Hana Hair Dryer

Recently, Misikko contacted me about doing a review for a hair dryer. How could I say no to that?! Let's be real. I've never owned a blow dryer over $30. I usually buy a Conair, and whatever is on sale at Target. Needless to say, this was a pretty big step up for me!

So, a little low down on Misikko. They have an amazing selection of beauty products, and I was especially impressed with their selection of the best hair dryers. I'm no expert, but I can tell you that the blow dryers they offer are top-of-the-line and quality products. And their customer service- I was completely blown away! They responded to my emails very quickly and efficiently.

When I got my Hana blow dryer in the mail, I was expecting just a little box with my blow dryer. Instead, Misikko sent me a very generous package full of sample products. I was delighted to see shampoo, conditioner, makeup brushes, little faux rose petals, and a cute little teddy bear! What more could a girl ask for!

The design of the blow dryer is very sleek. It's fairly lightweight and weighs about as much as my old blow dryer. There are three heat settings, two fan settings, and a cold shot button, which I love to use at the very end to make my hair shinier. I recently cut my hair even shorter (pictures to come!) and was a little disappointed that it took about the same length of time to blow dry my hair with my old dryer, about 10 minutes. I timed the Hana the first time I used it, and my hair was dry in a flat three minutes and seven seconds. I was amazed!

I also was so ecstatic that my hair needed NO TOUCH UP. With my old blow dryer, my hair ended up so frizzy that I always HAD to straighten it. It also ended up pretty wavy. This is the first time I've ever been able to leave the house after only blow drying!

Whenever I get my hair done professionally, I wonder how my stylist gets my hair so sleek with only a blow dryer, no straightener. I just always assumed they had some super awesome technique they learned in hair school. I can never manage to control my hair brush, so I would usually just give up trying. I seriously realized that a HUGE first step is owning the right tools!

Now, I will be honest. This isn't a product I would normally purchase. I've never been one to splurge on beauty products, but lately I've been realizing the importance of quality. As a college student, owning a blow dryer that costs as much as one of my textbooks isn't really on my priority list, HOWEVER I will say that after owning the Hana blow dryer, it will be VERY hard to ever go back to a Target-quality product! You certainly get what you pay for, and if you can splurge, you won't be disappointed!

Fall Goals

Inspiration: Missing Lovebirds

Texture: Playing With Brushes

Engagement Pictures Pt. 3

My last set of engagement pictures! I am just in love with this set. It's very simplistic and lets the elements speak for themselves. Amy definitely captured that golden glow I love in photographs. In case you are wondering, the organ is a vnitage WWII-era Estey portable organ. It was Patrick's Christmas gift this past year, and hunting it down as very interesting, to say the least, but I was finally stupid (but lucky!) enough to trust someone in Florida I found on Craigslist to ship it to me!

Once again, thanks so much to Amy with Amy Sandoval Photography for capturing pictures that still make my heart melt every single time I see them!

Engagement Pictures Pt. 2

Welcome to part 2 of our engagement pictures! These pictures were taken at the same location, it was the property of a friend of Amy's. They have this beautiful barn as well as a large wheatgrass field (my husband was in heaven, he juices wheatgrass). The dress is one of my favorites. It's a little 60s/70s number I found while thrifting just a week before our shoot! It needed a little mending but it was truly meant to be! (Oh, in case you were wondering, I made this bouquet myself, along with the rest of the flowers in the previous post. I just bought them wholesale, whatever was pretty/on sale/in my color scheme, and voila! Super easy. I was going to do this for our wedding too.) As you can see, our cross stitch (made by the talented Alexia) is a little out-of-date as we actually got hitched on May 5, 2011, but I still treasure it!

Our engagement pictures! (Pt 1)

So, I FINALLY am getting around to posting our engagement photos! After this I will post our wedding (ahem, elopement) portraits. Patrick and I got engaged on January 2, and we did our photos in March. It was a spring shoot but we both LOVE fall so I'm glad the pictures have a fall vibe to them. I'd like to tell the story of my ring first, if that's alright!

I had actually picked out my engagement right last summer. We were talking about getting married in the future (very near or just near future hadn't been decided yet) and I decided I should just look at rings to know what I even like, I hadn't given it a thought. I went to my favorite local vintage shop and tried on a few diamond rings and thought, "Meh, they are ok." Because they were all antiques, some were super big, some wouldn't even go on my finger. Out of the corner of my eye, in a separate case, I spot MY ring. I saw it and couldn't believe how beautiful and perfect I thought it was. I thought there was no way the ring would be in our budget (we were going for super cheap, and I was a little worried if I would be able to find a ring I loved for the price range), so I checked the price tag and it was, miraculously, in budget! I was literally shaking at this point, asked to try it on, and the ring fit PERFECTLY. Like it was made for me! It's a 1940s/50s sapphire ring, with a filigree design of diamonds around the sapphire. The owners were so incredibly kind. Since they saw how much I loved it and I was a frequent shopper, they gave us a very generous discount! And the rest is history :)

So, anyways, I knew Patrick was getting me the ring (because I begged, and begged, and begged, and begged!) and so I began looking for inspiration. I pretty much started planning our engagement photos during that time, collecting stuff here and there at thrift and vintage stores. We did three different scenes, the first being a vintage picnic. The vintage picnic scene has been popular this year, but I absolutely adore how ours turned out, and they were completely us. We will cherish these forever, and I can't thank our incredible photographer, Amy Sandoval, enough. She gave us the best wedding gift, the gift of memories, and I don't think anyone could have captured our engagement (and wedding portraits) better than Amy. If you are in the Hampton Roads area (or anywhere else! She is open to travel) and would like more information, please feel free to ask me questions or check out her website!

Without further ado (and I applaud you if you read all of that!), vintage picnic pictures!