Story Behind the Pic: January

Time for my monthly link up! Share a pic (or more) of yours and the story behind it. This month, I'm sharing a pic from the present and one from the past. These two pics kinda symbolize two of my favorite things:

It's a given if you have a phone or some sort of electronic device, kids will want to play with it. The six year old ended up with mine, and as I was going through my pics, I noticed she had taken this one. I started to delete it, but decided not to. Here's why:

You see: a hand in a pocket.

I see: my comfiest, hugest sweater from Target. Throw this on with a tee and leggings and I'm ready to be comfortable. When I wear this and I'm rocking the baby, I wrap it around us because it makes her laugh. She likes to put her feet in the pockets.

I see: a pocket to hold tissues or hair clips that the girls always seem to need.

I see: a pocket to hold treasures from our nature walks. Sometimes I'll forget about them until I empty them out at the end of the day, and I always laugh at their random contents. Lately, those pockets have been holding rocks the 6 year old collects and paints for her Magic Rocks she "sells."

You see: an adorable toddler in a salon chair who is NOT having it. Look at me serving some attitude! Also, why am I never wearing pants in most of my pics as a kid?

I see: where my beauty fanaticism began--I was 2 years old here. I was fortunate enough to spend a lot of time in my Grandmother's salon (or Beauty Shop, as we called it) after we moved back to our hometown the following year.

I see: the salon I loved, in all of its different incarnations--the salon at this time was in a room in her house. I spent a lot of time in that chair over the years, spinning, getting my hair done, and observing all of the transformations. My Grandmother did hair, makeup, and nails, and even had her own makeup line in the 80s.

I have vivid memories of crying in that chair because I didn't want to leave. When my Grandmother retired last year, she sold that chair, and it's still odd to not be in her house without her salon there anymore. All of these years later, beauty has been my longest love and favorite hobby.

I'm glad to be able to share that love with you.

Next link up: Feb. 16th!

Extra Elle:

• I bought myself some flowers--those little pops of color make me so happy, and make it feel more like spring than winter.
• I enjoyed my day off yesterday and was able to get some blog stuff done.