I May Not Be Hopeless!

     I’m not sure if you know this, but I am very, very, very, very bad at doing my hair.  I’m serious.  It looks the exact same every single day.  I wake up, wash it, blow dry it upside down, and maybe spray it if it’s looking out of control.  On a good day, it looks like this:

 or this:

     On a day when I’m feeling less than ambitious…or whenever I don’t blow dry it, this is what I get:

I know…

     The sweethearts at Misikko must have heard of my plight because they came through for me in a big way.  A few weeks ago I was contacted asking if I would be interested in reviewing a HANA Pro 1” flat iron – um yes! 
     As far as straighteners go…I don’t even know where my old one came from.  For all I know it just appeared in my cabinet one day.  When Misikko offered to send me a professional hair straightener, I was pretty excited.  I had been kicking around the idea of getting myself a straightener, but nothing I could have picked out would have compared to this…and certainly would not have come with the same customer service.

     My straightener arrived with a silicone pad (so that it won’t burn the surface it’s sitting on), a heat proof storage case, and a leather carrying case.  (Not to mention all the extra goodies Misikko threw in the box!)  I could tell right away that this was no run of the mill straightener.  You can get first hand info about all of the details here, but I can definitely tell you that fancy or not, this thing is so  user friendly. 
     I am almost hopeless with a straightener, but this one is so easy to use.  You just turn it on (up to 400+ if you need it), and it’s skinny, little body just zips right through your hair.  Added bonus?  The cord has a 360 degree swivel…so it won’t tangle!  The whole thing is so lightweight, which is great for me because my arms tend to get tired if I spend to much time on my hair (…I know).  After about ten minutes (heating up and all), I went from that ridiculous mess of a look up there to this:

     Because the straightener was so easy to manipulate, I was able to pull up on my hair as I straightened and keep a ton of volume!  The skinny plates were perfect for my bangs, too.  If you didn’t know, my hair is super fine, and most straighteners  either crease it or fry it.  This did neither of those things.  I can definitely see myself using this even on days when I don’t straighten all of my hair.  It will be perfect for touch ups or fixing my bangs (which tend to be totally out of control). 
     So it looks like I can add another look into my alternating schedule! My next little goal will be to figure out how to curl with it…they sent a little book telling me how, but they overestimate me.
     Couple things:  1.  If you’re looking for a straightener, I can wholeheartedly recommend this one.  2.  If you’re looking to buy anything hair related, you would be crazy not to check out Misikko!  Their customer service has been out of this world!  You should definitely click over and check them out…right now.

Thanks again, Misikko!

Belated

     A few weeks ago I won my first ever giveaway!  Y’all, I enter giveaways almost daily, and I never win anything, so when I saw Erin from Creating & Teaching post this, I knew I had to jump on it.
     She made an adorable diaper motorcycle for a friend and asked us all what the most difficult piece was to find.  I took a quick scroll through the comments and realized that no one had thrown out my guess, and bing, bang, boom, I won!  The stuffed monkey was the hardest thing to find…this does not surprise me at all!  I don’t know how recently any of you have tried to find plain stuffed animals but it is just about impossible.  Every single toy these days has to light up or move or dance…silly.
     Erin emailed me back in a few hours saying that I was right and would get one item for free from her TPT or TN store!  Her units and activities are so adorable!    
     Now, onto my real reason for posting – I would never have had the opportunity to win this great giveaway if I wasn’t reading along at Creating & Teaching!  As a future teacher, I love drawing inspiration from teaching blogs, and Erin’s is just great.

     

     It is so clear from her posts that she has such a heart for her students, and she is obviously doing some great work in a field that is definitely not for everyone.  I am so excited to be a teacher, and seeing others so fulfilled in their jobs is really incredible.
     I encourage all of you teachers, future teachers, homeschoolers…pretty much everyone to go over to Creating & Teaching and see for yourself what a great resource and fun read it is!  Also, if you’re looking for well-made and effective activities (that are totally adorable) go check out her stores too (hint: there are some really great freebies too)!
     Thank you so much for the giveaway and for your incredible work in your classroom and on your blog.  I am looking forward to reading for a long time!

Allyson

Sweet Southern Sundays

ne of the first things I noticed when I started browsing around the blogosphere was that there seemed to be an awfully big number of bloggers from the South.  Because I myself am from the South (West Tennessee to be more exact), I was curious about why all these southern ladies were flocking to the blog world.  Then it hit me - blogging is just another facet of southern hospitality.  Southern ladies have always been willing to invite others in and share life, and advances in technology have done nothing to quell that willingness. 
   Although I read blogs from all over (see my links), I find myself more drawn to the open, friendly atmosphere of blogs from the South.  These sweet ladies have done so much to inspire me on my own bloggy  journey, and I am thrilled to be featuring four of them in my first ever series -

    Every Sunday for the next few weeks I'll be posting a feature/review of some of my favorite sweet Southern blogs.  These ladies have graciously agreed to be featured on my little corner of the Internet and to send their readers this way!  Talk about classy! 

    Sunday the 8th, I'll be kicking off the series by featuring Rhoda and her incredible site Southern Hospitality.  This was one of the first blogs I started reading, and I still love it just as much as I did when I first found it!
    The next week, the 15th, I will be sharing Kendra's darling site, Southern Disposition.  She is so creative and shares her life in such a fresh, warm way.
    On the 22nd, I will be introducing you to Jennifer and Her Southern Charm.  This self professed "preppy, Southern housewife" not only makes some of the most adorable jewelry I've ever seen, but also lets us in on how she survives suburbia "with grace and charm."
    My last feature of the series, on the 29th, will be about sweet Kate at Southern Belle Simple.  Kate is an incredible writer, and I love how she shares everything from antiquing adventures to recipes with good writing and even better personality.
    I hope you'll stick around for the whole series...and everything in between.  I'm so excited about the direction things are going, and I think this series is the perfect way to kick things off!

P.S. Tonight on the menu...shrimp and grits!  I'll be letting you in on the recipe tomorrow.  Yum...can't wait!

Allyson