99 Problems...

So recently I've found myself facing a new adversary/enemy/evil. No it's not the scale, it's something entirely different and completely upsetting.  All of a sudden last month my hair started falling out, a LOT and I'll admit it's been pretty crappy dealing with it.  I'm fairly certain it's a combo of stress and hormonal imbalance but whatever the frack is doing this, ima 'bout ready to lose my ever-loving-mind....

It's not like I'm some paunchy, middle aged man who can accept this sort of thing as just being part of life.

 A 30-something woman losing her hair is not OK. 

The hair gods have been cruel to me, and this seems like their latest prank. I already have thin, fine hair and am no stranger to using every thickening, volumizing and strengthening hair product ever created.  EVER CREATED.

(Now before you start asking if the hair loss is related to my latest diet, I'd have to disagree because though I joke about "being hangry and starving" I'm certainly not. I'm following Weight Watchers, and losing in a slow and sensible way.)  

The hair loss started before my latest diet so I doubt there's any link. I've had my thyroid and iron levels tested and everything seems ok. So this leaves me feeling even more bummed because I don't exactly know the cause of this hair loss???

I've got a referral to a dermatologist next month to check out the problem further (telogen effluvium- is what it's called) and I've already shelled out plenty for the latest products that claim to prevent hair loss...and I'll admit I've borrowed my dad's Rogaine...since my family doctor said that's exactly what the Dermo will prescribe anyway!

Seriously? Ugh.

So my question is, have any of you ever experienced sudden hair loss (other than post-pregnancy) and if so, how did you not lose your mind?!?!  Did your hair come back and how long did it fall out for?

 Feeling NOT so 

End of an era...goodbye gel nails?

So after 12 long years Mama has decided to give up on gel nails. 

In 1999 at my first big-girl job straight out of university, all the women in the office had gel nails...they caught my eye instantly. They looked clean, professional and dare I say a bit glamorous?  I was hooked and have had a love-affair with nails for years now.  

I've always kept them short, square-oval shaped and simple (no Lady Gaga dagger shaped nails here).

However after 12 years of consecutive wear - as in I've never had them off, I've finally decided to take a break.

via

Will I go back to them? I'm not sure, they're hard to let go of. My own nails have always been pitiful. They're ridiculously soft and paper thin. As in the kind of nail that you can bend back and forth, peels and never really grows worth a darn. And no amount of strengthening top-coat would ever help, thanks for NOTHING Sally Hansen...

So last Saturday when I took them off (I was in desperate need of a fill anyway) I decided to let my own nails "breath."  It's a myth that gel or acrylic nails will wreck your own nails, if they're properly applied the nail underneath may grow a bit thinner but they won't be damaged. So now my natural naked little nails look fine. But it's not fine.

{Srsly Gaga, how do u get through the day with those...}

The problem is that I cannot function. I feel like I'm all thumbs! I miss the strength my gel nails had. They were like little tools to help open containers, scrape food residue off dishes that didn't come clean from the dishwasher (gross, I know) and I always felt my hands were strong and capable.

Not anymore.

Now my fingertips hurt, I can't open my eyeshadow palettes, can't get the lid off the coffee tin without it hurting. I could go on and on.  I suppose I'll adjust and my hands will "toughen up" with time but for now I'm dying! (First World Problem, I know...)

So what to do? Should I go back to dropping $35.00 for a fill every 4 weeks or should I put my gel nails behind me?  When you paint gel nails the color lasts forever, they always look polished and they make my fingers look longer and even thinner.

(maybe I'm delusional here?)

Gel nails, yay or nay? Speak!

Winter blah blah's....

Unfortunately Mama has been suffering from my annual bout with "The Winter Blah Blah's", also know as "I hate you January" and "winter can suck it."  I certainly don't have Seasonal Affective Disorder but the combo of super cold weather, minimal sunny days and months before spring arrives makes me want to act like a grizzly bear and hibernate. No jokes. I'd like to fast forward through this bunk time of the year and jump directly into spring.  I've upped my vitamin D intake, increased my workouts at the gym and tried to stay active. But all I really want to do is not much of anything. I went to the mall for the first time in weeks (which is total craziness) because normally it's my home away from home. 

 I really haven't had much desire to shop lately. Shock and horror.

{Though on Friday I did manage to grab these cute nude Nine West pumps. Someday when I can pry the snow covered UGGS off of my feet I'll be able to wear them. Someday...}

 I go to bed at a decent hour and I'm still tired when I wake up which is super annoying. Where has my energy gone? It's obviously time to start drinking double Red-bulls in the morning because coffee is no longer cutting it.

This time last year we were packing our bags for Hawaii but sadly it's not in the cards this winter. Boo.

 I seriously think that winter vay-cays to sunny destinations should be MANDATORY for people living this far north. Mandatory and Government subsidized.  Sounds like a brilliant idea to me.

January, I'm sooo over you. 

Why can't I see the bugs that are making me run to the bathroom?

I was going to post about our wonderful Father's day weekend but instead I'm gonna have to write about poop. This house has been taken over by an illness. Apparently Kid #1 has brought home the stomach bug of the century from his disease factory preschool. He's been sick since Sunday night running to the bathroom every 10 minutes and isn't too pleased about it either. (Thank God for wipes, at this point t.p. just isn't an option.) Then he ask, "Mom, why can't I see the bugs that are making me run to the bathroom?"
"Logical question Kid #1 but I'm up to my elbows in ca-ca and Lysol wipes, so this is no time for a biology lesson.  Go ask your dad."   Witness another pro-star parenting moment by Mama.

{Kid #2 not feeling too good. Sometimes your bottle and stuffed cow are all you want}

Of course just today I get an email from his school explaining that a wicked disease is going around and just about every poor kid has been yaking and pooping the weekend away. Now Kid #2 is afflicted too. I have cleaned up more poop in the last 72 hours than in the last year combined. Lysol is my friend. Ain't no way I'm going down too.

{I heart Lysol}

There's a tear in ma beer.....

Mama's been lookin' rough lately, a hot mess indeed. My Hawaiian tan is ancient history and I have Franken-fingers because a few of my gel nails flipped off. Classy.
 Last week I decided to try a new hair salon since I was desperately in need of some highlights and a cut.  So my bff tried this new 'stylist' a few days before me and her hair turned out fabulous. Her colour was great and the price was right, so off I went to get my scary-bad roots taken care of.
Two and half hours later Mama's hair was done. DONE WRONG. My honey brown J-Lo inspired highlights are actually full-on orange. And not orange in a Anne of Green Gables cute and spunky kind of way. I have no brown low-lights and "blonde" highlights that are so brassy-bad that even Lindsey Lohan would cringe. That girl has got some eff'n awful hair. And now so do I.

Isn't it interesting how quickly you can go from feeling pretty stinkin' cute to just plain stinky.  I could have gone back to the salon and demand that the amateur stylist fix my orange mess hair but I just don't have the time to sit in the damn chair for another 2 1/2 hours. Could this be any more frustrating?

{mmmkay, so it's not this bad. But close.}

Solution to this crappy-ness: the Vietnamese ladies are gonna hook Mama up tomorrow with a fresh nail fill....and I've decided to ride out this heinous hair colour and dodge cameras/social events until next month when I go back to my regular 'stylist'.
Have you ever felt pretty much hideous due to unforeseen beauty mishaps?!



NOT