Fun with the braidout!

Hey all,
It's been a long hard week and today I had to make chromatin which is physically taxing. So after work, I treated my self to a lavender/epsom salt/almond oil bath (See below). I put on a soothing iTunes playlist, lit a candle and laid back to enjoy my impromptu spa date. I like to play it low key on Fridays since the week can kind of catch up to me then. After my bath I decided to catch up with my SisterlockTM sistahs. After reading blackluvdmom's blog I was inspired to do a braidout--my first one (see what y'all make me do! (: ). Usually I freestyle, out of laziness, so a braidout was well overdue. Next week I'm going for my second retightening and some of my edges have unraveled. I'm hoping the braidout would help me cover them up for the week. Unfortunately, I ran out of SisterlockTM shampoo last week so I gave myself an ACV rinse while I took my bath. I love ACV because it clears buildup and make my hair feel squeaky clean without shampoo. I started to braid my hair when it was almost dry so I just redampened it with some lavender water (1 drop to a misting bottle). I took about 30-45 minutes to braid up my hair and I was delighted to see the length. Sometimes its hard to tell when you're free-stylin' but I'm proud of my little length (: I decided to let them dry overnight and after having so much fun braiding I decided to have some fun. At first my pictures were kind of timid but then I decided, what the hey, let's go crazy. I tried the little girl with pig-tails look. Then, I wanted to go Vanessa Huxtable. After all the fun, I rolled up my braids with my rollers but I won't leave them in overnight. I don't want my hair to shrink too much. I'll sleep with a satin cap (that will probably fall off) to keep the curls. In the end, it was fun to pamper me for the evening and playing with my hair. Tune in tomorrow, I can't wait to see how they look!

Lavender/Almond Oil/Epsom Salt Bath
-A nice clean bathtub full of warm water (as warm as you can stand)
-3-4 drops of Lavender essential oil--Aromatherapy--it is calming
-2-3 capfuls of Almond Oil--good for the skin because it has Vitamin E
-Epsom Salt (MgSO4)-not sure how much I added, maybe 1 cup; relaxes your muscles.

Directions: Lay in the tub, meditate, enjoy the ambience, music and relaaaxxxxxx. . .

Post Birthday Celebration wrap up

Hi all,

Here is a blow by blow account of my birthday weekend. After all the celebrating, I just have to say that I am very blessed to have loving friends, family and a joy for life. This was my best b-day weekend ever, and I hope it only gets better.

I started my birthday weekend friday on my actual birthday with the R-gap pre-Valentines Day party. There was poetry, there was a raffle and I played a game where I had to "pick up" a guy (James) with my best line.Let me tell you, guys have it hard, I was never so nervous. Let's just say that I'll never do that again. Later, James and I went to Starbucks and enjoyed each others' company over cider.

On saturday, it was time to get my Karaoke on! I had a party at Trader Todd's Karaoke bar, home of the Best karaoke in Chicago. I had so much fun laughing and being laughed at. But most of all I was blessed to be surrounded by the love of my friends and family. My song selections were, "Dancin' on the Ceiling" by Lionel Ritchie--a true party starter, "Back to Life" by Soul II Soul--that was a vocal challenge, and "All I Do" by our favorite, Stevie Wonder. I had to sing that one to James, he serenaded me with "My Cherie Amour" by Stevie Wonder--and he was so sweet.

Then on Sunday I got my birthday surprise, James treated me to brunch at the Bongo room. Let me just tell you, I had pumpkin carrot cheesecake pancake, crusted with with graham crackers and honey roasted peanut/toffee butter on the side. Next, we went to the Chocolatefest at the Garfield Park conservatory. Let me tell you, its a blessing to have a birthday near Valentine's Day. Although we waited 30 minutes in cold to get inside, it was worth it. I saw a cacao plant and learned how to make chocolate from cacao beans, and I potted a chocalate mint plant. But most of all James and I had fun together and that made the experience all the better. As you can see, he keeps me laughing.

Well all, I hope you enjoy your Valentine's Day. My only Sisterlock comment for this entry is, "I was loving my hair and it just added to the fun!" I don't know how I'm going to top this birthday weekend but if I'm blessed with another year, you know I'm gonna try. Stay blessed!

Happy Birthday to me! (Pre-party entry)

Today is my birthday! Hooray!!! Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who still gets excited about their birthday. I've been talking about it for two weeks because I'm having a Karaoke celebration tomorrow. It's a blessing to be alive another year and I love to celebrate that blessing. Here I am at 28 and now 29 (on the right). Look at the difference! (not so much although I look much happier at 29). I think turning 30 will be the same, no difference. Lookin' forward to that. That's all for now, Peace!

As I emerge from MIA status. . .

Hey ladies,

Haven't been around in a while, I wanted to have a lot to blog about, and then I got a little busy. . .But while I'm workin' late in the lab I figured now would be a great time to make a comeback.

In mid-January I got my first retightening. My roots were tight and so was my head! Ouch! For the first time I felt like a plucked chicken! So I tried pulling my hair back with a bobbie pin and a cowrie (sp?) shell on the end.

I've also been MIA because I met a boy (sigh, grin, blush. . . ). No he isn't white--yes I know, I hate to disprove the theory. But he's. . . .(sigh) Grrrreat! On our first date (in my sixth week), he said, "I love your hair like that. . . " Yes friends, we have another AA brother on our side! Yay! I've seen him for about four weeks and so far so good. I'm not gonna worry too much (although I worry and overanalyze over everything!) I'm just gonna enjoy our time together and see what happens. . . for some reason I just feel at peace with him. There's no drama to worry about and no "I like you more than you like me" or vice versa. Ok, yes I'm gushing, and the sarcasm in me just is dying to come out--but ya know what, it feels good to feel good in the space of someone else. I'm really enjoying it. If we keep goin' on this well, I'll have a pic for you next time. Peace!