Hair today Gone tomorrow

November 23, 2010

I am making a drastic change with my hair this season.

I have been wearing it black for about 2 years now.

There hasn’t really been a time during my life that I haven’t colored my hair.

I do know what my natural color is… I think.

Here is what it has looked like for the last year.

Over this past weekend I started my transformation.

We used a chemical wash that pulled out the remaining dye in my hair.

I haven’t had it colored since the beginning of August so it was starting to fade on its own.

Here is the faded black.

This is what it looked like after that treatment. Its a little lighter than its natural color.

My plan is go get all the way to this. A platinum all over blonde

Yeah, no one believes me.

I was blonde once before but it looked kinda shitty.

I am going about it in a different way this time.

First of all I am not doing it myself!

Secondly, I am not doing it all at once.

I am having the lightening done in stages until we achieve the blonde I want.

Here is what my mess of a head looked like a few years back when I tried my DIY bleach bath.

1st Attempt-2000

2nd Attempt- 2004

Both of which I look at now and think look horrid.

What I hope it doesn’t turn out like is one of my previous pics or this one below.

This blonde just looks trashy.

I love Kristen Stewart’s new look a lot.

Depending on how my hair takes the dye we will either do heavy highlights and add more and more each visit.

Or do an all over lightening and take it lighter and lighter lifting my color.

So most likely it will look like this at some point before getting platinum

Due to the snow my hair apt for tonight has been cancelled:(

So I have to wait till tomorrow to start the blonde!

I will keep ya’ll posted!!

So, as most of you know I have come in to a little bit of money from the Chevy Commercial. This was money I earned by doing absolutely nothing, so of course I feel the need to spend it instead of putting it in my savings like an adult. I am almost 27 but far from considering myself an adult. When does that happen btw?!

I am at a crossroads today. Buy the new bedding I have been wanting… or add to my tattoo. I got my skull tattoo about 2 1/2 years ago with the intention of making it a quarter or half sleeve. I have never changed my mind about that, but when you have bills to pay and a cat’s mouth to feed, you have to set your own needs aside and take care of business first. Yea, I referred to getting a tattoo as a need.

If you have one, you get it.

Which reminds me of a story.

When I was flying home from Missouri ( hell on earth), I was stuck in the airport for a few hours with some locals of the bible belt of America. A stranger sitting next to me in the waiting area struck up a conversation with me regarding my sparrow tattoo on my foot. I had my legs crossed and she could only see one of them.

She asked about why I got it and what it meant. Then went into what you might call a sermon, preaching to me that it’s alright to get JUST one tattoo. She admitted she was guilty of that as she showed me her crappy homemade tattoo on her thigh. I think it was a heart.

She told me getting one is not a sin, though she does regret it since accepting Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.

It’s the people who get more that one tattoo who are working for the devil. If you get more than one tattoo, the ink gets into your bloodstream and it poisons you and your thoughts. Thus causing you to want more and more of them! And I quote ” That right there is the devils work.”

People who have multiple tattoos are not God’s children. At this point i switched my legs and crossed them the opposite way revealing two more tattoos (Gasp)

She shut up.

The tattoo I have been wanting looks a little like this. Unfortunately there is too much stuff to fit onto my existing arm tattoo.

So, this might have to go on the other arm.

Sorry Mom, I know you are rolling your eyes.

What have you been dreaming about getting and why haven’t you done it yet?

She’s not giving you the stink eye, that’s just the way her face looks

November 18, 2010

Today I got on the elevator in my building for work. A man was already on there.
The doors shuts.
He looks at me and the conversation goes a little like this:
Stranger: wow, bad day?
Me: Nope, everything is good actually…..?
Stranger: Your face looks upset, you look mad!
Me: Meh.. I get that a lot when I am not smiling. I look pissed off, but I’m not. That’s just my regular face!!
Stranger: Oh, that’s too bad.

Yep, that’s me, Satan.

Maybe I’m just a cold hearted Bitch and people are seeing through to the real me.
I really don’t know how to explain it but it sure is annoying.

