Hair and what not

In my next life I may write a book about my hair. Yes, my hair! Why you ask? Oh because my hair has more drama than the girls in a sorority house (no offense to my fun loving sorority sisters (best friend included)). 

The story would be a nail biter. It would be a roller coaster of events full of the ups-and-down of a lonely girl who suffers from abnormally curly/frizzy hair who is in the search of the perfect products and tools to help bring life back to her once wavy and shimmering hair. Naturally, the story would reach a climatic epicenter where I would be at odds with myself, particularly with my hair, and near the cusp of breaking (which in this case would mean chopping). But then out of the blue, or dare I say in the most serendipitous of manner, a hero would swoop in and save the day. 

And just like that or as if my prayers had been answered a real-life hair Fairy Godmother would bring tidings of good joy (and locks of naturally straight hair)! 

Great story, right?

So here's the ditty. I was asked to try the Hana professional hair straightener and it is wonderful. purely wonderful. And I don't say that lightly. Unlike many of the professional straighteners I've owned (which is  five and counting) this one has by far exceeded my expectations. You know how you go into salon and pay really close attention to how your hair stylist does your hair and you even go as far as to by the same products and tools with the hopes of repeating that same blown out affect after you leave. And then it takes you nearly five days to wash the gorgeous locks because you know, and with tears in your eyes, that your hair will never look that luscious and beautiful again (or at least not for another eight weeks).Well that my friends happens to me every time. without fail. Even when I  buy the same products/same straightener/same brush/same ju-ju, it just never looks like the red-carpet hair for days earlier. 

But, and I say this with a "Hallelujah!" this straightener is the closest I have ever gotten to actually getting the perfect look without having to pay the salon price! It has multiple adjustable temperature settings which is a definite bonus for course frizzy hair, because let's face it, curly hair needs some added punch to give it that naturally straight look. It's sleek look and slender feel makes it easy to use and while I am not always the best proponent of safety it has this gargantuan cord so I can simultaneously peer out the bathroom door to yell at Brecken (which never happens, but if it did...) while still managing to curl my hair at the same time. Do I hear amazing multi-tasking? yes.  

So if you are in the market for a straightener that's worth every penny, while also providing stellar straight locks (as well as curly too), this guy is the golden ticket!

Thanks Misikko, you truly are my Hair Fairy Godmother. 

facebook: Misikko (lots of great tutorials and giveaways)

Products were received in exchange for writing this post. All opinions are my own. 

Denver Zoo

We spent the better part of last in Denver for a family wedding. It was called a vacation, but the kids erratic sleeping patterns and a good dose of heat rash/heat exhaustion led to some long days and even loooonger nights, which in my mind completely cancels out the word "vacation" to then be replaced with the more appropriate term of lets-all-make-it-home-alive. But I'm sure all family vacations end with a good threat of never traveling again...

Zoo. The Denver Zoo. where do I begin?

We like the zoo. And we like visiting on 90* degree days. Seems fitting I suppose. And now that we're home I have a inkling suspicion that the heat exhausting/heat rash all stemmed from our little zoo trip. No matter the case, our kids are animal mongers. They thrive on the excitement of any animal they can get their little paws around, I mean really ANY animal. And the zoo has always been a great place to see the animals from a distance and not have to worry about the after effects of Brecken going into a full-on asthma attack. It's kind of like the best dream ever for this Mom. 

And usually when we go to the zoo I am pretty good with the hotness and I can tolerate a good dose of body sweat but, a big BUT, our day at the zoo was bru-tal. No amount of ICEE induced coma could cool our bodies, and the skinny jeans were causing a serious "swaz" issue in all the wrong places. Not to mention the radiating heat coming from the concrete all added to one-hot-motha' of a day. Our only saving grace was the Gorilla observatory and spending the good time staring at the sleeping Hyenas, which if you've never seen one they are surprisingly big (not like the little yappy things in the Lion King), and consuming $50 dollars worth of liquid which I'm sure is the reason that all zoo's stay in business.

Anyway. Denver Zoo, invest in some of those nice water spray fans I promise you will make every Momma happy (this one included). 

A dirty post.

