The Day My Curls Where Re-Born! ➰

  So they say Valentine's Day is supposed to be all about love, so in honor of this highly commercialized holiday I decided this year I was going to give myself something I had been putting off for a while, a total hair makeover.

  It all started after a conversation I had with a fabulous curly girl I met at Mt. Sinai, which quickly turned into me following her hairdresser @TheCurlWhisperer.  At which point, I immediately fell in love with her transformation pictures. I mean this was hair sorcery of sorts! But I wasn't quite ready for such a dramatic change, so slowly but surely I started nursing my curls back to health around mid-October, but I was too self-conscious to cut my hair short & much less give up using my fabulously straight hair extensions.

  For years, I've had a love/hate relationship my dark curly hair. I've fought against it for well over a decade constantly changing it and simultaneously destroying it with all kinds of extensions, straighteners, keratin treatments, highlights & dyes. I felt like it was a never ending struggle, one that was starting to drain me emotionally & financially.

  After completely changing my hair once again for my 30th Birthday this past September, I noticed my hair was extremely dry from all the highlights I put it through once again. Fortunately for my hair this time something unimaginable happened, I gave up on blow-dry's for over 6 weeks, after having an emergency double hemilaminectomy + microdiscectomy from L4-S1, in layman's terms, crazy ass spine surgery! Completely bed-ridden, I found myself gawking at several curly girl's IG feeds, including the magical Curl Whisperer, Kai Africa's, and Disco Curls so I quickly became obsessed. I wrote down all sorts of tips + products, I watched at least 30+ You-Tube videos on how to take care of naturally curly hair, and by the end of those 6 weeks, I knew I needed to go back to my curly girl roots. So for 2016, I made a life changing resolution: "To make peace with my natural hair."

  After deliberating the whole first month of the year,  I decided to take the plunge & call the famous Curl Whisperer for help & guidance. I purposely booked the appointment the week before Valentine's Day, and brought it up endlessly until the Hubby offered to pay for all of it! { Yay!!!}

  Finally, on Thursday Feb. 11th, I had my date with destiny! I anxiously met "TheCurl Whisperer" at her private salon in Coral Gables. She was an amazingly sweet lady named Silvana who took my distressed, damaged, and over processed hair & brought my beautiful long lost curls back to life! She spent almost 3 hours working on my hair and well on me too. She quickly eliminated so many misconceptions about curly hair, and convinced me that this wasn't so bad after all. She taught me how to wash & co-wash my hair, I learned the right way to diffuse, and all about lift clips! It was a wonderful & transforming experience that I will never forget. To be quite honest with you, I never though this was possible but after finding so many wonderful curly girls in the world of Instagram, I feel like I have come home to my curly roots!

So with this post I encourage all of you beautiful ladies out there to channel the natural beauty within you! Who knows, you may just find yourself! - From Evi, With Love❣

Curly Journey Products I ❤️:
- DevaCurl No-Poo Shampoo
- DevaCare One Condition
- DevaCurl Volumizing Foam
- DevaCurl Heaven In Hair Mask
- Ouidad 12 Minute Hair Treatment
- Ouidad Botanical Hair Mist


{Pics To Come... So much has changed since I last posted!}

Vapiano (Brickell,FL)

My Mom recently moved to Brickell on the River and today I took the whole family to visit her & my Step-Dad and took a ride down to Vapiano | Pasta, Pizza, Bar. I must say this place is awesome and I'm sure it will quickly become one of my fave go-to spots. As I walked in I was greeted by a lovely Hostess who asked how many people where in our party, each Adult gets a chip-card to place their order and pay at the end, very hi-tech + and very cool. There are 3 main stations, Pasta, Salad, and Pizza/ Antipasto + a fully stocked bar it's very European, no waitresses you order on your own and your food is made to order! It's family friendly, fast, and generously priced, with plates of delicious pasta for as low as $8.95 you can't go wrong at this trendy self-order restaurant. I can't forget to mention how you pick your own pasta from a menu of white and whole wheat varieties, I thought that was just great because their is something for every taste. My Hubby Eddy and I shared the Chicken Alfredo made with Whole Wheat Spaghetti and the Insalate Caprese, everything was soo fresh and soo good! Even our little Lucas got his hand on some of our spaghetti and couldn't help himself. To finish off this yummy late lunch we shared an extra creamy classic cheesecake, it was also incredibly good. We will definitely be coming back to this delish Italian spot soon. Check out Vapiano for yourself! Look through all the pics for the Menu! ;) 

Our awesome pasta chef!

Our delicious food!

Lucas eating spaghetti, yum!

The Menu - Side 1

The Menu - Side 2

Switching it up! 👌

So I finally had the time switch up my blog a bit (well actually a lot). I've revamped my blog to now feature more of the things I love like food, fashion, family, and everything Miami! This last year has been crazy and I absolutely neglected by my blog but 2013 has been my year and with that being said, I couldn't leave my blog unloved. I will now be featuring reviews of many of Miami's delish restaurants, pictures and raves about my favorite places to shop as well as my fashionista finds, tips for family friendly places & events, and last but definitely not least everything I do in my beautiful city. So stay tuned, I promise you'll find something you luv!

P.S. I finally graduated from FIU this year with my Bachelor in Public Administration! I am officially a Golden Panther Alumni!!!! I loved my experience at FIU and I highly recommend this school to anyone looking to study in Miami and receive a truly world-class education. I bleed Blue & Gold especially since I am also a proud sister of Phi Sigma Sigma, and also an alumni member of SGA. Check out everything FIU www.fiu.edu!

Motherly Love 💁

As I sit here holding my newborn Lucas, I wonder what is my 4 year old doing right now at pre-school. I'm not sure why but something about Fridays that makes me want to stay home with both of my boys and relax. Sometimes I give in and keep Nicholas, my 4 yr. old, home during the week to keep me company. He can be a handful at times but he is my youngest best friend & a great big brother! My Hubby is a contractor so his schedule is never the same, this makes it very difficult for us to plan activities as a family, I often find myself home a lone with the boys and with few ideas on what to do. One of my resolutions this year is to become a more independent mommy, I want to be able to handle both kids on my own gracefully. I envy those Mom's who have 3 & 4 kids yet make everything look so simple..It's freakin' hard to be a Mom these days! Besides being a stay at home mom, I take online classes at FIU full-time. Trying to finish my bachelors only makes things more interesting to say the least. I absolutely love my boys, but the thought of my Hubby coming home early to relieve me of my duties is music to my ears! I hope you have a great weekend my friends!
* From Evi with Luv <3

I love my life, I hope you do to!

I have always been a very passionate person in all my endeavors, in an attempt to capture the essence of my life, I have decided to begin this blog as means of expressing everything I love and justifiably everything I don't. By documenting my fleeting emotions and wild antics I hope to offer you a glimpse into my world, one that is at times chaotic and unexpected yet beautifully satisfying. I am a mother, a lover, a student, and an activist; I derive my greatest pleasure from indulging in Miami's culinary heaven, I am guilty of spending countless hours looking at this seasons newest fashions, and I must confess that underneath this liberal spirit is a conservative family girl gripping onto her values. I always new I would write about my life someday; I am one of those people who believe that 'everything happens for a reason' and what better reason is there to live than to have a story to tell. I love my life, and I hope you do to!

- From Evi with Luv <3