A Hairy Tale

Hi y'all. I know I've been MIA for a month or so (okay, almost two).  Let's leave all the excuses of a job and a kid and busyness aside and jump back in.

I've thought about what I want this public notebook to be, and I want to get back to the basics. I don't have the time or energy to be the next super-crafty mama, or recipe junkie, or aspire to be another Pioneer Woman. 

This is snapshots of my life and what I learn, sharing along the way.

So to dive back into the self-effacement with both feet, I present to you the story of me dyeing my hair.

Now, I've dyed my hair off and on for the past 4 or 5 years...more consistently when I moved to Seattle since there was no SUNSHINE to make my hair that radiant beach blonde it's always been. 

When I moved to Oklahoma I going to Sally Beauty and mixing my own concoctions--and usually they turn out great. So I set out a few weeks ago to dye my hair a shade or two darker blonde.

The irony of this, lest it be lost on you, is I was dying my hair a tad darker so to be closer to my natural shade and I wouldn't have to worry about dyeing it anymore. Just stick with natural stuff like chamomile and lemon and things like that and avoid those nasty chemicals that can't be good for anyone.

Just a shade or two darker was all I needed. That's what I was going for.

Then I made the mistake of trying a different additive to keep the red and brassy tones out. It was Ardel Unred...in case you are crazy like me and whip up your own hair recipes.

THIS is what I was left with.

Oh heavens. I was a brunette. A brunette with charcoal undertones.

It faded down a bit...well, turned more (ironically) reddish...

Thank the Lord for color corrector...this was Round #1

It was still a bit darker than I wanted it so Round #2 of color corrector...

Isn't this a nice, dried out shade of...straw? (tongue in cheek)

Then a plain old box of hair dye...twice...

By now my bathroom reeked of chemicals. Keep in mind I had started all this to avoid pouring more chemicals on my head...but at least it is now back to blonde. And actually not that much worse for wear.

What's even more funny is this ended up pretty darn close to my natural color...it just took a very circuitous route.

As for Tatum and Roy they are constant companions. Well, Tatum is constantly with him and Roy seems to tolerate it. She "loves" on him now, giving him hugs, laying on him, using him as a pillow while she drinks from her sippy cup. He gets nearly half of every meal she eats, and she gets to mercilessly chase him around the house with her walker squealing in enjoyment.

I think it's a fair deal.

That's all for today. I'll leave you with this parting shot of my little dancer...

Aprons from the Giggling Gourmet

*UPDATE: After realizing I wanted a shop name that would reflect a variety of craft items, and after a lot of help during the naming contest I'm now The Ruffled Owl. You can check out my Etsy store here and the blog here*

If you haven't headed over to The Giggling Gourmet The Ruffled Owl yet take a look! I think I may try to start selling a few of my aprons, and last night I posted pics of my lovely models Carol and Eleni on the Aprons For Sale page you can find just below the header.

hee hee hee I love this pic!

I don't have prices yet cause I'm still working out how much it actually costs me and how much time I spend on it (in between working full time, walking the dog, making dinner, doing laundry, cleaning up, trying to spend quality time with my hubby...yada yada yada).  Anyways, I really enjoy making these so why not do its some more!

Oh, and there's a few new posts on Thursday Farms about Contentment and Telling Your Money Where to Go and how we FINALLY paid off our credit card debt! Hallelujah!

So head on over and check it out!

All Duct Up

We're past the halfway mark of the month and the official toll yesterday was $86! I was pretty stoked that Rachel Meeks of Small Notebook mentioned me on her blog. She was the one who inspired the whole No Spend Month in the first place!

Now, I think, is where I need to start getting a little more creative with the food we have in our pantry.

Throw those canned pears on a spinach salad...figure out something to do with that can of organic pumpkin...(maybe pancakes? hmm....) and I should probably try to figure out how to preserve all those greens in our fridge before they go bad!

that's a lotta veggies!

On a totally different note, I've had this fabric for a month or so I've been wanting to make into a dress. If you know me at all, you know I like making quilts and like the idea of making my own clothes...but I haven't been too successful at it.

Part of it for me, is I have a hard time with gathering and ruffles. Quilts have such nice, straight lines...I can get that. But when it comes to fitting something on me it usually comes out looking like happy hands at home.

One dress I tried to have Matt pin the back while I was wearing it...let's just say it didn't turn out so good...

