Girl, Is My Weave Showin'?

I'm not proud that I quote the movie Joe Dirt fairly often. It's actually just one line that stuck with me for some reason. Joe is trying to tell some gate guard that his name is pronounced "Deer-tay," and the guard tells him, "Don't try to church it up, son!"

I say that all the time. (And I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who gets a kick out of it!) But I think Shandi, founder of BabeHair Bootcamp, and my own stylist here in Austin would probably like that line, too!

I pretended to be working today, but actually, I just went and had so much fun with a bunch of gorgeous girls at BabeHair Bootcamp! (If I strap on a camera, that's work, right?!)

And let me tell you. Things got real real. Real quick.

Shandi - gorgeous, petite, charming, little Shandi, started off the event by pullin' out her weave right there in front of Gawd and ever'body.

"You can't call it extensions," she told a room full of women as she yanked out half of her hair. "It's weave. Everybody knows it!"

Most women who wear a weave would neeever even admit it, much less show it to a room full of people! But Shandi is utterly honest with her attendees about all her beauty secrets, from how she curls her hair, to how she gets that perfect arch in her brows. (Botox!)

Mostly BabeHair is about learning how to get that perfect curl, that cute up-do and the (surprisingly few) products you need to achieve those looks. Don't worry! There was nary a BumpIt to be found! I honestly think Shandi's methods are probably easier than trying to get one of those things to sit straight on your head anyway! 

First she shows you on her own pretty little head. 

And then she invites a pretty little head up from the audience to try it out and show everybody that it's easy even if you're not a professional!

One of my favorite parts was when she showed us how to do the kind of half up, half down do that you might wear to work. Then she took it and made one of those perfectly imperfect ponytails out of it. But wait! She's not done! Then made a cute little bun out of the whole thing, and voila! Her attendee model was ready to go to a wedding!

But even though BabeHair is a lot about looking pretty, Shandi makes sure that everybody who attends knows that this stuff is really just "for fun."

She tells her babes that this is the 'kid in a candy shop stuff.' "Don't ever think that you're going to get the guy, or the job or the interview just because of something like extensions. You're beautiful and amazing just like you are," she says.

Some of her tips can be found online at http://www.shandinichelle.com/, but for the whole thing, you'll want to like her Facebook page so you'll know when the next BabeHair tour is happening!

God Bless Y'all, Babes!

Reeeeeee-Pooooooost!! Barefoot in a Sundress

So I was writing a blog called The Local for KOKE FM this summer, but it turned out to just be too much for me once Sam came along. But I loved it, and I'm kind-of hoping to get back to it someday. In the meantime, I don't want those posts to get lost, so I'm re-posting some of them here for safekeeping. This one with Haley Cole was one of my favorites, so it's the first one. Not exactly timely as we head into our coldest weather so far this season, but maybe it'll help keep you warm this weekend! 

Fun sidenote: one of the photos from this shoot is now the main photo on Haley's website.

Who doesn't want to be "that girl?!" The one who's everything he ever hoped he'd find? I can't necessarily lead you to the guy who's world turns on a dime when you step out of a Jeep, but I think I can help you with the sundress part...

Nobody rocks a sundress like an Austin girl, and therefore, nobody stocks sundresses like our locally-owned Austin boutiques. Luckily, there are several in town who think KOKE and The Local are cool and were willing to loan out a few dresses specifically for this post!

But who wants to look at a bunch of pictures of dresses on hangers? Much more fun to talk a local artist into playing dress up for an afternoon!

In our case, "that girl" is Miss Haley Cole. While fairly new to our area, she has jumped right into performing as much as she possibly can and was a surprise guest with Drew Womack at one of our Wednesday night Free Music Series shows. That's where she and I met, and I knew she was everything I'd ever hoped I'd find for this shoot!

So let's shop!

So if you hang out on tree branches or drink from water hoses a lot during the summer, I think eyelet lace is pretty much the only way to go. This color is everywhere this summer and flatters just about any skin tone!

