Straight Haired Girl is Currently Busy

This week all I've done is work. eat. sleep. I haven't had time to write a post so this quote/advice/code of ethics is what you get today.  The last line is definitely something I try and live by every day.

“My code of life and conduct is simply this: work hard, play to the allowable limit, disregard equally the good and bad opinion of others, never do a friend a dirty trick, eat and drink what you feel like when you feel like, never grow indignant over anything, trust to tobacco for calm and serenity, bathe twice a day . . . learn to play at least one musical instrument and then play it only in private, never allow one's self even a passing thought of death, never contradict anyone or seek to prove anything to anyone unless one gets paid for it in cold, hard coin, live the moment to the utmost of its possibilities, treat one's enemies with polite inconsideration, avoid persons who are chronically in need, and be satisfied with life always but never with one's self.” 

- George Jean Nathan

Straight Haired Girl Gets a Girls' Trip

Along with my Birchbox last week I also received my tickets to The Music Midtown Festival in Atlanta!  Consider this to be the first of many posts about the event.  The lineup includes Joan Jett, Pearl Jam, Ludacris, Florence + The Machine, The Avett Brothers, Girl Talk, and more! The festival will be two days of nonstop singing, dancing, and creating memories with my college roommate, best friend, and other half, Julia! It should be noted that this overdue girls’ trip was made possible by the ridiculous generosity of my boyfriend. I wish I could use his name but he doesn’t want to be mentioned in the blog due to him living a second life with a wife & three children (kidding).  Seriously though, the man deserves a shout out in the blog for that.

Julia and I will be missing the Carolina & Missouri football game but I feel this will be well worth it. We talk about the festival daily and have already decided to go full hipster for this special occasion. I feel the more I look like a flower child the happier I will be. I’m going to attempt to chalk my hair, pull off the oversize tank with bandeau top underneath look, and if it’s real hot I may throw on some jorts (ok, the last part will definitely not happen but it’s fun to dream).

I want this weekend to be completely ridiculous. I want to look back on the festival and the time I’ll spend with Julia and instantly crack a smile at the thought of it. I may be starting my quarter century life crisis a few months early, but I know I’m in no rush to settle into adulthood and slow down my life. Now is the time to do all the things I ever wanted and a music festival with my best friend is definitely on that bucket list somewhere. I can’t wait!

Straight Haired Girl Loves to be Pampered

Some girls love shoes, clothes, or handbags but my retail addiction lies in the beauty department. Ulta, Sephora, and Pout are my havens where I walk every aisle in silence and with attention. This shopping habit can be expensive so to keep myself lookin' pretty without emptying the bank I subscribe to Birchbox.

Now for the ladies I haven’t told about Birchbox let me unpack this gem for you:

You pay $10 a month to receive a box filled with about 5-6 high-end beauty samples and on occasion full sized products. You go back to Birchbox.com and let them know what you think of the samples. For every item you give feedback for they give you 10 points. 100 points = $10 off any of the full sized products they sell on their site.

I just hit my one year with them and have been happy with the majority of the boxes that have been sent to me. I’m currently hording points to get a decent discount on the best moisturizer I have ever put on my face.  As you see it’s expensive and let me tell you, that bottle ain't very big. I have $30 in points as of today and want to earn another $10 before I purchase. I average 60 points a month. Here is what I got this month:

Products with their full size price

            John Varvatos Star U.S.A. 1.7 oz -$55

            tili Bags Small Collection 1- $8.49 for 12 bags

            Masqueology Pore Minimizing Mask $24.00 for 3 masks

            stila one step bronze $36 - 1FL oz

            Comodynes Self-Tanning Intensive - $14.99-8 wipes

            theBalm® cosmetics Stainiac - $17.3fl oz

I love Birchbox for the fact that it has introduced me to some amazing brands and products I would have never have tired.  I also read their blog daily for beauty tips and trends.  The surprise of the full sized product you occasionally get is what really hooked me. The Stila One Step Bronze I received this month was full sized and retails for $36. I can’t help but get excited about the value Birchbox offers especially since I paid $10 and received a $36 product along other useful things.

Birchbox is a great inexpensive way to pamper yourself once a month, but with the good news I bring I also have to deliver the bad. More than likely you will fall in love with the most expensive samples in the box. Last month I received Oribe Moisturizing Conditioner that is $39 per bottle. I’ll never buy that product since I go through a bottle of conditioner every three weeks. I may horde points for it in the future though. 


