Aaaaaaahhhh!!!  Sock addiction overload!  I'm absolutely giddy with this new discovery, thanks for the awesome link, Sakina!!  Oh man, socks, socks and more socks.... half socks, ankle socks, knee socks, funky, soft, slouchy, stripe-ed, everything I could ever imagine.... whoa!    Not to mention hand and arm goodies too, *breathe* must calm down *breathe, breathe, breathe*  Hoooo-hooooo, Okay, I'm good now.

Woo-hoo!

I'm actually still waiting for the page to load, I don't even know where to start looking.... knee socks maybe, or maybe loose socks, oh I don't know.  I'll have to close my eyes and click.  I have a feeling I'll blow your $60 right out of the water, Sakina, so don't feel to guilty!  And Curlgirl, you knew about this and kept it all to yourself?  Shame, shame!   

Trisha, the Organix is really nice so far, my fingers are crossed that it stays this way.  I can really feel the benefit of the shea butter and vanilla oil in it.  And the smell, oh the smell!  Vanilla heaven.  And you're right, you just can't beat free with a stick, so I won't feel too, too bad if it turns out to be a flop decision.

My Angel, I just assumed that any kind of alcohol would be less than good for the hair, guess that's not so.  I read the ingredients again this morning and if my memory serves me right it's methyl alcohol that's in there, but whether good or bad it's pretty far down on the list so shouldn't be too bad.  I won't venture to say that "I love" it so far, I need more time and usage before coming to that conclusion, but it is pretty nice so far.  I'm still a Pantene Sistah at heart. 

Hair:  Today was day, or use should I say, #4 with the Organix, and still liking it.  I was running so late this morning that I couldn't even let my hair dry before throwing it back into a bun and pinning it safely in place.  So I really won't be able to truly judge the results until I let my hair down at the end of the day.  And that would be absolutely literally, not figurative at all, I have but 3 days to clear up nearly a year's worth of book work, sales analysis, and receipts before my accountant is here awaiting me to do my dreaded taxes.  So my work's been coming home with me all week.  I really, REALLY, should be organizing this stuff monthly, but I hate it, so I procrastinate, and I don't.  Period.     So every blessed year I'm pulling all nighters and trying to beat the tax dead line.  I just love to punish myself, I guess.

My Sock Dreams should be ready for me now, so away I go.....I hope I don't spend too much!

Peace & Love 

Ok- scratch that whole methyl alcohol thing, it's CETYL alcohol, and actually in the shampoo it's the 2nd ingredient on the list.  So, if cetyl alcohol's a bad thing, then there's lots of it in there. 

I guess it's a little silly how cautious I tend to be in giving out my seal of approval, Angel, but that's just me.  My hair products have to earn my respect, by-d@mn it, it doesn't come easy!   Lol  Actually, I'm that way with most things in life, if disappointment is to come out of a situation I always try to be somewhat prepared for it so it's not so bad.  A small way of protecting myself.

Day 5 and still pretty good.  The only thing I'm noticing is that my hair is feeling a bit weighed down today, must be from the oils.  Tomorrow I'll do an acv rinse before shampooing and see how that helps.  I have also been using additional oil after getting out of the shower, so that could be it, too.  I usually let my hair air dry for a little until the strands start to separate on their own, I then give my ends a good spritzing with pure aloe juice and let that soak in for a little before spritzing again with jojoba oil mixed with aloe juice.  Just a light, light spray of that stuff or I'll look too greasy, ack!  I then put it up, most often in a bun, and let it go for the day.  A quick let-down and re-comb when I get home from work, and back up it goes for the night.

Just a little thought... I'm noticing that the more my hair grows and the longer it gets, which is what I want, the less and less I actually leave my hair loose.  Am I doing all this growing just to hide it all by bunning it up everyday?  I really want nothing more than to just let my hair down and flow free as can be, but I rarely do anymore because I'm so afraid of doing unnecessary damage.  Is this a catch 22 or what?  Maybe once the weather (FINALLY) breaks and I can put the bulky sweaters away I'll get a little more adventurous with leaving it down.  Also, maybe learning some new up-do techniques will help to lift my spirits about it, too.  Like I said, just a little thought.

Foot note-  I never did get to check out my Sock Dreams, I still have the page pulled up and fully loaded, awaiting me.  Now all I need is..... TIME! 

(Did you get it?  FOOT note... socks.... feet & socks.... foot note?  Ha!)

Back to work, peace!

I've got barely a minute to journal, so here goes...

Hair:  Completely in a state of product indecision, as usual.  I like Herbal Essences one day, Pantene the next, Organix the day after that, it seems that nothing is doing any good for my hair right now.  Which most likely means one thing, I need a trim.  Don't wanna, and maybe I won't because I am DESPERATELY trying to break this 27" curse!!!  It's the same cycle, I trim and grow and trim and grow until I reach the dreaded 27".... then my hair goes hay-wire and I have to do a major trim.... which put me right back to the start of the whole ugly circle.  I'm going to try to push it as long as I can before having to cut a few inches off, until I change my mind that is. 

I've even started washing the length only every other day to try to help.  I bun it up and wash only my bangs and let water rinse over my scalp quickly.  On that day I will mist my hair with aloe and jojoba and keep it pulled up.  Today is one of those days, as a matter of fact.  Tomorrow morning I will wash with one of my many hydrating shampoos, which one is up to the sun.

