Extensions

January 27, 201411 Comments

Are extensions trashy?

I used to think so.

In my brain, certain connotations attach themselves to gals sporting extensions. Face-slapping silicone boobies, acrylic nails and probably a guest appearance on The Bad Girls Club. If you have ever seen someone with bad extensions and a high pony, surely you can understand my point.

Oh Brit.

But then. Then I see a picture like this:

or this

I am not saying the women in these pictures are wearing extensions, but these days – I would not be surprised. You can’t swing a cat in Hollywood without knocking the extensions off every day-time TV queen, DWTS D-lister or Bachelorette hopeful. Apparently our own hair is no longer good enough.

So I look at these pictures and then I look in the mirror. SHAME. Despite my relentless attempts to achieve that certain un-done Serena van der Woodsen perfection, I am nowhere near close. Not even Jenny Humphrey close.

Serena wins

On a day-to-day basis, I could care less if my hair looks anything beyond mediocre. But on my wedding day? Yeah, I am aiming for editorial. Cover-worthy. Pinnable, Real Housewife worthy locks.

So all the sudden extensions aren’t looking so trashy anymore.

Immediately I can rule out the kind that fuse, bond or track into the hair. Too much of a commitment. So then I am left with the popular clip-in extension option, friends to many YouTubers and Beauty Bloggers alike.

BUT. Can I do it? Do I resign to the fact that I am willing to PAY to clip someone else’s hair to my own? Well I did it to my Christmas tree so…

Opinions are welcomed.

Ulta Haul Y’All

January 24, 20144 Comments

RHYMING 🙂

My one (and only) New Year’s Resolution was to start caring for my skin. Once a 16-year old with a yearly tanning membership – I have traded in my goggles and Australian Gold for Mystic Tans and SPF 70. But that’s where it has stopped.

To me, turning 30 hasn’t meant many changes. Case in point: I still listen to hits from High School Musical. OMG Sharpay yes. But it’s time to start smearing on the ol’ war paint so to speak. A war against wrinkles, crows feet and laugh lines.

So with no further adieu, I give you my newly acquired army hailing from Ulta.

You’re welcome for the awesome pics I took on the carpet.

1. Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Moisturizer $21.99

After doing a small amount of research, I discovered this product by Neutrogena. Earning high marks for it’s wrinkle-smoothing effects and a high SPF – I decided I would give it a try. Since it contains retinol, I wasn’t sure how it would react with my dryish skin. Jury’s still out, I’ll keep you informed.

2. Boots No. 7 Lift & Luminate Night Creme $17.44 (on sale)

This I bought based on an article I read on Oprah.com because, really, it’s Oprah. I chose this because it does not have retinol (don’t want to go overboard) and so far, I have been loving it’s ULTRA thick consistency and the great smell.

3. Tarte Maracuja C-Brighter Eye Treatment – Collector’s Edition $38.00

This I bought after Rebecca, from the Issaquah Ulta recommended it. I luuurve me some maracuja and anything that is going to brighten up my dark circles. Plus, the packaging is adorbs.

4. Mario Badescu Facial Spray with Aloe, Herbs and Rosewater $7.00

I got this based on a recommendation from YouTuber Jaclyn Hill. Plus, anything that is rose-scented wins my heart.

5. Zoya Pixie Dust Nail Polish in Godiva (on sale for $4.99 in case the sticker isn’t orange enough)

I got this because I saw another YouTube (I’m obsessed, clearly) Kristin Gehm. The pic doesn’t do this justice, it is SO pretty with subtle, itsy-bitsy sparkles and a great nude undertone.

Here it is on my nails, in really orange light:

6. OPI Mariah Carey 2013 Holiday Nail Polish in My Favorite Ornament $4.95 (Also on sale)

Rebecca, from Ulta was wearing this as an accent color on her ring finger and as we were talking, I totally interrupted her and was like “WAIT STOP WHAT IS THAT COLOR?” It is seriously the most beautiful glitter of all time. Ever. Amen.

7. Hoola Bronzer by Benefit $28.00

I needed a new bronzer and they were sold out of the Too Faced Milk Chocolate Soliel, so yeah. I have heard wondrous things about this bronzer and so far…I FREAKING LOVE IT.

8. Samples: Perricone Nutritive Cleanser, Juice Beauty Trio, DDF Wrinkle Resist Plus Pore Minimizer (Moisturizing Serum)

I am VERY excited to try the DDF serum, as I have heard great things about this line. I’ll be sure to share, don’t fret :).