I believe there is a waiting list so the sooner you sign up the sooner you’ll receive your boxes!

Straight Haired Girl Loves GIRLS

Feel free to play Jay-z's, "Girls, Girls, Girls" while you read this post. If you speak to me on a weekly okay maybe even daily basis then you would know that I cannot shut up about the Sunday night HBO show GIRLS. You can find me laying in bed every Sunday with my laptop mounted at just the right angle watching Game of Thrones, True Blood, Boardwalk Empire, and now GIRLS. I can't get enough of Hannah, Shoshanna, Jessa and Marnie. I read articles online, I watch clips, I re-tweet quotes, and I even debated printing out these silly things. Should I be shameful? No, in fact hell no. 


I guess we could equate this excitement, advocacy, obsession, or whatever you want to call it to  when a girl gets a new boyfriend or a new favorite dress. We wear that mess out till  we are forced say, "Okay, that's a bit much. I'll stop now." Until then though I will bring these ladies up in nearly every conversation I have with my fellow females. The boys watch it for the nudity and maybe to try and understand us. If anything this show will just confuse them even more about the female mind. 


I'm not saying you have to watch it but if you're a 20-something who is single you will probably love it.  It's brutally honest about how post grad life is with family, jobs, friends and of course the boys. I can relate to each girl just like one could say they relate to each character of Sex and The City. Hannah, the main character, is selfish and brutally hard on herself but I love that girl.

"I don't even want a boyfriend. I just want someone who wants to hang out all the time, thinks I'm the best person in the world, and wants to have sex with only me."
-Hannah

That quote is from an episode where Hannah is talking to Adam.  Hannah and Adam are strictly  friends with benefits and have never left his apartment together.  She even notes that she has never seen him with a shirt on.  After one of their nights together Adam doesn't text or her call her for two weeks. It's a pattern that she keeps putting herself through as well as most 20-something girls. You don't have to live in NYC to play the "I'm not texting you first" game it's alive and well wherever you go. 


Personally I'm ready for Hannah to ditch awkward Adam and go on some dates. Horrible yet entertaining dates.  My favorite date/story is riding in a truck with a guy who was pulled over for a burnt out headlight. It then came to be discovered that  his tags expired in November of 2010 (it was October 2011) and he was driving with a suspended licence due to a previous DUI. He was promptly arrested. The police officer informed me his bail would be $632 and I could pick him up around 8 A.M. the next morning. After being scared out of my mind that a police officer was asking me to step out of the vehicle, I laughed, called my roommate and was out of there in less than 20 minutes.I have good friends. Hannah needs to go through these experiences. Dates with somewhat crazy men are nice ego boosters and would make great entries in her diary journal.


If you want to start with any episode other than the first one I suggest Episode 4. I'm kind of looking forward to my next sick day just so I can have an excuse to lay in bed all day and watch each episode back to back.

GIRLS season finale is this Sunday, June 17 at 10:00 P.M. EST. 

Straight Haired Girl Gets a Blog

So here goes it. I’m writing a blog. Ugh, as I typed that sentence I cringed. I have a huge fear that every sentence I’m typing now is laced with grammatical errors and my South Carolina education makes me ill-equipped to notice them. I would like to say this isn't an opinion blog or a rant blog. You will never see speak ill of my job or specific people.  This is what originally gave me my fear of starting a blog. I didn't want to be one of THOSE girls. Specifically girls who wrote blogs about why their way was the best way, the only way, and you should definitely care about what they are saying. Granted, this was when we were in college and everyone thought they were going to make a difference in the world when in reality a very few of us actually will. I think I know maybe two people who will do great things and I don't even speak to them. I follow them on twitter and Facebook and feel like I'm somewhat involved in what is actually going on in their life.


So why start a blog now? Well with our age, which by the way isn’t even all that old, we are starting to get married, starting to create families, moving away from our homes to follow our dreams, etc. Let me inform you upfront that I am doing none of those things but all you people are. I'm not hating on you for it. You're moving and shaking and that is expected of us during these times. So I’m creating this blog so that when we talk on the phone we won’t feel so much like strangers. You’ll still feel a part of my life . . . you know the creepy Facebook way. We are busy people and we have lives to follow. I don't want to miss out on anything you have going on and vice versa. So this is for both of us.  I hope you enjoy.