Vidal Sassoon Deep Velvet Violet Review

I can finally dye my hair again!!  I have a few inches of growth from when I was pregnant.  I have been dyeing it blue black for years.  To keep things interesting, I have a bleached and dyed blue streak on my left side.  I use Splat Blue for that and Nice n Easy Blue Black for the rest.

I wanted something different and easier to take care of.  I hate how the streak looks when it fades out.  I wanted to dye the growth blue and have an ombre type look going on but changed my mind.  I go back to work in a couple weeks and I didn't want to have to change it back so soon...  So what to do?

While shopping with my husband, I saw this dye -

Pic from Vidal Sassoon site

I threw it in the cart and tried it out the next day.  I love it.  It is subtle.  I have naturally boring, dark, brown hair.  I absolutely hate it.  I've been dyeing my hair since I was 12.  I thought about trying to bleach out some of the black but decided against it.  I will definitely bleach out streaks for the touch up in about a month though.

The purple really took to the bleached part of my hair.  It made my roots a deep mahogany and added vibrancy to the black ends.  I like the effect.

Before

After

I am very happy with the results.  I will definitely use this again.  I'm going to bleach out some of the black ends and then use this dye over it to get more of the violet highlights.

What I Packed for the Hospital

There are so many different checklists for packing a bag for a hospital visit on the internet.  I had trouble deciding what to bring.  This last visit was for the birth of my fourth baby boy.  The hospital I chose is about 15-20 minutes away from my home.  It's pretty new construction.  The recovery rooms are awesome.  There is a TV/laptop/phone combo, microwave and fridge in every room.  There's a sleeper sofa, closet, private bathroom and table and chairs for visitors.  I enjoyed my stay.

I had to stay there a few extra days.  My big boy had jaundice and he couldn't leave until his bilirubin number came down.  After the second day, I was starting to lose it.  It's no fun being stuck in one room for days.  I wanted to be home with my husband and children so badly.  It sucked but we made the best of it.

Here is what I packed -

The main thing I kept in mind was comfort.  I wanted to be as comfortable as possible while I was there recovering (and then time waiting to be released).  I wanted to feel at home.

For labor -
Hair ties
Comfy socks

Recovery -
Underwear and pads (unless you like the ones provided by the hospital)
Pajamas
Nursing pads
Shower stuff
Deodorant
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Shampoo and conditioner
Shower gel and lotion
Hairbrush
Makeup
Towel

Entertainment -
Tablet
Book
Camera
Phone
Chargers for all

Snacks - (not pictured)
Homemade granola 
24 oz cup for ice water (the hospital drinks are about 6oz)
Sodas

For Baby - (not pictured)
Diapers  (didn't need.  Hospital supplied)
Wipes (didn't need.  Hospital supplied)
Baby Journal
Lotion (didn't use)
Pacifiers
Outfits (in many sizes which was good since he was huge)
Socks
Receiving blankets (I use these for everything)
Nail clippers and files
Car seat

What I wish I brought -
More pajamas or lounge-y clothes.  It's so easy to get messy recovering with a new baby.
A mifi or enabled HotSpot (I couldn't connect to the internet there so my tablet was useless)

What I asked Hubby to Purchase for me While I was there -
Manual breast pump (I prefer the Philips Avent pump to the electric one provided)
Nipple shield (I was having issues with latching on)
Powdered formula (I ended up using the ready to use Similac supplied by the hospital to supplement since my milk wouldn't come in and my giant baby was so hungry)

Seems like a lot, I know.  I am glad I brought all of it though.  I had to stay a few extra days and it was made bearable with my comforts from home.

Bat Fit 2014!!

The Curious Professor Z has relaunched Bat Fit this year.  I was pregnant when it originally launched.  You can read about it here.  I'm joining in this time.

I am at the heaviest I have ever been when not pregnant.  I got up to 225lbs with this guy.  It has been 3 weeks since delivering an 11lbs 11oz baby boy.  I am at 186lbs currently.  I do not plan on anything aggressive; no crash diet or rigorous exercise program.  That's not a good way to lose weight and it doesn't sound healthy to me.  Also, I am breastfeeding so I have my little guy to think about too.  But that is no excuse to emotionally eat.

