Mommin' It Up!

January 5, 2012January 4, 2012

Things I Love Thursday: Sedu Hairstyling Products

I hate my hair.

I addition to it being not curly but not straight, gray, and all around annoying, it is so thin on the top front of my head.

It makes me cringe to call attention to it, but take a look…

The thin part on the top of my head is the bane of my existence. I’ve been trying to do things that will make it better (or at least hide it)… vitamins, different shampoo, styling products, etc. A year or so ago I discovered something that did help quite a bit – highlights. I had resisted highlights for so long because frankly I was cheap, but once I got them I was hooked. So every few months, I grit my teeth and hand over my credit card to the girl at the salon. Expensive? Sure. Worth it? Definitely.

I’ve come to terms with the expense. Just recently I told my sister that the only way I’ve found to make my hair situation better is to throw money at it. It was then that I had a revelation – I was getting pricey cuts and color and using high-end hair goo, but I was using cheap hair appliances every day. My hair dryer and straightening iron together probably didn’t cost $50, and it seemed entirely possible that better models would produce better results. I started scouring the internet and found folica.com. Not only do they have every hair tool anyone could ever possibly need, the customer reviews are amazing. These people are serious about their hair! Since I was clueless, the reviews were a big help to me.

I reached out to the people at folica and they were nice enough to send me the Sedu Revolution Pro Tourmaline Ionic 4000i (say that 5 times fast) hair dryer for review.

This hair dryer is definitely an investment – the regular price is $200 (although it’s on sale for $159.99 right now), but I love it. It is a serious machine – according to the website, the air comes out at 80 mph. It has an on/off button for the ionic generator, which is great when you’re going for a smooth, straight look, but not so much when you’re looking for volume. It’s got 6 different speed/heat settings and a cool blast button as well.

I can seriously tell a difference in my hair when I use this dryer, as compared to my drugstore model. I’m not sure how to describe it, but it leaves my hair more fluffy (in a good way) and full, which is critical for hiding my thin spots! I also love how quickly and thoroughly it dries. Kate has really thick hair (lucky girl) that’s below her shoulders, and most of the time she and I lose interest in getting her hair dry when it’s about half way there… the Sedu Revolution cuts the time it takes in half, so she is no longer going to bed with a wet head.

I liked this new hair dryer so much that I asked Andy to buy me a professional-grade flat iron as a Christmas present (and by asked I mean sent him a link with a coupon code for $25 off if he ordered it that day. Which he didn’t. So I did. He stuck it in a gift bag on Christmas Eve, though, so it was still technically a present). After scouring Folica for the perfect model, I decided on a Sedu 1.5 inch flat iron.

The flat iron came in a set with clips, a heat mat, Sedu Antifrizz Polishing treatment (which I am obsessed with) and a black clutch for travel. It’s regularly $244.98 (*gulp*) but thanks to some CRAZY sales they had going on, I managed to score it for about $80. Even that is about 4 times what I’ve ever spent on one before, but it is worth every penny. It makes my hair so straight and smooth, I feel like I just came out of the salon.

These new toys have made such a difference in how I feel about my hair and about myself as I head out the door every morning. Like I said – Expensive? Sure. Worth it? Definitely.

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I’m linking up to Things I Love Thursdays at the Diaper Diaries!

January 4, 2012January 3, 2012

Disordered

I managed to come through the Great Plague of 2011 unscathed (which reminds me, I still need to clean the vomit off my black suede boots. Yay). But I have a new fun disorder instead. Temporomandibular joint disorder, more commonly known as TMJ.

Let me explain.

Here’s your brain.

Here’s your brain on TMJ.

According to my dentist, I’ve been clenching my teeth too much (and to be sure, during the family-“fun”-filled holidays, there was plenty of clenching going on) which is causing the joints in my jaw to protest. It’s a dull ache at all times, punctuated by acute pain when I talk, sneeze, chew, or move. The dentist gave me ibuprofen and some muscle relaxers (I took 1/4 of one and slept until 10 the next morning – not such a good plan for regular use) and told me to come back in a month to be fitted for a football-style mouth guard. I somehow skipped the fun of orthodontia as an adolescent, so apparently I get to make up for it now. Woohoo! She also said not to eat anything crunchy, chewy, or hard. I’m not entirely sure what’s left, so I haven’t exactly been following that advice.

TMJ is extremely common and no big deal. But dudes. It hurts. It wakes me up in the middle of the night and often makes me nauseated. And it seems to be getting worse.

