✥ Dove Intensive Repair Conditioner Review & $1000 Sweepstakes ✥

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What's happening, you guys!?!  Many weeks ago I had the chance to review a product I already use every... single.... day!  DOVE CONDITIONER!!! When I saw the opportunity I was like

 heck yeah!!!
Let me begin my journey with a picture. A picture of me washing my hair, eyes closed, and saying things like, "Love that sweet smellin' Dove." You know, things they'd say in the commercial. When I get out of the shower, I blow dried my hair, intending to run into the living room, (like the models do on the commercial) and whip my hair around for my husband. (Assuming the shiny shimmer would catch his attention, like a fish drawn to a fishing lure.) Then I  just knew he would scoop me up, swing me around, my newly soft hair bouncing in the wind. Instead, when I ran into the living room, my dog jumped off the couch and ran right in front of my foot.

Now I don't know if any of you girls have yorkies, but they make a distinct noise when you kick them. It goes something like "bbbbrrrraaaarrr." Undoubtedly distracted by the yelping dog "flying" across the room, my startled husband did not see my pretty, shiny, soft hair, but instead, locked eyes on the bedraggled Beau dog, flying across the room.(Beau dog is on the right in the pic) Scrambling to his four furry feet, my sweet pup raced under the table. Of course I feel terrible and immediately ran over to him. From beneath the table, he whimpered and looked at me like I had kicked him on purpose!
 Then, from behind me, my husband says, "Wow, you hair sure is shiny."
I grit my teeth and grumbled, "And soft too! Come here, you poor sweet Beau Doggy!" After some TLC the dog forgave me. And of course, while I was petting him, my husband was caressing my "soft hair" and all of this is because of Dove.  I feel like Dove products are a well kept secret, but I'm sharing that secret with all of you today. :-) If you care to learn how my journey with the white bottle began, read on.

 Truthfully, I've been using Dove shampoo and conditioner since college. I had always used salon products before that. Every now and again I would try something from the grocery store- but they could never compare with my Paul Mitchell. I was pretty much a die hard fan of the expensive stuff. 

One day, many moons ago, I went to the beach wth my sister. We went back to her dorm and I wanted to shower before going back to school. I used her hair products and I was completely shocked at the quality! I loved how lathery the shampoo was, the super clean smell, and the conditioner was insanely awesome. My hair felt so smooth and silky afterwards- not frizzy  or  flat  or  oily. It was just kind of perfect!

So I've been using the stuff ever since. Personally, I think it's better than Paul Mitchell- and all the others I've tried over the years. I am so impressed, the products worked on my hair when we lived in Hawaii and there was 90% humidity and they work here in UT when there is barely a drop of moisture in the air. You girls know what a big deal that is!!

 Now I've expanded my use of their product line and I use Dove's hairspray and their beauty bar-- aka bar soap (lol), too! I am allergic to fragrances in my soaps and Dove makes an awesome hypoallergenic product.

For this review I was sent the Intensive Repair Conditioner- which was perfect because I bleach the stinkin crap out of my hair lightly highlight my hair, I swim a few times a week, blow dry my hair and I lay out in the sun! (Show of hands, who is surprised I even still have hair?)
I usually use their line for color treated hair- but this worked so well, I think they may have converted me over. Especially since I saw Costco carries this one in this awesome jumbo sized bottles for super affordable- I could get Costco's huge Dove shampoo and Dove conditioner for the price of one bottle of my old conditioner!! Saweeeet!
 

Remember how Zack and I went camping for basically an entire month this summer? Yeah, well- you could also call that "wear-a-hat and braid-camping-hair" month. This was basically the uniform. Don't you just love how well it goes with my "I-wear-sunglasses-so-they-don't-see-I've-forgotten-what-makeup-is" look I had goin on!?

 You guys know I don't put a lot of pics of myself on my blog- but here's a couple of my hair, just so you can see what a good product it is.  You KNOW following a camping trip of this magnitude is the perfect time to try out some heavy duty conditioner! (No laughing at these awkward poses, please!! You are all my friends...right!??!)

Well, I think you are anyhow- ;-)
And just for being my friends- and for making it through my rambling support for my beloved hair care products, I am going to give each of you a coupon. Hooray!
OK. OK. So, maybe Dove is going to give each one of you a coupon- but still, money saved is rad, right!? Now you can all get yourself some conditioner- I mean, if it could keep my hair healthy through what I do to it, basically it's a miracle in a bottle!

Now, there's a link right down there- for you to go and save yourself some dough.
While you're doing that, you get the chance to enter and (hopefully) win a $1,000 Spafinder gift certificate! How rockin is that?!

