Your questions...

...and my answers!

First, thank you to everyone who asked a question (or two or three). It's been great trying to think of what my answers would be. So without further ado, here are my answers and some pictures because we (mostly me) can't live without pictures.

1. What is the story behind your blog name?
I have the worst time coming up with names for anything. I knew I wanted to start a blog and I knew I wanted a fun, unique name that I would want to use for more than two seconds and of course something that would be memorable. That lead me to wanting to have a title that had daisies in the name, because daisies were my mom's favorite flowers and I had a bouquet of them at my wedding in her memory.


Plus daisies are just happy flowers. And sometimes we all need something happy, pretty and simple in our lives.
I came up with "The Thing About Daisies..." because you could add anything on to the end of it. IE "The thing about daisies...is that they make me think of spring" or "The thing about daisies...is that they are bright and cheerful". I wanted it so people could read it how they wanted to.
Though the main way I read it will always be "The Thing About Daisies...is that they will always remind me of my mom".

2. Do you speak any other languages?
I had to take two years of Spanish in high school and I think all of four phrases and words have stuck with me. I cannot roll my "R" for the life of me, which can make the language a bit hard. I've had many people try to teach me, but I just end up sounding like I am hacking up a fur ball. I kid you not. My husband has actually told me to stop trying because he thought I was going to hurt myself.
I also took American Sign Language in college and I loved it. I actually fought for it to be a transferable credit at my community college, because it is a language and a fairly common one at that. Sadly, it's one of those things that if you don't use it enough you start to forget it. Though I'd really like to get back into it.

3. Where has been your most favorite place you have traveled?
I absolutely loved going to St. Thomas, which is part of the US Virgin Islands. Nate and I went three years ago and I would love to get to go back. It was warm and beautiful and the locals are amazingly warm and friendly.



4. What is your one beauty product you couldn't live without?
Hmmm, that seemed like a hard question till I realized I was needing chap-stick. I live for the stuff and have a drawer full of different lip treatments. My first love will always be any of the ones from Burt's Bees, but Nivea "A Kiss of Moisture" is a solid runner up. If I am not slathering on chap-stick, I'll reach for a lip gloss to add color to my look.


5. What kind of dog is Emmett?
Oh Emmett, the love of our lives. He's a Cocker Spaniel. Though we both think that he has longer legs than most Cocker's, but that may be the way we groom him.


6. Who is your personal fashion inspiration?
I knew this answer right away. My mom. She always taught me to dress for myself and what makes me happy. She was all for trends, but not for following them to a T or even following them at all. She taught me how to build a wardrobe of good quality things, while adding in less expensive seasonal items. She is the one who started my passion for all things shoes and jewelry, because of her I learned that if you just change your shoes and jewelry that you can change the whole look of your outfit. It was such basic things, but it has stuck with me and always will.

7. Have you always been into fashion and beauty?
While I loved watching my mom get ready in the morning and painting her nails at night, I wasn't that into fashion until I was almost 20. She always dressed me up in dresses and skirts and I couldn't have hated it more. I didn't even know what the difference was between skirts and dresses. I was a tomboy through and through. I built forts and drudged through streams. Fashion had no place there. In high school I got a body and hadn't a clue what to do with it, so I wore over sized shirts (usually men's clothing), Doc Martins and Birkenstocks (I still love me some Birkensticks). Then when I was around 20 I started getting into fashion. My mom bought me a pair of heeled sandals that I adored and I left my old job to start working at Banana Republic. It's like I woke up one day and realized I loved fashion and beauty.

8. What are your earliest fashion and beauty memories?
My earliest fashion memory would easily be me getting into my mom's beauty products and not in a good way. I had to of been no older than 5 or 6 and had no clue what anything in her drawers really did, so I made it up. When my mom found me my face was fully painted in clear nail polish and my hair was coated in cold cream. Did you know it is near impossible to get cold cream out of hair? Well we got to find that out after many showers and a panicked phone call to our hair stylist. While that desire to learn how things work has lived on in me, I now use the products correctly.
Fashion wise, I did always enjoy playing dress up in my mom's old clothing. I think the most fashionable things I would do was playing with my Barbies. I would always cut up their hair and clothing trying to make new looks and outfits.

9. What did you wear to your prom?
I went to both my junior and senior proms. I went totally left field and got big poofy Jessica McClintock dresses for both proms. It was crazy for me because I did not dress girlie at all. My junior prom dress was strapless and the bodice was fully ruched. It was a sharkskin fabric in the fact that it showed as both blue and purple at the same time.


My senior prom dress was also strapless and had rhinestones all over the bodice and a full skirt with layers of peach and yellow tulle to match the sharkskin effect of the peachy/yellow bodice.


