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some of my favorite posts

my succulents + tips for healthy plants

by Kaylah Stroup July 30, 2015

After realizing how great my plants were doing on my deck I decided to move everything out there for the summer. I’m no expert, everything I know about plants has been from scouring the internet or personal experience, and believe me I have killed my fair share of plants. I think I’m finally getting the hang of really growing things though. For the first time ever I’m actually confident I’m raising healthy succulents that are taking root and growing!

Something I kept reading about over and over was that plants have a growing season and a resting season. In the winter they should get less light but I had no idea how to do that because by moving them anywhere away from the window it just wouldn’t be enough light. It took seeing some of my plants outside thriving for that little bell in my head to finally go off and realize that putting them outside to get the most sunlight might be the best option for healthy plants. Despite getting what I would consider a great deal of light in my office nothing really compares to being outside.

I get so many requests for posts on how to grow cacti and succulents but it’s really all trial and error for me. My best advice is make sure they get lots of sunlight and to water them when the soil is completely dry. I don’t have a regular watering schedule because some weeks they dry out quicker than other weeks and each plant is different. I recently read about how watering them a little bit less will help grow better roots since the roots will search for water. I’m not quite sure how true that is but I have been playing around with watering certain plants only a little bit instead of the full amount I would normally give them. So far so good!

Another thing I’ve noticed really seems to make my plants super happy is misting them. I bought a spray bottle specifically to mist the pups I was propagating. Since they were right beside all my other plants I’d end up just spraying every one of them down. I noticed fairly quickly how much more green and lively everything looked! Now it’s something I do to every one of my plants outside on a daily basis.

Basically if you didn’t feel like reading all that nonsense above, for healthier plants –
▴ Make sure they get enough light! If possible, put them outside for the summer. Just watch when the forecast calls for heavy rain, they most likely won’t love that and make sure they don’t get too much light. Plants can get sunburn too. I think there’s this idea that succulents are super easy to grow inside but it’s just not true – they need lots of light!
▴ Water them when their soil is dry. All plants are different and no one on the internet is going to be able to tell you the best schedule for yours, just keep an eye on them.
▴ Mist your plants daily – I promise it makes a huge difference!

Even if you end up killing a plant at least you go to enjoy it for some
amount of time. Think of it this way, it’s kind of like buying flowers.
You enjoy them for a week and then they die except with succulents and
cacti they live a lot longer than flowers.
xoxo

Pacific Coast Highway : Part 2

by Kaylah Stroup July 9, 2015

Remember how I said at first I wasn’t super impressed by the coast? That’s because the whole time I was waiting on stuff like this. This what I pictured the Pacific Coast Highway to be. Cliffs, bridges, tight winding roads and fog that just wouldn’t quit. I guess I’d only really seen photos of this stuff but I can understand why. It’s nearly impossible to take a bad photo of something so beautiful.

I’m not even sure what to say about these photos or this point in our trip other than I know for a fact we did not spend enough time here. I mean we definitely spent our fair share of time soaking in the sights, both completely in awe. We didn’t do much poking around or driving off the main highway, which I definitely regret now. I’ve been hearing all sorts of recommendations and seeing photos from places we were so close to but didn’t see. It hurtssss!

Before the trip I decided to not do much research on the Pacific Coast Highway. To be honest, it was insanely overwhelming. The majority of the time the things other people consider a priority aren’t the same as mine, and I figured it’d be a lot like the desert where we could just drive and find things. Clearly we found a fair share of spots to stop and take photos but I know we missed so many amazing little beaches, and hidden gems. In retrospect it would have been better for us to have planned more time to spend on the coast, and to have done more research on must see spots. Regardless, I still had an amazing time. It’s so crazy to think that just a day’s drive away is Death Valley where I experienced the hottest temperatures of my life (more on this another day!) The PCH feels like another world. The fog only added to the mysteriousness of this place. I’ve never been anywhere so beautiful.

After traveling it I can see why the Pacific Coast Highway is such a popular road trip for people to take. I definitely want to do it again someday, there’s still so much left to discover!
xoxo

You can find more posts from our road trip under the “travel” tag.

abandoned party supply company

by Kaylah Stroup June 11, 2015

Whenever Jesi comes to Cleveland to hang out I always rack my brain to think of awesome places to take her. This city has no shortage of abandoned buildings but I want to take her places that will just wow her. The abandoned “rubber duck factory” was a hit and something that I felt would be super hard to top. My only real idea for our adventure was a building formerly home to a company that supplied window displays for large companies, and rented decorations for parties. The company closed in 2009 after nearly 80 years in business. The internet boom basically killed the need for a place like this, people can now order these things from the comfort of their own home instead of buying locally.

