Waiting for Fall Weather, Pumpkin Patch & A New Protective Hairstyle

Where Is Fall....Better Yet, Where Are the Fall Temperatures?

Soooo.....where the heck is the 80 degree weather? Its going on 2.5 straight months of triple digit heat. Can I get low 90's at least? Sigh. I have never sweated this much in my life! I grew up in the Midwest and moved there back after college. I couldn't wait to leave though, and go to a state where I wouldn't have to deal with 12" snow. When my oldest was born, it snowed 13" and that snow didn't go anywhere for about a month. Nuh huh. Goodbye to that. Well now I'm in Texas and in triple digit heat. The Texas sun HAS to be a different sun that shines on the rest of the US of A, lol. I'm just sayin'. At the beginning of summer, my son would walk down the driveway with me to check the mail and his cheeks would be red!


I can't wait for fall so I can walk/jog outside, have a comfortable play date and picnic at the park and have a great background for times of random picture-taking. I actually like wearing long-sleeved shirts and sweaters with shorts and in chillier temps, knee-length shorts. There's no need for air conditioning nor heat. We can leave the windows up in the house and ride with the windows down in the SUV. :-)  Football parties, Halloween and pumpkin patches are fun too!

Train ride boarding. The train just circled the pumpkin patch.

Train ride exit to the pumpkin patch.

His first pumpkin.

It came to me while writing this that the four seasons in Texas are still worth the move in spite of this brutal summer because winter weather is like fall too. (with snow and ice just here and there) I'm getting more and more excited as we speak! I can't wait to be able to spend a lot more time outside.





My New Favorite Protective Style

I've found a new protective style that I absolutely LOVE!!!! I saw it in this CurlyNikki post and though it is easier when done on long hair or straightened hair (straightened via rollerset or curlformers), I still managed with my neck length shrinkage twistout. This style awesome for me because it has a sleek and classy look and doesn't cause any tension on my edges like a bun would.

Back view from the best angle.

Back view from a different angle.

Front view.

What is your favorite season and why? How has your summer been? Do you have a favorite protective style?

Getting Creative with my youngin'.....

We're putting my oldest son, who turns 2 around the winter holidays, in a Mom's Day Out program. It's like a preschool/daycare type place that follows a curriculum but is only twice a week. This is my creative way of satisfying his needs for some kind of environment where he can socialize with other children and adults while still being in a structured and loving atmosphere. Its held at a church (like all are in this area) and he'll be learning Bible stories and how to play with others, singing songs and maybe even making crafts. I'm really excited but also a little nervous. I'm not one of those parents that's scared, only because I can go check on him whenever I want --they have cameras outside of the classroom-- but also because I know he needs to socialize with others more.

In just 10 months, my oldest son has moved to a whole other state where we have no family, (just a few friends) AND gone from being an only child to having to now share his parents. This kid's been through a lot of changes and he's really attached to us to the point where he doesn't like to be around family when we go home. He kinda freaks out. Then I have to hear about how I need to do this and that. I think I'm doing a pretty good job here, thank you very much....... My bad, I kinda digressed a bit. Anyway, I don't care about what my family thinks...unless I ask, BUT I do think he will enjoy making new friends at this program. So, I hope this program helps ease him out of his shell so that wherever we go he doesn't feel so attached to us, to where it looks like he's scared of others...especially family, lol.

I don't know why I'm so concerned. By his 2nd birthday, he'll probably be into everything and everyone! I'll be 'missing' his shy days. ;-)


My Long-Lasting Twist Out

I rocked my twists for a week (M-F) and then took them down on Friday afternoon for a twist out. I took it down on Friday and it was really flat because I only unraveled the twists instead of pulling them apart. I did it like this because I knew I was going to rock it during the next week. This is how I get an extra day out of it. My 2nd day hair was fluffed a bit more than I had planned, but my satin cap rounded it back to the way  I like. By the 4th and 5th days, my front was fuzzy (which is normal), so for the 4th day, I pinned all of the front bangs back with bobby pins. For the 5th day, I rolled half of my fuzzy front bangs back and pinned it behind my right ear. I patted the rest of my fuzzy bangs down and let it mix in with the rest of my hair. And voila! I'm finally start to get more creative with my hair....and this is just the beginning. Can't wait to share more styles in the coming weeks. :-)

2nd day hair

4th day hair - side

4th day hair - front

5th day hair

Have a happy weekend!

