I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting super excited for the summer! For those who haven't heard yet, Taylor and I are moving to Chicago in just TWO WEEKS! I'm so stoked! We have never been there before so if you've ever been, please let us know what your favorite things to see and do out there are!

On a side note, another thing I'm actually getting really excited for is the nice summer weather waiting in store for us. I had high hopes for this spring being a bit warmer and sunnier, but I've been disappointed by all the random rain, snow showers, and clouds we've had here in Utah.

Although the weather is magical, summer fashion however, has always intimidated me. I've never been as skinny or tan as I always hope to be when summer rolls around, and it's too much work to do my hair or makeup (I'm just going to sweat to death, so why bother?), so I've never really tried to dress cute to achieve that "summer look".

Being an endowed member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I wear garments underneath my clothes that cover my shoulders and down my legs, almost to my knees. Last summer we lived in Alabama where the humidity is close to, if not, 100%. Every time I walked out of the house I felt like I had just hopped out of a pool- I was a hot, sticky, sweaty mess. And garments did not help the matter haha

I've been trying to amp my summer wardrobe to help me look not so frumpy as I have in the past years, but also light and airy enough so that I don't feel like I'm drowning when I go outside.



Lo and behold, I stumbled upon this beauty the other day and it's the perfect piece to my "I'm planning on not sweating to death this summer" wardrobe!

What I love about it is that I can dress it up with some heels and some bright, fun accent pieces (earrings, a necklace, or a bag) or keep it simple with some comfy sandals!


(It also had pockets. Can't forget the pockets)


You can also pair it with a cardigan for those unpredictable "sunny in the morning, raining in the afternoon" days when you never know what the weather's gonna be like!


You can find it here online at the Bella Ella Boutique website for just $32.00!

This has been a couple years in the making. I've always wanted to highlight my hair, but was too scared, too cheap, and actually really loved my natural hair color! I think with summer right around the corner, and our new life about to begin in Chicago, it was my last confirmation to just finally do it! I've been itching for a change for so long, it was just a matter of mustering up the courage to make it happen.

The irony of this whole thing is that I'm a licensed cosmetologist that helps my clients build up the courage to change their hair all the time...so why couldn't I do it for myself?? The cost and upkeep of having to come in every 6 to 8 weeks honestly was probably the biggest turnoff.  That's why I decided to do a balyage. The color doesn't go all the way up to the roots so I don't have to redo it every other month, thank goodness! I love how balyages, for the most part, look so natural and blend into the base hair color so well. It gives hair a natural, sunkissed look that's super cute!

Yesterday I headed over to CosmoProf (a licensed cosmetologist store that sells professional products), bought my supplies (because why would I spend the money for someone else to do my hair when I already know how to do it?! Psshh!), mixed all my color, and put my husband to work. That's right, my husband did my hair!! Of course I coached him the whole way through, but he did it and it actually turned out really well. He's a natural!

Don't be fooled- this process was actually super time consuming, and I was freaking out the whole time haha I'm so glad my sweet, patient husband put up with my moody self for almost 5 hours, because I seriously wouldn't have been able to do it without him!

I've listed below a brief description of how we did it and the products we used, for anyone interested or might possibly want to do this themselves!

The products I used were;
- Joico Blonde Life Lightener and corresponding Joico Lumishine 20 volume developer
- Scruples Power Blonde conditioning gel toner color Steel (aka toner) + 10 vol. developer
- Matrix SoColor 7M + 10 vol. developer

The lightener was obviously used to lighten my hair, which, because my hair is so dark, brought a lot of red-orange underlying pigments to the top.

Once I washed the lightener out, I used the Steel conditioning toner to get rid of the orange, but left just enough to maintain the caramel color.

After that was washed out and my hair was dried, I put the 7M on to deposit just a little bit more of the cooler tones to get rid of the brassiness.


It's definitely been a big change for me, but I'm really happy with the results! I'm ready for summer and excited to see what I decide to do next! (this might become a very addicting habit haha)