ABC's of Me!!!

Age: 23.

Bedsize: Full. I like to SNUGGLE!

Chore you hate: Washing dishes. So tedious

Dogs: Lumpy, the dumbest bull dog in history.

Essential start to your day: Caffeine. ALL OF IT

Favorite Colour: Pink

Gold or Silver: Silver if white gold is not an option

Height: 5'4 &3/4’’

Instruments I play (or have played): clarinet….in 4^th grade.

Job Title: Nanny.

Kids: hopefully I’ll have 4 boys.

Live: South Jersey. Yes, there is a difference.

Mom's name: Patricia Marie

Nickname: Sami, Sam, Sami Tyler, Samisaurus

Overnight Hospital stays: Never.

Pet Peeve: bad grammar

Quote from a movie: Here are a few of my favorites ::

“I may not be smart, but I know what love is”- Forest Gump

“You’re killing me smalls!” – The Sand Lot

“Dented can, 10 cents off!”- Big Daddy

Right or Left handed: Right!

Siblings: Sister 8 years younger. Brother 14 years younger.

Time you wake up: Work days 6:30 am. Any other day…when my body makes me wake up. Love sleep!

Underwear: VS! (Victoria’s Secret for the ones that have no idea what I mean)

Vegetables you dislike: Peas, Lima beans. That’s all.

What makes you run late: Benjamin

X-Rays you've had done: Teeth, Legs

Yummy food you make: Quesadillas, anything baked goods, Lasagna, Pancakes, Granola, Pizza,

Zoo animal: Giraffe. Obvi.

I'll call you a Shell Bun

So perusing Pinterst as I usually do, I found this bun that someone said was the easiest hairstyle and only takes a few minutes. Me being the lazy girl that I am loves the idea of being able to do my hair in less than 10 minutes when I have to go to work at 7:30 a.m. So I clicked on the picture and I was blown away by how easy it really was. Here is the page I used as my reference. She has really good instructions and I hope mine are helpful as well. I had Benjamin take the pictures so there will be plenty to look at. Also feel free to ever ask specifics or for me to post a video of something if I am not making sense, which I may do from time to time. Spending your day with toddlers does make you a bit loopy.

1. Pull your hair into a high pony and put the elastic about an inch or so up from your scalp. 

2. From the back side of the pony tail try and find the middle of your hair and make a little opening 

3. Fold the tail of your pony tail down towards the opening in the front where your fingers are 

4. See how it's starting to looking like a shell. Now flip the ends inside of the opening so they are behind your head. You do not need to pull much of the hair through. 

5. Now pull the ends and the base of your pony so it is tight and the ends that you pulled through have no where to go. 

Hey there's my bathroom helper Andre the Ocicat. Weirdo. 

Now time for a few bobby pins. 

6. Just put them in the ends of the bun to help them stay down against your head so it doesn't look so messy. 

And you're done. 

It may take a few tries to get this down nice and tight. I did mine the other day twice before I was happy. I wore it to work and it held up the 

Hunger Games- Review

  

I finally broke down and read The Hunger Games. After hearing so many mixed reviews about the book I really was not that interested in it, but on Sunday my brother told me that some of the kids he plays XBox online with recreate scenes from the movie in Minecraft. So we decided to watch the movie and he lost interest pretty quickly. I think this might have happened because the main character, Katniss, is a girl and he is not really into all the glamour that the movie portrayed in the Capitol. He's still a bit too young for that. So I half-heartedly watched the movie and thought it was okay but there was definitely some stuff missing. So I read the book on my kindle the next day. OMG. Finished it in2 days and I am anticipating reading the next one. There is so much detail in the book that they left out in the movie. Like how Gale and Katniss met and became friends. Peeta's actually feelings for Katniss. The movie focused more on the portrayal of characters than the book actually did. There is not much detail in the book about what everyone in the Capitol is wearing like the book made it seem. Even the story behind the mockingjay is different. Which I found bizarre after reading the book. So the movie gets a D. It is entertaining but a lot missing. I might have to re-watch it and pay attention. The book definitely gets an A because I literally could not put it down. 

