How To Transition from 1 Child to 2 Children

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvDQ5CT5lv0

Hi friends! I hope your doing well. I did a video sharing some tips on how to transition from 1 child to 2 children. When we started to TTC, Bobby was 2 1/2 and had no clue what was going to happen. Once we got pregnant a month later we really started really talking to him about the changes that we're going to happen. Fortunately for us, he's a pretty easy going kid. He adjust well to change and was some what self sufficient (meaning he was potty trained, can follow instructions, and things of that sort). I hope you take some of the tips I shared and incorporate them into your family's transition. I think Bobby did so well with the big change because we made it a very exciting thing, like Christmas. What kid doesn't look forward to Christmas?!?

Let me know what you did or plan to do to transition your family. I would love to hear what worked for you or perhaps what didn't! 

Be sure to subscribe to my Youtube Channel for weekly videos. 


I love you all xoxoxo

A Mixed Chicks Daily Hair Care Products

Hi Friends! Today I'm showing you the products use I to get straight healthy hair. Being bi-racial has many ups and downs. For me growing up in an all white household, hair maintenance was a huge issue. My mom never knew how to do my hair. I can remember her asking a women at our church, who was black, to please help her with my hair. I laugh now thinking back to that time but it wasn't fun having wild hair as a little girl. My hair is course and thick. A lot of the mixed ladies I know have really tight curls, my isn't curly, just course.


I wash my hair every 1-2 weeks. Washing your hair too much washes away the oils your hair needs. I've fallen in love with the Garnier Fructis Sleek and Shine Shampoo and Conditioner. The Sleek and Shine Shampoo smells nice and leaves my hair feeling clean. I like my hair to be straight but still have volume. I don’t like my hair to look super straight. I used the Head and Shoulders Sleek Shampoo and Conditioner and it made my hair way too flat for my liking. This shampoo is great and I'll be using it for a while.

Luster’s Pink Lotion is something that I’ve used ever since I was little. I do rotate between this and the Olive Oil Lotion, I kind of like the Olive Oil product more. I use this every time to straighten my hair. I wash then blow dry my hair. Then I’ll apply this to each section of hair before I use the flat iron. It helps to smooth out any frizz and makes your hair straight. It can be oily so if you don’t have ethnic hair I would say use with caution. 

Olive Oil Oil Sheen- After my hair is straightened and styled the way that I want it, I spray this over my entire hair. It leaves my hair looking shiny and healthy. I don’t use it every day, only when I do my hair after I wash it. But you could use it every day if you wanted.

any frizz and makes your hair straight. I can be oily so if you don’t have ethnic hair I would say use with caution.

Flat Iron- This is a must for anyone! The more expensive the flat iron, the hotter it gets, and the better it will work. If you have mixed hair like me, you really need a straighter to get to 400 degrees or higher. I’ve had this one forever and really like it.

Other important things you’ll need:

Clips- These types of clips are great. They hold your hair when you’re straightening, but also great to pull your hair up without messing it up. You can find them at Sally’s Beauty Supply.

A comb is important for getting all of the knots out. You can use a brush in between, but when washing your hair you need a comb.

I like these soft curlers that I brought from Rite Aid. I don’t use them all the time, but when I do it makes doing my hair in the morning really easy. I sleep with them in and then in the morning just take them out and my hairs curled.

Also you should try to wrap your hair every night in a scarf. I don’t have one pictured, but I try to use it every night. This helps keep your hair straight and you won’t sweat it out at night time. If I don’t use mine at night, you can see how frizzy my hair get the next morning. Then I’ll have to wash it sooner, so it’s annoying when I forget. All I do it bobby pin the curls to my head, then tie the scarf. Simple!

I plan on doing another post showing start to finish how I do my hair. This post is just to show you the products I use and what works best for me. If you have any questions please leave them in the comments!

** I was sent the Garnier Fructis Sleek and Shine shampoo and conditioner to review because I am a BzzAgent. All the opinions mentioned are 100% honest. 

IT'S PRIME TIME!

