“Secret Single Behavior”

Posted by random olio

A co-worker shared with a few of us yesterday that one of her favorite things to do when her fiance is off doing his own thing, is what she called her: “Secret Single Behavior.” It is taken from an episode of Sex and the City (Season 4, Episode 13: The Good Fight), and well it just made me grin from ear-to-ear today. I am not going to go into her own “Secret Single Behavior” but it made me think – what is mine? It sort of baffles me to even find an answer. Maybe that means I have been married too long. I thought about it a few times yesterday and even asked Chris. Here is my potential list:

_Go to a cafe on a Saturday or Sunday, order breakfast, coffee, bring my laptop, book, and journal and see where my heart takes me. Either read, write, or explore wherever my fingers take me on the Internet. I can stay as long as I like and not have to worry about someone waiting for me.

_Boutique hopping? Go to boutiques I have not been to in a while, get inspired by designers + artists and see where the inspiration takes me.

_Stay in my pajamas, go into my studio (empty bedroom) and paint until I lose track of time.

_Catch up with friends I have not seen in a while (whether in person, email, or over the phone).

_Organize my life in every way possible.

_Sometimes when Chris is gone for a week or so, I will go to the store and get food that he hates to eat. Selections have been: yogurt covered pretzels, popcorn, snickerdoodles. Ah, strange guilty pleasures.

So do you have them? Do you have “Secret Single Behaviors?” If so, what are they?

One Month of No Poo

Posted by random olio

It is like training for a race, some days you think I cannot go out and train today, I am too tired, or I just do not have the energy. That is how I have felt as I continue to embark on my “no poo” journey. Recently I wrote a blog about my interest in going “no poo.” Yes, I am comparing not washing my hair with chemical shampoos, otherwise called “no poo,” with training for a race. I am a few days away from my 5th week of no poo. I really cannot believe that I have stuck with it this long. Well partly I can because I am usually not a quitter, but this has been tougher than I thought it would be. I have tried a few different concoctions to see what works best for my hair. So far this is the best routine:

Day 1: Wash with a mixture of honey and baking soda, work throughout hair, mostly at the scalp and not really on the ends. Rinse with water, then spritz apple cider vinegar + water mixture on as a conditioner, work through ends of hair, and rinse out. Usually I start out with straightening my hair on Day 1.

Day 2: No wash. Just refresh with a quick few moments with the hot iron. Second option: pull back into a pony tail.

Day 3: No wash. Usually pull into a pony tail, sometimes I will curl bottom half of hair, and pull back into pony tail.

Day 4: No wash. Definitely pull into pony tail. Sprinkle cornstarch at scalp and massage into hair if matted or looks wet/greasy. Cornstarch works wonders.

Day 5: Same as Day 4 or start over at Day 1.

Other concoctions I have tried: An aloe + coconut milk wash. Did not work too well. My hair was incredibly greasy. I had to wash immediately with baking soda. However, my hair was incredibly soft for the next few days. Might try again, knowing I will need to wash with baking soda afterwards. During my first week, I started out with a baking soda + water paste, and now have moved into using baking soda + honey, and I love how it makes my hair smell. Over the weekend I ordered some Rhassoul clay that can be used to wash hair but also used on skin. Using egg yolks is also on the list to try.

A boar bristle brush is also an important component of going no poo. Using it helps to bring the oils from your scalp down through to the ends of your hair. I have long hair, so it is a lot of work to brush. I even found out over the weekend that Mason Pearson is the coveted brush, a company that makes boar bristle brushes going back to 1885, selling today for $110-$325. Not sure I’m willing to drop that much for a hair brush though.

There are a lot of details to master, how to travel, how to wash with eggs, but not have cooked egg in your hair, the list goes on. I am learning a lot and I am sure Chris feels like the shower is starting to look like our refrigerator. I will keep you posted on my adventure.

A little something new…

Posted by random olio

After seeing my niece a week ago, I have to say I have baby on the brain. My good friend is also going to be a momma any day now. With all these precious munchkins on the mind this video just hit the spot for me. It brought tears the first time Chris showed it to me, and since then I continue to see it being shared all over different social networks. What is it about watching a belly grow over time, to inspire and remind us of the precious little one growing inside? I know, I know, some of you might think wow you sure have blogged about babies lately.

