The New Do

My hair hasn’t been “short” in over three years.

All I told hair-crush was that I didn’t want bangs, and I had to be able to pull it up……

This is what my hair looked like last weekend.

This is what my hair looks like now.*

It’s short. It’s bouncy. It’s alive! When my hair gets that long, it starts to feel heavy and ‘dead’ after a while. My head feels so much lighter. I also learned a little lesson last night while I was getting ready: when your hair is short, you use a lot less shampoo. and conditioner. and time fixing it up. It’s lovely.

LB says it makes me look older. Which is good in my case, because I usually get the questionable stare when I hand a bouncer my ID. Add in the fact that it’s from a state across the country, and you get five minutes of me standing there while they decide whether or not I’m actually 21.

We’re starting off the weekend at the Navy Ball tonight. This means two things-I finally get to wear the BCBG dress that I bought in February (Yay!!!!!!), and I get to play around with the new style and see what it looks like all fancyyyy!

In the words of Bobby:

“New haircut. Same attituuude.”

Happy weekending!

*((Apologies for the rectangle across the face. I realized that I’ve never put a picture of myself on this little blog before, and decided I’d keep at least a little ‘annonymity’.
The pic in the “About me” doesn’t show eyes, soooo, these don’t either.))

Grooming Things

I’m really not a “product” person. I don’t wear much make-up, I don’t do too many crazy things with my hair, and I don’t do facials or home manis/pedis. I wish I were better about that kind of stuff, and I’m sure my skin does too sometimes. But alas, it’s just not me.

Despite that, I do have a few things that I simply can NOT live without.

Let’s start with “the” face-wash. I have been using the exact same product since my freshman year of high school. I’m not kidding. I love this stuff. I bought it on a whim before our first vacation to Hawaii, and have never gone back. To this day, when I actually pause to take it’s scent (kind of minty, maybe? ) it always reminds me of that trip. So in other words, its my little piece of paradise. Sound dramatic? Yes. But ya know what, I’m obsessed. I love the texture, I love the smell, I love how “Fresh” and clean it makes my skin feel. I can use it twice in a day to remove makeup and my skin doesn’t dry out. It’s woooonderful.

Without further ado…..

My next lover: Mascara. It is the only form of make-up that has never failed me. I always have it on. I don’t do eye-liner, and only put on eye-shadow for “going out” purposes. But Mascara? We’re attached. And here’s a new one for you….I use two different kinds. I have it down to an art. I apply Maybelline’s “Unstoppable” first: it stretches out the lashes and doesn’t clump at all. It’s my “base-coat” if you will. Then, I top it off with L’Oreal’s “Voluminous”, which I’ve had an affair with since day one. It makes your lashes look unbelievable. It can be a little clumpy, so be careful. But ooooh is it lovely when you get it just right.

1) 2)

Now, for the hair. I never use anything except Pantene Pro-V. Everything else tends to make my hair a little static, or flat, or greasy, or [insert undesirable hair texture]. Obviously except for Biolage, which is miraculous and smells amazing, but this is reserved for hair-cuts only. Because…$$… I’m a college student. I’ve always used their “Volume” shampoo….and I honestly think I picked this up for the first time because the bottle was purple. Ehhh. But I love it, and it works, and my hair comes out soft and shiny, so this is what I use.

Oh, and on occasion, I use their mousse. This is usually only for “going out”, when I want my hair to cooperate no matter what. I don’t use it daily, maybe I should? But it makes my hands kind of sticky. Although I do like the extra “oomph” it gives. Yes, I like this stuff.

Last, but certainly not least, is the lotion. I am obsessed with Bath & Body Works “Brown Sugar & Fig” for all seasons, the “Warm Vanilla Sugar” for winter/fall smells, and a variety of others for the summery scents. I only buy their Body CREAM. I hate when lotion is watery, this is just the right amount of “thick” and creeeammmyy. Mmmmm.

And these are my every-day “grooming” things. On a $college$ Budget.

Hi, I’m _____ & I “blog” because…

Last summer LB had a job working with these two fine people, M & M. They “blog”. She came to visit me for a weekend and let me in a little secret….she started blogging. My initial reaction was…..surprised? I thought it was pretty cool, but not something I could ever do. I’m not a “blogger”. I mean, it’s like ‘personal’ right? Like an online “journal” or something? What if people you know read it? What if you reveal too much about yourself?

