Goal 2: CONQUERED (well, mostly)

In my quest to start caring about how I look again, I first went shopping for some new {non-maternity} clothes for the first time in a year two years way too long. Then, it was time for a hair cut.

I've been notoriously lazy in cutting my hair due to a few rather unfortunate salon experiences, but I knew that I needed to get it done as it was taking me a good 10 minutes to simply brush it out and almost an hour to straighten. And nobody's got time for that! So despite loving wearing it straight, I only bothered to do it once every few months.

Last week I chopped a lot off. It might still look long, but they snipped almost 8 inches! It only takes about 2 minutes to brush out and more like 25 to straighten now, which means I've been doing it more often. I hate to admit it, but this little change makes for a happier and more confident me.

In retrospect I should have had the hairdresser cut layers or something to make it more interesting, but I was too nervous. Next time I vow to be brave ;)

Ack, blurry. Sorry.

I'm still not sure about the color. I keep on wanting to go blonder again, but then a lot of people tell me they think I should go back to my natural color. Thoughts?

Oh, and my necklace! I first met creator Chancie on The Bump message boards and she recently began making these adorable {and functional!} necklaces with her sister. My triple-strand necklace has two rows of blue beads on navy suede sandwiching a row of navy beads on white fabric. Around the neck, the suede and fabric is braided together. Aurelia loves to play with it while she nurses, and even Carina enjoys fiddling with it, too. I wear it all the time because the little miss has become quite a distracted nurser lately, every noise making her stop and look. But when she plays with the necklace, she is so enthralled she can't be disturbed by anything. WIN.

Tell me a little bit about your Etsy shop, boubeads (and by the way I see what you did there with your name, and I love it) --

Perfect nursing "toy"

My sister and I are both moms, she had a 6 month old at the time and was having a hard time nursing because he became so wiggly and squirmy. One day she decided to string wood beads on plastic cording so that he could play with something while he nursed. As we came up with prototypes we decided that we wanted them to be fashionable enough to wear outside of the house and wanted to make them something that would appeal to all women, not just nursing moms. We hand-dye our own natural beads so that we can control what colors we produce and they (as well as our suede) are manufactured in the USA. The suede is certified to be free of lead, AZO’s, PCP, mercury, formaldehyde, chromium VI, cadmium and other carcinogenic/hazardous chemicals.


Chancie and her sister Chandace are offering one of my readers a $36 credit to boubeads! Or if you'd like to shop yourself, code GEEKY10 will get you 10% off of your order through May 8th. Go quick, though, because they have been selling out almost immediately after posting many of their items!

How to Enter:

This is a Rafflecopter giveaway. Click "Read More" below and then follow the instructions on the widget. Make sure to click "Enter!" after you complete each entry. All currents count! The giveaway is open worldwide and ends at 11:59 PM EST on Wednesday, April 3rd. The first entry is mandatory - Visit boubeads and tell me what you'd spend the credit on! Once you complete this entry, the widget will give you the option of completing the rest. Complete more steps for more chances to win!

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