Gradu-palooza -- the girl version!

So the girl in charge graduated from high school last weekend.  

 I feel old.  I ask you -- does this look like the face of someone who is ready to step out into the wide world? 

No?  OK -- how about this?

I know, right?

 [ The festive bow was after the fact, and I say -- too bad.  ]

While the mortarboard hat does make a definite statement, I think the bow shows way more fashion flair.  Call me crazy.

We partied it up for our girl, with balloons and party platters, and grandparents and aunts and godparents. 

My friend Saskia made this beautiful cake, which tasted even better than it looked, and strictly followed the girl in charge's instructions:  chocolate, with a side of chocolate, filled with chocolate and frosted with chocolate.  Please.

The bestie was there to make the day perfect.  It wouldn't be a celebration without her and her mom -- they make any party more fun!

So, yeah!  My girl in charge is already making her lists and organizing her minions as she prepares to leave for Emory University in the fall, but we're not going to talk about that because I can only absorb so many of these  moments when my life swings on a hinge and everything changes.  I don't really understand how parents make it through life without sobbing every day.

But we do.

Glamour hair redux!

So the sunny girl has wanted to experiment with coloring her hair for quite some time, but I have been somewhat resistant.  Mostly it's because I think her hair is lovely already -- so why mess with perfection?  But also I have to admit that I have a wide streak of "I hate change" running through me.  For the sunny girl, her balky mother has been -- let's call me a frustration.

So she and I were both thrilled when we saw this description of "hair chalking."  It seemed like the perfect solution:  the sunny girl could experiment with some fun and funky hair colors, and I could breathe easier because the color is quite temporary.

tangent:  I know, I know.  Ultimately all hair coloring is "temporary," and I should just get over my bad self.  Baby steps, people.  I would still dress her in seersucker pinafores if she would let me.

Well, we followed the instructions (the video at the bottom of the post is excellently clear and helpful), and got some good tips from a Facebook friend (hi, Eryn!).  Here's how the experiment went.

We bought a set of artist's pastel chalks from Michael's -- very cheap:  five dollars for the whole collection.  If you decide to try this, make sure you are getting chalk pastels and not oil pastels.

The sunny girl picked four colors, and after washing her hair, sat down in front of the computer so we could watch movies while the experiment was underway.

After putting some red in her hair, I used the purple chalk, then the blue, then the green.

Here's what it looked like after I was finished coloring the hair, but before it dried.  The instructions said that we should wait for the hair to dry completely, then "set" the color with the heat of a straightening iron or a curling iron.

And here's how it looked after I curled it.  Ignore my messy desk.

So -- my analysis:

1.  I think it looked pretty good; if she wants to try it again, I think I will use smaller sections of hair, and a curling iron with a smaller barrel.  These curls look a little bit like bossy Susan's "boing-boing" curls from Ramona the Pest.

2.  Though the instructions say that you can brush your hair after the color has set, this is not true.  It was clear almost immediately that brushing the hair would remove most of the color.  So the sunny girl just left it alone.

3.  The chalk is heavy, and makes you feel like you have stuff in your hair, probably because you do have stuff in your hair.  Also, it is very drying; a good leave-in conditioner might be the way to combat this.  We later found a commercial product on-line -- Hair Flairs Color Rub -- that promises to be less damaging.  Maybe this is the answer?  It does cost more . . . .  And ultimately, a lot of the chalk ended up on the sunny girl's pillow.  If you want this look for a fun night out, it would probably be best to work your hair glamour magic on the day of the event.


So -- if you are thinking about trying this, go for it!  The sunny girl and I had a lot of fun, and I lost a lot of my hair color fear.  When all is said and done, this is an easy, inexpensive, and sassy way to jazz up your hair!

Hot date with my mother-in-law

I have the world's most fabulous mother-in-law.  It's true!  And here is just the most recent evidence:  Due to the state of our construction project, watching television at our house is not a possibility right now.  And while we are not the biggest TV-watching family out there, I do love me some Oscars!  One year I even flew to Florida to catch the broadcast with my pal, Danielle.  True story. 

So -- Oscar night:  what to do??

And here is where my mother-in-law Donna came to the rescue.  She invited me up to her place. OK --  I invited myself up to her place, put she was pretty darned gracious and enthusiastic about saying yes.  And when I got there (bringing a love offering of Chinese food), I discovered that she had set the table with her fancy china, and had planned out an appetizer of shrimp cocktail and a delicious pineapple dessert.  She plied me with wine and snacks throughout the Oscars show, while we mocked some dresses and oohed and aahed over others.  And I just need to say:  Angelina Jolie -- eat something, for the love of God!

These were our two favorite dresses of the night:

Penelope Cruz looked like Old Hollywood, in every good way.  She didn't feel the need to thrust her boobage in our faces (we appreciated that, Penelope!) and the woman has a little sexy meat on her bones.  This is a good thing.

And look how lovely Octavia Spencer was on her Big Night!  Gorgeous!

But nobody on the red carpet can hold a candle to Donna -- the queen of adventure and the most gracious hostess in the world.  I am a lucky daughter-in-law!

Small pleasures: Look what I found!

Oh my gosh! I found these shoes in the clearance rack at DSW! People, I literally skipped to the cash register. It's true.

So let's see . . . how many identical pairs of these rockin' red loafers have I now purchased? One pair for Coleen. One pair for Carolyn. And one two three pairs for me.

They don't call me frugal for nothing!

We do clean up kind of nice

So this past weekend the husband and I got all dolled up and went to his company's Christmas bash, which is always just way, way fun.

Much merriment ensued, what with an open bar and a hotel reservation -- and no babysitter with a curfew, either!

We have come to look forward to this annual casino night, which I think is so much more fun than watching a bunch of whippersnappers dancing to music that I don't know or like.

Instead, we feel like high rollers, gambling away our play money. It's so freeing to bet a thousand dollars -- and then to say, "Oh heck -- make it two thousand!"

A fabulous time, with terrifically fun friends -- it was a great way to celebrate!

+++

Our Advent calendar book today is Big Susan. Mr. and Mrs. Doll and their children and servants belong to Big Susan, and live in a house with no front. On Christmas Eve every year, they can move about without needing Susan to help them.

This is such a sweet story -- thanks, Cassi Renee!