#TUPELOSTRONG

This past Monday, a tornado tore through a significantly large portion of my town. Along it's devastating path, that stretched across nearly the entire length of the city, the tornado destroyed numerous neighborhoods and businesses. Over the past couple days, it's been really heartbreaking to walk through the mangled and twisted mess of trees and debris. On the day the tornado hit, we were all taking shelter in the Mabus agency office (Cody's workplace...also owned by our good friends, Josh and Mary Meghan Mabus) a couple miles away, in the downtown area of Tupelo. Downtown wasn't touched by more than rain, thunder, and lightning. So thankfully, we were all safe!

        After the storm passed and the tornado warning was cleared, we set out to assess the damage. Mine and Cody's neighborhood was fine, but Josh and Mary Meghan's did not fair so well.  It wasn't completely demolished but there was a lot of damage. We had to park about a block away and climb through fallen trees and debris to get to their house. People all over the neighborhood just walked around in shock as they discovered the destruction that surrounded them. I have lived in the south for roughly 15 years and I've never experienced the immediate aftermath of a tornado. It was unbelievable. Surreal, even.

I don't have photos of every neighborhood or area that was hit... Some places that we drove through were actually much worse than this... some, I haven't even seen yet. So many people lost everything. So my friend, Josh, and his staff at the Mabus Agency created a website yesterday to link these tornado victims with volunteers eager to help!  

The website is tupelostrong.com. For readers in my area, I urge you to visit and SHARE this website. We've already gotten to see how this website has helped tons of folks, but there's still a lot of people in need. So please share, volunteer, and donate! 

#TUPELOSTRONG

Family Fishing

Yesterday, Cody and I spent some time with my family out on the river. We always try to go fishing together at least once every spring. This year, my brother caught a pretty big catfish, and the rest of us just caught little sunfish. Although, I did catch other wildlife while I was out there... a lizard, baby turtle, and a bright green frog! Well, my brother caught the frog, but I held onto it. My nephew, Emery, even hooked a few little fish! He was more interested in playing in the water most of the time, though.

You can't tell in these pictures, but I got a little bit sunburned by the end of the day. Normally, one would say this is a bad thing, but it's the ONLY way I can ever get a nice, glowing base tan. So, I'm pretty excited about it! Yes, I know it's better to stay pasty because of the skin cancer risks and whatnot, but I need to have just a little bit of color. I come from pure European decent, so any hint of pigment must be forced. 

How do you spend time with your family? I'd love to read about it. xo

Vibrant Hair Questions: Answered.

Ever since I decided to go vibrant, I have given way to daily stares, questions, and comments everywhere I go.  I guess that's just what happens when you look a little bit different and live in the ultra-conservative south. Most love it, some don't... regardless, I fail to go unnoticed. It's not a big deal though. I'm pretty used to it. I don't have a problem with people coming up and asking me questions, and I'm always happy to pull anyone else over to the bright side! With all of that being said, there's a handful of questions that I constantly get about my hair. So I'm going to share my answers in hopes to enlighten and/or inspire those who are curious or indecisive about rainbow haircolors.

Do you have to pre-lighten it out to get it that vibrant?

Although it will show up as a tint in darker hair, to get it this bright, I have to pre-lighten it to a pale yellow. Pre-lightening your hair is not something I recommend doing yourself, and I’m not just saying that because it’s my job. It can be very difficult and risky if you don’t know the right steps, precautions, and products to use.

How often do you have to touch it up?

With the color line that I use, I usually have to refresh it and touch up my new growth every 4 weeks. I'll be honest, having vibrant, non-natural color is pretty high maintenance. It requires extra effort and care on your part, so keep this in mind when making your decision.

What if you want to go back to a natural color?

Depending on whether I want to do a dark or light color, I will either mix a proper formula to color over it and neutralize the purple/pink hue, or simply lift this color out and start with a blank canvas.

Are you afraid your hair will fry and fall off with you coloring it so much?

Nope. My hair is actually very healthy. When I touch up my color, I only pre-lighten my new growth, so I'm not constantly lightening all of my hair (which WILL fry it eventually). Also, I have a pretty intense daily conditioning regiment that packs and seals my mane with nutrients to keep it healthy and protected.

How do you keep your color from fading so quickly?

There are a lot of ways to prolong your color, and I have written up a few tips and tricks to help you keep that pretty color:

1. Use a SULFATE FREE shampoo. Yeah, the kind that doesn't lather very much. Just because it doesn't lather, doesn't mean it won't clean your hair and scalp, so get past that! Sulphates are industrial strength cleaning ingredients that strip away color and natural oils.

2. Rinse your hair under cold water. Thank God it's getting warm out! Cold water closes the cuticles of your hair and locks in the color.

3. Invest in a good dry shampoo like Fresh.Hair by Kevin.Murphy, and reduce the amount of times you wash your hair every week. 

4. Follow up a wash with leave-in conditioner and heat protecting styling products. If your hair is damaged, your strands will be weak and porous, which causes fading.

5. Speaking of heat... Try to cut down on that as well. If you have to use heating tools, just turn the temperature down. Set your blowdryer to "warm" instead of "hot", and most hair types will curl or straighten just fine with heating tools set around 200-350 degrees.


Keep these tips close to heart, and you'll have no problem maintaining your color! 

Ruche Style on the Natchez Trace

I love the Natchez Trace, especially during the spring and summer months. The forest is so green, lush, and full of wildlife! I may be a girly girl on the outside, but hiding deep within, there's a Steve Irwin-aspiring (RIP), NatGeo-obsessed, animal loving, outdoorsy vagabond. I love camping, hiking, fishing... all that nature-y stuff. Anyway, there's a hiking trail right off of the Trace that Cody and I visit often. So, I thought, what better way to juxtapose my inner and outer selves, than to wear this lovely dress with heels on this rough and rugged trail! I will say though, that I saved my ankles from being sprained by wearing tennis shoes until we got to this bridge.

Dress - Ruche // Shoes - Seychelles

As a proud blogger in the Ruche family, I just wanted to help promote the shop with this style post. I should also tell you that they're having an awesome sale: 20% off all tops! Just click the Ruche banner in my sidebar and check it out! 

Anthropologie Spring Wishlist

Tunic // Hair ties // Wedges // Beach radio // Bikini // Hand cream // Candles

That sunny, springtime day that I was talking about a couple days ago...... short lived. The temp dropped and it rained ALL day yesterday. So I stayed inside and window shopped. I'm loving all the new arrivals at Anthropologie! Here are some goodies that I found.

Cloverfield

Since spring has finally sprung, we have lots of lush greenery growing in our yard! Most of this foliage is clover patches. I love searching for four leaf clovers, and finding them usually comes pretty easy to me. Today, that wasn't so true. I did find this one four-leafer, but it's the ONLY one I found. Out of all the thousands of clovers in our yard, this little guy stood alone. So I did what anyone would do, and I picked him. I took a couple pictures, then I dropped him and lost him. 

Siiigh.

Despite that tiny tragedy, we had a splendid day playing outside and soaking up some much needed vitamin D. The dogs were completely overjoyed to be able to run (semi) freely under the warm sun. They both probably need baths now, but it was definitely worth it. Hopefully this nice, warm weather will stick around so we can do this more often!

If you happen to see a four-leafer in any of these photos, do tell!

*T-shirt is from Culture Flock Clothing

New Collection

I recently added a new collection of necklaces and bracelets to my Etsy shop! These pretty pieces are quite simple and petite, but they make a huge statement! They go great and look adorable with any outfit! Also, everything in my shop is still under $25, so pop over there and take a look! Click the banner at the bottom of this post or in the sidebar.