Man did I love the sharkskin-esque look and strapless dresses. I still have both dresses in my closet, because I just can't let go of them. Also, looking closely at the photos, there is a very good chance that I wore the same gray shoes to both proms. Man I knew nothing about shoes back then.

10. If you could go on an exotic vacation to anywhere in the world, where would it be?
I have seen so many amazingly beautiful pictures of the Maldives and I just can't seem to get them out of my head. I would lurve to go there, but first I would have get over my fear of flying and my even bigger fear of flying on small planes.


11. What is one thing you can say you do actually like about living here (ABQ)?
Food is a big part of our lives, so when we decide to eat out we want to make sure that we enjoy where we are going. We've found a some really good places to eat here (ShoGun, Cosmo Tapas, Seasons) and I finally found a place that serves actual green chili with meat in it and it's yummy (Church Street Cafe).

12. What color clothing do you think best complements your style?
That's a hard one. Color has always been a huge part of my wardrobe. If I had to pick only one color it would probably still be a tie between yellow and green.
I am lucky enough to have a skin tone that allows me to wear any shade of yellow without looking sickly. It's a fun bright color that you can actually pair with a lot.


Green, because well...I have auburn hair and fair skin. So green is a really great color for me. I almost always get complements when I wear green, so I know it's my color.


13. What is your dream job?
I would love love love to design shoes. I'm still baffled at how, with so much technology, there isn't super cute and sexy shoes that are really comfortable. It's like we're al...most...there, but not quite.
I'd also love to own my own boutique store where I could sell my own goods and other people's goods as well. I think I'd sell a little bit of everything (clothing, home goods, jewelry) That is something I would actually like to achieve once we have settled down and aren't moving around anymore.

14. What are your goals for the next 2 and 5 years?
We're just about to move and will live in the next place for two years, so a lot of my goals will have to deal with that. I want to survive this move and get the house settled into far quicker than we did here. I want to make new friends in the area that are nice and whom we can have a healthy friendship with. I want to be able to find some really fun and exciting things about the area. Maybe get a job at a locally owned store. Most of all I want to be a good support system for my husband while he works on getting his masters degree.
In five years we will be back in Colorado and will have a major decision to make. Nate will have to decide if he wants to stay in the military or get out, because his commitment will be done at that point. We know that we're wanting to be done with the military, but that's how we feel right now. There is a chance he could get the opportunity to do something through the military, which would keep him in. So, really in five years I'm hoping we will be getting to stay in Colorado for good, because even with the opportunity it would keep us there. If that's the case, we'll start looking into selling my current home that I own there so we can build/buy a home that works for our lifestyle. With us not being on the children bandwagon, that also means that we can travel more. I'd love to take a trip to Europe once all is said and done.

15. What is your favorite thing about blogging?
I really like getting everything that is going on in my head out into the open. I think I frighten Nate sometimes with the way I jump around with ideas and things I like, so blogging has been a great way for me to get those ideas and thoughts out there. The fact that people follow my blog and like it is just this amazing bonus. I'm so glad that people can relate to what I am talking about and enjoy what I have to say. I also love the blog community as well. Everyone has been so nice and helpful, plus I have learned some really amazing things from all of you!

16. What is the biggest splurge you've made on shoes, since you collect them?
I would have to say that it was my wedding shoes. They are Christian Louboutin's that I found on BlueFly.com (which took some of the hurt off of the price). I actually bought them before I bought my wedding dress, which does prove I have an addiction.


17. Can we see your shoe storage?
Sure you can! It is a lack luster storage system, because right now I mostly keep all of my shoes in the boxes they come in. If they didn't come with boxes they get placed in plastic shoe boxes that I buy from Target. This is the best way for me to keep them organized right now, especially with all of the moving around we're doing right now. I will say that they are in ROYGBIV color order. If we ever have our dream house I will have my shoes out on display in a beautiful, large closet a la the closet Mr. Big made for Carrie in the Sex and the City movie.


I did try getting a Shoes Under for my flip flops and sneakers, but that thing is a piece of junk with a capital J. It's soft and has nothing to keep the shoes in place if you need to pick it up. Which means they all slide to the center. Can we say annoying? So for now those are kept in a under bed Rubbermaid box.


18. I'd like to know about buying the beauty products you use, on a budget.
Well it depends on what you are talking about. For nail polishes, if you have an Ulta near by, use them (this is true for anything there). They do awesome promotions and in-store discounts. A lot of times will find that they are doing a buy-one-get-one-free deal on their nail polishes or even a buy-one-get-one-half-off deal. They also run great promos of 2 for $20 on their large salon hair care (shampoo/conditioner).
Don't rule out TJ Maxx and Marshalls. I get a lot of my shampoos and conditioners from there. I have also found top of the line products from Origins, OPI and NARS. If you scavenge and keep checking in on them, you can get some great stuff!
For MAC stuff I would say buy a empty pallet and fill it with the pans of shadow (pans are $11 compared to $14.50 for the pots). Also, you can find great dupes all over Etsy.com. There are some amazing sellers who make their own mineral eyeshadow (I so wanna try making my own).