Well, I started reading her blog, and I really liked it.

*wheels start turning…*

I had always said I wanted to be a “writer”. Not as in short stories and novels, not as in flowery fiction romantic whatevers, and not as in memoirs or biographies. I wanted to be a writer as in, I Love this website and I want to write stuff like THAT! And it hit me, if I want to write for a website, why not start by writing for my own??

That’s basically what these blogs are, right? This is MY page. My website. This is Me, now. I put whatever I want on this little thing. I control how it looks (ummmm…to an extent. Hi, I have no idea how to write a CSS code, but I would LOVE to know) and I make it purple, because I like purple. Sure, it’s not going to show up if you put my full name into a “google” search, but it’s here and it’s mine. Some people who know me know about it, but I’m not passing out fliers to advertise it.

I will admit, it took me a while to actually do it. It scared me that my writing would be accessible to the public. It’s here for all to see, which also means it’s here for all to criticize or to love. But that’s the reality of writing, is it not? If I want to have opportunities to do it in the future, I have to have something to show for it, right? I have to know that I’m okay with knowing that anybody can see these words. That’s the point of having websites and magazine in the first place. You want people to read them!!

So this was born. It started off a little rough, but I’ve gotten more used to writing about the ‘everyday’ things and the ‘cooking’ things and the ‘little weird things about me’. I don’t go too in depth about anything personal, and probably never will. I’m not sure why, maybe it’ll come at some time.

Now here I am, seven months later, and I “blog” because…..

::I have moved on to step 2! I was contacted by a fabulous person and now I write for this site once a week, about my life now & over the next year or so. Graduating, job-searching, baking, working, shopping, running…..the things I learn & want to pass on in the process.

::Now I am addicted to writing and reading a lot of other great blogs!

::It allows me to meet some pretty fabulous people, like this girl. And exchange fabulous e-mails! Because really, who isn’t addicted to e-mail? Don’t lie. And someone else who gave me tips while I was training and loves Stacy & Clinton as much as I do!

::Umm…I’m really entertained by the random things people type into a Google search. Seriously, weird. For instance, today I saw “adding chili to brownie mix”. What are you doing adding CHILI to BROWNIE mix?!?! Please stop now!! Because, ew, that’s not right. Chili to cornbread maybe? Chocolate to brownie mix?? What are you trying to do?? Agh, I’m so confused.

Anyway. Hi, I’m Heather. I’m totally a blogger.

A Bit of a Bookworm

Nothing beats curling up on your bed, with a warm blanket, soft pillows, and a good book.  I love the feeling of just having to read page after page, being totally involved in an affair with the story the words are giving you. The feeling of not wanting the last page to come, because you aren’t ready for it to be over.

I have a confession: I am a bookworm. Time and schedule permitting, I am always reading something.  My mom is quick to recommend books that she likes, and send them on over. I am quick to buy books from authors that I have enjoyed in the past, or books topping the “NYT Best Sellers” list.  Fortunately for me, between my mom’s taste and my knack for the entertaining ones, I’ve read a lot of great books.

They keep me busy in the summer, make plane rides go a Lot faster, and keep me sane during the semester. I always read before I go to bed, and love to sit outside on a nice day with a book and hours to waste.

Right now, after being stubborn for over a year, I am finally reading “The Kite Runner”. For those of you who’ve read it, I don’t need to say anymore. I’m involved. I read on the bus to, and from, campus today. I read on my afternoon break before review sessions, meetings and work. I plan on reading as soon as I get back and before I go to bed. Yes, it’s that good.  If you haven’t already, go get it. It’s eye-opening, difficult, grotesque at parts, endearing, well-written, and it keeps you coming back in awe and curiosity.

Sometimes I am more inclined to read the playful romantic stories,  “chick lit”, or comedies.  Sometimes I go for “The Confessions of Georgia Nicolson”, which I absolutely adore and have read many of them multiple times. (Stories of a tween British girl and her many crushes, adventures, crazy cat and loco-little sis. They’re hilarious!!! Don’t judge me).

