name: rachel helm.
age: 25
current city: portland, maine.
occupation: stylist at akari.
social media: twitter & instagram - @rkhelm87
blog - eighteen months at akari she may not longer be an assistant at akari, but she gives you a look behind the scenes of learning the craft of hairstyling.
favorite part of the holidays: my family and i save a bunch of our wrapping for christmas eve and do it all together and my dad makes me and my sisters meatball sandwiches on christmas eve too! oh! and i love watching other people open the gifts i got them and seeing them be happy!
what am I asking for christmas?
in the dead of winter there is only one thing I really love to see and that's green...no, not money.
plants! i have developed a love for my chlorophyll-ed friends and i after many dead plants i have finally figured out a system for my forgetfulness. succulents. you only need to water them about once every 2 weeks and they love it. if the soil is super dry you just dump a decent amount of water in and let 'em drink. so I am asking for more plants this christmas. hen and chicks are my top choice, they are fast growers and need very little attention and if you start with one or two you'll end up with 10. so a good plant to share with friends. they don't need a solid soil base so you can grow them anywhere. and they some in a wide variety of colors and textures. golden sedum - they are lovely! kalanchoe thyrsiflora have a really neat texture and great color and mexican snowballs have cool flowers that bloom from them. http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/10-best-succulents-53080 this is a great link for newcomers to the succulent world! there are a ton of great websites that will mail you succulents and since they don't need a lot of watering or soil they can take the shipping. and even with shipping they are really quite cheap, in the $4 - $10 range.
one of the other things I'm asking for is baking supplies. i've been living on my own for 7 plus years but i still never have enough:
- pizza pan. $15.99 i will no longer have to put it on my cookie sheets that it always seems to stick to!
- bundt pan! $35.00 i have one but this one is cooler!
- tart dish. $19.99 which i don't have and i would make the hell out of some tarts (and it doubles as a quiche dish! YES!)
- cookie press. $19.99 i have a very old fashion one, one my mom used to use when we were kids but this seems like it could churn out a few more cookies more quickly.
(all kitchen gifts above are found at leroux kitchen on commercial street in portland!)
kitchen gifts are awesome for your baker friends, plus you can always add ingredients, i.e. a basket full of flour, sugar, vanilla, chocolate chips, baking powder and soda and not only will your friend/family member love it but you're guaranteed to get some sweet treats in return.
if my secret santa ever wanted to really treat a lady nice (and had a very good paying job) I would ask for this:
