Sale Alert: Ravenslair

Ravenslair is having a 25% off sale through tomorrow. Sorry for the late notice, but there's still time to pick up that item you've had your eye on.

Check out this beautiful butterfly pin:

More butterflies:

And a lovely "unicorn horn":

Use the coupon code HOLIDAY1.

More Emergentglassworks

I just cannot get enough of this shop! These are so gorgeous!

Cool Finds: EmergentGlassworks

Disclaimer: I have not purchased anything from this shop yet. I know I will as soon as I get the extra cash.

I just found this Etsy store and I was so excited I had to share it with you.

Check out this awesome set of glass hairsticks:

They're little Venus Flytraps!

I thought these were adorable- ladybugs!

These glass hairsticks are just so gorgeous! I can't believe how detailed they are. If you get a chance, check out Emergentglassworks on Etsy.

Nightblooming Panacea Salve, Part XVI, and Lilypad Bathworks Protein Spray

I've been so busy with cheerleading, football, a two year old and now wrestling that I haven't had any time to take care of my hair. My hair was so unmanageable and frizzy.

Luckily, while cleaning out my room, I found my jar of Nightblooming's Panacea Salve. I slathered my hair and left it in all day and night. The next day, I washed out and voila! My silky, smooth hair was back!

Have I pimped Panacea Salve lately? It's seriously amazing stuff. It sinks into your hair, without leaving residue.

Recently, Nightblooming expanded her Panacea line to include "Winter Blend," which is protein-free, a Vegan blend, which is honey-free, and her original blend, which is what I use.

My kids have had some interesting hair issues lately. Yesterday, Winnie went into my room (which is right next to the living room where I was sitting,) and was really quiet. Some people might know that a quiet two year old is never a good thing. I walked into my room and saw Winnie with a pair of scissors and a fistful of hair. She had cut off her pigtails. I tried to even it out as much as possible, but it's still obviously a bad hair cut. So I didn't yell and freak her out, I just kept thinking of Sofie's mullet after her brother cut her hair. It's not as bad as Sofie's was, so there's that.

Sofie, on the other hand, has had to have "cheer curls" for her competitions. It took some trial and error to get the curls right since Sofie's hair doesn't hold curls at all. "Pump It Up" was recommended by her coach, but what we found that actually works is Got2B Glued spray. It's seriously like liquid glue. You really have to saturate her hair with the spray and comb it through before rolling, but it keeps the curls tight and in place until after the competition.

I'm fiercely anti-product, but being part of the team means cheer curls. Unfortunately, it's caused some damage to Sofie's thick, coarse hair. In addition to the Panacea salve, I've been using Lilypad Bathworks' Protein Spray.

The Protein spray works great on those tangles and makes Sofie's hair silky and smooth. The nice thing about the spray is that you can pick almost any scent you want. The scent really stays and smells amazing. We use Buttercream Frosting scent, which smells just like the real thing.

I think between the two products, the Panacea salve and the protein spray, we're keeping Sofie's hair in better condition that it would be otherwise, considering all the styling we've been doing.

Smashing Pumpkins Concert and a New Tutorial

When I was a little girl of about 12, Smashing Pumpkins was my favorite band. I could listen to Siamese Dream over and over again without ever getting tired of it (although I'm sure my dad didn't feel the same way.) When Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness came out, Smashing Pumpkins came on tour through Denver (where I lived then.) I begged and begged my dad to take me, but he wouldn't. I think I'm permanently scarred by that.

I've never had a chance to see them...until last Monday. I bought the tickets from a third party since the concert was sold out. They held the concert in a venue that only held approximately 800 standing people.

Smashing Pumpkins is still my favorite band all these years later. I'm 29 now, so that's quite a long time to have the same favorite band.

The first opening band was Light FM, from LA. They weren't bad and I'll probably check them out further when I get the chance.

