ridiculously short Lululemon shorts. I've had these for a long time but don't wear them a ton. They are super comfy but super short. Since we were just home cleanin' for the day, I thought hey, why not?

3.  Okay, so the last two shots are me being proud of how much more toned my legs are now. I worked out 5 days in a row this week and combined with today's cleaning sesh which involved lots of stair climbing, bending,  and arm strength to clean evetrything, I think I'm doing pretty darn good.  Sometimes, it really does take seeing a picture to see the difference.

Top- Victoria's Secret PINK
Shorts- Lululemon
Shoes- Nike

Okay, so now that you are all done laughing at my crazy hair, I'll move on to today's outfit. 

H and I went to see Bridesmaids tonight (which was hilarious and awesome) and I went for the comfy choice of a cotton maxi dress.  My legs hurt so much today, that I just wanted something flowy and relaxing (ie: not pants)

Yes, that is a scar on my elbow from when I fell as a kid...it's kind of gross looking.

Dress- Forever 21
Necklace- Forever 21
Shoes- I wore my SM bow sandals but didn't have them on here

After having cleaned all day, I was gross and sweaty and we went to dinner with H's parents before the movie so I had to shower and make myself look decent.  I discovered something pretty wonderful recently.  On third (and fourth day) hair that's curled, I have a fun trick that makes it look decent with very minimal effort.

Basically, I first apply Suave dry shampoo to my roots and then use my hairdryer on the low setting and flip my head upside down and mess it up a bit.  Then, I brush out my hair with a round brush. You would THINK this would ruin the curls, but it actually makes them into these magnificent, loose waves that don't get straight or fall flat (at least for me).  After I brush it out, I add some baby powder just on the top and sides of my hair (roots) and then I flip it upside down again and rub in the powder. Then I brush it one more time and voila! Pretty waves that look like I made somewhat of an effort, when really I just slept on my hair and had it in a ponytail as I slaved away cleaning my house.

Please note my hair looks blonder in this photos than it looks in real life.

Before I go, I wanted to show you this gorgeous orchid plant that I got as a thank-you for being a judge for this year's Primavera competition (more on that later) at the Houston Galleria mall.  I thought it worked perfectly with my purple color scheme. What do you ladies think?

Did you do anything fun this weekend?  I am still awake past midnight waiting for my sheets to dry so we can put them on our bed!

xoxo,

Veronika.

Hair Coloring, Spring Cleaning, Couch Shopping & OOTD

Yesterday evening, some work colleagues and I attended an awards dinner for the Houston Association of Black Journalists. It was a great event! Here's what I wore (the dinner was a mix of business and cocktail.)

Dress- Ann Taylor (seen in this haul post); Belt- Club Monaco; Shoes- Paris Hilton "Senorita"; Bracelet- Forever 21.

Gosh I love those bow shoes. I wear them every chance I get! They do hurt a bit towards the end of the night, but hey, a fabulous shoe is worth a little discomfort!

I got my hair done today! At the last minute I chickened-out and canceled my trim. I just got the color (my roots) retouched. Here is how it turned out (my hair looks the same, but brighter since the color is fresh.)


I LOVE fresh color! It just brightens things up and makes hair feel shinier and better. I know it's going to fade all through the summer, but I actually love the faded ends look (kind of like how Gisele's hair is.)

After my hair appointment today, my lovely husband accompanied me on a little errand-running. I had spring cleaning on the brain and wanted to find a shoe rack for our closet. I didn't want the fabric kind or anything that would hang over the door because we have super skinny closet doors. I ended up finding an awesome shoe rack at The Container Store for $19.99 per rack (I purchased two.)

Here's how it turned out:

First, the box, in case anyone wants to know the name/packaging of the product. It's super easy to put together. It took me like 5 minutes to do both of them. They are expandable and assemble with a quick "click."

Ta-da! (and excuse our messy bed/room, like I said, I'm still cleaning) Isn't it great? Now...here it is with the actual shoes on it (it saves SO much space! love it!)

Lulu came to check out the shoe rack. I think he likes it.


I'm keeping my most-worn shoes in the second rack from the bottom.

While at the container store, I also picked up this acrylic makeup brush holder for $6.99. I was tired of having separate containers for my brushes so this was the perfect fix!

As you can see, I also started using Maybelline Great Lash clear mascara as a brow gel. I finally remembered to pick some up a couple of weeks ago. It really does help keep brows in place. Great product, so thanks to those who suggested it!

I was also on the hunt for a new duvet cover/bed sheets today and after visiting Bed, Bath & Beyond, Pottery Barn AND Crate & Barrel to try to find ones I liked (fail) we paid a visit to West Elm where my husband and I fell in love with this gorgeous couch:

We have just started looking for a new couch recently (we plan to try to sell the ones we have now.) It's pretty rare for us to BOTH absolutely love something, so this couch seems like the perfect match for us since we both agree on it.

We tend to like more modern, clean-looking furniture and this couch fits that look to a "T." We also both wanted an L-shaped couch with a long chaise lounge which this set also has. I believe it is called the Tillary couch. The best thing about it is that you can completely re-arrange it to whatever best fits your space and you can also add more pieces to it. All of the pieces and cushions are movable, so you can completely customize the look and layout of the couch. I also really love the fabric. We haven't committed yet, but it is definitely at the top of our list! Plus, if you have a West Elm card, you get 10% back on your purchase to spend in the store!

Do you like the couch we fell in love with? What does YOUR dream couch look like!?


Anyways, we won't be buying for a couple of months or so, but it's nice to start looking and seeing what's out there.

I saw some cute duvet covers and bed sheets at West Elm but I just couldn't decide. The ones I liked were:

The Ruffled Circle Quilt (as a bed cover, in gray) and The Parachute Duvet Cover (in white). I would buy regular white sheets to go with the duvet cover. I don't know why I hesitate so much before making a purchase. I want white sheets/duvet cover because I think our rooms needs more white/brightness. I love our lime green patterned sheets, but I guess I'm ready for something new and fresh for spring/summer. What color are your bedroom sheets?

Before I go, I just had to share this adorable buy from BB&B: a dish scrubbing brush:


It was only $4.99 and it just makes me so happy! I mean, I hate dishes, but they are definitely more tolerable with a cute little flower scrubber :) It just looks so...happy!

I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful Saturday! Have any of you done some spring cleaning? Warmer weather always gets me in the mood to re-do my closet.

I haven't done it yet by my closet needs some MAJOR reorganization so that my summer clothes are easier to access. I reorganize my closet every 6 months or so. That way, the clothes I wear the most are more towards the center of the closet and within reach and my heavier winter clothes can move to other parts of the closet. Am I the only one who does this?

xoxo,

Veronika.