Ultimate Color Wow Gift Guide

Ultimate Color Wow Gift Guide

Someone on your lists loves haircare products? If they know about Color Wow, they want it. If they don’t know about it, it’s high time they did! The holidays are a perfect time to gift haircare products, and the recipient will love Color Wow. All these products make great stocking stuffers or great gifts! My daughter will find one of each in her Christmas stocking this year!

  • Color Wow Extra Strength Dream Coat. This has been all over the talk shows! I first saw it on Hoda & Jenna and had to try it myself after they gave rave reviews. I have curly/wavy, color-treated hair that tends to frizz in humid weather. I should add that I have a lot of hair. This product, which lasts up to three washes, is a powerful moisturizing, anti-humidity treatment for frizz prone hair. It makes my hair glassy smooth. However, a friend in the beauty business pointed out that it’s best used on coils/extremely dry hair. Mine is fairly tight, but if your hair isn’t tightly curled, you might use regular strength. I love it on mine, though. Highly recommend! Get it here.

  • Color Wow One Minute Transformation. This product is great for instant frizz control. This nourishing styling cream smoothes, tames, and defrizzes. Purchase here.

  • Color Wow Color Security Shampoo and Conditioner. Two products for one great effect. I love this shampoo and conditioner! It cleans my color-treated hair and adds shine! Because it doesn’t contain sulfates, it doesn’t strip the color from your hair. It’s a great gift for anyone on your list with color-treated hair. Get the shampoo here. And purchase the normal to thick conditioner here. Or the conditioner for thin/fragile hair here.

  • Color Wow Dreamcoat Supernatural Spray. Keep your hair frizz-free no matter what the weather. This formula helps repair moisture and humidity. Purchase here.

  • Color Wow Curl Wow Coco-motion Lubricating Conditioner. This conditioner, specially formulated for curly hair, is a weightless conditioner that instantly moisturizes deep inside strands for silky-soft, bouncy curls. Purchase here for the girl with curls!

  • Color Wow Curl Wow Hooked 100% Clean Shampoo with Root-Locking Technology. This rich-lathering sulfate-free formula leaves no residue and helps anchor hair to stop shedding. My friend in Central Florida uses this daily, and her curls are beautiful! Purchase here.

Go to Amazon and pick up some of these awesome products while they are still in stock!

***Sponsored ad. We receive commission for products purchased through our Amazon links.***

Hot Adidas Products

Hot Adidas Products.

***Sponsored Ad*** As an Amazon affiliate, I receive commission for items purchased through my links.

Adidas has some hot products and some deals on Amazon this holiday season…something for almost everyone on your list!

  • Adidas Samba. There’s a special deal on the black Samba, a shoe that has been very popular with teens for several years. Get the deal here. Or get the popular white Samba here.

  • Adidas Adicane Slide Sandal. This is a great slide for recovery after sports endeavors, but it’s also the perfect shower shoe for college students and athletes! Get ahead of the game and gift your athlete or future college student with these for a great price! Purchase here.

  • Adidas Men’s Park Street Sneaker. If you have a man on your holiday list who loves a good street sneaker, this Adidas model is stylish and comfortable. He will welcome this gift! It’s offered in several colors. My husband wants black. Purchase here.

  • Adidas Men’s Lite Racer Adapt 7.0 Sneaker. The perfect slip-on sneaker! This is another one my husband would love. Men are all about the slip-on sneakers these days. It’s stylish, comfortable, and priced right! And it slips on!! Get it here.

  • Adidas Alphabounce. Another great slide from Adidas. Some people prefer this style post-workout, and Adidas does this right! It makes a great gift! Get it here.

These are all great gift options from Adidas, a well-regarded brand! Happy Shopping!

2024 Holiday Shopping Links (so far)

2024 Holiday Shopping Links (so far). These are links to posts we have made since the middle of November. THANK YOU for shopping our links! We are creating more links today. Click each title for link to more information:

HAPPY SHOPPING!

Dyson Airwrap DEAL on Amazon

Dyson Airwrap DEAL on Amazon here.

