A sunny Friday means a great start to the weekend. Even if it is chilly and windy, at least I can look out the window and see blooms on the tree down below!

Finally. After a horrific winter, I can see those pretty purple buds starting to bloom on our tree! Sweet!

It’s a quiet day for me today. Bonaparte took my car to see his clients. During an open spot, he’s going to take my car for an oil change. He knows how much I detest car maintenance; although I’ve managed to keep my car clean for over a week now, he’s extremely proud that I’m “learning”! (Hey, isn’t life a learning experience anyway?)

So today, I’ll take it relatively easy. I’ve got ironing (yay!), I’m going to do some meal planning and prep for the weekend.

I’ll make a tabouleh salad.  Take a box of the Near East tabouleh and prepare according to directions. Cut a peeled cucumber into little cubes. Get some grape tomatoes and cut them into quarters. Mince a peeled shallot. Cut up some black olives. Add a bit of lemon juice and a touch of olive oil. You can also add: chick peas or cilantro or preserved lemon. It’s all good. Put in the fridge to set and it’s an easy warm-weather meal or nice side-dish.

This may be the start of my tabouleh salad, but I make it my own by adding…

Minced shallot, grape tomatoes, cubed cucumber, briney, oily black olives…

Chick peas, some juice of preserved lemon, and because I added olives in oil, I don’t need additional oil.  In a bowl, and now–in the fridge!

Since I’m being extremely diligent about what I’ve been eating, Bonaparte was on board with a repeat of the Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken for tomorrow night’s diner. I’ll marinate the chicken today—get that out of the way so tomorrow I can have more free time for errands.

The computer skills class I’ve started to attend is epic! I can’t wait to play with graphics. It’s the most fun part of the course so far. Suzanne, our teacher is amazing. She has taught everything in the most logical and pragmatic way. It’s funny—at my last job, every task was fly-by-night. It seemed the mail merge could have been made easier. Graphics on announcements could have been made easier, but nobody had or wanted to take the time to explain even the simplest operation.

Now—I am even more efficient. I cannot wait to re-enter the work force because I will rock any task or responsibility that I am given!

But enough about all that. I’m also giving myself a roller-set today. Yeah. I’m giving my hair a rest from heat and I’ve even managed to add another week on to getting the hair colored!

Nuthin’ like an old-school roller set!

Remember the post about my hair loss? It was one of my first posts—back in January. Here it is again so you can see where I’m coming from. It was really hard for me to write about hair loss because it’s so embarrassing. But, it’s all cool now. I had a lot of positive feedback!

My Hair Lady–The Bald and the Beautiful

I’m revisiting. The last time I went for a blow-out, Adam made a remark that he thought some of my hair may be growing back. Either he needs glasses, perhaps he was trying to make me feel better, or he may be correct????

Oh well. “Hair Today. Gone Tomorrow”! I’m going to wash my 9-day’s dirty hair. I have an appointment for next Friday to get my hair colored. In the meantime, I’m going to give my hair a rest by setting with rollers!!!!!

Dirty mind.   Dirty hair, no makeup, slobbed out wardrobe! Best kind of day for an old-school Roller set!

Let’s ROLL!

 First, the wash and prep! I took my Kérastase shampoo and hair mask into the shower with me. This “hair pair” was purchased last summer in France. I’ll tell ya—I paid quite a bit for this but it’s lasted me almost a year. I’m at the bottom of the barrel for the hair mask, but there’s still plenty of shampoo left. I switch up my shampoo and condish from time to time and this duo is great for that extra care.

I think I paid the USD equivalent of $65.00 for both, but it’s been almost a year and I still have them.  My hair is very soft after using these products!

I never use a bath towel to rid my hair of excess moisture. Instead, I either use an old T-shirt or my Turbie Twist. The Turbie Twist is made of micro-fibre and doesn’t harm my hair the way a towel will. (Actually, the bit of hair that I have left needs to be treated very tenderly!). I just don’t want to set my hair soaking wet because it’ll take days to dry. My hair is that porous!

I leave  my hair wrapped in the Turbie Twist (or an old T-shirt) while I dry and moisturize my skin. About 5 minutes–enough to get excess moisture from my hair.

Since my hair is coarse, wiry and has a strong tendency to frizz, I only use wide-toothed combs on my hair. The only time I use a brush is when I blow dry. After my hair is dried I NEVER use a brush and haven’t used one in years. I finger-comb dry hair.

Two of my many wide-toothed combs. If your hair has a tendency to frizz, these are far better than using brushes!

 Well, well, well. Looky “hair”! My hair is still thinning falling out like a bastid! I think Adam is just being nice. He’s such a great hair stylist and I cannot wait to get my roots done next week!!! However, I don’t see any change in my little larger bald spot. Actually, I may have lost more since my original hair loss post!

Um. I think Adam was being kind in stating he thought my hair was growing back a bit.  On the good side, I think my waist is getting smaller due to my diligence with my dieting!

