life+running » Fashion

Sweet Tunes Thursday: JEW + HAIRRRRRRRRRR + Chobani Winner

chimes — Thu, 03 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Heather!

I’ll need your address so the good people at Chobani can send you your yogurt!

Thanks everybody … especially Chobani … for participating.

Also, Lindsay (one of the people who put together BLEND) from Lindsay’s List recently posted a Firestarter Workout, which reminded me of the awesome Jimmy Eat World cover of the Prodigy song. I love the Jimmy Eat World cover of Firestarter so much. Unfortunately YouTube isn’t letting me embed it. But there’s no video anyway. So click the link, and enjoy! Also, here’s the entire Firestarter EP on Spotify. You’re welcome.

It’s been so long since my love affair with JEW (and College Boyfriend) that I almost forgot about them. I was wearing my JEW t-shirt the other day in Marshall’s and the kid working was all, “Whoa, is that a Jimmy Eat World t-shirt? That is OLD SCHOOL.” And I felt really old.

Now that you’ve been yogurted and Jimmyed, I have to share a little secret with you: I CUT MY HAIR.

I know. I told you all I was growing it out. And I tried. REALLY I tried.

But, this is the face of a girl that cannot STAND to go one more moment with this ridiculous mess of hair.

I said if I get to the end of April and I can’t ponytail it, then I’m cutting it.

Guess what? It wouldn’t ponytail. Not without a LOT of cheating and a ton of bobby pins. DOES. NOT. COUNT!

So on Tuesday of this week (just in time for BLEND*) I decided it was time.

I created a photo collage of the two cuts I’ve been digging and brought it to my salon-ista.

And here’s how it turned out. I was expecting longer bangs … and I was having a hard time with the shorter bangs the night that it got cut, but I think I’m okay with it now. I reallllllly like how it looks from the side and back. Either way — so glad to have all that mess of hair gone.

Oh, and I decided to color my hair back to my natural color last weekend. That way it’s easier to keep up when it starts growing out. I also didn’t want to look like a leopard when I left the salon. And I had been mistaken for a college AND high school student several times in the last few weeks … the light blonde hair doesn’t help.

* I’m driving there right now … and typing this. I’m multi-talented — just kidding — I wouldn’t do that. I purposely scheduled my hair reveal for today so I didn’t have to hear whining about how I cut it all off again.

Have you ever gotten your hair cut on impulse? If so, how did that turn out for you (pix please!)?

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Post on Twenties Hacker today + Tu-tu-tu-Tuesday: Glitter Nails

chimes — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Hey guys. Head on over to Twenties Hacker today to read my post about Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred. It’s a good one.

Also, I have to share that I *finally* watched the Star Wars trilogy. The original one. Unfortunately the version with all the added crap, which even to a new person, is offensive. It’s so obvious what was added. And it ruins the magic of the original film — and all the tricks that they did to create the original movies. Boom — out the window. Here’s the most offensive one. If you dare.

This was how we spent our anniversary weekend: Cheap sparkling wine + Star Wars on Bluray.

We started watching on Saturday and I got through the first one and second one by Sunday evening. We started the third one and I fell asleep. As usual. It’s not like I’ve not ever TRIED to watch these. It’s that I always fall asleep.

But, I’m no longer a Star Wars virgin. And I think that means I can claim full nerd-dom.

Here’s something non-geeky and pretty.

I thought I’d share this quick nail tutorial I found on Pinterest with you today. I’ve become slightly obsessed with painting my nails lately. And I found this tutorial for glitter nails at Cupcakes and Cashmere, so I just had to try it out.

My nails never turn out as perfectly painted as photos online, but this was still a fun mani to have.

[ thanks to Kelly for the photos! ]

I need to update my mani / pedi before this weekend’s BLEND retreat. Maybe with glitter.

How do you feel about glitter?

That’s it. Really. How DO you feel about glitter?

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double trouble, er double date

chimes — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Oh, so in case you’re wondering what I ended up buying, in regard to the dress post from last week, I went with the white sale dress and the pink dress. The pink dress ended up being SEE THRU. And the waist was too long for me (did I mention I am all leg and no torso? I have less than 2 inches between the bottom of my ribs and my hip bones). In order for the bottom of the dress to cover my butt, I had to pull the waist of the dress to about my hips — the biggest part of my torso. No. Thanks. So I’m returning. I’m happy with the white dress, and it was definitely a good use of $24.

