Hair Cuts vs Face Shape

Some days I want to run and hide from my hair. It's fine and thin and flat. I never know quite what to do about it. So what do you do when you need answers I ask you? You Google it of course! Marie Claire had some great tips for us on choosing a hair cut for your face shape.Tip: To determine your true shape, pull your hair off your forehead with one hand, look into a mirror and trace the outline of your face on the glass with lipstick.

If Your Face Is Square
"For square shapes, it's all about softening the edges," says Charles Worthington of Charles Worthington Salons in London and New York City. He recommends avoiding "sharp" cuts, like angled bobs or styles with blunt-cut bangs, which can emphasize an already-broad forehead and chin.
Your best cut: Long or short? It's up to you. "Pretty much any length will work, as long as you add shorter pieces to frame the face," says Kat, a stylist for Bumble and Bumble in New York City. To accomplish this, ask your stylist for a cut that incorporates graduated layers, razored ends or long, piece-y bangs to soften the strong lines of your jaw. If your hair is naturally curly, play up your waves à la Salma Hayek. The loose ringlets help to balance out your face's boxiness.

Parting words: Your best bet is to experiment with your part to find its most flattering location. A center part looks great paired with angle-softening curls. Or, try one that's slightly off-center to blur the bold edges of a square face.

If Your Face Is Round
Since full cheeks can conceal even the best bone structure, a round face can lack definition. "Very short cuts and cuts with a lot of volume on the sides only emphasize fullness," says Kat.

Your best cut: Styles with face-framing layers and choppy bangs can slim a full face and create the illusion of cheekbones. If you like short hair, try a bob with razored ends and cheek-grazing pieces, like Renée Zellweger's, which breaks up the roundness and adds angles where they don't naturally exist. If short is not your thing, aim for looks that fall to the chin and longer. The extra length will help elongate a full face, making it appear more oval.

Parting words: A slightly off-center part works best, as it offsets roundness, but a center part (paired with one of the above-mentioned styles) can draw the eye up, giving your face the appearance of a longer shape.

If Your Face Is Oval
Even proportions make oval faces especially versatile. "This is not a shape that needs to rely on a hairstyle to add softness or balance," says Worthington.
Your best cut: From a cropped cut to a blunt bob to longer, layered styles, virtually anything goes. However, some oval faces tend to be on the long side. If you fall into this category, Worthington suggests adding long bangs, like Tyra Banks's, to visually shorten the distance from the forehead to the chin. Cheek-length layers will also help balance a longer oval shape.

Parting words: Just like the cuts, when it comes to parts, most will work well. Worthington recommends a sharp center part for a chic look. Or, you can break up a long oval face by parting your hair to one side. The longer your face, the more off-center the part should be.

So if you're looking for a change I hope this article helped. Good luck!

5 of my favorite Action Movies

I'm sure you've noticed that I love movies. We can't get enough of them. Our go to date night is dinner and a movie (so original, I know). So here's is a list of 5 of my favorite action movies.

Taken
Watch Trailer Here
Taken is AWESOME! I've gotta say I never really took notice of Liam Neeson until I saw this movie. He plays Bryan Mills, an ex-spy who's now divorced and desperately trying to save his relationship with his teenage daughter, Kim. Kim pleads with her dad to allow her to take a trip to Europe with her friend, and barely squeaks out permission. Unfortunately her dad's instincts were correct. Shortly after she and her friend reach their hotel in Paris a group of men break in. Kim is on the phone to her dad in the other side of the hotel room so she sees when they abduct her friend. Her dad manages to stay calm and instructs her to keep the line open and yell out any information she can get about her abductors. After making a promise of death to the men who take her he begins tracking down everyone and anyone who might know where she is. And this is when we learn how much of a bad a$$ he is. Like I said, this movie is awesome.

Prince of Persia
Watch Trailer Here
I was surprised at how good this movie was, Disney did a great job. There are some really great action scenes with impressive, animal like acrobatics. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Dastan, a poor orphan in the Persian Empire who had the good fortune to impress the King with his bravery and skill as boy. He's adopted into the royal family as a younger brother to the King's 2 sons. He grows up as a skilled fighter with an impressive group of soldiers following him. The Empire invades the ancient city of Amalut, succeeding only because of Dastan and his soldiers impressive fighting. After their victory Dastan is given a robe to present to his adopted father, the King as a gift to celebrate their triumph. Everything falls apart after the robe turns out to be poisoned and kills the King. Desperate to prove his innocence Dastan escapes capture and sets out to prove his innocence with the help, and sometimes sabotage of Alamut's princess, Tamina who's followed Dastan for her own secret, and mysterious reasons. You wont be disappointed with this movie.


