It’s now October, and I’ve spent the last month working my transitional wardrobe. Adding some lightweight pants and layers to my summer tops. I’ve been working on having a more elegant look after a couple very casual Covid years. I’ve also been tucking a lot more, I’ve been doing a half tuck for a long time but now I’m doing a full tuck. It’s taken some getting used to, but I think I like it for a more polished style. My head is cut off and some of the photos, because frankly, my hair has not been playing nice lately! Working on it, and that’s for another post!
A few weeks ago, a friend posted 10 things she is no longer interested in, and 10 things she is no longer apologizing for. It really resonated with me, so I made my own post. I’m adding it here, with a few more explanations, because this is my blog, and I like to say a lot!
THINGS I AM NO LONGER INTERESTED IN:
Keeping up with the Jones’s. I am so tired of trying to do and have what other people do. It’s not really about competition, it’s more about seeing what other people have, and do, and feeling inspired. But we can’t do it all, I’m not trying anymore, I’m prioritizing what truly matters to us.
Supporting people that don’t support me. I’ve tried to for a long time so I can be the kind of person I want to be, and I guess the kind of person I want to be has changed from the person that always supports other people, no matter what, to the person that knows her worth. *I’m talking about people that consistently do not show up. We all have times in our lives where we are more able to give or take, but some people always take and never give (support, time, attention, affection), and I am no longer interested.
Late nights out on work nights. I’m lame IDGAF. I see so many friends going to concerts and events on weeknights. Good for them. Nothing wrong with it, but I just cannot do it and I’m not even trying anymore. My week night routine is important for my physical and emotional health.
People that take my friendship for granted with no effort.
Talking about my food choices. I think women talk far too much about what they eat, how much they eat, what their diet is, etc. I don’t like to be a part of it. I don’t mean I wouldn’t share recipes or say “I like Thai food), but I am so over discussing whether I’m eating carbs or not, meat or not, etc. I always find something to eat.
People who I know for a fact talk shit about me behind my back.
Talking about my weight/dieting or anybody else’s.
The price of gas. What does it matter? I need it.
Sharing my social life on social media. I’ve talked about this before, I just don’t consider my social life anybody else’s business. I’m also aware there are always people that are lonely and isolated, and feel worse when they see other people socializing. I don’t want to contribute to that.
Everybody else’s social lives. Let them! I’m trying very hard to not let myself feel, left out, isolated, or less than based on what other people do, and who they do it with. It’s not easy for me, but I am working on building my disinterest!
THINGS I AM NO LONGER APOLOGIZING FOR:
Bering sensitive. I feel what I feel without shame.
Having different priorities than many people in my life. Some people can do it all: Travel, socialize, have a nice home, send their kids to camp, etc. We can’t. We don’t have the money, or time, and I’m cool with that! We’ve made our choices, and we are happy. I’m not apologizing anymore for the things we do or don’t do. It’s not a competition.
Disengaging from toxic relationships and situations. I am so thankful that I have chosen to disengage (as much as I can) from situations and relationships that I do not think are healthy for me. My well-being is too important to me to continue what hurts me.
My eating habits/choices. I don’t eat animals or animal products, and I cannot eat gluten. It is what it is. I do my best to suggest restaurants everyone will enjoy. I’m done apologizing for it. Lots of people have things and places they will not eat, but for some reason, I always feel like the one who is being difficult. I’m not carrying that anymore, nor am I apologizing for it.
My home. It is small, it is rundown, it is badly in need of renovations. We have chosen to put our budget and time elsewhere. We’ve also chosen to not let embarrassment stop us from welcoming our friends and family. If they have a problem with our home, they can keep it to themselves.
Not going out when I don’t want to (see 3 above…otherwise I’m always down!)
Not being able to afford everything. This is mostly apologizing to myself and my kids. But I’m done. It is what it is and we are very lucky to have what we do, not to mention I work very hard for it.
