And here is something that BB requested: my entire Longlocks hairstick collection in pictures! As always, pictures don't do justice to these, but I'm sure you have great imagination.

It all started from just one pair...

*envious sigh*   

When you have enough sticks to group them by color, you know you have LOTS!!! 

:: another envious sigh ::

Now, I'm just waiting to see Sakina's and Greek Lady's collections in pictures *hint, hint* 

work/hair: A philosophy conference on evil will be held in Helsinki in a couple of weeks, and so I've been preparing for it this week. Today, I've spent my whole working day contemplating evils of the world.  While I find philosophy of evil interesting and a very important field of study, it is certainly among those areas of philosophy that are not good for one's mental health (no, we're not wondering why I seem to find those areas most interesting in philosophy...). Once again, it has come to my mind that hair obsession and things that come along with is is one of the nearly perfect antidotes for too heavy thoughts.
     So, I took some time to shop in Helsinki. The department store where I obtained my Taiwan clips had now new colors available: tortoise, orange and tortoise brown with leopard spots. I bought just the tortoise, plus some pretty elastics and a cheap beak clip. The last is for some experimenting as I got rid of all my beak clips last year after deciding that they just don't work for me. Lately, I have read and seen some pretty neat updos that are made using beak clips (not to mention gorgeous pictures of Ficcare beaks). So, beaks will get another try. If the cheap clip I got works at all, I'm going to invest in a Ficcare beak the next time I order Ficcares. I'd just hate to go ahead and order something gorgeous only to discover that it won't work.
     When I came home, I found that the scarves I had ordered from Headcovers.com had arrived. They're sooo pretty. In fact, they are not quite scarves but things that look like half soft caps and half scarves. They came in beautiful summery floral prints. I quickly tried them and they all seem very comfy- my old problem of finding headgear for sun protection is at least a big leap closer to solution! And just in time too- the weather forecast says that the temperatures are going to leap up to summer readings and it will be sunny for the rest of the week. I also got a dark blue swim cap, to go with my new dark blue sporty swim suit. I hope I can make it to swimming hall on Friday...

Today was also washing day. I washed with Lavender Spice. I thought my old bar smelled nice, but in the brand new bar the lovely scent is even stronger. Pure luxury! 8)

Lastly, a small raving note about my kitchen headcoverings. I washed them for the first time and was happily surprised to see that they don't need ironing at all. They just dry into the right shape, and very quickly too! So, on top of all other wonderful qualities, they are also easier to care for than bandanas. I'm ready to call these the hair tool discovery of the year- had I known how superior they are to kerchiefs, I had ordered them a long time ago.

Health: Rest day from exercising, though I have got plenty of walking & climbing stairs. The negative thing is, that I'm feeling more hungry than usual- maybe I've managed to mess up my eating schedule or something. I need to focus hard to keep myself from wandering to kitchen to have that notorious "just a little snack".

Congratulations on your engagement, G!  I wish only the best for you and your intended.   

Congrats on the engagement!!!  Don't feel weird,I gotcha beat on that!  I've been engaged 4 times and the 5th time will be within a year!!  This time makes me nervous and have butterflies so this guy is "the one"!
Keep us updated!!!  I think we all would agree that this will be very very nice for you!!!

Thanks for congratulations, ladies, and thanks for sharing your thoughts, Angel Spun. I wouldn't describe my feelings as "red flag"- I guess that most of them are just result from my relationship having been recovering from crisis for nearly 6 months. I've tried to analyze my feelings and thoughts as well as I can, and though the risk of failing exists (ha, doesn't it exist in every relationship...), it is worth taking. If certain events in past weren't still shadowing us, I'd be very happy. I feel very strongly, that we are on the right path...

Then to the events of past few days. It's very warm- the temperatures are closer to July than May temps, and it shows- spring is rushing in. Flowers, leaves to the trees, butterflies- everything seems to appear overnight. I got my summer clothes from attic and noticed new trouble: while most of my shirts still fit more or less, all my pants had magically grown in storage so much that I couldn't wear them at all. So, I was forced to do some emergency shopping again. I've also got many chances of wearing the stuff I got from Headcovers.com, and they have been a bliss.

On Friday, I went to swim (my gym card includes free swimming hall on Fridays, yay! ). It's a few years since I've last been in a swimming hall. The last time I was there, no one wore a swim cap, and so I was very surprised to learn that now there were only a couple of people who didn't have one! I fit right in. The swim cap was good, and protected my hair well. I first wet my hair thoroughly and then put on the cap. When I came back from the pool, I washed my hair with Summer Sunshine shampoo bar and followed with mild ACV rinse (I carried diluted ACV in a bottle with me). My hair ended up being lovely and soft- I didn't detect any harm from chlorinated water.
As for how the swimming felt, I enjoyed it, though it felt surprisingly effective. Especially my arms felt a bit "soft" afterwards.

Saturday: Sauna day: I washed my head with Honey Beer Egg shampoo & ACV rinse as I figured that on successive washing days it might be a good idea to treat my hair with extra nourishing shampoo. I think it was a great idea...

Sunday (today!): Morning at gym where I had a good exercise. Too bad that I haven't lost any weight this week- and it's entirely my own fault since I haven't managed to stay away from snacks and ice cream as well as I should have. I hope to do better next week.
     Went to meet a real estate agent (a particularly annoying one...) and to take a look for an interesting building lot. The site was big and cheap, but consists partly of very steep slope. So I'm not really sure about the place. T seemed to like it though...we'll see. I took time to dress nicely, and wore my Forest Sanctuary hairsticks. I've not been wearing hairsticks much this week- when it's this hot and sunny, I like to wear my new headwraps. They go best with Ficcare buns or segmented ponytails...boy, I'm glad of participating in certain Ficcare GO...

Sometimes ya just gotta do what ya gotta do,even if that means nothing!!!