Wednesday, September 30, 2009

"Did you Add to it?"



I got a really interesting question this past Saturday at my daughters Soccer game. I try not to dwell on the negative, when it comes to creating content for this blog. But the comment keeps nagging at me. The best way to get something out of your system is to talk about it. It was not a extremely major incident, but none the less, it stood out to me as odd.

So I am sitting down with my fellow soccer moms, and a lady (mother of a family friend) that I have not seen for a while recognized me before I saw her. So she starts to say hey... I almost didn't recognize you. Then she makes her hands go up and down as she looks at my hair and says "You added to it!"

I at first I froze... lol. I didn't quite understand what the hell she was talking about. But then I realized that she somehow thought that my hair was artifice and that I could just add to it to make it longer. I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, and assume that she did not mean any harm. Ignorance often comes from just not being educated on certain matters. So I just turned to her and politely said "It's growing." And she then said "Ohhh....." as if that was an odd theory; and then went on her way... lol. So it was not a huge thing. I just needed to get it out of my system. Thank you for reading!

Wedding cost in Vietnam


If you would like to set up ceremony in a hotel in Vietnam. It costs around USD30++ per person. However, in the small hotel or restaurant, the cost will be cheaper. The cost might be around VND 100,000-300,000 per head + room charge around USD90-200 per night.

All of these not include wedding dress + make up or the money to pay for parent. It is only the cost of party during the wedding night. I see most of Vietnamese like to set up small party in front of their house, instead of setting up in the hotels.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

In The News: Can Lasers Stimulate a Hair-Growth Spurt?

IMO, this is the craziest "theory" I have heard in a long time...you decide.


Story Highlights:
  • A number of companies sell handheld, low-intensity lasers for home use that are intended to stimulate hair follicles, typically three times a week for 10 to 15 minutes.
  • Scientists say that low-level lasers are safe and likely do act on cellular compounds that can spur hair growth.
  • It's best to try the laser before your hair follicles are too damaged, doctors say. "If you've got a shiny bald head it won't do anything,"
  • The only home laser device cleared for hair growth by the Food and Drug Administration is the LaserComb, which claims to increase hair growth in men.
  • researchers found subjects using the LaserComb for 26 weeks saw an average increase of 17 hairs per square centimeter, or 7%, compared with a decrease of nine hairs in a control group using a sham device.
  • So far the only side effects reported with the lasers have been itching and tingling of the scalp.

Khafra DJ and Beatriz Sandoval - Deja Volume 2



album........ : Deja Volume 2
artist....... : Khafra DJ and Beatriz Sandoval
genre........ : House
company...... : Southouse Music
cat.......... : SFM004
url.......... : https://www.beatport.com
source....... : WEB
release date........:07-09-2009
quality...... : 320 kbps / 44,1Hz / Stereo
size......... : 104,9 MB
playtime..... : 45:47 min


T r a c k s

01...Deja (Damian Galeano Remix) 06:32
02...Deja (Jose Del Valle Remix) 07:10
03...Deja (Andres Groove Remix) 07:22
04...Deja (DJ John Garcia Remix) 07:06
05...Deja (DJ Manolo Remix) 06:34
06...Deja (DJ Rainier Remix) 05:31
07...Deja (Juan Ddd Remix) 05:32


http://load2.me/?LnRDx3Zk




VA - This Beat Collection





SOURCE...: WEB
QUALITY..: 320kbps/44,1kHz
TRACKS...: 11
GENRE...:House
YEAR.....: 2009
RELEASE DATE.: .0909.2009
LABEL....: This Beat Records


TRACKS


01. DJ Frank Nuckless - Dignified - Nuckless : 05:58
Electro Mix
02. DJ Frank Nuckless - Life and Eternity - : 06:42
Nuckless Electro Mix
03. Rolo Cieri, Javier Misa - Cruz Del Sur - : 07:05
Wally Stryk Remix
04. Rolo Cieri, Javier Misa - Cruz Del Sur - : 07:01
Wally Stryk Tech Remix
05. Siul Silva - Electrik Shaker - DJ Alex F : 07:02
NYC Line Mix
06. Siul Silva - Electrik Shaker - Joao : 08:50
Pereira Shaking Mix
07. Siul Silva - Electrik Shaker - Jonatan : 06:58
Remix
08. Siul Silva - Electrik Shaker - Mario : 06:29
Silva Remix
09. Siul Silva - Electrik Shaker - Olivs : 06:15
Remix
10. Siul Silva - Electrik Shaker - Original : 07:00
Mix
11. Wally Stryk, Eggz, Bacon - Pong - : 06:01
Original Mix
-----
TOTAL TIME : 75:21 min
TOTAL SIZE : 172,7 MB


http://load2.me/?lJ1d9WQj

Curly Style Inspiration



Naturally Leslie talks about one of her hair styles, that has that "wow" appeal. Check her out she achieves her 'two-strand twist out' on her blog.

