Slow and Easy Wash Day

Moving the start of wash day to Saturday has actually worked out better than I thought.  One day I may actually finish it on Saturday but I have been so tired the last few Saturdays that isn't even on my agenda.  And today I must have been extra tired because I didn't get out of bed until 11.  It could be the knowledge that we're not working tomorrow that helped.  I would have been in a panic otherwise because my hair is taking so long to air dry these days.  It also gave me time to think about the fact that I haven't done a detailed wash day post in a while.  So here goes the products I'm using right now and as many photos as I can add.  I will apologize now because some are fuzzy but I took them with my phone and not my camera as I was doing my wash day.

Here are the products I used to prepoo yesterday after I got in from my swim class.  I just covered them up with a plastic cap and then my bonnet so I could hold in as much body heat as possible and to not make a mess if I did pass out like last week.  I apply the Strong Roots directly to my scalp and the other to over the length of my hair.

1. Moroccan Oil Intense Hydrating Mask
2. Organix Argan Oil of Morocco Intense Moisturizing Treatment
3. Tropic Isle Living Strong Roots Red Pimento Oil

When I finally stumbled out of bed I got in the shower and washed my hair in the shower.  I will say I was borderline amazed at how nice my hair felt post conditioners considering I skipped the Moroccan Oil conditioner this wash.  I had started using the Shiny Silver shampoo to get rid of some yellowing months ago but it tends to work relatively well with stripping the chlorine from my hair as well.  I could probably skip the Organix but I have like the combination of it and the Moroccan Oil a lot.

1. Shiny Silver Shampoo
2. Organix Macadamia Oil Shampoo
3. Moroccan Oil Moisture Repair Shampoo

As for conditioners I have a ton to choose from but opted for three without using one of my mainstays.  I went instead for the Moisture Fuse to wrap up the conditioning day and my hair felt amazing.

4. Aussie 3 Minute Miracle
5. Aphogee Keratin 2 Minute Reconstructor
6. Mizani Moisture Fuse

I used my regular deep conditioner after t-shirt drying for about an hour and after I washed it out t-shirt dried for about an hour again.

And I decided to go ahead and try to LOC in the write order.  I can't say how well it will work at this point but it has been done and my hair smells good lol.  Here are the products I opted for today.

1. Taliah Walid Protective Mist Bodifier was my liquid--just a few spray
2. Tropic Isle Living Black Castor Oil Serum was step one of the oil
3. NOW Jojoba Oil step two of the oil
4. Taliah Walid The Great Dentagler phase one of cream
5 As I Am Leave In Conditioner was phase two of cream

I am sure I look like a beauty supply store at this point but it works to keep my hair healthy and growing.  Since there doesn't have to be a trip outside tomorrow I went looking for a new protective style.  I am going to attempt a twist out.  Well I should I'm twisted as I type this.  I checked a few videos out on youtube to feel a little less anxious about it and then curled up the ends on flexirods.  That was tied down under a scarf and now my bonnet is securing the whole enterprise.  I may stay home the whole day tomorrow to give them time to really set since I rolled them wet.  I can do some exercises with my videos or bands.  Oh and I have to add a few more photos plus add some more detail.  I detangled before I washed and after I deep conditioned with my 3 combs (mini rake, oil infused seamless comb, and what I have been using as my fine comb).  Hair loss wasn't nil but it was pretty good for six weeks post.  That was pre wash.  There was really only a few strands post wash.  Anyway there you have it, my wash day.

Saturday Updates

Not sure how long this will be but figured I should say something since I haven't actually shared any news since Sunday lol.  I have been in the gym kinda religiously.  I skipped Thursday because I was exhausted but otherwise was in the gym the rest of the week and hit the pool this morning again for swimming lesson number two.  My body is tired now.  I'm not sure if it's from the actually floating and kicking I did today (that was cool) or a combo of the full body workout on the weights I did in addition to the 30 minute express station and 12 minute abs from yesterday.  Either way I haven't allowed myself to doze off because I'm sure I will be up at 5 in the morning if I do.  I still love my swimsuit as well and ordered a new one along with a pair of boy shorts to replace the ones I have now.  Not because there is anything wrong with them but when I get out of the pool it feels like I've gained 10 pounds of water.  I also ordered two new swim caps.  The silicone one I bought isn't bad but I have a HUGE head so things don't fit it easily.  Well not hats anyway.  And maybe it's not huge but it's still bigger than my swim cap is ready to accommodate.  Unless I'm part fish at the end of these classes I think I'll sign up for phase two in a few weeks.  It's good exercise, I run into everyone in town and it's cute watching the kids master skills faster than me.

