First Beauty Shop Experience!

Here we are, having fun in Indiana, and on top of that, I got to get my haircut at a beauty shop for the first time in my life! Since the day I first needed a haircut Mom has always done it for me, at home. In the bathroom. Outside. And, yes, over the trash can too. It's been the same for the other girls too. So imagine our excitement when we first came up with a plan to visit our great Aunt Ginger's real beauty shop!

Getting excited to do new things with hair must run in the family. After two great aunts + one mom that went to beauty school + one grandmother that can do just about anything with hair must have ruined us.

What made it extra fun was that our Nanny and Aunt Ginger had just re-done the beauty shop — let's just say it's gorgeous. (We wish we would have gotten more pictures….) Complete with a darling round table for goodies. And, of course, before Aunt Gin started cutting we had to eat some yummies and chat. (Plus see all the neat things they'd been doing to the rest of the house!)

Mom was the shampooer…. we were so excited to get to have our hair shampooed in a real shampoo bowl! See, we are easily amused.

Apphia got some bangs and a trim, I got some layers (especially on the front), Abigail got some slight layering at the bottom, and Abiah got a trim.

While we were getting our hair done we chatted about this and that, sipped Coke, and asked Aunt Ginger some hair questions. You all know how I feel about a proper hair poof, right? Well, I just had to ask Aunt Gin if she had any techniques for getting a really good one. Oh yes, she said… in fact, she could guarantee that she could make my hair poof. Above are the results. I was just thrilled! Imagine a real poof! Aunt Ginger told us that in the early 70s when she would go see our Paps and his band perform she would wear her hair poofed high with a big bow right in front of the poof (the bow matched her dress, naturally)… how cute is that?

Our first beauty shop experience was just perfect. We hope we can do it again next time! Thanks, Aunt Ginger, for everything!

xoxo Achaia aka the poof girl

Red, White, & Blue

It's kind of an iconic color combination, you know? In spite of the fact that while we were growing up it was our mom's go-to for any color scheme, we still love it. (And wear it faithfully every Independence Day, of course.) When the color basics patriotic piece came in from Riley Blake several weeks ago, we couldn't resist the urge to mix them with an older Flower Sugar piece in order to make this sweet francie dress for Eleanor!

We're also loving the Prepsters collection from Michael Miller! And if you just can't go with the red, white, and blue… there is a green, white, and blue colorway, too.

We made the little flowers on Ellie's dress using this old faithful tutorial. This is view A of the francie dress, but without sleeves.

Right now we're busy packing up for an upcoming vacation, but we'll try to pop in again before too long! Keep an eye on us via Instagram… xoxo

Summer Wear

Abiah~ {dress – Boden-birthday gift} {vintage boots – Etsy} {green satchel – TJMaxx} {sparkle bracelet – CrewCuts} {sunglasses – Walgreens} {friendship bracelets – handmade with friends}

Abigail ~ {racer-back jumper – made by me} {pink tee – American Eagle} {flip flops – Old Navy} {straw bag – Target} {sunglasses – Dooley's in Fredericksburg, TX} {camera – Christmas gift}

Achaia~ {Odille skirt – eBay} {melon tee – TJMaxx} {embroidered shoes – Anthropologie-sale} {bicycle tote – Anthropologie-sale}

We realized it had been so long since we last had some fun laying out outfits that we liked! Since Mom and Apphia were out this morning running errands we took the time to do it. It's always fun to come up with new outfit ideas. They might just come in handy for our upcoming trip!

So, out of the three cast your vote… which one best suits your taste? Which one would YOU wear first? (No hurt feelings over here, promise.)

xoxo Achaia, Abigail, and Abiah

Strawberry Freezer Jam

Freezer jam is a favorite around here. To be perfectly honest though we've only had strawberry flavored — but that completely sold us anyway. Last week was my week to plan the menu so I decided to include some fresh strawberries on the grocery list so I could whip up some freezer jam. Piled on top of a heavenly homemade biscuit and you have a winning combination. Below is our wonderful Nanny's awesome strawberry freezer jam recipe that she's passed along to us… enjoy! xoAchaia

Strawberry Freezer Jam

4 pounds fresh strawberries

12 cups sugar

3 packages Sure-jel

2 1/4 cups water

Clean strawberries and cute in half (or smaller pieces depending on size). Put in bowl and mash with potato masher. You should end up with 6 cups total.