Before closing the company held a liquidation sale but clearly they weren’t able to get rid of everything. This building is chock-full of left over decorations. There are three floors, not including the basement, that are just absolutely packed with things. The floors seem to be somewhat organized by holiday or theme. The top level is Christmas. There are boxes upon boxes, still unopened, of tinsel, ornaments, even trees!

The second floor seems to have a lot of craft supplies. Massive bolts of now moldy fabric, and fake flowers litter the floor. Two large cutting tables sit on one side of the room. Shelving units now hold a few random bottles and an empty pack of cigarettes, signs others come here to a have their own party.

Sometime after closing a portion of the building caught fire. That and some pretty extensive water damage make the floors on one whole side of the building pretty dangerous to traverse across. Despite the fact this was my third time inside the building I still haven’t covered a lot of ground simply because it’s not worth the risk of falling through the floor. There are also lots of really really dark areas in the building, which I don’t venture into either. What can I say? When it comes right down to it, I’m a huge weenie.

Even excluding those huge portions of the building I may never see, it’s incredible the wide range of things there are to discover. I understand that a lot of times it’s easier just to leave things behind especially in a situation like this where your business goes belly up but this just seems like such a huge waste. I can’t even imagine how much money worth of merchandise is still in this building, the great majority of it non-salvageable now.

My very first visit to this building was late at night during a storm. The rain was just pouring into the building like there was no roof at all. Even though it’s been abandoned for a while now but I can’t imagine it’ll stay up much longer. Ohio weather is rough on structures that have no one left to fend for them. Although I say it in nearly every abandoned post, I do look forward to visiting this building again in the future to see how it decays.
xoxo

what I wore : swans + summer legs

by Kaylah Stroup June 4, 2015

details

dress – via

jean jacket –thrifted
back patch – Stay Home Club

belt – thrifted

boots – Palladium Boots

pins – Good Vibes Only by Pintrill, Cat by I like Cats, Pineapple by Valley Cruise Press

I’ve got my summer legs going on. Summer legs being when I’m covered in scratches, bruises, mosquito bites, and of course, an uneven tan finishes off the whole look. They don’t look too rough in these photos but they feel it (the lighting was definitely doing me some favors!) After spending the day previous traipsing around in the woods in shorts it actually stung to put on lotion and sunscreen. Women’s bodies, according to the media, are supposed to be flawless. We’re supposed to have long, lean, absolutely smooth barbie legs. Every year for as long as I can remember this is what my legs look like as soon as the weather warms up. I’ve never felt uncomfortable about it, but rather worn all those things as little badges of a summer well spent. My legs, especially my knees, are covered in scars. I can’t recall what they’re all from but I’m willing to bet they’re all from something fun. I like my summer legs, a lot.

Speaking of leg stuff, I am all about this boot and dress combo. Over the fall and winter I slowly but surely amassed a pretty awesome collection of Palladium Boots except I wasn’t sure how they’d translate into my summer wardrobe. Although I’ve managed to pull it off with a few outfits in the past (see here + here) I was still nervous they’d have to be put away until jean weather came back around. Nope, I’m way into not only how dresses and boots look but how I feel in them. It’s a fun combo. Something about a good pair of boots just makes me feel invincible.

So basically the gist of this whole post is I feel real good. I also might have been trying to talk myself into getting a new pair of boots from Palladium Boot’s macaron collection. Just look at those colors!! So darn pretty.
xoxo

found on the beach – feeling blue

by Kaylah Stroup April 21, 2015

It’s beach season again! Swimsuits, sun, swimming or… ya know, trash. If you’re a new reader and totally confused already, be sure to check out the tag found on the beach.

Last week I headed to my favorite beach to get some fresh air. Still feeling a bit like there was a dark cloud hovering over me I figured spending the evening watching the sun go down over the lake, and listening to the waves hit the beach would do me good. I guess I forgot how much I loved that place, I was instantly at ease. It didn’t take long before I was compulsively picking up lighters. I wanted to do another set of beach trash photos but didn’t necessarily want to do another rainbow gradient. I do love doing that, and will most certainly do it again in the future but I waned something new. So…I picked up everything blue I found, all while singing this song, of course. I walked for around twenty minutes, really probably less. Just one swoop across the beach and this is what I gathered.

