Tanai: Quote:

Basically. And *hugs* I know you were just throwing it out there. I do appreciate your tips. Never hurts to have another set of eyes, eh?

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Bleck! There are guys who do this willingly?

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Story of my life, sistah. As it happens, I got my VS Santa hat for free - my sister bought one for herself, my mother and me. I'd send you mine, but she'd kill me.

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Go fig. In the land of perpetual sandal season, I never wear sandals. But I always have laquered nails. Just part of the goth æsthetic, and it keeps them strong.

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I only drink decaf and caffeine-free teas. The chai that I have is made from herbs instead of tea leaves, so it contains no caffeine.

Hair: Been doing CWC's for the past 2 days. The blended shampoo is working just fine but for some reason it's also giving me anxiety. Yes, shampoo anxiety! And disturbingly enough, it's not the first time. In my early 20's, I suffered a mental breakdown under extreme stress and in the midst of it, I do remember seeing cheap shampoo (which I was using at the time) flashing through my mind. Yeah, I'm a bloody nutcase...but y'all knew that already.
   Perhaps I'm having difficulty with the idea of integrating cheaper products into my precious Pantene. They should have hair counselors, I swear. I might need someone to hold my hand and say, "It's ok to mix products, Angel. It's not harming your hair and you must remember your bottom line! Now take a deep breath and pop a few of these tranqs...and here's a dose of heroin for impending future emergency."
   Honestly, I don't know what my problem is. The sparklies in my blended shampoo make me smile every morning. Pretty spaaarklies...

Ahem. Leave-in's have been Pantene Detangling on the length and either EVOO or serum on the ends. I'm trying to decide which is better, I guess.
   Yesterday, I parted my hair in the middle with my fingers and pinned the front up with metal clip barrettes. The rest hung down long and straight. I'll probably wear it that way on Friday night as well. As for today, a single braid will do as usual.

Work: My boss is transferring to a location in Las Vegas at the beginning of next year. On one hand, I'm happy for him because he has family there. On the other, I'm nervous about who may be selected to take his place. My mother dreads that it might be the sales manager from corporate who wants to dissolve our position. The same jack@$$ who sent the accusing e-mail about me to the Area Prez. If he is chosen, I will quit immediately. So I'm updating my résumé and keeping an eye out for other jobs just in case. *sigh*

Other Stuff: Ever the bearer of bad news, I regret to announce that my laptop is worse off than I'd feared. Its motherboard is fried and costs $600 to replace. Needless to say, there is no hope for my meager budget to save it and I will have to do without it for awhile. Probably years. I'll most likely try to save up for a desktop Mac, which is what I want anyway. *SIGH*

My family will be attending Carols By Candlelight again this year, on Friday. Good ol' Boscoe got us front row seats - free. He is just the best.

Tanai: Quote:

Wow. I never realized that so many guys wore Avon.

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Meh. I'm a die-with-your-boots-on kinda gal. And sandals are way dirtier than shoes because not only are they openly exposed to the elements and whatever grime is on the ground (as are your feet), you also can't wear socks with them to pull moisture away from the feet so it all collects in the sandals. That is nasty.
    Besides, I work for an industrial supply company where protective footwear is required. I'm also hammer toed and cannot wear thong sandals even on my off hours. And let's be honest...you won't find many goths walking around in girly, strappy sandals.

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*shrug* Sometimes, I'd kill to just be normal for a change.

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Mine was rather pricy. As in, I could have had all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed at once for what I paid for that infernal machine and its infernal components.
    My sister has offered up the use of her laptop (which is also on its way out) for the time being.

Hair: Friday = WTC. Left the conditioning treatment in for over an hour. My only leave-in was Pantene Detangling spray. Hair is not yet dry, but when it is, I think I'll either pin it up on the sides with barrettes or hold the front back with a slim headband.

Health: Weight dropped to 112.6 this morning. I have no idea what I did to deserve it either, being that I've spent the past few days not exercising and binging on crap. Maybe it will catch up with me.

Been feeling nauseous for the past few days as well. I wonder if my new meds are responsible for this and the weight loss.

After roughly 3 hours of sleep last night, I feel like a low battery. Tonight had better be different with the show coming up on Saturday.

Work: No word on the boss' replacement, but today is payday, so screw everything else. 90% of work is bs anyway - the only thing that's real is the money.

Fashion: I have discovered that a simple smattering of concealer, pressed and loose powders, black mascara and dark lipgloss can make a goth look pulled together in a pinch. I had to bring these items to work with me as I was running late for work. It was interesting running between my desk and the ladies' room between phone calls with various makeup untensils in hand, but the end result looked almost convincing. Almost.

