The Knot Ponytail

Today's tutorial is a quick and easy way to spice up a plain ponytail. And it can be done on straight or curly hair!


The felt flower bobby pins, from Three Bird Nest, can be purchased here.


To tease your hair for extra lift before starting this style, click here! 

sweater: Target, earrings: Francescas, hair accessories: c/o Three Bird Nest, nail polish: "Kate" - Zoya Blogger Collection

Zoya Blogger Collection Giveaway!

Would you like to win one set of the Zoya + Birchbox Blogger Collection polishes?

Enter here: 

(you must use the giveaway tool to enter. winner will be chosen on Monday!)

High Five For Friday

This has been a good week. Busy, but good! We've had a lot going on recently and I was beginning to feel stressed and "spread too thin".


I stuck a post-it note to the bottom of my computer screen a few weeks ago that said "Choose Positivity". My "default" is to notice and focus on the negative, so it takes much more effort for me to be positive in certain circumstances. If the post-it note said "be positive", well, I would probably just ignore it. BUT, I can choose positivity. So I will. And I have. That is all.


(who knows where that came from, just felt like I wanted to tell you)


I'm linking up with Lauren From My Grey Desk!

So let's get into the 5 greatest things of the week!


1. We moved! and it's great over here. The only thing I miss about our old neighborhood is my sister, but she moves closer to us on Sunday! We like living near each other and will take every opportunity we can, while we can

Grits was particularly excited about the move. Gravy? Not so much.

They've actually both adjusted quite well. I'm proud of my little boys.

2. Justin and I unpacked the entire downstairs, bedroom, bathroom and laundry room. I started on my office, which I was totally dreading, and only have a few more finishing touches to get it finished. Can't wait to share photos here on the blog when I'm done!

Before:

After!

3. The Zoya + Birchbox Blogger Collection launched! And I am so so so excited about how the color "Kate" turned out. This was such a neat opportunity and I'm so thankful for everyone who voted and helped me win! 

Coraline, Kate, and Belle are the three colors in the blogger collection.

4. I picked up this adorable little pinch bowl for kosher salt from Macy's. It's a part of the Martha Stewart line of cooking utensils. Pretty much love everything she makes.

Oh and it was on sale for about $3.99. 

5. I started a new daily devotional thanks to a recommendation from my friend Allyson, called Comforts from the Cross. I'm only two days in, but I've really enjoyed it. 

How was your week? Be sure to check out From My Grey Desk today--Lauren hosts this link up and there are tons of other High Five for Friday posts to check out!

An Exciting Opportunity

You may have seen on the Facebook page last night that I am going to be a speaker at the Becoming Conference this September in Asheville, North Carolina.


And I am so excited about it.


I met Jen, one of the creators of this conference, at Blissdom in February. We chatted for a bit and we're both surprised when we learned we both live in North Carolina. She sent me an e-mail a few weeks later asking if I was interested. 


It was such a surprise and I immediately thought, "I've never spoken at a conference before. I don't think I can do it". But after the initial fear wore off, and I thought more about it, I began to feel more excited than nervous about it.


And I started practicing my introduction on the way home from work that very day.


I'm going to be speaking about the things I blog about. I'll share my story of how I became a hairstylist, the inner battle I fought about the vanity of it, and how I've grown in this career. Also, I'll talk about my blog, and cover a lot of the same content that I write about here. Hair, makeup, outfits, etc. 


I'm really looking forward to it.


And I hope to meet you if you are able to come!


**


A few details about the conference:


Last year, it sold out in 1 day. So, make sure to like the Facebook page to stay informed about when the tickets go on sale.


The tickets are approx. $100.00. A great price for the amazing line-up of speakers they have.
-click here to read about the speakers

Let me know if you have any questions and I'll try to answer them!

Pink Skirt

Skirt: J.Crew Factory (here)

Shirt: J.Crew Outlet

Bag: Kate Spade Outlet

Shoes: Target

I love this skirt. It's pink enough to be girly and pretty, without being too neon. And the length of it makes it comfortable and sleek without feeling too short.

Actually, it's the first pencil skirt I've ever owned. I always stayed away from them because I wasn't sure that they were flattering on me. But as soon as I realized that all I needed to do was go up a size, it immediately fit better and was flattering. That same thing happened with my skinny jeans.

Do you wear pencil skirts? 

**I'm linking up with The Pleated Poppy on WWIW (What I Wore Wednesday). Be sure to check her "WWIW" posts for tons of outfit inspiration!

Lisa Leonard Giveaway

Today's giveaway comes from the talented Lisa Leonard. 

This necklace is one of my favorites! How sweet would it be to give a new bride one of these necklaces with her and her husbands initials? Or a mom of two kids?

