Good Morning Sunshine

Thank you to Phoenix for the nomination.  I tend to just ramble over here so I don't think of my blog or me as being on the radar for most folks.  I greatly appreciate the attention and being proven wrong.  Here are the questions she posed for her nominees.  And based on what I've seen on other blogs I may be one of the last to be nominated this go round.  SO if you are reading and you haven't been tagged, guess what you are IT kid. 

1. Your favourite song at the moment and why? Sam Smith's rendition of How Will I Know by Whitney Houston.  It's freaking gorgeous.  No idea where he came from but that boy can sing. 

2. TV show that you would recommend to anyone to binge watch? I don't recommend binge watching, it makes your brain mushy but I'd opt for cartoons over reality tv most days.

3. What injustice in this world makes your insides burn with rage and sadness?  Stupidity makes me most upset but hurting kids on any level should mean swift and painful death.

4. What is your hidden talent? I can read people really well and periodically manipulate them if I get bored.  I try not to get that bored.

5. What is your guilty pleasure? I like baking a lot.  And I am a great project starter, I need to work on completing them.

6. Describe one room in your dream home - remember money is in abundance in this little architectural fantasy.  Massive kitchen with farm sinks, double ovens to bake with, a stove with six eyes,  side by side fridge that has extra storage space, a kitchen island with a sink, seats, a quick prep station, cast iron pans and top of the line options for baking.  I'd have great kitchen electrics from Cuisinart and Kitchen Aid (my mixer now, a better food processor, and one of the large ice cream makers that don't need a prep of any kind).

7. What was your personal motivation behind the decision to go on a healthy hair journey?  I was tired of my hair growing to a certain point, breaking and having to start all over.

8. Who is your favourite Disney princess? Meh really don't have one but I like Merida's spunk.

9. What is your favourite city in the world? Paris

10. How long is your hair right now and what is your ultimate hair length goal? It's shoulder length but rarely on it because I have it curled up most days.  Bra strap length would be ideal, enough to play with in styles I really like but not so much that I want to cry every time I wash it.

11. Who is your favourite Avenger? Is Iron Man an Avenger?  If so then yeah him if not then Thor would work.

And here are your questions if you made it this far

1. Do you watch the ID channel (investigation discovery) and if so what is your favorite show?
2. Is there an Indie artist you think other people should know about?
3. If you had to choose what concert to attend forever and ever, who would be in your lineup and why?
4. Have you ever thought of dying your hair your favorite color?
5. Better aging action actor, Bruce Willis or Liam Neeson or Sylvester Stallone?
6. Your favorite cartoon?
7. A movie you watch every time it comes on tv no matter what?
8. Who and what would you take with you to your own private island?
9. Best thing about living where you do now?
10. Is there anything better than the smell of fresh sheets?
11. Do you remember your childhood nickname and if so does it still make you smile or does it traumatize you?

It's Hump Day Baby

Ok this will be a totally random, mixed bag of stuff that will have little to do with my hair so keep reading if you would like lol.

First, my inner nerd has come on out because of t-shirts.  I very rarely buy shirts that aren't related to work or my sorority but I totally had to indulge in these.  I am totally in love with Harleen Quinzel who is Harley Quinn's alter ego before she's in love with the Joker and off her proverbial rocker.  And Puddin' is her term of endearment for the psychotic object of her affection so the shirt made me crack up.  The other two shirts combined other random things I like (Minions, Doctor Who, and the Grinch lol).  I have enjoyed watching people trying to piece the connections together when I'm wearing the Minion and Tardis shirt.  I am all kinds of geeky and I know it.

I also finally made my salmon and OH MY GOD the wild sockeye salmon was flipping amazing.  Like it makes the farm raised salmon taste like a knock off version of your favorite Little Debbie treat.  It's not bad but it's not nearly as good.  The only downside is it's dramatically more expensive than the farm raised offering.  I will have to look for it when it's on sale and also look for another salmon that I saw when I bought these two.  Still have enough for lunch tomorrow or dinner maybe. 

