9. A bit of beauty

I really hate spending money on beauty products. Like A LOT. So much that I'm pretty sure I went about 2 years with out buying hairspray just because I thought it was a waste of money. But then I started to realize I kind of looked like a shaggy dog most days. Not exactly the best look, except maybe while camping. Even though I'm pretty sure I will never try to not look cute while camping. 

So yesterday while trying to figure out how to get my hair to not be a big puffy mess I decided to make my own leave in conditioner. It seems to be doing what I want  it to do at this point. Controlling some frizz and making brushing a hell of a lot easier. I don't ever really heat my hair. Air drying is usually the only thing I do after brushing. So I'm not sure of how the results might be if I were to blow dry is. 

Alright, so what this is all I did. Super simple. You may even have everything at home already just like I did. 

First: Take any spray bottle. ( I used an old product bottle that was empty and washed it out.)

Second: I filled the bottle about 1/2 way up with cold water.

Third: I took my daily conditioner and added about a table spoon or so of the conditioner ( I really just squirted some till I though it would be enough)

Fourth: Shake well.

Fifth: I added a few pumps of my Argan Oil into the mixture 

Sixth: Shake well (again?)

Now use! This may not be anything special, but it worked for me and it was technically free! So that's always a plus.  I'm going to make a hair mask this weekend that I found on the beautydepartment   .So maybe that to come soon. 

Hope everyone enjoys the weekend! 

A/C

7. doughnut/donut

If there is one thing I love, it's sweets. Almost any kind. Anything that looks cute and tastes sweet is my ultimate weakness. I've been trying really hard to make it a habit to cook things ( sort of ), so I made some doughnuts the other weekends. Surprisingly easy to make. I am easily frustrated by things that don't come natural to me, so I decided to find something simple but seemed impressive. These fit the bill perfectly. I tried a cake doughnut thinking it would be easier to handle vs a yeast one. Once I try the later of the 2, I'll have to update. Since this is only an assumption.

I started by using this recipe. I also made it the night before, since you have to let the dough chill for at least an hour.  To cut them out I simply used a cocktail shaker top and the smaller top for the centers. Worked perfectly! When my crumbs didn't exactly turn out I opted to make a quick glaze . I did have with that and half with Cinnamon and Sugar.  Needless to say not only was I impressed, but I'm pretty sure the Fiance was too! Score!

Just a quick snapshot from my phone of my supplies, and some of the final product! 

A/C

6. Flying by

This week went by WAY too fast. I have a feeling this year will somehow be the slowest/fastest moving year for me, EVER. I know that sounds silly... but when you are looking forward/stressed out by something like I am with our wedding.... you probably catch my drift when making comments like that.

 A few major things have already been taken care of. I'm trying to make it a goal to figure out one things each week. I'm a very high stress type of person... so taking it slow is a must for me. Staying organized and ahead of schedule is a must! Venue for the ceremony is officially ours. The restaurant is making up a contract as we speak.... and I may have even found my dress! I went out on a whim a few weeks ago. I called a local store to make sure they were taking walk-ins that day, and sure enough she was! I was surprised by the dress I've pretty much picked ( trying it on in 2 weeks to make sure I still LOVE it). I had a totally different idea in my head of what would look good/thought I wanted. I guess sometimes we all surprise ourselves.

I think my new favorite way to kill time at home is painting my nails. I was never very good at keeping a good manicure. I hate paying for it.. and I always ruin it when I do it at home. I guess practice makes perfect. Here's my new favorite simple at home manicure:

Hopefully I'll make time to share my new Maxi skirt I made last weekend. I was in need of something new to wear and opted to make it. ;)

A/C

5.Mix and Match.

I've always thought about having a GOLD wedding band placed upon my finger one day. Not silver. Not anything else. Gold. Maybe it's only because in the past maybe that's all I had seen, or maybe it's because my mothers was gold. I have no idea why. I just wanted it. I'm pretty sure I still do. So here lays the idea of mixing and matching the metals on my wedding ring finger. Should I? 

