Hair Affair

I have big hair.

Those of you who know me personally can vouch for this fact; those that don't will just have to take my word for it. If it helps to convince you, one of my nicknames in high school was Mufasa. I literally woke up one day during my 12th year on planet Earth and had curly hair ("Thanks, puberty!" *sarcastic thumbs up*). For years I waged a losing battle against Mother Nature, doing everything I could to tame the mane, and keep the curl out. That included an ill advised chemical straightening, long before the art had been perfected, that left me with Barbie hairs (translation: super short strands all along my part, where the rest of it was singed off).

Flat irons didn't exist until I was a sophomore in college so I actually used a curling iron to straighten my hair. Long story short (and yes, most of my stories are long so you're lucking out here), I have never been able to trust just ANY hair stylist to care for my coiffure. For the last 9 years or so I have embraced my naturally curly hair and that's how it stays most of the time. However, whenever I can scrounge up the time, I LOVE to blow it out and iron it until it's stick straight (cut to me making crazy googly eyes).

My point?

When it's time to get my "do" done, I need someone who can give me a versatile cut, that can be worn curly AND straight. And after years of spending serious cash to find the right person for that daunting task, I took a chance on an affordable neighborhood hair salon (where my husband, who is, shall we say, rather persnickety about how his tresses are trimmed, goes), and hit the jackpot! The lovely young stylist who cuts my hair now does a SUPER job and handles my hair even better than the last one who cut it and charged me four, yes, four times as much. It just goes to show me, and you, that there are ways to look and feel good without spending a lot of dough!

Your turn! Please share your bargain secrets in the comment section below. Where are you are able to "cut" corners (I know, SO punny!) and save a few bucks in the beauty department . . . and beyond?

You Know You're A Mom When . . .

You find yourself repurposing song lyrics from sweet 90s jams to convince your son to eat dinner.

For example, Blackstreet's "No Diggity" recently morphed into MamaMarja's "Hot Diggity (Dog)" and is pretty much me repeating my homemade chorus over and over; which goes a little something like this:

"I like the way you cook it (hot diggity)
I got to eat it up
I like the way you cook it (hot diggity)
I got to eat it up"

My remix does no justice to the original, included below for your listening enjoyment, but Cade always seems to appreciate dinner and a free show.

Lyrics I Love

I hope Cade always takes the time to chase bubbles. Watching him play brought this song to mind . . .

"May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young"

~Bob Dylan "Forever Young"

The Young and the Soapless Too

My first round of Soap Culture observations was SO much fun to document (click here to get caught up) that I couldn't help giving it another go. Thank you to those readers who inspired a few of these additional and oh-so-sudsy notes.

• If you piss someone off enough, you will be buried alive and left for dead (typically in an encasement fully equipped with a video camera so the burier can relish live footage of the buried's struggle at all times). But, don't fret, because the odds are good that you'll escape somehow. Plus, you'll have your cell phone on you, which will miraculously have just enough cellage ("bars") for you to make a rescue call.
• Why stop at a love triangle when you can experience the heartbreak and agony that comes along with a love rectangle or even a love pentagon (ooooohhh, ahhhhh)?
• Well-tanned (and toned) men and women are always answering doors in nothing but a towel (still damp from the shower, of course). Seriously, who does that?
• Clothes tear off easily during fights AND passionate moments.
• Every time you open a door, the person you were just alluding to, talking or thinking about, will appear on the other side.
• You will never actually see a swimming pool in Soap World. When someone jumps in a pool you see the water that splashes up (as if everyone does a cannon ball when entering a body of water) or you see the "edge" of a pool and what's supposed to be the reflection of the water on nearby buildings, houses, etc.
• In Soap World, it is rare to marry for love. Husbands are easily ensnared, entrapped, and voila! -- engaged.
• With each marriage, the diamonds get larger and more sparkley. Especially if the couple is re-marrying eachother for the second or third time. Wowza!
• Everyone gets married in the same church. As if there's only one place of worship in town. Baptisms, and funerals are also held there. But, you never see anyone attending church "just because".
• Weddings are planned and cancelled at the drop of a hat. Almost as quickly as couples fall in and out of love.
• When you go blind in Soap World, you wear sunglasses 24/7 to signify your loss of eyesight.
• People who live in mansions leave their doors unlocked on a regular basis. This LITERALLY leaves the door open for swift retaliation, etc.
• Blackmail and bribery are more commonly used problem solving tactics than good ol' fashioned honesty or a conversation.
• Pictures are often thrown in the trash, frame and all. Why waste a perfectly good frame?! You can still create a dramatic effect - just take the pic out and burn it or rip it up but spare the frame.
• Your back will be stabbed (literally AND figuratively) by everyone (mostly family and friends) at some point in time.
• Someone is always in the hospital for something MAJOR.
• Everyone has the entire town's phone numbers (whether you're living, deceased, or in the witness protection program) saved in their phones.
• Coffee is a beverage you drink at all hours of the day and night. Someone is always "grabbing a coffee".
• Which brings me to the lack of sleep in Soap World. People make sweet love more than they get their beauty rest.
• "You bastard!" (at times preceded or followed by a slap) is as common a greeting or exit as hello or goodbye.
• While you are spilling your deepest, darkest, most intimate secret of the moment, the person you want least (in the whole world) to hear it, is lurking in the background (or on the other end of a telephone in the pre-cell days) soaking it all in and preparing to use it against you.
• Every Soapy scenario is a worst case scenario.

Did I miss anything? I'd love to hear your additions so please share in the comment section below!

Quintessential Quote

"Stay gold, Ponyboy, stay gold."

-Johnny Cade, The Outsiders

Cade Chips In

Earlier this week I was feeling nostalgic (as I do whenever I look at Cade and think about how he's more little boy than baby these days) so I went through my Blackberry photo album to relive some of my son's most photo worthy moments of the first few months he was mobile (on two feet). As I did, I realized a pattern. Since he's been able to walk, Cade has really started pulling his weight around the house and I've caught [most of] it on camera! Behold, all the ways that Cade chips in . . .

He helps make the bed.

He makes sure the pillows are in their proper places.

He dusts the curtains.

He takes a break to work on the expansion of his vocabulary.

Beginning with the letter A, natch . . .

He makes sure the cabinet hinges are in proper working order.

He LOVES grocery shopping, just like Mama.

He has a vision for how the fridge magnets should look . . .

. . . and he rearranges them accordingly.

He puts clean dishes away.

Pots and pans are his favorite!

He makes sure the couch pillows are nice and fluffy . . .

. . . which is exhausting and inevitably leads to a much needed "test" of the fluffiness.

He's a big helper at Costco! Check out those muscles.

He does his part with the laundry; including folding (translation: holding) socks.

He hauls the laundry basket.

And has his own method of "putting away" clean clothes.

When he sees Daddy's laundry, he usually takes a break to cuddle with it *SWOON*.

Phew! Alphabetizing DVDs (without even being asked) is HARD work!

He dusts . . . 

. . . and he mops!

And, finally, he takes a load off, after an especially trying day of chipping in.

Sippy Cup Communicator

Batman had the bat phone. Inspector Gadget's niece, Penny, had the video watch. The d-bag in line in front of you at Starbucks this morning had a bluetooth earpiece that he unnecessarily shouted the [likely exaggerated and mostly fabricated] details of his wild Vegas weekend into.

Cade has the sippy cup communicator.

Go for Cade.

This is serious.

What is this MacGyver-esque contraption, you ask? Why, it's an international cell phone cleverly disguised as his milk container. How do I know he can make calls abroad with said phone? a. I'm not sure what language he's speaking when he uses it but b. with all the inflections in his voice and the animated storytelling going on, I'm convinced there is someone on the other end who understands every word and they are working together to make the world a better place.  

My hero!

Holiday Highlights

No, sillies, I didn't change my hair color! I thought that I'd [rather belatedly] share some of the highlights of my family's holiday with you. Highlights that make all the time spent in the car (which was, thankfully, much less than normal this year) well worth it!

"Go for Cade." Little Mr. doing business on our holiday road trip.

Family time. It has never been easy living "away" from our families but since Cade's come around, the time we have to visit with our loved ones is even more precious and we definitely soaked it up this year.

Cousin time. Seeing Cade play with his cousins is so so special. I want to make sure he spends as much time as possible with them as he grows up, so they'll always be close.

Husband time. David and I carved out an evening to ourselves and left Little Mr. with my parents. It was a great date night; we ate at Del's, our favorite Central Coast pizzeria (if you go, the buttery fresh rolls will change your life, guaranteed!), and saw "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" (which held up nicely compared to the book).

Friend time. Cade and I caught up with some of my dear friends and he made some new ones at the same time (shout out to Bode and Lola Bird).

Cade's Cafe. Open for business since Christmas Morning 2011. Patrons are encouraged to wear the most causal and comfy of attire (translation: no one in pajamas will be turned away). Mama is hoping that all the practice he gets in his kitchen will turn him into a great chef *fingers crossed*. Maybe he can teach me a thing or two?

Cade's Cafe

 Don't tell the health inspector but Chef Cade is a big believer in the 5 second rule.

The proud proprietor.

Thanks for letting me share. What were your holiday highlights?