I realized yesterday I am an emotional eater.  I don't know how I was unaware of this for so long.  I eat when I'm bored.  I eat when I'm stressed.  I eat to procrastinate.  It has gotten me here, on the verge of diabetes and miserable.  I can't fit any of my clothes.  I refuse to buy bigger clothes.  I don't like what I see in the mirror.

I was officially diagnosed with depression and anxiety 2 years ago.  I was diagnosed with depression but left it untreated when I was a teen.  I still suffer from it but after therapy sessions, I have learned ways to deal with it.  I haven't had a panic attack in over a year.  The depression...  I haven't found a "cure" or found a way to alleviate it yet.  But I have hope that someday in my future, I will come out of it.

According to HealthCentral, my ideal body weight is 132-145 lbs.  I need to lose 40lbs.  I can do that in a year, I think.

My Bat Fit Goals...

• Drink more water.  I've been drinking a lot of soda lately.  I have to get away from that
• Be accountable.  I will post progress pics and stats about every other week
• Eat home more.  We eat out way too much
• Exercise.  I have an elliptical at home I can use.  It's low impact so I doubt my doctor will worry too much about me using it
• Do Zumba at home.  I have some DVDs as well as Wii games.  I need to dust them off and get moving
• Use the MyFitnessPal app... for real.  I've downloaded it so many times and deleted it because I don't use it.  If I track what I eat, it really does help me make better eating decisions.

There you go.  This will be fun.

Easy handstitched Laptop sleeve

This can also work for tablets. I have a huge, ugly, worn out laptop bookbag that I've been using.  I want to use something else.  Something more me.  I also don't want to lug around two bags, the bookbag and my purse.

This tote is perfect.  I bought it years ago at Hastings.  It doesn't look like it's available anymore but there are tons of others on the Loungefly site.  I love it because as a mom, I need to stash all kinds of stuff for the kids as well as stuff for work.

How I Made a Laptop Sleeve

1.  Gather supplies.  I hand stitched this since I have yet to buy a sewing machine (next month, I swear!). 

• 1/2 yard Fabric for outside
• 1/2 yard Fleece fabric for inside
• Pins
• Needle
• Thread
• Device (for measuring)
• Velcro (or button closure)
• Scissors
  

2.  Lay out the fabrics, placing them front facing together

 3.  Lay device on top of stacked fabrics and pin them together allowing for about a half inch seam allowance (more if you are using a sewing machine)

4.  Cut off excess fabric and sew the fabrics together leaving the ends open.

5.  Iron the seams so the fabric isn't puckered.  It makes sewing the sides easier.

6.  Turn the fabrics rightside out

7.  Fold the fabric fleece side out leaving about a 2 inch flap for the fastener placement

8.  Take a break when your newborn won't let go of your finger

15 minutes later...

 9.  Okay, back to work.  Sew the sides and ends.  I rounded the edges of the flap.  It's not necessary, just looks nice.

10.  Turn it rightside out.  Attach velcro (or whatever fastener you have) and viola... personalized laptop case made by you. 

Now I can stash it in my tote.  No more fugly backpack for me

CorpGoth Mid Month Status Report - Keeping Cool in the Office

I have been on maternity leave for about 3 weeks now.  The weather outside has been hellacious.  I'm in the Midwest and temperatures have been in the 90s and very humid.  I've been inside my lovely air conditioned house pretty much the whole time.

But I want to participate since I miss blogging and need to get my butt in gear.  I want to post more, I just don't know what to share. 

I work in IT in a business office.  I am the 3rd shift tech.  My office is air conditioned but the lack of other people milling about makes for a chilly night some nights.  I actually keep a fleece blanket in my desk drawer for when it gets too cold.  I usually bring a hoodie or cardigan to work no matter what the weather is like.  That's mostly to cover up tattoos but it works to keep warm, too.

Being in IT means I spend time in the server room.  If you've ever been in one, you'll know it's climate controlled to keep the servers from overheating.  It's also freezing in there.  When it does get too warm in the office (usually in between seasons when the Indiana weather hasn't figured out whether it's cold or hot yet), I will hang out in there to cool down.

My office also has ice machines as well as soda machines.  When I was pregnant I would overheat frequently.  I would waddle my huge butt to the ice machines a couple times a night and fill up two 32 ounce cups of ice to snack on.