Five On Friday: Hair Edition

Everyone has that one thing about them that they're always super self conscious about.  The thing that you notice first in every single picture.  Mine is my hair- or lack thereof.  I have baby fine super thin hair, and not a lot of it.  Since I was in middle school, I've always been on the search for the perfect hair products that would make me look like I had more hair.  I've practically tried everything under the sun, but I finally have a few products that I really love.  

{one.} Moroccan Oil Extra Volume Shampoo- I would have never thought that Moroccan Oil shampoo would work for me.  Oil and thin hair typically just aren't a good combination, but this stuff is great.   It keeps my hair moisturized with out weighing it down.  I've been using it for the past few months and I've received several compliments on how shiny and healthy my hair has been looking.

{two.} Style Sexy Hair Spray Clay- If you have fine or thin hair, you know how lifeless it can look sometimes.  No matter what you do to it, it just falls.   This Spray Clay is a great solution.  It adds texture to your hair and actually helps it to stay in place.

{three.} John Frida Luxurious Volume Blow Out Spray- Although I have to add a lot of products to my hair, I hate feeling like my hair is completely gunked up with product residue.  I love this spray because its super light.  Your hair still feels clean and soft even though it's been volumized. 

{four.} Sebastian Shaper Hairspray-  This is the best teasing hairspray I've ever used.  I typically tease the crown of my hair to add some extra height and to hide the crazy cowlick I've got going on.  This is the first hairspray I've found that will actually hold my tease throughout the day. 

{five.} L'Oreal Professionnel Fibercuetic Masque- When you're using all of these things on you're hair, you've got to make sure to keep it moisturized.  I use this L'Oreal masque every Sunday to cleanse, repair and moisturize before I begin my week.

Y'all don't judge on the amount of hair products I use.  It takes a village.

Old Navy Steals

I've recently been loving a lot at Old Navy.  A lot of their items are spot-on with the trends I've been seeing this fall, and their price points are always so reasonable. I practically live in big sweaters and cardis in the cooler weather, and I can never have enough plaid shirts and vests. Here's a few of the items I've had my eye on.

Fair Isle Cardi Coat

 V-Neck Doleman Sleeve Sweater

Laced Short Boots

Women's Plaid Shirt

Quilted Tweed Puffa Vest

Happy Friday eve!

Greektown Grille

Greenville's culinary scene has been growing at a very rapid pace.  So rapid recently that I can't even keep up with every new restaurant that opens downtown.  A new Mediterranean place, Greektown Grille, opened up a few months ago and I recently tried it out for lunch.

I was pleasantly surprised at the prices of their sandwiches.  They are all served with a small portion of seasoned steak fries and ring in under $7.00.  It's rare to get that downtown these days.   I opted for the Chicken Souvlaki Pita at $6.55.   The pita was nice and soft, and the flavors were just right.  When I got it I thought I would want more taziki sauce, but once I started eating it I realized it had enough flavor without additional sauce.

I have a problem when I go to new restaurants.  I get so excited to try the menu items, that I can't just order one thing.   So I also ordered the Spanakotiropita, layers of filo dough filled with spinach, feta, and herbs.

The Spanakotiropita was equally as tasty.  The crispy layers of filo dough are so good in combination with the creamy cheesy spinach-y goodness inside.  This is one of my all time favorite Greek foods, and their version was executed very well.

Overall I was very pleased with Greektown Grille.  To be honest, I typically shy away from any restaurant with "Grill" or "Grille" as part of its name.  Why do they have to add that extra "e" in there?  And isn't it obvious that some of there menu items are grilled?  Is it completely necessary to put it in the name, too?  I think that's just the inner marketing major in me coming out, it's no secret that I can pick apart a restaurant's branding.  Regardless of my weird hang-up about the name, the food is great (and cheap) which is the most important part. If you live in the Upstate, you should give it a try.

Sunday Meal Planning #1

Every Sunday I sit down and make a meal plan for the upcoming week. Recently our weeks have been pretty predictable. Dave Ramsey course on Sunday, bible study on Monday, free nights Tuesday- Thursday, and then out of town on Friday through the weekend. I've found that it's easiest to have somewhat of a template to go by each week for meal planning. Since it's started to get cooler, this is what we've done: soup or crockpot recipe on Sunday/Monday, Fish on Tuesday, and then a chicken or pork dish on Wednesday/Thursday. I always love looking at other bloggers' meal plans for the week, because it gives me inspiration for my own. I've decided that I'll be sharing our weekly meal plans every Sunday. Here's what we've got on the list for this week.

