The Brunette goes a little less brunette

Not by choice. I have always had a stray gray hair or two. The odd strand hidden within my dark hair wasn't a big deal. At 15, it seemed to me that is was a sign of maturity. Now, at 38, they have started coming in clumps. Within the last few months, I've noticed an increase in the visible glinty silver hairs.

I've tried to hold off the feelings of vanity but, I seem to be losing that battle. I look in the mirror and see the glinting of my old lady future.

So, I am going to dye my hair, again. I've done it before but I did it for fun. This is a new plan, a new direction and new batch of dye.

Should I go for something a little funky like eggplant or should I go for a more sedate burgundy. My hair is, as the title of the blog suggests, dark. No, I'm not going to red or blonde. I make an awful looking blonde. I'm not looking to do something drastic. Just something that will tone down the silver and possibly give me a bit of vain fun.

If I were a good blogger, I would take pictures of all the steps and document the results.

I think I will start with the low-priced interesting colors. This experiment will probably take a long time to get decent answers and come to any result. Yes, I could use on-line color try-ons but, they never seem to look right.

I am goign to attempt to get a picture of the glinty silver as a 'before' picture and to compare to the new colors.

Well, off to do some research on dying hair and what I should do and what I should avoid.

Product Review - Little Debbie Petites Chocolate Cake

These little cakes are darn good!

I'm always on the look out for a low fat dessert but, because of the calorie count, I never bothered to look at Little Debbie. Tasty fatty stuff.

Well, because it was lower in fat than the Weight Watchers little cakes, I decided to give them a try.($1.79 at Target) I'm glad I did. I think they have a better chocolate flavor and taste like they have more fat. They are tiny and on one grumpy, low food intake day, I had two. I'm somewhat worried that they are going to discover that they have more fat and calories then reported and take them off the market.

I recommend them!

I read a review for the Strawberry Cakes and it wasn't a positive review. I didn't try the red velvet or the strawberry because they both contain Red Dye #40. No, it's not a knee-jerk reaction. My kid got hives when he had red and black makeup on his face. Both contained #40.

Party with the Rat!

I hate hosting parties. I get anxious about every detail and the attendance of the guests. Last year, I decided to off-load some of my stress and have my son's party at a 'party place'. It worked out so well, I did it again, this year.

Chuck E. Cheese rocks the birthday!

They will do almost all of the party for you. Depending on how much you are willing to pay per child, you can unload all your party stress on them. Invitations from e-vite, food, coins, cake, singing, set-up, clean-up and, my favorite, entertaining the kids.

The good: It's not in my house! We got a great party hostess, Cindy, and she made sure we knew when to expect the party parts and that we had everything we needed. There were other jparties going on at the same time so I got to see other hostesses in action. Ours was the best. The food is okay. The kids have a great time taking their cups full of coins and spending them on the noisy games.

The bad: The air-conditioner was broken and it was HOT. There were 3 other parties going on at the same time and it made it HOTter and tough to navigate. The bathrooms were filthy. The store manager came over and apologized for the air-conditioning and the bathroom. CEC is an assault on the senses. It is that way on non party days. You may end up with siblings tagging along with the invited guests. A week after I booked the party, they changed the party packages and raised the price per kid. I sent an e-mail and called to make sure I was going to be charged the lower price. I was assured that there was a note on my reservation and there wouldn't be a problem. It was. Thankfully, my brain was in working order and I printed my original party confirmation e-mail with the lower price. There computer system couldn't handle it but, they charged me for one less guest and it made up for the price change.


Book the party online when they are running a special. Usually, the specials involve extra coins if the party is booked for Sundays or weekdays. You can update your total guests and add extras like food and toys for the kids.

No Love - Felt Fun Pack

I just bought the Felt Fun Pack from The Kunin Group. I'm not happy. The assorted color pack is missing green and white. Some of the pieces are stapled together with pieces of plastic. The package says "Sizes may vary" but why bother stapling pieces?

The positives: The felt is nice and thick. According to their website, the felt is made from 100% recycled materials.

I'm disappointed in the pack, not it's content.

I bought the pack, rather than individual pieces, because I wanted to make a Darth Vader mask for a Zhu Zhu pet. I've made a test and it's kinda dorky looking but, I'm hoping to make a better, post-able one, soon.

MyGetTogether - A New Kind of Party

Pillsbury is trying out a new type of advertising, direct marketing. They offered to send me supplies if I hosted a Pillsbury Crescent Roll Party for them.

I joined the Pillsbury site a while ago. I probably joined to enter a contest or get coupons. It was a pleasant surprise to get the opportunity to get free stuff and an excuse to have a party.

We loved the idea of having a food-themed party. Okay, we like any reason to have a party. We had a problem with the Crescent rolls because they contained Red Dye #40. My son, and a few guests, could not eat the foods prepared with the theme ingredient because of their food restrictions. I made alternative food but, I was a bit sad and disappointed with Pillsbury for using this unnecessary ingredient.

Fruit 2day - a review

I was looking for something to drink the the grocery store and noticed that a new product, Fruit2day was on sale. I grabbed the 2-pack of Cherry Grape and headed off with my son to music class.

In it's defense, it does not call itself a drink. On the front of the bottle it says "real fruit bits". On the back it says "It's not juice. It's a snack." It's true! My first mouthful had chunks of fruit. Not bits of fruit, chunks of fruit. This product requires chewing.

Positives: It has two servings of fruit. It has real chunks of fruit. It doesn't have artificial sweeteners or dyes. It makes it easy to get two servings of fruit without getting your hands messy. Easy to drink/chew on the run.

Negatives: It isn't thirst quenching. It is a little weird. (The first sip is the weirdest)

Would I get this again? Yes. It has a decent taste and makes it easy to get 2 servings of fruit. I wouldn't get it if I were thirsty.

Would I give this to my kid? Maybe. He might choke if he forgets and tries to drink it. He might like it as a snack.

New Product - L'Oreal 360 Clean

Okay, I bought it because it had the little scrubby thing on it. Total impulse buy!

I bought the Go 360 Clean Deep Facial Cleanser for Sensitive Skin. I wanted something to replace my discontinued Avon cleanser and the 360 cought my eye. It was also the day before one of our (Maryland) big storms and I wanted to buy myself something beauty-related.

What I like: It is a nice gentile cleanser. My face doesn't feel stripped after using it. The scrubby thing is kinda fun and feels good. There is a nice storage hole in the bottle for the scrubby.

What I don't like: The directions are part of the wrapping and comes off to open the package. No, it's not a difficult product to use it's just a weird place to put instructions. The scrubby thing can be a bit slippery. A stiffer material for the handle would be nice.

It gets extra cool points for advertising during Project Runway!