(Lov)e,
-k.
7.26.2011
7.24.2011
(Lov) // I want a Sunday kinda love...
102 degrees and cooped up in the house all day + a Groupon to a place we had never been before, Garrido's = Vlass Family Date Night!
I had the the fried shrimp. Brendan had the special, a pork steak, while Lydia had tortillas and one of my shrimp (of which she offered anyone who passed her a bite). For desert we split the tres leches cake. All VERY tasty.
After dinner, we took a stroll outside. The restaurant is located at Nueces and 3rd; a really great location next to the railroad tracks and Shoal Creek.
One of the best sights I can ever behold. Swoon.
We are all a bit full and sleepy now and so very grateful for our time as a family. We thank God for another day of His amazing grace as we head back home to enjoy the rest of this fine summer's evening.
(Lov)e,
-k.
7.23.2011
(Be) // Breast Cancer.
I've had three clients in my almost 9 years of being a hairstylist who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Ashley Doran was the first and Stephanie Odom is the most recent.
Both of these women have been coming to me for many years. Around the same time Ashley was knee deep in chemo, Stephanie had come to me and professed the desire to grow her hair as long as possible so that she could donate it. Her aunt had recently been diagnosed as well and she was inspired by this idea. Fast forward to June 2nd, 2011 when I get an email from Stephanie about how she wasn't going to be able to make our next appointment (a fun color change that we were both very excited about) having received the news of her diagnosis. Instead, we would be finally making that donation.
It was three summers ago that I made a house call and shaved Ashley's head in her back yard.
Today, I cut off all of Stephanie's lovely hair into a cute little do while making quite a sizable donation to Locks of Love.
Both women had double mastectomies and chose chemotherapy. And both also decided to take the "preemptive stike" approach to their impending hair loss...
Ashley chose to go completely bald while Stephanie wanted to try a funky short cut before beginning chemo.
One of the neatest parts about today is how they both happened to schedule back to back appointments; Stephanie at 1pm and Ashley at 3pm.
SO, I had Ashley come in a bit early to met and talk with Stephanie. It was a delightful conversation that only two women who have known breast cancer can have...honest, candid, funny, and inspiring.
(Lov)e,
-k.
Both of these women have been coming to me for many years. Around the same time Ashley was knee deep in chemo, Stephanie had come to me and professed the desire to grow her hair as long as possible so that she could donate it. Her aunt had recently been diagnosed as well and she was inspired by this idea. Fast forward to June 2nd, 2011 when I get an email from Stephanie about how she wasn't going to be able to make our next appointment (a fun color change that we were both very excited about) having received the news of her diagnosis. Instead, we would be finally making that donation.
It was three summers ago that I made a house call and shaved Ashley's head in her back yard.
Today, I cut off all of Stephanie's lovely hair into a cute little do while making quite a sizable donation to Locks of Love.
Both women had double mastectomies and chose chemotherapy. And both also decided to take the "preemptive stike" approach to their impending hair loss...
Ashley chose to go completely bald while Stephanie wanted to try a funky short cut before beginning chemo.
One of the neatest parts about today is how they both happened to schedule back to back appointments; Stephanie at 1pm and Ashley at 3pm.
SO, I had Ashley come in a bit early to met and talk with Stephanie. It was a delightful conversation that only two women who have known breast cancer can have...honest, candid, funny, and inspiring.
Two amazingly strong women... Ashley is now cancer free while Stephanie is just beginning her journey. You can read more about Stephanie and her story by visiting her blog! I am thankful to know them both, to call them friends, and celebrate their lives and beauty on this day!
(Lov)e,
-k.
7.22.2011
(Ed) // God's Way.
Since beauty it is one of the main topics I will be blogging about, I wanted to establish what exactly I believe about beauty so that I can write about it with honesty and clarity. One of my favorite things to do are studies on words that I use all the time, but if pressed would find it difficult to give an accurate definition. When I speak, I want to choose words that express my intentions with exactness. Word studies help me better understand the language I use and help me to become more effective in communicating my ideas and intentions.
I usually look up a word on Google first. This lets me know what people, at this exact moment in time, believe this word to mean. The definition of Beauty as defined by wikipedia is: a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure, meaning, or satisfaction.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
He hath made EVERY THING beautiful. Did you catch that? Hath is the third person singular present tense of have. To have something is to be in possession of it. So, According to God's word, all things are beautiful in his time! God's time has no bound and what will be done has already been done in the infinite realm of God. We might not perceive it as beautiful now, but all things are made beautiful by God; the beauty of it be reveled in His time. So cool.
