We're Talking Hair

I use my hair like a scientist uses a rat. I love experimenting with it as long as my experiments do not cost too much time and too much money. From twisting to flat irons, I have tried almost everything that does not cost too much time or money and promises to help. 

The princess I sketched

My dream hair is golden curls like all the princesses have in story tales. Ringlets. Tousles. Locks. Whatever you want to call them, those are my dream. With my thick brown hair I am a far way off from that.

I have learned to like, even love, my hair despite the battles, but there is one thing about my hair. My hair is thick. Not just thick, it is THICK. Most hair blogs give you helpful hints about thickening your hair, but what about those of us who cannot put our hair in a hairband without breaking one, who use up shampoo bottles every month, and whose hair takes hours to blow dry? Or is that just me? 

I will never forget that once in a lifetime day when I got a compliment on my hair. I was at the orthodontist and lady working with me raved about my hair the entire time. She asked what shampoo I use, and I spent the whole half hour trying to remember what it was called. The thing that made the compliments especially awkward for me was something I never told the orthodontist lady. I never told her that right after my orthodontist appointment I was going to the salon to get my haircut. Ooops. 

Blogs are always promising voluminous curls or shiny new locks. I cannot promise you either but  have a couple tips that have stuck through the years.

Who knew hair photography could be so fun?

Cinnamon. It sounds natural. Dangerous. Gross. Insane, but cinnamon is amazing. I put it in my conditioner and stroke it through wet hair. I leave it in while my hair dries. Why? Cinnamon helps hair grow and takes bad junk out of it. It makes your hair smell good, too. The best reason I do it is because it brings out the natural highlights in my hair. I have always been too afraid to put oil or eggs in my hair. Yes, I still have some sanity left in me, but cinnamon is worth it. Every time I apply cinnamon my hair actually feels better. 

My next tip is for those of you who are lazy...like me, those of you who do not want to waste hours curling your hair. My hair is too thick to curl every strand so I french braid it before I go to bed. With a little hairspray and a curling wand for the limp strands, you can actually create a quick version of the style you are going for. 

Right now I am kind of just waiting for my hair to grow. Then I can have long hair again because long hair has always been my favorite. Fun haircuts make life interesting but all my princesses have long hair, and a part of me still wants to be a princess. So the experiments will go on...and maybe someday I will be a pro... but I would not get your hopes up.

<3 storyteller

Comment bellow if you have any hair tricks? 

My Blog

So what's the point of Once Upon A Time? 

I want it to be a little like grandma's trunk,

 full of junk and treasures. 

I hope you can pick out the treasures, 

find the pieces that give you joy, 

the pieces that make you laugh,

 the pieces that make you remember. 

Pull out the practical things...random stuff you can use in your everyday life. 

Push aside the things you don't care about. 

Find the parts that make you smile. 

This blog may be dusty at first,

 but hopefully over time you'll find treasures. 

Have fun with it.

You Knew It Was Coming: Ugly Sweaters, Hot Cocoa, Snow

Snowy days are the best. No school. An excuse to snap pictures. Hot cocoa. Sledding. Not to mention the spotless blanket of perfection sparkling over the whole yard. The first thing I do when I wake up and there is whiteness shining through my window is find my ugliest sweater and slippers. Oversize ugly sweaters are the thing right now, aren't they? Whether they are the thing or not, they are super cuddly, quick, and easy.

I own the ugliest ugly sweater ever. I mean it is not even cute in any sense of the imagination, buuuuuut it IS a super quick thing to throw on with jeans and a necklace. Next make some hot cocoa and you are due for a great snow day!

Back when we were little snow days were super fun... whenever it starts to snow Mom gets the bowl. She sets it outside, and we watch each snowflake drift inside. Trapped. When the bowl is full, Mom brings it in and make snow ice cream. Some people call it other things, but whatever it goes by it tastes the same. Soft. Creamy. Sweet. 

