A New Look: The Hair and the Blog

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I’m not the only one who got a new look today. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably seen that my blog has a new look, too. Take a look around; make yourself at home. Kick your shoes off and grab a beer if you want.

2011 was a great year, and a bad year, and a happy and sad and confusing and creative year. And 2012, as any year, promises all that and then some.

I started last year with blonde hair and a plan to travel, to enjoy family, to work hard and run hard and run my third marathon.

I traveled as much as I could. But of course, not as much as I wanted to. Isn’t that always the case?

I enjoyed my family as I always do. But I lost my grandmother in June, and that was difficult. Still is. Other family struggled with their own private battles, and I tried to help but mostly just felt lost about how.

I worked hard. So hard. I created a lot of things that a lot of people love.

I fainted in February and spent 3 nights in the hospital and countless nights attempting to heal from that. I had no idea it would affect me for so long but it did. When I finally started running again, I landed myself a stress fracture which took me out of the running for the marathon. And I’m sad I didn’t accomplish that. But I’m determined and I’m healthy and it’s okay.

I will start 2012 with pink hair. I loved my blonde hair, but it was time to do something big. And so I did. And I love it. Tommy works magic with his hairstyles, and I am more convinced than ever that he can tackle any challenge. I went straight from his place to the MAC makeup counter and asked them to give me a look that matches my hair.

New hair. New face. New blog.

As in typical Melissa fashion, I plan to tackle so much that it seems almost silly to call it a resolution. More like a running tally of things I will do. I’ll run more. I’ll do more yoga (recently started that; love it). I’ll create more book covers and notecards and anything else I can. I’ll travel as much as ever. Continue to love as hard as I can. I’ll try to accept people more for who they are, flaws and all. I’ll keep my pink hair. Or I won’t! Happiness and creativity and love and pink hair and hot yoga … What more could a girl ask for?

Disneyworld. Disneyworld. Disneyworld!

I’m going to DISNEYWORLD! Ok, that in and of itself is not all that exciting; I’ve been to Disneyworld a million times. So, let’s try again: I’M TAKING MY NIECE TO DISNEYWORLD! Mia is turning 5 in a couple of weeks, and I’ve always always wanted to take her and my other nieces and nephews. [...]

Have a bucket list. Check it off. Life is short.

I was hanging out with Mom and Dad last week in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Dad had a rather awkward trip down the resort’s water slide. I felt badly that I’d convinced him to give it a try and he’d clearly not had a good time, but at the bottom, he turned to me and said, [...]

A moment of time in travel

Some moments in my travels, thus far over the past few weeks … I edited all these photos using the Best Camera app, which I talk about a little more here if you want to see some “before” photos. I love that I don’t have to keep up with anything but my iPhone!

What if my friends hate each other? Hey, what if they don’t?

So, I blogged recently about running a race in Atlanta and how much fun and motivating that was. What I didn’t really tell you was that it was such a fun weekend that I had a hard time choosing which parts to share with you. The background: It really wasn’t my trip to plan. Scott [...]

So close I could taste it (literally)

Kevin reminded me this was not the first time I’d seen this. He says that when we were kids driving out west, we saw a dust storm that actually formed a funnel cloud. How did I forget that? No clue. But, there I was on Tuesday night, hanging out with Anil at his place in [...]

Cinnamon rolls may be good, but is it worth this?

Cinnabon update: (If you missed what happened on Thursday, I wrote about it here.) A third-party representative named Jorge called me on Saturday. He was very nice and wanted to hear my story. He especially was shocked that the woman never warned me it was hot water that she was serving me. He also was shocked [...]

My mouth can’t catch a break

So, I mentioned this on Facebook yesterday but it’s all I can think about today since my mouth is still absolutely killing me, so pardon me but I’m going to rant for a minute … I hope I don’t seem melodramatic with this, but with everything that’s been going on, this just about put me [...]

The great stripes fiasco

So, two of Anil’s living room walls are covered in brick that has been painted white. The third wall was painted off white and the fourth was painted maroon. Walls before: Behind the living room is a nook that Anil had painted orange: All of the other walls in the hallway near the nook were [...]

It’s all about the details

A few things to note before giving you the big living room reveal after Anil let me play decorator for the past couple of weeks. I gave you the kitchen organizing update a few days ago. There have been a few small updates since then: Anil got rid of his old plates and bowls and [...]