Getting There

About 5 months ago I decided to grow my hair out from the short cut I had been rockin'. Well After much anticipation...I can finally do something with it!

This weekend here in MN we had really weird weather: raining, not raining, cold/chilly, blistering hot, etc. But the overall weather "issue" that I deal with: humidity. Ugh my hair HATES humidity. I have tried sooo many products but it just doesn't do well in MN's infamous humid season. 2 years ago I learned how to french braid my own hair in an attempt to not look like a wet, scraggly cat all summer. After getting the technique down I started rockin' the french braided bangs/front portion of my hair. It worked great...because I had long hair!

Well for the past couple months I have been trying to just simply bobby pin my bangs back in a little "poof". But I was getting bored with that because it was the same damn thing everyday. Well this serves as proof that my hair really is growing! Yeah!

(Please excuse the crappy, uneven braid, I've been out of practice for a while. Oh and also ignore the little baby hairs all around my forehead...they have never gone away, regardless of the length of my hair)

oh hell

So yesterday I decided to try to get my eyebrows waxed. I have gotten them waxed twice before. And maybe it's because I'm super picky, but I didn't like how they turned out before. So I have just tweezed them myself since then, but it's difficult to get the right shape when you're looking at your own face and not straight on like someone else can do. So I thought "hey, just do it".

There is a girl at the salon whose eyebrows I LOVE! They are thicker (which mine are too) and we discussed what I like about mine now and what I have trouble accomplishing myself. So I decided to lean back and trust her.

Let me say I do like how they turned out. They're different so it's weird to see, but overall I like them. That's not the issue...

After she finished waxing she applied "something" to my newly waxed brows.
My response: "is it supposed to burn?"
Her: "um, no...why, is it?!?"
Me: "yes! really bad!"
Her: "oh no! (wiping it off) that's weird, it's just aloe".

Yep! Just simple plain ALOE!

So I'm not exactly sure what happened. But I'm guessing it's just my SUPER sensitive skin (which we did talk about) reacting to being ripped off my face, but my skin was super sore and felt slightly still "burning" and "tingling" the rest of the night. Oh and was flame red, which caused Matt to keep staring at my face when he was talking to me. And this is how I woke up:

Like I said, I do like the shape...but man do they hurt. So I Google'd "eyebrow wax burns" (because that's what it feels like) and everything I read directed me to apply a neosporin-type ointment and take ibuprofen for the swelling (which they were). I'm hoping that they don't scab over and start peeling off like other burns I've had (from curling irons, cookie sheets, etc).  :(

Update from yesterday

So yesterday I DID accomplish all 4 things on my list: workout - check, walk puppies - check, shower - check, get ready for date night - check (yes yes, I did do more than just those 4 things but I won't bore you with the exciting details of vacuuming and dishes). And although I did not look like Ginnifer Goodwin (my "after" picture from yesterday's entry), I did look like this: 

I mean no, I wasn't ready for prom or even a black-tie event, but for me this doesn't look too bad. Plus, I was excited to wear this sweater (side story: my sister gave it to me, yep hand-me-downs from my little sis, and I was nervous at first because I RARELY wear patterns, let alone animal print...but you know what? I kinda like it)!

poor little me...

So after I was laid off at the end of November, I have been going through some ups and downs. As I told a dear friend who expressed concern, "Don't worry, I'm not going to off myself" (I know, morbid)...I just have some "poor me" days. I know we all go through them for our own reasons and obviously there are worse things going on in the world than me getting laid off, but in my own little world, it's a BFD (Big Freaking Deal).

I've tried to do things that make me feel important (and yes, I do find it ironic that a job I didn't really 100% like and that didn't really 100% like me made me feel important) and not sit around all day watching tv in my bathrobe (as I'm literally sitting here in my bathrobe with the tv on in background ugh). Some days are harder than others and some days have been great (this day, these days, this day, etc)! And I'm trying to keep my optimistic perspective and "sunny disposition" but let's be honest...I'm home all day taking care of 2 dogs (eye roll).

I've also realized that as I don't have a job to "get ready for" I have seriously lacked on the "getting pretty" thing. I mean yes, I have been showering (semi-) regularly and I have put on make-up when I go visit people (but definitely not while "just" doing errands)...but 99% of my time it is a no-make-up, hair in a headband/bobby-pins, sweat/yoga pants wearing, sports bra sporting day. Don't get me wrong, it's been pretty great not waking up at 6:30am to start the hour long routine of hair and make-up...but I think it's time to re-evaluate my daily choices.