It seems that since college I have acquired a certain “look”. It is my face in neutral. When I am not talking or showing specific happiness in a smile or a laugh, I look angry. I don’t know why. People I knew would approach me at parties, bars, dinner, wherever I was out at and ask me
“What’s wrong?”
Strangers at bars would approach me and say ” you look pissed, what’s up!?”
Nothing….am I not allowed to sit here and just be content?
I feel just fine, normal, me. But to others I look upset, angry or sad.

It seemed random at first but then started happening frequently enough that it became annoying. It still IS annoying. I am not making this up. People I don’t know approach me frequently and say ” Smile!” or “You know, it’s okay to smile!”

I want to flip these people off.

Just ask Rindi, one of my best friends. She has been out with me on many occasions when strangers have asked me this same question over and over. It makes me feel kinda crappy. Thus causing me to actually BE upset, then probably making me look even more pissed off.
I swear I am not doing it on purpose.

Anyone else have this problem!?

Things to Love on a Tuesday

November 16, 2010

oh deer.

Kitschy pillows on Etsy

Perfect wedding shoes

Amazing manicures

Macaroons. The french ones.Not coconut.

A chandelier in your laundry room

My new winter coat from AE

The hood unzips and lays flat ( like the Hazen drill team jackets )

And even better, it’s actually my Wednesday because I have Friday off!

What makes your Tuesday worth waking up for?

The life of a Military sorta wife

November 12, 2010

In the event that this week happens to be host to Veteran’s day and the 235th Marine Corp Birthday
I wanted to share how the military has had a personal effect on my life.

From a young kid to an adult, it has always been there.

Little me

Growing up, the only person I knew of who had anything to do with the military was my grandpa. He served in the Marines when he was a youngin’ and fought in World War II, Guadalcanal and was called back for the Korean Conflict. Even though he was long retired from a civilian job when I was little, there was a tone in his voice and crease in pants that reminded you where he came from. You could bounce a quarter off the beds in his house (in fact my mom and her siblings had to when they were growing up!) He still sported the High and Tight hair cut and had lots of military paraphernalia around the house. He was a stern man and I remember he was the one person growing up that I was scared to mouth off to, interrupt or misbehave around or I would surely get a harsh punishment.

Grandpa & Grandma

Grandma Ellen

As I grew older, I learned of other family members who were part of the military as well.

My grandma was part of WAC (Woman’s Army Corp.) during the war while grandpa was deployed. She lived in San Diego in Ocean beach doing paperwork. Their son, my uncle, who went to war to fight in Viet Nam as an Army helicopter mechanic that doubled as a door gunner when needed. Sadly it seems he has dealt with the repercussions of that war ever since. My own dad, who was drafted into the Navy but able to get out after boot camp since he was needed at home.

I remember finding his Navy Peacoat in the closet when I was younger and my mom telling me he had been a sailor for a few short months. It seemed so unreal, and almost unnerving that there was a past that I didn’t know about it.

Dad in his Uniform

In high school the recruiters would come and talk to students. I took the ASVAB with some friends just to see what we would score but never intended to enlist. Recruiters called my house and mom would tell them she would NEVER allow her daughter to join. A few guys from school did after graduation but living in Seattle, a pretty liberal and democratic area… joining the military at 18 isn’t the norm.

Flash Forward 2 years, I am going to college and working at Ace Hardware. My best friend Amy, who has plans to join the police academy, comes to meet me in the parking lot at closing. This is when she tells me she joined the Marines. I am speechless. She explains that she just decided it was a good move and will help her later on in her future career as a cop. She didn’t tell anyone this was even on her mind. She just went down to the recruiting office one afternoon and signed over her life.

Amy in Iraq

I remember going home and telling my parents that night. My mom cried and asked if Amy understood what she had just done. This was 2003. We were in a war. Amy was reassured by her recruiter that there was NO WAY she would get deployed. First of all she had to go through boot camp which would take months, then get assigned to a specific job, sent to somewhere else for training…. By the time she was deployable, we would be out of the Middle East.

She didn’t have to worry about a thing! HA.