The second opening band, though was absolutely wretched. They were The Fancy Space People. They came out in bizarre, silver costumes and put on a show that kind of reminded me of Gwar. It's not that their music was like Gwar's, they just had this theatrical aspect where they were aliens saving the Earth. I think; I couldn't understand most of their lyrics or their spoken words. There were a bunch of them, too. At least eight people on stage. The whole audience was completely indifferent to the band and since I was up on the balcony, I could see a good portion of the crowd was on Facebook while The Fancy Space people played. Mercifully, they finally ended their show and announced that Smashing Pumpkins would be up next.

I figured Billy Corgan would make quite the entrance, but he merely sauntered on stage and grabbed his guitar. What struck me initially was just how huge Billy was. I knew he was a big guy, but it's a little different seeing him compared to the rest of his band. He also had that hunched over walk that many tall people have. When walking around the stage, he rarely looked up, but when taking the mic, he stood up straight and played to his audience.

And boy, did he play. My understanding is that most lead singers play rhythm guitar since it's hard to sing and play at the same time. Billy played lead guitar, though, and I've never seen anyone play quite like Billy. He played the guitar as easily as a person breathes. My friend I took with me said it was like Billy was making love to his guitar.

Another thing I noticed was Billy's charisma. You can't take your eyes off of him when he's on the stage. The other band members seemed to understand this and stood back to allow the audience to focus on Billy. It was obvious that Billy thrives off the crowd's energy. A few times, he simply stood, Christlike, with his arms out, absorbing the crowd's excitement and adoration.

Their set list (which I didn't write down and have completely forgotten, was definitely for the serious fan. A lot of it was obscure and had never been played on the radio. Being the crazed fan I am, I knew most of the songs. They played Muzzle, which is a favorite of mine, as well as Ruby (both being from Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.) They played Starla from Pisces Iscariot. During their encore, they played Bullet With Butterfly Wings, which is a crowd pleaser. The entire crowd went nuts as soon as the first notes played.

You know the true measure of a band when they're playing live. On cd or mp3, Smashing Pumpkins is good; live they're absolutely amazing.

I feel like I'm completing a lot of my bucket list. I saw the Chalice Well in Glastonbury, UK in 2009, which I'd been wanting to see since I was about 14 or 15. Now I've seen Smashing Pumpkins. I guess I need to find another dream to work on.

I did a tutorial for concert hair. I ended up just wearing two french braids. I guess it made me look a lot younger because my Driver's License was scrutinized carefully. Anyway, the tutorial is still up and I think it's a fun style.

Professional Hair

I'm considering an internship which would be awesome on my resume. I bought some really nice office clothing yesterday in anticipation of the internship, which made me consider what exactly is office appropriate hair for the long haired?

Unfortunately, long, loose hair in a professional setting tends to just look unkempt, no matter how well taken care of it is. This is especially true in a conservative career field, where you don't want to look "hippyish."

I don't want to cut my hair. I've been admiring some very chic, short styles lately, but I know I'd regret it if I cut it. So, what's a girl to do? Pin it up!

I think the nautilus bun, especially neatly braided would look fine in an office setting. In case you don't remember, here's a photo:

I think in the office setting, I would just use amish pins to hold it in place, though.

A neatly done rosebun would work well, too, although again, I would forgo the hair stick:

I think if you parted your hair on one side and lowered the buns a bit, that would look a bit more professional.

How do you wear your hair to work? Leave me a suggestion in the comments.

Oh, and to show you how old those photos are, here is a recent shot of the "baby."

They grow so fast.

Attack of the Killer Crickets

If you are squicked out by bugs easily, read no further. It's a funny story, but consider yourself warned.

So, when Irene was heading our way, we had the genius idea that instead of dismantling our entire trampoline, we'd merely take the safety net down and flip the trampoline over. It worked- our trampoline stayed in place despite the ferocious wind.

A week later, the trampoline was still upside down and I decided that the trampoline had to be turned over RIGHTTHISVERYMINUTE. My husband, being the sort to go along with my sudden obsessions, agreed to turn the trampoline over.

