Faux Bangs and Fireworks

OK, first things first. How did the foam curlers turn out? Well, after re-rolling them because my cats decided that they were great fun to claw at and eat, I think they turned out pretty well. Never having had curly hair before, I wasn't quite sure how to tame the curls, so I just let them go wild. Honestly, that was the easiest it has ever been to style my hair. All I did was roll them when they were about 80% dry after my shower and then for good measure I spritzed them with hair spray before going to bed. I did add a bit of hair wax to my bangs because they weren't cooperating. I couldn't get them to roll around the curler, but the hair wax did the trick.

Also, side note, why has no one ever taught me to use an eyebrow pencil?! I was so worried it would make me look like I had drawn on my face in marker, but my eyebrows look amazing! You can see a notable difference between these pictures and the last ones I posted. I am very pro-pencil. I didn't even splurge on an expensive one, I picked up an off brand eyebrow/eyeliner pencil at Big Lots. I can only imagine how great they would look if I spent the $8 to get name brand. I did purchase a special brush to help shape my eyebrows as well. I'm not sure what it is called, but it looks like a mascara wand, minus the mascara. On top of that, I've been using a foundation brush to smooth out the eyebrow color so the hard lines are less noticeable. If I'm going particularly dark one day, I will use some light colored concealer to help blend the edges as well.

After finally getting the curls right, I tried experimenting with the bouffant some more. The trick to getting some great height/body on the pouf is dry shampoo. I spray it on the roots and it helps hold the hair up and gives it amazing body. I'm not positive, but I also think it makes it easier for bobby pins to stay in place. They don't seem to fall out as easily when I use the dry shampoo. So far I have discovered that I prefer the bouffant to be higher up on my head. I did one closer to the back of my head and it looked OK, but it wasn't quite the stylized 50s look I was going for. I like this one because once you have the height, you can pretty much do whatever you want with the rest of your hair. In the picture below, I started at the part and twisted my hair back, similar to french braiding. I bobby pinned it behind my ears and at the nape of my neck, then started on the other side, doing the same thing. I've been hiding the thousands of bobby pins with a giant flower or bow clipped behind my ears or at the very back of my head. I think it looks pretty cute, but I'm going to have to diversify my hair bow collection.

 Lately, I've been experimenting with my bangs. The curlers aren't the best for those, as they don't like to stay put, but I found a tutorial online to help me curl them with my flat iron. I love the faux bangs look, so I've been rolling them up on my forehead and bobby pinning them to the rest of my hair. It helps if I back comb them a bit at the base, otherwise the bobby pins don't have anything to hold on to and they just fall out. The first few times I did this, I was literally raining bobby pins from my head. I haven't quite mastered how to hold them back, as bobby pins can often be visible or misshape the curl, so it's pretty hit or miss.

This is an example of my rolled bangs gone awry. I tried to roll them and they were having none of it, so I tried to create some sort of swoopie thing with some spiral curls pinned to the side of my head. I thought it looked cute when I left for work, but I kept messing with it all day. By the end of the day, they were a hot mess. I struggled just to pin them flat across my forehead.

On the fun side of things, I got new glasses! I had money I needed to use up before the end of the month, and what better way to use it than to get fancy, designer glasses. I was so excited when I went in to pick them up. I struggled not to grin like an idiot the whole time.

To me, this is better than a little black box.

It seems only right that the first thing I ever get from Tiffany's is glasses instead of jewelry.

On a more personal note, 4th of July was so much fun! We went to a local museum that put on a barbecue and let you tour the museum while you waited for the fireworks to start. Usually, we have to stake out our spot really early in the day and then just sit for hours. We usually make our own fun and end up having a good time, but it was nice to have activities planned for us. The museum was doing a Ripley's Believe it or Not exhibit. Museums, weirdness, and fireworks, it's like this event was designed for me!

This chair was designed for a viking giant who claimed to be over 8 feet tall. In all likely hood, he was probably only 7 feet 8 inches, but still!

There was a really cool interactive anaconda that kids could climb through and learn all about the body parts of a snake. I was too big (and in a dress) to climb through, but that didn't stop the snake from trying to make a meal of me.

I drove past a statue of this guy, Robert Pershing Wadlow, every day on my way to student teaching. It was nice to meet him in person and see how I measured up. (If we're being totally honest, I hate manikins and this one stood up and sat down and kept moving his head. I was freaking out while my husband took this picture.) He was the tallest man in history at 8' 11.1 at the time of his death. His shoes were massive!

When we ventured into the local/natural portion of the museum, I was trying to teach my husband how to evacuate an overturned kayak because hey, why not? We might have to go over that lesson again though. He was too entertained by me in a dress, in a kayak, giving a demonstration. 

And finally, the obligatory fireworks picture. I only took one or two because I was much more interested in watching them myself, and not through a camera lens. They were great! It was the biggest fireworks display in the state. I was convinced that this show was shorter than the previous years' but it turns out, I was just enjoying them so much that time got away from me.