Most weekdays this is my life:

Can I get an amen!

Today was a rare occasion. For some reason I was up and at 'em as soon as my alarm went off (this NEVER happens). So I decided to take full advantage of this extra time, and actually do my hair before work (this also NEVER happens). Yesterday my friend Allison shared with me this blog www.pinkpistachio.com, the girl is adorable and has lots of beauty tips and tutorials. I remembered the tips in this particular blog post (http://www.pinkpistachio.com/give-it-to-me-straight/) about washing and straightening (apparently I've been shampooing ALL wrong) and decided to try them out.

Shampoo & Condition
Lather up your shampoo in your hands before massaging it into your hair. WHY? If you put directly into your hair, and THEN lather…you’re creating unnecessary frizz, breakage, and added build-up. The water can’t wash away the shampoo when it’s in such a concentrated form (thus the build-up). Rinse. Condition from roots to ends (yes, even the roots). Let sit and before rinsing, lather more shampoo into your roots only, before rinsing both condition and shampoo away with cold water (sealing the hair follicle).

After The Wash
Run a brush through your mane, upside down, from end to roots. Ring out the excess water. Wrap a towel around it and let it rest on top of your noggin’. CAUTION: DO NOT FALL TO THE TEMPTATION TO RUB DRY!!! One, you’re not a dog. Two, you’ll only add extra frizz and breakage! No, no, NO! Behave already.

The Blow Dry
Remove the towel upside down. Whhaaat? Yes, bend over. Look at your cute lil’ toesies for the next 7-10 minutes and try not to pass out. DO NOT USE A BRUSH to smooth out the kinks from the towel. Just leave it be. Blow completely dry on high, hot, heat… ONLY USING FINGERS if moving the hair around is necessary. Once COMPLETELY dry (damp is not dry. don’t cheat, or your hair will be flat) flip your hair back. You should now be standing right side up and your mane will be wildness! This is a good sign.

Um…hi bloodrush?
Turn your blow dryer to the coldest setting on high. Use your fingers to pull your hair straight up towards the ceiling while concentrating the cold air at the roots. Got the pic? Lifting the hair, while blasting the roots with “cold shots”. Do this all over the crown and sides of your head.
Your hair should now be even more WiLd!!! RAWR!! You’re doin’ it right…TRUST ME!

Ironing
Pretend you’re pulling your hair back into a ponytail using a claw clip. Leave a little of the underneath and flat iron it. Start about 2 inches away from the roots. By ironing at the base of the roots, you’re deflating all of your hard work! Now, wouldn’t that be a shame. Work your way up, letting more hair down each time. You should end up with a lil’ ponytail just for the crown. Now The Crown: Start from the back and work to the front (forehead). I take small sections and flatiron straight up towards the ceiling (remember, we’re not gettin’ the bad boy iron anywhere near the roots). Don’t worry about your “part”. This comes later. You’re working from the back forward, straight up the center (Have I lost you? Maybe a video tutorial would’ve been helpful?)…

The Spray
Teasing, isn’t just for the 80′s. Yet another confession: I tease. And so will you in 3 sections: crown, right side, & left side. Take the back section of your crown and slightly tease using a paddle brush. NO FINE TOOTH COMBS ALLOWED! Lightly spray at the roots. Repeat the “light” teasing on the left and right sides of your crown. Again, spraying at the roots afterwards.

The Part
Using a comb to part is only reserved for elderly grandpas in adorable suspenders. We use fingers. We’re not creating a clean line, unless doing what my loverbuns calls, “the booty crack” straight up the center. Center parts are cute for the right looks, but for side parts – we use the fingers! With one hand on each side of the location of the desire part, pretend you’re digging for buried treasure by brushing hair out of the way. It will create a more natural look. Turning the finger into a pointer is not the objective…might as well bust out the comb! Buried treasure…is the key! Use a light all-over-go-around with the spray. If you experiment with keeping your fingers in your roots while you spray, you’ll create depth and “pieciness”.
You should now look so gorgeous that your mirror gets jealous!

you wont catch me taking step by step photos of myself in the morning, and for that... you're welcome

At first I was skeptical of the whole "dont brush your hair while you blow dry" thing b/c my hair gets VERY tangly. But it actually worked out just fine. My hair also got way less tangled than it usually does by using her shampoo/conditioning method. There are a few things I do/did differently than her. First I added a little bit of product to my hair before blow drying, just some styling mousse, otherwise my hair is too soft, second, I wash my hair more than once every 4-5 days like she does. But all in all I would definitely recommend giving this a try!

I'm not going to take any side angled iphone self portraits of myself to prove to you that this process works, so you're just going to have to take my word for it that I'm having a good hair day (AT WORK!) My boss will probably worry that I have an interview or something.

Football season is here! Now I'd be lying if I told you I was excited about this due to love of the game, that's 100% not true. Pretty much I only really like WATCHING football if I'm actually AT a game. Especially the one time Chris got box seats at the Panthers game through his old job. Although, I had a fierce hangover that prohibited any indulgence in all of  the food/alcohol they had to offer, poor planning on my part, real bad move. Anyways, unless I'm AT the game or App State is playing on TV, I'm probably not going to pay much attention. However, I'm happy to participate in "game day activities" aka - tailgate/stuff my face with foods that will spend a moment on my lips and a LIFETIME on my hips (I'll never learn.)

 Enter Pinterest, here you you will find a whole world of "football foods" for you to feast your eyes on. Now if I was going to be a good wife overachiever and actually make some of these foods instead of just pinning them, here are a few that I would choose: 

Buffalo Chicken Cups

BLT Roll Ups

Reuben Dip - I'm a sucker for all things reuben

Loaded Potato Skins

Adorable Football Cupcakes

Bahahaha who am I kidding? THIS will be my contribution to gameday:

Don't hate too much, you know this stuff is good!

Meet Parker, our 94 lb golden doodle (btw, the breeder tricked us and told us he would be between 65-75lbs... LIES)

Now before you say "aww" let me just share with you a little bit about this pup.

Chris and I got Parker a year or so before we were married, Chris was living in Boone, I was living in Greensboro and I would have visitation rights on the weekends (despite hysterical calls from Chris in the middle of the night when Parker would stay up crying only to go out and never use the bathroom, and then come back inside and pee all over the house), we were a happy little "family"

Cutest puppy EVER!

Fast forward a year, Chris and Parker move to Greensboro, Chris and I get engaged, buy a house, and get married.

Upon returning from the honeymoon, we realize Parker doesn't seem too pleased with us. At first we chalked this up simply to the fact that we boarded him for a few days (his first time ever at a kennel). 

However, things didn't get better, things started getting ugly. 

Everything that had anything to do with our wedding was getting destroyed by our precious "puppy."

First, Parker swallows my wedding earrings (yes I did dig through poo to find them, no I will not wear them again), then he chews up my new social security card and our marriage certificate.

But the icing on the cake was when I came home to find that Parker had DEMOLISHED my wedding gift to Chris, his beloved Costa Del Mar Sunglasses

RIP (good thing I paid extra for the lenses that would "last forever")

They were destroyed, completely unrepairable, and I cried, I cried hard. Honestly, I think my tears were the only thing that held Chris back from murdering our dog. The sentimental value of all of these items is irreplaceable, a dog isn't (kidding, sort of). The problem with Parker is, when he does something wrong, he knows it, and he gets EXTRA cute...

I'm sorry mom, I know I did wrong

So out of all of these incidents we've come to a conclusion. Parker doesn't support traditional marriage, he's more of a fan of the "alternative family" and I have to say, I like that about my little gigantic guy.