(Lov) // Three Years.

It was three years ago today that I married my husband Brendan, although in my heart... I married him long before we said our "I do's".  I truly couldn't ask for a more suitable partner to share my life with. He is a kind and patient man whose love for me seems to only be getting stronger and yet more gentle as time goes by.  I am not the easiest women to be bound to... I can be very guarded, stubborn, and difficult. Yet, with all my faults, he continues to see in me what I often don't see in myself and sings my praises to music that I seldom hear.  He knows that rather than a feeling, love is a choice...and each day he chooses to be thankful for the one that he made in making me his wife.  And as his "chosen",  I am slowly learning how to be a blessing to him so that I might honor the love he so freely gives.  He is my best friend, lover, brother in Christ, and the Father of my little girl.  I certainly couldn't, and will never, ask for anything more.  

(Lov)e,

-k. 

(Be) // Spring Hair Trends

Source: PA PHOTOS/LANDOV

Short Layered Bob with heavy side-swept bangs. 

Source: Frazer Harrison/Getty

 Soft, short Pixie with lots of textured layers. 

Source: APEGA/ABACAUSA.COM

Face framing Bob with heavy, blunt bangs. 

Source: Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage

Long layered Pixie with side swept bangs. 

Source: Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage

Collarbone-length Bob with soft fringe bangs.

Source: Tsuni/GammaUSA

Long Bob with choppy layers.

Source: Larry Busacca/Getty

Long Layers with a light, sweeping fringe. 

A change in Season is a great reason to try a new hair style. These are some of my favorite Spring trends as features in InStyle.com.  Hop on over to their site and use their Hollywood Makeover Tool to see how YOU would look with these haircuts!  THEN... Come see me and get a makeover in real life!  Happy Spring everybody! 

(Lov)e, 

-k.

(Lov) // The Green Chair.

I asked my husband Brendan to write this blog for me since it is one of his all time favorite "stories of us". 

Roughly 9 years ago I found, sitting next to a dumpster across the street from my old apartment, a fully functional though slightly worn, green, stylist’s chair. Just a few weeks earlier through a good friend,  I had been introduced to Kelly who had mentioned that I “needed to do something about that”. The “that” she was referring to was my teenage ponytail, ill-fitting corduroy pants, and Birkenstocks. I was a kid from Colorado, newly 21, and new to Austin. I had long hair because I had no money to pay someone to care about it for me, as I certainly wasn’t capable of concerning myself with such things, being newly 21 and all. The next time I saw Kelly we made a deal: This old stylist chair in exchange for free haircuts for life. Neither of us had any concept to the magnitude of this agreement.

This month I turn 30 and Kelly has been my wife for almost three years. We have lived on the same street where the chair was found since being married. It has been our daughter’s highchair for the first two years of her life. I have had countless cuts and cups of coffee in this chair. Family, bandmates and other friends have come to our living room to get trimmed and styled. It has left ringed rust stains on the desk mat we have laid underneath it. We now own a salon, with many chairs. Some of which have made their way into our living room.    

We have decided to allow this chair to move along by placing it back where it was originally acquired, next to the dumpster, so many years ago. We also thought it a great occasion to take some family photos. I drove it around the corner, unloaded it from our truck, and placed it in the grass by the curb while Kelly and Lydia walked from our apartment. The first person to drive by stopped and got out of the car, looking at the chair in disbelief, “You’ve got to be kidding me! WOW!” I walk over to him and tell him the chair is fully functional, but if he wouldn’t mind waiting to take it away, as this chair has a bit of a story.   -Brendan 

And he patiently waited while we took our pictures. Goodbye and thank you, Green Chair!

(Lov)e,

-k.

(Be) // Enjoy the Season ~ Spring 2012

To make my client's haircuts extra special, I offer scalp massages using an essential oil blend of their choice; offering a new selection each Season. This Spring, I have chosen two of my favorite florals and one citrus for my latest *Enjoy the Season blend. Gardenia is sensual, soothing, and sweet...Jasmine (what I wore on my wedding day) is romantic and intoxicating... while Grapefruit is fresh, clean, and even believed to be a male aphrodisiac! It's SPRING...let me pamper you and then...make like a bunny and get to hoppin!  *all ingrediants: grapeseed oil, vitamin E, essential oils and distilled water. 

(Lov)e, 

-k.

(Lov) // Show Time!

My talented husband plays bass in three different bands here in Austin.  Saturday night he had a very special show with Whitey on the Moon, taking part in their debut performance!  WOTM is 12 piece funk/soul band that seriously brings down the house!  And being the proud, camera wielding wife that I am... I thought I would share some of my favorite pictures from the night.

It truly was an amazing night and I couldn't be more excited to see this band grow into it's full potential!  The jam-packed crowd was dancing, singing, and were having "hallelujah!" moments left and right.  They couldn't have asked for a warmer welcome into the Austin music scene and I'm sure it was just the beginning of many exceptional performances from this talented group of musicians and singers. Why to kill it WOTM!  

(Lov)e, 

-k.

(Ed) // Good Intentions.

My goal of giving my blog some much needed time and attention this year have gone the way of most of my good intentions...straight to hell. Sadly, real life has gotten a bit demanding lately leaving little time to devote to my online life and I must say... I haven't missed it much. Maybe it's because actually progress is being made, things that are tangible and physical are being attended to, and I'm so tired at the end of the day from DOING that I have little left to record the results.

My daughter is 20 months old is a little tornado of a girl.  Talking up a storm and in "go, go, GO!" mode from the moment she wakes up.  In the free time I manage to scrape together, I've been giving my Salon a much needed face lift... adding new furniture, rearranging, deep cleaning, touching up paint, and reorganizing. I've also been busy helping my husband... taking promotional pictures, creating a website and designing his business cards in anticipation for SXSW. Throw in my day to day obligations...work, keeping house, grocery store runs, laundry, meals, errands galore, and putting out the inevitable fires sparked by owing a business... and you've got one overloaded Mama. I'm hoping things will slow down and settle a bit after March, but maybe I just need to learn to manage my stress and time a bit better.  How do so many seem to do it ALL without letting it weigh them down? Maybe it's the sharing that makes it less stressful?  Maybe if I tweet about scrubbing the toilet for the millionth time it will be a more enjoyable task?  I have few answers...I'm just trying to get it all done...before it's time to do it all again. Sigh.  I need a vacation.

(Lov)e,

-k.

(Lov) // 35.

On Monday (the 30th) I turned 35.  Can I just tell you how much I love being smack-dab in the middle of my 30s?!?!  My 20's were, to be honest, a confusing mess. I struggled for so many years and made bad decision upon bad decision. Turning 30 was a true celebration in that I was getting to leave that awful, AWFUL decade behind.  And here I am 5 years into the best years of my life.

In my 30's I started my own business, got engaged and married to the love of my life, had my amazing little girl, and became the owner of a Salon.  It truly has been a beautiful time of growth, acceptance, renewal, and love.  I have learned SO much in the last 5 years, namely how to be kinder to myself.  The 30's truly are a time to "get your sh*t together" and an opportunity to apply the knowledge gleaned from the many "learning experiences" of previous years. I am so grateful to be here...to be comfortable in my skin, to know I am loved, and to be living my life with a clear mind and a hopeful heart.

My wish is that it just keeps on getting better. Cheers!

(Lov)e,

-k.