FAMILY

ON SOCIAL MEDIA

I've been doing this social media thing for a really long time now, both personally and professionally. I don't claim to be an expert, but at one job they did create a whole separate job function for me (New Media Specialist) since I was the most knowledgeable in the agency and our clients had a ton of questions: "What are these tweakers?" (They meant Twitter.) "I'm a mobile technology that service providers buy & embed in their product offerings; do I need a Facebook page?" (No. Emphatically no.) 

Since the explosion of social media I've done a lot of listening and engaging - with people I know and people I don't. I wrote about this last year (?) in regards to Facebook: the interacting with people I only vaguely knew in passing through work or other avenues was exhausting, and quite frankly, depressing. It's clear that many people look at social media as a numbers game only (hello Klout, I'm looking at you); a means to brag about how special or important they are to the Internets. But really, if you never interact with half (or more) of your followers, how important are they to you really?

I recently took my Twitter account private. In doing so I blocked all those "SEO and marketing gurus" (some called themselves ninjas!), as well as accounts from people who'd never tweeted at me, either in response to something I said or of their own volition. I unfollowed anyone that I'd previously followed for work that I didn't interact with (through my old job I met several reporters and today I keep in touch with less than five) and unfollowed and blocked the people I couldn't remember in any capacity. There was one girl I'd swear I used to work with but a quick search shows we've never actually crossed paths and she'd never said anything to me on Twitter so away she went. 

That might not sound very social, and it's probably mind-boggling to my fellow bloggers that are trying to build their blog brands via Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and other social platforms, but I simply don't feel like I need to build my own personal brand. I don't aspire to be a big time blogger (as if my random content didn't already subliminally tell you that), and I don't plan to get back in to tech PR where numbers of followers matter and where you can tell a client you have a relationship with someone because they follow you on Twitter. That's not a relationship. That's a transaction. And I don't want that. I want to know the people I follow and I want them to know me. Otherwise, what's the point? A good Klout score? No thanks, I'll pass.

PRODUCT REVIEW: LUSH CACA ROUGE

Whoever said maintaining red hair is super hard was not exaggerating.

I've had red hair before - for over a year. Every 8 weeks I'd do my roots and bring the color down into my ends to brighten up my whole head of hair. It looked good until I got a bad box of Feria (or was it Garnier?) and it looked like I poured red Kool-Aid on my hair. Rather than trying to fix that, I decided to go brunette. It seemed like a good idea at the time. And here I am, months later trying to get back to a  red that I like that doesn't look like clown hair.

I thought I'd finally accomplished my aim when I fixed what the salon had wrought, but it too faded over time and was pulling pink with brown tips. I was nearly ready to give up when Alan convinced me to try Lush Cosmetics' Caca Rouge Mama henna dye. While we eat fairly clean, and I'm generally not a fan of synthetics or chemicals, this tends NOT to apply to my hair choices so I've never considered going the all-natural route with my hair color. I guess I just thought that nothing would be as  effective as the ones that smell really bad and make your eyes water. I've since I've been coloring my hair since I was 17 or so, I pretty much have a routine down. But this henna thing? Yeah, that was a whole other story.

First of all, it comes in a giant brick. It looks like a Hershey bar on steroids.

Photo courtesy of mo'adore

Second of all, the directions aren't all that great. Cut, mix with hot water in a double boiler until a paste, apply. Um, how much water? What if you don't have a double boiler? How thick a paste? I love Lush but their directions leave something to be desired. I consulted my friend Google and put together a paste that was about as thick as toothpaste. I laid down a dark blue towel (from our wedding registry 11+ years ago), and covered the granite countertops in our bathroom with newspaper. This is where it gets tricky. You see, putting that stuff on your hair is HARD. It's essentially mud. And there's really no easy or elegant way to coat your hair in mud in any sort of consistent state. I started by sectioning my hair and applying it to my roots (about 1/3 inch of growth) with a spoon. They do recommend a dye brush if you have one. I don't, so I got creative. I didn't have too many drips as others reported, but I also wasn't having quite an easy time coating my hair the way my internets told me too. I diluted the mixture a bit more and started putting it from root to ends. Again not very easy. At one point I was leaning over the sink and just pouring the bowl over my head to coat as much as possible. At other times I was scooping it into my hands and rubbing it into my hair like shampoo. I'm not sure I ever found a "good" technique for covering my hair, but eventually I was happy with the coverage. 

