June 2009 archive

I Probably Think This Song is About Me

Note: I originally titled this post Doctor Versus Physical Therapist. I decided to write about my hair first and then on to my next topic. I didn’t want to do another post solely about my hair — how vain! But life got in the way, and I became very busy. And then the hair entry wound up being super long. So vain I will be, and the medical post will wait until next week (and I’ve got lots to say about it!).

As you know, I went to Devachan on Wednesday evening to get a much needed haircut my a curly hair expert. I was also there to learn how to style my curls so they actually look good and to get advice on the transition of curl on top, straight on bottom. When I accompanied the boy there a couple weeks ago, I felt like I was drafted into an elite club but was missing the main requirement to join. I decided I wanted to join.

The first time you walk in to Devachan, the decor is overwhelming — in a positive way. The colors are a green that is a little darker than lime colored and white. There is a really cool display with little round convex windows. In each little window is a real lock of curl! The setup and design is unlike anything I have ever seen, and it is a lot to take in, but it is gorgeous. This was my second time there, so I had already taken this all in.

This is the shade of green:

DevaCurl

I went to the coat check to trade in my coat (yes, coat in the middle of June. I don’t hear Fox News making fun of global warming anymore! Interesting) and traded it for a golden robe. I was taken right away even though I was early, and met the stylist’s assistant. He brought me over to my chair while offering me a drink. I accepted a strawberry kiwi iced tea that I had read a lot about, and now I understand why. This was hands down the most delicious iced tea ever. I want to buy gallons of it! I drank so many cups down so quickly, it was just that great.

I met my stylist, Robert, and explained my situation. And then I reached into my bag and pulled out…. my POSTER. I brought my before and after poster with me to the salon. Robert looked at it and said “WOW.” He explained the reasons my hair looked so…. uhhh… the way it looked, which I will get into. Then we discussed my current situation. “This part will be straight, there is nothing we can do. It just needs to grow out. Unless you want to cut it all off.” Obviously I don’t want that! He explained that it would take about a year and a half to two years to grow out my curls all the way, but advised me on how to speed up the process.

First things first, I needed a good cut. The ends were broken and split. And when I say ends, I mean last 3 inches. Robert told me that if we cut a lot, it would grow faster as all the damaged parts would be removed. He held up a chunk and said, “Can I cut this much?” I LOVE that he asked that — he was really listening to what I wanted and not just doing what he thought was best. That said, I gave him the OK to do anything he thinks is best. I read the reviews and I went into the situation trusting this man with my hair as much as the person I’ve been going to my entire life.

He started snipping away — with my hair dry, I might add. Devachan cuts hair dry. It is part of their curl philosophy, to cut the hair dry and to cut each curl individually. The reason is simple — your wear your hair dry, so wouldn’t you want to cut it how it will look? Additionally, each curl has a different bounce and spring. You want to make sure you don’t cut too much! Robert explained that he was giving me some angles in front and long layers in back. When the cut was over the assistant took me to my bed. That is right, my bed, complete with mosquito netting. For all the wildlife thriving within the confines of the Soho salon:

Devachan Bed

So comfy! The beds are curved in a way that conforms to your body. I relaxed while he massaged No Poo into my scalp, and then One Conditioner. He left the One in on the ends. When the cleaning was finished, he escorted me to a chair and had me bend forward, hair hanging down. He used a microfiber towel to gently scrunch all the excess moisture from the washing so it wouldn’t drip and then he squeezed some ArcAngell into his hands and scrunched that in. When this was over I sat down in the chair and Robert came back to put these little clips on top. I need to buy these! They give the top of the hair some body so the curls aren’t flat on top and sticking out on the sides. Brilliant!

I sat under a dryer and read Curly Girl. Robert came and checked on me and then moved the dryer to the ends and I read some more. And drank a few more glasses of the crack iced tea. Robert came back and began pulling the clips out. He said that was the hardest part. Then he touched my hair a little, used a claw shaped diffuser to dry the sides, told the assistant that my hair is beautiful, cut a little more, had me stand up and he cut a bit more to finish it up. And then…. I looked in the mirror.

