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collection of curiosities – part two

by Kaylah Stroup April 22, 2015

Last week I shared some photos of my living room and today I’d like to share a few more of my favorite corner. I guess this is part two of my collection of oddities. The ones in my office are more natural oddities. Basically they’re all just things that used to be alive or part of something living. These ones weren’t. There are dentures, dental slides, a tooth shade guide, a model of the uterus with a baby inside, dental models, and a few other odds and ends. I even have my braces, and a mold of my own teeth after getting my braces removed.

This cabinet is actually one of the very first things I started to decorate this apartment with. The same week I moved in my furnace died in the middle of the night. It was freezing and I had to call my new landlords right away. They’re a super sweet middle aged couple. As I was waiting for them to arrive it hit me, the thermostat is right above this weird little cabinet full of teeth and its basically the only thing in my living room right now. They’re going to think I am SO strange. The last thing I want to do is give them a bad impression of me, especially after I was so nervous they wouldn’t want me as a tenant because of my hair and tattoos. Hilariously enough the husband was actually pretty interested in my collection. After simply asking “are you a dental student?”, he complimented how it looked and revealed his brother used to make dental molds for a living. When he came back the next morning to work on the furnace yet again he said “your apartment is like an I Spy” and that my friends, is a high compliment to this lady!

Hope you’re having an awesome week!
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

bike style : windblown

by Kaylah Stroup April 15, 2015

As much as I love color, and an abundance of patterns, I really love wearing all black. With my hair and tattoos I really don’t need too much else to still be colorful. Sometimes it’s fun to just let them take the attention. I know all black shorts and a top isn’t too exciting but I’m pretty darn picky about how clothes fit, especially clothes I’m going to be biking in so when I find something that fit really well it’s basically all I want to wear. I wandered into Gordmans last week. I had never been in one but I remembered my mom saying something about it. It’s similar to TJ Maxx, I suppose, but with maybe a bit more cheap stuff mixed in. Bad cheap stuff, not good cheap stuff. There were a few hidden gems buried in the clothing department though. I spotted these shorts and recognized they were the same brand as a pair of jeans I have and love. I grabbed a random black top to try on with the shorts and instantly fell in love with both. On really hot days I don’t like to spend too much time worrying about what I’m going to wear since I’m just going to get gross and sweaty in it. If I could have a week’s worth of this top and these shorts I’d be all set for the summer!

Sunday marked one year since my very first bike ride around the city. Jeff, and I were hanging out when he asked if I wanted to go on a bike ride with him and few of his friends that night. I actually remember specifically where we were when he asked. I was not interested…at all. The fact he was even asking stressed me out. I hadn’t been on a bike in a long time, and I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with them. He kept bugging me about it, and eventually convinced me to say yes – although I wasn’t happy about it. I borrowed one of Jason’s bikes and seventeen miles later I was beyond sold. That was the night I fell in love with Cleveland. A week or so later I bought the prettiest bicycle I’ve ever seen and haven’t looked back since. It was easily one of my best purchases…ever.

What’s especially funny to me is that last week while searching for a photo I stumbled upon a post from 2012. In it I talked about how simply riding around the block in the small town I lived in caused me great anxiety. I even said “I can’t wait until I can look back and realize how stupid all of this was.”Posts like that are my absolute favorite reason to blog. It’s so easy to look at my life now and see it as so normal but reading things like that make me so proud of how far I’ve come. I used to be this timid girl afraid to just go around the block in a town of 6,000, now I’m chopping traffic in a city of 390,000. I seriously cannot think of anything more satisfying than conquering your fears! It’s pretty amazing how this thing with two wheels was able to change my life so drastically.
xoxo

It was WINDY! Can you tell? Hah!

Living Room Tour

by Kaylah Stroup April 14, 2015

I’ve been living in my “new” apartment for around three months now. I actually got settled in here fairly quickly but like I’ve mentioned before there are always little odds and ends I’m looking for or things I’m considering changing. That leads to me putting off posting room tours but I’m feeling like this room is in a pretty good place right now. Really ever since I bought the rug I’ve been dying to post pictures. In the words of The Dude, that rug really tied the room together. It’s absolutely what it was missing! It’s a pain in the butt to keep free of cat and dog hair but it just looks so darn good.

The bike rack is one of my other favorite things in the room. I was kind of stumped with what to put on that wall. The obvious choice was to put a tv there, I keep mine in my bedroom though. Then I realized I didn’t have anywhere to put my bike! I spent a while searching for an attractive and affordable bike rack type thing. It just wasn’t happening so I decided making one was the route to go. Jeff and I went to the hardware store with a tiny idea of what we were looking for but ended up coming home with the pieces for this. It actually ended up looking way more awesome than I had pictured. It’s great because it’s simple, it was cheap (under $20), gets my bike out of the way, and it looks awesome!