Now go on and win that thing! xoxo

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY
COMMENTS TO THIS POST ARE NOT SWEEPSTAKES ENTRIES. PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR ENTRY METHODS FOR THIS SWEEPSTAKES.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Follow this link, and provide your email address and your response to the Promotion prompt

b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: "#SweepstakesEntry"; and then visit this link to provide your email address and the URL to that Tweet.

c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and then visit this link to provide your email address and the URL to that post.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. Winners will have 72 hours to claim the prize, or an alternative winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 9/4/2012 - 9/30/2012

Be sure to visit Dove^®Hair.com to get a coupon for $1.50 off Dove Hair Therapy products.

✥ Feature: "Big" Girl's Bedroom Reveal ✥

Happy Monday, everyone!! Today is my first real day of graduate school- since we finished our 9 day orientation. I am kinda excited to get started- you know when you have a really big build up, and it's like- let's do this!? I can't wait ti get in there- and get settled. So maybe I can visit my friend's blogs again!!

This is week 3 for our kid's room show off. I wanted to share the cutest kid's bedroom with you all today, via Shelly at Crazy Wonderful. Her blog is perfectly named because Shelly's style IS crazy wonderful...or super wonderful, either way she rocks the house. 

Duuude, do you love those curtains- or what?! I am lOviN them!

I know we love a good before and after- check this out! Here's what she started with.

And, here's the reveal!

SHelly is a DIYer after my own heart- she made a DIY chalk paint for the bright little night stand. 

The ruffled bedskirt was another great DIY, Shelly used a plain white bedskirt and added the ruffles. I love the cute details like that and like the bird on the pillowcase, but look how darling this pompom pillow is!!

Shelly says the reading nook and a place to display her daughter's books was a must have. But my favorite part- she was able to slipcover her grandmother's wingback and use it! What a sweet place to sit and hold your daughter! 

Make sure you pop over to find the sources and list of projects that made this whole room makeover possible for ONLY $350!!

I hope all of you are doing well!! I miss you guys!
xo

✥ Mod Podge Transfer Tute {archives} ✥

 The MBA program has officially started, so I thought I'd share a post from my archives. This project is so old, I doubt hardly anyone has seen it. But it was was stinkin handy, I just had to share it. I've been wanting to use this technique for another sign, for absolutely ages, but I just have not had the time! I think most of you would be able to use this tute- has anyone already done this? 

More Bees in this Berger home! This time it's an "Apiary" sign with an image of a bee and a hive.

I got this sign for free, regardless of what that little sticker says. Z and I hit a yard sale right at the end and cleaned house with all our free goodies. I knew pretty quickly what I wanted to do with it. I saw this sign from Miss Mustard Seed. I loved the idea behind it and thought I could personalize it.

Z and I often call each other "B" as a nickname- {Becca Berger}.
I can't imagine how the nickname came about.

So obviously the bee is a perfect dual meaning. I did this bee lamp last week, but thought the house could use one more. 

I made my sign with a Mod Podge transfer technique that works for words and graphics but you will want to follow the tutorial exactly is you want good results. This project is excellent because you can transfer complicated images without leaving behind residue or shine around the pictures.
 
How I made mine:

[1] Sand and paint sign black

[2] Lightly sand and then paint sign white- took about three coats.

[3] Distress wood now,  before the image is transferred. The words will be too vulnerable to withstand sanding. 

[4] Paint one side of a piece of printer paper with Washable Elmer's Glue, getting complete coverage.

[5] The image: I grabbed my pictures offline {again.} I'm not selling these items, so I think it's legit to snag the pics.
 I just made my own  design for the word using Microsoft Word. I would strongly recommend using only black ink for the graphics.  My image had grey ink and it looked lilac! I had to use touch up paint to cover it.
You can change the image to "black and white" in Microsoft Word by clicking 1 button and it will remove shading and grey tones
Make sure to REVERSE THE IMAGE if you're doing words, again this is accomplished by the click of one button. {Google it if you're unsure of how to make these changes.}

[6] Once your paper is dry you can print out the image on the glued side.

[7] In this picture I am determining the spacing I wanted.
With that decided, you'll paint the wood with Mod Podge, try to only put Mod Podge where paper will be over it. It will leave shiny spots otherwise.
If this happens to you my suggestion is to decoupage the entire board so the whole thing is shiny. Do not try to sand the Mod Podge off- this did not turn out well for me!
Put the image face down on the wood. Make sure to rub it in order to get air bubbles out and to get a good adhesion. Leave it overnight, no peaking!

{It is possible that I take cardboard from Ikea every time I g, so that I can use then for projects.}

This is what mine looked like the next day.

[8] Wet the paper, dunk it in water or use a spray bottle, whatever method you like, just wet it down. You want the paper to be completely saturated. You'll know when it is wet enough because the ink will be much more visible through the paper. You can see at the top where the ink is darkening, becoming more visible through the paper.
 

