Last Minute DIY Halloween Silhouette Winow Decor

This is a super quick and super cute Halloween DIY...even for the most novice of DIYers. 

My mom always makes 'spooky' silhouettes in her windows with black paper. I thought I'd carry on the tradition and do the same -- but instead I used lace black fabric for a bit more spook factor. This is a new house - and this is my first Halloween in my own real house...so I am not stocked up on Halloween decor at all. So this was a good quick and fairly cheap way to decorate the exterior. Along with pumpkins of course.

To start, all you really need is a dark fabric of choice (the Halloween fabrics at Jo-Ann's were on sale, so this cost me under $10 for a yard. Depending on how fancy you go with your fabric, it can cost way less, probably as low as $2-3 a yard. Especially with all of their Jo-Ann's coupons!). You'll also need some tape and fabric scissors. 

And then you just let your inner creative spirit take off...and cut out ghoulish ghosts, jack-o-lanterns, bats...and whatever else you want peeking through your windows. 

There are templates online you can blow up and trace -- but I think monsters become even more monstrous when free styled. 

I wanted to make a scary tree and then completely botched it -- so the bf came to rescue and fixed what he could as you can see...

Then tape your fabric silhouette creations to your windows, turn on your lights, and that's it! 

Happy Halloween,

Nasturtium, Berries, and Spicy Arugula Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

The BF and I love going to Detroit Eastern Market. What we love most is the plants and the food! And depending on our mood, some days are plant splurges (where we become plant hoarders) and some days are food splurges (where we buy enough food so we can go home and stuff our faces...). 

Last time we visited Detroit Eastern Market, we were happy to find a build your own salad booth with a bucket of nasturtiums. Nasturtiums happen to be a big favorite of the BF's -- because you can quite literally eat the entire flower -- and we decided to pick up a bag! Along with a few ears of fresh corn and strawberries (all fresh from the market). The only things not immediately fresh were the blackberries!

You Will Need:

Large few handfuls of spicy lettuce, arugular and salad

1 ear of corn

1 handful of strawberries

1 handfull of blueberries 

Small to medium cut of feta cheese.

Handful of  crushed walnuts

Basically, throw everything in a big fruity ball. 

We used this brand of Brianna's Home Style Rich Poppy Seed Dressing --wich was delicious! 

Then either toss your salad, or served on a plate for people to pour their own dressing. Yum!

We served it up with some zucchini bead, also from Detroit Eastern Market, and smoked salmon.

Enjoy!

Get the Look of Curly 3B Natural Hair with No Gel, Just Moisturizer and a Little Heat

This is a new technique I've been trying out on my VERY fried bleached blonde 'natural' hair (not so natural since it's bleached...). 

Instead of twisting, I just run my straightener over my natural curl pattern to calm frizzies and smooth my texture a little bit. It's really weird because you would think that straightening damaged hair would make it more damaged...but I find that when I straighten my bleach damaged hair it actually becomes much smoother, stronger, less brittle and softer. 

How I style my hair from this:

(Frizzy, brittle, dull)

To this:

(Smoother, softer, shiny)

As you can see, this method of styling resulted in much softer, tamer, and smoother curls and waves--and I didn't use ANY gel! As you may know...my new natural hair tool kit favorite is Yes To Carrot's leave in conditioner. It is super creamy and moisturizing and leaves my hair feeling very soft. To get this look I do use heat--though if you are opposed to heat styling, you can stretch your hair using the wrapping or pony tail method. You could also twist or braid and then pull until taught, bobby pinning the ends.

As you can see, my natural hair is totally fried and breaking off little by little. It's a nightmare! But I am coping as best as I can...not to be overly dramatic...and Yes to Carrots has been a big help. I love the conditioner and shampoo as well...but that will be another post!

The Process:

First I washed my hair using a purple shampoo and Trader Joe's Nourish Spa Conditioner.

Then I separated my hair into about 4-6 sections.

I re-spritzed each section with water.

Then detangled.

Then used a dime size amount of Say Yes to Carrots Leave In and distributed the product throughout each section. 

To further distribute product and help clump my curls, I brushed through using my Denman brush.

After that process, each section looks something like this.

Repeat this process throughout your whole head.

After the Say Yes to Carrots Leave In was evenly distrubited throughout all of my hair...I sat under my bonnet dryer for about 45 minutes until my hair was about 85-95% dry.

For extra moisture and shine, I rubbed a quarter size amount of Trader Joe's Organic Virgin coconut oil into my ends.

Then, I covered my hair in a scarf and slept on it overnight letting it dry completely and allowing the coconut oil to absorb.

The next morning, I sectioned my hair again into workable sections. 

You don't need to set your straightener to the highest heat level--but the hotter the straighter, the less time you'll need to run the straightener over your curls. You want to be careful not to STRAIGHTEN your hair -- just stretch your hair. 

This is how short my hair is with shrinkage! It shrinks to about a third the length. Sometimes even less! 

As you can see...my hair is actually much longer. You want to stretch out the small section of hair with your fingers...

And then quickly run your straightener over the section. The longer you let the straighter stay on your hair, the smoother and less curly it will be. I focus the straightener more at the roots and less on the ends. 

Then repeat this throughout your whole head -- focusing a little more on the roots and then running the straightener on high heat more quickly along the rest of the hair and your ends.

This is the result! I didn't use ANY gel or styling product -- only Yes to Carrots Leave in Conditioner. If you do use a gel on top of this, the curls will likely be a bit tighter and will probably last a day or two longer. So that is up to you -- but this just shows that even if you do have very tight curls, you can get away with ditching sticky and/or crunchy styling gels. 

