Jo! Your one beauty

Sometimes you get bored and restless and have some sort of  breakdown impulse to make a big change.  So you talk your roommate into cutting your hair.

I don't know why, but I felt like I was drowning in it.  Everyday was this exhausting routine of brushing and combing and trying to make it look presentable and then just throwing it up in a messy bun because it would get caught in bags, bra straps, and armpits.  It once got stuck in the car door of my uber on a windy day and even between my bed frame and the wall.   And uhhhhh...it was EVERYWHERE.

But also because a part of me sort of became curious of who I was without my hair.  I'm pretty sure I'm not the only women out there that feels this way, but my hair is a defining characteristic of who I am.  Silly, right?  A co-worker was trying to jog the memory of someone who had met me briefly and described me as "Whitney...you know...the one with the pretty hair."

The past few years have been so amazing in so many ways but also really disappointing and tough.  It's been full of challenges and heartbreak and, I know this probably sounds so ridiculous, but its like my hair was just hanging on to all of it.

New Hair=New Start?  I dunno.

So I just did it.  Well, actually Diana did it.  I called Mom (who has given me every haircut of my entire life except 3 random trims) and asked if she would fix it next time I saw her, just in case it turned out to be a complete disaster.

And then we went for it.

And after the first few seconds of shock wore off...I felt so good!!!!  So light, so relieved,  and so ME!  It's not a pixie cut and I didn't dye it purple or anything too drastic.  Just 15 inches of dead life gone. 

Cheesy Love song 4

Happy Valentines Day everyone.

Since it's Valentines day...the annual day of love...I will of course post a video of me singing awful, cheesy lyrics to a little tune that I made up on my ukulele.  My parents gave me my purple ukulele for Christmas four years ago and it remains one of my very favorite presents ever! So just for fun, I post a cheesy love song every Vday.  Check out past years.

Year one

Year Two

Year three

This year I almost didn't do a song, because, well...I'm not feeling all that inspired these days.  But mom called and gave me a mini guilt trip even using the "D" word saying that she and Dad would be DISAPPOINTED if they didn't get their annual song. I asked mom for some inspiration, so the topic of the song is all her.   It was quite literally written while I was sitting at work today and recorded at, of course, the very last minute. But I still made my Valentines day deadline with two minutes to spare...and that's what counts.

Kisses for everyone!

  

Cheesy love song 3

In case you didn't know, Mom and Dad got me a purple ukulele a few years ago which I LOVE. So instead of protesting and being grouchy on Valentine's Day (because I really sort of hate it a lot)  I embrace the day and write a cheesy love song.

This is what I came up with yesterday.  (Song is not based on real life events ;))

Cheesy love song 2

Hey!  It's one of my least favorite days of the year. Yay!!!!  In order to get into the cheesy lovey dovey spirit of things, I give you my second cheesy love song!

Cheesy love song

With my new Ukulele I wrote a silly lovesong.  Diana helped!

Here's to the New Year!

Well I have had a wonderful and relaxing break.  My days have been spent with family, naps, food, naps, games, and well...more naps.  I had a few short days to spend with my brother and another week with just my parents.  And two nights ago I was able to say goodbye to 2012 and hello to 2013!  Last year was a trying year for various reasons.   It was a year where I had to step back a number of times and think, "Ok, what is the lesson that I am supposed to learn here?  What do You want me to take away from this?"  But let me accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative (get it? it's a song!)  Here are a few of my 2012 highlights.

1. I travelled to Naples FL with the rest of my MFA class to perform The Inspector General and our showcase.  That was a blast!  It was a week that I got to spend with the people that I love in the warm sunshine doing what we all love to do!  This was a week that I won't ever forget...especially since I recorded all most every second :)

2. I graduated with my MFA.  Cool beans!

3. I performed with four other people in The Winter's Tale for Regent's Summer Shakespeare show.  The five of us threw that thing together!  Definitely the fastest rehearsal process I have ever been a part of.  Less than three weeks of rehearsals, I played three different characters, and learned those shakespeare monologues faster than I ever thought I could.  Shakespeare has always scared the crap out of me (if I'm being honest) but there was no time to be intimidated with this process.  Yeah, that was fun.

4. I directed Thoroughly Modern Millie for a high school summer camp.   It never ceases to amaze me how much these teens touch my heart while working with them.  They are always so eager to learn and are always giving their all.  Not to mention, I really love this musical.  The experience was fun, challenging, stressful, and extremely rewarding...everything I hope for while directing a show.

5. I moved to Chicago!  Love the city, love my roommate, and I'm looking forward to great things here.

And with all that behind me, I can start 2013!  I have a new job, a new haircut, and a new apartment (hopefully, more on that later).

Last but not least, I know the whole world has been sitting on the edge of it's seat wondering if I got that purple Ukulele.  Well of course I did!!!!  Ha, I'm so spoiled.  I have had it for one full week now, and below are a few of the songs that I have learned...in the order that I learned them.  I put together a little medley. A few mistakes here and there and Mom and Dad got home right at the end which distracted me...but it's still fun.

Oh yeah, and I named her Kewenah  (ku-weh-nuh) which is Hawaiian for rosy refelction of the sky.

Love to all!