Be sure to check out Lisa Leonard Online to shop around before Mother's Day too! 

Be sure to "like" the Facebook page to stay up-to-date on the designs!

Enter to win:

a $75 gift card to Lisa Leonard Designs!

You must use this giveaway tool to enter!

The Braided Back

Today's tutorial is perfect for those of us wanting to subtly wear a braid. This is a very flattering and versatile style, that can be done on curly or straight hair.

Refer to this post to see what's in my hair. 

Refer to this post to see how my hair is curled. 

________________________________________________________________

(advertisement)

Lisa Leonard

*perfect for mothers day! 

The "Kate" Nail Polish

I received a very exciting package in the mail!

Remember when I asked you to vote for my mood board during the Zoya + Birchbox Blogger Collaboration? 

"SophistiKated" by The Small Things Blog

Well, thanks to all your votes I won! 

And Zoya created three beautiful shades of nail polish based on the winning boards!

(thats mine in the middle!)

It's the most beautiful grapefruit/watermelon/bright/pink color that is perfect for spring and summer!

It's a jelly consistency so it goes on very smooth. The first coat is quite sheer, but after you apply the second coat it becomes completely opaque.

 Isn't it great?

(it's not nearly as red as it looks in this photo. It's much brighter + more pink colored)

Would you like some "Kate" polish for yourself?

The collection will be for sale on Birchbox.com very soon! I will let you know on my Facebook page and twitter when they announce it!

Click here to join the waiting list!

And I'm definitely going to be having some giveaways in the next few weeks where the winner will receive 1 package of the collection, so keep your eyes out for that!

Thanks again to Zoya, Birchbox and all who voted!

April Birchbox

It's Birchbox time!

This month the focus was on natural products. I haven't done a lot of research into natural products so I was excited to receive some in the mail that were already chosen for me!

Love the minty nail color from Zoya! The name is "Bevin".

I'm looking forward to trying that oil-free moisturizer from Juice Beauty. And the perfume from Harvey Prince smells very fresh.

These face towelettes smell very nice. Not strong like some others! And they are very soft and feel great on my skin.

Some great travel size soap!

The only thing I wish this box had was makeup! But nonetheless, the natural skin care was (and will be) fun to experiment with!

Have you gotten your April Birchbox yet?

Stella & Dot Giveaway

{Shirt: TJ Maxx, Skirt: J.Crew 2011, Shoes: Macy's, Necklace: c/o stella & dot, Earrings: The Limited}

Do you like my necklace?

I happen to love it.

My stella & dot stylist Nicole Hazen sent it to me. And it couldn't fit me more perfectly. It's absolutely the hottest color this spring/summer. And my favorite part about this necklace is that it's long enough to be worn like I did, or you can wrap it around twice and make it look like a shorter layered necklace!

Would you like one for yourself?

(who wouldn't?)

Use the giveaway tool below to enter to win the Adina Necklace! 

All you have to do to enter is click here---> Stella & Dot

and tell me your favorite summer item! 

Local Blog Meet Up

Well, we had our first blog meet up. And it was awesome.
 When we came up with this idea, we had no idea what to expect. And honestly, I thought we'd have maybe 5 - 7 people interested . . . Maybe we'll meet at a Starbucks. . or a park bench. . .


But I was wrong. And I had no idea how many bloggers lived in or around Raleigh. 
We were stunned with the number of emails we received from interested bloggers. We so wish we could have made it a larger event (we hope to one day), but we needed to keep it manageable for our first one!

We had the perfect location too. The owners of a really cool coffee shop downtown Raleigh called Benelux let us use their space to meet privately that evening. And the two baristas that were working while nearly 30 women filled the cafe were awesome. So helpful. Could not thank them enough for everything that they did.

Benelux makes delicious coffee and pastries, but my favorite thing is the waffles. They are absolutely to die for. In fact, when I composed the e-mail to the owner of the cafe(who I met once while I was there) asking if we could use the space, I said, "Hi Steven, I'm Kate. I'm the girl who always comes in for the waffles." Because, well, I always get a waffle when I go to Benelux.


A few weeks before the event Carrie, Lauren and I got together to make little gifts for everyone coming to the meet up. We were so thrilled with the number of bloggers interested in coming and it was our way of thanking them for taking the time to come!

 The night was filled with meet&greet and networking. Lauren, Carrie and I spent a few minutes introducing ourselves and explaining our blogs. But other than that, we left the conversation up to the women! It was a great opportunity to ask questions or just learn about what others bloggers write about.

Oh and everyone looked fantastic. Bloggers are pretty good looking, wouldn't you say?

We had so much fun and loved meeting all these great women! We are so excited to have another meet up! We will keep you posted on details as we figure them out!

Huge thanks to Benelux for letting us host such a fun night there!