Friend Friday: Au Naturale

About today's Friend Friday subject Katy says, "This week we're veering more toward the beauty side of things and talking about the growing trend of going all natural by eliminating shampoos, soaps, deodorant, etc..."

Here are the questions and my answers:

1. The move to do away with soap, shampoo and deodorant has been growing in popularity in the last year. What are your thoughts on this trend?

The human population existed way before soap, shampoo and deodorant. They must have survived somehow! If there is a way to maintain cleanliness and sanitation without the use of chemicals, it could only be a good thing. 

2. Be honest, how often do you wash your own hair?

Every day. Every single day. My hair is very oily, as is my face, plus I have bangs, so if I don't wash every day then my bangs just look greasy and dirty and that's not good.  I've tried to skip a day and just rinse with water, but that still left my hair looking like poo so I shampoo every day.
 

3. Have you tried to go the more natural route by forgoing shampoo? What happened? Or would you be tempted to try it?

Forgoing shampoo altogether? And using what else instead? I'm confused. (I live in this state of confusion currently.)
 

4. What products do you use and have you ever gone with more organic alternatives?

I'll be honest: I can't afford organic. I really can't. I buy the $1.98 dandruff shampoo from Aldi (a really, REALLY inexpensive supermarket in Florida) and typically a conditioner from there as well. I normally buy deodorant from Big Lots or Wal-Mart and have been using bottles of body wash from Bath & Body Works from my mother-in-law (although I'm almost out of that now!). They work well and fit into my budget, so that's what I get.
 

5. What about that daily shower? Would you forgo that opting to shower three times a week instead?

Oh dear. Considering that I work out at least five times a week and drip sweat almost every time, I don't think that would be very sanitary. At the VERY least, everyone should rinse off every day! I would still highly recommend using soap every day too. And like I said in my first answer, if there is another way to maintain cleanliness and sanitation without chemicals, I'd love to know!

To check out everyone else's responses, visit Katy's blog at Modly Chic! Thanks for reading, everyone! Hope you have a great Friday and an even better weekend!!!

Daily MelWear: Good-bye to the 80's

Today has a high of 79. 79! That means we're not in the 80's anymore!

I figured it was time for long sleeves. Granted, they're light-weight sleeves but they're long nonetheless. And I'm wearing booties. Yay!

I had such lofty goals of doing a BBCA Challenge Recap post but that hasn't happened yet. (Clearly.) I do want to thank all of you that participated for bringing awareness to breast cancer prevention, research and treatment. If you have stories to tell, please let me know because I WILL publish those (with your permission and they can be anonymous if you'd like or I can link to your blog) - but I need you to share them with me!

Today started out sleepily. I'm not sure if I'm just not sleeping well or if I just need to catch up on some sleep. Maybe I'm dehydrated. I really don't know, all I know is that I'm exhausted!

My girl came out of her room just a few minutes before I had to leave for work so I was able to get lots of kisses and snuggles and giggles to get me through the day! Plus we were able to FaceTime with her dad for a few minutes too.  I'm so grateful for the iPhone 4's ability to video chat. So very grateful.

And THEN - on my way to work my co-worker asked me what I'd like from Panera because she'll be stopping there later this morning! Woo-hoo! Pumpkin goodies!

Now I'm off to do more research on letter blocks so I can re-take that test next week. :)

Hope you all had a great Wednesday night and are having a good Thursday so far! I think I might be able to catch up on blogs in the next couple of days - yay!!! I can't wait to read about everyone again!

Today's outfit:
Pink Long-Sleeved Tee: Target
Brown Plaid Jacket: Kohl's
Brown Pants: Charlotte Russe
Bronze Booties: Payless
Gold Necklace: Gift from ML

Daily MelWear: To Take A Test

Our office has been cold lately. FREEZING. Like somewhere around 65 degrees for some reason. I decided I needed long sleeves and this dress seemed to work. I added the cardigan to cover up the plunging neckline instead of layering something underneath.

Enter: The Belt. This belt saved the outfit. In all honesty, the outfit was kind of "meh" when I first put it on but the belt made it worthy of being seen outside the house. It would have been bad if I couldn't leave the house today. :)

I got to see my girl this morning!!! We met at my office a little while before I had to take that test and I was able to snuggle and hang out with her for a few minutes. I can't wait until tonight when I can go home to her!