I think it looks great when done right. I usually mix my metals in my jewelery anyway. So it's not an odd concept for me. My ring being platinum I would have to mix to get what I think I want! Hmmm, I already sound so unsure! But that's just me. Recently on A CUP OF JO she did this great bit on simple wedding rings. I really think I'm in love with this hand hammered 14k gold band! So simple and chic. Best part is the price. $16.50. Yes, sixteen fifty. 

I guess these stacker rings by favorJewelry ... oh well. I don't like rules like that. Thank you Etsy for always providing!

So what do you all think about mix metals for wedding rings?

A/C

4.Need.

The Cambridge Satchel Company. Thank you.

A/C

3.Fall in California

I always feel a little left out of seasons when it comes to living in California. Especially the Central Coast/ Bay Area where I'm from. We are FINALLY getting into our ' Indian Summer' , pretty much a mild summer to most peoples standards. Its pretty much the same 60 degrees all year round. I guess I can't complain. No need for drastic wardrobe changes from summer to winter. It all pretty much works. The one item I have found I need each year once fall/winter rolls around are good boots. When the weather does decide to feel a bit more authentic it does help to have the right shoes! I've found that I need a new pair each year because I seem to always walk big holes through my right shoe. ALWAYS. It's not very fun when it's starts raining and you end up with soggy feet for the day! Especially when in the City! So now I'm on the hunt. Again. Because once again.... right foot is being exposed in ALL of my boots! GRRR! My Fiance says its because I'm more of a 'truggder' not a walker! Hmm, maybe I should practice feminine walking? Can you even do that? Someone let me know! Back to the topic, boots. I'm really looking for a pair a little more stylish compared to the normal combat/big rain boot kinda of boot. Not so technical with the names... I know! A few of my favorites so far:

Zara

Jeffery Campbell

Asos

Hope everyone is having a great Tuesday!

A/C

2. SF

This weekend was one of the best , most productive, utterly tiring times I've ever had. I now have a lot more respect for people who manage to plan and produce huge weddings , because this stuff if not just... but hard! I'm lucky enough to have a fiance who is actually involved in the process of planning. Who wants to add input, who talks about more than how much money I'm going to spend, and is genuinely psyched about the whole thing just like I am! That really showed this weekend.

We took a little day trip to SF to look at the garden we wanted to get married in and talk to the owner of the restaurant we are having the reception at.  Everything went much smoother than I had planned. We got done so fast that we actually had time to enjoy some of the day in our favorite city. (  currently working on convincing the fiance we NEED to move there. We will see. ;)  ) Beers, Pizza, and lounging in the sun at Washington Square Park. Perfect day.  I tried on my first wedding dresses on a whim the next day after brunch and may have found THE one. I'll be sleeping on that one for a while though. ;)

1.

I had planned on getting my first post out a few weeks ago, guess that didn't really happen! Welcome, to California Dreaming. If you came over from my older Blog 'faking IT' thanks for stopping by! The reason for the change was pretty simple. I just wasn't happy blogging in the space I had created. I felt like I was limiting myself on the content I wanted to share with people, and I really just needed a change. This year is a major changing point for me. Yesterday marked one year till my Fiance and I finally get married! We have been together for what seems like forever, so it's a really big step for us! I really wanted to open my blog up to share a little bit of my experience with this and anything else I wanted. Ha! I guess that's fairly vague , but it's sort of my intent. No limitations.

First order of business , I wanted to talk about Pinterst!... and how addicted to it I am. When I got engaged a friend told me to join and boy was I glad she did. I was saving all my images in a file on my work computer of all places. ( Not the best idea when i think of it now!) It wasn't really a helpful organizing tool. So now I use Pinterest. I'm pretty sure you can just sign up now. I had to wait for an invite for a while when I first singed up. It gets addicting let me tell you! I even found a few recipes on there and actually baked them! ( I'll show you guess my trail with donuts soon.) So go check it out!

Just a few Polaroid snapshots I did of my Pinterest account.

....And my Fiance and myself on our 6 year anniversary on a hike in Henry Cowell State Park in here in Cali.

Hope everyone enjoys there weekend! I'm off the San Francisco to start our wedding planning! 

A/C