October #8--YouTube Favorites

After deciding that I was finally going to go natural, I started looking around on-line for resources that could help. Google can lead you to anything!
YouTube was the answer I was looking for. Before this particular search, I was not a big fan of YouTube. I didn’t see the point. Every time I saw a YouTube video talked about, it was something stupid that I had no interest in seeing. The medium just didn’t seem like something I was interested in.

But the search for help on natural hair care changed all of that for me and now I’m finding all kinds of lovely things to watch and be amazed at. I just checked my own channel information and I am up 229 subscriptions!!! I couldn’t believe it when I saw it. But these are a few of my favorites.

Natural Hair Care
Naptural85 http://www.youtube.com/user/Naptural85
Her Best Hair http://www.youtube.com/user/tiashauntee
Splinta24 http://www.youtube.com/user/splinta24

Technology
HTC http://www.youtube.com/user/HTC
Google http://www.youtube.com/user/Google
Wireless Zone http://www.youtube.com/user/WirelessZone

Crafting
Whitney Sews http://www.youtube.com/user/aglanceatmyworld
Marcelle’s Creative Crochet http://www.youtube.com/user/onevirtuouswoman

These are just a few and definitely not the full list of my favorites. I think I will start to do regular post giving shootouts to my favorites because they are so great. This applies to the many, many, many blogs that I have streaming daily into my RSS reader.

More to come on my media obsessions.

October #7--Natural Hair and Me


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Last year, I decided I was getting a little sick of my hair and decided I needed a change. While my hair was quite cute and suited me well, it wasn’t very strong. Since my mid twenties, my hair texture has changed. I no longer have the strong, do anything and I still maintain the curl kind of hair. It had gotten to the point where all I could do was primarily wrap it and hope that by the end of the day it didn’t look like a stringy mess. I don’t know what happened, but I couldn’t hold a curl anymore.

I sought out the help of a stylist and she really helped me in keeping my hair well maintained. Unfortunately, it did nothing for my ability to hold curl. But, my hair was looking the best it had in years and I was thrilled. She was also a very good colorist and I loved, loved, loved the pretty streaks I had below.


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By the good times didn’t last. I started traveling more for work and my hair at the crown started to break off. It was a mess. I was still able to style it to be cute, but the possibilities were definitely diminished. My hair could no longer stand up to being relaxed and colored.

So, a year ago I decided not to chemically process my hair anymore. My last perm was in September 2011 and my last color was in November 2011. While I can say I will never perm (relax) again, I am dying to put some color into my hair. Right now, I do a henna treatment every 6 weeks or so and that gives me a nice, deep red with my grays showing up as copper highlights.

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I have been trying different products over the last year and I’m just about settled on a core staple of products, but we’ll see. I think you have to be natural for at least two years before you truly know what will work for you. Last winter I was transitioning so I don’t know what products will keep me moisturized and healthy in the cold just yet. And next summer, I will be dealing with longer hair so who knows how the heat will truly affect me then.

I’m taking it day by day and hairstyle by hairstyle, but at the end of the day, I do love my natural hair and I’m so happy I stopped with the chemical straighteners.

October #6--I am the Girl that Loves a Good Storm

Storm clouds by aldorris105
Storm clouds, a photo by aldorris105 on Flickr.
I really do need a camera that can capture the world as I see it. Most times my cell phone camera is very good, but when needing to capture the storms rain.

A very hard rain fell the other night and it was so great just to sit on the patio and take it all in. I love rainy days and I quite enjoyed this little storm. The photo didn't capture everything, but I do love the warm look of it. I really do love this neighborhood. It's nothing like being back home but its a nice (temporary) substitute.