A Little Change Goes a Long Way

I'm not talking about the bums on the street here.... although they seem to think so. I'm talking about switching my blog to a different account.
I know I have a few blogs going, I'm sure you've seen one or two of them. Pretty much everything will remain the same except the name of the blog and the URL. All you have to do is go there are start following me there instead of here. The name of the blog is Exquisite Identity, and the URL is: www.exquisiteidentity.blogspot.com (click the link to check it out before signing up).
So far there is only 1 post, but I hope to post once every day. Here's a few reasons why I've changed things up:

• I bought a blogging book and I want to make my blogs look a little more professional
• I need to clean things up a bit, and starting fresh seem to be a good idea
• When I go to the blogger home page it automatically signs me in through my Google account and I figured it'd be easier to just have everything at one place instead of multiple.

So, as soon as I see that each person following me on here is following me on my new blog (and I have each post transferred)  I'll delete this blog.

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

-C

I've Gone Platinum!!

So, for those of you who don't know me, have never seen a picture of me etc... I've been a brunette my whole life. I've been light-brunette, medium brunette, and dark (almost black) brunette. I've had the reddish-brown hair, I've had the light brown hair with blonde highlights. I've even had my own, natural hair colour a few times hehe.

This past week I was in touch with a lady named Reine (pronounced Reign) from Place D'Orleans in Orleans. She was looking for a girl with a pretty face (not to toot my own horn....) who could be a model for her hair styling competition. Last year she didn't win because she was too considerate for the model's needs and didn't cut her hair as short as she wanted to. So, being inspired by my mom who shaved her head completely saying "It's just hair, it'll grow back." I told her that she could do whatever she liked to my head, go wild.
Of course she was happy to hear that. So Thursday I went in for my first appointment where she bleached my hair. It took a total of 3 hours to go from:
THIS.....

 TO THIS!!

Overall, I really like it. James says I should stay blonde, at least for a little while. I'm still not sure about staying this way. It does give me an excuse to to my makeup really dramatic! lol

Anyways, have a good weekend everyone! And a very special Happy Birthday to one of my very special followers!

Life.... Interrupted

Hey Guys and Dolls,

Oh the wonderful world of which we live. Isn't it just splendid? Oh, sorry, I forgot that you can't be sarcastic in writing.

The whole Kingston thing went right down the tube. We went to Kingston to look at apartments, and while we were there the lady who is coordinating my funding for school called me and said "Listen, I'm really sorry, but we have to cancel your contract." (This was followed-up with a trip to her house only to find out that she doesn't work from her home... OOPS!) So the next day I woke up and jumped on the phone immediately with St. Lawrence college and asked them if they had received any kind of tuition or anything and they said "Yes, actually, we have, we have a sponsorship letter for you right here." So I got them to fax it to me ASAP, them mom got on the phone with her lawyer and proceeded to explain the situation (did I forget to mention they called me 3 weeks before school starts?). After explaining he said "Well Cheryl, so long as you have a copy of that sponsorship letter, you have a case". So, back on the phone we got with Elaine's (my coordinator) boss and explained to her that if they don't fix all of this, and fix it fast we'll take them to court for about 3 times the amount they were originally supposed to give me. After a few days of no word from them I started to get worried about finding an apartment in Kingston as it's 3 hours away from us and we can't go look every weekend. So I said "F*** it, I'll just go to school in Ottawa". Shortly after making this decision I got a phone call saying that because there was such a huge mix up they'll give me everything that was originally promised to me, to which I replied "Great, but switch it to Ottawa, I've already gotten everything sorted out on their end, all they need is a sponsorship letter."

So here we go again. I'm currently waiting for Elaine to get back from some kind of conference or something so she can get the ball rolling so I can get my timetable. I'm hoping that she's actually already sent them something but there's no way I can be sure since she never calls when I'm home.

I already have an apartment, and that's a good thing (first and last month's rent is paid). The only thing I'm waiting on now is for Elaine to tell me everything is done. Oh the stress of life.

Ha, speaking of stress, I went back to my job on the 15th, gave them my two weeks notice, then got so sick of them that I left on my lunch break yesterday and didn't look back (actually, that's a lie, I did look back, so I could give the building the finger as I left). TEEHEE.