I put horse placenta in my hair

Oh yea I did! Best thing I ever did for my hair too! Now it's not what you think, it's actually a product you can buy at any CVS .

A friend of mine, who has beautiful Rapunzel-esque hair down to her butt, told me she uses this about every week as a conditioning treatment. It was not until the other day when I friend braided her hair that I noticed her hair is really soft and silky. That sealed the deal for me. I had to but it. And at $2.57 a piece I bought 2. One pouch is more than enough to cover my whole head. Now, I know it says henna and some of you may think "is this going to change my hair color?" No it will not. The product its self is the same color of conditioner, an almost milky white. It smells like almonds a little, definitely not a bad smell. Benjamin enjoyed it. HAHA. 

I use this basically the same way I use the coconut oil. However, I put this on my roots. I followed the directions on the pouch. Massaged it all into my hair and put a shower cap on. I hit it with the hair dryer for about 5 minutes. It says to only leave it on for 10 minutes and then rise. I was ASTONISHED when I used to wide tooth comb that I use after showers and there were virtually no knots! My hair feels soft as silk. I may not stop touching it. 

Coconut oil moisture treatment

So obviously I spend a lot of time on Pinterest and coconut oil was popping up all over the place. So I saw this one post about using coconut oil on your hair and it looked really promising. Who does not love soft hair. Especially soft hair that smells like coconuts. However, I did not fully read the post and totally missed the part about shampooing twice because you just put oil in your hair. So after my hair dried I was like OMG this is great, my hair is so soft. Next morning...OMG why is my hair so greasy.

Here is the coconut oil that I use on my hair.

It smells like toasted coconut works great. Coconut is a solid oil until you start to move it around it becomes liquidy (that's totally a word). I slather a handfull of this on my hair, put a shower cap on and wait about 30 minutes and then wash as normal. I do not put the oil on my roots so I only wash my hair once (I learned my lesson the first time). If you choose to put the oil from root to end, then definitely wash twice. You may also heat your hair with a blow dryer for about 15 minutes and then wash, if you're in a rush.

Here is the blog I used as instructions.Coconut oil moisture treatment Let me know how it worked for you! How does your hair feel before and after?! 

Hi, I'm Sami Tyler and I only wash my hair twice a week.

Yes, you read that correctly. I, Samantha Tyler, only wash my hair twice a week. Three times if it is really a bad week. Why? One because of the fact that my uncle professionally dyes my hair roughly every 6-8 weeks and I try to make my color last. No one likes roots! Also because it really does your hair good to hold on to those natural oils your hair produces. So in fact I only wash my hair about 2 times a week. I always wash my hair at night because I am not a morning person and nor do I have time in the morning. On the day I wash my hair I usually use a dry shampoo just to look a bit less greasy.

 

This is my dry shampoo of choice. I have tried many other dry shampoos but this is by far the best. This is a powder dry shampoo, so I just shake the bottle over my head and brush it through after a few minutes. It also smells like limes and I love that! 

As for shampoo I am currently using Organix coconut milk shampoo and conditioner. I try and use sulphate free shampoo because it is not as harsh on your hair and does not strip out all the essential oils. If you are going to try and start washing your hair less, my recommendation is start off slow. If you wash your hair every day, try and skip a day in between washes. Going from everyday to twice a week will make your hair look greasy because it is not used to that. 

I found this blog helpful and she lists what are bad sulphates for your hair and other good tips. Long hair

Reasons to Breathe- Review

Overall: 6

Why?: A friend recommended this book series to me and while I thought they were good and I read them quickly it is a typical teen book. It is written for a teen audience so it is not too complicated. It is the first book I read with actual home violence and a main character that literally has the worst life imaginable. The third book is due to come out in June and I am obviously going to read it because I can't leave loose ends.