Crazy how many milk jug rings!

I considered leaving the collection there for others to find but felt a bit guilty not tossing everything. I’d love to do something with these things other than just taking photos, that’s actually been floating in my mind the last few times I’ve went to pick up trash. I’m just not sure what to do yet…

xoxo

found on the beach

by Kaylah Stroup January 6, 2015

Back in May of last year while wandering the beach I noticed I was seeing a lot of lighters. Every few steps I was finding one. I decided to pick all of them that I
found up in hopes that I’d maybe find enough to take a neat picture. By the time I was done, maybe an hour and a half
later, I had found fifty lighters total. I decided to stash them away in my car and continue collecting them throughout the entire summer. I was curious how many I’d find and I, of course, wanted to take a nice big color order photo of them all together.

Well, I collected a total of 199 lighters. In those seven months I visited the beach maybe twice a month or so which really isn’t very often for me at all. I can’t even imagine how many I would have found if I went more often. After I cleaned up the lighters I headed to the other side of the beach to shoot some photos only to find at least eight more on the walk.

It’s crazy to me how much litter washes up the beach. While the amount of lighters and trash I pick up is shocking it’s nothing compared to everything else that makes it way onto the sand. I was particularly taken aback on the day I went to lay out my lighters for the above photos. SO. MUCH. PLASTIC. It’s so colorful, it was weren’t absolutely disgusting it might kind of be pretty.

xoxo

found on the beach

by Kaylah Stroup October 28, 2014

Another rainbow edition of my found on the beach series. After I put this one together I realized maybe this wouldn’t be the best way to do them from now on since it looks so similar to the last one. Although, I do like this one much better without the white, black and grey section on the end. With the rainbow layout you’re looking more at the colors than the objects, at least I am anyway. It’s obviously way more visually appealing spread out like this, I’m just worried they’ll all start to look the same. Yeah, I’m definitely over thinking trash right now.

Anyway, I’m really excited about this set. I think there are so many neat little gems in there. My favorite thing to find will always be little people and animals.

Quick FAQ – things that get asked every Found on the Beach post.
Do you keep the things you pick up? No way. Once in a while I’ll keep something I really think is neat but I’m no hoarder.
What do you do with it when you’re done? I toss it in the trash where it belongs.
Was this really all from the beach in one day? For the
most part, yes. Sometimes if I find something I really think is neat on a
day I’m not collecting for a photo I’ll pick it up and hang on to it
until the next time I want to put together one of these.
Do you wear gloves? No, I don’t. These are things that
were washed up on the shore, not things simply left behind. They’re no
dirtier than the sand or water.

Prints available here.
xoxo

found on the beach

by Kaylah Stroup October 6, 2014

Well, I have set a new standard for myself with these found on the beach sets. As someone who organizes just about everything by color – my closet, my DVDs, etc – it’s kind of shocking to me I never thought to do this before. I’m obsessed with how it looks. It was so hard to choose what photos to share because I took so many. I had so much fun sorting everything out by color. (Are you a sorter? I love sorting things, I always have!) Seeing the little piles of colors made me want to do something bigger than just organizing sets on the beach. I’ve got a ton of ideas swirling around in my mind…

Quick FAQ – things that get asked every Found on the Beach post.
Do you keep the things you pick up? No way. Once in a while I’ll keep something I really think is neat but I’m no hoarder.
What do you do with it when you’re done? I toss it in the trash where it belongs.
Was this really all from the beach in one day? For the
most part, yes. Sometimes if I find something I really think is neat on a
day I’m not collecting for a photo I’ll pick it up and hang on to it
until the next time I want to put together one of these.
Do you wear gloves? No, I don’t. These are things that were washed up on the shore, not things simply left behind. They’re no dirtier than the sand or water.

xoxo

7 tips for maintaining bright hair color

by Kaylah Stroup September 30, 2014

For eleven straight I’ve been dyeing my hair unnatural colors. During this time I’ve written numerous hair related posts including how to bleach your hair, two tips for switching colors, and my must have hair products. Today I’ll be sharing how to maintain your color. All of the hair dyes you would use to dye your hair a funky color are semi-permanent and fade no matter what. In my outfit posts you can see my hair color is never the same more than once, even daily my hair color changes due to rinsing. Fading is inevitable but here are seven easy tips to help make your color last.

