The Etsy Vacation is Over

Hello approaching sunrise, we meet again...

I broke Her first basic rule for getting a full night's rest, but my project bag is no longer empty, and my Etsy shop is no longer on vacation. It's been a while.

A few new quick things.

Custom Ear Flap Hat w/Ties, done up for a friend who will
be trailing behind a little duck this Halloween.

A little Berrylicious Beanie with a little extra something-something, $10

Another go around with the flaps for a friend who wants to
match her nice blue set of wheels.

Drop by my shop and catch the sales! Layettes and blankets must find a new warm home!

I've Been...

Cooking

Roasted/baked chicken thighs and lemony brussel sprouts

Peach Pie

Crocheting

Diaper Covers: Newborn to 24mths $15

Playing with hair
Mourning the loss of my internet connection
Mourning the loss of my cell phone service
Mourning the loss of gas in my car's tank
Journal writing
Going for walks
Interior painting
Movie watching
Reading books
Visiting the local library
Visiting the local park
Going to therapy on a weekly basis
Spending time with friends
Job searching
Clearing boxes out of my living room!

What have you been up to?

A Hair Story

Style #1: Beginning Style
A combination of twists and ponytails

Style #2
Untwisted all of the twists and removed the ponytails.
Tucked, rolled and secured the front portion with bobby pins.

Style #3:
Big Hair Don't Care!
Tucked, rolled and secured a smaller front section.

Style #4
Chunky twists all over with half of front section pinned to
the side.

Style #5
BIGGER Hair and still Don't Care!
Chunky twist out with front side portion tucked, rolled
and secured with bobby pins and a cute barrette.

You just can't beat the versatility of beautiful natural hair!

Sleepless in Berkeley

It's 7:18am. Sleep did not come to me last night. It hasn't come to me in many recent nights. I've lost official count of the number of sunrises I've witnesses within a two-week period. I don't really have any answers for the shift in my internal clock, I just know that it needs a readjustment, especially since I find myself dropping mid-evening. Looks like it's time to revamp the night time routine and conjure up some ultimate relaxation techniques.

How do you settle in for the night?

Rescuing the Rest of Summer Vacation

With 51 days left to enjoy summer vacation, I'm not sure that I can say that I've actually been enjoying summer vacation. We haven't set foot on the beach, we haven't taken any road trips out to visit distant friends, I haven't read any books! While Emma has been spending time outdoors with new friends, I've been completely focused on looking for work and securing resources. I now realize that if I don't act fast, the first day of school will be upon us and we will not have left our neighborhood! Its not that I didn't have a slight summer itinerary - now's the time to start enjoying our list.

- Summer Reading Game 2011: One World, Many Stories
The game is on at our local public library, in which the challenge is to either read 10 books, 1000 pages or read for 10 hours and get in 3 library visits for a chance to win some great prizes. The game runs from June 17th - August 13th. Click here to check it out, and then visit your local children's library to find out about the Summer Reading Game in your area. Starting next week, we are shooting for a 10-hours of reading goal. 34 days is more than enough time to explore.

- The Local Park
We are fortunate to have a park right down the street from home, and right across the street from the library! Lots of trees, open space and sunshine makes a perfect scene for bike riding, sand castles and journal writing.

- Bowling
Did you know that kids get to bowl 2 free games each and every day of the summer? Seriously. 2 free games for the entire summer, and the rest of the family can join in with a low priced family pass. I signed Emma up at www.kidsbowlfree.com.

If we're lucky, maybe we'll even get a visit or two in to the water park before Fall arrives. What's on your summer itinerary?

* A visit to Outdoor Afro just added another summer adventure to our list by reminding me of the beauty that is right in our backyard, Tilden Park's Lake Anza! Summer would not be complete without at least one beach visit - guess its time to break out the swimsuit.

Reflection

A high school friend was laid to rest yesterday. She was 27 years old. Although we weren't extremely close, I've taken her death in a certain kind of way since making the connection - emotionally bound by limited details and a c/o 2002 bond. I read the news article, "Woman, 27, killed by Amtrak train." At the time I didn't know that this "woman" was my friend. And once I did, it was hard to fight the images in my head of her standing in the path of an oncoming train, because, once the face and name filled in the blanks, the words of that article were received much much differently.

