Product Rave

Every so often I will come across a beauty product that impresses me so much I feel the need to blog about it. Since I don't spend a lot of money on beauty products, even though I have always heard good things about Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray at $22 bucks a pop for a 4 oz container, I never splurged and got some. However I was always intrigued that this product allegedly gave you that windswept, salty beach hair look because heck yes I want to look like this:

(Of course when I really do go to the beach my hair ends up looking nothing like this, much to my shagrin)

In the morning it takes me an additional 10-15 minutes to blow dry my hair, which means I have to wake up at 5:30 every morning if I don't shower at night. That is awfully early and sometimes I just want to sleep in just a little bit more. I tried letting my hair dry naturally and it wasn't very pretty, more frizzy and unkempt, so I decided to bite the bullet and try some Surf Spray.

This product is outfuckinstanding and worth every penny. My hair seriously looks like that and I didn't have a professional hair stylist (take that Jessica and Kate). I just groggily spray my damp hair and scrunch it a few times and viola! It holds the waves and is not at all crunchy or hard but feels soft to the touch and shines. You can also spray it on hair that hasn't been washed and it is supposed to work wonders then too but I dont usually go a day without showering so I cannot attest to that but I believe it because if I respray throughout the day, it keeps looking great. I keep waiting for someone to say "Hey Kasey, your hair looks so beachy, did you just come from the beach??" It'll happen. I am sure.

I like my hair long but I am too lazy/busy/unmotivated to spend a lot of time on it so this product is perfect for me. I just wish I had gotten it sooner. Bravo Bumble and Bumble!

I found this on Etsy and I like it quite a bit. Thinking about getting it for the house...

It is also fairly large (18" x 24") and inexpensive, both of which are always a huge plus for me and my budget. Plus it is kitschy and I love all things cactus:)

On the sanctity of marriage

Via Jezebel, a clip of Sen. Diane Savino stating why she believes gay marriage should be legal.


If you don't have sound, here are some quotes:

"I'm over the age of 40 and that's all you're going to get from me, but I have never been able to maintain a relationship of the length or the quality that Tom and Lewis have."

"Turn on the television. We have a wedding channel on cable TV devoted to the behavior of people on the way to the altar. They spend billions of dollars, behave in the most appalling way, all in an effort to be princess for a day. You don't have cable television? Put on network TV. We're giving away husbands on a game show. You can watch The Bachelor, where thirty desperate women will compete to marry a 40-year-old man who has never been able to maintain a decent relationship in his life."
"That's what we've done to marriage in America, where young women are socialized from the time they're five years old to think of being nothing but a bride. They plan every day what they'll wear, how they'll look, the invitations, the whole bit, they don't spend five minutes thinking about what it means to be a wife. People stand up there before god and man even in Senator Diaz's church, they swear to love honor and obey, they don't mean a word of it. So if there's anything wrong with the sanctity of marriage in America, it comes from those of us who have the privilege and the right and have abused it for decades."

If you can hear/watch the speech though, I would reccomend it. It plays well with the current push to ban divorce in California (Ed posted about this recently as well)

It's the Sesamoid by golly!

For the life of me I don't know why it took so long for me to figure this one out but I have finally self diagnosed the pain in my big toe as Sesamoiditis. For about 10 months now I have had pain in what I always refered to as the big toe joint in my left foot. The pain at times would cause a noticeable limp, particularly if I wore high heels for a long period or was on my feet for awhile and I always have to wear shoes around my house because if I go barefoot for long on the hardwood floor the pain would be bothersome. When the pain first started it was much worse than it is now, but it is definitely sore on a daily basis even though I have grown pretty used to it by now.

Here is what the toe looks like:


A sesamoid bone is a bone found inside a tendon where it passes over a joint. A tendon is a strong band of connective tissue which attaches a muscle to a bone. Your body has several sesamoid bones. The largest sesamoid bone is your patella, or kneecap. The ball of your foot contains two small sesamoid bones, the medial (inner side) and lateral (outer side) sesamoids. These sesamoids act as pulleys for the tendons and help flex or curl your big toe. When you run and jump these sesamoid bones absorb much of your body weight. So my poor little sesamoids have been taking a pounding for quite some time.

