Leila's Day Out: Part II

Seeing as how Sunday was such a hoot going to the park, I decided today we would go to the beach. My mom and I picked up lunch and headed to the park to eat with Leila. Within the first five minutes Leila was covered in sand spurs. If you don't know what these are, think of a little tiny ball covered in spikes. They are real fun to get stuck in your foot or, paw. Poor thing was limping, so I had to do emergency spur removal and everything was back to normal. We had to leave the park, due to the amount of sand spurs on the ground.

After lunch, we made our way over to the beach. Leila jumped out of the car enthusiastically, Im not sure what she was expecting. I guess dog's do not have very good memories or she would have run the other way when she remembered getting tangled in seaweed or trying to dig a hole to escape the heat.

We walked down the boardwalk to the beach to find that noone was there. It was nice in a way... But then there was Leila. I forgot that she is a 2 year old child in a dogs body. She did not want to walk, so she would jump up on my leg and nip my jeans to let me know that walking is just unacceptable. Feeling sorry for her, I decided to carry my 22 pound doggie back to the car and our day was cut short due to Mrs. No-Fun Doggie.

Leila needs an intervention soon. She is a floor potato and gets winded when she runs. Are there any good doggie exercises for indoors?

Leila's Day Out

I own this adorable creature named Leila, she happens to be a dog. On Sunday, Justin and I took her to Hannah Park to let her frolic, but she would rather lye and do nothing. She also like to fling dirt with her little paws, right into my eyes while I try to nap. As you can tell from the picture above, she made quite a mess(Thats dirt around her mouth!). Even though we didn't really frolic or chase any squirrels, we still had a relaxing trip and we need to do it more often.

This is Hannah Park, we were underneath a canopy of trees. Across this field, there is a lake that has alligators in it, seriously. I wanted to go frolic in this nice green grass, but I had no one to frolic with. Leila doesnt frolic.


Leila was exhausted from lying around all day and digging holes in the ground. It must be hard being a dog, so much responsibility.

On the ride home, she rested some more in the back seat. This was too much for her, we will have to work our way up from lying on the ground digging holes to actually moving and chasing things, or fetching.

Stacy @ the zoo

Welcome Fall!

The good...

I am so glad that fall is here! I'm ready for cool weather, decorating the house, the smell of a pumpkin candle... the holidays! I haven't written in a while because I have been really busy with making the salon website and papa was in the hospital this week.

The bad...

Not to mention, this week was terrible. I spent all day yesterday with a permanent frown on my face. Sometimes I feel that the more you do for someone, the more they want, and the worse you get treated. I am not going into details here, and its also something I want to get OVER, not keep dwelling on. 

I wont let this keep happening though, I do have a limit too on how much crap I will put up with. Everyone has something that they could be sad about, or angry about if they wanted to, but most people know how to control their tempers and not let it get in the way of life. It is making my life harder for no reason at all. 

This past week I already had to deal with my grandpa being hospitalized, so you would think I would have been treated a little better than usual. Anyways, Im over it.  There is nothing that can be done just by talking about it, except make me feel a little better. 

Happiness is a cupcake.

I had my nieces over to bake cupcakes with me Monday afternoon. Here are some pics:
Three of the little baker's: Ryan, Natalie and Madison. (Looks like they are up to something..)
I let go of my "clean freak" side and let them make a big mess on my kitchen table. Of course I put down a paper tablecloth first.

New layout

I am in search of a new, fresh layout, so in the mean time...you have to look at this loverly purple-pink layout. Sowwwy.

Getting Certified!

Some good news! As you can tell by the over-use of the exclamation points, I am excited! Okay, so the salon staff has decided to change to Pravana products, which makes me happy for some reason. Maybe because it will be more challenging, or because Pravana is modern and I want to be a part of that.



Either way, its great news, because our salon will stand out among the others in the area. This week I have branched out and tried new things with haircolor. New foil technique, new "paper" foils and trying a new brand. I am ready for some changes. Along with getting new color in the salon, I am getting certified as a "Pravana Certified Haircolorist", which is kinda cool and necessary if you want to be taken seriously. I am done with Module 1, only 3 more to go.



I am also in the process of making the salon's website. It's gonna be pretty cool, to reflect us, of course! Ha! But really, its something I have been meaning to do for the last, umm, 7 months. Its taken me a while to get around to it, I guess you could say.



