Lately

Howdy.

How was your weekend?
Mine was good.
B-U-S-Y but good.

Since life has been so darn crazy for me lately I haven't even shown you my new piece of furniture that I bought from craigslist last week... or was it the week before?  Like I said, life's so busy, who can remember the details?

Anyway, I have been searching for a buffet that I could use in my entryway for over a year now.
This area has been a little tricky for me to decide how to decorate for some reason. 
It was also just never a priority so it looked  like this for a long time...

then I finally got around to doing my wall collage which I blogged about here.

And then I found a great piece on craigslist to hold my china and some of my fancy things (which I have yet to find time to put in the new buffet), so now the entryway wall looks like this...

Everything on top of the buffet I bought last week at Kirkland's.

I thought this word art was kind of cute for Valentine's Day.  I'm not sure if I will keep it out after that though.

I found this lamp that was marked $54, and on sale for $29.98, and with my lamp coupon I got it for only $19!! Not bad eh?

The red parsons chair is from Kirkland's a couple of years ago, and the pillow in the chair I just shopped my house for.  I got that at BB&B last summer.  (It's an outdoor pillow but don't tell anyone mkay?)

So there you have it.
My new buffet.


Satuday Mr. H took the day off work to stay home with the girls so that I could go to the ISSE hair show in Long Beach with some of the girls from my salon.

I left the house at 10am and didn't get home until 10pm.
It was a looooong day but I had a really good time.

These are a few of the models for TIGI. 
At the shows you always see some really crazy runway type stuff.
Nothing I'd ever do on a client, but it's always fun to see the stylists working on the models and to take bits and pieces of what they do and apply that towards my work.

The big hair shows are usually a great time to stock up on supplies and to find a few good deals on tools and other fun stuff.
This year I was a little disappointed in the "deals" or lack of, but I was pretty excited about my new cutsie blowdryer (for me).  And I also got a great deal on a curling wand, which seems to be the hot thing right now.

The group after a long day of walking and shopping.

After the show we walked across the street to The Yardhouse where one of the girl's daughter was working.  Of course we had awesome service, and enjoyed some wine, good food, and a lot of laughs. 
Today in the salon we had an awesome cutting class taught by a Redken stylist.
He was a great teacher.  And I kept thinking he was a cross between looking like Mark Rufalo and Seth Rogen.  He was fun and now I am super pumped and motivated to get to work and have some fun with my clients this week.  Plus I have a hair appointment on Wednesday for myself!  I am thinking of doing something new with my color. 
 Kinda like this...

Or a little bit like this...

Stay tuned for that!

Oh and in other news,
I saw this on pinterest...

bahahahahahahahaha.

It Happens.

;)

Yesterday. And Today. And some random stuff.

Hiya!
So,
I know it's not Wednesday anymore, but I was so excited to show ya my new coat that I couldn't wait until the next wiww.
So here it is...

Cute right?

Guess how much?

Only $24!!!!

I could not pass that up.

And what do you think of my red lips?

I bought the MAC shade Russian Red.

A while back I put it on for the first time, and thought that I looked like a tranny.

So I wiped it off.

Then yesterday I tried it again.

Red lipstick, red shoes.

And I liked it.

Do you like the red lips?

If not, maybe keep it to yourself.  Cause I do.  ;)

new shirt and coat- Windsor Fashion

I love the ruffles on the coat collar. 

Ruffles and Red lips. 

Funnn.

This is a picture of Hannah and I at the Mom's Morning that her preschool does in December.

If you think I look tired, you are right.  I was at work until 10pm the night before this and at the preschool at 9am. 

The purpose of that picture in this post was for you to take a look at Hannah's hair.
Go look...
cause that was BEFORE...

and Yesterday after she got out of school Mr. Hass brought the girls into the salon for haircuts.  I had shown Hannah a picture of a little girl with a similar style recently trying to plant the seed to go shorter and she was all for it.  I cut about 6 inches off her length.

