Here is my mom with Mondrian

outside MoMA, and Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”

View this set on Flickr

Here you have it, my 9 step process to controlling my curls:

Step 1: wet hair and towel dry

Step 2: Garnier Fructis Curl Shaping Spray Gel – generously spray throughout damp hair (use enough to get an even layer throughout your hair, but not too much as this is the product that is most likely to cause crispy curls)

Step 3: Pantene Pro-V Curl Shaping Gel – squeeze about a quarter size amount onto palm, rub between palms, then work through hair as evenly as possible

Step 4: using a pick, comb through hair and set up part where you like (this is the only time a comb of any kind touches my hair throughout the day)

Step 5: Garnier Fructis Curl Shaping Spray Gel & Pantene Pro-V Curl Shaping Gel – spray a little more gel and rub a little more gel into your hair scrunching it up as you go to create curls (I know this seems like a lot of product, and it is, but you will quickly be able to tell when you have used too much; it takes a lot)

Step 6: Rusk Wired Flexible Styling Creme – squeeze a dime sized amount, rub between palms, and work though hair scrunching as you go (this gel is thicker and kind of sets up your curls, I like to twist some places for good curls and pull my bangs a little bit straighter)

Step 7: wait (I always let my hair air dry, a blow dryer makes it way too frizzy for me to handle; the only time I blow dry my hair is when I have something really important to be (like a job interview) in the morning while my hair is still wet)

durring this air drying process, I like to scrunch up my hair every now and then to make sure it gets really curly, this also helps to keep the curls from drying to “crispy”

Step 8: enjoy

Step 9: refresh (every now and then throughout the day my curls need a little pick me up, to do this I use either the Rusk Wired Flexible Styling Creme or the Pantene Pro-V Curl Shaping Gel. I just rub a little bit through my dry hair until it looks satisfactory). I will also take a curling iron or flat iron to my bangs to shape/tame those curls when they dry too springy.

*it also helps to have a stylist who knows how to cut naturally curly hair (ask when you set up an appointment), layers are important!

*here is another product that I like, I will use it in place of the Rusk Wired Flexible Styling Creme sometimes, it is called Miss Jessie’s Curly Pudding (it has a similar texture to the Rusk and the jar lasts a little bit longer, I will usually grab whichever product is cheaper)

2. Love Songs – Brandi Carlile

3. Fast Car – Tracy Chapman

4. Hotel Plaster – Nicole Atkins

5. Fat Bottomed Girls – Glee Cast

6. Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah) – Joan Jett

7. Manipulating Woman – Ladyhawke

8. Looking Out – Brandi Carlile

9. Born This Way – Lady GaGa

10. Dream Lover – Bobby Darin

11. Baltimore Blues, No. 1 – Deer Tick

12. Get Some – Lykke Li

13. Does This Mean You’re Moving On? – The Airborne Toxic Event

14. Howl – Florence + The Machine

15. All I Want – Joni Mitchell

16. Cry Cry Cry – Nicole Atkins

17. Dancing On My Own – Robyn

18. Bad Reputation – Joan Jett

19. Satellite Mind – Metric

This year, it seems as though I’ll be ringing in the New Year in an entirely different fashion than I am accustom to. You see, last night I spent about an hour sitting on the bathroom floor trying not to throw up, and another hour actually throwing up. Today, my head’s pounding and my stomach is churning, and I’m thinking the last thing I should do tonight is get embarrassingly drunk and dance like an idiot like I have years past. Instead, it looks like I’ll be ringing in the New Year from the comfort of my couch curled up with my cat. So, maybe the change in New Year’s Eve festivities symbolizes a new change for me in the year to come? That would be a nice thought, but in order for some change to actually happen in my life, I’ll probably have to actually seek it out, which, of course, brings me to my New Year’s Resolutions:

+ drink more water and less soda

+ the cliché “workout more” resolution, which I am going to simplify to try to work out at least twice a week (which is more than not at all)

+ answer my phone when it rings, go places I am invited, and be less anti-social in general

+ job search with vigor

+ eat healthier/take vitamins/do something so my immune system isn’t so crappy and I don’t get sick all the time

+ look into website design classes/books and actively try to better my chances at a potential career, instead of just talking about it.

+ sign up for a photography class at metro or rockbrook camera just for the fun of it