The Best Shampoo I Have Ever Used

I have finally - and I mean, finally, found a shampoo and conditioner that I am in love with. My hair was always dry, damaged and very fine, no matter what I tried. Cutting several inches off helped a bit with the volume and split ends, but it still didn't feel amazing - that was until I received a sample of Redken Diamond Oil Shampoo and Conditioner in one of my beauty subscription boxes a few months ago!

 

 

Luckily, the salon that I go to is a Redken salon, so I've been able to buy these products myself every few months and now I would hate to live without them!

 

They make my hair feel super soft, strong and actually feel like they are repairing all the torture I have put my hair through in my 27 years (black spray paint hair dye on light blonde natural hair, anyone?)

 

I know there are other products in this line, but I haven't tried them yet. The shampoo and conditioner do the trick for me, although, I must admit, the price tag kills me! 

Have you found a perfect shampoo and conditioner to recommend? Or are you doing the no-poo method?

   

 

Links I Love - Weekend Edition

To say that I am happy this work week is over would be an understatement. This week has been insane, crazy and absolutely exhausting! Since the news about our work, we are now down to a team of 2 people in my department - me and 1 other person. We were having a tough enough time keeping up with 4, but now that there is only 2 of us doing all, if not more, work to prepare for the 'transition' in June.. well, we are both going to be so burnt out by the time our lay off is here. I really am going to plan on just enjoying my summer before I look into the next chapter!

 

Yeah, this was me at about 4:29pm today when I knew the weekend was here -

 

Anyway, I'm relaxing after my long week and wanted to share some links that I am loving:

 

• Ashley shared this awesome Sweet Potato Crust Pizza recipe that I can't wait to try. Everyone knows how much I love my pizza so I am loving this recipe!

• Stephanie shared 10 Best Ways to Avoid People and I must say - I do a lot of these things, not always to avoid people, but I do tend to do my blogging, online shopping, and catching up on netflix to avoid going out at times.

• I love everything about this cat!

• Lighting Tips and Tricks for Bloggers & Photographers

• Bloggers Closet - this is such an interesting idea and concept!

• Are you creating an experience for your readers?

   

 

Business Update

I decided with the recent layoff news, to really start focusing on my business and getting my footing with anything left I needed, business-wise, before June, when I don't really know what will happen once I am out of work.

 

I'm not sure if I can make a go of my business full time and have it bringing in substantial income by the time my employment ends, but I am definitely going to try my best and see what happens. I am excited for the future, and if the door that opens is achieving my dream and being able to work from home, doing what I love, then all the better. If not, then I will find employment elsewhere, but I am very excited on where my business can be and is headed in 2014.

So, I made some business purchases I have been putting off the past few months, including many more supplies, a new printer, a new advertising campaign and I recently redesigned my business cards due to an exciting opportunity that has come up!

I am scheduled to have my business cards handed out in the swag bags at the MTV Movie Awards in April. I am so excited over this, and while I couldn't send actual products due to the cost of my materials (14kt gold fill and sterling silver definitely isn't cheap!), I am able to send my newly designed business card to be included.

After signing up for this, I redesigned my business card yesterday to actually show my products and here is what I've come up with:

What do you think of the new design?

 

My Guilty Pleasures

Like most people, I have my fair share of guilty pleasures. Here is a list of things that I know are bad for me, but guilty as charged - I love it anyway!

 

1) Cadbury Creme Eggs

Yum, these things are delicious! Thank goodness they only come out of hiding for a few months a year, or I would really be in trouble.

 

2) The Bachelor / The Bachelorette

Why oh why do I continue to watch this show? I hate it, but I love it at the same time. It is nothing but 2 hours of mindless drama filled excitement. I just can't stop watching this no matter how hard I try... Well, Ben's season of the Bachelor almost did me in, but nope.

 

3) Online Shopping

I hate in person shopping almost as much as I hate crowds, but online shopping will be the end of me, folks! I LOVE online shopping, and all those fashion blogs I follow don't help with this guilty pleasure. It is just too easy to browse, fall in love with something, click a few buttons and order it. For the most part, I am pretty practical when it comes to my shopping, but I have phases where I really have to avoid the temptation of overspending or buying things I don't truly need.

 

4) Makeup

I don't usually wear a lot of makeup, but I love trying new things and new products. If I could buy out Sephora, I would do it - in a second!