What I didn't realize is that turning trampolines over is hard. They're deceptively heavy.

We pushed up on the trampoline on one side, little by little getting underneath it and pushing forward. When we finally go the trampoline almost perpendicular to the ground, it happened. I was showered in dirt, twigs, wet leaves and dozens of "sprickets".

Sprikets are something I never encountered until I moved here. They look like the bastard child of the ugliest spider you can think of and an ordinary cricket. They are the stuff of nightmares.

What could I do as sprikets fell into my hair? If I let go of my part of the trampoline, it would come crashing down on my husband. I briefly considered letting go so I could scream hysterically and dance frantically, stripping my clothing off, to get the bugs off. I could feel them on me, on my head, my shirt and on my feet (I stupidly decided that heavy lifting was best done barefoot.)

Instead of screaming like a little girl, I just kept pushing that damn trampoline even harder. As soon as it was right side up, I ran into the house to inspect my hair and clothes.

Honestly, I'm not sure how I didn't get hysterical. I had sprickets in my hair.  Luckily, they had fled from me before I got a chance to wreck vengeance on them. I had my flip flop at the ready while I checked myself.

Next time, my husband can just ask the neighbor to help. I don't think I would have a repeat of my calm behavior.

Sale Alert: Grahtoe Studios

There's nothing like the smell of a sale first thing in the morning! Especially when it's my favorite etailer, Grahtoe Studios!

Grahtoe is having an anniversary sale! Use the coupon code ANNIVERSRY14 to receive 14% off your entire order! The coupon is good for Etsy only and must be used BEFORE checkout in the "Apply Coupon" code box.  The coupon is good through the 31st.

Check out this gorgeous silky wood curved fork:

These hair sticks are calling my name:

Here's an absolutely stunning decorative bowl. It almost glows!

Head on over to Grahtoe before the sale ends!

Come On, Irene

Hurricane Irene is 'a coming! 

For those of you who don't know, I live right on the water. It's an inlet to the Chesapeake Bay. I live about 300 feet from the water. The state I live in has already issued a pdf file showing where the worst flooding will occur.

We won't be hit until late tonight, approximately 2 a.m. I grew up south of here, again, right on the water. When Isabel came through in 2003, we had water waist-deep in our living room. We didn't even live in a flood zone! Trees were down all over the place, making the roads impassable.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared. The flooding I can deal with. When we moved into this house, I bought the most flood insurance I could, just because of my past experience. For some unknown reason, we weren't required to buy flood insurance because we aren't considered to be in a flood zone. My next door neighbor is, however. Weird.

I'm worried about a tree on my property. The thick branches dangle right over my roof, where my son's room is. Tonight all the kids will be camped out downstairs, just in case.

I have my two camera batteries charged and ready to go to take photos of the damage for insurance and to share with you guys. I can't help but document any kind of unusual event.

Our energy company called a few days ago to let us know that they had called in about 500 out of state workers to help. They also warned that we would likely lose power for about 72 hours.  I bought every flashlight I could find at Home Depot, which wasn't much. I hit the store much too late and all that was left were children's Disney flashlights. I bought the eight remaining ones and a ton of batteries.

Since the hurricane is coming, I will probably be up tonight, waiting and watching. So long as I have power, I'll keep updating here.

Edit 8:53 a.m.
It's ominously silent outside. We usually have TONS of birds singing in our backyard because I have a lot of bird feeders, but I can't hear a single bird. I looked into our trees and I saw none, either. The birds must know something's up.

12:15
The wind is picking up and it's raining. I think the outer rings of Irene are starting to hit us. The news keeps going back and forth as to whether or not we'll be hit by Irene directly or tropical storm conditions from Irene's rings. Sigh. I wish they would make up their minds.

2:35
The wind is steadily growing stronger. The gusts are a little scary. I think a branch might have broken in my neighbor's hard because I heard a loud crack. The governor of Maryland was on the news saying that the worst part of the storm would hit us around midnight. I'll probably stay up, just in case.