They also told her since she was a woman; she was less likely to get sent as well. Double HA.
Flash Forward 8 months, Amy gets out of boot camp and is immediately deployed to Iraq.

Surprised? Me neither.

After she came back to the states, she was based at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside ,CA. My friend Rindi and I went down to visit her for a long weekend. We met all her new friends, people we felt like we already knew because we had been hearing about them for the last year in letters Amy would send us.

Liz & Tasia in Iraq ( The friends we would read about in Amy’s letters home)

It was my first time in San Diego and I was in love immediately. On the flight home, Rindi and I decided we needed to move. We told our friends and they laughed, we told our parents and they laughed and told us they wouldn’t support us financially. We told our work and gave notice of 6 months. They realized we were serious. This would give us enough time to save for the move and find an apartment and new jobs in California.

Me & Rindi in San Diego for the first time

Our first Visit. Who wouldn’t want to move here?!

April 2005 we loaded up the Uhaul and headed South. Arriving 2 days later in Oceanside at our little apartment with job interviews lined up for the next day.

We did it. (this is another blog in it’s self)

It was living here for the next 2 years of my life that I really learned what the military was all about. We made friends who we will have for life. We learned about what it is like to report to “the man”, go to war, say goodbye and lose loved ones. We watched new recruits join the battalions and old ones get promoted and move up in rank. We went to the Marine Corp. balls and pinning’s when promotions happened. We cut hair on Sunday nights and waited for Friday pay days to go out dancing .I hate to use the term ” Groupie” because that gives the wrong idea. We weren’t sleeping around or tagging along in envy. It was basically like Rindi and I lived as “Military Wives” but weren’t married to anyone. We partied with them, hosted thanksgiving dinners for them and tried to be family when they didn’t have anyone else around. Throughout it all, I watched my friends become something special, something honorable and courageous. We watched the wives we had become friends with send their husbands off on deployments. I even experienced it first hand with my own boyfriend at the time.

Let us reminisce

Toga Party at the Barracks

The girls- Marines not wives

Tasia deploying for the 2nd time

USMC Ball 2006 Amy, Rindi, Sara, Logan and Josh

USMC Ball 2005 Sara, Mae, Rindi, Amy(preggo) and me

Hanging out at the Barracks

Country dancing at the Stampede

USMC Ball

Throughout all the good times Rindi and I were having, the bad times some of them were having never went unnoticed. The group of friends we made consisted of people who had deployed together to Iraq the year before. It was evident the effect the war had on a lot of them. I could never imagine what it must have been like for them. We heard all the war stories that they joked about as they told them, but you know they were shitting themselves when they actually happened

Amy and Liz in Iraq

Tasia, Liz, Sara

Liz & Amy

I think it really hit home one night when we had a sleep over after a party and one of the guys next to me woke up in the middle of the night with Night Tremors and flew off the bed. It scared the crap out of me. These poor guys, they would never be the same. They gave more than their 9 month/ 1 yr tour; they gave their lives, because there is trauma they will deal with forever.

As my grandpa got older, he also showed the effects of PTSD. It can creep up on you at anytime and sometimes takes years. He had trouble going in the walk in closet in his bedroom. It brought flash backs from Guadalcanal, when he had to enter enemy caves with no weapon but a knife in his hand.

Grandma came to visit me while I was in San Diego and we went to her old apt where her and grandpa lived while he was stationed down there. She was excited that I was living in the same area and around Marines like she had .

As always, with the good times, comes the bad. I learned it was more than just a saying. I saw it play out in real life. So this Veteran’s Day, I want to say thank you. I have learned what it means to “serve your country” and to do the job that many of us are far to scared to do ourselves.

We wouldn’t have what we do today without you.

That’s my story and I’m stickin to it.

A view from above, nails and silk

November 11, 2010

Still looking for the perfect Holiday party dress.

I found some cute contenders at Nordstrom yesterday but nothing that made the cut.

First is this adorable teal dress. It was a lot more iridescent in person that in the photos. It was so fun to try on…but since it was 100% silk it was also over $400.00!

