Get excited! I’m about to talk about lots of pretty stationery that I just happen to love.

Our White Elephant Gift Exchange invitations:

I just ordered these from Tiny Prints. I’m in love with the modern design and bright colors. Ours obviously have our specific party information on them. I’m so excited to mail them out. And if you’re a future recipient of one of these invitations and you’re reading the blog, just act surprised when you receive yours in the mail!

Beautiful Christmas Cards from Minted:

Dearest Nina has already raved about Minted. Their cards, invitations, and stationery are truly wonderful!

And my favorite thing about Minted.com is the Yearline option for the cards. You can choose to have your card fold out and read like a timeline while using various photos from the year. It’s a great way to get the newsletter piece of your Christmas card without having to enclose an insert.

Budget-friendly Christmas cards from Vista Print:

The nice folks at Vista Print contacted me a few weeks ago about sending me 20 complimentary Christmas cards so I could give them a try. I immediately went to their website and the process was so easy! This is what I came up with! This was before we had our family photos taken, but I do love this photo of our precious boy and his monkey friend.

I have to say that while the designs at Vista Print aren’t as great as those at Tiny Prints or Minted, you can’t beat the prices at Vista Print. If you already have a gorgeous photo and it’s ready to go, this is a great option for you! The 20 that I received are glossy and I would trade that out for a matte card.

The turn around time was super fast and the customer service was great!

Our choice for Christmas cards 2009:

We decided to have the wonderfully talented Tracy Turpen design our cards this year using the photos from our session a couple of weeks ago. I love Tracy’s holiday card samples. Ours will be similar, but we’ve requested just a couple of changes. I’m so excited!

*all images from Tracy Turpen’s blog

This one is simple!

Y’all know how much I love One Kings Lane. You don’t even have to leave a comment. Just click on the button below and it will direct you to the One Kings Lane registration page. Once you register to be a member of One Kings Lane, you will automatically be entered into the contest!

Join One Kings Lane by midnight PT on Monday, November 16 and you will be entered to win a $100 credit to One Kings Lane!

(so click on this button and follow the directions!)

Many of you left comments or sent email asking questions about these two Tracy Turpen photos. You wanted to know what shoes I’m wearing and how I get my hair to look like that. So we’ll talk about it!

First, the shoes. I was wearing periwinkle and dark purple for one outfit and lavender with a dark purple scarf for the other outfit. So I knew I wanted an “off color” shoe. I was on the hunt for a dark red shoe, and I found the Nanette Lepore Sweetheart pumps on Piperlime. They were a splurge, but I just love them. It became quite the frustrating deal, though, because I found the shoes but couldn’t find my size. Anywhere! I called actual shoe distributors for one of our local stores and they didn’t even have them in my size, which is a big ole size 10, by the way.

Piperlime ended up being completely sold out of the shoe, but on a hunch, I checked Piperlime the next day. There they were. All stocked up on the Nanette Lepore Sweetheart pump in every size imaginable. So I knew it was meant to be and I snatched up those size 10s quicker than you can say, “holy gorgeous shoes, Batman!”

Now, the hair. I’ve always had thick hair. It’s also got quite a bit of wave to it. When I don’t take time to deal with it, especially in the summer time, it’s got quite a bit of frizz to it. I got a few comments on the length of my hair and how it doesn’t seem manageable. I’m assuming you mean it’s hard to manage my hair and a baby.

Because I have so much hair in terms of thickness (length, too, but it’s particularly thick) it is so much easier to wear my hair long. My hair rarely gets greasy or oily. I can wash it on Monday morning and then I don’t have to wash it again until Thursday or Friday. I wear it down for two days and wear it in a ponytail for the other days. And it still looks okay.

When I wore my hair short, I had to wash it every single day because sleeping on it would cause little pieces to stick up or there would be flat spots all over it. Also, those of you that have wavy or naturally frizzy hair know that it is very hard to get all the kinks out of it if it’s short. So I wear my hair long. When it’s long, I can embrace the waves. It took me 4 years to get it this long– and most of it grew during the pregnancy and right after Hudson was born.

So how did I get my hair to look like that for the pictures? I went and had my hairstylist do a great blowout for the pictures. I’ve done it the way she does by myself, but not since I had the baby. Here’s how to get the look:

1. You need 4 arms. I’m not even joking. Someone needs to stand behind you and work on the back while you work on the front.
2. Sorry.  No, seriously. You need 3 round brushes.
3. Work from the bottom/underneath part of your hair to the scalp. Moving in sections with the round brushes.
4. Wrap a small section of hair around the round brush and pull, turning the ends under as they get through the brush. Repeat this action until the hair is dry and the curls are pulled out. Now wrap the entire section of hair around the brush and leave the brush in your hair– and let go of the brush. On my hair, it just stays there– stuck in my hair with my hair coiled around it. Then I move onto the next section of hair with a different round brush and repeat all of this. At one time, I may have 2 round brushes stuck in my hair while I’m working on a new section.
5. Pull a round brush out of your hair as you need it and your hair should be in a coil like wave. Do this to your entire head working from the underneath to the top and you should have bouncy waves all over.
6. Pull through the waves with your fingers and use a small amount of hairspray.

This is what it looked like just before I left the salon last week.

That’s all. It’s so hard to explain exactly what you do in words instead of by demonstrating.

When I do all of this to my hair it takes about 35-40 minutes. It also lasts for an entire week. Nothing has to be touched up with a curling iron or flat iron. All you need are frizzy hair and 3 round brushes!