Style – Page 2 – Dust Bunnies and Dog Toys

A Few New Accessories

Published on October 17, 2013October 15, 2013 by JennaLeave a comment

One of the few negatives about Alaska life is that you can’t activate a Verizon iPhone while in the state so, while we were traveling across the lower 48 recently, both the hubs and myself got new phones. Our old phones had been in service for several years and were starting have a few issues that were annoying, so it was time to upgrade. While he chose to cross to the dark side and get a new Samsung Galaxy, I just couldn’t unlearn my well-honed iPhone habits – as evidenced by my constant frustration while playing with his phone a few days prior to upgrading mine, so I chose to move up from a 4 to a 5.

Unfortunately, the day we chose to go get my new phone was the day after the new iPhone 5c and 5s came out, so it took a while to get everything transferred over to the new phone. I didn’t have any need of the higher end 5c or 5s features so I went with a regular 5, which I upgraded to the new iOS7 that evening. It took me a while to get used to the new look and feel, but after a few days I was feeling pretty comfortable.

And of course because the 5 is a different size than the 4, I had to buy a new case. Lucky for me, we found an extra batter pack and case in PURPLE, which I’m in love with. I love it even more after my phone fell out of my coat pocket the other day and survived without so much as a scratch on the case!

And to sweeten the deal the retailer offered a $100 gift card if you traded in your old iPhone when purchasing a new one, so of course we took them up on that deal, which made the new phone free! We couldn’t trade in hubby’s old iPhone since he bought a new Samsung, but we sold it on Craigslist with all the accessories for about the same price to a young Army officer in desperate need of a new phone after his broke, so that was a win-win too.

I also picked up a new mustard yellow purse while on our trip. I’d been on the hunt for a yellow purse for a few weeks, having given my old purple purse to my sister, but hadn’t found anything that spoke to me, but when I spotted this beauty in the window I heard heavenly hold music. I spent a little more on it than I typically do for purses, but its leather and should hold up to the on-coming Alaskan winter weather.

The mustard shade seems to coordinate well with whatever I pair it with and is a perfect color for fall. The thing I’m enjoying the most is all the pockets it has. It’s like whoever designed this purse knew exactly what I wanted to keep in it and made a pocket just for those items – including my new purple phone! My sister has already laid claim to it when I’m ready to move on, so I guess I’ve got good taste! 😉

What’s your latest accessory upgrade? Was it something new for fall, or have you already jumped on the holiday bandwagon?

Dye Job

Published on August 30, 2013August 26, 2013 by Jenna5 Comments

I had a couple of white shirts with pit stains I just couldn’t seem to get out, despite trying all of my pinned tips. I really liked both tops, so rather than throw them away I decided to dye them and disguise the issue.

I picked out purple and lime dye at Micheals, which then sat around for several weeks due to a super busy schedule. Then one day it rained and I thought, “What better project for a dreary day than infusing some color into my wardrobe!”

I dug out a tub I use to do my foot detox soaks and gathered the other supplies needed.

The directions were fairly simple to follow. Step one: Add salt to hot water and stir.

Step two: Add dye and stir (after watching the cool color swirls created first!).

Step three: Add item to be dyed. The directions said to stir continuously for 15 minutes, then let sit for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. I wanted a dip dye or ombré effect, so I decided to divide the 15 minutes into thirds, one for each section of the shirt, then let the whole item sit for 45 minutes.

That theory didn’t work exactly how I envisioned on the first shirt. Instead the entire shirt looked about the same color. It could be because the material was synthetic and not cotton like they recommend, but I didn’t think that would make much of a difference.

The second shirt was, cotton so this time I only stirred occasionally during each 5 minute portion and removed the entire item after 15 minutes. That seemed to create the ombré effect I wanted much better. I rinsed both tops and then washed them before hanging them to dry.

Throughout this process my assistant did nothing to help other than supervising from her favorite spot on the couch!