Funky Nails & Twists

I'm feeling kind of "blah." Dying my hair was fun, but I think I need to do something else.
Like I said before, going natural put me into a DIY - Do It Yourself - mentality.
I want to somehow do an animal print design....zebra to be exact....on my nails (hands and feet) but I'm starting to chicken out. I may just have to go and get that done!
I saw a girl at Old Navy with the cutest soft-colored rainbow nails. We started talking about my twist out, youtube, etc.
She said she was good at copying youtube nail designs but not hair and I told her I was the complete opposite.
Anyway, I'm really wanting black+white zebra print nails. I want them sometime in the next 2 weeks so I'll be studying youtube videos all weekend to see if I have the courage to do them myself or run to get them done.

Check out Rihanna's:

A little zebra and tiger....

love her.

 

Close-up. I love these, minus the 'bling.'

And these:

I love these! This is my goal....minus the pink.

These are cool, except for the two that look like Easter eggs. :-\

If I chicken out, i'll just try buy these and hope for the best. :-[

I'm afraid mine will look like the 'Easter egg' picture instead of the first picture, my favorite. Gosh! I gotta study this really good because I don't want to chicken out and buy the strips. ::crosses fingers:: I already have the white and dark brown. I'll buy black too and try them both out.

Absolutely none of these animal prints!

Shut the front door.

Or these-

Get out of here!

Lol.....WHAT?!?

That was too much! Can you believe these photos actually came up from google's search engine?!? Wth! They can't be serious. Two words: atrocious and hideous!



Protecting My Tangles

My edges are extremely thin...this sucks. I really don't know when or how that happened. I know I've had post-partum shedding for two years back to back. Yikes! It is noooooo joke! But from what I'm trying to remember, my edges were thin after my first baby and now thinner after my second baby. Ughhhh!

Thin - between my temple and ear. :-(

So this means no more ponytails for me for a while. It also means castor oil massages a couple times a week and henna treatments once a month. Oh and no more gel....well very little. I'm taking it back to protective style twists and twist outs. Although my ends are exposed with twist outs, my edges won't be under any tension and that's what most important for me. I've started doing some of these things but I haven't really been consistent.

Pinned up like the old style french roll.

When you feel "blah," what do you do? Are you doing anything creative to your hair (styling, coloring, etc.) or nails? Do you study youtube to learn new things you can do yourself? 

A Different Kind Of Insanity....Fantasy Football

Ok, I was the biggest female football fan ever. My hubs used to play in high school and college, so its kind of a big deal to him. so me, the oh so supportive girlfriend turned fiancee turned wife supported what he enjoys and he does the same for me. Well, after having 2 babies under the age of 2, I could give a rat's ass about football. Of course he doesn't know this and will never know this (unless he chooses to randomly read my blog anytime soon).

His/our favorite team has their first preseason game tomorrow. Woohoo. Can you hear my sarcasm? I mean, this man forgets where he is when he watches our team play. He curses at the players and coaches like they can actually hear him and take his advice. You know what they say, "The best players are the ones on the couch....watching at home." Yeah, that's him. I just look at him like he's temporarily lost it and all he says is, "You know how I get with my team." Sigh. W.T.F. And it gets worse.....dun dun dunnnnnnn.............

Fantasy football. Please. Someone put me out of my misery. Like I said, this all used to be cool and cute, but I don't want to see him glued to the tv, tied to the couch and bound to that laptop. He cheers for a team "except for not that player." He counts his points every five minutes on Sunday and watches football allllllll day. Our hometown church actually started an early morning 8am service for the football season. Apparently football is just that deep. Fantasy football sucks and whoever came up with it, should be made to watch endless hours of The Backyardigans or America's Next Top Model. Yeah...no guy would like that.

Well, I guess I should ask myself why the heck am I complaining? I'm a mom of two boys and its possible that they'll end up liking that sport. I'm hoping an praying that they don't though. Not just because of the obsession with it, but the dangers. C'mon, I'm not that shallow, lol. Technically, my natural hair obsession is annoying to him, but he reaps the benefits when he sees the efforts of all my work because he loovvveesss my hair.

What sports or hobbies of your spouse/partner do you secretly despise? Do you have any hobbies your spouse/partner 'secretly' despises?

Our Insanity Begins....

No, I'm actually not talking about decoding baby babble with a toddler that has mastered the art of 'playing you off'; nor am I talking about my teddy bear baby who is also controlling with his LOUD crying all because I took a toy, remote or well, anything out of his hand. But, yes that does work my nerves. :-) I'm actually talking about Insanity, the 60-day intense workout system with Shaun T. We started a couple nights ago and we actually didn't quit and sit on the couch while watching them finish the exercises. Hell, we even did it again the next day....and that's something for us to be proud of! We're actually going to try and stay committed! Our plan is to get our bodies back in shape as well as do a little toning and sculpting.