I don’t think I could have found an apartment more perfect for me right now. I’m sure someday I’ll outgrow it, or realize I have other needs in a space just like I did with my last place but for right now this is the best. I love this place!
xoxo

Sources:
▴ Rug – Ikea
▴ Fillmore Sofa – Thrive Furniture
▴ Tooth print by Brendan Megannety
▴ Globe mirrors
▴ Record player (+the record spinning)
▴ Large pillow
▴ Small eye pillow by Fancy Clancy
▴ Rabbit taxidermy made by me (!!) in one of Mickey Alice Kwapis’ classes.
▴ Map, anatomical man, globes, coffee table, record stand + giant cat all picked up second hand.

Propagating for the very first time…

by Kaylah Stroup April 9, 2015

I think it’s pretty obvious I have a thing for plants, my instagram is full of them and I’m sneaking them into my 365 posts. When I was younger my mom would try in vain to get me to garden with her. She’d always quip “someday you’ll love flowers!” Lo and behold she was right. Before moving to Cleveland, I lived in a small town in a quaint little home I decorated with an abundance of flowers. When I moved to Lakewood I lived in an apartment building with no outside space to call my own so the gardening ceased. There my interested in house plants really bloomed. (heh, get it?) Even though the house I’m living in now has a deck where I can have flowers when the weather warms up my house plant obsession is still going strong.

I’ve always been interested in propagating succulents but had just never put any time into learning how. I recently noticed one of my plants was looking pretty leggy so I decided to finally spend a little bit of time learning how to turn that one plant into many. It’s been just over two weeks since I laid them out to do their thing and guess what! They’re growing. Totally not that big of a deal at all, especially if propagating is something you do regularly. But this is my very first time trying and this is so darn encouraging. All the posts I read were so positive, and reassured me it was easy but the comments all left me feeling like maybe it wasn’t. I read a ton of posts, gathered up what seemed like good advice, and it all seems to be working.

Shown in the photo above are the cuttings, which are from the top of the plant the leaves were harvested from. One post I read basically said that if it already looks like a plant then to plant it, and wait for it to grow roots. I’m incredibly impatient (and equally as curious) so I very carefully maneuvered one of the smallest out of the dirt to see if it was growing as planned. Surprise, surprise – it was! I mean, I may have caused some damage doing that but at least I know the others are probably doing the same!

I was pleased to read that no part of the plant goes to waste when you propagate. Even the stem will grow new babies. My stems were looking pretty rough so I wasn’t too hopeful but would you look at that! Growth!

These photos were taken six days ago, since then the babies have grown leaps and bounds. I’m so proud. I really love growing things and this just takes it to the next level! Fingers crossed they continue to grow and grow!
xoxo

Recommended reading if you’re looking to get started –
▴ Propagating Succulents on Needles + Leaves
▴ How to Propagate from Succulent Leaf Cuttings on Snapguide
▴ How to Propagate Succulents from Leaves on Succulents + Sunshine
▴ How-To: Propagating Succulents on Terrain

Wishlist // Bike Style

by Kaylah Stroup April 8, 2015

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8 // 9

not pictured but still awesome – !!!

Spring is in full swing here (errr except for the random cold days we keep getting) and my bike is essentially all I have on my mind. My poor car has been neglected but my body has never felt better. Seriously, you should feel my thighs. I wanted to make a post with little round up of bike related things I’ve been spotting all around the internet. Clothing with bicycle prints, an adorable lunch box, and even a repair kit! I actually bought and to go under it last week. I’m pretty excited to get them. Maybe it will even be the skirt that helps me meet my “bike in a skirt or dress” goal.

Speaking of bikes, I’ve actually taken the pledge to ride my bike everyday this month. I found this website just a couple of days before the first of the month. The goal is to ride your bike everyday in April no matter the distance, or the weather. For every thirty pledges they’re working to donate a bike to Free Bikes 4 Kids. A great cause and an excuse to get out everyday for a ride. I was definitely interested but kind of afraid to commit. I actually waited until we were four days into the month before I was like “yeah, I guess so! I’ve ridden these last four days anyway…” I just don’t want to miss a day and feel super guilty about it. I’m going strong so far! I’ve been able to avoid the rain but doubt that will last for long. April showers might bring May flowers, but they also are whats having me question why I signed up. Heh! Wish me luck! And definitely consider signing up for yourself! We may be a few days in but it doesn’t matter, the sign up is still open and if you’re really concerned you can just make up the days next month.

xoxo

First Hike of Spring

by Kaylah Stroup April 7, 2015

One of my favorite spring activities is hiking with my family. This year it seems like spring was a little slow to start. The snow took forever to melt, and the cold just seemed to linger on and on. That coupled with the fact I’m now living a lot further away from my parents means our family hikes have been quite limited. Easter was the first one all year. It was great though because my brother, my nephew, and my niece joined us as well. It’s really fun to see the little ones (although they’re not so little anymore!) getting into nature. Grace came wearing a vest that was equipped with a magnifying glass, walkie talkie and a few containers for bugs. I’m kicking myself for not getting a picture of that now! But I did take lots of other pictures…