Other Stuff: Tonight's Carols By Candlelight with the family.
How I'm going to finish everything else I have to do after the show remains to be seen.

Tanai: Quote:

Exactly.

Hair: It had an interesting weekend just like I did. For the show on Saturday, I pinned it up on the sides with barrettes and left the rest down. Sunday, I did a WCC + Detangling spray + EVOO on the ends and did nothing to it whatsoever. Just left it down while I sat in front of my aunt's fireplace all day. On occasion, I would finger comb and toss whatever hairs fell out into the fire and listening to them zap.

Today, I did the usual CWC and used Detangling spray on the length. If my hair ever dries, I'll braid it. It's insanely windy and rainy today.

Music: Saturday's show was a spectacular disaster. People played badly, equipment broke, we kept getting out of sync with the video segments because someone dropped the ball and forgot to manage them. And no one showed up, which actually turned out to be a blessing. We played to maybe 5 people who were all friends/family of the band. No one else came. I'd rather have a terrible show in front of a few people who know us well than in front of 90,000 people who have never seen us before and can only judge us by said terrible show.

As the band was setting up, the doorman said to me, "This is a terrible time of year to do this. No one's gonna be here."
    But I just shrugged, "That's ok, we're probably gonna suck anyway."
Boy was I right!

After a dreadful encore version of Chain Of Fools, we packed it up and left. Dad & I were starved, so we stopped at McDonald's by my work so I could buy us both dinner...after 1 AM. By 2, I was in bed, totally asleep.

Work: So the organizational changes were sent out in a memo today. The good news is that the slanderous jack@$$ from corporate has not been promoted to AVP. The bad news is that my position may still be in danger. I don't plan on sticking around long enough to see what becomes of it. Time has come to move on.

Other Stuff: So, it is indeed raining. And while that is awesome, I wish I had a coat! Right now, my socks are soaked and I'm freezing to death!
    It will be so nice to get to my aunt's place, crank the heater and turn on the fire.

In other news, I had a dentist appointment this morning. One of my wisdom teeth has a cavity and needs to come out ASAP. God knows I can't afford it. The rest of my teeth look good though, they say. Please let next year change things for the better!

Christmas Eve.

All that's left is the waiting. At least for me.
Waiting for Christmas to get here...waiting for it to be over...waiting for everything I have to do the day after. Just get on with it.

Last night, I did a heavy EVOO treatment as planned. Washed it out this morning with my shampoo blend, then treated for an hour with Pantene Fortifying treatment. Also did a mineral peel-off masque for my face. I'm hoping that my skin will be in decent enough shape for makeup tomorrow. There will be pictures.

Anyway, after rinsing the treatment out, I conditioned again with Suave Vanilla Floral. While I'm budgeting (obsessively), I think I'll continue following treatments with light conditioner instead of heavy. My Pantene conditioners cost more, so it's more expensive in the long run if I go through them quicker.

Hair's staying down today, I guess. Tomorrow, I hope to pin it up on the sides with barrettes and leave the rest down, straight and sleek as a satin ribbon...since that's all my hair ever wants to do anyway.

The day won't be without style either. I imagine I'm not the only person on the planet who plans their Christmas outfits. So I'm thinking jeans, velvet turtleneck, boots and a few glints of bright silver jewelry.
   After dinner, the lot of us will probably walk through the neighbourhood and look at Christmas lights, as usual. So I'll bring my wool city coat, velvet scarf and leather gloves. If I'm feeling extra pretentious, my cloche hat too.

Speaking of fashion (or the total lack thereof), has anyone noticed the ghastly gold & brown Christmas ornaments that seem to be so popular this year? I was looking at these at Target yesterday and all I could think was "turkey tree!" Their design board had better step it up next year.

However, it appearss that the season is not entirely without merit. While browsing through the beauty aisles (as I'm wont to do), I was pleasantly surprised...no, elated...to discover that so many of our drugstore cosmetic brands are now releasing gorgeous, gothly nail polishes for the darkly inclined! 'Bout bloody time too!
   Sally Hansen has raised the bar with shades in their Salon series like Navy Baby and Deepest Violets. Their Diamond Strength series has a spaaarkly new shade called Black Diamond (which looks exactly how it sounds ).
   Revlon has reintroduced a few of their Dark Pleasures colours as part of their usual line. Perhaps we darklings bought just enough of them to make the company realize that selling outside the usual pink and red margin can be quite lucrative.
   Cover Girl, of course, has Boundless Color in Midnight Magic. This shade seems to be somewhat seasonal, so I'll try to snap it up before it disappears again.

Anyway, it's closing time, so I'd like to wish all of you a very merry Christmas.