Romans 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
Amen! If you look at the context, what God is actually finding beautiful in this verse is the preaching of the gospel of peace! I can always KNOW I am in God's will, loving Him, and bringing honor to my position as ambassador when I am sharing with someone my peace, how the Gospel of God's grace in Jesus Christ saved me...and now I also know it to God, it is a thing of beauty.
Sharing the Gospel IS beautiful! How that while the world was dead in sin, Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the price for that sin. He was buried, raised and it is through believing on Him that we can stand justified, reconciled, and redeemed before God in Christ! To those that are His, these are the most beautiful words they will ever hear and have the honor to tell someone else.
Moving on...
In Ezekiel 28:12 Satan is described as: "the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty."
Satan, who was perfect in beauty allowed the brightness of his beauty to corrupt his wisdom... and so he became a fool; exalting himself above the God who created Him. Beauty, when it does not shine forth from a thankful heart that reflects the light of it's source, can corrupt the wisdom of a man and darken his heart leaving him a fool with his vanity.
Proverbs 31:30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
Beauty IS vain when (like Satan's beauty) it is empty, darkened by corruption and focused on exalting self. When I am proud, rather than grateful or when I am puffed up with a high opinion of myself or my accomplishments, then I am conceited and my beauty is vain. It is only when my beauty is something for which I am thankful that it can be made FULL by being used to reflect light onto the truth of God. If, in pride, I begin to admire my own beauty, the brightness no longer reflects that light onto God, like Satan, it's brightness will blind me and corrupt my wisdom making it (in the big scheme of things) worthless, having no substance, value or importance. There is a beauty that is found in the corruptible but the beauty found in the incorruptible is the beauty of God himself!
Often with the word 'beauty' we use other words like - true, inner, or real. This suggests that beauty needs a qualifier to say..."HEY, there is something to me that is beyond your perceptions!" I think the reason we need and use these qualifiers is because we know that there is physical beauty and a beauty without form that is experienced rather than seen; a higher kind of beauty. Beauty that is found in truth.
When I told Brendan what I was blogging about last night he said that He always used to tell people and stills believes that it is our life's mission to perpetuate beauty. "Just be honest so that you provoke others to honesty. When you see beauty that is around you and give it more strength by recognizing it as the truth. It then can move forward." I loved how he immediately associated beauty and truth. Satan is beautiful, but he has no true beauty because he is "the father of lies" and has "no truth in him" (John 8:44). He looks good, but only on the outside. What comes to mind is a scene for the movie I'm Gonna Get You Sucka where Jake Slade is about to have relations with a "beautiful" women. Take a look at this scene that perfectly illustrates that what we perceive as beauty can be (under the surface) dark, empty, ugly and a lie. Very funny but adult in nature.
God's beauty is a beauty made whole through truth! The world's beauty is a empty beauty that is only able to appeal to the flesh. The beauty of God is complete...inside and out; a more excellent beauty that can appeal to the soul!
I work with my hands and mold the physical or an image of the physical for a living. The "beauty" industry is, just like every other industry, a battlefield. But I do not wrestle or fight my battles in the physical (trying to force the world to not be worldly), but rather I fright within the realm of the spiritual... using the bible and prayer (see Ephesians 6:12-20).
All my work has the potential to be either in vain or in truth. It is my intention a stylist (and a blogger) to bring God honor and glory with the work of my hands; letting His truth guide me in better revealing the beauty that he has placed in everyone. An ambassador for God's beauty...
All I can do is stay grounded in Christ, choose the more excellent way, and pray that the vain beauty of my work (and it's concentration on the physical) is made whole with Godly truth...for it is the only way to make it valuable.
God's way. Ain't it a beauty?
(Lov)e,
-k.
I usually look up a word on Google first. This lets me know what people, at this exact moment in time, believe this word to mean. The definition of Beauty as defined by wikipedia is: a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure, meaning, or satisfaction. The next place i go is to my Blue Letter Bible App...
THEN I get out my King James Bible and I ask...
What does God think of this word? What does he find beautiful? What brings Him pleasure or satisfaction?
These are the verses that seemed to speak to answering these questions...