 This is just one of the dresses we found at Luxe Apothetique's downtown location. They have a ton of dresses, and tops and lots of accessories, too. Both necklaces are also from Luxe. You can shop downtown on Second Street or up north at their location in the Domain. Bonus: both locations also have salons in them!

We thank Blue Elephant (North Lamar at 35th Street in the Central Market shopping center) for this gorgeous maxi dress! (I very seriously considered just buying it instead of returning it to them!) Maxi dresses have been big everywhere for a little while now, but I think they're especially Austin-y because their a little bit hippie.

We found the perfect earrings and bangle bracelets at Embellish Nails & Boutique on Bee Cave Road. (They also have a north location at Anderson Lane near Mopac.) And, as the name implies, you can get a manicure or a pedicure so you can really make sure you're showing off your jewelry to its fullest potential. (They also do facials!) 

Those earrings plus the bow necklace from Luxe were some of our favorite accessories. We kept them on for this orange dress from Embellish and added a cuff bracelet from a little boutique down in Bee Cave called Oh Yeah! (It's across from the Hill Country Galleria.) Can you read it?! It says, "If a girl wants to be a legend,  she should just go ahead and be one." Thank you, Calamity Jane, for those words of affirmation!

We also found this chevron maxi and Kendra Scott necklace at Embellish. If you're looking for a dress for when you sit on fences, this is probably the one.

Works with a guitar, too!

 

Blue Elephant also had this maxi with the cool neckline...

...and this one with the cool, neon embroidery. Ahhh...a pool sounds pretty nice right now!

And just a little more neon along the hem of the white, strapless dress above wraps up everything I have to show you from Blue. They've got a ton of clothes, accessories and beauty items, too. I actually go there a lot for gifts.

But we're not done altogether! Luxe had this Roxy dress as well as the necklaces Haley's wearing.

Luxe also happens to be where we found this green and white ombre dress. Not just anybody can pull off the low, flapper-esque waistline, but the ruffles make it worth a shot. Works for Haley!

The necklace with the ombre dress is from Oh Yeah! So is the one we paired with the green, paisley dress from Oh Yeah!

It's leather, and it's almost like a bolo tie modified and made cute for a girl. I've never seen anything like it! I think that Oh Yeah! probably has the most unique accessories.

And this is another color that flatters most skin tones.

So there you go! See anything you like? You might think that it's not terribly practical to be buying sundresses this late in the summer, but I've got bad/good news for you: summer is nowhere close to over in Austin! We've got a solid two months of sundress weather left! More if you invest in a couple of cardigans!

Here is the official link list:


Haley Cole
www.haleycolemusic.com
(Psst - you can see her tonight in New Braunfels at the Pour House!)

Oh Yeah! Boutique
www.atxmafia.com/
(Oh Yeah! is owned by the creators of the ATX Mafia line, and that's their main website)

Embellish Nails & Boutique
www.embellishnails.com

Luxe Apothetique
luxeapothetique.tumblr.com/

Blue Elephant
blueelephantboutique.blogspot.com/

Jenni

It's Not Fall Anymore!

It felt like spring today, and I hear we're getting some real winter weather by the end of the week! Se la vie in Texas, right?!

Sam loves to be outside, and since opportunities will be few and far between during the big cold front that's coming, I decided to take a detour after my hair cut today and spend a little while walking him around Mayfield Park. I was also feeling a little bad for putting him back in his carseat again after he was so good for the five hour drive from Jasper just yesterday!

This won't be our first big cold front for the year, though. During the most recent one, Sam and I passed the time with a little feetsie photo shoot!

I just love the way he crosses his ankles like that, and had to get a shot of it! We actually took these the morning before he fiiinally was able to grab ahold of his feet! He still has not gotten them to his mouth, but he's working on it real hard! 

Sam is very patient and a good poser for Mommy. 

I framed that one. I can't stand how cute that little red head is. 

We also took his three month picture! We were a week late, but we've been a week late for all of them, so I think that means we're right on track! Right? I'm counting it. 

I couldn't choose! Let me tell ya, Precision Camera is making some money off of me now! I never can choose between shots! So I don't. I just print them all.

Oh Sam the Man. You're so funny.