Twisted Braided Updo

 I started doing buns on my sisters and I last week. I decided that there was no use in dying of heat this summer, and that it was time that I got over my fear of doing hair and figure out how to get the hair off our necks. And guys, I fell in love with buns! Gah, they're so easy and so simple and so beautiful. And so I decided to start a series sharing my favorite creations :) 

The Twisted Braid Bun

1. Start with hair brushed, and a small section of hair separated, (Side swoopy bangs, or the hair where those would be.). Then take the hair at the front corner of your head, ^ Pictured here, and begin twisting it tightly.

2. Secure in place with bobby pins when the twist is in the middle of the back of your head, adding a few bobby pins into the twisted part to keep it from unraveling.  

3. Do the same to the second side, meeting in the middle. ^ Securing with bobby pins as well.

4. Take the long ends of the twist, and twist them tightly, (not together yet,) and then twist them together a few times.

5. Secure with a hair tie.

6. Separate left over ponytail into three sections for a regular braid.

7. Secure braid with another hair tie.

8. Twist braid into a simple bun, and secure with bobby pins. 

It should look like this. ^

9. Then take the section you separated before, and  separate it into three sections, keeping the sections to the bottom. So the top part of the section is smooth. Does that make sense. (See what I mean in the photo? :) Make a loose braid, and pin across your head. Below:

And you could stop there and it looks great, simple and fast for lazy mornings. 

We decided to add one of her flowers, and I just bobby pinned it in place. :)

And there we go! It's super cute,and off the neck, and easy enough for me to do. I'm a happy girl!!

And if you don't have these^ You are seriously missing out. They make buns SOOOO much easier. They hold hair really well, (I have super thick slippery hair) and they work much better than regular bobbypins. So look into getting those if you plan to do tons of buns this summer. :)

What are your favorite hairstyles?

xx

pea ess: Thanks Mary for being my beautiful model and putting up with me playing with your hair. :)

Julia Child Inspired Dinner Party

This is a scheduled post... I am not at home today, I am actually in the town I am moving to this summer. which is confusing and nobody knows about that... I shall explain all about that soon. And I am gonna be really nervous all day because I am singing "The Prayer" with Hannah tonight, and this is only my second time performing (singing) in public. SCARY. ;) 

I officially love Julia Child. 

 I made traditionall French Bread. Let me tell you, it took about eight hours in all. I have never had a bread that has even taken half as long!! It was basically all I did all day long, (thursday), especially since I had two batches going, but started them an hour apart, (so they could bake one after another.) so I was constantlykneadingg and rising and doing something to each one.

 Eggplant Pizza's. These were amazing. And also the only food we got a picture of. Oh well.

 In the middle of Dinner. We set my camera up on a tripod for this ONE picture.  I'd forgotten how much of a pain it is to set up a tripod straight. ;) this is Anna, Gina, Serenity, Becca (me), Rachel, Sophia, Catherine, and Hannah.

 don't you just love awkward, "somebody grabbed the camera and took a random picture in the middle of everyone talking and laughing." ;) They turn out kinda weird sometimes. Catherine, Serenity and Anna look fabulous though.

 Serenity, (Right) did french manicures on almost everybody. They turned out great.

 There were so many dishes. My mom actually did them all while we were watching our movie, which was SOO sweet of her. We weren't expecting her to do that for us.

this picture is horrid., but it shows everybody, except Hannah. She left right before this was taken. ;) And I look awful. haha

Friday night I hosted a Julia Child French Dinner. Everyone arrived early in the afternoon, and we proceeded to cook our french dinner together. (Which I must say was a great idea, because after cooking four courses of food, I have realized that I would have gone completely crazy if i had decided to cook all the food ahead of time. ) We had a great time chatting and drinking tea as we cooked, and the house smelled amazing, guys. you should have been here. :)  

          The menu:
          Eggplant Pizza's (oh my goodness, these were amazing!)
          French Onion Soup (the traditional way. google it. ;)
          Asparagus Souffle
          Chocolate Mousse Souffle
          Coffee and tea and Chocolate

Dinner took awhile, because we did separate courses, but we had so much fun, and everyone loved the table. they thought it looked like a wedding. The table decorations was SOO easy. I just took five small pretty goblets, turned them upside down, put a snowball flower underneath them, and a candle on the top (bottom). It turned out super cute, and took about three seconds. :) Add a lace tablecloth, pretty dishes, and a bunch of doilies under all the goblets, (each person had two goblets, one for water and one for sparkling cider.). It was awfully beautiful, if I do say so myself.

After we ate, (it was almost 8:00 in the evening, that's how long it took!) we watched the movie Julie and Julia. I have completely fallen in love with it. The outfits are amazing, the music is great, and the story is adorable. It's amazing, guys. My mom and I had watched it several months ago, and I actually planned this entire party around the movie, so that I had an excuse to have them all watch it. :)

But anyway, the evening was a great success, and i believe that everyone enjoyed themselves, and the food was great. I am officially going to France to try the food. And also Italy, but that's another story. ;) 

xx,