Baked Brown Sugar Chicken Wings with Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce (photo from damndelicious.net)

Sunday:  

Lemon Orzo Soup with Easy Parmesan Garlic Knots

Monday:

Left Overs

Tuesday:  

Parmesan Fish with Broccoli Cheese Bites

Wednesday:  

Baked Brown Sugar Chicken Wings with Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce and Roasted Zucchini and Carrots

Thursday: 

Left Overs

Friday: 

Out of Town 

Hope y'all have a great week!

Halloween Through My College Years

T and I are going to a Halloween party tonight and I still don't have my outfit planned.  I was trying to brainstorm this morning, and thought it may be a good idea to start looking at the costumes I've worn in the past for a little inspiration.  These pictures were just too good not to share.  Here's a look at my Halloween costumes through my college years.

For my Freshman year, I was a sailor.  I'm proud of myself for not going with the "sluttier is better" theme that some college freshman succumb to.  I can't guarantee that I got much attention from the guys that night, especially standing next to ol' Dolly.

Too many trips to the tanning bed and ten pounds later came my Sophomore year, and I was Audrey Hepburn.   Everything about this photo just screams college.  My apologies if I offend anyone by this borderline inappropriate picture.  It was just too good not to include.

Junior year was the year I thought I was too cool to dress up for Halloween, so I was the girl dressed in regular clothes at a Halloween party.  The only picture I could find was this one, getting a shot of ketchup from mustard.  Oh the things you think are hilarious when you're three cups of PJ down.

For my senior year my sorority had an 80's mixer at Halloween.  The dress I got was awesome.  It actually had three extra shoulder pads sewn into each side, because the original ones clearly weren't big enough for the original owner. I must admit, it was one of the most comfortable Halloween costume I've ever worn, and man do those shoulder pads make your waist look small.

Happy Halloween!

Spicy Carrot Hummus

T and I are on a serious budget now for restaurants and groceries every month.  We've been taking a Dave Ramsey course which has forced us to look at our budget, and see where we can cut out spending.  For the month of October we attempted to cut our food budget in half.  Yes, you read that right, half.  It was extremely challenging, but we only have one more day of this month and I still have $1.03 in my wallet.  I think we're gonna make it.

Being on such a tight budget has made me see the things that we have in our refrigerator a little differently.  Rather than going out and buying something new, I find myself making use of every single thing we've got in there.  Last week we had a full bag of pita chips, and I found myself craving hummus.  I looked in the fridge, no hummus.  Looked in the pantry, no chick peas. So it was time to get creative. 

I remembered back to the previous week when I tried a carrot hummus, and I did my best to replicate the recipe. I really liked how it turned out, and T even enjoyed it, too!  I use the word "hummus" very loosely with this recipe, because it is missing the two key ingredients in a traditional hummus: chick peas and tahini.  It does include garlic, lemon juice and olive oil like a typical hummus would, but that's when the similarities stop.  Regardless, its great with pita chips.

 Spicy Carrot Hummus

6 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces

1 small clove garlic

1 Tbsp lemon Juice

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp cayenne 

1 tbsp capers

Boil or roast carrots until tender. In a food processor, combine carrots through cayenne and pulse until smooth.  Top with capers.  Serve with pita chips. 

Angela's Wedding Weekend

This weekend we packed up our bags and headed to Charleston for T's sister Angela's wedding.  Angela and her fiance Trey were sweet enough to reserve a house in Isle of Palms for the family to stay.   Friday afternoon Angela's aunts threw a bridesmaids luncheon at the house.  We had so much fun sipping on our mimosas, eating girly food, and talking about the wedding.  Oh, and we stepped out to the porch for a mini photo shoot, too.

The ceremony and reception were held at Harborside East, a wedding venue close to Patriots Point.  The view for the ceremony was gorgeous; a Charleston sunset over the Holy City's iconic Ravenel Bridge.  The reception was beautiful.  The couple are both wine enthusiasts and love to visit different vineyards.  Over the years that they dated, they collected bottles from each vineyard.  For the centerpieces, they converted each wine bottle into a flower vase and included a message about the memories that they had from that particular vineyard.  I just loved the personal touches that they put on everything. 

For wedding favors, the newly married couple gave out Krispy Kreme Doughnuts as we left.  A perfect sweet treat to end the night.

Hope y'all had a great weekend, too!