Greek Odyssey Festival

FUN FACT: My fiancé is Greek! Every Labor Day weekend his church hosts a huge Greek Festival filled with food, vendors, dancing, and LOUKOUMADES! I look forward to it every year and I usually go two or three nights out of the four, since it's free parking and it's the only time of the year to get Greek food this good.

Here's a basic breakdown of what they have at the festival--this is just what's inside the church! Outside there's three food tents, two live bands, two dance areas, and seating scattered about. They have a couple of events too. Every day of the festival, the priest does a presentation on the iconography shown in the art in the sanctuary. This picture really doesn't do the beauty of the paintings justice. Also, every night they have a group of talented kids and teens dress up in traditional clothes and do traditional dances. Not gonna lie, their moves make me a bit jealous.

Although there's lots to enjoy at the festival, my main reason for going is loukoumades. What are they? Sweet delicious balls of fried honey dough with cinnamon sugar on top *drools* They make them fresh, so they're always hot. When you bite into them, sometimes they burst with honey. I seriously have to learn how to make these!

 If you're in the southern CT area around Labor Day weekend be sure to stop by the Greek Odyssey Festival. If for nothing else, the food! You'll definitely find me there next year (probably in line to get more loukoumades. or a gyro. or spanikopita. )

TTFN! <3
-Avé

DIY Beauty: Greek Yogurt Hair Mask

When my fro is looking tired, dry, and down right deprived, that's when I know it's time for a mask. I've tried one with a mayo base, but it was too drippy and it smelled (although the benefits were almost worth it). I did some searching and I know yogurt is another popular base, but I couldn't find much on Greek yogurt. Since that's all I have, I decided to give it a shot.

For this mask, I used:

• 1 cup of yogurt. I found that the the Greek yogurt's superior thickness worked great my thick curls. However, Greek is not mandatory. Yogurt in general has lots of anti-fungal bacterial that will naturally cleanse your tresses. Also, the protein in yogurt strengthens your hair, which helps your curls stay curly and controls fly-away frizzies. This is a great mask for the summer because it's cool and soothing; also great for soothing an itchy scalp.
• 2 - 3 tablespoons of olive oil for shine and moisture. If you're not going with the egg, I'd go with 4 - 6 tablespoons.
• 1 egg for shine and moisture. This is optional. I found with this mask shine is not the main goal, like the mayo mask. I get weary when I use an egg because I freak out at the thought of scrambled eggs in my hair if the water's too hot when I rinse it out.
• 5 drops of vitamin E to help heal damaged hair and promote hair growth. How you may ask? In short, vitamin E is important to the cell membranes in your hair follicles in order for hairs to grow properly. Yay science!
• 3 drops of rosemary essential oil, which also promotes hair growth and just smells great! 

*I have extremely thick hair that's about medium length, and this was barely enough; so adjust the amounts to suit your hair :) *

Wear the mask on your hair in a plastic cap for thirty minutes to an hour (no more than two hours, though!) and rinse in the shower under cool water. Then follow up with a mild shampoo and conditioner and continue like you normally would for your routine. If you don't have a plastic cap, you can use a regular shopping bag and use the handles to tie it snuggly around your head. I used my Jane Carter Solution shampoo and conditioner and then my shea butter mix I made myself. 

The results from this mask are still in effect several days later! It made detangling my hair a breeze, helped define my curls, and has kept my hair soft days later without having to apply anything else (I usually find my hair craves the shea butter mix almost every day; it's been five days :O). My hair felt extremely clean and fresh; more so than with just shampooing. Any natural products I make contain vitamin E and rosemary and I can honestly say I think they're helping with the hair growth (I'll talk about this more when I tell you lovelies about my shea butter mix). After this mask my fro was so huge it was too intimidating for work; I pulled it back :P

I will definitely be doing this mask again; I'm glad it worked out for me! Let me know if you try it too!

TTFN <3