Announcement and 7 month hair update

The announcement is......I’m going to Big Chop!  We’ll get to that in a minute.  The last 4 weeks have been a little crazy. 

I baked cupcakes for my company's Christmas party and made frosting from scratch for the 1^st time!

Pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and marshmallow garnish.

Ok--- so I'm not a fan of veggies, but I've been eating more lately.  If you've never had them before, please go out and make some kale chips.  They are delicious (considering it's a vegetable!)

Kale chips and cashews

I tried to be creative and did a little paint job on an old table Daniel had before we met.

Cre -- do those flowers look familiar?!

I went to the Emergency Room. 

I was there for over 6 hours--I finally walked in my apartment after 2am.

IV ports in both arms!

Top green squiggly line is what my heart has been doing for about 2 months now.

I tried to give myself a straw set.

The first two pictures are how a straw set should look.  The rest are my horrible interpretation.  It was so bad, that I carefully combed it out and wore a ‘fro for the week.

It looks like Whoopi's back in the day!

I had an iron infusion. A six hour iron infusion.

Test dose to make sure I'm not allergic.

The big kahuna of iron.

Halfway there--just 3 more hours to go.

Yes!  All done!

The recliner room.

I read some of the time.

Right after this, I told Daniel to go home and pick me up when I'm done.  He held on for 2 hours!

I read some more.

I slept, too.

Daniel and I went on a couple of dates including going to my Sorority’s Ball.

Ohhhh yeeahhh!

So…..on to the hair!  

Flat ironing my hair for the week.

Can you see the waves?!?

I have never done anything “extreme” with my hair.  Ever. I’ve never colored, highlighted, cut it, etc.  I literally have only trimmed it and relaxed it.  I’m turning 30 this month and have decided to live on the wild side.  I’m cutting off all of the relaxed ends and I will finally be completely natural.  I’m terrified out of my mind, but it’s time to do something completely out of my character.  Turning 30 seems like a great time to do it.  I do plan on buying a wig or 2, because I’m quite sure there will be days where I curse myself for it!

The next time I update, I will have no more than 4 inches of hair...yikes!  Have a wonderful week everyone!

Blue (the color, not the feeling)

Daniel and I went to a new restaurant this week, Aberdeen Barn.  It was pretty fancy with linens on the tables and the waiters dressed in vests and bow ties.  Earlier, I had gone to the gym, showered and changed into jeans and flip flops so I definitely felt under-dressed.  Oh well!

How romantic-al!

When we arrived, we admired the ambiance and chatted about the day.  Daniel and I placed our orders and then gave the menus back to our waiter.  Germs are yucky, so as soon as the menus are taken away, I always grab my hand sanitizer (menus are pretty disgusting).  Anyhoo, I'm leaning over and digging into my purse, and after rubbing the gel into my hands, I look up and see:

What? Why are you looking at me like that?

Look closer:

Ohhh!

Daniel and I just celebrated our 6 month-aversary (?) and he surprised me with a beautiful piece of jewelry.  

*sparkle*

A topaz necklace (I adore the color blue).  Isn't my husband sweet?!?  I think I'll keep him. 

Dinner was delicious!  Daniel had a grilled chicken breast, topped with lump crab meat and a Bearnaise sauce.  I had the most juicy, tender steak and fries.  I definitely wouldn't mind going back.

On Friday, I went bowling with a few Sorors and Frat (fraternity brothers).  It was fun and definitely nice to get out for a few hours.  

Zeta Phi Beta Sigma

Saturday, I went for my last workout at my old gym.

That's not sweat, ok?  Southern Belles perspire.  Get it right, please.

My contract ended yesterday, and today, I begin working out at my new gym:

I'm really excited because my previous gym was for women only and now Daniel can come with me to the new one (I can bring a guest every time that I go).  After he returns from his religious service, we're heading out!

Last night after the gym,  I washed my hair with Hair One again.  The bottle is beginning to get low so I'm trying to decide whether to continue using it.  I've used it 3 times now, and it's ok, but I'm not sure it's worth the money.  For each wash, you're to use at least 20 pumps of product. Basically, I'm going to need a new bottle every 6 weeks or so.  The bottle cost about $12.  My usual hair product is about $15-20 (depending if it's on sale), but it lasts so much longer.  I'm going to make a final decision after using the last of it on my next wash, but I'm leaning toward my old product.

I stated in this post that I would begin logging my reading post to post, so here are the books read since that day:  

The Second Wives Club  Jane Moore

The Nanny Diaries  Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

A Personal Matter  Karyn Langhorne

Spilling Clarence  Anee Ursu

Barefoot  Elin Hilderbrand

Midwives  Chris Bohjalian

Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons  Lorna Landvik

One Fifth Avenue  Candace Bushnell

The Starter Wife  Gigi Lavangie Grazer

The Five People You Meet in Heaven  Mitch Albom

The Weight of Water  Anita Shreve

The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc  Loraine Despres

Have a wonderful week everyone!!!!!

"Oh I just can't wait to be Kin...er, Queen!"

I'm an artist! Sort of...

Heeeeyyyy!  I'm in such a great mood because I'm about to make some chocolate chip cookies from scratch (hopefully they don't taste like dirt) and I'm excited.  Now on to what wasn't posted last time.


Dinners:

Daniel and I tried an Indian restaurant for the 1st time.  It's a place named Rajput located in Ghent.  It was pretty tasty, albeit new flavors and textures.  I told Daniel I'd like to go back on one of their buffet days so that we can try all of their dishes without breaking the bank.

There were scarves everywhere.

Don't ask me to tell you what it is--I can't remember the names of the dishes!

I DO remember this--Chicken Pakora.

The decor was beautiful.

Last night, I went to Hibachi Grill buffet with Pop, my brothers, and my grandma.  Apparently, my brothers conspired to dress alike and didn't even have the respect to let me in on it!

Maroon polo shirts, jeans, and boots.  Twins top to bottom!

Speaking of dressing alike--check out my coworkers on Friday.  This was not planned in any way:

They even had similar gold hoops in their ears!

The place was pretty great looking for a buffet.  It even had fountains, a tiny river, and a bridge!  The food was pretty good, too.  And all for $8!