Weekly Stitching

The broken record is still playing because this past week still sucked. I do have to admit that I'm always surprised at how worse things continue to get and how I just put up with it all, day after day. Thank goodness for the Gilmore Girls this weekend. Escapism always works for me. It gives my OCD an outlet to go bat-shit crazy and, for the briefest of moments, I can obsess over Luke and Lorelai instead of my sucky life.

When I'm not rewatching the Netflix specials, I'm watching YouTube fan videos (and we all know how much I LOVE fan videos!). Luke and Lorelai videos lead to Veronica and Logan videos, which leads to Austin and Ally, Snow and Charming/Hook and Emma, Joe and Helen, which leads to the cream of the crop, Miranda and Gary videos. Oh how I love them all. Generation after generation of TV show romances that give me the power to get through another sucky week. I wish I understood why I find joy in made-up TV characters having happy lives while mine continues to steadily decline. But alas, down to what we're here for.

I only got to stitch on Thursday and this weekend due to double-time at work. I left off here:

And as much as I wanted to finish the row, I didn't quite make it (blame the "Fall" episode at about 40 minutes in):


And just because, how about if I post my favorite fan video right now (well, actually my second favorite, but just in case someone hasn't seen "Fall" yet, I don't want to spoil it with my first favorite):


I ordered the 11th Season of Supernatural and I usually rewatch them all in a row before watching the new season, but I'm still in such a Gilmore Girls mood, maybe I'll run through all Seven Series of that again followed by the Netflix specials. Granted, I'm not anywhere near Veronica Mars views with Gilmore Girls (probably at like 8 or 9), but I could easily get there. Then again, it's too late in the night to start a Miranda marathon, but maybe I'll call in sick and stay home all day tomorrow and do that (doubt it, but it's a nice thought). At least, when suckiness starts to appear, I can close my office door, turn the volume down low, and at least watch a couple of bookmarked fan videos. Maybe things aren't so bad after all.

Weekly Stitching

Weekly Stitching...the first time I've used that post title for a very long time and it feels good! Last week I had just started on Stitch:

I didn't finish him, but I did finish the second page of the row:

I'm not sure how much I'll get done next week since I'm pulling double duty again at work next week (I hate holidays), but I fully intend to spend all Thanksgiving day trying to get caught up stitching for the week.

I had to redo my hair Friday night...apparently the shelf life of the hair color is two weeks. The blonder areas were still purple, but the rest had faded. Funnily enough, it faded in a way that looked like I had my hair highlighted purple and it was pretty cool, it just wasn't purple enough. This time I went a bit higher and only left the crown my natural color but I kind of wish I had done my entire head. It's a definite in the next two weeks. I figured I would be too insecure having purple hair, but I've really enjoyed it!

I'm beginning to think that my meds are already not working anymore though. I had a horrible work week and my mood is getting dark again. I even called the therapist's office but she's out until after Thanksgiving. Typical. I still sound happy and perky but everyone is getting on my last nerve and I'm constantly bored even when I'm way too busy. I did a lot of yelling last week. I keep expecting every week to get better, but it never seems to or, if it does, the next week is even worse. Why do I even bother with hope in the first place? It's never been kind to me. If only I could be a pessimist...it would so suit me better. But until then, here's hoping next week is better.

Stitched again!

I had to push myself very hard to keep focus, but I managed to stitch this weekend! I left off here:

and made it to here tonight:

I am determined to finish this project before the end of the year, but unless I find a way to get my stitch mojo back, I'm not sure how. I REALLY want my stitch mojo back though. When I think all the projects I had planned to finish by the end of this year, it makes me cringe because I failed miserably. This has not been my year all the way 'round. It's still a bit early to think of next year just yet, but I have to make it better...somehow. Happy thoughts, right?

And again...

I debated on getting the Jasmine Becket-Griffith HAED chart of Wrath because they had not done any of the other sins, but today Sloth got posted, so I bought yet another one:

I'm a bad bad girl. Can't buy a house when I'm spending all my money on cross stitch charts I'll probably never get around to stitching!