My husband is a member of 24-Hr Fitness Club. I used to be but gave it up a couple years ago because I just wasn't going and didn't want to waste that money. Whether my hubby works out there regularly or not, he doesn't feel like its a waste because sometimes he plays pick up basketball. Anyway, I said all that because after buying Insanity at an awesomely used price of $45 (but in perfect condition), I was thinking that even if we had paid the $130+shipping it costs brand new, it still wouldn't have been a waste of money if compared to the $30-$35 a monthly gym membership would cost me. Sure, I don't have access to various other exercise classes and yoga classes, but technically after 4-5 (months) gym payments, I've already covered the cost of Insanity!

If you'd like to check out Insanity or some other workout dvds by Team Beach Body go here. They're all not expensive nor come with goo gobs of dvds. If it were up to me, I would've just gotten Hip Hop Abs by Shaun T (of Insanity) but the hubs looked at me like I had one eyeball.

This is apart of my 'New Self" project that I have started in my mind. The natural hair lifestyle has taught me how to commit to something, so hopefully that commitment goes along with my fitness and Insanity.

Do you have any fitness goals that you are starting or maintaining? When do you plan to start? What helps you stay committed, even through the pain and soreness?

DIY - Dyer's Remorse? & Henna

A Day In The Life....Love

My Tangles Update

Nope....don't have dyer's remorse yet! I'm enjoying my new color. Actually, I'm loving it! One thing I'm enjoying about my new natural hair/DIY hair lifestyle is that I can't mess it up. So, I henna'd over the weekend. My mom was in town last week, giving me a bit of a break, and after henna'ing her gray, I jacked her for her leftover henna. Well, she gave it to me. :-) So, I went ahead and henna'd right away. My hubs said it changed my dark blonde to copper. Oh, well. I still lovethe color! A much needed, SPICY change!

Hair in wet state.

The henna really accentuated my curl pattern!

I still plan to henna more frequently, but only in the back of my head where the curl is tiiiiiiigggghhhhhtttt! This henna treatment, I didn't use any conditioner (nor did I take pictures of the mix...shame shame, I know).

My Henna Mix & Process:
Start with 50g of henna (bc I used the majority of it on the back half of my head)
Stir in 3/4 cup of green tea (cooled)
Stir in 1/4 cup of lemon juice (to speed up the color dye uptake)
~Let the mix sit for 2-3 hrs until the top 'hardened'/thickened
Add and stir in 1 tbsp of honey
For henna gloss - add a 1/2 cup of conditioner (your favorite cheap one)

I let this henna mix sit on my hair, under a shower cap for about 4 hours and caught up on Single Ladies while the Hubs took the boys out......somewhere. I texted the friend that introduced me to henna, CurlyNikki and natural hair 4 years ago and she said dye release takes 4-6 hours. I think that time is shortened when heat is applied, but who really has time for that? I mean seriously, the time commitment henna requires is why I never really stuck with it after I did my henna gloss last year, after my BC. Anywho, after rinsing out the henna, I deep condition overnight. Deep conditioning post henna is tres importante!

The differences of henna vs. henna gloss are conditioning based.....I think. Plain henna is as strong as say an ApHogee 2-Step Protein Treatment (which also means it is a tad drying), but henna is an all natural treatment and unlike ApHogee it actually accentuates your curl pattern. Too many henna applications too frequently can actually alter your hair's natural curl pattern, making the kinks looser and even straight. Yikes! Don't wanna do that!

They Say Blondes Have More Fun.....

Last week, I decided to change up my look a little bit and dyed the front portion of my hair 'blonde.' I think it was about a 5 inch wide x 4 inch deep area. I didn't let it get too blonde since it was my first dye job and I was of course apprehensive, but for my first time at it, I give myself a B. I left it on closest to my roots for maybe 45-60 seconds longer than the rest of the strands (which was 25 mins.) and its pretty obvious but it still looks good......so I'll just tidy it up when its time for a touch up.

What I used....

Freshly rinsed.

Freshly rinsed - pulled back.

Pulled into a ponytail and moisturized.

Post MAC makeover. I was trying to focus......thanks to my wine.

Figured I should include this smiling pic.

I plan to oil and moisturize my dyed hair everyday. I will definitely take special care of it since I know permanent hair is drying. Can't wait to rock a twist out or braid out!

Have you ever done a DIY dye job?