Why I may resort to wearing a bag over my head...

I am currently having a serious #firstworldproblem - my hair. UGH.

Me, every day.

Everything about my hair currently bothers me: the length, the color, the cut, the dryness. Those are my usual issues, though. I'm never happy with it (which is why I've been a serial hair-colorer since I was in 8th grade). I'm not pleased, and maybe that's why it's making my newest issue seem so much worse.

The humidity in NoVa / DC has returned. With a vengeance. And it's only May! This morning when I woke up at 6 AM, it was 70* and 84% humidity. I kid you not. And my hair just cannot handle that.

I let my hair air-dry every night and then straighten it in the morning. I apply some Moroccan oil and some John Frieda Split End Repair Serum while it's wet, then Dove anti-frizz serum after it's dry and straight. And these things are NOT working. In the 15 minutes it takes me to walk from the train platform to my office building, everything has gone to hell in a hand basket. Frizzy, poofy, weird little kinks around my temple... it is not normal. And I'm about 2 steps away from just bringing my straightener to work in the morning and doing it all when I get here. Which, I gather, is not "office appropriate." But I'm at my wit's end, y'all.

Not ok.

Anyone have any serious fixes for humidity-stricken hair? I cannot live all summer like this.

*all images borrowed from Google images

How to Get Out of Running a Race You Really Want to Run

Alternately titled, "I'm Too Stubborn for My Own Damn Good."

Follow these steps carefully:

1. Sign up for a race (for example, the Wicked 10K) months in advance (at least four. maybe five).
2. Injure your back, approximately two months before the race.
3. Ignore that injury, and continue exercising strenuously (for ideas, try lifting heavier weights than usual or running 11 miles...... just suggestions).
4. Complain a lot about said injury.
5. Finally see a chiropractor, who promptly tells you to ice your back 3-4 times daily and refrain from strenuous activity anything (like weight-lifting, or running) but the elliptical.
6. Rejoice in the glory that is being pain-free and gush about your chiropractor.
7. Ignore the chiropractor's advice - instead, ice one time daily and go for three runs.
8. Be confused when not only does your back hurt again, but it hurts worse.
9. See chiropractor again. He promptly yells at you for ignoring his advice and undoing the amazing work that he did on your back.
10. Decide to listen to chiropractor (he is a medical professional, after all) and finally start icing and stop exercising.
11. Heal - very, very slowly. Definitely not in time for your race. Which you could have run, had you:
1. Taken it easier when your back first started hurting.
2. See a doctor sooner.
3. Taken the doctor's advice.
4. Not been so freaking stubborn.
12. Be very, very sad about the fact that you will probably have to walk most of this race because there is an ice-cube's-chance-in-hell likelihood that the chiropractor will clear you to run 10k this weekend.

This is clearly a hypothetical suggestion, because obviously I would never be the person so dumb as to do all of these things. This is a horrible plan. Who would do these things??

Anyone else going to be at the Wicked 10K this weekend?? Wave to me as you run by. I'll be the crying dumb sad girl.

Foodie PenPal FAIL.

Here's a picture of all the amazing goodies that my Foodie PenPal sent me this month!!:













Wait, there's no picture.

That's correct.

That's because this month's Foodie PenPal exchange was a great big FAIL. I did not receive a package. Whomp whomp.

I got paired up with Rachael from Around, Wondering as the person I was sending a package to, and another girl (She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named [SWSNBN]), who doesn't have a blog or any internet presence that I can find (so I'm starting to wonder if she's even real), as the person who was going to send me my package. Great, I thought! Let's do this! (LERROOYYYY JENKINS! Five points if you get that reference.)

I sent out my email to establish contact with Rachael, and got an email from SWSNBN. I told SWSNBN all about myself, my food preferences, my hobbies, my eating habits, blah blah blah. She emailed me back and told me about herself, including that she's a student in Maryland, and I thought that was great, because we'd have some local food things in common. All was well.

Packages are supposed to be mailed out by the 15th of the month. I got Rachael's package together, had a great time searching for fun things in Occoquan, wrapped it all in pretty tissue paper, and got it in the mail a day or two early, even. Then I get an email from SWSNBN saying that she won't be able to have my package in the mail by the 15th, but should have it by the 18th at the latest. OK - no big deal. It's just coming from Maryland, shouldn't take long to arrive, all is still well.

So....... then nothing. No email. No package. No carrier pigeon. I'm checking the mail daily, figuring that at some point this package will arrive. Nope. Nadda. I email SWSNBN asking what's going on. No response. I email Lindsay to tell her that things do not appear to be going well. She emails me back saying that she emailed SWSNBN - as far as I know, no response.

And that is all folks. SWSNBN has disappeared, I received no fun Foodie PenPals package this month, and August is over. I repeat... whomp whomp. Sads all around - even C is disappointed, because he liked the last box, and he helped me shop for this month's box, and we were looking forward to seeing what we'd get. So now there are TWO sad, fun-food-less people in our house. Two and half, if you count Mac, who's sad on our behalf.

So sad he's falling over.

I don't know what's going on here,
but this picture cracks me up.
Camera fail. Kitty pirate.

All funnies aside, I have to admit that I'm pretty disappointed/a little mad. I know that I take a chance when I sign up for an exchange like this that something will go wrong. I know that shit happens, and sometimes you just can't get your act together like you'd like, and maybe that's what happened this time. I'd like to give SWSNBN the benefit of the doubt. My issue with the whole thing is, though, that she didn't own up to it. At least answer my email. At least tell me that no box is coming. Don't just disappear off the face of the planet and leave me wondering WTF happened. Not cool, SWSNBN. Not cool. Blerg.

So there ya have it. This month's Foodie PenPals was a bust. I hope everyone else got awesome boxes, and I can't wait to read Rachael's post later and see if she liked what I sent her. I'm not doing FPP next month, because there's just too much going on, but I think I will take the chance again after that. After all, my first time around was pretty awesome. I couldn't possibly get screwed twice, right?? **knocks on wood**

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If you want to know more about the Foodie PenPals Program, here is the basic info:

Foodie PenPals

• On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
• You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
• The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
• You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
• Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
• Foodie Penpals is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We've determined things might get too slow and backed up if we're trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 

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Unrelated - this is my 100th post! Hooray!