At this point, I’m “whatever” about it. So I take my DermMatch, get the sponge-tipped applicator wet, run it over the product and “stipple” over the bald spot(s). It’s important to apply the DermMatch before applying any other product or the DermMatch won’t “stick”.

A bit of stippling of the DermMatch and the baldness becomes less visible.

Lasts forever! I’m a huge fan of this DermMatch!

Next, I squeeze some “Living Proof” in my hand and proceed to run this evenly through my hair—a bit extra on the ends. To ensure even distribution, I’ll comb it through. This Living Proof stinks to high heaven, but the smell dissipates after a while. I’m a big Living Proof fan because it really does keep your “do” from frizzing—actually, it acts like a shield against the humidity. It’s good for the summer.

A great shield against humidity. Even better protection when you blow dry. Stinks like crazy at first though!  Ahhh…the price of beauty–right??

Make sure you comb the styling cream down to the ends! They need it the most!

Ready to roll. The Velcro rollers are the ones I use. However, I cover them with paper towels or tissues. The towel/tissues act like end papers and keep hair from getting caught up in the little Velcro fabric. I like the Velcro better than other rollers because they Velcro ones have a bit of “give” to them and aren’t that uncomfortable.

The larger Velcro rollers are the ones I like to set my hair with.

I cover each roller with paper towel or tissues. This has paper towel. It protects my hair. It also helps to add volume!

Using the pointy end of the comb, I “section” off wet hair for each roller. And continue sectioning and rolling. Sectioning and rolling. I’m no expert at all, and it doesn’t look that great but after it dries, it’ll look nice!

I use the pointed end of the comb to TRY to section the hair evenly.

One down. How many more to go?

 In addition, I use these big bobby pins for keeping the rollers in. Got ’em at Sally.

These large bobby pins are perfect for setting hair with rollers!

All set. Sometimes I’ll cover my rollers with a scarf to protect them from falling out—I’m clumsy and bump into things. Today, I’m going “roller naked”.

Well, it certainly isn’t the neatest job–and I’m far from a pro, but this roller set suits me fine!  Lord have mercy. I wish I could afford Botox! My skin is a mess!

There are times, especially in the dead of winter when I want my hair to dry a bit quicker. I picked up this bonnet dryer to attach to the blow dryer. Honestly, if you have time, this is a great and gentler way to dry your hair. The attachment was $9.99 at Sally Beauty Supply and was a fantastic purchase! It works like a charm.

Hood attachment for blow dryer. Works like a charm!

You  may need an extension cord if you want to move around a bit–but this DOES fit over a head of rollers!

As an aside: I use an old Aigner makeup case to store the many bobby pins I have. I’ve also repurposed an old medium-sized Vera Bradley duffle bag for my rollers. Both were formerly used during Oona’s Irish Dance days for her wig and hair stuff. I love repurposing.

There’s always a way to repurpose!

I also have my little “Beetlejuice” figurine in here. Sentimental reasons. I just cannot bring myself to get rid of good ol’ Beetlejuice. He obviously came with some sort of Beetlejuice toy the kids had many..many…many years ago!

Am I on my way to become a future “hoarder”? Please tell me you have old toys and stuff somewhere in your home!

On  to other things while the hair dries! I cut up the chicken, made the marinade for tomorrow’s dinner.  Marinated chicken is in the fridge. All those flavors will soak in. Yum! I was going to start a Brioche, but I ran out of cake flour—and I need it for this particular recipe so it’ll have to wait till later on.

Made the tabouleh, ironed, took Chippy out, dusted, cleaned, and took Chippy out again!

It’s a bit after 1:00 in the Afternoon. I decided to unroll my hair to show how it looks dried. For the most part it was dry but I did use the blow dryer on “Cool” to protect it from any little frizzies. I still had to “fill in” a bit. Thank goodness I was a coloring book addict when I was a kid. I try not to miss a spot.

Just a bit more to fill in…..

Back all done!

Trusty DermMatch and a sprinkle of Toppik and I’m good to go.

A sprinkling of Toppik and…

I  may not be a hair pro but I love the “big” hair that I get from a roller set. It’s very 1960’s and you know what? I love it like this.

The hair is clean. The loss covered up. The rollers are out. My hair is big. It’s all good!

Sometimes we need to take a step back—to days of not having a convenient blow-dryer around. We need to stop and take the time to enjoy a ridiculously simple task, such as a roller set, just for the fun of it! Even though I may have less hair these days, at least it’s just a teeny bit healthier today because I took care of it and had patience! Am I right?? Huh??

 Hair done. Food’s prepped. I think I’ll go put some food in my brain and read a book!

I stopped to smell the roses! The birthday flowers from the kids are even more beautiful a week later!!

 Enjoy your Friday! It’s the weekend! Have patience, take a step back to enjoy, and get happy! XOXOXOXO!!!

Since I’m in a very “60’s” hair frame of mind, how ’bout starting the weekend with some James Brown!

Pappa’s Got a Brand New Bag” (Did he buy it for mama?)