Letter Writing Queen
If there is one thing I learned from my dad it’s how to write a letter that gets results. I’ve written to so many companies to complain about so many things, mostly on behalf of my dad. He’d request that I draft something and then he’d whip out his Montblanc pen (incidentally he made me write Montblanc a letter about how their ink refills were too expensive to justify their short lives) and revise away. I think he used to love critiquing my letters about as much as he loves shopping for socks at TJ Maxx. My dad thrives on getting a good deal.
My dad doesn’t ask me to write things on his behalf so much anymore, but after learning from the master I find myself drafting away on my own. Among other things, I have managed to replace my defective sofa at no cost to me. I’ve also managed to get my cousin admitted into grad school by writing her appeal letter. The success feels great. Now if only I was as successful in other aspects of my life. But thats another whole post.
Anyway, after reading Jillian Michaels’ Master Your Metabolism I decided to throw out any household/beauty product that could be potentially harmful. That was basically everything. After the massive purge I headed to Target to restock. Target hasn’t quite hopped on the organic bandwagon yet so selection was limited. I did manage to pick up a few things though, including this sunscreen:
Initially I was quite pleased with this product. It smells great, goes on well, doesn’t feel too thick. The SPF could have been a bit higher but since I planned to reapply it throughout the day that wasn’t that big of a deal. It seemed to meet all Jillian’s ingredient criteria too. The only problem was that around noon each day my eyes started stinging pretty badly. Since my contact lenses already drive me crazy the added stinging was a bit too much for my irritated eyes to handle. I finally put two and two together (I’m quick aren’t I?) and realized that the sunscreen was somehow getting into my eyes as the day progressed. I gave it a few days and when the stinging kept happening I wrote Avalon a letter via their website.
It had been a few weeks with no reply. I figured they probably didn’t care. I put them right up there with the INS (now that was a fun letter). So imagine my amazement today when I received not only a letter thanking me for my email but also two coupons for free products and two $3 off coupons as well!
Thank you Avalon, I am very impressed with your fabulous customer service and I am excited to give your products a second chance.
Sorry for the abrupt ending but I have to go. I have a ton more letters to write.
Brillant? I think not.
You know those girls who have gorgeous, straight, silky hair? The ones who get long, perfect strands seemingly without a blow dryer, a straightening iron, and a curling iron? Yeah, thats not me. I have always battled my hair which is curly/frizzy/wavy i.e. it has a mind of its own. To make matters worse I have SO MUCH hair and its super thick. My older sister even nicknamed me “Caveman.” (Its been 15 since she called me that and she is still a mean b!@#$ but thats another whole post).
Anyway, circa 2001 a miracle happened. The Japanese brought over the best thing they’ve ever invented…the Yuko system. Finally, after years of trying every product to tame my hair, a single afternoon at the salon was all I needed to have smooth, fairly straight locks! Sure it took about 4-5 hours of one-on-one time with an extremely quiet Japanese man who still doesn’t know much English but I didn’t need to battle with a hair dryer anymore. Every silent second was worth it.
So I’ve done the straightening twice a year for about 5 years now, the last time being in April of this year. Clearly I am due to visit my favorite Japanese man. But this year I’ve decided to see if I could forego doing the process. For one thing, I hate to be so dependent on anything. Sound crazy? Yes I know I have issues. But another, more important reason is that there is something about the unknown chemicals in this product that makes me really nervous. I guess I’ve heard Jillian Michaels talk about “chemical-free” lifestyle one too many times now. I even gave up my beloved Pantene because of the sulfates. I miss Pantene. I miss sulfates.
I am trying new, chemical free (or nearly chemical free) products to tame my frizz. Since I’ve already tried Giovanni and Avalon products with no success, I decided to fork over big bucks to try Aveda’s Brillant line.
What a disappointment! The shampoo is okay I guess but really did nothing more for me than any other shampoo I’ve used (including Suave which I used during my penny-pinching college days). The biggest disappointment though was the Brillant conditioner which actually made my hair feel drier than it was before I used it! Plus, I went through the bottle of conditioner in a week because it just wasn’t very moisturizing. I thought I just wasn’t using enough but that clearly wasn’t the case.
Luckily Aveda actually does make a good product:
This anti-humectant pomade is fantastic. It kept my hair under control during a very rare October storm we had here in L.A. It also kept my hair straight during a massive downpour in Toronto a few weeks ago. I am very impressed with this product. A little goes a long way so I think it will last for a while which makes my $19 investment worthwhile.
I also have this straightening iron. This is one of the most amazing things ever because it heats up in a flash and straightens really close to the scalp. But this makes me wonder, is it better to scald my scalp or use chemicals on it? It’s a crap shoot either way I guess.
Lets see how long I can hold out. I have a feeling that in a few more months the frizz will be so unbearable that I will be able to see it in my peripheral vision. And then I’ll need to take drastic action. I need a chemical-free miracle.
It seems that Maya will also be needing this miracle in the not so distant future because the poor kid inherited my hair.
I believe that one must always look at the silver lining though and in this case Maya should be grateful she has no sibling to call her a caveman. I’m still getting over it. 😦
Sunday, a day of rest?
Not for us. We were up at the crack of dawn as usual but at least this time I didn’t bother with the pancakes. Instead we had cereal and called it a morning. While Ali was on a 2 hour conference call it fell to me to entertain Maya. So we engaged in one of our favorite activities – we cleaned and organized. I am a bit obsessive and it appears Maya is following in my footsteps as it was her idea. We started with the kitchen where she vacuumed while I did the dishes. Then we made our way to the living room where we found and sorted through about 50 different wires and cables that Ali had stored away hoping I wouldn’t find them. Maya aptly noted, “Dad is just one big mess, Mama.” Some people collect stamps, Ali collects cables and wires. I try not to judge.
We worked up an appetite and went to one of our favorite restaurants, Jack n Jills in Beverly Hills. The food is great, the wait not so much. After waiting 25 minutes for a table we were finally seated. I ordered my usual egg scramble with avocado, basil, goat cheese, and spinach.
Maya wanted pancakes.
It was a slap in the face after our disagreement over yesterday’s breakfast. She had one bite, and then went to town on my eggs. I couldn’t really blame her because while the pancakes were good they were missing salt or something. I ate one anyway because she finished my eggs and I was hungry.
After lunch we had no idea what to do. We racked our brains. How to keep a 4-year-old busy on a Sunday afternoon? With way too many hours to kill until Maya’s bedtime we headed over to the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica. We ran some errands, debated eating again but decided we were too full, and bought an amazing picture from Z Gallerie. For some reason I can’t pick it up until Thursday. It took me about 15 minutes to close the transaction and the store was chaos so I didn’t push too much to understand why.
Afterwards we gave up shopping. We aren’t really shoppers. We walked closer to the beach instead. It was a beautiful day:
We came home and I made dinner, rice and daal. Its Sunday night now and time for detox. Indian food is always ideal for that. No recipe really, just boil some lentils until they are soup-like. Add some of the Indian spices my mom gave me. A little of this, a little of that. My mom is probably rolling her eyes right now as she’s given me a proper recipe about 5 times but I can never remember exactly what it is.
Now Maya is “doing my hair” so I can have 5 minutes to write this post. She’s angrily muttering something about Charlie and a pickle right now. I better go before she pulls all my hair out with her Dora brush. Monday morning, here we come.
While I'm not going to win Mother/Wife of the Year Award anytime soon, I haven't killed anyone yet or shot myself in the head. And that, my friends, is how I calculate success these days. 
FANCY THAT FANCY THIS 