And in probably the best news for me I am steadily drinking at least 72 ounces of water a day, often more like 96 or a bit over 100.  As someone who really sees, still, no purpose in plain water this is a major accomplishment.  I'm sure it will help me lose weight, nourish all my cells and help my hair and skin out in the long run but woo if it wasn't for Mio or Minute Maid drops it wouldn't happen.  Crystal Light doesn't have tubes for larger bottles of water.  I could use two of the tubes meant for 16 ounces of water but that made the water odd after a while with a weird after taste.  And I'd run through a box in two days when I was really on my water intake.  Three squeezes of either makes the absolute right amount and when I ran out tonight instead of foregoing more water I ran to the store with my coupons and grabbed way more than I need.  And when I got there it was on sale and one had been permanently marked down woo winning. 

And thanks to Phoenix for nominating me for a Sunshine Blogger Award.  I will answer that post either tonight or tomorrow.

Flexirod Set + No Rain = Winning!

So my wash day got delayed by sheer laziness this week.  I didn't have to do anything yesterday so I didn't bother to do my hair on Sunday.  I lounged around and did as much of nothing as I could and then about 10 o'clock that night I started in on my hair.  I let the Strong Roots warm up longer than normal and my hair clearly loved that the next morning.  I covered the length of my hair with Organix Argon Oil treatment along with my Moroccan Oil intensive moisture deep conditioner and went to bed.  I actually slept in yesterday and by that I mean made it past 8 AM without waking up like I had some place to go.  I washed my hair about 12 hours after I applied the prepoo and it felt flipping awesome.  It was straight with very few tangles in it through the wash and most of the conditioning.  I followed up the wash with Dr. Miracle's deep conditioner for longer than normal cause really I had a meeting this morning that I didn't have to look my best for but wasn't pressed for time to get to either.  About 90 minutes after I put it on I washed it out and t-shirt dried for an hour.

I always three comb detangle and opted to use my new jumbo rake which was freaking awesome.  I actually made it through all three combs with very little shed before it dawned on me that in all my excitement I hadn't put in my leave ins or anything else.  I got up and LOC'd with It's a 10 (freaking amazing I love this), grape seed oil, and As I Am leave in conditioner.  I combed through again with the medium sized comb and still didn't have much in the way of shed hair.  I collected all of it and took a photo for you to see of what came out.  At 9 weeks post, this is nothing short of a miracle for me.

And this morning I actually did manage to take two photos before I got up and running for the day.  Photo one is right after the flexirods came out.  I look confused so yeah just let me make it on that one.

And the second photo is after I did a quick finger detangle enough to make it look like a hair style but not enough to encourage the curls to fall too much.

Either way, for once there wasn't an immediate hair fall when I left the house cause it wasn't humid or ready to rain or anything else so my hair pretty much looks like that still.  I need to update my regimen on the bar up top but it's somewhat readjusting as I go so maybe I should include an in flux notation. 

How was your wash day?

Influenster Loves Me

Ok so maybe that's a reach but after qualifying for their Freeman Beauty VoxBox and not being able to find it here or in the city closest to me I was frustrated and let them know.  Today I got a box of both of the products I could have gotten and I heart them both.  As always Influenster provides products free as long as we review them.  Look over in my side bar if you have never heard of them and click the purple button.  Always full size products and they are normally things you are interested in with some that will expose you to new things.

So I got a bottle of the exfoliating cream and the moisturizer as well.  I'm a sucker for a good exfoliation so that is my favorite so far but I know I wouldn't have to do that as much if I moisturized better all over so I need to step up my game with that as well.  Both smell fantastic though really.  Nothing overpowering, almost powder like.  I love it, not sure if others will but it's a nice clean light scent.  Be sure to check it out if you can find it nearby.

Mid week Updates

Okay so it's really probably later in the week but better late than never.  Plus there's going to be another post today too that has absolutely nothing to do with my hair lol.

