A Cold January

I have a really hard time with January.  I hate the cold!  I hate driving in the slippery snow, I hate how bad the air gets, I hate how sick I always get (I'm on week three now of a cold, not to mention the stomach bug that hit me at the beginning of the month) and I hate wearing a big bulky coat everywhere unless I want to freeze my butt off.  Thank goodness the month is just 15 minutes away from being over!

Despite my dislike for the month, it was a pretty fun one.  Bailey and I are flying off to China in two short weeks, so we've made an effort to spend time with family and friends while we can.  We even were able to visit Bailey's grandparents in Huntington!  Here are some other fun things we did:

We went sledding for Chelsie's birthday!  Sledding is pretty fun, it turns out.  I had forgotten.  Watching your nieces sled into each other is also fun.

Bailey recently got contacts but has been having a hard time putting them in.  He had to ask his sister for help!

Oh my gosh.  Bailey and I went to go see the new movie "Jackie" and it was absolutely beautiful.  I seriously have thought about it every day since we saw it, it is one of those movies.  Also, I wept the whole time.  I think I would have even if I wasn't already Jackie's #1 fan.

That night Bailey puked up his Indian food for hours (which I'm really upset about, because he FINALLY had decided that he loves Indian food as much as I do, but of course after puking it up he doesn't anymore), then I woke up in the morning to join the puking fun.  You know, on the day I was supposed to be my dear cousin Kess's bridesmaid.  I missed the sealing which still makes me want to cry, but I pulled myself out of bed and was able to make it through the reception without puking on anyone!

26 people in Bailey's family were sick at that same time.  Fishy, right?  Or should I say "ham and cheesy potato-y"?  Seemed a lot like food poisoning to me, but everyone else thinks it was a super strong bug Joey's family brought back from Texas.  Whatever it was, it sucked.

Yay Ocean Mart!  It is seriously one of my favorite places!  I especially love bringing people who have never been there.  We brought Lacie and Whitney along with their girls and had tons of fun.  We also hit Asian City which is always a party.  We ended the day with pho which I had never tried before.  I liked it well enough but I definitely wasn't amazed!

What is amazing is sukiyaki!  Bailey and I ventured up to Kyoto in Salt Lake City specifically for the dish.  Well, Bailey got sushi, but I was over there adding extra salt to my food from my tears of joy.  Seriously, there is no better comfort food than some good old sukiyaki.

Sarah and I were able to spend some time together this month.  One day we went shopping and ate falafel (delicious) and spend too much money at the mall.  Another day we tried to go see La La Land but it was sold out, so we went to Target and Good Earth, ending the night with mochi ice cream.  Probably not the best option for my freshly vacuumed car, but I'd say it was worth it.

A ladies day!  Kylie and I went up to Salt Lake City for some fun with Alli, to spend some time together before I leave (and miss Alli's birthday by less than a week!)  We got food at Sage Market (SO GOOD)  and played at City Creek.  We also tried to play at the Gateway Mall but it is pretty much a ghost town there.

Even though it is cold outside, sometimes you still just have to have your ice cream!  Luckily Kylie agrees and Seiji and Bailey came with us.

Now bring on February!  Thank goodness!

Henna Hair Dye

Sometimes Kylie and I have crazy ideas, and too often it has to do with our hair.  Like that one day we chopped off our long hair to donate!  Still recovering from that one.

This week's wild idea was to try henna hair dye!  We aren't the hair dying type of gals because we like to keep our hair as natural and healthy as possible, especially since we will probably donate again in the future.  But after researching henna hair dye, and learning that it is 100% natural (it is actually really good and conditioning for your hair!) and will wash out after half a year or so, we decided, "why not?!"

It wasn't a super scary decision for me because I knew that red henna wouldn't do much to my hair since it is so dark anyway.  Henna just stains your hair translucently, so I knew I wasn't in for much of a difference.  I was surprised that Kylie was going to join me though, because the henna on her light hair would make a huge difference!

So the first step to henna hair dye is grating up the block you bought from Lush (we split a block of Caca Rouge).  We turned on our new "Indian Vibes" Pandora station to match the exotic smell, and went to work!

It was a good idea to cover the floor with an old sheet, because we really went crazy with that muddy stuff.  It looked a whole lot like poop, actually, and it was kind of a strange feeling to cover each other with it!

As directed, we wrapped our heads up with saran wrap to keep it all moist up there while we watched a much deserved chick flick.  We had to clean ourselves up quite a lot first, including cutting off my tshirt.

After about an hour and a half, Kylie washed out her henna.  And wow!  I can't believe how different her hair is!  If she left it in for 4 hours or so, she would have some crazy fiery hair.  I liked that she washed it out sooner though, because she was left with a really pretty light red hair.  A little darker than strawberry blonde.  It is the exact color of her mom's hair, actually, and quite close to her sister Mara's!  I absolutely love it on her!  Here is a before and after.

I left mine in for 5 hours!  Bailey and I had left Seiji and Kylie's house before my time was up - I showered at 3am!  It didn't do much to my hair, I highly doubt that anyone can see a difference unless I tell them.  But I can see a difference!  It is pretty red in the sunlight, and has an overall red undertone.

The whole thing was a very interesting experience.  Having your hair all caked up in mud for 5 hours is actually kind of miserable.  But I'm glad I tried it!  I probably won't ever do it again because it didn't make much of a difference, but if I did I would just leave it in overnight so I wouldn't have to sit around with a heavy poopy head.

Would I recommend Lush henna hair dye?  Yeah, because it was relatively easy to use and it is good for your hair which I think is cool.  However, my hair lady told me that if someone were to dye over their henna, their hair would basically melt.  So don't do it unless you are absolutely sure!