I-D-A-H-O

Necklace: c/o Maya Brenner Designs // Glasses: c/o Firmoo // Jacket: The North Face // Gloves: Target // Top: Express

Idaho. The Gem State. It's a good place to be. Four seasons, a desert-like climate, friendly faces, not too much traffic, great places to eat, and the valley I live in is surrounded by beautiful foothills—which are currently white with snow.

I received this necklace back in December, and I haven't wanted to take it off since. People tend to get my sister and I confused (we're only a year and six days apart), but when I visited Seattle in the beginning of January for my Farfar's remembrance, no one had to guess which sister I was—the Idaho sister. Instant win.

Idaho, I love you.

ASK

Glasses: c/o Firmoo

I'm building a FAQ page. I'm also planning another ASK vlog.

I'll try to answer all questions, whether it's posting them on my FAQ page, answering them in the vlog, or responding directly to your email (make sure your commenting profile has a connected email or leave your email in the comments).

Here's your chance... ask away!

Unbroken

I've told you about my love for mac-and-cheese, nail polish, braiding hair, and crossword puzzles. But I don't ever think I've told you how much I love to read. I'm a huge fan of murder-mysteries (Michael Connelly is my favorite), but I'll pretty much pick up anything with a cool cover and a mesmerizing description.

These days, I don't have much time to read. However, I do have a 30-minute commute to work, and I find that listening to an audio book is the best way to pass time. It keeps me entertained, and I actually look forward to driving to and from work each day. Sometimes, I'll sit in the driveway for 10-minutes before going into the house because I'm trying to finish a good chapter. It usually takes me a little over a week to finish each book.

Last week, I started the book Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, which was recommended to me by a friend at work. The only thing about the book that made me hesitant at first is that it's a nonfiction—I've never read/listened to a nonfiction before. I have to say—I am floored by how good this book is. It's a WWII story of the trying moments, triumphs and life of Louie Zamperini. The book begins by giving a chilling picture of the stranded-at-sea story ahead. It was a phenomenal start to the book. It then tells of Louie's early life, growing toward adulthood and running in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, and then joining the Army Air Corps, where in 1943, he was on a bomber plane that crashed into the Pacific Ocean, leaving him stranded in the middle of thousands of miles of open ocean...

... And that's where I come to the point where I can't tell you any more. At the moment, I'm on disc 6 of 11, and I'm completely enthralled. The part that baffles me is that it's true. Everything I'm reading—it all happened. It's heart-breaking and inspiring. I've laughed and also had moments where my mouth is agape at the horrors being described. If you're looking for a book to read, I can't say enough about this one.

Other items I have on hold at the library include: Killing Lincoln by Bill O'Reilly, The Black Box by Michael Connelly, and Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn—another nonfiction and two more mystery fiction novels, respectively.

/ / What's on your reading list?

My Daily Hair Styling Routine

 Glasses: c/o Firmoo

Lately, I've gotten quite a few emails from ladies who want to know how I style my hair on a daily basis. Frequently asked questions include:

• What do I do with it when I sleep?
• What dry shampoo do I use?
• Do I tease it?
• Do I use hairspray?
• How do I get natural-looking waves?
• How do I style my bangs?

Today, I'm answering your questions. Here's a short video tutorial of exactly how I style my hair when I wear it down.

More details:

• Fave overnight keep-it-out-of-your-face methods: ballerina bun, French braid, or Friar Tuck (video tutorial HERE)
• Fave dry shampoo for 2nd day oil absorption & extra volume: Suave
• Fave hairspray: Lamaur Sprayage (I used Big Sexy Hair in this video)
• If I shower in the morning, I just let my hair air-dry naturally. It ends up with this same wavy texture. Once it's dry, I follow the same process.
• To keep my hair healthy, I avoid heat styling tools and I haven't colored/highlighted my hair since May, 2011.
• My bangs are longer here than usual--I'm growing them out!
• Song in the video: White Sky by Vampire Weekend

/ / Like this video? Subscribe to my channel on YouTube!

Snow & Leg Warmers

Jacket: Thrifted // Purse: Fossil // Boots: Steve Madden // Leg Warmers: c/o Younique // Tights: Burlington Coat Factory // Glasses: c/o Firmoo

The cold is finally starting to lift here in Boise. It's 28 degrees here today and—compared to the last couple weeks—it's almost balmy. Thank goodness—though, it's still not quite warm enough to toss the gloves and leg warmers.

This weekend I have reading, video editing, going to the gym, and eating plenty of delicious food on the itinerary. Care to join?

Yes To Stylista San Francisco Trip: A Video

Last week I spent time living it up in San Francisco with the Yes To Carrots Team on my Yes To Stylista trip. Photos can be found here and here.

I filmed (and edited) my first-ever video while I was down there, and today I'm happy to share it with you! Enjoy ♥

/ / To see my audition video to be their Yes To Stylista, click here! More details about this video can be found on Yes To, Inc's YouTube page here. Oh, and in case you're wondering, the song in this video is Coastal Brake by Tycho, and I'm wearing Nars Orgasm blush. 

Boise Cold

Ring: c/o The Vintage Pearl / / Blazer & Top: Thrifted / / Jeans: Silver / / Shoes: Vans

It was 5-below this morning when I woke up. It's 10 degrees at the moment. Brrrrr it's cold here. Snow on the ground, packed ice on the roads, and lots of chilly little birds huddling in the trees for warmth. Boise is no place right now for a girl in a blazer... good thing I had a warm fire to cozy up next to!

/ / My ring (handmade for me) is the epitome of "sauce," which to me, means "the little things that make life worth living." It says: love • faith • hope • laughter • family • sauce.