But, so far that's an update of my life. Isn't it exciting? Don't worry, it'll get better once I'm back in school taking my hour long bus ride there. GRR.

Oooo.... Ahhh.... Hmmm.... Haaa...

So, August 7th I'll be headn' 'er down to Kingston to take a browse around for an apartment. Can I just say that I am SUPER excited for that? I haven't been someplace (other than an itty bitty shit-town) since....... my weekend in Niagara Falls with Key Club. Oh boy that was a while ago.

Today James and I were discussing what we want to do with our lives. He was considering going back to school to be a lawyer (which I was totally for) but now he's starting to take another look at that decision because then he "has" to go back to a part-time minimum-wage job (I told him he doesn't have to, he could always be a security guard at a bar, or someplace where he only works evenings or weekends). So now it's back to the military idea.... which  scares me a little. I don't like the military. I don't like the control they have over you once you're there, and I don't like how they mess around with you as much as they possibly can. And I really don't like the idea of my man being gone for 6 months at a time, not knowing if he's OK or not. It just really scares me. I wish he'd take my wants into consideration. There's so many jobs he could get with his current qualifications.... why can't he just grasp that.

Then we started talking about what we should have done in high school, what mistakes we made (he wishes he'd taken more math so he can take the Astrophysics ((or something like that)) at Queen's), and I wish I would have kept with my writing classes. Now, I don't regret taking my baking courses, I love baking and I love decorating cakes, I still do it quite often (speaking of which, I have 200 cupcakes to make for August 13th!), but I also LOVE writing and really regret not taking more courses on the subject. I was supposed to take a few of them, Journalism, Creative Writing, and History of Literature (or something similar). But then one of the courses was going to be taught by a teacher I wasn't very fond of, and I dropped all of them to take other courses. I also wish I would have taken a few more phys-ed courses. That would have come in handy... I probably wouldn't have gained all this weight.

Ahh regrets... don't you just love them? I probably should have studied harder my last year too, and (I'll admit) there was a certain someone who distracted me from the wonderful world of knowledge. I wouldn't change that for the world though. James is probably the best thing that's ever happened to me, I love him to death. Speaking of which, time to drive 20 minutes to go get him from work..... (Kingston has public transit YAY)!

Ciao for now!

-C

Doctors and Therapists and Apartment Searching ..... OH MY!

Yep.... the title says it all. That is my life in a nutshell right now.


Right around the 30th of April I discovered that I was going to have to move back home (thanks to my old roommate who decided to be oh so kind and move out 3 hours before rent was due). So we packed up our bags (and everything else in the apartment) and moved everything into my parents 2 story home. Let me just say... moving home wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I've since had to leave work due to stress, start seeing my doctor every 3 weeks, see a therapist, and all the while clean the house, drive James to work, run errands for Mom (every second Thursday has since turned into my own personal hell), AND search for an apartment in Kingston. Which is my next stop by the way.


Yes, Kingston. Why Kingston you ask? Well it certainly wasn't my first choice, which was actually Ottawa, but that just so happened to be the next place that James (my boyfriend if you haven't caught on yet) wanted to go to school. To the Royal Military College to be exact. Now, because the military doesn't give a shit about anyone other than themselves and his notification time went from "Oh we'll let you know if you've been accepted by February 15th" to "We'll let you know by the 28th..." to "You'll know by March 5th" to HIM calling and them saying "Oh, you weren't accepted..." I had to act quick on my feet when the 1st of March rolled around and it was time to decide where to go to school and say "Alright, Kingston it is."


So I decided on Kingston. Which isn't a bad choice, it really isn't, Kingston is a beautiful city with loads of history. I'm sure I'll have a splendid time there. Oh, and just so everyone's aware, I'm going there to study Esthetic's, I was going to study baking but the baking industry is so hard to get into.... however I'm still a very avid cake baker just like I always was... check out the doozie's I've recently made!


 

Those are my most recent beauties... hehe


Will update again soon!


-C

Sally Hansen Nail Polish Strips Review

Hey Everyone,

I just posted my review on Love that White Smile, but I recently discovered another new product that I'm in love with and that's Sally Hansens NEW Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips.