Ecclesiastes 3:11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
He hath made EVERY THING beautiful. Did you catch that? Hath is the third person singular present tense of have. To have something is to be in possession of it. So, According to God's word, all things are beautiful in his time! God's time has no bound and what will be done has already been done in the infinite realm of God. We might not perceive it as beautiful now, but all things are made beautiful by God; the beauty of it be reveled in His time. So cool.
Romans 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
Amen! If you look at the context, what God is actually finding beautiful in this verse is the preaching of the gospel of peace! I can always KNOW I am in God's will, loving Him, and bringing honor to my position as ambassador when I am sharing with someone my peace, how the Gospel of God's grace in Jesus Christ saved me...and now I also know it to God, it is a thing of beauty.
Sharing the Gospel IS beautiful! How that while the world was dead in sin, Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the price for that sin. He was buried, raised and it is through believing on Him that we can stand justified, reconciled, and redeemed before God in Christ! To those that are His, these are the most beautiful words they will ever hear and have the honor to tell someone else.
In Ezekiel 28:12 Satan is described as: "the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty."
Ezekiel 28:17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
Satan, who was perfect in beauty allowed the brightness of his beauty to corrupt his wisdom... and so he became a fool; exalting himself above the God who created Him. Beauty, when it does not shine forth from a thankful heart that reflects the light of it's source, can corrupt the wisdom of a man and darken his heart leaving him a fool with his vanity.
Proverbs 31:30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
Beauty IS vain when (like Satan's beauty) it is empty, darkened by corruption and focused on exalting self. When I am proud, rather than grateful or when I am puffed up with a high opinion of myself or my accomplishments, then I am conceited and my beauty is vain. It is only when my beauty is something for which I am thankful that it can be made FULL by being used to reflect light onto the truth of God. If, in pride, I begin to admire my own beauty, the brightness no longer reflects that light onto God, like Satan, it's brightness will blind me and corrupt my wisdom making it (in the big scheme of things) worthless, having no substance, value or importance. There is a beauty that is found in the corruptible but the beauty found in the incorruptible is the beauty of God himself!
Often with the word 'beauty' we use other words like - true, inner, or real. This suggests that beauty needs a qualifier to say..."HEY, there is something to me that is beyond your perceptions!" I think the reason we need and use these qualifiers is because we know that there is physical beauty and a beauty without form that is experienced rather than seen; a higher kind of beauty. Beauty that is found in truth.
When I told Brendan what I was blogging about last night he said that He always used to tell people and stills believes that it is our life's mission to perpetuate beauty. "Just be honest so that you provoke others to honesty. When you see beauty that is around you and give it more strength by recognizing it as the truth. It then can move forward." I loved how he immediately associated beauty and truth. Satan is beautiful, but he has no true beauty because he is "the father of lies" and has "no truth in him" (John 8:44). He looks good, but only on the outside. What comes to mind is a scene for the movie I'm Gonna Get You Sucka where Jake Slade is about to have relations with a "beautiful" women. Take a look at this scene that perfectly illustrates that what we perceive as beauty can be (under the surface) dark, empty, ugly and a lie. Very funny but adult in nature.
God's beauty is a beauty made whole through truth! The world's beauty is a empty beauty that is only able to appeal to the flesh. The beauty of God is complete...inside and out; a more excellent beauty that can appeal to the soul!
I work with my hands and mold the physical or an image of the physical for a living. The "beauty" industry is, just like every other industry, a battlefield. But I do not wrestle or fight my battles in the physical (trying to force the world to not be worldly), but rather I fright within the realm of the spiritual... using the bible and prayer (see Ephesians 6:12-20).
All my work has the potential to be either in vain or in truth. It is my intention a stylist (and a blogger) to bring God honor and glory with the work of my hands; letting His truth guide me in better revealing the beauty that he has placed in everyone. An ambassador for God's beauty...
All I can do is stay grounded in Christ, choose the more excellent way, and pray that the vain beauty of my work (and it's concentration on the physical) is made whole with Godly truth...for it is the only way to make it valuable.
God's way. Ain't it a beauty?
(Lov)e,
-k.
7.19.2011
(Lov) // Kelly Bloggins.
"Gonna take you right into the Danger Zone..."