 

5) Photography

I think I must have been a photographer in a previous life, because I just love browsing through photographers websites and photography albums. Weddings, animals, still life, nature... anything! I just love looking at beautiful photography and if I don't watch myself, I could get caught up in browsing for hours on end!

 

Your turn - what are some of your guilty pleasures?

 

 

Uncertainty

It happened, I have been given my layoff notice at work.

I knew when I was promoted back in June that because of my new role, I would only be laid off if the entire building closed and well, that has happened.

Our entire operation is being closed. Almost 1400 people put of work from my city, as well as Montreal and Toronto. I feel for all my coworkers and their families, but for me, personally, I am taking this as a positive change.

I have learned a lot in my time there and have met many amazing people. I am optimistic and excited about what the future holds for me! I am going to remain employed until June, unless things change, and that gives me plenty of time to get things in order and move onto the next chapter of my life.

The only thing that bothers me is how my company is handling this "transition" as they call it. Our jobs are done and this location is closing but where are the jobs going? The Philippines and Bulgaria. We are only being kept on long enough to help them take over our tasks and train them. And some people weren't so lucky, they were walked out immediately after the announcement yesterday!

But, I will take what I have learned from there, my knowledge and experiences, and carry it onwards. The next few months will be challenging and it is a very hostile environment at work right now, but personally, I am just going to continue doing my job the best I can and think about the future in a few months. I have to look at this as a good thing, and you know what they say, when one door closes another one opens!

(By the way, you can probably guess from this post just who the company is that I work for, but I am not going to name any name's here.)

   

 

The Question of Fostering

Fostering animals, that is.

It is something I have been thinking about the past few weeks, since Crawaly passed away. You see, that cat was my baby, but she didn't like change. And we knew that, which is why we haven't gotten a dog yet, we always thought we would wait until we had a house with a fenced in back yard. But then we waited because we didn't want to upset Crawaly. It has been heartbreaking since she passed, and while I have been hugging Cleatus every night, it pains me to see how lonely she is without her sister around.

We considered getting a breed of dog recently that we always wanted - a Bernese Mountain Dog but honestly? After everything we went through with Crawaly; the financial and emotional aspects of it all, we just aren't sure we are ready.

Which has brought me to another thought - we could become a foster home for a local shelter or rescue group! It would be amazing to be able to give an animal in need a temporary home full of warmth, love and food. I would know from the start to not get attached and I would be so happy to see a dog we helped find a forever home.

Now, the only thing that is holding us back is Cleatus. While we can tell she is lonely and depressed, I don't want to disrupt her even more by bringing a dog into our lives, even temporarily, that might not get along with her. While I know only suitable dogs will be placed with us, it is still troublesome.

It's a thought, and one that we're thinking about, but for now, we might just put in on the back burner for a few months to let our lives settle down a bit and then revisit the idea. Have any of you taken in a foster dog? And if so, what was your experience like? Would you do it again?

   

 

Sunday Social - Week 84 - All About Blogging

1. What is the name of your blog? How long have you been blogging?

Starletta Designs, which is also the name of my business. I've only been actively blogging here since August 2013, but my first post ever on here was from June 2012. I have had a blog in the past - many, many years ago though. But technically, I only consider this one to be about 5 months old!

2. Why do you blog?

So many reasons! The main one is that I like to have a creative outlet - a place that is all mine, a place that I can share pieces of my life, thoughts, feelings and experiences. It will be nice years from now to be able to look back and read about certain moments, and feelings. I know, it sounds like I could just keep a journal, right? But that's where the other reasons come in - I always blog because I love the blogging community. I love meeting amazing people through their blogs and connecting with them. I might not be the most outgoing person, offline and online, but I love reading about other people's world and experiences. And I figure if I'm going to read and comment about theirs, they should be able to do the same with mine - it's only fair!

3. What is the first blog you ever followed?

Hmm.. I honestly can't remember, but I would say it would probably be an Etsy business blog as I started following a lot of small business owners at the start of my blogging journey.

4. What is your favorite post you wrote in 2013?

Honesty: The Baby Debate 

It took a lot for me actually put this post into words, and I was concerned that it wouldn't be taken how I meant it. It was a pretty real post and it was extremely nice to get those thoughts and feelings out.

5. What are your blogging goals for 2014?

I have very generic goals for 2014 - I want to write more openly and often. I want to be more active on social media - facebook, twitter and instagram (which I now actually have, thanks to my iphone! Here I am, with all of 1 instagram follower, haha!)