When did I start suspecting this??? Probably the night we were eating dinner my husband looked over at me and "jokingly" made a comment about whether I had bothered to shower that day!!! My response??? Shock and appall...then an awkward silence when I realized I hadn't (which wouldn't have been so bad except that I hadn't the day before either...and I couldn't remember if I had the day before that...wait I'm pretty sure I did). Wow Laura, when did you turn into a 13 year old boy who couldn't remember if he showered or put on deodorant?!? Time to turn this ship to "poor me land" around!

So here is what I have decided is my plan of attack:
1) get a routine, no matter how "small" and write it down: Yep, I am that big of a planner/organizer that I need to literally write it down. I also think that not having the routine of a work schedule has probably been my biggest downfall into "poor me land"

2) exercise at least every other day: this may seem like a big leap, but secretly I have been doing this (or close to this) since early Dec, I'll probably write something about this another time (and this should help do #3)

3) shower regularly! yep, that basic.

4) don't wear sweat/yoga pants in public (or when hubs is home): this one stems from a few reasons. First, one day I was driving by my in-laws work (locally in town here) and had a thought to stop by and say hi...but realized I was in grubby sweats and bobby pins and personally wouldn't want my family stopping by my place of employment looking like a sewer rat. Second, while out on errands I occasionally notice the "help wanted" sign in some businesses (that I probably wouldn't mind working in or at least inquiring in) but then don't stop by because I look like said sewer rat. And lastly, I need to at least put on a pair of jeans when hubs is home instead of my worn out, baggy sweats from college because, if I can be honest on my own blog, after working out every other day for the past 5 weeks...my ass looks pretty damn good :)

5) actively do something EVERY day that makes me FEEL GOOD about ME: this one is a little more vague than the above 1-4 and I think I am just going to leave this open-ended. Maybe this will also help me be more  spontaneous (which is a life-long-personality goal I identified years ago). Some ideas I already have: go for a walk when it's 40 degrees in January (like it is today), call up an old friend (instead of Facebook messaging them), try a new crafty project. (This is where any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!)

So my plan for today:
~ workout
~ takes puppies for a walk
~ SHOWER and get ready for...
~ date night in public with my husband

This short, little list may seem small compared to some people's days but for me this is a start to change this:

yep...this is me on any given day around my house into this:

haha ok, maybe not quite but a girl can dream, right?

Hair dilemma...

resolved :) So on Friday I had my haircut and had been debating what to do (as I talked about here). Well I decided that YES I am going to (attempt) to grow it out! Well in order to do so she didn't take off a ton of hair, but then again she always says "it's not about how much hair I take off , it's about the hair I leave on", so very true.

Well the pictures I brought her was this one:

My hair grows pretty fast so I think in no time it'll get there. And of course I brought her this one (as motivation to stay on this path):

Man I just love her! Well later that day I also found this picture that I think will help me in the stages between those 2 pics above:

I think this will be a good transition cut to help some of the choppy layers grow out also. So without further ado, here is some pics I took of my fabulously styled hair (and yes, no matter what I do, it ends up taking me forever to figure out how to style my hair like she did at the salon, which is why I try to take pics before I mess it up haha)

Yes, the back is still pretty short, but I like how the front is getting longer. And yes, I was wearing an apron :) it was a gift from my momma and it's adorable. Here's a close up of the fabric:

To Chop or Not to Chop

This Friday I have a hair appointment and I am torn...

To Chop (which is like the cut I had last time, about 8 weeks ago):

 (this is pretty close to what I have now)

or Not to Chop (the front of my hair is pretty much this length but the back is a little shorter still):

 Eventually into this...

Hmmmm so many choices, I guess I'll just have to see what mood I'm in on Friday morning

Hair dilemma...

Sooo since chopping my hair earlier this year I have LOVED having short hair. Because I have such thick hair (it used to take at least 25 minutes just to blow dry my hair WITH a professional hairdryer) having cut off 10 inches has saved sooo much time...and I've gotten to sleep in a little longer haha.

But because I am fortunate to have nice, healthy, thick hair...there are definitely times when I sure do miss my long hair. Like at our "Wedding Party Party" last year, my stylist created such a fun look by barrel curling and then french braiding the front section:

And I found this adorable picture on Pinterest that has me debating if I should start growing it back out again. Of course it could be that Reese is just adorable and looks so happy:

But THEN I found this picture!!! AND I'm obsessed with the new Sunday night show (Once Upon a Time on ABC) so I am pretty sure that this picture (and the millions of other pictures of Ginnifer I have found) have solidified my decision to keep my hair short: