of parties & weather

So this past weekend, a hurricane's eye meandered along the coast of Virginia.

Those of us living inland were subjected to the same media hype as those on the coast, and being good NOVA'ns, accustomed to moderate weather year round, we panicked.

Whoever put water on sale at Giant last week is probably regretting that decision.

Being on the far east side of the hurricane, NOVA received only enough wind to knock some leaves onto the road (debris! drive carefully!) and enough rain to make walking outside uncomfortable.

Still, despite its generally balmy weather, my area of NOVA is historically plagued by the loss of power during the gentlest of weather (a cloud? power's out). Hence, batteries seemed a smart purchase.

My wonderfully thorough housemates ensured that if the hurricane did perhaps decide to visit our section of the country, we would have party supplies to welcome her. And water. Because it was on sale.

Ironically, the only damage incurred from Irene was in the bedroom of the native Deep Southerner who refused to take this East Coast hurricane seriously--myself.

Though, is it truly hurricane damage if the window already leaked?

Also, I really hope that the disappearance of the large spider that lives between that window and its screen means he drowned over the weekend.

having survived natural disaster week

You probably thought I'd gone missing after all those natural disasters we've had in Virginia this week: earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding.

Nope. I just didn't find time to post pictures of the hurricane damage. Hopefully tomorrow you can see those.

In the meanwhile, I arrived at our row of townhomes last night to find this in our neighbor's yard:

The signs say "please pick up after your dog." And it has a picture of a dog with a pooper-scooper.

As if one wasn't enough, they decided to post two.

This really makes me laugh.

the care and keeping of curls

There are as many variations of curl care as there are variations of curls. It's quite overwhelming, to be honest. Where does one start? Should one even start the process, especially as a professional woman?

For those attached to books, the library won't yield much. The Curly Girl book provides some useful tips and a great deal of encouragement for those hesitant to embrace their natural state.

The author also has a website that provides video tutorials and further information for curly girls.

Then there's NaturallyCurly.com, a veritable utopia of ideas and suggestions for those with unruly hair.

And then there are myriads of other folk with suggestions on how to care for curly tresses.

Where to start?

quakers

To be honest, I had been muddling about for a topic for today's post.

However, in the middle of a longish afternoon at work yesterday (mostly thanks to my stuffy, sinus-ridden head), I had a flash of brilliance. Well, more like a quake of brilliance. Wait, was I quaking with brilliance?

Wondering if indeed I had become a Quaker, I soon realized that I was simply experiencing my first earthquake.

Yes, that's right, I'm an East Coaster and yesterday I lived through the Great DC Earthquake of 2011.

It was rather anti-climatic, nothing like the movies where pictures tumble, bookshelves snap, and buildings crumble. In fact, my first thought upon feeling the quaking and hearing the metal stands in my bookshelf rattle was "Gee, our mailguy has a heavy cart of mail today."

When the shaking continued for another few seconds, I thought "Oh, perhaps it's construction."

And then the shaking got harder, and I decided that this might be what an earthquake felt like. Of course, I then realized that I don't really know what to do during an earthquake. So naturally, I thought "Well, earthquakes make buildings fall over. So I should probably leave the building."

Many of my fellow East Coast co-workers had the same thought, so we stepped outside to enjoy the sunshine for a few minutes. That is, until one of the big bosses arrived with a strange stare: "Why are you all out here?" So we adjourned our brief sunshine escapade.

I returned to my office to discover that my little office companions hadn't even moved.

So much for a shattering earthquake story. It was more like 12 seconds of one of those "Jiggle off your fat!" chairs.

driving solo

Most of the forms of travel in which I am completely inexperienced are not popular in the USA: trains, camels, rickshaws, elephants, motorcycles, gondolas, and sled-dogs.

Still, in my first-world life, I have enough experience to be mobile in a variety of ways: buses, bicycles, ships, horses, metros (i.e., subways), and swimming.

The list of transportation forms in which I am highly experienced is small: my own two feet, airplanes, and cars.

Unfortunately, those last two forms are the ones which I also dislike the most. Familiarity breeds contempt, so they say.

Or perhaps simply situations like the one I experienced yesterday:

On the interstate, driving home from a friend's house in NC, I-81 decided to host a 'slow down the traffic' party.

As you can tell from my speedometer, the party was working.

I'm not a big fan of parties on the interstate.

There's only so much Michael Buble and Pringles I can take at speeds of 20mph.

Well, at least the party was for a good cause...*

Cows. I've never ridden a cow either.

Wonder how fast they go?

*disclaimer: I'm not advocating car crashes! Just sayin' I'd rather have traffic for a reason than for no reason...which HAS happened to me before...

A Pictorial Hair History

Ringlets are cute when you're a kid...and when they're short. (age 2)

You can see a bit of a wave, and definitely some unruliness in the bangs...to think, this was my 'family photo session best hair.' (age 10/11)

Yes, definitely had been fighting the curl in this picture: notice the pollyanna style, a recurring theme in this curly girl's desire for control. (age 14)

During my youth, I visited multiple salons seeking "The Perfect, No-Hassle Cut." Obviously, we had trouble finding it.

So, sick of it all, I went for the bob... (age 17)

Deciding the bob didn't quite work for me, I devoted myself to the art of the straightener, even accomplishing this lovely work with bangs during an East Coast spring. (age barely 19)

Despite that one success, my ambitions of gorgeous hair dissolved with every humidity increase (and during Alabama summers, there are plenty of those!). I grew out my bangs, hoping that would cut precious time out of my morning routine. (age 19.5)

The completely fringe-less, long unlayered look was simple...when dreadlocks were in style (age 21)

Maybe sideswept bangs were the answer to the 'big forehead' dilemma! (age 21 and finally starting to accept my curl)

Of course, my hair HAD to be straight for the most important day of my life to that point: college graduation. Unfortunately, I hadn't looked at the rain forecast for the day...I still regret that morning's decision to straighten instead of embrace the curl. (age 22)

And finally, here we are now, almost 3 weeks into the Curly Experiment:

I still like the straight hair look, but I'm growing accustomed to the breeziness and simplicity of curls that seem to be enjoying their freedom.

And I'm determined never to let a hairdresser touch my hair again without proof that he or she is trained in styling curls!