I think I'm going to need a trainer for my workouts though.  I do enjoy being in there and getting up a good sweat but I'm not sure I'm doing the right things to get me slimmed down the way I want.  My weight keeps going up and down even though all of my clothes are starting to fit differently.  I am doing pretty good upping my water intake as well and remembering to take all of my vitamins.  Overall I'm feeling better even if the scale doesn't love me yet.  And I may be able to attend a conference on someone's dime if things go well.  Back to my prepoo.  God my week was boring lol.  What is going on with you?

Working Out, Wash Day and Webbed Feet

Ok so my feet aren't webbed but I did start my swim lessons this weekend.  I was a little stir crazy after being stuck in the house because of the bad weather.  We are expecting more snow but no where near as bad as it was, hoping desperately, so I had to get out and about while I could.  And I have to say I hit the gym three days in a row and then had swim lessons yesterday.  I got cute swim suits (vintage swim dress and adorable shortini--yes they make up all kinds of words now) from SwimSuitsForAll.Com and then had to run around and find a swim cap because while I trusted that the conditioner would help guard my hair from the chlorine I didn't want it to have to work too hard.  I found one and headed out to the class terrified of the water like normal.  I have to say though it wasn't so bad.  Remembering how to be underwater without freaking out as good.  Need to work on being comfortable on my back but all in all was a treat.  With that hour in the pool I hit four workouts for the week and 5 for the year so far.  That's almost a tenth of my total for all of last year.  And the workouts are getting longer too.  I've been hovering in the 35 to 45 minute range but all of my gym stops this year have been at least an hour.  I only stopped on Friday night because I wasn't sure how much we would do in swim class the next day and didn't want my legs to be jelly.  BUT the upside of going often and staying longer is one or two of the workers/trainers keeps checking on how I'm doing and correcting my form when thy need to so the workout is more effective.

So of course after the pool I wanted to do my hair.  See the key word there is wanted.  I started a prepoo and put my plastic cap on under my satin bonnet and promptly fell asleep after I ate lunch.  I woke up three hours later and then I cooked dinner lol.  I was slightly tired and then proceeded to do nothing and went back to bed a few hours later.  I did wake up first thing this morning and washed my hair though.  I detangled with my mini rake before I washed though since I was sure between the overnight prepoo and pool time my hair was going to be a tangled mess and I was kinda wrong.  Very little hair loss there and after the wash itself.  I opted for a flexi set again today but really do need to work on something else.  Any good youtube videos for vintage styles ladies?

Here's a photo of the total hair loss for the day.  I chuckled when I saw it because there was so much gray hair in it lol.  Oh well such is life.  Back to washing clothes an watching the game.

Greetings from Snowmageddon

I am one of the millions of humans being inundated by ridiculous amounts of snow.  I am keeping my fingers crossed, and saying my prayers that we are able to stay warm and safe through all of the hubbub.  I think it has finally stopped snowing but that's about 10 inches of snow later give or take an inch.  The wind is going to be the biggest issue over the next few hours as it makes the temperature drop to dangerously low points for a full day.  Work has been cancelled and we have been cautioned to stay home unless we have to be out.  Believe me I am so not headed anywhere.  I planned on sneaking over the gym this morning and yeah the snow was already making the road disappear so I gave up on that.  I get my one and only workout of 2014 in yesterday.  Spent an hour moving through the ab routine, full body weights and then hit the treadmill and bike until my body said psst lady get the hell up.

I had to hit the grocery store allegedly for one last thing but that never ever happens plus the store was packed to overflowing with humans and barren of staples.  I loaded up on what I could, paid for it and came home.  Now I'm watching Betrayal, mostly because I mightily lust after Stuart Townsend, and I'm hoping these random light flickers are just because I'm tired and haven't really had the lights on this late lately.  We're in and just trying to entertain ourselves until this improves.