A few that I’ve read and would recommend to Anybody:

“The Lovely Bones” Alice Sebold

“Nineteen Minutes” Jodi Piccoult

“The Plain Truth” Jodi Piccoult

“The Glass Castle” Jeannette Walls

“The Giver” Lois Lowry

“The Kite Runner” Khaled Hosseini

“Harry Potter” J.K. Rowling
(Yes.  ALL OF THEM. )

 

Any recommendations?? I’m open to anything, let me know!

Collages

I love love love to make collages. I have been perfecting the art since middle school. Although, in those days, the canvas consisted of an entire wall in my room (oh, how very stylish my room looked too). And the “art” consisted of things I tore out of “SEVENTEEN” magazine that I thought were supposed to be cool. Things like pictures of Freddy Prinze Jr., Clinique Happy ads, lists like “17 things you should do before you’re 17″, etc.

I moved on to pictures. I took a lot of them (still do). As they piled up, I would spend one Saturday in front of the TV with my “supplies” spread all around me. I would make a complete mess of paper scraps while I watched “Save the Last Dance”, or “You’ve Got Mail”. The end product would be something I considered wall-worthy and beautiful. I’m totally a scrap-booker, although there are piles of pictures in my room that would argue otherwise. However, to this day there is a collage of pictures from freshman year of high school hanging on my wall. We look like babies, but I can’t take it down.

I started making cards. I cut out good quotes or words to put together to make a quote, and saved certain days from tear-off calendars. My collection makes it easy to create a card that says anything I want it to, in a collage of words. I save small scraps of paper to add to the mix, making it look less “formal”, but still well put together.

Bulletin boards that slowly fill up (and eventually, overflow) with random memorabilia, pictures, post-it-notes, etc are my favorite. This is not to say that I want my room full of them, but they have such personality.

A few weeks ago I decided to cut out some ‘outfits’ and ‘trends’ from our collection of magazines. With four girls in one apartment, we have our fair share of GLAMOUR, In Style, People, Cosmo, etc. The basket next the couch often overflows, but we rarely throw them away. I made a collage of things I liked; shoes, dresses, jackets, outfits, casual tops, a few accessories. I thought I could use it as a guide when planning outfits, shopping online, etc. but it served more as something to entertain me for a few days.

It will always go back to pictures and cards. And after four years of college I’ve realized I’m a little bit of a science nerd, but this will always be there to balance it out.

Ok, I admit that…

……

I did my own laundry for the first time as a freshman, in college.

I can’t locate Yemen on a map.

I don’t know the capitals of all 50 states.

I probably chew gum too much.

I will always love Disney World, no matter how old I am.

I’m kind of a science nerd.

I never leave Target without a purchase.

I wish my sister and I were actually twins.

I get bored by the end of the football game.

I am definitely a neat freak.

I still know all the words to N’Sync songs (and to that I should probably add Christina, Britney, Spice girls….).

I am a dork. I own it.

I don’t care what the temperature is as long as the SUN is out.

I am a facebook stalker, on occasion.

I don’t know if I’m ready for a “real” job…..ehhh.

I have read all of the Harry Potter books (some more than once…).

I don’t get sick of watching “You’ve Got Mail”, and probably know every line.

I hate the movie “A Christmas Story”.

I secretly aspire to be a chef.

I consider “Angus, Thongs, and Full-frontal Snogging” the funniest book ever written. Ever.

I never know when to use who/whom.

I probably eat too much candy. Reese’s and “gummies” are my faves.

I laugh at a joke while I’m still trying to “get it” in my head.

I tend to tell stories more than once (not on purpose!).

I am somewhat of a bookworm. A good book is satisfying.

I never want to move out of 134.

I had a place set aside in my room for when I won the “Krag Rock”on Nicolodeon’s “GUTS”.

I loooove to go out dancing.

I think vacuuming makes everything look clean.

I am addicted to crossword puzzles and Sudokus.

I can’t leave the apartment without making my bed.

I am a roller-coaster fanatic.

I really like country music. And hip-hop. And funk. And Louie Armstrong. And a lot of other things.

I enjoy watching “The Girls Next Door”.

I love the feeling of an airplane taking off….but I get scared every time it lands.

I am the #1 fan of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies, and ride!

I ask myself if Stacy and Clinton (”What Not to Wear” anybody?) would “approve” of things before I buy them….They have some valuable opinions!

I will always be in the “mood” for ice-cream.

…feel free to add to the list.