Fishtail Braid

Last week on my Fashion Friday post, I posted a cute hairstyle that seems to be super popular for fall! 

It's the fishtail braid.  And because I received more than a few e-mails on how to do the braid, I figured I'll do a tutorial for all of you! Here's the breakdown.  My adorable roommate Anna modeled (:

Divide the top part of your hair into two sections.  

Grab a 1/2 inch strand of hair from the left side and bring it to the right side.  Pull tight.  Next, grab the same thickness of hair from the right side and bring it to the left side, making sure to keep each side separate from one another.  Pull tight.  Do this without twisting hair under like a braid.  This is simply moving one small section of hair to the opposite side.

 Keep repeating these steps until you run out of hair. 

Once your done, secure with an elastic and you can pull out a few strands and curl them or crimp them or whatever you feel like doing, just to give it a more relaxed look.

I like to put in a cute headband first then do the fishtail so the front part of my hair isn't in my face:

Here's another example of an adorable fishtail from Whippy Cake:

{PS. I asked for this glamour band for Christmas (: }

Hope this helps! Let me know if you give it a whirl!

Love and Braids,

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Happy Saturday!

{my favorite shoes}

"Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world." — Marilyn Monroe


Love and Conquering the World in Style,

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Hair. Make up. Camera. Action!

A few weeks ago, my hair dresser, Lindsay, asked me to do a photo shoot for her to show off some of her amazing hair styling talents!! I already loved her, but after our day together, I loved her even more.  I felt like a princess: she brushed my hair, curled it, did my makeup.  The whole nine yards.  My kinda day (:  Because frankly, I love playing dress up.  I also had the privileged of meeting Lindsay's friend, Jay, who took the pictures for the shoot.  He's so talented!  And he had just bought a totally cool new camera, so it was double the fun.  Here are some of the pictures from the shoot!

How amazing is this updo? WOW.  She will do my hair for my wedding (:

Love this style!  And it's easy to do!  Just a diagonal side french braid with a messy bun at the end.  Sometimes I do a pony tail at the end, too. You can see my version of it here.

French braid headband.  Start at one side of your ear and add in hair all the way to the other ear.  Looks like a headband made of hair!

If you ever need a photographer, e-mail Jay at movingfloorward@yahoo.com

And if you want your hair to look BEAUTIFUL, e-mail Lindsay at lindsaydabalos@yahoo.com.  They're great, I promise!

Happy weekend!

Love and Playing Dress Up,

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Fashion Friday #2!

This is my second week writing my Fashion Friday segment.  Yay!

Here's what I wore today:

Dress: Franchesca's- $28

Sweater: Nordstrom- $30

Wedges: American Eagle- Not sure, but no more than $20!

Ring: Pier1 Imports (can you believe it?!): $3

Basically, I'm trying to wear all my dresses one more time before I move!! Cause when I get there, it's straight to this:

Leggings(sometimes multiple layers), coats, scarves, hats!

Happy Friday!

Love and Fashion Friday,

Michaela

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Warm Clothes, Please!

Since I'm moving to Seattle in 9 days (Oh my gosh!! Nervous. Excited. AH!), I've been looking at clothes. Not just any clothes, though.  Warm ones.  Because it rains there, if you didn't know, and it's also really cold for my liking.  But I will get through it!

Here are some cute clothes that I am now coveting:

This jacket over this cute shirt:

(from Nordstrom)

This is from Anthro, and it would work well with leggings under the dress.  This is my favorite outfit I found.  I also want the horse (:

On a more practical level, I'm going to need to invest in another North Face jacket to stay dry.  I have a pink one, but if I wear it everyday, I don't want people to think I only have one jacket.  Because jackets are your outfits in Seattle. This year I'm going to fully embrace the cold weather.  Yay.

Happy Wednesday!  I can't wait to show you my guest room reveal tomorrow!

Love and Warm Clothes,

Michaela

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Whippy Cakes

I knew it was coming.  As I was playing ball with Shasta, I realized I was really just wasting time.  Wasting time, hoping the mailman would come sooner.

It was here.  Oh my goodness!!

My Whippy Cake headband is here!  And it's cuter than ever.  It's the most adorable website and the owner, Becki, hand-makes all the "glamour bands".  She has four collections of headbands, each with their own personality and style.  Mine is called Picket Fence, from the Haute & Saucy collection.  I love it.  Someone may need to stop me from wearing it everyday. No, really.

Dontcha just adore it?

The cool thing about Whippy Cakes is that you buy the headband once.  It has velcro on it, so does the flower appliqué.  So when you buy a new applique, you just velcro it on your headband!