3:50
We heard a huge boom. My neighbor poked his head out the window and said "There goes the transformer," I have no idea what that means unless Bumblebee is having transmission issues down the street. We lost power twice and I'm sure we'll lose it again.

5:50
The wind is getting stronger and it is pouring rain outside. I can't believe the trees can bend so much without breaking!

12:15
I've lost cell phone service. The cedar tree in my back yard is swaying back and forth so violently I can't imagine how it's still upright. We still have power (obviously,) but I'm not sure how long that is going to last. I stepped outside and the wind gusts were so strong they actually scared me.

7:35
We still have power and my cell phone is now working. The wind gusts are about the same as last night. The cedar is still miraculously standing. Broken branches and leaves litter the road and my back yard. We're still under a Tropical Storm and Flood Watch. Those won't end for a while, so we'll see how things go.

Sale Alert: Ravenslair

Ravenslair is having a sale! You can save 20% at Raven's etsy shop, Ravenslair. Just enter the code  1ETSYRELEVANT and save 20%.

Isn't that comb gorgeous? It would look perfect tucked into a bun.

That one reminds me of the upcoming fall.

If you've had your eye on something special at Ravenslair, swing on by her Etsy shop. 20% off all items.

Getting Used to the Haircut/ Cool Find: Non-slip hair ties

You know, it's funny. I started to have difficulty making nautilus buns when my hair was classic. No matter how tightly I wound my hair, it still drooped and looked sloppy. I never realized my hair could get too long for certain updos.

Since I cut my hair back, the nautilus looks like it should. That's kind of exciting. I still miss my old hair, but I know I made the right decision.

I was browsing my local CVS for hair accessories for my girls and I came across Scunci's "No Slip Grip" hair ties. They feel like those black plastic bracelets that were popular in the mid nineties, only they come in better colors.

In fact, they remind me of a much larger version of those teeny silicone hair ties.

Anyhoo, since Sofie just started cheerleading and needs to have her hair in a pony tail, I thought I'd give them a try.

I really do like these. I never wear my hair in a pony tail because the tie would cause breakage and droop halfway through the day. These hair ties work great. Since it's been so warm, I've been wearing my hair up most of the time. My go-to hairstyle these days is a braided pony tail since I can use these ties without breakage and slipping. They really grip without tearing! Plus, they keep my daughter's crazy hair up and out of her way while she's rah, rah, rahing. Of all the "no slip" hair ties I've tried,
 these are the best by far.

Because there are so many "non-slip" products out there, these are the ones I'm talking about:

Blueberry Picking

We made a last minute trip back up to New England. I really love it here.

It's blueberry season, so we packed the kids into the Honda and hit the "PYO" scene. Okay, that sounds way cooler than it actually was. We just visited a local "pick your own" farm.

I've never been blueberry picking, but I do like blueberries. The blueberries were so cheap that we got a ton and I'm going to have to get creative to use them up before they go bad.

 Incidentally, you may notice Sofie's hair is growing back nicely from that giant cut not so long ago.

Winnie's hair is growing really fast now and it's about BSL at its longest. She's never had a haircut before, so she's got quite a few different lengths going on.

 "OMNOMNOM!"

In Which I Cut My Hair

After all the bad luck we've been having (I had a car accident, we had a child in the ICU unit for three days, someone in China stole $1000+ out of our bank account) I figured that was a clear cosmic kick in the butt. I made a promise- time to pay up.

After putting it off for a week, I finally decided to just do it. My husband took his pocket knife, which has scissors on them, and cut five to six inches of hair. It feel so weird! I feel like I have short hair, which obviously isn't the case.

Time for pictures!

I know it doesn't look that much shorter, but I think it's the camera angle.

I knelt at the side of the fire pit and smudged myself the entire time with a sage smudge. It took forever for my hair to burn, which I attribute to the good health of my hair.