All this complaining made me realize just how grateful I am that the Plague skipped me – there’s no way I could open my mouth enough to puke effectively.

So at least I have that going for me.

January 3, 2012January 3, 2012

Oh, the Toys!

So of course, the toy population around here has increased by three bazillion percent because of Christmas, Jonah’s birthday, and Sophie’s birthday all occurring in a 5-week-period. WHEW! We’ve had to make some room for all this crap great stuff, and have done some reorganizing but we still have a few storage issues to resolve. But, said issues aside, I must say I am super-pleased with most of the toys we purchased this year! YAY! I can’t tell you how discouraged I’ve felt (espeically after Joshua’s birthday last year) when I’ve bought toys that have turned out to be CRAP. So I thought I’d share with you what the kids and parents in this house like the best from this year’s haul.

Sophie’s faves:

Dora Fiesta Favorites Kitchen Playset:

This was the “big-ticket item” that Sophie really wanted, and I’m glad we got it. (Of course I got a sweet deal on it, because regular price is a bit steep for me.) The quality is good, Dora says lots of different phrases, the toy food & dishes are a nice quality, and you can change the window scene if you’re feeling creative. It’s just a great pretend toy with the advantage of having the voice & image of Dora, whom Sophie adores. Jonah absolutely LOVES playing with this also, so BONUS!

Learning Resources Pretend & Play School Set:

This set is SO much fun! I had my mom get this for Sophie because I just really wanted her to have it and I knew she would love it. What I didn’t count on was that Joshua would love it too and that they would love playing it together. Double BONUS! Those two have had so much fun with it. It comes with a school bell, map, dry-erase calendar and board, pointer for the teacher, stickers, worksheets, pencils, hall passes, all kinds of great supplies. The kids have been pretending up a STORM with this thing, and of course I’ve gotten into the act too. It also folds up so nicely for storage or to transport it somewhere – and is very sturdy! It is just a great set. I highly recommend it!

Joshua:

Transformers Kre-O sets by Hasbro:

Confession: I picked these toys out to buy for Joshua because I also knew how much my hubby loved Transformers as a kid. And they have had SO MUCH FUN building them together. Bobby has just been so impressed with the quality of the Kre-O. I hunted down the big Optimus Prime set when it was on a good sale, and took advantage of sales and coupons both in-store and online on some of the other sets. We like these so much that Joshua bought another one with his own Christmas money, and we bought another one for his birthday which is coming up in February (shh, don’t tell!) These bricks work with lego, which is great if you already have those, but they are great in their own right. Bobby and Joshua had a lot of fun and bonding time building and playing with these over the holiday! We will definitely be buying these for awhile I am sure.

Mario Kart K’nex:

Let me first just say that I was super, super worried about spending any $$ on this because up until now, ever Mario toy I’ve bought has been CRAP. But, I crossed my fingers that the respected K’nex brand would not produce crap, and it was a good gamble, because this is AWESOME! The downside is that it is also giant and in my living room, but we will put it away eventually. 🙂 We’re just having too much fun with it right now. The tracks are not hard to put together so it’s no problem to get them back out to play. The cars are FAST and they really stay on the track (of course you CAN build it so that they fly off or crash if you want to). The cars do eat up batteries somewhat but we’ve been playing with them non-stop so that’s not surprising to me. Overall, I am very impressed. The cars work GREAT, are easy to build, the track is nice quality, it’s fun, it’s fast, it’s customizable, and it was a good investment. Once again, I took advantage of a sale and already got Joshua another set of these for his birthday (again with the SHH!)

Jonah:

Playskool Poppin Park Elefun Busy Ball Bopper:

Technically I got this for review, full disclosure, but I have included it as Jonah’s favorite Christmas toy because it’s super-cool and definitely the top of all his toys! It’s my favorite as a parent as well! It’s got fun music, it works GREAT, Jonah figured out how to work it instantly and he adores it. He dances to the music as he plays, it’s pretty much adorable. The big kids like playing it with him as well. I love everything about this toy. I would buy one ten times over. If you know a baby who has a birthday coming up, buy them this!! All Jonah’s boring parents got him were socks and onesies, so thanks Playskool, for this one!

Well, there’s our favorite Christmas toy round-up! All of them were paid for with our own hard-earned money or were given by family except for the Elefun toy. What toys are most glad that your kiddos received for Christmas?