Then I heard about making a duct tape dress form from Threads Magazine online, and decided that would be a cheap way to fix the problem of fitting things well.

Granted theirs looks a lot cleaner than mine, but mine does the trick!

Matt wrapped strips and strips of duct tape around me while Roy lay with his head on my foot looking up all worried. I'll take that as a hint not to mummify him when he's gone.

It was rather an odd feeling walking around like a robot...not being able to reach up to help Matt cut the strips of tape...it was a teensy bit fun too...:-)

for Matt's eyes only

Then Matt cut up the back of the form, we peeled it off and taped it back together and I stuffed it with a couple of pillows.

Voila!

A dress form.

Using what we already had in the house.

Sure it might be a little deformed, but the measurements are still about the same!

Pinning things was so much easier this way!

It did take me about 4 rounds of pinning, sewing and cutting to get the whole thing to look decent, but its finally complete and I have to say I'm pretty pleased with it!

The front:

that's one big dog, you say? yes, we know

The back:

"Don't act like you're not impressed"...name that movie!

And I couldn't resist this one of me and my boy.

Now I'm off to change into sweats, run that crazy dog, fix up some greens and put my feet up!

The Last Day of the Challenge - Day 54

Wow, two weeks since I posted! And a lot has happened in two weeks. Another earthquake in Chile that was so powerful it literally shook the earth from its axis. Another quake in Taiwan. My mom even got one in Oklahoma (oh, and a tornado an hour away to boot). The earth is quite literally groaning.

A lot of big changes have gone on in the Palmer household in the past two weeks.

First of all we are moving!

Yup, in a little over two weeks we'll be loading up and headed a bit south to the Renton Highlands to live in a one bedroom apartment that's the bottom floor of a house. On the top two floors live a young Christian family with 3 boys. We're excited A)to pay a lot less rent! B)that Matt will only be 10-15 minutes from work as opposed to 45, C)to be closer to hiking trails and lakes, and D)to get to know this awesome family!

The apartment is a one bedroom, which as most of you know, means we won't have a designated guest room anymore. By no means does this imply we don't want company anymore! As long as we ever have floor space y'all are welcome even if we lived in a shack in the woods! We'll still have a blow-up bed, a sofa bed, and a tent to pitch in the backyard if we REALLY run out of room!

We've (okay, maybe just I) launched ourselves into a purging mode. Getting rid of all the excess, unused, cluttered stuff that fills our house. Condensing, cleaning, clearing.

But I'm getting offtrack. You want to hear about the end of the challenge, right?

Well here's Day 45 or something like that, and if you ever want to see a dorky picture of me here's your chance. I was REALLY bored of the smile at the camera thing by this point.

Here's Day 45, and Mom? Remember when I said "Smile, you're going to be on the Morning Cup with me?" Here you are! Oh, and this thing I'm working on is Roy's new toy box...but more on that later...



Day 49 I was wishing I could go back to sleep for a few more hours. Where's that off button for your brain again?



Here Day 52...the day after we sold our couches. Forgive the unsightly slouching but I was sleepy...you can just call me Grace.



And the last picture record of the challenge ends on a look back at one of the spotlighted charities: Krochet Kids. This is the supercute shirt I ordered from them...its a unisex shirt and Matt wants his own in blue (and a size larger, obviously).

Day 53



Day 54 I thought I was done and realized when I got to work that the sweater I had put on had been "drying" in the spare room for a long time and actually hadn't been included in the challenge...so I inadvertently kept it going!

So that's it folks. I went 54 days without repeating a top and that's pretty disgustingly impressive in a warped way. I now have four giant bags full of clothes to give away or donate, making it even more shockingly astonishing.

And in case you're wondering, yes I did keep my original promise on Day 1.

And even though the challenge is over, let's not forget that many people in Haiti are still living in sheet tents, without work, without access to fresh water or latrines, and are still suffering the effects of the earthquake. Please keep them in your prayers.

Wardrobe Challenge Days 38-40 & Come Together Now

January 12th.

That's when the earthquake struck Haiti.

The news reports have lessened, marathon fundraising has stopped. Not much publicity now unless you look for it.

But the people there are still struggling, still not knowing where their loved ones may be buried, and still trying to make it to tomorrow.

Just a sobering reminder of why I'm doing this silly Wardrobe Challenge at all.

is the flower placement here totally corny?