Devachan Claw Diffuser

OMG.

I couldn’t believe this was my hair, these curls were MY curls. They looked amazing! Defined and sexy and just… perfect! Robert was right — my hair IS beautiful! I couldn’t stop smiling. I just couldn’t stop. I was practically jumping. Robert could tell how thrilled I was, and so could the coat check girl and the girl at the front desk, where I kept raving! I bought the Curly Girl book and read it all! I learned so much about why curly hair is the way it is and how to style it and what NOT to do — shampoo, wring out moisture, use terrycloth towel, blow dry — ALL big NO NOs! I strongly recommend this book to anyone with curls. And I highly recommend Devachan, at least certain stylists.

Curly Girl

And he cut it in such a way that it isn’t as blatantly obvious that the bottom is straight — the long layers give it a little wave and help it blend better! Although it will remain straight until it grows, it doesn’t look ridiculous like it used to. When they say curly hair expert, they aren’t joking! And that is, after all, the reason I went to Devachan for my cut — to learn how to help my hair textures blend better.

It was hard to get pictures that really show how it looks, but I did my best. Here are some:

Day of haircut:

  hair 009   hair 013 hair 007

Day after sleeping on haircut:

   hair 022   hair 026

And there you have it. This morning I showered and made my first attempt to style my hair a la Devachan. I did have some issues with hair dripping. I guess I didn’t tshirt scrunch enough. I was also very concerned that I wouldn’t use enough gel and show up to Missy’s birthday dinner tonight with a fro. So I went overboard in the other direction. I over did it with the gel and the front is too crunch and has the “wet” look. The back came out great though! It is a trial and error process with a real learning curve, and I am sure I will soon know the exact amounts of product to use to have gorgeous curls! It might never look the way it looked when Robert did it, but I am curious to find out how my hair will look throughout this process. And if I hate it? I can always get it straightened again.

As for the Keratin treatment I said I would be getting? Not happening. I mentioned it to Robert and he advised me not to do it. For one, it is a heat treatment and heat will damage my hair. He also said that it doesn’t always “fade” the way they say after a few months — it could take much longer and it could actually grow out like the Japanese treatment, from the top down, rather than fade. And it could change the shape of my curl for good. I trust his opinion. After all, he was trained in the art of the curl!

The Curly Girl book, I have to say, makes me want to never straighten again. There is even a 12 step program detailed where I swear off straightening! The book inspires curly girls to embrace their curls, to learn to love them.

Which brings me to another point. When I have children, they are likely going to have curly hair. If I can’t love my hair, how will I  teach my kids to be confidant and love their own? Curly Girl has a bunc hof anecdotes, with a few about how little girls only 5 years old “hate” their curls and want to have their hair blown out. What is a 5 year old doing hating herself? Much like how Angela heard an 8 year old refusing to eat a granola bar with 5 grams of fat — even knowing what 5 grams of fat IS and to even LOOK for it. She opted to eat nothing instead. The last thing children need it so pick up on our insecurities and want to change the same things about themselves. Not that I am committing to curls forever, but this is a  good time to find out if being a curly girl is something I can love!

I sometimes get annoyed when people assume my hair is stick straight — even though that is precisely what I have been going for! I get particularly perturbed when I tell people how curly and big my hair is and they don’t believe me. WHY would I lie about that? That doesn’t sound fun.

Everyone always says, “Oh I’m sure it’s just a little wave” or “Your hair can’t be THAT bad. You’re exaggerating!” or “Your hair is definitely not that curly” and so on and so forth. And then I feel a strong need to defend myself. I send them the before and after picture. And then they admit defeat. Always. And then I feel triumphant. But why? Why is it so important to me for people to know what my real hair is like? Maybe because we (my hair and I) want to set it free! And that is what I am going to work on now. The way Heather has 30 day challenges, consider this my 2 year challenge. The curly hair challenge. Anyone with chemically straightened hair wanna join???