Now, if you're familiar with Sally's 14 day nail shield, these are very similar exept for a few main differences I'll go over.

So above, I'm showing the Nail Polish Strips in Skinny Jean. I havn't actually worn this particular pattern as of yet, but I'm sure I will eventually.

The product claims to stay on for 10 days. Now, the first time I put these on I was on my way to a Mary Kay meeting so I put them on in my car, in a hurry. THIS time I took my time and made sure they went on properly. (Today I'm wearing IT GIRL) Here's the list of things I LOVED about this product:

1. They're SUPER quick. With a normal manicure you have to clean your nails, buff your nails, push back your cuticles, shape your nails, apply your base coat, apply 1-2 coats of your nail polish (wait to dry in between coats otherwise you'll end up with icky streaks) wait for your last coat of COLOUR to dry, then apply your top coat, then wait for THAT to dry, then you can go about your day (and still possibly end up screwing up the entire manicure by wacking your nail of something that scrapes the polish off). With this, the basics are still the same, make sure nails are clean, push back cuticles, shape and lightly smooth the nail surface. Then you just grab your strips and smooth them onto the nail. No drying, no second or third coat, not even a base or top coat! AMAZING.

2. They're reasonably priced (about $10). Yes, for a bottle of nail polish it's about $4-$8 and you get multiple uses out of it... but the job won't last nearly as long, you could potentially really screw up polish (get it all over your cuticles... all over the tip of your finger.... etc etc), and you have to buy all the other stuff to make your nails look pretty!

3. Unlike the 14 day nail shield where you put it on and the size of the sheild was the size of the sheild. You can stretch these (because it's made out of nail enamel the product actually streches so it can fit your nail properly. Now, you have to do this very carefully and be patient otherwise it could tear, but otherwise you have a nail polish strip that fits your nail exactly.

4. They aren't sticker-like. A lot of complaints about similar products are they look like stickers (probably because they don't stretch like these ones). But as long as they're applied properly, they look like you expertly put on an amazing nail polish (the patterns don't look as realistic as nail polish, and they aren't meant to, it's a pattern for pitys sake... you definately didn't take the time to draw all those little tiny flowers and butterflies! As for the glittery strips (Bling-it-On etc) they'll keep your friends guessing!) 

Overall this product is great!  I love, love, love these nail strips! I highly reccomend you go out and get these, even if it's just for a night out. Personally, I'll probably choose to wear them all the time. Have a good one everybody!

- C

Love that White Smile Review

Hey there everyone!

I just figured that since I'm enjoying my new tooth whitening system SO much I would do a review on it.

Now, I only just started out with the cleansing/whitening system, and the cleansing/whitening pen, and I am already LOVING this product! I started using the system on Monday, brushing my teeth twice a day (you bush like you normally would with toothpaste - I use whitening toothpaste but you can use whatever) and using the foam twice a day. Today is Saturday and I already see a great difference. It wasn't three days like the box implied, but when I was using my whitestrips I didn't see a difference at all, and it tasted gross and it was sticky.

Now I bought the cleansing/whitening pen today. This part of the system is for when you're on the go and you say, drink a bottle of pop, or have a coffee. To prevent stains from occurring (and to boost whitening) you twist the bottom, scrub into your teeth, then continue on your way. Now, this irritated my gums a tiny bit... but since I saw the difference almost immediately with the pen, I decided it was worth the 20 dollars on top of the 50 I already spent on the initial cleansing system.

This product is worth the money. Like I said it's been 6 days and I'm already seeing a difference. The ultimate test will be seeing if my mom notices (she used to be a dental assistant, so if anyone will pay attention to my teeth it'll be her). I'll update tomorrow after I go see her.

In the meantime, if you're looking for a whitening product, check this one out!

