Hair Update: 6-months update

I am officially 6-months post relaxer (as of last weekend). I plan on going until 12 or 17-months post before I chop off the rest of my relaxed ends.

Why 12 or 17? I am giving myself 2 dates. That way, if I feel like I am ready to chop it on my one year post relaxer anniversary, I don't feel disappointment in myself.
But if come October 2014, I feel like I can continue my "hair journey", I'll continue until next February which will be 17-months from my last relaxer and 12-months from when I made the decision to go natural. Have I fully confused you yet? :-).

To simplify, I'll either chop off the relaxed ends in mid-October 2014 or early February 2015.

Things are going OK so far. Can't really complain too much as far as dealing with both textures. I think its cause I have often stretched my texlax for 4-5 months. Perhaps now I'll start to really see what people are talking about when they say the 2 textures makes it difficult to manage?

For now, I try to do as little manipulation as possible. I wear styles that take 15-minutes or less to do. I do have a somewhat needy toddler so I need to make sure I can get my hair done while she is playing before she demands my attention.

Interesting conversation with J a few days go went like this:

J: So are you liking your hair journey so far?
Me: Hmmm...good question. I don't know. Why?
J: Well, you've been making progress so I hope you are starting to see the results you want.
Me: Hmmm...I hope so. I guess we'll see. It is certainly different.

I know a lot of people say they fall in love with their curls once they started transitioning. I am not entirely there yet. I do like that I have more texture but my hair feels "different" to me. Perhaps because I haven't had it natural in a very long time. Only time will tell. Perhaps once I take off the relaxed ends, I'll fall in love? I better!
Eitherways, as folks say, its just hair and as long as I can put it up in a bun, I am happy :-).

So here are some pics of my hair from this week.

Bunning it! I decided to wear a bun to work on Tuesday.

Braided it on Tuesday evening and planned on doing a braid-out but decided against it.

I thought I did a good job but when I sent my sister a picture, she said "perhaps wear a wig"

So on Wednesday, I decided to "wig it" to work. I got a ton of compliments and I am not sure of how to take it. 1. Does my hair always look bad so now they are complimenting me? Or 2. Do people really like the look?

Since I run on Tuesday and Thursdays at work, on Thursday, I pretty much wore the braid out I initially planned to wear and pinned it up. I had a ton of things to do and didn't get a chance to take a picture. 

Today, its in a bun. Nothing new there! Its my go to style!

Well, until next time, have a fabulous weekend and remember to be kind to be strangers!

Photo Dump Wednesday

Its HUMP day! And THE BEST part of the day? It's also our 3rd wedding anniversary. It seems like we were just married a few days ago but its been 3-years. We've had a great time together in those years and I look forward to making more awesome memories (and babies) with him by my side :-).

OK. Enough of the mushy stuff...on to Photo Dump Wednesday.

One of my many favorite pictures from our wedding day.

I have a shoe calendar on my desk. I would LOVE to have these shoes! They look comfortable (with the front platform) AND cute! I could totally rock them this summer.

And speaking of feet...JOE's new favorite activity/my additional leg workouts. She sits like this and I get to lift her up and down.

A picture is worth a thousand words...

JOE is now in a big girl bed! J converted her bed last weekend. We spent too many nights running to her bed to make sure she didn't fall when she climbed out. This gives us some peace of mind.

JOE and her buddy "pinka-poo". She tries to feed him, snuggles with him and gives him LOTS of kisses.

I hit my running goal for the week yesterday! Woohoo! It was 2.3 miles in 30-minutes and I surpassed it :-). My next goal is 2.4 miles in 30-minutes. My ultimate goal is 3-miles in 35-minutes.

JOE's Easter basket. How CUTE is this? Thanks Peg for giving me the information on this. I know she is going to enjoy hunting for eggs.

Hope you're having an awesome week so far!

DIY: Shirt to Dress (refashion)

So, I have made several attempts to make adult DIY clothing items but haven't fully been successful. I figured the best way to work around this is to do a refashion. In hopes that once I am comfortable with that, I can then venture out on my own.

This refashion was quite an ordeal. The actual work time was about 2-hours from start to finish. BUT I had to deal with a bent needle on my sewing machine! Anyone who knows me knows that I don't care much for manuals. I am more a "figure it out on my own and consult the manual if it doesn't work as it should" kinda gal. Well, this was one time I had to break out the manual.
My sewing machine came with a Spanish and an English manual. Why could I only find the Spanish manual? Apparently, I hid the English one so well, I even hid it from myself!
Thankfully, after a 30-minute search, I eventually located it and was able to change out the needle and continue my work. Needless to say, this "simple" project took a lot longer than anticipated.

On to business. I pinned this idea about a year ago when I first got my sewing machine. I had 2-shirts I got a while back when I visited my folks in MA that were definitely a few sizes too big but they looked so comfortable as sleep wear so that's what I planned on using them for. But when I saw this idea, I figured, it would work for what I was trying to do.

Frumpy and oversize shit. Ignore my camera tripod. Yes, it is a tiney tiny one. J often laughs when he sees it set up but it works! :-P

Neck and sleeves cut to the length I want.

