Knock, Knock

Knock, Knock
Who's there?
Irish?
Irish you a Happy Birthday!

This was on one of the cards for Christle's gift. I thought it was the perfect card for her since her birthday falls on St. Patrick's Day.

We celebrated her birthday at this seafood restaurant Rockafellers. I liked the location where it was. It wasn't off the strip but, it was near the water. It's probably nicer during the summertime when you can actually eat outside.
Image courtesy of http://www.vbrestaurantguide.com/images/Rockafellers1.jpg

My boyfriend and I split everything so we wouldn't overeat but, then we ended up hungry by the time we left. We had split some calamari and a steamed bucket. We got some McD's fries and a vanilla cone after we left haha. Anytime we go to a restaurant we've never been to before we always try the calamari if it's on the menu. So far my favorite calamari has been Shucks in Norfolk and Red Star Tavern.

The product experimenting carried on. I used Giovanni Invigorating Tea Tree Shampoo, Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner mixed with L'oreal Vive Pro Nutri-gloss for medium to long hair curly/wavy hair, and a little bit of Generic Value Product Matrix Bioloage Conditioning Balm. I didn't do the upside down rinse.

I scrunched in Goldwell Curl Definition Revive Cream - Intense and Giovanni L.A. Natural Styling gel upside down. The Goldwell Curl Cream doesn't really give me any definition just softness. It's one of my products that I use when I know I'll just be staying at home but, don't want to leave my hair product-free. The first time I tried Giovanni gel I thought it didn't have enough hold. I thought the same thing again today. When I got home, it didn't look like I lost some wave. If you already have this product, I think mixing it with something that has a bit more hold like Biosilk Rock Hard gelee or Herbal Essences Set Me Up gel would work better.

I think the Biosilk gelee would actually be perfect to mix with the Giovanni gel because Biosilk gelee has too much hold for me. The first time I used it I used to much and I felt like my hair turned to glass.

After I applied all the products, I plopped to get my hair off my back, and diffused my hair until it was completely dry. While I was diffusing I could tell the Giovanni gel didn't really have much hold and felt like the back was getting a bit frizzy.
You can kind of see parts of my hair where it's frizzy or where the wave is falling. You know I had to bust out the green dress for St. Patrick's Day.

I'm hoping to go for some longer runs outside since the half-marathon I'm running is less than a month away now. I'm nowhere near where my training schedule says I should be. My shin splints were really bothering me and now they're manageable so I don't want to overdo it and be even more hurt closer to the race. I find that my shins hurt me when I run on the treadmill or pavement so I've been trying to run only outside but, we've been having some rainy weather lately.

Ice works miracles too. If I feel like my shins are hurting, I ice them when I get home while I'm watching The Wire (which I'm currently addicted to but, that's another post) and the pain really goes away.

I ordered some Kinesio tape two weeks ago and still haven't received it. I finally emailed the company and they said they were back ordered and expected date of shipment is April 1. I'd be more annoyed if my shins were hurting me more but, since I'm managing now I can deal with that shipment date.

And the product testing goes on..

I went to a Christening reception for my coworker's daughter's baby. It was at this Japanese Sushi Buffet that I've never been to. I definitely went over calories that time. (Remember I'm using my Iphone Lose It app to lose weight?) It was worth it though. I have a new ice cream love now - Red Bean aka Munngo bean aka Mung bean ice cream. For those that have tried halo-halo, it's the same red beans that are in that. I've seen Red Bean ice cream at the Asian stores before but, never found it appealing. Now that I'm on the hunt for it, I probably won't be able to find it anywhere.

I'm still experimenting with products that I already have. To get accurate results, I should actually be only changing one product at a time instead of using all different products everytime I do my hair.

I decided to use Suave Naturals for cowash, L'oreal Vive Pro Nutri-gloss for Medium to Long Curly/Wavy Hair for rinse-out conditioner, Garner Fructis Sleek & Shine leave-in, and L'oreal Vive Pro Glossy Curls spray gel. I didn't do the upside down rinse this time either.

For my rinse out conditioner I usually use the L'oreal Vive Pro Nutri-gloss mixed with Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner. This time I only used the L'oreal Vive Pro Nutri-gloss conditioner and didn't like the results. My hair didn't feel as moisturized so I ended up having to spray my hair with a spray bottle that contained a little less than 1/4 of Suave naturals conditioner and the rest water (well mixed together) before I applied my leave-in and gel.

If my hair doesn't make a squishy sound when I scrunch products in, my hair isn't conditioned/wet enough. My conditioner/water concoction comes in handy for times like that. This has only happened to me when I used L'oreal Vive Pro Nutri-gloss by itself and Bumble and Bumble Curl Conscious conditioner.

I srunched Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine leave-in in my hair upside down. I scrunched in the L'oreal Glossy Curls spray gel upside down too but, instead of spraying it directly into my hair, I sprayed it into my hands then scrunched it in. I'm sure that defeats the purpose of a spray gel but, I wanted to make sure the gel was distributed evenly.

I plopped with my microfiber towel until I was done putting on lotion. I currently plop not to achieve better clumping or waves but, to get the hair off my back while I'm getting ready. All my life I've had my hair twisted up in a towel while I got ready and can't seem to break the habit. I figure plopping is better for my hair than just wrapping it up in a regular towel.

After I was done getting ready, I removed the microfiber towel and scrunched out excess water with the same towel. I don't plop for that long so there's still a lot of water in my hair. I diffused both upside down and right side up for about 5 minutes then got bored and just let it air dry. The spray gel dried a bit crunchy and you couldn't really scrunch out the crunch. I've had worse in the past, though, when it comes to some crunchy hair.
Once again ignore the expression. Once I get a semi-okay picture I'm like OK that's it...tired of picture taking..this will work.

If you plan on using Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine leave-in, keep in mind it has Amodimethicone. It's one of those silicones that people are iffy about when they are CG. Some say it washes out with a cowash or low/no poo and some won't touch it with a 10 foot pole. My own personal experience? I haven't had a problem with it and will continue using slightly soluble silicones.

The L'oreal Glossy Curls spray gel does NOT have silicones.