Gratuitous Photo Friday

There isn't a whole lot of Beni-ness to my hair anymore, but as long as my head doesn't get all mushroom-like, that's OK.

It's been really warm the past couple of days in Chicago. Mordecai had the day off today and I finished teaching at noon. We walked to Provenance for macarons, but they were sold out. The guy promised me a box of four for tomorrow. Many people have been sending me articles about macarons--Jade, Naomi, my dad--and I'm pleased to read about more options in Chicago. Last year around this time, the only place I knew that provided macarons was Vanille. Hopefully I'll make my own oddly-shaped ones again soon!

It's late, I should go to bed. Most nights though, I have a hard time falling asleep because I'm so excited about baseball starting again.

Beni Hair // ベニ・ヘア

Today, I marched into my beloved Salon Moka and handed Masa-san a printout of this jpg I made of various views of Beni Arashiro's bob. I was getting tired of my long hair, just hanging there, heavy on my head. I am very satisfied and pleased with the results. I've forgotten how refreshing a new and different hairstyle can be.

Little League Lotto

For the first time in...ever? at Target, I grabbed Archer's Farm milk instead of Horizon, and Target-brand apricot scrub instead of St. Ives. Ordinarily, this would be a sign that you should keep a helmet nearby you at all times (is another Chicago earthquake on its way?), but there isn't much to fear. Not only do I still want things...I want expensive things! And so, I welcome a little bit of Illinois Lotto into my life.

Canon Rebel XSi

Givenchy platform clogs

Various haircare & makeup goods
Moroccan hair oil, Nars nailpolish in Orgasm, Givenchy Le Prisme eyeshadow in Modish Brown, Moroccan hydrating hair mask, Nars Orgasm Illuminator, Nars duo eyeshadow in Cordura (is it better to have two or four gradating eyeshadow shades?)

Economicus Stimulus Cipangu

I'm pretty much clueless when it comes to lotto, so I'm going to need some help from Joe. If I win, depending on the amount, I'll thank him for his help in the form of baseball card packs/boxes/cases. All I know is that there will be many more days of going to school with coffee instead of getting it at school. Even though he is unemployed, Conan O'Brien will be getting more action this semester in the form of my "Late Night with Conan" coffee container that I got from the NBC store in Manhattan when I first visited.

Recent hair

Since around the time I last posted, I decided that I wanted to lighten my hair a little. I hadn't changed the color of my hair since senior year of high school when I dyed it back to black for senior pictures. There are many things to think about--wedding hair, roots, highlights vs. overall color change, what shade of brown, how natural or weird it will look, etc. Jenni helped me out a ton, encouraging lighter shades of brown, and my stylist suggested highlights for the time being.

I went to Salon Moka on Milwaukee by Ashland, because word on the street was that the owner is Japanese. It's not exactly a Japanese salon like Uni-Hair is in Arlington Heights, but it's a helluva lot closer than Uni-Hair. The owner/my stylist, Masa, is indeed Japanese, and it turns out he might have even known my dad back in the 80's. Anyway, the results are kind of subtle, which is what I wanted, except in brighter light. I am told that things will tone down a bit over time, so maybe I will have a more concrete opinion as time goes on. I kind of thought that highlights were 1999 or something, but I guess it depends on how they're done. And to Masa's credit, when I was walking away from the salon, I was stopped by two young girls who asked, "Excuse me, where did you get your hair done? It looks nice." It was kind of bewildering; were they spying on me? Anyhoo, I also need to figure out how to get my hair did-did for the wedding.

Aside from that, the other hair news I have is that I got another headband from American Apparel with the remainder of a gift card. I decided to get the tealish-blueish one, and I layered it with the purple one I wear often, to get THROWBACK ARIZONA DIAMONDBACK COLORS!

Matt Williams

Not that I'm fond of the Diamondbacks, or know who this Matt Williams person is. I just thought it was funny that their colors used to be purple and teal, but then I read on Wikipedia that it wasn't teal, but turquoise, and further, there were reasons for the color choices:

...Turquoise was chosen because the greenish-blue stone is indigenous to Arizona, copper because Arizona is one the nation's top copper-producing states and purple because it has become a favorite color for Arizona sports fans, thanks to the success of the National Basketball Association's Phoenix Suns.

I do have a couple of D'Backs, or D'Bags, as some might say, on my fantasy team, and Carlos Quentin got his start as a D'Back with the older colorway. This headband combo matches my my purple mosaic Outdoor duffel bag, and my teal/turquoise umbrella. It's been rainy on-and-off, and I've been using that bag from last summer, so I take pleasure in matching those accessories with ones for my hair.