Although it felt like a huge amount of hair, I think that it was only the growth I've achieved since I made the promise. I'm going to keep growing after this.

I gotta say, too, I felt much lighter and it felt like a huge weight was lifted from my shoulders. I'm happy I fulfilled a vow I made almost two years ago and I feel better, too. I've gone from past classic to hip length, as far as I can tell. It may be tailbone length, too. I need to get used to it before figuring out exactly where I am lengthwise.

Comments?

New Arrivals: Ravenscroft Moon Fork

Check out Ravenscroft.

New Length Shots

 I figured it's high time I got you guys some length shots. These are certainly not the best, because we were trying to catch the last light of day while getting the kids down to sleep. I hope you enjoy them anyways.

I've come a long way since starting this blog. To refresh your memory:

That was taken about a year ago, I think. I've developed some serious fairy tale endings in my length, but I like them better than the blunt cut I used to have.

My hair is not that red. The light of the sunset made my hair appear much redder than it is in person. I'm not sure what's up with the waves I've developed over the year. Maybe my hair care routine did it?

I promise to get better pictures next time, when we aren't in such a hurry.

**I put up the option to "Follow Me" under "Cool People." I know there are WAY more than 11 people following this blog, so if you could kindly add yourself to the Cool People, I'll have an easier way to track my readers.

When I first put it up a year ago, it seemed pretentious. Now, I just want to see who's been reading my blog, because I know there's a lot of you! Thank you guys so much!**

Gettin' Real

I'm about to get real here, and I'm a little afraid how you guys might take this. I believe in being completely honest with the topics on this blog, and I'm not going to shirk now!

I'll bet you're wondering where I've been lately. Or if I've cut my hair (I haven't.) It's not for lack of topics (I have a whole list of them,) or lack of time.

Here goes: I have sometimes crippling anxiety. When I say crippling, I mean can't leave my house crippling.

I, for some unknown reason, suddenly began suffering to the point that my husband had to take leave to take care of me and the kids. I've been on medication for a while and have been stable for years. Something triggered this- I just don't know what.

As for symptoms, those have been pretty fun, let me tell you. As night, I can't sleep, so I pace the first floor of my house. I think I see worn marks on the floor from my path. The more I pace, the less sleep I get, and the worse the symptoms are. The doctor finally gave me something to just knock me out, so that's better.

I get this antsy feeling and suddenly the dust bunnies under the couch must be dealt with RIGHTTHISVERYMINUTE.  It's an awful feeling. It's almost like nesting when you're pregnant only a thousand times worse.

When talking to people, I'm terrified I'll say the wrong thing. I have a really hard time talking to new people. I often wonder if people think I'm a snob- I'm not; I'm just scared.

A therapist once told me that 20% of the American population has some form of social anxiety. I find it comforting to know that so many other people are feeling the same way I am.

I've been diagnosed with OCD (not the cleaning type) and PTSD (which stems from an incredibly traumatic experience that I may share with you one day. My OCD comes in the form of unwanted and obsessive thoughts. It's enough to keep me up at night. I don't have any rituals, it's just the thoughts running through my head.

It's definitely a weird feeling to be thinking something and suddenly realizing you're thinking of something that is disturbing or highly unusual for you. Don't worry, I'm not hurting myself or anyone else.

I am seeing a psychiatrist who is helping me find a new combination of medicate and a psychologist who is teaching me better ways to cope with the strain.

It feels weird to pour my heart out to strangers. I'm afraid of being judged or even worse, given medical advice like "My Aunt Ethel took vitamins and that cured her."

The good news is, I'm getting better. I miss you guys, I really do. I miss taking photos of my hair to share. I miss reading your comments, which are almost always supportive. I do hope that you guys can still accept me as I am- flaws and all.

And most of all, if you suffer from anxiety- you are not alone. If you're in a place with 100 people, 20 people there are feeling the same thing you are.

