Let me break out the Pledge...

And dust off my blog. I have so many posts in my head that just need to get written down. I have some product reviews, including AG hair products (most known for AG recoil), Curl Junkie products and Arrojo products, that I have to get around to. I have the products, tested them out, taken the pictures but, I just need to sit down and actually write it out. I also have another giveaway coming either the end of this week or beginning of next week.

Blended Beauty sent me a cute sample bag which contained most of their popular products. One of the first things I do when I receive products is smell them. I'm very sensitive too smells. Blended Beauty products have that natural, woodsy scent going on a la Carol's Daughter's and Ojon products. The scent is strong and will linger in your hair the whole day. I categorize scents as perfumey, fruity, natural, and food-like (usually products that smell like desserts such as cake). There are probably scents that I haven't encountered yet that don't fit those categories but, a majority of the products I've smelled do fall in those 4 catgeories.

In my sample bag I received the Soy Cream Shampoo, Curl Quenching Conditioner, Light Styling Lotion, Kicks for Curls, Silkshake, Curly Frizz Pudding and an instruction booklet. I haven't had a chance to try some of the products because some of them are used on 2nd day hair and I usually wash my hair everyday. I cowashed with Suave Naturals, conditioned with Curl Quenching conditioner, and styled with the light styling lotion and Curly Frizz Pudding.
My hair was a bit tangly when I took this picture. The day I tested out some of the products was the day of my friend's "winging" for the Navy. Keep in mind this picture was taken at night. I think my hair held up pretty well for a warm day where I was sweating and running around (the room where they held the ceremony was kind of warm) and I also had my windows down when I was driving.

Blended Beauty products are very moisturizing. They don't have a lot of hold but, do give me some definition. I wouldn't call it heavy clumping though. If you want to style your waves or curls but, want them to have looser definition, these products would work for you.

Since I last blogged, I've past two milestones in my life. One being my 29th birthday and the other completing a half-marathon.

I felt like I celebrated my birthday all week. It might be the most I've ever celebrated my birthday. I celebrated at work twice (once actually at work and once at a hibachi restaurant), at Cheesecake Factory, at my boyfriend's mom's house, and at a bar and club on the weekend. I even had two birthday cakes. I'm not writing to brag about how much I celebrated my birthday but, to talk about how much all of that meant to me. I don't like to talk about my personal life that much on public sites but, some days, especially during holidays or special occasions, I feel kind of alone. I have a really big family but, my parents, brother, aunties, uncles and cousins are all out of state and not really at driveable locations either. I'm not close to the family that I do have nearby because of drama that I won't get into. When I say "not close", it's pretty much like we're strangers. My grandparents are close by also but their favorite past time is staying at home. I've been lucky enough to basically be "adopted" by one of my best friend's family and my boyfriend's family. My best friend's family is my 2nd family and her parents have always been there for me like my own parents have. My boyfriend's family is forever feeding me. If you see how much I eat, you know that can be costly. I have a couple close friends nearby but, again as life does to everyone, most of my close friends are miles and states away. I can't seem to find the words to end this rambling but, basically my Facebook status that I had posted up during my birthday week should sum it up, "[I'm] grateful for all the blessings that God has given me but most grateful for all the people He has brought into my life." I can't express how happy and thankful I was for everything that was done for my birthday. Thank you to everyone who celebrated and made me feel that I do have family here. Thank you to my family, who are some of the nicest people you'll meet, my boyfriend, who never ceases to make me happy, all my friends - new and old, both sides of my boyfriend's family who are always taking care of me, and my coworkers. Let me end this with some birthday pictures before someone offers me some cheese with that whine.

Celebrating at work. Yes, I know I'm dressed like a mechanic and No, I can't fix your car. The other day, someone in my neighborhood asked me if I was a professional dog sitter because I was always walking my dog at the same time dressed in my work uniform.
Celebrating at my boyfriend's mom's house. We had no idea she was planning anything. My boyfriend even took me out to dinner to Cheesecake Factory and his mom just told us to stop by. When we got to her house, there was all this food. I wish I could have eaten more because everything was so good but, we had gotten an appetizer, main meal and dessert at Cheesecake Factory.
My final celebration which happened to be the same day as the half marathon. I had to take a nap before we left that night. Blowing out my "candle" that was actually a steak knife.
Look at the size of this carrot cake that the restaurant gives out for birthdays.
The ladies. I was cracking up hard in the first picture.
I had fun that night but, took me a long time to recover.

Like I said above, I completed my half marathon earlier that day. That's the longest distance I've run so far - 13.2 miles. I started struggling at mile 10. It was also the first time I ran with an Ipod. The night before I had just dumped a bunch of songs on a playlist that I thought would be good for running. I might have to reevaluate my playlist though. Stay by Lisa Loeb doesn't hype you up as much as you think it would when all you feel like doing is rolling yourself into a ball and resting for a bit on the side of the road.

Here's a pic of me and my boyfriend at the halfway point, between miles 6 and 7. I look rough.
I think my pose for my next race will be one of these two.

Now that I've completed the half marathon, I've come to realize that I went about my training the wrong way. Forget building up your endurance and speed and increasing your mileage by 10% each week. All you need to do is keep your adrenaline up the whole race. That rush will enable you to complete your fastest mile EVER. Take for instance what happened to me. I'm running the half marathon, staying on the side of the road closest to the trees. Of course, because you are close to the woods, they are required to put up signs warning you about surrounding wildife, including bears. I'm getting in the groove, listening to my T.I., reggaeton and occasional soft rock songs, when out of nowhere this bear comes out of the woods ready to attack me.
I jumped, said "Holy Crap, Oh shoot", and sprinted with the quickness only to find the other people running next to me were laughing. (I like to think with me not at me). That's when I realized the bear was actually a very realistic, very life-like statue. I really think I'm on to something here. Imagine if you're running a race where you are constantly fearing for your life. Don't you think you'd end up with your best race times?

My goal was to a.) Finish the half marathon without having to be carried over the finish line and b.) Complete it within 2.5 hours.

Here are the details of my race sent to me by the race officials.

Your time 2:23:29.06 gave you a 10:57 pace per mile.

Your 3M time was 32:06.57 for a pace of 10:42 per mile
Your 6M time was 1:02:16.25 for a pace of 10:03 per mile
Your 10M time was 1:46:10.59 for a pace of 10:59 per mile

They really aren't impressive times especially considering when I was at 3.5 miles the winners of the race were on the way back to the finish line but, it was just a personal goal I can finally check off my list and I'm happy to have completed it without hurting myself. The boyfriend and I are planning on running a full marathon this year. I will definitely have to train for that.

Images courtesy of:
http://kara.allthingsd.com/files/2008/06/austin_powers_mike_myers_as_dr_evil.jpg
http://events.clowningaround.com/images/Lookalike%20Photos/Austin%20Powers%20shagadelic.jpg

I don't mean to brag but....

I'm addicted to the Scramble game app. I just recently discovered that you could play against other players online. I have a somewhat competitive streak in me. Something just comes over me when it comes to games - kickball, baby shower games, tetris, my company volleyball game, dodgeball, buffet eating, etc. It doesn't even have to be against other people. I'm always trying to beat my own score at most games.

In Memoriam

I just wanted to take a moment of silence to remember those who lost their lives during one of Virginia Tech's most tragic days two years ago on this date.

Please take time to read the biographies of our 32 fallen Hokies here.

When I read these biographies, all I could think was how sad, senseless and selfish an action it was that took away someone's father, brother, sister, cousin, friend, classmate, etc.

My thoughts and prayers continue to go out to those who have been affected.

We will always remember. WE ARE VIRGINIA TECH!

And the Blended Beauty winner is......

Congratulations to Jess! She is now the lucky owner of 3 Blended Beauty products of her choice. Congrats again and hope you enjoy your products.

I chose my winner a little bit more technologically advanced than last time. I made a numbered list of everyone's name and used a random number generator to choose a number which in turn was my winner.

Huuurcuut!

I did end up getting my haircut yesterday but, didn't go for the short cut. The picture I showed the hair stylist was a picture of someone with long hair, long layers and shorter layers in the front. I just couldn't part with the hair. On the same page of the haircut I liked was a picture of a really short cut and the stylist thought at first that was the cut that I wanted. She said in her head she was like uh oh she's gonna chop of all that hair.

