My Locks are Lacking

I would like to think that I take good care of my hair, but in reviewing its quality lately, I might have to re-think that statement. Seemingly out of no where, my hair is broken, damaged, dry, uncooperative and an all around hot mess. I can’t figure it out.

Yes, I have always bleached my hair. Yes, my hair grows quickly and therefore I typically have appointments every 5 weeks. So that really shouldn’t have too much of an affect. I use my KPak deep conditioner once a week, I avoid heat as much as possible, and I drink my water. What gives?!

I typically use a different shampoo each wash, just to mix it up so that my hair doesn’t get used to one and in essence stops being as effective. Right now my shampoos are Organix Moisturizing Coconut Milk, John Freida Sheer Blonde, Aveda Damage Remedy, & Head and Shoulders.

My daily conditioners are Matrix Sleek Look or Aveda Blue Malva, and then weekly I use the Joico K-PAK Deep-Penetrating Reconstructor which I typically leave in overnight.

Perhaps my hair needs different/better products? What am I doing wrong?

Must.Find.Out. Before all my hair breaks off and I’m bald like the eagle.

Weeks 1-10 of Mission: FitBitch

By now you have all probably heard of the books SkinnyBitch. If not, its a quick read and quite entertaining. It basically promotes vegan living, which isn't really my style, but I did learn several food and fitness tips that I have incorporated into my life. Ever since I read the book, I find myself saying things like "I want to be a Skinny Bitch" but really, when I think hard about it, its not that I want to be skinny. What I want is to be fit, to feel good in my clothes, to feel light in my own skin, and to know that I'm healthy.

Sooo, with that in mind, I have changed my 'Mission: SkinnyBitch' to 'Mission: FitBitch' because I WANNA BE A FIT BITCH. There, I've put it out there, don't judge me.

I've been tracking my weight and here are my results for the first 10 weeks:
Week1: Start weight, 'X', aka the-most-ive-ever-weighed-in-my-entire-life
Week2: X-1, or, I lost 1 pound
Week3: X-1, or, I weigh the same as in Week2
Week4: Forgot to weigh myself
Week5: X-1, still the same same same
Week6: X-2
Week7: Forgot to weigh myself
Week8: X-3, hurray!
Week9: X-3, still hurray
Week10: X-2, boooo I gained a pound, but still down 2 lbs overall

So as you can see, I haven't done jack shit, and it is now time to get motivated into exercising and eating better.

Automatic Pick-Me-Up

Having a bummer of a day so I decided to treat myself to an on-a-whim $20 Mani. Asked the girl to chop off all my nails and paint them a deep, dark red.

“Sure you no want French?”
“Yes, I’m sure. Dark red please.”
“Sure you no want long nail?”
“Yes, I’m sure. Chop them off please.”

She does her thing, and then reminds me to pay now before we paint (so it doesn’t get chipped). After a quick goodbye to my hard earned $20 bill I hand it over to her. And she comes back with $10! Oh happy day, things are looking up.

“Sure you no want lighter color?”
“Yes, I’m sure. Dark red please.”

She paints a swatch on her nail then shows it to me, as if to prove what a terrible color choice I’ve made. Ugh. She’s right. Damn her! I wrinkle my nose, shake my head, and give her the puppy dog apologetic eyes. She nods her head in silent understanding as I get up to go pick a new color.

Not wanting to disappoint again, I spend a little longer looking at my choices. It doesn’t help. Now I’m stuck at indecision point and can feel the eyes boring into the back of my head. Then I have a sudden epiphany, smile to myself, make a grab, and essentially skip back to my seat.

I hand over the nail polish bottle and she paints a swatch on her nail again, with a slight nod of approval this time. I giggle and stick out both my hands, ready to go.

Turns out that if you choose your nail color as if you were 5 years old again, it can bring a smile to your face. This one reminds me of Watermelon Bubblicious and it makes me happy. Super impractical and I love it!