Growing Stash with no stitching

I haven't had any stitching progress to show in a couple of weeks, which is surprising considering I've promised myself that I'm going to finish Lilo and Stitch before the end of the year, but I've still been buying stash like crazy and today's HAED sale didn't help. I picked up most all of the items on my Wishlist, most of which were Jasmine Becket-Griffith's stuff:
Unseelie Court Wrath:

Spring:

Summer:

Autumn:

Winter:

As well as two Aimee Stewart's...
Supersized Max Color Little Dreamers Tree:

and Supersized Max Color A Stitching Shelf without that annoying logo in the middle:

I may never ever stitch these, especially considering how I feel about their dithering method of charting now, but I've wanted them forever, so I guess that's all that matters!

The purple hair experiment - part 2

Well, I did it...sort of. I didn't do my whole head, only the underside, but I love it! Please forgive these pics...there is a reason why I don't take photos ever. I have a huge Scottish nose and semi-crooked eyes that selfies tend to bring out even worse than in real life. I straightened my hair (something I rarely ever do because my natural curls fall pretty nicely and it takes up too much time), but here is the after:

In the sunlight, it's almost a bright bluish-purple which I love even more!

I left it on for two hours this time and I really LOVE the results. I think, on the next go, I will go higher up and leave less blonde, but I'm still not sure I'm going to go whole-headed just yet. I only ended up using half a bottle, and since I bought three boxes, I have plenty for future touch-ups. I'm not sure how long this is supposed to last, but I'm not going to go above and beyond to protect it. I wash my hair every other day and pony-tail it on the off days, so I think that's a good-enough routine.

My mother will still probably have a heart-attack, but oh well, it's my hair and I'm 46, so I guess I'm entitled to do it anyway I want. I'll keep y'all updated on how it stays. Overall, I'm pretty impressed with this stuff, so much so that I actually even left a review on Target.com and I rarely ever leave reviews!

The purple hair experiment

I think, at least by now, I've established that I'm weird (and proud of it). My entire life, I've always wanted purple hair. The older I get, the more I want it but my numerous conditions and my innate desire to "please" everyone else has kept me from it. Besides, once you reach a "certain age", purple hair probably looks stupid. The side joy of zombie meds? Now I don't care what other people think and I WANT PURPLE HAIR! I'm way too scared to go purple the way most do...bleach your hair white, then color. With bleached hair, not only do you have to worry about the damage, but you have to constantly keep it up (which gets expensive). I wanted a method of going purple without the bleaching.

At numerous stages of my life, I've tried to go purple, but due to the conservative nature of my hair dresser, the closest I ever got was a burgundy that looked somewhat purple in the sunlight. But with all the natural reds and my hair, as it fades, red tends to go orange on me. Epic fails, one and all. So going to her for a full purple would be out of the question and I was forced to look for alternative methods.

First, I should say that this isn't an ad for a particular product probably because, before it's all over with, I'll probably go through several. I watched numerous YouTube videos on the subject, trying to find various solutions, when a new product caught my attention and I thought I'd try it first. You can only get it at Target and I can only get it online because they are NOT going to carry it in bum-fudge Arkansas. It's called Splat Midnight Amethyst and it's made for brunettes with no bleaching (there is also a blue and a red for those that are interested).

It came in yesterday (I ordered three boxes and a bowl with a brush) and I decided I wanted to do a test patch to see how it does. It is EXTREMELY messy, but it smells amazing and the coverage was really good on the strip I tested. I wrapped it in foil to keep it from bleeding into other hair. The directions say to leave it on 30 minutes to an hour (or longer) and I went with longer, leaving it on for 1.5 hrs.

Lessons learned? Wear a disposable lab coat, better quality gloves (than those that come in the box) and have a spray bottle of bleach handy for clean-up. Never ever wad up the foil because it takes an act of heaven to get it out. Prepare yourself mentally for a cold water hair washing...it was WAY worse than I was expecting and I hated every moment of it.

I didn't think of a before-and-after picture scenario because I didn't know I would be posting about it, so here is the after and forgive the quality of the photo...our work bathroom has a VERY dirty mirror and the lighting is horrible (although better than in my house).

I want the test to sit for a while to see how it does. If all works out well and it fades nicely (not pink or green), then I will do my whole head or, at bare minimum, the underside. Updates to follow.