Yeah… I know I am a big time celebrity now (Did ya see my commercial last night during the CMA Awards?!) but I still don’t want to spend that much on a dress for a work function.

Amy said I look like a present in it.

Next I tried on this cute strapless number by Kenzie. I thought it was strange that I needed a smalled size in it than the other dress. I think of Kenzie as more of a Juniors /Young women brand, and their stuff usually runs small on me. But for some reason this didn’t.

I hate how every brand has their own idea of how a size should fit someone. It is so inconsistent.

After work I had a nail appointment to get my skooki nails changed out for something more professional! I bought a new polish at Ulta. It is Essie “ Mink Muff”. I keep seeing muted colors like browns and greys in magazines and love the trend.

Case in point:

I wasn’t sure how it would look on me, but I really like them. In fact I got a compliment on the bus this morning by a stranger on them!

Tah Dah

This week at work I got kicked out of my office. They need it for storage. A new desk is being installed for me to use in another room, but until then I get a fancy office! Behold!

The desk

Workin’

My Cactus

Ass Clinging Shift dresses and Red Lipstick

November 8, 2010

This weekend I made a trip to the mall to return something and discovered that Christmas shopping has begun.

The mall was completely packed. This was really annoying as I wasn’t there to shop, I just wanted to get in and get out and I also have no patience in general. There wasn’t anything that I needed and it was time to get home and make dinner.

The claws were already in though.

I was quickly sucked into the wheelin’ and dealin’ of the sales clerks.

I looked at the bargains and tested the limited edition makeup kits, I listened to the talk ,“Buy two mascaras and get one free!” BUT I did not walk the walk. No, I kept my purse clamped closed and… ok, ok I bought a lipstick. Nothing else! Then headed for the car.

I left the mall without any bags and more money in my pocket from my returned item. I want to say it felt good, I had won the battle.

But sadly, I felt empty, so many good deals, fall clothes and Christmas gifts… none of them in my possession.

They say people shop to fill the void, to get that high from a purchase. I think that is something only a woman can understand. I have seen Steve giddy after a sweet deal at Kohls where he saved a few bucks. Or when we got his $400.00 Guess Pea coat for a mere $150.00 at Macys. But, he doesn’t seek that out like I do. I love shopping, I dream about shopping, I shop when I am happy, I shop when I am sad. I shop online and in stores. I haven’t hit the all time low of QVC yet though.

Do I think I am a shopaholic and have a problem? No.I’m just a girl.

I can avoid it too. I just don’t go to the mall. Then I don’t shop, but once I am there… it’s oh so hard to walk away.

Walk away from a bargain I mean. I don’t shop just to shop or just to buy. I shop to win. I want the deal of the day. I want something braggable. I want to find that treasure no one else has and know I saved SOOOO much money on it.

What is this condition called? Am I a bargainaholic? So be it. At least I am saving money… not as much as if I didn’t shop at all… but everyone has at least ONE vise, this is one of mine.

So as to not spend more of my money, I decided I better start working on a Christmas list, so others can spend money… on me. Here are some of this seasons must have items.

From Philosophy

Microdelivery Peel. $65.00

This stuff is amazing! I used a sample packet of it last week and it make my skin feel great. Best mask I have ever used. It’s self warming too!

Amazing Grace Shower Gel $35.00

One of my favorite scents. I love this body wash. I wish they still made the olive Oil scrub though.

From Anthropologie

Elk nesting measuring cups! $48.00

Rustic Romp Candelabra ( overpriced at $698.00) but awesome

Anticipation Heels $128.00 and they come in my size

Best candle ever – Capri Blue $25.00

( And it comes in a Mercury glass jar to match my new bedroom design!)

From Nordstrom

Adrianna Papell dresses for Christmas parties perhaps?

I saw this dress ( the one on the right) at the store this weekend and couldn’t walk away from it

But I love a good shoulder pad too…..

I love shift dresses on models.