1 // Good color starts with healthy hair. While bleaching your hair isn’t the best way to start, it is necessary to do in order to achieve a bright color. Unhealthy, damaged hair will not hold color well. You may make it from black hair to pink in a week by bleaching your hair twice a day but that pink won’t hold because your hair is in rough shape. Be patient with your journey from dark hair to colored hair. Make sure to nurture your hair. Hair masks and repair products are your best friends! (I shared a few of my favorites here!)

2 // After healthy hair, the next most important thing is a high-quality hair dye. I highly recommend Punky Colours and Special Effects. I’m sure there are other great dyes, but those are the two I always turn to despite trying many others. Since those brands do NOT damage your hair, it’s totally fine, and really highly recommended that you leave it in for much longer than the recommended time. The packaging usually says something “let sit for 20 minutes before rinsing.” If you leave your hair dye in for 20 minutes that color is not going to last very long at all. I normally try to leave my hair color in for a minimum of three hours. The longer, the better! Since I always mix my dyes with equal parts conditioner my hair is also being nourished while I wait on the dye to set.

3// Rinse with cool water. This is actually my best tip. If you skip all other tips (please don’t, especially healthy hair!) this is the one to follow. Warm water opens the hair cuticle allowing the color to escape. I’m not saying you need to wash your hair with ice cold water, but in reality, the colder the better. I wash and rinse my hair in as cold of water as I can stand, toss it up in a towel then crank that water up for the rest of my shower.

Cold water also helps reduce bleeding if you have more than one color, otherwise your hair color will just turn into a mess similar to when you mix different colors of paint together.

While we’re on the subject of water, it should be noted that swimming in chlorinated water is awful for your hair color. (But hey, if you want to fade your hair, go for it! Check out this video I made for an idea of how badly pool water will affect your hair!) For good measures, just keep your hair dry as much as possible and avoid hot water!

4 // Avoid shampoos with sulfates and styling products with alcohol. Sulfates and alcohol-based products are two huuuuge things that will fade any hair color. Sulfate free shampoos can be kind of tricky to find sometimes, but they’re definitely worth switching to. I recommend Sparks Color Care Sulfate-Free Shampoo + Conditioner.

Even with sulfate free shampoo, you should still try to cut back on shampoo use. Shampoo strips your hair of its natural oils, as well as the color. If you’re lucky enough to not have super greasy hair (like me!) skip washing every other day and use a dry shampoo on your off days. My dry shampoo of choice is Aveda Shampure. (also on Amazon) It’s a little bit more expensive than others I’ve found and tried but easily the best!

When I shampoo I try to only apply it to the roots, where my hair is most likely to become greasy, and only avoid the ends of my hair since that’s what normally fades most quickly anyway.

5 // Mix some color into your conditioner. If you add hair dye to your conditioner you’ll be depositing a little bit of color every time you condition. This only applies if your hair is a solid color, or a mix of the same colors in different shades obviously. This is also a great idea because you’re able to leave conditioner in your hair for longer without running the risk of fading it. Healthier hair + brighter color = win/win!

Alternatively, you could try a color depositing conditioner! There are lots of new ones on the market these days. Keracolor comes in 13 different colors + has excellent reviews. My dye brand of choice, Punky Colours, also just came out with one! There are currently 11 different colors + it’s a few bucks cheaper.

6 // Avoid heat styling. If you must heat style (hey, I feel ya), use a protectant! This is my personal favorite, I’ve been using it for a while now. When I’m using my curling wand, and not just my blow dryer, I also add some argan oil to the tips which helps protect the color as well.

7 // Avoid prolonged exposure to the sun. Just like your skin, the sun isn’t necessarily good for your hair color. Try wearing a hat if you’ll be spending a long time in the sun. There are also UV protection sprays for your hair. I use Sparks Color Care Protecting Spray. Highly recommended!

Keep in mind that just choosing one of the above points isn’t going to save your hair color. If you’ve switched to a sultfate free shampoo but still wash your hair every day in hot water, the fact you’re using a sulfate free shampoo really doesn’t even matter anymore.

A combination of all of the above should help you maintain your hair color a bit longer than normal.

If you have any hair questions or are looking for more tips, check out my hair master post!
xoxo

7 tips for maintaining bright hair colors - The Dainty Squid

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