Looks as of Lately

Once upon a time I had a "Looks as of Lately" series, where I would post outfits from through out the week. I used to love putting these posts together, and it really cultivated a fun hobby for me of getting creative with my fashion. 

Lately, I've been getting my feet wet with a different type of fashion, hair fashion. It's been so fun watching YouTube videos, and trying to recreate them on my head. There's always a fail or two before a success, but I kind of like that. It kicks perfectionism to the curb, and forces me to embrace the learning curve. 

So, in the spirit of documenting this new hobby of mine, I'm bringing back "Looks as of Lately." It may be clothing related, or hair related; it might be weekly, or monthly, or every other month. Basically, no rules! Whatever it turns out to be, I want to document the way I'm experimenting with my personal style. 

I always envied hair fashion on others, but never thought I'd be able to learn, or manage to get my thick, dead straight hair to cooperate. 

Turns out, it's never too late to learn new tricks! Just takes some time to practice them. 

And so, here we have it, my hair looks as of lately!

Dutch Braid

I used this video from Twist Me Pretty to learn how to dutch braid. 

Fishtail Braid

Unfortunately, my hair is not at the best length for a full braid, and with my bottom layers varying in length, this baby didn't last toooo long. But it was great to practice!

I learned how to fishtail braid using the final look tutorial in this video. I had no idea how easy it is!

Curls

I bought a BedHead curling wand from Ulta, similar to this one. It was only $30, and works GREAT. I have tried curling my hair so many different times, using so many different methods, and I have never been happier! 

Since I have so much hair, it can get tiring curling it all. I separate into three sections, starting with the very bottom layer of my hair and moving up towards the top. If I'm getting over it by the time I get to the top section, I can just do a bun or braid with that hair, as shown above. 

For a girl who always wore her hair straight, it has been so fun to have some variety to work with!

***

What are your go-to hairstyles? And where do you turn for inspiration?

I'd love to know!

5 Days In

I'm 5 days in to this complete social media fast, and here's what I've realized so far:

One // I am blessed with some truly wonderful friends. I can't even remember the last time I simply wrote a blog post, clicked the bright orange "Publish" button, and didn't publicize it in some way, shape or form. 

I honestly didn't expect any one to read Saturday's blog post, and so when those wonderful, dear, loyal-blog-reading friends reached out with their sweet words of encouragement, it just made me feel mighty thankful for such a dear tribe of people to walk through life with. 

Thank you, friends, for constantly chanting "your words matter, Amy." 

Yours' do too. <3

Two // I forgot what it's like to have your phone, just be your phone. You know, solely for communication. Where the only notifications you get are when someone legit wants to say something to you, and they wanted to do so so badly that they took the time to text you. 

Or Snapchat you. {Okay, so I'm not entirely social media free. I mean, does that even count? It's like texting, but with pictures that last .5 seconds. Totally doesn't count.}

Three // When your phone is just your phone, you don't get a whole lot of notifications. 

And you know what I was reminded through that? My identity is secure in Christ, regardless of if my phone is blowing up, or silent as the moment after a bad, confusing joke. 

No matter how many times I hit that home button to see my blank lock screen, I'm still Amy, loved and treasured by Christ. 

It's not "Amy, loved and treasured by Instagram," or "Amy, loved and treasured by Facebook," it's something that is rock solid, and can never, ever change. 

It doesn't depend on my number of followers; it's entirely dependent on Who I'm following. 

Boom clap. 

Four // I genuinely miss it {mainly Instagram}, but not in the way I'd expect. 

It's really not as hard as I thought it would be. I don't miss it the way I would miss sugar or pasta, I don't crave it the way I crave those things {and pretty much all the food}. 

I just enjoy it. I really do love sharing my heart and my world in my little corner of social-media-land. And I look forward to being back, I really do. 

Five // I also have realized how much social media has taken away from my time of blogging, which I want to fix. This "Sweet Home Santa Barbara" blog is what started it all! 

It got me plugged into the blogging world, gave me a glimpse at some women who truly lived for Jesus, and helped me realize that my heart was aching for that. 

It gave me a passion for being a part of a community that shares. That's my favorite thing about the blogging community, we share. 

We share the cool and exciting new trends (hi, my best friend Stitch Fix). We share the life changing events, we share about our jobs, and our families, and our pets. We share what makes our heart beat with passion at a rate a gajillion times faster than it normally does, and we share what breaks it. We share the good times, but we also share the bad. The hard. The "things will never be the same" moments. 

And that passion to share? It's built into me. Right next to the part of me that craves all the food. 

And so, here are a few life updates. 

I've recently become really into trying to figure out how to do my hair. It's something I've always wished I could do, but figured my hair was just destined to always lay plain, and stick straight. 

False. 

I've even pulled my sister into this. 

I've been learning completely through YouTube, and these are my favorite channels:

Twist Me Pretty || Abby Smith

Missy Sue

***

I'm coordinating a wedding this weekend. After going to 6 in the last year, it's about time that I took it up a notch. 

I'm equal parts excited and nervous. Mainly excited, but let's be real. It's my friend Claire's big day, and I want it to go peeerfectly. 

No pressure. 

***

In less than 2 weeks, PJ and I will be celebrating our one year anniversary by running this half marathon. 

We will probably look something like this. 

It's gonna be great. 

***

I'm in week 8 of 10 in my second seminary class! This one has been kicking my butt much more than the last one, time-wise. But it's teaching me a lot about sacrificing time for building a dream. 

And the truth is? I don't even know what that dream is. Right now, it's just the dream of following God's path for my life, and I kinda like it that way. 

***

Enough about me. How are you? 

True Life: I'm afraid of short hair

Happy Monday, lovelies. 

Today, I have a confession to make:

I'm afraid of short hair.

Yupp, not sure when I determined this, but I've always felt like short hair is just not meant for me. 

Fortunately, my hair grows super fast and as all hairstylists recommend (sarcasm), I rarely cut my hair, so it's pretty much always been long. 

In high school, we would have an annual assembly where girls could donate 10 inches of their hair to Looks Like Me, a foundation that makes wigs for cancer patients. 

My freshman year I decided that I was determined to participate at some point during my 4 years of high school, but that I needed to grow my hair out good and long before I made the big cut. 

Now, to show you how serious this fear of short hair is, I've dug out a picture of my hair at it's longest. 

Guys, it's pretty bad. I didn't even realize how abnormally long my hair was. 

But to give evidence to my fear, here it goes:

...

Loooong, right? 

So anywho, I donated my hair and got it back to a socially acceptable length. 

Not to mention, I found a cause that I was passionate about. I have a lot of hair, we're talking suuper thick and grows crazy fast. So if I can help someone going through a tragic time in their life by donating some hair that I'm going to cut anyway? Seems like a pretty great deal to me. 

So when my hair was growing super long again, I decided it was time to donate again. 

I posted this back in September, and got a pretty big push for the idea:

Take my fear of short hair into consideration, and you probably won't be surprised that I waited quite a few months before making the big cut. 

But I finally did! :)

And I am happy to report that, while this is by far the shortest my hair has ever been, 

I love it!

And I hope that whoever ends up with my hair on her head loves it too. 

First thing on my 2013 Bucket List officially checked off!

Let's make this an awesome week, shall we?