If you need/want to purchase the ever-popular Dyson Airwrap for someone on your holiday list (or for yourself), now is the time. It seems almost every female in America under the age of 60 wants this incredible hairstyling tool. If you have a daughter in high school or college, you can bet she would be thrilled to get this for Christmas or Hanukkah! I have never seen the Airwrap on sale before, but right now you can get an early Black Friday deal for $100 off the regular price of $599! I’d $499 for a limited time! Get it now before the deal ends here!

This is a huge deal, because you will also get free shipping if you have an Amazon Prime membership! And if you don’t have a Prime membership, it’s time to get one! I have saved $1946 this year with free Prime delivery and movies.

ORDER THAT DYSON AIRWRAP HERE BEFORE THIS DEAL IS GONE, and tell everyone you know to come order through my link for the deal!

***I receive commissions for items ordered through my Amazon link. Thank you for shopping my links AND for SHARING my links with friends! Send your friend to my page, so they can shop through my site.***

You Are Not Going to College with Your Child

You are not going to college with your child.

Why am I saying that? Well, because it seems lots of parents think they need to be involved with their child’s college experience. I’m here to tell you: you do not need to know anything, Mom. Even if you went to your child’s orientation session (or plan to attend), you don’t need to remember the information. College is your child’s job. It’s not your job. If you keep assisting your child with everything he/she needs to do/know, your child will never learn to do it on his/her own. Stick with me, and at the end of this piece, I will tell you what you can do to make your child’s transition to college more successful.

I think parents became more “helicopterish” with their college students when colleges and universities started offering orientation sessions for parents. No, just no. It makes me sick. I have said before that I went with my daughter two years ago, but I only went because it seemed everyone else was going, and I didn’t want her to feel like an orphan! I skipped out at lunch on the first day and never looked back. I simply couldn’t take it. It made me crazy that parents were asking questions kids should have been asking for themselves. If I had a second child, he/she would be going it alone, and I would feel great about it. You know why? Well, I truly believe those parent sessions are simply babysitting sessions to keep parents busy after they have traveled there. It wasn’t terrible, but I did not need to know the information they were putting out there. Where to park? I don’t care. Where to eat? I don’t care. I have already graduated from college…way back in the 1980s…and I figured it all out myself.

In 1985, my parents didn’t go to orientation with me! No way! I drove myself two hours to the university, found the dorm without a navigation system in my car, learned what I needed to know, made my schedule, and drove myself home…alone. In fact, I don’t recall seeing one parent at orientation at The University of Alabama in 1985!

And while I’m at it, allow me to also remind you that you don’t need to make your child’s academic schedule. Again, he/she needs to learn how to do it on his/her own. I see parents on the parent pages regularly talking about helping their kids make their schedules. What??? I don’t even know what classes my daughter is taking! And my parents never knew what classes I was taking!

Take a deep breath, Mom. Your child can navigate college without you. If you don’t believe that, maybe your child shouldn’t be going too far from home. Mine goes to a school 450 miles away, and it’s the greatest thing I ever did for her…letting her do college on her own. She takes care of herself and handles everything on her own, and we don’t waste our time talking about school. We talk about life and fun things, instead!

So, how can you help your child with the transition to college? I’m not a counselor or psychologist, but I am a mom, so I know a little bit. Here’s what you can do:

  • Help them prepare to outfit their dorm room. Gather what they need, and purchase what you don’t have. (Amazon Prime Days are coming up in mid-July, and there will be lots of dorm stuff on sale…a great time to get good prices! Come back to my site to get information on some special deals!)
  • Answer the phone when they call you…anytime, day or night. That first semester can be difficult, so they might need a sounding board. Be there for them. Be supportive. Be positive and encouraging.
  • Make sure they know what to do in emergency situations.
  • Provide whatever they need.
  • Most of all:

Let your little birdie fly! It might not be easy, but it’s important! They can do this! And you can too!

You Have A High School Graduate

You have a high school graduate.

I just saw a video of Jennifer Garner on Instagram. She was crying, because her daughter just graduated from high school. In one clip, she asks, “How are we gonna make it?!” Of course, lots of people responded, but my favorite comment was, “Why aren’t people making us casseroles?” I laughed until I cried thinking of a mom being so distraught over her child leaving that she needed comfort food, and while I loved that comment, because I also love any opportunity to make or receive a casserole, I know a secret.