I like:
LalaBloom
Heavenly Natural Beauty
Pink Quartz Minerals

If you're willing to drop a little bit of money at one time, you could even try making your own mineral makeup. It's something I would love to do, and with how much product they give you, it actually costs less you make your own then to buy it. I talked about here.
Also ask for samples. I know for a fact that you can get samples of almost anything at Origins and Kiehls. It's a great way to try new things and also be sure liking something enough to spend the money on it.

If you have a more specific question about things I use please email me at Thethingaboutdaisies[at]gmail[dot]com! I would love to answer this more specifically to what you are wanting.

19. When do I get to see you again and create more adventures?
Soon hopefully. Come here to shop...I'll entertain you!

20. What's your favorite vacation destination?
As stated above, I loved St. Thomas and all of the US Virgin Islands. I would go back there in a heartbeat. I haven't gotten to travel as much as I would like to, but he been a few places stateside. I always loved going to San Diego, CA and I adore getting to go to San Francisco, CA to visit a friend. I love the shopping and the wide array of food choices you can find there.

21. You have amazing hair, so my question is what are your essential hair care products?
Well first, thank you.

Second, I am pretty awful to my hair. I color it a fair amount, I put it up in a bun when it is still wet and I brush it wet...no wide toothed combs here. I know I know it's so bad.
What I can say is that I don't wash daily. I can go about four days (the four day being the greasy day) during the winter and about three in the summer. If you don't already skip washings, I would highly recommend trying it. It will take a few weeks for your hair to balance the greasiness but it's worth it because you hair will look and feel better.
Know your hair and "listen" to what it is saying (dry, damaged, colored...) and use appropriate products for that. With how much I color my hair, it can be dry so I was very excited to see the new Ever lines from L'Orèal (they have EverStrong for building strenght and EverPure for color treated). Both lines then have three different treatment types. I went for the EverPure Moisture line and so far I am loving it!
After I get out of the shower I run a dollop of Rusk Deep Shine Phyto Marine Lusterizer through my hair. It's suppose to help shine and from what I can tell, it does. I actually really enjoy Rusk's Deep Shine line. I also have two products from Phyto that I love. One is Phytomist Instant Hydrating Conditioner and the other is Phytolisse Finishing Serum which I swear by because it helps tame frizz (you can use it on wet or dry hair and it doesn't weight your hair down).

If you have any more questions, let me know!

22. If you could live anywhere...where would it be?
Right now I really really want to be back in Colorado (in case you couldn't tell). I miss the snow, the sunny days, the crisp fall days, the Aspens changing colors, spring, the mountains, the ice cold pure water that flows through the faucet...everything.
Though from talking to people I get the feeling I would really like Oregon or Washington.

23. How did you and your awesomesauce husband meet?
We met through a mutual friend. That would be the simple answer, but I won't be mean and leave it at that. This mutual friend (Jess) and I were going out to a bar one night and invited some guys she knew, one of them being Nate. He was goofy all night and slightly annoying in my book, but then I also wasn't looking for anything at the time. Though he was dating another Ashley at the time (yep he moved from one Ashley to the next). I swear he was hitting on me all night, Nate will swear that he wasn't. He's a flirt. I figured I'd never see him again.
The next time I did see him was when he came over to my house with Jess and some other people. She brought him along because he had all of the DVD's we were wanting to watch (we were doing a Kevin Smith-a-thon right before Clerks 2 came out). I didn't even remember that he was the guy who came over. Oops.
A few months later I got an email from him asking me if I wanted to come see him sing in the acapella group he was a part of. Sadly I was busy and couldn't go, but we kept talking and started to hit it off. Neither of us was looking for something serious (he had just broken up with the other Ashley and my mom had just passed away). He officially asked me out a few days after my birthday.
Funny how things work out when you least expect!

24. If you were stuck on a desert island and were only allowed five items, what would you pick?
I never know how to answer this type of question. I have been thinking of all of the things I could take and all I have come up with is a giant jug of sun screen, because the last thing I want to do it burn my pasty ass. If people count as items, I'd bring Nate and Emmett. And yes Emmett is "people" in my eyes. I would also bring puppy. He's my childhood stuffed dog that I got from my mom when I was going through a rough time in my life. He lives in our bed and is probably my most treasured possession. The last thing...a camera so we could take pictures of the whole experience.

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