I told my husband that I'm having this crazy urge to go above shoulder length with my hair, that I'd like to start fresh growing all over again.  He gave me an emphatic "No!", saying that he liked it being so long, to leave it alone.  So I will, for now.  But if I keep feeling this frustrated with my hair I may just accidentally happen into a salon one day on my way home.  Ugh!  I hope I can stick it out, if I could just reach 28" I think I would have a renewed sense of hope.  C'mon 28"!!!

Work:  NUTS.  No time for me.  Only going to get worse, particularly the next two weeks, we're talking proms on top of weddings on top of holidays, throw in your miscellaneous birthdays and funerals and we've got a real party here.  Add in there lack of reliable help and lack of funds to hire said reliable help, and I don't even know what, let's just say STRESS.  Stress and no sleep.

The cost of oil and gas really has me questioning my floral future, it's affecting everything, EVERYTHING.  It's really hurting us small business types, well, all business I guess, but I think that the small business owners feel it the hardest.  People just don't have the extra money to spend on anything other than necessities, myself included.  I'm just praying every day and night for an answer to come my way!

Well, my time's up, I must get back to work.  Peace, all!

((Thank you, CurlGirl))

Unfortunantely, 4 months later, things don't seem to be getting much better, business is still hurting, I think I may have to call it curtains.    But I do believe that old saying that when a door closes that a window also opens, so I guess it's just time for my life to take on a new direction, that's all.

After my last post, shortly after, I did schedule a trim.  I had two inches taken off, my hair really needed it, I was sad losing those precious inches but was very happy to see how healthy it looked and felt.  I haven't measured it since so I have no idea how much of it has grown back since then, maybe tomorrow morning I'll do a measure.  I'm back on Pantene again, good old Pantene.  I've been using the Beautiful Lengths collection and am really liking it, in fact I'm almost out and need more.  I'm going through it twice as fast now since my husband has become hooked on it too.  Yup, that's right, I finally got him off of the VO5 and on to the good stuff!    He tried it in the shower one morning because of his stuff running out and he noticed how much better his hair looked and felt, and said that he has stopped losing hair since the switch.  It really does look noticeably improved, I guess we're officially a Pantene household now!

As for the Organix, meh, I could live without it, it really hasn't impressed me for long term usage.  I finally received my rebate check from their "try it free" offer....a mere 16 weeks later.  Better late than never, though.  Herbal Essences is a pretty close second to Pantene, I really do like the Hello Hydration line, so I will probably continue switching back and forth between the two.  That's about all for now...

Have a good day, all!

Well, I've finally broken the "27 inch curse", I'm officially at........15 inches.     Yep, it's true.  Last Thursday I had a hair appointment, and until the very last minute I was unsure if I was just going for a typical maintenance trim or for a major cut...seems I went for the major cut.  Now, 15 inches is using the measuring method of starting at the hairline and going up and over the head to the ends of my hair, none of my strands are actually 15 inches long, far from it.  My longest locks are around 8 inches at this point.  My official measure before the lop was 27.5", so that's 12.5" taken off the length, ouch!  You think I'd be crying in my soup after that, but I'm not really, at least not so far, maybe it hasn't really hit me yet but I seem to be coping pretty well with the "loss" so far.  The first night and following day was pretty tough, I will admit, I was actually feeling physically ill from the thought of what I had done, but by day 2 I was much better.

So, why did I do it?  I've actually been thinking about it for quite a while, I think I've actually talked about it in my journal here before but wasn't quite ready for the change.  Well, seems my life is all about change these days so it felt natural that if I was ever to do it that now was the time.  Not to mention the frustration of not being able to surpass the 27 inch mark, I was really beginning to feel stale not being able to move forward in growth.  My ends were becoming increasingly more damaged by not trimming as often as my hair really needed it, all in attempt to get that length.  It came to the point where I was rarely, rarely letting my hair down, and when I did I was left with such a tangle!  Detangling my hair day after day lead to more damage and a lot of hair loss, which isn't cool... I'd rather have to deal with short hair for a while than NO hair!  The thinning was definitely a major reason, I'm noticing significantly less hair loss since the cut, which is really, really nice.  I feel like I've got a brand new start to a brand new journey to long and healthy hair.  And that's the miracle of hair, right?  That it WILL GROW BACK. 

Now I can look forward to the comment of "Your hair is getting long!" once again along my journey, that will be nice to hear. 

As for my shop, we haven't officially closed anything down yet, but we have been in touch with a realtor about possibly putting things up for sale.    I've never been so distressed and confused in my life, it's terrible, I've never felt so out of control of my own future.  I'm seeing business after business fold and I'm trying my darndest to hang on to every last thread of what I've built up, but  I also can't let it take me down.  Ugh, I HATE these major decisions, I really pray that I make the right one, I'm not sure how much longer I can hold on!  Guidance, dear Lawd, I need guidance!!

Well, I will keep posted on my progress, whether I choose to embrace shorter hair for a while, or choose to jump right back into the goal of my dreaded 27 inches!   It's exciting having the choice, I will say that!  Wish me luck...on everything!