..


Archive for April, 2010

April 21st, 2010

roadtrip to san antonio

Friday I’m embarking on the dreaded necessary roadtrip to my old stompin’ grounds: San Antonio.  Also known as San AntonE or S.A. (you can interject your own ideas for what we could have said that stood for…)  Technically I never really lived in San Antonio, but it was the closest major city to us, so we claimed it.

I haven’t been to San Antonio in several years. Mainly because I had no reason to and partially because I had no desire to.  I think most people grow up and either run far away from their hometown or plant roots in it and get ready for the long haul. I was the former. When it was time to consider colleges my only considerations were schools that were far away.  Needless to say, I was ready to leave.

Now I’m going back and I actually have a reason, and a pretty good one. My friend Melissa (Mel) is getting married in a few weeks and this weekend we’re doing her bridal shower and bachelorette party!  I’m excited because Mel and I have known each other since we were 8 years old. She is truly the longest maintained friendship I have. Sure I’ve reconnected with other, older friends, but Mel and I have stayed pretty close this whole time.

Though I’m an infamously bad road trip partner (just ask anyone I’ve ever been on a roadtrip with, though they may not even remember me being on the trip since I was probably asleep the whole time), I do pretty well when it’s just me.  I’m looking forward to the roadtrip because I want to practice my Farsi (which I do through audio lessons in the car) and I just want some ALONE time.  Well that, and I want an excuse to stop at a “Texas Stop Sign” and get a DQ Butterfinger Blizzard! YUM!

Perhaps this is why I need a co-pilot on long road trips…I can’t be trusted!

So while I am looking forward to this weekend and hanging out with Mel, the one thing I always dread about going back to SA is that I’ll run in to old high school class mates. It’s not like I was the “Carrie” of my high school or anything, so I shouldn’t have anything to fear – but I have this silly hangup that if I run in to an old classmate they’ll think I live there still and I don’t want them to think I stayed in SA!  There is nothing wrong with staying there, if that is what they wanted to do, but I have found I am so proud that I left.  I think really what I’m proud of is that I left my old self in San Antonio and became someone totally new when I moved up to North Texas/DFW.

What about you? Have you changed so dramatically from who you were in highschool that you might have the same fears? That those people from your “life before” might think you’re the same person and that’s the last thing you want them to think?

Categorylife experiences | Comment5 Comments »

Tags:
April 6th, 2010

I’m done trying on dresses, now on to hair!

I love getting my hair done…the wash, the blow dry, the smoothing…

The fact that I can own the products & use the same styling tools but still not be able to create the perfection found in a salon is precisely what justifies the trip to me.  Dallas hair salons are definitely abundantly available, however finding the right one for you can be a painful, and pricey, experience.  Truth be told, when it comes to my hair, there is really only one place I’ll go. Until now.

A couple weeks ago I visited Splurge Salon in Highland Village.  This wasn’t my first visit. When BurbMom first started, I actually accompanied Holly there for her BurbMom makeover.  The salon was pretty new and I distinctly remember the girls were all very friendly. Oh, and they had free wi-fi. For an internet-junkie who doesn’t have an iPhone or Blackberry (anymore) like myself, that was all I needed to know!

So when I was contacted about an opportunity to go to Splurge to do a test run of potential hair styles for my upcoming wedding day I jumped at the offer! Magazine cutouts in hand…I headed over to the Shops at Highland Village, where Splurge is located.

I was the first person there, since my appointment was the first of the day. I was greeted by the front desk attendant and she immediately offered me something to drink. I like when a salon does that because what’s worse than getting ready to be confined to a chair for at least an hour while you’re thirsty? Answer: not much.

I was quickly greeted by my stylist for the morning, Stephanie Fuller.  Stephanie had cute hair AND makeup – always a good thing to take note of when someone’s doing your hair – how do they look?  She passed the test and we got down to business.

I’m here to try out a couple of ideas I’m considering for my wedding day.

I also brought accessories to try…I’m prepared like that.

Stephanie took a look at the pictures and we talked through the plan. We’d start with the look where the hair was down (Look One) and then we’d convert it into the pinned up look (Look Two). Perfect!  While Stephanie went to gather the tools, I took a before picture to note what we started with. And no, I’m not proud of those wayward bangs…hopefully Stephanie can tame them.

Stephanie told me it’s really best to come with dirty (as in un-shampooed, not hair with actual dirt and/or leaves in it) hair when styling an updo. However, if you have oily hair, you could shampoo it several hours before you show up.  Personally, the rest of my hair probably could have done without the shampoo, but I HATE how greasy my bangs get after a day.  Part of it is that they are bangs, and another part of the problem is that I’m constantly running my hands through them to push them to the side and…wait! I digress.

I showed up with freshly shampooed hair.  Ooops.  No problem for Stephanie!  She began to get to work separating my hair and curling it in small one inch sections.  This part takes the longest, but once we’re done we’re good, she told me.

I used the time to drill inquire about her life, why she got in to hairstyling, etc.  She told me it was something she’s been doing since she was in high school. Along with hair, Stephanie is trained in makeup application and other cosmetologist services.  I decided to survey what sort of tools an artist of this caliber uses.

Once Stephanie finished the curling she used the hairspray and comb to tease hair at the crown of my hair because I specifically said I wanted to have some volume up there.  Stephanie said often times she’ll purchase BumpIts™ for her brides and include that in the price, so they can keep it afterward.  For hair that isn’t cut in a style that’s compatible with height at the crown, this is the best option for height and hold. However, for this test run, we didn’t use one.  Soon she was done with the first look. read more »

CategoryDIY wedding planning | Comment1 Comment »

Tags:
April 6th, 2010

allergic to yellow

When you look out on your driveway and see it covered in YELLOW, you can only assume two things:

There was a massive genocide of yellow Peeps post-Easter OR the Spring Pollen didn’t get the memo about us all being in a recession.