This style lasts me 1-3 days until it starts to frizz. I usually touch up again with a straightener or twist it throughout the week. I find that using a straightener to stretch my curls, rather than a blow dryer, leaves my hair less frizzy and helps reduce shrinkage. Though I still like using my blow dryer on days when I want more volume. I guess it just depends on your style and what you like! But if you have very tight curls (like I do) and want to get the 3B curl/wave look--this is a good method!

Let me know how it works for you!

My Weekend in Instagrams: Isalita, Detroit Foodies, & Ok Go Concert

Isalita chicken enchiladas -- with a chocolate red enchilada sauce

It is no surprise that the highlights of my weekend consisted of mostly food--a few fun events...like a tailgate in Ann Arbor as well as an Ok Go concert (I haven't heard their music in such a long time!!)...but all surrounded by good food.

Whenever I go to Ann Arbor there is always a good handful of venues and restaurants that are on my to do list. Isalita is one of them! A Mexican inspired restaurant inspired even more so by Pinterest, likely. All the food is very vibrant and colorful, but also good IMO. And of course...the frozen margaritas bring me back to college...in between class sometimes! Partner in crime...you know who you are. 

Isalita frozen blood orange margarita with a sugar rim

Homemade pickled radish

I'm not a big fan of pickles...but my friend let us taste her homemade pickled radishes before we left for the concert in Detroit. They are just as vibrant purple as delicious...and according to her, easy to make! Maybe I'll try this recipe one of these days...

Garlic sesame avocado salad.

And to help fill us up on veggies before hitting up the bar food...she also made us this very fancy salad. It pays off having basically chefs as friends!

PJ's Lager House, Detroit

I love trying new restaurants and bars in general -- but especially in Detroit. There are so many little gems tucked away in the corners of the city that are often overlooked I'd say! Before the show we grabbed drinks and food at PJ's Lager House. I'd come back here just for the mac and cheese...not one veggie...but very delicious. 

Ok Go

Up close and personal with the lead singer

Last but not least...the concert! We were not very close to the stage...but at some point the lead singer decided to come out amongst the crowd and sing to us from a lot closer. And he just happened to come over right around where we were standing. There was a lot of people -- and it was very fun! It was actually at the Magic Stick, which I always describe as very straight forward and a little sticky. But perfect just the way it is...in all of its stickiness. There was lots of confetti...and lots of good times!

The Bleached Blonde Natural Hair Survival Essential: Yes To Carrots Leave In Conditioner with Argan Oil

Don't worry, Giovanni Direct Leave In, I still love you. But I have found a very close second, if not tie, for a leave in conditioner for natural hair. 

Every since dying my hair blonde, my hair has turned extremely diva -- it's is now temperamental, flakey, very thirsty, brittle, and dry basically all the time. I also find my hair to be happiest when it is straighter and/or wavy rather than curly. The problem is...I am fairly lazy, so straightening my hair everyday is not a realistic option.

Lately, for a serious boost in moisture and maleability, I've been LOVING Say Yes To Carrots' Leave In Conditioner with Argan Oil. I love everything about it -- the texture, consistency, feel on my hair (and even on my skin), and the smell. It feels like a creamy, heavier lotion. It is not has heavy as an oil or butter, but thicker than the Giovanni Direct Leave In. It has a light, fresh, powdery smell as well as a powdery finish so it doesn't dry so oily. Even if you run it into your fingers, it dries a bit more powdery soft than oily. It really does leave my hair feeling as soft as it was prior to dying, especially when I wear it in a straight style. 

The only possible negative I've found with this product is that it does not always mix well with gel based styling products. I would not suggest mixing this with heavy amounts of Kinky Curly or Eco Styler, for example. If you do cocktail this product, go lighter with the products and use a lot of water.

Anyway...this has definitely been a bleach blond survival staple in my natural hair toolkit as of late. And I highly recommend this product! 

Of course, you can't know if this will be good for your hair type until you try it for yourself...

I am upset to hear this...but I've heard this product might be going away soon. Not sure what I will do without it...it is currently on sale here on yestocarrots.com  for a little over $5. A great price! 

This product is 96% natural with a rediculously long slew of natural extracts and few hard to pronounce unfamiliar ingredients. I also like that it is paraben free, petroleum free, SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) free, & cruelty free! If Yes to Carrots is actually bidding this leave in farewell, it's a big mistake!! 

Contains:

• Argan Oil
• Sea Kelp Extract
• Keratin 

Ingredients:

Water, Cetearyl alcohol, Behentrimonium chloride, Safflower seed oil, Candelilla cera wax, Olive oil, Shea butter, Argan oil, Macadamia seed oil, Coconut oil, Radish root ferment filtrate, Pomegranate extract, Green tea leaf extract, Carrot root extract, Sweet potato extract, Spirulina extract, Orange extract, Honey extract, Sea kelp extract, Soybean seed extract, Hydrolyzed keratin, Hydrolyzed soy protein, Tocopherol, Glycerin, Guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride, Capric Triglyderide, Glyceryl stearate, Citric acid, Dihydroxypropyltrimonium chloride, Sodium hydroxide, Sodium borate, Potassium sorbate, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance. 

*Many of the extracts and oils are organic 

This is definitely up there on my top leave in list with Giovanni and Kinky Curly Knot Today. I liked it before I dyed my hair, but find that it works particularly well on dyed damaged hair. If your hair is undamaged  then its possible you won't notice much of a difference between this and your already favorite leave in. 

Tell me how it goes if you try it out!

It's Beginning to Feel Like Fall

A sea of mums at Eastern Market, Detroit