You should get one!

Anyways, today I'm painting our guest room.  It's long overdue.  The wall the headboard is on will be going coral today to make the white furniture pop and tie in with the bead spread.  Can't wait to show you all when it's done!

Love and Whippy Cakes,

Michaela

PS. I'm linking to:

 

because this is one of my favorite things!

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Fashion Friday- #1

Welcome to the first Fashion Friday on my blog! I thought it would be fun to show you what I'm wearing every Friday.  Maybe we can get some other bloggers on the bandwagon, also!

I love fashion.  Everything about it, really.  Jeans, tops, dresses, shoes!, accessories, and of course the perfect hairstyle to go with it (:  Mom tells me growing up, I'd change my clothes multiple times throughout the day, claiming the first dress was "dirty" or "didn't go with what I was doing".  I love doing my own hair, too.  I taught myself how to french braid when I was 8 years old, all from watching the lady do my hair for my Aunt and Uncle's wedding.  I was a silly little girl; some girls would wear a bow, some would not. I would wear 3 at once.  Yeah.

What is my style? Girly, chic, simple.  Anything flowy, ruffly or has a bow, flowers or rhinestones has my heart.

What do I spend most money on? Jeans.  I won't pay full price for designer jeans, but nonetheless, I do like designer jeans and even at a discount (Loehmans or Nordstrom Rack) they're still the most expensive item I purchase.  Reason being, they last forever.  Also, I could wear my jeans to bed at night.  They're so comfortable they feel like sweats!  I've had one pair of Seven for All Mankind since sophomore year of high school.  I've started to view jeans as an investment piece.  If I buy a pair of designer jeans for a higher price than a pair of standard jeans, but my designer ones last longer and fit better, I consider it a win!

Where do I find good deals? Loehmans, Nordstrom Rack, Forever 21, TJ Maxx.

Favorite Store? Clearly, Anthropologie!! (Only their sale rack!) I also love the B.P. department of Nordstrom.

Favorite Accessory?  Headbands.  Especially flowered ones.  I just ordered this one called "Picket Fence" from Whippy Cakes.  It's adorable...go check it out!

Today I went to work for my dad.  An order of new art work just arrived that my Grandma (Designs by Belinda) and I picked out a few weeks ago.  This morning I hung the pictures in the conference room and they look great! So I had to wear a professional outfit...no jeans allowed at the office, my dad says.  Without further ado, here's what I wore today:

SHIRT. Forever 21, $20. PANTS.  Macy's...not sure how much, I bought them a while ago!

HAIR.  Diagonal french braid with soft curls in the side pony tail.

SHOES. Purple jeweled peep-toe, Nine-West @Marshalls, $24.

Oh- and here's the art work I hung!

What are you wearing today?

Love and Fashion Friday,

Michaela


PS. I'm linking to:
Just a Girl

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So here's the thing...

I love photography. I always have.  And by that I mean, when I was little and would see a camera, I would immediately start posing.  I also thought I was good at taking pictures or "helping" my dad video tape my little brother, when really I was probably just in the way.  But that's okay, because this time I left the photographing to the professional.

Meet Emily Scott, owner of Gem Photo.  Her website is probably the cutest I've ever seen. And her photography is beautiful.  She is such a sweet person, too.  I met her a while back before I knew about her photography business, then found her facebook page and was directed to her blog from there.  I've been hooked ever since.  There's a pureness to her photos that is so breath-taking, I could look for hours.

This summer I went to her house to meet her and her adorable dog, Odin.  We talked about photography and design and before I left, we had planned a day the next week to paint her home office!  (I'll blog on that soon, too.)  Emily is great.  She's full of life and passion for what she does.  And by the smile she had on her face the whole time she was shooting, I just know this is what brings her joy.

Check out her blog and website when you get a chance! But for now, here are some fun pictures she took of me last week.

Check out this fabulous jumpsuit she found at a local thrift store...I will admit I was scared at first and I think I said "oh my dear lord" when she pulled it out, but I grew to love it once we got on the railroad tracks!

I love this for two reasons: 1) it's my MadeByGirl print! and 2) you can see Emily in the reflection of the glass! So cute.  Jen from MadeByGirl even put this picture up on her website here (:

If you want to see more, visit her blog!

And if you're in the San Francisco Bay Area and need some photo's done (portrait, engagement, wedding etc.) e-mail Emily.  I already told her I want her to be my wedding photographer, even though I'm no where near my wedding! I know you'll love her (:

Love and photography,

Michaela

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