I did not, however, wear it on our double date on Saturday. Though I should have because Mark and I don’t get out much. Usually Friday nights are spent hitting the gym, making dinner, and passing out by 10. And Saturdays are spent running errands, getting groceries, hitting the gym and usually watching a movie or Netflix because we’re too tired to do anything else.

But, occasionally, we do venture out. We’ve been trying to go out more often because we’ve gotten stuck in an OMC (old married couple) rut. And what better opportunity to get out than to meet a friend and her new BF*? We met up with my friend Kelly and her man at La Fuente (where else? I need to get out of this rut!) and then we hit the lanes at Perfect Games for some (not-so) competitive bowling.

And I discovered that margaritas + bowling do not mix. I bowled a 64 and a 65. At least I’m consistent.

^ another classic Kelly/Calee photo. Not to be confused with this one:

[ Kelly's 26th b-day party ]

… this one …

[ my 21st birthday rock star party — Kelly was dressed as me and I was Courtney Love. Note the cigarette hanging out of my bra — prop only people. c'mon. ]

… or this one. From the time we could have been mistaken for twins. Or at least sisters. It was totally the hair.

[ sometime in the summer of 2007 ]

Kelly so thoughtfully took a picture of Mark and I …

… what was up with my hair? And what was Mark doing? Dorks!

And Kelly took a photo and her BF John, who I’m pretty sure Mark wants to steal from her now that they’ve met. She is awesome at taking group photos while being IN the group. It’s a talent. I know.

And we all bowled pretty terribly. But that’s okay. Mark still has a bruise on his hand from trying to be fancy and such.

^ Mark made fun of me for showing off my guns. He was pretty sure that I was doing celebratory dances that included flexing. Not true. I did, however, strategically pick out that tank top.

Fun times!

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Side note, those of you in Ames — we had a pretty crap experience with the service at Perfect Games. Our server started off the evening by asking, “Um, did somebody seat you here?” and when I said yes, she said, “Um, well I guess that’s okay,” in a snarky manner. She didn’t wait on us all night, except when she saw Mark go to the bar to get a drink. And when we went to pay, it was $40 (because Mark got drinks) and it seemed a little much, so I involuntarily blurted out, “40?” and she said, “Yeah, 40. Do you want to see the receipt?” All that was missing was the finger snaps and a “bitch” at the end of that statement and it would have iced the cake that was her attitude. He tipped her. I wouldn’t have. Or maybe would have left her a penny. And pointed it out to her. “A penny?” “Yeah. Would you like to see the receipt?” (the receipt being my middle finger … )

Also, they had a post-prom party starting at 11 PM. At 10 minutes until 10, somebody said over the loudspeaker, “We are closing at 11. Finish up what you’re doing and leave.”

Really? Yeah. I know there’s really no other place to bowl in Ames, but this place rubbed me the wrong way. Not to mention, they played the intro to Holy Diver and didn’t play the song. Instead it segued into some country song. Barf. On that principle alone, I will not return to Perfect Games. Never mind the troll of a waitress.

*Pronounced beef. I don’t know WHERE I picked that up from, and it’s annoying, but I’ve been saying “beef”.

Do you bowl? and If you get crappy / rude service, how do you handle it?

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I need your help!

chimes — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 16:00:00 +0000

I need your help with something very important. But first, a quickie recap of Easter weekend.

I hung out at home by myself on Sunday because I couldn’t find anybody to watch Barney, and he’s not a very friendly dog, so I can’t just take him everywhere with me. However, it turned out that I was in need of some serious ME time, so I couldn’t have asked for a better Easter. Not to mention, I didn’t have all that candy and junk in front of me all day (which in itself was totally worth it).

I spent the day watching old Doctor Who and working on some stuff for an upcoming craft show at Iowa State. Since nobody else was home, I moved my craft stuff into the kitchen / living room area for better lighting and so I could watch TV on Mark’s awesome TV.

I made about 12 zipper bags. I need to take “official” photos of them so I have them for my records. Since I make these from scraps, every bag I make is different and I like to see all the different ones I’ve made.

I used the improv block that I made during my patchwork class for one of these bags. And it was by far my favorite bag of the day.

I also used up the last chunk of this paisley fabric that my friend Adria gave me a long time ago. It’s not really my style. But she was sick of it after making her mom a quilt with it, so she gave it to me. And now I’m really sick of it. I made what is quite possibly the ugliest bag I’ve ever made. Not my taste. But somebody will like it.

