That sounds like a good title for a book:  The Vampire Sista-hood!   

Count me in for blood, too...er, blood red, that is...there goes that vampire thing again...   

A Day In The Life Of Angel's Hair: Gave the S&D treatment to another strand yesterday afternoon. It took over an hour, as usual.    There is sooo much more damage than I even realized. Thank goodness that it's confined to the ends! But getting rid of it all will take a long time. My poor hair has been through so much.  
   After "The Distant One" dropped a bomb on me that I completely didn't expect, I wove my hair safely into a braid and fled to the coast, overwhelmed with emotion. I did end up writing a bit (finally, the urges are returning!), though nothing notable.
   Upon returning, I took my hair out of the braid, finger combed, applied a heavy dose of EVOO for the night, and slipped on my sleeping cap all while talking to "the boy." Unfortunately, nothing was resolved but I was too exhausted to shed more than a few tears.

This morning, I meditated a bit and did the deep breathing exercises suggested by RTG, which did help with the physical side effects of my anxiety (thank you, RTG). All of this emotional stress cannot be good for my hair, and I can't help but wonder if it will ever really be over while I'm involved with this guy. He's got issues...but what guy doesn't?  

Anyway, I washed all of my hair today with Ice Shine shampoo, then towel dried and worked Pantene's wonderful Nourishing hair mask into the length where I left it for an hour. Then I rinsed and conditioned with DMR conditioner. Towel dried again and worked the Silkening crème into the length. Magnifique. I think it is now finally dry.

As yet, nothing is resolved with Mr. Long Distance. I'm still very confused by what he told me and wonder how much truth it actually renders. I've more or less decided to hang in there for one more month, giving our strange pseudo-relationship a full year. A year is certainly enough time to know whether this kid is ever going to get it together. Meanwhile, I'm emotionally preparing to let him go...I guess I have been for awhile.  
The drama never freaking ends.

Other: The gazebo in the backyard still hasn't been finished and my nails are still naked, though I have decided on the blood red (thank you, ladies  ) when I have the time. Probably tonight.

Quote:

lol K. "My Angel"...I like that.    Adding a few drops of black to any nail colour will darken it. But you must be careful with red. If it gets too dark, it ceases to look like dark red and looks more like chocolate brown.
   Also, sadly...lace sleeves (as well as any other transluscent fabric) offer zero sun protection. Although, if the lace remains in one constant position, you might be able to tan or burn interesting patterns into your skin.  

Maggie: *hugzzzz* Always awesome to hear from my Pantene sistah.    And on that subject, yes, the Nourishing mask and Silkening crème are both Pantene products. I'm not terribly thrilled with the latter, I must say. But the Nourishing mask is quite awesome.  
   Also, yes, I was fond of the Ice Shine S&C. I have no idea what you mean about the shampoo leaving a "coating" on your hair, as it is designed to have the opposite effect, taking away the grime and residue so light may penetrate and reflect. I'm wary of Pantene's crème (opaque) shampoos for this reason. Those are the type that leave my hair a coated mess.  
   As yet, I've not tried anything of the Expressions lines. Well, ok, I used my mother's Red Expressions conditioner once after rinsing a treatment out, but that's hardly enough to judge by.    I've been eyeing the Brunette Expressions S&C though, definitely.

And just for the record, I was leaning toward the metallic black polish myself, but went with blood red instead. Ah well...there's always next week.  

Hair: Went hog wild at Target once again over the weekend (as I so enjoy doing) and picked up 2 big bottles of Pantene Full & Thick S&C in addition to a basketful of other items. Just by chance, I noticed that Goody released their fall collection of hairtoys already, so I couldn't resist looking. And thank goodness I did, because I found a pack of 2 thin, satin headbands: one black and one burgundy. Absolutely 100% hair safe. Those came home with me as well.  
   Today was my first day using the Full & Thick S&C. I'm using the conditioner as the first step in my CWC's and still using Pantene Daily Moisture Renewal as the "heavy" conditioner. Too soon to judge how it's all working just yet, needless to say.

Goth Kisses: Today I also got to try Hershey's semi-new dark chocolate Kisses, as a bag of them randomly showed up in my office. No complaints there!    Not only are they dark chocolate (Lordy, do I love dark chocolate!), but they happen to be wrapped in dark purple foil and the label that conventionally sticks out of the top has the word DARK printed on it repeatedly in dark purple ink. I definitely give these my official goth stamp of approval.  

Other Little Gothic Points Of Interest: My nails are now shining like perfect little droplets of metallic blood.    Already, they need a slight touch up and another clear coat, but otherwise, much better than bare.
   Yesterday, I learned that a black, velvet blazer that I've been coveting is now finally available in my size. So I ordered one without hesitation - every woman should have a versatile blazer in her wardrobe. One that she can just grab and know that it will work with whatever she's already wearing. Now I can finally stop dragging my Edwardian jacket all over town and save it for the sort of outfit and occasion that it deserves.  