Last weekend we braved the 100 degree weather and ran the Dirty Dash. Have you heard of it? I'm sure if you live on the west coast you have--it's like the Spartan or Tough Mudder but for those that don't really want to run, but would rather just have the benefits of getting dirty. Totally logical, I know. It was my first time and now that I've checked it off of my bucket list I find that the term "run" should be used very loosely when characterizing this race. Actually I don't even know if you would call it a race. It's not timed  or anything (which they seem to point out A LOT) and there are stops along the way to drink beer (if your into that sort of thing) and then there's the occasional obstacle that bares repeating because it's just that fun and did I mention the mud. There's lots of it.  I learned a thing or two about mud which essentially boils down to the fact that all mud is not created equal. 

Case in point...There's the watered down stuff that seems to be on the lines of hot chocolate and in our case actual warm water making it seemingly like hot chocolate in a don't-let-it-get-in-your-mouth kind of way. Then there was the more sedimentary type of mud that was pliable, yet still feasible to run through except for the occasional back flip when ones so-called feet decided to meet the sky. And finally the gumbo. gum-bo. Each time our feet hit this gum-like substance they would slowly be sucked in resulting in a full-blown force of nature to pull them out. I'm sure it was a spectacle of sorts for those watching everyone run through it. I imagine it was like that kid in grade school that never changed his gears and was always pedaling fast, but was moving slower than time? I'm sure you all had a kid like that in your school, right? Bless his heart. Anyway, we were kind of like that--trudging and grasping to find the nearest dry land.

And did I mention the sand in all my unmentionable places? On a completely unrelated-yet-kind-of related line when I watched The Bachelorette this past week I couldn't help but laugh when Chris and Des were making out on the beach because if her "sand experience" was anything like mine I'm sure she had a real surprise waiting for her when she finally got into the shower later that night...

And let's just leave it at that. mmmkay?

A traumatizing life experience at the fair

Have I ever mentioned how much I love the county fair? There's just something to be said about an endless supply of food drenched in fat and then deep fried to perfection that gets my arteries pumping. Funnel cakes, deep fat-fried Twinkies, donut holes, caramel apples--you name it I've probably consumed more than what is physically appropriate for a girl of my age. I guess I make up for not being able to ride "the rides" by feeding my gourd to the brim. 

I still remember the first time I got sick at the fair. When I was six-years-old I remember riding the Gravitron for the first time. The whole time I cried, not out of fear, but rather because I knew I was going to throw up. As soon as I stumbled out of the man made death trap everything came up, then I proceeded to lay down on the grass right in front of the line without a care in the world that other fair-goers were stumbling over my limp, green, cold sweat-covered body. It was 1991, obviously, people weren't too concerned about a child laying lifeless on the ground at the fair (can you imagine what that would be like today)? HA! So much for traumatizing childhood experiences... 

Needless to say I still didn't learn my lesson, for years I kept going on rides with the same results: ride/puke ride/puke--same story/different year. And guess what, I'm sure I would still be doing it now if it weren't for the kids and someone having to be a parent. Didn't you know John's twelve-year-old self makes an appearance whenever we're near a theme park or fair, which usually leads to me getting the short straw in the long run. And I guess that's okay because the thought of even stepping on the Ferris Wheel makes me nauseous so you can only imagine what I would be like on the Zipper? My thoughts exactly. 

But we did it, another fair under our belts, another gargantuan turkey leg consumed, and a enough mullet-wearing clad men to last us a year! Now onto losing the eleven pounds I gained in a matter of 5 hours...oy vey.

An afternoon on the tarmac

My kids suffered a severe case of the jitters when we took them to the air show on Saturday.  Brecken practically peed himself with excitement and if you knew me well or have at least read this blog for awhile you know that it doesn't make much for me to pee my pants, so unfortunately that gene was carried down to my poor kid (thank goodness he's not a girl?....) 

Anyway, the air show. For our little town of 1,000 people they put on quite the show. I'll give credit to my string bean broham (aka brother-in-law) he led the charge on putting the whole thing together. And it turned out ah-mazing! Seriously, I'm like a broken record when I say this but we're like a traveling circus wherever we go. Between my family, John's brother's family, Kam, Kelty, and Kambrie's husbands family we were like our own Mormon Mafia on the tarmac. Now trying repeating that sentence in one breathe. 

To say the least it was a great weekend. More to report on for sure but it really turned out to be so fun while also completely exhausting. As all fun should be, right? And let me just apologize for the randomness of my posts lately. This summer, well it's been great, I'm not pregnant and I have babies that can actually walk and move and play in the sun for hours on end so that's what we've been doing--playing, and playing, and playing. And eating Otterpops by the box full....

Love you.