My secret? Having your child graduate and move off to college (or the military or trade school or ATC school or the police academy or whatever) is not the end of the world. In fact, it’s the opposite! If you have more than one child, you’re likely to feel like your life continues on about the same trajectory until all your babies have left the nest. I have one child, so when my daughter went off to college, my husband and I became empty-nesters…empty-nesters who are still paying all our daughter’s bills, but empty-nesters, nonetheless. And you know what? After we dropped her off at her university 450 miles away, the world didn’t come to an end! Our old life ended, but a new life began, and it’s a lot of fun!

I saw a video clip from the TV show, Modern Family, recently that really hit home. In the video, Jay, the family patriarch, talks about how we fall in love with a baby, and then the baby becomes a toddler, and on and on through different stages of life, but we never have time to miss the baby, because it’s replaced with another version of itself…a “toddler with the greatest laugh on earth.” And it’s true! I have loved every stage of our daughter’s life! Has it always been easy? That first year was especially tough. I remember thinking on her first birthday, “I survived the first year.” Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed the first year too, but there was some survival involved. I think the fact that it’s not easy is what makes us appreciate it. Struggling with a newborn just bonds us!

My next door neighbor, who is a grandmother several times over, told me recently that she feels like those early years with kids at home are a real gift, but they are a sacrifice too. Once our kids are grown and out of the house, we miss them, but we are grateful for the gift they continue to be (even with crises), and we appreciate not making the daily sacrifices. Since our daughter went off to college, my husband I don’t have to get up early every morning to make sure our daughter gets out to school. Like many people these days, we can do our work from home…or anywhere, for that matter. If we want to leave town during the school year, we can! If we want to eat dinner standing over the kitchen sink, we can! For me, I love that our lives are no longer built around a school schedule. Of course, there are other sacrifices. College is not cheap. Trips abroad for our daughter are not cheap. Also, we have to worry from afar instead of worrying about her in our own home. If she’s in Italy, we worry about her in Italy. If she’s in Tuscaloosa, we worry about her in Tuscaloosa. However, the minute-to-minute sacrifices aren’t there like they are when our children are younger. I don’t spend my weekends at soccer or lacrosse tournaments anymore, praise the Lord! I don’t volunteer at her school anymore, thank God. At the same time, though, we don’t get to watch her play lacrosse, and we don’t have her here every day anymore.

Is it difficult when they first leave? Yes. I’m not gonna kid you about that. The house is quieter. The friends are not in and out all the time anymore, and at first, I was sad about that. Then, by the Christmas of her freshman year, I guess I had grown accustomed to having my own space, because when all the friends were here, I was surprised at how loud and intrusive it could feel! Don’t get me wrong…after a couple of days, it became the norm again, and by the time she went back to school that January, I had to get used to the peace and quiet again.

All this is my long way of saying this: embrace the change! It’s a great stage of life! Do I miss my girl when she’s not here? Yes, but I also appreciate the time she is here, and I appreciate the extra time to do what I want to do. If you have a child who has graduated and is leaving soon for college, the military, or something else, take the time right now, before they go, to make a plan for yourself. Know in advance how you are going to fill up that quiet time! It’s easier to adjust if you have a plan. Play mahjong! Play pickleball! Learn to play bridge! Volunteer somewhere! After our daughter left, I started getting more exercise, and I spend a lot of time planning vacations. I don’t go on vacation constantly, but it’s fun to research destinations. I also spend time with friends once or twice a week.

You can do this, Mama! I think you will find empty-nesting is not scary. It’s fun. Fill up the weekends doing what you want to do! Embrace the change!

Don’t Sweat Fall Sorority Rush Yet

Don’t sweat fall sorority rush yet.

I have received three phone calls from worried friends this week. Their daughters are planning to participate in sorority rush in the fall at big southern schools, and they are worried they should be working on “rush stuff” right now. No. The answer is no. Let your daughter enjoy her senior year!

Mom, you can start thinking about the preparation, but there’s no need to be consumed by it. What can you do now? Look up which sororities have chapters at your daughter’s school. Start thinking of your friends who know your daughter; which ones were in sororities in college and would be willing and able to write recommendations for your daughter? Make a list in the notes on your phone. Or you can do like one of my friends and make a spreadsheet. I’m not Type A, so a spreadsheet was not my thing. I just made a list. Anytime you’re out and about and hear that someone is a member or alumna of a sorority, make a note of it in your phone.

