After 1500 hours of learning and practice and lots and lots of clients and highlights and color applications, Kaitlynn officially graduated from cosmetology school!!

Jesse and I were talking last night about how this dream started years and years ago when she was 5 years old and wanted to watch YouTube videos to learn how to do makeup and fancy braids. 

She started Dutch braiding my hair and practicing makeup looks on me shortly thereafter. It was not long before she had far exceeded my abilities!

It’s been amazing to watch her go after her dreams and build up a base of regular clients (so much so that I could rarely get on her books and I had to start having her highlight my hair at home!!).

She just got offered a job as an assistant at the salon she’s been hoping and praying she could start at!! She will be taking clients there soon so follow @curledbykait on Instagram to find out when!! (Although please don’t book all of her spots because I’d really like to be able to get in occasionally. 😆)

Kaitlynn, we are SO proud of you and can’t wait to see what this next chapter of your life holds!

In celebration of her graduation, she and I flew to NYC for two days. She picked out what she wanted to do and planned the itinerary with Jinni, my assistant. 

I’ve been to NYC quite a few times, but we did a number of things I’ve never done before, including:

Going to the FAO Schwarz toy store (we had to wait in a long line but it moved fast and it was worth it for such a fun experience — including the Jelly Cat diner!).

We also went to PIQ so she could get some Sonny Angels and she did an unboxing of those — and I filmed the behind the scenes (also Joe and the Juice is soo good, especially if you aren’t eating refined sugar!).

We took the subway to SoHo to go to the very famous coffee shop there, Caffé Paradiso. The line for it was down the entire block but it moved fast and the coffee and experience was fantastic! (I got a decaf espresso with tonic water and orange and it was delicious!!)

We then stopped at this little shop with a bunch of booths from different artisans and we got custom matching charm bracelets made! (Highly recommend checking out Admirable Jewels in The Collective SoHo!)

Kaitlynn wanted to try her hand at street haggling and she was SOO good at it!!

Check out this amazing view from our room — I still cannot believe we paid almost next to nothing for the hotel room thanks to a Priceline flight + hotel deal that Jinni found!!

We had a special dinner out at a restaurant Kaitlynn chose and then headed to go see Wicked on Broadway! (Keep reading for details on how to get Broadway tickets on the cheap + a bunch more cheap travel hacks!)

We had the BEST TIME — talking, laughing, shopping, trying out coffee shops, eating, haggling, walking miles and miles, sleeping in and having a leisurely morning, and more! 

Shout out to my amazing assistant Jinni who planned it all with Kaitlynn and found us crazy good deals on flights and a panoramic window hotel room in Times Square that we paid almost nothing for!!

Part 2 of our trip will be in next week’s email so let me know what questions you have and I’m happy to try to answer them next week!

But, for now, I’m going to share my best trips for traveling to NYC on a budget! This was maybe my 9th or 10th trip to the city, so here are the best tips that I’ve learned over the years (and I’d love to hear yours, too!):

First up, flights and hotels… we have taken a road trip to NYC before, but when we did that we stayed outside the city and took the subway in so we didn’t have to mess with driving downtown or parking.

To fly to the city, we like to look for cheap deals online. If you pair flight + hotel packages through a discounted travel site like Expedia or Priceline, that’s often how you’ll find the best deal!

NYC hotels can be pricey — especially downtown. However, if you get a package deal, you can often find some crazy prices. This time around, because Jinni found a package deal, our hotel (Tempo by Hilton) cost almost nothing!! She also called and asked for an upgrade and they gave her one for free — they upgraded us to a panoramic window corner room on the 36th floor at no additional cost!!

Check out this post for more advice on how to book cheap hotels!

Transportation: take the subway or walk! It’s much less expensive than getting an uber or taxi.

The subway is $3 per ride per person to basically anywhere it goes. Download the MTA app and type in where you want to go and it will tell you exactly where to get on and off.

Also, bring a person who is really good with navigation (ahem, Kaitlynn) and let them tell you where to go!

Note: you can take a train or bus from all three major airports to the subway. It’s a little more work but way less $$ than getting an uber (which is often $75 to $150 depending upon the airport and time of day and traffic!).

Let’s talk about food! It can be pricey in NYC if you go to sit down restaurants. I recommend picking one nice place (if you have it in the budget) per trip. And then bring your own food or buy inexpensive food at quick eat type places for the rest of the trip.

Kaitlynn and I went to two different coffee shops, Bagel Pub, and Joe & the Juice, in addition to one nice restaurant.

We got two entrees, a drink (nojito), a huge dessert, and hot tea for each of us at the nice restaurant and it was $123 including tax and tip. That’s similar to what we’d pay in our area for a nice restaurant, so I didn’t think it was crazy expensive and we’d budgeted for it.

However, if you got sides and alcohol and went out every meal, you could spend a LOT on food in NYC!!

This post has 5 specific ways to save money on food during family vacations!

Broadway tickets can be SO expensive!! But, it is possible to get cheap Broadway tickets — for as low as $10 sometimes! I’ve actually seen Wicked on Broadway 3 times and highly recommend these tips for how to get cheap Broadway tickets! 

There’s something so magical about a live performance — especially in this age of Al!! It was spectacular!!