Unfortunately for me the latter is true. Yellow has arrived. EVERYWHERE. It’s on the street, on my car, under my nails, in my hair, in the grass…and in my eyes. Only 2 things live peacefully on your eyes: tears and contacts.  And really, contacts aren’t always so easy on the eyes!

The past week has been an all out war on my eyes!  Itchy & watery hardly even scratch the surface of what I’m going through.  My poor eyes are red, inflamed, burning, stinging, watering, itching, sore, puffy, hive-infested, cloudy windows to my soul. Good thing they are just the windows to my soul…and not my actual soul!

I’ve tried everything I can think of!

VISINE® TOTAL EYE™ Soothing Wipes - nice for removing my makeup, but did nothing to improve my eye irritation. In fact, it even kinda stung the area around my eyes. Maybe I was rubbing a little too hard…

Refresh Tears Eye Drops Natural Tears – These ALWAYS make my eyes feel better. Until now.

Zaditor Antihistamine Eye Drops – Manufactured by Novartis, the pharmacist told me they were just as effective as the Zyrtec eye drops (which coincidentally were on some sort of recall/do-not-sell ban).  Perhaps I should have taken that as a sign. These bad boys sting my eyes bad and at first didn’t seem to do anything, but the third time I tried them I sensed some relief. The only downside? You can only use ONE drop per eye PER DAY.

Claritin D - This stuff is GOLDEN! While it hasn’t exactly helped my eyes much, it HAS helped everything else that usually accompanies an allergy war.

A Nap – usually a nap, preceded by eye drop usage, helps my eyes calm down. While I could never complain about actually taking a nap, I will say it hasn’t helped to solve my eye issues.

A Cold Compress on my eyes – I’ve actually felt some relief from the stinging and burning, but once I remove the compress my eyes are still red and sometimes take several minutes for them to come back to focus.  This combined with a nap is actually semi-productive!

Rinsing my eyes and eye area with water/washing my face - Honestly, whenever I rinse my eyes with water they always feel super dry and irritated afterward. It almost has that “squeaky clean” effect, which isn’t exactly becoming when you’re talking about your eyes, which are supposed to be moist.

Rubbing the heck out of them and using a Q-tip to try to wipe the insides of them – while this seems to “itch the itch” it almost starts to feel like I’m spreading the itch all over. The initial relief from this is soon gone and I’ve often felt a little worse when I’m done.

Scratching the rims of my lower eye with my fingernail – see above.

Staying indoors, away from doors that open often or doors/windows with a poor seal, so as to avoid the draft of air from the outdoors – this works! When I make the conscious effort to continually wash my hands and avoid the fresh air from outside, my eyes slowly start to recover!  It takes about 24-48 hours, but they eventually get closer to normal!

The one thing I also find helps, if I HAVE to go outside, is to wear sunglasses, regardless of the sun’s presence, and squint my eyes as tight as I can and still see until I am indoors.  The other day I also wrapped a scarf around my head and face (it was just sheer enough that I could make out the shapes around me so as not to fall or bump into anything) and use it as “face protection” against the wind and floating pollen.  I’d recommend you only use this method around your house and yard, as it’s a little attention-getting in other public places.

I’ve also come up with a third solution that I’m thinking might be the best of all: Wearing swimming goggles anytime I go outside. They’re clear so I can see fine in daylight or evening, they provide an almost airtight barrier around my eyes, they are cheap, and it’s almost summer so maybe the stares won’t be that bad…

Or I can just re-activate my Netflix account, hole up inside my cozy apartment and get caught up on Season 4 of 24. If only they’d deliver right to my door so I didn’t have to walk outside to the mailbox…

Categorylessons learned | Comment4 Comments »

Tags:
April 1st, 2010

Birthday

Today is my birthday.

Happy Birthday, Bianca!

Wait…is this a joke?

No. It’s not a joke. Today really is my birthday!

I love celebrating birthdays, especially my own! I can hardly believe I’m here, celebrating my last year in my 20′s. It seems so surreal. In many ways I imagined my life would look different at 29…and though it looks nothing like I imagined, it’s still a really sweet time in life that I wouldn’t change for anything. Well, I would change the fact that Thomas is gone on deployment, but other than that – I’m content knowing things are just as they should be. Just as God planned for me.

So imagine my surprise when this year came along and I didn’t have a plan!  In fact, my birthday just kinda snuck up on me this year – I was totally unprepared.  I’ve heard that happens with age…that it just sneaks up on you.

I started thinking about all that planning a birthday party celebration entails and honestly just started thinking I did NOT want to do that this year. Maybe it’s because I’ve been traveling a lot and my house seems to be in constant state of pre- and post-packing shambles. Maybe it’s because I realize this is my last year to have a huge party with all my friends in Texas. Maybe it’s because I’m planning the biggest party of my life (my wedding). Maybe it’s like my NYE parties and I just think I can’t top the previous year’s celebration.  Maybe it’s that my birthday weekend is falling on Easter this year and so half the people I’d invite are probably busy with family time. Or maybe it’s just because I’m tired. Whatever the case is – I am just NOT motivated to plan anything.

Which is sad. Because all my friends expect me to. Me not planning a birthday party is like…well, maybe it’s like a Pastor NOT planning an Easter Sunday service!  So I’m kind of half-heartedly saying I’ll plan something for later in the month.

Maybe I’ll be motivated by then…or perhaps I’m just procrastinating a party that will never get planned.  Either way, I’m still glad today is my birthday!

Categorylife experiences | Comment2 Comments »

Tags:
Newer Entries »