A Hair Post

I don't believe I've griped about my hair on this blog in a while, if ever. And since my cable went out on Sunday, effectively preventing me from drawing my own conclusions about the SAG Red Carpet, I think I'll do a little of that instead of digesting celebrity fashion this week. But not just gripe - gripe and celebrate! And then pay it forward.

I have very thick hair. Not normal very thick hair - seriously, very VERY thick hair. It's usually impossible to control. Ponytails and I have long been buddies. After a hair cut, I usually try to see if I can go as close to (if not beyond) a week without washing it so that I can enjoy professional styling as long as possible. Somewhere around the end of college I was introduced to the magic of the flat iron, and ever since, I've relied on it completely. If I want(ed) to wear my hair curly, I'd have to sleep on it wet and see if I got lucky in the morning with some semblance of controlled wave/curl. Usually I wake up looking like Medusa or a member of Bon Jovi from the late 80s. The flat iron changed my life. But it also takes a ridiculous amount of time to work through. It's a commitment. I usually have to wake up early to get my hair straightened. And now that I have the bebe at home, if I need to straighten, I wait for a nap, and then immediately run to the bathroom to get started, in hopes that her nap will last long enough for me to finish (seriously, it takes at least 45 minutes to do it well, an hour is best).

Lately, I've grown weary of only wearing it straight, but my utter dependence on the flat iron has rendered me entirely unable to style my hair without it. Further, it's straightened out so much of my natural curl, that I usually find I might get some curl on one side and then whole sections just have no shape to them at all... limp, sad, boring. So straight is the answer. Or so I thought.

A few weeks ago I was due for a trim. I was also out of my leave-in smoothing product that I apply after a wash. I'd been using the same one (a Redkin product) for about 5 years, but found it was discontinued sometime since my last purchase, so I stressed about it, and then concluded that I just needed to find a new one. I asked my awesome stylist and she recommended this Bumble and Bumble product:

(note: this post is not sponsored in any way by B&B - all my own thoughts without any kick-backs)

She assured me that I didn't need to actually blow dry or straighten with it. In fact, she said (and she may have had ulterior motives - she's always trying to convince me to wear my hair curly), it would probably support my wearing my hair naturally, if I was so inclined. It would just weigh it down a bit and control the frizz. Sure. I've heard that before. But, okay, I'm sold.

Since I purchased this product, I have spent a whopping total of zero minutes straightening my hair. Granted, it's been about two weeks. But since I washed out the amazing professional styling job, I have worn my hair naturally, both up and down, every single day. And not only does it control the frizz, it totally eliminates it. My wave/curl is waving/curling beautifully. At Target on Sunday, an employee actually stopped me to compliment me on my perfect curl! ME! This is insanity.

Anyway, I obviously am going to highly recommend this product. Seriously. It's a bit pricey, but good hair products are. That's just a universal truth. And it's worth it. Especially because you need less than a nickel-sized amount to achieve the effect. Here's me today... I spent a grand total of 3 seconds, give or take a half-second, putting my hair together this morning. Unheard of.

You might not agree or care. But I am excited. So I had to share. It's been a long, long time since I've gone out in public without straight hair. BIG DEAL (for me).

What I'm Reading Now - May 4, 2012

Finally have another book to read (I was on a quest to find my latest book club pick all week, and ultimately, had enough trouble getting a copy that I changed it to July's book (it comes out in paperback in June), and picked a new title for May so I could start reading again!). Now I'm reading this:

Finny by Justin Kramon. I added it to my to-read list two years ago, and I remember being really excited about it, and then I just never got around to reading it. I snagged a copy on paperbackswap last year, and still never got around to reading it! So, the perfect opportunity has presented itself, and I'm very curious and eager to find out what was so compelling to me about this one, since it's been so long and I don't quite remember! Have you read it? It's Kramon's debut novel, and it has, generally, really strong reviews on Goodreads, among others. Want to read it with me and my online book club? Join us. (you can also just e-mail me: hellerms [at] gmail.)

In other basically unrelated news, four days of commuting without a book to read this week... I ended up mostly quietly listening to music on Pandora... I highly recommend you follow suit and create your own really good Van Morrison station and Fugees station. They will make your mornings/days.

Happy May!

(Credit to my bro and his HS pal SF for forwarding this gem along, and providing me with the giggles I needed this Tuesday morning. Hopefully you've got N*Sync swirling around in your head now and for the rest of the day, as I clearly do...)

What Would You Do?

Moral/ethical dilemma...

This morning I stopped at the ATM to grab some cash. When I went to reach for my moola, I noticed a piece of something sticking out of the "seams" on the side of the machine itself. I picked at it, and what do you know but a $20 bill came sliding out. Yup, a $20. I counted up my cash and this was extra. A rogue twenty.

So, being the good citizen paranoid person that I am, I walked into the branch to turn in the money. I didn't want to just walk away with the money... who knows if there were cameras around and mine was the last card in that ATM... Who knows, right? At the window I told the teller what happened. He looked at me in utter disbelief at my honesty and explained that he couldn't take the money either. Apparently, there'd be no way for the bank to track where the money came from, so putting it back in a bank drawer would end up making it look like the bank shorted a customer on a transaction. He kept shaking his head at me for wanting to turn in the money, and with wide eyes told me to consider it my lucky day.

It still feels like I took money that wasn't mine. What should I do with it? Get over my paranoia and consider it my lucky day? Spend it? Give it to a homeless person? Donate it? What would you do?

I Write Like

This is fun-tastically nerdy. (Thanks, A!)

At "I Write Like," you enter any writing sample of your choosing (of your own) into their "statistical analysis tool, which analyzes your word choice and writing style and compares them with those of famous writers."

(screen shot - don't try this out here - go to the actual link)

I tried this with a few different writing samples of differing styles and from different periods in my recent life (over the past few years), and it gave me three different matches for which famous writers I most write like. I apparently write or have written like: Dan Brown (really?), Margaret Mitchell, and David Foster Wallace (!). I wonder if I picked a favorite blog post as a sample who that would match me with...

Try it. Who do you write like? Who do you *wish* you wrote like?

Nerd Moment of the, Well, of the Moment

Don't you want one of these, my fellow nerds? In a word: Amahzing.

Check this shop (Pamela Fugate Designs) out here, and the Big Books stuff here. And then go raise your Nerd Flag.

Gratitude

Someone sent me an anonymous gift of a book (via Amazon - I guess I could try to get the folks over at Amazon to track you down!). And it's just so lovely and perfect, and I want to say 'thank you' but I don't know to whom!!! So, I've posted a request for your coming out of the shadows on Facebook, and I've sent out a few e-mails to potential suspects, and now I'm posting this here. So thank you. Please say who you are. I love it. I started weeping reading the two-page introduction. Winner.

(image via Google image search)

Voyeur

Spotted out the office window... Just two buddies enjoying some outside time on a beautiful day... I wonder what's down below there...

Just before they got up, I spied them resting out there - human was reading on that deck chair; pup was sleeping in the sunshine at her feet. Jealous.

What a Difference the Sun Makes!

Sorry for the office-view pics from my phone camera, but look how bright and lovely the sunshine makes this city!

and even an itty bitty hint of the lake...

Makes one almost forget it's about to get seriously cold up in here!

Happy weekend! Enjoy some pretty weather!

Sweaters, Scarves & Soup

It's cold. It's happening. I'm not happy about it.

All I can think about today is warmth, because I lack it. I've had soup for lunch two out of two days this week (both soup servings have been delicious, btw). I think I'm making corn chowder for dinner tomorrow night. Soup is cozy. Rather than dwelling on how I'm cold, and therefore require layers upon layers to create the sensation of warmth, imagining coziness is better, no? So here it is, an homage to the cozy warmth of sweaters, scarves, and soup. How do you keep warm?

Soft, Cozy Sweaters:

(1, 2, 3)

Fun & Snuggly Scarves:

(1--via, 2, 3)

Yum-Delicious Soups:


Here's a post from say YES! to hoboken, with links to recipes for 6 fall soup recipes that will warm you up from head to belly to toe. Nothing says cozy like a hearty bowl of soup, if you ask me! If I'm feeling successful, I'll post pics and a recipe for my corn chowder later this week. It's LITERALLY the best corn chowder on the planet, but this will be my first time attempting it myself...

(via say YES! to hoboken)

Mastering Indian-Summer-Wear

I'm trying to enjoy every last drop of this week of Indian Summer here in Chicago. News reports are already torturing us with the "warning" that ours will be the worst winter in the country this year... Jerks. I don't know how to prepare mentally for that. I almost wish it could have been a surprise. Instead, I'm already starting to panic about my likely turn as a recluse in the months ahead. Not good. But NOW. NOW it's warm and delightful. That magical bit of warmth and sunshine that taunts you with the memory of summer neatly set in between cold spells. I'll take it. If this is the winter I throw up my hands and give up, then I'll suck the life out of these last yummy-warm-happy days.

But I feel weird dressing summery when it's October, you know? Like, it's warm, but it's just warm-er. It's not summer again. It's fall. Just a bit of meteorological comic relief to help us out, but still fall. I think I got it right (or at least acceptable) from head-to-ankle, but I think I went too summery with the footwear, and I knew it when I put them on, but I didn't really have the *right* fall/Indian Summer shoe, so I just went with it.

(Please forgive: a) my beautiful background of my office; and b) my aging rock star (aka Richie Sambora) hair... that's another story for another day...)

(Also, I mentioned the bracelet before here, and the shirt here)

But see what I mean? Too summery with the sandals. Maybe something like this would be more Indian-Summer-appropriate:

(DSW)

(DSW)

(ModCloth)

Or even something like one of these:

(Urban Outfitters)

(Endless)

What do you think? Which would have worked better for between seasons? How do you dress to fit these not-quite-a-season days?

(Celebrate/Commemorate)

It's National Coffee Day as well as Banned Books Week - two important-to-acknowlege "celebrations/commemorations", if you ask me!

In honor of National Coffee Day, I bought myself a coffee this morning, instead of subjecting myself to the gruel sad excuse for my caffeine fix I normally consume (for free) at the office. And it was glorious!

(via Google Images)

As for the books... I like this celebration, because I rather dislike the idea of banning books. Duh. I mean, do we really need to discuss this? No. Here are 46 classic titles from the Radcliffe's Rival list of the 100 Best Novels that have been banned or challenged at some point or another in history:

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger

The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
Ulysses, by James Joyce
Beloved, by Toni Morrison
The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
1984, by George Orwell
Lolita, by Vladmir Nabokov
Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
Catch-22, by Joseph Heller
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
Animal Farm, by George Orwell
The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway
As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner
A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway
Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston
Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison
Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison
Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
Native Son, by Richard Wright
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey
Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway
The Call of the Wild, by Jack London
Go Tell it on the Mountain, by James Baldwin
All the King's Men, by Robert Penn Warren
The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair
Lady Chatterley's Lover, by D.H. Lawrence
A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
The Awakening, by Kate Chopin
In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
The Satanic Verses, by Salman Rushdie
Sophie's Choice, by William Styron
Sons and Lovers, by D.H. Lawrence
Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
A Separate Peace, by John Knowles
Naked Lunch, by William S. Burroughs
Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh
Women in Love, by D.H. Lawrence
The Naked and the Dead, by Norman Mailer
Tropic of Cancer, by Henry Miller
An American Tragedy, by Theodore Dreiser
Rabbit, Run, by John Updike

Book-banning is not a thing of the past, BTW. Here's a list (though not necessarily comprehensive) of 100 books that were banned or challenged somewhere or by some-body between 2000-2009!

I can't imagine not being able to read what I want, and I'm grateful for the freedom I have that enables me to do just that - read what I want, when I want to, wherever I please. I do not take this gift for granted. Any titles on these lists that you haven't yet read? Maybe to high-five Banned Books Week, try to read one or more of them in October?! I think I'll do that. It probably won't be Ulysses. Though I'm so glad I *could* read it if I had the urge (and time)!

Read more about Banned Books Week here. And if the mood so strikes you today, go pick up one of these great books and start reading with a cup of warm coffee in hand.

Feels Like Home

Now that I've begun to make peace (sort of) with the close of summer, I'm officially transitioning into one of the things about fall that makes me wistful and nostalgic: feeling sorry for myself for not living in New England at this time of year. Nothing says "Welcome, Fall" like New England foliage changes... I'm partial to Western Massachusetts, of course, but that's just me. The 413 never looks more beautiful than it's about to start looking... and I'm missing it. Pity Party commences... now!

So, to send you off into a true fall weekend, here's a beautiful shot I found of our (apparently I speak now for all Western Massachusetts-ians, or at least all Pioneer Valley-ers) stunning Quabbin Reservoir in fall (how pretty is it where I grew up, for crying out loud?!). I've already made this my desktop wallpaper:

(photo by John Burk, via Fine Art America)

Next week we're trying something new here at Owlet. I'll be co-blogging with my good friend A to recap the Emmy's fashion, a tradition we usually repeat over extensive email exchanging in the week following any/all awards shows, and which we're finally launching for public consumption.

In the meantime... who wants some warm apple cider?! Happy Weekend...

Working from Home

Working from home today with my two best colleagues...

My girls!

In "working from home" news... need any editing help? Wanna collaborate on some sharp, creative copy? Holler my way (hellerms[at]gmail[dot]com). I'm looking to pick up some freelance gigs. I'm good, too. Trust.

Party!

Do not mistake this for any sort of product endorsement. I know nothing of this (or any) car, really. That said, these freaking hamsters in the Kia Soul commercials are the best thing ever, and the new 2012 ad rules. It's awesomeness in a (boob) tube, if you ask me! Seriously - if you're having a bad, or even a not-great, day, this is about to turn that frown upside down, and also it might force you to get up and dance in your cube or office (or living room, if that's where you are... in which case, I'm mad at you.). Whee!

2012 Kia Soul Hamster Commercial [HD] from HS on Vimeo.

The Classics?

So, this morning I was riding the bus to work. Sitting beside me was a youngish professional man, who at first checked his blackberry pretty obsessively, but finally pulled out a book to read. I like seeing male commuters reading novels. I'm not sure why I like it so much, but I do. It delights me, frankly. I mean, I'm always reading something, and I like to sneak peeks at what other riders are reading (I've gotten some good "recommendations" from fellow riders who didn't even know they were adding to my to-read pile!), but let's be frank: it's usually women. Also, I'm increasingly seeing electronic readers taking over, which I get for commuting/traveling, but I still love it when someone pulls out a book-book. And for some reason, especially when it's a man.

Anywhose... So, he pulls out his book, and I can tell from my peripheral vision that it's a novel, and not a business book, or a text book, or some other way-less-interesting-and-exciting(-to-me)-book. I don't know how I can tell, but I can. Can't you? As I'm mostly busy reading my own book, I can only sneak side- and shifty-eyed glances to figure out what it is. But finally, I do. And it surprised me. He was reading Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms.

(via Google)

Why was this surprising to me, you ask? I asked myself the same question, and here's what I think. I think you don't see people just picking up the old classics like that very often for "free" or "fun" reading. While many of *those* books fall into my favorite, or at least into my much-appreciated/English major lists, I'm not sure they always (or ever?) land in my "fun" reading lists. I read the Hemingway I read for school, whether high school or college. Same with Hawthorne, and Fitzgerald, and Steinbeck, and Conrad, and Cather, and many others. This is the kind of book that I would categorize under "Books I feel I should have read already." Granted, I loved many of these works, but you know what I mean? These are the books that have yellow "USED" labels on their spines on my bookshelves!

It got me to thinking about why I don't read more classics, or why, I (boldly) think, many of us don't. Do we get them "out of the way" in school and then associate them with forced introspection on nuances and themes and other insights, so much so that we can't link them to casual reading? These are great books! Are they so lumped into that "I should have already read this" group that we can't necessarily think about moving them out of that group, whether we actually did read them or not? And there's something so different about reading a book on your own, because you want to, and reading it for assignment, isn't there? I wager I'll get something totally different out of the books in this group if I picked them up now, not only because I'm older and wiser (!), but because I'm reading them to read them, just for me.

What do you think? Have you read any of the classic "classics" out of the classroom? Would you? Are there books in that group that you haven't read and feel you should, or should have? Would you tackle those now? Maybe I should find one of those should-have-read-but-haven'ts and add it to the list for my virtual book club, Reading Without Borders? Any RWB members reading this have any thoughts on that?

Anyway, just an observation for the day. Something lighter later, I promise. But I wondered...

Sweet Memories

Thinking about my old friends JM and KGO this morning like crazy... last time we were together it was joyous and magical...

Miss and love you both.

(photos: my own)

Be Good to the Animals

First of all, duh. Animals are the best. Especially my Lanie.

Yesterday there was an earthquake on the east coast, epicenter somewhere near Richmond, Virginia. We all heard about this. And if you didn't, check out this summative round-up of the damage it left behind. I don't mean to jest, I apologize.

But seriously, according to a press release sent out by the Communications Office at the National Zoo in Washington, some of the animals *knew* the quake (or something, anyway) was a-comin'! This is just one more reason you need to a) keep animals around you at all times, and b) give them proper care and attention so that you can get the Lassie-style memo before any danger abounds!

Anyway, animal care staff at the zoo noted changes in some of the animals' behavior... Here are a few examples:

(an orangutan at the National Zoo)

"About five to ten seconds before the quake, many of the apes, including Kyle (an orangutan) and Kojo (a Western lowland gorilla), abandoned their food and climbed to the top of the tree-like structure in the exhibit."

"The red ruffed lemurs sounded an alarm call about 15 minutes before the quake and then again just after it occurred."

"All the snakes began writhing during the quake (copperheads, cotton mouth, false water cobra, etc.). Normally, they remain inactive during the day... [and] Murphy, the Zoo’s Komodo dragon, sought shelter inside."

"Keepers were feeding the beavers and hooded mergansers (a species of duck) when the earthquake hit. The ducks immediately jumped into the pool. The beavers stopped eating, stood on their hind legs and looked around, then got into the water, too."

"The lion pride was outside. They all stood still and faced the building, which rattled during the quake."

"The Zoo has a flock of 64 flamingos. Just before the quake, the birds rushed about and grouped themselves together. They remained huddled during the quake."

"Immediately after the quake the female Eld's deer herd began alarm calling (a high staccato barking sound) until they were called by their keeper and subsequently all congregated in the corner of the pasture nearest the keeper for a short time."


(see the full press release here)

So all of this just to say that animals are amazing. And also usually adorable. But also amazing.

(via)

Kindred

I've shared this story with a few friends already today, but I figured it's such a good one it deserves posting anyway, so I apologize if this is a repeat for you...

Yesterday I got home from work and had to make a Target run. I needed dog food and a birthday present for my best friend's daughter and some other random things, along with whatever else would undoubtedly catch my eye because, come on, it’s Target--you know I’m not walking out with less than $100 worth of goodies, right? Right.

Anyway, so I come home with five Target bags and a giant bag of dog food (because the giant bags were on super sale, so… obviously), and I get in the elevator, and there’s this teeny tiny super old, hunched-over, swollen-ankled lady in the elevator. She’s basically as old-school (er—old-world, maybe—my building’s full of eastern Europeans) as it comes. Thick dark beige panty hose, calf-length thick brown summer wool skirt, blouse tucked in, cardigan, hair done. She’s easily in her mid-80s, I’d say. And very sweet. And so old (you'll understand my fixation on her aged-ness in a moment). And, side bar, I love when old women still “dress for the day,” right?! I mean, it was 7:00p.m. and she was still dressed for the day. I hope I'm that lady one day. Anyway, she asks for my floor and I tell her. And then, as we’re riding up in polite silence with occasional polite smiles at each other, I realize she has something very big in her hands. I sneak a peek, and what is it? What could it be? What could this sweet old eastern European lady in my building be carrying up at 7:00p.m. on a Tuesday evening?

...

...

...

...

The Fall Fashion issue of Vogue, that's what. And now I’m in love with her. (Per my friend A's suggestion, I'm going to attempt to befriend this woman so that I can go through what I anticipate is an amazing collection of vintage Vogues, which I assume she keeps in chronological order on the massive bookshelves lining her living room walls... just imagine!)

Gifts for the Home... Yours or Someone Else's

I have a Pinterest board dedicated to gifting because I love giving, but when I need to get one, I can never think of the perfect gift. That ever happen to you? It always happens to me. And since Pinterest is the answer to my I-can't-keep-track-of-all-of-my-amazing-ideas problem, it seemed only logical to start storing away some good gifting nuggets for use in the future. (Full disclosure: since I covet many of the things I've pinned, not all are pinned exclusively to the "Gifting" board, but also to the "Home" board, because a girl can dream and hope and save...) Here are some of my favorite for-the-home gift ideas I've pinned so far (p.s., follow me on Pinterest by clicking that "Follow Me on Pinterest" button on the right):

(paper mâché bowls by up in the air somewhere - about whom I've posted before)

(beautiful napkins by Knife In the Water)

(dandelion tea light holders from wapa)

(porcelain yoghurt bottle vases at LEIF, via Design*Sponge)

(off-center mod frames from Room & Board)

(and I am straight-up obsessed with these wall pots by tw pottery)

That's enough for now... what do you like to give as a home gift? What's the best homey gift you ever received?