I am not sure if there are words to explain it. There was a connection with my niece a week ago, that has not left me. Maybe it is because it is my sister’s baby, but there is a love there that I cannot begin to explain. It makes me think how much stronger and how fierce will that love be when it is my little one that is welcomed to this world. I cannot yet imagine.

In the below video, the father, Tom Fletcher, who is the lead singer of British band “McFly” wrote the song “Something New.” His wife, Giovanna, was photographed each day while pregnant in the same outfit and they put it together in the below video.

I love the line: “I guess I’m ready, I think I’m ready, I hope I’m ready, for something new.” I think I might soon be ready for something new.

Letting go of the intensity

Posted by random olio

Life is an ebb and flow. Some years are full, intense, and feel like you are drowning in life and all that is required of you. 2013 for example was a year of crazy intensity for me, but not in the way you might think. The intensity was of what I had set out to do for the year, and not so much about working long hours, or balancing tons of competing priorities. I had set out to beat my goals from 2012, and with that continued my addiction to reading and running. I still have my addiction in 2014, but in potentially a more balanced way.

Last year I read over 100+ books and was running an average of 5+ days a week. I loved every minute of it. I loved wasting an hour of my time in a book, while running on the treadmill. It was “me” time. Moments where I could decompress from my day and jump head first into a novel, forgetting all else that happened that day, to pull myself out an hour later, refreshed, recharged, and ready for whatever came next in my evening. Somehow as 2014 has continued to evolve, my craziness over running and reading has not waned, but other things in life have taken precedence over my intensity to finish the amazing book I am reading, or to stretch my legs on the treadmill. I have played more, visited with friends, and worked on other creative endeavors. Maybe 2014 is my year to chill.

Has my life changed drastically to make this happen? Not really. What has changed? Mostly I have let go. I have relaxed and listened to what my body wanted at the end of the day. Sometimes my brain and body are so wiped out that I decide to take a hot bath and relax my body and mind for an hour instead of going for an intense run. I have relaxed more into myself and feel less guilty about not going for a run that day if my body is saying: “NO.” While I sometimes miss my daily hour of reading/running, I have begun to make other choices in place of my run/book. Every once in a while guilt will creep in and tell me: “You are lazy. It will hurt when you run tomorrow, or the next day.” Or I think wow, I have only read xx books and run xx times this year. But, who cares, right?

Do you have things in your life that you do not want to budge on, yet if you did your life might feel more balanced?

Parking at PDX

Posted by random olio

So I have a bone to pick. Each time I come back from a trip and park at the Portland Airport, I get frustrated. Here is my recent dilemma:

I parked on Saturday, March 15 at 9:15 am and returned to pick up my car on March 17, at 11:46 am. This would be a total of 26.5 hours. I was charged $30, or $10 a day. Standard Parking (the vendor for parking for the Economy Lot at the Portland Airport) states on their website that it is $10 a day. However as you leave the lot there is a sign that states rates by the hour, yet their website does not state their hourly rate. Other websites show that the Economy Lot (where we park) is $3 an hour. If I was there 2 days + an extra 2 hours then my fee for parking should be $26 not $30. Now let me tell you I am not complaining about $4, I am wanting to paint a picture of what $4 adds up to if you think of all the spaces in just the Economy Lot.

If there are 7900 parking spaces in the Economy lot, and they each stayed the exact amount of time I stayed, that would be an extra $4 they are charging for each car. 7900 times $4 equals $31,600 a day. That is a TON of money. My gut says that the parking company is hoping that folks are not thinking about the small overage they are charging to each customer. Over time $31,600 a day, equals $211,200 a week or an extra $11,502,400 in profits for a parking lot company. Now that is a gross generalization because not all spots are going to rollover like that, and not all of them are going to be under their daily amount. However it does feel like they are stealing from each of us.

The last time we had a stay and this same situation happened, we sent an email to Standard Parking and got an unhelpful response. What frustrates me further is there is no signage that says that after x # of hours, you will be charged for the full day rate. What is this world coming to if companies can sift, bleed, and steal from customers? It just feels wrong to me.

I am curious what you think.