One of the biggest reason I am proud of my (hidden) curls is because I inherited them from my dad. He had extremely curly, coarse hair that at one point when he was younger was the ultimate jewfro (see photo). He died when I was five, and our hair is the one feature we truly share!

Daddy 003

 

I’d love to one day meet new people and for them to just KNOW me as having curly hair, and not knowing me as anything else. Also, somewhat wild hair can be sexy! To get to that point, let’s examine why my curls looked so bad before and what I can do to make them grow faster and healthier now.

Why did my hair look so awful when it used to be curly?
– Shampoo
– I was using it.  Harsh cleansers strip the hair of moisture and leave it dry and frizzy.
Cheap hair products – The woman I’ve gone to my entire life always explained that the ingredients in cheap conditioners are different from those in good ones. I never learned how to read the label myself though. And I like to save money. Unfortunately for me, those products sucked the moisture and vitality from my hair, leaving me with frizz and… more frizz.
Direct Heat– I was blow drying and ironing my hair ALL the time. The curly hair occassion was a rare one.
Towel Drying – Terrycloth towels dry out the hair, as does wringing the hair.
Touching It – Once curly hair is styled, hands should be kept OFF as touching it creates the frizz. And one should swiftly duck when someone else reaches out to touch. Everyone wants to touch the curl. In just the last few days, I have come across this a few times already.

 c1    c2    c3

How do I get my hair to grow long quickly?
No direct heat — no hair irons, no blow dryers (except in winter and using their claw diffuser on a low setting)
Regular tims — Robert told me to come back in 4 months. And I will.
- Hydrate for health — Lots of conditioner and hydration. Thirsty, dry hair will become brittle and broken.

And that is that. I promise to stop writing about my hair and start writing about the important things once again — food, doctors, books and the stupidity of the human race.

I’m Falling Apart, Blah Blah

The Santana Cam server is down so I am very sad today.

But I have lots to be happy about anyway!

I met with my PT last night and she said it is a GOOD sign that my knee didn’t hurt during spin. She said soreness after is to be expected and the fact that it didn’t last more than a day is also a good sign! She put a laser on my knee which is supposed to help with the pain and did some massaging. I told her how difficult it was for me to keep my knee stabile while in the standing position, which leads her to believe that the problem is stemming from my pelvis and feet rather than the knee itself.

Also interesting to her is the fact that I have the same alignment issues on my right and left side, yet only my left side hurts — and only my left side seems difficult to control during spin.

So for now I have some foot exercises to do in addition to my balancing butt ones. She also wants me to try running 1 mile on the treadmill. She suspects it will be similar to my spin experience — I will feel fine during it and be sore after. I am also seeing my doctor on Thursday so I’ll see what he says. PT does think that if I improve my pelvis and feet, the soreness after spinning/running will cease.

But more worrisome than my knee these days has been my shoulder. A few months ago, I began experiencing sharp, intense pains in my left shoulder and upper arm. It would happen if I bent my arm back to put on a scarf or coat, or if I leaned on my arm. I had an MRI which revealed bone marrow edema and went to physical therapy (not at the place I am at now).

But the pain never stopped. Rather, it morphed. I no longer feel a sharp, intense pain in my shoulder when I bend it. Now, I feel a constant dull throbbing ache that radiates down my arm, sometimes to my fingers. The ache never goes away, although it is intensely worse in the evenings for some reason. I have a limited range of motion in my left shoulder as well, and something as simple as shrugging has become painful and impossible.

The doctor mentioned last time I was there, about 6 or 7 weeks ago, that if my shoulder still hurt in a month I would get another MRI, since bone marrow edema should heal on its own by this time.

I started calling my doctor last week to find out if I could go in for my MRI before my appointment with him this coming Thursday. This way, he would have the resuls right away so we could get started on what to do.

Let’s just say that 7 phone calls and 6 days later, I did not speak to the doctor and therefor could not get an MRI before my appointment tomorrow. He finally called back, though, and told me he was in the Bahamas. Which is strange, since every time I called the receptionist yelled at me and said he was in surgery. I think I’ll start using “surgery” when I really mean “Bahamas.”