Speaking of the test...I did well on everything except for Letter Block, which is formatting a formal letter in regards to where each piece goes, such as the salutation, "re" line, CC, enclosure, etc. I was only given two letters and I was apparently incorrect on both of them. Oops. That's the only portion I'll have to take again because I exceeded the minimum scores on everything else, but if I don't pass it the second time around I can't re-take it for another YEAR.

This makes me nervous.

So does anyone have some templates they want to send me? I'm googling sample letters but still. NERVOUS.

The other job that I was contacted about by the director still hasn't been approved by HR so it's not posted yet for me to submit my resume "officially". I've been chatting with one of the girls there and it sounds like something I would really enjoy - plus, Fridays off like I have now!

Please pray with me for this one!

Okay I think I'm done.  Today is still a little bit crazy, we finished the 180 patient meter study yesterday so now I have to play catch-up on all of my other work that's been pushed to the back burner. Hopefully I'll be back to normal tomorrow so that I can read a blog or two! I miss you guys!

Today's outfit:
Dress: Ross?
Cardigan: Gift from ML
White Belt: Wal-Mart
Necklace: Gift from a co-worker
Gray Heels: Payless

Daily MelWear: Jewelry Inspiration

You guys are so encouraging. You helped me get through the day yesterday.  I just have to get through today/tonight and then I'll see my girl for a few minutes before work tomorrow and again when I leave work tomorrow night. I can't wait!

I'm feeling less than inspired lately with my outfits. This one came together mostly because of the jewelry, for which I need to give a HUGE thank you to ML of Twenty York Street!!! She has the most exquisite taste and I'm honored that she sent me some gifts AND some giveaway items! Stay tuned; I'll throw up the first giveaway post soon! So exciting!

This shirt is way too big. I didn't even realize I'd kept anything from my pre-weightloss wardrobe but this is one such item. I decided since I was going to belt it that it might work anyway.  I think the only reason it does is because of the necklace! Isn't this necklace gorgeous? Pearls, diamonds, gold strands...*sigh*

And CHECK OUT this bracelet! This is fantastic-ness wrapped around my wrist! Love it.

I took a typing test yesterday and got 89 wpm with 100% accuracy the first time, then 92 wpm with 99% accuracy the second time. I'm supposed to have at least 30 wpm for my test tomorrow morning! That makes me feel a little bit better.

And that's really all my news.  I miss you guys.  I haven't been able to read any blogs or keep up with anyone lately and it makes me so sad. I feel very detached from my bloggy friends!

Today's outfit:
Brown Top: Can't remember. Really.
Brown Floral Skirt: Target
Teal Belt: Salvation Army
Brown Studded Heels: Wal-Mart
Necklace and Bracelet: Gift from ML

Daily MelWear: BBCA Da- No wait, we did it!

It took actual effort for me to not wear something pink today. It felt unnatural, almost.

For those of you that follow me on Twitter, you may have seen my tweet already this morning. I went to work a little bit later because The Princess was up late last night trick-or-treating and I didn't want her to have to wake up super early today, plus I didn't want my mother-in-law to have to leave her house quite so early to come pick her up this one time. We met for breakfast at Einstein's. It was really nice.

And then...I had to say good-bye to my girl for the next three days. She'll be with her dad at his mom's house tonight and tomorrow night, then my mom will meet him at my office to pick my girl up on Wednesday morning and I'll see her again Wednesday night after work. I'll have her for this first weekend too, so that helps.

But I've never spent two nights away from her before. I had a mini-meltdown on my way to work so now that I'm here, I'm grateful for the opportunity to be at work with distractions. Thank God (no really, thank You God!) for FaceTime on the iPhone too; at least I'll get to "see" her to say good-night.

On the job front, I've been informed of an opening with a department that my current department works with regularly and they also have Fridays off, so I'll formally submit my resume for that position as soon as the job is posted. There's also another opening in Emergency Department Administration for which my resume has been submitted. I'll need to take an Executive Secretarial test to continue that application process; hopefully I can take that this Wednesday. It makes me nervous! I'll take a typing test and be test on Spelling, Grammar, Secretarial Skills, Vocabulary, Letter Setup-Block, Proofreading and Office management Skills. Wow. That's intimidating to me!

We moved this weekend. I ended up having to get a larger storage unit which means more money every month. That stinks. I'm eternally grateful to all the guys who helped us move, along with my friend Nicole.

So that's all my news. Moving is done. Need to get organized. Still searching for a job but have prospects.

And I miss my girl. A lot.

And now Blogger won't let me format my pictures the way I want. Irritation is not what I need right now.