Monday, September 28, 2009

The Dutchess Legging

The House of Dereon has a new pair of leggings on their site, called The Dutchess Legging. I think these are cute. But this has to be outfitted carefully - maybe with like a longer blouse. This could go from being hella cute - to just trashy if not worn correctly. What's your opinion?

Me Likey!

These boots are slammin! Featured on Garance Dore ....



Also, check out electric styled shoes by Jimmy Choo, featured on High Snobette -

"Those who can not afford hot, cute - but expensive shoes... blog about it! lol...." - Karen :-p

Sunday, September 27, 2009

D&S Jumpers Trial

The D&S Jumpers Trial was held this weekend in Saskatoon. Romeo and I participated and it was a lot of fun! Great turn out, I think they said that this was the biggest AAC agility trial (apart from Nationals) held in the province EVER! Very cool, and a great way to celebrate D&S's 10 year anniversary (congrats Shirley and Diane!).

Romeo had a rockin' Starters Jumpers run on Saturday, taking his first Q and 1st place! Our Starters Standard round on Saturday was less than stellar. Romeo did great, but I wound up pulling him off a tunnel by turning too soon. It was all downhill from there. But these things happen, right? He did really well for the first half of the course, so we will take that success.

Today, Sunday, we were entered in two Starters Jumpers rounds. No Q's again, but Romeo pulled off some really nice stuff, nonetheless. The first Jumpers of the day would have been glorious, but again more tunnel woes. We are definitely going to be working on tunnel value over the winter!! Unlike most dogs we run into at agility, Romeo is not a tunnel sucker. Good in some cases, but very bad in others. I can easily pull him back out of a tunnel with just the slightest movement, and he will happily choose a jump or a contact over the tunnel, as happened in the second Jumpers round on Sunday and our Standard round on Saturday. Not cool. So we are going to work value value value over the winter!

I've heard rumors in the past about Saskatchewan having the nicest agility folks around, and I definitely saw proof of that this weekend! I'm lucky in that I know a lot of people there from other dog sport venues, but all of the new people I met were so helpful and friendly, fun to joke around with, and just really great to spend a weekend with. The weather SUCKED on Sunday, very very gusty and cold, but all of the participants were cheery and upbeat despite the frigid temps and winds that sent jumps, pylons, and plastic chairs flying across the ring at inopportune times.

All in all, Romeo took two 1st place ribbons and a 2nd place ribbon, with one qualifying round out of four. Not bad for our second weekend out! Definitely a lot of successes to be proud of, and a great trial to introduce us to the world of competitive agility! Thanks to everyone for helping us out, explaining what the heck Gamblers is all about, showing me tips on teaching directional cues, cheering and clapping after our runs ...

... and especially to Mike who took these BEAUTIFUL pictures of my boy!

TABLE!
TIRE!
A very fluffy SPREAD!
FRAME!
CHUTE!
HUP!
Another SPREAD!
TEETER!

Lazy girl.

DSC06542

I wonder why it is so difficult for me to be diligent and effective when I have something important that needs to be done. I always end up prioritizing silly tv-shows, sorting through my stuff or even sleeping when I'm not even tired instead of - in my case right now, write my master's thesis which I have just begun writing. I really find it quite mysterious why I am like that - why I would prefer to waste time like that instead of getting it over with faster. If any of you have some good advice on how to beat this annoying habit, please do let me know!
On another note, here is the playsuit I bought a few weeks ago from Sea NY that I promised to show some better pictures of.

DSC06541DSC06540DSC06535DSC06544

Playsuit: Sea NY, tights: Pierre Robert, and shoes Noa Noa.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Vietnamese Wedding VDO



During the reception, the groom, bride, and their parents will stop by each table to say thank to their guests. The guest in return, will give envelopes containing wedding cards and money gifts to the newly wedded couples along with their blessing. A lot of weddings nowadays are followed by a dancing party, which is opened by the groom and the bride's first dance. The party does not recess until very late at night. The newly wedded couples then leave for their honey moon.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Baby dancing to Beyonce

Too Funny! Click this picture link to see this video.... Or go to SingleBabies.com.