Meet Zelda

On Wednesday night, a neighbor brought over a sweet older puppy. The puppy had been tied up in
front of the firehouse he works at. We brought the pup over to visit with out poodle mix, Daisy. They seemed to get along well.

Animal Control came and took possession of the dog and gave us a receipt so that we could put in our adoption papers the following day.

The following morning, we brought our receipt and were dismayed to find that the dog had already been adopted out. We decided to take a look at some of the other animals there, since Animal Control euthanizes. We figured that we might find a dog that we loved and save it from being put to sleep.

We came across "Mopsy," a Lhasa Apso and asked to visit her. We sat in that room for a while, petting her and playing. We had Winnie along with us and "Mopsy" just loved her. We let the vet tech take her back to her crate. We stood there for about 15 minutes discussing whether "Mopsy" would fit into our family.

"Mopsy" put her paws through the cage, reaching out to us and it was over- we were getting the dog. We immediately renamed the dog Zelda, after the video game (although we pretend it's after Zelda Fitzgerald so we don't seem quite so geeky.)

Poor Zelda had had pups ten weeks before, so her breasts were still swollen. She'd been given to animal control because the owner had abandoned the dog with her sister. Her sister didn't want the dog, so she relinquished custody. We brought Zelda home that night and brought her back the next morning to get spayed.

I feel so lucky to have gotten Zelda. She is so mellow and sweet. She's a little older (9), but Lhasas have lived into their twenties! I can't believe someone relinquished such a sweet little girl.

Our dog, Daisy, is still getting used to the idea of another dog in the house, but there haven't been any fights or anything.  The kids adore Zelda and Zelda adores the kids. I'm so glad Zelda came into our lives.

Cool Find: Squiggly Hair Stick

Kimi over at Grahtoe brought these to my attention and I am completely intrigued.

It's called the "Squiggly" and it's made by an Etsy shop called Lark's Creations.

According to the maker of these interesting hair sticks, these were created out of a need for something to hold up the nautilus bun.

Here's a picture of the Squiggly in action:

Just in case there was any doubt, these are her pictures and are not of my hair.

Doesn't the Squiggly look awesome? I'll bet they hold really well, too.

At $25 it's one of the more affordable wooden hair accessories out there. If I hadn't just paid for two new custom Timberstone Turnings hair stick, I would be purchasing one of these bad boys PRONTO! If nothing else, I'll be bookmarking her shop for next month!

New Arrivals: Moonalisa Mardi Gras Madness Collection

WOW!

I just received an order from MoonaLisa in the mail yesterday. In my package, I had included two 4 in 1s, which are shampoo, shower gel, bubble bath and mild laundry detergent in one. I got them in "Stone Cold" (Cold , stoney watery lake scent) and Banana Tarte Tatin (rich sweet banana filled puffed pastry scrub with a Pecan Praline bath cream center). Both smell amazing, although the Stone Cold is definitely on the different side.

I washed my hair this afternoon with the Banana Tarte Tatin. Initially, my hair felt no different from usual, but as it dried- whoa, Mama! My hair is super shiny and has more volume than I've had in YEARS. My hair smells awesome, too. Since I only bought two bottles, I'll have to carefully hoard them.

Moona Lisa is an artist with a real gift for bath products. Everything is made from scratch and by hand. Most things are vegan, although some products contain goat's milk, beeswax or honey. Non-vegan items are labeled as such. Moona's products are in high demand and only go on sale three or four times a year. It's best to watch her blog or "Like" her on Facebook to watch for the sales.

I will warn you, because of the overwhelming demand for her products, turn around time can be lengthy. In my opinion, her products are so amazing that they are well worth the wait.

You can find her website here.

I'm sorry I haven't taken a picture yet, because I was so excited that I ripped the box open and jumped in the shower. I'll try to take a picture over the next couple of days so that you can see how beautiful the designs are.

Tangled

I finally saw Disney's Tangled. I've got to say, I really enjoyed it. Of course, I may be biased because I have three kids and see a ton of kids movies and of course because I have long hair.

