What I'm Loving Wednesday

I always try and be different and do these "themed" posts a different day than everyone else, and I really just have to stop that. Popular and catchy themes are popular and catchy for a reason. So here goes.

1. My new hair!

Yes.. I cut it. Again. I'm pretty sure I completely change my style almost every time I go in.. and despite my assumption that my stylist may want to kill me at some point, I actually think she loves me more for it. Keeps her on her toes! All I know is that I am so, so happy to have it short again.

2. Goûter Tonics

Goûter (goo-tay) is a super local DC company that makes some fabulous alkaline water tonics. I actually did a 3-day cleanse of 6 tonics a day back in January, and I'm happy to say that I still love pretty much all of their products. It definitely helps that they keep coming out with new ones, like this months Refresh (featuring watermelon, mint, and chia seeds) and Salted Melon (featured cantaloupe, mint, himalayan salt, and chia seeds). Their business plan is also kind of interesting- they don't have a website (just a Facebook page), and mostly rely on bringing and selling their products to local yoga/Pilates studios and some local organic markets. Hey, I'm all for supporting local!!

3. Teeccino

Speaking of yummy drinks.. I'm also back on a Teecino (tea-CHEE-no) kick. Basically, it's all the satisfaction of having coffee.. but without the coffee (and caffeine and acidity). Now of course it's not exactly the same, but it's a pretty darn good replacement that comes in some pretty yummy flavors. I just tried the Dandelion Caramel Nut yesterday (organic carob, organic chicory, organic dandelion, dates, almonds, natural caramel nut flavor, organic figs), and it's a good variance from my usual French Roast option (organic carob, organic barley, organic chicory, organic ramon nuts, natural coffee flavor).

So while I'm definitely a tea nut (you should SEE my collection), I do find myself opting for this a couple times a week instead (although it's technically a tea as well). Especially when I randomly start craving coffee at 3pm but refuse to down that much caffeine. (Another side effect of getting older.. caffeine sensitively. WTF.)

4. TheSavory.com

This website has my pure, undying love right now. It's your standard Food/Drink/Recipe site.. but better. Just the amount of fun, interesting articles they have on wine alone has me hooked. Go check it out. Especially my new fave article: "3 Great Cocktails to Get you Loaded Whilst Juicing."

5. Planning our trip to Maine!

via

While planning a week-long trip on a super tight budget and having no idea about the area you're going to is kind of tough.. it's also incredibly exciting. Scot and I have started to realize that, in our almost 7 years together, we have really haven't ever gone away/on a vacation that was just the two of us, and just for us. We are always either staying with friends or family and basing our time away around that - even our honeymoon (aka Friendymoon) to Mexico was done with friends. Of course a lot of this has had to do with finances - we just don't have the dough to go on some of the vacations that our friends and family can.

Our solution was to finally take a week off this summer and do a road trip/bed and breakfast tour of Maine's coast. Scot's parents agreed to come down for a week to watch the animals - so we don't need to pay for a sitter or kennel - and the plan is to just sort of hop around Maine's highlights like Portland, the beaches, Midcoast, and Acadia. I'm still looking for someplace to stay in the Midcoast area.. so if you have suggestions of places to go and things to see, I'm all ears!!

(Also.. lobster. I CANNOT WAIT for all the lobster.)

What are you loving this week?

Self-expression a la Hair (aka, what I do when I'm bored)

A few things about me:

- I love me some big, flashy earrings. It is rare that you will find me without dangly earrings of some sort hanging from my lobes.
- I believe that a classic nude pump should be a staple in every woman's closet (along with the LBD, of course).
- Changing my hair is one of my favorite forms of self-expression (aka, I get bored quickly and change it.. a lot).

So about that last one..

You may have noticed that I am a natural red-head/ginger/vampire/whatever you may like to call it. My natural color veers towards the strawberry-blonde end of the spectrum, almost more orange than true red. It took me a really long time to grow to love the fact that I'm a natural ginger.. it's definitely been a love/hate relationship.

Growing up, I was always threatened to never dye or do anything unnatural to my hair because it was "so pretty just the way it is!". So I grew up terrified to do anything to it. I mean.. dye? What?! Do you want me to KILL my lustrous locks? Bae, please.

Until one day in 10th grade (ultimately coinciding with my pop-punk phase.. yay 2001 Good Charlotte!) when I decided that I absolutely MUST dye just the under part of my hair Manic Panic blue. You know the shade. Of course, I had to bleach my hair first in order for the color to show.

(Gahhhh I can't find a picture!!)

Needless to say.. Mama Bear wasn't too thrilled with me. I mean, I was a dancer. What dancer has blue hair? Pout.

Anyway, it eventually faded and then grew out. I left my hair untouched for quite some time after that, until about 2010 when I decided to revisit the under-color, but with black this time.

See it? See it? See it?

I actually quite enjoyed it. And then, in 2012, I made the big plunge and actually dyed my whole head of hairs.. a deeper shade of red. Like I mentioned, I did actually grow to love having red hair.. I'm just still not a huge fan of the shade. Luckily, that's easily fixable and lo and behold.. red on red actually produces a fairly natural looking hue!

Yep - it was dyed for the wedding!

But this isn't just about color. I also very much enjoy growing my hair out, then chopping it all off. It's like a vicious cycle.

Long, then short, then long, then short, then long, then a perm, then short, then super duper short, and now a cute little asymmetrical bob that may either grow to be long again, or be chopped back into a pixie cut, depending on my mood at my next appointment.

But I supposed the most recent update would be this one:

A purple panel on one side! I'm obsessed.

Anyone else have hair ADD? What's your favorite cut/style to rock?