I'm coming up to the very end of my tops. Sunday I even wore my tube top and shorts as it was a toasty 57 degrees on my balcony! (Ok, without any wind and in the shelter of the patio it was much warmer...)

I do have to admit something, though. I may have cycled through all my dresses and pants once, but 'round about last Thursday I desperately needed to wear a pair of jeans and I caved. I still am trying to mix it up and wear more than just jeans, but I kinda sorta gave up on that part. I'm almost through all my tops anyways and was almost through my pants again as well...cut me some slack I'm not wearing all my slacks? :-)

On another note, I have to retract a statement. On Sunday I admonished you to purchase an online album from iTunes known as Hope For Haiti Now.

Well, I bought it, and all I have to say is save your poor ears and just donate $8 to the Red Cross. It is not worth $8 and I am just chalking it up as pure donation.

All of these were recorded live, and maybe I should blame the sound techs for not having the monitors loud enough, but it seemed everyone was flat! The whole thing is just not enjoyable to listen to...just wanted to give you an honest report. You may love it...it does have a lot of big name artists, but for me I would rather have dropped the money in a Salvation Army bucket.

Roy knows how to "hug" now...

more flower goodness

In regards to the play we went to see last Friday, all I can say is with live theatre you win some and you lose some and you REALLY lose some. This production falls in the last category.

I was coming-out-of-my-skin excited to see this play. I have all the songs memorized and couldn't WAIT to see it brought to life! Sadly, every actor was lacking any luster of life at all. There was no energy...it made me tired just watching them drag their feet around the stage and half-heartedly singing their songs.

Quietly singing, I might add. Their microphones were turned down so low, and that coupled with their lack of diction and projection made for an evening of us straining to hear what they were saying. By the end of the first number I was giving Matt the "I'm SO sorry for dragging you here!" look! I kept pleading with him, "Can you at least see the potential???" I think he nodded just to get me quiet since it was hard enough to hear the actors...

Well, the play may have been a bust but the dinner prior to that was outstanding. Do you know that cheese and I are good friends? Yes. Good, good friends who love each other. I love the way it tastes in my mouth and cheese loves the way it gets to hang around forever on my backside. Bosom buddies, you could say.

Well Matt and I started with the cheese plate. Oh heavens. When they brought out the wedges and dollops I thought there was no WAY we could eat all that cheese. Haha, what did I just say?

I wish I could remember their exact names and origins but I don't remember anything excepted the exceptional way they were each paired with something unique...goat cheese and raw apples, some sort of aged cheese with candied hazelnuts, a chalky strong smelling cheese paired with a sweet pear compote...it was like being a kid and discovering something new with each bite and getting way too excited about it!

We kept shoving bites in each other's faces--"try the blue cheese with THIS!!! Okay, take a bite of that then a sip of THIS!!!" Explosions of taste played on our palettes and I felt almost dizzy from the thrill of it all!

I know right now most of you are probably laughing that someone could get so excited over a cheese plate but I don't care! Matt was right there with me so I know I'm not the only one a little kooky over cheese!

My dinner was pork over mashed yams with poached pears and was good, but Matt's dinner--the pan-roasted chicken, was out of this world! Really, nowadays you don't come to expect much from chicken. But having tried a few of Julia Child's recipes and now THIS delectable dinner? Chicken is the new beef, I declare!

Moving on.

The beer was great too.

Really moving on this time.

Sunday brought another deliciously sunny and warm day. Far too wonderful to spend it inside! Matt's co-worker John and his dog Cooper came over and we all piled up in my car and headed off to the dog park.

Cooper is a chill dog. Excited but not spastically obnoxiously excited (but of course I'm not talking about Roy). Happy to see you without being attached at the hip (Roy isn't like that either, of course). Who am I kidding? Roy was the picture of absolute maniacal excitement next to Coop's cool composure.

Roy isn't great at sharing.

Somehow I was in the backseat with the dogs (ok I volunteered) and while Cooper kept my company sitting right next to me the whole way Roy didn't stop pacing for a second. Oftentimes pacing right on my poor thighs which now have a number of bruises on them...he does way upwards of 80 lbs...

Roy is thanking John for bringing Cooper. Meanwhile Cooper has wedged himself inbetween the front seats.

The men and their dogs...

Disclaimer: I did get permission to print photos of John and Cooper and when I become rich and famous I'm sure they'll line up to collect their share...

And for Day 39...

