Hair of the Day

I had a little bit of free time today so I decided to do a hair-of-the-day kind of post. Nothing special but I just bought two very cute hair accessories that I wanted to show off.

They are hair combs. The other one was in my hair. ;)

My hair is in about 4-5 big chunky twists and the front is in smaller, individual twists for my bang. I just pinned the bang up and pulled the other twists back. Super duper simple. It takes me five minutes in the morning. I just spray my hair with water and smooth it back with my Cantu leave-in. I put on a scarf while I get ready and then put in my hair comb and go.

 

After my henna process this weekend I didn't feel like twisting my hair up. So the twists that are in are what I put in to go to bed after washing. This will hold me until the weekend. I will just put my hair in a ponytail for the marathon. When I get back I will rinse my hair and then decide whether I want to twist it back up or leave it out.

Things I'm Loving (May Edition)

I don't know where the time has gone! It's June already and I feel like I'm playing catch up. However, I couldn't let another day pass without sharing my May Favorites.

These funny looking things are called "altramuces" or more colloquially "chochos." In English they're called Lupin beans but I've never seen them in a supermarket in the States or heard anyone talking about them. With good reason too because it's a real chore to cook Lupin beans.

If you don't cook them correctly you can get poisoned! It takes at least a week of rinsing and soaking and boiling to make them edible. Here in Spain they're eaten as a snack like potato chips or nuts. You put them in the fridge and in the summer you have a nice, cool, satisfyingly salty treat!

"Tinto de verano" is another summer time treat. It's a typical drink made from red wine and lemon soda. Whenever I go to a restaurant I order it and sometimes I even buy it bottled from the supermarket.

This vegetable I recently introduced myself to and since then have become obsessed! Leeks are so delicious and I like them best sauteed with just a touch of oil and some salt and pepper. I'm also digging soba noodles. Be sure to check out these vegan recipes if you want to know some quick and easy ways to cook both leeks and soba noodles.

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In a quest to save money my husband and I have started making our own bread and our own hummus. We eat hummus almost everyday and a small container at the supermarket is almost 2€. While a bottle of garbanzos is only 0.30€ and makes a large container that lasts more than 3 days!

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Not sure why, but once the warm weather hits the cravings for sweets intensifies. Since my husband and I are now vegan it gets harder and harder to buy pre-packaged goods anywhere really. I don't mind making our own things but there isn't always time to do so. Plus, at the end of a long day I like to grab something already cooked in the cupboard. These soy ice creams and dried fruit pieces really help to satisfy my sweet tooth.

Flavors: mango, papaya and ginger

Okay, so now onto a couple of non-food related items. 

I'm loving my hair accessories right now for the summer. It's such a cute way to easily spice up any hair style.

These are just a few. Please Look at Week 37 Hair, Week 46 Hair, and Week 50 Hair Part 2 for more pics.

I also can't live without my all-natural sunscreen I purchased from Smart Girls Who Surf, my African black soap, my coconut oil or my nail polish. 

I sweat a lot and I love washing my face with my black soap at the end of the day. It contains no chemicals and quickly washes away all dirt, oils, and makeup from my face effortlessly.

During the day I apply and re-apply my sunscreen because we all know we have to protect the delicate skin of the face from those harsh rays! I also use it when I go running because it's waterproof.

The coconut oil I like because it is a denser oil that helps my hair to better retain moisture with the hot, dry, summer climate here in Córdoba. I find it works better than olive oil and isn't as thick as castor oil.

Finally, nail polish is something I've always loved. But I usually only rock it in the summer because that's when those vibrant colors I like are in season.

What are some of your favorites from May?

May Reflections: Hair and Running

HAIR

Another updo with two daisies.

Last month was my 1-year HHCJ anniversary. It's strange but I didn't celebrate it with any bells and whistles. In fact I didn't really celebrate it at all! Last year when I started this journey I felt like a year was a long way off. Now that it's been a year I'm wondering where the time went.

In general I'm content with the progress that I've made. My continuing goal is to maintain healthy hair. I'm not obsessed with length, although I do want to continue to retain length. However, I doubt I'll do any further length checks.

I'm still figuring out what my hair likes and how to cope with my hair given my schedule restraints. I mentioned in the post Henna Application 2, that I wanted to try washing my hair every 2 weeks to cut down on manipulation. I don't like it. A clean scalp is important to me especially with all the exercising I do and 2 weeks is simply too long.

Now I want to try washing my hair with my twists in. (Check out Week 50 hair for more info) So this weekend I will wash and deep condition my hair with my twists in. When I apply my kimmaytube leave-in I will unravel each one individually, detangle, and then apply product.

On Tuesday of this week I did a "quick fix" because my hair needed some attention. I rinsed my scalp with a cheap conditioner really well and then applied my Aussie quick fix deep conditioner while I showered. My twists were still in the whole time. I rinsed it out and then applied my kimmaytube leave in, my Qhemet Biologics moisturizer and some coconut oil.

Since my hair gets very frizzy, I retwisted the perimeter of my head just so I would look presentable. I loved the results, my hair felt and looked great.

Overall, I'm trying to spend less time on my hair without sacrificing the health or appearance of it. I've learned to love my hair and how to manage it so that it's not only healthy, but also looks great too. I'm so happy I had the courage to embark on this journey because it's given me much more confidence in rocking my natural hair.

RUNNING

The conditioning program I started back in March has been going well. While I don't always get every, single, run in during the week and weekends I feel good. I feel like I'm still in shape, taking care of my body and am ready to start training on July 1st.

I've also already signed up for my second marathon in October! (more on that later!)

I've learned so much from when I started running in 2009 until now. I've gone through injuries, life-changes, and everything in-between, but I've stuck with it. I'm still running and still enjoying myself.

My goals for the future are to try trail running and ultramarathons! I plan to run my second marathon in October and the Seville marathon again in February of 2013. After that I want to concentrate on trying some trail running (smaller races at first) and then some ultramarathon training.

My over-arching goals are to stay fit, stay healthy, stay injury free and to continue to enjoy running! For the blog there's much more updates, thoughts and goals to come!

Week 50 Hair Part 2

In my haste to post my hair update this week I completely forgot to share one of my new hair purchases: butterfly clips! This is one above that I bought and I also bought three other smaller ones in different colors.

I'm really into hair accessories for the summer as well as head wraps. Tons of scarves have just been collecting dust in my drawers with no real use. 

They are too thin to wear during the winter and some are too small to wear around my neck at all! However they are perfect to be used as hair accessories. 

Youtubers have really inspired me by showing me how to tie and rock them in cute ways. I've already tried a bunch of different styles that I hope to share in the upcoming weeks.

Also, my puff that I showed in Week 37 Hair is going to be my primary protective style over the summer. As I've stated before, Córdoba weather is incredible drying and I'm already noticing that I have to apply more product to my hair.

So to protect my ends from excessive drying I've decided that when the real heat arrives I will tuck my hair away. The headbands that I showed in Week 46 Hair I plan to rock to spice up the puff along with any further hair accessories I buy.

My goal this summer is to retain moisture so that I don't experience any unnecessary shedding or breakage. I will definitely come back with pics of my scarf styles and once I finally start rocking my puff.