Goals for 2009

I'm definitely not one for New Years resolutions, but this year boyfriend and I actually did write down our goals for 2009 in the hopes of sticking to them. I'm going way out of my comfort zone here by posting this, but I'm doing so in the hopes of keeping myself accountable. This way, when/if I slack off, I'll be embarrassed into motivation. And considering that summer is almost over...maybe this will kick me into gear.

MUST Goals:

• Pay off all credit card debt by 05/31/2009 - This was done on target, early actually, but then I've added some more since then so I'm starting from scratch for year end.
• Lose 8 lbs by 05/31/2009 - This did not happen :^( But I have lost 3 lbs, so its a start. Only 10 lbs total to go by year end.
  
• Have $5k in savings by 12/31/2009 - Long, bad story b/c I screwed this up on my part. But basically starting from scratch on this one.
  

HOPE Goals:

• Lose an additional 5 lbs by 12/31/2009
• Have a visible six pack (this one makes me giggle, but I AM serious!)
• Plan and have money allocated for a 2010 Europe trip by 12/31/2009
• Be kidney stone free this year - I do have a stone, and have had it for quite some time now, but technically this one is still met b/c I haven't passed any stones this year.
  
• Have $20k liquid available for a house down payment

How to get rid of unused products

Without having to sell on eBay or Craigslist! The only other way I could think of was maybe doing a blog sale, but that only works if you've got a gazzilion followers. Then today I read a post by All Dolled Up about a website that you can use to swap beauty products! So here's the scoop. You go to http://www.makeupalley.com and create a profile. Then you add items to your Wish List (things you want, thing you'd like to have, things you need) and add items to your Swap List (things you have around the house that you'd like to be rid of). Then you find people that have things you'd like, ask if they'd like to swap. No money exchange involved, you just have to pay to ship to them and vice versa. Seems pretty cool. I started both of my lists and within about half an hour I had an email asking if I'd like to swap! We'll see how things go but I'm optimistic.

Slow Cooker Recipe - Garlic Chicken

This is a recipe that I originally got from a blog called "A Year of Slow Cooking" (which I think is such a great idea!) and was really thankful to have when I first bought my slow cooker and didn't have any recipes. The first time I tried it I mostly followed her super easy instructions, but I got tired after peeling 31 garlic cloves, so I didn't make it to 40. Plus my boyfriend doesn't like onions, so I didn't use those. The second time I tried it with drumsticks instead of chicken breasts and we loved it even more!

So here are my 2 variations of Stephanie's recipe that I use:

31 Clove Garlic Chicken Breasts:
2.4 lbs chicken breasts (which is 2 packets from Costco)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp salt
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp pepper
31 garlic cloves
Low heat setting for 6 hrs

24 Clove Garlic Chicken Drumsticks:
1.5 lbs drumsticks
3 tsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp salt
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp pepper
24 garlic cloves
Low heat setting for 4 hrs

Make sure to click on the links to her recipe to get all the details on what to do. Enjoy!

Girls, its time to say no!no!

To unwanted hair that is. I saw the no!no! hair removal system when it first came out and was skeptical so I followed the progress and reviews for several months, trying to find the flaw. I have very sensitive skin (to the point where my own Dr. said I had to ditch razors), waxing is so painful I'll never go back, and professional laser hair removal was just getting too expensive for me (about $100 a session for the bikini area alone!).

Sooo...I finally broke down and went into Sephora to chat about buying the adorable pink thing that seemed to good to be true.

I've been using it for a few months now, as regularly as I can, and so far so good. It takes just slightly longer than shaving, so I only use it when I'm not in a huge rush. The thing to remember is that its more of a long term solution and not a replacement to shaving each morning. There is still some stubble immediately after use. The downside is the burnt hair smell, which is fairly strong, but I combat that by lighting scented oil before I start. I have definitely noticed less hair growth, more sparse if you will. I use it on my legs, bikini, and underarms and probably only need to shave about twice a week now.

Overall, for this price, I would say it is definitely worth it and am looking forward to reviewing results in another 3 months.