Sidebar: love and hate

August is over. That means summer is over fr fr. But I guess Summer 17 ended with a bang? I mean, how do we get over what happened in Virginia? Wait, let me back up so this month my cousin returned to Florida to start her fall semester and I miss her so much!! 🙁 She left the weekend of E’s birthday, so we did some mini farewell/bday meals before she left.

   

 

Of course, the day after E’s bday we woke up to the protest in Virginia and it really shook me.

Not because I don’t think the country is racist (it is) but because how impossible it is to tell whether or not the people you interact with have these type of sympathies. That very weekend I flew to St. Louis for a conference that consisted mainly of law enforcement professionals and I’ll be really real–I was uncomfortable. I was uncomfortable with my inability to discern whether I was safe or not. I mean, obviously I didn’t think this was a secret klan rally and that any moment the hoods would come out (though I guess now hoods are out of fashion). But rather, it was hard for me to interact with individuals where I had no clue in which side they fall on in regards to white supremacy. I mean, do they acknowledge it? Are they trying to make change? Do they view me as fully human? lol serious question tho. So, it was not a great time.

Also downtown St. Louis is boring af so I didn’t do anything but stay in my room. Womp womp.

Ok but the bright spots of August, I got my hair done and omg, I love my colorist. She’s amazing. Miracle worker.

 

Like I said, we celebrated my husband’s birthday and it’s also our anniversary month. Eight years! It doesn’t feel that long tbh We did go out for dinner and exchange small gifts, but right now our main focus is on the house.

Four more weeks. We keep telling ourselves that. I’m hopeful that by next month we’ll be in the house permanently.  But we did some last final choices (cabinet handles, closet formats) and they started building the garage.

 

Oh also I need to confess–I have been binge watching the show My 600 Lb Life because I am fascinated by human struggle (which is why I also love intervention). It is def not a show for everyone’s palette, but I’m just so fixated with it. Does anyone else watch? Also, I love Dr. Now. I’m going to put his face on my fridge to stop myself from snacking!

Ok this is what you came for–my faves!

I started a new shampoo/conditioner routine and instead of using head and shoulders as (one of) my conditioners, I’m using a scalp exfoliator. I really like! The consistency is super slippery and unlike any hair product I’ve used, but it works and I feel like it really helps clean your scalp, which is great for someone like me that does not shampoo every day. #curllife

And makeup-I’ve done so well about not buying makeup products. Of course, I have a running list of things to buy come November, but whatever. Instead, I’ve been using what I have and I have been loving this combo:

Nude Stix in Whisper under my Milani matte in Loved. Loved by itself is a bit too bricky for me, so the nude helps take off some of the orange and I’m loving it for work!