She was so excited and I think it looks fabulous on her.

All the girls at work were telling her and Claire how beautiful they are and they were full of smiles.

Today before school, I asked these girls to strike a pose for me.

I trimmed about 3 inches off of Claire's length, but I am thinking I will make it even shorter.  Her hair is quite a bit curlier than Hannah's and not nearly as thick so I didn't want to cut it too short.

I think the new do' makes her look so grown up, don't you?
She is such a sweet and smart little girl.
Did I ever tell you about the time Hannah said to Mr. Hass,
"Dad, did you know that the leaves turn color and fall off the trees in the fall because the chlorophyl done gone dried up?"


And now for some Random Stuff:

I finished reading Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati on my kindle.
It was SO good.
I am reading the second book in that series now, Dawn on a Distant Shore.
For my foodie friends who love Trader Joe's,
have you tried this yet?

Cause if not, you might wanna.

We kinda like it.

I made the 1 point weight watcher turkey chili tonight for dinner.

I glanced at the post with the recipe and noticed that my pictures look awful.  I think my photography might have improved a bit since then.  haha.

We like to serve it topped with a big dallop of greek yogurt and shredded parmesan.

I can't wait to have it for lunch tomorrow.

That's all for now.

Goodnight.

What's Cookin' Good Lookin'?

So I thought I'd start today's post off with a picture of mua.

In the salon one day.

I just didn't want ya to be suffering from Genn's WIWW post withdrawls. 
I've been asked by a few blog friends if I have quit wiww.

I don't know.  I'm sure I will do it again, but I just started to get kind of sick of taking my own pictures before I could leave the house.

Maybe I'll just start throwing in random pics of me and what I wore in my everyday posts.

Would that be cool?

Or is that lame and you want wiww back?

Dad, I know you would like to see some more wiww action on this ole blog wouldn't ya?

Alright moving on. 

To the kitchen.

I found this book a couple months before Christmas at Barnes N Noble.  I sat down, flipped through it, and had to have it.  I bought it for my mom and my sister for Christmas because I knew they had to have it too.  It is by two busy moms who love the healthy options that Trader Joe's has to offer.  Every recipe has a picture and notes on where to find the ingredients in the store and stuff.  Good stuff.

Last night I made these Artichoke Stuffed Portobellos.
Oh. My. Word. They. Were. To. Die. For. 
Seriously. 
Mr. Hass said our house smelled like an Italian restaurant. 
They were SO easy and SO good.  I have to share them with you.

You will need:
4 portobello caps (stems removed)
1 14oz can artichoke hearts
1 cup refrigerated Fresh Bruschetta Sauce (from TJ's- this stuff is AMAZING)
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used panko bread crumbs)
Basil cut into ribbons (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Drain artichoke hearts and give em a rough chop.  Squeeze any excess water out of them.  Combine artichoke hearts with bruschetta sauce, bread crumbs, and parmesan.
3. Divide mixture between portobello caps and press lightly to compact filling.
4.  Place portobellos on lightly oiled baking sheet for 12-14 mins.  As soon as you see water being released, remove from oven and serve immediately.  Garnish with fresh basil.
Per Serving: 169 calories, 4 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 9 g protein, 21 g carbs, 5 g fiber, 399 mg sodium

Tonight Mr. Hass was working but I still wanted to cook something easy and quick.  So I tried the 5 Minute Shiitake Fried Rice from my TJ cookbook.

 The recipe didn't call for any meat but I added a few strips of Trader Joe's Just Grilled Chicken Strips.  Have you seen these?  They are pre cooked, seasoned, with NO preservatives or anything added.  They are pretty good.

It really did only take about 5 minutes.  And it was good in a pinch.

I got a good movie rec for you my friends.

The Town.

Ben Afleck.  Jeremy Renner.  We liked it.

Ben directed it.  Nice work Ben.  Well done.

(You know he reads my blog.)  ;)

 The girls are still recovering from their colds.  Hannah had a nasty one and Claire's tonsilitis seems to have just rolled right into Hannah's nasty cold.