I have started my second inversion.  I figured this would be a good time to do so since yeah not sure when leaving the house will become an option.  That gave me time to surf the Sephora website and close the deal on some new skin care products.  Depending on the lighting I can see very defined dark spots on my cheeks which I hate.  They also included a few samples and a skincation kit which had a bunch of samples to use.  I'll see which ones I like and I will review them in turn.  I need to get my skin under control as I'm working on the rest of me too.  I am upping my water intake too.  For ever 1.4 ish liter of V8 Fusion I finish I drink the same amount of Crystal Light.  So far I'm going through a bottle and a half each day or so but since I'll be in the house I'm sure that will increase.  The V8 Fusion gives me a serving of fruit and veggie in each 8 oz serving which is good but the water helps too.

I can say a bit about the Fuzz Off I got the last time I went to Ulta.  It is MUCH better than the Nair facial remover.  My hair is course and the Nair seemed to make it softer but not really remove it.  I don't think I used enough the first time but it did remove the majority of hair I put it on the first pass. The second pass got rid of the rest of it.  The tube itself is great.  You have to turn it to the on position so no chance of accidental spillage (and since its 24 bucks a tube yeah for no accidental spillage).  And there's a lip that could be used to help smooth on the cream but I used my fingers.  That's a good thing because I feel my chin often with the same fingers and it made sure I hit the hairs that like to say eff you Nair.  So far so good on remaining smooth and it's been three days or so I think.  I'll monitor better the next time.

And finally I did have a wash day before the gym.  I think I washed my hair on the 1st after my post.  I let it prepoo over night after detangling with my fingers.  For the most part it was a smooth wash day.  I added the Mizani MoistureFuse and skipped one of my shampoos mostly because I couldn't find it.  I wrapped it and crossed my fingers.  It dried pretty straight which is a minor miracle.  Since I only planned on going to the gym when I took it down it didn't need to be super straight anyway.  I was going to flat iron it in the morning but yeah snowmageddon.  I'll moisturize and seal it when I get up in the morning and figure out what I'm going to do for the day besides eat.  At least I made a ton of new salads so we can grab something easily.

So what is up in your neck of the woods?

2013: An Interesting Year, Time to Say Good-bye

So I wasn't sure I was going to write anything today but figured what the heck.  There are a few reasons to do so and one of them is this.  I started a happy thoughts/good events jar at the beginning of the year.  While I wasn't always great about keeping it up to date when something new happened but when I sat down today I hit 72 separate events that made the year worthwhile.  That surprised me to say the least but it also means I was doing more of what I hoped to be doing in that I was actually looking at the good things and not getting mired down in the bad things.  Being totally honest and transparent, there were some less than happy moments throughout the year but as of this moment I can say without a doubt that the good far outweighed the bad.  If you want to join in on for it next year just follow the instructions on the photo below.

As for my hair and health journeys, that has gone well despite some setbacks.  Like many a human I started 2013 with the goal of getting healthy and shedding 40 pounds.  Well then I lost my job, was horribly stressed, found a new job and then finally moved.  Let's just say my weight was all over the flipping place and I do believe before I started working out that I had gained about 10 pounds from all of the inactivity and funk I allowed myself to get mired in.  Thanks to my willingness to step beyond my comfort zone this year I entered every contest I could get my hands on and won two of them.  I have a beautiful necklace to show for one win and the photo I shared yesterday to show for the second.  Now that win didn't cover the whole shoot but it got me up and active and it got me interested in other new things.  Like makeup and vintage hair styling because she created a look I didn't think I had enough hair to pull off but hey joke was on me.  After hitting shoulder length, the aforementioned stress and bad self care did a number on my hair.  When I finally found a hair dresser here she whacked off at least 3 inches and left me somewhat devastated.  My hair felt better but all that time and energy to just see it gone was heartbreaking.  However, being back on my hustle with the hair care and self care and surprisingly all the sweating made my hair rebound in a great way.  When I went to a new stylist, who had my old relaxer (thank you Affirm), my hair was feeling great again and most importantly I had retained quite a bit of length.