And last, but not least check out my Seahawks eye look:

Thank God I saved that glitter from 7th grade volleyabll games

Rising Up to the Challenge

January 17, 20142 Comments

OF OUR RIVALS!!

And you know the one I speak of.

I have never been a competitive gal. Ask any former thumb-war opponent, hell – ask my old teammates. Life isn’t about winning as much as it’s about ~~trying~~ looking pretty, I always say.

But this Sunday is different. After a season spent hanging with Russ, the Shermanator and Lynchie err Sunday, I have become quite fond of these young men. Maybe it goes both ways, maybe not. Probably not.

Sometimes I picture myself down on the turf with Pete C, adjusting each other’s headsets and sharing a side-hug. Or Richard Sherman and I bro-punching one another, after a game-changing interception. I can see Russ and I pouring over our playbooks while on defense in matching baseball caps. Or Lynchie and I enjoying a Skittle-shower after an insane TD. Best buds, we would be.

These guys have become my boys.

And this Sunday, my beloved Seahawks play the 49’ers. And as much as I like to think the outcome of the game doesn’t matter. It does.

It matters because the Seahwaks have the best colors in the NFC West.

SO majesty

Because my heart will break if I see the 12th man let down.

It matters because Colin Kaepernick is King of Douches and needs to go back to his shoe collection and devote more time to taking bicep-kissing selfies.

A Humble Man, He Is

And because a win for the Hawks will bring sweet, sweet pleasure to see the atrocity that is Jim Harbaugh experience sadness and show it on his stupidly expressive mug.

Nice spin-move, Asshat.

Anywho, regardless of the team who claims victory – I know I’ll be cheering for the right one. A happy to know ya kinda team. A group of men worthy of all these crazy, Seattlites devoted attention.

Good luck boys. Make me proud.

Crazy Pills

January 14, 2014January 13, 2014Leave a comment

The man has only one look, for Christ’s sake! Blue Steel? Ferrari? Le Tigra?

They’re the same face! Doesn’t anybody notice this? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!

Your mistake indeed

So many things in life constitute a Zoolander quote, and this post is one of them :).

Let’s be frank (the tank) and get into the nitty-gritty details of a thing I like to call Losing my Sh*t Because Our Wedding is This Year. A glorious thing, it is. Vows will be exchanged, cake will be cut. Somebody’s date will wear a slutty dress and inevitably there will be an old college friend who passes out in the bushes. These are all things that make a wedding a memorable one.

So why, you may ask, am I sitting happily at my desk during the middle of the day, working. All, click-clack click-clack on my keyboard and “ooh, Potbelly sounds good for lunch OMG I NEED TO ORDER INVITATIONS!!” or “howmanypeoplesitata60inchtable?!”. It’s CRAY and completely un-necessary. The normal, calm Natalie is like, “keep it cool my baby” while the sweaty, heart-palpitating version is like “YOU IDIOT WHAT ARE YOU DOING??!!”.

I am bound and determined for the cool, collected side to win out. To not care that all my friends weddings have been gorgeous and have set the bar like 1238912 feet high. I don’t care, no I don’t. I am the mature, 30 year-old “I’m passed all this” bride. I pity the relentless Pinterest brides who make EVERY decoration out of driftwood and burlap…or do I?

Do you see the struggle I face?

One day I’m all, who cares about a program? And the next I’m ugly-crying over those cheesy chalkboard signs, proclaiming “pick a seat, not a side”. Poetic, yo. How do I strike a balance?

Aha! I have a way.

Derrrr

Yes, I’m upping the meds and hopefully this will do a body good. Lord knows I need all the help I can get. However, man cannot survive on pills alone.

I plan to stay decisively focused on the goal: just plain ol’ marrying Bryan. Boring I know, but that’s really all I want. And no amount of peonies are gonna help or hinder that goal. Neither are perfect centerpieces for the tables, DIY signs for the bar or ANYTHING bearing a monogram. Say la vie.

A few Christmas lights in the trees, drinks flowing, cupcakes-o-plenty and Miley wailin. YEP – sounds like a shindig for Bryan and Natalie. And on the way, I’ll pray for a stroke of good luck – a perfect pair of sparkly flat sandals on sale at the Rack, Nan hitting the mother-load at Goodwill and finding TONS of vintage milk glass.