I used a chalk to mark where I want to put the elastic.

Then pinned away.

Outside of the elastic sewed in.

Inside of the elastic sewed in.

Then it was on to the sleeves.

While working, JOE got back home and decided to play with my camera. Here's her photography...

She's still going at it...

And another

I know...I need to organize this but haven't had a chance to. Yes...it is a walking hazard.

Back to our regularly scheduled program. I hand sewed the glittery embellishment on the front and on the sleeves.

While I finished up sewing, JOE entertained herself. Here is JOE's handy work. That's my Picasso waiting to be discovered!

The innocent face! I am just glad she wasn't writing on my iPAD. SMH!

And me wearing my refashioned top. What do you think?

I kinda like it! I have another one so I'll try to do a variation of this. 

And if I decided to wear it to run simple errands, I can dress it down with flip flops.

Couldn't get a clear picture because my baby girl was hanging on to my leg. The joys of motherhood! 

Before and after

Expertise needed: Beginner. It really just needed the use of you own imagination once you figure out what you want it to look like.

Total approximate time: Like I said earlier, this took A LOT longer than anticipated! 2-hours to be exact. Considering it was very simple hemming stuff, that was WAAAYYYY too long. BUT on a positive note, I now know where my manual is :-).

Total spent on materials: $0. I already had everything at home.

Feedback: I like this. It is comfortable and so easy to make. I definitely plan on making it again. 

Have a fabulously blessed week!

Photo Dump Wednesday

Happy hump day!!! I am so ready for the weekend :-).

Here are some pics I took in the last week.

I was sick last week so what better way to get over a head cold than to sit under a warm dryer to deep condition my hair? :-).

Finished outcome after a deep condition and c-wash.

JOE loves her selfies! She got this hate from her grandparents who recently came back from Disney world. Her name is embroided on the back. So cute! She calls it "me me"

Its official! JOE loves my nutella banana crepes! :-). Check out her mastery of the use of a fork :-). We eat breakfast as a family on weekends and clearly, JOE was enjoying her breakfast.

My baby turned 17-months on Monday. Here she is practicing her blinking skills. Future flirt in the making.

And there she is rubbing noses with her dad. So cute!

ALMOST made my goal of 2.25 miles in 30-minutes. Oh well. Can I use the excuse that I forgot my socks so I had to run without? Is that a legit excuse? I still did the jog though so I count that as an accomplishment.

I decided to flat twist my hair last night after I got home and took a shower. Yes, I took this pic in JOE's room since she was playing in there :-).

The end results. The back.

The end results. The front. I love the way it turned out. 

And then I got on the train and BAM! This lady sat smack in front of me. Not even sure of what to make of the hair style. Makes me wonder if others have done the same to me. I know my hair isn't always well done. Hmmm...

 Hope you are having a great week so far!

"Thanks for stopping by!" <---Mickey Mouse

DIY: A very horsey skirt for JOE

I decided to horse around with some leftover stuff I had in my fabric box and ended up making this very horsey skirt for JOE. Yes...a Zebra is a type of horse :-).
I wanted to use fabric I already had on hand because I didn't feel like going out and getting more fabric. It worked out great. I love when I think of something and it actually translates into 90% what I was thinking. I just heard Special Agent Oso say "its all part of the plan...more or less" in my head! Gosh...I am spending too much time watching Disney Junior!!!

Anyways, like I said, I used materials I already had on hand from past DIY projects.

I cut out 2 strips and sewed them together. I already have JOE's 12-month measurements from a skirt I made for her earlier. So I added about an inch to the length and 3/4 inch to the waist.
If you want a more precise tutorial for measurements, here is a link to a site that might be helpful.

Then I hemmed the edge of a third strip to use for the waist.

Then I joined the horse fabric to the "zebra" fabric.

I did a double hem so it won't have any "poking" areas that might scratch her.

Then I added the other zebra piece to the bottom of the skirt.

Finished skirt.

I immediately went up to JOE's room to see if I could pair it with something in her closet. I found this Mickey Mouse vest she got from her grandparents for her birthday!

Since its still cold here (come on Spring!!!), I figured black leggins will have to be worn with the skirt until it gets warmer outside. 

JOE finally got to debut the skirt when we went out with J's family to celebrate March birthdays.

I was trying to take a picture in her outfit but my little princess wasn't having none of that.

Finally, she walked over to see what her dad was doing and I was able to snap a picture of it.
I know I know...we're working on the binky (a.k.a. the binxter...aka the bah).

Expertise needed: A comfortable beginner. As you can see, I make stuff that's easy :-).

Total Approximate time: 90-minutes? I know it was less than 2-hours. I was also working on a couple of other things so I got distracted sometimes.

Total spent on sewing materials: $0. I didn't have to get anything from the store since I already had everything on hand.

Feedback: Its almost Spring and JOE will be wearing a lot more skirts!!! I wish I could make skirts I can wear, that look good on me and that I like. Perhaps that'll be my next goal.

My next DIY sewing project will be a refashion item. Hopefully, it turns out good.