It had been a long day...

Monday morning...Day 40! Can you believe I've gone this far! You saw the pics of my closet on Day 1...just one side is tops! Well here it is anyways...me getting tired of the smiling and posing pics again...

Today's Charity Spotlight goes (definitely not to Hope for Haiti Now), but is just one song on iTunes and is what I think my mom was talking about when she first mentioned something on iTunes for Haiti.

The song is called Come Together Now (Music City Unites for Haiti) and even though I'm not the biggest Christian music fan out there, this one is worth the $1.29. Its a collaboration of over 100 artists but the only one I needed to see what that redhead front and center--Wynonna Judd. I've been a fan of hers since I was in the third grade and my mom bought her self titled tape casette (remember those) and my dad came home to find us all dancing on the coffee table...

Back to the song. Begins a little Christianese, if ya know what I mean, but the chorus grabs you. Here's an article that explains more about it, but for being only $1.29 I thought it was worth the buy.

Day 33-37 & Hope For Haiti Now

Quick Recap on The Challenge: I came home with a new shirt one night to realize I had PLENTY of shirts hanging in my closet. As a result, I wanted to go as long as possible without recycling one top, and each day I could do that I would make a donation to a charity helping in Haiti, and highlight the charity or fundraiser here on my blog.

Spring is a comin' here in Seattle. A couple of weeks ago I saw the first crocuses poking up through the mud. Then, seemingly overnight, the cherry trees blossomed into pink oblivion and daffodils bloomed and the tulips are budding.

I love being somewhere where I can see the change of the seasons, even though it feels like we didn't really get a winter compared with last years' snow and ice nightmare. Except for a week in December temperatures have stayed pretty warm, and my studded tires have definitely not been needed as of yet.

I've got this itching to get up in the mountains and see spring announcing itself there. Yesterday morning when I took Roy out everything was bright and quiet. The wind was blowing and it sounded like a friend standing behind you playfully boxing your ears. It made me want to turn around and chase it, giggling.

On another note, Thursday was Matt's birthday! Happy Birthday Matt! He's a whopping 27 years old now!

For my Valentine'd Day present Matt got me tickets tot he musical "Company." This will be Matt's first Sondheim musical...I, on the other hand, was taken by my mom to see "Into The Woods" when I was 6 years old. That play is about what happens in fairy tales AFTER the "happily ever after." I don't actually remember it, but apparently the wolf was entirely anatomically correct. I got culture young, baby. (And not complaining, Mom!)

Day 33.

Heater was broken in the office and a sweater was needed.

Also needed: Blue Steel facial expression.

Day 34

She's gone country, look at them boots, she's gone country, back to her roots...

I hear that song in my head every time I wear this shirt...even though its a technical quick-drying shirt from North Face.

My vacuum cleaner made a cameo appearance as well.


Day 35


I got sick of these boring stand and smile photos so I thought I'd show you how high I can jump.  Only I didn't set the camera low enough so it just looks like I'm making a silly face.  Guess I can't jump that high after all...

Oh, random side note: this is the Valentine's Day card I got for Matt. Being bored was the reason I never dated anyone longer than 3 months before I met Matt...I just flat out got bored with 'em! Matt? He's always kept me interested :-)

The actual day of Matt's birthday I was a bit under the weather and headed into work late...and forgot to take a picture. Well, Matt took a picture of me making roasted potatoes and garlic for dinner that night and it wasn't the most flattering one...

Day 37.

The day of many outfits.

Off to work I went for the morning...

Outfit #2.

I was off work early and headed home to celebrate Matt's birthday. While waiting for Matt to decide what he wanted to do Roy and I soaked in some rays on the balcony...

Outfit #3

We went for a two hour walk around Queen Anne and it was so warm I donned a tank top! I did get a few furrowed brow looks...it was 52 degrees out but in the sun it felt so warm! Didn't get a pic of me during the walk, but here are my boys...

And Outfit #4

Off to the theater!

We went to The Stumbling Goat Bistro for dinner (wow, sooo delish!), and then went to see the musical Company. 


More on that later, but at least dinner was great!

Today's charity spotlight goes to an album, actually. Hope For Haiti Now is available on iTunes and all the proceeds go to a whole slew of nonprofits, including the Red Cross. 


Seeing as you get 20 songs for $7.99, its a good deal even if the proceeds weren't for charity!

You can download it HERE