Maybe a thigh gap will one day miraculously appear after a grueling 20 minute recumbent bike session on Level 1, while watching SATC re-runs.

A girl can hope :). And for now, that will do ‘er just fine.

Favorite Things

January 10, 2014January 10, 20143 Comments

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudel!

I’m stopping there, despite the fact that (like Andy Bernard) I hate NOT to resolve the melody.

Lately, I have stopped to take note of my favorite things that are not things.

Maybe it’s the start of a new year and I am feeling inspired, maybe it’s the fact that I just turned 30. Or maybe, just maybe, I have turned over a new leaf, and no longer care for Jo Malone products, vodka martinis and the splendor that is a new tube of lipstick.

or NOT.

More than likely, I have simply stopped for 5 seconds to stop and smell the damn roses. We are all well aware that I could never fully let go of my hearty, good ol’ American materialism.

So here they are. Favorite things that are not things.

Taking off my bra and my socks

(I feel like this deserves a little explanation)

Even better than removing my unmentionables is my SOCKS. Oh yes. As many of you may or may not know, I suffer from a mild case of cankles (where the ankle and calf blend together). Coffee cans, Grecian columns, tree trunks. Unfortunately, they run in the family and no amount of calf raises remedies the thickness.

This time of year, I enjoy wearing boots and obviously I pair them with socks. Over the course of o day, the upper band of the sock slowly digs in to my leg, and due to my condition, becomes quite the annoyance. By 4:45 I am DYING to rip my boots off and peel the ~~sausage casings~~ garments from my ailing lower legs. I then begin the process of kneading the deep sock imprints from my skin, which, as it happens, is seriously the best feeling in the world.

Socks on

You can see the bow pattern…

2. Finding one more string cheese in the bag when I thought they were all gone

3. Beating a level of Candy Crush that I have been on for almost 6 days running

4. Realizing just how much I love my fiance, like everyday (I had to have a sappy one)

5. When it only takes one try to parallel park and people are watching so I feel like a badass

6. Giving awesome Christmas presents, like a Doug Baldwin jersey for sister Amy

7. Listening to Phone Taps and Second Date Updates on Movin 92.5 on my drive to work in the morning

8. The feeling of the heating pad against my lower back (I am 84)

9. A good hair day

Oooooh

10. Breaking Bad. I know this could be classified as a “thing” but I don’t care. I freaking love this show, b*itch!! <- True fans will understand that.

All for now! BYE.

What I’m Reading

January 6, 2014Leave a comment

Hiya!

If you are looking for some amazing reads, look no further. I have hit the goldmine over the past couple of months.

1. The Time in Between: A Novel by Maria Duenas

I plucked this book from the shelves of the Costco in Maui purely for it’s size. You see, I had forgotten my literature at home and needed something to fuel me through a 9 day vacation. At 600+ pages it certainly tips the scales but for darn good reason. This book proved to me that sometimes it is good to just dive right in, knowing absolutely nothing about the story or the author. The plot captured my attention within the first 30 pages and I found myself just aching for the heroine. I appreciated the historical nods, twists in the plot and naturally, the subject matter (she works as a couturier, OMG). A book of this weight could have been just that – dead weight. I was glad that it was not.

2. Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland

After that 600 pager, I was in the mood for something a bit, shall I say, smaller? This book was actually at the condo we rented in Maui and I recognized the title. Botta bing botta boom. I really enjoyed this book. It takes you through time, telling the story of a Vermeer painting as it passes along from owner to owner. It was a quick, sweet read and made me want to buy art.

3. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

This one is kind of a gut-wrencher. I seriously cried like three times. But I am getting ahead of myself. I chose this book because 1.) I had heard the title 2.) I like the title 3.) It takes place in SEATTLE. In this book, two childhood friends face the world together given tumultuous adversity and then are forced to separate. In the beginning, the story takes place in the 1940’s during WWII. The author takes us back and fourth from then, to the late 80’s. The main character is Chinese and the heroine, Japanese (a big no-no in 1940 in parts of Seattle). In the beginning I felt a slight Romeo + Juliet kind of thing happening as the two begin to develop real feelings for one another. They even sneak out to see a jazz concert together – gah! How I loved this book. I’ll stop talking now.

2. 50 Shades of Grey by E.L James

I caved. #whatcanisay?