[9] After the paper is soaked and has set for a couple of minutes you can gently peel the paper off. Don't rub or the ink can come off.

[10] I used craft paint to touch up the image a little. {Here's ^ the gallery wall when I was still adding to it!}

That's all I can think of girls! Let me know if you all have any questions. This technique was the bomb. I know other people have had problems with it- they say the ink won't transfer. I have never had problems, so follow the steps carefully!

I pretty much love this project- the sign makes me smile.

Thanks for looking!

Looking for places to link up your projects? Check out my Party page.I'm also linked up here.

✥ Feature: Anthro-esque Girl's Bedroom ✥

Hello cute lady friends~ Hope you all had super awesome weekends! So far I'm surviving the 8-12 hour days in the MBA orientation- though I'd rather be blogging! Do you think I could get a bumper sticker that reads that?

Anyhow- I am pretty excited to start something new and see what the program brings. The peeps I'm in school with are rad so far and really diverse, so that's a lot of fun!

We are on week two of our children's room tours- and for all the fun anthro fans out there, I thought this room would be perfect. It comes from Danielle Oakey {Danielle Oakey Interiors}- another UT design blogger. It's her daughter's bedroom and it's been featured all over the dang place- in big blogs like Apartment Therapy!

Last week we saw an almost all-white space and talked about if that was a good fit for kids and, of course, I thought it was totally rad! Now let's check out another sophisticated children's space.

I totally heart the homemade art above the bed! I think it's another move that keeps the room young and playful, though I wouldn't mind a few of them in my home either!!

I am also in love with the homemade headboard- the shape and fabric choice were jut peeerfect!!

How much do you dig the bold black and white stripes along the wall? I am way to much a baby to make that happen in my home- but I do adore a strong graphic element in a room. It was a total "have no fear" decision and I think it paid off. Danielle made the awesome decision to use chalkboard paint for the stripes- and I think this helps keep the room young feeling. 

Look how much her darling daughter, Emory, enjoys it!!

I love how Danielle used a deer head from a craft store to create her own mounted bust for next to nothin. I have sent his copied time and again- but her's was the very first I saw! It was so creative!!'

Most of the items in the room were thrifted. I love this bookcase for kid's books, which so easily look messy and busy. A little out of sight and a great place for a few toys, too! Besides, you all know I'm a sucker for a globe! 

The furniture Danielle found she just painted to freshen the up and unify the look. I also liked how the bedside tables are different, but she painted them the same color and they're about the same size. I like this look so much better than the traditional matching set. I've been looking for some to do this to.

Thanks for stopping in today-what did you think of Danielle's daughter's space? Did anyone think it looked too old for a kiddo- or just right? As for me, I think it's a wonderful cohesion of spunk and color creating a sophisticated children's space--and I especially liked that it was unusual. 

✥ Succulents {Even Walmart Can Make Something Beautiful}✥

I could only think of one title for this post- I kept thinking about how even Walmart could sell something that would turn out beautiful!

I've been wanting to jump on the succulent train for awhile now- and just never seemed to have the time. Then Zack and I were grabbing some last minute camping stuffs and I saw these babies. I had this free vase/bowl thingy I got from my bro-in-law and thought it was perfect for these guys. 

I had some potting soil on hand because I planted herbs this year- which were, by the way, super fantastic! If any of you are condo/apartment dwellers and are on the fence about a pot garden- jump off that fence and come on over to the bright side! It was so easy and I loooved having them on hand. That is, they were on hand until Zack and I went on a spur-of-the-moment four week vacation!! I am certain everything was fried by the UT son ages ago.

OK- long detour, now back to the succulents.

I potted my cute little plants and thought they looked kinda lonely in there. So I threw in some polished stones {I think they were from a fish tank we had a zillion years ago??} 

and then called it a day!

 This is just part of my master plan to beautiful my honey oak horror kitchen by giving my eye some beautiful vignettes to look at instead. 

As a total PS- I think my landlord's wife reads my blog, so to her I say: thanks for reading and please don't be offended about my dislike for the kitchen cabinets!! {And wouldn't they look so totally rad and awesome painted white!?! ;-)

Hope the rest of you chicas are doing well!!

✥ Guest Post: Southern Lovely ✥

Hey friends! Today you can find me over at Southern Lovely. My lovely friend Lindsay is moving and I was thrilled to be asked to share a post over at her place today! 

And just because loved it, I thought I'd share a little project Lindsay posted the other day-a pinwheel party for her 6 year old daughter! Isn't it lovely? I think it turned out beautifully and was so unique. Isn't it the perfect follow up to Shelly's amazing little girl's room yesterday? I thought so. ;-)

I hope you'll stop by and say hi!