Birthdays

(photo credit:hello giggles.com)

Everyone looks at me oddly when I exclaim, "I LOVE BIRTHDAYS!!!!" 
Why this love of birthdays may you ask?
Because it's the one day that I can truly celebrate the individuals for being themselves and no one looks at you like you have three heads. Kindness is a rare commodity these days: we are more likely to call a girl a hoe than beautiful. I think we need to focus more on celebrating our days on this Earth and the people who make them special.
So in honor of my birthday this Wednesday, I challenge you to celebrate someone for one day. Do their laundry, take them our for cheesecake, walk their goldfish and pay them a compliment. As they say, smiles make the world go around.....

Isn't that a beautiful thing?

ox Alysha Marie

To Everyone Who's Helped Make This Semester Beautiful

It's Friday, Friday...

This Friday's quote comes from one of my favorite books, "Captivating", by Stasi and Jon Eldridge. I love this quote because, to me, it defines how we perceive beauty. Although we interpret it in different ways, beauty is something that inspires us, that stirs something in the soul, and draws us to the generator. 


This weekend, I encourage you to join Alysha and I on our journey to cultivate an inner beauty that draws people in, and to be open to the inspiration of other beauties. 


Happy Weekend!

African Advice

Turns out that the North African Market in New York City is a good place to get life advice. 

A few friends and I decided to take a road trip to New York to get in some extra cross-cultural training for our upcoming trip to Senegal. We stayed with a missionary family that will be helping us once in Senegal and they suggested traveling to the city to get a crash course with speaking the language (a cross between French, Arabic and Wolof). So, we adventured into Harlem and there we met Mel.

Mel is from Ethiopia and sells scarfs and jewelry in the Market. My friend Kris, who has traveled to both Kenya and Gabon, struck up a conversion with her while trying to purchase some items to bring home. Mel lived in Ethiopia for thirty years, then moved to Kenya where she was exiled back to Ethiopia after her brother got in trouble with the law. She came to the States when her son was a baby and has lived and worked in Harlem ever since. She tries to travel back to Africa every couple of years, but hasn't had the money to go back (even for her dad's funeral in 2007) since she was laid off from her job. 


Before we parted, she took each of our hands and said, "You girls were respectfully inquisitive. Continue to ask questions. You are young, my children, ask the questions. Once you get old like me, the doors that are open to ask questions now will be shut and you will always wonder the answer."

My dare for you today is to ask questions. You never know what you might discover, and that's a beautiful thing.

OX Alysha Marie

Happy Friday

Proverbs 31:25; photo by Tristan McCann

The New Monday

The other day, I was at Starbucks and I noticed that one of the baristas had a great, glam, red lip. It was so neat and bright, and not too gooey or faded. As awkward as it felt to compliment someone on their lips, I told her how nice the color looked. She suddenly smiled and said, "Thanks. I decided that it was going to be my 'Monday thing'."

How cool is that?

Maybe I've taken this too far in my mind, but I think it's so neat that she chose to spice up a day that is especially difficult for most of us.

This semester, Tuesday is the new Monday. It's my most stressful day for class and work, and I often go into it overtired and mentally unprepared. But I've decided to take on the mentality of the "red lip". The I-have-a-say-in-how-my-day-goes attitude.

It may seem silly and trivial, but for me, it's saying, "My day is busy, but I can still make positive choices." Whether it's class, meetings, jury duty, or work- make today special because you can.

Challenge Accepted (Fishtail Bangs)

Original Photo:

Challenge Accepted:

Before trying this style, I recommend familiarizing yourselfwith the fishtail braid and the side-French braid, as this style incorporates these skills.  

1. Collect a chunk of hair (the width that you want braided) from the side of the head. 

Hint: it's better to get it from a middle layer, so the beginning of the braid can be covered by the top layer. 

2. Begin the fishtail braid, angling it towards the forehead. 

3. When you get to the bangs, add them in small pieces on the bottom side of the braid only. The reason for this is if you add them with the top side, it will not look as if popping off the head, in the Dutch style. 