Styles by Bronze Goddess

BronzeGoddess on YouTube, has tons of great videos, she created, to show loc styles in various cute looks. I originally saw one of her videos on Keep It Kinky, where she showed how to do a cute Loc Bun. Below are a few of her videos, and she also has a lot more on her Youtube page. *(FYI: She also has some makeup tutorials on youtube as well).



















History Vietnamese Traditional wedding clothes

Ao Dai Is Graceful National Dress of Vietnamese Women, My Tho, Tien Giang, Vietnam Photographic Poster Print by Stu Smucker, 24x32
While traditional wedding clothes of Vietnam have always been very diverse depending on the era and occasion, it is known that after the Nguyen dynasty, women began to wear elaborate Áo dài for their weddings which were modelled on the Áo mệnh phụ (royal Áo dài) of Nguyen dynasty court ladies. The style of the Nguyen dynasty has remained popular and is still used for modern weddings. The difference of the Áo mệnh phụ from the typical Áo dài is the elaborateness of its design (usually embroidered with imperial symbols such as the phoenix) and the extravagant outer cloak. With this gown which is preferably in red or pink, the bride usually wears a Khăn đống headdress. The groom wears a simpler male equivalent, often in blue.
Previous to the Nguyen dynasty, it is likely that women simply wore fancy, elaborate versions of Áo tứ thân.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Cute H.B. Card... :-D

Here is one of a few cute Birthday cards, show on The Bright Side Project today. The card was designed by Melissa from the site Operation Nice.

Question and Answer: Frizz and Sleeping



Q:
"I was wondering do you know of a good hair care product that helps keep the hair from frizzing up so fast?"

A: I haven't found "a" product but what seems to work for me is keeping my hair moisturized on those humid NC days. Before I do my cornrows I do a deep condition treatment with Suave tropical coconut mixed with some Olive Oil and peppermint oil. Another thing I started doing is not using shampoo as much but instead co-washing with a moisturizing conditioner. So, I guess moisture is the key. :)
Another thing I try is a recipe for frizz control. Conditioner, Olive Oil, and honey. It really works to hold the style, the only thing I don't like about it is that it can make your hair hard to the touch.


Q: "Okay, here is a question I have been dying to ask, how do I wrap my TWA @ nite?????"

A: Well, I never had a TWA so this one is kinda of hard for me. I can say what works for me and maybe that will help some. I have a satin pillow case for those nights that I am dead tired and my nightly routine is just not going to happen. I sleep in a satin night cap and for those days I want to wear a 'fro I do about 4-5 huge twist all over and fluff them out in the morning. No matter how I prep my hair before bed I try very hard to never let my head rest on cotton. Even when I am "resting" on the couch...I get my satin housecoat and drape it over the coat where my head will lay.
Also, My college roommate had a TWA and while it was short she would wet it in the shower every morning to refresh the flatness that occurred overnight.

Traditional Dress in a Changing World

In Viet Nam, the ao dai is the traditional dress for women. Developed from Chinese court clothing in the 1930s, this style of clothing went out of fashion in the north in 1954 and in the south in 1975. Recently, however, it has made a comeback and is regaining popularity in the south among schoolgirls and office workers, and is being worn at formal functions. An indication of social standing, the ao dai is worn by women who work as shop assistants or who have a higher social status, while manual workers typically wear a loose top and baggy pants called an ao ba ba.

The ao dai is considered to be an elegant, yet demure, garment. Traditionally, long, wide- legged trousers are worn under a high-necked, long-sleeved, fitted tunic with slits along each side. The outfit’s pants reach to the soles of the feet, often trailing along the ground. Over time, the dress tunic has evolved, keeping with fashion trends, and has grown shorter and shorter until it now falls just below the knees. The ao dai can also be identified by its mandarin-style or boat-neck collar. Young girls wear only pastel colored or white garments while married women wear either dark or bright tunics over black or white trousers.

Historically, Vietnamese men dressed in mandarin style suits. With a tunic shorter and fuller than the ao dai, the suit’s color was traditionally determined by the man’s class and social rank. For example, a purple suit denoted a high rank while blue denoted a low rank. Status was also indicated through a variety of embroidered symbols. Today the mandarin suit is rarely worn except for in traditional dance or music performances.

