Lady Healthy Locks

Lady Lovely Locks 1980s cartoonOk, yeah, so that’s Lady Lovely Locks over there. I’m just giving you an idea of the hair I’ve always wanted. She was one of my first hair idols. Back in 1986, I would have traded my thin Laura Ingalls braids for her golden tresses any day.

My hair has never been thick, and if it gets too long, it becomes stringy, yet too heavy for any volume to thrive at the roots. I discovered this at the tender age of nine or so.

In the years since, I’ve tried layering, going darker, a touch of red, bangs, overwashing, underwashing, volumizing shampoos, high end salons and the “budget” cuts at Meijer.

Ultimately, I’ve wound up where I started. Apart from washing my hair less frequently, and with more natural products, I’m back to the home hair cuts, true color and little to no styling. It seems to be working.

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Crunchy at the Beach

dirty toddler girl face campfireOn Saturday, one of the last days of that lovely month we call June, we went to visit our neighbors at their campsite on Muskegon Lake.

This was Iris’ first time getting truly dirty. I mean, she’s dug in the garden, been covered in her own soil and sweat and gotten oatmeal in her hair. But this was new. This was an occasion when getting dirty was basically the expectation. By the end of the day, our toddler was wearing her third outfit, and bore the residue of sand, asparagus, watermelon, dirt, red licorice, drool, smores and a hint of campfire scent (okay, more than a hint).

Needless to say, she had an amazing time. The level of partying was evidenced by the child awakening Sunday morning with her diaper around her right ankle inside her sleeper, and doing so two hours later than normal.

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16 Summers

This song. It doesn’t take much more to bring me back to 1997 and my 16 year old self.

We’re parking the car, walking toward Monroe Mall and will live forever. If you were there with me, you will always have a place in my most youthful of hearts.

Head into your summer with love, memories and enough of both to make more.

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Roughin’ It

food fiber roughage

As a diet nerd, I pride myself on stellar digestion.

Prepare yourself to join my husband in declaring that you know more than is perhaps necessary about the phenomenon that is my healthy bowels.

While I’m not of the caliber of Mary Roach when it comes to knowing about the workings of human intake and output, I do consider myself well aware of how they operate, and, more importantly, what affects them. Over the past three years, as I’ve moved from meat eater to vegetarian to pescetarian, I’ve also changed my habits regarding the things I do eat. Namely, getting a wide variety of whole grains, reducing dairy intake, cutting sugar and salt and processed foods and trying to eat local/organic/sustainable.

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Freelance Uniforms

blue lounge pants laptop deskOne of the best things about working from home as a freelance writer is being able to wear whatever I want. While I was pregnant, this meant huge old sweaters and lounge pants. Today, it means… well… old tanks and t-shirts and lounge pants.

My husband makes endless fun of me for basically living in pajamas. It’s a habit I developed while nannying. I saw no reason to wear nice clothes if I was going to spend my day on the floor with a baby, toddler, cat and Boston terrier.

Pregnancy and baby chasing have provided the perfect environment in which to continue this practice of comfortableness.

While I used to be content with just any old lounge pants, I became pickier, however, when my sister introduced me to Punjammies. These are pajama pants that are made by former sex slaves in India. The women are residents of after-care facilities, where they are allowed to rebuild their lives though medical attention, relationships and development. They also make amazingly beautiful pants/capris/shorts of which I cannot get enough.

I have no qualms about wearing what are essentially pajamas as I go about my day, and I make an effort to put on jeans if I’m going to run to the store or something. But, I figure that, if I am going to go about in lounge wear, it might as well be gorgeous and for a good cause.

For those of you that love comfy pants, fabulous fabrics and supporting women in need, check out the links I’ve provided, and BUY THE PANTS!

*Note – the pants in the picture are from Women at Risk, which is another organization for women escaped/rescued from trafficking situations.

*UPDATE – Still rockin’ this look 2 years after the above picture was taken (which was well before this post).

 

 

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Listen to the Trees

looking up tree trunk branches

In the small amount of Dr. Who that I’ve watched, I picked up on the idea that the future could be a place where human and plant DNA combine to create a whole new species that we can’t even imagine.

As a Tolkien nerd, I have a deep respect for trees, because they might just be ancient shepherds of the forests that used to stand.

When I was 10, I was known to climb dangerously high in large trees near to my home. Somehow, I’ve never broken a bone.

Someday, I want to see the Redwoods, those living mountains of the biological world.

Did you know that what is thought to be the globe’s oldest, heaviest organism is the Pando tree root system in Utah?

Magnificent and magical, trees connect us to the deep past. When science shows us new ways in which we might be connected to the trees themselves, maybe we should listen.

How Removing Trees Can Kill You (don’t worry – it’s from PBS).

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Johnny Secreto and Squash Soup Turn Lentils and Veggies into Epic Vegan Mouthgasm

squash soup Johnny Secreto seasoning So, I made a soup, and it was unexpectedly a-maaaaaah-zing.

The goal was to use lentils in a simple soup that both Iris and I could eat. I had base to use up and plenty of veggies. I also wanted to incorporate my Johnny Secreto Sultan’s Gold seasoning, because it’s this fabulous way to give a dish a distinct yet sophisticated Indian flavor, and that’s exactly what sounded good.

I was not prepared for the hearty and satisfying bowl of umami goodness that we ovo-semilacto-pescetarians secretly crave. But there it was.

Behold! A Haphazard Recipe for Vegan Squash and Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

  • Imagine Organic Butternut Squash Soup (I used about a third of the box)
  • About a cup of water
  • Half cup lentils ( I used split organic red lentils, which I sorted and rinsed)
  • Red onion, finely chopped ( I used not quite a quarter of an onion)
  • Heaping teaspoon Johnny Secreto Sultan’s Gold Spice Blend
  • Baby carrot peelings (just used a potato peeler instead of a knife to get them super chopped)
  • Half cup of frozen peas

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June’s Eve

Guys. I know it’s not until tomorrow, but let’s just do this a day early, huh? Rocky Leon would like to welcome you to June:

This is my favorite time of year, and makes me happy to be in Michigan. I anticipate the sun, the beach, the back yard, flowers, warm nights, music and a giggling toddler to whom I can show it all.

On another, more freelancey note – today I discovered that I have a fondness for the word botched.

Now go. Be in June. For 30. Glorious. Days.

xox

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The Stained Baby

baby hands green pink frostingLast weekend we threw Iris a proper (belated) first birthday party, complete with a theme (fish), decorations, kids and too much cake. The weather was perfect, and it was an absolute blast.

Pressed for time the day before, I picked up a cupcake for Iris to demolish, as is the custom. The Meijer bakery was without any fish-themed cupcakes, and so I settled on one with a big pink rose. I suppressed the little voice that said I should give her a whole grain muffin with coconut glaze, and focused instead on how cute she’d look with her personal confection.

I must say, I’m quite proud of the gusto with which she inhaled the cupcake. Sweets are a rarity for our wee one, and she never turns down fruit, let alone the gooeyer treats. Her concentration was complete, and the whole cupcake was gone in just minutes.

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Freelance Distractions: Facebook

small f facebook logo blueYes, Facebook is a HUUUUUUGE timesuck. I waste seconds “liking,” minutes commenting and hours staring blankly far more than I should.

There are days when I close the Facebook tab, so as not to hear the little blip noise, or see the parenthesed number indicating a new interaction. I tell myself I do NOT need to know everytime someone else got into a heated conversation, or liked that lame eCard.

It’s the only way I can get any work done.

But, I want to say, for the record, why I think Facebook isn’t all bad. Why it might even even be a valid timesuck from time to time.

Human connection.

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