3. The Favored Child by Philippa Gregory

I really love this author, most notably for The Other Boleyn Girl. Nan gave me this one and although I have just begun this book and I can already tell I will love it. Phillipa, you kill it every time.

What are you reading?

Christmastravanganza 2013

January 2, 20141 Comment

Happy 2014 to you all!

Last night I sang the wrong lyrics to Auld Lang Syne as I do every New Years and thought I’d write an epic Christmas re-cap. Because, really. Don’t pretend you’re not dying to know :).

Our story shall begin the eve of my big 30th birthday bash, which incidentally did not take place on December 24th. Because of everyone’s crazy schedules, we decided to celebrate my birthday the weekend before Christmas, on Saturday and then do our early “Christmas” on Sunday.

Nadine, our appropriately named scant Christmas tree had been without a skirt for weeks. Bottomless, Nadine cowered in the corner of our living room, bashfully attempting to hide her bulky tree stand with garish ornaments and extra branches I had haphazardly attempted to attach to her lower branches. Truth.

With family coming the next day, I went to not one, not two, but FIVE stores in hot pursuit of a tree skirt for poor Nadine. Target, Fred Meyer, Pier 1, World Market and Bed Bath & Beyond let me down. Sales clerks shaking their heads and giving me the “They were gone two weeks ago” lecture, I retreated to my car with my tail between my legs. Not a single GD tree skirt on the ENTIRE Eastside? I was beside myself.

Meg, Ben and Nan arrived the next day with armloads of presents and plenty of Christmas cheer. Nan came to the rescue with a creme-colored toile tablecloth she pilfered from her own collection, which we arranged beautifully under Nadine before covering with dozens of presents. And then I realized that Christmas tree skirts are basically useless once you stick a bunch of presents underneath. Oh well.

That night we got cray at my huge, raging 30th birthday party. We wore ugly Christmas sweaters. We took shots of tequila at the insistence of my auntie. We ate bison sliders, goat cheese and Zachary chocolates. ‘Twas perfection.

It is just NOT Christmas without Yankee Candles!

…HE KNOWS…

The next day was “Christmas” with my family, minus Amy and my Dad (which SUCKED). Christmas just isn’t the same without my Dad softly squishing each of presents to ensure it isn’t a “soft” present, i.e socks, underwear and the like.

I got wonderful gifts from my family, Bryan and the Nash’s for both my birthday and Christmas. Here are some highlights!

Bryan also scored pretty huge.

That night, Bryan and Ben decided it was the perfect time to turn our house into a brewery. While Nan, Megan and I watched The Holiday and played Candy Crush, Bryan and Ben were snickering over in the corner like little boys playing with a chemistry set. It was adorable, but our house stunk like hops even with all the windows open. Of course, Nan liked the smell. Oh Nan…!

The next day I bid adieu to my family and reluctantly returned to work, craving more family time. Luckily I work with some pretty awesome people and was greeted by this.

After working a half day on Christmas Eve, the Nashs picked me up promptly at noon and whisked Bryan and I into the city for an afternoon of Christmas fun.

Chocolate croissants and peppermint mochas

We saw a matinee of Oliver! at the 5th Avenue and basically sat in the front row. It was AMAZING. Oh law – these kiddos were talented. The sets were beautiful, the cast was perfect and we all left with huge, goofy smiles on our faces.

Naturally, after Oliver! we went to Oliver’s Bar at the Mayflower Park Hotel. The scene could not have been more perfect – huge windows looking out onto the bustling city streets.

After our delicious cocktails we headed back to Redmond for some dinner, libations and more gifts. We had lasagna, prosecco and I opened even more amazingly thoughtful and wonderful gifts. I truly do not deserve to have these wonderful people in my life but GUESS WHAT? I’ll take em!

The next morning we woke up to our first Christmas morning in our new house. Aw, mems. Then, we went to the GYM. Yes – Bryan and I worked out on Christmas morning. It was indeed, a Christmas miracle.

Upon arriving at the Nash homestead, we were treated to Mary’s famous breakfast casserole and then we happily dove into our stockings. And really, aren’t stockings the BEST?

After the gift giving had ceased, we sat in the Christmas carnage and purveyed our new goods and wares. The day was spent watching The Holiday (again!), The Family Man, playing Monopoly, cooking dinner, making cosmos and a rousing game of Catch Phrase which, btw, is awesome.

It was a wonderful holiday filled with family, friends and tequila. And a tiny unicorn, thanks to Megan.