And I made cookies for this month’s installment of the cookie of the month club. I used Martha Stewart’s recipe for flourless peanut butter cookies and omitted the chocolate and nuts (yes — I did GF because I knew I’d eat some, and I’d be less miserable if they were GF) and put Rolos in the middle. They turned out highly addictive, so I packed them up and took the extras to work today (sorry Mark).

I used the rest of my “me” Easter day to pamper and go to the gym. There was a bubble bath and pedicure involved. Obviously no photos of the bubble bath.

I didn’t even think about the possibility of the gym not being open because it was Easter until I posted a photo on Instagram and Janetha commented about me being lucky to have an open gym. Instead of panicking, I took the chance and biked there anyway. It WAS open. I go to the gym at Iowa State and they aren’t closed unless the university itself is closed. If they closed on Easter, they’d have to close for every other religious holiday (it’s a public school), so they don’t close on Easter. The only reason they close on Christmas is because nobody is on campus during that time.

Note: biking to the gym + leg day is not advised.

And now for the serious business.

So I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it or not, but I’m going to this little shindig — the BLEND Retreat — next month.

Did I mention that? I thought I might have.

I’ve got my bed and breakfast booked for the drive there and drive back. The drive there might just be my old roommate, Nick’s, new place in Omaha, but the drive back stay includes a whirlpool.

But here’s where I need your help.

I’m shopping for a dress for first night there. Everybody’s doing it, so I thought I’d join. I don’t NEED another dress, buuuuut I want one. I’m hoping to get some opinions before they sell out on sizes that could potentially fit me.

I found this lovely site called Nasty Gal. Yeah. That’s the name.

And I have my choices narrowed down to these finalists.

Right angled sequin dress — $16 on sale

This one I’m kind of worried about belly pooch and the fact that my top isn’t that busty. I might get it and if it doesn’t work gift it to my friend Steph, who is a little smaller and a lot less poochy than me. It’s $16.

But then there’s this one that’s got the same issues as the first one, but it only comes in a small. And it’s also only $20.

Metal Mania Dress — $20.40

I like this one for obvious reasons. It also seems a little less structured than the one above it. I’m just worried that small is NOT going to fit.

But this next one is only $24. And I don’t see any issues with it. Other than the fact that I don’t typically wear white.

Georgia Lace Dress — $24

Hrm. Out of these three I like the second one the BEST but I’m really worried about the size. I should be asking Steph which one she likes the best. Ha.

And there’s this one. It’s Calee pink. And it is going to show off my back that I’ve worked super hard on the last few months. So I’m pretty sure I’m going to get this one. But I want to know which other sale dress I should grab. Or if you hate this one. Because if that’s the case, I’m getting two of the sale dresses.

Racerback Wrap Dress — $48

I need all the help I can get. Comments are appreciated! Thank you.

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ugh. hair. and mini muffin tops.

chimes — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:00:00 +0000

It’s been rather warm here this week. In fact, I ended up previewing my super tiny shorty compression shorts from UnderArmour yesterday … LONG before I was comfortable cramming into them. Muffin. Top. Okay, it was like one of those mini breakfast muffins, but it was still happening. Not cool. But I ran 3.14+ miles in shorty shorts and a sports bra anyway. And then I went to the gym, which is our University gym, and I’ve been known to run into coworkers. In shorty shorts? This could be interesting.

Fortunately, it’s spring break. Nobody I didn’t want to see was there for my tiny pant preview. But it wasn’t that bad anyway. See?

However, there were some um, very helpful, men that were obnoxiously trying to help me set up my station for bench presses. No thanks. I can do it myself. Which I told them in a not-so-polite-tone. Nothing pisses me off more than boys at the gym thinking that women can’t lift heavy things. Why else would I be there?

Related [ to the shorty shorts ] question: Do you guys wear panties with workout gear that has built-in underwear or is made to not wear underwear with? I’m having a hard time NOT wearing underwear. It feels weird. And kinda gross. But it’s definitely more comfortable with gear that’s made specifically to go skivvyless.

So besides requiring me to wear super tiny shorty shorts to stay cool, this March heatwave is making me want to cut my hair off again.

Yes. I realize I just spent 8 hours blonde-ing it.

It’s really gotten to that obnoxious point. The point where it’s IN MY FACE and I can’t ponytail it. And it’s on the back of my neck. Making me hot.