I researched every article online that I could find written about the incident, I read the comments that people left, I stumbled upon an article from a year ago about two other people who were killed by an Amtrak train in the same place, I wondered if my friend's death was accidental or a conscience decision, I felt a need to react-to protect-to enact better safety measures at that particular section of track, I felt sorrow for her bffs and family, I felt sick and sad and sorry for ever considering the same fate, and then I made a last minute decision at 10:00 the night before to attend her homegoing with the rest of our local high school family, and then I made another last minute decision at 1:00 that morning that I just couldn't do it. And then someone posted a picture of the photo memorial from her service and I knew that I had made the right decision not to attend. At this time, I wouldn't have been able to handle the sadness nor the grusome images plaguing my mind.

If this was the outcome of her own free choice, I can honestly respect that, and I can only hope that she is truly at rest now. If it was not her choice to leave her son behind, and even if it was, I am still deeply moved to look into the ways in which this particular stretch of track can be made inaccesable to pedestrians in hopes that it will stop claiming lives.

Gift Making

Diaper Cover - Pattern by Yarn Blossom Boutique

Since I have two baby showers to attend this month, I thought that I should try out a new pattern. I've been interested in trying out diaper covers for a while now, so I invested in a pattern. I'm glad that I did. Though there is a lot of counting that has to be done to stay on track with this pattern, it was pretty easy, and I am very pleased with the result. Not bad for my first try. All I need to do to finish this cover off is add a couple of cute buttons.

A matching hat makes the perfect little gift.

Going with the Flow

This is a good example of what happens when you start out with one intention during styling time, and end up with a completely different style. I had intended to do a full head of two strand twists in preparation for a twist out today, but because I made the twists smaller than I wanted, and I started styling late last night, I decided to take a twist short cut by adding two ponytails with twists on the ends. Even though we have two different styles going on, I was still able to dust her ends to get the splits in check.


We'll see how this style evolves next week. I'm itching to do some box braids!

Sun and Fun

Emma opted out of sporting her 'fro, so I was left to sport alone. She assured me that she would wear one next year. Good enough for me. The most important aspect of our day was not hair, but contentment. Mission accomplished.

Taking the trolly all the way down.

Cool wet toes while skipping stones.

And of course, the fireworks!

I hope all of you had a wonderful 4th.

The Return of 'Fros on the 4th!

I remember being so bummed out last year when I learned about National Afro Independence Day. I'd just did by second BC a month prior, thus, my little TWA was history. Not this year. The 'fro is back, and in full effect. All was not lost last year though because Emma had enough Afro for the both of us!

July 4th, 2010

Trust me, you weren't seeing much with the owner of this bountiful 'fro on your lap. I'm happy that my 'fro will be out and proud tomorrow. Will yours?

Hair

Its been a while since we've done hair - I felt like I was in this head an entire day! We spent hours pre-wash detangling, shampooing, ACV rinsing, and conditioning, with little energy left for re-detangling since for some reason we ended up with a tangled mess after conditioning, and absolutely no energy left for styling. I did a light detangle and decided to band in about 13 sections in hopes of thoroughly detangling and twisting later so that I can dust her ends. Today, neither of us was in much of a mood to tackle hair that had tons of product buildup and matted areas, but during the pre-wash detangling, which consister solely of finger detangling, Emma's hair looked so good I almost made a decision to restyle without washing! And then to have a completely tangled stripped mess afterwards? I was a little frustrated. I'm not sure if I went a little too heavy on the shampoo or if the ACV rinse just really did its thing, but I hated how her hair was feeling, even after conditioning it. We probably should have deep conditioned. Maybe it will feel better once I remove the bands.


Up next, my hair. I haven't so much as spritzed it with water in at least a week. Its dry as a desert and crying out for attention. I could completely empathize with Cassidy when she wrote about her little Lolitas. I'm right there with you girl I've slacked and both heads in this household have paid for it. Time to get things back under control over here. I've been fixated on stretching my 'fro lately. I still don't have access to my blow dryer, so it looks like I might have to resort to twisting my hair to stretch, and then pick it out. We'll see if I can find the energy to do that.

*Update: Emma's hair feels waaaaay better today. I haven't removed her bands yet, but it feels really soft in between. I may or may not reband tonight. Since tomorrow is National Afro Independence I just might remove the bands, finger detangle, and then reband tomorrow night to restretch.

So Much for Staying on Task

22 out of 30 days isn't bad, right? I didn't think churning out 30 posts would have been that big of a challenge, but when you're wrapped up in deadlines, job searching, applying for jobs, testing for jobs, and all sorts of other money related stuff, it does become a challenge to fit in blogging about topics unrelated to the moment's hustle. I'm proud of myself for getting as far as I did, and who knows, the next time I participate in a directed challenge, maybe I just might do it in 30 days.

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Today is my mother's birthday. She would have been 57 years old. Next year will mark the 20th anniversary of her death. Time flies. Happy Birthday Mom.