For more tips on saving on travel in general, be sure to check out this post with 25+ budget travel tips!

So many of you have asked for a list of the refined-sugar-free treats I’ve been enjoying since I stopped eating sugar and white flour a few weeks ago. So I put together a blog post with the best ones — many that I have eaten and loved and others that you all highly recommended! Discover the best candy and sweet treats without refined sugar here! 

Speaking of snacks, there are a bunch of great snack deals on Amazon right now! 

Money can be one of the hardest things to talk about in a marriage — which is exactly why I’m so excited about this pre-order bonus for The 7 Habits of Financially Healthy Women!

When you pre-order from any retailer, you are eligible to claim an incredible collection of exclusive pre-order bonuses — including the Couples’ Guide to Healthy Money Conversations. 

Jesse and I have learned over the years just how important it is to talk openly and honestly about money even when those conversations aren’t always easy. Learning how to listen well, understand where the other person is coming from, and work toward shared goals has made such a difference for us.

This practical guide is designed to help you do the same, with simple prompts and tools to help you start meaningful conversations, better understand each other, and work together toward a healthier financial future.

And your pre-order makes you eligible to claim all the bonuses released so far and every new bonus still to come before the book launches! Check them out below!

Pre-order your copy + claim your bonuses here!

This Week on The Crystal Paine Show: More Than You Can Imagine (with Susie Larson)

For this episode of The Crystal Paine Show, I am joined by the author of the book More Than You Can Imagine: What Goes Does When You Trust Him — Susie Larson!

In our conversation, she shares some of the most powerful stories of trusting God through seasons when nothing seemed to make sense. Her aforementioned new book isn’t just something she wrote; it’s something she has lived.

She opens up about the years when serious health challenges, medical bills, financial pressure, and fear left her family wondering how they were going to make it. Yet, right in the middle of that wilderness, God taught Susie and her husband what it meant to genuinely depend on Him.

Listen in as we talk about what happens when we stop going through the motions of faith and actually engage our hearts with God. What does it look like to trust Him when the numbers don’t add up? How do we keep fear from making our decisions for us? What happens when God asks us to be generous even when we feel like we don’t have anything left to give?

Susie shares the incredible story of giving away a box of cereal when her own family was struggling financially and how that simple act became part of a much bigger lesson about living as a “flow-through account” of God’s provision.

We also talk about the miraculous ways that God provided for her family, the school that she and her husband were eventually able to help build in Rwanda, and the “impossible prayers” they now pray every year.

One of the episode’s biggest takeaways, though, is that dependence on God isn’t weakness. It can actually become our superpower. When we recognize that we don’t have everything we need but that God does, we get to watch Him do what only He can do.

What would happen if you trusted God a little more today? Open your hands, turn on your “noticer,” and start looking for His faithfulness. You may be surprised by what you see! I hope that you enjoy this conversation with Susie, and, as always, please feel free to reach out with your own thoughts!

Listen to the episode here. 

What I’m Reading… 

I finished reading More Than You Can Imagine this week and it was excellent! Highly recommended if you could use some encouragement to deepen your relationship with Jesus and see Him do great and mighty things in your life!

Currently, I’m reading: Take My Hand (it’s been heartrending but so good so far!), Making Peace With What I Can’t Control, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women, Holy & Hormonal, Every Table an Altar, Calming Your Anxious Child, and This Moment Matters.

What I’m Watching…

This week, Jesse and I watched Mayday (funny and mostly clean, though it does have some language in it). I watched The Sound of Music with Kierstyn and Micah for the umpteenth time (it’s one of their favorites!)

What I’m Listening to…

I’m almost finished with The Girl Behind the Wall and have really enjoyed it. It has made me think about a lot of things related to the Berlin wall that I’ve never thought of before and how hard and challenging it would have been for people.

In Case You Missed It — Links from Recent Weeks: 

• How to Build Financial Confidence in Midlife — I had the joy of being a guest on Pamela Henkelman’s The Midlife Momma podcast to discuss how to take the stress and shame out of money and focus on  build simple habits that build confidence and financial health over time. If you’ve ever thought, “I should probably be better at this,” this conversation is for you and I hope you’ll check it out! 
  
• Bubble Pizza ($10 Family Dinner Idea) — This Bubble Pizza recipe is a fun and yummy twist on traditional pizza! It’s a sure crowd-pleaser, while being a little different than the same ol’ pizza. It’s also sooo easy — in fact, you can throw it together and pop it in the oven in about 10 minutes.
  
• Small Leaks, Big Impact: How Tiny Daily Spending Habits Can Drain (or Transform!) Your Budget — Have you ever wondered, “Why can’t I save money?” Do you ever get to the end of the month and realize that small purchases have sneakily diminished your bank account balance? Most of us have been there before, and if that’s you, be sure to check out this post for 5 simple, practical strategies to stop impulsive spending so you can confidently save more money each month. 
  
• The 5-Minute Weekly Budget Check-In That Might Change Your Finances — Instead of waiting for the end of the month to wonder where all the money went, I highly recommend doing a simple 5-minute budget check-in every week. That’s it. Five minutes. It just might completely change how you handle money… and it’s so simple! This post has all the details of how to transform your finances with this quick and easy check-in.

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