Unfortunately, they either cling too tightly to my “womanly” figure, making me look like I have J-Lo’s behind and thunder thighs

( like this)

Note- we all know Cameron is anything but fat, but look how this dress clings to the side of her ass! Its bad! and that’s how the shift dress always looks on me.

they hang big like a sack and I have no figure at all.

( like this)

Steve Madden Freeway Boot $130.00

I have been pondering these boots for a while. I love them.

They were on sale at Nordstrom this weekend! I tried them on, hated them.

Thank god, because you know I would have had to have bought them if they were awesome.

That’s all so far,but it’s just the beginning.
My Christmas lists tend to be more than one page and yes I still make them and give them to my parents.

That First Chevy | Chevrolet Commercial I am in and the story behind it!

November 5, 2010

Well, here is it, my 2 seconds of fame and I didn’t even have to do anything.

About 2 weeks ago I received a message on Facebook from an archival agency that finds requested photos and footage for an advertising agency. I thought it was spam and read it to Steve. “This person says they want to use a photo of me in a Cheverolet commercial! Hahaha, I’m sure this is a scam of some kind” A few hours later Steve checks his Facebook and he has a message from this same person. They told him they were trying to get ahold of his wife to get the rights to a photo for commercial use and needed to talk to us ASAP, as the deadline was the next day. Again, we are skeptical and unsure. Then Steve’s mom calls. She said she has a voicemail on her house phone from some agency looking for me regarding a Chevy Commercial. The caller said they hoped this was the same family that was related to the certain Gracie they were looking for!

At this point I decided I would give them a call. What have I got to loose? The photo they are referring to is already on the internet so if they really wanted to pull one over on me, they could, whether they had my permission or not!

I talked to the agency and they said they are working on gathering photos for a new Chevy ad coming out and wanted to use a photo of me they found on TheKnot.com, a wedding planning site! That was the most random place they could have found that photo of me! It was in a thread that a bunch of us girls were listing what our “yearbook titles” were, ie: Most likely to be president, Most creative, Prettiest hair, ect.

I was voted coolest car along with my friend Adam. We both drove first generation Camaros.
In the thread I posted a photo of me posing with his car.

Some how this agency stumbled across it!
They said they would pay me to sign over the rights of the photo to them. Then they would then submit it to the marketing agency that puts together the ad for Chevy. That agency would also contact me and send me residuals for the use of the photo in the commercial as it airs. As of now, I have no idea how much that is, but hey money for not doing anything isn’t a bad days work!
Last night when Steve and I got home from my office party we had a package from Fed Ex waiting for us. I opened it up and it was a disk with the commercial on it and a letter from the Marketing agency thanking me for the use of my photo!
The commercial is already airing on TV, so keep you eye out for it! A few of my friends have already seen it air! It’s just a few seconds of my photo …. Nothing to thank the academy for. Still though, I am pretty excited. I would say this was pure luck!

Here is the photo they used

Here is the picture that was in the year book of Adam and I with our “Coolest Cars”

Adam’s Senior Pic:
To give due credit

And when they told me it was photos of people with thier first car, I tried to get my dad in on the action too! But they didn’t need the photo 🙁 Sorry pops, I tried.

Dad with his highschool ride

No autographs please!!!

PS: Adam’s car got a paint job, here is the new look

Lookin’ good!

Chickity China the Chinese Chicken

November 3, 2010

This is a bit of a rant, forgive me. But it has a happy ending… hopefully.

Yesterday I spent 2 hours of my life at Macy’s in the China Department. I won’t ever get these 2 hours back, but I did however get $240.00 back.

It was brought to my attention a week or so ago by my mother that the china I had registered for was no longer available online. This was a problem, since we had only acquired about half of the set so far from the wedding.

Steve and I went into the store on Friday and asked what was going on. After reassuring us twice that it wasn’t discontinued and they couldn’t explain why it’s not online anymore but still available in the store, a clerk tried to ring up a place setting for us.

Guess what? It’s discontinued.

We had 2 options, return the china pieces we already had and choose a completely new set, or scramble to gather all the missing pieces from stores around the U.S. that had random items. We like a challenge so we chose the later.

We went ahead and ordered 5 place settings from a store in Oregon.

