My curly locks had gotten down to my shoulder blades but maybe wasn’t in the best of shape. I had some damaged ends that were split and some chunks that didn’t want to curl. My stylist asked if she could clean up the damage and I said sure.
I lost quite a bit of length but she cut it while curly and I ended up with a mop that was much more bouncy and easy to style. It was refreshing and I got a ton of complements at work the next week. Lesson learned, sometimes you just gotta let go of the damage parts!
As a belated birthday present myself I booked myself a spa night. I saved up all my birthday pennies and indulged in a 60 minute soak and 60 minute massage. IT WAS GLORIOUS.
I had solo access to the outdoor hot tub and sauna in a beautiful Japanese style garden. The air was cool and I could hear the wind rustling the trees. I basically melted into a puddle.
And guess what? You can totally knit in the sauna!! Of course your needs and stitch markers do get a little warm, lol. My Baby Blend Basic Hat did grow another inch before I dissolved into complete sweaty relaxation. That and I had to stop because I a now ready for the crown decreases.
Like many others during the pandemic I have been accidently/inadvertently growing out my hair. I think I have had two hair cuts in 15 months? But I am kind of digging having long curly hair. But it has come with its challenges so I decided to try some new health care/self care treats.
After hearing about Prose on many a podcast, I made the leap. (Disclaimer: I am not sponsored and this is not an ad. I am just looking for ways to break out of my pandemic funk.) I took the quiz and came out with shampoo, conditioner, moisturizing mask and curl cream.
No clue if this will make my curls more manageable but it sure smells nice and feels decadent when I apply it. So if nothing else, its a great mood booster to start my day!
One of my greatest skills is something I call “procrasti-cleaning” aka cleaning or organizing something in my life so as to avoid work or a task I really don’t want to do.
This week’s target? My home office. I had been collecting boxes and files just on the floor under my counter and it was annoying. So a few dollars at online Wal-Mart and some pictorial assembly instructions I have a five cube shelf. I have just enough space for my bags to the side and all the junk from the counter now lives nice underneath.
The cleaner and more organized space really helps me feel calmer and more productive. And then I can usually get back to the task I was avoiding. Anyone else out there have skills like this?
I decided to give myself a mini vacation this past weekend. With the rising cases of COVID I had to cancel some pretty fun plans. And then our hot water heater broke last Thursday so we didn’t have hot water for four days. So I rounded up all my favorite self care items, kissed my kids and hubby and retreated to the basement last Saturday night.
I had wine, my pedicure tools, face masks, my latest book, animal crossing and more knitting than I could possibly handle in one evening. It was glorious! I watched a rom com TV show and just zoned out from all responsibility.
I snapped this photo a week or so ago. I was soaking in the last heat wave before temperatures started falling towards more Midwestern Fall appropriate range. We had a week of 95 degree plus temperatures and I was melting outside with the kids as they swang and swam merrily along.
I decided to do a little self care after the kids went to bed I headed back to the kiddie pool with wine, a good true crime podcast and SOLITUDE. I spent 45 minutes floating and watching the sunset. No one was screaming “MOMMY!!” or climbing all over me. I may have scared the neighbors with my true crime obsession but I came out the other side much more relaxed.
The world isn’t getting any less crazy. So I’m leaning HARD into self care Wednesday nights.
This week’s regime is brought to you by Amazon. I got some under eye masks (hello stress induced dark circles), a clay mask for my large pores, and some argon oil to moisturize my curls in this humid Kansas summer heat.
On Wednesday’s I find my comfiest PJs after the kids go to bed and then I either take a hot bath or do some easy yoga and then I do some “beauty” treatments while I knit and watch TV. It has come to be something I really look forward to during the week.
I hope you all are finding some ways for self care!
In these times of change and only the necessities I’ve been challenged to make due with what I have around the house. Last work week was brutal in ways I cannot even explain. I’ve been working from home for a month and I think I think I’ve almost doubled the number of hours I put in a week and i’m farther behind than I’ve ever been. But I digress.
On Friday evening, I realized we had run out out of wine. I’ll pause for the gasps of horror. But I was nonetheless deterred. I googled recipes that would use up the odds and end of our very dusty liquor cabinet (leftover from the pre-Jellybean and PB days where we would have actual proper parties with stout beverages).
I had some standard vodka and some creme de cacao so my first lesson was a chocolate martini. I dusted off my cocktail shaker and drizzled some hershey’s in a frosted class….a promptly poured a double after the kids went to bed. It was delicious and just the trick to take the edge off a long week.
On Saturday night the hubby got in on the action. He told me he was going to surprise me and came downstairs with this lovely concoction! It was a pour man’s White Russian or as he called it a “salted caramel white russian”. Please excuse the lack of proper glasswear…we have two kids and there is a global pandemic, any glass will do in my book!
This was one was ice cubes with one part vodka and two parts salted caramel Kahlua all topped off with vanilla almond milk. (We save the cows milk for the kids since we aren’t always sure the store will be stocked). And you guys….this was AMAZING! It was like a cold salted caramel coffee. I will TOTALLY do this one again.
And the best part was we didn’t have to leave our house and we are using up bits and bobs that hopefully aren’t expired and will kill us. Either way, salud!!
It’s been a rough couple of weeks for everyone far and wide. I’m not going to take space here to regurgitate what is being blasted on every platform possible. What I will say is that my anxiety is very high. I am confident that this pandemic won’t last forever but the ramifications both socially and economically might last longer than we would like. And that bumps up against my anxiety triggers…..I’m an accountant after all. And it’s hard not to be worn down by the onslaught of information and empty store shelves.
I am washing my hands, talking to others support when I need it, and returning to my Midwestern roots and I’m cooking all the comfort foods I can think of. Last night I took some time to rest in bed with the following self care items:
Some really good Spotify playlists on my headphones
And a quilt that I have had since undergrad
They only thing missing was knitting friends. If anyone out there is similarly missing your knitting groups and friends please feel free to DM me. I’m always around my phone and more than happy to chat and share projects. We are a community and no one has to feel alone. Happy Knitting friends!
I’m a planner. I’m a color coding fool. I like to keep my thoughts and plans on paper. I get a thrill from making a list and crossing things off the list as they get done. In past years for my work life I have kept a planner that helped me from going insane or forgetting things. I think it has made me a better employee and project manager.
So this year I decided to add one for my personal life. So why wouldn’t it be knitting themed?? I did a lot of research on the internet and settled on The Knitters Planner after I saw how much Megan of the Stockinette Zombies used hers.
It was an investment for sure. There were many other options that would have been more inexpensive. But this one has space for personal tracking, knitting features and a few adds on to help my day to day crazy.
I’m only a few weeks in but I have been tracking my meal planning, downloading all of my to-dos onto paper so my brain has more space and just getting inspired for my 2020 knitting plans. I’m definitely not a full blown bullet journaler, with a full time job and two tiny humans I just don’t have the minutes in the day. And I may not get to all my goals and have to give myself some grace. But for right now I feel energized and more in control of my chaos.
My Tangled Yarn Knitting Adventures 