I hate when they are sick.  Hannah actually napped today though.
I like when they nap.

One more thing before I go...

 This is my cousin Don.  You can read more about him here.
(He's holding Baby Claire.  Isn't she cute?  She was 5 months old.) 
I just wanted to rub it in his face that he is older than me wish him a very happy birthday month.  Don turned older than me 30 last week on the 16th.

 Thanks for paving the way Don.  You know I love you.

The moral of this post:

Go cook yourself some portobello mushrooms... watch The Town... and if you see my cousin Don- tell him he's older than me Happy 30!

Thurs-Mon Recap. And Red Wine, Aged Cheeses, and Nuts.

So in case ya'll were dying to know what goes down at a Hoe Down...

 It was pretty darn cute.  The kids made their hats, bandanas, boots, belt, and chaps.  They performed 3 songs which they sang and danced to, and then they chowed down on hot dogs and apple juice.

Hannah wanted to take her hat and all cowboy gear off immediately after their performance.
Claire might have eaten 2 and bit into 4 hot dogs on the serving platter.  She thoroughly enjoyed herself.

Friday- I don't usually work on Fridays, but months ago, Whitney (an old friend from high school) had asked me if I would do her hair for her wedding on Jan 28th.  Of course I said yes.  Whitney and I played softball and volleyball together in high school.

She was just glowing that day.  I thought she looked so beautiful, I can't imagine how pretty she looked after make up and dress. 
One of the things I LOVE about my job is that I get to still see people that I have known but might not keep in touch with and see very often.  Whitney is one of those people and I am so glad that I can say I have seen her recently.  I also did two of Whit's cousins hair and they were the sweetest girls.  I feel like we're all bff's now.  :)

Saturday- Since Mr. Hass was at work, what else were us girls supposed to do but shop.  ;)  We went down to Sur La Table at Dos Lagos so I could get a hanging fruit basket for my kitchen.  I love it, but I need to get a chain so it hangs a bit lower.  I'll show ya soon.
Then we walked over to the lakes to burn off a bit of energy and see the ducks.

 I was hoping for some cute pictures of them together, but as always that isn't so easy.

 They'd rather run in opposite directions of each other and make my head swirl all around trying to find them.

It was a nice sunny day to wear their TOMS.

Note to self- next time bring food for ducks. *

Sunday- Well is it really a big suprise that we shopped some more? 
We had some things to get at Target, and then I bought the girls some new clothes at The Children's Place. 

 One popcorn (split into two bags), two icees for them, and one diet coke for me.  If you wanna know the truth, I mix it up at Target and get half Dr. Pepper, half Diet Coke.  Then it is kinda like a Diet Dr. Pepper.  I have to improvise when necessary.

 It is always the best couple bucks spent.  Everyone is happy.

Monday- Alright now if you are a man and reading this post, you might wanna just skidaddle and scroll on past this part.  If not, don't say I didn't warn you...

Today I had my yearly check up with my obgyn.
He's great.  He delivered my babies.  I am comfortable talking to him.  So today I had a question.

I said that since having kids my pms seems to be getting so much worse and is there anything I can do?  I told him that I have heard there are certain foods that can be trigger foods for pms and asked if there is any truth to that.

First he told me,
"Your pms is not getting worse because you have had kids, it is because you are getting close to thirty. "

I frowned.

Apparently when you reach your 30's you have an increase in hormones and pms can get worse for a lot of women.
I frowned again.

Then he said as far as the trigger foods go, try to stay away from red wines, aged cheeses and nuts during that week of pms.

I said,
"Red wine?  Stay away from red wine?"  (Have you read my profile?)

I said that is when I reach for the red wine. (laughing) And that aged cheeses is not really a problem.
He laughed and said maybe try a white wine that week. 

Who knew.
Red wine.  Aged cheeses.  Nuts.  And thirty.  Sounds fabulous no?


How was your weekend?