4. Once all the bangs are in the braid, stop adding pieces and finish the fishtail like you normally would. 

5. When it's the length you desire, tie it up with an elastic, and pin it to a middle layer so as to hide the pin with the top layer. 

Thanks for reading! 


As always, any questions, comments, or hair challenges can be sent to:
anewbeautyblog@gmail.com

Thoughts for the Weekend

Crown Braid

For Easter Sunday, I did a crown braid in Tessa's hair. I recently started this style in my own hair, and have seen it in countless ads. It looks simple, yet complex; tame, but edgy. I absolutely love it. 

There are so many ways to do this style! I must have seen dozens of tutorials showing different methods. It's great because not every method works for every set of hands, or every head of hair. These are some tutorials that I found super helpful!

• Dreamweaver Braiding
• She Lets her Hair Down
• A Cup of Jo

This isn't a crown braid, but it's similar and really cool!

• A Beautiful Mess

Also, check out my super stylish sister rocking the crown braid! 

This is a Dutch-style braid that goes around her entire head. It most closely resembles the tutorials from Dreamweaver and She Lets Her Hair Down. Have questions? Contact us at anewbeautyblog@gmail.com.

These are a Few of My Favorite Things

1. My beautiful sister, Tessa.

2. I saw this online, and sent it to Tessa. We bought the supplies to make it over Winter Break, but I left before we could get started. She surprised me by putting it together while I was at school!

3. I never understood item collections until I saw the variety of Fossil tins. These colorful little tins are so fun to have around the room. 

4. This figurine was my Grandmother's. When I would go over after school, I would beg her to "see Cinderella". Basically, she embodied all that 5-year old Rory wanted out of life. 

I recently discovered that I will be living at home this summer, and, for a while, this was very upsetting. Don't get me wrong- I love being with my family, but I was hoping for the opportunity to be "on my own" for a few months in the city. 

I find that handling disappointment is often a matter of perspective. After the initial acceptance, I started looking at the benefits of living at home, which included what I love about my bedroom. 

I firmly believe that happiness is an inner choice, but focusing on positive surroundings makes it even easier! 

It's the Weekend

Someplace Sunny

Photos by Ka'aiohelo

Is it summer yet? As much as I'm loving the spring months, I cannot wait for this semester to end and for summer break to begin! If you're in the same boat- hang in there! 

My friend, Ka'ai took these photos in her home state of Hawai'i. They looked so relaxing and summery, I had to share them. 

Enjoy!

Back Bay Fens

Last summer, I made it a personal mission to see every park in the Emerald Necklace Conservancy- a collection of parks around the city of Boston. The Back Bay Fens is located right outside Fenway Park, and is an excellent location for walks, pick-up sports, or just some nature eye-candy! 


In addition to seeing beautiful parks, it's fun to have a goal. This one doesn't have a deadline because my life is already full of them, and who needs another? It's just something that I like doing (being outdoors) with a little incentive. It's also a good reason to drag a friend..."Oh please, it's a personal goal of mine..."


Who can resist? So, in light of this season of renewal, I challenge you to challenge yourself. Spice things up a little. Give yourself a goal to work towards. Who knows what memories, friends, new goals you'll make along the way?


See you at the Fens. 

G.D.O.

Hello Beauty Bloggers!

This time of the year is usually a busy one- proms, finals, graduation, looking for summer jobs, and everything that comes with the excitement of ending another academic year. 

In the hustle-and-bustle, it's important to remember the people that got you through the year in the first place. Yes, it's the easiest time to neglect your close friends, but this is the best time to show them what they mean to you. 

The other day, I went out with my friends, Ka'ai and Sam for mani/pedis. All day we kept reiterating, "Wow, I needed this."

What- a pedicure? 

No. 

Girl time. 

Nothing takes the stress of change and expectations like quality time with the girls. 

And it won't just happen. Just like it's important to make time for personal health, make special time to care for relationships. They're irreplaceable!