***
Lydia wakes up around 9:30am. Brendan is not at work this morning so he is the one to greet her, change her diaper, and bring her back to our bed where we snuggle, laugh, and pinch Brendan's nipples (Lydia) until we are ready to get up.
 |
| Milk for baby. |
 |
| Coffee for Mom, |
 |
| Dad |
 |
Lydia is already very interested in our coffee. I dipped my finger in mine and gave her a taste...she let out a big "yummmmmm" and has been hooked ever since. She is always going after our cups and sometimes she gets a little too close. Spills happen all the time around the Vlass house. :)
I get us all fed (looks like Mama needs to have a banana!) and Brendan is off to work at the coffee shop. Then I get Lydia and I get dressed for the day. While I am getting doing my hair and make-up, she plays with her "bathroom toys".
 |
| my toys. |
 | |
| her toys. |
 |
| DONE! |
On Tuesdays my mother comes and stays with Lydia so I can run errands and clean the Salon. She never comes empty handed! Today we get diapers and a cute lady bug short set for the little one! Thank you, Nana! We are so blessed to have you.
Before I head over to the Salon, I stop off a Brendan's coffee shop to give him a kiss and grab a motivating iced toddy. Looks like rain?!?!?!
Once I open the door to the Salon I immediately know something was wrong... H O T -as-hell! I call the landlord to our apartments (cause he's awesome) and he got me in touch with Juan who will be meeting me back up at the Salon at 7am tomorrow to replace the fan blade.
I was a bit bummed about having to pay for yet another repair, but grateful it was something relatively inexpensive and that it would be done so soon. When I was able, I drove home feeling thirsty and in a daze. When I got there, Brendan had a surprise!
 |
| Bon Iver - Bon Iver |
 |
| TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light |
Brendan has rehearsal tonight so it's just me, my bug (Lydia), my blog and a movie. It was a good day indeed.
-k.
7.18.2011
(Ed) // The Why.
I've made many attempts over the past decade at starting and maintaining a blog, knowing on some level that it had great potential to enhance my life. What makes it different this time is that I have finally figured out, at least for myself, why it is exactly that a blog could be a life enhancing experience. Here are the conclusions I have come to in no particular order:
A blog will hold me accountable
As some of you know I started a small project this year on Facebook that has already greatly enhanced my life. I got the idea of taking and posting a picture for each day of the year after seeing a similar project on another person's blog. In this project, I take and edit all my pictures completely on an iPhone with the intention that the photo with "represent the day". It is now day 198 and I have stuck with my commitment and already have a wonderful collection of photos. At the end of the year I will be able to compile all of my pictures into a book; providing a wonderful keepsake for my family. A blog is similar to my 365 project in that, my commitment to it will hold me accountable to put forth content on a daily basis. Knowing that each day I am accountable for a picture, I am reminded to slow down, take a look around, and try to capture a little piece of my life. And I suspect that blogging about my day (the things that I care about, the places I go, and the things I do) will motivate me to live a life that produces a blog worth writing (or reading); a creative, fun, and inspired life.
As a stylist and a designer I mainly deal in the realm of image. My work is based on the idea that by helping a person cultivate their own unique style and image, they in fact can shape the way they are perceived. I dispense advice about beauty, health, and image on a daily basis and I'll be honest..sometimes I don't always take my own advice. My hope is that if I am documenting my day to day in the form of a blog, I will be more mindful and begin to consistently implement the skill, knowledge, and wisdom that I have gained throughout the years; ever aware that not only am I writing to an audience...but, most importantly, I am writing this blog to myself. For me to consider myself successful at what I do, I need to practice what I preach... as well as blog.
A blog will remind me who I am and what I love
With my 365 project, I was reminded of where my talents truly lie and what I enjoy doing the most. I learned early on that I am not a particularly talented photographer and that my original photos are actually pretty ordinary. It has been in the editing process that I have grown the most and can see that this is where my true talents lie... trying to make the ordinary (a picture taken with a crappy iPhone camera) extraordinary (through design).
I find post production of photos endlessly fun and endless with possibility. It was this aspect of my 365 project has most excited my interest in all things related to graphic design. My excitement has overflowed and I have acquired a few freelance design gigs and have been encouraged to revisit graphic design as career! Now I can supplement my families income through design (something I enjoy dearly AND that I can do from home) after deciding to only do hair styling part time once my daughter was born. It was all because of my commitment to a creative project that I grew as an artist, got inspired, and was reminded that, in this life, I can be and do oh-so-many things! I suspect that blogging will develop, reveal, and remind me of even more things I want to do and be in my life.