PRIME TIME by smallysmallz04 featuring a face makeup
Hey friends, today I want to talk about PRIMER. I'm not too sure how many of you do or do not use one. I'm very curious to know as well. I use one, every time I do make up (except for when I'm half asleep and forget). I started using one about 5 years ago and instantly saw a difference.  I have larger sized pores and uneven skin tone. My primer helps reduce the pore size and even out my skin before applying my foundation. Some primers can can be just as expensive as the foundation, but I highly recommend spending that extra money, so you get the best results from your foundation. I think it's just like an eye shadow base, you don't have to have one, but your eye make up will look so much better when you wear one. Even if your not wearing liquid foundation, a primer can be worn before mineral foundation, concealer, powder, or worn alone. Wearing a primer can help your makeup stay on longer, look less crusty around dry patches (cause I know we all have them), fill in fine lines, and help combat excess oil. I absolutely love how smooth and soft my skin feels after applying a primer. Nobody wants to add another step to their routine, but this step is only going to enhance your look.

 MAC Prep and Prime is the one that I tried first, and still love to this day. I highly recommend this one! The other one on my list that I've tried to fall in love with is the Smashbox Photo Finish. I just recently brought the color correcting and didn't notice a difference at all. My make-up went on the same and didn't last all day. I know tons of other girls who love it, so it might just be me!

I hope you go to your local Sephora and get a sample of any of these primers, I promise you won't be disappointed. Sephora is the best for samples you can try any product they sell. This takes away some of the pressure of buying something you aren't sure you'll like. If you have any primer recommendations, let me know so I can try them! Thanks for stopping by, talk to you soon!

Bare escentuals makeup
$22 - macys.com

Too Faced Cosmetics face makeup
$30 - sephora.com

Smashbox makeup primer
$38 - nordstrom.com

Benefit Cosmetics makeup primer
$29 - sephora.com

Beauty product
$33 - amazon.com

Our Happy Family Gallery Wall

 

I, like so many others, find the gallery wall to be a great feature to add to any home. This is one feature that I had in our old place, and really wanted to do it again in this apartment. So when we packed up our apartment, and I neatly peeled off my decals and put them on cardboard in hopes that they would be able to re-adhere to the wall. Well, they don't! I had a hot mess on my hands. Everyday a new flower would fall off the wall. It was pretty pathetic. I almost went out and brought spray adhesive, but luckily I didn't have to. We decided to take a trip to IKEA for the Expedite, and my decal was there! 2 years later they're still selling the same exact one. Let that have been Target, they'd be gone the next week! I was so happy to have them stick properly, and add the touch that they once did. Here is the way I did our gallery wall.

:side note:: After seeing the pictures, I think I need to use all matted black frames and add more variety in size. What do you think?

 

Most of the frames are from Ikea, Marshall's, or Target. The cross candle holder was a gift from my sister.

  

 

These are fresh flowers that I think look so pretty. Who doesn't like flower!

 Here is the piece that we purchased at Ikea. I said before that we are turning the dining room into the playroom for Baby B. So the bottom rows are all toys are the top is decor stuff, to make it look nice. So far I like the way that it's styled, but I'm sure I'll change it again. As for the room, we have much more planned to make it kid friendly, so be sure to watch out for that post!

 

Martha Stewart Glitter Glue Manicure!

If your like me and love to wear glitter polish on your nails, then here's a tip that I've found and want to share with you.  Go to your local craft store and purchase the Martha Stewart Glitter Glue, it cost about 12.99 for the one I purchased, but they have a larger one with a ton of colors for 29.99. I know that sound a little expensive, but right now Michael's has a 40%off coupon as well as a 20% of your total purchase including sale items. This will cut that price in half and make it much more affordable.


I used Essie Brizillant, Lemon Drop Glitter Glue, and Essie Good to Go top coat.



Paint your nails like you normally would. I did 2 coats of the Essie polish.



Now your going to pick out the color glitter glue you want to use. This set doesn't have any gold or silver, which I wish it did, so I'm thinking about going back to get those colors. I don't have a picture but I applied the glue to the whole nail, then took my top coat and smoothed it all out.
** Every time I touched the glitter with the top coat brush I made sure I wiped it off, so mot to get glitter in my top coat**



Here's the finished product! Having the Martha Stewart Glitter Glue is like having a bunch of different glitter polishes, for half the cost! I can't wait to play around more with them and see what color combos I can come up with!

