Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Aspen

I am a little late posting this but I could not skip posting our Aspen trip a couple weekends ago to celebrate Tj and our friend Natalie's birthday. It was crazy beautiful and we HIKED, in the snow no less. And there was an animal sighting!

On the ride up we took a quick stop in Glenwood springs which we've been wanting to visit for awhile. 

Friday, November 13, 2015

Nelly's Fall Style

 We have been so excited about spending our first fall in Denver since moving here in January. A real fall, imagine that!! It is such an amazing place to live with so much to see. We headed to Red Rocks Amphitheater with our friend and very talented photographer Natalie Elizabeth to document Noelle's fall style. We were so thrilled to have the chance to partner with our favorite accessory designer JandGhandmade who has been making headbands for Noelle since two weeks old. I sent her all of the looks for the shoot and she helped choose the perfect bows to pair with her outfits. Because working with toddlers is so predictable we had six outfits planned and were only able to shoot four of them before the meltdown started. I purchased most of these outfits over a month ago so I'll post links to the items that are still available (all of which are on sale) and of course I'll post the links to these super cute bows. And because the owner of JandGhandmade is such a beautiful person she has so graciously offered my blog readers a 20% discount using the code 'Noelle20' on her entire etsy shop!!! Also check out her new website JandGhandmade.com with some exclusives that are not available at her etsy shop!













I spy a dear!!








A big thanks to our photographer Natalie Elizabeth for capturing these beautiful images of our Nelly and to Jen of JandGhandmade. You both are a joy to work with and I am looking forward to more opportunities in the future!

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Elle's 19 & 20 Month Update

Say it with yo chest!!! Someone is saying no with all kinds of chutzpah these days, like she really means it or else. Well ma'm you've got the right kind of parents for that, hmmmm! Discipline has been the name of the game over here at the Hazley household. We are overjoyed for the terrific two's, and I've been hearing a lot lately that having threenager is even more exciting! Noelle is finding new ways to communicate with us everyday, she repeats everything which keeps us on our best behavior. We are constantly calling each other's attention to what she's doing. She is so entertaining and dancing has been her passion for the last couple of months. She gets down to the beat of her own drum, no music required. She is a little dancing queen in the making and I am loving it. 

Friday, November 6, 2015

Pumpkin Patch + Halloween

Halloween week was a lot of fun for us with lots of first. It was our first time to the pumpkin patch with Noelle and her first time going trick or treating. Minnie Mouse was her obvious choice for Halloween attire and she was surprisingly ok with keeping on her ears in order to stay in character. 
















Trick or treating was so entertaining and the weather was perfect!! Noelle learned to pick out her candy and hold out her bucket pretty early in the night. She had a death grip on her basket and refused to let Tj hold it no matter how heavy it got, tough she had no idea she was doing all this work for her parents! We strolled up and down one block with her friend RJ and called it a night.







Thursday, October 29, 2015

Au Naturale

This month made one year since I decided to cut all my hair off, like ALL of it!! What possessed me you may ask? Well a lot of reasons, mainly because I was brain washed by those "natural hair" girls who made me believe that I was beautiful just the way God made me and my hair was beautiful just the way it grew out of my head. How dare they right? I drank the kool-aid!!! I had previous sworn that I would NEVER go natural!! I didn't post about my "big chop" because I thought well it's just hair, who cares and because I kind of hated it. I went through some serious questions about my appearance during those first couple months. I was essentially bald and my self esteem took a hit. I can't speak for an entire culture but I don't think many would disagree with me when I say hair is kind of a big deal for black women. We spend thousands of dollars a year and countless hours in a salon to make sure the top of our heads look presentable, fly, fresh to death. It is the reason for all the jokes about us not getting our hair wet.  

Well it's been a year, October 23rd to be exact (I don't I'll ever forget that day) and I'm loving my hair! I wanted to celebrate one year of my new found freedom and setting my curls free with a post. Here are some never before seen pictures on the day of my big chop. 


I remember preparing for this day. Buying all the headbands and cute studded earrings I could find. I remember saying my eyebrows would always have to be done so that I looked "presentable" in public. I was so nervous about what people would think. I am naturally a very confident person, not the selfie a day kind of girl but knowing my worth and not being very concerned about what others thought. Cutting all your hair off will make you grow some confidence fast or make you climb under a rock. 


Being seen with no hair and no makeup was the ultimate no. I thank God for his strength where I am weak. 

Here are some of my early looks.



I started getting comfortable enough to leave my headbands at home, there was no hiding this five head!


As my hair grew I feel in love with it!


The only protective style I've tried is braids. I put them in for our trip to Aruba and they lasted a whopping two and a half weeks (meant to stay about two months). As much as I loved them I have always been very aware that I am not much of a weave person. I love trying new looks as you have seen in my previous 'I am not my hair' post but I can never keep it in for very long. 

If I have learned anything from this natural hair journey, besides that the fact that I may be a product junkie and that I have saved oodles upon oodles of money and time, it's that my confidence and self worth will never be dependent on the length of my hair. I have also learned to care for Noelle's hair so much better. I plan to blog on the evolution of her hair and some of the looks I've created for her. Her hair is now so much healthier and longer because I know how to take care of it. I pray Noelle never questions her beauty based on her hair. I will do everything I can to instill in her how beautiful her natural curly hair is and that we are all made just the way God intended. I will not be disappointed if she decided to straighten it when she is older (and out of my house, just kidding) because after all it is just hair. 

And I'll leave you with a length check because the shrinkage is real!

Anyone else have a hair story that shocked their confidence to the core?



My favorite products!

My curlspiration via Pinterest!!



One time for the curly girls!!!!!