I guess it’s becoming kind of an annual tradition for me to share photos from early spring hikes. Check out last year’s post – 2014.
xoxo

oVertone haircare review

by Kaylah Stroup April 1, 2015

Last month I was contacted by oVertone haircare. They have a line of color depositing conditioners made to fight fading. Cool enough, right? What really sold me is that you can rinse with hot water and heat style as much as you want without worrying about your color fading. They actually encourage you to use warmer water. For the past eight years, I have been washing my hair in cold water to fight fading. It is not fun. It’s my least favorite part about having dyed hair. So when you tell me that using warmer water, to open the cuticle and let the product in, will help keep my hair color brighter I am sold!

oVertone currently has seven different colors in three intensities so there is something for everyone no matter if you’re rocking pastels, vibrant colors or suuuuper bright colors. It doesn’t lighten your hair so if you have very dark hair it’s not going to change much but it can still be used to deposit color on hair that isn’t already an unnatural color. Obviously, the color won’t be as bright but it will still be colorful.

The above photo is what my hair looked like on February 28th, the day before starting to use the conditioner.

Since my hair was/is a mix of blue and green they sent over their daily conditioner in extreme teal and extreme green as well as the deep conditioner in both colors. The daily conditioner is meant to be used anytime you’d use regular conditioner. Some days I use a mix of both colors, and other days I just used one color applied all over my hair. Since it does deposit color it tends to stain my hands. Good news is I’ve found that the staining is gone by the time I finish washing and shaving which is basically how I time how long to leave in the conditioner every day.

This photo was taken on March 9th after using the conditioner for nine days and the deep conditioner once.

The deep conditioner was made to be used on a weekly basis or as needed whenever you’re looking for an extra jolt of color and moisture. I used it right before I got my hair cut so that it would be super bright when meeting a new stylist. I applied it to wet, towel dried hair and left it on for around a half hour. I used the green was tickled pink to see what a gorgeous green my hair was when I rinsed.

(March 21, after using the daily conditioner for 21 days.)

As you can see, my hair is actually brighter now than it was when I started. I’m not even halfway through either bottle of conditioner. Obviously, my hair is also a totally different color but that’s because I was using two different colors of conditioner. That led to a huge variety of shades which is essential to making the color look natural so needless to say I’m totally into it. I absolutely adore my hair right now.

In my years of dyeing experience, I’ve found blue to be the absolute biggest pain in the butt to keep vibrant so for my hair to look like this after so long I am pumped! I am currently considering changing my hair color but only because my roots are so darn long. Normally hair fading is my sign that it’s time to touch up my roots but this color just isn’t stopping anytime soon! My hair is incredibly soft and vibrant right now.

Final thoughts ///
▴ For single color hair, or multiple shades of similar colors (like mine is now) this stuff is amazing – a must have especially if you struggle with fading.
▴ Unless you have a mirror in your shower and want to spend time separating sections of colors daily these conditioners probably wouldn’t be ideal if you’re sporting more than one color. Is it doable? Yes, totally but realistically I don’t see many being that committed. If you are, then by all means, buy this stuff.

You can read more about oVertone and purchase their conditioners on here.

Update May 2018 – If you’re unconvinced by oVertone but are still looking for a color depositing conditioner the good news is there are lots of new ones on the market these days. Keracolor comes in 13 different colors + has tons of excellent reviews.
xoxo

If you’re looking for some tips on bleaching and dyeing, check out my hair master post!

Salton Sea of the Midwest

by Kaylah Stroup March 30, 2015

A little while back Jeff, Jason and I took a day trip to do some exploring. We were all pretty darn sick of being cooped up inside for the last few months. It was a gorgeous day so I don’t think it really mattered where we went. I was just happy to be out looking for things to shoot again. You could have told me we were going anywhere and I’d have been like “Cool! Sounds great! Let’s go!”

When we arrived at the destination, it’s safe to say we were all blown away. It was better than we imagined. This area, formerly a little vacation spot, has been abandoned since at least 2008. The left side of the now overgrown road has little cottages, and the right is lined with colorful trailers. In those seven years the weather has really taken a toll on these structures. Most of were still full of things like one day everyone just picked up and left. Essentially had we discovered the midwest’s version of the Salton Sea. It was incredible! We spent nearly four hours (!!!?) wandering in and out of each trailer and cottage taking photos.

It’s funny because the one big thing Jeff was really set on seeing last year on our road trip was the Salton Sea. It was amazing, we both took tons of photos and were just completely overwhelmed by it. But, y’all, this place! We both sheepishly admitted while strolling down the abandoned road these trailers rest on that it was a cooler experience than the Salton Sea. It’s so crazy to think that we had something like that so close. There have obviously been other people here, and we’re not the first people to photograph it but it’s fun to think this ours. It’s not a tourist destination like the Salton Sea has essentially become. Maybe someday it will become a spot that everyone gets but the three of us will still have all have the experience of discovering it together and memories of how stinking exciting it was.
xoxo

Ps. You can check out Jeff’s post from this place here, and Jason’s here.

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