All about the bronde. My new look!

If you follow my Instagram stories I apologize for all the new hair pictures, because your girl is obsessed! It's not exactly blonde, it's not exactly brunette. It's somewhere in between and I'm loving it! The combination of blonde and brown shades and balayage came out super flattering and this is the lightest I've ever gone.

It's my ashy shade of bronde dreams come true!

For the past 4 years I've been box dyeing my hair. For one, 6 days after moving to Boca (4 years ago), I found out I was expecting baby #4. Couple that with being in a new city and overwhelmed with 3 other children and a business, the color of my hair just wasn't top priority. Come to think of it. I probably didn't dye my hair more than once while I was pregnant. I'd say 2 years ago I just started using L'Oreal box dye in medium ash brown, and now with a lot more gray hairs popping out--thanks kids! I've been having to dye every 4-5 weeks. It was a picture I saw online recently of me at an  event with my husband that really pushed me to go back to a salon. My hair was looking so bad! 

I did have my eye on two salons that I felt could help me achieve my hair dreams, and in the end I chose Thay Oliveira. I'm so glad I went to go see her. She does amazing work with balayage and helping latin hair like my own transform! She specializes in blondes and has an adorable studio here in Boca Raton. You can see a ton of her work on her Instagram @thayoliveirahairartist.

I had my hair done this past Friday and this is what it looked like at home later. Not the best lighting, but I sure wish I could recreate salon blowouts at home. 

2 days later

Finally washed it today. 4 days later. I'm going to try my hardest to just wash it twice a week. It might be a little difficult once it gets hot outside and the fact that I exercise, but let's just hope dry shampoo helps--and a baseball cap. I bought all new hair care products, and I'll do another updated post with that and how the care is going another time. 

Have a great Tuesday! 

Life lately

Happy Friday! I'm Sooooo glad it's Friday. I've been wanting to update the blog all week, but my mom was visiting from Texas and she just left this past Wednesday. We miss her already for sure! It's so nice to not have to "mommy" alone sometimes. It's really been a whirlwind these past few weeks. I'm going to back up all the way to the weekend before last to the 16th annual Boca Bacchanal. It was another fantastic two days of great food and wine and time alone from the kids. 

A few days later my mom flew in and the girls did a lot of bonding as did we. We went out to eat, did some shopping, church, beach, etc. We had fun and it was nice just to have my mom to talk to everyday.

This week I've been back to sleep training Ava after speaking with the pediatrician and my friends again. It's been hard but I just keep pep talking myself and praying. I also have been working on some new things with my business, so excited to see how everything pans out. Having children and being an entrepreneur doesn't come with an owner's manual. I get overwhelmed, nervous, intimidated, and fearful just like everyone else, but I try anyways. I go for it and figure out the rest along the way. It's all about the journey anyways when you are headed to your goals sod on't lose sight of your surroundings along the way.

Have a great weekend!

Summer Days

 

I feel like I haven't blogged in awhile even though it's only been a little over a week. My nephew is visiting us from Texas and this past week has been filled with activities practically every day. This Saturday his parents are coming for 3 days to get him, and 3 days after they leave, my sister in law and her husband are flying in from Jordan. July is going to be full of guests. (Ya'll pray for me...). I'm kidding. Sort of. 

Taking care of 5 kids is no easy task let me tell you, but I've managed. It's been fun. Exhausting, but fun. We've made several beach trips and done different activities like adventure parks, bowling, movies, pool time, petting zoo's, horseback rides. Hopefully my nephew will tell his parents he had a great time. By now being trapped in a house full of  crazy girls, minus my husband, his uncle, he's probably itching to go home...

Five on Friday!

I've actually been meaning to post a "five on Friday" For-EVER now and it just never happens. Whether or not I had something else planned to write about, or just didn't get around to blogging. The three little ones are playing in the Florida room with a neighbor so I have a few moments to spare before H and Serena gets home and I start dinner and then get super exhausted. I've been battling a cold for 2 weeks now! My voice has been raspy for over a week and this persistent cough has been not letting me fall asleep till well past 1 am every single night this week! It's been challenging to say the least, especially since the kids give me no rest. I finally broke down and saw a doctor this morning. I have....brace yourselves.....a cold. At least now I know, it's nothing serious and he prescribed me a z pak and mucinex, so hopefully I start feeling better at least by Sunday! Let's talk about some highlights though. 

One. Yesterday was my birthday and as always my husband went above and beyond in making me feel special and loved. Aside from his generous gifts, we all went out for dinner at the new Louie Bossi's which is really close to us. I loved it! From the handmade pastas to the details in the decor, you can tell they put a lot of thought into what they do. 

Two. I've always loved lave and white but I'm completely obsessed this year! I wore this gorgeous lace peplum top for my birthday yesterday and will share more pics on the blog next week. 

{White lace top: Tobi}

Three. Aside from being obsessed with white lace, tassel's, pom poms and fringe are right there too. I found the cutest earrings from Francesca's the other day. 

Similar here

Four. My sweet Serena has officially graduated middle school. I can't believe I'll have a high schooler this fall. That's crazy talk! So proud of her and everything she's accomplished this year. She's so smart and talented with a big heart. 