If you’re thinking about hiring a rush consultant, that’s entirely up to you. We didn’t hire one for my daughter when she rushed, and she landed exactly where she wanted to be. I have lots of friends who have daughters who have rushed, and personally, I don’t know anyone who hired a consultant. And all my friends have daughters who are very happy with their rush choices. The hiring of a consultant is a personal choice.

Seriously, right now, just start compiling your recommendation list and having your daughter start working on her resumé. The girls cannot even make a complete resumé right now, because they don’t know what they’ll have to add before the end of the school year.

In May, have your daughter contact your friends who are sorority alumnae by phone, text, or email to ask them to write recommendations for her. This is something she needs to do herself, and she needs to ask people who actually know her. In a pinch, she can ask a friend of a friend. Recommendations are basically introductions of your daughter to the chapters, so she will want them to be able to write about her from personal knowledge. For example, when my neighbor’s daughter participated in “recruitment,” I was able to write a detailed recommendation/introduction of her, because I had first-hand knowledge of her personality and great attributes. Try to get recommendations to every chapter, and whatever you do, make sure your daughter does not say to any alumnae, “I’m only interested in sororities A, B, and C.” First, it sounds bad. Secondly, until rush begins, your daughter might think she knows what she likes, but she might change her mind. She also might not get invited to the ones she think she will.

You can start looking at dresses if you like. Spring dresses are coming out now, so it’s perfectly fine to start looking and even purchasing dresses she thinks she will wear. When shopping, look for fairly conservative dresses but not too conservative. Amanda Uprichard offers some great options at amandauprichard.com.

But right now, the main thing is to have rush in the back of your mind. Keep you ears and eyes open for people who can help with recommendations. Soak up every moment of senior year of high school, and enjoy having your daughter at home with you!

Here’s a rough timeline of preparation:

  • January-April: Find out which sororities have chapters on campus. Also, make a list/spreadsheet of sorority alumni who can write recommendations for your daughter. ***ALSO, make sure your daughter cleans up her social media…no alcohol or extreme photos.***
  • March-May: watch the university’s Panhellenic website to find out when registration is. At most southern universities, you can register for fall rush starting in May.
  • May-June: Your daughter can contact sorority alumni and ask for recommendations, telling them they will send their resumé soon.
  • June: create a resumé using the Canva app or another app. Distribute the resumé to the alumni who have agreed to write recommendations. Most sororities want digital recommendations now, so please don’t do old school “rush packets.” If you don’t know what that is, don’t worry about it…you don’t need to know.
  • July: make sure you have your rush wardrobe, and finish gathering everything for the “rush bag.” For more information on the rush bag, click here.
  • Late July/August: move her into her dorm and let the magic happen!

I will have posts later in the spring and summer with more information.

Mostly, relax. Don’t let your daughter get nervous about it.

***Over the next few days, I will be re-posting some posts about rush and preparation for it.***

Revisiting Childhood

Revisiting Childhood.

Anyone who has spent any time with me has heard me say that I feel like I have had three childhoods: 1. my real childhood 2. college 3. my now 20-yr-old daughter’s childhood. I’ve had a lot of fun in my life, and a lot of it was associated with those three eras. Now, I’ve entered what I think might be a fourth childhood…empty-nesting! I often think of all those other childhoods, including the great experiences I had with my child as a stay-at-home mom. However, it’s not often I revisit a place that we frequented when she was a toddler/young child.

Today I did just that.

I read recently that the Charlotte Nature Museum would be closing. It’s a quiet little nature museum in Charlotte near Freedom Park. When my daughter was a toddler/little girl, we were regulars at the Charlotte Nature Museum. I was fortunate to be a part of a playgroup made up of moms who had kids about the same age. Lucky for us, the moms were pretty close in age too, and we all became great friends. In fact, I’m not sure I would have survived toddlerhood without my awesome playgroup friends. We had places we visited regularly with the kids, and on the short list was Charlotte Nature Museum. It’s likely the kids don’t even remember much, if anything, about the “museum,” but that’s OK. It gave us moms lots of peace when our kids were little. There were turtles, an opposum, a butterfly garden, and there’s even a planetarium. Somehow, we never made it to one of the planetarium shows, but we did enjoy watching the kids watch the animals.