In general, Vietnamese people dress conservatively. Although some young women wear more close-fitting, Western-style clothing, it is considered inappropriate to wear revealing clothes during the day. One Westerner teaching English in Viet Nam was advised to tuck her shirt into her trousers if she expected respect from her students. It is considered inappropriate for educated people to wear their shirts untucked.

Wind in my hair.

Wind
I seem to be neglecting my blog these days -something I don't actually want to do, but is difficult to avoid due to my boyfriend being here, my studies, work, and a couple of afternoon courses I am taking. In fact I just started taking a sewing course since learning how to operate my sewing machine, and sewing as well as I would like to is not something I found myself mastering as well enough. I'm extremely excited by that. And as for my blog, I'm going to try to be a bit better at that.

A couple of days ago we went for a walk in the windy air. I really like it when it's very windy apart from the fact that my hair gets too tangled.

Wind
Wind
Wind

Sweater from Cala, skirt from H&M, tights from Pierre Robert and shoes from Top Shop.

PS. Since many of you were wondering, the rose pattern on the muffins in the last post simply turn out that way since I've got rose patterned muffin molds. Very easy!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

VA -- Fire Beats Collection106



Artist : VA
Album : Fire Beats Collection106
Genre : House
Source : Web
Label : Fire Beats Records
URL : http://www.beatport.com
Date : 09-09-2009
Encoder : WEB
Quality : 320kbps 44100 kHz Full Stereo
Tracks : 11
Time : 76:04 min
Size : 174.28MB


Tracklist

1 DJ John Garcia - Feel It (Original Mix) 7:54
2 DJ John Garcia - Sonido Magico (Original Mix) 7:39
3 DJ John Garcia - Optical Music (Original Mix) 7:39
4 Gzuss Serrano - Fuxion Song (Original Electro Sabroso 6:48
Mix)
5 Gzuss Serrano - Fuxion Song (Botbass Dancer Mix) 6:54
6 Gzuss Serrano - Fuxion Song (DJ Armand Remix) 5:10
7 Gzuss Serrano - Fuxion Song (DJ Krotan Haylob Remix) 6:30
8 Gzuss Serrano - Fuxion Song (Mark Alvarado Remix) 7:43
9 Gzuss Serrano - Fuxion Song (Yvan Finzi 2 Shake Remix) 7:28
10 David Lopez - The Reputation Has Come (Original Mix) 6:04
11 David Lopez - El Gran Piano (Original Mix) 6:15


PART 1

http://load2.me/?aqRlctVD

PART 2

http://load2.me/?xvUD4rMF

New Season....New Regimen













Our natural hair is so precious and we really have to treat it as such. My Summer hair regimen consisted of protective styles and moisturizing. However, I admit that I manipulated my hair a lot over the summer and that is not good for maintaining length and minimizing breakage. For the past couple of weeks I have worn my hair up off my shoulders either in buns, twists, or puffs. Each night I gently separated my hair into sections and moisturized the ends and the shaft portion of my hair. I did notice less dryness and less breakage but I think I can do better.

With the exception of special occasions (Homecoming [Eagle Pride!!], church events, etc), I am going to focus more on protecting my ends from the "outside world." My Fall regimen will be as follows:
Moisturize shaft and ends nightly with a water based product
Seal with light oil
Sleep with a satin night cap
And style in creative protective styles
Let's see if I can make it the entire Fall season. (Not looking forward to winter, boo cold weather).

Join Me on YMIB!

I just became the member of the website YMIB. I have been eyeing this site for quite a while, admiring the beauty of it all. Really just looking forward to being able to sit down and read some of their great articles. I click on to the site yesterday, and saw one of my favorite natural hair inspirations, Franchesca, featured on the site -

So that got me interested in reading the other stories and blog post on the site. And I love it. So now I am a member. To check out my YMIB page, go to Naturally Beautiful Hair. If you are member, click to add me as a fiend.

Ao Dai Wedding Styles 1

AoDai Weddind Styles 1


Vietnamese traditional dress showcased in Thailand

Vietnamese traditional dress showcased in Thailand


A performance of Vietnamese traditional long dress (ao dai) was organised on December 3 in Ayutthaya, the former capital city of Thailand, attracting a lot of Thai and regional audiences.
This is under the framework of the first ASEAN Arts and Crafts Festival (AACF) which was held from November 29 to December 3.



During around one hour, six collections of Vietnamese traditional long dresses and Vietnamese traditional brassieres through the performance of 14 models of the Kalawin Fashion House of Thailand attracted the audiences.



Audiences highly appreciated the collections whose designs and harmony of colours highlighted the value of the tradition and modernity of Vietnam.



