New look, new blogging friend and new experiment!

I have had my hair long for most of my life, but just reached a point where I was not happy.... The bottom half was lighter than the top due to some heavy highlights I had done a couple of years ago, so I wanted to chop it off!! And so I did!!! I do miss my long hair a little bit, but am quite happy with the new look... What do you think?!!!



































A few days ago, while reading a post about french names from Corey Amaro's "Tongue in Cheek" blog, I came upon a lady commenting about her portuguese upbringing, and then I saw her name was Isabel!! So, I left a comment (she did not have a link to her blog) and mentioned I was wondering about this other portuguese Isabel. It just happens that she saw my comment and made contact with me!! We have emailed each other, it turns out she also grew up in Lisbon and moved to the US after getting married!! I loved visiting her blog, named "A Room of One's Own", her pictures are amazing, please make sure to scroll down and see her gorgeous post on portuguese "azulejos" (tiles)!! Isn't the blogging world great?!!!!



Here is a peak at what my experiment was about...
















The other day I found this amazing vintage wedding dress with ruffles after ruffles (after ruffles!) of lace!! Some of the lace edges were a bit yellowed, and my first instinct was "oxyclean"! Then I thought, no, I actually want it "yellower", darker, more vintage looking!! So, inspired by an article in the latest Country Living by Robin Brown (the great designer behind Magnolia Pearl), I decided to tea stain this massive dress!! I wasn't sure if it would work, I have dyed cotton lace but not synthetic...

It did not darken as much as I hoped for, but I think it did get a "yellowed" tint, especially the lining and the embroidery detail on the lace!! Partial success!!! I decided not to rinse after the tea bath, because I was afraid it would make it lighter..

On a different note, I had my annual physical today, and passed with flying colors!!! I love going to my doctor, she is a lot of fun and she actually used to ask me for advice on how to wean her baby from nursing... So, when she asked me today if I was exercising, and I said no, she called me a "lard a**"!!! What ever happened to good bedside manners??!! It was all in good fun, though, and we laughed about it!! She told me to load up my mp3 with all those corny 80's songs we love but are afraid to admit it, then take it to the gym for a fun workout!!! I really do want to commit myself to losing weight and become healthier...

So, what did I do on the way out from the doctor? I went to the grocery store and bought a pint of Haagen-Dazs ice cream (my new favorite flavor, "fleur de sel caramel"!!)... I can't just cut it out of my life without a proper goodbye...