Discover Halls Crown Center

I have to admit when I hear Halls, I think expensive. My only purchase at Halls on the Plaza is my one and only pair of Tory Burch flats, and I wasn't the one doing the spending (thanks Dad!)

So you can imagine my surprise when I learned Halls Crown Center is much more affordable. They still feature lust-worthy brands like Tory Burch ...

... but they also carry more reasonably-priced clothing and shoes by BB Dakota, Jack, Tulle, Kensie and BCBG Generation.

And they don't just have women's clothing - they have two men's stores, a kid's store (Kiddo, so cute!) and a seasonal store, Deck the Halls, all strategically placed throughout Crown Center.

Last night, Melina and I made our very first shopping trip to Halls Crown Center with about 20 or so other local bloggers, all just as eager to see how the two stores compare (and what we could buy!)

It was a GREAT event! Halls gave each of us these cute red purses full of goodies, including a Rachel Zoe makeup bag/clutch, a Jones New York jewelry case, a pretty pair of earrings ...

and a $25 Halls gift card ... which we all proceeded to spend right then and there! Here's what I picked out - a fun, sparkly and comfy sweater by Jack. Only $78 before the gift card : )

Melina bought these adorable Toms - gray with white polka dots. So cute!

 

Halls also did several giveaways, which I did not win (boo), but Melina scored a really cool shirt for Matthew. 

It was a fun night with lots of fashionable ladies (group pic coming soon from Lisa at Peridot Skys). Looking forward to next week's blogger event at Madewell!



- Kara

Lusting After Long Hair

In a perfect world, I would have long hair (and legs) like this lovely lady ...

Or this one ... Don't you just love SJP on Glee?!

Anyways, it's not a perfect world, and my hair is far from lusciously long like these ladies'. In fact, last October, I chopped seven inches off. More than a year later, it's barely past my shoulders.

How do I make it grow?!

As a writer who graduated from the country's top journalism school, I'm of course very skilled in research. So I set out to do a little digging ... On Pinterest of course!

Thanks to some very helpful blog posts (you have to check out Maskcara) and a few of my favorite stylists, I put together a little plan, which I'll now share with you:

Kara's Plan for Really Long Hair

1. Take supplements.  I bought Biotin today and, since my hair was so full and healthy during both pregnancies, I'm also taking prenatal vitamins again (this may also be part of my plan to get knocked up again, but whatever. Mark, are you reading this?!)

2. Wash your hair as little as possible. This is so hard, but I'm aiming for three times a week. That was last Thursday, again on Sunday and then Tuesday. Whoops, already screwing this one up, and I have a blogger event tonight at Hall's Crown Center, so I'll want to wash my hair yet again ... I'll have to work on this one.

3. Style your hair as little as possible. Now this suggestion I love as I despise blow-drying my hair; I always get so sweaty. Still, once a week it's nice to have perfectly pin straight hair or oh-so-sexy beach waves, and the only way to get either is with damaging heat. Damn.

4. Cut your hair as little as possible. Some women swear the key is only trimming your hair every eight months to a year. My stylist said I could go about five to six months before my split ends took over. If I'd only known that before ... I usually have my hair trimmed every 10-12 weeks. No wonder it's growing so slowly!

5. Stimulate your scalp. Sounds kind of sexy, but I think the point is to scrub vigorously while shampooing. This is an easy one, but not if you have a manicure ...

6. Brush your hair 100 times a night. Sometimes old wives tales are actually true, I suppose.

And that's about it. I read several other suggestions - from using sulfate-free shampoos to wen (which kind of scares me), but I still love my Clean shampoo. Others say don't ever comb or brush your hair, and that seems to be going too far.

Still, I'm open to ideas, so if you have any advice for me and all the other girls out there lusting after Rapunzel-like locks, please share, so we can all look like this ...!

- Kara