My brother's wedding

Here a some pictures from my brother's wedding. And, yes, I made the topiaries. Which is why there is a ton of pictures of them. Sorry.

Vacation

Vacation:

1: a respite or a time of respite from something : intermission

2: a period spent away from home or business in travel or recreation

I recently returned from a trip to my parents' house for a two week
"vacation"
that was, although fun, anything but a respite.

When I first arrived I was immediately put to work making an as-authentic-as-possible Russian feast to celebrate my sister's homecoming.
She just returned from living in Russia for a year and a half.


It turned out deliciously, but the entire time I was cooking I was thinking,
"I've never been to Russia. Why am I making this?"
Oh, wait. For my sister. That's why.

Isn't she cute?

And then we were celebrating my brother's high school graduation.

Isn't he cute?
He was the Valedictorian and gave a speech and everything.

Then there was a family reunion thrown in there


But what really kept me busy was getting ready for my brother's wedding.

And it wasn't all topiaries and tying ribbons either,
although we did that, too

No, we re-landscaped my mother's entire yard.

In two weeks.

We went from this:


To this:


I'll be giving you the details soon.

A Perfect Independence Day

Hello!

Happy 4th of July!

today was a perfect day

it started with a thrilling parade

then involved cooling off with some refreshing water

and ended with my husband cooking dinner on the grill

and very few dishes for me to clean up.

I had wanted to be super fancy and make something like this:

or this:

but, when life gives me lemons I make ...

well, lemon meringue pie

delicious, sweetly tart lemon meringue pie

yep. today was a perfect day.

how was your holiday?

Will Power

We recently got this book from the library

The Frog and Toad books were some of my favorites as a child.

And in it is a story titled, "The Cookies"
wherein Toad makes some deliciously addictive cookies.

And when they can't stop eating them Frog decides that they need willpower
and eventually gives the cookies away to some birds.

And Toad laments that they no longer have any cookies.

And Frog says, "Yes, but we have lots and lots of will power"

to which Toad replies, "You can keep it all, Frog. I am going home to bake a cake".



I have been trying to find some will power for myself lately.

(Almost) every morning I ride a stationary bike for 5.5 miles
then jog/walk for 1 hour.

But as soon as my boys are asleep (during naps or at night)
I suddenly become so hungry for sweets
and find myself rummaging for something delicious.

I have especially had an affinity for cake lately.

And I just keep thinking, "You can keep your will power.
I am going to bake a cake"

TUTORIAL: The Easiest Fancy Hairstyle Ever

Have you ever had a pair of jeans that were so comfortable that you wanted to wear them every day?

And the only reason you didn't was because you didn't want people to think you didn't own anything else?
This hairstyle is kind of like that.

I have been doing my hair like this for 12 years.

It started in High School when those buns where you make a ponytail but don't pull the hair all the way through were popular. Do you know what I am talking about? The bun where you have a bunch of hair sticking out the top?

Well, I was wearing my hair like that all the time, but then my hair started to grow long. And my straight hair sticking out of the top of the bun was looking less and less attractive. So one day I took another ponytail holder and added another bun to get rid of the scraggly ends.
And then, as my hair continued to grow, I just kept adding ponytail holders.
When I got into college I had it down to a science and especially liked to wear my hair in two buns in the back of my head (not on the sides or I looked like Princess Leia) and would sometimes even weave ribbons through it for my dance auditions.

And I will probably continue to wear my hair like this so long as I have hair.

Five reasons I love it:

1. It's convenient: It works best when your hair is wet (I usually wrap my hair in a towel while I put on my makeup and then comb it out and pull it up into this)

2. It's secure: I use ponytail holders. NO BOBBY PINS! (well, you can if you want to, but you don't NEED to).

3. It works no matter your hair length: The longer the hair, the more ponytail holders you'll need.

4. It's versatile: You can wear your hair half up, all up, in two buns ... this technique will look great no matter what.

5. It's fast and easy: I know I just lumped two reasons into one, but it is something that gives you great results for very little effort. And it will take you fewer than 5 minutes.

Are you sold yet? Or at least ready for your tutorial?

Step 1: Start with wet hair. (The range of wetness doesn't matter, it just needs to be damp. The hair slips a lot when dry). As I said, I prefer to do my hair right after my shower. For this tutorial I dampened it with a spray bottle and I think it would have looked better had my hair been more damp.

Step 2: Have a stack of ponytail holders ready. I use 4 or 5. And you need the big, thick ponytail holders, especially when you get to the outer layers.

Step 3: Make a ponytail/bun thing with the hair coming out the top

I usually wrap the ponytail holder around my hair as a ponytail twice and then make the bun on the third wrap. I think this makes the hair more secure.

Step 4: Take the remaining hair and grab it just above the bun.

and fold it so there is a second bun layer.

Step 5: Secure with another elastic.

Step 6: Keep doing steps 4 and 5 until there is very little hair left.

Leave those short scraggly ends hanging out for now. We'll deal with them in a second.

Step 7: I loosen the hair on my head by grabbing it at the crown and pulling. You don't necessarily have to do this step.
I do it for two reasons: One, because all those elastics can make my hair really tight; and two, because I have a really small head and a really large body and fuller hair makes me look more proportionate.

Step 8: Starting with the bottom layer and working your way up, grab the hair and gently pull it to each side as though you are going to tighten your ponytail.

I usually hook each pointer finger through a clump of hair and softly pull it. I do this so it doesn't look a judge's wig with uniform rows of hairy loops. This will also help hide the ponytail holders.

Step 9: Now take those end pieces and looping them away from you, tuck them into the nearest ponytail holder. You can do this to any stray hairs that have come out in the lower layers as well.

Ta da! You're done!

Here's a video so you can see it all in action. Start to finish took me 1 minute and 16 seconds.