hair transformation

before

after

crazy right?! here's the back - i mean it's LONG.

it's gonna take some getting used to definitely... I might keep it in for a bit because... um... I paid for it HAHA and it'll be fun for a little while right?! but honestly I love me with shorter hair. It's just who I am. Bubbly, funny, giggly Abby with shorter bouncy awesome hair. The COOL thing about having long hair is it totally gives you confidence! I never KNEW, long haired friends! Why wasn't I informed of this POWER?! *whoa Kanye stream of consciousness* It's almost like this shield of awesome womanhood or something. I was bold today! it was CRAZY. I think the fun thing will be finding that confidence that I've totally had all along and showing that with my personality... and shorter hair when this comes out. it's like watch out world when that happens. woo!

Also... it didn't hurt. it feels exactly like my hair. it took 2 hours. i can still put it in a pony tail. 

it's... PRETTY COOL.

wedding trip starts tomorrow! (er later on today) so see you Monday : ) lots of long blog posts about drama, love and wedding happenings probably coming soon. just. prepare for THAT.

from a 1st time m.o.h.

I have learned a few new things when it comes to being a maid of honor:

1. write your speech. write an ACTUAL speech. write it early. and practice it!

2. LISTEN TO MARTHA STEWART - she knows all even if she has crazy ocd instructions on everything... it's cuz they're FLAWLESS

3. exercise patience above all else... you get to deal with the bride, who gets to deal with everyone else... so you get the FULL brunt of frustration. and that's okay! cuz that's your JOB. take it like a man! woman. sorry!

I learned how to make the most amazing bow bouquet from Martha... seriously... i wanna frame it and all you need are a few simple tools!

via Label Box for iPhone. it's free and AWESOME.

Martha called for a compass. you know... the thing you used approximately one and a half times in 7th and 10th grade? yeah. sorry martha. what's not pictured that i also used is cardstock (in my case a thick paper plate) cut in a circle with scalloped edges with an x in the center. I mean the woman knows her stuff! i can't show you the finished product yet but (hashtag) just sayin? it's AWESOME. It's lucky for you, you have an artist maid of honor.

4. have an artist maid of honor and/or an insanely organized one.

srsly. ask Katherine of Gathered Heart *shameless pluuuug* her maid of honor was EPIC.

the secret hair club for black girls

i have just been inducted into a secret society. a tradition passed down through generations of black women. a privilege bestowed on only the most worthy of recipients. the gift... of hair.

now my whole life i've been blessed with "good hair" thick, long, fine grade hair that grows fast and looks... like a white girl. no joke that is the secret of good hair... if you can surpass the nappy headed stage and get long luxurious locks that are your OWN? you've been blessed with a gift. don't take it for granted! He giveth and taketh away. hair... follicles.

I'm letting you in on the biggest kept secret EVER. I mean it's not like white people talk about being white... til Stuff White People Like came out. If Stuff Black People Like ever were publicly released... there would be mass chaos in the streetz. like Step Up 6: In Da Streetz. A black woman could be broke, jobless, HOMELESS and still have a head full of weave. You think I'm kidding. It's an art form in the black community. Also it is not "fake hair". if you bought it? it is yours. your. hair.

For the wedding my mom decided it would be an awesome idea for me to get extensions since my dress in strapless and it shows a considerable amount of skin. i... kind of didn't agree but saw where she was coming from so the hunt started for 1. a stylist 2. a good price for a sew in* and 3. HAIR. I used to work in a salon & spa before the Square so I had good connections for a stylist and a price... i just needed the hair.

I ended up going to U.S. Beauty Supply down the street from my house where there's like a... black people central area on 183rd street. I wish I was kidding. It's like.... dollar store, chinese food, gyros, the ghetto version of sports authority, Moo&Oink, beauty supply, Kenny's Ribs, Harold's Chicken, A&P Deli, KFC, a barber and a hair salon. Seriously it's a one stop shop. You don't have to go ANYWHERE else. ever. for anything. I'm not being stereotypical I'm frickin SERIOUS haha

anyways there's this Korean lady named Sunny who owns the place with her husband, (tip 1. a good beauty supply WILL be owned by a Korean couple) and is the maven of hair. My mom and I stared at her for like 7 minutes while she blatantly talked on the phone to her friend about Easter and red meat. She was speaking  a different language but kept saying "Easter" and "red meat" intermittently. She also told us that's what she was talking about as soon as she got off the phone. I asked her for a certain brand of hair and she immediately rattled off what we needed. Seriously... if you're gonna buy hair you listen to Sunny... according to the two women behind me that SWEAR by her. Finally I got what I needed (i hope) and went to check out. Here went the conversation:

Sunny: you have membership caahrd?
Me: no...?
Sunny and the two women in line behind me: *pressed lips together* mmm.
Me: *look of horror* oh! uh... sorry!? um... *shame, embarrassment*

tip 2. HAVE A MEMBERSHIP CARD! YOU DIE QUICK! Y U NO HAVE MEMBERSHIP CARD?!

she actually TOOK my keys from me so she could attach the membership card to them. this card says AND I QUOTE, "U.S. Beauty Supply. Human Hair. Wig. Pony Tail. Nails. Beauty Supply."

I'm SO legit now. I will totally also post a picture of the finished product.

*a sew in is taking the hair and literally sewing it into your own hair which is braided in cornrows across your head. yup. INTENSE

i'm done. no really though i'm not done.

will everyone PLEASE love her already?! kthanksbye.



p.s. 9 days til this wedding! geeeeeze. i have to shop... for hair. man i already know i have a blog post coming about me shopping for hair. it'll be named like "the secret life of black girls" or something... amazin'. plus don't forget. Abby in a dress. *faints*

without you the world keeps turning

Good news y'all! my TOMS came today!! somehow whenever I order anything else FedEx is a pain, USPS is slow as HAIL and UPS somehow gets inside the building and drops off my package to my door. We like UPS.

On to the important stuff!

Red stonewashed... so tasty. and yeah... i have 5 pairs of TOMS. Obsessed much? psh... NO.

God bless Blake Mycoskie (I almost said Blake Lively LOL! ok sure bless her too but for real...) for making the most comfortable shoe EVER and also making sure kids without resources to even obtain shoes get a special present. I mean seriously how awesome is that? It also INSANELY justifies all these purchases so you don't get to judge me! FanTAStic.

so I fell in love recently... with a font. his name is archer... he's very thin and wiry with hints of elegance on his super sexy ascenders and descenders... actually i'm in love with his entire family (oh man the font humor is SLAYING me) but Archer Hairline is what got me. He's a woo-er that Archer... I did a semi preview... It will also be my wedding font. Just sayin! Don't steal it. You've been warned. : )

definitely click to see it larger... it's so light it just might disappear

I leave in a week and 2 days for St. Louis to be the m.o.h. in my good friend's wedding. It's been a YEAR of planning - a whole year... can you even believe it?! haha I'm excited and my packing list is HUGE... i also haven't written my maid of honor speech yet... wing it? it doesn't work well. write it on the notes app on my iPhone? DEFINITELY yes. I'm mostly excited about leaving town for 5 days. I'll come back with pictures of me in a DRESS. i know right... pick yourself up off the floor. Prepare for that haha

I'll leave you with my Robyn Radio favorite for the past like 2 or 3 months - I WILL get all of you addicted to house music eventually. come into the light!

thoughts on a social hiatus

I've just ended a week to be AWAY from Facebook and kind of tweaked my Twitter as well. I'm not gonna lie it's been a bit of a struggle. It's almost like a fast from it or something. Facebook is like a legal addictive stimulant - you are on it all day... 24/7. Updating, stalking, browsing, wasting hours of time and you CLAIM you can give it up any time you want but you never do. For all the teens that I see in my store it's a form of validation and a definite status symbol. Your status symbol is raised when you take your picture with 4 of your friends flipping off the camera in an Apple store. Weird, teens, I had no idea. Thanks for the info.

For adults it's a peek into the outside world and their alter ego. Their political platform, their religious stance, their disciplinary standpoint, their entire marriage and children's lives IS Facebook.

Some people use it to promote business which, if used correctly, can be a great leveraging point for your business but mostly people just engage in over-sharing sessions about anything and everything and enjoy getting offended when someone crosses that boundary from song lyrics to all out status wars with your husband's mistress (true. story.).