I should have taken a photo when I left the house on Monday.  My hair felt great and looked great but it was bouncy and felt like it wasn't set enough to hold up all day.  I was right.  It was mimicking my pre vacation hair by the end of the day and was completely fallen on Tuesday.  I did make it to the gym too so that didn't help at all.  I got the new combs I was waiting on so I used the jumbo rake to comb out the little bit of curl that was left and then M&S yesterday with my Elasta QP and grape seed oil.  I did take a photo this morning of my mid week roller set which is never done with as many rollers as the first one for some reason lol.  If I look tired it's because I am lol.  This week has been interesting at best.

So I have had ridiculous periods since like forever.  The depo provera cancelled them out most of the time and all was well except I'm not at the age where they don't want to leave you on it indefinitely and the options on the other end of the spectrum aren't necessarily so much fun. 

• Option One: deal with it, it's likely I'm perimenopausal now which could last another year or three.  Not the most horrible thing except I'm having cycles every three weeks right now and lets just say that SUCKS.
• Option Two: progestin only birth control pills.  This is an option because my family has a history of high blood pressure and mine can fluctuate.  It would at least regulate the cycle better BUT increases the risk of blood clots.
• Option Three: endometrial ablation.  This would greatly reduce cramps and bleeding and runs the risk of stopping my cycle all together but it also means no kids.  The ablation burns off a layer of the lining of the uterus where eggs would implant.  It doesn't sterilize you but it makes it dangerous to get pregnant.  Now as I have none, I'm single, nearly 39 and would never want to have children with someone I hadn't known at least a year and been married to another year the chances of me having kids is slim to none I know.  But I have spent the last few days second guessing the do I want to have any really before I even go in for the biopsy to make sure I even qualify.

So yeah it's throwing off my mood a bit.  I have time to make a decision so it's not a huge deal.  I just missed my first chance to do it this week but yeah I gotta decide something.  I remember thinking how lovely it would be to be a grown up and do all those grown up things.  No where in there did I see me not as someone's parent or at least fantastic step-parent lol.  Life has a way of throwing us some curves.  I'm still a kick ass aunt though.  And I made my Cinnabon kit and it was quite tasty.  I'm better prepared for round two whenever that comes.  Ok off to the next post.

Wash Day & Randomness & Celebrations

So it's Sunday and that means it's wash day again.  This post will be about a bit more than that because a bunch of things have come back on the periphery for me.

The first being I actually tried to baggy my ends and they felt flipping amazing.  So the next day I baggied my whole head and by the time I was ready to take it off it was time to watch dinner and then start an overnight prepoo which is what I did.  So from about 11 last night to 11 this morning I was in conditioning before the wash mode.  When I washed it was back to normal and none of the tangled crap from last week.  That could be in no small party because I didn't try to detangle before the wash.  There was a little bit of hair loss in the shower but for 8 weeks post it's kind of expected.  I deep conditioned for an hour post wash and now I'm t-shirt drying my hair.  I'll LOC, detangle and roller set it around 2 so I can have something to do while I watch the tennis match and can take a nap too since my body hasn't quite managed to adjust to the fact that I don't have to be up at 7 AM anymore this summer.

Last night I finally did what I say I will do every time I detangle my hair and upgrade my seamless combs.  I have had the mini Magic Star rake for a while now and wile it still works most of the time it felt like it was time to upgrade to the jumbo rake.  So I grabbed that and a comb that could replace my step 2 comb if I like it better than the Macadamia seamless comb I have now.  I also got a new head scarf, I know what you're thinking you just scored like 10 of those on sale and I did but this one is supposed to conform more to the size of your head than just keeping everything inside.  When it gets here I'll let you know if any of them were worth the expenditure.

