January 2017 - The Blonde Side

Super Bowl Hair Trends: Houston

I teamed up with Tease Color & Style Bar to create the best Super Bowl (or any gameday) looks. These are easy to create and will last the entire game. Check out our four looks:

Tossled Touchdown

Tossled Touchdown: Natural lived-in texture for a tossled look. Prep hair w dry texturizing spray by Oribe, then finish off w anti-humidty spray. wand the hair and brush out generously w a bristle brush or comb to make lightweight, lofty waves.

Flirty Half-Time: Wanded curls infused with oribe (dry finishing spray) to create

Flirty Half-Time

gameday volume followed by r+co outerspace flexible hairspray to give a soft and natural hold that’ll last all 4 quarters.

High-Kick Pony Tail: Finger comb your hair into a pony on the highest point of your head, slick back on all sides. Pick out

High-Kick Pony

small pieces around the pony tail to give is a messy, textured look. Pin in place stray hairs if need be. Take a small piece from the pony and wrap around hairtie to give it an extra layer of feminity. Wand and back comb ends to give a wild, full look.

Big Game Braid: A soft Traditional mohawk braid into a messy fishtail. Texturize hair and pin in place and pull

Big Game Braid

apart to get an effortless and messy look. Tease the top portion of hair to make it look easy and flowly and not super slicked back. Make sure the hair is separated so it looks piecy.?

Check out the YouTube video for Super Bowl hair trends. Video by uproar.design.

Tease is just a few miles from my new and cozy home at The Millennium Kirby Being right inside the loop sure has its perks! SPONSORED

January 29, 2017/by Jayme

Super Bowl Treats: Petite Sweets

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Step up your tailgating style with tasty and custom-made goods from Petite Sweets. This is the spot that I always get my football sweets from and they are always a hit!

If you’re looking to impress someone during your football watch party, this will definitely do the trick! And since neither the Eagles nor the Texans are going to be playing, my focus has shifted to the other important thing during the Big Game: FOOD.

Here is just a sampling of their football offerings, in time for the Super Bowl being hosted here in Houston:

– Football Shaped Cake Balls

– Football Shaped Cake Pops

– Football Shaped Chocolate Dipped Rice Krispie Treat

– Texas Shaped Chocolate Dpped Rice Krispie Treat (will have photo tomorrow)

– Football themed Cupcakes, Cakeballs, Macarons

– The week of Super Bowl we will have team colored macarons

Customers can pre-order or come in the week of Super Bowl and we will have products on the shelves for pick up.

Petite Sweets is located just a few miles from my home at The Millennium Kirby I absolutely love being so central to so many of my favorite Houston restaurants and bakeries! SPONSORED

January 18, 2017/by Jayme

Marshmallow Oreo Cookies: The Best Cookie Recipe Ever

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Photo via TheGraciousWife.com

Seriously, I can promise you (if you like Oreo Cookies, especially) this will be the best cookie recipe you will ever see. And it’s pretty dang easy to make too.

Here is the recipe for Marshmallow Oreo Chip Cookies, taken directly from TheGraciousWife.com. You should definitely check out her website for tons of other delicious recipes – you won’t be disappointed. (Seriously, her recipe has been shared more than 84k times, so you know it’s good!)

INGREDIENTS

¼ cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
4-ounce package Cookies ‘n Cream pudding mix, unprepared
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
⅛ teaspoon salt
2¼ cups flour
1 cup mini marshmallows
1 Jumbo Hershey’s Cookies ‘n Cream candy bar, chopped
about 8-10 Oreos, coarsely crushed

INSTRUCTIONS

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars.
Add eggs and vanilla and mix again.
Mix together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to butter mixture, along with cocoa powder and pudding mix. Stir until everything is fully combined.
Fold in marshmallows, chopped candy bar, and crushed Oreos.
Chill dough for about 15 minutes.
Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough and shape into balls. Place on a greased cookie sheet (and I DO mean greased. None of that wimpy cooking spray. You’re going to have to break out the butter and slick it down because marshmallows are sticky!) 2 inches apart.
Bake at 350° for 8-11 minutes.