Pour sugar on strawberries and stir (you'll need to make sure your strawberries are in a big bowl). Let sit for 10 minutes.

While strawberries are sitting pour Sure-jel packages and water in saucepan. (Don't worry about lumps). Stir constantly and bring to boil over high heat. Boil one minute.

Pour Sur-jel/water mixture into strawberries. Stir 3 minutes.

Pour into small freezer containers (old butter dishes work great too). Put lids on and let sit out on countertop for 24 hours. Then put in freezer.

When ready to eat simply get a container out of the freezer and use! If there's any leftover, store in fridge.

Some cuteness for your Wednesday…

We love our Brandy! xox

Makeover Story: Abiah

We girls love a good makeover. And doing them on each other is especially fun! After receiving some questions about Abiah's red-head-friendly makeup (see this post), we thought it would be really great to share her tips with all of you! So here you go: Abiah's everyday makeup look.

Here are the products we used…

bareMinerals matte foundation (powder)
bareMinerals eye color in glamtastic (a soft neutral gold shade with a dash of shimmer)
bareMinerals eye color in morocco (a soft brown with gold flecks)
bareMinerals Prime Time eyelid primer
e.l.f. bronzer
e.l.f. shimmering facial whip
Revlon concealer
Rimmel eyebrow pencil in ash blonde
Cover Girl define-a-lash mascara in dark brown
Cover Girl dark brown liquid eyeliner (not shown)
eyelash curler (we love ours)
brushes for applying eye colors (we find these are the key to natural looking makeup)

Okay! That looks like a lot, but it really isn't. We love the e.l.f. products because they are available at Target and are super inexpensive! The liquid eyeliner isn't shown in these photos, but it really adds a lot of definition to Abiah's eyes when used sparingly above the upper lashline. The bareMinerals products are some of our favorites — the eye colors will last forever! Try finding them on eBay. Everything else is a typical drugstore brand.

I'd just like to say that the crucial thing is to BLEND your makeup! It makes a huge difference!

1. Start with your eyes. This makes it a lot easier to cover mistakes later on! And once your eyes are done, you will find you'll tend to use less face makeup. (We are known for hating heavy face makeup around here.) First off, use your ring finger to add a tiny pin-head size amount of eyelid primer to each eyelid/brow bone. Using an all-over eyeshadow brush, brush on a thin layer of the glamtastic eye color over the entire eyelid and browbone. Then use a crease brush to add some morocco eye color to the crease of your eye and above your upper eyelashes (forming a V shape in the corner of your eye). Pick up any excess sprinkles of eye color with a damp cloth or cotton ball.

2. Line upper lashline with brown liquid mascara. Line lower lashline about 1/3 of the way from the outer corner.

3. Using a powder brush, cover entire face (lightly!) with matte powder foundation — just enough to even your skin tone and smooth out imperfections.

4. Curl eyelashes using eyelash curler (this makes a huge difference!). Apply one coat of mascara to upper and lower eyelashes. Apply another coat to the upper lashes. Brush eyebrows up, then fill in any sparsness with the eyebrow pencil using short, hair-like strokes.

5. Dab two dots of concealer under each eye. Use a concealer brush (or just your fingers) to blend it in.

6. Using a large soft brush, swirl a little bronzer onto the hollow of cheeks, upper forehead, and down bridge of nose.

7. Daub a little of the shimmering facial whip to the cheekbones, and in a V shape above the cupid's bow of mouth. Blend thoroughly.

Ta-da!!! This makeup look goes together in about ten minutes flat.

Please feel free to comment or email with questions!

xx Apphia