Five: With summer around the corner, I'm sure watermelon is going to be a staple around here. Loving this recent recipe I found and made here. 

Have a great weekend!

Sometimes a gal wants to feel a little fabulous...

{Seahorse necklace: Fabulous Central}

With summer around the corner, you're going to be seeing a lot more sea creature and coastal inspired decor, jewelry, and apparel. I mentioned not too long ago that Layla is obsessed lately with all things mermaid, seahorse, and starfish! She is also really into jewelry these days. She actually doesn't have her ears pierced but she brought it up the other day. She asked why she doesn't have them pierced. Our first born is the only one of the girls that had her ears piercerd as a baby. With the others we figured we'd just let them make the choice for themselves when they decided they'd want them. 

Before Layla's birthday came around I knew she would absolutely love a seahorse necklace and I found the perfect one through online retail shop Fabulous Central.

I love how lightweight it is and just the right amount of adornment. A simple yet "different" piece, and sterling silver.

If you're looking for cute silver jewelry for your child or yourself, check out Fabulous Central. Shipping is super fast and the items come gift wrapped. 

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Disclaimer: I was provided with a product in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed herein are my own and not influenced by the company and its affiliates in anyway.

Celebrating mom's fashion show!

This past Saturday the Junior League of Boca Raton had it's 2nd annual "celebrating mom's fashion show" at Lord & Taylor in Boca Raton. I got to model a couple of designer outfits along with a few other mom's and their children. It was so much fun! The girl's did great and it was a great kickoff to Mother's Day weekend. The night before I hadn't gotten much sleep (story of my life), so I was so sleepy. It showed because most of my pictures it seemed like my eyes were closed. Oh well. One of these days this baby has to sleep. 

 

Photo credits: https://www.seanwhitephotography.com/
http://www.downtownphoto.net/

Have a great Wednesday!

Layla's mermaid inspired 6th birthday pool party!

In the beginning of the year, Layla and I started brainstorming birthday themes. We went through many, and I think one of her suggestions was a monster party. Ultimately...with a few suggestions from myself we settled on a mermaid/under the sea theme. I thought it went perfectly since we planned to throw it at our community pool.

The day before the party it stormed pretty much all day, but in true Florida fashion, the next day was perfect albeit a tiny bit chilly. Everything worked out great. In my usual way I ended up using about 80% off my energy on decor and DIY brainstorming, so by the time I really needed to get serious about selecting what to serve to our little guests and the other aspects of the party, I just couldn't think anymore. My husband suggested pizza, so we went with that alongside a veggie platter, crackers, homemade chocolate chip cookies and drinks. One small snafu was the cake the day before. Instead of using the baker I used last year (which I should have done), I used Publix and they got it completely wrong. They graciously gave it to me free of charge so I quickly went to Michael's and bought some faux embellishments to spruce it up. For entertainment I had my daughter make a playlist of all the favorite kids songs these days and we had music going along with a bubble machine. We also had coloring pages and crayons. All in all she had a great time and that's what matters the most. Even though it was a lot of work since May has been absolutely crazy with all the girl's activities, and mine and not getting enough sleep. Seeing her enjoy it made it completely worth it. 

{DIY Mermaid sign: Tutorial here}

The balloon arch was made by me and I was really surprised by how fast, easy and inexpensive it was. I plan on doing a DIY post in the future when I make another one. 

This gorgeous mermaid banner was custom made from Brandalyn's Paperie. Find them here!}

{Mini seahorse pinata: JazzysCreation}

{Gold foil chandelier: Hobby Lobby}

Speaking of which, I love that gold foil chandelier! I've used for my last two parties and it's easy to put away and reuse again and again. 

For party favors we did DIY starfish wands and goody bags filled with treats. I didn't have time to do a post on the startfish wands, but you can find the wooden dowels at any craft store or amazon. Starfish you can find and any craft store as well, but for a pack of 12 for cheap, go to HomeGoods or TJ Maxx, though it could just be that I live by the beach so they stock nautical decor here often. 

Layla got some really cool gifts but was especially ecstatic to receive some really pretty sealife jewelry. I hadn't realized how much she's loving jewelry these days and she's at the age where she's careful with them now. 

How adorable is this custom silver starfish bracelet. It even has a tiny L for for name! I'll be sharing more about this handmade bracelet in a separate post. 

{Silver starfish bracelet: Jmesjewelrybox}

{Handmade mermaid doll: whimsyadoration}

Super cute seahorse necklace. I think I want one for myself! More on this as well later. 

{Seahorse pendant: FabulousCentral}

I hope I covered everything and shared some inspiration. If anyone has any questions about anything in this post, feel free to send me an email: itsapinklife@gmail.com. I'm pretty much an open book and I love to help wherever I can. 

Ps. Wish me luck in November. Mariam wants a big unicorn party at the park for her 5th birthday. At least my close neighbors mentioned wanting to do a joint 2nd birthday party for our babies since they are all one week apart. My oldest also turns 15 this November but she's at the age where she would much rather do something small with a few friends then a party. Phew!