Bleached!

Ok, so I took the plunge and lightened my hair this morning.  I don't think I'm going to allow myself to go through this again; the stuff not only stunk but made my eyes water.  My hair itself is extremely dried out.  I'm going to pamper it over the next couple of weeks before I use the ash color.  But the color itself is very flattering right now, sort of a strawberry blonde.  I was panicking while washing it out because it didn't seem to lighten at all, but it worked!  Maybe not quite as light as I was hoping and my roots will be lighter than the dyed parts once it grows out, but hey, I can deal with that.  No more monthly hair dying!  Yay!

Right out of the shower, starting to calm down after the initial panic!

Dried and styled!

The end of the red...

Eventually it had to come down to this.  Unfortunately I wasn't born a redhead and the pain of having to go through two weeks of blond roots followed by flushing all kinds of chemicals down my shower drain is getting too depressing to go on.  I've been trying to just let my natural hair grow out, but the ash roots are looking really bad (to me at least; my friends insist it doesn't look bad at all) and the red is stubbornly sticking to my hair despite deliberately trying to get it to fade.

I knew it would come to this.  Next time I want another color I'm buying a wig!

In the meantime I've decided to try something that may potential wreck my hair; I'm going to try to bleach out the red bits and then dye my hair a champagne blonde.  It's the closest match I can get to my original color and I seriously do NOT want to have to deal with roots.  I've heard horror stories about going this route, including the hair just falling out due to damage.  So I'm a little nervous!

Wish me luck!  I will post pics of my newly platinum head *fingers crossed* sometime tomorrow!

Tea time, part 2

All that blogging I did yesterday about tea made me want to hit the local thrift store, just in case there were any other cool cups or pots or what have you that would pop up.  Thrift stores really are some of my favorite places.  Often times, as long as you are patient and have an eye for quality, you can find some really nice treasures amongst all the stuff people throw away.  Some of the most beautiful things I own, be it jewelry or china or clothing, have come from thrift stores.  Growing up poor, they were necessities; they helped my mom stretch the dollars to help make it through the month.  As an adult I appreciate them even more.

Anyway, I've been thinking to myself lately that I really needed to find myself a creamer for my tea.  It makes no sense to brew myself an entire pot and plunk myself down in front of the computer to write or the television to sit and knit, and then have to get up twenty times to get a splash of milk for my teacup.  So when I went browsing yesterday I made sure to check the dinnerware section to see if anything turned up.

The creamer on the left is Avon and matches my teapot for herbal and green teas, down to the tulip embellishing the handle.  The one on the right is Myott out of Straffordshire, England.  I paid about $4.75 for both creamers and now I have some lovely options for drinking my tea!  I also snagged a bottle of Hero Black Cherry Jam which is out of Germany to go with the Irish soda bread I baked last night.  Yum yum!

Tea time

I am a serious tea fan.  I love drinking it, I love brewing it, I love trying new kinds but I'm fussy about my favorites.  I've also somehow managed to collect quite a few items that are tea inspired; everything from a set of towels and hot pads for the kitchen emblazoned with a tea pot, to multiple tea bag dishes, to the cups I drink my tea out of.  So I decided to snap some pics!

I am having Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride by Celestial Seasonings.

Some of my favorite black teas and my prized Brown Betty teapot.

The teacup on the left says "Nothing is worth more than this day"; the teacup on the right was made in Japan.

I couldn't capture the beautifully colored enamel in the design.

Bavarian china cup with matching saucer.

I just purchased two seasonal teas this weekend: Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride by Celestial Seasonings and Pumpkin Spice by Stash.  I also had the opportunity to try Darjeeling for the first time!  Delicious!  Much more delicate than my usual black teas but not quite as grassy as an Oolong.

The Brown Betty teapot in the second picture was a gift from my good friend Lynn who's family is from the UK.  I received it as a Christmas present soon after I first met.  Being British he appreciates a good cuppa tea as well!  I've heard, and I personally believe, that black teas taste better when brewed in a Brown Betty.  In any case I have two teapots, one for my blacks, another for my herbal and green teas.