Not to mention, my face is all broken out now. I blame the hair touching it. And the fact that I haven’t adjusted to washing my hair like a normal person again. I could get away with a week’s worth of no-washing with short hair.

Yes. I realize that washing my hair once a week might make me a disgusting person, but I have dry, curly hair and I need to wash it less or it starts breaking apart and getting frizzy. Short hair allows me to easily wash my scalp, so my hair stays grease-free longer. I always rinse my hair regardless if I shampoo it every time I get in the shower and condition it every few times. So it’s not totally gross. Right? Meh.

I’ve been trying to grow it back out, but … I loved this cut … sooooooo much:

Not only was it super crazy easy to style, it was adorable. And not many chicks can pull off this short of hair.

Right now … my mane is getting unruly and looks like this:

Oh, and it’s going to be 80° today. Spring break. In Iowa. Where’s the snow? The first time I’ve not had vacation during spring break since I was probably 5 years old, and it’s flipping beautiful.

Knowing how hot and uncomfortable I’d be with thick curly hair everywhere, I spent 20 minutes this morning trying to get all the little short ends pinned up and out of my face and off my neck. It didn’t turn out as cute as some of the pinned up styles I did / will be able to do when it’s long. And definitely not as fast. I don’t like spending 20 minutes on my hair … I’m leaning towards chopping.

All I want is for it to be adorably short or really long like this:

… none of this in-between BS!

Should I be patient and wait another month to see if I can ponytail this shiz by the end of April? Or should I just el-chop-o?

Because I’m seriously about ready to buzz it. RELATED: I’m in dire need of a touchup on the blonde. I’m going to to go one shade darker so it’s closer to my natural color [ in the long and short hair photos ].

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Super Prom Recap!

chimes — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Hi there. I’m feeling … SUPER. Thanks for asking.

Ames Prom was this past weekend. If you’re new to my blog, Ames Prom is a charity event which involves a bunch of adults getting dressed up and silly for a good cause. This year we helped out the animals. I love animals!

I would also like to point out that while we were busy making final plans for prom, my friend Adria was giving birth. Things I’m glad I didn’t say 10 years ago …

My friends and I went as our super-selves. I’m The Chimenator. Which was hard to explain to other people, but I looked like a superhero and 30-40% of the people there were my friends and they got it. So …

And no Chimenator costume is complete without legwarmers. Seriously. I wear these suckers daily now.

My friend Steph came over for my pre-party. Which ended up being just the two of us, but we had fun anyway. Related: I’m really freaking short.

Also, I’d like to point out that my back is looking pretty good. Despite the fact that about 10 minutes before this I had an epic meltdown over bra buldge that I was getting from my miraculous bra. It looked like I was smuggling hot dogs. I decided having Super Boobs wasn’t worth having the back bulge that came with it. There’s only so much skin that can be pushed into those cups …

Also, don’t come to my place and expect a good shot. Just don’t.

We have vodka and bourbon. I have various small bottles of girlie liquors. Now I have a LARGE bottle of kinky. These were cake vodka + baileys. Sounds good? You can tell by the look on my face that it’s not.

So pre-party was successful. Apparently we took “official” photos at prom (I’m interested in seeing these) and there was some NSFW prop action.

I hope you get the reference to Dr. Horrible. If not, spend the next 40 minutes watching this so you get it. It’s Captain Hammer’s logo, and um, his fists are not the hammer.

[ source ]

And with that, now we get to the fun part: The costumes!

We had The Penguin …

… Wolverine — with more awesome claws than he had for Halloween apparently …

… uhm, Awkward Man …

… Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, BEETLEJUICE! And a Super-not-looking-happy-Chimenator

AND The 11th Doctor. Which is awesome because I’m currently obsessed with Doctor Who. And I’m on season 5 of the latest series, which features this Doctor. And fezzes are cool. Also, he brought his sonic screwdriver. Seriously? Seriously.

[ Photo courtesy of Kelly ]

AND even better? He conned his wife into dressing up as the TARDIS (or she conned him). She looked awesome and was a good sport when I asked her if “she was bigger on the inside.” I had a 50/50 chance of getting punched … I took it.

And finally, this guy cracked me up ALL night. There were various Wonder Women, but none quit so fantastic as Wonder WoMAN and his bright blue eyeshadow and chest hair.

I’m sure there will be more followup posts, but there ya go. My drunken prom adventure.