Proof & Pickles

Glasses: c/o Proof // Top: c/o Kintage // Bow: c/o Aidie's Hideaway // Earrings: Macy's // Necklace: Premier Design

It's Monday, and I have something to confess.

This may sound really silly, but up until yesterday, I thought pickles were their own vegetable.
I thought a pickle was a pickle. Grown on a vine, picked, preserved, and then eaten...
not a cucumber made into a "pickle" by the pickling process.
A pickled cucumber, if you will.
After 26-years, you'd think someone would have told me this valuable information [ahem, Mom & Dad], and yesterday I flushed with embarrassment at lunch when I found out that pickles were nothing more than fermented and aged cucumbers.
Daniel looked at me with a classic, "What did I get myself into?" expression, and it felt like a true Jessica Simpson "chicken of the sea" moment...
and now that I've told you, if you're new to The Sauce—please don't scatter.
I promise I'm not always this dense... or am I? Dangit.

On a completely unrelated side note, the glasses above are from a local Idaho company called Proof, and not only do they make high-quality wooden glasses, but their family business is a pretty cool one that I'd recommend to anyone.
I can't wait until the weather warms up a bit so I can rock these turquoise sunglasses around Boise! 

// Am I the only one who didn't know what pickles were? Do you pickle things? I'd love to try a deep-fried pickle! Do they even do that? ... Is your brain as scattered as mine lately? Yikes. It must be a Monday.

YES TO Day 2

This is day 2 of my trip to San Francisco as the Yes To Stylista! For day 1, click here!

Tuesday morning, my internal mountain-time clock woke me up at about 7:00 am pacific time. I didn't complain a bit! I started my morning off with a crossword (one of my favorite things to do), headed over to Starbucks to write a little post and answer some emails, and then explored the city! I didn't need to be at the Yes To office until close to noon, so I had lots of time to just hang out.

To see the rest of the photos, just click the jump below! There are captions underneath the photos so you get all the details ♥

The awesome lavender staircase in the Clift. All the walls above floor 1 are lavender!

A carousel I found on 4th street.

Made it to the office just in time for pizza lunch!

The entire Yes To team.

At 2:00 pm, the Marketing Team took me to get a blowout at Dry Bar.

My "before" shots!

More "before" : I had my very naturally straight hair done back in a boho braid... but not for long!

My "after" shot! I got the Cosmo-Tai.

My amazing stylist, Robby.

Curly ladies!

A couple "San-Fran-Style" homes in the Fillmore area. I'm in love!

We stopped by Sift for a treat. Sift won Cupcake Wars... and I didn't try a cupcake, but their Snickerdoodle Cookie was to-die-for!

Dinner with the Marketing Team at Out The Door in Fillmore.

We stopped at Buena Vista for Irish coffees.

The Golden Gate Bridge, all lit up at night!

Day 2. What a day. It was packed with fun, beautiful sights, an awesome tour of the city, and lots of memories.

I'm so thankful for this entire Yes To Stylista contest, the chance to hang out with my amazing new Yes To friends, and this once-in-a-lifetime trip.

My advice? Take chances, enter contests, put yourself out there. You never know what may happen! I almost didn't enter the Yes To Stylista contest out of fear of making a video... and now, looking ahead, 2013 is going to be an amazing year because I took that one little chance and just did it. Make this your year of trying something new! Say yes to taking chances!

YES TO Day 1

From Monday thru Wednesday this week, I was in San Francisco taking the dream-trip of a lifetime. Today's the day (1 of 2) when I get to fill you in on the details!

You may remember back in November when the company Yes To announced that I was the winner of their big Yes To Stylista contest. It was an online contest where you submitted a photo, had a public voting round, and then the top 10 moved on to the video round. My video was the one chosen by their panel, and I was the big winner out of hundreds of girls! The grand prize included a cash award, a trip to San Francisco to meet the team, and oodles of Yes To product. I also scored a short-term guest-blogging position with them. It's all been very surreal and a complete dream-come-true.

Now that you have a little of the background of why I got to go to San Francisco, I thought I'd show all the fun photos from Day 1 of the trip! I got in nice and early Monday morning so I had the whole day to explore the city.

Since there's a million and one photos, to see them all just click the jump below! There are captions underneath the photos so you get all the details ♥

Yes To's main entrance.

The wall of fame!

A huge assortment of their products.

My favorite products—the lip butters & color balms.

Fun details around the office.

Money trees... literally.

Yes To's co-founder & mastermind, Ido.

Yes To's Brand Ambassador & social media guru, Delilah. She's been such a huge help through everything!

We ate lunch at Gott's in the Ferry Building.

Me & Ido.

The Yes To marketing team.

After lunch, Delilah and I explored the Ferry Building.

We walked back to the Yes To headquarters from the Ferry Building. It was just a mile or so, and a gorgeous walk.

Out on the pier.

Go Giants!

On the pier.

And now, what you didn't get to see:

After exploring the area around the Ferry Building, I got to go check into my hotel, The Clift, and then had a couple hours to myself to walk around the Union Square area. I had only brought two pairs of shoes (flats & wedges) on the trip (not realizing how much walking I would be doing), and my flats were not being kind to my feet. I stopped at Journeys and bought a pair of Vans—what a relief.

Around 4:00 pm, I headed to Mission Street and made my way through the Westfield. The Yes To team was so sweet to treat me to a massage at Burke Williams as a wedding present, and I spent the rest of the afternoon lounging in their spa.

After the spa, I walked around Westfield, making just one purchase—a tomato-colored purse at Fossil—and then made my way up Powell and grabbed sushi at Maru. By that time, it was around 10:00 pm and I was tuckered out—I'm not used to the big city—so I went back and crashed in my room. What a party animal I am, huh?

Day 2 photos can be found HERE!