Symptoms can include:

Symptoms incude:
-Pain when moving the big toe, especially lifting the big toe up -- Yup
-Tenderness to touch at the ball of the foot -- Definitely
-Pain when walking, running, jumping, or standing -- oh yeah
-Swelling--Maybe slightly but nothing major

Oh and here is the kicker, wearing high heels contributes to the problem. Whaaat? you mean my adorable heels are not good for me feet??? Yeah not so much suprised but I own one pair of flats that are 4 years old and all of my pants and jeans I couldn't wear with flats because they would all drag on the floor. The good news is that I can wear whatever I want to work pretty much and even though I like to dress nicely, I can get away with wearing jeans and running shoes for a little while to help it heal.

The other treatments are:
-a special pad to wear that supports the bones
-a shoe insert that limits the motion of your big toe
-custom-made shoe inserts made for you (orthotics)
-tape your big toe to provide support and limit movement
-a removable walking cast to wear until the pain is gone
-anti-inflammatory medicine
-icing after exercise
-getting a cortisone shot

Obviously some of these are a little extreme in my case. I actually dont experience a great deal of pain while I run but it gets very sore later and standing for a long period of time is more painful. When I run I feel like I stretch my toes as a push off and it actually feels kinda good. Basically ibuprophen, tape and ice are my preferred treatment but if at the beginning of the year I am still experiencing pain I will go to the doc and at least get some orthotics. Right now I have only reached $800 of my $1,800 deductible so I might as wait until next year since I probably won't meet that deductable this year.

Anyway I have dealt with it for this long and even though I have done 2 weeks of almost 30 miles each week and havent had any increae in pain then it isn't getting worse and I can handle it as it is. It is nice to know what it is though!

And some pics...

This is the newest addition to my plant family, the Dragon Tree. I have been looking for a plant like that for awhile and I stumbled upon it at Lowe's and snatched it right up.


I wanted to hang these lighted balls from my Japanese Maple outside but the cords were too short and at least with these balls, a logistical nightmere so I decided to do something else with them and make a sort of abstract christmas tree.


This is one of the cats in the nighborhood that uses my backyard as a sanctuary. The other one is just as fat and orange. I hope he enjoys it while it lasts because as soon as a get a dog no more naps in the sun!


One of my orange trees. In a couple more weeks they should be ready to eat. I hope they taste good because I have a lot of them.


The second orange tree I have that is back in the corner wasn't much to look at but it also has a lot of oranges growing on it. Oranges are one of my favorite fruits so I can't wait until they are ready to eat.


I also have a lemon tree that is about ready to have its fruit picked.

It is really fun to have trees that produce fruit and it makes me want to grow more edibles. Basil, tomatoes, squash, rosemary, jalepenos - I just need to find the perfect spot and learn a little more about planting conditions and my spring I should be ready to plant.

My Thanksgiving weekend

I had a great looong weekend that went by entirely too quickly. I spent Thanksgiving with Mike and his family which was quite nice. I have never spent Thanksgiving or any holiday for that matter with a significant others family and it was cool to see a different take on the holiday. Besides the typical Thanksgiving faire they also had some mexican inspired dishes (Mikes mom is Mexican) like salsa, shredded beef and chili. All the food was delicious and everyone was very warm and welcoming, in particular the kids. Mike's nieces and nephews were a lot of fun and they showed me some outstanding pictures of Mike in his awkward stages:)

On Friday we went for a nice hike up in Oakhurst and farted around up there some. Saturday we had a pace run, which Mike was not supposed to do because of his injury so he only did 3 miles. Then we went to Big Lots and snatched up some bargains for Christmas lights and decorating stuff (pics to come). On Sunday Mike was my sherpa as I ran a 10 miler which ended well but was somewhat difficult. This is the furthest I have run since my last marathon over a year ago so it isn't very suprising that I struggled somewhat finding my stride. It is really annoying though that for no appearant reason you feel awkward and jerky. At about mile 6 or 7 I had a rough attack of the colon blows, which temporarily was relieved by a trip to the lovely park bathroom. I finished the run on a very high note though and found my natural stride and had energy to spare but then had a second attack that laid me out for a bit. It appears I am still having trouble with my stomach, which is also frustrating. All I can do is keep trying different foods until I find something I can stomach.

