So you know that moment after college when you get your job and finally get your grown person apartment?? Do you remember how great that felt? But then after a while you realize that you don't have any grown person things to put in it?? I have been struggling with this concept because I feel that the apartment you had in college should be totally different from the apartment you have after college. Like the after college apartment is a testimony to your grown person status. But I have come to realize that it is also a mentality. In college, your apartment was filled with just enough to get by. You may have had one pot, one pan, a couple plates and bowls, you know, just enough utensils to get you through. But now this is no longer acceptable. As a grown person you need to have everything you could possibly want or need. Your GROWN. If need be, you should be able to cook up a 5 course meal and have enough pots and pans to cook everything. And sadly, most of us don't. We, myself included, only have enough to get by. So in 2011 I am changing this. I am a grown, semi-independant, law student and I need to get into that mind set. And I am going to begin with my apartment. I'm going to decorate and supply my apartment with all the furnishings and what-nots that grown people need. This may sound weird but I think it will make a huge difference on how I feel. What staples do you have in your apartment that makes it the ultimate "grown folks" apartment??-azureDizzle

Sidebar...is it that time of the year that guys just start acting crazy??? I have no clue what has been getting into guys lately. I've been hearing some crazy stories about guys doing some mad shady stuff and I'm starting to think that it is something in the air. Even my "semi-boo" has been trying to act up lately. I'm making changes in the new year. If you're not all about me than I'll find someone who is. This is my mantra for 2011 when it comes to relationships. No more are the days where I will be all about the guy and I'm only a second or third thought. I'm trying to be first. I'm too much of a good catch to be on the back burner. I'm hoping my friends will jump on this with me. My friends are bomb.com and are too good to be waiting for a guy to come around. Like my sands told me...I will not make you a priority, if to you I am only an option. Let's get it girls...who's with me???-azureDizzle

Its almost Christmas time!!! I hope you have all your Christmas shopping finsihed!! If you're like me...I havn't even started. Sad I know. But don't fret. I will be good and ready by Christmas day. Don't forget during this holiday season what the holidays are truly about. Us girls at Sidebar wish you a wonderful and safe Christmas and a Happy Happy New Year!!!- azureDizzle

Hello folks...hope you're having a good hair day!! Like I promised last trip to the salon, I tested out the "twist out", inspired by the Mop Top Maven (www.themoptopmaven.com). I think it went well over all. Here was my step by step process...


I used mostly Paul Mitchell products. I used Paul Mitchell (PM) Clarifying shampoo to get all the nastiness out of my hair before I used PM Tea Tree Lavender Mint Moisturizing Shampoo. Clarifying your hair once a week is good, so that you can make sure you don't have any built up residue and so that your hair can be better moisturized from the shampoo and conditioner. I made sure I dangled my hair with the conditioner in. It makes it 10 times easier after shampooing to keep your hair dangled.


This is what my hair looks like after shampooing, conditioning and detangling. A little scary. lol


I made a part on the side so that I can have a little swoopage (you can also part your hair down the middle). Some people start from the back and work their way up with the twists. I like to see what I'm doing and it is a little easier for me to start on the side. But whatever works best for you. Part out a section and clip the rest of the hair up. I used PM Volumizing Sculpting Foam to twist my hair. Usually I use the regular sculpting foam by PM, but I wanted to try the volumizer just to see if it will make any difference. The only difference was that the volumizing sculpting foam made my twists hard at the ends which I didn't like. But, when I took the twists out my curls were still soft. So it is up to you whether you care if your twists are a little hard or not. I twisted the hair with a generous amount of the sculpting foam. You actually dont need a lot of foam for each section. I used quite a bit in the picture (ooops).


I usually make my twists pretty small because I keep it twisted for a couple days before I take them out. This time I made them a little bigger. But you can even make them bigger than this. Play with the sizes till you find one that works best for you. Another tip is try your best to make the 2 parts of the twists even so that they stay together better. You don't want to have one skinny part and one fat part and try to twist them together. It doesn't work too well. Sometimes I have to use a sponge roller on the twists (mostly in the front) so that the twists stay together and so that the ends are cured when I take out the twists. It all depends on how your twists curl at the end. When you take out the twists you don't want straight ends. You want everything to be curly.


Here is the finished twisted look. I took the rollers out a little too fast, so as you can see the ends are straight. Next time I'm going to keep the rollers in longer.


To take out the twists I use my fave product ever in life: Bio Silk silk therapy. I use about a dime sized amount and rub it all through the twists. Make sure you get the ends too so that they don't get frizzy. I took out the twists and separated the pieces to create fullness. I fluffed and shaped and was ready to go. (if you have a small small curling iron you can curl the ends if they are straight. That's what I had to do. But if you use rollers and the ends are already curled you shouldn't have to use the curling iron).

Let me know what you think about the process. What products do you like to use to do a twist out? What techniques to do use? Please share!!! I love to learn new things.-azureDizzle

There hasn't been a Sidebar Salon in a long time but I know Brie-Z did one on natural hair a while ago so I'm going to piggy back off of her. Well a lot of my close friends have been "going natural" and I myself have joined the ranks. I haven't had a relaxer in about a year and a half. It wasn't really a conscious effort. I just didn't get one for a while because I really didn't need one...and everything kind of fell into place from there (lucky I know). But now that I am natural I have been paying more and more attention to what others have been doing with their natural hair. Brie-Z has been natural for a long time and I have gotten many tips from her. My sands Jasmine has been natural for a long time too. She was one of the first people who told me about certain products for natural hair like Miss Jessie's. My distant sands A.Yancey (www.fancyayancey.com) has also gone natural and she has given me some awesome hair tips too. My bestest Ruth and my friend Tess have also joined the ranks of the "natural hair army".

Recently, my bestest told me about "the MopTop Maven" and I checked out her blog and channel on YouTube (www.themoptopmaven.com. She has wonderful video that shows her 'hair journey" that shows her journey from relaxed hair to natural hair. I love discovering new things to do with my hair but my only dilemma is TIME. As a law school student I do not have 2 hours to devote to my hair so I try to do as little as possible to my hair, so that I save time and still look bomb.com. I looked at a couple of the tutorials that The MopTop Maven has made and I love the things she is doing with her hair. She has tutorials on "twist outs", "braid outs" and much more. The products she uses seem amazing. I have been doing twists in my hair lately and I like them a lot. One because they are low maintenance. Two because they are funky and cute. Once I twist them, I don't have to do Anything to my hair for a week (except maybe re-twist a couple. The picture above is from the first time I twisted my hair. All I did was wash and condition it in the shower. Then comb it out. Then I sectioned it off and used Paul Mitchell Sculpting Foam (LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS STUFF) and twisted each piece. With it wet, the twists stay together better so I make sure I have a spray bottle with water in it. After about a week I usually take out the twists but by then its time for me to wash my hair again. I'm going to keep you all posted on new things that I discover. Im going to do a twist out and try the new tricks that I learned from the Mop Top Maven. Those of you who know me know that I love Paul Mitchell products and I swear by all his stuff. Like seriously, Paul can do no wrong in my book. Im going to branch out a little bit and use some of his products that I have not used before and used the Mop Top Mavens tricks. I am a creature of habit and don't stray far from known territory. But I'm going to try it for the greater good. I will let yall know how it goes. Wish me luck. - azureDizzle

PS: What products do YOU love for your natural hair??? Share, share, share!!!! Please, please, please!!!

So it is about that time...holiday party season. In recent years, I have not been one to frequent any holiday parties. But now that I'm getting older, they are becoming more and more of an occurrence. I've been looking at all the fashion magazines, trying to find the perfect dress for that perfect price that I would wear to the perfect holiday party with that perfect guy and I have seen a couple winners. Now I am a full time law student living on student loans so my funds are definently low....and when I say low i mean LOW. And because of this, I have to lower my standards and chose places to shop that I wouldn't normally shop. And surprisingly I have found some really cute dresses for a really low price. I looked at JCPenny, Kohls and even WalMart. I know what you're thinking, WALMART?? Yes girls, WalMart. They had some really cute boyfriend blazers and dresses that you could style up with some cute shoes and accessories to make the perfect holiday party outfit. And you know that a lot of high end designers have been making collections for these stores, like Charlotte Ronson for JCPenny. Check out these stores and let me know what you find. I will continue to update you on my "holiday-party-outfit-search" and "perfect-new-years-dress-that-will-make-his-bottom-lip-drop search" lol. So stay tuned.-azureDizzle

Sidebar....so tonight is the first game between the Cleveland Cavs and Miami Heat after Lebron James ditched the Caves for the Heat. Now Im from Columbus but I know A LOT of people from Cleveland and I know they felt some type of way (mainly angry and suicidal) that Lebron left earlier this year. There were some TRUE Cavs fans, who were really hurt at the way Lebron left. While others...transferred their love for the Cavs to the Heat. These people are of course greatly shunned by the Cleveland community. Twitter and Facebook have been jumping today, with predictions whether the Cavs or the Heat will win, how Lebron will perform and whether Lebron is a punk for needing extra security. Now, I don't personally think he's a punk...Cleveland people are crazy and I wouldn't put it past them to try to commit a battery or something. All I know is that this will definitely be a major game. In fact, the game is so big, President Obama even commented about it. Now when the president is paying attention, with all the things he has to deal with (like million trillion billion dollar debts), IT IS MAJOR. Im excited to see what happens. Let me know what you think!! -azureDizzle

PS...IF the Cavs lose...DO NOT CALL ANYONE you know from Cleveland. That's how people lose friendships.