I think both turned out ok and I’m glad I decided to add more color to my closet.

I’ve worn the purple top a few times now and think its a nice casual piece. I haven’t worn the green top yet, but plan to pair it with slacks and a cardigan for a casual work outfit. What do you think? Improvement or just a cover up?

To Cut or Not to Cut… That is the Question!

Published on July 18, 2013February 6, 2014 by Jenna3 Comments

I’ve mentioned before that my hair and I have a love/hate relationship. Maybe it’s the whole, “you always want what you don’t have” theory that makes me detest the limp, straight, baby fine hair I’ve been cursed with. I seriously lust after the thick curls that seem to dominate Pinterest these days a’ la’ Kate Middleton’s gorgeous locks, but I know I’ll never achieve that exact look – unless I bite the bullet and get hair extensions to increase my skimpy strands.

Thankfully, I view my hair as an accessory in the way that if I don’t like it, I can change it and with my creative personality that tends to happen A LOT! Although I was born blonde and remained so through high school, I’ve sported strawberry blonde, brunette, auburn and now red manes. And my hair stylist knows I have a routine of growing my hair out and then chopping it, only to grow it out once again – which luckily is a fairly quick process for me.

I’ve spent the last several months growing my hair from a bob to below my shoulders and now I’m getting tired of the extra styling it requires so the itch to chop it all has returned. My husband is that one strange man who prefers women to have short hair, so he of course would vote for me to give in and chop several inches.

However, I know full well that short hair styles can sometimes require more styling time than long hair does, which can be a big hiccup on the rare mornings when I wake up late. Short hair also usually means you’re stuck with the same look all the time. Plus, when I see pictures of myself with shorter hair I think my face looks very round which I don’t care for on myself.

I’ve really liked some of my mid-length cuts, especially when layered for volume like this one, but they tend to be just short enough to not work for multiple styles so I end up wearing it the same way all the time and when I do pull it up the shorter pieces fall out, making the rest of the do more likely to ‘migrate’ on my head due to a lack of volume holding it in place.

So which look do you think I should sport? Short, medium, or long? Here are examples of me with each.

Granted the long picture isn’t much longer than the medium, but it looks shorter then it was because of the curls. It’s now quite a bit longer than this. One option I’ve been toying with is keeping the length, but having long layers added in, like this.

My concern is that fine hair tends to get super frizzy when layered. But Jennifer Aniston seems to make it work, so there’s hope right? Maybe all I really need is a live in hair stylist like that stars! 🙂

Trying Something “Different”

Published on June 23, 2013June 23, 2013 by Jenna2 Comments

My hair and I have a love-hate relationship. I love to hate it. I guess it’s that thing about you always want what you don’t have. I have thin, limp, straight hair. So I’m totally in love with any style best suited for full, thick, wavy/curly hair. I recently grew my hair out from the bob haircut I was sporting about a year ago just so that I could curl my hair and do the pretty up dos that abound on Pinterest.

Unfortunately, I’m not extremely proficient at hair styling, especially on myself. And the fact that I have to apply product, curl and then style each morning takes more time than I usually care to spend on my hair. So I searched for ideas on how I could comfortably curl my hair while sleeping and found this tutorial which I gave a try last night since it was the weekend and we planned to go trail riding in the morning, so it didn’t really matter what my hair looked like as it would be wind-blown by the time we were done. It’s a good thing because when I pulled out that headband in the morning, it looked like I’d been in a fight with a curling iron wielded by a beauty school drop-out! I was too frustrated to take pictures of what it did look like, and even if I had I probably still wouldn’t have posted them.

Let’s just say it wasn’t a style I plan to use again, but I figured I had some texture so why not try out an updo style I want to start using to hide the fact that they weren’t pretty curls. I’m in love with all of the tutorials Kate over at The Small Things Blog does, especially her messy buns like this one and this one. So I combined elements of each. And this is what I ended up with.