So I will update you on that visit on Friday. I am eager to get the shoulder and arm MRI (which will hopefully be Friday or Monday morning) because I am dying to know what is wrong. When the boy presses on the line of pain down my arm I can feel the pain buzzing. Even right now, as I type, I have the dull ache and can barely move my shoulder. What did I do to myself??!

Hair!
In better news, tonight is my haircut at Devachan, the curly hair salon! As you all know, I recently made the decision to transition to my natural curls. Tonight I will get a MUCH needed haircut, learn about my hair and how to style it in the transition and after and hopefully figure out how to not look so ridiculous with 3 curly inches on top and many straight inches all the way through! I brought my before and after poster with me so the stylist will have a full understanding of my true hair so he can give me the best cut possible. My hair is ready to go — they have you come in with your hair dry and cut it that way because of the unique nature of curl springiness. I have read nothing but amazing reviews on the stylist I will be seeing (explains the hefty price tag, but hey, I need to learn this!) and am very excited. I’ll recap tomorrow!

These photos show my current state of curly top, straight bottom!

  hair 001     hair 002

Sante Fe Review
And now, lastly, FOOD! I am proud to announce that the boy and I officially found our favorite restaurant. Whenever we want to go out to dinner close by, we are plagued by our limited options. Amber is a decent default, but we wanted something different, something we could love and go to not as a default but as the place we always WANT to go.

We didn’t know where to go out to dinner one night so I opened up MenuPages and started browsing. I spotted a restaurant that I’d never heard of and was close by. “Have you ever been to Santa Fe?” I asked the boy. “No but I’ve always wanted to,” he replied. And the decision was made!

We both LOVE Mexican food (who doesn’t?) but aren’t fans of the super high price of the convenient Rosa Mexicano. We had wanted to find a good, not so expensive Mexican place nearby for awhile so this worked out perfectly. We immediately walked over. The restaurant was right off a major street, tucked away a little. We walked in and I was immediately happy. It was cozy, with tables on one side and a bar on the other. Walk a little further in and there is an entire dining room. Much bigger than it seems from the outside!

The boy and I have been there twice and the first time we sat at a table by the bar and the second time in the back dining area. Service was impeccable both times. I had a Sangria (my favorite summer drink!) the first time and it was delicious. The next, I opted for their top shelf margarita which was so yummy it tasted like lemonade. They have a major selection of frozen margaritas, which they are known for and voted best in NY in this category in something that I can’t remember. Next time I will try one of those!

We both loved the guacamole, which is a major indicator of whether a Mexican restaurant is good (much like Lo Mein is an indicator in Chinese Food in my family). Black Bean Dip aged cheddar, chopped onion, and sour cream, amazing. I had a hard time deciding between Steak Quesadilla grilled onion, skirt steak, jack and goat cheese with poblano puree and a turkey burger (seems strange but it fit right in!) I opted for the turkey burger but will definitely go back for the quesadilla next time! The boy loved his Black Bean And Sweet Potato Burrito in a spinach tortilla with tomato salsa and rice (YUM) the first time and salad the second. We never got dessert but I saw CHURROS making their way to a table — which the boy has never tried before — so I am sure that will be making its way into our mouths sometime soon.

The menu is large enough that there is a variety of foods I would eat there, but not so large as to be overwhelming. I am a big fan of the drink menu which included a sangria topped frozen margarita!

An observation I made about Santa Fe is that it is always filled with people, but never jampacked or uncomfortable (based on two weekend nights). So far, there has not been a wait but it has been boisterous! I’m not worried about them closing and yet I don’t have to have a reservation to eat there.

I am disappointed that we have so many plans this weekend and won’t make it back there — that is how much we like it! I am thrilled we have “a place” that we both like (it never works out that way!) and can just go to whenever we have nothing else to do, or whenever we want!

Sante Fe is our official favorite restaurant of the summer.

Coming this week: Whole Foods Almond Cake, Orthopedist Appointment, Haircut Results, New Approach to Food

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