The stylist did a wet cut as opposed to the dry curly cut. I told her I do style my hair different ways and want that option to switch between curly, wavy and straight styles. It didn't look like she took off that much but, my hair feels different when I run my hands through it. My boyfriend was able to tell a difference.

I'll post up pics of it wavy the next time I fix my hair.

Yes, yes I know the angry face again but, it's the only decent hair shot I could take. I should have taken a picture of the back so you could see more of the layering.

Now is the time to get Curl Junkie Products and Possible Haircuts

If you've been wanting to try Curl Junkie products but, didn't want to spend a whole lot on shipping, Curl Junkie is currently doing a $5 USPS Priority mail/$6 UPS Ground flat rate shipping special on all orders. Don't forget to check out all the goodies on sale under the "sales & trial set" link.

I may possibly be getting my haircut soon. I probably won't be getting a "curly haircut". This will be a good experiment. I know there have been a couple questions about whether or not a "straight haircut" would look just as good once you styled your hair curly. I'll be finding out the question to this soon. When I go to the hair salon, I'll probably go there with my hair curly, which I don't usually do, and mention that I'm trying to wear my hair curly more often.

I'm really contemplating bangs and a haircut because it's almost my birthday (I usually like to get my haircut near my birthday), it's been a while since I got a cut, and because these two pictures influenced me.

The first picture is a wig sold by a Japanese company called Mod's Hair. You can read more about this on Jillipoo's blog. I don't think I would get my hair cut as short as the wig but, I just thought it was a cute cut and I liked the bangs.

The second picture is of course Rihanna who I love so this may be making me biased towards the haircut. I showed one of my friends though and she liked it a lot too. This cut isn't too too short but, will still be taking a lot of length off my current hair length. And even if I ended up liking the cut a whole lot, I'd probably still regret it. I have a weird attachment to my hair when it comes to change. I always like getting my hair done but, at the same time I usually end up regretting changes other than minor ones.

I'm planning on getting it cut either this weekend or my birthday next week.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and wonderful Easter!

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Contest is now closed. Winner will be announced shortly. Thanks to all who participated.

Blended Beauty

The nice folks at Blended Beauty have graciously donated any 3 items that one of you fine readers will pick from their website http://blendedbeauty.com/.

Blended Beauty hair care products were designed specifically for the needs of those with dry, wavy, curly, kinky, and relaxed or heat-straightened hair.

Their main goal is to provide superior quality products that beautify the look of the hair but also nourish the hair from the inside out, promoting healthy growth and diminishing breakage. All our products are formulated with naturally derived ingredients and are between 98%-99% natural.

Their mission is to encourage those with curly hair, to realize its beauty and embrace it. Whatever your hair type is, you can wear it natural and love it. Chemicals, petroleum, mineral oil, and relaxing can be a thing of the past, on a Blended Beauty regimen. Our suggestions for promoting great hair have been laid out on the hair tips page for the benefit of our customers.

Some of the natural hair care ingredients included in their products are Shea Butter, Chamomile, Horsetail/Shave Grass, Marshmallow Root, Aloe Vera, Sunflower Oil, Volcanic Clay, Vegetable Glycerin, Seaweed, Grape Seed Oil, Avocado Oil, Witch Hazel, Keratin, Silk Protein, Soy Lecithin, and Rosemary Extract. Blended Beauty will always remain paraben-free.

For those of you following the Curly Girl Method, their products are Curly Girl Method approved.

Go ahead and check out their site. Pick out the three products you would want to win because you just might get lucky. There are also before & after pictures, demo videos and hair tips on the site.

Contest rules:
1. Any reader that posts a comment AND sends me an email is automatically entered to win. The only reason I ask you to also send me an email is because it is easier for me to contact you when I pick a winner. Most people are not comfortable leaving their email address on a comment which is entirely understandable. You don't have to write a fancy long email. Just put Blended Beauty giveaway on the subject line and then your name that you used to leave a comment. My email address is mamendoz@gmail.com.
2. Winner will be chosen randomly.
3. Contest ends at 12:00 PM EST on Wednesday, April 15, 2009.