Long Distance Craaaaap: Well that about says it all, doesn't it?    We're hanging in there, God knows how. For the moment, little miss out-of-state has been posting less often on his MySpace. Wishful thinking on my part that she's found some other poor sap to obsess over. But she's still visiting him next month, so I have that to look forward to.      Now, I understand that this chicky is a family friend. What I do not approve of is the fact that 1.) I know she's only visiting because she has a crush on my guy, and 2.) he's not doing anything to extinguish her flame. I understand his not wanting to hurt his friend's feelings; however, how much respect is she showing him?? There's my problem in a nutshell. I guess he's just been lying low, hoping that her feelings will pass. A terribly passive approach. *sigh*
   For now, though, we're still long-distance bff's. He can wish all he wants to be more than that, but until he cleans up his act, that just isn't possible.

Other Stuff: The backyard gazebo is now finished and even electrified! Nothing has been moved into it yet except an artificial, lighted tree. I'm curious to see what all my parents will put in there. In any case, I now have a new place to hang my jeans out to dry.  
   Today, I have learned that my "usual" makeup will work during the summer if I stay out of the sun. A semi-nocturnal lifestyle makes that a little easier.
   Speaking of nocturnal, there's a full moon tonight. I should make the most of it.  

Ciao for now.

Welcome to August. 

Every so often, I like to glance back at my old hair journal and look at what I was doing at this time last year. In part because I find it interesting and also because sometimes it can offer a clearer perspective of the present.

As of 8/1/06, my hair had just measured in at 22¾". I was using Pantene Breakage Defense S&C, which I kind of like better than what I'm using currently. In the evenings, I was helping my parents remodel their kitchen. It was my last day housesitting, and I'd finally gotten the last of my things from the dreaded ghetto apartment that I shared with my ex and moved them back into my parents' house. It was also my first night sleeping in my old room again.

Today, I clarified with the usual method. Pantene Purity shampoo, vinegar rinse, another Purity wash, then conditioned with DMR conditioner. Nothing else. I totally spaced on the heavy EVOO treatment that I was supposed to do last night. D'oh!

So now I'm at 24½". BSL is not far off - I think it falls at about 25½" on me, though I'd have to measure again to be sure.

Every day, I've been doing S&D's on small sections of hair. And it's going to take awhile...my hair has the worst case of stress damage I've ever seen.    So I'm snipping off the evil ends whenever I see them.

I have also been living with my parents again for a year now.    Embarrassing to admit, but it's better than it has been in the past. And it's certainly better than where I was a year ago. Good to get all of that smoke out of my lungs.

Strangely enough, I've maintained a vegan diet all day. I'm not vegan, but it's an interesting change of pace. I'll probably ruin it with dinner, but whatever. I'm also going to try and resume my nocturnal power walks every other night. Last fall, I was about 6 lbs. heavier, so my little rock & roll figure is very slowly returning. Those last 10-15 lbs. are always the hardest to lose.

So in about 3 weeks, little missy will be visiting my bff and his family again. This had better not become a bi-monthly occurrence.    Yeah, it irks me. It irks me that this chica thinks that she can move in on my guy, fully aware that he's already spoken for. It irks me that he's not doing anything to make her stop, even though he's not cool with it either. *sigh* Whatever. It's out of my hands, really.

I'm going to try not to let all of that bs ruin the rest of the month for me. No sense stressing about what you can't fix, right? Fall merchandise will hit the shelves this month, and I'm looking forward to that as always. But...yeah.

Wake me when the month is over. 

Alrighty, where are we again? Oh yes, the bloody beginning of August.    It's hot. And bright. And sunny.    And I'm an emotional mess (not that that's new).  

Saturday was fruitful. My hair got a CWC with Silkening crème, and I picked up 3 new books, a new CD, a new DVD, a big, black storage box and some other things. I would also like to take this opportunity to state that the Traveling Wilburys was one of the best bands ever. God rest ye, Nelson/Spike and Lefty.

Sunday was boring. Another CWC for my hair, but without the Silkening crème. Nearly 2 hours were spent on a single strand S&D mission after my hair dried. Then, I just braided it.
   The rest of the day was spent playing dress up, doing my nails and crying to old Reba songs.

What else? Today is 3rd day in a row CWC-ing. Tomorrow should be no different as I will likely have the morning shift. Ugh.  
   Friday night, I took myself out to the ol' picture show...and have decided that I am the best date I've ever had.    I didn't have to dress up or put on makeup - just washed my face and went. No pressure. Before the movie, I bought myself a dark chocolate raspberry Chocolixir and bar from Godiva. I entered the theatre with time to spare (as others in the past have caused much inconvenience by being late), got a large popcorn (all to myself!) and saw the movie that I wanted to see (Becoming Jane). And afterwards, I drove myself home with zero physical expectations - not even the hope for a kiss goodnight.    Even though I paid for everything.

The wit that I would typically try to interject into this is falling flat, as the phone keeps breaking my concentration. I apologize.  

Anyway, the boy is still on vacation, though he could return home as early as tonight. He has called me every night since he left.
   Am I thrilled with him? Far from it. I sincerely hope that he's had time to think about our situation like I asked.

His little out-of-state "friend" is again counting down the days until she gets to see him. Pathetic. Makes me ill. And angry. Whatever. If he can't make her understand that it ain't happenin', then I'll make him understand that we ain't happenin'. I am at wit's end and anxiety has returned. I need to meditate tonight.  

Peace, people.