Trend Alert Tuesday: Maxi's

This weeks trend alert isn't super new, but a trend that I think every lady should try. Maxi skirts and dresses are a great summer trend for every body type. I know shorter women tend to stay away from them, but all you have to do is get it hemmed. Here on the east coast summer is hot and humid, so loose fitting clothing is perfect! Maxi skirts have become very trendy and can be dressed up for dinner, or down for running errands. Accessories are going to make or break the outfit. If you pair your maxi skirt with a leather belt and great jewelry, you'll have a killer outfit. When it comes to what body type can wear a maxi, I believe that not one body type is limited to wearing this trend. It's flowly enough, so that if you have a little pouch, like I do, you'll feel comfortable wearing the skirt. The dress is the same way. Here are a few examples

Here is Lauren Conrad, she's dressed up  this mid-length maxi with a tucked in flowy top, blazer, and booties. This would be perfect for dinner with the hubby. It seems effortless, but put-together

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This is the perfect example of the casual maxi skirt outfit. Even though the long sleeved shirt, might not be practical for summer, you could wear this now as the weathers getting warmer. See how the shirt is tied at the bottom, this has become a very trendy way to wear a button up with the maxi shirt.

Source

This Anthro maxi dress is gorgeous! I love orange and think this will looked great with a brown braided belt, a long gold pendant necklace, and brown sandals.

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I like the bold pattern of this dress, but what I love is the straps! Having large boobs, means strapless bras aren't that practical. Being able to wear my, not so pretty bras,is important. This dress lets even the ladies with the large lady lumps, participate in this summers maxi dress trend and most importantly feel comfortable.

Source

 I hope each one of you try this trend, if you haven't already. I sure am, and can't wait to show you what I come up with. If you have any tips for styling a maxi I would love to hear them!

Decorating our Apartment Bathroom

I've been slowly trying to decorate each room in our rented 2 bedroom apartment. In our last apartment it felt like each room was decorated, but nothing was complete. So what I've decided to do know is focus on 1 room at a time. This is the first room that is completely finished. 

For all of you that rent like we do, it can be challenging to make your apartment feel like home. Even though we can't change flooring or tiling, I tried to make it as home-y as possible. Here is what I did to add our own touch to our tiny apartment bathroom..

 

I wanted the space to feel clean and light with mostly silver and white accents. The paint is Olympic semi-gloss that I used in our living room. I had enough left over to use in the bathroom. I don't have the name of the color, but it's a grayish-blue. 

I found this jewelry holder at Marshall's for $14.99. I was going to make a necklace holder, but when I saw this I like it a lot. I really like that it has a door, but you can still see your jewelry. I even can keep my watch on the shelf.

The mirrored jar is from Marshall's as well it this was on clearance for $5.00. It gives the silver accent I was looking for, and holds all my Bobbie pins and hair ties. The soap dispenser was a gift

I showed you this shelf in a previous post, but this is it completely decorated. I added the friend sign and candle. I also moved some things around. I love adding personal touches to any space.

There's a close-up of the candle. I think it's a really cute decoration.

Another thing that any renter can do it change knob and pulls. That's what I did on the cabinets. I just kept the old ones, just in case my landlord wants them put back on. I found these at Micheal's a while back, and they were on sale for about $5.00

*** Disclosure: I'm about to show you in my cabinets, it's not organized the way that I'd like, but for now this is how I have it***

I do plan on getting matching baskets and adding some type of shelving. I need to figure out exactly where everything will "live"! Not everything has a home yet

 These two things are really old, and I've had them forever, but they work well with the space. I love fake flowers, and have them in just about every room!

 

The shower curtain is a recent purchase from Target and I believe it was around $20.00. The whole bathroom was decorated for about $100 and even though it was completely renovated (which I wish it had been), it's my way of adding the special touch to our apartment.

I hope your having an amazing weekend!