And as I tend to forget it is my hair anniversary month.  This marks the third year that I have been dedicated to taking care of my hair.  I've had two setbacks of note, my edges going see ya later lady and having to lose several inches when I got here last summer but after both of those my hair is now stronger and longer than it was before.  I will do a comparison shot after my next relaxer so I can really see what is different besides the gray hair which is VERY different.  If I remember correctly my hair was hanging out around my ears trying to get to my chin when I started this process of stretching relaxers, washing my hair more not less, and not ignoring the rampant dryness.  Now most of it is shoulder length even though the back middle like normal is growing slower than the rest.  That photo won't come until next month at the earliest but I'm glad to still have hair on my head and love the fact that it's due in no small part to my behaviors.  Ok it's almost time to detangle.  Have a great Sunday all.

Brain went goofy, look what I found today...

So in the midst of good daughter duties, I spent yet another day perusing Walmart after mom's appointment.  We tend to split up because if we don't I end up frustrated cause there is literally no need to go up and down every aisle when you only need something from two of them.  As I was roaming for the mix of healthy and I need this sugar cause I'm stressed to high heave, I found things I had to buy cause yeah I had to.

First up from the Asian section, stir fry noodles and a thai peanut kit that doesn't require me to actually put the peanuts in--cause yeah I hate peanuts.  I am going to try to make something remotely healthy with both cause I love Asian food and noodles are filling to me but the stuff I like keeps getting discontinued.  Yeah ignore those hot dog buns and Minion lunch bag lol.

Then when I hit the baked goods aisle my eyes caught that box in the left corner and another one that made me go oh yes ma'am.  So yeah I shouldn't even entertain Cinnabon but the smell and the icing are like Baby Magic on newborns--total traps.  I didn't make either today because I bought other stuff--didn't eat any of that either lol.  But I'm super duper excited especially about the salted caramel brownies.  If I wasn't so annoyed I would have been drooling at checkout.

I will let you know how they all taste whenever I make them.

And it's wash day again..

I think I may have been a fish in a past life.  I really do like it when my hair is wet, shower, pool or stylist bowl.  I hate what I have to do after that to get it at least workable but really wet hair makes me happy.  My wash day was a bit more condensed than normal because of Wimbledon.  Not because I was so caught up in it but because I was actively avoiding most of it if I could.  I firmly believe that when I watch a match when I REALLY want someone to win I jinx them.  Yes I have no proof of that but it has held so far.  So I didn't watch much of it before I went on a grocery store run.  I got back around 11 and started the wash day routine.  It looks pretty much like it did the last few weeks except for two things.

I used to detangle my hair after I prepooed but before I washed my hair.  I seriously cannot tell you why I did but it seemed to make the wash easier at the time.  Today it took care of most of the shedding but not all of it as my hair felt horribly tangled through each step until the last phase of conditioner hit.  Then it was smooth like butter. 

And instead of using the As I Am leave in I opted for The Great Detangler and wasn't disappointed there either.  Here's a photo of the shed hair. It's super close up because I was being a lazy bum.  I promise a chunk of my hair didn't fall out.

I flexi rod set my hair again so it can be dry when I need to run to the office and turn in two grades for students I can't submit electronically and then I'm off to the big city to hang out with a friend who will be in town for a few days.  And I will try to squeeze a gym visit or two in while they are here but if not I'll pick up at the end of the week like I have been.  Gym is empty and I can sweat and look a mess in peace.

Early Fitness Friday: Mixed Bag

So it's not quite Friday yet but tomorrow will be a mixture of cooking, eating, laughing (if I can), soreness and potentially another gym run.  Today's gym visit was hilarious and there is a lot that I want/need to share.  I'm going to bullet point these cause yeah I'm tired and paragraphs seem like too much work right now.