Liking books more than TV. People always ask me how I have so much time to read, often it is because I don’t watch much TV very much. That doesn’t mean I don’t watch any, but I do tend to read more. Somehow whenever I tell people that they seem to feel like they have to justify watching TV. They don’t. One is not better or worse than the other. I just really like reading.
Over or undersharing (I can do both).
Putting the well-being my kids, and my husband and myself above everybody else. If that means disengaging from people, disengaging from situation, turning down invitations, then so be it.Outside of my work responsibilities.
After so many years of always wearing my hair curly, since Covid, I have never really gotten back into my curly routine for long.
It’s kind of funny because every time I wear my hair straight I get so many compliments, and even though I love a compliment as much as the next girl…it breaks my heart a tiny little bit because I really do prefer it curly.
However, what I try to explain to people is wearing my hair curly is challenging. Even though it is naturally quite wavy, it takes a lot of time, and products, to get the way I like it…and even then I get inconsistent results. Blowing my hair straight takes me about seven minutes, and it always looks the same!
I put together this little album of my hair curly the way I like it, straight, straight with heat curls at the end (my preferred style these days)… and today I did something I literally never do, and just left it. No products: no techniques, just washed, conditioned, combed, and gave it a scrunch then let it air dry to see how wavy it actually is because people ask me all the time, and I honestly didn’t even know!
After my success with the Airwrap Dupe, I decided to try something else…mostly because the cheap aftermarket wand I was using had broken. I’ve heard a lot about about the Shark FlexStyle, which is Shark’s alternative to the Dyson air wrap. When I saw that I had enough AirMiles points to get it, it was a no-brainer. It functions as a blow dryer and comes with attachments for curling, a large oval brush attachment, and a paddle brush attachment.
Unfortunately, I’m quite disappointed.
The blow dryer itself is fine, comfortable to the Dyson Supersonic I already have.
The oval brush is fine, but no better than my Revlon all in one which is a quarter the price and our most used styler.
What I really wanted it for was the curling wand, as my preferred hairstyle now is blowout style straight-ish with bouncy curls at the bottom. Like this:
My preferred hairstyle nowadays
Although it works easily enough…the curls do not hold at all and the shape gets weird. I have tried everything (using it on damp hair, using it on dry hair, putting styling product in my hair before using it, adding hairspray afterwards, switching the curl directions) and they consistently fall out! My hair does keep a little bit of body, which I enjoy, but I am much happier with the styling from the Dyson supersonic plus the cheap aftermarket attachment!
No idea why my hair looks so oily in the midday pic!
If you are looking for an all in one blow dryer, and oval brush the Flexstyle does the job, although in my opinion, it’s not worth the money (the Revlon all in one does that perfectly for me!). If you are looking for something to curl, I do not recommend it.
Also, although they do make a diffuser attachment, it has to be purchased separately. I haven’t tried it yet because I already have a diffuser with my Supersonic that works well when that is the style I’m going for.
I don’t plan to return it, because it is a good blow dryer, and a good oval brush blow dryer…both of which we use a lot. I’ve already had my Supersonic for over 2 years and I’ve noticed it’s starting to overheat more often (and will not be replacing it, I only bought this one, because I had enough Shoppers points!), and the Revlon all-in-one does not last forever, eventually the bristles start to bend. So I’m sure we will get a lot of use out of it, but it is not the Airwrap alternative I was dreaming of!
I have been on a clothing shopping moratorium since the fall, realizing that I have more clothing than I could ever wear, and the way that you economy currently is, cutting down on shopping is something that could help.
I currently only buy things that they inexpensive and on deep deep discount (I did buy a couple new dresses for summer when they were half price at Old Navy), or something I absolutely need, for example, I bought new white jeans because my old ones were falling apart, and I wear them a lot in the spring and summer. Of course, I took advantage of a sale at The Gap!
I’m continuing to work on putting together clothing I wouldn’t normally, especially adding more colour to otherwise dark or neutral outfits. Here are a couple things I’ve worn recently that I really liked. All of the pieces are things that have been in my closet for 2 years or more!
Defying Gravity 