I realized today was the last day for the museum to be open, so yesterday, I called my friend, Kelli, who grew up in Charlotte, and I asked her if she would visit the museum with me. She said she recalled visiting the museum as a schoolgirl; the whole class would load up on school buses, go to the museum, and then go to McDonald’s for lunch…a big treat back in the day. After talking about some of her memories, she agreed to go with me today.

We met at 11:00 and rode together to the museum. When we walked in, she said, “Oh my gosh! It hasn’t changed since the 1970s!” I could verify that it hasn’t changed much in the last 20 years, but Kelli gave me verification that it was much the same in the 70s. We walked around, taking pictures of the taxidermy animals to show our kids, hoping to jog their memories with photos later. I took a picture of myself posing as an insect, in a photo op that has been around since I started going there in 2005. I sent it to my 20-yr-old daughter and asked, “Do you remember this?” She responded, “OMG! Yes!” I knew there probably wouldn’t be much she would remember, but because the kids used to have to take turns with the insect photo op, I thought she might remember it. It warmed my heart that she had some recall of the Charlotte Nature Museum! (See photos from today at bottom of page.)

After we strolled through the butterfly garden and saw a few butterflies, we took photos of the resident turtles, the opossom, and the snakes. Very little had changed since my last visit there. Sadly, the building will be demolished soon to make room for a new and improved Charlotte Nature Museum. While I’m sure it will be awesome, I feel sure it won’t have the same charm as the old museum…small with several small rooms, no hi-tech gimmicks, and lots of little creatures and lessons about little creatures.

We left with smiles on our faces. Back in the car, we talked about our memories of the nature museum…how Kelli’s class used to line up on the back porch of the museum and along the boardwalk. I talked about how my daughter and my friends’ kids mostly just wanted to stand and watch the snakes and turtles. They weren’t much interested in the little indoor playground…and I was thankful for that, because it really looked like a germ fest to me.

As we drove away from the Charlotte Nature Museum in our car instead of a school bus, I asked Kelli, “Where would you like to have lunch?” She didn’t really have a preference, but after a brief discussion, we decided McDonald’s would be the perfect ladies lunch place today. We agreed it would be the perfect ending to a nature museum visit, so we went to McDonald’s and ate in the dining room there. That also conjured up memories of my daughter’s childhood, as someone’s child had left a Happy Meal toy on the table we chose. I told Kelli, “This would have been pure gold when my daughter was little.” I didn’t know a lot of moms who took their kids to McDonald’s, but I did, and fortunately, my playgroup friends did too. McDonald’s was a great rainy day destination back in the day, because the one we went to had an indoor playground…yes, a germ fest, for sure…but on a rainy day, I didn’t really care.

Lucky me! I got to revisit my daughter’s childhood today! Just walking into the nature museum, I stepped back in time…it still smelled the same, and basically, it looked the same. Now I wish I had taken my daughter when she was home for the holidays.

Halfway Through Sophomore Year

Halfway through sophomore year…

Our daughter just returned to college after being home for a few weeks for the holiday break. We loved having her, and I think she enjoyed being here, for the most part, but she was more than ready to get back to school. I could tell she was getting fidgety about being here too long.

And you know what? As much as I miss her, I am thrilled she wanted to get back to school.

We were fortunate to have a fun night last night. Somehow, the three of us ending up sitting in the keeping room off the kitchen with all three of our dogs, laughing and talking about anything that came to mind. I don’t know how long we laughed and talked, but it was a great way to end the break…on a very positive note. That’s not to say we didn’t get on each other’s nerves here and there while she was home. Of course, we got on each other’s nerves a few times. My mother used to say, “No house is big enough for two women.” My mother was a wise woman, but since our daughter is still our baby, our house is still big enough for all of us. While we annoyed each other a few times, the holiday break was full of positives for our little family. Ending it with an impromptu family. night was perfect.

Today, she drove the 450 miles back to school, and a friend rode with her. I will admit that I checked on them several times, and they even called me to ask some questions about the route. Each time my phone rang, I answered with, “Is everything OK?!?” I got questions like, “What’s a safe place to stop for a bathroom break?” I told them to pay attention to the signs and don’t take the exit if the signage isn’t good. Some generally safe places to stop are Chick-fil-a and even Starbucks, but if they don’t feel safe, don’t stop. Another question? “Should I go straight through Atlanta or get on the bypass?” I told her to just go straight through, and it worked out perfectly. She was on the other side of town in no time. Fortunately, her car gets pretty good gas mileage, so they were able to drive the whole 450 miles without filling up. That’s a big relief, because I don’t need to worry about her standing outside the car, filling it up with gas…and being a sitting duck.