The House on Hurley Pond Road- Review

First let me say, I bought this book from the author at the NJ Zombie Walk in Asbury Park, NJ in 2012. Darren Fitzgerald was super nice and signed the book for me and I honestly thought I probably would not read it. Boy was I wrong. 

Overall: 10 

Why?: This is a true account book from the author about the house his family lived in while he was growing up in none other than the creepy state of mine, New Jersey. I loved the fact that he gave back history on the house and the events that had happened there via interviews with the other families and having them write down what had happened to them while living there. I nearly crapped myself while reading this a few times. It is in chronological order which is a blessing when someone is throwing this many facts at you. I read the book in about 2 days and I have thought about re-reading it ever since I finished because it is that intense. Do I think this house he talks about is really haunted? I cannot say for sure because I have never been there but it sure sounds like something is there and it is not nice. 

50 Shades- Review

Yes.... I read them.... all of them....in a week!

Overall: 6

Why? : It was a quick and easy read, it does draw you in, but the whole time I thought "x-rated twilight".  This may be because the book got started as a blog post on a twilight fan website where fans were making spin-off type stories. The characters resemble Edward and Bella a lot down to similar cars. I do not think that is very written that well but it was enjoyable and I do not get too picky about how things are written unless I cannot follow them. I probably would not re-read them.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Review

Overall book rating: 9
Why: This was a really captivating book and I flew threw the last half of the book because it was so good, but the beginning is very stiff. It's a little bit jumpy and its some back story. The book is based in Sweden and the author is from there so the names are a little hard to figure out and they call things by different names, but that does not make it a hard read. It is a bit graphic with the rape scene, but it adds a lot to the character of Lisbeth. I love that girl.

Now, I usually HATE when books are made into movies because I feel like they move too fast and that they leave out a lot of details. When I heard they were making this into a movie my first thoughts were :: OMG NO! Wow Rooney Mara looks exactly like I thought she would. OMG the rape scene! It's going to be three hours long...yeah I'll see it. 

It is a GREAT movie. It follows the book very well and really makes the book come alive. Yes the rape scene is sick and intense and I usually close my eyes after about 10 seconds but it makes you fell for Lisbeth and want her to come out swinging...and that she does. 

A sockbun??

So if you've been on Pinterest or Stumble Upon lately you have probably seen a sock bun. Well I was intrigued when I saw this and I obviously had to try it. I whipped out an old tube sock that was missing his mate and cut the toe off and rolled it up and to my avail....it looked like a water fountain. Why? Because I have layered hair. I have always had layered hair because my hair is so thick if I leave it one length it is in a permanent state of "rats nest" as my mother would call it. My layers are something I do not think about since they have been there since the 8th grade. Well the traditional sock bun does not work well for girls with layered hair, unless you want to put a ton of product in your hair. I do not like product in my hair mainly because I only wash my hair about 2-3 times a week and product means more washing.

But fear not ladies with layered hair, or medium length hair for that matter. I have the answer to doing the super fun sock bun. =]

here is my hair. see kinda long, but layered. 

1. put your hair in a high pony, or as high as you'd like it. 

2. put your sock or one of these little guys in, just pull your pony through the middle like a giant hair tie. this particular one is from  urban outfitters that was a total spur of the moment buy. you can find them at any beauty supply store though. they do feel funny, like something you would scrub your sink with. 

3. okay now shake your hair around so it's covering your sock and put an elastic around the sock. 

bonus side view! now it looks like a sun burst

4. wrap the ends around, you might need to play with it a bit. pin the ends in place. 

wahhhbamm! done. 

Total time: about 5 minutes. 

Why do I like the sock bun and why was i so determined to do it!? Because I am lazy and I like to wear my hair in a bun, but a regular bun is usually small, unpolished looking, and it hurts. You have to wrap your hair so tight that by the end of the day 9/10 your hair/ head hurts. Well with the sock in there it kind of cushions your scalp and takes some pressure off and it looks super cute and makes you look like you have a ton more hair than you really do! 

I hope this helps my ladies out there with layered hair. What do you think? How did it work out for you?