On Monday I went back in to order the serving platter that a store in California had in stock. It was at this time that I was informed that the china was not only discontinued but also went on Clearance that day.This was bittersweet, I could get a good deal , but things were going to disappear real fast if I didn’t buy them asap. I was also irritated because I spent over $500.00 on Friday buying the missing place settings at full price and they are now on clearance.

Tuesday I went to Macy’s downtown and explained my story to them. We start working ordering more items. This is when I brought up the fact that I would like a price adjustment on the china I already bought 2 days prior to the clearance. Which they were able to do. Thank god.

I was able to get $240.00 back! It went from $119.00 a set to $43.00 a set!

So I used that money to get 12 soup bowls and 2 platters. Each coming from a different place because no one has more than 2-3 pieces of anything in stock.

I also found out that I didn’t need to buy the Vegetable bowl because I get it free with the purchase of 10 place settings. Why no one told me that on Friday when I bought them, I don’t know!

Now I am getting stuff shipped to me from 5 different stores in the U.S.

Except for the soup bowl I had to order from Bellevue Macy’s.

They wanted to charge me shipping since it’s under $50.00. So, instead I am driving there to pick it up. Another hassle in this fiasco

While I am still at Macy’s sorting this all out, Bank of America calls my cell and says they put a hold on my account. There is suspicious activity the message says.
Caused by 6 transactions in 1 hr from 5 states I am sure.
So then I had to call B of A and go through all their automated systems to approve the charges.

Now I wait for a million packages to arrive, all of which I am sure will be delivered during the day while I am at work and will need signatures. So I will make numerous trips to various UPS & USPS locations to collect them during rush hour traffic because the locations all close at 7 pm.

Such is my life.

On a funner note. Check out my BFF’s kids! They are cute.

Harley & London

Almost makes me want one….. almost.

You still have that song stuck in your head don’t you?

Building a Place for Grace… and Steve too

October 27, 2010

The past couple weeks I have bought a lot of new home items. Including furniture and decor. First off I wanted to show a pic of the cool deer bust I got at Kohls!

We purchased a new dining room table and chairs over the weekend. It was a set we had been looking at for a month or so. I wasn’t totally sold on the mission style of it. It really doesn’t scream Gracie, but it had the great function and quality we were looking for. After spending weeks comparing other sets that came no where near the craftsmanship and comfort of this one we finally bought it.

It is A America and we got it from The Old Cannery in Puyallup. It has 2 self storing leaves and seats up to 8 comfortable, 10 if you must! All solid oak wood. Best of all it also has equalizing cable glides, so I can open and close it to add or remove leaves on my own. Most tables take 2 people or a lot of work to pull apart and this one glides like…a glove… or something..

Here is the stock photo of the set. Personally I like it a lot better in person. Its more of a cherry color

We had some friends come over to help unload everything, it weighed a ton

Now onto putting together the chairs

Bailey supervising Mark and Steve

Bailey is “reading” the directions to Steve.

Bentley approved

The old table and chairs.

We also went to Fright Night at Enchanted Village this weekend. It was not scary at all, and it was raining… but had a great time anyway. We met up with some friends and went to dinner then the theme park. It was Steve’s first Haunted house!!!

Waiting in Line for the Roller Coaster

It looks like this is as Halloweeny as we are going to get this year. Steve’s dad needs him down at the house they are building this weekend to help out. So we have cancelled our plans to go out. I’m not a big partier, so normally this change of plans wouldn’t bother me much…except for I was really looking forward to being Snooki this year and I already have most of my costume.

Maybe I can figure out some other place to wear it….

work…the gym…..grocery shopping…SANTA PHOTOS!

Yep.

I also picked up the bed side tables from Pier One last night. Since I am not putting together our new room until we move, I would have liked to have left them in their boxes. Unfortunately when the clerk was carting them out to my car though, she dumped them onto the cement in the parking lot! Since they are made of mirrors, I thought it would be in my best interest to unpack and assemble them just in case something was damaged.

They look great! I can’t wait to use them!

Now we just need to find a new place to live!