Ladylike CosmoPrep

So today, the temperatures are in the low 70's very comfortable, and worthy of covered arms and legs. I pulled out this zebra print jacket I spied while shopping with my Mom and her sisters earlier this year. Mom did not want/see this jacket until I picked it up for myself. (She got one just like it.) I thought it was a steal for such a well-made pow factor. What do you think?

So it really wasn’t worth it to have my old camera fixed because the shipping charges alone were 1/3 the cost I originally paid for my old camera and also 1/3 the cost of a new camera. So I bought a new camera and a tripod so that when the lens is open I don’t have an opportunity to drop the camera. Odd how YLF has become so important to me that having the right tools is essential. I keep saying this is my artistic outlet – I guess I am putting my money where my mouth is.

So I’ve had yet another epiphany. In the narrow sense it’s about my hair. In the broader sense it’s realizing that once you accept the obvious (which seems simple enough, but it’s not) it’s VERY easy to let go of unattainable goals/ideals and start making realistic ones.  Some people might say it’s lowering expectations but really it’s making life simple by accepting what is. Here’s my story.

You would think that obviously I would know about my hair considering it’s been on my head all my life, but magazines and TV do a number on your perceptions of reality.  I’d been conditioned to believe that normal is what I see in the images on TV, in magazines or on the internet. Abnormal of course had to be my hair, which was the antithesis of what I saw on TV, in magazines and on the internet.

I've always been aware that my hair is thin, but I thought it was because my hair was unhealthy, damaged, or even worse I was doing something wrong which is why it refused to behave. Behaving meaning that long, thick luscious hair would immediately sprout from my scalp (dare to dream).

Then, I stumbled across a blog post on low-density (p.c. for thin) fine hair. All of the complaints were identical to the ones I’ve always had about my hair: 

• when my hair is straight, my ponytail is skinny and sad looking 
• my hair also looks see-through when it's perfectly straight
• when my hair is pin-straight it perfectly outlines the shape of my head,
• volume i.e. texture, curl, frizz (just a little) has always been my friend – it makes my hair look thicker than it is which is why I stopped chemically straightening my hair
• my hair breaks easily with little or no provocation even when it’s healthy
• and finally the individual strands of my hair are thin.

Then it clicked OH… this is my hair. I’m NOT doing anything wrong –
this is just the way my hair is. 

I still admire thick luscious long hair I just don’t have the stress of trying to figure out why my hair isn’t long thick and luscious. I’ve included some pics of what my hair does very well to celebrate my epiphany.

Have you had a similar experience accepting something about yourself? 

So yesterday was a lovely Labor Day. I went on a lakefront bike ride
with DH for the first time in 3 years. School and work schedules were not kind to us during that time. I usually make a point to ride on the lakefront as much as possible during the summer and DH usually needs the stars to align just so before venturing out on a bike -- not that he's a couch potato. He's done half marathons and triathalons etc. I think he's not as attached to biking on the lakefront as I am. DH is on vacation this week and is no longer in school so the timing was perfect.
 
I wore red shorts which you can barely see for the bike ride. Later on for dinner out I threw on my BF jeans which had been neglected for the past year because the temperature dropped.  Sadly, I dropped my camera while the lens was open between photos and now have to use my phone until my camera is repaired :-(  . To make up for my busted camera, I had a yummy
burger and apple pie a la mode for dinner (healthy yeah I know).