Cash's birth story:: in pictures

It's hard to believe my little newborn is now 1 month old! Here is a little glimpse into the day of Cash's birth. It was amazing and I loved every minute of it.

the room where Bradley was born  /  the room where Cash was born

 

photos courtesy of Kate Barlow

soel

Last week I hit up the blogger meet and greet over at Soel Boutique with Merrick and Kayla.  It was PACKED.  Kayla and I showed up with our babies in their car seats.  We immediately ditched the car seats and just held our babes because there was seriously no room to move around.  Pretty sure my arm is still sore from holding my arm in a constant curl for two straight hours.

don't be jealous of how great this lighting is

It was fun to see all the gorg outfits and great bloggers.  And I can't even tell you how many red statement lips were in that place.  It was fun chatting it up with friends (Rachel, Annie, Alycia) and making some new ones (Bri, Liz...quite possibly my sister from another mister). 

  

The blogging community can be a funny thing, because you feel like you are friends with people that you've never actually met, so it was great to be able to connect with people face to face.  Then you can be like, "hey! I know pretty much everything about you already, so hopefully that doesn't make me a stalker!"

back when I was still pregnant...

Some of my old college roommates and I got together for a lunch a few weeks ago for some much needed catching up time.  My friend Lauren is a super talented photographer and snapped a few shots of Bradley giving my tummy some love.

So crazy to think that was just a few short weeks ago.  Now that bump is a baby! 

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My friend Merrick and I are heading to Soel boutique tonight for this little meet and greet.  I'm excited to have a little girl time....and to get 20% off!  Maybe I'll see you there!

Misikko Flat Iron Review

Misikko graciously sent me over one of their Hana flat irons to review a few weeks ago.  I was a little shocked to see such a big box arrive on my doorstep.  Not only did they send me the straightener, but the box was filled with other products as well!

I received the Hana 1.5" Titanium flat iron

plus all this

and this!

It was nice to take a little time to pamper myself and test out these products.  Heaven knows I needed a little pampering.  Especially since I have been up to my neck in poopy diapers and laundry since Cash made his debut.

So here is my lovely hair routine.  I'm not sure if I've made this confession on my blog yet, but I must let you all know that I wash my hair about once every 5 days.  All the cool kids are doing it.  Washing, drying, straightening, and styling are just time consuming!  For all the days in between I just slap on some baby powder to keep my hair fresh, or opt for a high bun.  Nobody can tell how dirty your hair is in a bun....

I dry and straighten my hair in 2 sections.  While my hair is still damp, I always rub some argan oil throughout it so that my hair is soft and shiny when I'm done.  I do the lower half first.  It's a nice big poof ball after being blow dried.

Then I straighten it with my Hana flat iron.

Next I dry the top section.

POOF! 

Told you.  

Cue the Lion King intro song....cause my mane is slightly out of control.

But after only a few minutes of straightening....

Voila! 

So here's what I thought of the straightener.....

Overall, I loved it!  I have had a love affair with my Chi for a long time now, so I wasn't sure how this straightener would compare, but it definitely does.

pros:  

-it gets REALLY hot.  I usually just crank the heat up as high as it will go.  My hair is naturally wavy, so it can be a pain to straighten.  But after using the straightener a few times, I actually turned down the heat from 400 to 375.  The highest heat almost left it a little too straight, and I still wanted to keep some volume.

-it only takes about 40 seconds to heat up

- because it gets so hot, I was able to straighten larger sections of my hair at one time, cutting down the time it takes to straighten everything.

cons:

-the 1.5" size is a little to wide for me.  I would prefer the 1" Hana, since it allows me to get closer to my roots when straightening.