I was pleasantly surprised! It’s definitely better than the typical pony tail or twist & clip styles you typically see sported for casual outdoor activities. I think it needs some teasing for volume at the crown and the side twists should be done looser, but with a little practice and refining it might even be suitable to wear to work! And even better is that it’s comfortable and seems to hold fairly well. I had a few pieces come out while riding, which I just twirled and tucked back into the mess. I had the hubs take a typical side and back shot so you can get an idea of how the whole thing looked.

So maybe that headband curl idea wasn’t such an epic fail if it provides a base of texture to create something like this quickly. Perhaps I’ll give it another try next weekend when I have time to ‘play’ with the results. When I asked what the hubby thought of this new look he said, “It’s different.” *SIGH* He’s such a great friend who I want to share everything with that sometimes I forget he’s a GUY and not a girlfriend! I asked if it was a ‘good’ different or a ‘bad’ different. He said, “Well it smells good.” Um. Ok. I pointed out that it smells exactly the same as it does every day because I used the same hairspray I do every day! At least I know I smell good – according to him anyway! LOL

Banana Republic for Under $5!

Published on May 22, 2013June 2, 2013 by JennaLeave a comment

I decided to check out a thrift store I’d spotted around the corner from my office while at lunch today. I’m glad I did, because I found this beauty just sitting on a rack waiting for me to find it!

I loved the bright color and the short sleeves because summer is finally making an appearance here in mainland Alaska, albeit slowly. I about swooned when I saw the price tag of $4.50! Seriously? There were no rips, tears or snags anywhere that would justify that price, but I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

I continued browsing hoping to find another super sweet deal and spotted a cute little Uncle Sam figure for $3. I won’t share him now since he is very likely to show up in my patriotic decor change over this weekend! All together I walked out of the store for $7.50! You just can’t beat that. I would have paid that total for the jacket alone!

When I got home this evening I tested it out with a favorite layering piece. Of course it’s just adorable! Even with wrinkles! I love that it’s versatile too. I can see pairing it with jeans, black or grey slacks or even brown pants. I might have to try it out with a cute little dress I bought while in San Diego recently too!

So that’s my bargain score for the week. I’m pretty happy about it and will be enjoying it’s little details for a while! Including this awesome texture on texture look! 🙂

My Snazzy iPad Bling

Published on May 9, 2013June 2, 2013 by JennaLeave a comment

When I first bought my iPad about a year ago I picked up a purple case to protect it. At the time I thought it was perfect, simply because it was purple. But the more I used and traveled with my iPad the more I realized I wanted something a little different. I had purchased a wireless keyboard to use with the iPad, but it was cumbersome and required I pack an additional item and have spare batteries in case it died.

I’d looked at a few options locally, online and while traveling, but nothing spoke to me and most were more than I cared to spend unless it was perfect. So I decided I’d live with what a I had for a while until I found something just right. Then while waiting for me at the hair dresser’s my hubby unknowingly set my iPad on the radiator for a few moments and created a not so lovely pattern on the backside of the cover. While I’m glad it happened to the cover and not the iPad, it made me want something new even more. So I hit Google. It took some digging, but I finally found something that would work and for only $30 it was decently priced. I hit order and it arrived within a week.

The new case has an included, yet detachable keyboard which makes traveling much easier. It even has a built in wrist support! I have noticed that the keyboard is slightly smaller than normal so sometimes I type gobbley-guck without realizing it, but other than that it works like a dream.

The stand portion is a also a little small so I’m still figuring out different configurations and angles I can use, especially for my weekly Skype call with my family back east.

I do love the little tab that keeps it closed too. It is magnetized and will put the iPad to sleep when everything lines up when it’s closed, which is a nice little feature. Similarly the keyboard had a lock button that ‘sleeps’ the iPad instantly just in case you need to hide whatever you’re working on from those around you.

Overall it’s pretty yet professional, conveniently packaged for travel and storage and well, it’s purple! 🙂