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hair-brained idear: or how I went blonde in a day

chimes — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +0000

last weekend I got the itch to change my hair. yeah. that happens quite often around these parts.

I decided to go from brunette to blonde. In one day. Anybody who knows anything about hair knows that you can’t do this with box color (yikes) and that you really probably shouldn’t do this in a day, unless you have ultra-resilient hair.

Psh.

So I looked like this on Friday at work …

… and came in on Monday like this.

… I wish I wouldn’t have chickened out and gone ONE shade lighter.

Anyway, here’s how I did it. Mostly for those who are interested in the gory “inbetween” photos.

First, if you are going to damage your hair with color or bleach, it’s best to start with an unwashed mane. I knew this was going to be killer on my hair, so I may have gone a few extra days between washings. Yup.

That happened.

And so did this.

So here’s the equipment. I repeat, don’t do this at home unless you’ve had some experience with professional products or at least somebody with knowledge (thanks mom) to help you along the way. I, fortunately, did not have to call my mom on this one.

Clockwise starting with the kitchen timer we have:

- A PROFESSIONAL deep conditioner masque — I say professional because if you truly don’t want your hair to fall out when you’re bleaching it, professional products provide much more moisturizing than non-professional. Trust me on this one.

- Quick Blue bleach. Not sure if I’d use this one again. It took two bleachings, which was scary. It was recommended by the lady at Sally’s, and I’m not sure how much I trust that recommendation.

- Color mixing / applicator bottle (not for the bleach, sorry, that’s confusing)

- 3o developer … using non-box color requires a little bit of science and measuring, which is kinda scary

- color — which I ended up changing after 1 bleaching

- 20 developer — which I should have gone with another 30 on this, but again, lady at Sally’s said no. Result? the color is darker than I wanted it because my hair sucks up color, esp. after a processing treatment. This I know from experience.

SO let the games begin!

After one bleaching, I got this. Not as light as I had wanted. And I used the maximum process time. Plus, it was orange — which I had anticipated.

So I had a choice here. I could try getting a high-lifting blonde with a 40 developer (which lifts the most color out) and a packet of red-out … or bleach it again, get a neutral blonde and some red out.

I was kind of worried about the high-lifting + 40 because I’d not tried that before. So I went for option number two.

Side note, I used the deep conditioning masque after both bleachings and colorings. In case you were wondering. And I’ve not washed my hair yet, and have been using that masque in the shower daily. My hair was kind of sketchy after this, but has gotten back to normal in just a few days.

After the second bleaching, I had cotton candy hair. If the ends weren’t so red, I might have kept this color because it was kind of fun.

Holy hot roots, Batman! I was really worried that my roots were going to end up being noticeably lighter than the rest of my hair. They didn’t, well, except to well-trained professionals, but not to normal peeps.

Also, the damage is quite noticeable in this photo, but partially because I blow-dried it and it looks a little fuzzy / dry after a good blow-drying.

SO. Now the moment of truth. I was really worried. And while I had the color on I was pissed off because I didn’t get the 30 developer that I had wanted to get or the LIGHTEST blonde (next time). I was sure that it was going to come out as dark as it was before I started, but now with damage.

The result?

A somewhat believable blonde. Again, I wish I would have gone ONE shade lighter. But, I can do that next time.

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Tu-tu-tu-Tuesday: Glitter Nails

chimes — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Ke$ha would have been proud of these nails.

I did this over New Year’s after seeing a tutorial on Pinterest.

You can use any color for a base, I chose a glitter color by OPI that coordinated with the glitter I was planning on putting on the tips. The trick is that the glitter should be different sizes in order to get the cool effect.

Anyway, this is a LOT of fun, and you should try it. If you do, send me your pix and I’ll do a roundup of glitter nails.

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Apron in Action!

chimes — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 16:00:00 +0000

Last week I posted about the apron I made Emee for Christmas.

Here is the apron in action. Mom and Em were making French toast and Emee asked to wear her new apron.

So cute! I’m glad she liked it. She was so blinded by Legos (which, for the record, weren’t blind after she was done with them — click the link and you’ll understand) and all the other cool stuff she got that she barely noticed the apron that she had wanted. Looks like she’s got a year or more left to wear it since I made it intentionally a bit big.

I bet that was some good french toast!

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lovely

chimes — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 12:00:00 +0000

self-manicure, inspired by something I found on pinterest.

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