Disney changed the name of the movie from Rapunzel because they thought it would attract more boys. I kind of understand where they're coming from, but my five year old couldn't understand why the movie was called Tangled while the princess's name was Rapunzel.

If you're familiar with the old Rapunzel fairy tale, you'll know that the original story was a bit different (no surprise from Disney- I'm talking to you, Little Mermaid.)

The original fairy tale went something like this: A pregnant woman desperately craved radishes (or sometimes various other vegetables) from her neighbor's garden. Said neighbor just happened to be a witch. The pregnant lady begged and begged her husband to steal some radishes from the witch's garden until he finally relented (probably so he could get some sleep,) and snuck into the garden. The witch caught him and demanded the baby to pay for his crimes. The rest of the story should be familiar to it, but if it isn't, I recommend you Google it.

In the movie Tangled, the pregnant queen drinks a tea (?) made from a magic flower created from a drop of sunlight. Little did she know, a witch was using the flower to stay young forever. The princess is born soon afterwards. The princess has beautiful golden hair (while both her parents are brunettes.) This is to emphasize that her hair came from the sun flower. The witch sneaks in and cuts a lock of Rapunzel's hair, which shrivels up and turns brown. The witch realizes that Rapunzel's hair must never be cut if she wants to keep the magic alive.

Anyway, the witch kidnaps baby Rapunzel and raises her as her daughter (although her mothering skills are sorely lacking.) Rapunzel turns 18 (thanks, Disney for updating ages a little to reflect modern ideals. Ariel getting married at 16 has always bothered me.) She decides she wants a taste of the outside life, having live her entire life in the tower.

I won't spoil the whole movie for you if you haven't seen it.

I will say I was a bit disappointed with how the movie ended. I mean, I get why they ended it that way, but it still bummed me out a little bit. Either way, it's still a fun movie and I really enjoyed it.

Cool Find: Timberstone Turnings Travel Roll

What a neat idea! If you've ever worried about how to travel safely with your hairsticks, Timberstone Turnings came up with a great idea.

I've seen pouches like that for crayons, but never anything big enough for hairsticks. I might need one of these.

Ravenslair Sale and Ravenscroft Reopening

I know it's been a while. I have a long post that I've been working on, but I wanted to get this information to you guys.

Ravenslair is having a two day sale that starts today. The sale ends on Monday, so get it while you can!

Here's a beautiful fork with a blue Swarovski crystal:

These hairsticks are sure to hold up the most heavy hair:

This one is a gorgeous dark blue. I love the dragons on either end:

Also, for anyone that misses Ravenscroft's unique moon forks, she's coming back! You can "Friend" her on Facebook to stay up-to-date on what she's doing.

Hawaii Tsunami and Japan Earthquake

I woke up to news of the earthquake in Japan. I'm watching the news, waiting for the tsunami in Hawaii to start. I pray that the tsunami is as minor as the last one and that everyone will be okay.

I've already called all my friends in Hawaii to make sure everyone is on higher ground. Fifteen minutes until the tsunami's due.

Update on the Haircut and Brow Color for Light Eyebrows

Sofie's teacher dealt with the hair issue. She told me that all the children sat down and had a discussion about how if you can't say something nice, don't say anything. She talked to them about making fun of how someone else looks.

She also told me that she was really saddened to get my note about what had happened. She was surprised about it issue, saying, "I would expect this behavior from middle schoolers or high schoolers, not in kindergarten!"

We're working with Sofie to build her confidence and teaching her to stand up for herself. I don't want her to physically hurt someone if they're teasing her, but it's okay to say, "You know what, I like the way I am and I don't care what anyone else thinks."

Moving along...I don't know how many of you out there have this issue, but my eyebrows are really blonde. I was using an eyeshadow to color them so they would stand out a bit better. The problem with the eyeshadow, though, was that it didn't last through the day, even if I used a finishing powder.