Braveheart
Watch Trailer Here
Most everyone has heard of the epic movie Braveheart. It's a classically amazing movie that won 5 Academy Awards. Mel Gibson plays Sir William Wallace, a Scottish Knight in the 13th century that makes himself known for being vital in the fight against the King in the First War of Scottish Independence. William Wallace was an ordinary man who fell in love with childhood sweetheart, Murron. But unwilling to subject her to Primae Noctis (the law allowing lords to take newly married women into their beds on their wedding night) they married in secret. Shortly after Murron is almost raped by some soldiers, but William manages to fight them off. Tragically Murron is captured and executed, catapulting William, who'd never had any interest in fighting, into the war. His daring tactics quickly gain him a large following of commoners that grows rapidly at his success. Determined to put an end to the tyranny that killed Murron he becomes a man of legend who inspires the people of Scotland till the very end. This is a movie you'll never forget, although you might want to watch an edited version of it.
Salt
Watch Trailer Here
Salt, which stars Angelina Jolie, originally had Tom Cruise cast in the title role. Before I went to see the movie I didn't hear many good things about the film, but I've gotta say that I really enjoyed it. Maybe I did because I wasn't expecting an epic thriller, but either way I really like this movie. The movie starts with Evelyn Salt (Jolie) held captive in North Korea, being tortured because they suspect she's an American spy. Finally she is released with a prisoner exchange from the CIA (which is who she works for) because her husband refused to give up working towards her freedom. Although she only married him for a cover story, she finds she has true feelings for him, which she admits to him, along with the truth about what she does with the CIA. 2 years later a Russian man named Vasilly Orlov arrives at the CIA with a story of a plot to assassinate the Russian President Boris Matveyev. He claims that the Russians have placed 'sleeper-agents' in strategic positions all over the United States who have been trained from birth to imitate Americans. He then goes on to claim that agent KA-12 will be the one to assassinate the Russian President, and that her name is Evelyn Salt. As Evelyn Salt is the person interrogating him this posses a problem. Confusion breaks out after this confession. When the CIA tries to hold Salt, she escapes, desperate to get home and find her husband, knowing he will be a target. When she finds nothing but evidence of a kidnapping, she starts a mission that only she knows the objective to. Most of the movie leaves you wondering who's side she's on, but she does some pretty cool things while you're trying to figure it all out. It does have a few scenes that are a little far fetched, but overall I thought it was done really well.

Bourne Trilogy
Watch Trailer Here
Matt Damon started us all off with the first of the trilogy, the Bourne Identity in 2002, and it took off from there. The movies were adapted from Robert Ludlum's novels. The film starts with an unconscious man being pulled from the Mediterranean Sea with 4 bullets in his back. ie. Matt Damon. When he wakes up he has no memory of who he is, where he's from, or what he's doing there. His only clue is a small device that had been surgically placed into his hip that shows an account number for a bank in Zurich. When he gets to the bank he discovers a safety deposit box filled with a surplus of money, a gun, and a passport with his picture for a man named Jason Bourne. He soon realizes that he's about to be arrested, but when the officers come at him he reacts reflexively with the skills of a professionally trained secret agent. After narrowly escaping capture he pays a woman, Marie, to drive him to Paris, which is where the passport says Jason Bourne lives. He meets attack after attack on his journey to discover who he is, meeting each one with a mysterious skill that keeps himself and Marie alive and free, gathering bits of evidence along the way. This is a seriously cool set of movies. Bourne will make you freeze with apprehension and gape with stunned astonishment at the things he can do. Watch it, love it.

There are so many great action movies out there. So many that I'll probably do a part 2 to this post soon. But for now these are 5 of my favorites, although I'm always looking for another good one. Does anyone have any movie suggestions for me?

Parenting 101

There are so many things I want for my sweet children. Laughter, friends, excitement, love... At the top of my list is great parents. I want them to have the best parents in the world. Parents who can teach them that being who they are is better than trying to fit themselves into someone else's mold.Photo by Jessica Hills Photography
Some days I wish I could steal the scripts for Amy and Allan Matthews from Boy Meets World so I'd have a guide to follow. But I don't have a team of writers who write and re-write the scenes of my life. So what makes a good parent? Here's what I came up with.

Above all, let them know that you love them no matter what. I want them to know that there is nothing they could do that would make me love them with any less than my entire heart.

Give them rules to follow. And consequences for the times they don't. I often worry that Wes, my 2 year old, will forever resent me for the hours he spends in time out each week. My heart breaks at the sight of his tears. I hope that one day he'll have kids and finally realize how hard it was for me to make him sad.

Make them feel safe. At the moment Wes's greatest fear is the old lady from Tangled (the new disney movie about Rapunzel), well, lets make that ALL show with old ladies in them. He's terrified of them, I'm not really sure why. But I do my best to reassure him that they're only pictures, and they can't hurt him.

Put them first. It sounds like common sense, but it's amazing how easy it is to put the kids needs on the back burner sometimes. Especially if I'm halfway through the latest and greatest young adult novel.

Be an example they can look to. I have been found guilty time and time again of being a bad example. I can't tell you how many times I've screamed at Wes to stop yelling. A little ironic, no?

Let them make mistakes. I think this is one of the hardest ones. I always want my kids to have every advantage, and to not feel unprepared. But what I need to remember is that part of preparing them is letting them figure things out for themselves. They can't gain confidence in themselves if they never get the chance to accomplish something solo.

Take an interest in their interests. So no, it's not terribly exciting to play in a dark room with a flashlight all day, but the bottom line is that it's important to him.

Listen to what they say, and pay attention to what they do. Wes has a habit of saying yes to whatever you ask him, so you never really know what really happened. 'Wes, did you hit Scarlett?' ...'Yes' So I'm sure he's received some unjust punishments, and sometimes you can tell from how he reacts. Like I learned on Hitch, "90% of what you're saying, ain't coming out of your mouth." So pay attention.
Teach them to laugh. One thing that I learned from both of my parents was to not take myself too seriously. I learned it was ok to laugh and move on when something ridiculous happened. I think it's safe to say it was one of the most important lessons I ever learned.

I'm sure there are dozens of other things a great parent show know, but I'm hoping this is a good start. If you have any ideas for me, I'd love to hear them.

We're legitimate now. We're in the bakesale business

Tonight I am suffering from the 'stayed up too late watching tv with Tad, got something on my contact so my eye's red and sore, yet I still had to watch my kids and go to class' affliction. Yes, I hear it's going around. As a result I will be sharing with you, the viewers of my blog, a clip from Boy Meets World.
Two words.
Seriously Funny.