6. Top 3 favorite blogs to follow?

Top 3? It is so hard to pick only 3.. there are so many awesome bloggers out there that I follow and adore their blogs. I could do a top 50, easily! But, here are my picks:

 Melyssa @ The Nectar Collective

Stephanie @ Not Entirely Perfect

Jackie @ Jade and Oak

       

 

7 Things Losing My Parents Has Taught Me

In a few days it will have been 2 years since my mom passed away, and it still feels like it was just yesterday, or like a horrible dream that I sometimes forget is real. 

There have been a number of things that losing both my mom and dad within 10 months of each other has taught me or made me realize, and in a major way it has changed the person I am today and the way I now live my life.

Over 2 years ago, I didn't cherish any moments. I didn't ever let myself think I would need to. I took my parents for granted and assumed they would always be around and now, I am constantly reminding the people around me to not do the same thing.

1) Life is too short. Way too short in some cases and you never know when your time is up. I always thought my mom would help me with wedding planning and that my father would give a hilarious toast at my wedding - I was wrong. Neither of those things happened, and I regret not shortening our engagement and having our wedding sooner. If we had, they both might have been there to share it with us, but, in the same thought, I no longer want to live with any regrets -- but it has taught me that from now on, I won't take life for granted, I won't put things off and I will make the most of every moment I have here in this world.

2) Treasure the little things. Before this, I never treasured the little things. I never just stopped to smell the roses. I didn't appreciate everything my parents ever did for me. I didn't truly appreciate just how much it meant to me to talk to my mom everyday (even if it was just a quick 'how was your day?') or how amazing it was that my dad got me a card, box of chocolates and a stuffed animal on every Valentine's Day.

3) Photograph everything. It wasn't until after my mom was gone that I realized how important photographs truly are. She was always the one behind the camera, and was hardly ever in front of it. I only have a handful of photographs of me and my mom, and me and my dad after my teenage years and it is so sad to think about. All I have to cherish, really, is my memories - but, now that I realize how important photos are to me - I make darn sure to take as many family and friend photos as possible.

4) Say I love you. I always say I love you now when my husband leaves the house, or we get off the phone with his parents. I'm not sure what the last words I said to my parents were that they heard, but I know when they were both on life support in the hospital, I whispered those words over and over again. I must have told them both a million times, and I can only hope that they heard me say it and that they knew that. I never want to have to question whether anyone else I love will know that I do when I can't say it to them any more.

5) What true love really is. I'm not sure if I have openly talked about my parents relationship, and I don't think I truly understood it until after my mom passed away. My dad nearly lost himself for a few months - he was depressed, didn't want to live without her and could barely function. Slowly but surely, he managed to get better and eventually seemed to have a better spirit about him and actually happy. I remember saying that when we knew he wasn't going to make it in the hospital, 'Why now? He is finally starting to be happy again!' But, my parents loved each other and it makes me happy to know that they are together, and that they weren't without each other for too long.

6) How strong you really are. I remember my husband saying this to me through both of my parents passing's several times, 'I can't believe what a strong woman you are.' or 'You are amazing to me' and I would think to myself, 'Yeah, right, I am just going through the motions right now.' But now, I can honestly say, I don't know where the strength came from to get through that year. I never knew I had it in me and it's nice to know that strength is in there, somewhere. I still have bad days, days where I just don't want to get out of bed and days where I feel anger and frustration that they were taken from all of us so soon, but those days are fewer and far between. I am proud of myself for how I handled everything, and what I discovered about myself, though. I just hate the way I had to realize how strong I really am.

7) To forgive. I'm not sure if I have mentioned this before on the blog, but the year that my mom got sick we quit speaking in March for over a month (she passed the following January). My mom and I were best friends, we never truly fought with eachother after my wild phase was over at age 14, but this time was different. Many hurtful things were said on both sides, and we went from speaking every day, several times a day, to not speaking for a month. She hurt me and I hurt her. I swore I wouldn't speak to her again, and that was the end of it. Looking back now, I am so thankful that I was able to forgive, swallow my pride and let things go. If I hadn't, we may not have had those last months together and that would have been much, much more tragic.

 

So, in short - life your life to the fullest, have no regrets, cherish those around you, forgive as much as possible and always say, 'I love you'!

 

 

Organizing My Life

I don't know if it is because of the new year or what, but I have been all about organizing and clearing out my life this past week. It started with reorganizing my office space and ended with removing facebook page likes and all in all, it feels amazing to be more organized. It's like a complete fresh start.