• So yeah at the gym today the water is magically off and I didn't have to use the bathroom until I see the sign.  Five minutes into the workout I put the breaks on everything and went down to the closest store to privately handle some business then I grabbed some towels on the way out and went back to the gym.
• I decided to start working in the routine the trainer gave me a few months ago instead of just cardio or weights.  Let's just say the legs and cardio not so bad.  Squats hurt but don't kill me.  The damn planks.  Who invented them and why?  Feels like an old torture tactic and I cannot not do as many as we agreed to yet.
•  I barely made it to the hour and felt like I was going to die after I got done with the last bit of back exercises.  My legs were jelly till about 2 hours ago.  I left the gym at 6PM just so we're clear, it's almost midnight lol.
• I bought a sports bra from Soma which feels flimsy when you pick it up but has been a great support the last two days.  I need to wear my old Glamorise sports bra again so I can tell the complete differences but so far it's doing a better job of keeping the sweat off of me which is no small feat as I have been sweating something awful the last few days.
• To that end I took off my sweat band this afternoon and it was wet.  Not just moist or full of glisten.  It was soaked threw and I was shocked.
• I am now one workout away from matching all of last year's workouts.  Come on holiday sweat fest.
• I am still drinking as much water as I can with the aid of Mio or Minute Maid drops.

How goes your workout routines?

Let's Get Physical!

I hit the gym again today for the first workout of the month.  This wasn't stress driven more than another reality check that I'm closer to 40 than 30 and my body needs to be taken care of as much as I can.  I have been mixing up the cardio and the weights most of the recent visits but this felt like more of a cardio heavy day so after I hit a good stride with the treadmill I decided to spend another half hour on the bike.  Once I was done with that I did some upper body weights, one of my songs came on so I had to keep working out lol, and left about twenty minutes later.  80 minutes down and still three more days to get work outs in.  And now I am 2 workouts from hitting my total workout count from last year.  That will be an accomplishment in and of itself but that means I have to try to double it or at least hit 100 workouts for the year.

I am also trying to keep working on my diet with managed cheat moments instead of going balls to the walls with things I can't keep up with.  And thanks to my nieces I am going to give kale chips a try.  How are things going with all of you?

Twas the Last Wash Day in June

I repeated last weeks routine and will update the regimen soon because it's not quite right anymore.  Anyway, I woke up and started my prepoo about 8:30.  By noon I was ready to move into the wash day process but I tried to be sure to take a few photos as well.

1. I covered the length of my hair mostly with the Organix DC and mixed in a bit of the Moroccan Oil DC while waiting for the Strong Roots to warm up a bit before adding it to my scalp.
2. I covered my hair with a plastic cap and my bonnet and waited about 3 hours before getting to the next phase.
3. I rinsed my hair with warm/hot water and was amazed at how well my hair had taken in some moisture in my shortened prepoo.  My hair still felt great this week so the shortened prepoo and being more focused on wash day seems to be working.
4. I washed my hair first with my Moroccan Oil moisturizing shampoo and then the Organix Macadamia Oil shampoo. My hair felt great actually.  Just not tangle free.
5. I three stepped the conditioner as normal.  Moroccan Oil gave my hair good slip and felt tangle free.  Aphogee 2 Minute gave my hair some strength but not super soft.  Mizani gave me back the slip and softness and the feeling that my hair was buttery in a good way lol.  But as I noted who knows when before as my hair gets longer it seems like I'm actually using less product.  Anyone know what that's about.
6. I towel dried and then added my Dr. Miracle's DC for about an hour before hopping back into the shower to wash all of that out.
7. I t-shirt dried for a little over an hour and my hair really was loving all the attention.  It was strong and healthy looking and felt very moisturized.
8. I opted for just It's a 10 as my liquid for the LOC method.  In honor of the month of ceramides challenge being hosted over at Just Grow Already I dug my grapeseed oil out and used that as my oil and then used just the As I Am leave in for the rest of that step and then used my three combs to detangle, moderate hair loss but as I just realized I'm six weeks post I guess I should suck that up. 
   
   
   
   
9. The two strand twists made me unhappy so I did a semi tight curled flexi rod set.  I woke up to completely dry hair and tight moisturized curls which should have told me that it was going to rain and rain hard but I wasn't thinking.
10. I finger combed the curls through a bit but not much and went to class.  Sure enough on the way home it was raining quit a bit so the curls fell and I didn't pineapple them last night.  Surprisingly though the curls were pretty bouncy today too.

How goes your wash day?