We probably won’t see her for about two months, when we visit for Parents’ Weekend, and that’s OK. If she needs us, we can get there pretty quickly, but we just want her to be happy. She is already making plans to attend some basketball games and gymnastics meets this week, so good times are ahead for her! They’re ahead for me too, as I have a trip with a friend coming up this weekend!

If you have a freshman who is returning to college right now, one thing I can tell you is that, for me, it did get easier to send her back this year. She is established at her school and has friends. She is happy with her living arrangement. She is doing well in school, and she is making lots of fun plans. Did I get a little emotional yesterday? Yes. I was in a mood, but then I realized I was simply dreading her departure, and once I gave into it, I felt better. A few tears later, I felt better.

Before I know it, her sophomore year will be over, and she will be halfway through her bachelor’s degree requirements! Time flies, and I’m just happy she’s having fun!

Moms Make Things Happen

Moms make things happen.

I just read an article in Inc. Magazine about how United Airlines lost a teenager’s luggage containing $2000 of lacrosse gear and how her mom took matters into her own hands to get it back. Because her daughter had put an Apple Air Tag tracking device in her bag, Mom could see the bag was at baggage claim in Chicago, even though the airline said it had never left Baltimore. Tired of waiting for the airline to solve the problem, she cashed in some frequent flyer miles to fly from her home in Denver to Chicago, where the bag was sitting in unclaimed baggage area, retrieved the bag, and took the bag home with her. You go, girl! You can read the article here.

I have to tell you: I wasn’t surprised one bit to read that a mother who didn’t trust the airline to get the bag back to her daughter was the one who solved the problem in her own way. Moms make things happen. No, not every mom could or would go to extremes to help their kids, but lots of us would. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean helping them in ways that will hurt them. I don’t mean doing their homework. I don’t mean posting on the college parents’ page asking for tutors for their college student or trying to help them find friends. I don’t mean rescuing them from every bad situation. Kids need to learn to handle things on their own. However, sometimes a teen is not equipped to handle something.

And that’s where Mom comes in.

I truly believe being a mom is the single most important job in the world. Sure, we need a president. We need doctors. We need coaches and teachers, but Mom? A good mom is multi-talented and has knowledge about lots of things. A good mom nurtures, acting as a nurse. A good mom listens, acting as a counselor. A good mom encourages, acting as a coach. A good mom teaches, acting as a teacher. A good mom protects, acting as a security officer. A good mom guides, acting as a captain. A good mom instills morals/beliefs, acting as a spiritual leader. A good mom nourishes, acting as a chef. A good mom puts in the time. A good mom does it all. A good mom makes things happen.

One thing I know for sure: my daughter knows I always have her back. I always have her best interest at heart…just like my mom did before I lost her six years ago. She knows I will hop on a plane to help her. She also knows I will not live her life for her. I wouldn’t dream of calling or emailing a college professor. I won’t try to find friends for her or tutors. She has learned her own problem-solving skills by doing things herself…and by observing over the years.

But would I catch a flight to pick up her bag filled with lacrosse gear that had been abandoned by an airline in an airport? You bet your sweet bippy!

So am I surprised the mom in Denver flew to Chicago to fetch her daughter’s bag? Not one bit.

There are, however, some lessons to be learned here. First, when you fly, ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOUR CHECKED BAG IS TAGGED FOR YOUR FINAL DESTINATION…look at the check bag tag and make sure it has “Los Angeles/LAX” (or your destination) on it before releasing it to an agent. Second lesson? Purchase some Apple Air Tags or Tile Pros to stick in your checked bags, so you know where they are! You won’t be surprised to know that, after reading about the girl’s luggage issues, I’m purchasing some Apple Air Tags and some Tile Pros for our family for Christmas. Purchase Tile Pros here. Purchase Apple Air Tags here. They make great Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers!

***As an Amazon associate, I receive commissions on items purchased through the links I provide.