A blog will foster a sense of connectedness and intimacy with my friends, family, clients, and perfect strangers
Look around. We are a virtual society as much as we are a physical society, maybe even more so. Everyone is constantly connected to the Internet: checking Facebook every five minutes on our phones, reading a book on our Kindel,"flipping through" a magazine on our iPad, or chatting on our computer with loved one we rarely ever get to "see". We send thank you emails instead of a card and we expect Google to answer any random question that may pop into our overstimulated heads. There is a lot more to a person's life other than the life that we simply "see". I imagine that Blogging will allow me to share a larger part of life with anyone and everyone who desires to have a connection with me. With the business of life, I will often go days (even weeks) without seeing anyone other than my husband, daughter, and clients. Blogging can keep those in my life who love me feeling close to me even when we are unable to be physically close. It can also allow me to be a part of someone's life with whom I may never know in the physical... which I find to be a fascinating idea.
And that, my friends, is why I started a blog!
(Lov)e,
-k.
A blog will hold me accountable
As some of you know I started a small project this year on Facebook that has already greatly enhanced my life. I got the idea of taking and posting a picture for each day of the year after seeing a similar project on another person's blog. In this project, I take and edit all my pictures completely on an iPhone with the intention that the photo with "represent the day". It is now day 198 and I have stuck with my commitment and already have a wonderful collection of photos. At the end of the year I will be able to compile all of my pictures into a book; providing a wonderful keepsake for my family. A blog is similar to my 365 project in that, my commitment to it will hold me accountable to put forth content on a daily basis. Knowing that each day I am accountable for a picture, I am reminded to slow down, take a look around, and try to capture a little piece of my life. And I suspect that blogging about my day (the things that I care about, the places I go, and the things I do) will motivate me to live a life that produces a blog worth writing (or reading); a creative, fun, and inspired life.
As a stylist and a designer I mainly deal in the realm of image. My work is based on the idea that by helping a person cultivate their own unique style and image, they in fact can shape the way they are perceived. I dispense advice about beauty, health, and image on a daily basis and I'll be honest..sometimes I don't always take my own advice. My hope is that if I am documenting my day to day in the form of a blog, I will be more mindful and begin to consistently implement the skill, knowledge, and wisdom that I have gained throughout the years; ever aware that not only am I writing to an audience...but, most importantly, I am writing this blog to myself. For me to consider myself successful at what I do, I need to practice what I preach... as well as blog.
A blog will remind me who I am and what I love
With my 365 project, I was reminded of where my talents truly lie and what I enjoy doing the most. I learned early on that I am not a particularly talented photographer and that my original photos are actually pretty ordinary. It has been in the editing process that I have grown the most and can see that this is where my true talents lie... trying to make the ordinary (a picture taken with a crappy iPhone camera) extraordinary (through design).
 |
| original photo |
 | |||
| post production: PS Express and Instagram |
I find post production of photos endlessly fun and endless with possibility. It was this aspect of my 365 project has most excited my interest in all things related to graphic design. My excitement has overflowed and I have acquired a few freelance design gigs and have been encouraged to revisit graphic design as career! Now I can supplement my families income through design (something I enjoy dearly AND that I can do from home) after deciding to only do hair styling part time once my daughter was born. It was all because of my commitment to a creative project that I grew as an artist, got inspired, and was reminded that, in this life, I can be and do oh-so-many things! I suspect that blogging will develop, reveal, and remind me of even more things I want to do and be in my life.
A blog will foster a sense of connectedness and intimacy with my friends, family, clients, and perfect strangers
Look around. We are a virtual society as much as we are a physical society, maybe even more so. Everyone is constantly connected to the Internet: checking Facebook every five minutes on our phones, reading a book on our Kindel,"flipping through" a magazine on our iPad, or chatting on our computer with loved one we rarely ever get to "see". We send thank you emails instead of a card and we expect Google to answer any random question that may pop into our overstimulated heads. There is a lot more to a person's life other than the life that we simply "see". I imagine that Blogging will allow me to share a larger part of life with anyone and everyone who desires to have a connection with me. With the business of life, I will often go days (even weeks) without seeing anyone other than my husband, daughter, and clients. Blogging can keep those in my life who love me feeling close to me even when we are unable to be physically close. It can also allow me to be a part of someone's life with whom I may never know in the physical... which I find to be a fascinating idea.
And that, my friends, is why I started a blog!
(Lov)e,
-k.
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