*Note, for some reason finding Cookies n’ Cream pudding mix has been really hard lately, so I used a white chocolate pudding mix and ground up (majorly so it was almost powder) 8 Oreo cookies to make my own variation.

This post is part of my “learn and love to cook” resolution for 2017. I love living at The Millennium Kirby because of the massive kitchen, to test out and eat up these great recipes. Y’all already know anything with Oreos is a win in my book! SPONSORED

January 17, 2017/by Jayme

Win Houston Super Bowl Tickets

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Win Houston Super Bowl tickets with a test-drive at BMW of West Houston

Hey guys, just a quick hello (gearing up for a trip to Westin Grand Cayman in the morning for a new travel story), but with all the talk about the Houston Super Bowl coming (your calendars should already be marked for February 5^th), I wanted to share two fun and easy way to WIN TICKETS TO THE SUPER BOWL.

Simply stop by BMW of West Houston for a test-drive this month (January 2017) and be entered to win tickets to the big game. If you buy a car, you’ll get SEVEN entries for tickets. But really, how hard is it to swing by and jump in one of the fastest, hottest cars of Houston for a chance to win tickets? Sounds like a win-win to me.

You can also swing by any of the Jerry Built locations and be entered to win. Seriously, I was stuffing my face with a delicious burger the other day and noticed how easy it was to enter, simply by logging onto their Wi-Fi. Click here for more info and the official rules.

*Also, just to be clear. The Blonde Side is just sharing these chances to win Super Bowl tickets and is no way affiliate with the contests or ways/chances of winning them. Best of luck!

Speaking of which, any Super Bowl LI predictions from y’all?

January 10, 2017/by Jayme

ThrIVe Drip Spa

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ThrIVe Drip Spa in Houston

I don’t often buy into fads, but with the same token, I love trying out new things. Especially when they offer quick and easy benefits to your health and overall appearance. Recently I had the chance to check out ThrIVe Drip Spa, located in Houston.

While they mostly do IV therapies, their menu of offerings is quite unique and one I had a field day analyzing and trying. IV therapies (think the kind to cure those extreme hangovers) have been around for quite some time, but most of the early adopters were the super wealthy, elite and celeb-types (none of which describes me).

ThrIVe is unique because they offer other premium services that are affordable alternatives to plastic surgery, like photofacials and injectables. Also, their entire staff is incredibly well-versed in everything you could possibly need to know (trust me, I tested them quite intensely). Many services produce similar results and they take the time to find out about your skin type, your exact needs, etc.

I also tried Forma for the first time, a procedure I’d read about in the major

ThrIVe Drip Spa in Houston

magazines, but sounded painful and sort of crazy when I’d read about it. It’s a skin tightening treatment for your face and neck (which as I age, is a must!), and is not painful or invasive, which was a pleasant surprise. I was glowing and plumped almost immediately (this is the only kind of plumping I want, trust me!).

I’m also secretly dying to try Body FX, which is basically the same treatment, but for cellulite areas. And well, I’ve got a trip to Grand Cayman coming up, so we might have to check that out!

They offer a number of drips, so you can literally “pick your poison” so to speak, but my top is the Myers Drip, which is the original vitamin cocktail that started it all. It’s a powerful blend of vitamins and minerals designed for IV use by Dr. John Myers (aptly named, right?).

Since Dr. Myer’s discovery, doctors worldwide have used, recommended, and “prescribed” Myers’ Cocktail to help treat a broad spectrum of health conditions.

While I don’t see myself becoming a regular for drips, I do see myself getting a Myers fix right before every trip. My immune system basically hates me, and this powerful blend of vitamins helps prevent me from getting sick thanks to changes in environment, lack of sleep, different altitudes, etc. The drips take only 30 minutes and you get to relax in the most swanky, serene environment (see pic above).

January 4, 2017/by Jayme