Thankful Tuesday!

Today I am thankful for….

 

Amazing opportunities both work related/business and personal that have come my way in the last few weeks.

 

For where I am in life at the moment it may not be where I want to be but I am glad to be here and for every new day that draws me closer to where I need to be.

 

For the opportunity to spend some time in places and with people that have opened up my eyes even further to be able to make some necessary decisions without feeling guilty.

 

For my heap of one month plus laundry that I have been able to tackle I kept looking at the pile and wondering if it would ever go down and it has in under a week.

 

For the little bit of rain that we have had in my neck of the woods recently, rain means water and water is life.

 

For knowing how to let go and let God especially in the last few days.

 

For safe travels all the while I have been travelling for most of September.

 

That I got to add yet another year to my life in September.

 

That I am approaching the anniversary of a very stressful and difficult situation in my life that I have been able to overcome and still triumphing over. At the time of the situation happening I did not know how I would cope, It is only by God’s grace that I made it this far.

 

In everything give thanks!

 

Random Thoughts…

I love watching YouTube vlogs and follow quite a number of vloggers however I am at the same time glad that I do not have any vloggers as family or close friends. The thought of a camera in my face anytime I would be around them just does not appeal to me. I mean I love the content these vloggers create but I just don’t think I would be able to handle being around a vlogger when they are vlogging. And you have to have some level of confidence especially to vlog in public going by the looks I see people give vloggers when in public. Speaking of public I wonder if there are rules that govern showing random strangers on a vlog? I mean I personally would not be too happy to see my image on someone’s vlog while in a public place especially if my permission was not sought first. How about blurring the faces of people who may randomly appear in your vlogs Youtubers…

I have been travelling every weekend for the last three weeks and was just glad to be finally home for one weekend in September which just happened to be my birthday weekend. I didn’t get to doing much but I was just glad to not be on the road last weekend.

The world is full of a lot of ungrateful and selfish people but thankfully it is also filled with a lot of kind and grateful people we need to keep the kindness numbers up. I try to perform random acts of kindness whenever I can, the way this world is turning out we need all the kindness we can get.

I have this sixth sense about people I have always had it and it is usually about weeding out people who are not who they claim to be from genuine people. I can never put my hand on it but sometimes I get the feeling when I first meet someone other times it develops over time after I have spent a bit of time with that person. It is usually a nagging feeling at the back of my mind about the person and I have been proven right a lot of times no matter how long it takes for the person’s true colours to come out.

I feel a change of circumstances coming up soon I do not quite know what kind of change exactly it is but I have a feeling that it is going to be a good and welcome change in my life.

I have been feeling quite uninspired with my hair lately. Maybe I need to do something drastic like cut it or colour it or something. Err maybe not…probably going through one of my “not feeling my hair” phases.

Does anyone have a remedy to stop procrastination? I think I may need it….

 

Check out this gorgeous hair tumblr http://thesalooni.tumblr.com/

Touched up..finally!

I finally ended my longest stretch yet and got a touch up about two weeks ago. I had lost count of how many weeks post I was at that point all I knew was my last touch up was in early November 2015 – self touch up. I tried to detangle my hair one Sunday afternoon and it was a real struggle no one had to tell me to pick up my phone and make an appointment for a touch up at my friend’s salon. I used my “texlaxer” of choice down below…

My new growth was so thick I did not want to deal with it myself and quite frankly did not trust myself to get good results with this amount of new growth so I went to my trusted hairdresser friend to do my touch up. I wasn’t paying much attention to the relaxer process as my friend had done my touch up before and I trust him to handle my hair as I would. Relaxer process done it was time to rinse, he used the neutralizing shampoo that came with the kit to neutralize the relaxer, several rinses and shampoos later it was time to deep condition. He used Crème of Nature Argan Oil Intensive Conditioning Treatment; and deep conditioned with heat for a little over half an hour. Deep conditioning done it was time to rinse off once more and then proceed to the hooded dryer. I asked that no products other than a heat protectant leave in conditioner be used as I wanted my hair flat ironed and that was exactly what he did. My hair was roller set and I sat under the hooded dryer until completely dry and then got my hair flat ironed. Other than the leave in conditioner the only other product used at this stage was an oil sheen spray and we were done. I was impressed with my length retention this year as I have only long term protective styled for a little over a month in the past ten months.

 

This was the result on relaxer day a few hours later

All I have been wearing is buns and two jumbo braids when not in a bun so in essence I was still protective styling just not long term with extensions and it worked just fine. I just took care of my hair as I normally would did not obsess about length every other month and when I was not paying attention I retained length; or maybe it was all those eggs I eat on an almost daily basis…you know eggs are a great source for biotin and biotin is essential for healthy hair growth. My ends though…need to go…my hairdresser really wanted to give me a trim on relaxer day but I told him we would do it when I came in next for another steam session in a few weeks.

 

Last year's touch up March 2015

Touch up August 2016 see the difference  year. I am happy with my retention so far. This was the best angle we could get the photos as my ends were still curled up from the flat iron process tried my best to get them as straight as possible. will probably do a length check photo once i get those ends trimmed

Kitchen Korner: Avocado Pasta Salad – Two Ways

This is my take on pasta salad. I make this pasta two ways served cold and served warm the ingredients remain more or less the same.

To make this salad I use;

One cup boiled fusilli pasta – (to cook boil the pasta in salted water till tender but not mushy drain and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking process)

One green bell pepper cubed or thinly sliced lengthways

One medium sized carrot shaved

About three stalks chopped spring onions

One medium sized tomato cubed

Half a medium red onion diced

One teaspoon oregano or mixed herbs as long as it has oregano in it I am good

Quarter teaspoon black pepper

One tablespoon olive oil

Juice of half a lemon

One tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar or white vinegar

Quarter teaspoon cayenne pepper

Half a medium Avocado – cube last just before adding to the other ingredients

Note: Wash all the vegetables before chopping

Method One – serve cold

Toss all the ingredients in a bowl apart from the avocado

Mix until perfectly combined

Add cubed avocado and gently fold into the mixture

It is ready to serve or you can leave to chill in the fridge for 10 – 15 minutes if you prefer it chilled and serve. If chilling in the fridge don’t worry the lemon juice ensures the avocado does not discolour before serving

Method Two – serve warm

Please note: This method omits the ACV/White vinegar and lemon juice

I must admit this is my favourite way of having this avocado pasta salad.

In a wok or deep frying pan pour in the olive oil and add all the chopped vegetables, oregano, cayenne and black peppers

Let them sauté or stir fry if you like for 5-7 minutes on medium heat until tender but crunchy

Turn off the heat and add the pre boiled pasta and mix until well combined

Pour in a serving bowl and gently fold in the chopped avocado and serve.

I sometimes add aubergines (eggplant) and/or courgettes (zucchini) if I have them at the time to the “serve warm” recipe; I just add them in at the same time as the other chopped veggies. This recipe serves one; you can adjust to suit your needs.

Both salads can be eaten on their own or with a grilled meat/chicken or fish accompaniment. The avocado is a great and healthier substitute for mayo #teamfitfam:)

Kitchen Korner is a series on the blog that features food prepared using ingredients that can also be used on the hair; double food hair products I like to call them. Today’s major double food hair ingredients are avocado, olive oil and ACV/White Vinegar.