The pretty white china with the blue roses was a thrift store find I scored not too long ago.  It had been sitting in a box in the St. Mary's Thrift Store almost for as long as I've lived on the west side of Tucson.  I've eye-balled it before but at $60 it was a bit rich for me, even though it was in flawless condition, bore maker's marks on the bottom and came complete with four cups, four saucers, and four each of two different kinds of dessert plates.  So about a month ago I was talking to the man running the cash register and mentioned that I wouldn't buy it for $60 but I would for $30, which is exactly what he sold it to me for!  The maker is Johann Haviland of Bavaria and the pattern is called Blue Garland and dates to the 1930s.  Replacements for the teacups alone are $18 apiece.  Score!!  The china is nice and thin, so delicate you can see light glowing through them and a joy to use!

How to wear vintage jewelry - Daily snap

I have always wanted to do these but I've felt a little self-conscious about snapping pics of what I'm wearing.  But today's mix came out great and I figured, what the heck?  Vintage jewelry is awesome and mixes so well with modern pieces.

Just got off work so forgive me if I look tired...

Art Nouveau period screw back earrings, easily one of the oldest pairs I own.

My hair in a snood

Earrings: vintage screw back, circa 1910s
Necklace: modern pendant by Courtney Davis
Snood: made by my mum!
Barrette: made by yours truly
Sweater: thrift store find (Say What?)
Lipstick: Maybelline in Very Cherry

Thrift Store Finds!

 So I went out after work yesterday to try and locate some of those great striped tights I was seeing at all the Halloween stores this year.  Unfortunately it was too little, too late: the Spirit store only held a sale the day after Halloween and Savers is so picked over it was sad.  *sigh*  So I guess if I want to rock the Emilie Autumn look (not to mention stay warm in my skirts and dresses this winter!) I'm going to have to find some other source for funky tights.  That's what I get for being cheap and wanting to stick to sales!

On the bright side, I scored some major vintage at Savers!

Vintage score!

Glass bottle, c. ?

Flowers with Butterfly and Bee, teardrop pearl, c. 1950s

Genuine pearl necklace

Gold toned shell earrings with faux pearl, c. 1950s

All told I scored three pairs of vintage earrings, two of which have maker's marks on the backs so I can research them, a real pearl necklace, a heart shaped glass perfume bottle and a real china bowl, again with the maker's mark, pattern name and patent number on the back!  And everything was, of course, cheap.  I just hope Savers never hires anyone who has a knowledge of antique jewelry.

Halloween Party

I am still recovering from the fun of this weekend!  Sixteen hours worth of driving, one incredibly scary haunted house, late nights and partying till the wee hours equals one very sleepy Cass.  I still haven't caught up on my sleep yet.  I'm just thankful I cleaned house before I left so I didn't have a huge mess to come home to!

The Haunted House was incredible!  Richard and Christy created a website with the back story to the haunt which you can find here.  Basically it is the All Saints Lunatic Asylum which was shut down some time in the past due to mysterious experiments and the general sadistic insanity of its employees.  A Ms. Carolyn Collins purchased the Asylum and since she can't afford the upkeep, was gracious enough to allow the public to enter on self-guided tours.  Ms. Collins greeted her vict.., er, guests, in the lobby of the Asylum, and then let us inside...

They have footage of me screaming the entire way through!  I even knew all the "haunters" and I was still wigging out!  It was awesome!!  I heard stories later about people who had to be escorted out the escape entrances because they couldn't handle it.  The haunt was seriously professional quality!  There are some pictures online at their Facebook page which I encourage you to take a look at if you enjoy getting the willies!  (I'd have posted a couple but I don't want to scare people away from my blog; tell me you don't agree after checking them out!)

The party after was a lot of fun!  I had the chance to hang out with friends and family I don't get to see all year, which was awesome to say the least.  Here are a few pics of the festivities:

Will as Inspector Clouseau

Rhiannon's Raven.

Dr. S. Freud

Yours truly as Marilyn

Unfortunately my camera's flash was acting up so I couldn't take as many pictures as I would like to and somehow I was the only one taking pictures!  So there aren't that many from this year.

Marilyn costume:

• dress from Rethreads, Downtown Tucson
• earrings, vintage cluster clips, 1950s
• all other jewelry purchased at the Downtown Mercado, Tucson
• wig, Savers
• purse (and matching heels, not shown), Rethreads, Downtown Tucson
• lipstick, Mac Red (I think)