So, what exactly have I been organizing this past week?

• My office space. This was in die need of some cleaning up and organizing. It will probably last all of a week or two, but it's something that needed to be done. I feel much more at peace and relaxed if I have a clean, organized office space where I can find what I am looking for!
• All family paperwork. It started with buying a new filing cabinet and sorting ALL paperwork - bills, agreements, warranties, purchases, etc into correct folders. No more stacks of papers scattered around the home! Everything has it's own folder now.
• My closet. This was a goal of mine back in November and it's finally done! I organized all of my clothes and finally said goodbye to my favourite jeans I've held onto for years, hoping that I would fit back into them someday! Sad to see them go, but I'm happy that I've accepted the fact that my body is changing and even if I did fit into them again, I probably shouldn't be wearing them at this point in my life, haha.
• Facebook. I removed all facebook pages that I had liked and no longer have any interest in. My feed was so clogged up that I barely looked or paid attention to pages that I am actually interested in.
• Bloglovin. I cleaned up my bloglovin list of blogs that I follow. Same as facebook - it will make it much easier to read and comment blogs that I am actually interested in now! It's exciting to actually be able to keep up with the blogs I care about. I still want to get this number down, but for now, it's workable for me.

Next up? Getting our basement cleaned out and organized. This might lead to a yard sale in the Spring, but we will see.

   

 

Sunday Social - Week 83

1. Do you plan to change any of your eating habits in the new year?

I would like to start eating healthier, and my goal is really to stop eating out as much as we have been. It's hard with my husband on shift work, to force myself to make a meal for 1 - I usually will order out or just eat snacks, instead of a meal. I would like to be able to make improvements this year, but I can't make any promises!

My biggest guilty pleasure - poutine from Swiss Chalet!

2. Any workout tips to get us back in shape after the holidays?

Honestly, I don't workout too much. I have tried in the past, but just can't find the time for it. I would like to start walking/jogging in the Spring time, though.

3. What is your favorite thing you did over the holidays?

Spending Christmas Day with my in-law's. Holidays are always bittersweet now, but his family is so wonderful that it's hard not to have an awesome time. We just sat around Christmas Eve watching television, playing cards and eating snacks - it was perfect.

4. What is something you hope that you accomplish in 2014 that you did not in 2013?

I would like to be able to say that I've been on an airplane!

5. Name 3 things happening this year you are excited about and why.

April - Our 1 year wedding anniversary and our trip to Ottawa!

April 28th - My 28th birthday!

December - The 2015 World Junior Hockey championships in Toronto!

 
 

 

2014 - My Word of the Year

 

Wow, 2014. Time flies by so quickly - I still remember New Year's Eve 2000 like it was yesterday (my mom and I sat around watching the ball drop, drinking champagne in our pajamas.. as a 13 year old, I was happy as a clam, even though I think I only had one glass!)

 

Each year, instead of making resolutions and goals that I will never keep past March, I've picked a word that I would like to have reflect the upcoming year. My word for 2014 - fun! 

 

My life, in general, is pretty quiet and I usually spend most spare time I have watching television, reading, blogging and taking in the odd local hockey game. Which is usually fine for me, and I LOVE being lazy and just relaxing at home. But, in the same aspect, I don't want to take any time or moments for granted. So - more fun will be in my life in 2014.

 

We started the year off well - we spent New Year's Eve at a casino, which has now become our yearly tradition. We had a blast, although, if it wasn't for me winning a small jackpot at the end of the night, we probably would have come out of there with less than we did!

 

I've already started planning this by waiting online for 45 minutes to get tickets to next year's 2015 World Junior Championship that starts at the end of December/beginning of January. We had to buy a package of 19 games, but figure we will take in a few days of hockey and sell the rest of the tickets. It's something my husband and I are both interested in, and it's a once in a lifetime thing. 

 

We also have our anniversary trip planned for April. We aren't traveling too far, but will have a blast exploring Ottawa.

 

And, I think it is about time both of us fly on a plane. We don't have passports, so we will either be going to the west coast of Canada (British Columbia) or the east coast (Nova Scotia / Newfoundland). I'm thinking the East, because I have always wanted to see Newfoundland. 

 

Overall, I just want to have some new experiences this year, lots of fun and share a lot of moments with my husband and our family! I also want to have a more easygoing and less stressful time in 2014. No more letting little things get to me!