- C

Surgical Recovery: Oh the Pain

It has almost been a week since my surgery, which went well. I was very scared and as soon as I wasn't with my mom I cried. It basically went like this:

Wednesday morning we drove to the hospital where once I was in the surgical ward they proceeded to get me changed into a gown. Then I waited for about 45 minutes for someone to come get to take me to the OR. A very nice nurse told me to get into the bed then wheeled me down the hall and put me behind a curtain against the wall, where the anesthesiologist was going to come talk to me. The surgeon actually came over first to explain the procedure. He told me that they'd cut a hole near my belly button, a very small one. Then they'd insert a camera into that hole (I think it was actually inserted in the hole above it, but what do I know). After inserting the camera they'd pump some gas into my stomach to blow it up so he can see. Then they'd do two more incisions on the side of my belly to insert tools so he could clamp my gallbladder and remove it. Which I was ok with. However, I was not ok with going to sleep and not knowing what was going on, so I got really scared and started bawling.  After sitting there and crying for about ten minutes the anesthesiologist came and told me that first they'd bring me into the room and hook me up to some monitors. Then they'd put an IV in me (at this point I stopped her and told her I'm scared of IV's and she said she'd give me some laughing gas so I won't care about the pain). Then they'd inject some stuff into the IV to make me numb, then they'd put me to sleep. After all that I'd be put into the recovery room until my belly deflates then I'll me moved to a regular room in the surgical ward.

Now, most of this went exactly the way they said. Went into the room, got on the operating table, had stickers put all over me which were attached to monitors, had a gas mask put on me for the laughing gas (which I'm familiar with from the dentists office). After the laughing gas was put on me though, that's where things went like I hadn't expected. First off I still felt the IV, it hurt. It was cold, it stung and my hand throbbed. I could feel it fine because my eyes were closed from the gas and all I had to focus on was the sound of the nurses voice and the pain in my hand. Then the nurse told me to open my eyes (and there were a few more people in the room then when I'd closed them. After they were opened I heard "now this is going to pinch" and my inner wrist hurt like hell. I think the IV had come out of my vein on my hand so they had to put it someplace else. They had taken me off the laughing gas at this point so I was no longer in a fog and it hurt so bad I couldn't stop crying. Then they put the oxygen mask on me and that's the last thing I remember until I woke up.

Waking up from gallbladder surgery was..... painful. The gas in my stomach made it incredibly difficult to breathe (I actually couldn't sleep very well afterwards because my breathing was so shallow I thought I wasn't). The only thing that made it easier to breathe was laying on my side, which - as you can imagine - hurt like hell since I had 4 fresh holes in my stomach and my belly was blown up so big it looked like I had 2 pillows piled up on top of my stomach.

I was in and out of sleep for a few hours, woke up once but felt so sick that I had to go back to sleep. Finally I woke up and was feeling alright. The nurse (who was very mean by the way) got me some cookies and crackers and gingerale and got me moving again.

Recovery wasn't too bad. I laid in bed most of the time and didn't want to move much. I'm moving a lot better now. I've been running errands all day, but I'm definitely going to need my rest later today since I'm starting to feel the pain worse now. I'll probably be back to work Friday as long as I'm feeling up to it. Getting up and down a lot is going to be hard on me so I don't know how it'll work out, but we will see.

- Cassy

Well HEYYY!

Long time no post....

I'm sorry, there isn't often much for me to actually post about. However, today is a different story. Yesterday morning I took a trip to the emergency room having a gallbladder attack. There, they proceeded to rush me into a room and give me a shot of demerol in the bum. Then the transfered me into another room where I slept for most of the day. After that shot of demerol wore off I was given another shot in my thigh (which is still swollen and bruised and hard....). Hours and hours went by, with me waiting for blood test results to come back (which would show nothing other than I had been drinking the night before) at which point the doctors would probably tell me to go home; and that's when the mama bear stepped in. She demanded I have a surgeon look at me. When the surgeon finally came and saw me he said that surgery that night was out of the question but he could do it Wednesday. I stayed the night, just in case I had another attack. And this morning he said that there's no point in me staying there, so I came home, with an appointment booked for Wednesday morning for my operation.

There you have it, Wednesday morning I will be going for surgery to have my gallbladder removed. As of right now I'm on a clear fluids diet, eating nothing but broth (not even actual soup!), apple juice, jello/pudding, and hard candy. Boy oh boy I can't WAIT to dig into a big slice of hawiian pizza!

I will update as the week goes on (I can't guarantee much before Monday since I will be at my parents house where there is only dial-up).

Hope to post again soon!
-Cassy