I'm eating better, trying to sleep better, getting to the gym at least twice a week as much as I can and shooting for three or four when I can pull that off.  And like I mentioned yesterday I am continuing to add to that which by default will benefit both my heath and hair.  The swimming is good exercise and the resulting chlorine impact will make sure I tend to my hair as much as I can on Saturday mornings.  I invested in the kit below when I was still visiting because it was used on me during the photo shoot.  I showed you some photos during the update post before I left but I will have to get used to applying it myself.  I grabbed a foundation brush at Ulta when I got back along with Fuzz Off.  Yeah the Nair was just laughing at me and I can't let the hair get long enough to wax because the moment I feel hair along my chin line it drives me nuts.  So I will try Fuzz Off before I have to find a home electrolysis kit and zap those little irritations into dust.  I am also working on new protective styles for the new year.  Flexi sets are fine for a while but not the be all end all once my hair hits a certain point.  I'm also trying to do the braid thing if I can find someone to make it look professional for me.  I still have the day job lol.  And something else odd happened while I was gone.  I nearly completely abandoned my comb.  I really didn't have time to do much with my hair because my nieces were loving on them some Auntie.  So I would comb my hair into a wrap with my fingers and tie it down and they were normally clamoring to pull it down for me in the morning so I would let them.  Well anyway I think that's the high and lows for my year in brief.  Let's see what 2014 has in store!  Happy New Year to you and yours.

I have no catchy title

I'm not sure how long this will be as it's a pseduo update and rambling post.  We are back home and settled now.  We got back last week actually but in all of the confusion and emotional upheaval it didn't really seem like a good time to post.  My buddy, Baxter the pug, ran away the morning we left.  He was safely returned the night after we left but everyone was very upset in the interim.  Let me not say everyone.  The grownups were all kinds of upset.  The six and three year old were more upset that their aunt was leaving.  I really appreciated that more than they will ever know because it made me smile a lot to be with them.  However, it also made me think of some other things too.  Another birthday has passed for me.  I'm not sure if I mentioned that or not because we were busy packing, shopping, shipping and all that good stuff for my nieces.  So as of 2 weeks and 6 hours or so ago I am now another year older.  And for most of the last few years I've resigned myself to the babies were probably not on my agenda between the whole being single, taking care of mom, trying to get myself sorted out as an adult stuff I had going on.  But as I was woken up almost every morning by small faces who were just excited to see me I started second guessing that.  And as I was leaving with cranky grown ups and sad little people something hit me.  At some point they won't be little people excited to see me anymore.  I have other nieces and nephews and the I'm bored and all grown ups are stupid phase is on the horizon.  Not to mention that well before that phase their parents just may have other plans for their holidays.  So all the hugs and face crawling and giggling and playing that I get in abundance now will likely disappear sooner as opposed to later.  But I really don't want it to.  I love munchkins.  I am actually the friend that volunteers to babysit or stay home while the adults go out drinking or just seeing a movie that isn't PG4 lol.  Plus I have been well stocked in kiddie movies and books for quite some time.  After we get through the early year projects I think I am going to at least attempt to go through the training in order to either be a foster parent or adoptive parent.  There are three or four major projects ahead of that but it's mostly house stuff that would actually help that out more than not.

Ok moving on.  I need to squeeze in one more workout this month and I will have done 52 for the year.  That averages out to one a week even though I know the vast majority of them happened from mid September to now.  Regardless the Lone Star Pinup experience got me back to working out for me because I need to and the health benefits and bit of weight loss have been great.  I have been fleshing out my bucket list again.  I don't know if I readded pinup photos but I should.  I did add visiting family more and will adhere to that but I do need to work on developing my tiny branch of family because well it may just be me on some holidays and I need to not be a loser sad and mopey when or if that occurs.  So partially to escape from too much alone time with mom I ran out to take care of a few thing. I started at Midas to get the check engine light cleared up cause it was freaking me out.  Minor fix needed.  I went to the library to get a cd on hold after I went by the local Y to sign up for swimming lessons.  I haven't gone swimming since I was a child but, and you'll laugh, I've taught other people to swim since then.  I swam like a fish before my parents got divorced but something about being under the water when I knew what water could really do just messed with my head.  Well I found a class for the grown folks and will be there in a few weeks to try to get through the six week class.  I figure if nothing else I have for sure exercise for an hour once a week.  Now that isn't replacing a gym day as far as I'm concerned it will be an add to the work out weeks.  I will tell you how freaked out I get of course.  However, this is also a bucket list item and I want to be able to really enjoy any of those foreign countries I may get to with lovely sandy beaches.  Now to find a suit that doesn't make me look like Danny Devito from Batman Returns.