As much as I would LOVE to say that the reason I temporarily deactivated my account is because of all the aforementioned reasons above and how it is contaminating my life (though I'm sure it is haha) it isn't. *sigh* now comes the time where I actually talk about what's been going on... Did I mention I'm not good at that? Well here goes. I liked a boy. That boy no longer likes me. While I don't want or need to be with said boy... I can't take seeing his statuses all the time when I go on Facebook. I can't really handle even a normal status like, "it's a good day!" let alone anything else deeper or more vague. I deactivated it so I could finally mend and move the heck on.

So... in reality I'm no better than the people that use and abuse Facebook. True, I don't stalk I'm not extra nuts I just... avoided the problem all together. But then again that's the right I have as a user of Facebook. I can choose to see or not see what people post, the whole freedom of speech thing comes into play. I can freely choose to NOT look at what you have to say, as equally as your right as a person to freely speak.

But I'm back now... I like communicating through it even though it's like 50% legal addictive stimulant, 45% poison and MAYBE 5% for the good of the user.

p.s. am i allowed to post personal things on here? i know blogs are usually standard happiness but i dunno... hope it's okay it won't happen often.

reasons why yesterday was... pretty cool!

1. There is nothing like careening towards the city reading Jane Austen (for realsies there isn't). The sky was the bluest i'd seen in forever and it was like the city was welcoming me. I love how the tall buildings provide an unconventional comfort.

2. I also love how experiencing the city alone is an amazing time but sharing it with someone has it's own sweetness as well. The good thing is when I'm there I never feel lonely.

3. Argo. duh? specifically the Green Tea Strawberry Créme that rocked my SOCKS and some tasty sandwich infused with mate. it. was. so. good.

4. Anthro never ceases to disappoint. I almost bought the cutest mug from there but I already have like a BILLION mugs and this one was 12 bucks. I just bought 3 for 6 dollars TOTAL so... womp womp no purchase. I still stared longingly at the bedding though! Long.ing.LY.

5. I think I was drugged and fell unconscious because when I woke up THIS was in my bag. *hisses* from AKIRA.

*gasp!* *shock* *horror!* *appall!* *peeks in bag...* ash grey? ok well at least the people that FORCED me to take these home were stylish... ::ahem:: that's my story and i'm stickin to it!

 6. I won a t-shirt when I went to Blick! No for real I literally WALKED in the door, the nice artsy chick in glasses gestures, "spin the wheel?" I spun and won a tee! For the record I really wanted the stainless steel Sharpie they had but all the same IT WAS FREE! hooray! (i TOTALLY tried to exchange my t-shirt for that Sharpie. no luck.)

7. PIZZA. cheap. good. local. PIZZA. good times were had by all. i'll say no more

8. I rented a movie! Like... from the video store! like the real ones they have down the street from yo' house?! I know! It was considerably less than renting a movie from iTunes and I got to see 2 good movies! Morning Glory was really REALLY good - I want Rachel McAdams to be my best friend I really hope she's not horrible in real life. RED was AWESOME. I mean you can't go wrong with Morgan Freeman AND Helen Mirren in the same movie can ya?! *psst... the answer is no!*

and next week watch out for the combination of skinny jeans + arts. just... watch... it's actually so epic it just might NOT happen... woah...... : )

choose your own adventure day!

I have the day off tomorrow! I have to stop starting my entries with "day off." it's getting repetitive. ok let's start again.

I'm not going to work tomorrow! yeah... that was no better. fail. moving on!

Somehow I'm really excited by the fact that I have no plans of any sort and I'm kinda feeling like a city trip is needed. I need some alone time and Argo tea and a trip to Anthropologie to stare drooly and bug-eyed at their bedding that costs $300. I would be that person that buys Anthropologie bedding and JUSTIFIES the purchase. I mean that bedding is more than the cost of AppleCare (woah i just compared that HAH) and it does way less. BUT IT'S ANTHROPOLOGIE! hence the instant justification. such is life hmm?

