So my brother finally sent me the rest of the pictures of the military ball. I’ve been having a lot of problems with my phone constantly dying on me, which is what happened AT the event, so I “borrowed” his while he was in the bathroom and took pictures with that all night.But then, he and his phone went back to school in New York and didn’t send me the pictures until now.

Technology (and brothers): Are they on our side?

This post was meant to be a “Get Ready With Me” post, so who cares it’s really late? Let’s get into it!

I started by washing and blow drying my hair with mousse, the main goal being volume.

I also took off my Christmas green nail polish.

I had sung in a special candlelight  service and the color we wore was green, so I did my nails that way too. However the green would absolutely not go with my dress.

I did wear my nails this color when I visited family on Christmas day. I was resting my chin in my hand when my aunt noticed.

“Did you do that to yourself? Or did someone do that for you?”

I gave a little laugh. How do you answer that kind of question?

“I did this to myself.”

She just kind of nodded and moved on.

I cleaned and prepped my hair and nails at home so that I could really get started once we were at the hotel. At which point, my hair had died down a bit to this.

There’s a chair in the bathroom because I thought I might need one. But I couldn’t sit and view the mirror so it didn’t work. X-)

But still pretty fluffy. I also did my nails a dark, metallic-y maroon color.

Here’s my before pic.

Then I got started.

The way I curl my hair is by separating it into three sections. Bottom, middle, and bangs. Then start at the back-middle, and go forward, towards my face, on both sides. I like it this way because the curl can just fall to my back and cool off, without me brushing against it and messing it up.

To keep my curls in shape longer, I roll them up while their hot, and pin them with bobby pins so they cool that way.

I was also enjoying the new look of my highlights in the curls and even on the curling iron.

Reminds me of chocolate-caramel swirl.

Around the time I did the bottom layer, I realized I never changed my shirt. I have a “getting ready” button down shirt. It’s button down so it won’t ruin my hair once I take it off. And it also helps to keep my tube top clean of makeup or anything that might spill.

I strongly recommend one.

Once I had curled my whole head, I arranged my bangs on the top of my head with some poof. (I can’t remember if I teased it.) And I don’t know why but I felt like some sleek foreign spy in my black outfit, with the top and pants.

Here’s a better picture of the front. My hair looks really short.

The shirt went back on for when I did my makeup. I did foundation, concealer, and my eye makeup. Eyes are my favorite thing to do. I also added bronze highlighter/sparkles to my shoulders and collarbone.

I still look pretty tired, even with the makeup. I’ve been sick for a while. Getting better though, praise God!

When time was about there to go, I took out all the bobby pins and added another color to my nails.

With my brother rushing me to get downstairs for the ball, I put on my dress and jewelry.

In case you were wondering what the tube top looked like in the back.  (Note the disassembled phone. Yeah, I need a new one.)

I actually took this picture at the end of the night, around midnight. But the curls stayed in tact for the most part.

My brother was itching to get down there, but not before my parents took pictures, so we spent the next ten minutes posing around the hotel room until we found the right background, and lighting, and smiles.

We may be small, but we’re not that small. .

My brother actually has a great smile, though you wouldn’t know it unless it’s a candid shot.

My mom let me borrow her Christmas scarf (we each got one this year). I liked it because it’s a rustic orange color. And it was something to cough into, when I needed it.

Then soon, we were walking downstairs to the ball.

(This post is long enough. I’d hate to bore you, so I’ll finish this post series with the event pics next time. Hope you’re enjoying it!)