As for my hair, yeah I said if I didn't make it to the gym today I'd wash it but I did and now I want to get one more in and then I'll wash it and do not a whole lot else besides wash clothes and sleep until I cook on New Year's Day.  We'll be having duck and not sure yet.  I made a bunch of new salads and I grabbed a bunch of random things we can have as sides.  I will b the last day to eat any old thing and then it's back to healthier options at all times.  Not the healthiest cause seriously I don't love veggies enough to do that but I have added quite a few to my well that's tasty list over the last two years so I will keep experimenting.

I haven't made any resolutions yet and may not.  I'm in the middle of a mental overhaul about my life and what I want and that seems to be guiding me well.  Who knows?  I need to finish my good thoughts jar for the year and get ready for the next year.  I have to redo a few of them because my jar apparently got lost in the move even though I pretty much know what was on them.  Oh and because one photo is done from the shoot I will share it.

Completely Not a Post--Message to Spammers

Hi random bots and strange people who somehow think my blog is popular or getting enough traffic for your spam posts to help you in the slightest.  One let me tell you I don't think it is and secondly, short of getting the notifications about your posts--which is kind of annoying, no one is seeing said posts--not even me.  I have a fantastic spam filter so they are in a holding cell until I delete them all.  While I am pretty sure this won't deter you at all, just wanted to give you a heads up so you can direct all that energy elsewhere.

Holidays Update

Hey everyone

I have been busy as all get out for the last few days so I apologize for disappearing a little.  Our travel day turned out to be a little longer than it needed to after getting to the airport in what I considered a reasonable amount of time considering it takes usually ten minutes at most to check in.  Oh not on Thursday morning with Southwest.  While every other carrier was virtually empty at check in, Southwest had a line around the corner for all of their departures.  We missed our flight and ended up going standby the rest of the morning.  After slipping on to the first flight by the skin of our teeth the second flight has us booked before we deplaned and we arrived about an hour later than scheduled.  We got here in time to go see small humans at gymnastics and then came home and crashed eventually.  The next morning I was woken up by small humans checking on me which was followed by a grocery store run and finally a shower before an almost 3 hour drive to the best two hours ever.  Well the best two hours without a really pretty man, good food and a sturdy...well let's just move on from that thought.

I was able to check off another item from my bucket list, actually two since visiting family was on there too, and had my first set of pinup photos taken.  I have to say it was a blast and I have never felt less self conscious in my life doing something girly and out of my norm.  Loved it and I highly recommend doing it yourself if you are so inclined.  Lone Star Pinup was the best.  Whenever I get them back I'll share my favorite one or two with you but seriously it was oodles of fun.  And I will definitely be repeating the experience sometime next year after I spend the next full year getting my sweat on lol.

And now I am just recovering from kid time.  They are super funny and smart and full of energy and I am not at all sure I could do the parent thing but they make me think about it more.  Doing it "alone" creeps me out but who knows what's in store for me now.  I put alone in quotes because mom is around for sure but there's not another parent to chip in and do the things I suck at or pick up the slack when I am tied up.  Going to do some more thinking on that and then last minute Christmas shopping later this afternoon.

Here are a couple of quick snapshots I took of myself after another 3 hours in the car home and a few hours of family time.  I had taken off the fake lashes at that stage--big congrats to those who wear them all the time that was an experience for sure--to show my nieces but otherwise everything was basically as it was when I was made up and styled.  I tried to do close ups on the eye makeup but they looked disturbed in every shot I took and then I noticed you could see them in the side shots of my hair lol.  Anyhoo, here goes.