My Latest, Greatest Discoveries

I got a wonderful early birthday present from my husband: a bike! It's a little Trek commuter bike, very light, indigo blue, and I love it! I love biking right now the way I loved it as a kid, riding down dusty red roads in southern Maryland, loving the sun on my face and the breeze you get only riding a bike. So fabulous. So that's my first discovery, that apparently I love to ride my bicycle.

Today we rode over to my friend Lara's place in Hilltop; she and her husband are apparently moving to Kirkland. That's too bad, but I cannot imagine leaving the cool stuff I'm finding here! After we saw her baby and chatted a bit we caught this bike path to the Narrow's Bridge. Along the way, we stopped and saw the War Memorial. A little late for Memorial Day, but still meaningful. This park smelled so good; I kept thinking, I hope those POWs and MIAs who are remembered at the park get to smell beautiful flowers like this in heaven. I hope souls can still enjoy beautiful fragrances in the world after this one; hopefully it can make up for the terrible things these brave men had to endure during this life.

Anyways, back to my trek. We went over the Narrows Bridge! It is so incredibly beautiful. Absolutely breathtaking, the blue waters and Olympics to the west and on the way back over, Mount Ranier. Wow.

We were starving, and we just happened upon this place called Papa Eddie's Corner Cafe & BBQ. We got the barbequed chicken breast plus collard greens, cornbread, and yams. Just one dish was enough to feed us both! So delicious.

I also recently discovered this amazing Filipino restaurant in Lakewood, WA, called the Polynesian Grill. If you're ever in Lakewood, check it out. Actually, might even be worth a trek down there. It's at 10518 S Tacoma Way #G.

The last discovery of today was Don's Market. Yummy milkshakes. Not as good as Frisco Freeze (delicious Dick's-like burger joint) but still quite good.

Life is good! Today is Pentacost, so this could just be the Holy Spirit talking, but thank God for all this. I am so grateful to be alive and well today. Praise God for all this good stuff! Whoo-hoo!

This Just In: Sexy Hair Possible in Tacoma!

I finally did it. I had to lay off my Seattle hairdresser (thanks for all the good hair-dos, Sierra) and find a new stylist in Tacoma. A new business owner has to be as frugal as possible in all things, but she also has to look sharp. So this means finding ways to save, like driving less, and seeing if I can get less expensive haircuts. I had heard about Embellish, a salon in downtown Tacoma, and decided to give it a shot. I went on a "hair model day" which means, "we let the new girl practice on your head" day. It also means, hairdo is half-price!

My stylist, Eleanor, had a reddish pixie-cut 'do and big hazel eyes. I respected how she had come to styling hair a little later in life (she's in her late 30s), and just finished up at Gene Juarez. We had fun talking, but when I sat there with sopping wet hair, I was freaked out. What would this woman do to me? Was I going to look like some freakshow stereotype of Tacoma white trash? I imagined that I would look like a meth addict with slightly better teeth than average. "Do you think it's going to look o.k.?" I asked nervously. "I hope so!" said Eleanor, sounding a little worried. She blowdried me and a beautiful head of hair revealed itself. Then she asked the owner, Trish, to do that "thing she did" with my bangs and the fringey, piecy bits along the sides. Snip-snip, snip-snip, and voila! Perfect! I love it.

I feel more like I'm at home now. This is my place, now that I have a salon in town. In fact, Eleanor gave me a wig brush (of all things) and showed me how to backcomb the crown, for those days when I need some big, extra-sexy hair. Good stuff. Tacoma offers a more luxe lifestyle on my budget, without foregoing sexy hair. This means I can stay.