I hit MAC Cosmetics (my favorite make-up brand,) and asked for some help. The sales lady grabbed a tube of MAC's Brow Set in "Girl Boy" and applied it to my brows. Instant brows! The color matches my skin and hair color perfectly and grooms my brows into obedience!

It's like mascara for your brows! I absolutely love the look and I don't have to worry about my brows disappearing halfway through the day.

I will be taking before and after pictures for you guys as soon as my new battery charger arrives. (I lost the charger for my camera batteries and have used up all the charged batteries.)

**Also, in case anyone's forgotten or new, Grahtoe gives a 10% discount to first orders if you mention my blog. **

Bullied Into Cutting

I have a sad story to tell today.

Sofie began asking if she could cut her hair short last week. She became more and more insistent that what she wanted was to cut her hair. I'm personally of the opinion that it's her hair, so she can do what she likes with it. I talked it over with her father and we agreed that we would allow her to cut to midback length.

As the stylist began cutting away her beautiful locks, she asked why Sofie wanted to get her hair cut off. Sofie told the stylist that Madison (not her real name, of course), a girl in her class, had been making fun of her and told her that she was ugly. Madison told Sofie that she'd better cut her hair off, or she'd be ugly forever. This may sound ridiculous, but Sofie is only five years old.

As I heard my daughter telling the story, I was fuming. I couldn't believe that my daughter was bullied into cutting her hair!

Once her hair was cut to the middle of her back, Sofie turned to me and said, "It needs to be shorter, Mommy. Madison will be mad if it isn't up to here." She indicated chin length.

"Absolutely not!" I said, "Mommy and Daddy decided that you could cut to where it is now and I absolutely will not allow you to cut more just because someone else told you that you had to cut it. If you decide that you want to cut it shorter later, we'll talk about it."

She seemed worried, but didn't argue. She hasn't complained about the length of her hair except to mention once or twice that it needs to be shorter because of Madison.

I sat down this morning and wrote out a long letter to her teacher about what had happened. I asked the teacher to set up an appointment with me to discuss what had happened. I am so mad! Sofie had beautiful hair and seemed really happy with it. The fact that someone else made her feel bad enough about her hair to make her want to cut it just really ticks me off. I'm mad at myself, too, because I didn't ask the simple question "Why do you want to cut it, Sofie?"

It is hair, though, and it will grow back, if that's what she wants. Her hair grows incredibly fast, too. I'm just worried that she'll succumb to bullying in other ways. I'm interested in what the teacher will say about what happened. In the teacher's defense, the bullying seems to have happened in the cafeteria, where the teacher is not present and the children are supervised by lunch monitors. Sofie may have been scared to tell her teacher (and me) that someone was bullying her.

I'll definitely update after I talk to the teacher. Bullying is not okay, whether it's about hair or anything else.

I Went Red!

Nightshade from Nightblooming on Etsy whipped up a custom batch of henna for me and I applied it last night.

I was seriously stressed about dye release, having never really hennaed before. I kept checking the color in the back of my hand. When the color didn't seem to get any darker, I took the plunge.

The color is absolutely perfect and really compliments my skin. I didn't realize how much my hair blended with my skin tone until I saw the red. The contrast is really lovely.

Please don't mind my ends. They really don't look as bad as they do in the photos. I've been trimming rather randomly, so the ends are thinner than usual. 

I also purchased these pretty combs to tuck into my buns:

In related news, the pictures make me wonder if I've wandered into "Can I call this classic?" length.

Grahtoe's "Ice Hairtanas"

Holy crap! Check these bad boys out!

They're acrylic and with aircraft grade aluminum and they are STUNNING. I think these are simply the most amazing things that Grahtoe's come up with so far. I'm not a big fan of hair swords, but these have even ME drooling over them!

So cool! These aren't up on Grahtoe's shop yet and I can't even begin to imagine how much they'd cost, but they sure are gorgeous! On Grahtoe's Facebook page, they encourage anyone with an interest to shoot them a convo. Whoever gets them, action shots, please? These are incredible!