I also am in DESPERATE need of Sharpies in my LIFE! I have one hanging on my keychain at work and it just makes me so happy. So I also, obviously, want to go to Blick. But... lurking down the street from Blick is Akira. They're the devil masking as a shoe store. I'm gonna tell you why so you don't fall into their vicious trap. They. Carry. TOMS. *gasp!* are you biting your fist? (you totally should be... that's back in style now.) But for real! It is DANGEROUS to go in there! That's how I found my Emily Dickens TOMS and that is ALSO how I overdrew my bank account in the same breath. Yeah... so you understand my dilemma. They STEAL your money! Thieves! Murderesses! aka I will probably end up buying another pair of TOMS if I go. These. Yeah... I have problems.

OR!

I could stay in town *buh* and go to Target *yay!* and look at their pretty jewelry and scarves and food that is exactly the same as the food in Jewel but seems much more appealing in a Target. And I could also get cheap pizza that happens to be REALLY good cuz it's local and not a chain. I could stay home and not wear pants ALL. DAY. (oh man this is starting to sound super good) Paint my toesies and watch Barefoot Contessa work her cooking magic in her home in the Hamptons.

I'm gonna pretty much just go with how the day takes me... If iiii end up going downtown going to Argo then getting pizza on the way home then cool! orrrr if iiii go to Target then head downtown and just go to Blick and *hopefully* avoid Akira then awesome!  And if I wake up at 2pm roll outta bed and order pizza to be delivered well then FANTASTIC hahaha. I'll see where the day takes me : )

by the by, i deactivated my facebook for a week or two so if you don't see me... it's cuz you can't. it's a result of the things that are happening right now that i won't talk about? plus whose life WASN'T made better by the absence of facebook? exactly. we'll see if i come back... playing that by ear too. right now it's pretty refreshing. it's funny that muscle memory tells my hand to go to the third topsite by instinct. poor hand.

p.p.s. (since the 'by the by' was totally a p.s.) - my favorite color right now is mustard yellow. can ya tell much?? also i like my cartoony book graphic i just cranked out at 1am. why am i awake?!

pfft.

i'm gonna direct you to friend Kate's post for my current feelings cuz they are SPOT. ON. except the maternity leave. I'm not... pregnant... but she is! and that's awesome. I can't really elaborate on whats going on because... it would just be one long over-sharing word vomity blog post. I'm really doing you a favor guys, I really am. I mean, feel free to thank me! 

...but hey guess what? i ordered these. they're in the mail. : )

here's my logic on TOMS. i figure everyone's gonna get the red ones. why not get the red ones that are slightly more awesome and more unique than the red ones? that has been my logic for all my other pairs of TOMS and they've served me very well. eventually i'll get the ash grey ones but for now i gotta keep it awesome. and so far I've helped 4 kids not be shoeless! win!

and i just heard my favorite phrase magnified: "shut the front door! and the back door and the screen door."

amazing.

progression of a sunset via hipstamatic

cloudy with a chance

This is my first off day in what seems like 12 years but really it's only been a few days. The bad thing about off days are they don't ever FEEL like off days! they feel like days-I-should-feel-guilty-about-not-being-at-work days. So I'm pretty much vowing to do absolutely nothing today. I am all for creating and doing and being and loving and all that stuff but today... nothing.

I just. need a day. to do NOTHING.

Except wash my hair, and do the dishes, make more butter pecan ice cream and go to the bank.

oops. failure on that one.

I've started sketching again and it's quite therapeutic. For the first time I'm making myself sketch with a PEN not a pencil (my comfort tool of creation along with charcoal) and embrace the mistakes that come with permanent ink. I open a random page (also embracing a lack of order when creating - does art have to have a method all the time?) do a few studies on the right page and the final on the left. Somehow it works. The awesome thing about sketching someone's face is it starts with a detail. I sketched my face and I started with my lips because they are the most distinctive and moved on to my eyes which are slightly Asian in character. I sketched a friends face and started and ended with his eyes. I watched a movie with my favorite person, Audrey Tautou, and sketched her eyebrows first and moved on to her long narrow petite nose.

how can you not marvel at the details of people? and then marvel at the one who created them? bigger picture, guys. bigger picture.

well i'm off to do something that involves NOT doing nothing and will leave you with my current cardigan obsession from modcloth. This might be a tax return splurge. no joke. can't you imagine this with skinny jeans and TOMS?! oh, a match made in hipster heaven.

the Gathering Rainbows cardigan from Modcloth