Stuck in a Rut...

Yesterday was one of those days! Seriously, I could have gone to work in my PJ's...and my hair. ugh! I am really just tired of my hair.  You may have noticed that it is in a ponytail or braid EVERY DAY!  I just don't have any motivation to do anything with it, which leads me to my hair challenge, which I will explain in just a moment, but back to yesterday... I just felt completely uninspired, and the gloomy weather didn't help.  I got to work and told Colleen, my friend/photographer that I didn't think I was going to be up for pictures.   She convinced me to just take a couple and I could decide if I wanted to post them.  Surprisingly, I got a couple of unsolicited "cute outfit" compliments, and that made me feel a little better about myself, but I still didn't feel up for pics.  I took a few anyway...

What I wore...

~ Charcoal gray sweater vest

~ Alternative Apparel white burnout tee

~ Black jeggings

~ Jessica Simpson red "Iggy" bandage platforms

Side Note: I realized yesterday that somewhere along the last couple years, I became the boring shoe girl.  It seems like every shoe I've purchased recently has been nude, black, or brown??? what is that?  I was looking for a pair of shoes to add a little POP to my black and white outfit, and had to dig into the shoe archives to find these red shoes.  I used to be the total opposite...all I'd ever buy was colorful or embellished shoes.  Now that I think about it, that probably explains my current boring shoe streak.  It got to the point where I didn't have the basics because the fun shoe always won out.  Note to self -- GET OUT OF THE BORING SHOE RUT!

I have to admit that looking back, I actually liked my outfit.  It was a perfect casual Friday look.  I was just having one of those days...

Unfortunately, I can't say that I looked back at my hair and felt the same way. That damn bun! ugh! I am so over it. Okay, so this is what my hair looks like when I wear it natural and actually comb it!  The problem is combing my hair would require me to wake up at least 30 minutes earlier than I already wake...that means 5:30.  I'm sleepy just thinking about it.

Curly Hair Dream Team by eboni.ife on Polyvore.com

The 1st picture is what it looks like right after I diffuse (kinda jheri curlish, right?) and the 2nd pic is what it looks like after some air drying (much less jheri curl).  I have a love/hate relationship with my curls.  I honestly prefer my hair straight, but we all know flat ironing isn't the healthiest hair move, and my hair is already pretty fine.  Flat ironing is actually the source of some of the frustration with my natural hair.  It use to be much curlier, but after years of frying my hair, I've got a couple different textures going on.  The back and right side are very curly.  the top is wavy, and the left side is something between wavy and straight.  Thank the LAWD for whoever created the diffuser!  It makes my varying hair textures unite as one.  Without my diffuser I'd be lost!  Well, actually the diffuser is apart of my curly hair dream team that also includes Isoplus "yellow gel" and Mixed Chicks Leave-in Conditioner.  Seriously, if you've got naturally curly hair, Mixed Chicks will change your life!  The small 10 oz bottle shown in the picture is about $20 at most beauty supply stores, but its only $16.99 on the Mixed Chicks website.  They also have a large 33 oz bottle, which retails for $50 on their website, but I've been able to find it for about $40 at most local beauty supply stores in LA.

Anyway, I have got to get out of this ponytail rut, soooo I am going to challenge myself to really put some effort into doing my hair over the next 30 days...even if that means waking up at 5:30 *sigh*  Over the next 30 days, I am going to challenge myself to not wear a basic ponytail more than twice a week.  Now, by basic, I mean a regular old ponytail...just brushed back with a little gel and water, with no evidence of applied effort or creativity whatsoever.  Fancy ponytails are acceptable but must demonstrate some creativity and effort.  Since I'll be posting my daily goofy pics anyway, you guys get to be my accountability partners.  Please feel free to call me out if I start slippin! We'll see how this goes....

Thanks for stopping by!!! xoxo,