The Hair Situation, Simple Joys and LED Lights

Hey, hey! I hope you’re stopping by the blog today after a great weekend.

Sadie says a very enthusiastic HELLOOOO to all of you!

I’ll be honest, I felt like I was in a bit of a funk for a bit this weekend but thankfully by Sunday I was feeling a little more like myself. For the past week or two, I feel like my moods have been a bit of a rollercoaster. Can I blame this on pregnancy hormones!? Yeesh!

On Friday evening, I called a babysitter to watch Chase and finally made a much-needed appointment to get my hair done. Since Ryan was out of town traveling again during the last half of last week, I kept waffling back and forth about whether or not to actually spend the money and book a babysitter and in the end decided it was worth it because my hair has been bothering me for a while now. After 10 months of neglect, the balayage was so grown out that I could only really wear it up or curled without it looking two-toned so I entered the salon ready for a little refreshing!

I started coloring my hair for the first time when Chase was almost a year old and remember being absolutely shocked by how LONG the process takes! (The time commitment and the cost are a huge part of why I opted for balayage in the first place since it’s so low maintenance.) I was at the salon for just over three hours on Friday evening and when the woman doing my hair began to blow it dry, I quickly realized something wasn’t quite right. I felt like my hair looked like it was dyed an almost reddish-blonde at the roots and didn’t have that subtle dark blonde to light blonde fade I associate with balayage in my hair. I tried my best to express my concerns in a very kind way but in the end I felt so awkward saying anything too negative and felt like I was almost talked into liking my hair as I was leaving the salon.

Once I got home and put Chase to bed, I began washing my face and it became increasingly clear I just wasn’t happy with my hair. Have any of you guys been through this? Did you say anything?

I felt so uncomfortable when I thought about calling the salon back to explain my issues with my hair and I even ended up Googling what to do if you don’t like your hair when you leave a salon. Can you tell I hate confrontation like this!? Yeesh. I think I kept waffling back and forth on whether or not to call the salon because my hair really isn’t THAT bad and this really isn’t THAT big of a deal. My hair is not a total disaster but it’s also not at all what I wanted and so I ended up calling the salon on Saturday afternoon and doing my very best to politely explain my concerns. They were incredibly kind and I have an appointment to (hopefully) get everything fixed on Wednesday. Now to secure a babysitter again…

Saturday

Saturday morning was rainy and cloudy in Charlotte. Thankfully Chase and his enthusiasm put a smile on my face and when he seemed content to simply hang out at home in our pajamas on Saturday morning, I followed his lead. We had such a nice morning filled with nothing special but it was slow-paced and wonderful.

We prepped some sesame honey chicken in the crock pot for dinner on Saturday night and made two batches chocolate sprinkle crinkle cookies from Jessica’s new cookbook, The Pretty Dish. I was recently sent an advance-copy of the cookbook (I’ve LOVED Jessica’s blog for years) and it’s a gorgeous book filled with a ton of recipes I’m dying to make!

I knew Chase would love the sprinkle cookies since sprinkles are pretty much his favorite food, so we prepped the dough, let it chill and then baked the cookies right before nap time. While the dough was chilling, we colored and made a welcome home sign for Ryan and then I did a little cleaning around the house while Chase seemed content to play with his toys.

I think the highlight of Chase’s rainy day morning was our lunchtime “picnic” on the dinosaur blanked my mother-in-law recently sent to him. (Diane and Ryan’s grandmother made the blanket for Ryan when he was a little boy.)

Chase was SO pumped about the indoor picnic idea and I love the way toddlers think the simplest things are just the coolest! Between Chase and Sadie I’m constantly reminded to notice and appreciate the tiniest things in life that bring about so much joy. Kids and dogs are just the best for that, aren’t they!?

When Chase went down for his nap, I worked on the computer until Ryan arrived back in town. We missed him a bunch while he was away and it’s good to have him home again!

We ended up wrapping up our Saturday at the evening service at our church before heading home to eat dinner and climb into bed early. I began reading The Alice Network and I’m enjoying it a lot so far.

Sunday

Sunday morning began with oatmeal and errands! Ryan and I are slowing switching the light bulbs in our house over to LED so they’re more efficient and cost-effective in the long run but MAN it is a process to get the two of us to agree on lighting. I like a much softer, slightly more yellow light and I’m pretty sure Ryan wants our house to look like a sterile operating room under crisp, blue lights so agreeing on the perfect bulbs for our kitchen and living areas has been a bit… challenging.

When we arrived at Lowe’s to exchange our second batch of LED bulbs, the people behind the customer service counter started laughing at us and told us our predicament is apparently a “very common couple problem.” We left with new bulbs to try but not before we spent some time “driving” the tractors in the garden section with Chase.

His imagination cracks me up lately because he’d yell things like, “Mom! There are goats on your tractor! Go away goats! Go back to your barn!” Who knew rabid, tractor-attacking goats were in his imagination wheelhouse?

Once we made it back home, Ryan had plans to meet up with a friend at the gym, so Chase, Sadie and I played in the backyard until we came in and continued to decorate Chase’s cardboard “cruise ship.” We had a giant cardboard box leftover from a delicious meal we had catered at our house from Whole Foods a couple of weeks ago and I’m pretty sure I should stop buying two-year-olds legitimate gifts for their birthdays and just wrap up a giant cardboard box because that thing is GOLD in Chase’s eyes.

Once Chase was settled down for his nap – we’ll call it “quiet time” because he definitely didn’t sleep but chatted away to his stuffed animals – I worked on the computer and then began prepping some food for the week ahead thanks to the groceries Ryan picked up on his way home from the gym.

Here’s a little glimpse at our menu for the week ahead:

Monday: Paleo Pizza Spaghetti Pie (making a double batch because I’m bringing this to a friend who had a baby a week ago as well!)
Tuesday: Trout with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts
Wednesday: One Pot Chicken Cabbage Bowl with Sesame Ginger Broth (PLEASE make this if you haven’t already!)
Thursday: Cheesy Lentil Bolognese
Friday: Out

Chase was up after about an hour, so our whole gang headed outside for some golf-inspired afternoon playtime with Chase’s mini golf club, inspired by The Masters.