This is someone who did a much better job than I did of achieving even, full coverage.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user ambercavers

From there I wrapped my hair in a plastic bag (this is going to be harder and harder since my county has banned them) and put a shower cap on to wait. Other users recommend waiting anywhere from one to six hours; some even suggest leaving it on your head overnight. Since this was the first time I was using it and I already had a red base to work with I left it on for 3.5 hours. When it came time to rinse my hair I was cackling like a deranged witch. I looked like one too. It took about ten minutes to rinse my hair clean of ... debris. At that point my hair felt horrible - dry, brittle, and gnarly. I'm sure I was minutes away from having full on dreads. I loaded my hair up on L'oreal conditioner and let it sit on my head for about five minutes. From there I rinsed and hoped for the best.

Overall, I really like it. I'm curious to see how it fades. I read that the color will intensify the first few days due to oxidation, so we'll see what happens. In the meantime, this is MUCH closer to the color I originally asked for from the salon. I'm really confused how the professional told me the only way to lighten my hair would be to bleach it, but this henna treatment clearly lightened the plum red she put in my hair and then the intense red I used to cover that when it turned pink and purple. Alan thinks it looks really natural and he seems generally pleased. I did tell him that next time I apply the henna I'll need his help to make sure that I get everywhere. I don't know that I'll say I'm a lifetime convert (after all, I used to swear by Feria), but I'm very pleased with this first use of Lush's caca rouge. We've been using the company's face wash (Herbalism and Angels on Bare Skin) for years almost exclusively, so it's safe to say that I'm definitely a fan.

MORE PICTURES

Since I have nothing interesting to blog about, and everybody likes pictures, I thought I'd share pics of our trip to Hawaii from my actual camera (and not just my iPhone). Enjoy.

NO WAIT, I LOVE THIS HOUSE EVEN MORE!

Back in 2007 we flew to Boston for a college friend's wedding reception. Leaving the airport we got in the wrong lane and instead of jumping on the highway we ended up taking the coastal route up to Newburyport, MA. While we were exhausted from our redeye, that was one of the best navigating mistakes we ever made (unlike, say, the time our GPS took us to a ferry in Cork that was closed and we had to drive for another hour - at least - to get across the river and back to Cobh) since we got to see a coastal Massachusetts. I fell in love! One of our favorite stops that day was in Salem, MA, where we walked around town and toured the Salem Witch Museum. And for once, Alan and I were perfectly aligned - that was our favorite town we visited. (I also loved Newburyport and Portsmouth, NH.)

Since y'all know I'm somewhat obsessed with real estate - gasp! - I tend to keep my eye on what's available in places I love. I don't know that we'll ever move to any of these places, but I wouldn't say no if someone said we had to. I am intrigued by the idea of living in one of the historic houses near the harbor. And not historic like here in Oakland (our 1910 bungalow, for example). I'm talking HISTORIC. As in this beauty built in 1771. Yes, before this was America.

Salem, MA
$439,000
2 bedroom, 1 bath | 1250 square feet


Restored Antique home steps from Salem Harbor and The House of the Seven Gables. This delightful 2 bedroom home features wonderful period details including gorgeous Georgian paneling, beaded clapboards with antique nails, 4 period fireplaces, and fabulous gardens. Come enjoy this beautiful gem in the heart of the Salem's Maritime Historic District.

I AM IN LOVE WITH A HOUSE

So obviously I'm still obsessed with the idea of moving to Tofino and opening up a soup restaurant/truck there (I even have a name picked out). But that doesn't stop me from keeping my eye on what's for sale in other areas that I love, namely Bozeman, MT, Portland, OR, and around Cleveland, OH. When we were visiting my sister last summer, we ventured over to a town called Chagrin Falls and I just fell in love with the surrounding nature and the town square.

Having reached the end of my Feedly feed, I decided to check out what was for sale there. And oh my goodness. I'm pretty sure I'm in love with this house.

$449,000 - Moreland Hills, OH
3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
3066 square feet, 1.4 acres
Built in 1940

Lovely, no?