We go outside to play, creating our own things out of the white. Misshaped snowmen. Crooked angels. Snow castles.

Snow days have changed since we were little. Now there are school books to read, papers to write, people to call. I guess that is just a part of growing up, giving up a bit more of childhood.  We still find time to enjoy the winterland after all the responsibilities.

My sister and I love to practice our photography. 

And yes, sometime I even get into my marshmallow suit and sled down our tiny slope. My family makes fun of me because I am a slow sledder, but that is JUST because of my sled! I have a slow sled. They just have to accept that fact.

The best thing about a snow day is that moment at end when the sun sets and the moonlight reflects on the frosted earth. The way the outside world glows awes me all over again every time. It almost makes me want to go back out, but I am to happy by the crackling fire, to warm, to tired. 

<3 storyteller

What is your favorite part about snow days? Leave a comment bellow.

My Valentine's Day Ramble

To some of you Valentines day is gone. Past. Just a memory. Sorry, but I had to ramble about Valentine's day and I just did not manage to post this sooner.

It is interesting watching everyone on Valentine's day. Everybody has a different way of treating the holiday. There are those girls excited about chocolates and love letters. I do not blame them. Let us be serious here, chocolate is the best. There are those people who know they are not getting valentines or chocolates and boast about being single and how great they are for it. Then there are those people that make it half way through the day without realizing what day it is.

Some of you might be like my brother who says his wife  will just have to wait for president's day to celebrate a holiday. All I can say to those of you is be sure to marry the right person.

I like Valentine's Day. Mom always made it fun for us since we were little. Treats. Candle-light dinners. Heart shaped cakes. Anyways, roses are my favorite flowers so I cannot argue with a holiday full of them. 

This Valentines Day was really special, not because I got hundreds valentines and roses and chocolates, but because the small things I did get were given with the most love. 

A heart-shaped cake. A pink valentine in the mail. A crumpled piece of paper with a smiley face drawing on it. Just tiny things, but things that mean more to me than anything else. 

We are all huddled inside on Valentine's day. Together. Family, like it should be. Blizzard singing behind the tightly bolted doors. Diamond snowflakes paste the window. Candles send shadows across the walls. 

I could create in my head the most exquisite Valentine story if I wanted to. One with a golden haired princess and blue eyed prince. Doesn't that sound perfect? But the real Valentine story lies here, in the simple things. Perfection lives in simplicity, I think. 

I do not know why I am rambling, maybe just because I can. I felt like it. 

<3 storyteller

After Ever After

 

About my novel in a month...

What would a world be like if everything ended with a happily ever after like it does in all the fairy tales? That is the world Aria lives in. It is ruled by the Owel race, believed to be a smarter race. Aria is just a normal girl...or so she thinks. She has a twin brother whose name is Bobby. He is not normal. He doesn't believe in Happily Ever After. When Owels send him to a special needs home, Aria feels pain, real pain, for the first time in her life. Pain is not supposed to bother people, but it bothers Aria. Maybe Bobby is right after all? Join Aria in her pursuit to find meaning in life that turns into a deathly mission to save her family and thousands of others living a lie. Life is no fairy tale. Will Aria press on even if it costs her the best friends she has or more? Adventure. Betrayal. Sacrifice.
-After Ever After

So right now I am just swimming through oceans of edit work. I hope to publish this even if all I do is self-publish it as an ebook. 

BLOG

Hey guys, well I have neglected this blog long enough. I must face the truth. Story blogs steal too much time, too much of my time and too much of yours. In the month of November I wrote a book. Yeah, I have not been lazy. I have crazy plans for it, but this post is not about my book. This post is about my blog. I am going to change this blog. I am about to post random stuff, stuff that I am doing and that I enjoy. Do not worry, there will be stories along the way. It would not be my blog without stories. There will be photos and art and crafts and anything else. Please stay tuned, I love my baby group of followers.
<3 Storyteller