Designs by Lan Huong performed in Thailand.



Designer Lan Huong said she herself chose high quality material such as silk and taffeta from provinces of Ha Tay, Lam Dong and Da Nang for her products. Therefore, her dresses are combined with features of famous silk and embroidery handicraft villages in Vietnam. This aims to honour the beauty of women and the cultural and art values of Vietnam.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Twirly Skirt Tutorial

I know this is my hair blog, but I ran into a follower and one of my girls was wearing one of these skirts with a cute white sweater and a coordinating headband. She asked if I would share. Here you go!

Threeish years ago, we had to have outfits for a Pioneer parade and I had NOTHING for my girls to wear, so the night before I grabbed some calico I had sitting around and made your basic, gathered floor length skirt for each one of my girls and a basic white apron. It worked for the time and through some tweaking, it has evolved into a fun skirt my girls love to wear. We go to the fabric store and I hear "I would love THIS for a skirt, Mom!!!" Since I am a sucker for fun things for my kids to wear, I happily oblige.

And as a disclosure, I don't like sewing with patterns and I have no idea what I am doing at all. I just get an idea in my head and I start cutting and sewing. I couldn't tell you what a bias is to save my life. Don't judge, mmmkthx.



First I head to my favorite fabric store...side note, I just found the BEST fabric store by where we are currently living. They sell Moda AND Amy Butler! If they carried Heather Bailey, my life would be complete! Okay, back to the tut. I buy a yard of my base fabric, and then 12 inches of a coordinating fabric. Then I measure it on my girl. Usually it ends up being half a yard that I use. For the smaller kids I shorten that. Hence the problem of not using a pattern. Also make sure that you add on about 3 inches for the casing.

I then cut two lengths of fabric for the main body of the skirt from selvage to selvage.


And I repeat with the coordinating fabric. I cut it six inches.


Fold the coordinating pieces of fabric in half and press.



The place the raw side of the coordinating fabric to the right side of the body material.




Sew.
I use a straight stitch. If you had a serger... which I do but it is currently somewhere in two vast storage units whereabouts unknown...You would serge this part together and then straight stitch next to the serged edge. Instead, I have trimmed it with pinking sheers.




Unfold the two pieces and repeat with the other two pieces.


(I didn't actually trim this one with the sheers because it was late on Saturday and when you are thinking "Dang, my girls have nothing to wear to church tomorrow" and it's midnight, well, sometimes you forget things.)




Then press the fabrics flat.





Now, I take and put the two pieces together. The front and back if you will. Right sides together. Then I sew in just over an inch from the selvage. Start from the bottom to make sure your coordinating fabric joints match up.



Like so.


Then trim...or serge.



Now I measure around my daughters waist. I pull the elastic snug and then overlap by half an inch.



Then I make the casing. On the top of the skirt, I fold down the raw edge, depending on how close my fabric is on either side determines the first fold of the casing. That is why I go three inches, because I am not an accurate seamstress and I need to leave room for error. I make one fold and press it down, then I fold that first fold over and measure how much room I have for my elastic and press the second fold down. You can see the press marks in the above picture.






I have plenty of room for the elastic.


Next, I sew a straight stitch around the top of the casing. This step isn't necessary, however I have learned that it keeps the elastic from twisting and makes for a prettier top.



Then I sew the bottom half of the casing, leaving a two to three inch opening.



Like so.




Then take two safety pins and attach one end of the elastic to the fabric and attach the other safety pin to the other end of the elastic.




Then thread the elastic through the casing.








I pull my lead out and attach it to the other safety pin while I even out the fabric as much as I can before sewing it up.



I overlap my elastic by an inch and a half and sew a square around the edges and an X from corner to corner.



Then I pull the skirt and stuff that elastic up into the casing.



Pull the casing flat and sew. Remember to back stitch.



Spread the fabric evenly and VOILA! You have a super easy, fun skirt.
It only takes me 20-30 minutes to make one of these puppies and we have tons of them now. Hopefully these instructions make sense. Let me know if you have any questions!
With a couple of tweaks, you can do so many things with this skirt. I have done an overlay and and under skirt. I have made a plain edge without the coordinating fabric and just hemmed it. I have wanted to sew strips together and make a striped skirt with the coordinating fabric on the bottom, but I haven't gotten around to that yet. My friend thinks it would be darling to put belt loops on the casing and thread a ribbon through. I agree with her.

Next tutorial, the super easy headband.