Next on my list of "revamping" my career would be to take some more Advanced training classes. I guess the 8 months of hell I went through with the Redken training just wasnt enough. I love learning new things, and I decided not to attend the Premiere show this year. Seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I regret it. I missed the Pink party at the Hard Rock. I especially missed rubbing shoulders with Robert Cromeans. :(



In other news, a tropical storm is coming tommorrow. Im sure youve heard, her name is Fay and she is not a happy tropical storm at the moment. She keeps pouring buckets of rain on our heads and she will not leave. She has shut down schools, city offices and put everyone into "psycho" mode. We will all be okay, unless you are a gremlin and melt when wet, we will all be okay. Kthxbai.

The Unknown

I remember when I first got into this industry how scared to death I was everyday that I had to work. I would wake up and think, "Oh crap, I hope I dont have any perms on my book today." Well, with that one, I still feel the same way. But I think I figured out why I tend to get nervous before going into work sometimes. I think it has a lot to do with not knowing what is in store for me that day, I could have 3 clients or 10 on the book. I'm not the type of person who likes surprises, especially when it has to do with work. A diamond ring?! Sure! Thats a nice surprise..

I have only been doing hair for 2 years now, and I am still learning to be comfortable with certain things. Like being more in charge of my clients and not letting them tell me how to do my job. I try to be more assertive and confident and at the same time, Im thinking, what am I doing here? I could be comfortably sitting behind my laptop, safe and secure, designing websites or working at an office. I am definetely not always in my comfort zone at work. Even my high heels have gradually gotten lower due to my job.

People underestimate the amount of courage it takes to do hair. Coming from a girl who was VERY shy growing up, I would have never even considered doing hair. I was going to be a webdesigner, but I thought there would be no money in that! Ha! Looks like 15 year olds don't know much after all...

This has all come about this weekend, when I have caught myself worrying about a client that is on my book. She made it very clear Saturday when I cut her hair that her former stylist was a superhero. That is sort of a big role to fill. She said she did enjoy me very much, and booked an appointment for tommorow to come back and have her highlights done. I just dont like it when I am being compared to someone else. This business is a very personal business and I put my heart into every single person's hair I do.

I guess it just comes down to me getting over what other people think. I've never(knock on wood) messed up anyones hair and I have heard some horror stories..believe me. I am just in this insecure funk, that has got to go.

Anytime now.

It can leave.

Get away funk.

(PS. This is my mom's hair today after I used her as a model. Highlights and lowlights and texturized cut.)

Tropical Storm Fay...

might be visiting Jacksonville this Wednesday which most likely means I will be sitting at home in the dark, or at work in the dark. Either way, it means a lot of rain and mess. I remember when me and Justin were dating about 6 years ago, a bad hurricane came through and we were without power for a week. Seriously, a whole week.
I bought everything we may need, but you can only prepare so much without being a little ridiculous. I buy flashlights, water, batteries and non-perishable food. Thats all we really need to survive, I think. Wish us luck!

Happy 81st Birthday Papa!

My grandfather is 81 years old today! He is the apple of my eye, and I have been the apple of his since I was a little girl. 2 years ago, he suffered a severe stoke, so we are so happy that he is here with us and able to celebrate his birthday.

I would write more, but my nose is swollen and my head hurts, so Im doing good to be doing this right now. Will explain. Later. :)

I want to have my cake and eat it too

Lately, I have been secretly stressing out inside this head of mine. I am 25 years old, happily married to a great guy, have a great job, but something is still missing. It's a four letter word that makes some people cringe whenever they hear it, Baby. The funny thing is that 6 months ago if you would have asked if I wanted to have kids I would have responded with, "Not right now!".

I can't grasp juggling a house, work and a husband... and a baby. Women do it everyday, but Im not sure that I would be happy with that. Justin would like me to stay at home and raise our kids, which I am happy about, because my mother was home while we grew up also. It was nice having her there.

So, whats the problem? Well, technically no problem exists at the moment, however, with my growing career it will be a lot to give up. I have established myself quite well in under a year, so in two years worth of building a clientele, I would be doing great! I dont want to feel like I am letting my bosses down or that I mislead them by not telling them that I was planning a family. In fact, whenever I first started working there, I DIDNT want kids, that's how fast life changes.
I can always come back to doing hair, and I would like to have all my children by 30.