After the run it was Christmas decorating time! Mike put up the exterior lights and it made me feel like quite an adult that I was putting up lights on my first house:) I just used white lights so it is elegantly understated (aka boring). Inside I did some things but we haven't had time to get the Christmas tree yet.

Ok a little more detailed then need be but there you have it, my weekend.

Mmmm Sweet Potatoes

I have been in love with the sweet potato as of late. They are delicious, versatile and so far I have not been able to screw it up.

My love for this root vegetable started with a fry recipe. The potato is pretty sweet, as the name suggests, so contrasting that with spicy cayenne and chili powders results in a great flavor combination. I also like that although I love the way sweet potatoes taste, I can't eat a lot of them because they tend to fill me up fast.

Lately I have been branching out from the fries and moving on to mashed sweet potatoes. Last night I tried this recipe for Sweet Potatoes 'n' Pears. I tweaked the recipe a bit and instead of using brown sugar and butter, I added some low fat vanilla yogurt, pumpkin pie spice and sprinkled it with some crumbled Gorgonzola cheese. Oh my these were good. The cheese mellowed out the sweetness perfectly. The pears were also a really nice addition.

I haven't tried a sweet potato pie yet, quite possibly the most popular way to eat the potato. Actually I have never had any sweet potato pie but I have a feeling it is pretty high in calories and probably uses a lot of sugar and other high fat ingredients I don't need. If there is a lower fat/cal version though, I will find it:) I think sweet potatoes are so good as they are that it seems unnecessary to add much else anyway.

Nutritionally (according to Wikipedia), the Center for Science in the Public Interest compared the nutritional value of sweet potatoes to other vegetables. Considering fibre content, complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A and C, iron, and calcium, the sweet potato ranked highest in nutritional value. According to these criteria, sweet potatoes earned 184 points, 100 points over the next on the list, the common potato. A 100g root is reported to contain 108-121 calories and since they are somewhat high in carbs, they are a runners friend. All in all not too shabby.

If anyone has a sweet potato recipe they would like to share please do!

The Weekend

What a busy weekend! Saturday morning Mike and I had breakfast with his mom at Mimi's Cafe where we counted the Bump Its that we spotted on waitresses. I think the Bump Its must come with the uniform and they are strongly encouraged to wear them. Some of them look pretty ridiculous and the last time I was ther eI overhead this old man tell one of the waitresses that she looked "so classy!". Too funny. After breakfast we did a little bargain shopping and hit the gym.

Later I went over to hang out with Annie and her two beautiful daughters. Reagan was asleep when I came over but when she woke up she was a little energetic spitfire.

It is so fun to see what her new thing is everytime I visit. This time it was belly buttons (she wants to see yours) and dancing. Well I say dancing but really it is just jerking her hips from side to side which is great because I can totally do that with her and I look like I am just following her lead and no one knows I really can't dance and this is probably as good as it gets for me. Anyway those children are a joy and I love being their honorary aunt.

Sunday we woke up early to tackle our first long run of training, an 8 miler. Unfortunately Mike did not have a good experience. He almost immediately felt a pain on the outside of his knee and it slowed him way down. I felt really good, I seem to run well in cold weather so I went ahead and finished the 8 miler. Mike was able to do about 6 before he had to stop, which is good considering the pain he was in from the very start.

I looked up his symptoms and I am quite sure that he is suffering from a very common running ailment, Iliotibial Band Syndrome. ITB is inflammation of the thick band of fibrous tissue that runs down the outside of the leg. The function of the band is to help coordinate with the thigh muscles to stabilize the knee. Mike's is inflammed which causes him pain when he flexes his knee. We started training this week so his milage was increased from maybe around 10-15 miles to 26. Fortunately it won't end his running career and he needs to cut back on his mileage and there are specfic stretches and strengthening activities that can help prevent it from recurring. He was bummed but when it comes to distance running these things happen and he will bounce back.

After the run we worked in the yard raking leaves and mowing the lawn and did some housework. Since I had been gone the past two weekend things really piled up around the house and it was a lot of work to catch up on. We didn't finish everything we needed to but I didn't want to put it off until next weekend because next weekend I want to get to Christmas decorating and putting up lights for the first time ever on my new house. I can't wait!

I forgot to post this one yesterday, but if you have ever wondered what a trees vagina looks like, here you go: