I've actually been growing my hair out so that I can create more varied looks, like the blogger. The problem is, I'm not very good at it, and I have very little energy to spend on hair styling. My hair is naturally wavy too, and I find that if I am going to do a soft-curls look like the blogger, I have to blow dry my hair straight first and then go at it with a curling iron--I can't just let it air dry, because the wave ruins the soft-curls look. So that makes do's like that labor intensive. But once I get my hair grown out another inch or two, I can pull it back in various ways, which will mean a greater variety of looks with (I'm hoping) less effort.
Joy, I have heard that if you have straight hair and want it to hold a curl, you have to do it the old-fashioned way, with a wet setting in curlers and letting it air dry. Is that something you've tried? I think that E does her hair like this on occasion and gets good results.