I get super-excited when I start thinking of being pregnant. Or when I think about decorating the baby's room, or finding out the sex of the baby. Better yet, taking them to Disney World for the first time and seeing their faces light up. All of these things are what my brain has been stuffed with these last couple of weeks.

People always told me that you "just know" when you want to have kids. I guess thats true after all.

Beach girls...

Mom on the beach.
Originally uploaded by hairgeek

Are what me and my mom have become. I grew up on the beach, but now that I am older I really appreciate its relaxing and therapeutic qualities. Today we planted our matching chairs in the sand, setup our umbrella and then vegged out on all the snacks in our cooler.

Tommorow we are gonna take the surfboard out, singular because I am going to be the only one surfing. I have not surfed in a LONG time, so Im not expecting to do much more than fall and possibly get scraped up from shells on the bottom of the ocean.

I did get a chance to swim with the dolphins today, they were too far out to notice me, unfortunately. But they were there, and thats all that matters. :)

Yucky

Ever since I have stopped excercising I have felt gross. I made my way to the beach this week for the first time since summer started. The good thing about Florida are the beaches and the bad thing about Florida is finding something to wear to go to the beach.
I always put it off and just hope something will magically make it's way to my closet without any effort. It's so bad that the last time I did shop for a swimsuit, it was online and I ordered it without trying it on. If your a stick figure, this method works fine, but it doesn't for me.

I did notice that the people around me didn't look all that much better than myself though. Everyone just needs to lower their standards and we can all feel fabulous again! Anyways, I have to start exercising again for my health anyways so it will work out in the end.

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Vote and raise money!

Wow! Im going to the beach!
Originally uploaded by hairgeek

I was asked to enter my photo into the contest "Smile For Cancer Prevention" and so I did. If you have time to check it out, please do and vote for me too! I just took this picture three days ago when I was leaving for the beach.

Click the link below for amuso.

http://www.amuso.com//gameshows/trivia/SMILE-FOR-CANCER-PREVENTION-II

Day at the Beach

Bathroom is Finished!

Its pretty much complete!
Originally uploaded by hairgeek

...for the most part. :) Of course I will add things here and there but the walls and decor are mostly done now. It took me two full days to complete, but it sat there for a week until I could buy more supplies. I had threw my back out, so I had the energy today to get it done!

Im sure its WAY too girly for most people, and possibly my husband, but I LOVE it. The Rose painting was a gift from Justin on Valentines Day six years ago, so I made that the main focus of the room.

Visit my Flickr photostream for more pictures of all the goodies it has!

LifeCast on V.2.0 iPhone

Testing out the new applications on the latest version of my iPhone. So far I'm loving it!

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Sea World trip..

This past weekend me and Charity went down to Orlando to go back to Sea World. It was a blast, as usual. Crowded! But none the less... I would rather be in a crowded Sea World than sitting at home on the couch. Here is a picture I took of myself after feeding the dolphins.

More pictures up at flickr! Go check them out.

365 Fail..

I wish I could say that I could do it, but I am just not up to it. In my previous posts I talked about doing the 365 project, of posting a self portrait daily. Truthfully, I do not want to try and take a picture of myself everyday. My mornings are the only time I have, and trust me no pictures should be taken of me in my pajamas with messy hair and no makeup.
So, the 365 project is done. It was more like the 1/1 project. Which is okay... Its not for me.

My back is still in serious pain from when I threw it out yesterday. It happened yesterday morning when I was vacuuming and cleaning the house. Luckily, I got most of what I wanted to get done with done before it happened. Back pain is NO FUN. It makes you feel old, out of shape and like nothing can make it better.

Getting out of work tommorow is not an option, so I will try and make the best of it. Possibly get a massage in the morning if it will help. Wish me luck.

So long, farewell...

I am headed to Orlando, yet again. I wish I owned real estate there, because it sure would save us some money on hotel room costs. Charity(my bestfriend since 2nd grade) and I are headed to Sea World for 2 days.
I am mostly excited about trying to get some really good pictures more than anything. Of course I am excited to get a chance to catch up with Char too. We both recently had our grandfathers in the hospital, at the same time. We have a pretty strong bond that can never be broken, we have grown up together, watched each other change and found our way back to each other.
Cant wait to bring back lots of good pictures!