I made my first hair product!!

As you can tell from some of my previous posts, I'm natural.  Surprisingly, it seems I use more hair products now than when I had a relaxer.  The hair products that I like get to be a bit expensive after a while... $30 a jar of styling creme just won't do.  I'm trying to be more frugal but use healthy products at the same time.  I guess while I've been a product junkie, I've also been a product snob.

Thanks to one of my friends, I found out about Naptural85 on YouTube.  I love her channel so far.  While I have not tried a lot of her hair styles because I'm either lazy or feel like my hair isn't long enough, I really wanted to try her flaxseed gel and her shea butter cream recipes.  I decided to do the flaxseed gel first because I like to do wash 'n gos.  Maybe I'll use it for an updo of some sort too.

A Tweetup of [Somewhat] Epic Proportions

Mutiny of The Amistad

I'm always on the hunt for new events to attend, especially artsy ones.  I had been wanting to go to see the Hale Woodruff exhibit at the High Museum, so imagine how excited I was when I saw they were having a tweet up?! It was a combo of two interests of mine: art and twitter, they rock! It was also a frugal (read: free) way to see the art work. 

A San Francisco Treat

Fisherman's Wharf!!

This past week, I got to visit one of my favorite cities in the US... San Francisco!!! The Bay Area has held a special place in my heart since I spent the summer of 2001 basking in the lack of need of air conditioning.  That was 11 years ago and since then, I've been able to go back to visit twice.  This time, I went for my sorority's national convention. There was a swarm of pink and green flooding the city and clearly they are not used to seeing a lot of women of color.  Who knows how many questions many of us endured about our bags and why we were dressed up, but I know a few of us got our egos stroked.  The men there loved us and I clearly need to move. 

My Tropical Excursion

Until a few weeks ago, I'd never been anywhere that required a passport.  Honestly, I found that to be quite sad, but that's water under the bridge.  I've been to Canada and the Bahamas, but passports weren't required then.  Well this time, I went to Montego Bay, Jamaica for a friend's 30th birthday.  Needless to say, I was pretty excited at the thought of the beach, sun, wonderful accents and all inclusive fun.

We went on a few excursions, such as a tour of downtown Montego Bay, some hotel/chapel place up in the hills, local shops, Scotchie's and Dunn's River Falls in Ochos Rios.  I enjoyed the beach, the weather and the camaraderie.  I have a few gripes, but the trip had way more positives than negatives. I can't think of more to say at this moment other than I enjoyed the scenery and the food. See some of my pictures after the jump.

Peachtree Road Race

Sometime earlier this year, I pre-registered for the Peachtree Road Race to guarantee that I was able to get a number. Thanks KDLaw! Fast forward to earlier this week... the anticipation was building and I was quite nervous since I heard that this is the largest 10K in the world.

Yesterday, I planned to come home and go to bed early and ensure I got a good night's rest. Well... the train had another plan for my evening.  They had mechanical difficulties a few stops from my destination and we had to get off the train.  They were going to call buses for us to go to other stations.  As this was happening the bottom fell out and there were torrential downpours.  The thought of a crowded bus filled with wet people did not excite me in the least bit.  I called a ride to come pick me up.  While I was waiting, I found a little comedic delight when a dog climbed the stairs and went through the gates like he wanted to catch the train.  People ran and I was so tickled.  I finally got home almost two hours after I intended to.  I finally went to bed a few hours later and it felt like I got the best sleep ever.

Choo Choo

I took a train ride with my dad and they had a historic steam engine.  I'm not a railroad buff, but I had never been on a passenger train as a passenger.  I've ridden in the engine, but this was a different experience.  They had a concession car and one of the guys attempted to get us to sing railroad songs.  I don't know the words to "I've Been Working on the Railroad," so I just looked.  They sang another song, but I don't know what it was, I just clapped (my attempt to participate).  Overall, it was an interesting experience and it was funny seeing all the people along the way taking pictures.

steam engine

 

singing guy

Hapeville Depot

On the Run Again...

I've been saying I'm going to run, I'm going to run, I'm going to run.  Well, today was the second attempt at starting back.  I went back to hilly Stone Mountain and ran with two of my sorority sisters/friends.  We always have fun catching up and chatting, though I can't talk too much because it seems to tire me out a bit.  Honestly, I don't like running right now, but I like how I feel after I run.  I get that sense of accomplishment because I never thought I'd ever run anywhere, unless I'm running from something... and I will run from something, ask my co-worker that I almost left when I thought they were shooting at Screen on the Green last year.  I digress.

Hair Update

After the big chop

I began my natural hair transition in December 2009. I decided that I would finally transition and not get anymore relaxers. It was my second time going natural and I was determined to complete the journey. Well, after transitioning for 8 months, I got tired of two textures and decided to cut my hair. I was just telling my friend about this earlier after we finished bike riding.  After my hair was cut, I had about an inch of hair when it was pressed.  I never thought I'd cut my hair off, but I found it to be quite liberating. I didn't have to go through a long process to do my hair anymore.

Well, August this year I will have been completely natural for two years.  I rarely press my hair but I decided to get my hair pressed yesterday. I was quite happy with the progress my hair has made after a short period of time. I will admit that I don't quite do as much to my hair as I should and I'm still learning how to take care of my hair in its natural state.

Tour de Cure

On Sunday, May 20, I did something I've never done before.  I rode 37, yes 37, miles in the Tour de Cure.  The purpose of the Tour de Cure is to raise awareness about Diabetes and also hopefully help the American Diabetes Association find a cure for this horrible disease.

Initially, I just wanted to ride to push myself as a part of my fitness journey.  I've said before that I'm trying to make an effort to take better care of my body and be more active. Diabetes runs in my family and I definitely don't want that to happen to me. I want to keep all of my limbs and I don't want to be on medicine. So rather than be reactive about my health, I decided to be proactive and exercise.

I Made the News!

I just wanted to share that I'm famous now! I made the AJC. Yes, Rho did her duty and gave her opinion on the proposed changes for trash pick-up. Yes!!